Clark Kent was actually enjoying his life. He would never admit this, but he enjoyed hearing reports from head scientists and managers on various aspects of MBI. He felt that he was really contributing to society when he took briefings with his Sekirei teams.
He actually enjoyed being a billionaire businessman.
Bruce was not so pleased with him as he didn't consider Clark a true billionaire. Clark refused to buy expensive cars he didn't need or spend months on a boat with beautiful women. Clark was giving billionaires everywhere a bad name.
What Bruce didn't realise was that now that Lex was back the bald-headed billionaire was actually instigating a coup with Kyla and Martha to get Clark a ridiculously sized yacht so he could spend the summer after Kyla graduated sailing the oceans with his wives.
What Lex didn't know was that Clark had some of his scientists working on clean engines and the prototype was a ridiculously sized yacht that was a gift to his wives that they would hopefully use on his and Kyla's honeymoon. Once he proposed of course.
One of the other things Clark enjoyed about his life (other than sleeping each night with several beautiful women) was doing simple farm work. The Kent farm was immense these days. Far more than Martha, Jonathan and Clark could handle. Amara spent as much time as she could on the farm as did Dani, but both had duties elsewhere. Amara had decided to grant the request of her subjects and the farm was now staffed by several Amazon farmhands who loyally served the Lord Regent in the name of their goddess.
It was whilst he was moving some bales of hay that Clark received an unexpected yet pleasant visit.
"Greetings Brother!" Came the booming voice that nearly had him toss the bale in his hands through the roof of the barn.
"Baldur? And Thor!" Clark smiled as he saw his Asgardian brother holding the two-year-old princess of Asgard.
Clark dropped his bale of hay and quickly moved over to grab the giggling little girl. "What brings you here?"
"Our sister needs to have plenty of experiences if she is to be as wise as Father. What better place than with her other brother and the various cultures he deals with?" Baldur explained with a smile.
"You intend to stay, for a while?" Clark asked with a smile.
"Not myself personally. Father has been visiting with the Aesir of Lady Loki's world. He has learnt much and wishes me to become more involved in the affairs of Asgardian politics." He said with a scowl.
"Rather you than me." Clark smirked.
Baldur simply returned the smirk. "I did ask Father if he wanted you to learn with me, but he said that what you learn with Lord Death will bring flavour to our way of life."
"Ah, Clark. I have been looking for you." Came an imperious voice.
For a moment Clark thought Hippolyta was back. But Harry and Aphrodite had de-aged her to a baby to be adopted in the mortal world. She was watched and monitored to ensure her safety but she would not be approached by the Amazons until she was an adult of at least eighteen.
Clark smiled as he saw Lana walk in. She was dressed in an all black outfit that was very flattering. "Lana? Got a date with- who the hell are you?" Clark demanded as he handed baby Thor back to Baldur who immediately took a few steps back to protect their sister. Clark knew Lana's soul and it was not in control of her body.
"Lana Lang of course… I see there is no fooling you, is there." Lana suddenly smirked as she cocked a hip. "I was going to have so much fun seducing you. Did you know this body is still a virgin! I know you are too which is why I wanted some of your hairs."
"Who are you?" Clark asked again, his anger was plain to see.
"Oh well, we can do this the hard way." She sighed. "I will so enjoy having you as my personal slave."
"Baldur, take Thor and leave." Clark ordered as he waved a hand at the two sending them to the castle.
"What's this? You have magic in you?" Lana asked in happy awe. "How did you manage to keep this from the girl?"
Clark wasn't sure what was going on but he decided the best course of action was to knock out Lana and get her to Harry. The only thing he knew for certain was that there was a foreign soul in Lana's body.
Clark moved at super speed and closed in to try and knock Lana out but he hit an invisible barrier that sent him flying backwards.
"Not just magic but exceptional speed and strength too! You will be my warrior slave." Lana declared with a pleased smile.
Clark picked himself up off the ground and walked calmly towards Lana, as he got within arms length he pulled out his hammer and called down lightning.
They were still in the barn and the bolt smashed through the wooden roof and lit up the dome like shield that surrounded Lana Lang.
