Here we go, Harry vs Clark Kent!

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 35: Clash! And Plans

I was annoyed.

What kind of person interrupts a good old execution? Here I was, minding my own business and dispensing justice— as well as a healthy dose of revenge— and this random fellow comes out of nowhere, and hurls me at least thirty feet to the side.

I flared my Lightning, adjusting my flight path to let me drop into a roll, careful not to accidentally stab myself with Erebus as I did so.

I got back to my feet, and saw the newcomer already standing in front of me, sizing me up with his piercing gaze. He was tall, and broad-shouldered. It made for an imposing figure, despite the harmless farmer attire he was sporting.

Worse yet, he was… pretty fast, judging by the sudden appearance a split second after he had thrown me. Granted, I was a little busy recovering from that throw, but still.

I tightened my grip on Erebus, and increased the strength of the Lightning coursing through my body to counter my new opponent's speed.

"Get out of my way." I said aggressively.

"I don't think so." The man shot back, before glaring at me. His eyes glowed slightly, before I felt a sudden ray of heat shoot out of his eyes, impacting right into my chest.

I felt my skin searing under the intense heat, before I brought Erebus up, the blade easily diverting the heat onto the ground, setting it on fire.

"This feeling..." Erebus whispered. "He is not human, boy. Be wary."

"Not human?" I mumbled to myself, before pointing Erebus at him as the man shot his beam of heat once more. "Dark Stream!"

The two attacks met halfway between us, bathing the clearing in great flashes of bright heat and cold darkness. A few more seconds of this stalemate passed, before he broke the link, and rushed me from the side.

The Dark Stream hit the dirt ground, ravenously eating through all of the flora it could reach, before dissipating into nothingness, leaving behind a frozen, dead trail on the Earth.

As soon as the stranger got close, I smirked and let a few Lightning bolts rip into him, causing him to trip and fall, his muscle spams disallowing for any kind of controlled movement.

My satisfaction was short lived; barely a few seconds after I downed him, he had gotten right back up, looking unscathed— aside from a burnt shirt.

"I won't let you hit me with that again." The black haired man promised, before blurring into action once more.

I shot a few more Lightning bolts, but hit nothing but thin air as he dodged every single one, before reaching me, throwing a punch that would likely knock my lights out.

I faked a vacant look, right up until the last split second, before I ducked underneath his right hook, and swept his feet from under him, catching him completely by surprise.

As he fell, I grabbed hold of his leg and electrocuted him with my Lightning. I followed up by stabbing Erebus into the ground, and smashing his leg with a Breakdown Fist, feeling the bone crack underneath, before I threw him into a nearby tree.

He smashed into it with enough force to easily break through, before rolling uncontrollably on the ground. I grabbed Erebus, wiping the tip of the dark blade as I made my way to the stranger.

He tried to get up, but dropped back down on the ground as soon as he put pressure on the leg that I hit.

Was this guy stupid? Trying to walk on a broken leg, of all things.

He tried to get back up again, but I pushed him back down on the ground, absently noting that my left fist felt quite pained. What the hell was he made of? Solid steel?

"Stay down." I ordered, placing Erebus near his neck. He went very still at the sight of the blade. "Good."

"It's safe to come, now!" I called out loudly, hearing hurried footsteps from behind me. "Make one move, tough guy, and I'll slit your throat. You're going to tell me everything you know about those facilities."

"What're you talking about?" The guy grunted out.

"Playing dumb? It doesn't suit you." I sneered. "The labs where they inject kids with green meteor rock serum. Where are they!?"

"...I don't know anything about that. I just saw you trying to kill a man, and stopped you." He maintained, but his face looked chagrined at what I had said.

I sent a current of Lightning through his body, forcing his muscles to seize up. I let up, after a few seconds.

"Are you feeling a little more truthful now?" I asked lightly, as Mr. Kent and Chloe came here. Their eyes widened at the man currently held beneath me.

"Clark!" Jonathan and Chloe said instantly.

"You two know this guy?" I asked.

"He's my son." Jonathan said a little aggressively, and I blinked, before looking down at the man lying face down on the ground.

"You sure?" I said skeptically. "The guy's not even human."

Jonathan and Chloe gave me another shocked look, before shaking their heads.

