The Portal
Author: a_delacroix@hotmail.com
Chapter 24
It was mid-morning on their second full day in Rome. The four of them had spent the first day relaxing from the journey and touring the many buildings of Chloe's vast palatial estate while Rogerus initiated some discrete inquires into the location of the professor.
This afternoon the four of them were planning an outing to the Circus Maximus for the chariot races. The races were going all day, but Chloe said after you had seen three or four races in one day they started to become boring. Plus the best teams always competed in the late afternoon and that's when most of the upper class arrived to fill their private seating areas.
Since they had a number of hours to kill before heading to the races, Chloe had decided to go to the forum outside the Imperial Senate to see what friends and acquaintances were around and start her own investigation into the professor's location and his position in Roman society after the recent death of his patron Emperor Tiberius and the elevation of Emperor Gaius Germanicus.
Clark had accompanied her while Lex and Lana had remained back at the estate. As dinner entertainment the previous evening the renown Stoic philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, had debated Cyrus, Clark and Lana's Latin teacher, and one of the other teachers on Chloe's staff on the topic 'The Impact on the Roman Economy of the recent reduction of the gold content of the standard talent from 80% to 68%'. Lex had been fascinated to actually meet someone whom he had studied in school and had invited Seneca to return this morning for a chance to chat in a quieter setting.
For the first time since arriving in these ancient Roman times, Chloe felt comfortable leaving Lex and Lana alone while she attended to other matters. With the household guards and more significantly, Rogerus' watchful eye, they would be safe while they remained at Chloe's estate.
Therefore Chloe was relaxed and enjoying the beautiful, sunny day while renewing friendships with people she hadn't seen in several thousand years.
She and Clark were lounging in a shady spot by the food vendors enjoying some apple-filled pastries when she saw a commotion at the far side of the forum. A large group of at least twenty Praetorians were marching into the forum. In front strode a man at least two heads taller than any of the other soldiers who could only be Patricus Gasparus Venta, the second in command of the Praetorians and the professor's old ally and Coelia's long ago unwanted suitor. After they had marched about forty paces into the forum, a weasly looking little man scurried out of the crowd and ran up to Venta. After a short exchange the man pointed in Chloe's direction and Venta and his troops promptly set off in the indicated direction. Chloe expected at some point Venta would track her down, but having been in the forum for less than an hour, she was a little surprised at his informants' efficiency and his own apparent sense of urgency. Could he have already made her connection with Lex and her dual life up in the 21st century? No, that seemed unlikely since the professor had only seen her and Clark for a couple of minutes before the professor pulled Lana through the portal. Most likely this was related to her sudden departure six months ago after agreeing to marry Venta. One way or the other, she would find out in the next few minutes.
Nudging Clark, she pointed with her chin to the approaching troops and said, "Showtime."
Clark nodded and took a slow deep breath to mentally prepare himself for this encounter. When Chloe had brought the topic up yesterday while they had some time alone in the baths he had not been too enthused with her idea about using a variation on the method they had employed against Gaius, the 21st century Tony Campinello, back in the woods outside of Narbo. That had just been a spur of the moment idea to attempt to scare off what they thought were a bunch of superstitious locals, not someone from their own times. Clark had suggested just letting him immobilize Venta and dragging him back to the Portal with them since he wasn't the one with the meteor rocks they needed. But eventually Chloe convinced him to try this approach of dangling a carrot in front of Venta, and indirectly the Professor, to see if they could get them to just hand over the rocks. Although why Chloe thought this bizarre scheme, which seemed fraught with a lot of unknown variables, was the best course was beyond Clark.
Taking Chloe's arm, Clark started casually walking in the general direction of the Praetorians. If things got out of hand, which seemed likely to him, he wanted some space to maneuver.