"What are you?" Lana asked with anger and awe as she began to feel the strain of keeping the shield up.
Clark just kept up the stream of lightning, ignoring everything including Harry and Brunhilde who had also arrived.
"Any ideas, Husband?" Brunhilde asked as she carefully scrutinised the shield that was preventing Clark from getting at Lana.
"Yes… but I really don't want to try any of them." Harry said worriedly.
"It would kill Lana?"
"No… it's just that Clark's lightning hurts just as bad as Phoenix fire."
There was a slight flicker in the shield and Clark moved in a blur as his fist reared back before crashing into the shield and shattering it. The blast that resulted sent both and he and Lana flying backwards in opposite directions.
Brunhilde darted forward to grab and restrain Lana before she could regain her senses. Harry saw Clark was already picking himself up so he focused on Lana.
He walked towards the dazed girl and began slapping her lightly round the face. "Wakey, wakey!" He cooed.
"Nggg." Lana shook her head with her eyes still closed as she tried to avoid Harry's hand. Then her eyes snapped open and she saw the man attacking her. "Get off me you curr! And you, release me you harlot!" She snapped at Brunhilde.
"So, what's your name?" Harry asked calmly.
"Lana Lang you imbecile."
"Here's the thing; I can see souls. I know Lana's soul and I can see her soul in there. But I can also see your soul. So lets try again and maybe I won't be too cruel when I crush your soul." Harry offered.
"Bah! I've heard men claim to have great power before. None have been able to withstand my might." She said arrogantly.
"We're going to have to do this the hard way, aren't we?" Harry asked his wife with a sigh.
"Her name is Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux." Emma announced as she strolled up with Jean, Chloe and the Cuckoos. "Judging by her memories she is from some time in the medieval period. She was burned at the stake- and she has thrown up a mental shield." Emma sighed. "Give us a moment to try and crack it."
"Let me try." Chloe demanded angrily as she stomped up to the newly name Isobel. "Where is Lana Lang?"
"She is still here. I have suppressed her spirit." Isobel was shocked when her mouth betrayed her. "What are you people?"
"The last people you will ever see." Chloe hissed. "Anyone got any questions?"
"How did she take over Lana's body?" Amara asked as she joined them with Diana. She was not going to be absent whilst her subject was in peril.
Diana walked up and placed her lasso around Isobel before tightening it and aiding Brunhilde in restraining her. She nodded gratefully to Chloe who took a place behind Amara respectfully.
"Answer the Queen's question." Diana ordered. "How did you take over Lana Lang's body?"
"I stored my soul in my spell book. I used my magic to divine the future and saw that one of my descendants would visit my tomb. I cast a spell that when she came into close enough contact with my body she would be marked and she would activate my spell book allowing me to take over her body."
"Merlin's hairy balls it's another bloody horcrux hunt."
Everyone turned to see an exasperated and ranting Neville and grinning Xander standing there.
"Are you going to pull another 'Dobby'?" Xander asked as the usually calm Neville continued to rant to himself.
"What's a Dobby?" Chloe asked.
"My dear son once had to deal with a bastard who also split his soul into multiple parts. He used ancient and valuable objects to store them in. It was an ego thing." He explained. "Harry transferred the soul pieces to… bits of garbage, including the soiled garments of a friend that were worn when he was a slave."
"Harry enjoys insulting and degrading people of a certain nature." Neville added with a resigned sigh.
"Remind me to show you the archive footage of some of Harry's actions back home." Amara smirked.
"Well, you don't need to worry. First I won't be transferring this one because I will be destroying it. Second, I can destroy it because the full soul is in here. That is probably the only reason Lana couldn't prevent the possession."
"You can easily stop me! I am defeatable!" Isobel declared proudly before frowning. "I did not mean to say that."
The others looked at each other curiously.
"Oh! Princess Diana's lasso is still around her." Chloe giggled.
"I like this. This is the kind of bad-guy rant I could get used to." Xander grinned.
"Well my dear, I am about to prove you right." Harry chuckled as he turned to the bound Isobel.
"No! I do not want to die!"