"We know." Chloe said, looking agitated. "Could you please get off of him?"

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, shrugged, and stepped away from the man newly introduced as Clark.

I absently wiped at my blade, seeing Clark easily get up, as if I had never broken his leg in the first place.

Clark was immediately embraced by Jonathan, and his friend Chloe.

"You okay, son?" Jonathan said, looking over the younger man with worried eyes.

"I'll be all right." Clark said, before turning to me with narrowed eyes.

"So what is this?" I lay Erebus on my shoulder as I gestured at him with my black scaled arm. "Heightened speed, strength, healing factor, and some crazy heat vision? What are you?"

"I'm different." Clark said, glaring at me. "What about you?"

"So, to clarify." I continued, not even acknowledging his own question. "You weren't here to help those assholes capture me?"

"No!" Clark said, incensed. "I stopped you from killing a man, that's all."

"Speaking of." I said, rubbing at my burnt chest as the adrenalin began to wear off. I winced. "Where's the man in question?"

"No." Clark said, taking a step forward. "I won't let you kill him."

I smirked at him and brandished my dark blade. "You want another spanking, is that it?"

I watched him flush in embarrassment and anger, before Jonathan stood between us, effectively halting any further hostilities.

"I've knocked him unconscious." Jonathan said, looking at me warily. "Is there any way you can stop him without killing him?"

I frowned, feeling a small pang of guilt at the thought of killing a defenseless man— depraved or not.

I guessed I could Obliviate the guy, but since it would be my first try, I was more likely to wipe an entire decade's worth of memories than a couple of days knowledge of my existence.

And since my tracking spells were also quite bad…

Always something to work on, I supposed.

"Why should I spare him?" I asked, a challenging look in my eyes. "He's not some petty thief. He enables the scientific experimentation on defenseless people, who are scared of being shot if they tried to leave."

"It's not right." Clark piped up heatedly. "You can't just go around killing people!"

"Of course it's not right, you dumbass!" I shot back, ignoring the surprised look he gave me. "You think I truly wanted any of this to happen to me? The cops are in on this; maybe not all of them, but I'd say quite a few!"

"Still—"

"Look." I harshly cut him off, feeling my face flush with anger. "You didn't see those kids. You didn't see the scars on their bodies, you didn't see the vacant look in their eyes. I only spent half a day in that place and that was enough for me to get a silver of an idea of what they went through."

I saw Clark's pitying look, and got even angrier.

"I don't want your pity." I snarled. "I want you to get out of my way so I can take these guys down for good."

I took a deep breath, and walked to the direction of the unconscious operative. Clark didn't even try to stop me.

It took a few seconds, but I found him sprawled unceremoniously on the ground, a bruise on his face courtesy of Jonathan's knockout punch— or kick.

I stood ominously above the man, wondering what the best way to kill him was.

I could shove an Edge through his heart. That wouldn't be a quick kill, though. It would take around five minutes for brain death to occur from oxygen deprivation.

Through his head? It would work, but that method was probably even messier than going through his heart.

Erebus vibrated in my hand. I grabbed the blade and lifted it high in the air, channeling my Lightning into it. I could simply decapitate him; it would still be messy, but it was the cleanest choice I could think of.

But I hesitated, seeing the man's peaceful face.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Erebus said harshly. "Do it."

The man shifted slightly, and I watched him for a long moment, before slashing down, the cleaving motion easily going through flesh and bone. Blood spurted out from the man's neck artery, the stream's intensity gradually weakening as his head rolled to the base of my feet.

It was done.

I ignored Chloe's horrified gasp, temporarily lay Erebus on the ground and searched the dead body for any clue, or useful item. Nothing.

I sighed, pulled out my wand from my pants pocket, and waved it over the fresh corpse.

"Evanesco." And with that, I Vanished him, before repeating the same actions on each and every remaining guard, eliminating any evidence that they were there to begin with.

I waved my wand over myself, de-dusting myself, and followed up by temporarily stabbing Erebus into the ground, before conjuring a fresh set of bandages over my black scales.

I went back to the red barn, where Lois was still lying unconscious. Someone had moved her into a sitting position against one of the barn's walls, even going as far as removing the dart in her neck and cleaning her face a bit.

