TOC Chapter 29: Clark released his tight fists as he closed the door behind him. His hands were shaking. He hoped that neither Kelly nor Lois had seen how much. He studied the pale white crystal that was supposed to solve his problem. It was strangely warm to the touch. He flexed his fingers around it and felt its weight. His heart clenched in slight panic. This was it, the moment he’d been hoping for, his chance to truly win back his body. There was an uneasy flutter in his stomach, a nagging voice in the back of his mind that warned him not to trust Kelly or Asabi or anyone else for that matter.
Who was to say that this wasn’t just an elaborate trick, supposed to fool him into believing that he had the upper hand now, when in truth he’d been lured into a trap? He’d managed to fight on his own, Asabi had even said he might be able to throw Luthor out for good without the dubious means Kelly had provided him with.
But he still felt mental exhaustion weighing him down from the effort it had taken to keep Luthor at bay. He had to try this option because he felt there was no other chance. Both Kelly and Asabi had warned him that the souls were hurting their foreign bodies. And maybe he’d dismiss the idea if he hadn’t felt it himself, the weight of the cruise ship pressing down on him, costing him all his powers. That had never happened to him before during a rescue mission, with the possible exception of stopping the Nightfall asteroid. But that had been a feat on a completely different scale.
Clark leaned his back against the door and took a deep breath. He had to take a leap of faith and hope Kelly had been sincere, at least in her crooked kind of love for Luthor. He had to believe that Asabi really cared about the balance of the world and wasn’t trying to play him for a fool.
“What’s taking him so long?” he heard Kelly’s muffled voice behind him. “Lex should be here by now, don’t you think?”
“Quiet,” Lois chastised her. “If he’s here and he hears us, he’ll know this is a trap.”
Clark flinched and pushed himself off the door. He moved farther away, keeping his ears trained on any sound the women made. But if they talked among themselves while SuperLex was here, he would hear them. There was no place far enough away, no way to keep Lois safe if Kelly blew this.
He balled his hands into fists again, the edges of the crystal digging into his flesh, reminding him there was something else that could give away the trap. He had to hide the crystal and attempt to pick it up later, while SuperLex was around. It would be difficult to cover his intentions. A shiver ran down his spine and his heart rate spiked as another surge of panic washed over him, leaving him panting. He had no idea how he was going to accomplish any of this.
Clark let out a slow breath and tried to calm his racing heart. One thing at a time. First, he needed to hide the crystal, then he had to take his body back and show Luthor where to find him. As Clark walked down the corridor, he passed the broken bed frames. In the pale light of the streetlamps filtering through the windows he spotted one that still had a pull-up bar attached to it. Right next to that bed was a small pile of tiles which had fallen from the wall. Knowing that he had no time to lose, Clark decided it would have to do.
He knelt and placed the stone between the broken tiles, adjusting their position just a bit. He hoped they would still appear random to the unsuspecting eye. When he got up he looked around again and realized that, as long as he was inside the building, Luthor wasn’t likely to locate him. He had to get out and give him a hint. Nothing too obvious, of course, because he needed to return before SuperLex if he wanted to have any chance at winning this fight.
His gut clenched. Bringing SuperLex to Lois seemed like a terrible idea. He shook his head to get rid of the unhelpful thought. Clark gritted his teeth and walked at a brisker pace to keep himself from thinking too much about all the things that could go wrong.
Moments later, he snuck past the door and was met by cool air. He took another deep breath. Feeling the chilly air in his lungs cleared his dark thoughts and helped to settle his rolling stomach.
He could do this, he told himself, repeating the words like a mantra with every deep breath he took.
Then he reached out again, trying to find that connection to his own body. Would Luthor be able to tell the difference between an unintentional body switch and one that he’d forced? He froze, his concentration slipping immediately at the scary thought. Would everything be in vain because Luthor would smell the trap just because he deliberately showed him where he was?
The panic was back and with it the feeling of suffocating, though there obviously was enough air around him. Clark closed his eyes and counted to ten, trying to slow his breathing and get back some semblance of control. He couldn’t give up now.
Lois counted on him.
She’d risked everything getting the kryptonite and he possessed the stone now, sort of. His chances had never been better.
Time was his true enemy and he was wasting it.
After taking a few more steadying breaths, Clark' pulse slowed, and he felt composed enough to try again. Fear still held his stomach in a vice-like grip. But he forced the unease aside and told himself to focus on the task at hand.
