Note: Thanks for the reviews and comments again you guys! By the way the
companion 'fic for The Earth Angel is already up. It's called The Last
Daughter of Argo. So in case you'd like to find out more about what really
took place back in Argo City after reading this chapter, you can check that
'fic out. Gawd I'm really sad about ending this story! *sniffs* I dunno I
guess I just got attached to the characters and stuff. I'm sure my fellow
writers understand what I'm talking about. Anyhow, reviews
pleeeeeaaaaaaasssssseeee!
Additional: Can anyone tell me if Clark's already found the fortress of solitude in the present Smallville series there? We're still stuck with Season 1 in this friggin' country. Just saw the invisible guy episode last Tuesday. Talk about delayed?! Please inform me about that in full description (pretty -with -cherry-on-top-with-chocolate-chip-and-sprinkles- please?)
Chapter Nineteen
"Better." Commented Nick with a devilish grin. Taking pleasure with Clark's pitiful condition
Before Linda could go ahead and save Clark from his bondage from the concrete foundry wall, Nick swiftly went in for the assault. He threw a solid punch into the air, which Linda luckily blocked with an arm. That's the time she had the opportunity to bury a fist into her opponent's guts and a pound at his shoulder.
Nick quickly recovered from the attack. Linda launched a punch ones more, though this moment Nick was ready for that. He snatched her wrist tightly and flipped her automatically to the ground. She groaned in pain when she hits the floor with a loud thud.
Lifting his other leg, he promptly brought it down hard aiming to squash Linda's face. Seeing what Nick was about to perform, she rolled away and got up just in time to prevent his shoe from making contact with her face.
She lashed out several punches and Nick dodged them easily. Then she heard Clark's voice inside her head.
"Can't-can't breathe. Need to get air. Help." Are the words that he tried to grumble out.
"Clark." Linda thought. Her eyes darting to him, who's still plastered to the wall, helplessly. He heard her clearly.
Both Clark and Linda are telepathically linked to each other. Though this telepathic communication only works if both parties are willing to accept messages from one another. They remembered that moment at the auditorium. It was Linda who Clark was talking to back there.
With a forceful round house kick, Linda was able to daze Nick temporarily. She followed that with a left and right hook punches which sent her enemy landing with his back to the floor.
"This is my chance." She told herself, turning away from Nick and started to blaze to help Clark with his dilemma.
Clark couldn't move a muscle. He was completely immobile in his condition. The substance that Nick let out hardened so much that he could no longer feel his legs and arms. He confirmed to himself that the substance seems to grow tighter and tighter on his skin. It seemed to be crushing him.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Linda running towards him. Though she was running fast in reality, from Clark's vision, most likely because of the oxygen shortage in his brain, it appears to him that she's running in slow motion.
With his powerful vision he saw how worried her face looked. He swore he saw tears leaving her blue eyes and disappearing into the air as mist, while her long blonde hair gliding gloriously in the wind.
"I'm not gonna lose you, Kal." She assured Clark, sending the message telepathically as she ran. Linda found herself crying. "Not again."
Her hopes of saving Clark were immediately shattered when Nick used his speed to block her. Linda had to stop.
He stood in front of her proud and tall, hands on his hips. Nick shook his head, clicked his tongue and asked her maliciously, "Oww, is that tears I see?"
With that Nick used the back of his hand and slapped her. The slap was so strong that it sent Linda twirling into the air a couple of times then landing to the earth, face down.
She could still feel the slap on her face. The landing was so strong that her body ached just the same.
"You know, Zor-El and Allura would be disappointed to see their precious daughter crying. And oh, Zaltar would be devastated too." Nick muttered taking small steps towards Linda.
Having a fragment of the Omegahedron in his brains, he was able to acquire the knowledge about the last moments of Argo, what happened before its destruction and stuff.
"Come to think of it, they wouldn't feel that way, cause they're DEAD!" He added with a small evil laugh, stressing on the word dead to enrage Linda. "You killed you parents, you killed your mentor, heck-you killed everyone in Argo city!"
"Bravo Linda! Bravo!" Nick clapped his hands vigorously, taunting the poor girl.
