Chapter 31

Chapter 31: The Arising Part One.

Clark was completely and utterly confused. None of this was adding up. He decided to ask the most obvious question that came to mind.

"The arising, but I thought…."

Luna hushed Clark immediately, and dragged him behind a set of bushes. There were several more guards that patrolled the area. They had noticed the downed bodies of the Death Eaters on the ground. Luna spoke to Clark in a hushed undertone.

"The arising is a tricky subject to deal with. They have no idea what kind of Pandora's box they opened. You see the world around us. There are hardly any people around us. Well any people who cannot perform magic. Harry and Kara managed to defeat the monster that was brought forth by the three Heralds of Lord Voldemort, but not without a great price."

"What do you mean a great price?" Clark asked. "What is going on here? And if I don't exist, then how am I here?"

Luna shook her head. She remained patient, and calm. The girl held her hand to quiet Clark.

"To answer your questions in reverse order, you don't exist in this world, because you never made it here," Luna explained. "However, there is a world where you do exist, the world where you were transported from. The world did not technically change; you were brought here to this world. Time travel cannot change a world. Rather what Brainiac did was that he branched off two separate worlds from the maiden time stream. One without you, and one where the world for all intents and purposes for you stopped the moment you disappeared. In theory, that world is still going on. Your mind just perceived that everyone around you disappeared, but rather you did."

Clark was completely taken off guard by this. He had many more questions than he did in fact have answers. His head was spinning by the absolute insanity that was time travel.

"You've been transported to this world, a harsh world that is not like your own," Luna continued. "And in this world, if you do not find a way to return to yours within the seventy two hour window, you will cease to exist. Since you do not fit in this world, it will be trying to erase you. Lily's charm work is the only thing that is keeping you from completely and utterly disappearing."

Clark just nodded. He had no idea what was going on. In fact, he felt like he had no better explanation to what was going on around him than what Luna was telling him. The girl was not done.

"The timeline diverged in several instances," Luna said. "The meteor shower that brought you here arrived, but the ship failed and you perished before Martha and Jonathan Kent could find you. The lives of those infected by the meteors were still altered, and their lives were changed forever. And many of the same people were targeted. How many times were you to save the day? Without you there to save the day, each and every single one of your friends died a premature death."

Clark swallowed the lump in his throat. The gravestones really hit hard. In a world where he did not exist, he could not save his friends from danger. Therefore, they no longer existed.

"You said Harry and Kara defeated the monster that was brought forth by the Arising," Clark said. "Yet, why is Kara acting the way she is? She threw me out of a window, and then….they called her the Empress."

Luna remained silent. She was checking for another patrol. One did come around here annoyingly often. She took a deep breath, and turned towards Clark.

"The Harry and Kara you know still live, but they are out of reach," Luna said. "Brainiac intends to trap them on Krypton when it explodes. Even with their powers, they cannot survive an entire planet exploding. And they will go down to stop Brainiac, to save you, to make sure a world like this doesn't exist. They do not want a world where the darkness has engulfed eighty percent of the world's population, and where Harry was taken over by his inner demons."

Clark had more questions, but now was not the time. Luna grabbed Clark by the sleeve, and moved off.

"We got to keep moving, we can't face them right now, especially you with your powers being low," Luna said. She tapped her wand on his sleeve. Clark felt a warmth flood through him. "There, the red sunlight should be filtered into yellow sunlight. It's not as good as the real thing; it would take charm work of someone more powerful than me to do so. However, you will find it to be an acceptable enough substitute."

"How did you do that?" Clark asked.

Luna offered him a smile.

"Magic can do anything."

Clark felt that there was no reason to argue with an explanation like that.

"As to answer your question to what's going on here, there is a dark force coming," Luna said. "Judging by your expression, the arising was stopped in your universe."

"Yes, Harry and Kara defeated the Heralds of Voldemort," Clark confirmed.

Luna's expression darkened, and she looked serious.

"However, fate tends to have a strange way of making sure that certain prophecies are fulfilled," Luna said. "It is unfortunate that an entire timeline has to suffer for this. It was written that Harry was to defeat Voldemort. However, that did not happen, at least in the conventional sense."

