Chapter Thirty-Two: Shadows of Discontent Part Four.
The wraith had been very dangerous before but the fact it gained corporeal form and Kryptonian powers made it even more dangerous. Time slowed down to a very still crawl when the wraith stood there, basking in the powers it had obtained just a moment ago. Energy surrounded the creature when it tilted its head back. Everything was starting to come through its body.
Sensations which had long since been denied for it returned in a very impressive manner. Finally, it had the abilities to carry out its directive, carry out its main purpose in life. The wraith's attention turned around, getting the surroundings. It could feel, it could see, it could be.
"Finally, I am whole again."
The two Kryptonians eyed each other for a moment. Clark knew he would have to move now, and attack her while she still was regaining her bearings and getting accustomed to her new form. Clark jumped up and tried to nail her with a huge punch.
The wraith blocked the huge punch and spun Clark around. He rotated in mid-air like a top and flew down to the ground. He skidded across the ground. Clark closed his eyes and rose to his feet in time to see Karen engage the wraith in battle. Both of them collided with each other in a fierce confrontation and traded punches with each other. These rocket-busting attacks smacked against each other. Neither gave the other any quarter. Both swung their fists and connected with each other.
Sparks flew when the two nearly mirror images fought against each other. Karen did what she was sent here for, to protect Kal-El at all costs. And this was a very dangerous weapon, and she needed to do what was necessary to make sure it did not hurt Kal or anyone else.
"Back off!" Karen yelled. "Now!"
The wraith's eyes shifted and a very devious smile crossed over her face. "You don't understand the power I have now...I am stronger than the two of you combined. I have taken the best of both worlds."
"I'm not going to let you harm anyone, "Karen said. "This ends now."
"I believe you don't have a choice anymore."
The wraiths struck and knocked her right down to the ground. The wraith stood over the downed form until Clark rushed her from the other side. Clark flipped over the air and grabbed the wraith in a hold. The wraith struggled against the attack. Clark flipped the creature down to the ground. His hands turned numb from holding her in such a manner, but now she was down for the count.
The crystal was right in reach. All Clark had to do was grab it and sent her off to the Phantom Zone. Clark rushed forward to grab onto the crystal. Time almost froze as Clark sped up.
The wraith moved forward with surprising speed and nailed Clark in the ribs with a full force punch. Another series of punches rocked the young man. Multiple punches continued to nail him and every single punch took more of the life out of him.
Clark tried to push back and he did, nailing his adversary with a huge punch to the side of the head. The punch rocked her back and drove her down to her knees, at least for a moment.
Karen returned to the battle and grabbed the wraith. The two of the tussled for a moment before the wraith flipped Karen over. Her body flew and smashed through a fence. Splintered wood went flying everywhere after she landed on the ground.
"I've toyed with you for long enough."
The wraith made her move to end this all. However, she never had a chance when something flew at her at the speed of light and nailed her with an attack to the face. The force of the attack even hurt the Wraith.
Astra dropped down, eyes glazing at the monster which attacked two of the survivors of Krypton. She fully appreciated how there was a reason why this particular monster had been put inside of the Phantom Zone. Astra's glare locked onto the creature. No words needed, just pure hatred.
The creature's glare returned fire and brought her tongue against a pair of moist red lips. "Good, I've been looking to take you down for a very long time. You were the one I hunted, ever since we were in the Phantom Zone. Do you realize how many times you've escaped my grasp."
Astra evaded so many hazards during her time in the Phantom Zone, they all blended together. She looked back at the creature who charged her in an attempt to take her down. Astra avoided the punch from the creature and returned fire with a series of rapid-fire strikes of her own.
The creature studied her movements, it was built to learn from the attacks of an opponent. Astra varied up her attacks, never once using any of the conventional methods of fighting. Her arm swung back and caught the creature off guard, bringing it down to the ground with a thunderous blow.
More attacks followed with the creature being caught off guard with a huge punch. Another series of huge punches connect to the chest of the creature. Astra went for a deathblow, one which would take the creature down. The creature blocked her attack and reared it back.
The two flipped through the air. Astra drove the creature to the ground hard. The wraith struggled and tried to push out of the attack. Astra showed it no mercy when pushing it down to the ground. Clumps of ground-launched into the air just as the wraith slammed hard against the dirt.
"You will submit, beast!"
"Never!"
The creature unleashed a barrage of heat vision which struck Astra directly in the face. Astra slid back from the creature's attack, a burn appearing on her face. The General rubbed the side of her face, more annoyed than injured from the attack.
The yellow sun started to rise up over the horizon. Astra allowed the sun's energizing rays to engulf her and to heal the burn on her face. Her eyes shifted over, and she noticed something very interesting regarding the Phantom Wraith creature.
The moment sunlight struck the creature's face and caused its screams of agony to increase. Astra pulled herself up and had been surprised to see the creature's face begin to crack. The creature turned around and made its way up the road as fast as it could go, retreating into the shadows, and away from the sunlight.
Astra's attention turned towards Clark and Karen.
"Are the two of you alright?" she asked.
"A bit beat up, but we'll survive," Clark said.
Astra answered with a nod before she walked closer towards him.
"Neither of you should have gotten that close to the wraith," Astra said. "Now, she's going to take the best of both of your abilities, and…she's a formidable force."
"Not too formidable if she's weakened by the sun," Karen said.
Clark answered with a nod. He thought they should strike while the iron was hot and before the creature had a chance to recoil back into the darkness.
They had a chance, they needed to lure this creature into a trap.
It wasn't for the first time Lois Lane thought she missed something very interesting. The brunette began to wonder if Smallville wasn't as mundane as she previously thought it was. She walked down to the road towards the scene of the carnage. Parts of Smallville looked like a giant tornado had gone through it, which was strange because there weren't any tornados in the area.
Lois found herself struggling to figure out what actually happened in this very chaotic situation. She stepped into the picture and looked from the right to the left, confusion coming out in her mind.
'Hopefully not another meteor shower.'
Lois wondered if it was too soon to joke about something about that. Regardless, she made her way up the road up towards a government barricade. The brunette woman's lips pursed in a surprised frown, knowing how much those types of barricades could cause trouble. She approached it with calmness and walked over.
Lana and Chloe rushed up the road towards her. Both of them looked a bit frazzled.
"Hey, you…what happened?"
Lois had a feeling this was going to be another one of those mind-numbing explanations which she wasn't going to necessarily like. Regardless, though, she gave Lana and Chloe plenty of room to start explaining about certain things which happened.
Chloe answered with a sigh. "Would you believe it is a long story?"
Lois responded with a sigh. Long stories in Smallville, she started to learn they were not exaggerating.
"Yes, I would," Lois said. "But, it looks like we have time."
"Well, Clark encountered one of the creatures from the Phantom Zone," Chloe said. "It's a dimension with some of the most alien fugitives in the universe. There's really no escape, at least there shouldn't be."
"But obviously something got out."
Lois didn't spend too much time thinking about the weirdness in Smallville. If she was perfectly honest, and there were times where she had to be, life could be pretty strange all to itself. Regardless, she leaned back and allowed the other two girls the politeness of the explanation.
"Right, the creature ripped through my aunt's old house, trying to get at Clark through us," Lana said. "And Clark had to save us, at the last minute…..and then the creature chased him away."
"To make a long story as short as possible, the creature caught up with Clark," Chloe said. "It broke free of a containment field, and did something which it stole the form of both Clark and Karen combined."
"How does that work anyway?" Lois asked. "Science? Magic? Magical Science?"
Lois's brain already spun in a million different directions. Chloe smiled and patted her cousin on the shoulder, at least up until the minute where Lois gave her one of those looks in response.
"Okay, it's pretty weird," Lois said. "But, then again, what in our lives isn't weird at this point? We're all dating the same man, sleeping with him, and he just happens to be an alien who was sent here to avoid his dying planet….you know about that right?"