The safety of Metropolis was at stake, probably that of the whole world. This wasn’t so different from saving Earth from the Nightfall asteroid. He'd come out victorious then, surely…
A shudder ran down his spine as he realized that he’d just compared his abilities to the devastation the asteroid could have wreaked.
*No,* he told himself.
He wasn’t allowed to think like that now. He couldn’t allow despair to rein him again, not now, not this time. He’d prevented a horrible disaster then, surely he could deal with this new threat. Just another job in the life of Superman. Piece of cake.
Clark leaned his back against a wall and reached out once more, intent on not letting anything get in the way of what he needed to do. He searched for the connection to his body, finding that it was once more elusive. It seemed to pull away from him, searching to escape his grasp. And then, suddenly, something else pushed hard against him. He staggered with the jolt against his consciousness and as he opened his eyes again, he was dizzy and disoriented.
As his spinning vision cleared, he felt the strength run through his body again. But something was off, a sharp pain in his right hand that demanded his attention. Clark felt his blood run cold as he spotted broken skin on his knuckles. The chill running down his spine now let the fear he’d felt before pale in comparison. He wasn’t supposed to bleed in his own body unless there was kryptonite around. And other than the sting in his hand, he felt nothing of the all-encompassing agony that came with the exposure to the green crystal.
Clark let his gaze drift through the room, trying to find out what could have hurt him. He was in the same scarcely lit tunnels that he knew indicated Luthor’s hideout. Directly in front of him, there was a dent in the wall. Smashed bricks littered the ground, but a tiny voice in the back of his mind whispered that the hole should be larger, that perhaps the ceiling should have caved under the force of his fist, if the punch had been an expression of Luthor’s anger.
Most importantly, he shouldn’t have been hurt by doing that, and there was no doubt that he had scraped his knuckles and blood was oozing from the wounds. He was running out of time, and Luthor knew that, too, he realized.
Suddenly, he understood why the connection had been slipping, why something or rather someone had pushed back. Luthor had forced his way into his own body at the same time he had tried to do the same. And right in the moment as that dawned on him, the dizziness was back with a vengeance, jolting him out of his body and onto the deserted streets of Queensland Park.
***
Clark was on his, or rather Luthor's knees, as the world swam into focus. It took him a moment until he found his equilibrium and managed to get up. He swayed a bit still and steadied himself on a nearby wall.
Nausea rolled through his stomach. It seemed to get worse with every switch. Clark fought against the urge to throw up. He didn't have anything in his stomach anyway.
Gritting his teeth and taking deep breaths, he straightened again and looked around. These switches were disorienting to say the least. How far had Luthor taken him? Which way was the old hospital? He wasn't sure.
He groaned softly and settled for a direction, desperately hoping it wasn't the wrong one. If only it weren't so dark, then perhaps…
As Clark passed another house, he recognized a doorway he'd seen on his way here. The way to the old hospital was just around the next corner.
Grateful for the reprieve, Clark hurried back. He knew he wouldn't have much time. Flying from one end of the city to the other was a matter of seconds, less if he pushed hard.
Hopefully, Luthor would need more time to locate him. After all, he wasn't used to the view from above, at least not in this part of town.
He remembered Luthor's bragging about how he liked it that every citizen of Metropolis had to look up to him. Well, he wouldn't be able to enjoy that privilege much longer, if Clark could help it.
As he spotted the door, he increased his speed, running as fast as his feet would let him. A crawling sensation in the back of his neck warned him before he heard it. A woosh. Then feet hit the ground, hard.
Clark stumbled on, jogging toward the bed with the pull-up bar and ducked behind it just in time.
The door flew off its hinges, crashing into the wall. A sound like thunder echoed through the halls and Clark flinched. His breath quickened as he rummaged through the broken tiles, cutting his finger on one of them.
Laughter filled the corridor, terrifying and cruel. His voice sounded so different when Luthor used it.
"Do you really believe you can hide behind that tiny piece of metal?"
He crossed the hall in long strides, snapping his fingers against one of the frames a few yards from Clark. The bed flew as if it weighed nothing, crushing into the next one with a deafening bang. The beds slid across the floor, though their brakes were probably secured, creaking on the tiled floor. Clark’s eyes widened as he saw SuperLex approach the next bed, the one that was next to the bed he was hiding behind. Frantically, he searched for the stone, aware of the clock ticking down. He had bare seconds, if that.
