"I don't understand," Davis said, confused. "What do the other colors of Kryptonite do? Isn't Doomsday already bad enough?"
Clark hesitated for a moment, then replied. "The meteor rocks all have different effects, but if Lex tries to use the Red-K on Doomsday...that could be disastrous."
"Why? What does the Red-K do?" Davis asked, curious.
Clark was clearly uncomfortable, but replied, haltingly. "It is kind of...unpredictable. But basically, it removes inhibitions. It can also bring out a...um...violent and dangerous side."
Davis went cold. Doomsday was already a terrible killing machine, but the monster did have a guiding purpose - to seek out and destroy Clark. The lives it took, and damage it caused achieving that purpose, were simply collateral damage...at least until it fulfilled its mission. But to have Doomsday without even that single guidance...the causalities would be astronomical.
Then a thought struck Davis. "But what about the other kinds of Kryptonite? Could they be used to weaken the monster?" he asked.
Clark hesitated again before answering. "Maybe..."
"He does have a point, Clark," Chloe said from farther into the lab. She was carefully looking over a collection of colorful meteorites. "We can't let Lex use these meteorites against Superman, but they could be powerful weapons if we used them against Doomsday." She paused, looking back up at her companions. "As long as we can do so without Lex's knowledge."
"So which ones should we take?" Davis asked, reaching towards a gold-colored rock.
"No, Davis! Don't!" Clark cried.
Davis pulled his hand back sharply at the warning. The question forming on his lips suddenly drowned out by the sound of sirens as strobing red lights flashed on throughout the room.
"We must have triggered some sort of alarm!" Chloe said, looking around. "We have to destroy this place and get out of here!"
Clark turned to her. "I'm useless in here, but I can go on ahead and look for another way out. You and Davis destroy everything here." Then he zoomed away in a whoosh of air to scout ahead.
Chloe started searching around the lab. "If I know Lex, he will have some way set up to quickly sanitize this area. Look for anything labeled 'EMERGENCY' or the like."
Davis started searching as well, but he didn't find anything like Chloe described. He did find a number of briefcase style cases that had been used to transport the meteors. Glancing over a a lab table he saw several trays laid out with colorful meteor rock samples. He started to get an idea.
Chloe did say that it was possible these rocks could be used against Doomsday. But which ones? Red would just makes things worse. Doomsday and I are already immune to the Green. So maybe the Blue or Gold might be useful against the monster...?
With that though in mind, Davis picked up one tray that held a large piece of the Gold-K and two smaller pieces of the Blue-K. He carefully spilled the rocks into the case, being careful not to touch them. He slammed the lid shut on the case, just as Chloe called out.
"Davis! I found it! Come help me open this valve!"
Case in hand, Davis rushed to the other side of the room to find Chloe standing in front of a large valve. "This is for some sort of sprinkler system My guess is it contains lead particles to neutralize the kryptonite." She gestured at the valve. "But it's stuck. Care to do the honors?"
Carefully putting down the case, Davis put his well-used muscles to the task without pulling down any extra strength. After a moment's resistance, the valve twisted in his grip, opening up the sprinkler system and showering the room in heavy, dirty water.
He and Chloe watched as the water came into contact with the samples of kryptonite - both rock and refined on the lab tables. The samples began to sizzle and steam before each color dimmed, turning grey and inert.
Chloe took a precious moment to smile at Davis in victory. Even soaked to the skin with dirty, greyish water dripping through her hair and down her face, Davis thought Chloe's smile was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in years.
From across the room, they heard Clark's voice call out. "Hurry! This way!"
Davis picked up the case, and both he and Chloe shot across the room to meet up with Clark. He had pulled open a set of reinforced doors that were trying very hard to close, but Superman was holding them open just wide enough for the others to slide by. Once clear, Clark stepped away and let the heavy metal doors slam shut behind them with an ominous boom.
Chloe pushed wet dirty hair away from her face, looking around the newly revealed section of the old geothermal plant.
