Chapter 60: Alliance Part Two.
Knowledge was the element that bound many races for better or for worse. One might argue that a certain amount of knowledge could be a dangerous thing that knowing too much, especially about things that were beyond ones station would be a bad thing. Many people found themselves corrupted by the knowledge flowing through their minds and drove them to fits of insanity that they could not believe in the past.
Others would consider knowledge to be the crux of all evil, especially when wanted to use it to for their personal gains. A little bit of knowledge would be considered a dangerous thing, something that corrupted the mind, ensnared the senses, and blackened the soul. All for the everlasting pursuit and an obsessive quest of knowledge; the saying that knowledge was power proved to be accurate beyond all believe and made many wonder about one truth.
Knowledge was power.
Did absolute power corrupt absolutely?
Yet what was true power, that's one thing Harry considered when he stood in the Fortress, knowing that this knowledge was what he needed to bring Brainiac down. After he had been separated from his Herald of Death powers, desperation reigned upon the young dark haired wizard. He was sure that those powers were still there within him, deep inside.
Yet accessing those powers were something Harry struggled with, it was much like drawing water out of a very deep well whilst said well evaporated, pushing the water out of it. He knew he could get deeper, he should get deeper to get the water but yet the water drew further and further away from his grip. Further and further away when he pushed into the depths of his mind. The clock ticked by and the dark haired Herald of Death could not wait for things to happen. In fact time nearly ran short and pushed him to the depths of reality.
He stood at the edge of something that resulted in clarity, if one might be able to call it that. Every single moment in his life, those obsessed with the trappings of power surrounded Harry, and pushed him to the depths, to the brink. In his quest, he found that power drew away from him, slipping outside of his grasp.
Those who obsessed with knowledge and power found themselves doomed to despair by it.
'The knowledge within this Fortress, I knew it, I know it, every single bit of it and more,' Harry thought when he felt it swirl around him. 'A treasure trove of knowledge was taken from me and likely absorbed by Brainiac, but in his poor foresight he's neglected the one thing truth that humanity learns the hard way time and time again.'
True strength came from within, Harry must find it and step towards the edge of what was true in the world. The young wizard felt the swirling of power at his palms, the knowledge beating into his minds.
"No doubt by now you're trying to stop me, delay me."
The voice taunted back at Harry, it echoed in his ears like a sympathy of destruction, it was him, it was Brainiac. The entity who took away his powers, somehow, some way, and then tracked him here.
"Whatever we do, it is imperative that he does not enter the Fortress," Jor-El responded when he cut in.
"You cannot stop me, you could not stop me, and you, your son, and the entire House of El will be snuffed out," Brainiac taunted from afar.
"Harry, you need to escape, if you're in the chamber when the Fortress is compromised, he could destroy you, regardless of your strength," Lara chimed in but Harry shook his head. "In your quest for knowledge, you may find clarity, but you also might find yourself become twisted as the enemy."
Harry snapped out of it, his mate's aunt, she held great wisdom, even more so than Jor-El. He staggered from the chamber, once again, it was not learning things anew that he did. It was reminding himself of things that he already should know. It was like studying for an examination, no more or no less. The young Herald of Death shook his head, the spirit of everything that he could know flowed in and out of him.
"I have it, I know it, I am it," Harry stated over and over again, a statement that confused all who heard it.
Harry was not confused, he was far from it. In fact, he knew more than ever before what must be done, what he must do to stop Brainiac. Gaining his powers back after all that occurred would be the highest priority but it would not be the only thing.
"Defeating Brainiac, that's what I must do, I trust you can hold him off from the Fortress," Harry stated to Jor-El and Lara.
Silence reigned in the Fortress before Jor-El answered. "We can do as you requested but I'm afraid that it will only be for a short time. He could find a way around. I trust you now know what to do bring Kal-El back so he could fight it alone."
Harry's nod stiffened, his eyes widened, mouth ran dry but he knew it, he knew what must be done to defeat Brainiac, to save the world, and to protect his mate's cousin from him. If the computer found knowledge to process how his powers worked, it could use said knowledge to snuff out all life on Earth, and then download the knowledge.
Then all other universes will follow but Harry would not allow that to happen, not if he could help that.
