Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other fandom I manage to squeeze in this story.
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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2015
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Chapter 34: New Faces
Some time later, I was woken up by the sound of a loud banging on the front door. I blearily opened my eyes, wincing with every loud knock, a headache settling in the front of my head.
I could have just ignored the sound, and went back into the blissful embrace of a deep slumber.
The knocking persisted.
I tried my best to ignore it, but whoever was behind that door was extremely stubborn.
I grumbled in annoyance, and rolled out of bed. I stretched, working out the kinks, before putting my pants on. I grabbed my wand, and vanished the bandages covering my right armor; they had gotten really smelly. I waved my wand again, and conjured a fresh set.
The bandages tightly wrapped around my right arm, hiding most of it from view— even my hand.
More knocking. I put on my shirt.
"Coming!" I called out loudly.
The knocking stopped. Thank the heavens.
I placed the wand back in my pocket, before making my way to the door, and opening it.
The door flew open, revealing the same brunette who was covering for Mrs. Kent when she showed me around my new apartment.
"Finally!" The girl looked quite annoyed, as she strolled into my apartment without so much as a hello, looking around the place.
She went from one side of the apartment to the next, looking around for something.
"Where is it?" She bent over the bedside table, showing me an incredible view of her butt, and shapely legs.
"Um." I began, not really sure how to deal with this. "Can I help you?"
She stopped, turning to look at me for the first time. A few moments passed, before she realized her mistake.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She said, face flushed in embarrassment, and started to go back to the front door. "I totally forgot someone was staying up here now."
I put my hand on her shoulder, stopping her from getting another step in.
"You're good." I said, and rubbed at my eyes with my bandaged hand. "I was just sleeping, that's all. What are you looking for? My name's Harry, by the way."
"Lois." The brunette said, shaking my left hand. She looked at my bandaged right arm quizzically.
"My right arm isn't broken." I said, following her gaze.
"If it's not broken, then why is it all bandaged?" Lois frowned, backing up slightly. "Is it a really bad burn? Or do you have some kind of infectious skin disease?"
"Nothing like that." I forced a smile. "It just looks different. And most people don't like being subjected to ugly things."
That's it, Potter. Play the victim who's forced to hide part of himself in fear of being called a freak by others. People always fell for that kind of thing.
As expected, Lois got a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine. I'm used to it." I saw her wince at that and stifled an amused grin. "So, about whatever it is you need to find?"
Lois smiled, grateful at the change of subject
"Oh, it's just a box full of cups and stuff." She answered, looking a little annoyed. "I think I put it here the other day. Then, I forgot about it."
Oh, I thought I knew what she was talking about.
"Try the bathroom. I think there was a box in the tub. Can't remember." I said, scratching the back of my head as Lois quickly went to the bathroom. "First thing I did was fall asleep on the bed— what time is it, anyway?"
There was some commotion, before Lois walked out of the bathroom, holding what seemed to be a heavy box, filled with various cups and bowls of different sizes.
"It's around one PM, right now." Lois supplied helpfully, beginning to leave the room one slow step at a time.
"Let me help you with that." I said, feeling sorry for the girl. I took the box from her hands, and held it gingerly against my body. It didn't feel anywhere near as heavy as I thought it would.
It was like I had strength on par with when I drank a Strengthening Solution.
What the hell did that green liquid do to me?
I followed Lois silently out of the apartment, and down the stairs leading to the Talon proper. The coffee shop was bustling now, filled with various people, who were most likely having their work breaks. Martha was still faithfully manning her post— or would the correct term be "womanning"?
The redheaded woman looked in our direction, and smiled.
"Had a good sleep?" She said, as I placed the box behind the counter, the glassware making a light jingle.
I rubbed at my eyes, lightly glancing at Lois who looked a little embarrassed. "It was all right."
"Thanks for the help, Harry." Lois said, before delving into the box, pulling out the various cups and bowls and placing them in their correct spots.
"No problem." I said automatically, before turning to Martha. "Do you have a phone I can use? I need to call someone."
"Sure. Of course!" Martha said with a smile, pointing to an old-style phone on a nearby wall. "It's right over there. Who're you calling, if I may ask?"
"The Daily Planet." I answered. "Someone who can help me out may be working there. I'm not really sure."
"Oh, I see." Martha answered, as I began to head to the phone. "My son's friend, Chloe works there now. I'm sure she can find the person you're looking for."
I froze, before turning to her.
