CHAPTER 5: What's in her heart?
Clark's shoulder closed up almost instantly. He stood and ran to the gaping hole in the glass, shards still trickling over the edge. In the distance he saw a small pin-prick of flame, heading east. If he went now he'd have a chance to catch Kale and the girls.
"Clark! What happened!" Clark sighed.
"I'm not sure. He took Lois and Lana and then rode off through the window."
"This high up?" Lex said skeptically as he staggered over.
"Weirder things have happened Lex." Clark snapped. He no longer had time to deal with Lex's patronizing attitude. He and Lex had ended their associations long ago. "You should get yourself to a hospital Lex, you took quite a blow to the head." Clark and turned at Lex. He saw that he had a faraway look in his eyes. Lex grabbed Clark's arm and snarled.
"Don't LIE to me Kent. He took LANA. You tell me what you saw!" Clark shoved Lex off. Lex seemed surprised by his strength.
"I saw him heading east Lex. That's all I know. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go after them." Clark started to walk off.
"You're not going to get far alone Clark. I'm coming with you." Clark turned on Lex with anger.
"Once upon a time Lex I would have been all for it. You're not coming now. I've been done with you for a long time Lex."
"Whoh Clark, you disappear for two years. You don't call. You don't write and now you come back and you're all mad at me. Looks like someone didn't change at all."
"Lex. I was THERE in South Africa. Those people's blood is on your hands." Clark walked out of the ballroom towards the elevator. Lex couldn't help one more shot at Clark as he walked off.
"That one wasn't ALL me Clark. It was Lana's idea to fund the militia. She's really quite business savvy!" Lex smirked as he saw Clark pause for a moment and then keep moving. The incident Clark was talking about involving a diamond mine that had diamonds with interesting properties. As a money saving solution Lana suggested Lex arm and fund a militia to illegally mine the diamonds and then transport them across the border. They grew in money and power from the joint venture and eventually used that power to massacre a few local villages. Luthorcorp developed a new optical computer technology that was revolutionizing the field from the diamonds. 'So what if a few thousand people died?' Lex thought.
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Lois was aware that she was traveling at an incredibly fast speed. Next to her she heard Lana sobbing. Lois squirmed to see if she could break free from the chains but she couldn't, they were too tightly wound. 'I knew I should have stayed in and eaten Chinese tonight.' she thought. Lois thought back to the ballroom. Clark jumping around with inhuman speed. 'Just shock from seeing a flaming horse. I was seeing things.' Lois grimaced as she replayed the sharp end of the flaming chain piercing Clark's shoulder. 'Oh Smallville. Please be safe!' she pleaded in her. 'I have to see him again.' Lois was aware now of trees flying past her. Then suddenly in the distance Lois could see some charred ruins rising out of some overgrown forest. From what she could tell the ruins were so old they were practically part of the forest again. The flaming horse slowed to a trot. She could hear its dark gasping. She didn't even want to question why the flames weren't burning her. The chain unwrapped itself and the women fell to the cold ground.
"We're home Ladies moaned the skeletal rider." He dismounted. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Noble Kale and these ruins you see were my home once upon a time. A happier time for all involved. Except one. He put my village to the flame, tortured and killed my one true love and murdered me in cold blood right over there by that rock." Kale pointed to a rock nearby. Lois and Lana exchanged glances. Lana looked terrified while Lois was too curious to be scared.
"So then Mr. Kale. What does all of this have to do with us?" Kale loomed over Lois.
"Revenge my dear. Revenge. Long ago I sold my soul for it and I have yet to taste its sweetness." Kale walked over to Lana and offered a bony hand, which she took with a whimper, and he helped her up. "This is the one that he loves more than anything. The descendant of the man who wronged me." Kale started twirling Lana in a psychotic ballroom dance.
"Okay Mr. Kale then what am I doing here." Kale threw Lana aside like a rag doll. She went flying into a tree and hit her head hard. She lay on the ground out cold.