"I know what must be done, now more than ever before," Harry answered when he folded his arms before he looked out and saw the glow around the fortress.
Within and without knowledge flowed from his fingers down to the tips of his toes. He stepped forward and saw Megan waiting outside the Fortress.
"Did you find a way to get your powers back?" Megan asked Harry and Harry levitated ice blocks to demonstrate.
"The normal wizard powers yes, the other powers, no but if I get to the Shining Light Foundation, I can beat him," Harry answered with one hundred percent conviction dancing in his voice.
He knew what was on the line and he stepped forward, a part of him could feel it. Even without his full powers, Harry felt everything happening around him, it all flowed within and without him. The dark haired wizard could make that connect within, closing his eyes and feeling the flow, the knowledge of the universe at his fingertips.
Heart thumped against Harry's rib cage when he maintained his strides.
"So far Brainiac has stayed out," Harry answered when he looked at Megan.
"And we can keep him out," Megan answered with a warm smile, confidence rolling off of her words.
Harry paused before he understood it all clearly now, it flowed in and out of him, how he did not know before, he was ignorant, foolish, but he saw everything clearly. Before him was what he needed to do.
"This might sound crazy, but let's invite Brainiac inside."
Megan's eyes spun around to Harry like he grew two heads. "Maybe I should have checked you better for a concussion…."
"No, trust me, if I can get Brainiac in the right spot, I can trap him, easily, no problem, okay maybe a little problem but get all the children out of there, to a safe place, to the Kent Farm, there's no computers there that Brainiac could use."
"Right, safe place, no electronics, and you're going to…." Megan answered but Harry shook his head.
"I'm going to have some words with Brainiac, after what happened last time, I didn't really give him the proper beating with what happened to Claire," Harry answered when he spun around on his heels and moved off.
There was so much to do, so little time, but the group prepared themselves for the final battle. Knowledge continued to flow through Harry's mind. While he had not forgotten about the Destroyer, the Knight must be destroyed before the pawns get taken out. Something told him that Bloome, Doomsday, whatever he was, his destruction tied into Brainiac's plans.
Brainiac would use the chaos when the destroyer hit full power and absorb all of the planet's knowledge, before jumping to the next planet and the next one. Of course, where he went from there, that was another point entirely.
'I'm coming for you, Brainiac,' Harry thought when he made his way to the Shining Light Foundation, determined and ready to go.
He felt his powers slowly return and for some reason, now when he was in the tender embrace of his own creation, said powers increased, amplified, and accelerated tenfold. Harry closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and rolled his shoulders back, before he craned his neck back.
"You and me, computer, you want Kal-El, you want the last survivors of Krypton, you want this world, you go through me," Harry called, lowering the walls around the Shining Light Foundation to allow Brainiac in the front door.
"Any update on where you went."
"I had to take a side trip up north," Harry responded when he talked to Tess on the phone. "The thing that's taken over Luthorcorp….it's a danger that it might have infected my building."
Tess knew better than to ask Harry about why anyone would be interested in any data that he would have on the meteor infected. She really knew better, he had dozens of files on every person who were infected on the meteors, whether living or dead, powers, bibliographical details, and any criminal records they would have. It would be information that that people would give their left arm to get their hands on.
While she did not hear of Harry use that data in a malicious way, she was certain that he could and would do what he could to protect the interests of himself, those closest to him, or his charges. Tess calculated that backing this particular young man into a corner.
"I've got everything locked down and people evacuated, so far so good, but that won't hold them, not forever," Harry added when he shook his head and caught his breath back. The young wizard held his phone out, he knew it was coming.
"You may have compromised yourself when you created that back door into the Luthorcorp network," Tess stated to Harry in a flat voice but he did not cringe or apologize about it, in fact he remained stoic.
"Maybe you're correct, but you wouldn't have infected any of your computer networks if you would not have left well enough alone regarding the crystal. But I guess Lex taught you that one, didn't he?"
Harry could tell he touched a nerve and given the circumstances he found himself uncaring to be honest.
"I'm sure your mother taught you a few things about winding people up with the wrong intentions as well," Tess answered when she fired back.
Nerve struck on the other side, and now the ball was in Tess's court.
Silence reigned for a little bit on the phone.
