Part 5
Clark took off for a brisk walk outside his hometown. He had been around the area thrice when sounds of whimpers and moans reached his ears. He immediately searched his surroundings and found it empty. He used his enhanced vision and found a family of five struggling over the bridge, the smallest child at the brink of falling off.
Taking off his flannel shirt and revealing the suit he had been using to hide his identity in Metropolis, he raced towards them and caught the child before he hit the water. And then he flew up to the screaming relatives and handed the child to his mother.
"Superman. You're Superman," the teenage girl said as she tearfully approached him. "Thank you for saving my brother. We thought you were just a Metropolis legend."
He smiled reassuringly at them and asked, "What are you all doing out at this hour? It's unsafe, especially with kids along."
"We were evicted. Lex Luthor took our farm and we have nowhere to go to."
"Lex Luthor is in Metropolis. That's not possible."
"Superman, Lex Luthor has employees," another of the children retorted, cold, tired and short of patience.
Clark frowned. "Where is your farm?" He was pointed towards the opposite direction. "I'll take your somewhere safe and warm in the meantime." One by one, he flew them to the Sullivan house, asking Martha and Jonathan to make room for them in their farm later. It amazed him how easy it was. Gabe was busy speaking with someone on the phone so he didn't see him. And neither Lana nor Pete recognized him.
He then went over to the farm surrounded by LexCorp employees. He hovered above them when he felt the strange weakening of all his muscles. Before falling down, he flew away and changed into his normal clothes. He walked towards the area, making sure to stay out in a range where he still felt strong enough.
"Hey!" he called out, seeking to catch the attention of the guy who seemed like the head of the operations. "Over here."
The man with the brightest orange of all the hard hats frowned at the intrusion. "What is it? We're under deadline." Still he walked over to Clark. "Can we help you?"
"What's going on here? You can't just take control of someone's home abruptly, and in the night no less."
The man removed a piece of folded paper from his breast pocket and presented it to Clark. "This is a public document. A copy was given to the family three months ago. They should have vacated the property last month at the latest. Mr. Luthor was kind enough to extend their stay, but we need the property now."
"Mr. Luthor has lands of his own. What's so important about this one?"
"Look, if you have a problem with this you call LexCorp. My team is under a strict schedule. We're just doing out jobs."
Frustrated, Clark headed back to the dinner party. It was the throbbing pain in his head that alerted him to certain movements outside the house. Vaguely, he heard some of the children scamper to the window and point to a large dark truck passing the street. It was the same truck in the farm earlier. Coupled by the fact that he was nauseous enough that he wanted to hurl, Clark correctly deducted what Lex needed from the farm.
"Are you alright, son?"
He gritted his teeth at the pain that his father's compassionate pat on his back sent. Clark's spine felt so brittle that it would crack at contact. Soon, the truck had wheeled a distance enough for Clark to recover his senses.
"Are you okay, Clark?"
He looked up at the lovely doe eyes of Lana, and gazed at all the eyes trained on him with concern. "Yes, yes," he stammered. "Gas."
Pete smirked, although he had been concerned earlier. Only meteor rocks had that effect on Clark. But if he were to press the matter, people who were not supposed to know would be suspicious.
~~
Behind the glass partition, Lex Luthor watched as the team of scientist lifted the final formula-one vial from the tons of meteor rocks excavated. It had cost him four million in two weeks, but this was the day. They had tested the effects of the meteor radiation on living organisms, and worked their way until they could revive animals they have exposed and caused to fall into comas.
It had been a harrowing two weeks. Lex had been incensed in the first days, when each of the small laboratory animals would get killed after exposure. Worse yet, those who did not die from extended enclosure with the rocks would die after being given the earliest formula.
Until they were able to develop the solution that was the answer for it all. Apparently, all they needed was to add the liquefied and thinned meteor rock to the formula. It made sense. The history of vaccination told them to introduce a corrupted version of the very thing you wanted the body to fight. In this case, to jar someone awake from the effects of radiation, instead of continuing to try and take away all the foreign materials that caused it in the first place, the same cause should be pushed into the system.
The arduous process of perfecting the ratio, heat and viscosity of the final fluid took several days where it should have been done months. Lex Luthor wanted the job done and he wanted it done fast. But before he even dared to try it on Chloe, he had to try the same formula and see its effects first on mice, then on cats and finally on chimpanzees. But it hadn't been enough. The animals survived. But Lex Luthor never thought anything was too safe with regards to this particular project.
The formula had to be tested on a human first.
And unlike the Green Goblin, he wasn't stupid enough to test it on himself. He was rich enough to command the forceful testing on others.