"You were with the man who tried to stop me. He is a threat. He can stop me. I took you so that he will learn not to trifle into affairs that have been laid in place for 200 years." Lois started to get nervous.
"How are you planning on teaching him this?" She hesitantly asked.
"Simple my dear. I will look into your heart and if you are found wanting I will kill you as sure as the sun will rise." The ghost cackled with laughter. Lois was now afraid.
"How can you look into my heart." Kale turned on her and she saw two blazing eyes that she did not look at because of the way they made her feel.
"I have ways." Kale caught her glance. "Ms. Lane." He cackled again showing a blazing skeletal grin. Suddenly it sounded as though Kale was choking. The flame on his head dimmed. Lois's eyes went wide as she saw the entire body of Johnny Blaze break away from the body of Noble Kale for a brief second. He looked right at her and shouted something. It echoed and sounded like it was coming from far away.
"Help me Lois! Free me and I can save you both!" Kale screamed as he exerted some effort and sucked Blaze back in.
"I don't have much more time!" Kale pointed at both Lana and Lois and chains sprung forth form the earth, holding them in place. He climbed his horse and took off in the direction of Metropolis. Lois stared after him. She heard Lana's shallow breathing and started shouting. Maybe somebody would be out in the woods and would find them. All she could think about was Clark. She wanted... no she needed to see him one more time. The words of her father echoed in her head. 'A true soldier never gives up in the face adversity. They fight to the bitter end and they make that end as glorious as they possibly can. Most of all a true soldier always carries those they love with time for strength.' She smiled and felt comforted. 'Maybe the General wasn't such a bad dad after all.'
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Lex stared out the broken window at the twinkling lights of Metropolis. He caught he shattered reflection and smirked. It reflected how he felt. He was busy trying to figure out how he was going to cover up the deaths of five more of his security personnel from burns that didn't show up on their skin. Lex sighed and then looked at the window again. He jumped back as he caught the reflection of a flaming skull behind him. As he spun a chain wrapped around him. The rider loomed over him. "You're coming with me Lex!"
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Clark stood next to Chloe at the deserted Daily Planet offices. "Chloe what do you know about this Noble Kale?"
"Not much Clark. I'm sorry but the colony he and William Luthor settled was destroyed and never re-located. There's a good chance its somewhere in Massachusetts deep in one of the National Parks. Thats the only way any trace of it wouldn't have been located already." Clark grunted an angry noise and began pacing.
"Chloe I won't be able to check them all fast enough. What if Lois gets hurt!?" He shouted in anger.
"Clark! She's my cousin too but if there's one thing I know its that Lois Lane is tough."
"Chloe I need to save Lois. I'm falling in love with her." Chloe was a little bit caught off guard.
"Love Clark. Wow. Thats awesome. Do you know how she feels?" Clark shook his head. Chloe could tell he felt that this wasn't really the time to be having this particular conversation.
"No Chloe. I don't know what's in her heart but I do know that I will not be able to be the hero I'm supposed to be for this world without someone to inspire me. I need Lois Lane. Even if that means I'll be only her friend forever." Chloe smiled at her friend.
"Well Clark I don't think that'll be a problem. She gave him a gentle shove. Now get outta here speedy. Go find her. Save my cousin. Save the woman you love!" Clark smiled.
"There's something I haven't told you about yet." Clark gave her a wink as her ran to a window, opened it and flew off into the night. Chloe ran up to it.
"Wow!"
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Lana had woken back up. "Lois what the hell is going on. What is that thing?"
"Its a man named Noble Kale. Apparently he's going to look into our hearts and then kill us." she dead-panned. Lana freaked out. "Oh come on Princess. Calm down and lets try to get out of here." As soon as she had finished her sentence the blazing horse of the rider slammed its hooves dangerously close to her head.
"Not going to happen Ms. Lane!' Kale groaned. Lois saw that he carried a squirming Lex. Kale lifted Lex like a feather and tossed him next to Lana where another chain emerged from the earth and held him in place. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long long time."