Davis stepped up beside her, also looking around. His brow crinkled. "This area looks a lot like the storage area where I fought Doomsday before. When I distracted it away from Clark. But this section is still mostly intact."
Chloe nodded. "There were two storage areas, one East and one West. You were in the West section before."
He looked down at her. "So that means this area should connect to -"
"The Core room. Yes." She finished for him.
Clark's voice cut in. "Davis? What is that case you are holding?"
"Oh this?" Davis asked nonchalantly holding up the case. "This is just a few samples of that technicolor meteor rock back there. Thought it might help."
Clark's face suffused with anger. "Do you have any idea how dangerous -!"
At that point, Davis' temper snapped. "No, actually, I don't. Care to enlighten me? Or have you forgotten I am Kryptonian too and maybe I should also know about things that could kill me?"
Clark's eyes cooled slightly. "No, I haven't forgotten. But I've learned the hard way that not everyone - not even from Krypton - has the best interests of Earth at heart. That is why I'm here. To guard this world and its people - even if it's against other Kryptonians."
Davis' own anger quickly melted away in the face of Clark's reasoning. Even in the rain forest, Davis had heard about the sightings of others he was convinced were also aliens - dangerous aliens. "I'm not here to destroy, Clark. No matter what you or anyone else may believe, I came here to help."
Davis and Clark stood toe to toe for another moment, testing the resolve of the other. After a long moment, they came to silent agreement and backed away from each other.
"The Blue-K -" Clark started to say, but was cut off by Chloe.
"What others, Davis?"
"What?" Davis asked in confusion.
Her brow was furrowed. "You said 'no matter what you or anyone else may believe'. Who else doesn't think you are here to help?"
Davis didn't get to finish his answer because they were all knocked off their feet as the ground began to shake.
"The security measures going off must have destabilized this section as well. We need to get out of here ASAP!" Chloe cried, trying to stand up again.
"No." Davis replied, his eyes going wide. "It's not the plant. It's Doomsday." He caught Chloe's frightened gaze. "But you are right we have to get out of here now. It's trying to break free again and with Clark and I both here, it might just succeed!"
"This way!" Clark called, leaping into the air and leading the way forward, deeper into the old plant.
Chloe and Davis sprinted behind, easily keeping the brilliant blue-and-red of Clark's Superman costume in view. Davis suppressed his body's desire to channel from that teasingly desirable power that hovered just on the edge of his senses. If he did that, Doomsday would instantly know they were coming its way. Davis didn't have enough faith in the remaining solidity of the old plant to believe that if the creature became frenzied enough, it wouldn't either bring the building's fragile supports down on their heads or escape from the core and attack them all.
A crackling, static noise started to come over their headsets. "Super...Watch...the plant...Hello? Anyone?"
"Victor? Is that you?" Chloe cried into her headset.
"Chloe?!" Victor's voice came through more clearly. "Yes, I'm here! We lost coms for a while, but I's getting a read on the three of you again. What's going on there? My readings are going crazy."
"We found and destroyed Lex's lab, but we seem to have woken up the monster. We need an exit strategy. Can't go back the way we came," she replied without losing a step in their mad dash after Clark.
"Ok, let me see..." They heard the sound of typing over the open com channel. "Ok, back. Bad news, the only possible way out from there is to go through the Core room itself then tunnel up through the debris and to freedom."
The ground gave another rumble under their feet that caused them to stumble, but they kept running. A moment later they all burst into the Core Room. The shaft that led deep into the earth's core still took up most of the area, though it was chocked with building debris. Given the ravaged state of the room, Davis was unsure where exactly he had squared off against the monster all those years ago, but the memory of it was still sharp in his mind. He felt himself unconsciously drawn closer to the sealed edge of the pit where Doomsday was buried.
As he approached, Davis felt a flood of emotions from the monster far below. Rage. A desire to be free. Resolve. Expectation.
It wasn't going to stop until it broke out this time.
