Chapter Eight
"How much further is it?"
Anya looked down at the screen on her utilizer and shook her head.
"I'm not sure," she said. "Whatever it is that caused your world to fluctuate made it disappear from the computer's memory. We're just going to have to find it on our own."
Lucas shifted Tyler's weight onto the other shoulder. He sighed and slowed down a little.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Lucas asked. "We're just supposed to find it by looking at it?"
"I guess," she said.
"Anya, they all look the same!" he yelled. Anya jerked at the sudden rise in his tone. They stopped flying through the ether and drifted. She turned to him.
"I know that, Lucas," she said.
"The only one of these planets that we've passed that didn't look exactly like all of the others was that stupid square one," Lucas said.
"Well, we know that there should be three worlds in a cluster," Anya said. "We could start by looking for that."
"That narrows it down to about four zillion," he replied. "Look. That thing...that anti-monitor...is following us."
"I know he is," she replied. "We're leaving some sort of signature behind us that he's able to see or smell or whatever."
"I thought that you were usually the one that tracks him," Lucas said.
"I am," she said. "But I'm traveling with you. He may be following you."
"How?" Lucas asked.
"I can't say for certain, Lucas," she said. "I'm not sure of how your powers work and they're so new that you don't know how they work either. You weren't able to jump worlds until after your accident with the kryptonite beam. Maybe you're leaving behind some of that energy when you cross over."
"Then I need to stop doing it," Lucas said. "If I cross over to my own world I may lead him right to my door."
"But if you don't then you won't be able to help Clark," Anya said. "You know that he's involved in whatever it is that's going on. You sensed it."
Lucas nodded. "I know. I've got to get there."
Tyler groaned.
"Should I knock him out again?" Lucas asked.
"You caught him off guard the first time," she said. "He'll be ready for you the second time."
"But I'm..."
Anya laughed. "It doesn't matter. He's the Griffin. He's defeated villains stronger than you."
Lucas gave her a disbelieving grin and looked at the man on his shoulder as he raised his head.
"Oh, my head," Tyler groaned. He pushed away from Lucas but the other man grabbed him by his arm before he fell out of the force field. "You hit me you son of a..."
"I'm sorry," Lucas said. "You were going to get yourself killed."
"Did that thing eat my world?" Tyler asked.
Anya nodded. "I'm sorry, Ty. Earth Fifty-Seven doesn't exist anymore."
"What about Megan?" He asked. "And what about Ashley?"
"Who are they?" Lucas asked.
"His ex-wife and their daughter," Anya replied. She looked at Tyler. "They're gone, Ty. Everybody is gone."
"You shouldn't have made me leave," Tyler said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I should have had the chance to stop him!"
"Dude, we just saved your life," Lucas said. "I'm sorry about your family, but we don't have time to cry about it right now. If you want to do something about what just happened then help us take that thing down. He's following us."
"What?" Tyler asked as he turned to Anya. "I didn't know that he did that."
"He doesn't," Anya said. "Not to me anyway. I think that he's following Lucas. He's attracted to his energy."
"So you're going to go home?" he asked. "What's the matter with you? Did you have your eyes closed back there. I just lost everything. Do you want to lose everyone that's important to you?"
"Everyone that's important to me on my world want nothing to do with me," Lucas said. "But, no, I don't want to see my world get eaten. But there's something going on there that has nothing to do with the Anti-monitor that I have to help with."
"The energy fluctuations," Tyler said as if he just remembered what they had been discussing before the attack. "Okay. I'm in. Where is your world?"
"We can't find it," Anya said.
"Why not?" Tyler asked. Anya told him about Lucas' world being wiped from her utilizer's memory. "You scanned him to find out which world he came from. Didn't you?"
"Of course I did," Anya said.
"Well, then you should let the utilizer scan for the same signature," he said. "It should lead you right to it."
Anya told herself that the only reason that she had not thought of that herself was because of the incredible stress that she was under. But she knew that she was not focusing. She would have to get herself together if she was going to be any help to Lucas in the battle that she knew that they were facing.
"Alright," Anya said, pressing a few buttons on the device on her belt. She pointed into the distance. "It's that way."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"I'm going to use this thing on you one more time," Wentworth said. "The next time that I have to use it, I'm going to set it to kill you. I would advise you to think twice about doing anything stupid."
Billy was being held by one of the Lucas clones while another one kept his hand firmly placed over his mouth like a clamp. He knew that he could not get free enough to say his magic word, and so Captain Marvel was not coming to save him any time soon. He watched as Doctor Wentworth reached into his pocket and pulled out the device that had been used on him earlier. He pointed it at him and a flash of energy erupted from it. He instantly lost all feeling in his entire body. He could see, but he could not turn his head to look at anyone. The clone dropped him to the floor and then dragged him to a chair.
