Chapter Fourteen
Queen of Evil
Tess frowned as she talked to someone on her phone. "Tess," Clark hurriedly said as he walked into her office. "Why did you print those articles about Davis killing people? He's been dead for months…" Clark quickly covered up for Davis.
"You will be the one endangering people if you do not warn them of Davis's presence," Tess angrily said. "Once Davis commits another murder and people inform us about it, you will know where to find and kill your worst enemy."
"Davis is not my worst enemy," Clark determinedly said. "I'm not going to be your superhero, Tess…" He paused. "I need your help, Tess," Clark sadly said. "Chloe is Davis's hostage and…"
"I wonder if the reason why you are truly afraid to face Davis is that you know that you will not be able to do what you have to do," Tess frowned. "You know what you have to do, Clark…"
"Tess…" Clark paused as he heard Chloe scream and call his name. Clark hurriedly raced out of Tess's office.
Chloe cried and screamed as someone chased her in the woods. Running in the pouring rain, her beige trench coat had been soaked and her hair was strewn across her face. "Help me, Clark," she desperately screamed. As she accidentally fell in the path of a semi-truck, Clark hurriedly pushed her out of the way. "Thank you," she sadly said as she hugged Clark and cried.
"It's okay, Chloe," a sad Clark reassuringly said. "It's okay…" He was not aware that Bette was watching them from a safe distance.
One hour later…
Chloe was explaining her situation to Clark as he gave her a cup of hot tea. "Davis and I were staying at a hotel," Chloe sadly said as her eyes watered. "It was horrible, Clark… he would not let me go," she sadly said as she grasped the teacup for comfort. "We eventually stopped for gas… as he paid for the gas, I ran away," she sadly said.
"You're safe here, Chloe," Clark sadly said.
"I don't feel safe here," Chloe sadly said as she shook her head. "Not even with you…" She paused. "You need to kill Davis, Clark." She sadly and desperately looked at him.
"Why are we taking orders from Tess," Randy complained to Bette. "I feel that we are just flying monkeys working for the Wicked Witch when we could be doing better and greater things…"
"Need I remind you," Tess frowned as she walked into the room. Bette and Randy jumped because they were not aware that she was listening. "I hired all of you to work as a team in preparation for the return of the hero…"
"I want to leave the team," Randy frowned.
"You can't, Randy," Bette sadly said. "Tess helped all of us out and she gave us a chance to do something good…" She paused as she looked at Tess. "We will not let you down… but if I may ask, what exactly are you planning on doing with us?" In response, Tess just frowned.
"Caleb," Clark said in a panic as he hurriedly walked onto the playground. "I need your advice… I need to find a way to kill Davis…"
"A… I do not know how to kill him because he was not a comic book character," Caleb worriedly said. "B… if you kill Davis, that will be a violation of your virtues and ethics…"
"Sometimes, we have to do what is necessary," Clark sadly said. "No matter what…" Caleb worriedly looked at him.
One hour later…
As Clark worriedly walked back into his apartment, Chloe nervously walked towards him. "What are you doing and what are you thinking about," she nervously asked.
"I'm going to try to save Davis," Clark nervously said. "I did not want to tell you about it until after I did it… but I thought that you should know…" He awkwardly paused. "Caleb is helping me…"
"Clark," Chloe said in concern. "I was wrong when I told you that killing Davis was a bad idea…"
"It will work, Chloe," Clark desperately said. "I need to find the last bit of good in Davis to save…" Suddenly, his phone rang. "I've been in contact with Dr. Hamilton over this issue…"
"So have I," Chloe sadly said as Clark picked up his phone.
"Hello, Dr. Hamilton," Clark cautiously asked.
"Clark…" Dr. Hamilton sadly paused. "Davis has killed another person…"
One hour later…
Chloe and Clark had met Dr. Hamilton at a garage to discuss the Davis situation. As Dr. Hamilton dug out a piece of bone from the garage wall, he commented that the victim had been hunting Davis. He paused as he dug out something that looked like a computer chip. "Hold on… this victim apparently had a chip in their head… with the initials of T.M. on it…"
"I…" A panicked Chloe paused. "I need to go outside for a moment…"
"Chloe, it's not safe," Clark said in a panic as he tried to stop her. "Davis may be out there…"
"No, he's not," Chloe desperately said. "I'm just going to be outside the building. I'll immediately scream and call for help if something happens." She hurriedly left.
"Something's wrong," Dr. Hamilton cautiously said. "Now, she wants to kill Davis even though she was desperately trying to avoid that… she even begged me to find a way to cure him of his ailment…" In response, Clark looked at him in concern.