"Chloe, you say?" I repeated, lips quirking upward in an amused grin. "Her name wouldn't happen to be Chloe Sullivan, would it?"
"That's right." Martha said, looking pleasantly surprised. "You're looking for Chloe?"
"What's this about my cousin?" Lois popped back up, right next to Martha, almost glaring at me in suspicion.
Well, shit.
"Your cousin? Did I fall asleep and wake up in convenient coincidence land?" I asked in amusement.
That seemed to break the ice once more, if the amused look on Martha's face was of any indication. Lois, on the other hand, outright laughed, before eying me with much less suspicion than before.
"You a spurned ex or something? Didn't know Chloe picked them that young." Lois quipped, as Martha went to speak with a few friends at the other side of the Talon.
I opened my mouth to answer, but then closed it again.
"Nothing like that." I answered, finally. "I just have some information for her, and had some questions of my own. You know where she is, right now?"
"Probably at the Daily Planet, doing her reporter thing." Lois answered easily.
I nodded in understanding.
"You think you can get me there to see her?" I asked hopefully.
Lois stopped emptying the box and looked at me askance. "My shift doesn't end for an hour, still. Sorry."
"It's really, really important." I tried again, interrupting her attempt at continuing her work.
"Look." She looked at me in annoyance. "Unless you're gonna pay me, I'm not just quitting on Mrs. K."
"I'll pay you a hundred."
She gave me a dubious look.
"Two hundred." I tried again.
Judging by the sudden glint in her eyes, I figured I had her attention.
"Two hundred and fifty, and you've got yourself a deal." Lois shot back.
"Yeah, sure. Okay." I agreed immediately. I had over a million dollars, what's another couple of hundred? "Just let me get ready, all right?"
"Yeah. Meet me outside in ten minutes." Lois said, and went to talk to Mrs. Kent; likely to tell her what she'd be doing. Hopefully Martha would understand.
I nodded, and walked back up the staircase leading into my new apartment. I took a quick shower, the cold water doing a great job of waking me up. I dried myself off with a charm, and made sure to give my clothes a good cleaning.
Wouldn't do to smell like shit, now would it?
It ended up taking a bit longer than ten minutes, but I was finally ready to go. With my duffel bag over my shoulder— Erebus lying within— I headed out of the Talon, giving Martha a quick goodbye.
Lois was impatiently waiting outside for me, leaning on a red Volkswagen.
"Took you long enough!" Lois looked at me, mildly annoyed as I approached her.
"Sorry." I flashed the patented James Potter grin™, and her glare softened ever so slightly. "I was getting my stuff ready."
"Your 'stuff', huh?" Lois repeated. "So, where's the dough?"
I zipped my duffel bag open, showing her the five thousand inside— well, four thousand five hundred, since I paid Ms. Kent for the room.
Lois whistled at the amount.
"That's a lot of money, there." Lois commented and winked good-naturedly. "Sure I can't convince you to give me another couple hundred?"
I smiled, and handed her three hundred dollars. "Nope."
"Wait." Lois said. "That's more than what I asked for."
I shrugged carelessly.
"I don't have any fifties on me." I said, shaking my hand in amusement. "Are you really refusing more money, though? Just ten seconds ago you were asking for more."
"I was kidding, kid." Lois said.
"Right. Then take it. And 'kid'?" I gave her a somewhat annoyed look, and we entered the car.
"Well, aren't you?"
I was going to blithely reply that I was almost sixteen, but I figured that would be a waste of time— emancipated minor, or not.
The trip to Metropolis was taking a lot longer than it would have, had I been using my Air Raid. I sighed, and turned on the radio, jumping through the channels. I cut through a couple of weather reports, finally stopping on a song I'd never heard before.
I sat back, and listened to it. It was one of those easily forgettable hip hop songs. I listened for a while, as well as Lois' random jabbering at her fellow drivers, before zoning out entirely, to dwell on my current situation.
I absently noticed the great city of Metropolis was coming into view.
I thought about what happened to me. Those scientists, they did a little more than bind Balthazar to me. My energy, my Lightning… It felt more fluid, more tame. Like something had beaten it down over and over.
Likely the green serum they injected me with.
But that wasn't all, though.
My body felt different, as well. Stronger.
Strong enough that the box full of glassware at the Talon felt like a small paperweight in my arms. Likely, another effect of the green serum.
Considering that my Lightning, as well as Strengthening Solutions increased my strength ten, to fifteen-fold, I wondered what my upper limit would be.
