Happy Holidays!
Chapter Forty Part Two
While Lois combed through the evidence they had gathered from LuthorCorp Clark was on the phone with Bruce discussing a plan of action for the league and was clearly growing frustrated with whatever that brooding billionaire was saying.
He hung up and was tempted to crush the phone in his hand but Lois swooped in the take the cellphone out of his hand, "We need to save what money we can for the wedding. I don't think explaining another broken phone to the company will go over well for us considering this is your third one" she places the phone on her desk then looks back him, "What did Bruce say?"
"That he'll handle it" he shakes his head and walks past Lois to sit down in the squeaky chair, "This is my problem, I shouldn't drag my teammates into this"
"At least he's willing to do something about this" she squats down in front of him to get his attention, "If we drag our feet with this then you and god knows who else will be put in serious danger. I think there's more to Lex Luthor's project that meets the eye." She rises back up to show him the photos, "That is way too much kryptonite to take down one man. I think Lex has something bigger planned for you"
He takes the photos and gives them another scan, "Maybe you can use your telescope-y vision thingy a try"
"Micro-Vision" he corrects
"Whatever"
He shakes his head and uses his micro-vision to magnify the images and catches something of interest, "Prometheus" his eyes adjust back to normal and he takes off his glasses to give them a quick rub down, "Still not use to that yet"
"What is it with the Luthors and naming their projects after Greek Mythology?" Lois shakes her head and places the photos to the side, "We have to get back into that facility and find out what Prometheus is"
Clark stood up with his glasses dangling in his hands, "Wait here until I get back" he states placing his glasses down on the desk and walks towards the window with a few buttons of his shirt undone to reveal the costume underneath.
"Like hell I will"
"I can be in and out of there before they even notice me. I can't risk you getting caught in the crossfire" he places his hands on her arms and gave her a pleading look, "Please"
"Fine"
He smiled and gave her a quick kiss then cracked the window open, "I'll fix that later" he states to himself when he notices the crack window frame before disappearing in a blur that eventually became red and blue.
Lois just smirked before gathering her stuff, "Standing on the sidelines isn't my style" the door shut behind her.
The door was ripped open and red boots touched down on the white tile floor as Clark looked around the empty lab only to take a step back when he turned around to see green kryptonite in a cylinder but strangely it had no affect on him, "Lead plated glass." He said to himself stepping closer to examine the rows of meteor rock, "But why…" he goes to the nearest computer and plugs in one of the drives that Chloe had helped design for Watchtower that overrode all security and firewall settings.
Using his super-reading Clark cut his investigation in half when he discovered where Prometheus was locked away and he disappeared in a blur only to reappear several floors below in a rather long corridor that led to one door, "What are you hiding Lex?" he breaks the lock and pushes open the door.
Meanwhile at the same time but on the other side of the building, Lois peered down the empty corridor, "This is getting too easy" she whispers to herself while moving from one side of the wall to the other trying almost like she was trying to ninja her way into the locked room but gave up halfway when she was sure that no one was going to catch her snooping.
She pulled out her lock picking kit the second she was close to the door where she began to pick it and a smile appeared on her face when the door unlocked allowing her to step inside the laboratory and was surprised to see a giant empty tank in the center, "What the…" she walks around it confused until she notices a logo stamped on one of the metal pieces of the rim, "Summerholt" she says to herself when she notices fresh drops of green water at the bottom of the tank and immediately recognized it, "That explains the stockpile of green kryptonite"
There were several discarded tubes that still had traces of kryptonite at the end throw off to the right and she moved closer to access the computer only to find that there wasn't one only blueprints of a prototype named Prometheus.
She shook took pictures of the prints with the camera on her phone and made a haste exit in hopes of finding more clues unaware that her other half was doing the same.
Clark scanned the room and followed the electrical cable buried underneath the structure until it led him straight into something unexpected.