The room was almost dark. He guessed that he had been taken to one of the seldom used laboratories in the upper floors of the LuthorCorp building. He heard Wentworth talking to the four remaining clones.
"Clark Kent is in this building," he said. "I want you to find him. Jacob!"
The clone that he was addressing looked confused.
"I am Han, Father," he said.
"I can't tell you boys apart outside of the lab," Wentworth said. "I want you four to spread out and cover this building."
"Yes, Father," they all said in unison.
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
Clark reached the top of the stairs and stepped out onto the roof. He was not usually one to panic in the face of danger, but he was getting to point of freaking out. He had barely gotten inside the building before his ears and picked up on the scuffle. When he looked back out at the bench where he had left Billy he saw four doubles of himself dragging the boy in his direction. He had ducked into the stairwell and tracked them as the took the elevator to the thirty-second floor. He had no idea what they were doing to him in there, but it could not be good.
He stepped over to the edge of the roof and looked over at the street. There was no sign of them. By now Wentworth would have sent the clones to look for him. He had to know that he and Billy had come here together. He would have just gone back down the stairs but he knew that they would just expose him to kryptonite again and drag him to where ever it was they had taken Billy. If he could just stay free for the time being, it would be that much longer that Wentworth would not be able to recreate his array.
"I can't do that," Clark told himself. "I can't just hide here until it all passes over. That's not what I do. Lucas may have taken a part of me, but my spine wasn't in that part." He turned and stepped toward the door leading back into the building. Just as he was reaching for the doorknob he stopped in his tracks. "Lucas."
An idea formed in his mind. He knew that it was a long shot, but it was worth a shot. If he had been able to sense Lucas out there somewhere when he had been hooked up to Wentworth's machine then it meant that they were still connected on some level.
He stepped away from the door and sat down on the concrete of the roof. He had to concentrate. He closed his eyes and pulled his knees up to his chest. He slowed his breathing and thought about Lucas Luthor.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
"There it is, Lucas!" Anya yelled as they soared quickly toward three identical earths that lay out in front of them. She pointed to one of them. "That's your world! We should cross over now so that we can..."
"No!" Lucas yelled. He grabbed his head and closed his eyes. "That's not where we need to go."
"What's wrong?" Tyler asked.
"It's Clark," he said. "I can hear him. I think he's trying to call me."
"Then let's get down there," Anya said.
"He's not in my universe," Lucas said. "He's in his own. But something is happening. Something that affects all of them."
"So we need to go to that one," Anya said. "That's Earth Seventy-Four."
"Yeah," Lucas said. "Let's cross over. But when we get there we have to land in Metropolis. I've got a feeling that LuthorCorp has a role to play in all of this."
"It usually does," Anya said.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Clark opened his eyes suddenly when a crashing sound rang in his ears. He looked up and saw a burst of light fill the noon sky. For a second it looked as if there were two suns. He stood and looked up at the light until it subsided and he saw three shapes descending toward the city. One of them had wings. The other two were an average sized man and woman. He waved at them and they angled their descent to intercept him.
"Lucas!" Clark said. "I can't believe it worked!"
Lucas landed and grabbed Clark in a tight hug as if he were a brother that he had not seen in years. When they pulled back Clark saw that the other man had tears in his eyes.
"Clark," he said. "There is so much that I need to say."
"Well you can start by telling me how you're flying," Clark said. "But not now. Right now I need you. He turned to Lucas' companions, giving a curious look at the man with a cat's face and wings on his back. "I'm Clark Kent."
"Clark," Lucas said. "This is Anya. She helped me get back on my feet and get here. And this is the Griffin. He's a hero from another world. We have to talk. There this thing that's..."
"Lucas, you don't understand," Clark said. "There is a crisis right here, right now! Professor Hamilton's double from another world is trying to merge this world with your's and another one."
"He's creating an amalgam universe," the Griffin said. "But why?"
"It's a long story," Clark said. "He's trying to resurrect his wife and son. Anyway, he's got the clones down there, but they..."
"What clones?" Lucas asked.
"Your clones," Clark said. "The clones that Lionel had made of you at your house."
"Clark," Lucas said. "I'm sorry, but my memory of my life before the accident is almost nonexistent. I hardly remember anything about myself. My mind is like a big block of swiss cheese."
Clark sighed. "There are four men down there that look exactly like us and have all of our powers without any of our weaknesses."
