Chapter Thirty Two: Persistence, Thy Name is Downfall Part Two.

Trust was a strange element and one that took an ample amount of time to figure out how it worked. There was one thing that was for certain, trust took a long time to build up but could be destroyed within a matter of moments. That was one thing that anyone out there could take to the bank.

The emerald eyes of Harry Potter locked on the two other individuals who walked beside him. Lily and Alex, two of them who he had his fair share of runarounds with, followed by Clara. He'd be perfectly honest, he had no idea what to make of the female counterpart of Clark Kent. Although the more that he thought about it, the more he realized that the female model was a lot more appealing to him than the male model for obvious reasons. She could have potentially had some of the same issues, Harry had no idea but if she did, then she did a far better job at handling said issues.

Kara and Karen brought up the rear and the two blondes kept their focus firmly on the battle. Neither looked that confident that things were going to work out for the best but they had to focus on getting these things done. The two blondes stood side by side as they linked mentally to Harry.

'Do you trust them?' Kara asked as she placed her hand on Harry's.

Harry's smile crossed over his face as he slowly turned towards the two blondes raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah, I know, loaded question, very loaded question,' Kara remarked to him as the blonde swayed her hips off to the side as she walked towards Harry. Her heart was hammering a beat but Harry wrapped his arm around her waist.

'I don't think we have a choice this far in the game, maybe they had reasons, we had reasons for some of the things that we did,' Harry remarked to them and the two blondes exchanged nods.

Lily could almost sense what they were thinking, even though she was locked out of the loop and there was only so many times where she could apologize about what happened. The redhead woman placed her face in her hand as she pondered her next move. She framed her face with her hair as she shifted her body. The actions of the journal and what she thought about it when she created it, well it haunted her. There was another hand in it, granted, it was a hand of Death, the former Death and now her actions all came back to bite them.

At the end of the day, they needed to trust each other and learn how to do so, even though Lily could tell that some wounds would take many months or many years to close, these thoughts resounded through the mind of this particular redhead.

There were many thoughts that moved through the mind of Alex, although she found herself uncaring about a lot of what happened. She had a lot of things that she was thrown under her feet from the previous Death and now she was lost in limbo, lost several years of her life and then spat out into this world on a whim by the powers that be.

"I don't know why you're staring at me like that," Harry remarked as he turned around to face Alex.

"You remind me of a younger version of me," Alex remarked to Harry.

"Well technically I am but only male," Harry told the red head girl and Alex's arms crossed as she stared Harry down. There was a few seconds where her eyes locked onto Harry's and both sets of green eyes stared the other down. Neither wanted to back down from this situation and there was a few seconds where their hearts thumped across their chests.

There was a couple of times where Lily wondered if they were going to attack each other, that was the problem with two people with high strung tempers. The redhead wondered if Alex had problems with her in the other world because she could have sworn a few death glares were placed her way as well. Harry stared into Lily's eyes and she saw their intensity reflect back into hers.

"Alex, I know what happened in the past, but we've got to focus on the present," Lily told her and there was a second where Lily stepped forward.

"You know something about Downfall, don't you?" Alex asked in a slightly accusatory tone of course as she placed her gaze on Lily.

Two sets of green eyes were locked onto each other as Harry wondered how painful this might end up. He could tell that they were going to be stubborn. The two of them continued with their stare down but Karen cleared her throat.

"I hate to be the voice of reason, mostly because I'm not good at it," Karen told them and they both turned to face her. "But we've got a rogue Checkmate agent running around who could ruin everything and I mean everything we've worked so hard to achieve."

"She's the one who did it, hired Downfall," Harry remarked and Alex turned towards him. "I know you think I know who Downfall is but I don't."

Alex said nothing as a beeping sound came from Harry's pocket. Reaching into his pocket he took out the device and brought it up to his eyes so he could scan the screen. There was a message there, it was short, sweet, and to the point. It told Harry everything that he needed to know in so many words.

'We have a problem.'

Harry hated those four words when they were placed together in a sentence, it never ended well for him. His green eyes focused on them as Alex watched him, her eyes flickering towards him.

