Ch.50

I met Lois and Clark while Martha went to check on Johnathan. Lois recognized me immediately even though we'd never met and asked if her father sent me. I shook my head. "I'm retired and I just returned home."

I looked to Clark and asked. "Why are you naked Clark and what's with the blank look?"

I took off my jacket and asked for some clothes from the nurse at the desk. He gave them and asked if I knew him. I nodded telling him he was Clark Kent, Johnathan and Martha's son that went missing a few months ago. Lois had a million questions and Clark had no answers so Martha soon took Clark home and I got a ride with Lois who talked my ear off.

I told her my tour was over and I'd become a major just before I retired. I told her Wes shipped out with Wade so I was off the hook for another tour. She asked why I came back to this podunk town and I grunted, telling her I wanted to graduate, go to college and start my own company to make armor and tech for the military. She looked to me and asked why I'd gone in the first place.

I sighed. "My father was a captain in the Air Force, my uncle was a Sergeant in the army and my cousin was a lieutenant when he was killed in Indonesia the year before last. Every man in my family up to my great grandfather were military. It was just something I had to do to do something if that makes any sense."

She nodded slowly and asked if it was true, the rumors of my missions- I stopped her there saying it was all classified and everything about my time in the military is redacted beyond my name, rank and age. I told her not to bother because I wouldn't discuss any of it. She nodded and we arrived at the Kent farm where I thanked Lois and went to bed.

I woke up to Martha yelling Clark's name and ran out only to find him gone with the stone of power in the Egyptian statue he broke. Virgil Swann's assistant showed up and gave Martha black Kryptonite which she used to force Clark back to his true self while I held him. Once he was back to normal, Johnathan woke up and I went to move out until Lois said she could bunk with me.

I gave her a droll stare and said I'd buy Lana's old place next door instead and just live there which was less complicated. I did just that and saved Lois from a metal morpher before calling the cops and having him arrested. I left Lana who arrived in the cemetery with Lois who'd dug up Chloe's grave. Lois blamed the grave digging on the metal morpher and I backed her story before leaving.

I met with Lex after getting the video from the hospital. I tossed it on his desk and told him. "I was a bit preoccupied over seas so I didn't get a chance to tell you, but I set up security cameras in the hospital after your father had the doctors rip the metal encased meteor rocks out of me. That's what you're looking for no doubt so do me a favor and deal with your father before he sends another assassin after my friends. His metal morphing ass clown is in jail, but if he gets out he could be an issue."

Lex grunted. "Hello to you too Ryan."

I huffed. "Spare me, I was just attacked by a guy who could turn his arm into a sword. I'm in no mood for pleasantries. The memory card has the recording, video and audio, of your father admitting to conspiring to kill your grandparents for the insurance money. He admits to having Morgan Edge do it and using the money to start up LuthorCorp.with Chloe's testimony that should be more than enough to have him put away for life."

Lex nodded and his security came in saying the security system failed. I held up a small device. "Sorry, that was me. I wanted our conversation to be private."

Lex said it would be fine and waved them off before asking how much I wanted for the memory card. I told him his father pissed me off so this one was a freebie. Soon the gavel came down and Lionel was sentenced with the video evidence being a lock thanks to Chloe's testimony backing it up. Lionel went to prison and the next big thing was Lois using me to flirt with the head cheerleader.

She'd joined us in high school and railed that I only had one class. I chuckled and told her I did my work and got my shit done. I added that I simply wanted a normal graduation like everyone else or I'd be in college right now. She told me to shut up and flirt for her so I could distract the head cheerleader.

I went and did so before coming out of beating a room full of guys without a scratch on me. Lois had what she needed and the head cheerleader was arrested for drugging half the football team. Lois said we worked well together and I told her that if she wanted to find out how well, she could always just say so. She said she didn't do sex before dating and I told her that dating could happen if we enjoyed the sex, if she was any good at it that is because I wasn't teaching some virgin the ropes.

She shushed me saying she hadn't been a virgin in a long time. We danced around it and ended up having unbelievable sex at my place. She was far better than I'd expected, but not as good as the last girl I'd been with. Still, she was quite proud after the last bout and slid off of me while her tits bounced with her breathing. I grunted and told her that was quite the technique, but she broke the condom.

She huffed saying she meant to when she clearly hadn't so I pulled the pieces off and rolled us, telling her that since she wanted a belly full, I sure hoped she was on birth control. I slid into her and we both moaned. Bouncing, slapping, pushing riding, slow and fast, we did it all by morning and she'd been asleep having passed out for the last load which I finished deep inside her while she moaned in her sleep.

Her puffed and red lower lips proved I'd done too much and gone too far because she was definitely going to be sore. She and I sparked up a relationship of sorts that meant coffee, occasionally dinner and movie nights and tons of sex. With his father in prison, I knew Lex had started up his 33.1 experiments and I had no interest in them. I did however have an interest in the speedster, Bart Allen, when he blew through town.

Clark introduced us and when he went to snatch my wallet only for me to grab his arm. I grimaced. "Oh shit!"

A lightning bolt blew a hole in the barn roof, blasting me into a hay bell. My clothes smoked and burned while Bart retained his speed. I groaned and asked him why he did that. Clark said he was a klepto before telling Bart how my powers worked.

I shredded the shirt I had before making another appear out of thin air or so it seemed. Bart asked how I did that and I showed him my ring. "Magic storage ring. You could steal it, but I could take it back faster than you could get across town with it. It's bound to my soul and no, I won't make you one."

I winced as much burn mark healed on my chest. I donned the shirt and moved faster, faster than Clark ever could. Bart was ecstatic to see someone else who could move like him now. We all three went to Mexico for burritos and I groaned at having a higher metabolism now.

Bart and I kept in contact even after he left and occasionally met up for fun. I shared my secret with Lois, telling her about the powers, the changes and the Kryptonian language from the cave walls. I told her about my jaunts across the globe after alien artifacts and even magic. I showed her my ring and told her all about everything without revealing Bart or Clark's secrets.

