Chapter 4
Sam slammed his foot to the floor, pushing the jeep's engine to it's limit as he flew down the open stretch of country road.
It was 20:55. Lives were at stake, and he knew he couldn't afford to waste a second.
His previous thoughts of Lucy took a back seat in his mind, as he tried to focus on this latest crisis, running through all the possible ways this could play out.
The worst-case scenarios filled him with dread.
He knew his daughter and son-in-law well enough to know they'd be working on their own escape plans, but this was clearly a lot more complicated than a simple hold-up.
When Sharon Powell had exploded with rage at him over the phone, it became clear to Sam that the woman was deeply unhinged. On the other hand, the man who'd outlined their demands seemed disturbingly calm and professional, like he didn't care one way or another who lived and who died.
The combination of hot headed and unpredictable motives with what seemed to be colder, more rational ones, made it difficult to settle on a strategy for negotiation.
It wasn't the first bomb threat he'd dealt with in his time at the DOD. Nor was it the first time his daughter had come up against a situation like this in her career, even before Superman made his debut. But this time, they had more to worry about than just his daughter's safety.
His phone sat neatly in a holder on the dashboard, transmitting the DOD's infuriating hold music around the jeep.
'C'mon, c'mon,' he muttered impatiently, gritting his teeth against the urge to curse.
Contacting General Hardcastle was obviously necessary after hearing the terrorist's demands, but part of him wished he could have handled this more covertly. Reduce the risk of something being seen that couldn't easily be explained.
After all, who knows how badly the kryptonite bomb was affecting Clark and the boys. Not only did he need to get everyone in that diner out of there alive, he also needed to divert attention away from any unusual reactions his family was having to the toxic alien substance.
'General Lane, are you there?' Hardcastle's voice came from the phone's speaker.
'I'm here, what's the decision?' Sam demanded gruffly.
'The special unit are on their way. They have been advised to take orders from you only,' she reported.
'And the terrorists demands?' he asked impatiently.
'You know the answer to that, Sam,' she stated flatly. 'The substance known as X-K has proven to be extremely volatile and is much too dangerous to be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. And as for Tal-Rho… there is simply no way we are letting that monster out of his cage.'
'You have to give me something,' Sam argued desperately. 'If I go in there empty handed, innocent people are going to die.'
'The DOD does not give in to the demands of terrorists, General. Especially when the danger outweighs the current risk to life,' she said matter-of-factly, like the decision was as simple as a chess move.
'My daughter is in there,' Sam replied through gritted teeth. 'And my 15 year old grandsons.'
'That is unfortunate, General,' Hardcastle acknowledged. 'But your personal relationship with the hostages does not change how the DOD responds to threats.'
Sam banged his fist against the steering wheel in frustration.
'You don't understand!' he said desperately. 'This is bigger than just a simple bomb threat. I have reason to believe that weapon is laced with kryptonite.'
'So you have advised General,' she replied dismissively. 'But unfortunately, you've provided no evidence to back that up.'
Sam clenched his jaw but said nothing. He had no way of explaining how he knew there was kryptonite in that bomb without exposing the very secrets he needed to protect.
'Look, if you can get full confirmation that these terrorists pose a threat to Superman's life, then we might be able to re-visit this conversation,' Hardcastle added, her tone slightly more sympathetic. 'Until then, I have no doubt you will find a way to manage this situation with the resources at your disposal.'
The line cut off abruptly, leaving no room for further debate. Sam span the car to the left and down the high street leading up to the Smallville diner. He screeched to a stop just out of sight, taking a moment to prepare himself for what came next.
He glanced back at the metal box on the back seat, hesitating despite the time closing in on him. He knew if he did this there was no going back. The DOD would never trust him again once they found out he'd gone against direct orders and handed over even a small quantity of X-K. Nor would they be happy he'd kept a stock of X-K in the jeep, recognising its potential usefulness in out of this world emergencies despite the risks.