"So, what is it now?" Alex asked Harry and there was a few seconds where he paused, as if trying to figure out how much to tell her.

'So should you tell her everything?' Kara asked Harry and Harry paused for a second.

'Well we have a problem as Clark and his group just got captured, but yes I suppose that I have to tell her most things,' Harry remarked, his mind was running a million miles a minute and quite scatterbrained at that.

Clark's eyes flickered open as he tried to figure out where he was. He had lost count of the number of situations like this that he had gotten himself into that would be considered problematic.

'Well at least Lana, Lois, Raya or Alicia might be able to bust me out of there,' Clark remarked to himself but then he turned his head around and sure enough he spotted the four girls in question secured and shackled, unable to move even the tiniest bit. They were so secure, they couldn't even shift their weight even the slightest bit to escape their perilous predicament.

There was a second where light shined directly in Clark's eyes and he tried to turn his head away from the lamp over him. It was a red solar lamp that cast it light over top of him. He may have had a small amount of powers so he would have to think quickly to find a way to get out of here. His arm was numb, almost as if he suffered a slight beating and his chest was heavy with the thumping of his own heart.

Clark's eyes tried to focus but his hearing was crisp as always as he heard a breathy voice resound around him. "Good you're awake."

"Who are you?" Clark demanded his vision was blurred from the light shining into it but there was a man who stood over him, clicking something.

"I'm the type of person who does the dirty work that the government doesn't have the balls to do," the government agent remarked in a raspy voice from the shadows. "I hope you appreciate what I'm going to do to you and the rest. The world will be saved, from one alien at a time, starting with you."

"I don't….I'm as human as you are," Clark managed.

Lois's eyes flickered open as she had a hell of a headache. It happened so fast that there was only some blurred recollections in her mind. In fact, she was pretty sure they were all asleep when it happened as she tried to get herself up.

Lana's mind was also a blur as she tried to shake off the buzzing that coursed through the back of her head. The dark haired woman tried to push herself back up but she sank back down with a garbled protest running through her mind. Despite the fact that she thought that she should be able to move, movement was not an option.

'What happened?' Lana thought in a slurred declaration as she tried to figure that very thing out.

'I would tell you if I knew,' Lois thought in a frustrated tone of voice, she really wished that she had all of the answers but as long as the questions kept changing, she was pretty much had her back against the wall. Her wrists were bound against a table as the shady government agent remained in the shadows.

"Checkmate has been compromised by those who have gone too soft, they are unable to willing to take steps, they want to draft you super powered freaks into their private army," the man in the shadows commented as he kept his eyes on Clark. "See, there's one thing that I know about you freaks and that's this. No matter what, you cannot be reasoned with."

He reached up and grabbed a drill with a super heated Kryptonite tip burning from the end of it. There was a few seconds where he paused and held the drill up to his face, locking his eyes on the tip a malicious smile crossed his face as he revved it once. That was about all the assembled group could see, although the tone of his voice was more than enough to coax thoughts of the abject horror that came from dealing with someone like this.

"I'm going to show you the true meaning of torment," he remarked to them as he kept his hands on the drill and he started it up again. The sinister whirling could be heard as the Kryptonite tip glowed maliciously. He edged a few steps towards his victim and held the drill against him. "I'm going to make sure that….I'm going to make sure that you cause no one any torment ever again."

He ran his finger down the tip of the drill hissing out as he did, so as he waited for the perfect moment.

"I'm going to take your foul heart out and mount it on my wall, a true trophy of what it means to makes my triumph all that sweeter,' he remarked as he adjusted his grip on the drill in his hand and there was another sinister whirl as he tapped the trigger again and edged towards Clark, going closer and closer to him.

Clark saw his entire life flash before him.

Alicia tried to teleport out but she was too drugged to use her powers. They had no idea what terrors where yet to come within the dungeon of horror but already things were not looking good.

There was a scream as the government agent dropped to the ground and Clark looked up. The man was spiked in the back of the neck with a gauntlet that was made of Kryptonite. Even though he was not a Kryptonian, he fell to the ground like a paperweight, suffering the pain that stabbed through his body.

