Chapter Thirteen
As Superman stood between Kal and H.G. Wells, he realized what he'd been doing wrong. It was rare that he fought an enemy that was anywhere close to his own power level. He'd grown used to holding back, pulling his punches. From the moment he'd first fought Kal-El back in his own reality, Superman had been refraining from using all his strength. He realized now, though, that he was fighting an enemy who was at least as strong as he was, maybe stronger, and that this enemy would not hold back even an ounce of his might in battle. Superman would have to do the same.
Kal-El laughed. "So you've still got some fight left in you, eh? Fine. It makes no difference to me."
Superman lunged forward, flying at Kal-El and barraging him with a hailstorm of punches. Kal-El blocked some of them, but most hit their mark. Kal was surprised by the ferocity of the attack, given how easily he had taken Superman before. A wicked grin crossed his face. Finally, a challenge.
Kal and Superman lifted off the ground, spinning around in midair as they grappled with one another. Each landed blow after blow, the sheer force of impact from each punch shaking the entire room, knocking artifacts from the wall and shattering the remaining glass cases. Kal reared back and slugged Superman so hard that he was knocked across the room. Superman planted his feet against the wall as he hit, then used it as a springboard, launching himself like a missile back at Kal. He slammed into him with such force that they both went crashing straight through the wall and out into the hallway, sailing over the heads of an astonished Tempus and his entourage of guards.
"Follow them, you cretins!" Tempus shouted, pointing frantically at the two figures as they sailed through the air. The pack of guards sprinted down the hall chasing after Kal and Superman. Tempus spun around and ran the other way, heading back towards the trophy room.
H.G. Wells gently helped Clark to his feet, and they dusted the remaining shards of glass from Clark's clothing.
"Are you all right, Clark?" Wells asked.
"I will be. That blast of heat vision almost fried me. Wells, Kal-El is so much more powerful than I am," Clark said, a hint of fear creeping into his voice.
"I am afraid that you cannot hope to beat him on a physical level," Wells said, his tone grim. "Whether he is more powerful or not, he is certainly more ruthless, and, as Diana said, he is willing to kill."
"Diana," Clark said, repeating her name. He ran over to where she still lay on the floor, and knelt down beside her. She was unconscious, breathing shallowly. "Wells, stay here with Diana. I'm going to go find the Regulator and shut it down."
"All right," Wells agreed. "Despite the size of the Regulator, it will still need to be powered by a crystal of some sort, like the one in my cabin was. All you have to do to shut down the regulator is find the crystal and remove it."
Tempus kicked open the door to the trophy room. "Not so fast, Clark," he said with a sneer.
Clark gritted his teeth and rose to his feet, seething with anger. He couldn't get the mental image of Tempus killing Lana, Chloe and his parents out of his head. It was taking all the restraint he had not to rip his head off, but he knew that bringing out that kind of rage and hatred was Tempus's intention all along.
As Clark took several strides toward him, Tempus reached into his jacket and pulled out a small chunk of glowing red rock. He held it up with a smile. Clark stopped in his tracks.
"Now, I know all about what this stuff does to you where you come from," Tempus explained. "How it turns you into 'Bad Boy Clark' and gives you a penchant for motorcycles and leather jackets. 'Red K' is much more interesting where my Superman comes from though. It tends to have a wide range of varied effects, usually playing some kind of havoc with his super powers." He walked right up to Clark and casually threw his arm around him. "This particular strain I swiped from Bill Church Junior when he was still head of Intergang. Can you guess what its effect is?"
Clark casually raised an eyebrow, then tried to stifle a yawn. "Should I really care?"
Tempus roared with laughter. "That's right, my boy! That's exactly right." He took Clark's hand, opened it, and slapped the red kryptonite rock right into his palm, then closed his fingers tightly around it. "It renders you completely apathetic. Melts all those pesky feelings of heroism right away, now doesn't it?"
"Clark!" Wells cried. "For God's sake, you've got to go destroy that Regulator!"
Clark turned back to Wells. "And why's that, again?"
"Because if you don't, this hell is the future! There will be no one to stop Kal-El!"
Clark shrugged. "Not my problem. I'm just Clark Kent, high school student from Smallville, Kansas. Let's let Superman handle this one, alright?"
Tempus grinned and winked at Wells. "You see, Herb? It's true what they say about today's youth. No motivation! Oh, how I weep for the future!" He chuckled wickedly to himself, and led Clark out of the room.
"Oh, my," Wells said, biting his lip. He took Diana's hand in his, and gently tapped it. "Please wake up, dear lady. We need you now more than ever."