Isobel's cries were ignored as Harry simply cast the killing curse causing the body to slump.
"Ok, a little slice here… Chloe, you still up for the bond?" Harry called out without looking up from where he was working on separating Lana from Isobel.
"Ready and willing. Kyla wanted in on this too… of course so do all the other Amazons." Chloe muttered the last part to herself.
Xander had once referred to the Amazons as the biggest bunch of Hufflepuffs he had ever met. He got a kick in the shin from Kyla before Neville explained what a Hufflepuff was. Then he received a kiss on the cheek from nearly every Amazon he met. Which was pretty much all of them as Aphrodite had him working as their trainer in tactics and bringing them up to speed on slang and other things they needed to know so they didn't immediately castrate the first male they thought was insulting, threatening or demanding something.
"Alright, let me just deal with Isobel." Harry told the young Phoenix.
Clark meanwhile had walked up and was looking carefully at where he could sense Lana's soul.
He reached out a hand, closed his eyes and focused.
"Erm… we'll be outside." Xander said slightly uncomfortably. He and Neville quickly exited the barn.
Clark looked up and saw that Lana was now visible.
Also… naked.
He quickly removed his hand not wanting to risk the girl's ire.
"Clark, put that hand back." Harry barked.
Clark knew better than to argue so he closed his eyes and put his hand out again.
"Why exactly am I doing this?" Clark asked.
"Because Lana is in a fair bit of pain and what you are doing is relieving it for her. Just keep doing it until I have her and Chloe hooked up." Harry instructed.
"Understood."
Amara and Diana stepped up to hold Chloe's body steady whilst Harry pulled her soul out and walked her and Lana through the joining process.
Brunhilde had destroyed Lana's body as she figured that like Clark, she had no desire to be in a body that had been used by someone else.
In short order Harry had a new body ready and Lana's newly joined soul was seated inside.
"Something's wrong!" Chloe nearly shouted. "She's still in pain."
"How much of her soul did you take? Does she need another bond?" Amara asked worriedly.
Amara and Chloe where hugging a sobbing Lana and trying to comfort her.
"Hook me up." Kyla demanded as she teleported in. "Clark, hold my body."
Harry didn't bother arguing or making funny comments. He'd seen too many souls in pain and his recent experiences with Minaka were enough for him to give this his full attention.
He worked quickly to join the two Amazons.
"Better." Chloe nodded, still frowning as they held Lana who was no longer sobbing, just sniffling. "But if we could get someone else…"
"I have an idea." Kyla said as she teleported out.
She returned seconds later with Yume. "Kiss him hard." She instructed.
Clark didn't have a chance to react as Yume pounced on him, kissing him passionately and lighting the room up with her wings.
"There it is." Chloe smiled as she felt Lana's pain vanish and the wash of power and love sweep over them both.
"What happened?" Diana asked. "How did Yume's kiss affect Lana?"
"Lana is bonded to Kyla who is bonded to Clark." Harry explained with a wry smile. "Clark has bonded fully with his Sekirei so the exchange of love and power goes both ways. Yume and Clark's power went through Clark's bond with Kyla and into Lana."
"I love it when he kisses the Sekirei." Kyla grinned.
"I can see why." Chloe said as a blush stained her cheeks as the physical effects became apparent to her. "But will this fade? Will Lana need… extra doses?"
"Probably." Kyla nodded. "But Clark has lots of Sekirei and they all like to kiss him. Class can be very difficult to focus on."
"Whoa… they're still going?" Chloe laughed as she noticed Yume attached to Clark's lips.
"Yeah… the only thing that can get a Sekirei off Clark is another Sekirei." Kyla shook her head. "Hey! You two! Save it for later." Kyla shouted.
Clark was blushing as he broke away from Yume who just pouted.
"Since when are you a Sekirei?" Chloe asked.
"Well, it's just easier to refer to me and Aphrodite as one of Clark's Sekirei. It also works in public as code."
"Will Lana be alright?" Diana asked Harry.
Amara had put her to sleep as she held the girl.
"She will need some time to adjust, but she should be good." Harry assured her.
