Title: A Hero Arrives (10/?): Sequel to 'A Fallen Hero'
Author: DCForever
Site:
E-mail: bryanc23@yahoo.com or dcforever23@yahoo.com
Feedback: Who doesn't want it? It is definitely welcomed.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
Archiving: Archiving is permitted as long as I know of where it will be posted and that all the above info stays intact.
Disclaimer: Lets get this straight...I'm not affiliated with anyone...don't have anything of major value. Think that about covers it.
Author's Note: Please, let me know what you like or hate about the story. The story was checked with Word, but otherwise is unbeta-ed.
------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash had just left the hidden loft where Ray was frantically typing away at the mainframe's keyboard. Blips were popping up all over city as Ray monitored Metropolis's street layout displayed on a large LCD flat screen monitor attached to the wall. Yet again, Ray hadn't been kidding when he told Barry to watch out for it looked be another long night of fighting crime. One second, Ray and Barry were playing a game of chess and the loft was silent with no activity and next chaos had broken out across the city. Within minutes, the screen was filled with blips of all colors representing everyone from the police to the fire department...including the criminals trying to escape. Ray was trying to contact Barry 'The Flash' Allen as he typed away at the computer, but all action was stopped as a breeze swept through the large room, scattering about papers and making a mess of the guy's desk and once sorted files.
Ray quickly turned around in his chair, "Barry did you fo...oh, it's you. Sorry, but now really isn't the best time." He swiveled back around, activating his microphone. "Barry, I have four on the screen...no, make that six in your vicinity. Be careful my friend because things aren't looking so good." By this time Clark was standing behind the guy, looking at the blip he assumed to be Barry and at the other blips assumed to be criminals of some kind.
"Ray, what's going on? What are those other blips on the screen?" asked Clark.
"Military base on the outskirts of town just got hit along with many other targets, but we're concentrating on this area because it had the most activity. Barry is tailing them...at least I hope that is all he is going to do."
"So you have any idea what might have been stolen? For all you know Barry could be falling right into their hands. Here. See how the streets merge and how the blips have already changed direction a few times?" Ray was following Clark's finger as he slid it across the screen.
"You could be right, Chris."
"Barry, you there? We think they might be baiting you into a trap. Their routes are too consistent with each other. Barry? You're breaking up. Barry?" Ray kicks off the floor and rolls his chair with him in it across the room to another terminal. Damn it! Our signal is being jammed."
While Ray had vacated his keyboard, Clark moved in and typed away trying to pin point the name of a street most likely to be a hit point. "Bingo! The wharf. Ray, I'll bring him back." Ray instantly turned his head, but Clark wasn't in sight.
Speeding out of the building and to the street, Clark ran as fast as his feet could carry him. The wharf was a good twenty or so minutes away by normal means of transportation, but Clark was hoping more along something around two minutes as he speed down the streets, zigzagging around pedestrians and cars and leaping over intersections in case there were possible chances for a wrecks.
Meanwhile, Ray was back at the loft triangulating onto Clark's position as he neared his target. The young man couldn't believe just how fast Clark really was and was confused how his body's signature temperature was so much more different than his or Barry's. He still was unable to reach Barry with the headset.
Clark slowed as he approached the wharf, squinting his eyes and concentrating, he quickly began scanning the contents of the buildings and the streets surrounding the wharf. "Come on Barry, you have to be around here someplace." He moved from street to street hoping that he wouldn't be too late if in deed it had been a trap.
"There." He stopped in the shadows and watched six armor plated vehicles fixed in a hexagon like figure; each vehicle emitting a laser like spider web beam. Looking more closely, he saw that Barry was the one caught in the glowing webbing and no matter how fast he ran around or tried to break through the beams, he was unsuccessful. Clark watched his new friend's motions as he banged more and more against the webbing as it slowly closed in on him. Seemed with each hit the webbing shrunk. He was playing right into their hands...whoever they were.
