Chapter 18
Hybrid
Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville
Activation Sequence: Initiated
System Recovery Mode Activate: Code 01010110-01101001-01100011-01110100-01101111-01110010-00100000-01010011-01110100-01101111-01101110-01100101
Run Primary Bionic System Start-up: Bionic System; Fully Active
Run Primary Biological System Start-up: Biological System; Fully Active
Run System Scan: Diagnostic Confirmed; Systems Fully Functional
Run Final Scan: All Systems Online
His head rolled back, swinging loosely around his neck as he took a deep breath. His lungs filled with oxygen for the first time in what felt like days. His eyes flickered open, blurry shadows making their way into clarity in the bright white room. His arms were held fast above his shoulders by firm metallic cuffs, and there was a strange itch at the back of his neck. Dimly he registered that this was the data support that had been part of keeping him here, alive.
"Victor?" A man's gentle voice brushed his consciousness. "Can you hear me?"
Still blinking Victor's eyes came into focus. The room was bright white, with yellow cables hanging down to various work stations. Each station housed some robotic part, mechanical arms and legs. Even a mechanical lung was open on display. He looked around the room, recalling with vivid clarity as a replica of each of these was installed into him, the mechanical nerves replacing his human ones. He shifted in his purple body suit, feeling the synthetic material rub against his skin. It looked like a cross between a wetsuit and a uniform from some budget sci-fi movie. But the doctors here had seen fit to dress him in it.
"I'm sorry for what we did to you" the man apologised softly. Dark eyes hidden behind wire rimmed glasses. Victor's eyes met his, and he recognised Dr Hong. The man was Chinese, and was the kindest man on the research team who had done this to him, who had made this unnatural amalgamation of human and machine. Dr Hong was the one who had explained what had happened to him, but that didn't change the resentment that Victor felt knowing exactly what had been stolen from him.
Dr Hong took a step back, pressing a button on the side of Victor's steel cage. The cuffs around his wrist sprang open, accompanying a loud buzzer. Victor looked questioningly at the man, wondering what had happened.
"This was all I could save" Dr Hong said, pulling a small piece of paper from the deep pocket of his lab coat. Victor took the paper in his hands, processing the image on the scrappy piece of paper. He recognised her, brown curly hair, deep caramel skin and the most gorgeous brown eyes. It was Katherine, his girlfriend from before any of this started. He smiled, the first time in months as he recognised the woman he loved.
"Thank you." Victor said sincerely, looking up into the kind doctor's eyes. Dr Hong smiled and stepped away, walking towards one of the work stations. Victor took a step forward, the cord at the back of his neck straining and finally releasing as he was disconnected from the system. The room darkened, a loud beeping blaring through the room, signalling a warning. Dr Hong spun around to face him with panicked eyes.
"They're coming!" He exclaimed. "You have to go" Dr Hong gently shoved Victor towards the door at the back of the lab. "Now!"
Victor didn't need to be told twice. He didn't want to be there, he wanted to be back at home with Katherine. Without a second thought he took off out the door, sprinting through the unfamiliar hallways, looking for any sign of an exit. Echoing from behind him he heard the shouts as a man called for them to seal the building so he couldn't escape, but he was already running.
He sprinted through long white corridors, the white doors looking like storage compartments gave little indication of direction, and Victor was desperately searching for anything that could lead him towards an exit. His eyes widened as in front of him was lit up with a tiny green dot, and Victor barely dodged as an electrical current charged past his right shoulder. There was an explosion behind him as the charge struck the wall. He rounded a corner, blindly running from the darkly clothed men behind him.
He pressed through a door, leading him into a cavernous space. Besides the graffiti and sense of abandonment he had no time to register anything about his surroundings. All he noticed was the white light coming through the door on the other side, and he desperately hoped that it would lead outside. He raced across the room, deftly leaping over a collapsed cement pylon as he cleared the room. He only just dodged another electrical blast as he sprinted out the door.
He found himself on a narrow ramp, leading down to a well outside. The steel door was closed, but that was no problem for Victor. He raced down, barrelling through the obstacle like butter and leaving a man sized hole in the six inch thick steel door. He was still out of time, trying to escape his captors. He raced out, barely taking note of the area; all he knew was that he had to get away.
He left the run down space, and found himself running through a more urbanised and up-kept area. He didn't recognise any of the street names, nothing looked familiar at all. Victor slowed, hoping that he was far enough away to be safe. It was raining, but Victor was glad. This was the first time he'd felt the rain since before...
He shook his head; he didn't want to think of that. Didn't want to think of what he'd become. What they'd turned him into. He kept running, following the road as it led towards the city. Hopefully he could lose himself in a crowd until he found his bearings.
There was a skidding of breaks, the red car that had just rounded the corner slamming into him. The bonnet crunched as the crumple zones collapsed beneath his firm stance. The doctors had told him he was a lot stronger now, but this really brought it home. He was no longer human.
Victor looked up, the windscreen shattered as the car came to a halt. The sides of the bonnet wrapped around him as he brought the vehicle to a grinding halt. He looked up, his eyes landing on the dazed driver. She looked dazed, her long brown hair drifting lightly in the cold air, and a soft fug tugged from her mouth as she breathed in the cold air. There was a large gash on her head, crimson spilling from the open wound. Victor was conflicted; he didn't want to leave the young woman alone, which was the wrong thing to do. But if he took her to a hospital there was a much higher chance of them finding him. He looked over at her, noticing her confused stare. If she didn't get medical attention soon she could end up a lot worse.
Taking her to the hospital couldn't be that bad.
Line Break
Clark sighed as he tossed the last hay bale into the field. After the last few traumatic weeks it felt like things were settling into equilibrium. Although Clark noticed that Danny was spending more time in the Zone than he used to. In a way Clark felt sorry for him, Danny had taken the red kryptonite thing hard. Clark didn't like the stuff, but at least he was still himself when he was on red K. Danny was vulnerable, and while Rosaline hadn't done anything to bad, the opportunity had been there if she had found out. Danny had managed to keep both his and Clark's secrets safe from the girl, but the whole thing seemed to have forced a wedge between his cousin and the rest of humanity.
Clark shook his head, stepping into the cabin of the truck and making his way back to the farmhouse. Danny was at school at the moment, and his mom was probably upstairs working. Clark had encouraged her to take the senate seat, realising that not only would it honour his dad's memory, but his mom would be able to make a positive difference in the world. After all if she was able to handle two super-powered kids it was hardly as though the senate would be too much of a problem.
He was just stepping through the door when his phone rang. It was Lana. And she was in the hospital. He didn't need to know anything more and before she could say anything he was on the way. Five minutes later he was walking through the hallways of Metropolis General Hospital, keenly searching for any sign of Lana. He found her room; she was still being attended to by one of the nurses, but other than the red-soaked bandage on her head she looked alright. But that didn't stop him from asking.
"Yeah," Lana replied, she sounded dazed, though Clark wasn't sure if it was from the cut or from the painkillers. "I'm fine. How'd you get here so fast?"
Clark dodged the question, answering that he was at the Planet with Chloe. "What happened?" He asked, hesitating to put his hand on her shoulder. He was no longer sure if it was appropriate to comfort her like that with their relationship being as rocky as it currently was.
"I was driving down the road" Lana explained "to go to the library, when this guy ran out in front of my car. I didn't even have time to break. Clark I hit him full on at 30 miles an hour."
Clark's widened "Lana I'm so sorry."
"No, you don't understand." Lana interrupted, shaking her head. "He didn't have a scratch on him."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "Lana, who is this guy?" He asked. Sure he could take a car hit at 30 miles an hour, but that would kill any normal human.
"I don't know" Lana replied, waving her hands in exasperation. "He brought me to the hospital, but he wouldn't tell me his name. He was acting all jumpy and tense, like someone was after him."