To make some conversation to keep from over-thinking the situation ahead, Clark began, "If I didn't say it before, I want to thank you for the footwear. Your cobbler dropped these sandal things and a couple of pairs of boots off this morning while you were off talking to Rogerus. After ten days without shoes I was finally starting to get use to it, but surprisingly as soon as I put these on I felt like a civilized person again, instead of some barbarian or hillbilly."
Chloe glanced down at Clark's feet. She had noticed the footwear before, but hadn't really paid much attention. The sandals had hard leather soles and straps that wrapped around his calves almost up to his knees. Not a style commonly found on men in the 21st century, but she had seen similar styles for women in fashion magazines for over $1000. "Glad you like them, Clark. It is nice to stay put in one spot long enough to take care of some of the minor necessities of life."
"It is still hard for me to comprehend your lifestyle here where you have so many people working for you that you even have your own shoemaker."
"Well, without modern conveniences you need more bodies to get things done. Even one hundred years ago, I mean one hundred years ago from our own times, more than a quarter of all American homes had live-in help, even if it was only a farm hand or combination cleaning girl/au pair. Now, less than one tenth of one percent of American homes have live-in help. Anyway, back here, once your staff gets over a certain threshold it makes more and more economic sense to bring tasks in-house. When the number starts approaching one thousand, like my household staff here, you ended up with a pretty self-sufficient system."
Clark started to laugh. "Chloe, when your household staff is the size of a small town, it should be pretty self-sufficient."
Chloe looked at him and batted her eyes. "Sometimes a girl just needs a lot of people around who are ready to fawn all over her at a moment's notice."
Clark wasn't sure if that was a hint or just a reference to the line from the movie 'Pretty Woman', but he pulled her closer and leaned over. "Have I told you today how beautiful you are?"
Chloe snuggled closer too. "Oh, five or six times, but a few hundred more wouldn't hurt."
Clark stopped and pulled Chloe into a passionate kiss. Well, as passionate a kiss as he felt comfortable doing in a crowded forum filled with hundreds of people.
It seemed like they had only been kissing for a few seconds when they were interrupted by a deep, gravelly voice.
"Coelia Doinysia Flavius, what an unexpected surprise," the voice rumbled with a faint underlying sneer.
Clark broke the kiss and looked over in the direction of the voice. In the past eighteen months it had become rare for Clark to have to look up to stare into anyone's eyes. Back at Smallville High only a couple of the players on the basketball team were significantly taller than Clark's 6'4". Since they been back here in the Roman Empire no one had come close to Clark's height until now, but Clark was definitely looking up to look into Venta's eyes.
And not only was Venta tall, no, he was built just like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. Well, like Arnold if he had been 6'6" instead of his actual 5'10". At 6'6" Venta was close to three hundred pounds and not an ounce of it appeared to be fat. Like Clark, he was wearing a short robe slung over his left shoulder and belted at his waist. It left his massive right arm, shoulder, and upper chest bare in a way that would intimidate most lesser men.
Of course, Clark only looked like the lesser man when in direct comparison to someone like Venta. Clark still had that lean, somewhat gangly body that went with youth, unlike the big, hard muscles an athletic man can achieve in his thirties.
As Clark brought his attention back up he could see in Venta's face that he was a man in his late thirties with Nordic high cheek bones and whitish- blonde hair. Actually, on second thought, Clark decided he reminded him more of Dolph Lungren than Arnold. At least until you got to the eyes. This man had the hard eyes of a soldier, a killer, a leader, a man who expected everyone to grovel at his merest approach. The eyes few mere actors would ever master on the silver screen. 'God,' thought Clark. 'I hope I never end up with eyes like those.'
As soon as Venta had begun speaking a hush seemed to spread over the nearest portion of the crowd and Clark realized it was time to get into his role.
Turning back towards Chloe, Clark said in Latin in a clear, quiet voice just loud enough to be sure the nearest portion of the crowd would hear. "I don't know who you are, but fuck off, she's busy." Then while a small gasp seemed to spread through the crowd, Clark leaned back down and started to kiss Chloe again.
