A/N: I'm back at last everyone. I won't waste your time with this Author's Note. Enjoy!
"What do you mean we just lost power! ? Hospitals don't just lose power for no reason!" Chloe frantically yells.
"I don't know! I'm just a nurse!" The nurse screams back just as frantic.
"Don't you have any back up power in this place! ?" Tess shouts.
"Y-yes. It s-should've come on, but it h-hasn't!" The nurse nervously stutters.
Clark swallows thickly. If they can't get the power back on then the patients can't be monitored or worse...
Clark starts walking out of Lana's hospital room without thinking.
"Where are you going Clark?" Tess asks.
"I have to do something," he answers.
"I knew you'd say that, but what can you do? The staff is probably already working on getting the power back up and running," Tess says trying to sound hopeful without much luck.
Clark does a quick X-ray of the building down to the basement level; he spots two members of the staff rushing inside what he guessed was the generator room when a familiar being grabs and restrains one of them.
Rudy, Clark thinks worriedly. Rudy shoves the man aside and then drains the second staff member.
"How's Lana?" Clark asks. Tess walks over to Lana and looks over her.
"She seems to still have a pulse...Clark?...damn it," Tess curses when she doesn't seem him there. "Why does he always have to go and be the hero?"
"Because nobody else will," Chloe sighs. "You guys go and try to find him. I'll watch over Lana," Chloe offers.
Clark super speeds into the basement and comes to a stop in front one of the staff members he saw with his x-ray vision. Clark bends down and checks for a pulse. Clark breathes a sigh of relief when he feels one.
He then stands back up and starts to do an x-ray of the basement.
Where are you Rudy? He thinks to himself when suddenly something slams into Clark and pins him up against the wall.
"Howdy Kent!" Rudy greets Clark and tries to grab his face. Clark quickly snatches his wrists before he can get a hand on him.
"Rudy. You need to turn the power back on! Innocent people could die," Clark says struggling to keep Rudy from him.
"Oh, I'll gladly restore power once you decide to cooperate," Rudy reveals.
Clark instead head butts Rudy as hard as he can and sends him across the basement. Clark looks for the main power switch, spots it, and runs for it. However, Rudy beats Clark to the switch and grabs his arm. He drains Clark and backhands him to the other end of the basement. Clark crashes into the wall and nearly makes a hole in it.
"Oh I never get tired of that," Rudy laughs. Clark stands to his feet. He and Rudy begin to circle one another.
"You know, I've heard quite a bit about the abilities of the meteor infected, but you...you're in a class all by yourself. I should've known something was up since the day of the mini-earthquake during Homecoming. That was you wasn't it?"
Clark doesn't respond to Rudy. He feels feint. He'd barely started to heal from being drowned, but he's practically right back where he started now.
"I thought I heard you that night, but I was a tad preoccupied by this strange object I found," Rudy continues.
"Strange object...the disk," Clark whispers to himself.
"What did you say, Kent?" Rudy asks. Clark takes a deep breathe and sprints at Rudy. He collides with him and they crash into the wall; Clark holding Rudy up by his shirt collar.
"The object. Where is it?" Clark asks.
"Like I'm gonna tell you," Rudy says defiantly and makes a grab for Clark.
Clark lets go of Rudy, ducks under Rudy's arms, and punches him in the left side of his waist knocking him across the floor. Clark runs for the switch again, but Rudy is suddenly on him sending them both sliding across the floor. Rudy drags Clark up to his feet and pushes them both towards the wall. This time they crash straight through it into another section of the basement.
They fall once more and Rudy punches Clark in the center of his face twice. Clark kicks Rudy off of him and gets back to his feet, but Rudy grabs his face. Clark struggles to pull his hands off and Rudy's laughs gleefully at the power he feels when suddenly images start to fill his mind.
Rudy sees a strange interior. It looks like a ship. An image appears on one of the walls. It looks like a red sun. The images change to that of an S. An S that slowly starts to change into another shape.
Clark grits he teeth and wrenches Rudy's hands off him before he can see anything else. Clark punches Rudy in the face, but he only stumbles and chuckles.
"Wow that sort of stung. Looks like you're almost out of juice." He rushes Clark, who dives out of the way and speeds off.
"Hiding won't save you Kent. Just accept that there isn't anything that can slow me down now."
Slow down. That's it! Clark thinks just as he felt someone tap his shoulder. Clark turns and Rudy's fist connects with his face. Clark doesn't even feel himself hit the floor.
"Alright Kent, let's just see what other secrets you have locked up in your head," Rudy says and places his hand on Clark's forehead.
"Clark!" Tess' voices breaks Rudy's concentration and he releases Clark before he can start to absorb more memories. He speeds off as Tess comes into view.
"Oh my God, Clark!" Tess shouts and runs over to his side. She holds his bloody face and then shakes him. "Clark?" He doesn't move and Tess shakes him again.
"Tess? What are you doing here?" Clark asks.
"Rescuing you, apparently," she says while helping Clark up.
"How did you know where I was?" He asks.
"Not that hard to figure out," she answers trying to get him to the exit.
Rudy watches them both in the cover of the dark and smiles.
"Well hello Project Mercer." He dashes at them and shoves Clark away from Tess and out of sight. Tess tries to punch Rudy, but he stops her and holds her up against a wall.