"What does he look like?" Clark demanded, looking firmly down into Lana's eyes. He wasn't going to make the same mistake he'd made with AC, but he needed to talk to this guy if what Lana had said was true.
"I don't know, he was African American, maybe around Danny's height. His hair was shaved short, and he was wearing this weird purple suit, like he'd just come out of a sci-fi convention." Lana explained with a shrug. Clark nodded, with any luck he hadn't gotten too far and Clark could find him before he disappeared into the aether.
Clark got outside the hospital and saw a guy who loosely matched Lana's description. He seemed to have changed clothes, donning a pair of denim jeans and a yellow jacket. He walked outside jumpily, ducking between the ambulances as he moved away from the hospital, but turned away when a police siren went off.
"Is that whose chasing you?" Clark demanded, attracting the young man's attention. "The police?"
"Look man, you got the wrong guy." He answered, but there was a challenging look in his eye as the man turned and began to stalk away. Not one to give up so easily Clark followed after him.
"So my girlfriend didn't crash her jeep running into you?" Clark asked.
"What are you looking for, an apology?" The man retorted, not even bothering to turn around.
"Just some answers. She said she hit you full on, how'd you manage that?" Clark inquired softly.
The man paused, turning to face Clark full on. "Milk" he replied, almost sarcastically "Does the body good." Clark finally got a good look at the man. He was young, probably around Clark's own age. His dark eyes held a strange depth, almost like looking into Danny's eyes, but so very different at the same time. But that wasn't what confused Clark, no, what confused Clark was that he knew the guy.
"Victor?" Clark puzzled "Victor Stone? Met High wide receiver?" Victor turned to look confusedly at Clark, almost sizing him up.
"I know you?" Victor asked, looking askance at Clark.
"I'm Clark Kent, I played for the Smallville Crows." Clark explained. Victor nodded in recognition.
"Kent, Quarterback. I remember. Some arm you got." Victor replied. Clark internally frowned at the mention of his glory days.
"I don't play anymore." Clark softly replied.
Victor twitched as another siren sounded, but stayed in place "Yeah, me neither." He murmured, looking down at the ground.
"That's not surprising since I heard you were dead." Clark managed to say, hoping it didn't come off as too brash.
"Look." Victor replied, looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry about what happened with your girlfriend, I really am." He looked up to meet Clark's eyes. "But I got places I don't wanna be right now. Catch you later Kent." Victor pulled away, but Clark clasped his hand firmly around Victor's arms.
"Victor wait..." Suddenly Clark felt himself being lifted into the air, slamming hard against the entrance's wall. The sharp clatter of crumbling tiles echoed around him as Clark stood up to shake the dust off. Now he really had to talk to Victor. There was no way for a normal human to do that. Clark focused, shifting his eyesight into a different part of the spectrum so he could x-ray the young man.
"What the hell are you made of?" Victor demanded.
"I was just about to ask you that." Clark murmured. His eyes widened at what he saw. Half of Victor's body was made of metal, while some bones and organs were still organic; the vast majority of the young man was comprised of robotic systems. His lungs, kidneys, half his stomach had all been replaced my mechanical equivalents. His skull was half bone and half metallic, and his left eye had been fully replaced by a mechanised camera like orb.
The man was half robot.
"What are you looking at man?" Victor demanded. Clark frowned, knowing that it was now imperative that he got Victor somewhere safe so they could talk. Something terrible had happened to Victor and he deserved the chance to find some form of safety. Clark hardly listened to himself as he struggled to convince Victor to come back home with him, but eventually he acquiesced. Clark dropped by the Planet asking if he could borrow Chloe's car since Lana's was totalled and his was back at the farm.
It was a quiet drive; neither was really prepared to say anything yet. Clark was just glad that Victor had decided to follow him along, but obviously he too was curious. After all, it wasn't often you met someone who could just shrug off being thrown into a wall like that. Eventually they passed under the old wood archway that stood at the gate to the farm. Clark cut the engine and invited Victor up into the loft. It was then that his phone rang.
"Look, I'm sorry I had to leave so soon but Victor didn't really want to hang around" Clark said into his phone as he walked through the barn, shrugging off Lana's questions; where was he? Had he found the guy? The only thing he was able to happily give Lana was Victor's name.
"You're sure you're alright? I'm happy to come out there" Lana offered.
"No" Clark answered quickly "you stay in Metropolis so I can figure out what's going on."
"Are you sure? It's no problem for me to come." Lana pressed.
"Yeah." Clark replied, ascending the staircase to the barn loft where Victor was waiting. "Chloe's on her way to pick you up."
"Alright, I'll see you later then." Lana conceded. She didn't exactly sound happy with it, but there was something that Clark wanted to cover with Victor first.
"Okay, bye." Clark said, flipping the phone off and putting it into his pocket. He rounded the top of the staircase to see Victor sitting at the loft desk. Clark checked his watch, noting that school would have just let out, so Danny was probably on the way home now. Clark walked over to the desk, noting the downcast expression on Victor's face. He saw the source of victor's discomfort. The computer screen displayed the report of the car accident that had supposedly killed Victor and his family.
"Newspaper's got it wrong, huh?" Clark gently probed.
Victor shook his head sadly, looking away from the screen. "No" he answered softly "They got it right." Clark was confused. "Met High Receiver Dies in Car Crash" it was there in black and white. The article had declared that the whole family had died, the car had been a complete wreck and everyone inside was already dead by the time the paramedics showed up on the scene. But Victor was clearly alive, sure he was different, but he was alive.
"We were all in the car laughing, carrying on." Victor continued, looking out the window and into the distance. "Then it started to snow. My little sister always loved the snow." There was a pause and Victor gently shook his head, as if unsure of what to say next. "My ma, my pops. My little sister." There was a slight crackle in Victor's voice as the heavy grief fought its way to the surface.
"I should have died with them." Victor said angrily. Clark frowned, not comprehending exactly what Victor was going through. "I passed out, expecting to see some angels next time I woke up." He paused, looking ruefully down at the floor. "Instead I got a bunch of Cyntechnics scientists playing Frankenstein."
"Cyntechnics, they did this to you?" Clark asked.
"I wasn't the only dead guy they pulled from an accident. Just the first to survive their experiments." Victor choked out sadly. "There was this one guy, that helped me escape, if it weren't for him I'd be more machine than man right now."
"Machine?" Clark queried, closing the distance between them. "You mean bionics? That's what all the metal is, in your body."
"Yeah." Victor absently answered before realising what he'd said. "How'd you know what's in me?" Victor demanded, incredulous. "What about that wall I tossed you into? How come you're not even hurt?"
"You're not the only one who drinks a lot of milk." Clark replied dismissively.
"Milk?" A voice interjected from downstairs. "That's what you're putting it up to? Clark what did you do?" Clark was amused to hear Danny's voice coming from downstairs. Victor froze, obviously terrified of the idea of another person being in the barn.
"Danny." Clark cringed, turning guiltily towards the staircase. "How much did you hear?" he asked the dark haired boy as Danny ascended the staircase. Danny looked over to Victor, sending him a comforting smile.
"A little. Enough to know that you got yourself caught, again." Danny teased, a small smile worked its way onto Victor's face. Danny walked over to Victor, offering his hand. "Danny Fenton." He introduced himself. Victor cautiously shook Danny's hand, returning the favour.
"Danny here is my..." Clark began
"Brother?" Victor guessed.
"Cousin." Danny clarified. "Although you're not the first to think that." Clark just shook his head, and Victor snapped his attention to Clark.
"You can trust him." Clark comforted.
"So are you bionic like me?" Victor asked, but there was an undertone that begged the answer to be 'yes'.
"No." Clark answered with a rueful half smile. "I'm just different."
