Part 8
"I just love old home week, don't you guys?" asked Eric.
"Eric," Clark said in surprise, "what are you doing here?!"
"I just had a little chat with Lionel Luthor. I was going to kill him do you believe that? I had never killed anyone before, but that evil bastard pushed me right to the edge, you know. He promised me a whole lot of money though and convinced me that the real source of my anger was you Kent. This whole thing started with you and he said you had all of the answers I was looking for. I settled for breaking his arms and legs. After tonight I just may work myself up to still killing him, though, because I'm definitely not going to leave here without a little blood on my hands. I was coming over here to grab one of your parents, hoping to draw you out, and then I saw little miss Lana here coming into the barn. I had no idea you were home. Now she's just icing on the cake.
"Turn loose of her, Eric" Clark said quietly.
"I don't think so Clark. I think you need to lose something like I lost something. You need to know how it feels when someone messes in your life uninvited."
"Careful, Clark," Pete said. "He's got his powers back."
Clark nodded his head briefly still looking at Eric.
"I wasn't making a request, Eric. Turn her loose. Now."
Pete looked at Clark when he spoke. This wasn't the Clark Kent he knew. The shy peacemaker. This was someone who was used to being obeyed. Someone who could make you obey. Turning his gaze back toward Eric, Pete caught a look that made him think that Eric could see the same thing.
"Say goodbye to your girlfriend, Clark."
Eric had been looking Clark in the eyes when he began to choke Lana. For a second he thought they glowed. The next thing he knew incredible pain lanced though the arm he was using to throttle Lana. Screaming he dropped her to the ground and staggered back clutching at his arm.
Smoke was issuing from his jacket and his sleeve had been cut through leaving a gaping wound in his arm. The pain was horrific, but the wound was already starting to close.
In a deadly calm voice Clark spoke to Pete without taking his eyes off Eric.
"Take Lana and get out of here Pete."
Lana had quickly stumbled away from Eric when he dropped her and was now rubbing her neck trying to catch her breath. She looked up when Clark said this.
"We can't leave you, Clark!"
"I'll be Ok, Lana. Eric and I just need to have a little discussion about power and responsibility. Get her out of here, Pete. I'll be fine. I promise."
Pete didn't wait for the conversation to begin again. He grabbed Lana's arm and started pulling her down the stairs.
"Come on Lana. He's in more danger if he's distracted by us than if he's by himself."
Lana opened her mouth to reply and then shut it. She ran behind him out the door no longer resisting.
"How far do you think they'll get, Clark? You obviously have a neat little power there, but I think you forget who has super speed here. "
In the blink of an eye Eric disappeared as he began to accelerate toward the door of the barn. He never made it. Fifteen feet from the door Eric learned what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object.
He was close-lined while moving at just under the speed of sound and the impact knocked him on his back.
"No, Eric," Clark said calmly looking down at the stunned boy, "I haven't forgotten at all."
************************************
Lana and Pete had gotten almost to the house when she pulled him to a stop.
"What can Clark do against Eric, Pete? Eric hurt him once before. How is now different?"
Pete's reply was interrupted by Eric's extremely loud and involuntary exit through the wall of the barn. He bounced several times before coming to rest at the edge of the pasture.
"Oh, I don't know." Pete said. "I'm sure he'll think of something. I just hope his father doesn't kill him for making that hole in the barn."
He grabbed Lana's arm and continued pulling the stunned girl toward the house. They ran into Thomas who was coming back out.
"What the hell is going on? I heard some kind of crash."
"It's Eric," Pete told him, "He and Clark are fighting out behind the barn."
Thomas stood frozen in thought for a second and then wheeled around heading back into the house.
"Stay in the house," he called over his shoulder, "I've got an idea."
********************************
"Give it up, Eric." Clark continued in that same deadly calm voice as he walked toward the boy struggling to his feet. "I'm not sure how you got your powers back, but trust me. They're last year's model. You don't stand a chance."
"Well, you seem to have gotten all kinds of powers since we last met. Doesn't change anything though. I'm still going to kill you."
Eric screamed and launched himself at Clark who suddenly was no longer there. Eric spun around trying to find his foe and caught a right hook full in the face. He went down. Hard. 50 yards from where he had been standing taking several fence posts with him.