She appreciated the vibrating finger bang and told me she'd keep my secrets. I was there when Clark and Lionel switched bodies weeks later and watched as they switched again before taking the Kryptonian stone of water. I hid it away for now and ensured no one would know where it was until it was time. I spent more time in Lois's dorm room now that she knew I could be there in the blink of an eye which was well worth it.

I stayed out of the gambling business that came next since Lex wouldn't bet against Clark and I had no desire to become a mind controller. Next up was Chloe's birthday party which led to me reading Lana's new grimoire her ancestor once owned. Clark handled Lois, Lana and Chloe because the spirit possessing Lois was terrified of me taking their magic as well if they attacked me for power.

I don't know who's virgin hairs Isobel, the spirit possessing Lana, used, but it sure as hell wasn't Lois's or hers because they weren't virgins in any sense of the word. Once Clark destroyed the grimoire, their possessions were ended quite effectively. Lex got into an incident with the police when a dead girl ended up in his bed a few weeks later.

He called me and I told him when I arrived that I could prove who it was and why they did it, but I'd want fifty million in cash for this one. Lex was desperate and while it was nearly what he was worth, it was this or prison for a crime he didn't commit so he agreed.

I told him and Corrine, his lawyer. "The dead girl is wearing two earrings, the one you slept with lost one in the elevator and it fell to the bottom of the shaft. You can check it on the elevator cameras. This is Eve Andrews, but the woman Lex here screwed was Shannon Bell. Both were former lovers of yours like Corrine here only Eve was obsessed with you and Shannon wanted revenge because your affair cost her everything. Shannon is Corrine's newest assistant which is how she and Even knew when and where to find you. You'll find traces of a sedative on the wine glass next to the headboard and Lex, if you don't pay me, you'll wish Shannon had gotten away with it, that's if she doesn't kill you and Corrine both before you can prove all this to the cops."

He swallowed and nodded before saying I'd get my money. I snorted. "You know I don't work for you and I really don't like being called for a job. I come to you when I have something, not the other way around. I despise being put on the spot like this so this will be our last consultation for a while. You have a month to get me my money."

I turned to Corrine. "And I really wouldn't go back to the office without the police if I were you. No doubt Shannon intends to kill you to frame Lex before making his death look like a suicide. She's very vengeful, that one. Consider that advice that can save your life a freebie and only because Alex chose a damn fine woman to bed for once."

I waved a hand. "Current occupants not included."

Corrine thanked me and I told her if I wasn't already seeing someone I'd have fucked her into an orgasmic coma if she'd wanted. "Pity, still, I like my girlfriend so I'll be going before I do something she'd leave me for."

Lex got off with all the evidence I provided an explanation for and Shannon was arrested when she went to kill Corrine who survived thanks to the cops bursting in and arresting Shannon whom confessed to everything. I was in Metropolis in bed with Lois when the toxic gas outbreak happened. I knew because my alarm rang as Lois was bouncing on me. I growled and sighed as I rolled us over a before sliding free of her saying I had to do something.

I told her what the warning said and sent an anonymous email to every news outlet in Kansas. The military grade toxic gas outbreak was serious so Lana simply kissed my neck while I typed on my laptop. I told her that my computer would simply show the IP address as Lex's so he was his own leak. Lois laughed and said I was devious so when I finished, I rolled us back into bed and ate her out.

I sure was happy I'd soundproofed the room or her neighbors would be banging on the door at all hours. I healed her up and we went about making her sore again. Another ring happened the next day after LuthorCorp announced the cure had been distributed and no one died. Lionel Luthor had been released from prison by Genevieve Teague and that went out again while Lois and I had lunch and watched tv.

She told me that if we had much more sex she was going to have to charge my penis rent in her aching vagina. I'd healed her of course, but we did other things as well so it wasn't all sex. On the bright side I told her I could make a permanent deposit that'd last nine months. She slapped my chest saying she wasn't ready to be a mother yet.

I told her she would look beautiful as one, happily playing with children laughing while in a flower dress, all round and ready to have another. I told her there could be puppies in the yard and a big field like playground. I kissed her neck and told her as I sighed. "You could be a reporter and do work from home while on maternity leave. Whomever you're with would hold you, rub your ice berg feet and make love to you like you're all that matters in this world. No powers or drama, just the two of you in a peaceful and blissful life. Of course there'd be a dark room for you to listen to your white snake albums while tied to a sex swing and getting railed from behind as your perky breasts bounced-"

She slapped my chest again and sat up, taking off her shirt and showing me said breasts. She went to blow me and I stopped her, telling her to take off her panties and straddle my head while she does that. She did so and slurped while swallowing my seed and squirting on my face. She really was a vixen and it showed in everything we did.

Weeks later Alicia Baker came to me wanting to be cured and have her powers removed entirely so she could be with Clark without the judgement. She said she'd heard a rumor I could do it in Belle Reve. I warned her it didn't always work if it wasn't a meteor infected's power. She said it was so I took her power in front of Clark and told him after I teleported in a white haze instead of green. "She's no longer meteorite infected. You two crazy kids have fun."

I confronted a psychotic killer next and he tried strangling me once I left the crowded place I found him in. He lost his power and I knocked his bitch ass out before dropping him in the sheriff's lap and telling her what he'd tried to do. I told her I had proof and I was suing his ass for attempted murder. It was an open and shut case with the video evidence.

As for Alicia, she tried and failed to get Clark to leave with her and she ended up taking a bullet for Clark, dying by her therapist's hands instead. I wasn't there so I couldn't heal her sadly, but I guess that's fate. I did however repeatedly try to heal Johnathan, but his body seemed incapable of healing with that power. Hell, a senzu bean didn't even help beyond giving him a full belly.

I was at the college part Lois was making cash with and walked her to her dorm so when the drunk guy tried to get lucky, I told him to go home before calling him a whiskey dick. He tried to take a swing at me and fell so we left him there. The next morning the cops showed up at the dorm and asked questions. I was eighteen so I was perfectly fine sleeping with Lois.

Still, I told them what happened and that I figured he'd just sleep it off when he fell so we left him there since it wasn't far from his dorm. I mentioned that he got into an argument with his buddy, Geoff something and told them I'd seen him walking our way so he could've seen what happened if they needed another witness. They thanked me and I told them they were free to come back if they had more questions. Lois confirmed my story while she was a bit hungover.