Victor nodded, turning his attention to Danny. "And you? Take after your cousin?"
Danny looked between the two of them. "Not really." He answered, and Clark looked sadly down at the ground. Seemed Danny wasn't going to reveal himself unless it was necessary. "I'm not the same as him. In a way, maybe. But in another..." Danny trailed off, looking out the window sadly. Clark could see that they'd lost him to his own musings, but was surprised with how much he'd actually revealed just then.
Victor just looked back at Clark, another thought clearly playing on his mind. "What about your girlfriend, Lana? She okay with you being... whatever you are?" Victor asked.
Clark shook his sadly, "Lana doesn't know." He answered. It was sad that he had to keep the truth from her, but she had almost died for knowing and Clark wasn't ready to lose her.
"Neither will Katherine." Victor murmured.
"Whose Katherine?" Danny asked softly. Clark's eyebrows creased in concern for the sad tone in Victor's voice.
Victor sniffed sadly, but a small smile played onto his lips. "That's my girl" he answered with a fond smile. He stood up, pulling a creased photo out of his pocket. Clark looked down at the brunette in the picture.
"She's beautiful." Clark remarked. Victor nodded sadly.
"We were planning on getting married after school." Victor said, walking over to look out the loft window. "Some wedding that would be now." He commented.
"She even know you're alive?" Clark asked, looking concernedly over at the young man in front of him.
"No." Victor replied, shaking his head. "I want to see her." Victor said, a desperate plea in his voice, but it turned to regret. "But if they knew what I am now, what they did to me... How could she ever love a thing like me?"
Clark looked over to Danny. The halfa was standing stunned, his eyes sparkling sadly as he looked at Victor. Clark turned his gaze back to the dark man. "I'm really not the best person to be asking about that." Clark said sadly, handing the photo back.
"It won't even matter if Cyntechnics catches up with me first." Victor said sadly.
"I got a friend who works at the Daily Planet." Clark offered. "Might be able to find out more about these guys. Maybe get them off your back." It was a small offer, and more than he could offer to Danny. Victor smiled at him, a curious but genuine smile.
"You'd do that for me?" Victor asked, a hint of hope penetrating his voice.
"I kind of got this thing about being experimented on in labs." Clark shot back lightly. "Sit tight here with Danny. You should be safe here." Clark said, grabbing his jacket. Heading down the stairs he heard Danny finally speak up.
"You can count on Clark. He'll move the earth to make sure his friends are safe." It was a huge statement. Clark frowned; he desperately wanted that to be true. Lately he hadn't been doing a good job of that, but he was determined to get those people off Victor's case. He deserved that much. For the moment Clark was content to leave Victor and Danny together. The two had quite a bit in common by the sounds of things. That decided he picked up his pace. It was time to bring Chloe into this.
Line Break
Victor looked at the fleeting back of Clark Kent. He'd only just met the guy and he was already pretty much putting his life in his hands. Or what was left of it. Victor frowned, he had never really had an opportunity to stop and think about what had happened to him. It was hard, knowing that half his humanity had been stolen from him. He never asked for it, and now he was a monster, he couldn't even turn to the one girl in the world who he needed the most for fear that she would hate him. Victor looked out the window, surveying the sun soaked farm. It was frightening to imagine what the future could hold.
Could he ever return to Katherine? Fulfil their high-school dream? Victor scoffed. No. That part of his life was over. Now he was reduced to this sub-human thing. Part robot. What did that even mean? He could feel the pressurised system of his metallic lungs expanding and contracting, but he could also feel the sunlight as it gently caressed his hand. He stood for a moment contemplating how different he was now. How different the sensation felt from when he was fully human.
"It feels strange, doesn't it?" Victor jumped as he heard Danny speak up. He had honestly forgotten the boy was even there. He was about to snap back at him, but Danny wasn't even looking at him. His gaze was far off in the distance, and something in his posture gave Victor pause. "The sunlight. You know what it does, and how it should feel. But at the same time it's different. And you don't know how something so simple, so constant can possibly have changed so much. And then you think, 'if the sun has changed, what else? How can anything be the same again?'"
Victor watched as the boy's shoulders hunched over. Somehow he understood exactly what Victor was feeling. "How can you know that?" Victor asked softly.
"Because that's how I felt." Danny whispered, barely audibly. His mind was still far off, but Victor's eyes widened.
"What do you mean by that?" Victor demanded, turning to face the boy in full. Danny didn't look any different to a regular kid. Long sleeved baggy shirt and messy dark hair. He looked ordinary as he hung out the window. The sort of kid that had would fade into the background at school. Danny turned to face him, and Victor saw something in his eyes. There was a strange depth to those cerulean orbs, and understanding.
"I'm may not be bionic, but I know exactly what you're going through." Danny said with the slightest of shrugs. He leaned his back against the window sill, his eyes drifting away from Victor and past the sofa.
"So what are you? You said you're like not Clark." Victor commented, but he was curious. Clark had just dodged Victor's earlier question, but Danny actually seemed like he was going to answer his questions. Victor saw Danny half smile.
"No, I'm not like him. He's lucky, he was born the way he is. One of the hardest things is remembering what it was like to be fully a... fully human." There was the briefest of pauses that made Victor wonder what Danny had been going to say.
"You say that like you're not?" Victor pressed. Danny smiled sadly, guiding Victor over to the sofa. Victor took a seat, watching the boy as he sat on the trunk opposite him.
"I used to be, but then... like you I got into an accident. Didn't expect to wake up on the other end. Unlike you... well, you're luckier than me in a way. At least you're alive." Victor frowned, there was nothing lucky about this. He'd been turned into some half-human freak without his consent and some kid comes along telling him that he's lucky to be alive.
"You think you know anything?" Victor spat. "First thing I see after the accident is people in lab coats reattaching my arm, which 'by the way, Victor, is now made of titanium alloy and electro-synthesised motor neurons'. You know what it's like to watch yourself being put back together and having doctors tell you how each mechanical process works now! What it's like to rely on the doctors clemency for you to even be awake, and whenever you are for them to only perform some new test? What about running for your life to get away from the institute that turned you into a monster and suddenly doesn't want to let go like you're some piece of equipment that they own? And then you go and say 'well at least you're lucky to be alive'. Do you have any idea what that's like?" Victor screamed, breathing heavily as he finished his rant.
Danny was sitting stoically opposite him, his eyes closed against Victor's tirade. But he didn't look scared. Slowly his eyes opened, revealing two orbs of glowing green. Victor visibly flinched back, those eyes were haunting, terrifying and strangely dead. They looked nothing like the bright blue eyes that has been shining at him mere moments ago. But Danny blinked, and his eyes returned to blue, a cold and dead blue, but blue nonetheless.
"Feel better?" Danny asked softly, and Victor realised how therapeutic his rant had been. "You're right, I don't know what it's like to wake up with people putting me back together. I'm not bionic, like I said. But everything else..." Danny sighed, ruffling his hair anxiously. "I've never really voluntarily told anyone. Clark knows, and his mom does too. But everyone else... Chloe, Clark's friend at the Planet, knows something, but suspects it's something else."
"See, I didn't get instructions when I woke up. I had to figure it out on my own. The first few months, they were hell. I couldn't control anything, and I was terrified. Terrified of my parents, terrified that someone would find out, terrified of my friends, terrified of what I'd become. I mean, what do you do when you wake up and suddenly you're the one thing you've been taught to fear all your life?" Danny shook his head sadly looking to the ground.
"But what are you? How long have you been this way?" Victor softly asked, his earlier rage vanished at the sorrow in the younger boy's voice. He only looked seventeen, but to be talking like that.