Clark had counted to four potatoes before he felt the powerful hand grab his upper arm, much as he was expecting. He used his own incredible strength to ignore the tugging on his arm. Finally, after he had counted three more potatoes, Clark broke the kiss and looked down at hand on his arm.
In a loud, powerful voice that rolled out across the forum bringing all other conversations and activities to a halt, Clark commanded, "Remove that hand, mortal, or lose it."
In surprise more than anything else, Venta did remove his hand and took half a step back.
Clark and Chloe turned towards Venta and Clark tried his best to project the image of someone who was not really angry, but merely annoyed at an inconvenient distraction.
At this point Chloe jumped into the conversation. With an obvious squeeze of their interlaced fingers Chloe said to Clark, "Ares, you promised to play nice." Then turning to Venta she continued. "Hello, Patricus. Yes, it has been a long time."
Venta had never been known for his patience or subtly and came directly to the point. Straightening up and coming to attention, he said. "Coelia Doinysia Flavius, you are under arrest for treason against the empire."
Chloe and Clark stared at Venta for several seconds before Clark's face broke into a grin and then he started laughing.
This was a first for Venta. No one he had arrested before had ever laughed in his face. Always the person had cringed back in fear and, on the rare occasion, tried to run.
Venta turned to Clark. "Careful, boy, or I will take you in also, as an accessory."
Clark snorted. "Take me in? You and what army?"
"Oh," began Venta, starting to enjoy the situation. He loved it when someone tried to resist. "I think my men and I are more than enough to take you."
Clark grinned again. "A mere twenty men? That's hardly enough to work up a good sweat."
"Big words for someone who isn't even carrying a sword."
Clark remembered one of his favorite lines from the old 'Hercules' TV show. Somehow it seemed appropriate for the current situation and Chloe's little plan. So with a shrug Clark responded. "I have this old friend. Perhaps you heard of him, his name is Hercules. Anyway, Herc always says why waste your time lugging around weapons when you can just take your opponent's. I have been practicing his philosophy for a while and you know what? It has been working for me, too."
"Ares," said Chloe. "Remember you just got back. Don't start any trouble. At least not until we get what we came for."
Clark glanced at her. "Come on, Aphrodite. He started it. I just want to have a little fun." And then turning back to Venta, he leaned forward and shouted, "Boo!"
For a big man, Venta was very fast. Almost before anyone around them was aware of it, he had reflexively pulled his short sword from its scabbard and thrust it towards Clark.
No matter how fast Venta was, Clark was way, way out of his league. Clark grasped the blade tightly in his right hand and then taking a half step forward, slammed his open left hand into the center of Venta's chest. Venta flew backward and, with a mighty clattering crash, landed on top of his platoon of men. Before they came to a stop over a dozen of his men were in a tangle pile on the ground and Clark was left holding Venta's sword.
As Venta and his men slowly clambered back to their feet Clark was idly tossing Venta's sword into the air over and over. Once most of the men were facing him again, Clark finally spoke. "Don't they teach the most basic rule of fighting any more? You should never start a fight with a stranger if you can avoid it, because no matter how big, tough, experienced you are, somewhere out there, there is always someone better than you. Well, actually, that rule applies to everyone, but me." Having said that, Clark tossed Venta's sword back to him.
Now it was Chloe's turn to snort. "Ares, I seem to remember a time Hercules wiped the floor with your butt."
"Hey, so I lost one time and then it was only because Hercules had Apollo get me into that drinking contest first. After a gallon of mead I was so out of it I could barely stand let alone fight. But other than that one time, Aphrodite, how many thousands of men or heroes or even other Gods have I killed in combat?"
"Okay, so you are invincible against mortals, but for the moment we need him alive. Try and keep that in mind," responded Chloe.
"Yes, dear," Clark responded before turning back to Venta.
