Chapter 9
"Radiation," proclaimed Doctor Alfred Miller over the phone. He was speaking with Lionel Luthor. "Hamilton must have infused the spores with radiation, essentially bringing them back to life so that they could reproduce – asexually – and thus a new flower was spawned. The Nicodemus, alive, once again."
Lionel rubbed his chin. "Uh-huh. What kind of radiation?"
"A very concentrated form of it; I don't know what the source could possibly be."
Lionel closed his eyes and reflected. He was talking about the meteor rocks, of course, but that wasn't what troubled him. Two years ago, a man named James Beales had been trying to reach in, but Lionel refused to speak with him. He was introduced to the toxin given off from the Nicodemus, and died less than a day later. If he had listened to him, God, he'd be much farther ahead in his research.
Then, just last year, he'd gotten several scientists to explore the properties of the meteor rocks and discovered one of its many uses. He successfully cloned a girl and accelerated her growth significantly. The project was considered a failure; the poor girl couldn't grasp the concepts of right or wrong. Now, here he was, searching for an alternative to the meteor rocks for his cloning project and he ended up back where he started. The damn meteor rocks.
And to think I paid that Drake woman for nothing. Lionel sighed. But all is not lost.
While Sara Drake had gone home with the clone of the mysterious plant from Ireland, Lionel had kept the original and was analyzing tests now. If Wayne Enterprises were trying to develop a revolutionary medicine or hair shampoo, his own scientists wouldn't be far behind in their research.
Indeed, preliminary analysis's showed strange components in the plant. One scientist remarked it as "nothing short of magical", to which Lionel responded, "I pay you to perform science, not magic tricks. Although a magician would be cheaper."
The scientist, of course, snapped out of his daze and got to work.
"Sir? Are you still there?"
Lionel shook his head and ended his reminiscence. "Yes, Dr. Miller, I'm still here. Ah, it appears my projects have...just changed priority. I'll need my biologist back, after all."
Al Miller yawned, "Good. What the hell are you doing up at one in the morning? This phone call couldn't have waited until eight at the very least?"
Lionel hung up.
* * *
"Here," said Martha. She set down a cup of tea on the table in front of Clark and insisted him to drink it.
"Mom?"
"Well, I can't get a needle and inject it into your system. And Lionel Luthor will turn Smallville into a metropolitan envy of the world before I let you smoke the thing." Martha didn't know how else to call the flower other than "the thing".
Clark gulped down the tea and leaned back. He sighed and decided to rest his eyes. Just a few moments wouldn't hurt. Just...
Clark peeked over the edge of the building and glanced down. It was a really long way down. The cars passing by created strings of light and made Clark dizzy. He wanted to vomit, he wanted to run back into the elevator and forget all about the terrorist and the hostages they held. But...one of the hostages was his mom. He looked up and saw the LuthorCorp building across the street. Behind him sat the familiar Daily Planet globe that revolved completely every minute. The Planet. That would be a nice place to work.
Clark nonchalantly walked over to the globe and tried to pick it up, but instead, his hands went through the globe. It took him a second to realize that it was a hologram. How strange. When he looked out at the city, he was surprised to see that instead of the modern buildings he had seen just a second ago, he saw a jungle of futuristic buildings. In the distance, he could see a train track, but the train didn't touch the track; it glided over it.
Instead of the LuthorCorp building that should have been across the street, he saw twin buildings that resembled a tuning fork. On the bottom, where it should have said "LuthorCorp", it said "LexCorp". And there, on the top floor, was Lex Luthor, albeit much older (still bald, though). He was pointing at Clark and laughing. Why was he laughing?
Clark looked down. He wasn't on the Daily Planet building anymore. He was floating on air. And when he looked back up, the LuthorCorp building sat there again, as if nothing had changed. Clark willed himself to go forward and he flew. He flew into the building, into the room where his mother and Lionel were held hostage. One terrorist, a strong man with a beard, but no scalp hair, held a gun at him. Clark fried the gun out of his hand with his heat vision.
Two other kidnappers, an African-American woman and a Caucasian man, were more hesitant to even try to shoot him. The man said, "Let's get out of here, man! It's Kal!"
The bald bearded man looked at Clark and squinted. "Yeah, it's him! Forget the rich guy!"
