Clark flinched as one of the scientists made a small incision in his right shoulder. Because of the effects of the kryptonite, Clark's shattered right arm had failed to heal properly and it ached brutally. Pain throbbed throughout Clark's body, and he felt a sick weakness roll over him. Since the electric shock he had felt weaker than he had ever felt before. Abashed, Clark suddenly remembered that whenever he had been shocked by electricity before around kryptonite he had experienced a loss of powers. Clark was dismayed; he had no idea how Lex's escape plan was going to work if he couldn't use his powers. The scientist made another cut deeper into Clark's shoulder and he gritted his teeth from the burning pain of the blade. Clark breathed heavily as blood trickled down his chest. They made a deep cut into Clark's chest and he whimpered, biting down a cry of pain. Every once in a while the scientists would look warily over at Lionel, who still stood fuming over the test results. Just as they were about to make the incision into Clark's skin deeper, they were suddenly interrupted by the angry sound of Lionel's voice.
"I still don't understand it!" Lionel spat out, enraged, as he flipped through the test results. "Why are the results showing nothing? Lex's results were much better than these after electric-shock therapy. Of course it's only to be expected that Lex's results would be better than a regular person's because of his elevated white blood cell count, but the specimen is not a normal human being! His results should have been far better than my son's!"
"We don't know what happened, sir. The other tests have went so well, we don't know what's wrong with this one." one of the scientists, a short fat man, said fearfully.
Lionel scoffed. "You're supposed to be trained professionals and yet you don't even know why one of your experiments have failed? The specimen's results were the same as a normal teenage boy's would have been! How do you explain that?"
"We've told you, we don't know, sir." One of the scientists said fearfully, the scalpel in his hands hovering over Clark's chest.
Despite the pain he was in, Clark smiled grimly to himself, knowing that because of his loss of powers Lionel's tests would now be useless.
Lionel's face was etched in anger, he suddenly flung the papers violently back onto the table. "Someone has made a mistake here. These are not the results I was looking for." he said in a low, threatening voice.
The hand of the scientist who was holding the scalpel trembled as he stared into the menacing eyes of his employer. "S-S-Sir, I-I" he stuttered terrified. "I'm sorry that you didn't get the test results that you had hoped for. I-"
Lionel waved his apology away. "I'm surrounded by incompetent fools. You are all fired. Now get out of my sight."
"But sir!" the scientist piped up, shocked.
"Do not make me tell you to leave again." Lionel said darkly, staring the quaking scientist down. "And if you tell anyone about the experiments that you have witnessed, you will not live to regret it since you won't be alive to regret anything. Do you understand?"
The group of scientists nodded fearfully, then quickly left the labratory.
"Lionel, what's going on here?" Morgan Edge asked as he entered the room, staring at the departing scientists.
"Those fools proved to be inefficient. I can get any top scientist I want with just a phone call. I don't have to put up with quakes and fools." Lionel snarled.
Edge shrugged at this, and then walked over to the metal table that Clark was chained to. "Hey, Kal. How's it going?" Edge asked in a mock casual voice, lighting a cigarette. He puffed on it for a few seconds, and then suddenly held the burning end of the cigarette to Clark's hurt arm. Clark hissed in pain, while Edge chuckled. "Don't sound so good." he said, grinning.
"It's almost 5:00." Lionel said, glancing over at the digital clock on the table. "Tonight I'll make some calls and bring in a new group of scientists tomorrow. I'm sure they'll be fascinated by our prize specimen." he sneered. "Oh, and Morgan, why don't you come over to my place for dinner? There's some important business matters that I need to speak to you about."
"Alright." Edge said a bit warily. As Lionel gathered the papers and test results together, Morgan Edge stared thoughtfully down at Clark. "I wonder if he can live without a heart or a brain?" Edge said in a musing voice.
"I would like to do some experiments on his brain. Perhaps a lobotomy." Lionel said. "But that can wait for later. Lex, come on, we're going home now." he snapped. Lex obediently walked over to his father, still clutching the blanket to his chest. "I'll bring the new group of scientists in tomorrow morning." Lionel promised.
"Good, good." Edge said, "Well, see you tomorrow, Kal." he called back as the three men exited the room. The security guard who stood in front of the lab door nodded at the three men as they left the room. The lights in the lab dimmed, leaving Clark in near darkness except for the red flashing light of the security camera that was in the top left hand corner of the room. He watched this camera, and watched the digital clock that was sitting on the table where the scientists took their notes. At 5:59 he held his breath. The second the numbers changed to 6:00 the red light under the camera suddenly stopped flashing and Clark went to work.