While Clark and Chloe had been trading quips back and forth, Venta had gotten his men organized. They had completely surrounded Clark and Chloe, leveling an assortment of spears and swords in their direction. As Venta was resheathing his own sword to leave the dirty work to his men, Clark spoke up.
"Venta, you and your men can't kill me and I won't kill you, so let's move on. We have some business to discuss."
By this point Venta was seething mad. No one humiliated him by tossing him around like a small child in front of his men and many of the leading citizens of Rome. Why Coelia and this boy were playing some game as though the boy was Ares, the Greek God of War, and Coelia was Aphrodite, the Greek God of Love, was beyond him at the moment. He had known Coelia for years and she was just a spoiled rich Roman brat in many ways like the idle rich he had seen on TV growing up back in the 20th century. No, regardless of what game they were trying to play, he was going to end it now. Instead of quietly leading Coelia away to a private execution for her refusal to marry him and help with his plan to take control of the empire, he was going to perform a very public execution of these two, right where they stood.
"Men, on my command, kill these traitors to the emperor and empire," Venta called out in a calm, controlled, deadly tone of voice.
Clark turn to Chloe and quietly said, "Do you think a woman can fly?" mimicking a question Lex had asked him long ago on the day they had first met. Then without waiting for a response from her, he grabbed her under the arms and tossed her straight up into the air. Very hard.
Venta's, the Praetorians', and the entire crowd's eyes were drawn to her as she rose fifty feet, then one hundred feet, and finally one hundred and fifty feet into the air.
It was all Chloe could do to keep from screaming as she rose higher and higher into the air. She and Clark had never talked about this as they had discussed plans if they encountered Venta. They had discussed some Greek Mythology for the cover story and a few variations of the disappearing sword trick they had used before, but nothing about tossing her hundreds of feet into the air. She just hoped Clark knew what he was doing, as from personal experience of the time she had had to do the swan dive off of the top of the battlements of the Crusader castle in Acre onto the rocks hundreds of feet below to escape her pursuers, she knew it would take many seconds for her body to heal from a fall of this height.
After reaching a zenith of nearly two hundred feet Chloe started to plummet back to earth. Her 'bot network shut down her pain receptors and busily worked to minimize the potential damage from a fall at near terminal velocity. As Chloe neared the ground she tried to mentally prepare herself for the impact. Then, just a fraction of second before her 'bots said she should hit the ground, Clark caught her.
The contact with Clark's arm and the rapid deceleration over a distance of only a few inches resulted in several cracked ribs, but otherwise she was unharmed. The estimated repair time that flashed briefly through her consciousness was seven seconds.
To maintain the proper tone for this encounter, Chloe squealed out in her best impression of a giggling three-year-old girl, "Yippee that was so much fun. Again, please."
Clark set her down on her feet and said, "Maybe later, if you're good." Then he turned back towards Venta.
It was only after Clark turned back towards him that Venta and the crowd realized that all of the Praetorian soldiers were lying on the ground, unconscious or dead. Venta immediately reached for his sword, but found the scabbard empty.
"Looking for this?" asked Clark as he kicked up his right foot lofting Venta's sword which had been resting there.
Catching the hilt in his right hand, Clark brought the middle of the heavy blade up to his mouth and promptly took a large bite out of it. Like a kid taking a big bite out of a slice of Wonder bread, Clark ripped a semicircular chunk out of the blade leaving teeth marks around the perimeter of the cutout. Clark chewed the piece in his mouth several times before spitting it out with the comment, "Not enough copper. Aphrodite, remember the good old days of Troy when mortals used swords of bronze and after killing thousands of them in battle you could dine on their finest weapons?"
With a loud sigh, Clark took the sword and threw it hard into a crack in the paving stones between Venta's feet. Almost before Venta realized the sword had left Clark's hand it was standing vibrating between his feet. At first glance it looked like the tip of the sword was buried six inches directly into solid stone with the missing, bitten-out chunk another clear reminder of Clark's superhuman, almost God-like abilities.