I pointed my wand at her chest, ignoring Clark's cries of protest.

"Rennervate." I incanted, and a flash of brilliantly colored red light erupted from my wand, hitting Lois in the chest. Moments later, her eyes fluttered open.

"What..." She said, wincing as she felt around her neck. "What happened?"

"You were knocked unconscious by a guy with a tranquilizer gun." I said simply, helping her up. "How do you feel?"

"Like my ego took a serious beating." Lois answered, frowning. "What about the guys that did it?"

"I took care of them." I said, and she gave me an odd look, before looking around.

"I don't see anyone." She said, before turning to me.

I shrugged. "Like I said; I took care of them. They won't hurt anyone, anymore."

"Right." Lois said, shivering slightly, eying my black Falchion. "Well I hope you never have to 'take care' of me."

I laughed. "I hope so, too."

"Come on, Lois. Let's get you inside." Jonathan said, before ushering the brunette inside of his home, leaving me alone with Clark and Chloe.

Clark glared at me.

Chloe looked between us warily, wondering if we were going to attack one another.

I tried to scratch that particularly elusive spot on my back that I could simply never reach. No luck.

Back 1 – 0 Harry

"I'm human." I finally said, deciding to throw Clark a bone. "The scales on my arm used to be my pet viper, Balthazar, but whatever the serum made out of meteor rocks did to me, it bound us together."

"What about the lightning?" Clark asked, rubbing at his previously broken leg.

"I gained the ability to channel Lightning last summer." I answered truthfully. "From that point, it was just a matter of practice."

"And the sword?" Chloe kept digging.

"Hungry for knowledge, aren't you?" I commented, and saw her blush. She truly was attractive. "I like that, in a woman."

"To put it simply, Demons exist." I said, before showcasing Erebus' dark blade. "Erebus, here, is a powerful one who pledged his soul to me after I defeated him."

"Demons? That's a little..." Chloe said skeptically.

"Unbelievable." Clark finished for her.

I shrugged as Erebus vibrated slightly in my hand. "I don't really care if you believe it or not."

"All I care about right now, is any information you could give me about this little lab project these insane scientists seem to have going for them." I said, and took a breath. "One of the guards said something about Luthorcorp."

I watched Clark's face shift into anger.

"I take it the name is familiar to you two?" I hedged.

"Yes, the Luthors have been in Smallville for years." Chloe said, not bothering to hide her hostility towards the family. "Buying up businesses left and right, slowly taking over."

I felt a headache coming.

"Let me guess; a family of spoiled, rich folk who have little to no morals?" I hazarded.

"Lex isn't like that." Clark automatically said, while Chloe just shook her head in resignation.

"I don't know who this 'Lex' person is." I said, giving the blue eyed man a strange look. "But he's probably got some serious money. Those lab facilities were extremely well equipped."

"It might not be him, though." Chloe said, frowning in thought. "The guard said that complex was abandoned."

"True." I conceded, before gesturing to the general direction of Metropolis. "But the place I woke up in was underneath the Metropolis General Hospital, accessible from a staircase behind a closet in an empty storage room."

"I don't know about you." I said, looking at the two.

"But actually pulling something like that off would require a lot of bribes to government officials; not to mention setting the operation up to begin with." I reasoned. "It's a hospital, after all. What if there was some kind of virus or leak?"

"Well reasoned." Chloe said, eying me strangely. "It's weird."

"What is?" I asked, feeling a little confused at the sudden turn.

"Every meteor freak we've encountered has tried to kill us one way or the other. At the very least, they were mentally unstable." Chloe answered, biting her lip nervously.

"Well." I smiled at the girl reassuringly. "I don't think I'm going to go berserk."

"Though." I glanced at the silent Clark. "With him as your bodyguard, it's a surprise you've lasted this long."

He glared at me. "Could you stop that?"

"What?" I smirked in his face, taunting him further. "The only reason you're still alive was because your father stopped me."

"Whatever you threw my way, I easily healed from it." Clark said challengingly.

"I doubt even you could regenerate your head if I'd chopped it off." I said, and he looked at me in anger, before deflating.

"..." Clark stared at me impassively.

"If you two are done with your pissing contest." Chloe said, gaining my attention. "How about we head inside, and relax a little? Maybe grab a bite to eat?"