"I didn't!" Linda insisted, tears flowing out of her eyes. She was still on the ground, pondering what Nick was saying.
"Oh but you did." He informed, tucking his hands inside his pockets. Nick knelt down beside Linda. "Or have you forgotten about it, Kara Zor-El."
"No!" Though her arms were feeling weak, she used them as support to get her up. She sat on the floor and brushed her tears away.
"Remember your creation? The one that punched a hole in Argo's dome and sucked the Omegahedron out? Yep, that was all you Kara." Retorted Nick, talking under his breath like it was a big secret between him and Linda. "All your fault."
He was obviously feeding upon Linda's terrible guilt to her loved ones death. That is one of her weakness and Nick knew very well about it, to use it for his advantage.
"Stop it!" Linda raked her fingers through her hair as she continued to sob.
That fateful day came back to her thoughts vividly. The rumbling of the ground, structures falling down, people dying, her departure in a bubble ship, and finally, she wouldn't forget the explosion of Argo city.
She was very young when that happened, though still she could perfectly recall the exact event. Linda could recall looking down at her parents as the glass bubble ship continued to rise higher and higher from the launch pad. They we're all crying including old Zaltar.
As Linda was engulfed fully on her reminiscing and sad emotions, Nick picked up a rock that's been lying around the floor and aimed to smash it on the back of Linda's head.
"Watch out!" Clark warned her with his thoughts, struggling for breath, still.
It was too late though. The rock had hit Linda's head and she went down again. When she tried opening her eyes, her vision blurred unbelievably. It's like her entire world's spinning and she couldn't manage to stay focus.
The next thing she felt was Nick's hand pulling her by the hair. He was taking her somewhere in the foundry. She tried her best to grab hold of his hand to lessen the pain. Linda wanted to fight back but she couldn't. Her condition wouldn't let her do so.
Earlier she fought with Clark and now it's with Nick. The physical, mental and emotional torture was too much for her to handle. It's exhausting even for a girl with super powers like her. Not a good sign especially when your attacker is a 6'3 shape-shifting monster.
"Linda! Clark!" She heard Mrs. and Mr. Kent, Lena and Lex shouting repeatedly from outside the foundry. From their voices she can tell that they were worried.
As Nick dragged her by the hair, Linda noticed the sudden drop of strength she had left inside of her. They went passed Clark and to the dark corner of the foundry. There, a huge boulder of rock sits steadily.
He dropped to one knee and pounded a fist against the boulder. Coal like pieces chipped away from the rock, revealing its true natural form and color.
The color drained from Linda's face ones she grasped what the rock really is.
"Meteor rock." She was suddenly terrified. Looking at it seemed to worsen her condition.
Nick tightened his grip on the hair at the back of Linda's head.
"I did my homework." He advised moving his face closer to hers. "These meteor rocks makes your whole system go to hell."
With Linda's beautiful blonde hair and her pretty ceramic doll features, she screamed as Nick shoved her face closer to the boulder sized meteor rock. Greenish colored veins started to pop out of her façade quickly. He was taking pleasure, seeing Linda suffer from the effect of the meteor rocks.
"Don't worry, your boyfriend would join you there shortly." He added.
Angered by what he was witnessing, Clark used his heat vision to fracture his hardened ooze prison, open. It cracked and that was his chance to escape.
Clark summoned all his strength and blasts his way out. The glass like substance that laminated him crumbled instantly and he was ones more, free.
Nick turned his head to check on Clark while still shoving Linda's face to the meteor rock. Linda saw this opportunity to pull off a pointed wooden stake from the floor and hastily jabbed it on his stomach.
He howled in pain, stood up, as he tossed Linda away to attend to his wound. Clark rushed forward and let out a laser blast from his eyes, hitting his enemy at the head.
Nick wailed again, touching the gaping wound caused by the attack on Clark's part. Linda meanwhile, crawled as far as she could from the location of the boulder sized meteor rock. It was then she realized, employing her x-ray vision, that the whole foundry's surrounded by those rocks. Thankfully most of them buried deep under the ground.
She was back on her feet in no time and came running to be with Clark.
"Are you alright?" Clark asked after their hug. He caressed her face with full concern for Linda. She nodded in reply and was thankful Clark was ok too.