"Mr. Luthor, we have him, sir. The field should have him out within ten, sir. I told you, you could count on my team. This Flash character is no match for the likes of meeee...ouch." shouted out the criminal with the phone as the phone erupted into flames. Clark's next target was the side chamber of one of the devices emitting the beams. It too started flaming up before it exploded, taking the attached vehicle up in flames with it. Barry realized the hole in the webbing and shot through the hole, one by one he raced around the vehicles taking out each person. Neither their guns nor muscles were a match for the speedster. Clark stayed back in the shadows emitting his own beams as heat vision wiped out each of the laser emitting vehicles and their state of the art weaponry.
Ray had no idea what was happening from his location, but he had a good idea as his computer monitors filled up with intense heat sources.
Minutes later, a sore and tired figure came to a stop as he looked at the damage surrounding him. Fires were ablaze and criminal thugs were laying about the ground in various stages of hurt.
Tapping his headset, "Ray? Ray?"
"Yeah, Barry, I'm here. Are you okay?" He had been worried about his friend.
"Everything is A-okay here. Man, you should see the damage. It's like a war zone down here."
"What happened? Did CK get there in time?" Ray had a feeling he knew the answer to that already even though minutes earlier he had lost track of the guy on his monitors.
"CK? I haven't seen him." Barry started looking around him to see if he could see the guy and stopped as he spotted two reddish tinted eyes looking back at him. Chuckling to himself, "Yeah, he indeed did make it. I have a feeling he might have caused all this destruction. I hear the cops coming. We're out of here."
Barry disengaged his communicator and looked up, but Clark had already fled the scene. "Man that guy is fast." Barry took off a second later as he could see flashing lights approaching in the distance.
Ray leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "Time to get out of here." He pushed back, standing up and shut down his workstation before exiting and locking the steal door. Walking across old creaking boards he made his way across the room where he shut off the light. Security laser beams activated sending a small vapor like substance into the air and then vanished. Pulling open the light switch, he triggered a hologram projected brick wall, hiding the steel door and the contents with which it held. He pulled the door closed and locked it and started down the equally creaking stairs leading down to the bottom floor.
"Now that is what I call high security." Ray jumped at the vocal intrusion.
"Damn man, are you trying to scare me to death?"
"Nahhh...there are far more entertaining ways to kill somebody." Clark was joking, but Ray wasn't all too sure. Seemed Clark had many more secrets than Ray and Ray wasn't sure just where his loyalties laid.
"So I guess you want that talk now?"
"No. Actually, I want the footage you captured tonight. Both the computer footage and whatever camera footage you might have gotten. I can't risk having those get into the wrong hands. And until I really know what is going on I'm not leaving here until I have them in my possession."
"I see where you are coming from. Can we have talk first?"
"No, the footage first...then we talk. Where are they, Ray? Don't make me have to ask a second time."
"Barry's headset camera signal was blocked when we got jammed, but all the computer recordings and backups are in my desk safe. They are more than just secured. You don't have anything to worry about."
"The desk safe you say?" Clark concentrated his eyes towards the upstairs room and slowly his vision penetrated through the boards of the room and straight into the hidden room. "Hehe...that's quite funny. You have that huge ass steel door protecting the loft, but nothing protecting from someone getting in from beneath the room." Ray was taken back by the comment.
"How did he know that?" thought Ray as he intensely watched his friend.
Clark fixed his eyes on the desk and watched the wood vaporize allowing him to see everything in the desk and the cheap thing he called a secure safe.
He let his vision return to normal before facing Ray. "Why did you lie to me?"
"What? How? Can you like see through things or something?"
"Or something, yeah...lies for one thing."
"Damn, my man, that's something else. So like what else can you do? Read minds maybe?" Ray was joking, but Clark wasn't in a joking frame of mind.
"The footage, Ray." Clark was close to his breaking point as his anger was building up inside of him.
"Sorry my friend, but it doesn't work that way. Do you remember when I told you that this thing was bigger than us; well this is one of those bigger than us things. The footage is networked by high-secured lines to my boss and some of the finest professionals in what they do. I'm not quite sure exactly what they all do, but whatever it is...they are the best at it. Whatever is typed on that screen upstairs...they see it and keep records. You're worried about someone finding out the differences in your heat signature and that somehow you're able to shot off small streams of heat causing explosions? Well, maybe that is something to be worried about. So what kind of weapon did you use? Must have been quite powerful to take down the Enforcers' weaponry."