"What should we do about Jason?" Kyla asked.
"He witnessed some of Lana's unusual behaviour as Isobel." Emma informed them. "We were able to get a full download of Isobel's memories which I believe the girls have stored in Harry's mind?" She asked the Cuckoos.
"An entire download was completed." Phoebe confirmed.
"We have made a note of all her actions since she possessed Lana." Celeste added.
"And we know that she was searching for the stones that Clark needs." Mindee finished.
"Wow… your people really got around Clark." Chloe remarked. "First Naman and now these stones."
"What can I say? We were a very generous people." Clark grinned.
When Lana woke up she was not surprised to feel like utter crap. Nor was she surprised to find herself in the castle hospital wing.
She was surprised to see a smug Jason Teague smiling down at her.
"So… a witch huh?"
"And an Amazon." She muttered hoarsely. "Water."
Jason obliged by handing her the cup that had been placed nearby for her.
"How much do you know?" She asked warily.
"Clark said to tell you I know Death. He said that would convince you that you don't need to worry about keeping things from me."
"It wouldn't matter." Lana said with a dismissive wave as she shuffled so she was partially sitting. "There are charms on us to prevent people revealing our secrets and there are telepaths who can just remove the knowledge."
"Telepaths." Jason's eyes were wide in fear.
Lana smirked at him over the rim of her cup as she took a sip. "You were just wondering who they were and if they heard all your naughty thoughts, weren't you?"
"Erm… I plead the fifth?"
"Telepaths Jason. The fifth doesn't mean anything to them. And that doesn't even count the one of us who can make you tell the truth just by asking questions."
"I… I feel violated." Jason gasped.
Lana could tell he was about to milk this for all it was worth. "They don't read minds all the time and they never invade someone's privacy.
"I think I finally understand what Clark is always complaining about." She frowned.
"He's a telepath?"
Lana shook her head as she put her cup down. "No, he has x-ray vision. But every time a woman finds out she immediately covers her breasts, as if they would assume he abuses the ability… of course he now takes pleasure in reminding them that covering themselves with their hands wouldn't help."
"Has he ever looked at you?" He asked with a hint of jealousy.
"Focus Jason."
"That's not a no!"
"I don't think so, but he has seen most of me naked. At least once on accident and once when he was consulting on something… that reminds me." She conjured a mirror and handed it Jason. "Hold that so I can see my lower back." She instructed as she pulled up the loose white t-shirt someone had put her in. She assumed it was Jean as she was also wearing sleep pants.
Jason was not going to complain about this task.
"Are you drooling, Mr. Teague?" Jean asked dryly as she walked over.
"What! No!" Jason said hastily as quickly withdrew the mirror.
Lana growled in annoyance before grabbing the mirror and handing it to Jean.
Jean simply touched a hand to Lana's temple whilst gazing at Lana's back.
"Thank the Goddess." Lana sighed as she saw her back was clear of tattoos through Jean's eyes.
"Harry had to take a good chunk of your soul out in order to fully excise Isobel."
"Isobel is the crazy chick who possessed Lana, right?" Jason asked. He was still trying to get used to the idea that the sixteen-year-old looking red head was actually thousands of years old.
"Correct. Do you remember what happened after that?" Jean asked Lana.
"No, but I can't imagine it was pleasant." Lana grimaced.
"It was not." Jean stated seriously. "You were in a lot of pain and Harry has removed the memories so you don't have to suffer. Chloe has some insight into what you were feeling as she was bound to you but you were still in pain."
"I'm not feeling one hundred percent right now." She admitted as she rubbed her chest.
"One second." Jean instructed as she closed her eyes.
Lana suddenly flushed red and fell back against the bed gasping.
"Lana!" Jason cried as he quickly leant over her.
"She's fine Jason." Jean smirked.
"What the hell did you guys do to me?" Lana asked breathlessly.
"Do you feel any better?" Jean asked ignoring the question for the moment.
"Yeah… I do." She frowned as she rubbed her chest experimentally. "I'm going to be needing a lot of personal breaks if that is what will cure my soul." She muttered.
