Chapter 12:
Fortress of Solitude:
The crystals stopped glowing, and the buzzing quickly died.
"That's all the power I was able to draw. Hopefully it will be enough."
"That sound, I heard it before."
"Every Kryptonian family has a unique tone, a beacon to identify itself. Baron should recognize yours."
"And follow it straight to me." Clark finished.
"So this is Jor-El's famed Fortress of Knowledge." Baron said from behind, causing Raya and Clark to turn and face him. "I thought it'd be bigger." He finished mockingly.
"It doesn't matter you won't be staying long." Clark replied.
"Big talk, big man. I'm surprised you're still standing, I guess Jor-El was right about how the yellow son affects you Kryptonian cockroaches." He spat. "But I'm back, and now…" raising his hands "I'm super-sized. This is the perfect place for the fall of the house of El"
Thrusting his hands forward the two purple beams charged towards Clark. This time he was ready, and placed his father's crystal towards the path of the beam, letting out a silvery white-blue beam of its own. Clark however, miscalculated the force of the beam and was knocked backwards, dropping the crystal out of his hand as he did.
"Paying for the sins of your father can be a bitch!" thrusting his arms forwards again, and letting the beams flow towards his unsuspecting, and defenseless target, Raya. The beams made an impact with her body, right on her chest. The sheer force of the beams caused Raya to turn away, as the beams continued to drill inside of her, eventually drilling right through, piercing her heart in the process.
"RAYA!" Clark screamed as he ran towards her, crouching by her side as he did.
"Now, Kal-El," Baron spoke, waiting for Clark to turn his gaze towards him. "You will die." Shooting the beams towards Clark for what, Baron hoped will be the last time. As Clark braced himself for the familiar pain that the beams will bring on impact, he was surprised to find that it never came. As he looked to see what was obstructing the path of the beams, he was surprised to see a the palm of another man, as Clark looked up to see the face of his savior, the unknown figure flicked the beam sending it flying to the ground and throwing Baron off balance in the process.
The man turned and looked down at Clark. Clark recognized his face, it was the man who had told him what was wrong with Lois, back on route 40.
"Kor-El?" he asked.
Giving a slight nod with a little smile, "Kal-El." Then turning his attention, to the casualty that Clark was crouched next to, he bent down and turned the fragile body towards himself. "Raya!" he choked.
Opening her eyes and gazing towards the face of her husband. "Kor-El. Am I dreaming?" She softly.
"No I'm really here." Leaning in he gave her a short kiss, but a passionate one none the less.
Moaning, Raya then continued "Baron, I tried…"
"Shhh, I'll take care of Baron you just save your strength." He said through watery eyes. Turning to Clark, "Will you watch over her?" he asked in a pleading voice. Clark nodded softly in return, as Kor-El stood up and faced Baron, assuming a powerful stance. Clark could clearly see the confidence that flowed from him, he wasn't even fazed. And why would he be? Clark thought to himself He just diverted the beam without even using the crystal. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Raya's voice.
"Kal-El, sit me up, I want to see my husband in action, just one last time, please." She said in a very soft and still voice. Clark turned and faced towards Raya. It was hard for him to believe that such a strong woman as herself could be rendered to be so fragile. She reminded him of Lois, and the time when Geoff had almost drowned her. She was so fragile, and spoke in such a soft voice, Clark couldn't believe that was actually Lois Lane who he was holding.
"Sure." He replied, and held her head up against his chest so that she could see what was happening. When he was satisfied with the position she was in Clark turned his attention back to Kor-El and Baron.
Baron got to his feet and stared straight into the eyes of Kor-El.
"Well, well. Look who it is, Lord Kor-El! I must say I never thought I'd ever see you again, but I'm glad you're here. Now I can take out both the sons of Jor-El in one sweep, and then I'll be rid of all you Kryptonian Cockroaches for good!"
"Big talk, considering the last time we met was back on Krypton, and if my memory serves me correctly, I wiped the floor with you then, imagine what I can do to you now."
The insult sent Baron into a blind rage, as he let out a monstrous roar and again blasted his energy beams towards Kor-El. As the beams tunneled their way through the air, Kor-El narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, and shot from his eyes his own two beams.
It was a sight that Clark would never forget. Whilst Clark knew that Kor-El was using his heat vision, he noted that it was nothing like his own. Instead of near invisible fireballs being shot from his eyes, Kor-El's heat vision was a continuous red beam of concentrated heat. It was magnificent. With a quick burst of energy from his eyes Kor-El sent Baron soaring backwards through the air.
Baron hurriedly got to his feet, his temper was flaring. "AAAAARGGGHHHHHH" he let out a large roar, and again attempted to blast Kor-El with his beams. Moving into super-speed, the beams appeared to stop in mid-flight, Kor-El was moving so fast that even Clark and Raya didn't realize that he was moving, spotting the crystal just a couple of feet away. Grabbing it quickly and then repositioning himself in front of the beams path, he held the crystal out in front of the oncoming beams. As he moved out of super-speed the beams started moving faster and faster towards him, until they finally impacted with the beam that was emitted from the crystal. Try as Baron might he couldn't out match the power of Jor-El's crystal and felt his energy fade away. As Kor-El moved closer and closer to Baron, the purple beams of energy kept receding to the power of the silvery white-blue, until finally the crystal had completely engulfed Baron's power and started to suck him out of the young boys body. But resistance was futile and Baron was finally imprisoned into the crystal, leaving the body he had overtaken lying unconscious on the floor.
Walking towards where Raya and Clark were seated he crouched next to Clark and scooped Raya up into his arms.
"Take the kid to the hospital, and then head over to the farm, I'll meet you there in a couple of hours."
"What about, Raya."
"There's nothing we can do for her, she's going to die."
"What! There has to be something anything."
"Do you really think if there was something that I can do, that I wouldn't? I'd kill myself right now if it would mean that she'd stay alive, but there's nothing neither you nor I can do about it."
"So what are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna spend some quality time with my wife in her dying hours." He said as he walked away from where Clark was standing and towards one of the chambers.
Realizing what he meant Clark ran over and scooped up the knocked out body in his arms, as he turned to gaze in the direction of where Kor-El had walked off, he thought about what Kor-El was about to lose, his wife, and no doubt one of his best friends. Clark thought about what he had almost lost, and as he strolled towards the portal made a mental note to go visit Lois, after he had told his parents what happened. In a flash of light, they were gone, leaving Kor-El and Raya, all alone in the Fortress.