The kidnappers left, leaving Clark with his mom and Lionel. He tried to embrace his mother in a hug, but she whimpered and cowered behind Lionel. Lionel threw off his sunglasses and pulled out a gun of his own. "Leave us alone, alien."
"Mom?" pleaded Clark. "Mom, I'm not Kal anymore! I'm sorry! Please! Mom?"
Martha simply held onto Lionel. Anger blinded Clark and he rushed forward to subdue Lionel, who aimed his gun at the safe beside them. In a shower of sparks, it opened, revealing the contents.
Kryptonite.
"Mom! Please, no, it burns! It burns!"
"It burns!" moaned Clark as he woke up. Fortunately, Jonathon was there to yank off the kryptonite and he returned it to the lead case. Martha gently gripped his hand. "What time is it?"
Martha glanced at her watch. "3:30 in the morning. Are you all right? What were you yelling?"
"Nothing. I...had a bad dream, that's all." Clark sighed. "I guess the tea worked."
"But was it the tea's fault or did the kryptonite banish the virus or curse, or whatever the werewolf 'factor' is out of your system?"
Jonathon gave her a look. "Huh?"
Clark was quick to catch on. "Lionel said that some of the elements found in the spaceship are also in the meteor rocks; it's how he made an imperfect copy of the key."
"But the spaceship didn't heal you with its presence – it was 'activated'. Makes me wish we still had it around."
Clark looked down out of guilt. "I'm sorry."
Martha gently clutched Clark's hand. "I guess...I guess the tea worked. Now how are we going to get Lex and that other boy to take the tea?"
Clark got up and walked to the window above the sink. He pondered for a moment before speaking. "Is that the only way you know how to make medicine? Herbal tea?
Martha nodded.
"Then...I'll take the plant, what's left of it, to someone who might help..."
* * *
Lex growled. His hands were tied down to some sort of rock with a chain. Standing in front of him was Edward in "wolf man" form. He was smirking. Damn him.
Edward howled and then closed in for the kill. His mouth bit into Lex's shoulder, causing him to yell very, very loudly. When Edward pulled away, he watched with interest as the area where he'd bitten of flesh from Lex regenerate.
And thus began one of the most physically painful nights Lex would ever experience.
"Radiation," proclaimed Doctor Alfred Miller over the phone. He was speaking with Lionel Luthor. "Hamilton must have infused the spores with radiation, essentially bringing them back to life so that they could reproduce – asexually – and thus a new flower was spawned. The Nicodemus, alive, once again."
Lionel rubbed his chin. "Uh-huh. What kind of radiation?"
"A very concentrated form of it; I don't know what the source could possibly be."
Lionel closed his eyes and reflected. He was talking about the meteor rocks, of course, but that wasn't what troubled him. Two years ago, a man named James Beales had been trying to reach in, but Lionel refused to speak with him. He was introduced to the toxin given off from the Nicodemus, and died less than a day later. If he had listened to him, God, he'd be much farther ahead in his research.
Then, just last year, he'd gotten several scientists to explore the properties of the meteor rocks and discovered one of its many uses. He successfully cloned a girl and accelerated her growth significantly. The project was considered a failure; the poor girl couldn't grasp the concepts of right or wrong. Now, here he was, searching for an alternative to the meteor rocks for his cloning project and he ended up back where he started. The damn meteor rocks.
And to think I paid that Drake woman for nothing. Lionel sighed. But all is not lost.
While Sara Drake had gone home with the clone of the mysterious plant from Ireland, Lionel had kept the original and was analyzing tests now. If Wayne Enterprises were trying to develop a revolutionary medicine or hair shampoo, his own scientists wouldn't be far behind in their research.
Indeed, preliminary analysis's showed strange components in the plant. One scientist remarked it as "nothing short of magical", to which Lionel responded, "I pay you to perform science, not magic tricks. Although a magician would be cheaper."
The scientist, of course, snapped out of his daze and got to work.
"Sir? Are you still there?"
Lionel shook his head and ended his reminiscence. "Yes, Dr. Miller, I'm still here. Ah, it appears my projects have...just changed priority. I'll need my biologist back, after all."
Al Miller yawned, "Good. What the hell are you doing up at one in the morning? This phone call couldn't have waited until eight at the very least?"
Lionel hung up.
* * *
"Here," said Martha. She set down a cup of tea on the table in front of Clark and insisted him to drink it.