His heart raced and his breath caught. Damp fingers tried to find the one warm spot in the darkness of the old hospital corridor. He spotted SuperLex’s evil smile, faintly illuminated by the lamps outside. Deliberately slow, the other man moved his hand toward the bed frame, indicating that it would only take another snap of his finger.
SuperLex’s fingers moved, and Clark knew that he was losing this game if he didn’t run away now. He realized that he was going to lose it either way if he couldn’t get hold of that damn stone, too. The kryptonite Lois had might not be enough to get his body back. It certainly wasn’t going to help him if the body he was currently in was smashed under the weight of the hospital bed.
He was no longer in the position to just catch it with his bare hands and throw it back on his attacker.
SuperLex snapped his fingers and Clark’s heart stopped. His own fingers suddenly closed around something warm and he jumped back. But nothing happened. No bed was flying in his direction.
“Boo!”
Clark gasped in shock, realizing too late that the monster was teasing him.
Luthor guffawed.
Clark took a quick glance at the item in his hand, sensed its strange warmth, and assured himself that he’d found the stone. The next moment, the bed came toppling toward him after all, crushing into the metal frame a few feet from him. Clark scrambled back, trying to get to his feet.
“You have nowhere to hide,” Luthor snarled. “How does that feel, Superman? Have you ever considered what it’s like to die? I’d tell you, but where would be the fun in that? Why don’t you find out for yourself?”
Clark finally managed to get his feet underneath him. “I’m not afraid of you, Luthor.”
SuperLex stopped. Surprise flashed across his features as Clark stood his ground before him. “Well, you should be. I’m not about to let you escape again.”
Though his heart raced, Clark set his jaw, trying to look every bit as intimidating as SuperLex did. He folded his arms in front of his chest, trying to keep the stone hidden from the other man’s view.
“You’re not going to win. I’m not going to let you.”
His enemy laughed again. “And how are you going to stop me?”
“Any way I can.” Clark narrowed his eyes on Luthor. “You’re not worthy of wearing this suit. You’re not worthy of having these powers. And I won’t let you keep them. I’ll fight you to my dying breath if need be. This stops here and now.”
“You’re right, it does,” Luthor spat.
With two quick strides, SuperLex closed the distance between them. His hand connected with Clark’s chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying. He landed hard, pain shooting through his body, and for a moment, he couldn’t breathe. It hurt too much. Clark tightened his grip on the stone, reassuring himself that he still had it. But even the slight motion sent another wave of agony through him. He squeezed his eyes shut against it and forced himself to get back to his feet. His ears were ringing and he swayed as he tried to lock his knees underneath him.
That way, it wouldn’t take much to finish him off. Clark wondered why Luthor hadn’t already moved in for the kill.
Then he heard SuperLex’s voice. “What are you two doing here?”
Clark’s head whipped around, terrified that Luthor was talking about Lois and Gretchen. But the door to the old radiology room was still closed. As Clark looked up, he spotted two people at the other end of the corridor. His heart skipped a beat and his gut clenched with worry. Would they give away his plan, or what was left of it? The way his chest was hurting, Clark was pretty sure he had some broken ribs.
Once again he looked over his shoulder, wincing as his ribs protested. The door to the old radiology room was still closed. Had Lois any idea what was going on here? If she decided to attack SuperLex with the kryptonite now…
He didn’t want to think about it. If only he could warn her.
“I was looking for you, Nigel!” SuperLex growled. His night vision was better than Clark’s at the moment. “We could have finished this hours ago if you’d been around to tell me where you kept Kent. Instead, you let him escape. You’re very lucky I found him in time. And what is Asabi doing here? If you don’t mind, leave me alone now, I’ve got work to do.”
He turned his attention back to Clark with a dangerous red gleam in his eyes. A sardonic smile played around his lips, sending a shiver down Clark’s spine.
This time, there were no walls coated in lead paint between them. Clark couldn’t help but remember how he’d hidden inside the containers, just barely escaping the fate that awaited him now. And the way Luthor’s lips curled in satisfaction, Clark was pretty sure that his thoughts were on the same night. Luthor wouldn’t let him escape.
Clark took a step back, racking his mind on how to turn the situation on Luthor, when he spotted one of the men producing something from his pocket.
He was too far away to see what it was exactly, but a sinking feeling told Clark that it had to be a metal case containing kryptonite. Had the money Lois had promised St. John been enough of an incentive to keep the crook on their side?