Faintly realizing that I was quite hungry, I nodded. "Good idea. Just let me grab my bag, first."

I went in the barn, followed by Clark and Chloe, and placed Erebus back in the duffel bag, before zipping it closed. I nodded to the two, before following them into their home.

Lois was already napping in one of Clark's bedroom, according to Mr. Kent.

Clark excused himself, saying he needed a shower but that he would be keeping an eye on me— I guessed he could see through walls, too. What more could he do?

Jonathan busied himself in the kitchen, fixing everyone a quick lunch.

I followed Chloe to the living room, and we took a seat on the couch. I sighed contentedly, relaxing slightly. I looked to the beautiful woman beside me, who was still quite tense.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"Y-Yeah." She answered, and I frowned.

"Is it me?" I questioned. "I know what I did was pretty harsh, but after what I'd seen them do, and what happened to me..."

"No! Of course not!" Chloe denied immediately, before sighing. "Well, maybe a little. I'll admit, seeing the way you dealt with those men was very brutal— if not extremely effective."

I nodded, urging her to go on. She bit her lip, and looked at me.

"I've never seen anyone beat Clark so easily, though. That was incredible, the way you dealt with him!" Chloe finally said.

"Easy?" I almost laughed at the way she said it. "Nah, I just caught him by surprise, that's all."

"Didn't look that way to me." Chloe said skeptically, rubbing at her neck.

"Well, how much of the fight did you see?" I asked.

She narrowed her eyes in thought.

"Well… I saw you easily beat most of those guards." Chloe said. "And then I saw Clark throw you halfway across the clearing. You somehow stopped your flight, and landed with no damage. The rest of the fight was a blur. You dropped Clark a few times, before breaking his leg and holding him down! How did you do that? Clark is supposed to be really strong."

"Magic." I smirked in her face.

"Yeah, right." Chloe said dismissively, before her eyes narrowed in remembrance. "Wait… It makes sense."

"How so?" I asked curiously, a bit confused as to why she didn't laugh at my quip.

"Some time ago, Clark dealt with the reincarnated spirit of seventeenth century witch by the name of Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, who brought her two friends back to life and caused havoc in Smallville." Chloe said. "Clark didn't have any special resistance to their magic, either."

She turned to me. "You're like them?"

I thought about that answer. The name seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't figure out where I had encountered it. Most likely a history book of some sort.

"I wouldn't know." I answered honestly. "What were they like?"

"I— Well, I don't know." Chloe admitted. "I was possessed by one of them. So was Lois, and our friend Lana."

"Possessed?" I asked sharply, remembering that little adventure I had back in my second year at Hogwarts.

"Yeah, but Clark said that they were very..." She looked like she was struggling with the words. "Forward with him."

"Ah. Well, since you know magic exists… Yeah, I'm magical in nature." I stifled an amused grin, as Jonathan came into the living room with a tray full of sandwiches.

"Here." Jonathan said, placing the tray on the table and grabbing a sandwich for himself. "It's not exactly gourmet cuisine, but..."

"It's great, Mr. Kent." I said, and the three of us began to dig in.

It was simple— but tasty. A basic turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise. As I took small, but satisfying bites of the provided meal, I began to re-assess the situation I had found myself in.

Originally, I figured it was some sort of rogue experimentation gone wrong. Then, as I was escaping, I saw that members of the police— perhaps not all of them— were aiding, and enabling these criminals.

And now, they were linked with a company called Luthorcorp, whose owners— according to Chloe and company— were as rich as God. There was no way I could go up against people like that in a court of law, even with direct proof on my part.

So, what could I do?

That's what it always boiled down to. I needed to control whatever it was within my realm of control.

I could simply kill the two men, though I doubted the US muggle authorities— who would then alert the magical authorities— would take kindly to a foreigner playing judge, jury, and executioner on their soil. I probably wouldn't be able to get away with it even in England.

Hell, they punished their own locals who tried to do the same! The things I've seen on 4chan, and Encyclopedia Dramatica…

Some of them truly pushed the boundaries of human idiocy.

I couldn't be like that. I had to play this smart.

So what was the smart thing to do?

My brain provided me with the answer instantly; leave this place, go home and get stronger before coming back to beat them.