"Mom?"
"Well, I can't get a needle and inject it into your system. And Lionel Luthor will turn Smallville into a metropolitan envy of the world before I let you smoke the thing." Martha didn't know how else to call the flower other than "the thing".
Clark gulped down the tea and leaned back. He sighed and decided to rest his eyes. Just a few moments wouldn't hurt. Just...
Clark peeked over the edge of the building and glanced down. It was a really long way down. The cars passing by created strings of light and made Clark dizzy. He wanted to vomit, he wanted to run back into the elevator and forget all about the terrorist and the hostages they held. But...one of the hostages was his mom. He looked up and saw the LuthorCorp building across the street. Behind him sat the familiar Daily Planet globe that revolved completely every minute. The Planet. That would be a nice place to work.
Clark nonchalantly walked over to the globe and tried to pick it up, but instead, his hands went through the globe. It took him a second to realize that it was a hologram. How strange. When he looked out at the city, he was surprised to see that instead of the modern buildings he had seen just a second ago, he saw a jungle of futuristic buildings. In the distance, he could see a train track, but the train didn't touch the track; it glided over it.
Instead of the LuthorCorp building that should have been across the street, he saw twin buildings that resembled a tuning fork. On the bottom, where it should have said "LuthorCorp", it said "LexCorp". And there, on the top floor, was Lex Luthor, albeit much older (still bald, though). He was pointing at Clark and laughing. Why was he laughing?
Clark looked down. He wasn't on the Daily Planet building anymore. He was floating on air. And when he looked back up, the LuthorCorp building sat there again, as if nothing had changed. Clark willed himself to go forward and he flew. He flew into the building, into the room where his mother and Lionel were held hostage. One terrorist, a strong man with a beard, but no scalp hair, held a gun at him. Clark fried the gun out of his hand with his heat vision.
Two other kidnappers, an African-American woman and a Caucasian man, were more hesitant to even try to shoot him. The man said, "Let's get out of here, man! It's Kal!"
The bald bearded man looked at Clark and squinted. "Yeah, it's him! Forget the rich guy!"
The kidnappers left, leaving Clark with his mom and Lionel. He tried to embrace his mother in a hug, but she whimpered and cowered behind Lionel. Lionel threw off his sunglasses and pulled out a gun of his own. "Leave us alone, alien."
"Mom?" pleaded Clark. "Mom, I'm not Kal anymore! I'm sorry! Please! Mom?"
Martha simply held onto Lionel. Anger blinded Clark and he rushed forward to subdue Lionel, who aimed his gun at the safe beside them. In a shower of sparks, it opened, revealing the contents.
Kryptonite.
"Mom! Please, no, it burns! It burns!"
"It burns!" moaned Clark as he woke up. Fortunately, Jonathon was there to yank off the kryptonite and he returned it to the lead case. Martha gently gripped his hand. "What time is it?"
Martha glanced at her watch. "3:30 in the morning. Are you all right? What were you yelling?"
"Nothing. I...had a bad dream, that's all." Clark sighed. "I guess the tea worked."
"But was it the tea's fault or did the kryptonite banish the virus or curse, or whatever the werewolf 'factor' is out of your system?"
Jonathon gave her a look. "Huh?"
Clark was quick to catch on. "Lionel said that some of the elements found in the spaceship are also in the meteor rocks; it's how he made an imperfect copy of the key."
"But the spaceship didn't heal you with its presence – it was 'activated'. Makes me wish we still had it around."
Clark looked down out of guilt. "I'm sorry."
Martha gently clutched Clark's hand. "I guess...I guess the tea worked. Now how are we going to get Lex and that other boy to take the tea?"
Clark got up and walked to the window above the sink. He pondered for a moment before speaking. "Is that the only way you know how to make medicine? Herbal tea?
Martha nodded.
"Then...I'll take the plant, what's left of it, to someone who might help..."
* * *
Lex growled. His hands were tied down to some sort of rock with a chain. Standing in front of him was Edward in "wolf man" form. He was smirking. Damn him.
Edward howled and then closed in for the kill. His mouth bit into Lex's shoulder, causing him to yell very, very loudly. When Edward pulled away, he watched with interest as the area where he'd bitten of flesh from Lex regenerate.
And thus began one of the most physically painful nights Lex would ever experience.