Clark hoped so.
It was a chance, an odd chance, at that. Would Nigel really turn on Luthor to make sure he got the money? But if so, a piece of kryptonite that had been small enough for Rollie Vale to hide in prison would not affect SuperLex at the distance that was still between them.
Who, by the way, was still watching Clark, enjoying that his victim was at his mercy. But Clark had no doubt that the red gleam in his eyes would intensify in mere moments. Clutching at his ribs, Clark managed to stand up straight.
Behind Luthor, the Englishman pursed his lips. “Actually, I do mind.”
Luthor's head whipped around and he spotted the case. “What is this?”
Clark's breath caught. No! It was too soon!
The English man smiled. “Insurance.”
No one was paying attention to Clark anymore. But he had no idea how to make use of that. He had the sudden urge to yell a warning as Nigel snapped the lid open.
An eerie green glow filled the room that made Clark recoil, more out of instinct than anything else. He didn't feel a thing. But apparently neither did SuperLex. The small fragment of kryptonite was still too far away to cause any damage.
"How dare you!" The growl that rose from deep within SuperLex's throat turned into a roar.
And then a cry was ripped from SuperLex's lungs, similar to the one Clark had heard at the docks. The gleam in his eyes became a blast. Nigel and Asabi ducked, but there was no escape. The heat vision cut through the metal of a bed frame, incinerated the remnants of a mattress and burned a deep, long hole into the tiles.
A few exploded under the intense heat.
Clark watched in terror as St. John and Asabi tried to escape Luthor's wrath. And then another sound beside him caught his attention: the squeaking of a door. He whipped around spotting Lois. She, too, held kryptonite in her hand, the crystal emanating a green glow that seemed to pulse.
He'd never been this close to the crystal without being in agony. It was both chilling and fascinating.
Lois laid her finger on her lips and moved past him. He placed his hand on her arm to hold her back and shook his head. This was too dangerous. But she withdrew her arm from his grip, giving him a stern look.
As Clark realized that he couldn't convince her to get back into the relative safety of the radiology room, he followed her. But she looked back at him and gave a firm shake of her head.
The next moment, everything happened at once.
St. John went down. Asabi sagged against a wall and collapsed. As SuperLex turned, several windows exploded under the heat. Clark just knew SuperLex would see Lois next. He had no time to think. He barreled into her, tackling her from behind and pulled the kryptonite from her hand in a move that would have made his old football coach proud.
He threw it in SuperLex’s direction, hoping that it wouldn’t miss its target. A searing pain set his right shoulder on fire. He heard a strangled cry, not sure if it was his own. With a grunt, he collapsed on top of Lois. The wind was knocked from his lungs again and his vision grayed.
It was all too much. His shoulder was a solid ball of agony. With a grunt, he managed to roll off of Lois.
“You okay?” he whispered.
Clark managed a quick look at her and saw her nod before the pain coursing through his arm made him squeeze his eyes shut. Where was Luthor? Would he hear his laughter again and find him towering over them to finish them off? He tried to concentrate on his surroundings, rather than the fire in his shoulder.
“You’re going… to regret… that.” SuperLex’s voice was brittle instead of smug.
Clark heard SuperLex’s grunts and his labored breaths. Clark knew those sounds all too well. The night spent in a green glowing cage was still fresh in his mind.
“You did it, Clark!” Next to him, Lois got to her knees.
“Lois, be careful,” he warned her.
As usual, she ignored him. Clark held his shoulder and rolled around enough to watch her as she approached the man in the red cape and the blue suit. He was on his hands and knees, assaulted by the kryptonite. Clark could see that he fought for consciousness. But he wasn’t completely down yet. His gut clenched in dread as he watched Lois get closer. What if SuperLex still had some of his powers, what if…?
He tried to get up and follow her, but his shoulder made him reconsider. Helpless, he watched as Lois moved the kryptonite closer to SuperLex. Then she walked past him, dodging his arm that reached for her ankle.
“Don’t…do… this … to me.” He panted. “Lois… it’s me… Super… Superman.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “You’re not a Superman. Wearing the cape or even having these powers doesn’t make you one.”
Clark didn’t have the strength to keep his head up much longer. He rested it against the cool tiles, breathing through the pain, fighting against the gray that was clouding his vision. He needed to stay awake, he couldn’t give up now.