My heart, on the other hand, wouldn't let me forget about those children lying in their prisons, completely comatose. Vulnerable to the malevolent machinations of other, moral-less people.

So I decided on a compromise. I would go to this abandoned Luthorcorp warehouse, and save whoever I could save, while— at the same time— hoping I would find the genetic material they stole from me.

After that, I would head on home, no matter what happened.

"A fair plan, considering the lack of alternatives." Erebus whispered to me.

'There are alternatives.' I shot back in my mind. 'We can just leave this place and never come back.'

"That is more akin to an ostrich stuffing its head down under the sand." Erebus said in amusement. "You would never take that cowardly path."

'What makes you say that?' I countered.

"You've faced me in battle, and won. You won't run from this, either." Erebus pointed, and I fought off a scowl. The Demonic blade was right. It seemed to know exactly what I was thinking, and what drove me forward.

"Though..." Erebus hastened to add. "Mundus' forces on the Earth are most likely now aware of your return to the human realm."

'So?' I said carelessly.

"'So?' He says." Erebus chuckled mirthlessly. "What you did to him, it was an extremely personal insult to him. Here you were, a full human, taking the Devil Emperor's attack, and returning it to him with interest!"

'...How much of a sore loser is he?' I asked, feeling wary and tired.

"He would follow you to the ends of the Earth to kill you." Erebus said, before going quiet.

Well that… wasn't good news.

'So what do I do?' I continued.

"Well, your leave of the Nevernever will have most likely tipped off whatever scouts Mundus had employed." Erebus explained. "Since it has been over a day, since then, I would expect an attack to come at any time, in any place."

As I absorbed that little tidbit of information, I heard the sound of footsteps moving down the staircase. Clark came into view, and grabbed a sandwich of his own, all the while giving me uneasy glances.

He was an odd one, for sure.

Not ten minutes ago, he was chomping at the bit to fight me; now, he was just eying me warily, as if not sure of how to think of me. I supposed it would've been easier for him to see the world in black and white, but it never really was like that.

I supposed that the sight of his father not stopping me had shocked him more than his defeat at my hands. Jonathan Kent seemed like a moralistic man, with strong, traditional values on how to live your life.

I never did have much of a grounding, in that aspect. Petunia, and Vernon never really bothered with me, since I mostly kept to myself and kept my mouth shut. Though, Aunt Petunia had been trying to make up for it, the last time I had visited her at Privet Drive.

Seeing his father not be the perfect role model Clark had envisioned him to be had probably caused the man to be somewhat agitated. Even now, he still gave me and Jonathan glances, as if he were trying to understand what he had just come across.

Don't get me wrong.

I wasn't excited about the idea of killing people, either. I had always enjoyed the art of fighting, but I never liked to kill people. Even when I had rampaged through the ranks of Voldemort's recruits who were invading Azkaban Prison, I knew that what I doing was wrong.

But the Order needed our assistance, and we gave it to them. The Order never looked at me the same way after the aftermath of that battle.

It must have been a horrific sight; I was drenched in the blood of my enemies, with several wounds adorning my body.

The knowledge that I had called down the accumulated energy of the clouds above Azkaban Prison onto a single target had most likely raised a fair set of alarms in the wizarding world.

Considering the limited control over the weather which I possessed, I was honestly surprised I was never contacted by anyone about the issue.

It had to have been something else Dumbledore had done for me. The man was always running interference, even when I told him not to. Stubborn old geezer just wouldn't quit trying to make amends to me.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand: killing the grunts of the operation!

I knew I wasn't perfect, and that my choice of killing those men wasn't a right choice. But, if I had let them live, they would simply go back to their malevolent employer, and further his ambitions.

I weighed the positives and negatives of their lives against the positives and negatives of their deaths.

Grunts were the backbone of every single expedition, ever. If a certain group didn't possess the manpower to get things done, then the group would have no power whatsoever.

Them dying had proven to be a much more equitable solution, all things considered. There were now eight less grunts to worry about. Eight less guards in whatever possible new facility they were keeping the meteor infected children.

That was progress.

And last time I checked, progress was good.

So now, all I had to do was make up with Clark, find this complex, save the meteor infected prisoners, and then finally go home.

How hard could it be?