"Just over two and a half years. I had my accident when I was fourteen. As for what I am... I'm" Danny gulped, but Victor watched as he nodded to himself, coming to a firm decision. "I'm Goin' Ghost" Victor blinked as a bright blue-white ring appeared around his waist, splitting into two which passed over him. The dark t-shirt was replaced by a black tunic, a white cloak materialised over his shoulders, his hair became snow white and his eyes became glowing emeralds. A far cry from the emotionless green Victor had witnessed before, they conveyed so much emotion, so much understanding. And Victor couldn't help but feel astounded.
Victor knew the rumours, everyone in Metropolis had heard about the supposed Ghost King incident, and the one ghost who supposedly saved the town. Phantom. Even before his own accident and subsequent media isolation he had known of the ghost, but had never believed he existed. Victor gulped as one again he was forced to reassess reality.
"Guess you weren't kidding when you said I was lucky to be alive after all." Victor joked. "What are you?"
"A halfa; half human half ghost. A hybrid of the two." Danny answered, meeting Victor's eyes. "While I may not know what it's like to be half bionic, I know exactly what you're going through. I had the benefit of two great friends to help me adjust. And now I'm gonna be there for you." Danny declared, holding out a softly glowing hand for Victor to shake. He took it.
Victor listened, every story, every doubt Danny told him about made Victor feel less alone. Less like a monster and more human again. Danny told him stories from when he'd first started out, where staying tangible as a human was impossible. He told Victor of how wonderful things like sunlight and rain could feel, how this new perspective on life wasn't damning. Danny hadn't been told how the changes to his biology worked, and it was funny to listen to some of his earlier exploits. Danny had long since shifted back to his human form and looking into those bright blue eyes Victor felt an overwhelming sense of safety, as if no matter what he could make it through this alright.
For the first time since Victor woke up in that lab he began to feel hope.
Line Break
Clark frowned as he stormed through the Luthor Mansion. Chloe had found out that Cyntechnics was owned by LuthorCorp. Somehow Clark felt he shouldn't have been surprised by that titbit of information. Lex was responsible for what had happened to Victor, and Clark was going to find out why he'd done it. Finally reaching the office doors he flung them open.
"We need to talk" Clark announced, seeing the young billionaire contentedly seated on a sofa by the fire.
"And you should work on your entrance, Clark. Bit abrupt, don't you think?" Lex said, condescension dripping from his voice like oil.
"What do you know about Cyntechnics?" Clark demanded, catching the billionaire's eye.
"See, now that's exactly what I mean." Lex said, shaking his head. Despite Clark's obvious aggression Lex was pretending to be light hearted. "No small talk, no pleasantries. Just straight to the accusation."
"I haven't accused you of anything Lex." Clark coldly retorted. Lex walked over to the bar, showing Clark his back. But Clark could the tension hidden underneath his black shirt.
"You don't have to. Your righteous tone says it all." Lex said, pouring himself a glass of scotch as he asked "So what am I supposed to have done this time?"
"How about turning Victor Stone into a Tin Man without his consent?" Clark spat, hoping to get a rise out of the man. At least when Lex was angry it was easy to tell when what he said was the truth.
"Victor Stone the football player?" Lex inquired lightly, any emotion hidden by his back and a politely indifferent mask. "I thought I read he died in a car crash." Clark seethed. Now that he knew the truth the cover up was obvious.
"That's what Cyntechnics wanted everyone to believe so they could experiment on him." Clark retorted angrily. He couldn't believe that anyone would stoop so low as to mechanise a man so completely without his own consent. In a way it was worse than what had happened with Danny since it had been forced on him by the whims of someone with enough money to strip away half his humanity.
Lex scoffed. "Well maybe you should be badgering Cyntechnics."
Clark's eyes narrowed at the billionaire's back. "I am. LuthorCorp bought them out seven months ago."
Lex spun around, only now seeing fit to look Clark in the eye. "Clark, in the last quarter alone LuthorCorp has sold or acquired over a hundred small ventures."
"So you're saying you don't know what goes on within your own company?" Clark incredulously demanded.
"I'm saying I run a multinational corporation. The complexity of keeping it operating requires me to delegate certain responsibilities." Lex deflected with well practiced ease. "Now if someone's abusing that position, I'll take the necessary steps to rectify the situation." Clark resisted the temptation to punch the deceitful man in the face. Instead he squashed down his anger at once more seeing the man that Lex truly was.
"So will I." Clark coldly stated before making his own way out.
"Oh and Clark" Lex called after him and Clark trod down the urge to growl. "Tell Danny I look forward to seeing him on Saturday."
A cold shiver ran down Clark's spine. It was infuriating to think that this was the same man who had been his friend all those years ago. Now he was little more than a monster, and Clark was determined to make sure that Victor was safe. Danny was actually trying to maintain a friendship with Lex, but he was only going to end up hurt. But the priority was Victor, with Cyntechnics hounding him the way they were there had to be some way to keep him safe.
Clark ran the rest of the distance to the farm, mulling over ways to keep Victor out of harm's way. But he was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the barn. In an instant Clark was running towards the loud panicked noises that were coming from the barn.
Line Break
Danny and Victor laughed together, over the past hour they'd actually spoken about a lot and Danny had just finished telling Victor about the time his sister had first come ghost hunting, but managed to catch Danny four times instead. Okay, the fourth time was Danny capturing himself to save her the trouble, but still. They had spent the time exchanging short family anecdotes about funny times and it somehow seemed they'd known each other forever. Victor was... cool. In some ways he was like an older and more socially aware Tucker, and the half bionic thing was a step in that direction. That said, Victor was a lot more interested in sports than he was in technology. At least for now.
Danny hadn't meant to tell Victor so much, not really. He didn't want to put Victor into any more danger. But Victor's self doubts were so similar to his own plight – the self hate, the painful introspection, the inherent knowledge that you were wrong for existing – that it had struck a chord in Danny's heart. It was strange, it had been a long time since those thoughts had first entered his mind, but now it was normal for them to be there. He had almost forgotten how it felt to be a new hybrid, to feel the painful sting of knowing that half your humanity had been stolen from you?
"So is there anyone else out there like you?" Victor asked interrupting Danny's musing.
"Not precisely." Danny eventually answered. "There is another half ghost out there. But it's not the same." Victor gestured for Danny to continue. It was hard thinking about Vlad. The man had done so much to make life hard for Danny, and Danny knew he was still lurking around somewhere after him. It was sad that the closest man in the whole world to him was so drastically different, so cruel.
"He's less complicated." Danny eventually replied "He's a human with ghost powers, which I think is preferable. He has a lot less weaknesses... or maybe it's just that he has more experience..." Danny trailed off. "Anyway. He, and you for that matter have at least one good thing going for you. You're still fully alive."
"What do you mean by that?" Victor asked. Danny shook his head.
"Us ghosts, we understand energy, it's weird and I'm not gonna try to explain it." Danny answered softly, looking at Victor's confused and curious eyes. "I know you're still fully alive, sure you've got a bionic half, and an electrical overlay, but the fact is that you're a hundred percent alive." Victor looked confused.
"What makes you say that? How can you tell? Half of me is a metal machine." Victor sceptically replied. Danny sighed rubbing his head. That reminded him that he wanted to give Victor some protection against Technus, but that was a matter for later. He didn't want to tell the full truth about ghosts and human energy and auras, but skimming the surface would suffice.
"Ghosts can just tell; it's like... music." Danny said at a loss for words it was hard to describe the difference, the strange vibration given off by all forms of life. The same way that animals knew to fear ghosts, ghosts knew whether something was living. Danny hadn't at first; that was part of the problem when Sam entered that beauty pageant. But like every other ghost instinct he had, he'd learned to. That was how he had discovered his ability to sense auras in the first place. Although he was now much more aware of auras than many of the other ghosts he knew.