Hell, even Lois would be furious when she found out that part.
But there was no way that he was going to be able to reason with these terrorists without something to prove he was at least trying to comply with their demands. They'd threatened to start killing people, and Sam got the impression they weren't bluffing. No matter who they targeted, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he could have prevented it.
20:58.
He grabbed his phone quickly from the dash, dialling another number.
'General?'
'John, what can you see?' he asked.
John Henry Irons had contacted him shortly after his phone call with the terrorists. His daughter, Natalie, was inside as well. Thankfully she was hidden out of sight and had been able to send out a message. Sam was just grateful there was someone on this side of the diner doors that he could trust. Someone who already knew Clark's secret and understood what was at stake.
He glanced up at the clouds above the building, satisfied when he couldn't see the man's suit of armour anywhere. They didn't need anyone spotting the mysterious hero hanging around above a small-town diner.
'There's three of them,' the younger man reported back. 'Two with guns, and the woman with the bomb. It's definitely a hair trigger detonator. And I can confirm there is kryptonite in the bomb.'
Sam's heart sank. He'd known there was no way he'd misinterpreted Lois' suggestion, but hearing it out loud felt like a crushing blow to his chest.
'It looks like Jordan is protected by some kind of blanket?'
'Lois' coat,' the General confirmed. 'We had it made once it became clear she seemed to always be around when Superman was in trouble.'
He heard a small chuff of identification from the man from another world. No matter what universe they were in, his daughter always managed to find herself in the middle of the action.
'There are about 25 civilians in there altogether,' John continued. 'No one looks seriously hurt. Yet.'
'Good. Let's keep it that way,' Sam said, sounding much more confident than he felt. 'Stay high and out of sight. Don't move in unless I give the go ahead.'
'What's the plan here, General?'
'Recon, for now,' Sam advised. He honestly didn't have a firm plan, and there was no point in pretending he did. 'Let's just see exactly who and what we are dealing with in there.'
He grabbed the metal box from the back seat and strode across the eerily quiet street towards Vicky May's.
Natalie looked at the message from her dad again.
SIT TIGHT. STAY SAFE. I MEAN IT NAT, DON'T DO ANYTHING. I WILL HANDLE THIS.
'Hetty, we have to do something,' she whispered to her AI's communication sphere, feeling a twinge of guilt for completely disregarding her dad's request.
But he didn't know everything she knew!
For one thing, he didn't even know she had Hetty with her. She was feeling extremely grateful she'd ignored her dad's lectures about the danger of taking the AI out of the house and had tucked her into her bag that day. Not to mention how lucky she was she'd been near the diner's back room when these gun wielding lunatics had arrived.
Sitting there for the last 20 mins, knowing people she cared about were out there and she couldn't help them, had been like torture. Especially with everything Hetty had been picking up.
She really was an amazing piece of tech. Lex Luthor might have been a psychopathic criminal mastermind on this world, but on her world, he'd been responsible for helping them survive once the kryptonian's took over. Natalie squashed down another pang of guilt as she was once again reminded of the world she left behind.
All she could do now was try and use what she had to help the people of this world.
At first Natalie had Hetty focus on analysing and possibly even disarming the bomb if they could. But then the AI showed her the scans and data. Quickly she'd realised the situation was not going to be easily resolved. Sharon Powell held a very sensitive hair trigger detonator in her hand, and any attempt at interference from outside signals was also designed to set off the bomb. Not to mention the motion sensors designed to detonate the bomb if anyone attempted to touch it, even at super speed.
As if the threat of a nasty explosion tearing through the diner wasn't enough, the AI had detected an unusual radiation coming from the green liquid bubbling away inside the weapons connecting tubes.
It was kryptonite. That's why Clark hadn't been able to do anything.
Despite his likeness to her mother's killer, Natalie had grown to care about Mr Kent and she didn't want to see him get hurt. Not to mention the danger Jordan and Jonathan were in. The boys were like brothers to her now, and she had no idea what that bomb might be doing to them.