I gave her a glass of water and some ibuprofen while she talked to them. Geoff was on the run a bit later when the cops questioned him and he paralyzed them both before fleeing. Luckily he came running right to me so I took his power and paralyzed him with it. I left him to the cops after removing the paralysis from them and the drunk douche.

Geoff was arrested by the cops and had three aggravated assault charges plus to assault and battery's on police officers. Yup, his football career was over. Sadly, Lois was kicked out for going to the party by the board of discipline. We ended up back at Clark's place in Smallville where she was free to do as she liked.

She'd chosen to live next door saying moving in with me was a big step she wasn't ready to take yet. I understood and spent a great deal of my free time with her at my place regardless. Lex had paid up in cash so I was happy by the time Lois brought a dog to the Kent's place that could pull a tractor. I used an IFD scanner to check it and told the Kent's with Lois that it's one of LuthorCorp's failed experiments.

I told them about the military dogs that failed and the meteorite steroids they were injected with up until the project failed and the dogs were all supposedly put down. I told them someone must've kept one or two and must be using them for crime from the blood on it's mouth. I suggested they take it to the police and get a swab done to find out more. Lois asked who could do something like that and I shrugged. "They'd have to control the dogs so the handlers are probably the only ones capable of doing so without getting torn to pieces."

I petted the golden lab and told them in a sigh. "This one's sweet, but it could still be a killer if it's controlled right. Whoever's doing it will need a vet van or some place reinforced and they'd need access to the steroid serum. Odds are they know it's missing and they're looking for it. If they control it by whistle they could be acres away and have more of them to attack so you need to be careful. It's not the dog's fault, but it'll likely be put down if Lex finds out or the police link the blood to a crime scene."

I put away my laptop into my bag with the chip reader before Lois pulled me aside and asked me to find and stop these guys before the dog's put down so it doesn't have to die. I cupped her face and told her that I'd see it done now. I left and found the robbers, knocking them out and sticking them in cages. After that I destroyed the research and left them there with the stolen blood money and called the cops anonymously with a burner cellphone.

They were arrested and sadly, the pit-bull dog was put down. Lois had an allergy to the dog I healed up for her and she thanked me doubly for. Soon Lex, Lana, Lana's new boyfriend Jason Teague and Clark were all in China searching for the last stone of power. I didn't care and simply spent time at crater lake with Lois and a bikini that was lost to the fishes.

When Clark returned from China empty handed, Lois and I were sneaking off to my place for fun. I'd bought a new stereo system, a game system and some games she wanted so we played strip smash bros until both of us were naked and too distracted to play anymore. When Lucy Lane blew through town, I caught Marcus Becker and dropped him in Lex's office where he and Lucy were playing.

Clark and Lois came in and I told Lois. "Your sister's boyfriend and accomplice, Marcus Becker, Swiss crime syndicate and loan shark."

I turned to Clark. "Did she feed you the needing money to pay him off? Because that's not what he said and trust me, he told the truth to make me stop interrogating him."

Lois got on to Lucy who swiped the keys to Lex's Porsche and fled. I stopped her outside and after Lois called their father, the General asked to speak with me. I told him everything and he asked me to personally see to it they're both out on a C-17 heading to him. Nearly broke the phone when he hung up on me and told Lois I wouldn't make her go.

I told her that I'd keep her here with me and she said the Generals would have me shot. I huffed before telling Lucy to get in my truck or I'd tie her to the roof with steel cables and a hauling strap wench. She got in and tried to take off in it only to find it locked up on her. Lois and I got in and I told Lucy I modified my truck so it's mostly computer and DNA locked so it was impossible to steal or escape from with the magnetic gravity tumbler locks and blast proof glass.

I told her there was over a million dollars in tech in my truck and she tried to steal a car worth a hundred grand. Lois told her that if she'd needed money all she had to do was ask because I was loaded, Lois's boyfriend and spent more money on Lois herself in a day of shopping than Lucy tried to steal throughout her entire visit, excluding the truck. We picked up their stuff and Lucy tried saying the gas tank was empty on the way to the airport.

I snorted. "My truck doesn't have a gas tank, it's solar powered and it doesn't ever get empty. Nice try though."

When we got to the airport, I met with the soldiers waiting and helped them load up. I told Lois I'd await for her return, hopefully speedy at that. I kissed her there in front of her sister and the military officers. I growled low as I told her if she made me wait too long I'd come looking even if it gets me shot and blow up.

She smiled and said she'd be back as fast as she can. She got on the plane and I watched her fly off before leaving. I missed the whole evil Lex bit except for him killing his employee in the hospital which I had a recording of. Seeing as I'd cleaned up pretty much all the meteor rocks in Smallville, prom wasn't an issue when it came time because the dead girl that would've possessed people was just a dead girl in the end.

On the bright side Lois returned and this time she moved in with me. I was busy getting a new power from Karen Gallagher called electrical energy absorption. It would save her life not having that power so I took it with a small static shock when we bumped into each other at the Talon. I saw the memory erasing guy reach to erase Lois's memory and broke his wrist before he could try.

I pinned him to the wall and told Lois to call the sheriff and tell her we had another meteor infected committing crimes. When the sheriff arrived, I told her his power and how he uses it before Lois told her how much he'd tried to make off with. The sheriff cuffed him band read him his rights before telling me I really should leave it to the police next time. I huffed lightly and ignored her before asking Lois if she was fine.

She nodded and we went about our day while Clark and Chloe looked into the memory repo guy. They managed to clear the guy's name for killing his own brother, but he was still on the hook for robbing the Talon.

He disappeared from lockup having escaped while the guards had no memory of him. Even the sheriff was blank on his case so Lois and I let it go. Thanks to having taken Karen's power, she was only just pregnant by the mechanic guy she slept with so no big shockers there or with the kid. I literally saved her life by taking her meteor power away.

I took Brendan Nash's power when he tried to collect me for his weird ass forever school themed play. I'd won most likely to build a business empire or whatever the others had called it because of my intellect and looks apparently. When he tried to freeze me, I thawed just as fast and took his power before dropping him with a super kick to the nuts.