"My mother….never mind about her," Harry answered, who figured that whatever notes Lionel left behind, he mentioned Lily in them. "The monster…there are people working about it, but I might be compromised for the next few hours."
"Compromised, in what way?" Tess asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Compromised as in that computer took away my…." Harry started but he stopped and paused. "Rest assure abilities or not, I'm not going to take this one lying down, not without a fight."
"Well, keep fighting the good fight," Tess answered when she heard something. "Oh, and you should know that three more of Lex's prototype suits have been infected and are going on a rampage."
Harry heard the smashing outside the windows and sure enough the dark haired wizard went rigid. That complicated the rest of his night to say the very least but once again, there was little time to worry about that. Rather he pressed on and moved down the stairs, taking one step at a time.
"I can see that, they're coming here, I'll call you back," Harry answered Tess without missing a beat.
Without most of his powers, Harry felt weaker but he shook his head, he never been one to fall into the trap where he thought powers were the be all and end all. Granted, they came in handy against some extremely dangerous foes. Be that as it may, Harry found himself to be annoyingly resourceful without them; there were times where he actually was stripped of his powers in the past.
The suits of power rumbled on the city streets beneath Harry, going for him and smashing their way through the front entrance.
"I never liked that door frame, planned on changing it anyway," Harry remarked in a droll voice, when he moved forward, the suits moved in.
Brainiac did one common folly that many enemies decided to undertake and that was that his consciousness spread in several different directions. Many would consider that to be a benefit but with Harry it allowed him to duck and dodge around easier, manipulating the suits against each other. It was after all three distinct parts of Brainiac, so there would be three parts of him wanting an equal amount of revenge.
Harry's heart hammered against his chest, only a fool would not get worked up after something like this. The reason the suits were prototypes became very apparent to Harry, their clunky and inability to maneuver around properly was so easily manipulated by the magic user.
One well placed spell caused an explosion, to blow the suits of the armor apart. They clattered down to the street, bursting apart.
This little action confused Brainiac and Harry found himself pleased that that individual was confused. He knew that his powers returned somewhere, at least to a limited agree.
Perhaps Harry should keep his eye on the battle at least that was the thought that went through his head when the clunky arms of one of the possessed battle suits did. To his credit, the dark haired wizard dodged around and recovery quickly, springing himself up in the air with the agility that he learned from the Quidditch field.
A loud bang cracked the second suit open and sent it crashing to the ground with an intense thud. Harry felt and tasted something that he had not in a long time, since he received his Herald of Death abilities and that was blood. Blood on his lips, mouth, and tongue, blood that dripped down from his mouth, to be honest that kind of unsettled him.
His healing abilities did not work with his powers stripped from him, not good, not good at all, but that was not something Harry could bother himself with. The third suit moved after him and….
'SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!"
Those word the thoughts that went through Harry's head when he saw it face off against him. Of course, Harry's luck would not even leave him alone for a minute. The Destroyer barreled down the streets of Metropolis towards him, on its rampage. The barricades put up did not deter it not that would have mattered in the first place with something that destroyed it.
There was one Martian/Detective down on the ground, ribs shattered from the attack, despite his advanced powers. If Dooomsday damaged the Martian, then that did not bode well for the rest of the normal people out there. Even if those people were Heralds of Death who lost their powers thanks to the mishaps of things that happened.
There was one silver lining to this cloud and that was the fact Doomsday knocked the final battle suit out, destroying it beyond all repair. It was a shame that Harry flew back and was nearly damaged beyond all repair himself from the impact. He felt his ribs snap, his ankle roll, and his face smack, with his right eye swelling shut.
Harry forgot how much pain sucked and the answer that was a lot, too much in fact, more than Harry could handled.
The dark haired wizard pulled himself to his feet, staggering on spaghetti legs and swayed from one side to the other, trying to regain some kind of standing position. Doomsday blocked by the shields but said shields would not hold the destroyer back for long. Harry pushed his power forward, the strong-willed sorcerer gaining immense deal of momentum when he powered up his spells.
He pushed his foe back, strong as he might be, he was not going to bring the dark haired wizard down, not if Harry could help it.
Doomsday was dangerous but he cornered a wounded dog in his own yard. A wounded animal was something that was more dangerous than any force on earth; depending on one's perspective they had more to lose or nothing at all to lose.