"That isn't going to work!" Davis cried into his own com unit, as he turned away from the sealed pit. "Doomsday knows we are here. It is trying to destabilize the structure enough to break free from the collapsed core. If we try to break through to the surface, it could bring this whole place down on our heads."
"Then you need to find a way to stop its fighting, because that is your only chance!" Victor replied, his voice sounding frightened.
Chloe's eyes cut over to Davis. "I'm open to any ideas," she said.
Davis started to shake his head, but the earth under their feet gave a sudden lurch, sending both of them sprawling. The case with the Blue and Gold meteor rocks that Davis had been carrying went flying. The case struck a large crate and sprang open, ejecting the stones from inside.
As he watched the sparkling facets of the colored stones catch some of the low light in the room, a thought struck Davis. He looked over at Chloe, who must have read something in his face. "What are you thinking, Davis?" she asked.
Davis explained, "Doomsday and I are still linked in some way. We both channel from the same power source. Maybe we can use that to weaken it long enough for us to get out of here."
Suddenly Clark was back with them, helping them to their feet. He too must have heard their conversation, because he said, "You think you can use the meteor rocks to stop the power flow to the monster by using them on yourself."
Davis nodded.
"The rocks might not work the same way on you as they do on me. We also have to remember that you build immunity to things that harm you," Clark warned.
"I know, but -" Davis' words were cut off as the room around them gave a violent shudder, and the light flickered. He felt the monster's rage and anticipation build as it clawed at its prison, tearing into the supporting bedrock that had kept it trapped for so long. He felt a leap of joy inside the creature as the rocks crumbled under its great claws.
"We don't have time to argue. What do these rocks do? Could it work?" he cried at Clark.
Clark's eyes searched his own - blue to brown for an endless moment before he said. "Blue. Use the Blue. It suppresses our powers and makes us-"
Davis felt his eyes go wide as he realized the implication. "It makes us...human."
Clark nodded. "As long as the contact lasts. But if you are injured or die while in contact with the Blue, you would be hurt or killed just like anyone else."
Davis gave a crooked half-smile. "So I guess I'll need Superman to protect me then."
Clark smiled back.
"Are you sure about this, Davis?" Chloe asked. While the others talked, she had collected the case and the rocks. Two of them were safely back inside, but in her hand rested a shining blue piece of rock.
The room rumbled again and they all heard the loud CRACK!. Looking up in sudden fear, a gap appeared in the concrete support over their heads.
"We're out of time!" Davis cried then opened himself completely to his Kryptonian power. He felt the warm light of his heritage radiate through him, making him impossibly strong, fast, and tough. His connection to the monster solidified as the pathway between them opened wider and he felt its attention rivet on him. In his mind's eye, he saw its wide, gaping mouth with waves of vile slime ooze from its maw. The red eyes filled with rage and hate and a unquenchable desire to destroy. He felt the terrible heat of its prison pressing in, but also giving way as it clawed its way slowly upward through the magma.
Then Davis reached out a hand and took the Blue stone in his grip.
Cold blue fire raced through his veins, pressing back the warm power that had filled him a moment before. Before that freezing blue wave, Davis felt his strength, his speed, his invulnerability falter and collapse as his senses dulled and he became human.
More importantly, he felt when the Blue-K followed his bond back to Doomsday. The cold blue flowing in to quench the power of the monster as well.
For just a moment, Davis felt what Doomsday was without that incredible power. In the face of the Blue-K, the force that protected Doomsday - making it immortal and invulnerable - faltered. Now every pain, every death, every destruction and injury came tumbling back into the creature's senses - flooding it with pain beyond comprehension and endurance.
That unendurable torment raced back along their bond, echoing into Davis. He screamed in agony for an impossibly long moment, until the pain faded suddenly in a sharp blue chill. With relief, Davis followed the icy blue cold down and into welcoming black.
Author's Note: Sorry for the slight posting delay, but last week was American Thanksgiving. So I was recovering! lol