"The Enforcers? Is that who those guys were?"
"That is on a need to know basis." Clark was tired of playing games with the guy he once thought to be his friend. His eyes began to emit a red glow that looked a lot like fire burning in his eyes.
"Ray, trust me when I say this. If you care to live to see another minute go by...you will tell me what I need to know." Ray stood in shock as he stared at Clark's eyes.
"Who in the world are you?"
"Lets just say...I'm not from around here. Spill it, Ray." Barry came flying up behind Clark.
"Ray, what is going on here?" Barry stopped in his own tracks as he saw the familiar red glowing eyes. "So it was you in the shadow. Thank you, CK. You ran off before I could thank you for saving my life." He was confused by the way things were looking.
"You're welcome. You've seen what I can do...so why don't you tell your buddy over here to tell me what I want to hear before I re-enact what happened at the wharf tonight? Please."
"Ray, he saved my life. You've seen what he can do. He is on our side. Tell him about Thomas or I will."
"Thomas? You wouldn't be talking about president of Metropolis U? That Thomas? Nah, that couldn't be. There is no way he could be tangled up in all of this...whatever this really is."
"Ray?" Ray was still lost in the rage and fire in Clark's eyes.
"He's Ray's boss." Barry shouted out.
"Then what does that make you?"
"Just a friend who's come to town to help out for a while. Okay, a paid friend. I was paid to come in and do a job, but there seems to be more things in the way that I had expected there to be."
Clark shook his head at the information he had just learned and then shook Ray's body, breaking him out of the cold trance he seemed to be in. "Ray, you have some explaining to do. Because all of a sudden I don't feel like I was meant to even be in this picture. So if it isn't about me anymore...then who or what is it about?"
"Revenge!" stated Ray before reaching into his pocket and retrieving his cell phone. He proceeded to dial a number.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Picking up on the other end, "Yes."
"We've been compromised, sir. We need a meet."
"My cabin. 3 a.m."
"We'll be there, sir."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Meanwhile across the city, Sandy was on the phone with her cousin.
"Oh Whitney, you have no idea what this means to me. Is it okay if I bring a friend along?"
"Sure, Sand. Oh yeah, I don't see a problem with you having the run of the place while you're here."
"I don't want to put you out or anything."
"Oh you won't be. I've been staying over at my girlfriend's apartment most of the time anyway. Just don't break anything. I know it isn't much, but it is mine and it's all I got."
"We won't break anything. I swear. I'm sure you won't even know we've been there. Do you think I'll actually get a chance to see you while I'm visiting?"
"Yeah. I'll make sure of it. Lana and I will take you two out for dinner one night and show you around a bit while you're here."
"Sounds great. I can't wait to see you again, Whit. Tell Lana I said that everything will be okay...I promise not to visit you two at church or anything while I'm there. We should arrive tomorrow around lunchtime. See ya when I see ya."
Sandy hung up the phone and nodded her head. "Rachel, it's confirmed. He said we could stay at his apartment for as long as we need to. He's going to be crashing with his girlfriend."
Rachel smiled at the good news. "Guess I better go pack a few things then."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Mr. Waynewright, are you sure the device worked?"
"Positive, Mr. Luthor. We were able to intercept the call to his cell phone and the meeting has been confirmed. Sir, trust me...he wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between his own voice."
"Good then. While we tie his troops up at his cabin of all places...we can hit the military base again. I know my dad was funding one of their military projects and he doesn't back anyone unless he is going to get something from it. I want a file on whatever the project consists of on my desk no later than this time tomorrow evening. Do we have an understanding?"
"I'll have strike teams alpha and zero secure the base and instruct the scout team to keep surveillance on the cabin. Ummm, sir...your secretary sent you an email to your office. Would you care for me to intercept it for you?"
"Please." responded Lex as he made his way back over to the console.
He watched as Wayneswright dragged the outgoing mail from LuthorCorp's servers and brought it to their own. "That simple huh? Amazing what you can do with computers these days."
"You made it possible for it to be that easy, sir. Seems you have an outing planned for 3 p.m. today. Hehe...a charity banquet at the Metropolis Orphanage, sir?"