End of Chapter 24
Author: a_delacroix@hotmail.com
Chapter 24
It was mid-morning on their second full day in Rome. The four of them had spent the first day relaxing from the journey and touring the many buildings of Chloe's vast palatial estate while Rogerus initiated some discrete inquires into the location of the professor.
This afternoon the four of them were planning an outing to the Circus Maximus for the chariot races. The races were going all day, but Chloe said after you had seen three or four races in one day they started to become boring. Plus the best teams always competed in the late afternoon and that's when most of the upper class arrived to fill their private seating areas.
Since they had a number of hours to kill before heading to the races, Chloe had decided to go to the forum outside the Imperial Senate to see what friends and acquaintances were around and start her own investigation into the professor's location and his position in Roman society after the recent death of his patron Emperor Tiberius and the elevation of Emperor Gaius Germanicus.
Clark had accompanied her while Lex and Lana had remained back at the estate. As dinner entertainment the previous evening the renown Stoic philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, had debated Cyrus, Clark and Lana's Latin teacher, and one of the other teachers on Chloe's staff on the topic 'The Impact on the Roman Economy of the recent reduction of the gold content of the standard talent from 80% to 68%'. Lex had been fascinated to actually meet someone whom he had studied in school and had invited Seneca to return this morning for a chance to chat in a quieter setting.
For the first time since arriving in these ancient Roman times, Chloe felt comfortable leaving Lex and Lana alone while she attended to other matters. With the household guards and more significantly, Rogerus' watchful eye, they would be safe while they remained at Chloe's estate.
Therefore Chloe was relaxed and enjoying the beautiful, sunny day while renewing friendships with people she hadn't seen in several thousand years.
She and Clark were lounging in a shady spot by the food vendors enjoying some apple-filled pastries when she saw a commotion at the far side of the forum. A large group of at least twenty Praetorians were marching into the forum. In front strode a man at least two heads taller than any of the other soldiers who could only be Patricus Gasparus Venta, the second in command of the Praetorians and the professor's old ally and Coelia's long ago unwanted suitor. After they had marched about forty paces into the forum, a weasly looking little man scurried out of the crowd and ran up to Venta. After a short exchange the man pointed in Chloe's direction and Venta and his troops promptly set off in the indicated direction. Chloe expected at some point Venta would track her down, but having been in the forum for less than an hour, she was a little surprised at his informants' efficiency and his own apparent sense of urgency. Could he have already made her connection with Lex and her dual life up in the 21st century? No, that seemed unlikely since the professor had only seen her and Clark for a couple of minutes before the professor pulled Lana through the portal. Most likely this was related to her sudden departure six months ago after agreeing to marry Venta. One way or the other, she would find out in the next few minutes.
Nudging Clark, she pointed with her chin to the approaching troops and said, "Showtime."
Clark nodded and took a slow deep breath to mentally prepare himself for this encounter. When Chloe had brought the topic up yesterday while they had some time alone in the baths he had not been too enthused with her idea about using a variation on the method they had employed against Gaius, the 21st century Tony Campinello, back in the woods outside of Narbo. That had just been a spur of the moment idea to attempt to scare off what they thought were a bunch of superstitious locals, not someone from their own times. Clark had suggested just letting him immobilize Venta and dragging him back to the Portal with them since he wasn't the one with the meteor rocks they needed. But eventually Chloe convinced him to try this approach of dangling a carrot in front of Venta, and indirectly the Professor, to see if they could get them to just hand over the rocks. Although why Chloe thought this bizarre scheme, which seemed fraught with a lot of unknown variables, was the best course was beyond Clark.
Taking Chloe's arm, Clark started casually walking in the general direction of the Praetorians. If things got out of hand, which seemed likely to him, he wanted some space to maneuver.