But their problems are far from over yet. Their enemy still lives.
Nick has had it with Clark and Linda. Furious, he attacked transforming his hands into long razor sharp claws.
He lashed out with his long arm and struck Clark at the temple. Clark went down, rolled across the deck and was up again. Nick reached for Linda. She ducked and shot a straight kick up into the raw place on his abdomen.
Nick used his speed, snatched Clark by the throat and snarled at him, threatening to bury his claws on his neck. Clark head butted Nick, sending him reeling backwards. He followed that with another punch and a kick, which Nick ducked with ease.
Linda charged and Nick was able to turn her attack against her and drove her down to the floor.
One after the other, his fingers clawed at her and clutched her, his feet steady, his weight fell on her and he tried to close his now pointed teeth on her flesh so he could have a taste of her. Linda pushed him off her.
Clark helped her. She took advantage of it immediately. In a second, she was on her feet and swinging. Her fist and heels met with flesh and bones.
The six-inch razor sharp claws were moving towards their head. They both ducked Nick's swipe. He had lunged, so his back was now exposed. Linda took advantage of this to land two kicks to his lower spinal region before he could take another shot.
Clark a added few punches for good measure just enough to daze their opponent off. Nick took a third swipe. Linda, this time, grabbed his arm and used the momentum of his swipe to flip him in a classic Aikido maneuver. Nick landed with a thud on his back.
Nick was fast and knocked both of them with a clever swipe from below. He was up ones more.
"Where we're we?" He asked, blood dripping from the wound on his head. "Oh yeah, you guys were about to die!"
Nick swung his clawed fingers, which they blocked with their arms. He was surprised that the claws didn't even inflict a wound on them. Only their clothes were torn, the part they used to block his attack. They didn't spill a single drop of blood.
Outraged, he picked them up and clanked their forehead together. Linda sat back on the ground dizzied by the experience, though Clark staggered on his feet.
Nick drove him to the wall with his superb speed. Clark was already weary from throwing and receiving punches. He felt absolutely dead tired, not to mention that he's still dazed.
"Kal, the Omegahedron." Clark received the message from Linda's thoughts. "It's inside his head."
Clark doesn't have the slightest idea what Linda was telling him. He hasn't heard of a thing called the Omegahedron. Narrowing his eyes, for focus, he concentrated and looked through Nick's head.
His vision passed through his skin, the muscles under it, the skull, and alas inside his brain. A glowing light was coming from a shard of glass and appeared to be implanted from within Nick's brain.
"That-that must be the Omegahedron." He thought, all the while receiving a left and right punch from Nick.
"Take it out! Destroy it!" Linda informed Clark as she got back to her feet, rubbing her aching temples. She wasn't ready to attack.
Clark only thought of one way to get the Omegahedron out, and it ain't pretty. Shock registered on Nick's face as Clark held him back by the throat and rammed his left hand inside the gaping wound caused by his laser blast, earlier.
He screamed as he felt Clark's huge digits penetrating his already cracked skull and deep into his soft jelly like brain. Blood began to drip and squirt out of his head.
With only his x-ray vision to guide him, he was able to close his fingers on the shard of Omegahedron. Nick shrieked in total pain when Clark pulled the shard off of him.
Linda grimaced when she saw what Clark did to him. Nick's lifeless body collapsed to the ground, with his eyes wide opened.
Clark stood, back against the wall, holding the piece of the Omegahedron in between his fingers. He saw Linda coming for him, with her eyes gazing on Nick and back at him. She was sad for some reason over Nick's death.
"Another victim of the meteor. Another victim of the Omegahedron." Linda told herself, moving for Clark.
Clark enveloped her in a hug when she got near him. Linda buried her face on Clark's muscular chest. He heard her sobbing and sniffing. She was still crying.
The shard of the Omegahedron continued to glow in Clark's fingers. He recalled Linda asking him to take it out and destroy it.
With an effortless move, he closed his fingers and crushed the shining thing. It emitted a very faint light and was instantly gone. The only thing that remained on his fingers were the glitter like particles from the Omegahedron.
"Shssh. It's alright." Clark comforted, kissing Linda's head while his arms still wrapped around her. "It's over."