Chloe and Lana both smiled. It took them a while, and Chloe, in particular, kicked herself for not figuring it out sooner. The signs were there and the signs were obvious.
"Yeah," Chloe said.
"Yep," Lana said.
"I was the last to know about it, wasn't I?"
Both of the women nodded. Lois shrugged, fair was fair after all. Clark knew Chloe and Lana a far lot longer than he knew her, and likely the three of them shared a special bond after all they went through. Lois wasn't knocking it in any way, just making a mental observation.
A black haired blur came down the road past them, at a frantic speed. Lois looked towards the blur and realized it wasn't any blur they knew.
"That was…that was her!" Chloe yelled.
The blur didn't even acknowledge their presence when hurling down the road at a breakneck speed. The three girls followed her in the general direction of the Kent Farm. They winced at both the rate the blur moved and the very obvious path of destruction it left behind in her wake.
"It's a good thing Mrs. Kent's out of town, visiting friends, otherwise things would have gotten a little bit worse," Lois responded. "And by I little bit worse, I mean….a lot worse…."
Lois knew she shouldn't follow a mysterious creature from a prison dimension, especially given what it did to Lana's house, and several other buildings. Curiosity got the better of her.
"You're really determined not to reach thirty, are you?"
Lois waved off Chloe's commentary in her usual extremely flippant way.
"Twenty-five actually."
It had been a mark of how distracted Lois was when trying to piece together what this thing was doing, that she didn't make any commentary about how Lana and Chloe followed her. They could see the girl who stood in front of the Kent house. The girl creature underneath the mat and pulled out a key before unlocking the door and slipping inside.
"Huh," Lois said. "She looks like Clark's long-lost sister…and not too dangerous at all."
Chloe tugged on Lois's sleeve to prevent her from going inside, directly behind the creature, who could snap out of whatever mental trip she was under at any minute. "Lois, don't…trust me, you didn't see her up close."
"I didn't say she wasn't dangerous," Lois said. "I said she didn't look dangerous. And we both know looks can be very, very deceiving."
Neither Lana nor Chloe were willing to argue with this particular point. The dark haired girl looked about the house and she stared at a couple of pictures. Her head turned around and looked towards a picture. Half of her face looked disfigured, cracked, and one of the eyes locked in a permanent state of red. Something about her was breaking, both physically, and mentally as well.
"It's almost like she's lost in her memories," Lana muttered.
"Or, Clark's," Chloe confirmed.
The Phantom turned around and disappeared up a set of stairs to continue the exploration of the Kent Farmhouse.
"We better tell him," Lana muttered.
All three girls indulged in the sin of curiosity and wondered where this wraith would head next.
Lara thought the phantom having an actual form made it harder to take the creature down. She floated beside Astra, Karen, and Clark. Lara felt a mixture of emotions regarding this wraith, and the fact it didn't kill Kara or Clark where they stood, made Lara wonder about something.
"She was what she was made," Lara said. "She's not any different from how you and I were created…"
"Yes, we were made through the Kryptonian genetic process, instead of a more natural birth," Astra said. "Unlike Kara, Kara, or Kal, we never had a choice to be anything else than what we were created."
"But, yet, you rebelled against the standards of Krypton," Lara said. "You didn't follow their standards, and Alura didn't either."
"Twins were a rarity, and rarely tried, and obviously for good reason," Astra responded. "Our parents experimented with the process, and they were not liked for doing so. The Krypton council disliked redundancy, and they also disliked the fact people went against their worldview."
Astra remained steadfast of her decision to destroy the Council like she did every single moment after entering the Phantom Zone. She would go to the edge of the universe thinking herself to be correct of these matters.
'I wouldn't change a thing if I had the opportunity to do so,' Astra responded. She closed her fingers together and started to breathe in and out, taking more deep breaths as time passed.
"She's going in the direction of the Kent Farm House," Lara said. "It must be because of Kal's memories, something is messing up her mind. It's making her struggle, there's a huge conflict in her mind."
"Let's strike while the iron is hot," Astra responded.
"Let's try and talk to her."
Astra turned her attention towards Clark. She almost could have scoffed at his words, and even Karen and Lara looked at him with concern, like he had smacked his head hard during the battle. And maybe he did, but Clark stood taller and looked in her face.
"She will kill you and everyone you care about," Astra said. "She needs to be taken down with extreme prejudice."
Clark feared Astra might have been right. His good nature forced Clark to make an attempt. If he was wrong, then he was wrong.
"She's confused, lost," Clark responded.
Astra took a second and looked back towards Clark. "If she is, so much the better for us to take her down."
The two of them locked eyes with each other and the intense stare-down began with neither of them backing off. Lara took a second to grab Clark's shoulder and Karen moved behind Astra. Her grip had been a little firmer than Lara's and Astra understood why.
"Let's find her first."
Astra responded with a nod, it was the best possible plan they could have had. All four Kryptonians walked forward, to see Lana, Chloe, and Lois standing around.
"Are you okay?" Clark asked.
"We should be really asking you that question," Chloe said. "Yeah, we're fine, your double though…or whatever, she went into the house."
Clark leaned in just in time to hear the sound of someone making their way behind the Kent farmhouse and kept walking around. He knew out in the sunlight, the Phantom would perish sooner rather than later. He walked over the gate and walked towards the Phantom.
The Phantom kneeled on the ground, smoke billowing from her shoulders. The breathing got hot and heavy when she looked forward. The Phantom gripped onto the ground. The former wraith rose to her feet and her face looked rather worn, aged almost. It looked like it had been carved in stone.
The solar radiation caused more damage than Clark realized in the first place.
"I have to kill you, but…..I just….I have to….but…"
The wraith closed her eyes. Clark looked at her, hesitating to take any action, whether it be positive or negative. The creature's deep breathing made him realize he was dealing with someone who had been undergoing a lot of conflict and that conflict made things rather tough to hold her head.
"It's because of the way you were made."
The wraith rose up to a standing position and charged her adversaries. The wraith dropped down to the ground, the breath knocked completely out of her. It was like a puppet having her strings cut.
Karen looked up and looked towards the wraith. It was the inverse of Clark and her, the yellow sunlight which sustained the creature was slowly killing the creature. The creature looked rather pathetic, despite being completely dangerous.
"I have to kill you, so I can be at peace."
"Do you really think you will be at peace if you kill us?"
She looked up towards the blonde girl and had been tormented the vortex of the girl's memories, Kal-El's memories, and some scrambled memories which happened during the time before the Phantom Zone. Her heart raced even quicker. It was very hard to keep her head up.
"I had been cast aside by them, they didn't want me, no one wanted me, no one bothered to see what was wrong with me," the wraith said, in pure agony. "Then, I had been freed, but freedom comes at a terrible price. I didn't know what to do with the freedom, so terrible, yet so wonderful."
The wraith's eyes shifted to a burning red when she stared down the man who she should kill based on how she was made. Yet, something else nagged inside of her.
"I can't step into the light without my body being in agony," the wraith said, her voice growing deeper and gnarled. "And the only thing which causes me any kind of enjoyment is the pain of others."
One lunge towards Clark's throat had been blocked. The creature dropped to her knees before the young man and had been pushed down to the ground. The creature struggled against the attack.
"You are who you choose to be, and only you choose to be a monster!"
The creature's red eyes dimmed. Her quick beating heart slowed down and she kept looking back at Clark.
"Everyone on Krypton had been created for a purpose, not everyone had the right to choose, few had the right," the wraith told. "And I was created for murder, to be a weapon, and that's what I have to do."
"No, it isn't."
Astra moved in to attempt to stab the Phantom from behind. Karen blocked her hand before driving the blade in. Astra turned around and the two locked eye to eye with each other.
"Trust him."
