Chapter Eighteen

Clark Kent sat on a crystal throne deep within his new fortress in the middle of New York Harbor. His soul was tormented. Now that he had bonded with the Eradicator, he knew he was truly doing his father's will. The humans were a flawed race. His destiny was to rule them with strength, living as a god among men.

And yet, something inside of him told him that this was wrong. He couldn't shake the images of Jonathan and Martha Kent, the humans who had raised him. His friends, Chloe Sullivan and Lana Lang. What would they think of what he was doing? But then, why should their thoughts matter to him?

"Clark Kent," the voice of Nick Fury boomed. He looked up, startled by it. No one was there. "This is Nick Fury. I'm speaking to you on a frequency that only you can hear. We are ready to negotiate the terms of this country's surrender, on behalf of the President of the United States. Please return to the Triskelion so that we may begin these negotiations. That is all."

Clark smiled. It was almost certainly some kind of trap. One who leads so many would not surrender so quickly. No matter, though. There was nothing they could do to beat him.

In a matter of seconds, Clark was in the control room of the Triskelion. Standing before him was Erik Lensherr, still dressed in his prison garb. On either side of him were Nick Fury and Clay Quartermain, each holding a ceramic handgun. Erik was looking over a document of some kind.

"I believe you forgot to sign it here, Director," Erik said, pointing to the bottom of the document.

"Oh, for the love of!" Fury snatched the document away and hastily scrawled a signature at the bottom. "Happy?!"

"Ecstatic," Erik replied with a wry grin. Then, he extended a hand to Clark. "You must be Clark Kent. I've heard a lot about you, at least in the last few minutes."

Clark just looked at Erik, not accepting the handshake. "…Is this the President of the United States?" he asked slowly, his voice still the empty echo of the Eradicator.

Erik laughed. "No, my dear boy. I'm the one who's going to remove those excess electromagnetic particles from your molecular structure. Nothing personal, but, this may hurt a bit."

Erik flipped his hand around and extended his fingers, as if reaching for something. Clark screamed and fell to his knees. He could feel something inside of him being wrenched at, as if someone were reaching into his soul and twisting it. Erik raised both hands, bringing them together and then slowly pulling them apart. Clark screamed even louder, throwing his hands to the sides of his head. The scream sounded human, mixed with a bizarre electronic static. Sparks flew from his mouth. He began thrashing around violently, trying to make the feeling cease.

"He's very strong," Erik said, a look of discomfort crossing his face. "He's putting up quite a struggle."

A blast of heat vision shot out of Clark's eyes, shattering the yellow visor. The blast narrowly missed Erik, and melted the giant computer monitor behind them. Erik strained as he reached his hand out further, then clenched his fist as if he were grabbing something. Clark started beating on the floor, sending huge chunks of it flying everywhere. His screams began to actually shake the whole building. Fury and Quartermain dropped their guns and covered their ears, falling to the floor.

"This isn't working!" Fury yelled, though his voice was inaudible over Clark's screams. He removed one hand from his ear and tried to reach for his communicator, pressing his ear against his shoulder to shield it. "I'm telling them to finish readying the warhead!"

Bits of electromagnetic energy began to fly out of Clark's body and dance around the room. Erik did his best to contain them, but it was taking all his effort to fight against Clark's resistance. Erik began to sweat, his hands trembling now.

Clark felt like a rock concert was taking place inside his skull. He'd never vomited before, but now he had a feeling he knew what it must be like. He heaved forward and wretched, and more energy came pouring out of his mouth. He began having visions… flashes of his first kiss with Lana… the day he first met Dr. Swann… holding his father in his arms as he died…

"Hank! Janet! Can you read me?" Fury yelled into the communicator. Suddenly, a bolt of the rampant energy struck Fury's hand, blasting the com-link to bits and singeing Fury's skin. He howled with pain and rolled over, grabbing his hand.

"Relax… Nick…" Erik said. "I've… almost… got it…."