"Kyla was insistent that she be the second soul donor." Jean explained. "When Chloe realised it still wasn't enough Kyla had Yume kiss Clark. The special power from the Sekirei bond transferred from Clark to Kyla to you and improved your condition."
"Is this going to happen every time they kiss?" Lana asked worriedly.
"Every time he kisses one of the Sekirei. We aren't sure what will happen when he kisses Aphrodite though."
"Wasn't there anyone else you could have bonded me to?" Lana asked desperately.
"It was a decision based on love and logic."
Lana immediately tried to get to her feet respectfully as Aphrodite joined them.
"Relax Lana. You are still recovering." Aphrodite admonished lightly as she gently pushed her Amazon back on the bed.
"Love and logic?" Lana asked.
"You know how much your sisters love you. They would never have allowed any one but an Amazon to bond with you without your permission. They would never have trusted anyone else, not even Death himself."
"I know. Kyla and Chloe discussed this with me and I know Tess and Helen agreed with them." Lana nodded.
"Yes, they have shown themselves as true Amazons and they hold a lot of respect back on the island now.
"As for logic, none of your Smallville sisters could bear the thought of joining you with a sister from the island."
Lana frowned. It sounded like they didn't trust the Themiscyran Amazons.
"You have dated three men Lana. Many of my Amazons fear men still. They still fear Lord Death and my husband… their god. Only the Lord Regent is truly loved.
"It will be years before they are ready to trust a man, even more before they trust a random man from the world.
"But they didn't want to deny you the opportunity to have the love of a man and so Kyla was chosen."
"Wh-"
"Ask about Tess later, Lana. It is private and Jason is still here." Jean interrupted her telepathically.
"I hate to be the selfish one here but what does this mean for me and Lana?" Jason asked, sensing a break in the conversation.
"Not a lot." Jean shrugged. "The soul bonds themselves won't make much of a difference for Lana but you need to realise that Lana and her fellow sisters are a very tight-nit group. You will never come between them."
"In addition you need to realise that Clark is her god. Any order he gives an Amazon will be followed without question as though the order came from myself." Aphrodite added.
"So… I need to check my jealousy at the door." Jason muttered half to himself.
"What about this deal with Clark kissing his Sekirei? How am I going to deal with that?" Lana asked.
"I'm here! I have a solution!"
They all turned to see Jodie and Harry walking in.
"Greetings daughter." Aphrodite smiled at the young woman.
"My goddess." Jodie bowed low.
"Daughter? You're one of us now?" Lana asked with a bright smile.
"I heard what had happened to you. I offered to be one of your soul mates but Kyla and the others said that the Amazons wouldn't let anyone other than an Amazon bond with you. They also explained the whole fear of man thing. So I asked Clark for permission to join the Amazons and I asked Harry if he could arrange for me to come back in time so you didn't have to wait." She explained.
"You are definitely an Amazon." Jean chuckled.
"But you can't separate Kyla from me without damaging Kyla." Lana protested.
"No, and I won't." Harry assured her. "But Kyla can stop the flow of power to you just like you can block it. It will just take practice."
"Are you sure?" She asked. The burst of power she had received when Clark had kissed his Sekirei earlier was very intense.
"Lana, you know each and everyone of Clark's Sekirei. Do you honestly believe they have been refraining from kissing him?" Harry grinned mischievously. "Kyla has been protecting you unless she could feel you were in pain."
"Oh." Lana was a little stunned by that revelation. There had been a lot of power involved.
"Now, shall we get you and Jodie linked up?" Harry asked.
"You! Out!" Lana ordered Jason sharply.
"Me? What did I do?"
"It's more about what Harry is about to do." Jean explained. "Her soul is about to be visible and souls are generally naked."
"Oh." Jason frowned. "Are you sure I can't stay?"
"OUT!" Lana shouted.
Harry, Clark, Neville and Xander were in an unused classroom in the castle standing around the spell book that had caused the days drama. Lana had told them how she had been researching Isobel and spent most of her money to get the book on eBay.
"You will never find a more wretched book of scum an-"
"Really Harry? Star Wars?" Neville smirked.