His jewels exploded and he choked on his own scream as he passed out. I left him there and made sure to find the others he'd captured and free them with the sheriff. I told the sheriff he'd tried to grab me and froze my year book so I kicked him in the jewels and the rest was history. She said I must kick like a mule and I told her I had diamond hard skin and bones or so the doctors said before they could no longer take any samples.

I told her I preferred the quiet life but assholes just keep trying to ruin my days. She arrested the still unconscious asshole and the students were freed so it was a win. As it turns out, I'd effectively castrated Brendan Nash with a kick when he'd attacked me. Yup, that was my life such as it is, kicking the jewels off people.

Anyways, the night before graduation, I sent the water stone to Lionel and he got one hell of a shock when Clark put the other one in the alter. Clark got it and the next morning at graduation is gotten my diploma just before shit went down and the army pulled up saying there was another meteor shower coming. I moved and told Lois to stay with Chloe and get out of town.

I told her I'd protect and get as many people out as possible before setting to that task. I called Bart and asked for his help which he arrived to give lickity split as he called it. I ended up taking meteors head on to protect some of the people while telling them to get out and leave fast. When two aliens showed up in a ship, I heard and came running.

I broke bad on the male and made the female disappear where my god body was waiting in the painted world. Aethyr as the male called her, was now the personal woman of my god clone as it were. As for Nam-ek as he called himself, he'd hurt and killed a lot of police officers so I used Aethyr's bracelet to send his ass to the phantom zone before leaving at super speed to continue helping.

I was extremely busy helping rebuild the town at super speeds while cleaning up the meteor shower, but there was a fuck ton of kryptonite everywhere and not just green. There was red, blue, black and even gold kryptonite everywhere across half a county. Lois stayed for a few days before her sister skipped town on the General and she was pulled in to having to track her down and bring her home across Europe. Sighing, I saw Clark had decided to give up his powers so I asked what happened to the stones.

He told me about the fortress and I asked if I could go. He agreed saying it wasn't for him so I gave him my cellphone number and set things up before skipping town for a while. I flew to the fortress and met the AI known as Jor-El. I asked it to scan me and find out what happened to me during the first meteor shower and it did in exchange for a piece of the orb I had.

It told me that I'd been infected with a piece of Doomsday's chrysalis and it mutated my human DNA until the point that I evolved into a near perfect Kryptonian specimen. I asked if that meant I was allowed to learn all the fortress had to offer or if I wasn't important enough since I wasn't born Kryptonian. The fortress went quiet for a time before accepting on the terms that I give it something of equal value.

I told it to hook me up and see everything in my mind, fully and that it would be more knowledgeable than anything it could possibly know about the universe. It did at that, learning of things more profound than magic and even how to become or make real gods. So much knowledge gathered over so long periods of time that it was hesitant to push. When it stopped, it started teaching me, everything.

For the next three months all I did was learn and train in the kryptonian arts of combat or meditate when I reached that point. I continued pushing more and more. Twenty eight galaxies worth of knowledge, culture, everything. I learned it all down to the events that led to Krypton's cataclysm.

When I'd learned all it could show me, it asked me to protect Kal-El and help guide him back to the fortress. I told it that I'd do my best to help him understand everything. I returned to Smallville a fully realized and trained Kryptonian. I got into Met U and pretty much got forth PHDs alongside another thirty masters degrees in everything they had.

I made it back to Smallville in time to absorb Tommy Lee's power of electrical absorption and manipulation alongside the twin's force field powers. Clark and I knocked them out and he called the police while I went back to the barn raising to help out more. I'd already repaired my place so it was fine by me to spend my time helping the town. In the meantime Clark and Lana were together and I was happy for them while Lois was still gone sadly.

A couple weeks later my clone and I were moving across the globe saving people at blinding speeds. The town had been rebuilt by my clone and I over the last two weeks and now we were out doing more for everyone across the globe while I started my company, OzCorp. Clark was adamant he didn't want to know more about the fortress so I was doing my best to help inspire and help people across the globe using the symbol of the house of El at Jor-El's request.

I was too far away when Clark was killed and didn't make it in time to stop the missile, but Clark did. I returned to Smallville and caught him upon reentry into earth's atmosphere, flying him home. When we landed, I apologized for not being there because I was at a fire in China and a tsunami off the coast of Indonesia. I asked if there was anything I could do and he hit me.

I grabbed his fist and stopped him dead. "It won't work Clark. My power only absorbs new powers. I already have Kryptonian powers thanks to the star blade. I'm sorry."

He sighed and nodded before asking why I wore the symbol on my chest in black and silver. I grunted. "Jor-El asked that I wear it so that the world could be ready for you someday when you're ready to protect it. It's the symbol of your family from Krypton. Listen Clark, Jor-El doesn't want you to conquer anyone, he wants you to protect them, inspire hope and save this world and any refugees that come from other worlds seeking asylum."

I patted his shoulder slowly. "He wants you to be the ambassador to the stars. To learn and understand that no matter the race or planet, we're all living beings and deserving of help sometimes."

I turned and walked away. "Until you're ready to learn, I'll be doing the best I can to pave the way, Clark. This world needs a savior and I know I'm not it, but Jor-El seems to want you to be so I'll do what I can to inspire hope in others with this symbol until you're ready to step up and do more than what you have."

I flew up and left, heading back to saving lives, protecting the innocent and leaving the guilty trusses up for the authorities. I returned to Smallville on the news that Lois was returning. My clone maintained the saving people shtick while I worked on my business, getting labs set up and patents done, hiring people from the painted world who wanted out to experience the DC universe.

Many were warlocks and witches having mastered magics and taking enough in to become immortal the right way. They helped set everything up and made sure the multimillion dollar company ran smoothly as it got onto it's feet. OzCorp was a private company and as such it was owned by me and those that came from the painted world to help so they'd have a decent start in this world as the company grew. In the meantime, I met with Clark and Lana at Crater Lake and Clark asked when I got back.

I grunted. "I'm still out there, but this morning mostly. Lois said she was coming back and I've got my ways to stay active in the community so I'm not entirely overworked."