Erik began to feel something else. A connection between the energy he was pulling from Clark, and something embedded deep within the computer system that sat behind him. Erik could sense metal around him, almost as if he could smell or taste it. And this metal he was sensing now, it was foreign to him, like an imported wine or cheese. He could feel it flowing through the energy as it came out of Clark, almost as if the energy itself were creating a path directly to this new, unique metal that was within the computer.

Suddenly, Erik turned away from Clark and reached his hand out toward the computer. He waved his hand to the side as if swatting away a bug. The computer began to shake.

"What's he doing?!" Fury yelled, scrambling to grab his gun.

"Nooooo!" Clark yelled, climbing to his feet and charging at Erik.

Shards of metal shot out of the computer and swirled around Erik's outstretched hand. All the ambient energy in the room immediately gravitated toward it. The metal seemed to turn fluid, rearranging itself and forming something as the energy passed through it.

Clark leapt on top of Erik, knocking him to the ground. The energy started going haywire again, bouncing around the room. Erik struggled against Clark's tackle hold, reaching up once again toward the metal which was still swirling around, suspended in midair by the energy itself. Erik closed his fist, and a huge chain reaction was set off as energy surged out of Clark, passed through the swirling metal, shot straight into the computer and then bounced back into Clark again in a huge circuit. Anything that wasn't nailed down started flying around the room, blown off the ground by the intense force. Fury and Quartermain were pinned against the far walls of the room, unable to move.

By now Clark had stopped fighting against Erik, and was fighting to purge the Eradicator's essence from his body. He was being flooded with the visions now, visions of playing on the high school football team, of the hot air balloon ride with Ryan, of the day Pete Ross moved away from Smallville. He clenched his fists and screamed again, pushing as hard as he could against the Eradicator.

The energy swirled faster and faster around the room. Erik closed his eyes and raised his hands, making one last attempt with all his effort to contain what had been let loose. Finally, he could control it no more. Everything exploded in a gigantic blast, tearing the computer apart and sending everyone flying in different directions.

When the dust and debris settled, Clark Kent and Erik Lensherr lay unconscious on the floor. Between them lay the metal cylinder, restored to its original shape, and, beside it, the octagonal disc, which had become dislodged. Nick Fury pulled himself up from under what used to be the main computer, cursing to himself. He looked around the room to see that parts of it were literally in flames. The computer was completely destroyed.

"Quartermain, you alive?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Clay responded, emerging from behind a pillar of smoke, dusting himself off.

"Haul Lensherr back to his cell," Fury ordered.

Clay hesitated. "But sir… what about his extradition agreement?"

"What, you mean this?" Nick asked, picking the signed document up off the floor. He casually crumpled it up into a ball, then tossed it into one of the small fires that continued to burn around the room. "Gee… must have been burned up in the explosion. A real shame. Get him back to his cell, now."

Clay reluctantly picked up Erik Lensherr's unconscious body and began to carry it from the room. Nick kneeled down and picked up the metal cylinder. He looked at it oddly, a bit confused.

"Hmm… that's funny."

"What is, sir?" Quartermain asked.

"This thing is lighter than it was before," Fury replied. "It used to be a lot heavier."

Clay furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you think that means, General?"

Fury scowled. "It means, Agent Quartermain, that we got the lamp back… but I ain't so sure the genie is inside."

. . . . . .

Several floors below, Doctor Banner had finished the biology book and was currently engrossed in a collection of poems by T.S. Elliot. He was so engrossed, in fact, that he almost didn't notice the swirling mass of energy that was slowly taking shape before him. By the time he looked up from the book, the energy had pulled itself into a form that looked almost human. Startled, Banner dropped the book.

"I… am sorry… Doctor Banner…" the glowing form said. "I have been… deprived of my… energy source. I must leave this place… The computer files suggest… that you would be the… most suitable host… to provide my escape."

The form dissipated, and a bolt shot down into Doctor Banner from above. He trembled and screamed as he felt his body being invaded, falling to the floor in absolute agony. And, even as he felt the Eradicator taking control of him, he felt another change coming over his body as well. A familiar change. His skin began to turn green, and his flannel shirt ripped as his muscles began to grow….