A flash of blinding light caught Doomsday, and the Martian Manhunter tried to enter the beast's mind but dropped to the ground, unable to penetrate the savage fury of his brain.
Harry summoned a rock, programmed it into a Portkey, and shoved it into the hand of the creature, before it disappeared into a flash of light.
Where did it go? Hopefully into a volcano, that's what Harry's intention was at the very least. He could barely keep his head above water never the less and the buzzing in his head could only mean one thing and one thing only.
Brainiac was coming.
No wait, Brainiac was here.
Harry scrambled to his feet, on one leg and with one eye, with the other having been swollen shut. His face turned into a delightfully ugly shade of purple, swollen and disgusting but he pushed himself forward.
One might get the impression that Harry Potter ran away from the fight, something he never did before but one would be wrong with that impression, no matter how true it could have seen. The dark haired wizard dragged his ankle behind him, painfully, seeing the energy pulse follow him all the way to the Shining Light Foundation.
Brainiac sensed the weakness in the organic life form that he followed, a glowing fury pulsing through his eyes. He moved forward, the protector was close, the one that he must take out. His core objective beat strong through his program. For the past several years, one mishap after another prevented it from being fulfilled.
"I'm coming for you Harry Potter!"
Harry staggered back; it was so nice when the psychopathic machines announced themselves when they stopped by. On one leg, Harry gimped, each step seemingly a labor, a pain, a miserable existence, dragging his feet behind him. Did the dark haired wizard find himself in this situation for not a good reason?
No there was a good reason, a very good reason, he reminded himself what was at stake, why he was here, what he must do. The young man shook his head, clutching himself.
"Look at the one who has been gifted with ultimate power, you are weak and you grow weaker," Brainiac taunted when he stared down Harry, his legs finally buckled from underneath him. "Underneath your false bravado, you are merely a child who is still pandering to those for some attention. You may be as pathetic as Kal-El and most certainly are a worthy champion much like the rest of these humans."
Harry flickered his hand forward but Brainiac batted away the force fields like they were nothing. They were nothing, nothing but an illusion, just a feint, something that allowed Harry to back up. The dark haired wizard pushed back, closer and closer. He knew that time ran out as the menace moved up on them.
"I returned because my mission was not completed," Brainiac answered in a crisp, sadistic, and very much twisted voice. He peered down at Harry, sending sparks against his face. "You keep returning because you have not acquired the intelligence to know when it's your time to stay down and face facts."
Brainiac paused before his expression grew more twisted.
"There is no way that you can win this day so it is useless trying."
Harry edged back a little bit closer, he got closer to the central core of the building, where the true power lied.
"You talk a good game but you've never been able to defeat me and you haven't been able to defeat Clark Kent," Harry answered, making sure to put an extra emphasis on Clark's Earth name, knowing that it would cause Brainaic the greatest misery, given that it would be an insult to him to point out that a mere human bested him.
It reminded him that no matter how superior he thought he was, Brainiac was forever and always second better to someone who wore an Earth skin. He could tell that there was annoyance.
"You are…."
"You know, Brainy, mind if I call you Brainy?" Harry asked when he backed up a little bit, a little bit closer. "You seem to be so adept at psychoanalyzing the humans but I'd like to pick your brain a little bit if you don't mind, see what makes you tick.
Brainiac appeared to be not down with that, a blast shot out at Harry but true to his credit, the young sorcerer dodged the attack, moving around it, and shook his head. With a sigh, the dark haired wizard shook his head, and blocked another attack, and pivoted.
"You seem to be driven by many of the same things that these organics that are weakened by emotions are, aren't you?"
For some, they might consider what Harry did as folly but really it was all part of a well calculated plan to get in the head of his enemy.
"Here's the thing, you are nothing but a lackey, nothing but a machine but you've deviated from your objective. This isn't what it's all about, is it? You're upset that you didn't get what you want, now you've created convoluted and petty schemes for revenge."
Sparks splattered in every single direction, with Harry understanding the nerves he touched to be many but he shook his head. There would come a time where the young wizard shook his head, sliding back a little bit. The instant came at last.
"You think you understand what I'm doing but you've fallen into a foolish trap that many humans have done previously. You understand little and assume very much, a folly which I will exploit and destroy you, Harry Potter."