"You know, I was hired to only go after Kent, but I'm sure my employer would love to know the secrets you hold as well," Rudy boasts and goes for Tess' head. She punches Rudy in the face and he drops her, allowing her to drop kick him.
"Clark!? Clark where are you!?" She calls out but can't see him. Rudy stands back up and restrains Tess.
"Kent!? Kent, I know you're here. You'd never leave an innocent person behind!" There's no response to Rudy's claim.
"I'm taking her with me Kent! You want her then come and get her!" Tess tries to break away and Rudy absorbs some of her strength to keep her in his grasp. He pulls her to the main power switch and turns it back on.
"What are you doing?" Tess asks; dizzy from Rudy's power drain.
"All I wanted was Kent's attention," he answers while forcing Tess up the stairs. "Not interested in killing anybody." Tess struggles again and Rudy drains her further until she passes out.
Jimmy runs down another hallway and almost runs into Pete as he comes up another.
"You haven't found him?" Pete asks.
"No. Where do you think C.K. could be?" Jimmy asks as they walk down another hall.
"I don't know. I've been to every non-restricted section of the hospital I could find," he answers. They try another hall, but Jimmy stops.
"What is it?" Pete asks.
"Look," Jimmy says and points into a hospital room. One of the staff members is knocked out.
"When we got here and were walking to Lana's room, I thought I saw Whitney in here," Jimmy explains.
"You think Rudy-," Pete's question is interrupted by the sound of a door being knocked off its hinges and someone screaming.
The two of them sprint toward the noise when gun shots go off. The two of them round a corner and spot Rudy throw an unconscious doctor at a security guard knocking the man out. They rush him from behind, but Rudy turns around, takes the boys by the neck, and shoves them a good few feet away from him.
Clark speeds into the Smallville High pool area and comes to an exhausted stop.
Come on, Clark. Keep it together, he thinks then sinks to his knees.
This has to work. He lifts up his head and spots something glowing a short distance from him.
Rudy shoves Tess into Lana's hospital room. Chloe instinctively runs in front of Lana's bed with her arms outstretched.
"Don't insult me, Sullivan," Rudy chastises then turns around and seizes a guard trying to sneak up on him by the neck.
He chucks him to the other end of the hallway, then feels bullets bouncing off his back. An annoyed Rudy walks up to the guard and taps his forehead knocking him out.
Jimmy suddenly jumps onto his back, but Rudy wrenches him off and throws him down the hall before turning and hitting Pete in his wrist as he tries to hit him. Rudy laughs and shoves Pete into the wall taking him out.
Wonder what's taking Kent so long, Rudy thinks then looks back into Lana's room. Chloe hasn't budged an inch.
Why not, Rudy thinks, enters Lana's room, and grabs Chloe.
A light, brighter than the one Rudy's emits when absorbing energy, emits from Chloe. Rudy's eyes widen in surprise and he shoves Chloe away from him into the side of Lana's bed. Chloe feels exhausted and sinks to the floor. She looks at her hands and shutters at how half of the color appears drained from them.
Likewise Rudy also appears somewhat drained, but this only lasts a few seconds. Chloe stands up as does he and refuses to move from in front of Lana.
"Rudy." Rudy stops and smiles for what feels like the twentieth time that night.
"Was wondering if you'd ever come back, Kent. Fair amount of damage has been done in your absence though," Rudy says as he faces a heavily panting Clark.
"I'm giving you one last chance to walk away," Clark says; hands behind his back opening a familiar lead box.
"Not happening." Rudy lunges at Clark and he pulls Lana's necklace from the box. He throws a punch with the necklace in his fist and Rudy's catches the punch. He immediately goes weak and Clark pushes him up against a wall.
"What have you done?" Rudy groans in pain. Clark quickly ties the necklace around Rudy's neck then lets him fall to the floor; Clark stumbling back to a safe distance.
"What on Earth is this?" Rudy asks as he tries and fails to stand then he stares at Clark. "Then again, this isn't from Earth isn't it." He then makes a grab for the necklace.
"Rudy, don't!" Clark warns, but Rudy's hand grasps the necklace to absorb its energy and a violent green glow emits from it.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rudy yells as green burst of energy blasts from the necklace engulfing the entire hall.
Chloe throws herself over Lana as the glow overtakes them; disappearing as fast as it showed up. In the aftermath of the blast, Rudy lies on the floor with his eyes wide open; hand still clutched over Lana's necklace. Clark lies unmoving as well; arms spread out and eyes wide open along with the rest of the hall. Chloe lies limp over Lana's body; color drained from every inch of her skin. A shadow looms over the two girls as Lana's eyes start to stir and slowly open to a green blurry image of Whitney standing over her.
"Whitney?" Her vision starts to shift back to a normal color as he reaches down and strokes her face when Chloe suddenly gasps as the color comes back to her body and and she starts to stand.
Whitney backs off and rushes out the door bumping into Rudy's body by accident. He looks down at Rudy and spots the glow from Lana's necklace in his hand. He starts to reach down for it, but hears the hospital staff not caught in the blast starting to make their way into the hall. He leaves without the necklace.
Back in Lana's room, the world stops spinning for Chloe and the awoken Lana is the first thing to come back into focus.
Did...did I heal her? Chloe wonders.
"Chl-Chloe?" A weary Lana asks.
"Help! I need some help in here!" Chloe yells racing into the hallway.