Chapter 22
Clark was finding it harder and harder to shoot at these guys when they wouldn't stop shooting him. It stung. He tried to ignore it and went on. Usually, they seemed to be stunned after their bullets hit the floor. It did help. But they weren't too keen on being shot at. A part of him wanted to scream at them. "They're just trancs, you morons!"
But he didn't. He just shot as flashes of white sometimes zipped past him. Guards fell like bowling pins, cameras dropped from high corners to smash on the floor, and a few guards disappeared down the long hallway. Bart suddenly appeared before him, rubbing his shoulder. "These guys are kind of burly. I don't know how many more I can knock down."
"Just keep it up," Clark said, opening each door as he came to it. He wished he could just look through, but the pain would be excruciating and would only slow him down. He was just lucky that no one had broke the glasses that were snug over his eyes, held by the ski mask. Maybe it was because of the sort of force field his father had mentioned. Things close to him were protected. But his own protection was still weak. "It's easier for me to shoot at them if you knock them first. You're faster than I am."
Bart rushed down the other side of the hallway, doors slammed open in his wake. He stopped next to Clark, who was trying to be a little quieter. "Dude, give up. They already know we're here. There's probably a bunch of them huddled together, trying to figure out what to do about that bulletproof guy."
"I guess you're right." Bart sped up and Clark followed. "This hall's clear." He stopped and yelled for Bart, who came back and skidded to a stop next to him. "Where's the surveillance room?"
"This way." Bart pointed to the end of the hall, where it turned corners. "Do you feel like we're doing all the work?"
"I heard that," Victor barked. "And stop chatting. We're nearing the complex."
"Fine," Bart sighed. "Hall one's clear. Just come in through the giant hole in the wall." He disappeared in a streak of white.
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Chloe stopped at the first guard shack, noting the smashed boxes on the side and the unconscious man half-out of it. "They're on track."
"Good. Keep going."
She stopped and patted the pocket of Lucy's coat. Her cell phone was in there. She knew no one would have a phone, but she was glad to have it. She could notify the police when they'd cleared out of the complex. She'd have to now that Uncle Sam was... She shook her head and gunned the engine. She couldn't think about that now.
"We have to get to Lucy when we get in."
"No," Lionel said. "Getting that DNA is more important."
"She's in there without any protection. My bullet-proof vest was on the floor and..."
"Miss Sullivan, it's all for nothing if we don't destroy that DNA immediately. If the police get it, it will be stuck in an evidence lab and if you think Lex can't get it there, then you're..."
"Fine," she growled and pulled her black ski mask over her face. She just hoped Clark was really good at disabling these guards. But this was Clark... They were all in good hands.
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"We're in," Victor said over the headset. "Where are you?"
"We got surveillance," Clark said.
"We had to tranc some guys that ran out," Oliver said. "But we really should move fast. They could die of exposure before the police get here."
"Always the humanitarian, huh?" He heard A.C. say. "But when it comes to eating a defenseless lobster..."
"Not the time, Aquaman," Lois snarled. "Chl.. Watchtower, how you holding up?"
"Uh..."
Clark's ears perked up, but he didn't hear an answer. Victor broke in. "We're following close. Are you two near the holding room yet?"
"Still checking for guards," Bart said.
"I'm afraid most of them will be near it and more will come," Clark added. "They know we're here."
"Don't think about it. Just keep going. When I get to the room, we'll just hold any others off."
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Chloe and Lionel got off the snowmobile amid a sea of fallen guards. She scanned them for white-clad figures, but it was all army-green. "Thank God," she breathed.
"Plenty of time for that later," Lionel said. "We need to get in."
Chloe ran slightly ahead of him toward the complex. A wall was crumbled. She knew whose work that was and she felt a burst of hope. When she got in, she heard the shots and her spirits fell. She hoped most of it was their guns.
Lionel stopped next to her, breathing heavily. "We need to find the eastern hall," he gasped. "Stairs."
Chloe closed her eyes. The sun was behind the building where they entered. It would be straight ahead. "This way."
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Clark sped into the heavy door, tearing it from its hinges. He was right. They were waiting for them. A flash of white sped past him and he saw guns and men falling. He loaded a fresh cartridge into his pistol and just kept shooting. He saw Bart behind one of what looked like large shelves of glass pods, shooting and ducking.
"Room's a zoo, Cyborg. Hold back," he yelled.
"We got our own visitors here," A.C. yelled. "They're coming from the south hall. You guys must have missed... Shit!"
"What?" he heard Bart yell.
"Just my shoulder," A.C. hissed. "It's all good."
"Just keep shooting," Victor yelled.