I would have been thanking those scientists for the power boost, if they weren't completely devoid of compassion and ethics. An image of that little girl lying comatose in one of the beds of that place flashed through my mind.
"—ry? Harry, you in there?" Lois' voice cut through my train of thought. The car had stopped.
I blinked a few times, taking in my surroundings. We were in Metropolis, parked in front of the entrance to the Daily Planet.
I stifled a sigh. "Sorry, Lois. I was a bit lost in thought."
"Right." She looked at me strangely, before shrugging and exiting the car. I followed suit, and we entered the building. Inside, was a veritable clusterfuck. I couldn't keep track of the workers moving in and out of offices, elevators, and stairways.
The place was extremely packed; and this was just the ground floor!
"Follow me." Lois said, leading the way to a set of stairs.
I quietly followed her down the flight of stairs, into the basement. It was still quite lively, down there, but it was much quieter than the ground floor, at the very least. Lois led me through the basement of the Daily Planet, dodging through reporters left and right.
"Hey, Chloe!" Lois called out to a short-haired, blonde girl sitting in front of a computer. She was dressed in a business casual attire, consisting of a white, collared dress shirt neatly tucked under a black skirt.
She looked up at us with curious blue-green eyes. In the span of a split second, she took in Lois' form, as well as my own, and lifted a delicate eyebrow.
"Lois!" She got up from her chair, giving her cousin a quick hug. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. What's up?"
"Harry here wanted to see you." Lois said, motioning to me. "Harry, meet my cousin; Chloe Sullivan."
"It's a pleasure." I said, extending my hand. She shook it hesitantly.
"Likewise." Chloe smiled. "What did you want to see me about?"
I glanced at Lois for a moment, dismissing her without words.
Sadly, she didn't get the hint. A few more moments passed, and the silence started to get awkward. Finally, after about another ten seconds, I cracked.
"Lois." I said, forcing a smile. "Can I have a few moments alone with Chloe?"
"Right." Lois said, looking a little disappointed. "I'll just be waiting by the stairs, then."
"Thanks." I gave her a smile, and watched her walk away, leaving Chloe and I alone.
"I'll cut right to the chase. I want to know everything you do about the meteor infected people." I said simply.
She stared at me in surprise for a moment.
"What makes you think I know anything about them?" Chloe shot back, a little defensively.
"The links might be dead." I said, giving her a tiny grin. "But Google's cached content isn't. I managed to read some of it."
"So what do you need me for?" Chloe asked.
"You probably know a lot more than the meager explanations you wrote down on a high school paper." I said, and unzipped my duffel bag. I pulled out a thousand dollars, and slapped them onto her desk.
She said only one thing.
"Wow." She stared at the money, and then at me— more specifically, my right arm which was covered in bandages.
"Look." I continued, almost desperately. "I really need your help, but we can't talk about this here. What do you say?"
Chloe gave me a long look, like she was sizing me up, or something. I couldn't help but stare right back. She was quite attractive. Unlike Lois, who was more of the athletic type, Chloe was giving off the hot businesswoman vibe.
The fact that she was lightly nibbling on a red pen didn't help.
"I know a place. It's a farm; there should be plenty of quiet, there." Chloe finally said, stuffing the money in her purse and walking to the still waiting Lois. She stopped, and looked back at me.
"You coming?"
I nodded, and followed the two ladies out of the building.
The trip to the farm was taking slightly (read: monumentally) longer than the trip to Metropolis, due to heavy traffic. I wasn't sure, but I could have sworn we were being followed by someone.
A large, black jeep with black tinted windows had tailed us for a while, before turning at some random point.
My mind was likely playing tricks on me.
I hoped.
I heard a loud, yawning hiss in the back of my mind and affectionately rubbed my bandages, feeling the cool scales underneath the cloth strips. Balthazar still hadn't said a word to me since I fed him, but I maintained the hope that— once he was done healing— he would be up and at one hundred percent.
The asphalt road turned to gravel and dirt as we took a left. A few more minutes passed, and we reached what I thought was the farm Chloe was talking about. I absently read the name of the farm, before doing a quick double take.
Kent Farm.
"Kent Farm?" I said incredulously. "As in, Martha Kent? Are you sure she would accept me frolicking around on her private property?"
"Relax." Lois rolled her eyes, parking the car. "We're good friends with the Kents. I'm sure they won't mind whatever it is you want to talk to Chloe, here."
I gulped, but nodded and exited the car, alongside the two ladies. I would have preferred to get information another way, but this was the only option available to me. So, I had to go along with what Chloe was saying.