Clark's eyes flickered around, blazing with fury as he turned to face his adversary. The adversary was Downfall and things went from bad to worse.

"You saved me," Clark managed as he looked up at the person.

"Did I?" Downfall asked but she reached over and shut down the red solar radiation. "You've got a price on your head higher than the net worth of some countries. They don't care about figuring out the difference between the good aliens and the bad aliens, all they care about is that they're seen as doing something effective."

Harry turned up and Downfall turned around. There was a few seconds where Clark's arms were too weak to be lifted off of the table. He thumped back onto the table and started to breath heavily.

Lily, Clara, Alex, Kara, and Karen had followed him. They all faced off against Downfall.

"My debt is paid," Downfall remarked as she used a spell to knock Clark back out cold along with the others four girls. "Checkmate's last remaining loose end has been tied up, it's yours for the taking."

Downfall pulled of the mask to reveal the face of Rose Evans, better known as Rosalina Sinclair. Lily came face to face with her sister for the first time of years.

"I thought that you abandoned me for the record," Rose remarked as she stared Lily down.

"I never would have….Petunia told me that you were dead," Lily remarked as she threw her arms around Rose. Rose returned the hug, although there was a few seconds where she looked towards Harry.

"So, I've done some things to you and your loved ones in the past, I can't remember them, but I see flashes of them, nightmares when I try to sleep," Rose remarked and there was a few seconds before Karen spoke.

"I'm sure the two of you have much atoning for and you will make it up for Harry," Karen remarked to them.

"Yes, we'll figure out a way to repay your debt," Kara remarked as she had a glint in her eye that only met one thing.

Their asses, both of them, now belonged to Harry Potter.

"We need to talk."

Clark wondered what Harry's game was now and he followed the green eyed sorcerer on his way through the Shining Light Foundation. He noticed that Diana, Kara, and Karen all had their eyes on Clark, as did Alicia, Raya, Lana, and Lois. Seven sets of female eyes, all of them begging for Clark to try something were locked onto him and that was making him fairly nervous. The Last Son of Krypton made his way through the doors as they moved closer to their destination.

"I want to know what you're doing, we need to know," Clark remarked as he looked to the females behind him.

"Do not bring us into it," Lana remarked but she would be lying if she was not completely curious if she was curious about everything. The dark haired woman lead them forwards as they made their way down the hallway.

Harry shook his head and gave Lana a glance that told her that this was okay.

"I've been working with something that your father….the clone….stashed here," Harry remarked as he looked over his shoulder and faced Clark. There was a few seconds where the two of them locked eyes onto each other.

Clark felt the accusation bubble from his tongue. "You knew about this for how long…."

"Everything I've done is to make sure that the world doesn't fall into ruins because Zod and his followers, along with several other parties will destroy it," Harry remarked as he turned towards him. "But….you've earned the right to know."

"So you trust me?" Clark asked in confusion as he locked eyes with Harry.

There was a brief second of pause as Harry told him. "Trust is a word that I think that we all throw around a bit too easily but given that all that's happened, you've earned about as much trust from me as you're ever going to earn."

There was a small part of Harry that felt a bit bad about what he was going to have to do with Clark but there was something that reminded him that unless his head got in order, he could be a danger to the world. Stripping his powers was not an option, not this time, because he could think of at least a dozen ways where he could restore them at the cost of his sanity. So, it was time for Clark to go away. And being in order meant that he could not be around in the world. The emerald eyes of Harry Potter fluttered as he kept his expression locked on the young man behind him.

"I trust you've heard a few whispers about the Book of RAO," Harry told him and Clark nodded in affirmation.

"Zod mentioned it to me, it was said to be something that could give us ultimate power," Clark remarked and Harry shook his head. "What do you mean…..well since you seem to know so much, what does it do?"

Harry was pretty sure that comment from Clark was a slight that was directed towards him but he could not be bothered such trivialities. He remained fairly calm and collected as he drew in a breath so he could explain.

"The Book of RAO was developed by your father to bring the Kandorians to a promise land, a type of new Krypton."

"A New Krypton?" Clark asked of him.