Clark released his grip on the Phantom. The young woman looked up into the sky and stood up. She didn't engage Clark or any of the others in battle. She made her way past the gates and started to walk down the road into the midst of Smallville. Every step caused the sun to beat down on her flesh when moving forward. The sunlight continued to beat down on her when she moved forward.
"It's beautiful."
The Phantom appreciated everything around her, no matter how much it harmed her.
Lara took a step forward and raised a crystal up. The crystal discharged energy. The Phantom spread her arms and soaked in the sun despite it burning her to a crisp. The Phantom retracted inside the crystal, just a mere moment before the sun could destroy her.
"So, she's back in the Phantom Zone?" Clark asked.
"No, she's in this containment crystal," Lara said. "Given time, I might be able to fix the flaws wrong with her….she might be a useful ally, if we can get her head on straight….and we have you two to thank for giving her the heart to question her stated purpose."
No scientist in their right mind would discount a potential resource.
Clark could breathe easier now the Phantom had been contained. It was a pretty miserable life to live, to be honest, being created as a weapon and then cast away by those who realized they had gone too far. Many times Clark found himself glad he had been found by Jonathan and Martha Kent and not someone who would be willing to use him as a well. He had been fortunate, very fortunate indeed.
Regardless, Clark returned to the LuthorCorp facility, where he knew someone would be there to meet him. He cleared the entrance and walked inside. Security had changed a little bit, although it had been disabled when recognizing him when he came inside.
"She's up in her office."
Clark turned around and saw Indy standing there. She was busy carrying a large box across the hallway.
"Thanks."
"Oh, no problem, she is very happy to see you," Indy said. "Then again, it is obvious why."
Indy turned around and walked down the hallway. Clark briefly wondered if the skirt she wore was business appropriate. He didn't really pause, rather he made his way up the short set of stairs towards Tess's office. He raised his hand to open the door, but the doors swung open.
He walked into the office, to see Tess bent over it, wearing a very tight skirt which fit her nicely. The redhead turned around and flashed a smile towards him. Clark noticed she had been clearing off her desk for some reason.
"Daisy and Alex both send their regards, but I'm afraid you just missed them," Tess said. "They're going to want to hook up with you too soon, so be on the lookout for them."
Tess responded with a sigh and walked over towards Clark.
"So, I'm glad you got the Phantom contained, and maybe it's better this way," Tess said. "I really though the containment field was going to work and hold him, or her…or whoever."
Clark smiled and put his hand on top of Tess's.
"You did your best, and I don't think anyone can complain about that."
Tess frowned. She did complain about that, but that was beside the point.
"Oh, and I will get to the bottom of why Strange thought it was a good idea to try and mess with Lex's mind…." Tess said. "He's been moved elsewhere, both Lex and Lionel because you can't be too careful. And it's one hole he's going to have a harder time getting out of."
Clark raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, no, I didn't kill him," Tess said.
It was because Tess wasn't sure she could kill Lex. His DNA evolved into something else.
"Just be sure he won't return to plague you for a long time," Tess said. "At least, that's my intention. You should know by now, Luthors find a way to worm their way out certain doom."
Tess rested her hand on Clark's abs, pulling up his shirt slightly and smiled when slipping it down his pants. The older woman leaned in and attacked Clark with a hungry kiss.
Clark would be lying if he didn't see this one coming. Tess's burning kiss inflamed his passions very quickly. She peppered Clark's mouth and face with a series of very passionate kisses before pulling away and smiling at the handsome young man.
"I would hate to think I wasted my time clearing off my desk."
A wicked smile spread over Clark's face when pushing her up against the desk. Her skirt slid up to reveal a nice pair of stockings, a garter belt, and a pair of lacy panties. Clark reached forward and cupped her pussy underneath her skirt and kissed her.
Tess closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss, with Clark mapping out her mouth. She waited a very long time for this, and she wasn't about ready to deny herself any pleasure. Tess and Clark exchanged their passionate kiss, their tongues colliding together in an attempt to dominate the other.
Clark leaned in and grabbed Tess's breast through her blouse with his free hand before squeezing it. He rubbed her pussy and she gave a rather passionate moan. He slid down her panties to get unrestricted access to her bare sexy. He pushed his fingers deep inside of the redhead.
Tess moaned in hunger. The two of them kissed in passion. Tess grabbed two hands on the back of Clark's head and encouraged him to suck the side of her neck. Tess ran a finger down the back of his neck. His fingers dipped inside of her.
Clark pulled up. "I want these."
His hand rested on her breasts. Tess looked up towards him with a very wicked smile and licked her lips.
"Take them," Tess said.
Clark unbuttoned her blouse and she wore a matching lacy red bra which fit her ample breasts. Her wonderful cleavage spilled out the bra. Clark leaned down and kissed her on the cleavage. He fired some more kisses, and every little movement made Tess shiver underneath him.
"You're too much."
Clark slipped a tongue between Tess's cleavage and licked all the way down it. She shivered even more. Clark reached over and unclipped her bra. She sat up on the desk and allowed him to reveal her breasts.
Those perfect, juicy mounds stood up for Clark, ready to squeeze and Clark did. He leaned in and sucked one of her perfect breasts. Tess closed her eyes. Clark kissed and sucked her perfect nipple. He bit down onto it and swirled his tongue around it. Tess moaned.
"Please, oooh, I need you badly."
Tess moaned when Clark attacked her breasts. He hit all of the pleasure points well and made Tess's loins become soaked.
Clark played with her breasts a few more times and pulled back from her. He placed a hand on Tess's smooth mound and started to rub it. His cock practically tore through her pants.
"You make me want to fuck you so bad," Clark said. "I can't stand it."
"Well, get those pants off, and fuck me."
Clark unbuckled his pants and released his massive cock into the wild. Tess looked at him, lips moistening at the thought of having this gigantic tool being driven deep inside her. He pushed his head against her lips and rubbed against her.
The friction increased between the two of them. Clark pushed his throbbing cock against Tess's entrance. Her soft, stocking clad leg ran down his side and made him only more enamored with her. Her wet pussy clutched onto him when Clark moved closer to slipping inside her.
"Take me!" Tess begged him.
Clark wasn't about ready to turn down such an enticing invitation from such a beautiful woman. His throbbing cock stuck at the edge of her entrance and he worked his way into her. Tess's wet pussy lubricated the way inside her, regardless of how tight her sheath was.
Tess closed her eyes. Having her pussy filled by the cock of such a divine man was a dream come true. She rose her hips up off of the desk and picked her hips up. Clark brought his cock into her further. The two of them met each other at the hip.
His manhood speared into her wet pussy. Tess rose up off of the desk and experienced the joy of having more cock than she could handle being shoved between her wet thighs. It was an amazing combination to say the very least. Their hips pumped back and forth together. Tess squeezed his waist.
"Damn," Clark said.
"Agreed," Tess said.
Tess leaned up to meet his lips with a kiss. They pumped into each other with Clark bringing his manhood into her. Tess's body slowly worked up with an orgasm. She anticipated the movement when Clark's fingers entangled through her hair to deepen the kiss and she did the same to his.
Clark could feel the warmness of her hot cunt. He pushed himself inside her, knowing what spots a woman would like thanks to the training with his mother and Karen. The two of them connected with each other. Tess's hips jerked up to take as much of him inside as possible.
The two lovers bottomed out. Clark pushed into her. Tess could feel him stretch her out and it was really good, to feel this throbbing, perfect cock buried into the depths of her body. Tess rose up off of her position and pushed more of Clark inside her. The two of them met each other.
Clark reached around and cupped Tess's breast. Her sweaty chest pushed into his face and Clark lifted the delicious orbs. Tess tightened her stocking clad legs around him and pushed her fingers into his back. She moaned "more" in his ear.
He picked up the pace inside her of. Tess's mind exploded into so many good sensations. His mouth, fingers, and cock worked in unison taking her over the edge. This god among men really blessed her body. He spiked further inside her and rammed into her harder.