"Ah yes, the things you have to do to make people like you and respect you in this city. I'll just stay long enough to show off a few smiles, hug a few of the children, let the media have their little field day, drop a cool million of LuthorCorp's money and leave. I'll have them all eating out the palm of my hand."
"And what about the plan...and your father?"
"I can't worry about him any more. If he shows up at some time then I'll have him dealt with, but if he doesn't, then there is no harm. Either way...the operation is a go on all fronts."
"If I may be frank...man, I would have hated growing up in a household with that kind of love. There seems to be nothing but hatred between you and your father."
"That's how he saw fit to raise me. I just don't think he thought he would see the day that I took him out of the picture. He's been grooming me all my life to take over LuthorCorp one day. I'm just tired of sitting around and waiting. I wasn't named after the infamous Alexander the Great for nothing. I take what I want...when I want it. It has always been that way in my family...since my mom passed anyway. Look at what the dirt bag did to the Smallville fertilizer plant and me. He went behind my back and stole it away from me. Why? Because he could. And now...I can...therefore, by the Luthor's code of battle...so I am. What once was his will be mine. That which he never did obtain...that too will be mine as well. I've said it time and time again; I will control the largest and most powerful crime syndicate ever to be formed. And I'll do it all as I take my rightful place in the Oval Office; where there too I will have the ultimate control and power as President of the United States."
"Mr. President, it would be my honor to serve under you."
"As it should. I'll be back later to check on our progress. Looks like I'll need my beauty rest if I'm going before the media tomorrow. You and your guys get plenty of rest as well. I can't afford for there to be any screw ups."
"Yes, sir. Night, sir." Lex raised his hand to his forehead and gave a mock salute before heading towards the elevator. His lips rose upward as he realized that he was getting ever so closer to actually calling the White House his home.
Somewhere, locked away in that genius brain, hidden deep inside, was a small particle that was still worried that his dad would find a way to ruin him and allow him to regain control of everything...at least until he was dead and buried.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"This way, Mr. Ross." A charming airport attendant lead Pete through the terminal gates and onto the runway where a white, small two engine jet was awaiting his arrival. His long time friend, Chloe Sullivan, stood in the doorway waving her hand as the young man approached. Upon seeing his friend, he took off running toward the jet. He quickly ascended the moveable stairs and lifted Chloe up in a good ol' friendly bear hug.
"Chloe, I can't believe it's you. Just look at you. You look fabulous. I see Paris suits you quite well."
"It does okay. Oh Pete, you have no idea how much I've missed you. I know we haven't been apart all that long, but it really is good to see you again. Hey, we can talk on the flight. I really want to get to Metropolis as soon as possible."
"Same here. I got a little score I need to settle with a certain friend of ours." They both lowered their heads as they stepped into the plane. Fifteen minutes later, the jet lifted off the runway; destination, Metropolis, USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Hey Sandy, pull over." Requested Rachel.
"Why?" Sandy thought something might be wrong with the girl.
"Just pull over." The blue two-door sedan pulled to the side of the road, stirring up dust as it came to a skidding halt. Rachel jumped out and ran across the country road where she immediately stood in front of a large billboard sign that read in large red letters, 'Welcome to Smallville.' Spray painted in large letters in the bottom right hand corner was the phrase, 'Meteor Rock Capital of the World.'
"This was the sign I saw in Clark's dream. Meteor Rock Capital of the World, huh? So that's what he didn't want me to see. Why?"
"So you think that was the part you weren't able to make out?"
"Yeah and I'm betting...you know...I don't know any more."
"Come on Rachel, why do you think Clark would want to hide that? Look...it was spray-painted on. Maybe some kids painted it on as a joke after Clark had passed through. There is no way of telling for sure or not that he was hiding these words from you. Geez...they are just words girl."
"Maybe you're right, Sandy, but I think we should add this to our list of clues. So go ahead and get that laptop of yours out of the car and add it already."
"I'll tell you what. I'll add it while you drive the rest of the way into town."
Moments later the two girls were back on the road with their car pointed toward the heart of Smallville and Sandy steadily typing away at her laptop computer.