"As long as they remain on a planet underneath the yellow sun, they will give into certain temptations," Harry told Clark and Clark nodded. "You've heard the phrase of absolute power corrupting absolutely."

"Yes, I have," Clark agreed.

"Yes, and that phrase will be one that would be completely accurate towards the Kandorians," Harry commented to Clark and Clark's head inclined with a slight nod. He placed his hand on his cheek.

"So what does the Book do?" Lois asked.

Harry was cut off by Clark's inquiries but he was grateful that Lois had brought him back to that point. "The Book of RAO is going to transport everyone of Kryptonian descent off of the planet."

"When they say everyone that means….that means me as well," Clark remarked to him.

Kara was quick to step in with a reassuring smile. "Yes, that means that but here's the thing. You'll be there with them and you can lead them into a new age, a new future, and there's always the chance that you can be brought back to Earth."

Clark wondered about this but he thought about how he could find his new destiny separately from Harry and the Heralds of Death. He could return, find a way to become stronger than ever before.

'You're sending him away, so he can get his shit in order, aren't you?' Lois asked Harry.

Harry did not say anything because there was nothing that needed to be said. He headed towards the room where the Book of RAO was kept. Harry's green eyes burned with even more intensity then usual.

His heart kept beating as he reached forward and removed the lock and the doors started to click open one at a time. The wizard took his time in opening the door and the suspense could be cut with a knife.

"It's not here," Kara breathed in a horrified tone of voice.

"You mean it's gone," Clark remarked, he was taken off guard by that and there was a small amount of dread. "I thought that there was security there."

"Yes….I know it was," Harry commented to him as he looked around. He performed a scanning spell around the area but only found something and that was the screws of a panel having been loosened.

Whoever, loosened it obviously intended Harry to open it up and the green eyed wizard got down onto the ground to pull it out.

The Red Queen was in the palm of his hand.

"Checkmate has the Book of RAO," Harry remarked and Clark's eyes blinked towards him. "The Red Queen."

Clark did not want to say anything but he knew something that Harry did not know. A mysterious contact came to him the previous day and had given him concrete proof of all of the identities of the Checkmate agents and he knew the identity of the mysterious Red Queen.

It took him for a loop but he knew it and Harry obviously did not know it, at least that's what Clark thought.

"The Red Queen….well I'm sure that you'll find it, you always do," Clark remarked to Harry with a smile.

There was a whisper in his ear to take him out now but he knew that if he struck, Kara and Karen would have them, not to mention Diana, and any other members of Harry's group that was hidden.

Clark and his minders left as Harry watched him.

'So he bought it,' Chloe thought to them.

'Yes, he bought it,' Harry remarked to her in conclusion before he added mentally. 'Checkmate.'

Clark returned to the Kent Farm and he was greeted with his mother standing around the kitchen, baking a pie.

"I have to say, that brings me back to the good old days," Clark remarked to his mother and Martha turned towards him, raising an eyebrow towards him. "You know? When things were a bit more simpler."

Martha shook her head but she looked towards her son with a smile on her face. "Clark, you really are looking at things with rose-tinted glasses if you things were ever simple for us."

Clark shrugged his shoulders, his mother had a point but he recalled a time where things were far simpler. Where all he had to deal with was the random meteor mutant of the week and had to worry about getting through the challenges of High School. Those days were a long time ago, in fact the days of innocence ended a long time ago.

It was almost like Clark could not pinpoint the time where that would have changed but it caused his head to buzz with pain and misery. He placed his hands on the top of his head.

"You're troubled," Martha remarked and Clark opened his mouth. "A mother can always tell."

"It's just…." Clark looked over his shoulder but no one was around, not even Lana or Lois. He fixed his eyes back on his mother as the two of them stared each other down for a few seconds before he remarked to her in a crisp voice. "How did you do it?"

"How did I do what?" Martha asked, she kept her voice calm and acted like she did not know what Clark was talking about.

Clark smiled, playing the game. "You did it, a son can always tell."

"Well, you're cryptic," Martha remarked as she stepped back a little bit. "The Book of RAO….I have it. I managed to liberate it from the Shining Light Foundation. You're the only one who could use it after all."