"It's like the difference between a pop song and Mozart. I don't know how to describe it, you just know. One of the more fun things I discovered from becoming half human." Danny shrugged with a soft smile.
"So there are some perks to being unnatural." Victor said almost regretfully. Danny gave him an encouraging smile.
"You just have to find them." Danny encouraged. "Take me for example, I love flying. It's my favourite thing to do in the day. I don't sleep much anymore, so I usually spend half the night up in the sky or sitting on a cloud stargazing."
"Not sure how that would work out for me." Victor replied ruefully.
Danny smiled, laying an encouraging hand in Victor's shoulder. He could feel the thrum of electricity as it raced through Victor's body. It was almost like when Technus overshadowed a machine, but at the same time more natural. "Maybe not, but you'll find them. I hated it at first, but I got a whole bunch of new instincts the day of my accident. I like flying because it's so unnatural for a ghost to obey gravity. Odds are you'll find something that you love in what you can do now. If you want I'll help you find it."
Victor visibly smiled, and Danny felt the happiness coming from Victor's aura. Danny was happy to have the chance to encourage another hybrid into himself. Besides that there was something endearing about Victor. He may fly off the handle a bit quick, but he seemed genuine and light-hearted too.
Danny frowned. His still broadening senses detected that Lana was approaching, but there was a sense of dangerous anticipation in the air. It was the sort of tension that tended to arise just before something bad happened.
"Victor?" Lana's voice echoed up through the barn as she arrived. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the encroaching danger and so Danny just forced himself into a more observant state of awareness. Danny and Victor made their way back downstairs.
"Where's Clark?" Danny asked before Victor got the chance.
"He went to talk to Lex." Lana answered, looking between the two boys. "Danny, could you excuse Victor and I, I wanted to talk to him in private." Danny nodded, but only went as far as the outside of the barn. He knew something was going to happen, and it wasn't ghost related. Danny turned invisible, heading up to the roof to keep watch.
"Why did Clark go to Lex?" Victor asked, Danny only hearing because of his enhanced senses.
"It turns out that he owns the company that did this to you." Lana replied gently.
"Maybe I should go have a few words of my own with this Luthor." Victor's words came out harshly. Danny frowned at his new friend. Why did Lex have to offend so many people even before they met him?
Lana was gentle and consoling in her response. "Lex has done things in the past that I don't like, but I can't believe he has any part in this. He's different."
"So am I. Only I didn't have a choice." Victor retorted coldly. Danny was saddened, but understood. Those first few months were hard, and he'd hated everything about the monster he'd become.
"Well, now you do." Lana said confidently and Danny could just imagine her face, strict yet comforting at the same time.
"Between what? Being a can opener or a Cuisinart?" Victor retorted aggressively, trying to make a joke out of the situation and failing.
"No, between telling the truth to the woman you love or lying to her." Lana answered silently. It was obvious that she saw this as an analogy for her own troubles with Clark. Danny knew that Clark wanted to trust Lana, but couldn't trust himself to be there to protect her from all the dangers of knowing Clark's secret.
Victor sighed, quietly asking "Clark told you about Katherine?"
"Yeah. That's actually why I'm here." Lana softly replied.
"She's what's kept me going all those months in the lab. The thought of holding her in my arms again..." Victor admitted sadly. Danny sighed from his rooftop, looking at the moon. Sam had always been there for him, but they'd only been a couple for a month before he lost her. Sometimes he wondered if there was anything he could have done to save her, but as always came up with a blank.
"Hey, where are you going?" Lana's voice came up from beneath him, drawing Danny's attention back to the present. Danny blinked, there were several people gathering around in the barn. And none of them seemed like particularly good people. Danny dropped into the barn, immediately seeing the danger. They were all carrying snipers, but were well hidden in the shadows of the barn to human eyesight.
"To find my girl." Victor said, still oblivious of the danger "I don't know what I'm going to tell her, but at least I can..." he finally noticed the green target lighting up his shoulder "What the hell?" he asked, but it was too late. Danny felt the charge in the air and his core screamed for him to protect.
Without a second thought he jumped in front of the shot. It wasn't a bullet, it was some sort of high energy ray, like the ones his parents once made, but electricity based. It hit him square on the chest, right above his core. And it burned. Danny instantly knew that the energy was pure electricity and not ectoplasmic energy, which he could at least be somewhat thankful for. Danny grunted in pain as he felt his flesh continue to burn in the blast.
"Danny!" Lana exclaimed shocked, running over to him.
"Lana, get down!" Danny ordered, pushing her to the ground as another blast was sent over their heads at Victor. It hit him in the shoulder and sent him sprawling.
"Victor!" The two of them shouted, heading towards their fallen comrade. A black suited man came up to Danny, attempting to knock him out. But Danny was able to dodge the blow and knocked him out with a sharp jab. Unfortunately that distraction was all that was needed for another black suited man to ram his gun into Lana's head, sending her unconscious to the floor.
Danny saw red, sending out a powerful wave of energy that threw all the men back, simultaneously rendering them unconscious. Danny's hand shifted to his chest as he was left panting. The blast may not have touched his core but it came perilously close.
"Lana!" Danny blinked as Clark blurred in. "Lana are you okay?" he demanded, gently rousing the brown haired girl.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Lana panted, looking up into Clark's protective eyes.
"That makes one of us." Victor moaned, his hand held fast to his right arm which was oozing a strange black liquid. Danny's eyes widened seeing Victor's damaged state. Danny rushed over, placing his own hand over the wound to apply extra pressure.
"We have to get Victor somewhere safe." Danny said, looking between Lana and Clark. He knew that those men could wake up at any time and they had to be gone when they did.
"The Talon." Lana suggested. "Lois is out of town 'till tomorrow and she gave me a spare key." Given the urgency there was no time to debate, the four of them piled into Lana's car, Victor had tied his jacket around his arm in an attempt to stop the ooze, but it wasn't enough.
It was a race to get to the safety of the Talon and Lana quickly opened the door, guiding Victor over to the sofa and demanding Danny followed suit. Looking down it was obvious why, the energy blast had left a gaping wound on his chest and while it wasn't bleeding it looked really bad. But Danny was more concerned for Victor. He could feel the electrical balance in Victor's bionics fading, and instantly knew that those men had hit something vital.
"I'll get you a towel Victor. Clark, can you find the first aid kit for Danny?" Clark was the first to return, and Danny quickly covered the wound, already feeling his healing kicking in.
Victor looked sadly between the two of them, shifting his gaze guiltily towards the floor. "I'm sorry. I never meant to bring my crazy world into your life." Victor murmured.
"Don't worry about it, alright?" Clark comforted "You're safe now. Everything's gonna be okay." Danny rubbed the man's good shoulder. He had half an idea, but he'd need to distract Lana to try it. However Lana had already returned with a towel and she handed it to Victor who instantly pushed it to the still oozing wound.
"I'm not so sure." Victor said, pulling some of the flesh back. Danny could see an intricate network of circuitry, all tainted black by the slightly electric black substance that was leaking from a ruptured pipe. The black liquid was strange, slightly thicker than oil but Danny could sense the energy in it. "This isn't exactly something you can just put a little duct tape on." Victor explained "The bionics in my body are all connected. This goop coming out of my arm, it's from my power cell. If it continues to drain like this I'm a dead man."
Clark looked panicked and marched out, saying that he was going to see Lex again. Lana stayed behind, looking between the two boys seated on the sofa.
"Thanks for pushing me out of the way, Danny." Lana said sympathetically. She looked at the thick bandage on his chest and Danny shifted uncomfortably, instantly regretting his lack of foresight in not bringing a spare shirt. By now the wound was already half healed. The fact that it was energy based meant that it took longer to heal than a normal flesh wound, but he would recover a lot faster than Victor could. Still, it was a valid excuse to get Lana out of the way.