Her mind still reeling from the startling information, Hetty's next discovery had been even harder to swallow.
An alarm had been activated by a device somewhere in the diner.
'Warning. Kryptonian powers detected.'
Someone in there was gunning for Superman. That much was certain.
But why would they need a device to detect kryptonian powers? If they were using the hostages as bait to trap Superman, surely the kryptonite bomb would slow him down enough that they would see him as soon as he was on the scene.
Unless they were trying to catch a kryptonian who wasn't dressed in red & blue.
Natalie felt sick to her stomach as she considered what that might mean. Whatever their real agenda was, it wasn't as simple as terrorists making outlandish demands.
In fact, she was starting to wonder if the threat to the diner was nothing more than a distraction.
Then Hetty picked up one more communication. A text message from one of the gunman to their boss on the outside. A few of the words floated ominously through Natalie's mind.
'Mr Kent'…. 'kryptonite'… 'effecting him more than we'd hoped'… 'I don't know what powers he used'…
Her worst fears were confirmed.
Someone suspected Clark Kent was Superman, and they were trying to prove it.
Her dad had incessantly drummed into her just how dangerous this secret was when she'd first arrived on this earth, but after living with the Kent family these last few months, she'd begun to really understand how much their lives would be ruined if the world found out.
And this wasn't just some reporter looking for a scoop. Who knows who this guy's boss was and what he was going to do with the information. Did he want to reveal Clark's secret to the world? Or was he just planning to use it to hurt him? Did they want to capture him? Study him? Did they want to take the boys too?
Images of Jon and Jordan being locked away and dissected by some lunatic in the name of science filled her with dread, but it also lit a fire of steely determination inside her.
'Hetty, can you scramble the alarm's signals?' Natalie asked the AI device as quietly as she could.
'I can lock on to the device's frequency,' Hetty confirmed. 'I will be able to prevent the alarm from being triggered again.'
'Do it, just keep blocking whatever it's supposed to be doing,' Natalie commanded. 'Can you block messages being sent from his phone as well?'
'I could block all nearby cell signals,' the AI offered. 'But I am afraid I'm unable to interrupt just one.'
Natalie bit her lip. Sure, she could rely on Hetty to get messages to her dad, but what about everyone else? As much as she wanted to stop this guy from getting any more information back to his boss, cutting off everyone's ability to contact the outside world didn't seem worth the risk.
'Okay no, let's not do that yet,' she decided.
If she could stop them from gathering any actual proof, maybe that would give her dad enough time to work on a way to get them out of this.
'Okay Natalie, interrupting the device's signal now,' the AI confirmed.
Natalie rested her head against the wall, silently wishing she could let Clark know it was safe to do something super now.
Assuming he still could.
Chrissy took a long drag from her cigarette, glancing nervously out at the street from her position in the alley next to the Gazette. She rolled her eyes at her own furtive actions, recognising her mother's critical voice in the driver's seat.
'For god's sake,' she scolded herself, 'You're not a naughty schoolgirl.'
Yes, she'd given up smoking years ago, but that didn't mean she had to feel ashamed of succumbing to the craving now. It had been an extremely stressful year, and she was a grown woman. She could make her own decisions!
Besides, she was going to give up again. Soon.
It was eerily quiet out in the high street, but that was pretty normal on a Tuesday night. Everyone who wasn't at home was over at Vicky May's for Taco Tuesday. In a town as quiet as Smallville, this was the closest thing they had to excitement on a weekday evening.
But Chrissy frowned as she turned her attention towards the diner. All the lights were down and there was no sign of the usual bustle of activity. The blinds were all closed and the neon signed had been turned off. She'd almost believe the place had cleared out, but as she watched closely, she saw occasional shadows of movement, indicating people were still inside.