Lana raised an eyebrow and I shrugged. "Clark knows my secret Lana. I sort of had to tell him a few years back when he helped stop a meteor infected."

I looked to Clark. "My clone is out there saving lives while I have my company getting off the ground. OzCorp will be revolutionizing the medical industries soon enough with healing tanks that can restore the body without leaving scars from trauma or surgery. So long as the patient isn't dead that is. I've got my people working on a solution that could regrow lost limbs for veterans or injured people, kinetic tactical body armor for cops and service men along with fire suppression suits for firemen amongst many other things including genetically engineered crop seeds that can grow anywhere and constantly produce full crops mere weeks after they're picked once. World hunger is about to be solved."

I laid down on a towel I laid out, stretching. "There's more than one way to save the world and I intend to do everything I can to help better the world we live in."

Lana said she was impressed and believed I could do it. Clark said the meteor rocks weren't the right way to go about things. I snorted lightly. "Sorry Clark, but I don't need meteor rocks to achieve my goals. Everything my company does and is working on is meteorite free. Gods it feels good to relax. I haven't slept or stopped moving in almost a month. You'd never believe how much I've done even without my double. Still, he's running ragged as well and it'll be like that for at least another year or so depending on circumstances. My company has a lot of red tape to cut through so testing and everything can be done. Still, having military funding and approval will lead most of the way."

Clark asked. "Military funding?"

I nodded. "I told you I was making armor right? Well, once the company is vetted and cleared, I'll be making all kinds of tech and hopefully the new weapons of war won't actually kill anyone."

I touched a finger to my lips and winked. "Stunning the enemy for capture works a hell of a lot better for interrogation or so my reasoning will be. If the military wants to kill people, they have weapons for that. My way will hopefully limit the killing and stop wars before innocent people get hurt."

I stretched in a complex way that popped every bone in my body. Clark winced as I sighed in relief from the tension. "Sorry, I haven't stretched like that since I studied Brazilian jujitsu. It was about time I did it again and now I feel so much better."

Lana asked. "Brazilian jujitsu? How many martial arts do you know?"

I chuckled. "All of them. I'm a quick study and although I don't use most of it often, I'm a master of every form and weapon known to man. Some of it I learned in the military and others I learned in my free time."

Lois and Chloe came over as Lois asked. "Free time, huh? Well if you're bored I guess I could put you to work."

I flipped to my feet with well practiced ease and smiled. "Trust me, anything you could think of would be my pleasure and far from work."

I didn't hesitate to grabbed her ass and lift her up for a kiss. She obliged happily before dropping down and saying she was going for a dip. I went with her, telling the others I had drinks in the picnic basket I brought and there was an umbrella for the sun sensitive in the back of my truck. I chased Lois out to the lake and dove in right behind her. I swam around her and we shared a few kisses along with some groping.

I smiled as we broke apart. "I've missed you Lois."

She ground herself into saying she could tell. She slipped away and swam to the diving platform floating in the water. When she got on it, she asked me. "So, have any fun since I left?"

I snorted. "Not even a little. I've been running around the planet saving people and burning a symbol here and there. My clone is out there now still doing it while I've got computers and monitors set up at home for conference calls with my company and others."

I hopped out of the water and sighed. "I did get my degrees like I said I would you're looking at a bonafide doctor in nearly fifty fields of tech and medicine. And nearly half as many masters degrees as well."

She said she was impressed, but she knew I was a genius already so she wasn't that impressed I was a nerd. I stood up with her and told her. "True, it's not impressive, but it is useful for the company. OzCorp is building fast and soon I'll have to meet with the General and some of his buddies to kick start hundreds of projects. I'm going to do just like I promised and I want you to be apart of it all."

She frowned and quirked an eyebrow. "Me? How?"

I smiled lightly and told her. "I need someone smart, strong and capable of telling me no so I don't go too far. That's why I'm appointing you the acting CEO of the company. I'm just a lab type like you said Lois, I need you there to keep me from becoming like Lex and Lionel. I don't want to make something that could be disastrous and simply sell it off to the highest bidder."

I held her hands and asked. "Will you do it? Be my guiding light so I don't get lost in the darkness?"

She nodded slowly and asked. "So does that make me your boss?"

I tilted my head. "Let's go with partner who has veto rights on anything I come up with. Deal?"

She smiled. "Alright, but veto power sounds sort of lame."

I snorted and she wrung out her hair. I stopped her and shoved my hand into the water, ripping out a plank. "Sorry, this was sticking out. If you'd have hit it you would've been fish food."

She huffed and stepped up, thanking me before diving in. I dove in as well and found out I'd missed a plank because she was sinking. I dove after her and got knocked off course by Arthur Curry. I groaned as his power was absorbed by me. He moved and stopped for a second before moving fast again.

I moved as fast as he did after some quick experimenting. I was right behind him out of the water and watched him give Lois CPR. When she recovered, I told her he'd gotten to her before I had. I asked what happened and she said I missed a plank.

I grunted and touched her head, healing her, not caring if Chloe or AC as he called himself saw. I thanked AC and helped Lois up while Chloe asked. "You can heal people?"

I nodded. "It's limited, but yeah. Meteor power and no, I'm not crazy like most of the others."

We left the lake and headed to my place as a group. I offered AC a ride and told him there was cold beer or water if that was more his speed there plus music and a high tech gaming system. He was interested and decided to check it out. Lois rode with Chloe saying she didn't want to toss fish breath into the back.

I merely raised an eyebrow and shrugged, getting into my truck after tossing the stuff in the back. AC hopped in and I drove us to my place. He asked what I ran, Diesel or regular and I scoffed. "Solar powered all the way. Fully electric and never need to fill the tank."

I tapped the window. "Blast proof glass, titanium and compressed carbon composite weaved frame with anti-gravity lifters to reduce the weight and increasing the towing capacity. Magnetic barium lock tumblers and the piece de resistance, DNA locked start up with both voice and facial recognition scanners to match vocal patterns with an infrared body temp countermeasures. If anyone besides myself tries to drive it'll lock up and shut down, sealing the would be car jacker in and sending an instant message to my phone with video and audio feedback."