The moment Clark destroyed the Omegahedron, was the time when the energy dome barrier outside the foundry was broken. The door creak open and he saw his parents, Lex together with Lena, coming in.
Before they were joined by the group, Clark assured Linda again with a tender whisper.
"It's over."
Additional: Can anyone tell me if Clark's already found the fortress of solitude in the present Smallville series there? We're still stuck with Season 1 in this friggin' country. Just saw the invisible guy episode last Tuesday. Talk about delayed?! Please inform me about that in full description (pretty -with -cherry-on-top-with-chocolate-chip-and-sprinkles- please?)
Chapter Nineteen
"Better." Commented Nick with a devilish grin. Taking pleasure with Clark's pitiful condition
Before Linda could go ahead and save Clark from his bondage from the concrete foundry wall, Nick swiftly went in for the assault. He threw a solid punch into the air, which Linda luckily blocked with an arm. That's the time she had the opportunity to bury a fist into her opponent's guts and a pound at his shoulder.
Nick quickly recovered from the attack. Linda launched a punch ones more, though this moment Nick was ready for that. He snatched her wrist tightly and flipped her automatically to the ground. She groaned in pain when she hits the floor with a loud thud.
Lifting his other leg, he promptly brought it down hard aiming to squash Linda's face. Seeing what Nick was about to perform, she rolled away and got up just in time to prevent his shoe from making contact with her face.
She lashed out several punches and Nick dodged them easily. Then she heard Clark's voice inside her head.
"Can't-can't breathe. Need to get air. Help." Are the words that he tried to grumble out.
"Clark." Linda thought. Her eyes darting to him, who's still plastered to the wall, helplessly. He heard her clearly.
Both Clark and Linda are telepathically linked to each other. Though this telepathic communication only works if both parties are willing to accept messages from one another. They remembered that moment at the auditorium. It was Linda who Clark was talking to back there.
With a forceful round house kick, Linda was able to daze Nick temporarily. She followed that with a left and right hook punches which sent her enemy landing with his back to the floor.
"This is my chance." She told herself, turning away from Nick and started to blaze to help Clark with his dilemma.
Clark couldn't move a muscle. He was completely immobile in his condition. The substance that Nick let out hardened so much that he could no longer feel his legs and arms. He confirmed to himself that the substance seems to grow tighter and tighter on his skin. It seemed to be crushing him.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Linda running towards him. Though she was running fast in reality, from Clark's vision, most likely because of the oxygen shortage in his brain, it appears to him that she's running in slow motion.
With his powerful vision he saw how worried her face looked. He swore he saw tears leaving her blue eyes and disappearing into the air as mist, while her long blonde hair gliding gloriously in the wind.
"I'm not gonna lose you, Kal." She assured Clark, sending the message telepathically as she ran. Linda found herself crying. "Not again."
Her hopes of saving Clark were immediately shattered when Nick used his speed to block her. Linda had to stop.
He stood in front of her proud and tall, hands on his hips. Nick shook his head, clicked his tongue and asked her maliciously, "Oww, is that tears I see?"
With that Nick used the back of his hand and slapped her. The slap was so strong that it sent Linda twirling into the air a couple of times then landing to the earth, face down.
She could still feel the slap on her face. The landing was so strong that her body ached just the same.
"You know, Zor-El and Allura would be disappointed to see their precious daughter crying. And oh, Zaltar would be devastated too." Nick muttered taking small steps towards Linda.
Having a fragment of the Omegahedron in his brains, he was able to acquire the knowledge about the last moments of Argo, what happened before its destruction and stuff.
"Come to think of it, they wouldn't feel that way, cause they're DEAD!" He added with a small evil laugh, stressing on the word dead to enrage Linda. "You killed you parents, you killed your mentor, heck-you killed everyone in Argo city!"
"Bravo Linda! Bravo!" Nick clapped his hands vigorously, taunting the poor girl.
"I didn't!" Linda insisted, tears flowing out of her eyes. She was still on the ground, pondering what Nick was saying.
"Oh but you did." He informed, tucking his hands inside his pockets. Nick knelt down beside Linda. "Or have you forgotten about it, Kara Zor-El."