"It's no problem." Danny said, mimicking pain as he shifted on the couch. He allowed himself a flinch which made Lana's eyes round in sympathy.
"I'll go get you some ibuprofen." Lana said, moving away from the couch and into the bathroom, probably looking for the medicine cabinet.
"Does it really hurt?" Victor asked, looking concernedly at him. Danny could tell he was already blaming himself for Danny getting hurt.
"No, it would have hurt me more if I hadn't taken the shot. It's a ghost thing." Danny answered softly, hyper aware of Lana's continued rummaging. "I wanted to try something without Lana in the room." Danny put his hand over the wound, ignoring the torn prosthetic flesh. Danny was not the master of technology, but his experience when Technus had taken over a computer game had taught him a bit. Danny knew he could interface with technology to a point. The issue would be seeing how much he could help Victor.
Danny opened his consciousness to the electrical stream that was flowing through Victor's body. Taking the plunge he duplicated and overshadowed the technological part of Victor, mentally communicating with the man. Danny could now see how the system worked, each intricate connection and the fine way the doctors had integrated the neurons in Victor's brain and the artificial processing unit together. Given time he could probably copy down the blueprints to help Victor again in the future, but that wasn't the aim now. Danny set his mind to the oozing wound. He could bridge it closed with electrically enhanced ectoplasm, but that wouldn't be a permanent fix and would dispel the instant Danny lost concentration on it. But it was better than nothing.
"Danny. Danny, wake up." Lana said, nudging the duplicate's shoulder. Danny's attention snapped, invisibly merging with his duplicate as he blinked his eyes open. Lana didn't seem to have noticed the subterfuge, and the ectoplasmic bridge was in place keeping any more of the ooze from leaking out. Danny would need to figure out some way to keep Victor safe from Technus, some of the processes that he had the potential for would be devastating in the mad Technology Ghost's hands.
Victor grunted in pain, the wound may have been closed off for now, but he had lost a lot of vital fluid. He did take the time to send Danny a confused yet grateful glance. Danny settled down into the couch, musing over what he'd learned in his brief time in the mechanics of Victor's physiology. Once this was all sorted he needed to sit down and talk with Victor, but the important thing for now was somehow repairing the damage without handing Victor over to those men.
Danny frowned, this was going to be challenging.
Line Break
Clark raced through Metropolis to the suburban outskirts in search of Dr Hong's home. Talking with Chloe had given him a lot of information, and most of it was very troubling. It turned out that Dr Allister Krieg, the spearhead for the Machina project had a long history of ethically challenged research. He had been fired from both Stanford and MIT, and seemed to have turned to philanthropists for funding. With Lex's obsession with scientific advancement Chloe suggested that he may just be a target. Clark wasn't ready to concede that, after what he'd seen Lex do to AC he wouldn't doubt anything of the billionaire.
He raced up to the door of the doctor's house. While it was late this was an emergency, Victor's life was at stake. However there was no sign of movement behind the closed door of the suburban house. Clark frowned, there was a strange noise coming from the garage, sort of like the soft hissing of air out of a broken airbed. He raced into the garage and was shocked by what he saw. A man who Clark could only presume was Dr Hong sat in the car as a long pipe slowly filled the car with noxious fumes. He tossed the pipe out of the way, feeling the man's neck for a pulse.
"Is he dead?" Lex's voice cut the eerie silence and Clark once more found himself fighting the urge to sock the man in the face.
"I think you already know that answer, Lex." Clark retorted, abandoning the long dead form of Dr Hong and pressing out past Lex. He was furious; Victor's only hope had just gone up in flames.
"Clark do you really think that I actually had something to do with this?" Lex implored, but Clark was beyond livid.
"Why else would you be here, Lex? Last time we talked you acted as if you hadn't even heard of Cyntechnics." Clark spat coldly still walking away.
"I hadn't, but after you waved the red flag, I looked into it." Lex said.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Clark retorted whirling around to face the billionaire.
"Believe what you want." Lex retorted before taking a deep breath and seeming to calm down. "Dr Hong was about to blow the whistle on the operation, and either he couldn't live with it or the man in charge wouldn't let him.
"You're talking about Allister Krieg?" Clark inquired.
Lex looked mildly impressed, with an undertone of fear. "You've done your homework. Look, Krieg's gone completely rogue. A project that started out as an effort to allow amputees to live a normal life has turned into one man's quest to create a living machine." It was a longwinded speech, and to Clark almost sounded rehearsed. Lex continued on to implore "Clark, if you know where Victor is, you need to tell me before Krieg finds him first."
Clark frowned, "He's sick. He's been shot. He said if he doesn't get repaired he may die."
"Then bring him to me." Clark ordered "I have the technology. I can help Victor without involving Krieg." Clark's frown deepened, memories of AC strapped to a lab table bubbled to the surface.
"I've seen the way you kelp people." Clark spat, rejecting the suggestion. Danny was there as a backup, and with the two of them they could come up with some solution.
"Look," Lex beseeched "I know you have your issues with me. I know you're angry. But do you really want to let our differences get in the way of saving Victor's life?" Clark shook his head dismissively. It was a hard decision, but Clark was no longer prepared to put the lives of the people he cared about in the hands of Lex Luthor. He walked away, leaving the billionaire alone in the cold night air.
He called Lana, knowing that Victor deserved to hear the bad news. Clark promised himself that as soon as he got back to the Talon he was going to work with his cousin to come up with a decision. The first ghost Clark had ever met – Skulker – had been almost entirely mechanised, so obviously there was some ghostly alternative to cybernetics that hopefully could save Victor.
Unfortunately when he got to the Talon Victor was gone, as was Danny. Apparently Victor had decided to go find Katherine one last time before he died and Lana hadn't been able to keep him there. Danny had followed Victor, much to Lana's displeasure since he was still wounded. With those men after Victor Clark didn't stick around, by now Victor was probably back in that lab.
Line Break
"Katherine!" Victor exclaimed as he fumbled through the door to his girlfriend's house. "Katherine!" he shouted, tripping over a small hallway table and shattering a vase. Danny was no longer beside him, he'd been distracted by a green blast six blocks ago. But Victor hadn't stopped to wait, he had to see his girl. There was so little time left.
"Hello Victor" A voice cut into the darkness sending shivers down his spine. It was Dr Krieg.
"Where's Katherine?" Victor demanded, his anger rising at the man who had so thoroughly destroyed his life.
"She's safe." Krieg said, turning to face him from his position at the large dining table. "And she'll stay that way as long as you cooperate." The threat hung in the air, ready to sever the only thing he had left. Victor fumed, anger pooling to the surface.
"If you so much as touch her," Victor threatened, his fists tightening despite his current damage level. "I swear to God..."
"I'm a Doctor Victor." Krieg stated "My goal is to help people, not to hurt them." His tone bespoke of how disassociated he was from the world. Help my sorry ass. Victor thought to himself. This man had done him so much damage and he was now genuinely fearful for Katherine.
"Don't play with me, doc. I wanna see her." Victor demanded.
"You will. But first you'll return to the lab. With these gentlemen." Krieg instructed. And that was it, he had no choice if he ever wanted to see Katherine safe again. He let himself be led away, but not before looking into the doctor's cold eyes.
"Hope you win your Nobel Prize." Victor spat, the black suited men guiding him outside. There was a sharp stab in his neck, and his systems went offline.
Victor blinked at the white lights, he had no idea how much time had passed; all he knew was that he was back in that damnable lab. His wrists were bound so tightly that even his enhanced muscles couldn't be freed from them. His head was held in place by a tall brace, obstructing his vision. His eyes fixed on the white coated Dr Krieg standing over him.
"Where's Katherine?" he demanded, noting the doctor's emotionless gaze.