(To be continued in part 11)
Author: DCForever
Site:
E-mail: bryanc23@yahoo.com or dcforever23@yahoo.com
Feedback: Who doesn't want it? It is definitely welcomed.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
Archiving: Archiving is permitted as long as I know of where it will be posted and that all the above info stays intact.
Disclaimer: Lets get this straight...I'm not affiliated with anyone...don't have anything of major value. Think that about covers it.
Author's Note: Please, let me know what you like or hate about the story. The story was checked with Word, but otherwise is unbeta-ed.
------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash had just left the hidden loft where Ray was frantically typing away at the mainframe's keyboard. Blips were popping up all over city as Ray monitored Metropolis's street layout displayed on a large LCD flat screen monitor attached to the wall. Yet again, Ray hadn't been kidding when he told Barry to watch out for it looked be another long night of fighting crime. One second, Ray and Barry were playing a game of chess and the loft was silent with no activity and next chaos had broken out across the city. Within minutes, the screen was filled with blips of all colors representing everyone from the police to the fire department...including the criminals trying to escape. Ray was trying to contact Barry 'The Flash' Allen as he typed away at the computer, but all action was stopped as a breeze swept through the large room, scattering about papers and making a mess of the guy's desk and once sorted files.
Ray quickly turned around in his chair, "Barry did you fo...oh, it's you. Sorry, but now really isn't the best time." He swiveled back around, activating his microphone. "Barry, I have four on the screen...no, make that six in your vicinity. Be careful my friend because things aren't looking so good." By this time Clark was standing behind the guy, looking at the blip he assumed to be Barry and at the other blips assumed to be criminals of some kind.
"Ray, what's going on? What are those other blips on the screen?" asked Clark.
"Military base on the outskirts of town just got hit along with many other targets, but we're concentrating on this area because it had the most activity. Barry is tailing them...at least I hope that is all he is going to do."
"So you have any idea what might have been stolen? For all you know Barry could be falling right into their hands. Here. See how the streets merge and how the blips have already changed direction a few times?" Ray was following Clark's finger as he slid it across the screen.
"You could be right, Chris."
"Barry, you there? We think they might be baiting you into a trap. Their routes are too consistent with each other. Barry? You're breaking up. Barry?" Ray kicks off the floor and rolls his chair with him in it across the room to another terminal. Damn it! Our signal is being jammed."
While Ray had vacated his keyboard, Clark moved in and typed away trying to pin point the name of a street most likely to be a hit point. "Bingo! The wharf. Ray, I'll bring him back." Ray instantly turned his head, but Clark wasn't in sight.
Speeding out of the building and to the street, Clark ran as fast as his feet could carry him. The wharf was a good twenty or so minutes away by normal means of transportation, but Clark was hoping more along something around two minutes as he speed down the streets, zigzagging around pedestrians and cars and leaping over intersections in case there were possible chances for a wrecks.
Meanwhile, Ray was back at the loft triangulating onto Clark's position as he neared his target. The young man couldn't believe just how fast Clark really was and was confused how his body's signature temperature was so much more different than his or Barry's. He still was unable to reach Barry with the headset.
Clark slowed as he approached the wharf, squinting his eyes and concentrating, he quickly began scanning the contents of the buildings and the streets surrounding the wharf. "Come on Barry, you have to be around here someplace." He moved from street to street hoping that he wouldn't be too late if in deed it had been a trap.
"There." He stopped in the shadows and watched six armor plated vehicles fixed in a hexagon like figure; each vehicle emitting a laser like spider web beam. Looking more closely, he saw that Barry was the one caught in the glowing webbing and no matter how fast he ran around or tried to break through the beams, he was unsuccessful. Clark watched his new friend's motions as he banged more and more against the webbing as it slowly closed in on him. Seemed with each hit the webbing shrunk. He was playing right into their hands...whoever they were.