*********************************
Chloe and Lionel went slower when they reached the stairs. She could hear shouts and shots and, once, a feminine scream. "No!" She started towards the noise, but Lionel grabbed her arm.
"We need to get the DNA," he screamed, pulling her toward the stairs.
"But they could be hurt..."
"They'll be hurt for nothing if we don't move!"
She looked back one last time before hurrying up the stairs, her heart racing. They reached the top and were confronted with a large, metal door with a keypad. "Now what?"
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"Holding room's clear, Cyborg. Move in!"
"We're trying," Oliver screamed. "South hall's still packed and some of us need to duck for cover."
"We could use you guys here," Lois yelled.
"Coming your way, Chesty," Bart said.
"That's not my code name," Lois growled. "It's Shooter."
Clark sped behind Bart toward the shots, but stopped as a familiar figure stepped into his path. "Lex."
Lex raised a gun and shot. It stung, but it bounced off his chest. Lex stared and lowered the gun, awestruck. Clark stared back, stunned to be facing him as he truly was. A killer. It took just that moment of hesitation for Lex to raise the gun again, shooting straight. His glasses shattered and he found himself staring at a skeleton. And there was pain. Tremendous pain.
The figure ran and he stumbled after, finally rushing at him and knocking him to the ground. "I got Luthor near the east hall."
"Tranc him," Oliver yelled.
Clark grappled for his gun, but the pain was tearing through him. He saw flashes of skin and skull as Lex reached up, pulling the ski mask from his face.
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"Calm down," Lionel said. "My son is predictable. The code will be something significantly tied to this project."
"It's only numbers," Chloe said. "It could be any combination."
Lionel started punching buttons as Chloe closed her eyes, waiting for things to click. Lex had started construction two years ago, but she didn't have that date. This was really just a back-up for Reeves Dam. After it had been destroyed...
"Try 6, 4, 2, 0, 0, 7," she said quickly. Lionel pushed a red button and did as she said. The door beeped and swung open. She couldn't help a small smile. "The date Reeves Dam was destroyed."
Lionel didn't stop to congratulate her, only stepped in. It was a plain room, not much to Lex's taste. Worn, cluttered furniture and bare floors. It was also creepy as hell. The walls were especially disgusting to her. They were covered with bulletin boards with pictures and words. Words like eliminated, infected, under surveillance, missing.
The pictures were of normal people, some smiling as if taken from their yearbook, some shopping or walking to their car. One was of her mother and she took it, shoving it into her pocket. She was most appalled when she came to one with a large picture of Clark. Words were scrawled on it.
Suspicious... car crash... caves... octagonal disc... Dad... betrayal... Lana... chisel...
She growled deep in her throat and tore it down, stepping on it, practically jumping on it. Lionel stopped her, holding her arms. "Sullivan, look..."
She stopped, gasping and followed his gaze. There was a tiny glass door. Through it, she saw a well-lit vial on a cushion.
"Leave it to my son to honor something so vulgar with such a display."
"Forget the commentary. Let's just get it and find the others." She turned to the littered desk and picked up a bent hand tool, approaching the glass."
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"Clark!"
Clark saw flashes as Lex stood. Skin, skull, skin...
"So your secret's out."
He fell to the floor as Lex kicked the gun from his hand. He couldn't get up, couldn't concentrate. The pain...
"Bullets bounce off you. You're even faster than one. What else have you been hiding from me?" He saw the skull lean over him. "So what's wrong now? Was it the glasses? Did that fell the indestructible Clark Kent?"
He closed his eyes, willing the pain to go away so he could command his body to move.
Lex's voice was low and angry. "I trusted you. I built you up and you betrayed and shunned me over and over. But this... If our friendship weren't dead, I'd say this was the last stab." He dimly registered a foot on his chest. "The disc, the ship, those Kryptonians... It all comes together now. It was all around you. All this time, you've been blending in. Plotting..."
"No," he grunted. "Lex, you've got it..."
"An alien," Lex laughed. "Just biding your time. When are the rest coming? When do all your other friends come to subdue the Earthings?"
"That's not what..." He trailed off, the pain still heavy as a voice sounded in his ear.
"Boyscout!" It was Victor. "The process is set! Get Luthor down and get out of there! It's ten! Someone at base will be getting the cops in here."
"I... can't..."
Lex pressed down on his chest. "Who are you talking to?"
"Where'd she go?" This from Lois.
"We've lost Watchtower," Oliver said. "She's run off."
Suddenly, the ear piece was gone. He heard something crunch on the floor at his side.
"No," Clark grunted. "Chloe..."
"Chloe?" He could almost hear the smile in Lex's voice.
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Chapter Twenty-Three
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