"Back at home." Krieg replied, leaning over him. "But don't worry; we've called off the dogs. You'll be happy to know that we've replaced the tubing, re-calibrated a few of the servo-mechanisms. Your arm is even better than before." He sounded so proud, as if Victor was some prized possession that he had invested in.
"Can't wait to use it to smash your skull in." Victor spitefully spat. There was a slight cough from behind and the good doctor backed off, allowing a darkly clothed Lex Luthor space to step forward.
"How're you feeling?" He asked as victor struggled against his bonds. "Victor, I'm glad we managed to get to you in time to save you." His condescending tone made what was left of Victor's blood boil.
"You got some kind of God complex or something? I didn't ask to be saved." Victor spat.
Lex smiled condescendingly, as if he were explaining things to a child. "Look all I'm doing is giving you a future, a chance for a normal life."
"Normal?" Victor deadpanned. "Half of my body is straight out of the Sharper Image catalogue."
Lex's gaze turned cold. "At a price a lit steeper than six million Dollars. The last thing I want to do is cause you more pain."
"Then why not just take back all your fancy gadgetry? You can roll my sorry stump out of here in a wheelbarrow for all I care." Victor retorted angrily. He hated what they'd done to him, and here he was looking at the man in charge.
"You'd die without this gadgetry." Lex stated, but his voice became sadistically light. "But I'm as eager for your freedom as you are. You just need to be patient."
Victor looked over to the work station where Krieg was lifting up a small computer chip. "What's that?" he demanded, shifting away fearfully in his bonds.
"It's gonna make life easier for you." Lex answered with a slight, patronising smile.
"What are you doing to me?" Victor implored, his previous anger melting into pure terror.
"I'm helping you to be whole again." Lex replied, looking condescendingly down at Victor's still struggling form "Anger, despair, loneliness. Such strong emotions can create a rift between brain and bionics. This chip will take the edge off when necessary."
Victor's eyes widened. " You're trying to turn me into a drone, that's what you're trying to do. A robot." He thrashed against the bonds to no avail.
"Easy there." Lex soothed "You've read too much science fiction. Pacemakers, synthetic tissues, artificial hearts. The merging of man and machine is nothing new." Lex turned to the doctor who was walking menacingly towards Victor's lab table "I'll get out of your way. Keep me updated."
The doctor smiled maliciously "I'll prep him for the implant." Victor helplessly watched as Lex nodded before stalking out of the room, leaving Victor and the sadistic doctor alone. The doctor picked up a big dentist's drill, and Victor gulped.
"Just relax Victor. This won't take long." The doctor stated calmly, as if he wasn't holding a spinning drill threateningly close to Victor's skull.
"You want me to relax, put away the drill." Victor retorted, trying to escape the mounting terror.
"When we're done, I promise you, you'll feel like a new man." The doctor said and Victor could feel the whirl of air as the drill came ever closer to his head. He closed his eyes, desperately wishing to escape this nightmare.
Suddenly there was a loud thud, Victor peeked his eyes open to see all four lab technicians flying to the ground, falling unconscious where they landed.
"Nice tackle." Victor commented as a red jacketed Clark Kent came into view. Clark smiled as he quickly destroyed Victor's bonds, effectively freeing Victor. There was a blaring alarm as Victor left the table, but he didn't care. It was only too happily that he followed Clark out of the lab. Curiosity mounting as he trailed the taller man up the stairs t the rooftop.
"How'd you do that Kent?" Victor demanded with the image of the guards flying and Clark's almost instantaneous appearance.
"I can do a lot of things." Clark replied dismissively as the two of them came to the rooftop. Victor looked at Clark's confidant smile, and sent one back. With an unspoken word the two of them leapt off the building, leaving two large holes in the cement as they came in for a landing.
"Need a lift?" Phantom's echoing voice pierced the air, and a Phantom faded into visibility before them. His princely costume looked a ruffled and his eyes, while jocular were weary.
"Left it a bit late there, didn't you?" Clark lightly shot back. Phantom just shook his head, white hair shifting in the breeze. Without another moment's hesitation he'd grabbed both Victor and Clark by the arm and suddenly they were back in the barn loft. Victor blinked, trying to regain his bearings.
"Ooh." Phantom moaned, a bright ring appearing around his middle as he shifted back to human. "Note to self, don't teleport with Clark while maintaining a duplicate." Victor watched as the kid slumped down into the couch, rubbing his head.
"Am I the only one missing something here?" Victor asked. It had only been ten minutes since he escaped from the lab, and suddenly everything had changed.
"You're free, and that's what matters." Clark said, sending Victor a comforting smile. Victor allowed himself a smile of his own. He was free, they hadn't put that chip in him and he was fully repaired. A systems scan told him that everything was operating fully, and he positively grinned when Clark offered to go get them all something to eat.
Line Break
Clark sighed as he sat down on the sofa. Victor was sitting on the chair by the desk and Danny was floating off to the side, still rubbing his temples with a headache. Apparently teleporting with a Kryptonian was harder for him, something which he said he'd explain another day.
"What actually happened in there?" Danny asked softly breaking the silence.
"They fixed my arm. Doctor said it should be better than ever now." Victor said, almost ruefully. "They wanted to... install something else. Clark stopped them just in time."
"What did they want to add?" Clark asked and Victor trembled.
"New chip. They said that strong emotions can cause a 'rift between brain and bionics'." Victor scoffed ruefully. "All Lex wanted to do was get rid of my emotions completely, turn me into some drone." Clark frowned, but was startled when he saw Danny freeze in the air, his eyes shifting to a fearful green. Victor hadn't seemed to notice.
"How can anyone be like that? Act as if he owns someone." Clark focused back on Victor who was still ranting angrily. Clark let him, figuring that he needed to talk with Danny alone later.
"Lex was there?" Clark asked, unfortunately this only served to confirm his suspicions. Lex really had been in on this.
"All high and mighty with an 'I own you' smirk? Yeah, he was there. Probably would've done it himself if Krieg wasn't there."
Clark frowned. This just confirmed that Lex had outright lied to his face. Lex had been in the project, working alongside the monster that did this to Victor. Sure he could probably live with the changes, but nothing would change the fact that he was now half-machine without his consent. Victor and Clark helped themselves to a few sandwiches, neither noticed exactly when Danny left, only that he had.
By now it was midday, and Clark called Chloe to see if she would email over the information she had found on the Machina Project for him. He wanted to take this up with Lex, and knew that he needed to have legitimate information to show him. He was glad that Danny wasn't around; it was a cruel realisation to see that Lex was beyond hope. Clark just hoped that Danny had seen the light and would give up on the man before he became any more of a monster.
For the second time in two days Clark found himself storming through the Luthor mansion to find the owner of the house. He stormed through to the office, slamming the doors open and striding right up to the young billionaire at his desk.
"Clark." Lex said with a hint of condescension. "Gonna try some small talk this time? Like how Victor Stone miraculously escaped from the lab?" Clark slammed a manila file on Lex's desk, meeting the man with a cold glare. "I guess not." Lex commented picking up the file.
"That's everything Chloe and I could find on the Machina Project." Clark said. It was interesting to note that while the project was designed as a form of high tech prosthetics there was nothing about doing anything as horrendously extensive as what they had done to Victor.
Lex surveyed the information giving nothing away. Eventually he set the file down, his face a careful mask as he met Clark's eyes. "Well, there's nothing here about Krieg's renegade experiment that I haven't already uncovered. I have no desire to harass Victor Stone."
"He's suffered because of you." Clark retorted angrily.
"Clark, I..." Lex began, only for Clark to cut him off.
"Lex, you were there in the lab. He told me, when they were trying to put that chip in his head." Clark reprimanded. Lex looked away.
"I was there." He answered slowly "To stop Krieg." Clark raised an eyebrow, not believing him for a minute.
