Nearly there now, Folks! Sorry for the delay!
Seconds later, the van engine died and so did my little hope of escape. The side panel door slid open and I realized we were already inside our destination. It looked like some inner courtyard with a roof, and several guards clad in the same gear as at the other complex milled too and fro.
Sanitori took the meteor rock from my hand as I gaped at my new prison. He kept it close enough to keep Clark at bay, but not enough to stop him standing. "Welcome to Hell," he smirked and his English accent seemed to attenuate his leer.
I stepped down from the Ford and shot him a hate-filled look back before turning to check on Clark. He was getting to his feet, although he was pretty wobbly, so I decided to give him a hand out. Our captor didn't seem to mind. In fact, he found it almost amusing. "Ah, love's young dream…"
"Something you never experienced, huh, Dominic?" I couldn't help but make the comment, and I expected Sanitori to lash out at me for my snark. Instead, someone laughed at my sarcasm and agreed with my remark.
"How right you are, Chloe." I turned to see Dominic's business partner laughing at him. "He wouldn't know love if it bit him in the ass. Just like our old adversaries the Luthors…"
I gaped as I faced Victoria Hardwicke. She stood before us with her hands on her hips, looking as sultry as ever. I wondered just who she had seduced to finance White Summit and this new facility, but it didn't really matter. At least I now knew the 'why' in the equation.
Lex had once tricked Victoria and her father into buying a worthless lab facility. Now, she was paying him back by ruining Luthorcorp's labs and stealing their findings.
She seemed to notice my eyes watching her, but she looked past me to Clark. He was a little older than when she had last met him, and I saw the seductive sparkle in her eyes that said in other circumstances he may have been her next victim- and I don't mean in the labs!
As it was, she walked over and let a fingertip trace down his chest. "Long time no see, Clark, but who would have thought you of all people could be so special…" Victoria licked her lips and looked back at Dominic. "Even now he's twice the man you are, Sanitori," she taunted. "Pity I can't have some fun before the research resumes…"
Dominic was becoming annoyed, and I was unsure whether to stir him up some more by making some comment, or whether I should stay out of the mix like Clark was doing.
"Victoria, you can't let your desires stray you from our plan. We're here to bring Luthor down and make our own fortune from his losses, not play around with his one-time friend!" The gun in Sanitori's hand wavered from me towards Hardwicke, and I knew things were turning nasty. That might be good.
I watched the green glowing lump Sanitori still had, and wondered how fast Clark could recover to use his powers if I seized it. We wouldn't have long because of the plethora of guards, but it just might be enough.
"Victoria was never one to follow a plan, where you?" I goaded. "Didn't I hear you were in cahoots with both Lex and Lionel at the same time…that's how you got fooled with Star labs, wasn't it?"
Hardwicke spun away from Clark and I relaxed a little. I admit her attention to him had made me just a tiny bit jealous, even if her amorous feelings hadn't been returned. "You think you're so smart, don't you, college girl? Well, let's see how smart you are when you become our first lab animal." Victoria gestured for one of the guards to grab me, and that was when I pounced.
I lunged forward while still cuffed; knocking the green meteor rock out of Sanitori's grip before he knew what had hit him. He yelped in surprise, and we both tumbled to the concrete floor with a thump. I kicked out, trying to keep him down, but also trying to see what else was transpiring.
The green meteor fragment had landed perilously close to Clark and I could see he wasn't getting any better. If I didn't act fast the other guards would soon restrain me. Not only that, but Hardwicke was now diving for me to join in the melee. I kicked at the rock with my free boot heel and it skimmed across the floor with a clatter.
Within seconds, I could see Clark becoming more alert. A guard lunged at him, only to find his opponent had vanished. In a flash of superspeed, Clark had darted to safety and was now behind the befuddled man. He tapped the security man on the shoulder and then did his infamous 'skull tap' rendering his aggressor unconscious.
I would have smiled at how easy the move was, but I had problems of my own. Victoria had grabbed my hair and was pulling me off Sanitori in a valiant effort to grab his gun. I'm not sure at that stage which one of us she intended shooting first, but I didn't intend it being me.
I whacked her across the face with both my hands, and the metal handcuffs that still bound me left a nasty red welt across her cheek. "Bitch!" she screeched at me, but I ignored her and continued my tussle with Dominic before Victoria rejoined the fray.
Meanwhile, Clark was having more difficulties I had yet to know about. One of the smart Alec security guys had obviously heard about the new guinea pig coming in, and he knew about Clark's allergy. He grabbed the meteor rock and made a charge at Clark with his gun drawn.
Luckily, he wasn't initially close enough for the rock to have enough effect.
Clark hit his heat vision while darting sideways in a blur. The ray of intense energy from his eyes targeted his enemy's weapon, and the Glock pistol appeared to glow red in the man's hand. The next minute, the guard screamed and dropped the gun as it melted into an almost liquid lump. He shook his head, peering at Clark incredulously as he dropped the meteor rock too in amazement. Then, realizing the rumors he'd heard were all true, he made a run for the gate we had just entered via, followed by several of his scared co-workers.
In the courtyard, only Clark, Victoria, Dominic and I were left. Clark turned to the three of us squirming on the floor and obviously didn't know how to separate us. He eyed the gun, which I was now fighting Sanitori for, and I guess he decided he needed to neutralize it somehow. Heat vision so close to several flailing limbs just wasn't an option, though. So, Clark picked a bad guy, in this case Dominic, and dragged him at superspeed from the fight.
Dominic was pretty surprised, and so was I, but Victoria didn't bat an eyelid as her counterpart was heaved from our midst. As he was hauled skyward by my farmboy's powerful arms, Sanitori dropped his gun and yelped.
Hardwicke seized the opportunity to get her revenge for the scarlet weal on her face and grabbed the weapon. She rolled over, placing it to my temple before I could react.
"Put him down, Kent." Victoria's trigger finger itched, and I knew she would probably shoot me for spoiling her face whether Clark capitulated or not.
Clark being Clark, though, I knew he would never risk anyone's life. Slowly, he lowered the quivering Sanitori to the ground, but still kept a firm grip on his collar.
Victoria grinned at her dishevelled partner's terrified face. "You know what I did to our good Dr. Schenkel, don't you, Dominic?"
I saw Sanitori's expression change from fear, to understanding and then back to fear again in the blink of an eye. Clark's features showed much the same recognition. Victoria was going to shoot Sanitori and take the money, the glory, and the satisfaction all for herself. I guess that meant I would be next on the hit list too, but then I knew Clark hadn't finished his alien handy-work just yet.
Victoria laughed and pulled the trigger, letting off not one, but three rounds at the quivering Sanitori.
I couldn't see them whizzing through the air at some unknown speed, and yet I knew that Clark could. His eyes widened, and in the time it took me to blink he had made his decision and acted on it.
Clark let go of Sanitori and dived in the path of the three slugs. With an outstretched palm he swatted away the first two, and used his body to deflect the third.
Victoria howled and let off a fourth shot before putting her attention back on me. As Clark spun around to grab the final bullet, I heard the click of the hammer that signalled the next slug fired would be for me, and I knew even Clark couldn't be in two places at once.
I saw the anguish on his face as he realized what was happening, and I saw his lips move to form the scream, "No!"
Then, I heard the crack of a bullet being fired, and I waited for my skull to explode outwards…