"Mr. Luthor, we have him, sir. The field should have him out within ten, sir. I told you, you could count on my team. This Flash character is no match for the likes of meeee...ouch." shouted out the criminal with the phone as the phone erupted into flames. Clark's next target was the side chamber of one of the devices emitting the beams. It too started flaming up before it exploded, taking the attached vehicle up in flames with it. Barry realized the hole in the webbing and shot through the hole, one by one he raced around the vehicles taking out each person. Neither their guns nor muscles were a match for the speedster. Clark stayed back in the shadows emitting his own beams as heat vision wiped out each of the laser emitting vehicles and their state of the art weaponry.
Ray had no idea what was happening from his location, but he had a good idea as his computer monitors filled up with intense heat sources.
Minutes later, a sore and tired figure came to a stop as he looked at the damage surrounding him. Fires were ablaze and criminal thugs were laying about the ground in various stages of hurt.
Tapping his headset, "Ray? Ray?"
"Yeah, Barry, I'm here. Are you okay?" He had been worried about his friend.
"Everything is A-okay here. Man, you should see the damage. It's like a war zone down here."
"What happened? Did CK get there in time?" Ray had a feeling he knew the answer to that already even though minutes earlier he had lost track of the guy on his monitors.
"CK? I haven't seen him." Barry started looking around him to see if he could see the guy and stopped as he spotted two reddish tinted eyes looking back at him. Chuckling to himself, "Yeah, he indeed did make it. I have a feeling he might have caused all this destruction. I hear the cops coming. We're out of here."
Barry disengaged his communicator and looked up, but Clark had already fled the scene. "Man that guy is fast." Barry took off a second later as he could see flashing lights approaching in the distance.
Ray leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "Time to get out of here." He pushed back, standing up and shut down his workstation before exiting and locking the steal door. Walking across old creaking boards he made his way across the room where he shut off the light. Security laser beams activated sending a small vapor like substance into the air and then vanished. Pulling open the light switch, he triggered a hologram projected brick wall, hiding the steel door and the contents with which it held. He pulled the door closed and locked it and started down the equally creaking stairs leading down to the bottom floor.
"Now that is what I call high security." Ray jumped at the vocal intrusion.
"Damn man, are you trying to scare me to death?"
"Nahhh...there are far more entertaining ways to kill somebody." Clark was joking, but Ray wasn't all too sure. Seemed Clark had many more secrets than Ray and Ray wasn't sure just where his loyalties laid.
"So I guess you want that talk now?"
"No. Actually, I want the footage you captured tonight. Both the computer footage and whatever camera footage you might have gotten. I can't risk having those get into the wrong hands. And until I really know what is going on I'm not leaving here until I have them in my possession."
"I see where you are coming from. Can we have talk first?"
"No, the footage first...then we talk. Where are they, Ray? Don't make me have to ask a second time."
"Barry's headset camera signal was blocked when we got jammed, but all the computer recordings and backups are in my desk safe. They are more than just secured. You don't have anything to worry about."
"The desk safe you say?" Clark concentrated his eyes towards the upstairs room and slowly his vision penetrated through the boards of the room and straight into the hidden room. "Hehe...that's quite funny. You have that huge ass steel door protecting the loft, but nothing protecting from someone getting in from beneath the room." Ray was taken back by the comment.
"How did he know that?" thought Ray as he intensely watched his friend.
Clark fixed his eyes on the desk and watched the wood vaporize allowing him to see everything in the desk and the cheap thing he called a secure safe.
He let his vision return to normal before facing Ray. "Why did you lie to me?"
"What? How? Can you like see through things or something?"
"Or something, yeah...lies for one thing."
"Damn, my man, that's something else. So like what else can you do? Read minds maybe?" Ray was joking, but Clark wasn't in a joking frame of mind.
"The footage, Ray." Clark was close to his breaking point as his anger was building up inside of him.
"Sorry my friend, but it doesn't work that way. Do you remember when I told you that this thing was bigger than us; well this is one of those bigger than us things. The footage is networked by high-secured lines to my boss and some of the finest professionals in what they do. I'm not quite sure exactly what they all do, but whatever it is...they are the best at it. Whatever is typed on that screen upstairs...they see it and keep records. You're worried about someone finding out the differences in your heat signature and that somehow you're able to shot off small streams of heat causing explosions? Well, maybe that is something to be worried about. So what kind of weapon did you use? Must have been quite powerful to take down the Enforcers' weaponry."