I looked to AC. "I'm a bit of a tech genius with a company I'm building to rival and surpass anything out there."

I tapped the steering wheel and he smiled. "Sweet, any chance you could hook up my ride?"

I nodded. "Sure, bring it by the farm and I'll work on it personally. I've got a garage and lab for beta testing new products so I don't have to run to Metropolis every day. I've got the stuff there to do the job."

I hesitated before sighing. "So what are you? Meteor infected like me? A speedster from a bolt of lightning or an alien? I'm not judging, I just haven't absorbed powers like yours all at once in a while now."

He frowned. "I'd that what happened?"

I nodded. "If I get hit by someone with abilities my power absorbs their abilities and makes me immune to them. Adaptive absorption I believe it's called. For those like yourself who have issues or natural abilities, it copies them sort of. Your natural abilities falter and I get the full package while those with tumors and the like that have it as a result of something natural or physically imperative keep them."

I looked to him. "You aren't a meteor infected seeing as how you recovered, so tumor? No, something else."

He grunted. "I was born this way."

I nodded slowly. "Then I'm sorry I stole your powers. I don't get a choice in the matter unless I intentionally go after someone with powers which doesn't happen unless they're hurting people."

He sighed. "It's cool. I just never met anyone that could do what you do is all. So I take it you took that healing power from someone?"

I nodded. "He asked me to. Poor guy thought he was an alien and spent most of his life in and out of mental hospitals. After a near death experience he just wanted to be normal only the moment he gave up his powers he went catatonic and had a break with reality. I tried healing him but whatever's wrong isn't physical sadly, cause I can fix that most of the time."

We arrived at my place while I answered his questions on the powers I have now which is a pretty long list. I told him some came from objects that had power and others weeds from homicidal meteor infected. I told him as we got out that Smallville had a radioactive meteorite problem and with the latest meteor shower it was worse than ever. I told him half the time idiots like Lex try to use them as shortcuts in science and it never turns out right.

Clark and the others pulled in and Lois said it'd changed a bit since she last saw the place. I told her I upgraded thanks to a meteor having demolished everything I gestured to the small lake. "That's where the other house was before after the bits were pulled out, I was left with a bunch of trashed materials and a pond sized crater so I turned it into a small lake and rebuilt."

I gestured to the garage next to the house. "My workspace and lab. Lana, Chloe, why don't you pull into the two on the left and I'll hook your cars up with solar powered engines. It'll save you money on oil and gas since you'll never have to bother with either again. While I work Lois can show you all around since the house is basically the same layout only with better tech and materials as well as an extra third floor for business conference calls and stuff like that."

They pulled up and I hit the garage door buttons, letting them in. They walked out the side door and I told them it wouldn't take long so I'd be in after twenty minutes or so. I headed to the garage and clicked a button as Feed the Machine came on over the garage stereo. I was done in under five minutes so I went ahead and changed their windows out with blast proof carbon weave glass.

I filled their tires with a liquid rubber that would hold up better than any normal air tire and solidify upon contact with air so if the tire was punctured the hole would leak rubber and self repair as needed. I did some basic maintenance before finishing up at the twenty minute mark. I walked into the house and told them when I found them in the entertainment theater room. "The vehicles are done. I went ahead and fixed your bumper Lana and buffed out the dent in your right back door Chloe."

They thanked me and Clark asked what else I'd done. I shrugged and told them the upgrades including the onboard satellite navigation system and auto parking assist, rear view camera sensors and finally the blast proof windows, auto repair tires and the solar powered engine. I hopped into a seat and told them that if their cars were any more advanced they'd be space worthy and could play chess on a grandmaster scale with at the same time.

I told them I didn't reinforce the frames because the anti-gravity tech suspension tech wasn't yet fully patented so the cars would be too heavy for their own weight limit if I did it. "On the bright side you could shoot an RPG at the windows and it'd leave a mark that would wash off with the wipers. I pulled the cars out of the garage so they'd charge in the sunlight while we watch something or chill with music and drinks."

AC said it was a sweet setup and I grunted, telling him I was adding an Olympic sized pool out back since the water was filtered from ground water by the latest filters my company developed. I told him I'd be dropping similar tech in the oceans soon to scrub oil spills clean and prevent pollution. He said that sounded great and I shrugged. "My company will be doing a lot of cleaning up once the solar reactors get accepted. From air and sea cleaners to deep sea cleaning. All the boats, ships and other garbage in the sea will be pulled out and recycled. The treasure will be donated to museums if there is any and I'll still be making money hand over fist from it."

AC asked with a frown. "How's that?"

I smirked. "My company's developing a solution that reacts to inorganic materials and dissolves it into a base element super compost. I'll be able to clean up and out all the garbage dumps including what's in the sea and sell the compost as specialized super fertilizer to grow crops and trees in the deserts or places like Iraq. Entire forests will pop up everywhere no one's using or owns the land. The lumber can be used as a free outsourced material for building homes for the homeless and with the genetically altered seeds the wood will be as hard as steel and as useful as any solid building material that lasts centuries."

I waved a hand. "Don't worry, after it's weather treated it can be reduced to compost if need be fore recycling. Entire broken towns and cities can be rebuilt with the tech we're developing while cleaning up the environment. I spent the last four months traveling the globe mostly and I gotta say, it needs a lot of things my company's making."

I closed my eyes and dozed off a bit, barely catching Lana telling them I'd said I hadn't slept much in months. I woke up to Lois saying she was headed to work at the Talon. I hopped up and grabbed a shower before heading there with her and AC. I dropped her off and worked on AC's truck while he gave requests on how he liked things and what it is he'd like to see upgraded.

When I finished, we headed to the Talon where I flirted with Lois and drank black coffee because I wanted the straight caffeine. AC asked if we were together and I told him that was mostly up to Lois who had a fascinating ability to rabbit all across Europe and make me want to give chase. She rolled her eyes and told him yes, we've been in a relationship for nearly a year minus the summer she spent chasing her sister all over Europe.

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her before telling her we'd go swimming when she got off work. She nodded and a few hours later she, AC and I went swimming. I grimaced when a sonar frequency started up. I tuned it out and AC ended up screaming in pain and passed out on the beach while his ears bled.