"They're immune to the meteor rocks?" Lucas asked. Clark nodded. "Where are they now?"
"I imagine that they've split up to look for me," Clark said. "Wentworth went to the thirty-second floor. He's got a computer that will separate himself from the universe. If we don't get to him before he turns it on he'll be gone. And he's got this kid with him that we have to save if he hasn't killed him yet."
"Who is Wentworth?" Anya asked.
"That's Hamilton's counterpart," Clark said. "Look, I can play catchup all day long."
"No need," the Griffin said. "I think we should go in two groups. If these guys are as powerful as the Clark Kent from my world then it would be useless to take them on one at a time."
"Yeah," Lucas said. "Tyler, you go with Clark and start sweeping the even floors. Anya and I will take the odd ones."
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
The Griffin retracted his wings and melted back into his human appearance as he and Clark emerged on the fortieth floor. Clark gave him an interested look.
"When this is over you're going to have to tell me your story," he said.
"We'll have beers as soon as the universe is safe," Tyler said with a smile.
"Yeah," Clark said. "This Wentworth guy is relentless. I can't imagine what kind of mind it takes to think that billions of lives in exchange for two is an even trade."
"Wentworth," Tyler replied. "I was talking about the Anti-monitor."
"The anti-what?" Clark asked.
"Oh, we didn't get that far," Tyler said. "There's a planet eating monster following us and we're pretty sure that your world is the next to go. But we'll handle this first."
Clark stopped walking and stared at Tyler as he continued down the hall. Tyler turned back to him.
"Are you coming?" he asked. Clark nodded and followed. They had not made it to the end of the hall before a man came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. He made eye contact with Clark. Tyler immediately saw that the new man was the spitting image of his companion.
"That's him," Clark said. Tyler took off toward the man at a full sprint, his body morphing so fast that Clark barely even saw it happen. His wings lifted him off the floor and allowed him to drop down on the double from above. But the doppelganger's Kryponian heritage was evident as he tossed the creature down the hall. The Griffin crashed into the wall beside Clark, sending wood and morter splintering off in all directions. "Are you alright?"
"I usually last longer than that," the Griffin said. "Let's hit him at the same time. I'll go high and you go low."
Clark nodded.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Anya tapped a button on her utilizer and a finger of electricity reached out and crackled over the body of the clone in front of her. It's brother was slowly walking down the hall behind him. Lucas was trying to pick himself up off of the floor and take a few pieces of concrete out of his hair.
"This isn't working!" Anya yelled. "There's nothing that I can do to slow them down!"
"Turn up the power!" Lucas yelled. "They have to have a fail safe. Hamilton wouldn't have created a controllable clone without programming a way to turn it off. If they get a strong enough jolt it should knock them out cold."
Anya pressed another button and the energy changed from yellow to a bright blue and there was a high pitched hum that filled the air. The clone began the jerk uncontrollably in the grasp of the beam. She let him go and he crumpled to the floor.
"It worked," Lucas said. He pointed to the other one that was still approaching. "Now, do it to him."
"I can't," Anya said. "That took all of my power. My utilizer is dead."
"Crap," Lucas said.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Clark straddled the clone on the floor and repeatedly beat his face with his face until his knuckles were covered in blood. The clone lay motionless.
"Clark!" the Griffin yelled. "Don't kill him!"
Clark stopped and looked at his fist. There were bright drops of blood falling from his fingers. He had never felt that much rage without being under some outside influence.
"I guess I know what part of Lucas I got," Clark said. He checked the clones pulse and verified that he was still alive. "Let's head downstairs."
"I can hear Anya and Lucas battling two clones on the floor beneath us," the Griffin said. "Should we help them or find the fourth?"
"We've got to get to that lab," Clark said. "If Wentworth activates that machine before we get there then none of this is going to matter."
They headed toward the stairwell. As they passed a deserted conference room the Griffin stopped and stepped inside.
"Clark!" he called. Clark followed him into the room and followed his gaze out the window. There was a huge creature emerging from the sky and settling down on the roof of the Daily Planet building across the street. It looked over the entire city and shot a green beam of energy out of its eyes at another building, evaporating it.
"What is that thing?" Clark asked.
"That is the Anti-monitor," the Griffin said. "Witness your world's end."
End of Chapter Eight
Note:
Yes, it has been a while since I last wrote on this story even though I promised that I would finish it since I got my own computer. I'm sorry. There's been a lot of illnesses in my house lately. But everyone is on the mend and I'm ready to finish this story. I have an original story that I'll be working on next that I'll probably be putting on the other site. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R and take care.
Kal-el