Harry wondered if this computer understood what he was saying and how much that it pertained to him. All he needed was a few steps more and the day would be his, whether he moved a little bit to the right or was it to the left. He had no idea but he kept pushing back. The seconds edged by on the clock when the machine rushed forward him.
It was now time for Harry to be the one to open up the flood gates of enlightenment.
"That's where you're wrong Brainiac. I know far more than you could ever realize, and do you realize what you're doing?"
Brainiac paused, and Harry sensed it, his powers slowly returned, trace elements lingered within the walls of the Shining Light Foundation. It might not be enough to send someone into the tender embrace of Death but it was another to give him strength. They were powers that he needed to use wisely, powers slowly returning to him. Each move counted very much.
"Brainiac, it would indicate you are smart but it's actually true that you're quite the opposite."
A pulse of electricity shot through the hands of the young wizard to send him flying back into the air. The dark haired wizard turned around, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling from what happened.
"You chased me in here, machine."
"And you ran."
That response, whilst it was true, was not completely accurate.
"You chased me, and I led you in here. You misunderstand a fundamental truth about humanity and how we work. Strength comes in many forms and what you think is weakness is strength."
Brainiac paused before his eyes narrowed nastily and he spoke. "Clarify what you mean."
Harry was only too happy to offer the proper amount of clarification because after all that happened, this machine did not get it, he did not get it at all. But he was oh so happily going to explain it into them.
"There is something that you should know to be true with your studies and your knowledge of humans and that is the fact that we are animals. But not in the snide and disrespecting way you might intend to brand us as. No far from it, really far from it, the fact of the matter is that we react to certain ways, in a class where one might consider it to be survival of the fittest.
Brainiac would have sensed that something was up, providing the fact that he was not too blinded with the tunnel vision that he had. Tunnel vision was not something that affected people, a fact Harry happily exploited.
"You won't stop me."
"You chased a wounded animal, cornered him, but not only that, you cornered him in his own yard."
Harry paused for a moment's time before a twisted grin appeared on his face, had Brainiac understood humanity well, he would have known the danger that he found himself in. But like a fool, the machine remained ignorant to what went on around him.
"You're in my yard you pathetic bag of microcircuits but don't worry, you won't be staying too long."
The mistake Harry waited for this entire night happened, when Brainiac lunged forward in an attempt to finish him off.
One thing happened at this point, with Harry bringing in the internal core of the Shining Light Foundation. One electro-magnetic pulse did not damage Brainiac, not for that long. Being an alien computer, he was highly adaptable at any situation. Therefore mundane methods to take him down seldom worked.
A thousand electro-magnetic pulses spilling into his body, ripping him apart, that might constitute as a bit of a problem and Harry's breath continued to hitch in. He dropped down to the ground, shaking his head and shook it off. The dark haired wizard brushed the hair from his eyes and felt what occurred.
Brainiac ripped apart, the screams were inhumane but that was as well, the man was not a man, he was a machine. He tried to pull himself out but found that the field the Herald of Death trapped him in was too much. A magic that was stronger than Hogwarts at its peak shot into him, ripping him apart, and damaging him.
Minutes turned into seconds, spinning around with each passing tick of the clock. He blew into nothing, leaving nothing but a piece of a motherboard on the ground. Harry caught it into his hands, it had three small dots scratched into it.
The liquefied material stretched into a ball that shuddered to a rest in Harry's hand. His breath let out of his body when he knew one thing.
And that was Brainiac knew no more, and Harry did it, he did it, somehow he did it, by hook or by crook.
First he would sit down and then hopefully would be able to bring everyone back home. Or they would bring themselves back home.
"You look like crap."
That was the nice and rather to the point statement Lois Lane made when she exited from the limbo dimension, with Raya, Lana, Clark, Karen, Kara, and Chloe.
"Hi, Lois, nice to see you too."
Without another word, Kara rushed over to run her hands over Harry's bruised face and a frown crossed the Kryptonian survivor's face. "What happened?"
"What happened, Doomsday happened, that's what happened," Harry remarked when he rubbed the side of his face, offering a wince, shaking his head from one side to the other. It took him a moment to get his mind together. "I'm….yeah that's what it is but I'm fine."