As he managed to lift his head again, Lois had picked up the second piece of kryptonite and was walking toward SuperLex. His groan sent another chill down Clark’s spine as she brought the crystal closer to his enemy.
Clark’s own injury flared up in sympathy and he bit back his own grunt. For a moment, the world swam out of focus.
He felt a hand on his good shoulder and heard Lois’ gentle voice. “It’s your turn now. Can you get up?”
Clark wasn’t sure. “I’ll try.”
He pushed with his good arm, feeling her support as she helped him up. Another pair of hands grabbed him, far less mindful of his injury. It was Gretchen Kelly. Where had she come from? He could have sworn that she’d been hiding still.
“God, Clark, look at your shoulder,” Lois whispered, shocked.
He tried to smile for her and wanted to mutter something about it looking worse than it was. But the burn caused by the heat vision sent a new wave of agony through him that made him think better of it. He swayed on his feet. Strong hands held him up.
“Remember what you need to do.” Kelly shoved the stone back into his left hand. “We’re losing valuable time. You’re badly injured and I can’t do anything about it until you’re you again.”
Lois gave his good arm a soft squeeze, reassuring, but there was also a sense of urgency in her movements as she pulled him toward Luthor.
Clark staggered along, needing all his concentration to remain upright and set one foot in front of the other. He gripped the stone in his hand tighter.
SuperLex lay writhing on the ground. Beads of sweat covered his forehead, and he had his eyes squeezed shut against the waves of agony washing over him. The sight made Clark forget about the fire in his own shoulder for a moment. It was strange seeing his body like that, an outside view of what he only knew from personal experience.
He remembered the cage again, a whole night of that searing, unrelenting pain that stole his breath and that he knew was a hundred times worse than what he felt in his shoulder right now. Because it was all-encompassing, because there was no shift of position that would bring relief. And if he switched back now, it would be him feeling that pain again. Could he do that? Did he have the courage it took to submit himself to that kind of agony?
“Do it!” Kelly ordered.
She shoved him down, and his knees just gave in, protesting as they hit the ground. Then she took his left hand and Luthor’s left hand and clasped them together. He felt the force of her grip on the back of his hand and saw the despair in her gaze.
“Do it now!” Tears streamed down her face.
The fog in his brain slowly lifted. He tried to remember what Asabi had told him.
<You must clasp it to the palm of your natural body. Hold the gaze. When you feel the other's heart beating in time with your own, as if it were your own, only then…> He tightened his grasp on SuperLex’s hand. Their gazes met. The hate in SuperLex’s eyes was intense enough to almost make him recoil. It was like looking into a mirror, but seeing a completely different person. It took all his willpower not to let go of Luthor’s hand again. Clark forced himself to concentrate, to heed Asabi’s advice and search for the heart beating in his natural body’s chest.
As he felt it, a white hot blade of pure agony stabbed through him. He gasped and his concentration wavered. As he blinked, he was back in Luthor’s body, watching SuperLex, who still lay writhing on the ground. But now a smug smile had returned on his face. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
Luthor understood what it would cost Clark to reclaim his body. And he enjoyed the prospect of watching Clark fight his way back.
Clark’s gut clenched in dread. Up until today, he’d have done anything to avoid another exposure to the deadly crystal. But he knew he had no other choice now. Swallowing hard, he shifted his focus back on Luthor. He locked eyes with him, setting his jaw tight.
Pain radiated through his arm, but he tried to ignore it.
"Clark?" Lois' voice was soft. "Is there a problem?"
He bit his lips and shook his head. "No. I can do this."
Clark took a deep breath and concentrated on the warmth of the stone in his hand. He bore his eyes into Luthor's and once again searched for the connection.
He felt a second heartbeat and with it the waves of pain running through his body. The other man tried to pull back his hand, but Clark tightened his grip. He was no longer sure which hand was his. The world around him darkened, coalesced to a world of pure agony.
He tried to keep his eyes open. Everything seemed to be spinning around him as he fought for control. The waves of pain pushed him back, as did Luthor's consciousness. But Clark didn't give in. He turned the paralyzing weakness and the burning engulfing his muscles into his anchor. Desperate to hold onto these sensations, he managed to resist the consciousness trying to push him back out.
And suddenly something snapped.
He lost his grip on the crystal. The weakness seemed to swallow him and he gasped for breath. The pain in his shoulder was replaced by a fire burning in every cell. It pulled him under until he knew no more.
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