"Give me, everything you have!" Tess begged him.
Clark rose to the challenge and brought his cock inside of her smoldering depths. The gorgeous redhead beneath him pushed her body against Clark's. They melded together so warm and so perfectly. Their lips parted with a nice little strand of saliva behind it.
Tess raked a finger down Clark's back and nibbled on his ear. Clark responded by rewarding her with a more hard pounding. They tested the structural integrity of Tess's work desk, and to the credit of the people who made it, it held up pretty well underneath the endless salvo of Clark pounding.
She came, hard, gripping down onto him. Her warm walls clamped down on Clark and caressed his pulsing manhood. Clark's balls throbbed and he knew he was going to get close, but not until he gifted her with many more orgasms.
Tess thought they were cementing their partnership quite nicely. He pulled almost out of her and dragged his tip along the surface of her moist walls. Clark aimed for her and shoved his long cock back into her. Tess held onto him, mewling like a madwoman when more of his hard cock shoved inside her.
The two of them connected with each other. Clark rode through Tess's latest orgasm and kept moving towards another. The sensations of her wet pussy gripping down on his throbbing cock made this a very enticing experience. She shoved her wet walls up and took him inside of her, with more long thrusts. Clark grabbed Tess's thighs and pushed himself deeper.
Tess closed her eyes. Clark ravaged her breasts and she encouraged him to give her more.
"Yes, you're making me feel so good," Tess said. "You have the biggest…thickest cock you've ever given me in your entire life….and I can't wait to have it many more times."
Clark smiled and looked towards her.
"Well, you have a nice tight pussy which needs to be fucked."
Clark ran a finger from Tess's throat down to her cleavage and past her belly button. He rubbed the redhead's clit with Tess gripping onto him. More waves of pleasure washed through her body. The hungry look in Clark's eyes indicated she wanted much more.
Multiple orgasms went over Tess. She gripped him with increasing urgency. So much cum in those balls, and it would soon be inside of her. The warm burst of cum made Tess grip him harder.
Clark could not hold up for much longer. Tess's beautiful body squirming underneath him, her sexy legs wrapped around his waist, and tight cunt gripping his cock made him want to cum hard. The fact she moaned in his ear didn't really help matters that much, if at all. Clark pushed his way inside her.
"Cum, please, I know you'll be hard again in a minute anyway."
Clark smiled and dug his fingers into Tess's hips before plowing her. She encouraged him to continue, so he did, making his long cock bury into her. Her pussy gripped him and released him. Each motion milked him. Tess's latest orgasm was her most potent yet.
"Inside!" Tess begged him.
"Brace….."
Clark saw white when her pussy gripped him. His cock discharged its milky white fluids inside Tess's waiting and accepting womb. He pushed into Tess and kept firing inside of her.
Tess gushed several more times when accepting Clark's abundance of seed inside her. She gripped onto Clark's shoulder and took more of him inside of her.
Clark pulled out of her and Tess rolled him over to mount him. The look of desire in her eyes indicated she was not done for the evening.
And there were no problems with that on Clark's end. Tess's wet dripping snatch brought him back to life before the sex-crazed redhead drove herself down on Clark's manhood.
Chapter Thirty-Three: Symbol.
"The question humanity has asked for a long time is there other life out there? With the universe as vast and immense as it is, it stands to reason there is some kind of life out there which we can learn from or maybe they can learn something from humanity. There have been many more instances occurring which point towards alien activity. While the United States government declined to comment on this story, there are many who hint aliens are among us and the alien angle is one we should explore."
The newscaster started to speak on the television screen for several moments. Clark moved over to watch the television screen, as the news was played. Lois, Lana, and Chloe also crowded around. The Potter House was very close to being rebuilt. It did not take them as long with the super powered help they had.
Still, Lana was sad that the house she grew up in would never be the same ever again. Houses could be rebuilt, but nothing was ever the same.
More interestingly, they listened to the news. It was always interesting to see how the world would react to various bits of news. Chloe's lips teased into a smile. Amusement filled the eyes of the perky woman.
"Little do they know," Chloe muttered.
"Well, I don't know if they know, but they kind of expect," Lois said. "I mean, people expecting there's something going on, that's the entire point for this newscast isn't it. They think there's something up, and they think there are aliens among us. There are aliens among us, but not in the way they think."
"Just wait for it," Clark said.
Clark had a feeling someone would bring up a critical point. It was good that someone looked at the problem from all angles. Still, Clark felt like they were intruding less on him, and more on the people he cared about.
"The most surprising evidence of an alien presence exists not in a major city, not in the government, or not in some lab opened by big business who stumbled upon an alien craft which fell down to Earth," the reporter said. "No, the real proof happens in the heartland of America. Where old school traditional American values are still prominent."
Clark frowned when listening to the woman on the news giving her spiel. He knew something about this report was going to change the lives of many people.
"They couldn't be talking about, could they?" Lana asked.
Chloe resembled a bobblehead with her constant nodding. "Yes, they could, why else would they say anything different?"
Clark wrapped his arm around Chloe and pulled her in close. Chloe calmed down the rampant nodding. The two listened to the broadcast. The reconstruction stalled when news came about from across the world.
"No, the rumors of the alien presence points to a sleepy little town in the heartland of America, known as Smallville," the reporter continued. "There have been numerous events over the years which pointed to a presence beyond this world. Over the past number of years, Smallville has been ground zero, but not one, but two meteor showers. People in the city have had extraordinary powers. Some of those powers ruined the lives of many around them"
Clark frowned. He wasn't sure how much he liked a light being shined on Smallville like this. It had to be inevitable because there could only be so many times where something happened in a small little town before people took notice. And there were all kinds of people who took notice, the wrong kind of notice.
He harkened back to what Claire mentioned about this HIVE organization. Clark braced himself for battle. And there would not be just a battle coming. It would be a war. The meteor mutants he fought were small time compared to the other threats which lingered out there.
"Yet, many claim Smallville has a hero, a guardian angel who protects them from harm."
Lois, Lana, and Chloe turned to Clark. Clark turned away. He tried not to smile. Clark was the same man he always was. He only did what he had to do. He was no one's guardian angel. He was just a man, a powerful man, trying to do the right thing to help those around him.
"I wonder who they could be referring to now," Lois said. "Do any of you have the slightest clue possible?"
"I just do what I can," Clark said.
Chloe almost smiled at Clark's modest. It endeared him to her and to the rest of the girls. It could be very frustrating sometimes to see Clark not give himself the credit he deserved.
"And that's the thing," Chloe said. "Not only you do what you can, but you go above and beyond the call of duty when you don't have to."
"Who is this mysterious hero? Was he gifted by the meteors or was he another gift sent by the stars? No one quite knows, but I think this reporter should thank him for all he's done. And all he continues to do. There are people in Smallville who are very grateful he is here."
Lana rose up to her feet and walked behind Clark. She almost could have laughed at the look which went over the young man's face. It was quite comical to see him wilting, but there was a small smile trying to pop up.
"Well, I can't speak for every person in Smallville," Lana said. "I do know there are three people in particular who are very grateful you're here."
"Yes, we're very grateful," Chloe said.
Lois looked towards Chloe after a rough nudge. She turned to Clark. "You're alright."
"That's high praise coming from you."
Lois smiled and responded with a head shake. "Just don't let it start going to your head. I won't be afraid to puncture it if it starts to."
Clark knew that to be perfectly honest. One thing Lois showed time and time again was the simple face she would be willing to give a rather firm opinion without fear of offending something. Clark appreciated that, even if he thought that sharp tongue could get her in trouble some days.
A knock on the door brought Clark out of his thoughts. He turned around to answer the door.
"Hey, Patricia," Clark commented. "How are you holding up?"
Patricia almost could have smiled.
"I should ask the same about you," Patricia said. "You had a very busy night the other night…and it could have ended really ugly."