He slowly got to his feet shaking his head trying to regain his senses only to be hit in the chest full force by a steel hard shoulder moving at mach two.
This time when he tried to get up he felt a weight place itself between his shoulder blades and he was forced to lie flat on the ground.
"No, Eric," he heard Clark say. "I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to humiliate you, but I won't let you keep this fight going. Stay down."
Eric remained still breathing loudly for a moment and then suddenly jerked sideways dislodging Clark's foot from his back and rolling to his feet.
"I'm not sure how you're able to do this Clark, but I'm not stopping until one of us is dead."
"Eric, what's wrong with you? You're not behaving rationally."
"A freaking bomb went off in my head a few hours ago, Clark. That kind of thing brings a whole new perspective to life."
He slammed into Clark sending them both back toward the barn. Clark grabbed Eric's shirt and managed to throw him backwards and away from him.
"Eric, I don't want to hurt you," Clark pleaded.
"But I want to hurt you!" Eric screamed.
"Ahem, perhaps I can break this stalemate," said a voice from behind Eric.
Spinning around he saw the stranger from a few days ago.
"You!" he shouted.
Thomas stood there holding Toby the old barn cat in one arm and a hand scythe in the other.
"Here, catch," he said as he tossed Toby to Eric with one hand and launched the scythe into the air with the other.
Eric caught the cat out of instinct, but immediately began to feel an intense pain run through his body. That's when he noticed the meteor rock tied around the cat's neck. Before he could react to it he was distracted by a shower of sparks and a sharp snapping sound from above. Looking up he saw that the scythe had severed the electric line running to the barn and one end was falling toward him.
The electricity arched through his body for an instant and he dropped the cat, which let out a startled meow and launched itself toward the barn almost before its paws touched the ground.
Eric lay on the ground twitching for an instant and then fell unconscious.
"What did you do to him?" Clark asked walking toward Eric's still smoking body.
"Well, if I read the report right I believe he'll wake up with a taste for mice and the ability to create furballs. He shouldn't be invulnerable anymore though."
"What?!"
"When I first found out who he was I took the opportunity to capitalize on a direct link to the LuthorCorp system through their watchdog program on the Torch's computer. It was a bit tricky, but I was able to track down a report by a Dr. Stephens outlining his theory on how Eric's DNA was malleable and how he could adopt the DNA of others in the presence of a meteor rock and massive amounts of electricity. Since he's unconscious I would say the good doctor may have a winner."
"Now I suggest we call the police. They're probably wondering what happened to good Ol' Eric and I really do need to get some sleep before I leave in the morning."
****************************
The next morning after Thomas had showered and dressed he headed downstairs with his bags. The entire Kent household waited to bid their goodbyes. Waiting with warm smiles they froze in place when he came to the bottom of the stairs.
"What happened to your hair?" Clark asked pointing at Thomas' now dark hair color.
"Didn't seem to be a reason to keep the blonde look anymore."
"Huh?"
"I'll tell you all about it sometime," Thomas answered turning to the elder Kents. "Jonathan, Martha it's been a pleasure being here the past few days. Despite the madness it reminded me of some happier times. Thank you."
"Thank you, Thomas," Martha said leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek.
"And feel free to visit anytime," Jonathan added shaking Thomas' hand.
Thomas turned to Clark and held out his hand.
"I'm sure we'll meet again in the future, Clark. Until then, take care of yourself."
"You too," Clark replied shaking the offered hand, "and thank you again for making me think about what's important."
"I'm just glad you survived your talk with Lana last night," Thomas said smiling.
Looking over at the scowl that appeared on his father's face Clark said, "Don't remind me, or him anyway."
Thomas laughed, hugged Martha again and went out the door.
*************************
A few days later after everything had settled down and life had started to return to normal the Kent family was finally able to share some time together while sitting on their front porch. The calm of the morning though was interrupted by the arrival of a blue Ford Taurus coming up the driveway.
When it reached the house it came to a stop and a tall man dressed in khaki slacks, blue dress shirt and a brown sports coat got out.
"Good morning sir, how are you today?" he greeted. "Would you happen to be Mr. Jonathan Kent?"