We took him to the Talon and gave him water while handing him a rag and telling him to clean his ears in the bathroom mirror. While he was doing that, Lana sat with me and kept Lois company until he came back out. Clark showed up tossing accusations around and AC left so Clark said he was going after him to apologize. I snorted lightly as Clark left. "Well that was hypocritical of him."

Lana asked curiously. "What?"

I shrugged. "He jumped down AC's throat before he could say much about himself then goes and lies about meaning to apologize to him. What he meant was he's going to follow AC and see if he can prove he's a bad guy. So much for giving people the benefit of the doubt."

Lois asked. "You can read his mind, is AC a bad guy?"

I shook my head. "Na, maybe a bit extreme, but when you're fighting a war to preserve your way of life you sort of have to be. He's also not human so I can't really judge him."

Lana and Lois's eyes both went wide and I clarified. "That is to say he's human like, just a different branch of evolution from humans. Homo magi descendants."

They looked confused so I clarified. "Witches and sorcerers. His people are from the fabled Atlantis, the continent that sank beneath the sea. The witches made a serum and they became more amphibious, breathing underwater and becoming faster than me under water. Or he was until he slammed me out of the way and nearly drowned trying to save you, Lois. Luckily he was born physically different so he recovered quickly and retains his gifts naturally or I'd have had to save you both."

Lana said it must be difficult avoiding people or risking taking their powers. I huffed. "Now you understand why I love Lois and loved you before hand. Honestly that parts easier than the other issue that comes with being like me."

Lois raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

I grabbed a metal butter knife and bent it with my thumb into a right angle. "Being as strong as I am, it's like living in a sand box full of cars board and tissue paper. One wrong move and I could hurt someone accidentally. Every second of every day I have to limit myself when I make even the slightest movements or I'll make footprints in concrete or walk through a wall if I'm not paying attention. In the beginning I'd have traded anyone my powers in a heartbeat just to be normal. Now that I've spent years mastering them, I don't even remember what normal was, not that I ever was normal after the first meteor shower."

Lana asked if she should ask him what Atlantis is like and I shook my head. "No, I doubt he knows himself. I had to read his genetic memory to know what he is."

Lois frowned. "What?"

I sighed. "Think of minds like Swiss banks. Most don't qualify to get in, but for those powerful enough, they have an all access pass. I can get passed the tellers as it were where the normal mind readers like little Ryan are stuck and slip into the vault where even the owner doesn't go or know I'm in. The vault being his subconscious which has a link to his genetic memories. Don't ask me, I'm no Atlantis biologist so I don't know how he has a genetic memory, he just does."

I gestured to the door. "His genetic memories are blurred, but I was able get the gist of it. I wasn't exactly trying to poke around, I was just curious where his powers came from like you."

Later that day I heard AC tried to blow up Leviathan, a secret military contract weapon system built by LuthorCorp in secret to get military funding. General Lane and I showed up to the party unannounced and uninvited. Still, Lex only asked what we were doing there. I told him that OzCorp had it's own testing ready for approval so General Lane and I came to see what all the fuss was about.

Lex gave the house ahead and his weapon malfunctioned. I winced. "Damn, I was hoping you'd be more successful than that. I sort of wanted to do my own research into sonic weapons if it was. There goes that interest."

I turned to the Admirals and General Lane. "Gentleman, might we adjourn to my own secret research facility. I have some tech I thing you'll all find very interesting."

I turned to Lex. "You're free to come check it out as well. I did come to your party uninvited after all."

He shook his head and I shrugged, leaving with the Admirals and General Lane. When we reached my farm, I lead them into the garage in the cars before telling them to park and enjoy the ride. They did and the entire garage floor descended downwards after all the doors locked magnetically. When we reached my play room, ten testers and twenty scientists were going over everything.

I waved and the admirals and General Lane got out of the cars. I lead them over to the blast proof viewing room and spoke. "What we have here today are specialized all terrain kinetic combat suits, Tesla grenades and a few more choice toys."

I nodded to my scientists and the screens showed the specs of each suit, missile and Tesla grenades. I spoke. "The Tesla grenades can clear a room and leave the terrorists or enemy combatants entirely unconscious for seal teams, marines or army personnel to go in and capture them for a bit of T&I."

Murmurs went around and General Lane asked. "I'm assuming there's a full demonstration?"

I nodded. "Of that and more. But before that I have a question, is the current interrogation and torture techniques reliable?"

They grimaced and I smiled and used the remote, turning the screens over. The next one was of the gamer chair. "This was originally designed to be the newest and best gaming technology to ever grace the markets. Virtual reality gaming. I've had several prototypes made for separate uses. The first being gaming of course. Only a fool would give up on such a lucrative market after all."

They chuckled and I nodded to the others. "The second as you'll soon see-"

The side wall panel opened up and a man was laying in it in a specialized jumpsuit. "Is a virtual training simulator. Inside it with the right equipment you can train a soldier in everything from combat medicine to interrogation and counter interrogation, single combat and all out war or stealth and assassination, all in a week out here. Inside will be closer to ten years. From turning a newbie into a terrorist killing combat machine with training in everything the military uses."

I turned to them. "You can have recruits sailing as veterans by the time it takes to swab the decks."

One of the admirals asked. "Isn't that just mentally though?"

I shook my head. "Make note of the suit. It's specially designed to stimulate the nerves and muscles as if he were in real combat without the life ending wounds, but the pain of the mistakes forces him to fix and correct them or suffer until the safety limits are reached and he's pulled out."

They watched the suit and I smiled. "The serum being used is a variant of the soon to be released limb regeneration serum made for veterans and accident victims. It accelerates the healing process and even insures the user doesn't become physically or mentally fatigued at those levels of stress. It works so fast that only newbies with no combat experience will be ejected and a few more tries will have them speeding through the programs."

I hit the coms button and told them. "Begin martial arts and full combat training simulations."

We watched in real time on a monitor as I told them it translates the simulation to video recording so we can actively see his progress. For twenty minutes we watched the man jerk on the chair until he adapted and began progressing faster and faster. I told them. "This is the slowest setting of the simulation due to wanting you to see in real time his responses to show its working."