Clark managed to maneuver his chained left hand around until he could put it up to his mouth. He spat the key out into his left hand. It took him about fifteen minutes to try and position the key into the keyhole on the manacle that was around the wrist of his left hand. His loss of powers and the kryptonite had weakened him considerably, and he was still in excrutiating pain. He had to stop a few times, panting heavily and wincing from the pain he was in. His body was drenched with sweat and his chest was still bleeding from the cuts. Clark had to bend his wrist in an uncomfortable position in order for him to get the key into the keyhole. Luckily the keyhole was on the inside of his wrist so he was able to finally get the key in. He felt it slide in, then gave it a twist and the manacle popped off. Clark then went to work on taking the other chains off.
At Lionel's penthouse, Morgan Edge and Lionel were having a before dinner drink in Lionel's study. Edge took a long swallow of the scotch that Lionel's butler had poured him, then stared warily over at Lionel. Lionel smiled benevolently back at him, but Edge had learned not to trust Lionel's sincerity. Although they had been childhood friends, Lionel was a crooked, poisonous snake and Morgan didn't trust him one bit. "So, Lionel, what are those business matters you need to speak with me about?" he asked suspiciously.
Lionel shook his head. "We'll discuss business after dinner." he promised.
Edge nodded, but didn't feel any less suspicious of Lionel's intentions. So, what do you think of-" he was beginning, when suddenly he was interrupted by the sound of singing.
"And if that mockingbird don't sing,
Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring."
Edge looked over to the armchair in the corner of the study, where Lex was sitting singing to himself. Lex had been singing to the "baby" all evening and it was really starting to grate on Edge's nerves. He took another swallow of scotch, and suddenly his sight blurred a bit. I must be overtired, he thought, taking another drink.
"And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Mama's going to buy you a looking glass."
Edge was definitely feeling a little dizzy now. He took another drink of the scotch, hoping that the alcohol would help wake him up. The dizziness became even worse, and he started seeing everything in double. Beside of him he heard Lionel stumble to his feet, then trip and fall to the floor, a small end table and lamp crashing to the floor as he fell.
"And if that looking glass gets broke,
Mama's going to buy you a billy goat."
"The scotch...it's been drugged." Lionel managed to rasp out. "Somebody's drugged the scotch!"
"And if that billy goat won't pull,
Mama's going to buy you a cart and bull."
Edge lurched to his feet but collapsed next to Lionel. Lionel's eyes were now closed and he was breathing heavily. Edge felt his own eyes close, and soon he was unconscious.
Lex stopped singing and stared intently at the two unconscious men. He placed the blanket on the floor then walked over to the men, bending down to make sure they were unconscious. Then he slipped quietly from the room, locking the door behind him.
Martha Kent stared down in sadness at the pale girl in the hospital bed before her. Lana sat in a chair by Chloe's bed, tears streaming down her face. Gabe Sullivan paced worriedly up and down the hallway outside the hospital room, glancing into the room's observation window every now and then to see if there was any improvement. Suddenly Lana gasped, Chloe's eyes had fluttered.
"Chloe!" she cried out.
Chloe's eyes opened slowly, and she gazed blearily around. "L-Lana?" she said in a slow, halting voice.
"Chloe, you're alright!" Lana sobbed.
Chloe's eyes lingered about the room, until they alighted upon Martha's Kent's face and suddenly they sharpened. "C-Clark." she gasped.
Martha bent over Chloe and took her hand. "What about Clark, Chloe?" she asked fearfully.
"L-Lionel Luthor has Clark." Chloe whispered, "He has Clark at one of his labs. I-I don't know which one but-" she suddenly grimaced in pain, her face paling even more. "I-I'm sorry, but it hurts...so bad!" she gasped. Martha squeezed her hand and Lana rushed to get a nurse. "It's okay, honey." Martha said, "It's all going to be alright. Just you rest. Clark's going to be okay."
"Save...Clark." Chloe whispered, before she lost consiousness again. Martha squeezed Chloe's hand again before leaving the room when the nurses and doctors rushed in. She walked out into the hallway and toward the hospital exit, a determined look upon her face.
"Mrs.Kent! Where are you going?" Lana suddenly cried out, rushing down the hall towards Martha.
"I'm going to pay Lionel Luthor a visit." Martha said in a grim, yet determined voice.
TBC....