"Yes sir," Jonathan answered, "what can I do for you?
"My name is Phillip Walters and I represent McGugill Laboratories. We do research into organic growing techniques and would like to offer you a grant project."
"A grant project? What kind of grant project?" Jonathan asked.
"We understand that you do a small organic produce business from your farm here and we would like to offer you funding and access to the latest research and equipment. All at no cost to you of course."
"Thank you Mr. Wa." Jonathan started, but Walters interrupted him before he could finish.
"You and your family would of course be given final say so over all projects as to whether or not they would be implemented. And you would have final decision making input into the actual implementation as well. We would offer nothing but funding, information, equipment and advice. No interference whatsoever, and you could call a halt to the project at anytime."
"Sounds too good to be true," Clark said somewhat suspiciously.
"Yes," added Jonathan, "it does. Do you give out many of these grants, Mr. Walters?"
"Actually, sir in all honesty this is our first. It sounded somewhat strange to us as well, but I myself received the call from the owner of our parent company just yesterday morning and it was he who outlined the parameters of the grant. He even arranged for the funding through our parent company himself. He said to let you know that he would pay for whatever lawyers you wished to have look over the deal and assure its legitimacy, but he seemed to think it wouldn't be a problem. He even sent a personal note by courier and asked that I give it to you."
Mr. Walter's reached into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope with a stylized "W" on the outside, which he handed to Jonathan.
Jonathan opened the letter and read it quietly to himself a small smile crossing his face as he did so.
Dear Jonathan,
I know I once told you I wouldn't ask you to blindly trust me, but trust me. This offer is genuine. The Luthors already have too much of a stranglehold on Smallville and I've developed too much of a stake in your family's future and happiness to see it and it's "natural resources" being left to the mercies of Lionel Luthor just because of a bad growing season. Besides, the industry really is badly in need of research into organic crop growth so your participation would be a huge help. Should you ever need anything you have but to call. And don't worry, like I told you before, I know something about secrets and as a gesture of trust I leave you with one of my own.
Respectfully,
Bruce Wayne
~The End~
"I just love old home week, don't you guys?" asked Eric.
"Eric," Clark said in surprise, "what are you doing here?!"
"I just had a little chat with Lionel Luthor. I was going to kill him do you believe that? I had never killed anyone before, but that evil bastard pushed me right to the edge, you know. He promised me a whole lot of money though and convinced me that the real source of my anger was you Kent. This whole thing started with you and he said you had all of the answers I was looking for. I settled for breaking his arms and legs. After tonight I just may work myself up to still killing him, though, because I'm definitely not going to leave here without a little blood on my hands. I was coming over here to grab one of your parents, hoping to draw you out, and then I saw little miss Lana here coming into the barn. I had no idea you were home. Now she's just icing on the cake.
"Turn loose of her, Eric" Clark said quietly.
"I don't think so Clark. I think you need to lose something like I lost something. You need to know how it feels when someone messes in your life uninvited."
"Careful, Clark," Pete said. "He's got his powers back."
Clark nodded his head briefly still looking at Eric.
"I wasn't making a request, Eric. Turn her loose. Now."
Pete looked at Clark when he spoke. This wasn't the Clark Kent he knew. The shy peacemaker. This was someone who was used to being obeyed. Someone who could make you obey. Turning his gaze back toward Eric, Pete caught a look that made him think that Eric could see the same thing.
"Say goodbye to your girlfriend, Clark."
Eric had been looking Clark in the eyes when he began to choke Lana. For a second he thought they glowed. The next thing he knew incredible pain lanced though the arm he was using to throttle Lana. Screaming he dropped her to the ground and staggered back clutching at his arm.
Smoke was issuing from his jacket and his sleeve had been cut through leaving a gaping wound in his arm. The pain was horrific, but the wound was already starting to close.
In a deadly calm voice Clark spoke to Pete without taking his eyes off Eric.
"Take Lana and get out of here Pete."
Lana had quickly stumbled away from Eric when he dropped her and was now rubbing her neck trying to catch her breath. She looked up when Clark said this.
"We can't leave you, Clark!"