"The Enforcers? Is that who those guys were?"
"That is on a need to know basis." Clark was tired of playing games with the guy he once thought to be his friend. His eyes began to emit a red glow that looked a lot like fire burning in his eyes.
"Ray, trust me when I say this. If you care to live to see another minute go by...you will tell me what I need to know." Ray stood in shock as he stared at Clark's eyes.
"Who in the world are you?"
"Lets just say...I'm not from around here. Spill it, Ray." Barry came flying up behind Clark.
"Ray, what is going on here?" Barry stopped in his own tracks as he saw the familiar red glowing eyes. "So it was you in the shadow. Thank you, CK. You ran off before I could thank you for saving my life." He was confused by the way things were looking.
"You're welcome. You've seen what I can do...so why don't you tell your buddy over here to tell me what I want to hear before I re-enact what happened at the wharf tonight? Please."
"Ray, he saved my life. You've seen what he can do. He is on our side. Tell him about Thomas or I will."
"Thomas? You wouldn't be talking about president of Metropolis U? That Thomas? Nah, that couldn't be. There is no way he could be tangled up in all of this...whatever this really is."
"Ray?" Ray was still lost in the rage and fire in Clark's eyes.
"He's Ray's boss." Barry shouted out.
"Then what does that make you?"
"Just a friend who's come to town to help out for a while. Okay, a paid friend. I was paid to come in and do a job, but there seems to be more things in the way that I had expected there to be."
Clark shook his head at the information he had just learned and then shook Ray's body, breaking him out of the cold trance he seemed to be in. "Ray, you have some explaining to do. Because all of a sudden I don't feel like I was meant to even be in this picture. So if it isn't about me anymore...then who or what is it about?"
"Revenge!" stated Ray before reaching into his pocket and retrieving his cell phone. He proceeded to dial a number.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Picking up on the other end, "Yes."
"We've been compromised, sir. We need a meet."
"My cabin. 3 a.m."
"We'll be there, sir."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Meanwhile across the city, Sandy was on the phone with her cousin.
"Oh Whitney, you have no idea what this means to me. Is it okay if I bring a friend along?"
"Sure, Sand. Oh yeah, I don't see a problem with you having the run of the place while you're here."
"I don't want to put you out or anything."
"Oh you won't be. I've been staying over at my girlfriend's apartment most of the time anyway. Just don't break anything. I know it isn't much, but it is mine and it's all I got."
"We won't break anything. I swear. I'm sure you won't even know we've been there. Do you think I'll actually get a chance to see you while I'm visiting?"
"Yeah. I'll make sure of it. Lana and I will take you two out for dinner one night and show you around a bit while you're here."
"Sounds great. I can't wait to see you again, Whit. Tell Lana I said that everything will be okay...I promise not to visit you two at church or anything while I'm there. We should arrive tomorrow around lunchtime. See ya when I see ya."
Sandy hung up the phone and nodded her head. "Rachel, it's confirmed. He said we could stay at his apartment for as long as we need to. He's going to be crashing with his girlfriend."
Rachel smiled at the good news. "Guess I better go pack a few things then."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Mr. Waynewright, are you sure the device worked?"
"Positive, Mr. Luthor. We were able to intercept the call to his cell phone and the meeting has been confirmed. Sir, trust me...he wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between his own voice."
"Good then. While we tie his troops up at his cabin of all places...we can hit the military base again. I know my dad was funding one of their military projects and he doesn't back anyone unless he is going to get something from it. I want a file on whatever the project consists of on my desk no later than this time tomorrow evening. Do we have an understanding?"
"I'll have strike teams alpha and zero secure the base and instruct the scout team to keep surveillance on the cabin. Ummm, sir...your secretary sent you an email to your office. Would you care for me to intercept it for you?"
"Please." responded Lex as he made his way back over to the console.
He watched as Wayneswright dragged the outgoing mail from LuthorCorp's servers and brought it to their own. "That simple huh? Amazing what you can do with computers these days."
"You made it possible for it to be that easy, sir. Seems you have an outing planned for 3 p.m. today. Hehe...a charity banquet at the Metropolis Orphanage, sir?"