Chloe looked at Harry with a strained expression when she took a look at him, before she offered a sigh. "Fine, is that what we're calling it now?"
"I'm fine, trust me, I've had much worse," Harry managed when he moved over with Karen, Chloe, and Kara, the quartet of them moving. "I took care of Doomsday."
Suddenly, Clark's expression got a bit anxious and dare Harry say it, extremely hopeful. Unfortunately, Harry needed to burst his bubble.
"By take care of him, I mean I transported him off, into a place where he can't harm anyone, at least for a little while. It's not permanent by any means, he'll be back, he always comes back, and you need to be ready. It's coming to the time where you have to face him; we've delayed it for as long as we could."
Clark understood that, somehow after all of the waiting, it almost was if his entire life lead up to this moment, the battle with this monster, the battle with Doomsday. The two individuals who walked into the battle stepped in to face each other but the real question would either of them be the same ever again? That was a question that echoed through the mind of the Last Son of Krypton and gave him a sense that something serious was about to come down the pike.
Lana's expression looked towards Clark.
"It's that time but after what happened in there, you're ready, more ready than you'll ever be," Lana offered when she turned around to face him.
Clark was not sure about that but it was something that he thought about, carefully mulling over the matter in his mind. The time came closer for his end, the battle that he would have against his greatest enemy, against Doomsday. The destroyer rolled over its path and he realized that each second he delayed, the more threat he put away.
"You shall win for I see the determination in your eyes, it resembles your father's when he sets his mind towards something," Raya answered when she looked at Clark.
They all had a few doubts in their mind about what might happen, that went without saying but that made their resolve stronger along with their abilities to win the day no matter what. If they stood side by side, all of them felt strongly they could succeed.
"No one said it was going to be easy," Clark remarked when he turned around.
"Of course a bunch of people said it was going to be easy," Lois commented lightly when she turned around and looked over her shoulder. She added with a smirk. "They said it before they died."
Harry turned around, that was a statement that was made by fools before they died if there ever was one. Fools before they were placed into the ground and knew that every single battle was going to be an uphill one. No one said it was going to be easy but the real excitement was in the journey, the quest for anything.
Kara stood by Harry, he sensed her reservations with what was happening and he had to agree with them, there was no such thing as being too prepared. Those who thought differently about being too prepared were going to be in for a nasty shock and a rude awakening. It rattled the senses when they thought about it.
'We're going to win, we have to win, right?' Kara thought to Harry through the link.
Karen felt a bit apprehensive; there was some kind of calm before the storm brewing. 'I hope we're going to win, but it is not our battle to win.'
'It's Clark's,' Harry thought to Kara, shaking his head but the younger blonde to his left placed a hand on his while the older blonde to his right put another hand to his.
"There's times like this where I wished you had a third hand," Chloe remarked in an off handed manner.
"Oh, I'm sure you know all about my third hand," Harry answered with a smile which caused Chloe to look away and Lois to grimace.
"That's a bit more than I needed to hear about the two of you. Could you keep that talk...I don't know."
"Sorry, Lois, I'll try not to mentally scar next time, although I'm sure nothing happens in my room that you lot don't get up to with Clark," Harry answered but Lois shook her head. "Not helping with the mental imagery?"
"Not in the slightest," Lois agreed before she turned around. "So do we have to wait for him to make a move?"
"He should be out west somewhere, if you want to fly out there, and if Clark's ready, it's time to fight him," Harry responded when he placed his hands on his hips, his face still dinged up, his ribs sore, and his ankle busted but his determination somehow spread through.
Clark thought about it, there was only one answer that question, it's now our never. Granted, the flight thing was something that he still did not get down, but he could have sworn he was up in the air for more than three seconds. He did it when no one was looking, that was his luck but he had it, for a brief second and without any demonic possession either.
There was a condescending pat on the head and the shares of "sure you did" from Lois. Lana stated that the belief that he might have flown allowed him to speed up the flight proces and Raya agreed, stating that it might be a sign that he came more to terms with his Kryptonian heritage.
Clark was not sure, the only thing that was for sure in life, was nothing for sure.
"Well unless you've mysteriously got the ability to fly outside of her own imagination, I think we can get you out there," Lois answered when she looked at Lana with a smile. "Would you like to do the honors, Lana?"