"It seemed appropriate." Harry shrugged.
"Its never appropriate Harry. People are just too worried about telling you otherwise." Clark remarked dryly.
"You do."
"As far as I am aware the only person still alive who has spent more than fifty years alone with you is Jean. She calls you on it too. I'm sure you can figure out the pattern."
"Those years don't count. You kept going off on your little trips to find Krypton." Harry said dismissively.
"And I barely survived as I came back everyday. Makes me wonder how Jean did."
"Sex." Neville said simply. "Lots and lots of sex."
"Moving on." Clark sighed. "I can feel two more souls in this book."
"Is that even possible?" Xander asked. "To put two souls in one object?"
"Oh yeah." Harry nodded. "I've even seen it happen in people. Take Yume for instance. She stored her soul in Musubi's body to boost Musubi's soul."
"Weird." Xander muttered.
"You're not the one who ended up with two Sekirei for the price of one." Clark joked. "But back to the book; I am not sure but I don't think these feel like good souls."
Harry frowned. "In what way are you not sure? These souls are as black as Isobel's."
"I'm not sure because I have pre-conceptions that anyone associated with Isobel is probably rotten to the core."
"You need a blind test." Neville nodded.
"That's what I was thinking."
"Alright, we'll see what comes up." Harry agreed. "For now, I want you to attempt to destroy the two souls in the book."
"You know I don't want to be involved in that. It wouldn't be right." Clark said as he turned to face his Master and brother.
"You also agreed you would do it if I wasn't around. Better for you to get some practise in with me here and with my full blessing." Harry insisted.
"Alright, but only if you are present or incapacitated. Any other condition and I'll keep the soul secure until you can deal with it."
"What are you gonna do? Stand around with your hand holding invisible people?" Harry scoffed.
"Actually, he might not have to." Xander interrupted with a raised finger. "We already know that Clark has learnt to call people from the other side. He can do the same thing and call souls to guard the soul for him."
"They won't be able to stay long though. Eventually they would need to return and there is no telling if Harry would be available before then." Neville pointed out.
"No, but they can switch out with other souls." Xander assured them. "You seem to forget that the after life would do anything for Harry. They will give the same courtesy to Clark as his Apprentice and especially as the man who now aids Harry in keeping the afterlife clear of bad souls."
"Well… so we have a plan. Now we just need Clark to practise. Get on with it." Harry instructed as he took a step back from the spell book to allow his Apprentice to work.
Clark had been taught by most of his tutors that controlling both magic and his natural powers all boiled down to will. You had to want it, imagine it. You had to make your power comply. Occasionally you needed to be forceful, usually you just had to ask as the power was you and you were the power and the harmony between you both would ease things.
Destroying a soul turned out to be a forceful thing.
Clark could feel the soul but he couldn't see it. He attempted to use his magic and divinity to little avail. In the end he grabbed what he could of the soul and ripped it from the book before proceeding to find the head and then rip it off.
"Did it work?" He asked as he felt the soul dissipate.
"It worked. A little messy; but it worked." Harry nodded. "Now do the second one."
Clark nodded and grabbed at the second soul and repeating what worked: ripping it from the book and then tearing off the head. He was very glad he couldn't see the souls as he hated to think of the expressions of fear on their faces as he executed them. He knew that killing people was sometimes necessary but he preferred it to be in battle, not execution.
"Good work Clark." Harry said seriously. "Come on, we'll have some Fire Whiskey."
Fire Whiskey was the only drink that could get Clark drunk… primarily because of its magical properties. Harry had brought a lot of it back with them from their jaunt to deliver the Deathly Hallows.
As they descended the stairs to the main entrance hall they met Lex and Helen. Lex lived with Helen at the castle at the insistence of everyone of the residents and at the threat of having to deal with an island of pissed off Amazons if he broke Helen's heart again.
"Hi… is he supposed to be that green?" Lex asked cautiously as he pointed at Clark.
"He just did something that he didn't like and it made him a bit queasy."
"I thought he was over his fear of heights."
"I had him destroy the two souls in the spell book." Harry explained as Neville held up the book behind him.