Anyway, hadn't she just seen Lois and her family go in there about half an hour ago, when it had been in it's usual bright and inviting state?
Chrissy turned her head suddenly as she heard tyres screeching to a stop across the street. She instinctively tucked herself further into the darkness in the alleyway as she watched the jeep's driver emerge.
It was General Lane, and he had a grim look on his face. He tightly gripped the handle of a metal box in one hand and looked around anxiously as he headed towards the diner doors.
Something weird was definitely going on here.
Wishing she'd grabbed her coat after all, she stubbed out her cigarette and trained her eyes firmly on the diner, her journalistic instincts kicking in as she suppressed a shiver.
She reached for her phone as Sam Lane knocked on the diner door, readying her camera to capture anything newsworthy.
It was 20:59.
The atmosphere in the diner was thick with anticipation and fear as the hands of the clock moved steadily closer to the hour. Kurt on the other hand, was uncharacteristically excited, though his fixed mask would never have revealed it.
He was generally a pathologically unaffected man. Life hadn't been kind to him, and he'd learned at a young age that it was better to switch off, never to get invested in anything or anyone. That was until he met his boss. He'd seen something in the man's eyes that he recognised in himself. A way of seeing the world that went beyond ridiculous notions of good and evil.
A visionary.
He'd never felt anything close to meaning or purpose in his life, but he found it then. The ideas his boss had for the world's future; they were the only thing he'd ever thought worth fighting for.
His boss didn't trust anyone. Of course not, he was much too intelligent for that. But Kurt was proud to have become his go to man. His boss knew he was loyal to the cause. That he would lay down his life if he had to.
When the man had shared his suspicions about this bumbling farmer's alter ego, it had been the single greatest honour of Kurt's life. He'd trusted him with what might be the most the most important secret in the world.
And who knows what scientific advancements might be possible once they were able to study kryptonian physiology up close. Not just a pure kryptonian, but two alien human hybrids as well.
Most people might object to putting teenage boys under a microscope, even if they were tainted with alien DNA - but Kurt, like his boss, could see beyond what lesser minds might label as 'immoral'.
He looked around at the faces of the irrelevant Smallville locals who'd been mindlessly shovelling down their habitual tacos just thirty minutes before. Kurt was unsurprised that they each looked away furtively rather than let him catch their eye for too long. No one wanted to draw attention to themselves.
No one wanted to be selected as the first to die.
Sharon stepped away from the bathroom, practically dragging a protesting Lois Lane with her as she did. Of course she would be reluctant. The famous reporter wanted to keep the kryptonite bomb as far away from her husband and sons as she could.
It was revolting. She'd bred with an alien, exposing their world to cross contamination they had no idea the dangers of.
Kurt turned back towards the window he had taken position at, prying open the blinds just as General Lane came around the corner and began striding towards the diner.
'He's here,' he reported simply to his party.
Sharon tightened her grip on Lois' arm as though anxious to keep a firm hold on any extra leverage they had against the General. She looked hungry for whatever the man was going to say. Clearly she was idiotic enough to believe she might actually get to see her son's killer finally put down.
Kurt knew there was no way their demands were actually going to be met. Anyone with half a brain would know the DOD wouldn't cave in to this kind of stunt. Not for the lives of just a few small-town folk, that could easily be covered up and smoothed over.
Of course, their demands weren't of no interest to his boss. He would certainly be eager to get his hands on the confiscated crystals that had been giving ordinary men powers. And sure, the brother of Superman would be nearly as much of a prize as the real thing. For the purposes of studying their physiology anyway.
But Kurt knew there was something much more personal about his boss' feud with the man of steel than just scientific curiosity. He hated what the man stood for. He hated the arrogance of an alien being who flew around in a red cape, claiming to be the world's saviour.
Not to mention the fact it was the sickening hero's fault his boss been driven underground. Superman and his unsufferable side kick – or to be more accurate, wife – Lois Lane had done everything in their power to discredit and dethrone him, and unfortunately he couldn't escape the damage they'd done to his reputation.