"I'll be Ok, Lana. Eric and I just need to have a little discussion about power and responsibility. Get her out of here, Pete. I'll be fine. I promise."
Pete didn't wait for the conversation to begin again. He grabbed Lana's arm and started pulling her down the stairs.
"Come on Lana. He's in more danger if he's distracted by us than if he's by himself."
Lana opened her mouth to reply and then shut it. She ran behind him out the door no longer resisting.
"How far do you think they'll get, Clark? You obviously have a neat little power there, but I think you forget who has super speed here. "
In the blink of an eye Eric disappeared as he began to accelerate toward the door of the barn. He never made it. Fifteen feet from the door Eric learned what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object.
He was close-lined while moving at just under the speed of sound and the impact knocked him on his back.
"No, Eric," Clark said calmly looking down at the stunned boy, "I haven't forgotten at all."
************************************
Lana and Pete had gotten almost to the house when she pulled him to a stop.
"What can Clark do against Eric, Pete? Eric hurt him once before. How is now different?"
Pete's reply was interrupted by Eric's extremely loud and involuntary exit through the wall of the barn. He bounced several times before coming to rest at the edge of the pasture.
"Oh, I don't know." Pete said. "I'm sure he'll think of something. I just hope his father doesn't kill him for making that hole in the barn."
He grabbed Lana's arm and continued pulling the stunned girl toward the house. They ran into Thomas who was coming back out.
"What the hell is going on? I heard some kind of crash."
"It's Eric," Pete told him, "He and Clark are fighting out behind the barn."
Thomas stood frozen in thought for a second and then wheeled around heading back into the house.
"Stay in the house," he called over his shoulder, "I've got an idea."
********************************
"Give it up, Eric." Clark continued in that same deadly calm voice as he walked toward the boy struggling to his feet. "I'm not sure how you got your powers back, but trust me. They're last year's model. You don't stand a chance."
"Well, you seem to have gotten all kinds of powers since we last met. Doesn't change anything though. I'm still going to kill you."
Eric screamed and launched himself at Clark who suddenly was no longer there. Eric spun around trying to find his foe and caught a right hook full in the face. He went down. Hard. 50 yards from where he had been standing taking several fence posts with him.
He slowly got to his feet shaking his head trying to regain his senses only to be hit in the chest full force by a steel hard shoulder moving at mach two.
This time when he tried to get up he felt a weight place itself between his shoulder blades and he was forced to lie flat on the ground.
"No, Eric," he heard Clark say. "I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to humiliate you, but I won't let you keep this fight going. Stay down."
Eric remained still breathing loudly for a moment and then suddenly jerked sideways dislodging Clark's foot from his back and rolling to his feet.
"I'm not sure how you're able to do this Clark, but I'm not stopping until one of us is dead."
"Eric, what's wrong with you? You're not behaving rationally."
"A freaking bomb went off in my head a few hours ago, Clark. That kind of thing brings a whole new perspective to life."
He slammed into Clark sending them both back toward the barn. Clark grabbed Eric's shirt and managed to throw him backwards and away from him.
"Eric, I don't want to hurt you," Clark pleaded.
"But I want to hurt you!" Eric screamed.
"Ahem, perhaps I can break this stalemate," said a voice from behind Eric.
Spinning around he saw the stranger from a few days ago.
"You!" he shouted.
Thomas stood there holding Toby the old barn cat in one arm and a hand scythe in the other.
"Here, catch," he said as he tossed Toby to Eric with one hand and launched the scythe into the air with the other.
Eric caught the cat out of instinct, but immediately began to feel an intense pain run through his body. That's when he noticed the meteor rock tied around the cat's neck. Before he could react to it he was distracted by a shower of sparks and a sharp snapping sound from above. Looking up he saw that the scythe had severed the electric line running to the barn and one end was falling toward him.
The electricity arched through his body for an instant and he dropped the cat, which let out a startled meow and launched itself toward the barn almost before its paws touched the ground.
Eric lay on the ground twitching for an instant and then fell unconscious.
"What did you do to him?" Clark asked walking toward Eric's still smoking body.
"Well, if I read the report right I believe he'll wake up with a taste for mice and the ability to create furballs. He shouldn't be invulnerable anymore though."