They led me to a red barn. Judging from the sound of heavy machinery being used, it currently seemed occupied. Like before, Lois stayed outside.
Inside, I could see a man, hard at work. It appeared he was filing a piece of wood for some unknown purpose. He stopped his loud power tool, turning to address us.
He had an average look to his person, with dark blond hair and sky blue eyes. He wore a plaid, low collar shirt, and blue jeans.
The stereotypical farmer.
I felt him size me up, and then tactfully focus his attention on the lady with me.
"Chloe." He greeted them with a smile, wiping at his hands with a nearby wet cloth. "How's it going?"
"I'm doing fine, Mr. Kent." Chloe said, motioning to me. "This is Harry… You know, I didn't catch your last name!"
"That's because I didn't give it." I smirked. "It's Harry Potter."
The two raised their eyebrows in surprise.
"That's the second time I've seen that kind of reaction." I noted. "Mrs. Kent at the Talon looked at me the same way."
"Jonathan Kent. Martha spoke about you today. You're the Talon's new resident." The man said, and we shook hands. He had a strong grip, but with my newly acquired strength, I easily matched it. "Are you by any chance related to Nell Potter?"
I blinked at the name. Who the hell was that?
"Can't say I am." I said honestly. "Though, to be honest. I have no idea. My parents died when I was one."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Chloe said immediately, and Mr. Kent. They looked genuinely chagrined, which pretty much said a lot about what kind of people they were.
I shook my head.
"It's fine, it's not like you had anything to do with it." I said with a sardonic grin, before turning to Mr. Kent, not really knowing how to ask him if I could have the barn to myself.
"He can be trusted, Harry." Chloe's voice cut through my current thoughts.
I rounded on her. "Are you absolutely sure about that?"
"No offense, Mr. Kent. We've only just met." I gave the older man an apologetic look.
"None taken. What's this about?" Jonathan said, straight to the point. I could appreciate that.
"You trust me enough to—" Chloe began.
"—Because I have no choice." I cut her off.
And it was true. She was my only lead in this situation.
"Well, you have no choice here, either." Chloe said and crossed her arms stubbornly. I wanted to rip at my hair in frustration, but I didn't have the time to argue.
"Fine. Have it your way." I said agitatedly, walking around in a few circles to relieve some stress. I placed the duffel bag on the ground, before addressing the two.
"These 'meteor freaks'." I started, much more calmly. "They get their powers from an exposure to the meteor rock?"
"Yes." Chloe confirmed.
"How, exactly?" I continued. "From your writings, all I could figure was that they were exposed to the radiation coming off of the rocks, and it altered them into these super-powered versions of themselves."
"That's the gist of it, basically." She answered, less than helpful. "There was also the small issue of each and every one of them going psycho, before getting themselves killed, one way or the other."
Well, that was some bad news, there. Would I be going insane, from this? I certainly didn't feel crazy. Then again, I had gotten pretty agitated, not half a minute ago. Could that be the doing of the meteor rock, as well.
"What about the meteor rock, then?" I said, and noticed Mr. Kent's posture shift ever so slightly. I don't know how, but I could smell his nervous sweat at the tip of my tongue.
Yet another thing this little experiment had given me. Heightened and a selective sense of smell? What's next? Would I grow venom glands in my mouth?
"What do you mean?" Chloe said.
"What if it was turned into liquid and injected into someone?" I asked, watching her eyes widen.
"Injected into— you can't possibly mean—" Jonathan looked at me in shock, understanding my predicament in a split second.
I heard a loud thud outside, before the sound of many different sets of footsteps on the gravel hit our ears. Most likely, the guards from that facility had finally located me, and had already taken care of Lois.
"Fuck me." I swore loudly. "They're here."
"Who is?" Chloe asked, followed by Mr. Kent.
"People who have been experimenting on me, as well as others." I said, looking at them briefly. "They've been chasing me for days."
Jonathan grabbed a nearby shotgun, and loaded it.
I stopped him. "I'll take care of them."
"Sorry." The man shot back, gesturing to my bandaged hand. "You don't exactly look like you can do anything in this situation, son."
"Heh." I smirked in his face, and channeled a very small amount of Lightning in my fingertips. There was a low, buzzing noise, as bluish white light shone from my finger tips. I ran them along my right arm, easily cutting through the bandages.