To make some conversation to keep from over-thinking the situation ahead, Clark began, "If I didn't say it before, I want to thank you for the footwear. Your cobbler dropped these sandal things and a couple of pairs of boots off this morning while you were off talking to Rogerus. After ten days without shoes I was finally starting to get use to it, but surprisingly as soon as I put these on I felt like a civilized person again, instead of some barbarian or hillbilly."
Chloe glanced down at Clark's feet. She had noticed the footwear before, but hadn't really paid much attention. The sandals had hard leather soles and straps that wrapped around his calves almost up to his knees. Not a style commonly found on men in the 21st century, but she had seen similar styles for women in fashion magazines for over $1000. "Glad you like them, Clark. It is nice to stay put in one spot long enough to take care of some of the minor necessities of life."
"It is still hard for me to comprehend your lifestyle here where you have so many people working for you that you even have your own shoemaker."
"Well, without modern conveniences you need more bodies to get things done. Even one hundred years ago, I mean one hundred years ago from our own times, more than a quarter of all American homes had live-in help, even if it was only a farm hand or combination cleaning girl/au pair. Now, less than one tenth of one percent of American homes have live-in help. Anyway, back here, once your staff gets over a certain threshold it makes more and more economic sense to bring tasks in-house. When the number starts approaching one thousand, like my household staff here, you ended up with a pretty self-sufficient system."
Clark started to laugh. "Chloe, when your household staff is the size of a small town, it should be pretty self-sufficient."
Chloe looked at him and batted her eyes. "Sometimes a girl just needs a lot of people around who are ready to fawn all over her at a moment's notice."
Clark wasn't sure if that was a hint or just a reference to the line from the movie 'Pretty Woman', but he pulled her closer and leaned over. "Have I told you today how beautiful you are?"
Chloe snuggled closer too. "Oh, five or six times, but a few hundred more wouldn't hurt."
Clark stopped and pulled Chloe into a passionate kiss. Well, as passionate a kiss as he felt comfortable doing in a crowded forum filled with hundreds of people.
It seemed like they had only been kissing for a few seconds when they were interrupted by a deep, gravelly voice.
"Coelia Doinysia Flavius, what an unexpected surprise," the voice rumbled with a faint underlying sneer.
Clark broke the kiss and looked over in the direction of the voice. In the past eighteen months it had become rare for Clark to have to look up to stare into anyone's eyes. Back at Smallville High only a couple of the players on the basketball team were significantly taller than Clark's 6'4". Since they been back here in the Roman Empire no one had come close to Clark's height until now, but Clark was definitely looking up to look into Venta's eyes.
And not only was Venta tall, no, he was built just like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime. Well, like Arnold if he had been 6'6" instead of his actual 5'10". At 6'6" Venta was close to three hundred pounds and not an ounce of it appeared to be fat. Like Clark, he was wearing a short robe slung over his left shoulder and belted at his waist. It left his massive right arm, shoulder, and upper chest bare in a way that would intimidate most lesser men.
Of course, Clark only looked like the lesser man when in direct comparison to someone like Venta. Clark still had that lean, somewhat gangly body that went with youth, unlike the big, hard muscles an athletic man can achieve in his thirties.
As Clark brought his attention back up he could see in Venta's face that he was a man in his late thirties with Nordic high cheek bones and whitish- blonde hair. Actually, on second thought, Clark decided he reminded him more of Dolph Lungren than Arnold. At least until you got to the eyes. This man had the hard eyes of a soldier, a killer, a leader, a man who expected everyone to grovel at his merest approach. The eyes few mere actors would ever master on the silver screen. 'God,' thought Clark. 'I hope I never end up with eyes like those.'
As soon as Venta had begun speaking a hush seemed to spread over the nearest portion of the crowd and Clark realized it was time to get into his role.
Turning back towards Chloe, Clark said in Latin in a clear, quiet voice just loud enough to be sure the nearest portion of the crowd would hear. "I don't know who you are, but fuck off, she's busy." Then while a small gasp seemed to spread through the crowd, Clark leaned back down and started to kiss Chloe again.