"I really am," Clark commented in a tense tone of voice as he kept his gaze locked onto that of his mother's and Martha nodded her head at him.

"Yes, Clark, you are," Martha agreed as she kept herself watching him. The redhead shifted herself around and reached into a jar where she had it hidden. She took the metallic object and walked it over towards him and placed the object into his hand.

Clark watched it, this object almost made him nervous, almost made him scared, but he focused his expression on it.

"It will send them all away, onto another world," Clark remarked to Martha. "Are you sure…."

"That it's safe….yes I've had my contacts at Checkmate take a look at it," Martha told him as she eyed him. "Using this object….the world will be a safer place and perhaps Zod can find his own place in the universe."

Clark nodded as he recalled his father's words, the promise that he made to save Zod and his eyes flickered towards the book as he held it in his hand.

'Use it and take him out, remove him from the equation,' the voice of Jor-El commented in the back of his ear, it was like a whisper that he could not shake off.

Clark inclined his head but he blocked the buzzing that was going through it.

"Are you okay Clark?" Martha asked as she frowned looking at her son.

"Yes, I'm fine," Clark remarked but he had a question for his mother and he could not help but ask it. The woman fixed her gaze onto Clark as he did so "Do you ever regret anything that you've done in your life?"

Martha paused as she considered her son's question but then she shook her head. "Regrets….in another time, I might have had them. But after I've seen some of the things in the world and all of the mistakes I've made, I've chalked them up to a learning experience."

"Would you do anything to save the world?" Clark asked suddenly.

Martha frowned at her son as she spoke to him. "Anything can mean a lot of things, Clark, you know that, don't you?"

Clark nodded, he did know that and he knew that there was something that he might have to apologize for having to do. His father reminded him constantly that someone with Harry's power level, well he was too dangerous to live.

"I know….I know," Clark remarked to her as he held the Book of RAO in his hand. There was a huge part of him that made him feel like he was playing with live fire in his hand and the spark was going to shoot out and burn him big time, and very badly. He wondered if he was going to do something that he might regret.

Clark's eyes swam with frustration as he was torn between doing the right thing for him and the right thing for the entire world. His mind continued to boil over with these frustrations as he watched the Book of RAO in his hand.

"So, it was interesting to meet with your birth mother, Lara," Martha commented to Clark and Clark turned towards her.

Talking about his frustrations regarding who his birth mother was in a relationship with was not something that Clark felt at ease with doing with his mother. Therefore, wisely perhaps, he kept his mouth shut. Even though there were times where he wanted to rant and rage about it, it would be foolish to do so.

"Yes….she's an interesting woman," Clark commented as he kept his voice calm.

"She was a doctor and a scientist in her own right, I think that she wasted a lot of her own potential by marrying Jor-El," Martha remarked, although she did think that love tended to blind us all.

"Yes, she is remarkable," Clark agreed with his mother as he thought about it.

"Well, I'm going out with her, we're going to have coffee together," Martha commented and Clark looked at his mother.

He had no idea why, but there was something about the prospect of his birth mother and his adopted mother having coffee that quite frankly spooked him even if he was unable to properly wrap his head around it. Actually he wondered if they were going to have a discussion about things that happened with him recently.

Martha took her leave as she had a message. She took out the phone and it read.

'Thanks for your help, he'll be fine.'

Agent Omega

Agent Lighting

Agent Argo.

Martha did the standard protocol of deleting the message as she made her way off to meet with Lara. The truth be told, she hoped that this cloak and dagger act was not going to blow up in their faces.

She was skeptical until Harry, Kara, and Karen explained the plan to her and now she decided that this might be for the best.

No matter what life she was in, Shayera knew one thing and that was she always hungered for a good fight. The redhead placed her hands on her hips as she prepared to stare down the young man who was standing across from her. The smile that crossed her face could not be beaten by anything on Earth.

Shayera dropped into a battle stance, she was dressed in a tight white sports bra along with a pair of dark pants as she faced Harry. Her toned stomach was showcased, as her breasts strained against the top. The pants stretched tightly around her amazing ass and Harry kept his eyes locked onto hers as he kept staring her down. The redhead was watching him with a great deal of intensity and he was watching her with some of his own as well.