Johnny stood up and puffed out his chest as the General approached, lifting up his gun and grabbing Sharon for a disgustingly unnecessary kiss.
Kurt couldn't contain his grimace. He was growing increasingly tired of having to work with these imbeciles. He understood his boss' need for a trojan horse so that the real operation could be implemented… but did they have to be so… unsavoury? He consoled himself with the comforting knowledge that he didn't have to tolerate them for much longer.
If all went according to plan, they'd be dead before the end of the night.
Kurt just needed to focus on Phase 2. Thankfully, if he could rely on his pathetic comrades for anything, it was their ability to create a suitable mess that he could use to his advantage.
The General finally stepped up to the door and knocked firmly.
Kurt pointed his gun towards the focus of his attention. If this next part of the plan was going to work, he needed the alien in closer range of the kryptonite bomb.
'You,' he said, giving Clark a warning look that made it clear he wasn't asking. 'Open the door.'
At the man's stern command, Clark stepped out of the relative safety of their booth.
He gave his sons a meaningful look that he hoped said 'stay put' and dutifully headed towards the door, doing everything he could to hide his body's response to the waves of pain that hit him hard as he moved closer to the bomb's glowing poison.
After Kurt caught his earlier exposed expression, Clark knew he had to do some serious damage control if he was going to have any chance of creating a seed of doubt in the man's mind. Everything he did from this point on needed to look liked the actions of a simple helpless farmer. And insignificant, human, mild mannered Clark Kent, would do whatever this man threatening him with a gun told him to do.
His eyes caught Lois' for a moment and he wished he could somehow let her know what was really going on. They were filled with just as much anxiety as his, but she only knew the danger the kryptonite bomb represented. She knew nothing about the man's much more disturbing agenda.
Clark opened the diner door, and Sam stared at him in surprise, clearly not expecting him to be the first face he saw. Clark clenched painfully against the fire coursing through his veins, hoping the slight tremble that ran through him could be passed off as fear. His father-in-law clearly noticed the discomfort on his face, and from his serious expression, it was clear he understood the dire outlook of their situation.
The General stepped into the diner, surveying the room and taking in all the faces that were now staring up at him in hope. Clark could practically feel the rage bubbling off him as his eyes fell on his daughter, her arm still tightly held in Sharon Powell's grip.
'General Lane, you are right on time,' Johnny said with a smug look on his face and a nod towards the clock above the counter. 'Guess you couldn't really turn down such an enticing invitation though, could ya.'
'Do you have the X-K?' Kurt asked, ignoring his partner's mocking comment.
Sam lifted up the metal box he was carrying and placed it down on the table nearest them. 'This was all I could get on such short notice.'
Kurt opened the lid to check the contents inside and seemed happily surprised for a moment, before switching to a darker expression.
'You run the Department of Defence general,' he said coldly. 'I'm sure you could have flown your entire stock of X-K down here in minutes.'
'Look, you seem to think I have way more power than I do here,' Sam tried to reason with him. 'I may be temporarily in charge of operations, but I don't have the authority to release copious amounts of x-k into the hands of terrorists.'
'Maybe you just need to be properly motivated,' Johnny suggested, a wide smile appearing on his face as he pointed his gun towards Lois suggestively.
Sam tensed at the man's clear eagerness to follow through on their earlier threats. He looked towards Clark again, scanning him up and down like he was trying to gauge just how affected by the kryptonite bomb he really was, and whether he'd be any help if this all went south.
As Clark felt the continued exposure to kryptonite slowly sapping away his energy, he couldn't say how much strength he had left himself. If they didn't figure something out soon, they'd have no reason to worry about an alarm detecting his powers.
He might not have any powers left to detect.
'Believe me, you've got my attention,' Sam told the wild-eyed gunman, his eyes drifting back to Lois. 'But my superiors are not going to budge. There must be some other kind of agreement we can come to here.'