When it was done, and he was assured that the formula would work and was safe, he sent all the employees of the building home. His team of scientists would receive their large pay in their bank accounts. Lex took the vial and slipped it into his coat pocket. And then he proceeded to the floor below his office and entered the latest sequence he had his programmers developed for this very occasion.
"Bliss Sequence Number 999 engaging. Thank you for using, Mr. Luthor. Welcome to the end of Bliss."
The dark room burst into brilliant light, imitating the outdoors on a sunny afternoon. He squinted and waited for the wavering figure. Several yards away from him, she solidified, standing among the tall sunflowers that reached up to her waist. She was laughing and waving him over.
Lex almost ran towards her. He caught her up by the waist and whirled her around and around. Chloe threw her head back in abandon as she grabbed at his shoulders. "You came!"
"Would I have missed it when you plastered notes all over my office reminding me to meet you here?"
"They were a little in your face, weren't they?" she agreed, grinning.
Lex dropped a kiss on her nose. "The moment I stepped off the car my phone alerted me that I was supposed to come here."
Chloe chuckled. "Mad?"
"Never." He pulled her with him to a spot where they could sit without getting strangled by the sunflowers. When he reached the place, there was already a blanket spread there, with a basket of snacks. "Lunch?"
Chloe leaned against him, his body warm on her back, both his legs pressing close to hers. Absently, she reached back and fed him breadsticks, and he savored them so much that his tongue lapped at the crumbs on her fingers. "Life can't get anymore beautiful than this, can it, Lex?"
His lips nuzzling her ear, he responded, "Life can always get better, Chloe. Especially with me."
She smiled at the thought. "You will never be content with what you already have, would you?"
"I will be. Not yet though. But I'm working on it. And I will take you with me." He ran his fingers through the soft blonde hair. He brought a few strands up to his nose and smelled the scent. The geeks got the scent perfectly this time. "Come tomorrow," he promised, "I have a surprise for you. I know you'll love it."
Chloe turned in his arms and met his gaze eagerly. "I know!"
"I don't think you do," he murmured.
She swatted him on the arm. "You're finally going to answer me, aren't you? You're going to agree. We're going to have another baby!"
He pulled her close and pressed his lips on her temple. "We'll have as many children as you want. You can have houses, cities, newspaper companies. You can have the entire world! Whatever you want, Chloe. And it all starts tomorrow."
Clark took off for a brisk walk outside his hometown. He had been around the area thrice when sounds of whimpers and moans reached his ears. He immediately searched his surroundings and found it empty. He used his enhanced vision and found a family of five struggling over the bridge, the smallest child at the brink of falling off.
Taking off his flannel shirt and revealing the suit he had been using to hide his identity in Metropolis, he raced towards them and caught the child before he hit the water. And then he flew up to the screaming relatives and handed the child to his mother.
"Superman. You're Superman," the teenage girl said as she tearfully approached him. "Thank you for saving my brother. We thought you were just a Metropolis legend."
He smiled reassuringly at them and asked, "What are you all doing out at this hour? It's unsafe, especially with kids along."
"We were evicted. Lex Luthor took our farm and we have nowhere to go to."
"Lex Luthor is in Metropolis. That's not possible."
"Superman, Lex Luthor has employees," another of the children retorted, cold, tired and short of patience.
Clark frowned. "Where is your farm?" He was pointed towards the opposite direction. "I'll take your somewhere safe and warm in the meantime." One by one, he flew them to the Sullivan house, asking Martha and Jonathan to make room for them in their farm later. It amazed him how easy it was. Gabe was busy speaking with someone on the phone so he didn't see him. And neither Lana nor Pete recognized him.
He then went over to the farm surrounded by LexCorp employees. He hovered above them when he felt the strange weakening of all his muscles. Before falling down, he flew away and changed into his normal clothes. He walked towards the area, making sure to stay out in a range where he still felt strong enough.
"Hey!" he called out, seeking to catch the attention of the guy who seemed like the head of the operations. "Over here."
The man with the brightest orange of all the hard hats frowned at the intrusion. "What is it? We're under deadline." Still he walked over to Clark. "Can we help you?"
"What's going on here? You can't just take control of someone's home abruptly, and in the night no less."
The man removed a piece of folded paper from his breast pocket and presented it to Clark. "This is a public document. A copy was given to the family three months ago. They should have vacated the property last month at the latest. Mr. Luthor was kind enough to extend their stay, but we need the property now."
"Mr. Luthor has lands of his own. What's so important about this one?"
"Look, if you have a problem with this you call LexCorp. My team is under a strict schedule. We're just doing out jobs."