Clark smiled, busy night pretty much described what happened in a nutshell. Patricia made in and saw the news media. The latest events in Smallville over the past couple of years hit the national news hard. It was hard to get away from it.
"So, I may have a lead on my father's journal," Patricia said. "I won't tell you one hundred percent, though, but the person tracking it down feels pretty good about it."
Clark looked towards the screen in front of him. He could see several local people talking about their close encounters with the mysterious savior. Clark knew no one saw his face, and he thanked himself.
"I'm going to have to come out in the light sooner or later," Clark said. "The world needs a symbol. Someone they can rally behind when the times are tough."
Clark understood there were times where he needed to encourage the people to do things on their own and fight. However, if he could serve as the inspiration to do so, it would be good. He looked towards Chloe, Lana, and Lois.
"Hey, you know best," Chloe said. "If you want to be the symbol the world needs, go out and do it."
"STAR Labs is there to support you, my father promised to do so, and I carry on that promise," Patricia said. "We might have some ideas which can help."
Clark smiled at the brilliant woman. Her father would be proud at the effort.
"Your father will be proud."
"So would yours," Patricia said.
Both of them smiled at each other.
"So, anyway, how about those ideas?"
"I'll be happy to hear them."
Tess spent the last day in completely cool down mode. She had Lex and Lionel moved elsewhere. Her mistake was she thought Hugo Strange could be a professional about this. The man had been paid enough money to follow her orders, but she made one vital error in thinking he followed directions.
She made the trip all the way out to Strange's office to make sure he returned.
'I only have myself to blame for this.'
Tess shook her head and made her way down the hallway. One of the guards gave her a long look the moment Tess arrived. She looked towards the guard in question.
"Is Professor Strange ready to see me?" Tess asked.
"He's waiting for you right in his office," the guard said.
The guard looked uncomfortable. Tess didn't hold him accountable for anything, he was a guard and trapped behind a rock and a hard place. He really didn't have much of anything to do with the situation. The man's responsible was to do his job and to do it well. No matter what orders he got, it was his responsibility to fulfill them to the letter. Tess appreciated that and respected that to a certain degree.
She raised one hand and started to knock on the door. Tess waited for someone to answer. She never really had a chance for her impatience to hit a fever pitch.
"Come on."
The door opened and Tess stepped into the room. She came face to face with the one and only Hugo Strange, who looked towards her with a very solemn expression on his face.
"Let me be the first to offer my humble apologies of how everything had gone down," Strange said. "I thought I was helping Mr. Luthor, and he, unfortunately, was able to get away before I could properly assist him with what I wanted to do. It's an unfortunate event which I can assure you has never happened before underneath my care, and as long as I live and breathe, it will not happen again."
Tess sat down in front of Hugo Strange. Her eyes locked onto the man in front of her. Those eyes continued to focus on the man in question. Was he uncomfortable? Tess certainly hoped so.
"You say one thing, but I can see something else in your eyes," Tess responded. "You're playing a very dangerous game, Professor Strange. I thought you could keep things professional, and you would have kept your curiosity out of the matter. I fear I was wrong."
The redhead woman paused and looked at Strange. Strange put on a very obvious poker face when looking towards Tess. Her outrage hit a fever pitch when looking at the man in front of her.
"The point is, you are playing a very dangerous game," Tess said. "A very high stakes game beyond your comprehension. It is not a game you should be playing at this moment."
Strange backed off and nodded. He rustled through some papers on his desk. Nothing of importance, might you, but it was just something to keep his hands occupied so he didn't get frustrated. He turned towards Tess for a couple of moments and looked towards him.
"Again, I have to apologize for what I've done," Hugo said. "My behavior was out of line. However, I do have an observation to make about you."
Tess raised an eyebrow. He wanted to talk about her. She couldn't think of anything more which would be equal parts frustrating and also illuminating.
"Enlighten me."
"I see what you're doing, your fierce determination to do twice as much as the people have gone before you. I can only come to one conclusion. It is as plain as day, my lady. You have something to prove, and you will do anything to prove your capability. Even if you know deep down any success will not erase your past failures."
Tess took a long moment to stare at Strange as if considering what to say back to him.
"I'll kindly act you to keep your psycho-babble to the patients at Arkham," Tess said. "Which is the only place you'll be working if I have anything to say about it."
Tess had plenty to say about it. Strange would be blacklisted from working everywhere other than Arkham.
"I assumed you would be able to separate your professional mind from your sick personal curiosity. I'm afraid I was wrong."
Tess leaned closer towards Strange. For a moment, Strange thought she would do something very drastic to him.
"The next time you're to do a job, you're not to go off script and indulge your own curiosities," Tess responded. "I've paid you a fair amount of money to be professional, and you go and do this."
Tess turned around, having dismissed Strange. Strange watched Tess leave with an ugly grimace on his face. The man continued to shuffle through the stacks of paper upon his desk. He stared at the open door long after she departed.
"Maybe someone just offered me a better deal, Ms. Mercer."
Clark bolted back to the Fortress to check up on a couple of things. Karen moved from the Fortress and greeted him with a smile. She walked forward and kissed him on the lips before pulling him into the Fortress.
"So, to answer your question before you even ask it, everyone's holding up fine here at the Fortress," Karen said. "How about Lana, Chloe, and Lois, are they holding up fine? How about Martha?"
"They'll all fine," Clark said. "The Phantom Attack shook them all up."
Karen understood why it would.
"Speaking of which, Lara is working on something with the Phantom," Karen said. She reached in and gripped Clark's forearm.
The two of them walked into the Fortress. Raya moved over to do her duties in helping maintain the Fortress. She stopped and exchanged pleasantries in the form of a smile with Clark and Karen before they passed them. Clark could see his mother heavily at work with something. One particular surviving Kryptonian was missing. She would be rather conspicuous by her absence.
"So, where's Astra?"
Clark didn't think this question would cause Karen's expression to go so dark.
"She's around," Karen said. "She still hasn't found her place here on Earth."
"She will don't worry."
Karen was glad one of them didn't worry. She worried about what would happen now Astra was on Earth.
Lara rose up from her position. Clark spotted the crystal where the Phantom was currently being stored.
"She's currently in stasis, and maybe in time, I can find out what's wrong with her and heal her," Lara responded. "It isn't her fault she was created. She was made to be a weapon."
Lara had an uphill battle. She could be useful as an ally if Lara worked through the problems.
"Yes, sometimes we are prepared for something nasty," Karen said. "But, maybe we can teach her to be something beyond her own intended purpose."
"Well, she had her moments where it looked like her instincts were going that way," Raya said. "It would be thanks to you two."
Both Karen and Clark responded with smiles. Lara turned around and continued to eye the Alura AI which she hadn't put together. She hoped to have a word with Astra about that, and also drag her into the Fortress for an examination due to the fact she spent a very long time fighting the wild elements of the Phantom Zone.
"What worries me is the door opened," Lara said. "It may be time for us to move your training up to the next level."
"Do you think I should go public?"
Lara didn't answer straight away. She looked towards Alura's AI and frowned. It wasn't damaged beyond repair that much was for sure.
"You should do whatever you feel you're ready for," Lara said.
The signal light going off indicated they had guests making their way into the Fortress of Solitude. Lara turned her attention and saw both Tess and her assistant walking into the room. Clark looked up and it was still uncanny how much Karen and Indy could pass off as twins with each other.
"What brings you to the Fortress?" Lara asked.
"Oh, we won't keep you from your work for too long," Tess said. "We just wanted a word with both Kara and Clark if you don't mind."
Lara looked towards both of them and smiled.
"That's up to them."
"Sure, why not," Clark said.
Clark could already tell Tess had something very interesting to say. Indy looked towards him and appeared to be seizing him up for something. Clark was both curious and a little bit apprehensive because of what she was doing. Still, he went along with Tess.