"That's not what Victor said." Clark scoffed, glaring at the billionaire.
"Victor was under heavy anaesthesia. He must have misconstrued my intentions." Lex said. He always had an answer for everything.
Clark scoffed. "Seems to happen a lot to you. Doesn't it?" he murmured darkly.
"You think he would have been better off if he'd died along with his family?" Lex implored.
Clark shook his head in disappointment. "You always think the ends justify the means. Don't you Lex?" Clark asked. It was a hard choice, but nobody should get to play god on another man's life. If Victor had wanted to be turned into a half-mechanised man he could have asked, but instead that choice, his own life had been taken out of his hands. It wasn't Clark's place to say who should live and who should die, but he was a strong believer in choice and free will. It was disgusting that Lex had tried to take that from Victor.
It was a full minute before Lex answered. "What I think is that some miracles have a price." He said slowly, as if tasting each word. "But that doesn't make them any less profound." Lex took a deep breath, finally meeting Clark's eyes. "Tell Victor that I hope we can move past what happened. Assure him that LuthorCorp has. You can let yourself out."
Clark watched Lex's retreating back as the billionaire left his office. This was a small victory, but at the same time it was worthwhile. He'd just bought Victor his freedom.
Line Break
Danny smiled as he watched Victor; he was testing his arm out, seeing how each of the connections was working. It was amazing to watch as each of the mechanical tendons strained, his wrist rotating in a perfectly human circle. Clark had gone to visit Lex, and Danny had finally recovered enough mentally to return to the barn. Hearing Victor say what that inhibitor chip did had reminded him of the lead up to his evil alternate future self's creation. After hearing that he had cleared out, retreating into the clouds to calm himself down.
To top everything off Lex had been behind it all. Danny didn't know what to do about that. He liked being friends with Lex to a point, but he always had to be guarded around him. From the selfsame alternate timeline he had learned to always give second chances, even Vlad had turned out alright in the end. But something like this shook Danny's conviction, making him doubt his friendship with the man. But at the same time... Danny knew that he wasn't beyond redemption and after everything that had happened between Clark and Lex, Danny was all the more certain that he just needed someone to extend the hand of friendship.
Danny had been up in the clouds for the best part of an hour, drifting along with the wind. But now he had come back and was enjoying watching the dark man experiment with his new body. Victor was testing his arm, rotating it in every direction and watching how each of the joints worked. It was an amazing piece of technology; its movement was so fluid it could fool the unknowing eye into believing it was fully organic.
"Hey Cyborg." Danny interrupted him. Victor jumped slightly, sending a scowl in his direction.
"Cyborg?" Victor questioned, crinkling his eyebrows as he tasted the name. Danny thought it was apt, and it could help Victor make the transition quicker. After all it had helped him slightly. He'd been more accepting of his situation after he'd taken on a name for his other half.
"Figured it suited you." Danny shrugged. "Take it, embrace it, and make it yours. Why do you think I go around calling myself 'Phantom'?"
Victor smiled at him. "Cyborg... maybe you've got the right idea. Phantom." Danny beamed back.
"Yep, Hybrids United, that's us." Danny joked, happy to have someone like Victor to talk to. Victor sent him a small smile back. Danny knew that there was still a lot that Victor needed to deal with, but he was determined to help him in every way he could. Starting with one small present. He'd been working on it all night, it had required him completely filleting two USB flash-drives, but the end product was worth it.
"Here." Danny said, handing the small computer chip over.
"What's this?" Victor asked, carefully eyeing the device warily. Danny didn't blame him at all.
"That is an ecto-inhibiting program, so to speak. See there's a couple of ghosts out there that aren't as nice as me, and this will give you some protection against them." Danny explained. Victor cocked an eye.
"Okay, and how am I even gonna use it?" Victor doubtfully asked.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll work it out" Danny said cryptically, issuing the man a silent challenge. From his brief experience of Victor's mechanical half, as well as the data that his duplicate peeked at while in the lab Danny knew that Victor had the as yet untapped ability to interface with computers. The chip was a downloadable program which he could upload and would then give Victor permanent protection from any malicious ghost. Danny used the same program on his computer; Tucker had invented it so that Danny was the only ghost that could interface with any of his technology. Unfortunately Danny didn't speak binary code, so didn't know which commands were for or against him. He'd just recreated Tucker's design.
"Is everything working alright?" Clark asked as he walked into the barn. Victor looked over at Danny before answering.
"I feel like a billion dollars... which probably isn't too far off." There was a brief pause. "You really think that Luthor's just gonna let that much money walk off into the sunset?"
"I didn't really give him a choice." Clark shrugged with a smile dancing in his blue eyes.
"I'd say 'thank you', both of you, but the words just seem too small."
"And completely unnecessary." Clark answered and Danny was quick to agree. Victor laughed lightly, shaking his head.
"Your mom's raised you modest, didn't they?" Victor turned to look Clark seriously in the eye. "You're a hero Kent. I'm not gonna forget how much I owe you."
"Help someone else out when they're in need. We'll call it even." Clark returned warmly, clapping Victor on the shoulder.
"And you Danny, There just aren't the right words. Thanks, for everything."
"No problem, Cyborg." Danny said smiling. He held out his fist and the two exchanged a brotherly fist-bump. But there was one more surprise in store for Victor. Danny gestured over behind Victor, towards the large opening of the barn. There were two young women standing there, one was Lana, a gentle smile playing on her lips, but the second was unfamiliar but for a photograph Danny had only seen once. She wore a red jumper and her dark hair fell in soft ringlets over her shoulders. There was a soft blush on her cheeks and her dark brown eyes glittered in the afternoon sunlight. There, standing next to Lana was the caramel skinned woman from Victor's photograph.
"Katherine?" Victor asked as if he didn't believe what he was seeing, but it was only a moment before his confusion melted into a broad grin. He ran to the woman, picking her up with a happy sigh and spinning her in the air. The image brought a smile to Danny's face as the two were united. They were very much in love, and while they didn't have that vital spark this reunion proved that there could be love without it.
Victor lightly set Katherine down, but pulled her more deeply into a loving hug. Katherine's eyes creased in concern as she felt his back and Danny watched as she eventually pulled back. "Victor? What happened? What did those men do to you?"
Victor looked up, his eyes darting between Clark and Danny before returning to the brown eyes of the young woman in his arms. "It's a long story." Victor answered.
"We got time." Katherine comforted, meeting Victor firmly in the eyes and sending him a loving smile. Hand in hand they walked out of the barn, reunited at last after seven months apart.
Danny chose to ignore the unspoken conversation between Clark and Lana. Today was about the reunion of Victor and his girlfriend and Danny allowed himself a smile. Here was a human who was going to press on with life despite the change that had been imposed on him; someone who was looking for the positives in his situation instead of blaming his problems on someone else. Danny was glad to have found another hybrid that he could empathise with, a person Danny could have a completely honest friendship with.
For the first time in months Danny smiled a completely honest smile. Maybe he didn't have to be completely alone in the human world after all.
AN: Yay, Cyborg's here. Although I think I may have superimposed too much of the Teen Titans version onto him. At this point he's still more into sports than he is into technology, and he still has a lot to learn about his new skill set, and a lot that has yet to be added to it. He's like Danny in Mystery Meat with the benefit of actually knowing how his physiology works. (So he has fewer accidents with his powers than Danny)
In the Smallville canon he vanishes until next season, but I reckon Danny changes things a little. :P
Anyway, I am glad to have this one out of the way. I couldn't get it to work for the longest time.
P.S. I ran out of words to write an Ember scene, and it wasn't important to this particular plot. She is coming back soon, but not immediately. I want to put her to good use, not chuck her into the story because I can. Sorry.
Adieu,
Bluerose