"What?!"
"When I first found out who he was I took the opportunity to capitalize on a direct link to the LuthorCorp system through their watchdog program on the Torch's computer. It was a bit tricky, but I was able to track down a report by a Dr. Stephens outlining his theory on how Eric's DNA was malleable and how he could adopt the DNA of others in the presence of a meteor rock and massive amounts of electricity. Since he's unconscious I would say the good doctor may have a winner."
"Now I suggest we call the police. They're probably wondering what happened to good Ol' Eric and I really do need to get some sleep before I leave in the morning."
****************************
The next morning after Thomas had showered and dressed he headed downstairs with his bags. The entire Kent household waited to bid their goodbyes. Waiting with warm smiles they froze in place when he came to the bottom of the stairs.
"What happened to your hair?" Clark asked pointing at Thomas' now dark hair color.
"Didn't seem to be a reason to keep the blonde look anymore."
"Huh?"
"I'll tell you all about it sometime," Thomas answered turning to the elder Kents. "Jonathan, Martha it's been a pleasure being here the past few days. Despite the madness it reminded me of some happier times. Thank you."
"Thank you, Thomas," Martha said leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek.
"And feel free to visit anytime," Jonathan added shaking Thomas' hand.
Thomas turned to Clark and held out his hand.
"I'm sure we'll meet again in the future, Clark. Until then, take care of yourself."
"You too," Clark replied shaking the offered hand, "and thank you again for making me think about what's important."
"I'm just glad you survived your talk with Lana last night," Thomas said smiling.
Looking over at the scowl that appeared on his father's face Clark said, "Don't remind me, or him anyway."
Thomas laughed, hugged Martha again and went out the door.
*************************
A few days later after everything had settled down and life had started to return to normal the Kent family was finally able to share some time together while sitting on their front porch. The calm of the morning though was interrupted by the arrival of a blue Ford Taurus coming up the driveway.
When it reached the house it came to a stop and a tall man dressed in khaki slacks, blue dress shirt and a brown sports coat got out.
"Good morning sir, how are you today?" he greeted. "Would you happen to be Mr. Jonathan Kent?"
"Yes sir," Jonathan answered, "what can I do for you?
"My name is Phillip Walters and I represent McGugill Laboratories. We do research into organic growing techniques and would like to offer you a grant project."
"A grant project? What kind of grant project?" Jonathan asked.
"We understand that you do a small organic produce business from your farm here and we would like to offer you funding and access to the latest research and equipment. All at no cost to you of course."
"Thank you Mr. Wa." Jonathan started, but Walters interrupted him before he could finish.
"You and your family would of course be given final say so over all projects as to whether or not they would be implemented. And you would have final decision making input into the actual implementation as well. We would offer nothing but funding, information, equipment and advice. No interference whatsoever, and you could call a halt to the project at anytime."
"Sounds too good to be true," Clark said somewhat suspiciously.
"Yes," added Jonathan, "it does. Do you give out many of these grants, Mr. Walters?"
"Actually, sir in all honesty this is our first. It sounded somewhat strange to us as well, but I myself received the call from the owner of our parent company just yesterday morning and it was he who outlined the parameters of the grant. He even arranged for the funding through our parent company himself. He said to let you know that he would pay for whatever lawyers you wished to have look over the deal and assure its legitimacy, but he seemed to think it wouldn't be a problem. He even sent a personal note by courier and asked that I give it to you."
Mr. Walter's reached into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope with a stylized "W" on the outside, which he handed to Jonathan.
Jonathan opened the letter and read it quietly to himself a small smile crossing his face as he did so.
Dear Jonathan,
I know I once told you I wouldn't ask you to blindly trust me, but trust me. This offer is genuine. The Luthors already have too much of a stranglehold on Smallville and I've developed too much of a stake in your family's future and happiness to see it and it's "natural resources" being left to the mercies of Lionel Luthor just because of a bad growing season. Besides, the industry really is badly in need of research into organic crop growth so your participation would be a huge help. Should you ever need anything you have but to call. And don't worry, like I told you before, I know something about secrets and as a gesture of trust I leave you with one of my own.
Respectfully,
Bruce Wayne
~The End~