"Sorry, you're just nothing like I would imagine," Indy said. "You're growing into your role….but be warned, there's always going to be a part of him still out there."
Clark blinked and looked towards her. He came to the answer straight away without missing a beat.
"Brainiac?"
Indy answered with the firmest nods possible. "Yes, I'm running scans for other posts. I haven't been able to access the prime copy if he's still online that is. We can't do anything unless we shut down the prime copy."
The two walked for a long time. Karen was looking towards Indy and looking her over for a long time. Indy noticed the way Karen sized her up and turned towards the other girl. She adopted a pose of hands on hips as seen by the other women on Earth.
"Why, do you not like my look?" Indy asked.
Karen broke into a smile. "No, believe me, I'm flattered."
"You should be," Indy said. "You should also know, I was the one who latched onto young Kara's ship and brought her to Earth. It was a long journey, and my programming had been unfortunately scrambled."
"It was a shame you had been corrupted in such a way," Karen said.
Indigo answered with a nod when the four of them appeared back in the caves in the center of Smallville.
"My programming suffered a fair amount of damage," Indy said. "Tess sorted me out in time. I have purged pretty much every instance of Brainiac's programming from my system."
"Almost every?" Clark asked.
Indigo sighed. One hundred percent probability was illogical, especially with her advanced programming.
"You can never be sure," Indy said. "I am perfectly safe. You cannot catch anything from me. If you would like to take a look at me, perhaps it would be for the best if you gave me a physical examination yourself."
She leaned towards Clark with a smile. Perhaps it was Clark's imagination, but it seemed as if her breasts underwent some kind of expansion. He would have to study them.
Tess cleared her throat. Indy allowed the smug little smile to slip off of her face.
"Perhaps, though, this might not be the time or the place for such a procedure," Indy said. "Perhaps, we should do so at another time."
Clark turned his attention to Tess. "So, is this a general visit, or did you want to see me?"
"I dismissed Hugo Strange from my employ," Tess said. "I found out enough where he's working for some very dangerous people, and I want to know who he's working for."
"So you didn't….."
"I wanted nothing better to strangle him," Tess said. "I prefer to avoid murder whenever possible, especially in a public place with so many witnesses."
Clark looked a bit uncomfortable. Tess shook her head, he didn't have to make that hard choice about when morals and ethics went out the window. She hoped he would never have to make that hard choice. He had to back in the original timeline, and it caused him to disappear for three years, even though it saved a lot of lives.
The problem was when a powerful alien did something like this, people always questioned his motives. It was a lot easier to justify when it was a normal human like Tess.
"Oh, I should warn you, the DEO might want to meet up with you," Tess said. "So, keep your head up, and remember, the head of the DEO isn't everything he appears to be at first."
Clark couldn't read Tess's statement as if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Tess leaned in and kissed Clark on the cheek.
"Just follow your judgment."
Dinner at the Danvers household had been delayed by an attack from the Phantom Zone. Karen and Clark made their way, as Eliza invited them to dinner one more time, saying she hoped there wouldn't be any drama this time.
Clark knocked on the door. Kara opened the door a few seconds.
"Come in," Kara said. "Dinner might be a few minutes, though."
Kara, the older, looked at Kara, the younger, frowning. She saw something on the face of her cousin which Kara, either of them in fact, didn't like.
"Why?" Clark asked. "Is there something wrong?"
Kara put her hands on hips and sighed. "Well, you should define wrong."
She invited the two of them inside. Clark could hear snatches of a heated debate with his super hearing. He wasn't even trying to listen in. Clark closed his eyes and covered his ears.
"Yeah, it's a good thing I'm wearing these," Kara said. "Made to help dull my super senses….don't really need them, though, well for my eyesight. My eyesight is fine. It's always perfect when you're a Kryptonian."
Kara smiled and ran a finger down Clark's face looking into his eyes.
"Maybe you should start wearing a pair of glasses," Kara said. "It would make you look dignified."
Karen smiled. She would have to agree, but that was neither here nor there.
"Alex finally told Eliza the truth about her real job," Kara said. "And she's not too pleased about it….well, I don't think she's completely comfortable about the job Alex is working in for some reason. I think she's more unhappy about the fact Alex kept it from her for this long. Seriously, she's been keeping it from her for a long time."
The door leading to the upstairs opened. Carol made her way down the stairs. The chilling mood came down the steps.
"Alex told Mom, didn't she?" Carol asked.
Kara responded with a smile. "Yup."
Carol gave a strained smile. It would be her turn to catch hell next, she was sure. The only thing which would save her was guests.
"Clark, could you do me a favor, stay a couple of weeks or something?" Carol asked.
Clark could have laughed. The normally strong and sufficient woman almost resorted to begging him to stay. This was almost too much.
A knock on the door followed, and Carol opened the door. Daisy Johnson took about two steps inside before realizing there was a bit of an argument.
"So, this is a bad time for me to swing by?" Daisy asked.
Kara was torn between amusement and exasperation. "Pretty much, yeah."
Daisy turned her attention towards Clark. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you….the DEO wants to talk to you. Don't worry, you're not being investigated. But, you know more than anyone about the strange alien activity. And….well, I'll let the Director explain things to you."
Clark frowned, Tess's warning lingered fresh in his mind. He wanted to see what they had to offer before making any kind of decision.
Alex stepped out of the kitchen. She looked like someone who had just gotten an earful from their mother. Eliza stepped back and gave a warm smile.
"Karen, and Clark….and Daisy as well?" Eliza asked. "Are you here to see Alex?"
"Yeah, I've got to discuss work with her," Daisy said.
"Surely you can stay a few minutes for dinner?"
Daisy smiled. "Actually, dinner would be nice."
A home cooked meal would be a refreshing change from TV dinners and takeout seven days a week.
Chapter Thirty-Four: Counter Measures.
Clark was pretty pleased dinner at the Danvers household went without any kind of incident which was the best he could have hoped for. Daisy asked Clark if he would like to join her on a trip to the DEO headquarters, and he agreed to meet her, along with Alex at a neutral location. Clark would be lying though if he didn't have any reservations. Those reservations had been canceled out by a fair amount of curiosity as Clark wondered if he could find out what the DEO was all about.
And most certainly, he would find out what the DEO could have wanted with him. Actually, Clark had his ideas what the DEO would have wanted.
Knowledge would be one of the best items to arm himself in this case, and it would be better if he had plenty of knowledge as opposed to just groping around in the dark. Perhaps, depending on how the meeting would go, Clark would consider an alliance. It would be pretty rude to rule one out at this point in time.
"I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so."
Clark prepared to head out for the meeting location to the DEO. He turned around in time to see Tess who had been looking at him with a smile on her face. She crossed over and greeted Clark with a kiss. Short, to the point, and at the same time, it opened the door up for more later on, if Clark wanted to go down this particular road.
"And I'm guessing you're inviting yourself along," Clark said.
A smile came across Tess's face. She reached in and put a hand over Clark's with a smile.
"Well, I can't force you to take me," Tess said. "But, and I don't mean any offense to you at all, dealing with government organizations you don't have that much experience. I'll go as far to say you're just a little bit in over your head."
Tess held her fingers apart to demonstrate how much she thought Clark was in over his head. Clark frowned when looking at her. No matter how much Clark didn't want to admit there were some things which left him well over his head, Tess had a point as well.
He trusted Alex and Daisy enough to go along with them. However, he was not naïve enough to realize that their boss might have been something.
"If you really want to come?"
"If you'll have me, I'll be with you," Tess said. "I'm not going to handcuff myself to you and make you drag me along. No matter if I have a pair of handcuffs even you can't break."
The redhead businesswoman leaned over and touched her finger to Clark's chest. Clark grew a bit tense with the look on her face. Clark couldn't read Tess most of the time. Her gaze alternated between one of mischief and one of calculation, serious and playful, it was quite the contrast.
