Chapter 7

Clark stepped between Arighatto and Lana. He'd suspected that the other man had secrets to match his own. He shook his head. Whatever issues he had with her would wait. He had other issues to deal with at the moment. "Mr. Arighatto, calm down. Whatever's going on, we can talk about it. "

Arighatto rolled his eyes. "So the lies can continue? Long have I watched you, Boy. I am well aware of your capabilities. Pity they will not save either of you tonight." He held the blade up into a first position pose.

"You're stalking Clark too? Bad enough you hurt Miranda but this?" Lana spat.

"Miranda's mine! Her family's dead." Arighatto swiped the kitana. His lunge hurled through the air faster than the eye can follow.

Instinct pushed Clark forward. He streaked into the expanse. Faster than the eye could follow, he pushed Lana back out of the way. Then he raised his arm to take the impact.

Faster than normal human sight or reflexes but not Arighatto's…..

The blade glowed with an obsidian light. Rather than shatter against Kryptonian skin as others had, it gashed the teen's arm. If not for Clark's recoiling, it might have done far worse.

Clark staggered back. Disbelief now numbed his thinking. He saw blood flowing from his arm.

"CLARK!" Lana jumped to his defense. She didn't understand how the fall hadn't hurt him but a sword strike could do so. Furthermore he'd just vanished and then reappeared in front of her. At that point, it wasn't important. She couldn't ask Clark if he was dead.

Arighatto snorted. "I've waited many moons for this moment!" He grabbed her hair. "I rid myself of your interference." With a savage tug, he yanked her back toward him. "I should kill you in front of Miranda to prove my point."

"Let her go, Arighatto. Now!" Jonathan leveled his rifle. "This has gone far enough!"

Arighatto narrowed his eyes. "How like a child you are. You meddle in things beyond your understanding." His eyes glinted. He waved his hand.

Jonathan lost his grip on the weapon. He watched it hurl through the air and break against the concrete. "What are you?"

"Just like your son, Kent. I am extraordinary." Arighatto sniggered. "I…" Then he stiffened. He glanced around the barn. His eyes narrowed. He sensed something he hadn't felt in a decade or more. Incredulity jarred him. He spat and swore in Japanese. He let go of Lana's hair. He looked around the barn. "Impossible! What else do you have here, Kent? I…."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jonathan stepped between Martha and the intruder. He could see Lana pressing her handkerchief against Clark's arm. "There's nothing here." He grabbed a saw for want of a weapon from his tool bench.

Arighatto kicked Jonathan in the torso and into the wall. "Be quiet! I'll deal with you."

"JONATHAN!" Martha rushed to her stunned husband's side. "Stop! What are you talking about? We really don't know!"

Arighatto curled his lip. "How easily the lies flow from you, Mrs. Kent. I…." Then he twitched.

A dark snarl grated across everyone's ears. Slowly its timbre deepened. Its coarseness grated more and more.

"I killed you! You…!" Arighatto denied. He forgot about the Kents. Instead he advanced toward the shadow-laden passage where the animals' stalls were. He slowly crept toward whatever was in there.

"YA WISH, PUNK!" Another intruder stepped into the light. His hair lay mussed on his head. His right eye was closed. The left one glowed with an emerald glint matching the scar on his right hand. His mouth twisted in an almost harlequin-sque smile/frown. "WHERE'S SHE? WHERE'S MIRI-MA? YA'RE GONNA TELL ME!"

Martha gasped. Her eyes went wide. "David? David Dubois? But…but you're…."

"Hai. He should be dead!" Arighatto narrowed his eyes. "Demon!" Again he raised his blade.

"AH AIN'T BIG BRO! CHI…LD! GIT THA'!" Dubois advanced on the samurai-wannabe. His hands glowed with blood red energy. "WHERE'S MIRI?" He threw some sort of energy burst.

Arighatto managed to evade the assault. He sensed that the other had not only survived but was more powerful. The previous standoffs with the demon brat had proven difficult enough. He had attracted more attention than it had been worth.

He's her uncle? Lana's jaw dropped. She supported Clark as best as she could manage. Did my parents know about this? She remembered what Lex had said earlier. These are his issues?

"QUIT THAT SCARDEY CRAP!' the Child snapped at Lana. "AH AIN'T GONNA TOUCH YA!" He uncorked several more blasts managing to send his adversary into the far wall. "GIT 'WAY FROM 'EM AN' MIRI!"

Arighatto spat blood and a tooth from his mouth. He braced himself against the wall. "Tonight is yours, Demon. But it is one round in many!" With that he vanished in a dark flash of light.

The Child frowned. He craved retribution. He wanted answers. Still he wasn't about to get them at that point. At the moment he had bigger priorities. "DAMMIT! NOW MIRI'S GONNA BE GONE 'GAIN!"

"David? That is you? Right?" Martha looked him over.

"NA' 'IM! DON'T YA LISSEN?" The Child spat on the cracked floor. He lumbered toward Clark and Lana. "Watch Jon-a-than. Got Clark." He grabbed Clark's arm. "Gonna help 'em."

"Help him?" Lana stared. Questions pressed down on other questions. Mysteries layered on top of other mysteries like some massive cake or dip.

"Yeah. Ask Martha." The Child disappeared with Clark before anyone could stop him.

"Clark!" Lana turned to Martha. "What does he mean by help? How did he…?"

Martha shook her head. "I think we all need to talk." Seeing Jonathan coming to, she knew that it wouldn't be easy.

Old scars hurt when ripped open. Truth was never easy to come by….