"Randy," Chloe said in concern as she called Randy on her cell phone. "You have to meet with me right now…" Suddenly, Randy appeared. "One of Tess's employees was found dead… she had one of Tess's computer chips in her head… like we do," Chloe said in a panic. "Tess may be lying to us, Ty," she worriedly said. "I mean, I appreciate Tess for everything that she has done for us… I just worry that she put those chips in our heads when we were at the institution… that way, she would be able to kill us if we disobeyed her orders." Chloe looked at Randy in concern. In response, he hurriedly left.
As Tess listened in on the conversation of Randy and Chloe, she remembered one of the last times that she saw Oliver.
One day, Oliver had rushed into her office in a panic. "Tess," he had said in disbelief. "Some heartless Scrooge pulled Lois's funding for her children's cancer charity… I need your help, Tess… you are more influential than I am… and maybe you could convince the heartless scrooge to reconsider."
"I can't," Tess frowned.
"Why not," Oliver desperately asked. "I will pay you, Tess, if this is about money…"
"It is not about money," Tess angrily said. "I cannot help you, Oliver because… because I was the heartless Scrooge that pulled Lois's funding."
"Why would you do something like that," Oliver sadly asked in disbelief. In response, Tess angrily and sadly looked at him. "Tess," Oliver sadly said. "If this is about the island… it was not personal… I was just trying to save both of us…"
"You're right," Tess frowned. "It's not personal… and neither is this." She paused. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have to meet with some oil tycoons…" Oliver sadly and angrily looked at her in disbelief as he left her office. Tess angrily looked after him.
At the psychology office…
Chloe was hurriedly looking through photos when Clark walked into the office. "Chloe," he said in concern. "Why have you been ignoring my calls? Why did you leave without telling me," he worriedly asked.
"I'm sorry, Clark," Chloe quickly said.
"I'm starting to wonder if I can trust you, Chloe," Clark sadly said. "What's going on?"
"One of Tess's team members died recently due to a computer chip that I think that Tess installed in all of her team members at the mental institution. "Tess betrayed her…" Suddenly, Chloe clutched her head in pain before she collapsed to the ground.
"Chloe," a teary-eyed Clark said in a panic.
"I'm Bette, Clark," Chloe said as she transformed into Bette. "Tess told me to pretend to be Chloe to protect you and Chloe… she said that if I did this, I could convince you to kill Davis…" She sadly paused. "Chloe is still in danger, Clark," she sadly said. "Chloe is still in danger… you have to help her," Bette said as she took her last breath. Clark hurriedly called Dr. Hamilton.
"Bette's a shape shifter," Dr. Hamilton explained over the phone. "The real Chloe could be caught between Davis and Tess… and you know as well as I do that both of them are very dangerous. If Tess tries to kill Davis and cannot, she may go after Chloe… or, if she tries to kill Davis and he transforms and goes after Chloe… either way, your friend is in great danger," he sadly said. "In addition, Tess may try to kill the other members of her team…"
"Please track down Tess's GPS for me," Clark quickly said. "That's the only way that we can track her team…" He sadly looked at Dr. Hamilton.
"Bette," Randy desperately said as he tried to call her. "There was no response…"
"Randy," Clark quickly said as he walked towards him. Randy frowned and backed away from him. "I'm here to help you," Clark desperately said.
"I don't believe that," Randy frowned.
"Tess killed Bette," Clark desperately said.
"I don't believe you," a teary-eyed Randy angrily said. He tried to walk away from Clark; however, Clark stopped him.
"It's true," Clark said to Randy as he showed him the GPS information.
"I will get vengeance on Tess," Randy angrily said as he tried to leave, but Clark stopped him again.
"Vengeance is never a good idea," Clark sadly said. In response, Randy angrily grabbed Clark and tried to remove his powers; however, it did not work.
"And here I thought that your only power was the ability to run quickly… but not as quickly as me," Randy angrily and sarcastically said. He tried to attack Clark again; however, he stopped. "It's not like you can stop me, anyway…" As he angrily and quickly left, Clark looked after him in concern.
Tess sadly frowned as she remembered the next time that she saw Oliver. Tess had been working late one night on a financial report. Suddenly, she felt a sting in her neck. She weakly looked up to see Oliver, who had just given her something that would make her sleep. As she started to sleep, Oliver gently carried her over to the couch, where he gently set her down before he hurried over to her computer, where he quickly restarted Lois's fund program. "It was not personal, Tess," Oliver sadly said to the sleeping Tess as he left her.
Suddenly, Tess's wall exploded, causing her to fly across the room. As Randy approached Tess, Tess quickly tried to explode his computer chip, but nothing happened. "I removed my computer chip," he angrily said before he swiftly hit Tess across the head, knocking her out.
Clark and Dr. Hamilton tried to call Tess several times and warn her; however, there was no response. "We're too late," Clark sadly said.