"Oh… practise?"
"You never know when I might get incapacitated again." Harry nodded. "In all my millions of years of life it has only happened twice; and they both happened in this universe."
"Well, I had the Techno Girls check this and they said it was safe to give to Clark." Lex handed over a glass case with a preserved manuscript inside.
"Techno Girls?" Xander asked.
"Laura, Brunhilde and Matsu." Helen explained as she rolled her eyes.
"Do they know you call them that?" Harry queried.
"Not yet." Lex said as he clasped his hands behind his back and stood straight. "I'm expecting you to give me fair warning so I can flee through the portal with my wife."
"Ha!" Helen scoffed derisively. "I'll be the one pinning you down for them."
"There goes the sanctity of marriage." Lex grumbled.
"Lex, do you know what this is?" Clark asked, he was no longer green and his colour was fast returning.
"Yes Clark, I have a good idea." Lex laughed at the sceptical look on Clark's face. "Do you really think I am going to hand you something with Kryptonian symbols on it without making sure it isn't going to try and… I don't know…possess you?" He said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Oh… I didn't-"
"I am not Harry and you seem to have spent far to much time with him."
"Hey!"
"He has a point." Neville shrugged. "So what is so special about it?" Neville asked as he hastily moved the conversation on before Harry could get on a roll.
"The manuscript itself depicts the victory of the Grand Prince Donskoi's victory over Mamai at the Battle of Kulikovo."
"I don't think I've ever been a 'Grand Prince' before." Harry mused. "Been a prince."
"You were the ruler of planet Earth, why-"
"He's still the official ruler of the known galaxy in Scott's universe." Clark interrupted Xander. "He can have any title he wants."
"I wasn't complaining!" Harry grumbled. "I was just commenting."
"Back to the manuscript?" Neville asked tiredly.
It was hard being the sane one in the family.
He had had such high hopes for Clark.
"The decorative border on the manuscript is actually made up of Kryptonian symbols which actually say:…" Lex indicated for Clark to translate.
"'Look deeper.'"
"And when you use an x-ray on it you can see…"
"A map. A map depicting the location of the Stone of Air." Clark said in awe.
"Do we know where this map is supposed to be used?" Neville asked.
"Even better." Helen said smugly as she produced a lead box. "We had everyone working on this and then I went with Laura and we picked it up today."
"Where was it?" Clark asked as he reverently took the box from Helen. Sitting in the box on a red silk cushion was the Stone of Air.
"China. We nearly had trouble with the military but they were easily dealt with."
"Kicked their butts?" Xander asked with a grin.
"We showed them our diplomatic credentials." She said chastisingly.
"Should have kicked their butts." He griped.
"We will need to work out a plan so we can combine the stones." Clark said as he closed the lid without touching the stone. "The Guardians are so eager to find the stones they keep offering to send Lanterns to scour the Earth for me." He chuckled as they resumed their trek to the common room.
"We can do it on the weekend. We're all curious about how they work after all." Harry said.
"We have that fundraiser this weekend." Lex said unhappily. It was bad enough that he had to play the villainous billionaire in public, it would be even worse as he would have to be spiteful to his best friends and he would have to suffer the advances of various women looking to ride the Luthor train.
"What's wrong with those two?" Logan asked as he jogged down the stairs.
"Lex is not looking forward to the fundraiser and Xander is upset that Laura and Helen didn't beat up the military when they were accosted in China." Neville explained.
"This is why I hide all my money. No one can find out how much I have then try and invite to these swanky deals… as for the fighting… the kid knows better than to get into a brawl and not invite me." He smirked as he continued down the stairs.
"Smug bastard." Xander grunted.
"How does he hide his money?" Lex asked. "He doesn't strike me as the type to trust a bank."
"He doesn't." Harry said dryly. "He literally means he has stashes of money in various currencies hidden all over the world. Usually under a Fidelius."
"His mattress is stuffed with bills, isn't it?" Xander asked.
"The man sleeps on obscene piles of money surrounded by beautiful naked women."
"I really need to get a girlfriend." Xander sighed.