"No!" Though her arms were feeling weak, she used them as support to get her up. She sat on the floor and brushed her tears away.
"Remember your creation? The one that punched a hole in Argo's dome and sucked the Omegahedron out? Yep, that was all you Kara." Retorted Nick, talking under his breath like it was a big secret between him and Linda. "All your fault."
He was obviously feeding upon Linda's terrible guilt to her loved ones death. That is one of her weakness and Nick knew very well about it, to use it for his advantage.
"Stop it!" Linda raked her fingers through her hair as she continued to sob.
That fateful day came back to her thoughts vividly. The rumbling of the ground, structures falling down, people dying, her departure in a bubble ship, and finally, she wouldn't forget the explosion of Argo city.
She was very young when that happened, though still she could perfectly recall the exact event. Linda could recall looking down at her parents as the glass bubble ship continued to rise higher and higher from the launch pad. They we're all crying including old Zaltar.
As Linda was engulfed fully on her reminiscing and sad emotions, Nick picked up a rock that's been lying around the floor and aimed to smash it on the back of Linda's head.
"Watch out!" Clark warned her with his thoughts, struggling for breath, still.
It was too late though. The rock had hit Linda's head and she went down again. When she tried opening her eyes, her vision blurred unbelievably. It's like her entire world's spinning and she couldn't manage to stay focus.
The next thing she felt was Nick's hand pulling her by the hair. He was taking her somewhere in the foundry. She tried her best to grab hold of his hand to lessen the pain. Linda wanted to fight back but she couldn't. Her condition wouldn't let her do so.
Earlier she fought with Clark and now it's with Nick. The physical, mental and emotional torture was too much for her to handle. It's exhausting even for a girl with super powers like her. Not a good sign especially when your attacker is a 6'3 shape-shifting monster.
"Linda! Clark!" She heard Mrs. and Mr. Kent, Lena and Lex shouting repeatedly from outside the foundry. From their voices she can tell that they were worried.
As Nick dragged her by the hair, Linda noticed the sudden drop of strength she had left inside of her. They went passed Clark and to the dark corner of the foundry. There, a huge boulder of rock sits steadily.
He dropped to one knee and pounded a fist against the boulder. Coal like pieces chipped away from the rock, revealing its true natural form and color.
The color drained from Linda's face ones she grasped what the rock really is.
"Meteor rock." She was suddenly terrified. Looking at it seemed to worsen her condition.
Nick tightened his grip on the hair at the back of Linda's head.
"I did my homework." He advised moving his face closer to hers. "These meteor rocks makes your whole system go to hell."
With Linda's beautiful blonde hair and her pretty ceramic doll features, she screamed as Nick shoved her face closer to the boulder sized meteor rock. Greenish colored veins started to pop out of her façade quickly. He was taking pleasure, seeing Linda suffer from the effect of the meteor rocks.
"Don't worry, your boyfriend would join you there shortly." He added.
Angered by what he was witnessing, Clark used his heat vision to fracture his hardened ooze prison, open. It cracked and that was his chance to escape.
Clark summoned all his strength and blasts his way out. The glass like substance that laminated him crumbled instantly and he was ones more, free.
Nick turned his head to check on Clark while still shoving Linda's face to the meteor rock. Linda saw this opportunity to pull off a pointed wooden stake from the floor and hastily jabbed it on his stomach.
He howled in pain, stood up, as he tossed Linda away to attend to his wound. Clark rushed forward and let out a laser blast from his eyes, hitting his enemy at the head.
Nick wailed again, touching the gaping wound caused by the attack on Clark's part. Linda meanwhile, crawled as far as she could from the location of the boulder sized meteor rock. It was then she realized, employing her x-ray vision, that the whole foundry's surrounded by those rocks. Thankfully most of them buried deep under the ground.
She was back on her feet in no time and came running to be with Clark.
"Are you alright?" Clark asked after their hug. He caressed her face with full concern for Linda. She nodded in reply and was thankful Clark was ok too.
But their problems are far from over yet. Their enemy still lives.
Nick has had it with Clark and Linda. Furious, he attacked transforming his hands into long razor sharp claws.