Then again, a genius level intellect like Tess had a lot going on her head. Someone that level would have to if they played Lex and Lionel Luthor like she did.
"Do you?"
Tess pulled away from Clark with a mock insightful look on her face. She leaned closer towards Clark, a smile playing on her lips. "Now, that would be telling, wouldn't it? Maybe if you're lucky, you'll find out one way or another. And who is to say you won't try and turn the tables."
The redhead always had opened herself up to new experiences, both literally and figuratively to be honest. Tess leaned a little bit towards Clark who wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close.
"So, are you willing to take me?"
Clark reached an arm out for Tess and wrapped it around of her.
"Anywhere," Clark said. "Hang on."
Tess made sure her shoes were done up nice and tight, not wanting to have an incident like Patricia did. She held Clark tightly when he kicked up into the air and moved up, up and away. The flight might have been short, but Tess was holding onto him tightly.
She enjoyed the feel of the air simply blowing in her face, and the feel of Clark pressed against her. The two of them moved through the breezy summer air and dropped down on the ground. They moved over towards Alex and Daisy who had been waiting for them.
"See, I told you he would be here on time," Daisy said.
"Well, you never know," Alex said. "Things come up."
Alex was glad for the burden of her secret to being off of her shoulders in a way, and in another way, it was going to give her mother additional worries, as Alex might be gone for weeks or even a month or two at a time. The world was becoming more opened to alien threats.
She just hoped, prayed potentially there were people who were as good as Clark who came. Aliens could be classified as either good or even just as much as humans could. There were ones who helped out, ones that harmed, and those who just wanted to try and live a normal life free of distraction.
"And Ms. Mercer, you're here as well."
Daisy really wished she would have sounded surprised, but she wasn't. She turned around and walked towards a hill. Tess and Clark followed her with Alex walking a little bit off to the left. The quartet walked around, thinking. Alex moved towards Clark for a second.
"You might not remember this," Alex said. "But, you saved me a couple years ago….my car was overturned, I think it was during one of the meteor mutant rampages. It was before I joined the DEO, and boy were some very dark days."
Alex had trailed down a trip down memory lane. She looked towards Clark who cleared his throat. Alex found it hard not to get distracted by this larger than life figure.
"I mean, I understand perfectly if you don't remember," Alex said. "All of those random hapless people you had to save, it must run together. You must have saved hundreds of people over the years, maybe even thousands, with all of the problems."
"And you saved the entire world when you sent Zod back through the Phantom Zone," Daisy said.
Clark realized his rescue count did go up when sending Zod back home. He was not keeping track of it or anything. A part of him came to the realization if he did start keeping track of it, it would be hard to keep track of it.
Daisy parted the ground and a small set of stairs had been revealed to them.
"So, you're…a meteor mutant?" Clark asked.
That particular question caused Daisy to almost snicker. Clark raised an eyebrow.
"Not exactly," Daisy said. "It's a long story, and…..one where I'll tell you later, when we have more time, maybe over dinner sometime?"
Alex could have shaken her head in bemusement. Her friend sometimes had the subtlety of a runaway train on fire about ready to hurl into another runaway train also on fire. The metaphor had become lost in her mind, but in general, it was the case.
"Well, maybe," Clark responded.
They made their way to the lobby area. A guard, locking eyes on Clark, raised an eyebrow. He stuck his hand up as if to tell him to wait just one moment.
The man reappeared and disappeared, coming back outside. He nodded when directing his attention to the party who turned up at the DEO.
"Mr. Henshaw will see you now."
Clark waited for this particular meeting very eagerly. He stepped right into the center of an organization which had been dedicated to keeping the world safe, much like Clark. However, unlike Clark, there was official government backing, even though it was pretty much off of the books.
And Clark, recalling Lex, realized the desire to protect people could get twisted around into madness. The Kryptonian survivor wanted to give these people at the DEO the benefit of the doubt, even though they could be as corrupt as anyone else. Well, the people running the show anyway, actual agents on the field didn't seem too bad, as far as Clark could tell.
Still, Clark would find out one way or another what the DEO was all about all too soon.
The well-built dark skinned Director of the DEO looked down at Clark. He kept his eyes fixed on Tess Mercer, and the two of them made eye contact for the briefest of seconds. The man then turned his attention towards both of the DEO agents.
"Agent Danvers, Agent Johnson, thank you," Henshaw said. "Mr. Kent, it's an honor to finally meet you at last. Your tireless work has caused a lot of headaches and additional paperwork for my entire organization."
Clark frowned, and he didn't know whether this was a statement of criticism or just a little joke to break the ice. Regardless he stepped towards the man and accepted the handshake. Clark had been surprised about the firmness of the man's handshake. The two men shook hands and locked on with each other.
"Well, you wanted to see my Director Henshaw, and I've been taught it's rude to ignore a request for a meeting," Clark responded.
Tess eyed Henshaw, there was something different about him which she could not place. Did he seem a bit taller than the time she dealt with him in the old timeline? Tess didn't really know, and many questions went through her mind.
"So, why did you want to see me?"
Henshaw smiled and motioned for Clark to sit down. Clark looked around the room and saw no problems in the room around him. He sat down and Henshaw took a seat. Daisy, Tess, and Alex found places to seat.
"This organization was set up after the meteor shower event," Henshaw said. "Those who argued for the need to create an organization to police matters beyond the stars said Earth was at a crossroads. People interpreted some of the papers written by Virgil Swann about life out there, beyond the stars, as evidence there were aliens coming. The meteor shower proved to more people there was something beyond the stars, although the people running this country, and several others believed it was just a bunch of…..air."
Clark thought there might have been another word for what Henshaw would call these words. He was professional enough to not use that particular word.
"The meteor shower changed a lot of opinions," Henshaw said. "There were three groups of people. People who believed we should try and communication with the alien visitors, see what they know. Then there were people who thought there was still nothing to worry about, despite the fact there was evidence there was something out there."
Tess offered a frown. There would always be people who would stick their head in the sand and ignore the blatantly obvious. It was unfortunate many of them were in charge of key positions in this great country to this day and dictated policy which affected people.
"There's a third group," Clark said.
"Yes," Henshaw said. "The third group thought all aliens should be exterminated, and they should be hunted down because they were unnatural. At first, I belonged to this third group, but…..I became more educated and more enlightened. I changed, and became an entirely new man."
The DEO Director rose to his feet to look down at Clark.
"The point is, the Department of Extra-Ordinary Affairs is going to face greater threats, and we are looking for specialized agents which can deal with these greater threats," Henshaw said. "I recruited Agent Johnson first, and she won't be the last to join the DEO under our new drive."
"Do you have anyone else in mind?"
Clark asked this question, knowing fully well what the answer would be. Henshaw stepped closer towards him and looked Clark in the eye.
"I was hoping you would consider joining."
Here, Clark really didn't know what to think. He actually was surprised his opinion had been valued.
"I've…got some questions, and some concerns," Clark said. "You're keeping alien prisoners down here."
Henshaw could figure this would be a cause for concern.
"Yes, I know," Henshaw said. "Some of the aliens have adopted an aggressive stance against Earth. We are the only people who have the facilities which are capable of holding them."
'The only people who have the facilities to hold them who will not just execute them or experiment on them,' Henshaw said.
Clark understood Henshaw's point on this one, but he had a point of his own.
"Have they received their due process?" Clark asked.
Henshaw smiled, he had been raised with values of truth, justice, and the American Way. Well, the American Way as America was intended to be. Ideally, what something should be and ideally what something would be, it was two different things.
"They will receive their due process. We don't have the resources to safely move them to trial and keep them safe and the people around them safe. The political climate is very hostile as you may have noticed."
Henshaw exhaled a deep breath and looked back towards Clark. He really hoped the young man would understand what he was going for, even though he understood why he might not.