'Oh, I think they might change their minds if this place becomes a bloody massacre,' Johnny said threateningly.
Sharon stepped forward, finally letting go of Lois' arm so that she could confront the man she deemed responsible for so much of her pain. Clark held his breath against the increase in pain to almost unbearable levels as she moved closer. He leant involuntarily against a nearby table, trying to make the action look as casual as possible and willing his knees not to give out completely.
'You think you can just cover everything up. That what happens to small town folk is just insignificant. But now… whatever happens here. Whoever dies. The whole world is going to know it's because the DOD failed. Because you cared more about the life of a kryptonian than the people you're supposed to protect.'
'I'm sorry about your son,' Sam offered as sincerely as he could, 'But what you're doing isn't the way to get what you want.'
'Why don't we just test that theory,' Johnny said, looking around the room and placing a hand on his chin like he was trying to decide which item to order off a takeout menu. 'Eenie meenie… I think the death of the Mayor would make a pretty good front page story.'
Clark's heart started to race as Johnny raised his weapon towards his childhood friend. Lana looked at him pleadingly as she tried to comfort her panicked children.
He'd taken out the guns, he reminded himself. She wasn't going to be shot.
Clark looked from his wife to his sons, willing them not to do anything stupid. He could see Jordan's tormented expression as he looked back and forth between his dad and Sarah's frantic expression, desperate to do something more than just sit there while her mom became the target of the man's homicidal threats.
Standing up despite the protests of his weakening body, Clark readied himself to act. Even if it meant exposing his secret, there was no way he was going to let any harm come to Lana if that gun did in fact go off.
'Sorry lady,' Johnny said, without a hint of actual regret. 'Someone's gotta be the first to go.'
The world slowed as Clark's watched the man pull the trigger on the gun. Unsure if it was the heightened fear or his super speed kicking in, what should have been an instant seemed to last an eternity.
But nothing happened.
'What the hell?' Johnny screamed furiously, looking down at the gun in shock, before swivelling around to face Kurt accusingly.
The more intelligent man frowned in surprise and looked down at his own gun curiously. A look of realisation washed over him as he brought his finger up to trace the outline of a small round hole in the gun's casing. A hole left by a burst of heat vision.
He looked up at Clark, that same flash of satisfied recognition on his face.
'It looks like maybe Superman is aware of our situation after all,' Kurt suggested, still staring straight at Clark with a faint smile on his lips. 'I guess he thought taking out our guns would help keep everyone safe.'
There were a few murmurs from around the room and Sam and Lois shared a look Clark couldn't quite decipher, like they were planning to make a move.
'Looks like I'm just going to have to get my hands dirty then,' Johnny said, moving towards Lana's table and grabbing her away from her horrified children.
Clark's vision started to swim as he stepped away from the table in an attempt to intervene, but to his dismay he found his legs wouldn't respond to his commands. He nearly fell limply to the ground, only just catching the end of the table and pulling himself back up shakily.
Recognising Superman wasn't going to be able to be the hero this time, Lois nodded to her dad and they moved quickly. His wife stepped up behind Johnny and kicked him hard in the back of the leg. At the same time, Sam grabbed Kurt's gun, pulling him around to face him and punching him in the jaw.
Clark tried to focus on his wife's battle as Johnny spun around to face her, but Lois was already lifting her leg again. She delivered a swift kick to his abdomen, knocking him to the ground.
The man cried out in fury as he pulled himself up, retaliating with a hard punch to Lois' side. She buckled over, the wind knocked out of her, and the furious gunman seized the moment, lifting his weapon into the air and preparing to bring it down hard on her head.
Clark reacted instinctively. He shot a burst of heat vision towards the handle of the gun, his head immediately pounding from the effort it took to use his powers in his weakened state. The wild-eyed man screamed in agony, dropping the now glowing weapon and lifting his smouldering hands in shock.