"Since you did last time, Raya did it the time before that, I think it is my turn," Lana answered with a grin on her face.
Clark sighed and almost pouted which Lois caught.
"Hey, Earth Boy, you learn to fly, and you won't keep getting scooped up like that," Lois answered to the amusement of everyone in the room, except for Harry who remained stoic and Karen who frowned but shook her head.
She learned to live with it by now. It did not amuse her to see her cousin lack a backbone but she learned to live with it.
Lana without another word, scooped Clark into her arms and prepared to fly him off.
There was one problem, Lana stumbled and bumbled, going down on the ground with Clark in their arms. The two fell to the ground with a crash.
"Lana what happened?" Clark asked when he looked at her.
"Maybe, you're having a bad day, here let me try," Lois answered before she grabbed Clark firmly, before she tried to up, up, and away.
It was a really good thing that she did not clear out the window, rather she crashed onto the floor, with Clark hard on the ground.
Raya tested her flight and sure enough she flew high above the ground. Taking one lap around Metropolis, she made sure everything was okay. She stopped and landed on the ground, and looked at them.
"Test your heat vision, all of you," Raya told them.
Harry, Kara, and Karen hit targets with their heat vision. Clark was able to as well. Raya did so as well but Chloe, Lois, and Lana were unable to access their heat vision or any of their powers.
Harry performed a scan with his magic, Chloe's meteor abilities were still there, but that was the only thing that was still there regarding her powers.
"Houston we have a problem," Lois commented and that was the understatement of a century.
Harry found himself visited by a theory and he hated to confirm this to be right.
'Accessing Lifelife Reading on Clark Kent,' Harry thought to himself and there was a flash.
Clark's normally golden dot turned black, which indicated that he only had twenty four hours to live. Kara and Karen recoiled when they saw it as well.
"What was it?" Lois asked them.
"Fine, everything's fine," Kara stated in a bright voice, all too bright.
They tried to access the Lifeline Reading once again, to verify what they saw was not some kind of horrific illusion.
There was nothing. Until a very familiar and unwelcomed voice echoed throughout the collective consciousness of the three Heralds of Death, something that they hoped to never here.
"You were warned about the price in your direct meddling. The next seventy two hours the three of you are mortal. Your powers will be returned back if the Higher Ups deem you worthy."
"Death took our powers away," Harry confirmed grimly.
Lois offered the most accurate declaration anyone could have ever said.
"Shit."
"Indeed," Lana said, it was not hard to put two and two together.
Their powers, Lana, Lois, and Chloe, were gifted by the Heralds of Death. With the powers of the Heralds gone, so were the powers of the three girls.
And it was a shame to because Lois recently discovered an awesome power she had been gifted but that was a story for later.
Tess sat at the desk, hands folded over when she looked at the computer system at Luthorcorp, yeah this was going to eat several million out of her bank account to get repaired. That was beside the point; there was something else that she needed to think about.
The Destroyer vanished without a trace and she knew Harry Potter had something to do with it. That was until he mysterious reappeared in the Southwest United States three hours ago. The monster was on his way and Tess was no closer to figuring out what to do about that. The entire Brainiac mess sidetracked her and threw her for a loop.
There was no idea what she could do, like there was no idea what could be done about that mysterious humming noise that came from the vault. The orb rattled in the vault and the woman bent forward, pulling the orb.
It glowed in her hand and shook, positively vibrating. Something was in there, and something was alive. For some reason, Tess felt like she held live fire in her hand, fire that threatened to scorch her if she made one wrong movement.
"You must be warned about the consequences of meddling."
Tess looked up, that voice in the orb, it sounded familiar but she could not place it.
"I have suppressed the other voices in the orb, for a short time, I wish to speak to you, Tess Mercer."
The voice was female.
Tess paused for a moment. "Who are you?"
"My name is not important. All you need to know is that I was one of the leading medical officers for the Kandorian Army. And I helped oversee the blood withdrawal for the experimentation. All that you need to know is that this orb was an abomination that never should have been. We had no right to play Rao."
Tess raised an eyebrow, she was intrigued.
"You need to get rid of it. Fortunately there is a way to destroy the orb and that is…."
The voice was silenced, with another voice replacing it.
"Sorry, this message has been cut off, please try again later."