"Go to hell!" shouted Lex.
"Already been there Luthor. Its a pretty tropical place." Kale laughed at his own poor joke. "You're going to watch her die Lex. Then you'll suffer for as long as I can make you and then I will finally end your miserable bloodline from this earth."
"Do your worst." Lex spat.
"Okay." Kale said as he dismounted and walked towards Lex. Lois almost couldn't bear to watch. Lex struggled as Kale grasped his head between his hands and forced Lex to stare him in the flaming eyes. All was quiet until Lex began to howl in a mixture of pain and terror. Kale released his grasp as Lex continued to writhe on the ground. "You next!" he said to Lana. Lana began to sob as Kale grabbed her head and stared her in the eyes.
The blazing eyes bored into her soul. Lana began to gasp in agony as she began to see all the suffering she had ever caused other. "Feel you sins Lana. See what you have wrought!" It seemed to Lana Kale was screaming in her ear. Lana began to sob as she saw armed men murdering countless women and children. The militia she had told Lex to fund. Lana screamed and sobbed as more and more visions raced past her eyes. Finally she came to one final image. Clark. Lana saw in an instant every time Clark had ever saved her. She saw Clarks father die and she knew that somehow Clark had chosen her to live instead of him. The last thing she saw as she began to black out was her saying the words to Clark.
"I don't know how I ever could have loved you." As she heard herself say the words she could feel her heart tear in two as Clark's must have that day in Lex's mansion.
Lois watched in horror as Lana writhed in pain for several minutes before collapsing. Whatever Kale was doing to them Lana must have had less to see since she stopped several minutes before Lex finally stopped. Kale approached her. "You next Ms. Hero." Lois tried to fight back as Kale grabbed her head in a firm grasp. She tried to fight it but she couldn't resist looking into the burning eyes. She felt them go right through her. All she could think of was Clark. Lois became aware of herself feeling warm, feeling very comforted. This was obviously not what Kale expected. His grasp began to weaken. Lois began to see all of the nice things Clark had done for her. She could feel the love radiating off of him. She felt covered in a warm blanket. She was vaguely aware of Kale screaming as he released his grasp. As she drifted into a wonderful dream of Clark Lois thought she saw Kale split into two beings again and begin fighting the other one.
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Kale couldn't understand it. The other two were so corrupt it had made his penance stare easy to torture them with. The third girl was different. Her heart was pure and she was full of a love for a man. The same one who had fought him off earlier. He could feel her love penetrate him, right to his darkened heart, where it began to soak in, bringing back memories of his Miriam. This was the moment Johnny Blaze had waited for, trapped inside a flaming prison deep within Noble Kale.
Blaze felt the ground beneath his feet as he turned upon Noble Kale and lit his head up. He was a rider too and he intended to defend these people, even though two of them were hardly innocent. Blaze heaved a ball of hellfire at Kale who leapt out of the way.
"Johnny please try to understand. I NEED REVENGE! I don't have a choice! I must keep the deal!" Kale screamed at Johnny as he whipped his flaming chain at his head.
"Noble you don't have to! He'll betray you in the end any ways. Just like he did to me! You gave up your soul, don't give up what's left of your humanity too!"
Kale screamed. "When she died I lost my humanity!!! Vengeance is all I have!" In fury Kale threw a fierce right hook into the flaming skull of Johnny Blaze knocking him to the ground. Then he raised his chain over his head and began to lash Blaze over and over again. "How could you be my descendant!!! You failure!" Kale was a man (or a demon) possessed. Blaze wouldn't last much longer under this kind of punishment.
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Clark soared through the air east towards a desperate search for Lois. Suddenly he felt her. He felt Lois right next to him and what he felt was an overwhelming sense of love. The kind of love a person could live a million lifetimes with. Focusing Clark sped up through the air. He knew right where she was. 'Hold on Lo. I'm coming!'