There on the wall hung a bulky suit of robotic armor with a very familiar mechanical part at the center which caused him to take a step back, "It all makes sense now. The kryptonite and the metahumans, Lex is building a warsuit with John Corben's heart as its power source"
He stood there just staring at the thing for several minutes until he heard a familiar heartbeat and looked over his shoulder then blurred towards the source, "Lois" she jumps and spins around to face him, "I thought I told you to stay put"
"When have you ever known me to follow orders" she walks around him still determined to find clues, "Did you find anything yet?"
"Yeah but your not gonna like it."
Together they headed back towards the room that housed the warsuit and just as he predicted Lois immediately turned back to him surprised by what she was seeing, "If that suit is fully operational you realize what Lex will do with that kind of power, he'll destroy you and everyone that stands in his way." She looks back at the suit and states, "We have to destroy it"
"No"
"So you're just going to wait until he slips that thing on and comes after you, the league…maybe even Maggie"
"It wont come to that" he steps forward and just as he was about to slam his fist into the center of the suit the lights suddenly clicked off and a red hue began to emit from ceiling causing Clark to feel less super.
"What the-" Lois looked up confused then when she went to look at Clark she saw a look she hadn't seen before, "What is it?"
"Rao"
Before she could say anything further a gas started to spew out from the vents causing both to cough to start coughing and gasp for air that wasn't there.
"Clark" Lois stumbles to his side and grabs his hand which he squeezed in response while the world around them went black.
The lights clicked back on and the gas receded allowing a pair of fine made Italian heels to enter the room, "It worked perfectly" the doctor comments while removing the mask to look back over at Lex only to grow fearful, "No. You promised" was all that the doctor was allowed to say before a hand touched her forehead and she too was rendered unconscious.
"Shall I dispatch of the others also?"
"No" Lex looked down at the Clark and Lois with a frown then looked back at the man, "Just erase their memories of Prometheus and my involvement. I don't want another incident like this happening again" Lex gave them one last look before walking away.
The man smirked and loomed over the couple with his ungloved hands extended out until his shadow consumed them completely.
When the couple had awoken they found themselves in their car with no memory of how they got there or why their heads were pounding when the memories of the other night came flooding back.
"I guess we fell asleep" Clark stated while he rubbed the back of his neck suddenly feeling sore and looked down to see Lois stretch and rise up with her hair looking extremely bed head-y causing him to let out a small chuckle.
Lois gave him a confused look but then ended up punching him in the arm once she saw what he was laughing at, "I've never fallen asleep on a stakeout before" she says while combing her hair back into a messy bun.
"This whole juggling the wedding and trying to get the story thing has been stressful for you." He wraps his arm around her waist pulling her closer, "My offer to elope on a beach in Fiji is still up for grabs"
"Your not getting out of talking to my father that easily" she responds pulling out of his arms then let out a yawn, "I need caffeine" she felt a gust of wind then turned her head to see Clark holding a fresh box of donuts and coffee, "I love you so much right now" she states while grabbing the cup from him and began drinking it praying it would kick in some time soon to give her that much needed energy boost.
He shakes his head and was about to bite into a donut when he noticed the time and he immediately put the delicious treat back in the box then looked back at Lois slightly afraid to tell her, "Uh Lo"
"In a minute Smallville"
He grimaces and begins counting down in his head until he reached five and Lois let out of curse then hands him the cup before starting the car and sped away causing the cup to spill over Clark's wrinkled shirt unaware that someone had been keeping a virtual eye on them the entire night and was formulating a plan that would have untold consequences for everyone involved.
TBC
Yes I know its evil but it's what any criminal mastermind would do in Lex's place. Its like a chess game, Lex can't be two steps ahead if Clark has seen one of his signature moves.
One of the things I love about any incarnation of Lois Lane is that she never listens when someone tells her to "Stay Put" and in Classic Lane fashion she's going to get into trouble.
Anyone want to take a guess at what that red light was that Lex used to weaken Clark? There's a hint in the story….also think of that moment as one of Lex's many backup "Get Superman" projects
As a special treat and as a thank you for sticking with this story. I'm gonna give you a few spoilers about what's going to happen but not when they'll happen. They'll be vague but if you dont want to be spoiled then just ignore what's below...
- Maggie finds herself dreaming of the intials Kr
- More CLOIS!
- Luthors cause trouble for the Kents
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