Clark and Peter drove up to the mansion just as dusk was falling on the countryside. Peter looked up at the impressive building as he got out of the truck. "Whoa."
Clark smiled and shook his head at Peter. "Come on, I'm sure Lex will tell you all about it."
They walked up to the front entrance and were greeted by a butler. "Welcome Mr. Kent, Mr. Luthor is expecting you."
Peter looked over at Clark and raised an eyebrow. As they were walking down the hall Peter whispered, " I guess he comes with the place."
"Yeah, something like that."
They walked into the study where Lex was sitting behind his desk. "Lex, you have impressed Peter with just the outside of the mansion."
"I would have thought since you are from New York, it would take more than just the architecture to impress you," Lex said with a sly smile.
"This is different than the skyscrapers," Peter replied. "You just don't expect to see..."
"a castle in the middle of corn fields?" Lex prompted.
"Yeah."
"My father says this is the Luthor ancestral home." Lex stated. "Would you like me to show you around a little?" He saw the slight hesitancy on Peter's face as he looked over at Clark.
"Don't worry about Clark. He has been here many times and he doesn't need a tour," Lex said smoothly. "This will only take a few minutes. Clark can stay here and practice his pool game while we're gone."
"Hey, I almost beat you last time." Clark quickly pointed out.
"When we get back I'll see if the practice has paid off and you can try to defeat me once again." Lex then turned to Peter. "Are you ready?"
Peter hesitated for just a second before answering, "Sure." Something is off here, but Lex seems like a nice enough guy. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
Lex and Peter walked out of the study and up a flight of stairs to a room full of medieval armor. Peter looked around the room. It looked like a museum and his eyes fell on a replica of an ancient battlefield. "Is that the battle of Troy?"
"Yes it is." Lex answered. "You have a very good eye."
"Where did you get it?" Peter inquired while walking toward the table.
"It was a present or a strategy tool from my father." Lex said. "depending on your point of view"
Peter was just about to ask about another display when the room suddenly went dark.
"What?" Lex questioned to the air. "Peter, I am going to go find a flashlight and find out what is going on. Stay here."
Peter was certainly not going to listen to Lex and stay put, his senses were now on high alert and he knew something was wrong. Clark!
Clark was standing next to the pool table concentrating very hard to get his next ball in the slot when all the lights went off in the room. "What now? Lex, did you forget to pay your power bill?" Clark said out loud to no one in particular. Little did he know someone was listening to him. Clark turned back to the pool table when he heard a voice. "I don't know but your power bill is due."
Clark quickly turned around to see where the person was that was attached to the voice. He tried to use his X-ray vision but it wouldn't work. He then felt that all to familiar nauseating, weak feeling. He turned and saw Eric's face illuminated by the sickening green glow and he couldn't do anything as he was struck in the head with the deadly green rock. He fell to the floor with a thud shortly before his eyes closed.