"So are you ready?" Shayera asked Harry, a smile crossing her face as she could barely contain herself and Harry smiled as he faced the winged woman that was staring beside him.

Courtney sat off to the side, eating an apple, and waiting her turn, but naturally, she was not about to get in the middle of this. Shayera could be fairly intense when she was fighting after all.

Still there was one thought that resounded in Courtney's mind.

'This should be good.'

Shayera had an intense expression on her face and the redhead's face was framed with her hair as she looked across to the green eyed wizard. Both of them circled around each other as the two of them waited for an opening to attack each other.

Harry dodged the attack as Shayera moved passed him, trying to hold her punch steady but she pulled back at the last minute. She spun around to face him as Harry waited behind her.

"So, you're cruising for one," Shayera commented as she rushed forwards again Harry but the emerald eyed wizard dodged out of the way once more. His green eyes flickered as Shayera kept moving towards him.

A few more swings of her fists but Harry kept dodging them as Courtney watched the battle around her in the most excited manner possible. She was keeping her hands cupped in her chin as she watched.

'Going to be so good….oh that one has to hurt,' Courtney remarked to herself as Shayera grabbed Harry around the arm and tossed him down to the ground.

Harry rolled over and rubbed his elbow, he had to admit, that she almost hurt him on that one but almost did not mean quite. The emerald eyes of Harry Potter once again swam with intensity as he pulled himself back up to a standing position and stood in a battle stance. The two of them kept circling each other.

"Again," Harry told her and Shayera smiled as she rushed Harry, going for him once again.

Harry avoided her attacks, dodging and weaving around them as his green eyes filled with mischief as his intensity could not be beaten. He motioned for her to keep going for him and Shayera felt herself winded from the early attempts to attack him.

"You're out of practice, aren't you?" Harry asked her and Shayera took him down by the legs and brought him down as she aimed a punch at him.

"What do you think?" she asked and Harry held her arm back and smiled.

"Very good, and again," Harry commented as Shayera sent a punch at him once more but Harry dodged it.

"Believe me, I'm going to take you down and you're going to be pleading for it to end," Shayera remarked as her warrior spirit flared up.

Although the look of determination flowed through her eyes, deep down, the woman enjoyed this and she enjoyed pretty much everything Harry could give her. The two of them surrounded each other as they rushed the other. Their hands were lifted up in the air as Shayera made her way towards Harry and tried for a rocket buster of a punch.

Harry arched his back and dodged that. He bobbed and weaved in the attacks and went behind her, holding his arms around her waist.

Shayera thought that this was an attempt to fluster her and she would not go for it. He pressed against her and the redhead felt something brush against her. She tried to keep herself calm and collected although she realized that any other man she would simply bust their teeth out of their mouth with the point of her elbow.

With Harry, she was distracted for some reasons and Harry went between her legs to deliver a takedown.

"I'm not used to being taken down on that," Shayera remarked and Harry grabbed her arms and pinned her down.

"I'm sure it's been a very long time since you've been flat on your back," Harry remarked with a grin as he straddled her in the dominate position and Shayera tried to get herself back up towards him but Harry flipped her back over. The emerald eyed wizard kept his expression on her.

"Yes….but I can adapt," Shayera commented as she managed to arch her hips up towards him and pushed herself up out of the attack.

She grabbed Harry around the wrist and whipped him against the padded area of the room on the other side.

Shayera grabbed Harry, her legs straddling his hips as he crouched down and her mouth found his with a kiss.

Courtney watched, shell shocked and unable to articulate two words. She saw this intense kiss, as their arms wrapped around each other and their tongues worked together for dominance as Shayera reached around and made quick work of Harry's pants, removing them from his body and revealing him to them.

'My god,' Courtney managed, nearly having a nose bleed at what she saw and her heart was aflutter as she saw Harry's length.

Smut/Lemon Begins.

-PROFILE-

Smut/Lemon Ends.

To Be Continued In the Next Chapter.