Frustrated, Clark headed back to the dinner party. It was the throbbing pain in his head that alerted him to certain movements outside the house. Vaguely, he heard some of the children scamper to the window and point to a large dark truck passing the street. It was the same truck in the farm earlier. Coupled by the fact that he was nauseous enough that he wanted to hurl, Clark correctly deducted what Lex needed from the farm.
"Are you alright, son?"
He gritted his teeth at the pain that his father's compassionate pat on his back sent. Clark's spine felt so brittle that it would crack at contact. Soon, the truck had wheeled a distance enough for Clark to recover his senses.
"Are you okay, Clark?"
He looked up at the lovely doe eyes of Lana, and gazed at all the eyes trained on him with concern. "Yes, yes," he stammered. "Gas."
Pete smirked, although he had been concerned earlier. Only meteor rocks had that effect on Clark. But if he were to press the matter, people who were not supposed to know would be suspicious.
~~
Behind the glass partition, Lex Luthor watched as the team of scientist lifted the final formula-one vial from the tons of meteor rocks excavated. It had cost him four million in two weeks, but this was the day. They had tested the effects of the meteor radiation on living organisms, and worked their way until they could revive animals they have exposed and caused to fall into comas.
It had been a harrowing two weeks. Lex had been incensed in the first days, when each of the small laboratory animals would get killed after exposure. Worse yet, those who did not die from extended enclosure with the rocks would die after being given the earliest formula.
Until they were able to develop the solution that was the answer for it all. Apparently, all they needed was to add the liquefied and thinned meteor rock to the formula. It made sense. The history of vaccination told them to introduce a corrupted version of the very thing you wanted the body to fight. In this case, to jar someone awake from the effects of radiation, instead of continuing to try and take away all the foreign materials that caused it in the first place, the same cause should be pushed into the system.
The arduous process of perfecting the ratio, heat and viscosity of the final fluid took several days where it should have been done months. Lex Luthor wanted the job done and he wanted it done fast. But before he even dared to try it on Chloe, he had to try the same formula and see its effects first on mice, then on cats and finally on chimpanzees. But it hadn't been enough. The animals survived. But Lex Luthor never thought anything was too safe with regards to this particular project.
The formula had to be tested on a human first.
And unlike the Green Goblin, he wasn't stupid enough to test it on himself. He was rich enough to command the forceful testing on others.
When it was done, and he was assured that the formula would work and was safe, he sent all the employees of the building home. His team of scientists would receive their large pay in their bank accounts. Lex took the vial and slipped it into his coat pocket. And then he proceeded to the floor below his office and entered the latest sequence he had his programmers developed for this very occasion.
"Bliss Sequence Number 999 engaging. Thank you for using, Mr. Luthor. Welcome to the end of Bliss."
The dark room burst into brilliant light, imitating the outdoors on a sunny afternoon. He squinted and waited for the wavering figure. Several yards away from him, she solidified, standing among the tall sunflowers that reached up to her waist. She was laughing and waving him over.
Lex almost ran towards her. He caught her up by the waist and whirled her around and around. Chloe threw her head back in abandon as she grabbed at his shoulders. "You came!"
"Would I have missed it when you plastered notes all over my office reminding me to meet you here?"
"They were a little in your face, weren't they?" she agreed, grinning.
Lex dropped a kiss on her nose. "The moment I stepped off the car my phone alerted me that I was supposed to come here."
Chloe chuckled. "Mad?"
"Never." He pulled her with him to a spot where they could sit without getting strangled by the sunflowers. When he reached the place, there was already a blanket spread there, with a basket of snacks. "Lunch?"
Chloe leaned against him, his body warm on her back, both his legs pressing close to hers. Absently, she reached back and fed him breadsticks, and he savored them so much that his tongue lapped at the crumbs on her fingers. "Life can't get anymore beautiful than this, can it, Lex?"
His lips nuzzling her ear, he responded, "Life can always get better, Chloe. Especially with me."
She smiled at the thought. "You will never be content with what you already have, would you?"
"I will be. Not yet though. But I'm working on it. And I will take you with me." He ran his fingers through the soft blonde hair. He brought a few strands up to his nose and smelled the scent. The geeks got the scent perfectly this time. "Come tomorrow," he promised, "I have a surprise for you. I know you'll love it."
Chloe turned in his arms and met his gaze eagerly. "I know!"
"I don't think you do," he murmured.
She swatted him on the arm. "You're finally going to answer me, aren't you? You're going to agree. We're going to have another baby!"
He pulled her close and pressed his lips on her temple. "We'll have as many children as you want. You can have houses, cities, newspaper companies. You can have the entire world! Whatever you want, Chloe. And it all starts tomorrow."