The orb glowed a red color and knocked Tess backwards, causing her to crash down onto the ground with a thud.
The device floated from her hand and entered the vault before it locked behind her. Tess got up, to try and open the vault but surprisingly, someone changed the combination on her. It was some magical force changed it.
Tess wasn't about to give up yet.
Lily's presence woke up within the orb, she wondered who pulled that act because it was not her.
The third presence in the orb seemed pleased that everything was going to their plans. The Dark Lord should have taken over the Magical World by now, so all she would have to do was deliver the Traveler to him and he would be invincible. She switched her blood out for that of Isis Lovegood's and the stupid little Mudblood suspected nothing.
Clark stood at the edge of the Fortress of Solitude, there came a time where he felt that he needed to do certain things and one of those things was to make peace with Jor-El.
"You said before that you hoped there was a time where I might call you father, well I think that time may approach yet," Clark stated when he stood at the Edge of the Fortress of Solitude. "But for me to do that, we must work together as a family, all of us. Whatever happened between you and Kara's father, Mother was right, it was best left to die with Krypton."
Jor-El remained silent for a moment but Clark stood his ground.
"Like it or not, Kara is family, she's blood, and whatever happened, it's not her fault," Clark stated when he looked out.
"Yes, I do believe that petty family feud shall be set aside for the greater good of the world," Jor-El agreed when he paused. "What occurred with Alura was an unfortunate tragedy and I think Kara hung onto her fair share of bitterness regarding me but now is not the time for this. This is your moment Kal-El. This is one where you shall stand prouder than them all. I will not sugarcoat this, the Destroyer is far more dangerous than anything you've ever fought before."
"But I believe that you may be up for the challenge, my son," Lara chimed in.
"As do I," Jor-El responded.
"And no matter what, we will be proud of you," Lara stated, but Jor-El remained silent and stoic.
"Lana, Lois, their powers are gone and Raya's is at normal Kryptonian strength, Chloe has her healing abilities, and Harry, Kara, and Karen can't intervene or they'll lose their Herald abilities permanently," Clark answered when he looked forward.
"Do not think that despite these obvious handicaps you stand alone, Kal-El," Lara answered when she stared at Clark. "As long as you keep those in your heart in mind, you will never be alone. Jor-El and I will be with you to guide you the best we can but this is your greatest trial to date and must be yours to conquer in the end."
"I feel like my entire life lead up to this moment," Clark answered when he turned out.
Harry stood in the Fortress, Clark reminded him of him the moment before he walked into the Forest to fight Voldemort or rather sacrifice himself to kill the Horcrux. The night the entire world changed for him, leading to one moment or the other.
Kara and Karen stood behind him, not saying one word.
What could they say for someone who was fated to die in twenty four hours? They mentally agreed, that he must never know, it would defeat him before the battle even started.
"Guys, the monster is heading to the Artic," Chloe stated in an anxious voice to Harry when the scanners at the Shining Light Foundation picked up on them. "Lana's here with me, Raya's there to try and tail him to minimize damage control, and I don't know where Lois is. She mentioned something about calling in a favor with one of Uncle Sam's old army buddies."
Harry shivered suddenly, feeling dread come on, hoping that Lois would not cause more damage than Doomsday with whatever scheme she was planning.
"She said that just because she doesn't have powers doesn't mean that she can't help Clark," Chloe answered when she sighed. "It's going to be a long night. Lana tells Clark not to do anything too reckless but she has a feeling that it's going to fall on deaf ears."
"Doomsday's coming for you," Kara related to Clark and he stiffened.
"Good, I'll bring the fight to him," Clark answered, when he threw the red blanket he brought to the Fortress over his shoulders, it flowing behind him.
Kara looked at Clark with an impassive look in her bright blue eyes. "Be careful."
"I'm always careful," Clark answered before he walked out the door.
Walking to his eventual demise although Harry hoped he was wrong, as did the other Heralds.
"There's something that you're not telling us, isn't there?" Chloe asked when she jumped on the communication link.
Harry paused to consider telling Chloe what he saw before his powers got yanked. Then he stated to her in a calm voice, trying to remain optimistic "I'll tell you after Clark's beat Doomsday."
To Be Concluded in the Final Chapter "The Ultimate Destroyer."