"I'll loan you my car," Dr. Hamilton quickly said. "So that you can rescue or apprehend Tess, whatever the situation may be…"
"Thanks," Clark said as he hurriedly left.
As a battered and bruised Tess slowly woke up, she realized that Randy had tied her to her chair. As Randy tried to torture her, Tess frowned at him. "Bette betrayed you," she frowned.
"I want the files from the mental institution," Randy frowned. "So that I can form my own team…"
"All you are is a freak," Tess angrily said. "All of you are freaks!" She paused. "Like me..." She sadly frowned.
"Randy," Clark quickly said as he raced into the room. "Randy, get away from Tess!" In response, Randy hurriedly knocked out Tess.
"You're better than this, Randy," Clark desperately said.
"Sorry, Clark," Randy frowned. "But I'd rather be with the bad guys…" In response, Clark hurriedly knocked him to the ground.
"You're better than this, Clark," Clark sadly told himself. Randy rose up his arm to hit Clark. "Don't do this, Randy," Clark desperately pleaded. "You're better than this…"
"You're right," Randy sadly said.
One hour later…
Clark was reviewing the events of the day with Caleb on the playground. "Randy is in another institution," Clark sadly said.
"Are you still going to kill Davis," Caleb sadly asked.
"I'll find another way to handle him," Clark determinedly said. "I cannot descend to the level of the people that I fight…" In response, Caleb hopefully smiled.
At Tess's mansion…
"I called you here because I wanted to tell you that Lex installed the chips," Tess sadly said to Clark. "They malfunctioned… they were not supposed to do that…"
"How many times are you going to lie to me, Tess," Clark angrily asked. "I don't believe you!"
"You have no choice," Tess angrily said. "You have to kill Davis… I have seen to it that you have no choice but to kill him and I did it for you… it is your destiny, Clark." She frowned at him. In response, Clark angrily grabbed her by the neck and drug her over to a high window. He hurriedly punched out the window and held Tess out of it. Tess looked at him in desperation and shock.
"You are no better than Lex," Clark angrily said. "I heard you say that you killed Oliver… and I did not want to believe it… but I believe it now…" He angrily looked at her. "You're better than this, Clark," Clark sadly said to himself as he lifted her out of the window.
"I'm not going to turn my back on you the way that Lex did," Tess sadly said. "However, the decision to kill Davis is no longer yours to make…"
"Why do you want Davis dead so badly," Clark asked in confusion.
"The survival of the world depends on it," Tess angrily said. As she walked away, Clark looked after her in confusion and concern, pondering what she meant.
Several hours later…
Tess frowned as she noticed that the shiny and glowing object was glowing from the library. As she walked into the glowing library, someone asked, "Is the hero ready to fulfill his destiny? The world needs another hero now… especially considering the fact that you killed the first hero…" In response, Tess sadly and angrily slumped on her couch as she thought about Oliver. She clutched her white bathrobe for support.
Tess frowned and crossed her arms as she watched Lois's office from her window. "Guess what," Oliver smiled as he walked into Lois's office. "I got your funding back…"
"I don't believe it," Lois squealed excitedly as she raced over to kiss and hug him. "Have I ever told you that you are amazing?"
"Not often enough," Oliver smiled. "I'm amazing because you are amazing…"
"Oh, stop…" Lois smiled again as they kissed. Angrily frowning, Tess quickly shot an arrow towards Lois's head; however, the arrow missed her head and hit the building. "What was that," Lois asked Oliver in concern as she stopped kissing him.
"Don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe a bird hit the building…" However, as he walked over to investigate, he noticed an arrow with the initials of T.M. on it. "Why, Tess," he sadly and angrily asked himself before he walked back to Lois. "It… it was a bird," Oliver nervously said.
"Are you okay," Lois asked in concern.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Oliver unsurely said.
"Are you sure," Lois worriedly asked.
"I'd be a lot better if we could continue where we left off," Oliver smiled as he kissed Lois.
"Next time," Tess angrily said to herself. "I'm not going to miss…"
"Lois," a detective said to Lois. Lois had hired a detective to find Oliver's murderer. "I found out the identity of your husband's murderer…"
"Who is it," Lois sadly asked.
"It is…" The detective paused. "It is Dinah Lance …"
"I should have known," Lois angrily and sadly said. "She kidnapped Oliver… she kidnapped both of us… she claimed that she and Oliver were together…" Tears filled her eyes as she angrily looked at the detective. "I will have my revenge," Lois angrily said. "I will have my revenge…"
"I'm so sorry, ma'am," the detective sadly said as she walked out of Lois's office. As Lois angrily looked at a picture of Dinah on her computer, the detective started to feel remorse. "I'm going to tell her the truth, Tess," the detective said to herself. "I'm going to tell her that you killed her husband…" Suddenly, the detective fell to the floor in pain. She looked at Lois in a panic as she took her last breath.