I cut off the Lightning, and ripped the bandages off, revealing my black scaled arm in all of its glory, before unzipping the duffel bag, and drawing Erebus.
Mr. Kent and Chloe were now looking at me in a completely different light.
"Just.. Stay here." I said, walking slowly outside.
Lois was lying facedown on the ground, a dart sticking out of her neck.
I heard a fair amount of commotion, and saw the operatives approaching from at least seven different directions. Lightning came to my call, surging over my muscles, and nerves, greatly enhancing my power.
Just in time to dodge a dart, which embedded itself in the wall behind me. I only had a quick look at it, but it seemed like the darts were packing some kind of liquid.
Tranquilizers, huh?
I dodged a few more of their attempts, my new speed easily allowing me to avoid every single dart with unnerving ease. Before the experiment, I doubted I would have had such an easy time of it.
With barely an afterthought, I sent a series of Lightning bolts into the many operatives in black, uncaring if they lived or died. After all, these were the same people that were enabling crazy scientists to experiment on poor, defenseless children against their will.
I would give them no mercy. To me, these men were as bad as the likes of Lilith and Mundus.
I felt a stinging pain from my shoulder, realizing one of the operatives had gotten the drop on me. I flared my Lightning, immediately eradicating the foreign substance entering my body.
Then I did something that scared him more than seeing all of his comrades drop in a matter of seconds.
I walked towards him. Very slowly.
He shot a few more darts, but I summoned a few Lightning Blades, which contemptuously swatted the offending projectiles aside before disappearing, not breaking my stride in the least.
He backed away, and tripped over his colleague, falling on his own ass. He scrambled further to get away, before being caught against the trunk of a tree.
"Please! Have mercy!" He begged, as I slowly got closer to the man.
I didn't answer.
Instead, I grabbed him by the throat, and began to squeeze.
A hand clasped over my scaled wrist, pulling it off of the operative's neck. I turned my head to see the disapproving face of Jonathan Kent.
"I know, whatever these men did must have been horrible." Mr. Kent said in an understanding tone. "But shouldn't you leave this kind of thing to the police?"
"The police?" I scoffed, shaking his hand off of mine. "The police are in on it. They can't be trusted."
"Still. Killing a man over this is wrong. Can't you see that?" Jonathan tried, as Chloe began to peek out of the red barn.
"You didn't see what I saw. You— what they did to me—" I stopped myself, staring at the older man's eyes. "Children. Under the age of ten. They kept them in there, hopped them up with so much of that green liquid, they became vegetables. Children!"
Jonathan's eyes darkened at that.
"I couldn't let them keep doing this. I have to stop them." I finally said in a calm voice, and Jonathan offered no response.
What could anyone say to something like that?
"I'm sorry!" The operative stammered almost incoherently, grasping for straws.
"Tell me everything you know about these facilities." I ordered.
"W-wha—"
"The facilities, grunt." I repeated. "Like the one underneath Metropolis General Hospital."
"I don't know anything about thos—" He didn't get to finish that sentence, as I smashed his right arm with a Breakdown Fist. His screams of agony easily overshadowed Chloe's shocked gasp.
"Tell the truth now, grunt. Or I'll make that pain seem like a small bruise." I chided lightly.
"All right!" The man screamed out. "I'll tell you all I know!"
"Start talking, then."
"Look, all I know." The man panted. "Is that, after your break out, we moved them to several, much smaller facilities to avoid detection. One of them, is at an abandoned Luthorcorp warehouse in the outskirts of Metropolis. That's all I know, I swear!"
"Luthorcorp?" I heard Jonathan mumble under his breath. I would ask him about that, later.
"Really? Just one location? That's all you've got?" I asked, poking at the spot where I smashed the man's arm, causing him to cringe in pain.
"I didn't want to do it, but I had to! I needed the money. I swear, that's all I know. Just let me go, please!" He continued to beg.
"The money, huh." I said slowly, anger seeping into my tone. "So you held children prisoner for money?"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it!" He begged desperately. "I knew I should've done something about it. Please believe me!"
I regarded him for a long moment, before smiling darkly.
"Should've. Would've. Could've." I said, watching the man's face pale considerably at my ominous words. "Didn't."
And then I shoved an Edge in his face.
At least, I tried to.
Judging by the hand that had my wrist in an extremely strong grip, I'd say my attempt at killing the operative was completely foiled.
I turned to look at the source, but only managed to get a flash of black hair and a blue eyed glare before I was thrown at least thirty feet sideways.
What the hell was that?
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Heroes clash!