"It's the same problem with the meteor mutants," Henshaw said. "Although the alien fugitives, it's safe to say their crimes go beyond the scope of Earth. Many entered this planet, some of them hiding amongst refugees who really did intend to get away from their horrific world to have a better life."
It saddened Henshaw how so many would take advantage of the goodwill of the people who welcomed them in and thus cast suspicion on those from outside of the planet.
"Well, I think if the political climate is hostile, there are going to be some in the government who won't be happy the DEO accepted the help of an alien," Clark said. "So, while I understand why your organization does some of the things you do, I'm afraid I can't join it. There are just too many questions, and people will have questions."
Clark had no desire to become some kind of bounty hunter for aliens and meteor mutants. He feared it could happen if he got into alignment with the DEO.
"I respect all of what you're trying to do, but I can agree with it, not now," Clark said.
Clark extended his hand and once again, Henshaw took his hand into a firm handshake. The two of them parted away.
The Director of the DEO, or rather the man underneath that guide, intended to keep a promise he made a very long time ago. It took him much longer to get here.
'It's interesting to see the man you've become,' Henshaw thought. 'And I wish I could tell you the entire truth…but given your problems with Jor-El, I can see why that would only add gasoline on a fire.'
Clark made his way out of the meeting, with Tess, Daisy, and Alex moving behind him. Tess walked up behind him, eyes locked onto him.
"You think I did the right thing?"
"If you think you did the right thing, you did the right thing," Tess said.
"It's a shame you won't be working with us, although I can understand where you're coming from," Daisy said. "I had my misgivings at first, Alex here pretty much had to twist my arm off to get me to agree to give the DEO a chance."
Clark responded with a nod, he could see where she was coming from, and maybe he had been a little harsh on the DEO, but there were just a lot of questions which needed to be answered, and he didn't really know what to do about it.
"Well, even if you don't decide to join, we're going to still be seeing a lot of each other," Alex said. "We've been assigned to duty in Smallville…and no, it's not exclusively to keep an eye on you, although that's an added benefit if I have to say so myself."
Daisy picked up where Alex left off. "The truth is, there's a lot of weirdness where we're going to have to keep taking a look at things. So, we'll be there if you need to the help, and I think it's safe to say you'll be there as well if we need to the help from you. Just we got to look out for each other."
The nice summer breeze continued to kick through Smallville. Clark turned around and leaned towards both women who wore some pretty anxious grins on their face. He offered them a smile and one word, simple as it might sound, but it said a lot.
"Always."
He would be lying if he did not want to get to know these two more. The DEO was needed. It was just there were a couple of things they were doing which Clark was not completely on board with.
Lara placed the orb containing the essence of the Phantom on a shelf on the Fortress. The Fortress would perform some deep scans which would hopefully point out to what the Phantom was all about. Lara had all of the confidence in the world this would work.
Raya walked up behind her. Lara showed her assistant she knew she was here.
"She's nothing like I expected," Raya said.
Lara turned around towards the assistant of the Fortress and smiled. "People really are what you expected. She may have been created for a certain purpose, but there's no reason whatsoever why she can't go behind that purpose, the purpose which she has bene defined to be for."
Raya answered by shaking her head. There was absolutely no reason why this Phantom could not be very different. Lara walked over and started to study the scans. Karen helped fill in the blanks, and speaking of her, she returned to the Fortress, walking up behind Lara.
"With any luck, we should be able to figure out what makes Clara tick, and then use the knowledge from her to deal with that monstrous creation of Zod's," Lara said.
Raya and Karen both shuddered in unison. Despite the differences they had, and there were many, both women could find common ground. And that common ground had to deal with the fact they did not want Zod's pet to escape from the box.
"If Zod's creation reaches his full potential, and there's every chance he might, it will be the end of anything," Lara said. "I was hoping to hunt him down and stop that from happening if at all possible."
Raya sighed. "The best-laid plans…"
The Kryptonian trailed off for a moment and Lara turned towards her, with a gentle squeeze of Raya's hand to follow. The two Kryptonian survivors relaxed each other.
"Yes, that's the real problem," Lara said. "We had these plans when we were back on Krypton, but they tended to go awry, whether it be by design, or something happened. We're righting the ship."
She could not have been more pleased with the development of her son, to be honest. Lara took herself to the edge of the Fortress and looked beyond it for a moment. Pleased was a pretty good description of how she was right now if she was perfectly honest.
"We have no desire to inflict Doomsday on the world," Karen said. "Some of my memories are coming back, and he caused much destruction and much heartache and….well, we don't want to come down this particular road."
"Don't force your memories to come back, just let them come back naturally," Lara said to her.
"We have a huge problem, though."
Raya's voice snapped Karen out of her thoughts and Karen answered with a brisk nod, huge problem really did define a lot of what they were doing.
"Yes, the problem is his human identity appears to have slipped off the grid," Karen responded. "And I have no idea where he might be, although…given recent news, we have a pretty good idea who might have snatched him."
Lara's expression darkened. They were working on a way to put Doomsday down, but it would only work if he had not been fully evolved. Someone was making that fact more than difficult.
If someone had gotten a hold of that destroyer, who knows what could have happened.
"We don't know for sure," Lara said. "Even though assuming the worst here isn't too far out of line, if I have to say so myself."
Lara returned towards the orb to study it. Soon, the person on the inside would come out.
"Clara should be a great asset once we remove the imperfections," Lara said.
"Clara?" Karen asked.
Lara turned towards her with a smile. "A combination of Clark and Kara, Clara….and let's face it, it seems a tad bit impersonal to keep referring to her as the Phantom or it, doesn't it? Especially when we're trying to help her."
Karen thought Lara had a point, but she had another point.
"You name it, you start to get attached to it."
"Well, she is practically my granddaughter," Lara said.
Attachment wasn't something which Kryptonians did very well with, due to their detached nature. Lara prided herself on being ahead of the pack and progressive enough.
Clark returned back home just to meet Chloe. Chloe always was good to be someone to bounce a few ideas off of. She pounced on him with a hug and a passionate kiss, which looked like she wanted more from, but her curiosity on how Clark's meeting with the DEO went.
"Hey, how did things go?" Chloe asked.
"Well, the DEO is interested in recruiting me," Clark said.
Chloe pulled away from Clark and astonishment filled the perky blonde woman's eyes.
"Really?" Chloe asked. "Well, they took interest in your skills, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?"
"No, it's not a bad thing, but I have no interest in working for them right now."
Chloe responded with a nod. Aliens had been in the news a lot lately, and there had been a lot of anti-alien sentiment from the people in the world. People feared the unknown which Chloe didn't like, but she could see what people were going on.
Most amusingly, she wondered if her perception of the world had been skewed.
"There's something off about Henshaw though," Clark said. "I don't know….there's just more to him than meets the eye."
Chloe had been taken aback by Clark's observations skills. Okay, it wasn't his observation skills, but the fact he seemed so trusting.
"I'll do some research on him if you want me to," Chloe said. "Do you think he might not be completely transparent?"
"I can tell he's hiding something, although I'm not sure what he might be hiding," Clark responded. "Just got to keep an eye on him."
The two of them made their way into the half-built Potter House. It served their purposes well enough, although Patricia mentioned something about arranging something more practical for Clark to supplement the Fortress.
Speaking of Patricia, Clark saw her number pop up on the cell phone.
"Hey, it wasn't easy, but I found it," Patricia said. "I had a friend who is a detective track down my father's journal and a couple of other items as well. We'll know what's in there, although I didn't want to open it without you here because it was kind of meant more for your eyes than mine."
"You should have a chance to take a look at it, it's your father's legacy," Clark said.
"Right, right, how fast can you be over here?"
"In a few minutes."
Clark hung up the phone, and Chloe looked towards him.
"Want to tag along?"
Chloe answered with a grin and extended a hand out. "I thought you'd never ask."