He lashed out with his long arm and struck Clark at the temple. Clark went down, rolled across the deck and was up again. Nick reached for Linda. She ducked and shot a straight kick up into the raw place on his abdomen.
Nick used his speed, snatched Clark by the throat and snarled at him, threatening to bury his claws on his neck. Clark head butted Nick, sending him reeling backwards. He followed that with another punch and a kick, which Nick ducked with ease.
Linda charged and Nick was able to turn her attack against her and drove her down to the floor.
One after the other, his fingers clawed at her and clutched her, his feet steady, his weight fell on her and he tried to close his now pointed teeth on her flesh so he could have a taste of her. Linda pushed him off her.
Clark helped her. She took advantage of it immediately. In a second, she was on her feet and swinging. Her fist and heels met with flesh and bones.
The six-inch razor sharp claws were moving towards their head. They both ducked Nick's swipe. He had lunged, so his back was now exposed. Linda took advantage of this to land two kicks to his lower spinal region before he could take another shot.
Clark a added few punches for good measure just enough to daze their opponent off. Nick took a third swipe. Linda, this time, grabbed his arm and used the momentum of his swipe to flip him in a classic Aikido maneuver. Nick landed with a thud on his back.
Nick was fast and knocked both of them with a clever swipe from below. He was up ones more.
"Where we're we?" He asked, blood dripping from the wound on his head. "Oh yeah, you guys were about to die!"
Nick swung his clawed fingers, which they blocked with their arms. He was surprised that the claws didn't even inflict a wound on them. Only their clothes were torn, the part they used to block his attack. They didn't spill a single drop of blood.
Outraged, he picked them up and clanked their forehead together. Linda sat back on the ground dizzied by the experience, though Clark staggered on his feet.
Nick drove him to the wall with his superb speed. Clark was already weary from throwing and receiving punches. He felt absolutely dead tired, not to mention that he's still dazed.
"Kal, the Omegahedron." Clark received the message from Linda's thoughts. "It's inside his head."
Clark doesn't have the slightest idea what Linda was telling him. He hasn't heard of a thing called the Omegahedron. Narrowing his eyes, for focus, he concentrated and looked through Nick's head.
His vision passed through his skin, the muscles under it, the skull, and alas inside his brain. A glowing light was coming from a shard of glass and appeared to be implanted from within Nick's brain.
"That-that must be the Omegahedron." He thought, all the while receiving a left and right punch from Nick.
"Take it out! Destroy it!" Linda informed Clark as she got back to her feet, rubbing her aching temples. She wasn't ready to attack.
Clark only thought of one way to get the Omegahedron out, and it ain't pretty. Shock registered on Nick's face as Clark held him back by the throat and rammed his left hand inside the gaping wound caused by his laser blast, earlier.
He screamed as he felt Clark's huge digits penetrating his already cracked skull and deep into his soft jelly like brain. Blood began to drip and squirt out of his head.
With only his x-ray vision to guide him, he was able to close his fingers on the shard of Omegahedron. Nick shrieked in total pain when Clark pulled the shard off of him.
Linda grimaced when she saw what Clark did to him. Nick's lifeless body collapsed to the ground, with his eyes wide opened.
Clark stood, back against the wall, holding the piece of the Omegahedron in between his fingers. He saw Linda coming for him, with her eyes gazing on Nick and back at him. She was sad for some reason over Nick's death.
"Another victim of the meteor. Another victim of the Omegahedron." Linda told herself, moving for Clark.
Clark enveloped her in a hug when she got near him. Linda buried her face on Clark's muscular chest. He heard her sobbing and sniffing. She was still crying.
The shard of the Omegahedron continued to glow in Clark's fingers. He recalled Linda asking him to take it out and destroy it.
With an effortless move, he closed his fingers and crushed the shining thing. It emitted a very faint light and was instantly gone. The only thing that remained on his fingers were the glitter like particles from the Omegahedron.
"Shssh. It's alright." Clark comforted, kissing Linda's head while his arms still wrapped around her. "It's over."
The moment Clark destroyed the Omegahedron, was the time when the energy dome barrier outside the foundry was broken. The door creak open and he saw his parents, Lex together with Lena, coming in.
Before they were joined by the group, Clark assured Linda again with a tender whisper.
"It's over."