Lois took advantage of the distraction and directed one last kick to the man's crotch. He dropped to the ground writhing in pain.
'Everyone STOP!' Sharon practically screeched as she stepped into the middle of the room, holding the hair trigger device high in the air. 'Nobody move a muscle!'
Clark fought desperately against the urge to vomit as the woman with the kryptonite bomb stopped mere feet from him. He could feel beads of sweat trickling down his face, and from the look on Kurt's face, he knew his worsening condition was becoming impossible to hide. If he looked anywhere near as pale as he felt, it wouldn't be long before it became obvious to everyone in the room that something was making him sick.
The sinister man looked surprisingly pleased despite rubbing his jaw where the General's blow had landed. Like they'd all just given him the reason he needed to make his next move. Clark braced himself for the sound of the man's device alerting him to his latest use of superpowers… but to his surprise, nothing came. Was his super hearing completely gone? Or was the device no longer working?
'You all think I'm just joking around here?' Sharon yelled furiously. 'Oh, just that crazy lady from New Carthage. She's just upset about her son, she isn't really a threat… Do you want me to prove how serious I am about this?'
The room fell quiet again, her reminder of the bomb's deadly presence in the room suddenly forcing them into obedient silence.
'The only reason I haven't blown you all to hell already is that the monster who killed my son is still sitting comfortably in his special cell, reading books and drinking cups of tea like he didn't try and destroy the entire WORLD,' she continued to tirade, turning her fury towards the General once again.
Clark felt a pang of guilt mingle in with the cacophony of unbearable sensations moving through his body. His brother was the reason this woman had been driven to this level of madness.
'I want him DEAD,' she practically growled. 'But you take one more step out of line, and I'm just going to have to settle for taking out the people who made the cover up of my son's death possible.'
Clark watched as Sam hesitated, before finally holding his hands up submissively. Lois followed suit, and Sharon glared at her threateningly as she brought the detonator down to her side, before rushing over to where her lover lay whimpering on the floor.
'Are you okay, Johnny,' she asked softly, lifting up his injured hand with her free one. It was covered in blisters.
Lana retreated back to where her girls stood crying uncontrollably, pulling them into her embrace and trying to reassure them everything was going to be okay.
'The gun… it… it overheated or something,' he said in disbelief. Then he turned to Kurt angrily. 'Where the hell did you get these things?'
Clark's attempts to mask his obvious discomfort were completely failing him. He gritted his teeth against the pain that was starting to overwhelm his system as the other man moved to stand in front of him, his eyes boring into him like a lion approaching an injured gazelle.
'There was nothing wrong with the guns, was there Mr Kent?' the man said accusingly, scanning Clark's face and clocking his rapidly degrading pallor.
'Look, I don't know what you think is going to happen here, but there is no happy ending to all of this,' Sam tried to reason with Kurt. 'The DOD are on their way. Once they surround this building, no one is escaping here alive.'
The man smiled again, not taking his eyes off the object of his fixation. It was such an obviously unnatural expression on his face, it sent a shiver down Clark's spine.
'You still don't get it, do you General?' the man said sardonically. 'Some things are worth dying for.'
With that the man pulled out a knife from his belt. Clark's cloudy mind realised in shock what he was about to do, but before he could even attempt to convince the man otherwise, Kurt thrust the blade painfully into his abdomen.
Clark squinted down, half expecting the blade to be a crumpled mess. Instead, he saw blood covering the other man's hands, and the knife's blade disappeared somewhere beneath his shirt.
A low deep groan escaped his throat as the man ripped the blade back out of his flesh. Clark placed his own hands over the bleeding wound, looking up at the man in shock. Kurt's cruel eyes dancing with satisfaction where the last thing he saw before his entire body went limp and he crumpled to the ground.
Clark heard his wife and sons calling out his name as the overpowering darkness of unconsciousness took him.