"Ah yes, the things you have to do to make people like you and respect you in this city. I'll just stay long enough to show off a few smiles, hug a few of the children, let the media have their little field day, drop a cool million of LuthorCorp's money and leave. I'll have them all eating out the palm of my hand."
"And what about the plan...and your father?"
"I can't worry about him any more. If he shows up at some time then I'll have him dealt with, but if he doesn't, then there is no harm. Either way...the operation is a go on all fronts."
"If I may be frank...man, I would have hated growing up in a household with that kind of love. There seems to be nothing but hatred between you and your father."
"That's how he saw fit to raise me. I just don't think he thought he would see the day that I took him out of the picture. He's been grooming me all my life to take over LuthorCorp one day. I'm just tired of sitting around and waiting. I wasn't named after the infamous Alexander the Great for nothing. I take what I want...when I want it. It has always been that way in my family...since my mom passed anyway. Look at what the dirt bag did to the Smallville fertilizer plant and me. He went behind my back and stole it away from me. Why? Because he could. And now...I can...therefore, by the Luthor's code of battle...so I am. What once was his will be mine. That which he never did obtain...that too will be mine as well. I've said it time and time again; I will control the largest and most powerful crime syndicate ever to be formed. And I'll do it all as I take my rightful place in the Oval Office; where there too I will have the ultimate control and power as President of the United States."
"Mr. President, it would be my honor to serve under you."
"As it should. I'll be back later to check on our progress. Looks like I'll need my beauty rest if I'm going before the media tomorrow. You and your guys get plenty of rest as well. I can't afford for there to be any screw ups."
"Yes, sir. Night, sir." Lex raised his hand to his forehead and gave a mock salute before heading towards the elevator. His lips rose upward as he realized that he was getting ever so closer to actually calling the White House his home.
Somewhere, locked away in that genius brain, hidden deep inside, was a small particle that was still worried that his dad would find a way to ruin him and allow him to regain control of everything...at least until he was dead and buried.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"This way, Mr. Ross." A charming airport attendant lead Pete through the terminal gates and onto the runway where a white, small two engine jet was awaiting his arrival. His long time friend, Chloe Sullivan, stood in the doorway waving her hand as the young man approached. Upon seeing his friend, he took off running toward the jet. He quickly ascended the moveable stairs and lifted Chloe up in a good ol' friendly bear hug.
"Chloe, I can't believe it's you. Just look at you. You look fabulous. I see Paris suits you quite well."
"It does okay. Oh Pete, you have no idea how much I've missed you. I know we haven't been apart all that long, but it really is good to see you again. Hey, we can talk on the flight. I really want to get to Metropolis as soon as possible."
"Same here. I got a little score I need to settle with a certain friend of ours." They both lowered their heads as they stepped into the plane. Fifteen minutes later, the jet lifted off the runway; destination, Metropolis, USA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Hey Sandy, pull over." Requested Rachel.
"Why?" Sandy thought something might be wrong with the girl.
"Just pull over." The blue two-door sedan pulled to the side of the road, stirring up dust as it came to a skidding halt. Rachel jumped out and ran across the country road where she immediately stood in front of a large billboard sign that read in large red letters, 'Welcome to Smallville.' Spray painted in large letters in the bottom right hand corner was the phrase, 'Meteor Rock Capital of the World.'
"This was the sign I saw in Clark's dream. Meteor Rock Capital of the World, huh? So that's what he didn't want me to see. Why?"
"So you think that was the part you weren't able to make out?"
"Yeah and I'm betting...you know...I don't know any more."
"Come on Rachel, why do you think Clark would want to hide that? Look...it was spray-painted on. Maybe some kids painted it on as a joke after Clark had passed through. There is no way of telling for sure or not that he was hiding these words from you. Geez...they are just words girl."
"Maybe you're right, Sandy, but I think we should add this to our list of clues. So go ahead and get that laptop of yours out of the car and add it already."
"I'll tell you what. I'll add it while you drive the rest of the way into town."
Moments later the two girls were back on the road with their car pointed toward the heart of Smallville and Sandy steadily typing away at her laptop computer.
(To be continued in part 11)