Clark had counted to four potatoes before he felt the powerful hand grab his upper arm, much as he was expecting. He used his own incredible strength to ignore the tugging on his arm. Finally, after he had counted three more potatoes, Clark broke the kiss and looked down at hand on his arm.
In a loud, powerful voice that rolled out across the forum bringing all other conversations and activities to a halt, Clark commanded, "Remove that hand, mortal, or lose it."
In surprise more than anything else, Venta did remove his hand and took half a step back.
Clark and Chloe turned towards Venta and Clark tried his best to project the image of someone who was not really angry, but merely annoyed at an inconvenient distraction.
At this point Chloe jumped into the conversation. With an obvious squeeze of their interlaced fingers Chloe said to Clark, "Ares, you promised to play nice." Then turning to Venta she continued. "Hello, Patricus. Yes, it has been a long time."
Venta had never been known for his patience or subtly and came directly to the point. Straightening up and coming to attention, he said. "Coelia Doinysia Flavius, you are under arrest for treason against the empire."
Chloe and Clark stared at Venta for several seconds before Clark's face broke into a grin and then he started laughing.
This was a first for Venta. No one he had arrested before had ever laughed in his face. Always the person had cringed back in fear and, on the rare occasion, tried to run.
Venta turned to Clark. "Careful, boy, or I will take you in also, as an accessory."
Clark snorted. "Take me in? You and what army?"
"Oh," began Venta, starting to enjoy the situation. He loved it when someone tried to resist. "I think my men and I are more than enough to take you."
Clark grinned again. "A mere twenty men? That's hardly enough to work up a good sweat."
"Big words for someone who isn't even carrying a sword."
Clark remembered one of his favorite lines from the old 'Hercules' TV show. Somehow it seemed appropriate for the current situation and Chloe's little plan. So with a shrug Clark responded. "I have this old friend. Perhaps you heard of him, his name is Hercules. Anyway, Herc always says why waste your time lugging around weapons when you can just take your opponent's. I have been practicing his philosophy for a while and you know what? It has been working for me, too."
"Ares," said Chloe. "Remember you just got back. Don't start any trouble. At least not until we get what we came for."
Clark glanced at her. "Come on, Aphrodite. He started it. I just want to have a little fun." And then turning back to Venta, he leaned forward and shouted, "Boo!"
For a big man, Venta was very fast. Almost before anyone around them was aware of it, he had reflexively pulled his short sword from its scabbard and thrust it towards Clark.
No matter how fast Venta was, Clark was way, way out of his league. Clark grasped the blade tightly in his right hand and then taking a half step forward, slammed his open left hand into the center of Venta's chest. Venta flew backward and, with a mighty clattering crash, landed on top of his platoon of men. Before they came to a stop over a dozen of his men were in a tangle pile on the ground and Clark was left holding Venta's sword.
As Venta and his men slowly clambered back to their feet Clark was idly tossing Venta's sword into the air over and over. Once most of the men were facing him again, Clark finally spoke. "Don't they teach the most basic rule of fighting any more? You should never start a fight with a stranger if you can avoid it, because no matter how big, tough, experienced you are, somewhere out there, there is always someone better than you. Well, actually, that rule applies to everyone, but me." Having said that, Clark tossed Venta's sword back to him.
Now it was Chloe's turn to snort. "Ares, I seem to remember a time Hercules wiped the floor with your butt."
"Hey, so I lost one time and then it was only because Hercules had Apollo get me into that drinking contest first. After a gallon of mead I was so out of it I could barely stand let alone fight. But other than that one time, Aphrodite, how many thousands of men or heroes or even other Gods have I killed in combat?"
"Okay, so you are invincible against mortals, but for the moment we need him alive. Try and keep that in mind," responded Chloe.
"Yes, dear," Clark responded before turning back to Venta.