I hit the coms again. "Accelerate perception in the program matrix and begin the serum stimulations."

They did so and we watched as images flashed across the screen. I told them. "That's one, two, seven, twenty, sixty and now ninety martial arts black belts he's earned. Switching to weapons training and life fire combat simulations now."

They watched as he mastered in a couple hours what would take years to accomplish. When he was tossed into the thick of it, he died several times, but the serum kept him up and restarted the simulations. Soon enough he was a combat veteran of a dozen battles and in medical triage training so I turned their attention to the last wall. "This is Francisco Garza. He's a serial killer and rapist with over thirty rumored female rapes and deaths on his hands and only five convictions. He's been given the the death penalty and has agreed to this experiment on the premise that if he beats the program he'll be allowed to see his son behind bullet proof glass just once. The governor has agreed to this provided the suits you saw before are made available to cops and firemen per acceptable use at a fixed price once they become publicly supplied."

I asked General Lane. "Would you like to prove the voracity of these claims? The governor is awaiting your video call as we speak."

I gestured to the desk phone and he called the governor on it and the governor appeared on the screen. They spoke and he confirmed the situation before I opened up a live feed to the governor. "Feel free to judge for yourself how effective the program is."

He nodded and we watched the convict be strapped under armed guard to the chair while in the suit. When it began, he was in a white room and then it began. Avatars of his victims tortured and ripped into him, over and over again while he ranted and yelled at first until the program changed to his fears, supplied by his own subconscious. I told the men around me this and soon he broke so the victims came in and cut into him as he told us everything he did, down to where the bodies were dumped, how many times he raped each one and how many weren't accounted for including the rapes leading up to the murders, how it began, everything.

The governor had police teams sent to each location with K-9 units. Soon he confirmed all the bodies and young women were accounted for and I told him. "Kansas is my home state so regardless I'll keep the deal you wanted so long as the suits you need pass muster and aren't military specs."

He nodded and thanked me before hanging up. I turned to the admirals and smiled. "For your information only, the terrorists don't have to be willing participants or even conscious when they're strapped in. The program uses the surface memories and thoughts of the one in it to dig deeper until their deepest fears are realized and they're no better than a sniveling child. At our core even the strongest of us are vulnerable to ourselves which the program turns against us."

I gestured to Francisco who was dragged out crying in chains with ten armed guards at all times. "The user won't remember right away what's happened inside the machine because it's their subconscious that was being manipulated. They may have vivid dreams for a while and some may eventually remember, but in the end they'll only feel something happened and that's it for starters. You gentlemen are free to test it out yourselves once the contracts have been signed and if you don't like what you're buying you can have your money back within the first month. After that I don't have time to focus on some passed project so you'll be referred to my lab assistants."

I gestured to the main room where the suites up men were ready. I told the military men. "All the military spec suits are capable of diving up to fifteen hundreds meters in depth, equipped with sonar, radar, night vision and infrared hubs. They can accurately track each group to hone in on targets and closed com links between themselves and the main hub which would go on a ship, sub, plane or even fit in a tank if you're on the move."

I continued describing the firefighter one first, saying it was designed and capable of withstanding temperatures of near magma levels. The man in it was set in the room alone where the room caught fire and napalm was released. I told the military personnel. "Napalm, Greek fire, incendiary devices and even gas main explosions won't even scratch it. The wearer has an oxygen scrubber system, and now-"

The hands on the suit released a liquid that turned into mist and suffocated the fire. "I call it ice age because it instantly freezes any non organic substance in the room to sub zero temperatures, killing the fire and flames by taking the heat itself from it."

The suit froze, but once the spray stopped as the fire went out it shook and the ice shattered off with ease, not leaving anything on it. I told them. "Drop all the napalm on wherever you want and you can have boots on the ground while it's happening without casualties to your men. Please keep in mind that all military models have these civilian features so this is very basic."

I waved a hand and the ceiling started to close in on the suited tester like a trash compactor. When it was close enough, the monitor lit up as it showed a scale. Seeing the weight rapidly reach and surpass three tons before stopping, I told them. "Each suit is rated up to four tons at max, but for demonstration purposes, three tons is more than enough. After all, ten soldiers throwing cars and busting down buildings would scare the terrorists to their god and the whole military? They'd meet their gods in person or shut the hell up about Allah or jehad before crawling back into their caves praying you don't drop in on them to say hi."

I turned to the admirals. "FYI, they can rank anything not nuclear in anyone's known arsenal and a single one could tear a submarine to bits like taffy."

I waved a hand and the scientists let the guy out before the next one came in and I asked them to step out with me towards the testing room wall. They did so and found a table rising from the floor on both sides, lined with hundreds of guns, Molotov's, grenades and an RPG. I nodded to the tester and asked the General. "Care to be apart of this demonstration?"

He shrugged and the assistants passed out safety goggles and noise canceling earbuds. I told General Lane. "Every weapon is fully locked and loaded with live rounds. Feel free to shoot the testing papers and pull out the clips as you please."

I gestured to the admirals. "Behind the blast proof glass please. You won't be hit, but the concussion of a close range RPG could knock you on your asses and personally I prefer not having hurt tailbones as the reason you don't like this little demonstration."

When they were ready, I tapped Lane's shoulder. "Fire when ready."

He grabbed guns left and right, emptying clips into the suit as bullets flattened and fell to the feel of the suited man. After ten guns, I stopped him and nodded to the rested of the scientists. "Open fire when ready."

Twenty geared up scientists opened fires with AKs, Uuzi's and all kinds of automatic weapons including a Barrett. Cracks and rapist gun fire went on as they picked up the heavy artillery and most stepped aside as the four other suited men took the heavy artillery offered. Grenades, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, a mortar, they threw everything at the single suited man and when it was over, he was still standing without a scratch on him.

I told them about the kinetic energy neutralizing properties of the suit. I told them short of a nuke, it would take a fully charged reusable Tesla grenade to stun the suit and disable it for removal should the cops turn bad or something. I added. "On that note each suit is equipped with three dimensional cameras to monitor the wearer's surroundings from a remote viewing station."