While Clark and Chloe had been trading quips back and forth, Venta had gotten his men organized. They had completely surrounded Clark and Chloe, leveling an assortment of spears and swords in their direction. As Venta was resheathing his own sword to leave the dirty work to his men, Clark spoke up.
"Venta, you and your men can't kill me and I won't kill you, so let's move on. We have some business to discuss."
By this point Venta was seething mad. No one humiliated him by tossing him around like a small child in front of his men and many of the leading citizens of Rome. Why Coelia and this boy were playing some game as though the boy was Ares, the Greek God of War, and Coelia was Aphrodite, the Greek God of Love, was beyond him at the moment. He had known Coelia for years and she was just a spoiled rich Roman brat in many ways like the idle rich he had seen on TV growing up back in the 20th century. No, regardless of what game they were trying to play, he was going to end it now. Instead of quietly leading Coelia away to a private execution for her refusal to marry him and help with his plan to take control of the empire, he was going to perform a very public execution of these two, right where they stood.
"Men, on my command, kill these traitors to the emperor and empire," Venta called out in a calm, controlled, deadly tone of voice.
Clark turn to Chloe and quietly said, "Do you think a woman can fly?" mimicking a question Lex had asked him long ago on the day they had first met. Then without waiting for a response from her, he grabbed her under the arms and tossed her straight up into the air. Very hard.
Venta's, the Praetorians', and the entire crowd's eyes were drawn to her as she rose fifty feet, then one hundred feet, and finally one hundred and fifty feet into the air.
It was all Chloe could do to keep from screaming as she rose higher and higher into the air. She and Clark had never talked about this as they had discussed plans if they encountered Venta. They had discussed some Greek Mythology for the cover story and a few variations of the disappearing sword trick they had used before, but nothing about tossing her hundreds of feet into the air. She just hoped Clark knew what he was doing, as from personal experience of the time she had had to do the swan dive off of the top of the battlements of the Crusader castle in Acre onto the rocks hundreds of feet below to escape her pursuers, she knew it would take many seconds for her body to heal from a fall of this height.
After reaching a zenith of nearly two hundred feet Chloe started to plummet back to earth. Her 'bot network shut down her pain receptors and busily worked to minimize the potential damage from a fall at near terminal velocity. As Chloe neared the ground she tried to mentally prepare herself for the impact. Then, just a fraction of second before her 'bots said she should hit the ground, Clark caught her.
The contact with Clark's arm and the rapid deceleration over a distance of only a few inches resulted in several cracked ribs, but otherwise she was unharmed. The estimated repair time that flashed briefly through her consciousness was seven seconds.
To maintain the proper tone for this encounter, Chloe squealed out in her best impression of a giggling three-year-old girl, "Yippee that was so much fun. Again, please."
Clark set her down on her feet and said, "Maybe later, if you're good." Then he turned back towards Venta.
It was only after Clark turned back towards him that Venta and the crowd realized that all of the Praetorian soldiers were lying on the ground, unconscious or dead. Venta immediately reached for his sword, but found the scabbard empty.
"Looking for this?" asked Clark as he kicked up his right foot lofting Venta's sword which had been resting there.
Catching the hilt in his right hand, Clark brought the middle of the heavy blade up to his mouth and promptly took a large bite out of it. Like a kid taking a big bite out of a slice of Wonder bread, Clark ripped a semicircular chunk out of the blade leaving teeth marks around the perimeter of the cutout. Clark chewed the piece in his mouth several times before spitting it out with the comment, "Not enough copper. Aphrodite, remember the good old days of Troy when mortals used swords of bronze and after killing thousands of them in battle you could dine on their finest weapons?"
With a loud sigh, Clark took the sword and threw it hard into a crack in the paving stones between Venta's feet. Almost before Venta realized the sword had left Clark's hand it was standing vibrating between his feet. At first glance it looked like the tip of the sword was buried six inches directly into solid stone with the missing, bitten-out chunk another clear reminder of Clark's superhuman, almost God-like abilities.
End of Chapter 24