"He's dead though, that seems pretty defeated to me," Clark said.

"To most it would be, but Harry's destiny indicates that he slays that personal demon with his own hand," Luna said. She looked saddened. "I know enough about what is happening in your timeline to be very worried. There is a darkness that looms inside Harry Potter. His noble heart has been fighting it, but the powers of the Herald of Death could tend to cause him to tap into that darkness. As long as Kara remains uncompromised, she will be able to anchor him. In this world, for years, they were two of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen. That was until he popped into their life, and offered them help in defeating the monster."

"What monster is this?" Clark asked. "Lord Voldemort…"

"Voldemort, while dangerous, was not capable of the destruction that this monster was when he was brought forth by the Arising," Luna explained cryptically. "Kara and Harry defeated it, after Harry tapped into his full powers. These full powers awakened something deep inside of him. Kara was given a gift from Harry around this time. A red necklace that radically changed her personality, and made her come to the conclusion that Earth needed to be conquered to be saved."

Clark could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"Kara should be immune to Kryptonite of all types," Clark said.

"In the right hands, with the right charm work, anything can be made more potent," Luna said. "The point was both of them were beloved heroes. Up until the point where these radical changes happened in them. Things were made worst when Milton Fine assisted them. He encouraged the worst in them. And now Harry and Kara have been turned into dark mirrors of themselves. Fine might be the puppet master, but there is another looming force controlling his strings."

Luna sighed. She remained silent. Clark looked at her.

"I have a plan to change all of this, and I will get you back to your time, to help Harry and Kara stop Brainiac," Luna said. She fixed her eyes on him. "I need your help."

"Why do you need my help?" Clark asked.

Luna offered him a bright smile. "Because this looks like a job for Clark Kent."

Harry Potter sat in an office in the heart of the Shining Light Foundation.. He had been trying to convince himself that what he was doing was right. The human race had been wiped out for the most part. The few that had remained had been in fear. He was hoping to create a world that people of all races could prosper in. Yet, the only way he could do this was conquer it. Kara had been on board with this. He had given her a necklace to cement their love.

Kara was the most important thing in the world to him. He would never forgive himself if anything bad ever happened to her. Anyone else, he really could not care about. Harry thought that his girl was the most beautiful thing in the universe. She was powerful, and loyal to him. He had helped her find everything to achieve a grander purpose in life.

"Master, are you…"

"Leave me," Harry told the robed figures.

"There was a problem outside," one of the robed figures said.

"I said leave me," Harry repeated to them.

The robed figures bowed. Soon enough the echoes of their master would be brought out completely. Harry Potter had been annoyingly fighting it for years and years. That girl was a huge problem, and she would need to be sacrificed for the echoes deep within Harry Potter to be full realized. The power would come to life.

Milton Fine popped up.

"Is everything prepared?" Fine asked him.

Harry turned towards him. "I'm having second thoughts about what I'm going do."

"You must preserve both your race and Kara's," Fine said. "The two of you are the last hope for two races that are dying. The Fortress is prepared. All you have to do is open the portal, and the key that you need will be presented for you. The two of you can repopulate Krypton, and bring it back. It will be a brand new utopia."

Harry stood and tapped his foot. He was not completely sure about this. He stood on his feet, and looked out the window. For the past couple of years, he certainly did not feel like himself. He had taken his mother's advice to the letter of what to do. However, even Lily Potter questioned his trust he had for Milton Fine. And Fine did seem to have his own agenda. Harry was just stringing him along, hoping for him to slip up and he would find more information.

"Why am I going along with this?" Harry asked him.

That was a question that had been bouncing around Harry's mind for the last several days. It had kept coming back to that point. He wondered if he was losing sense of himself. There was this whisper in his ear that he needed to do something with Kara, for she would betray him like the rest of them. Harry stifled those whispers. He loved Kara. She was the only reason he had to live.

"It was your idea, Emperor Potter," Milton Fine told him. The two locked eyes. "I will await your decision, but the longer you wait, the more of a risk you have of losing much more. You will be evolved to a completely different level, and your powers will increase. You will be an entirely new person."

Harry did understand that. He folded his arms, and stood to face this man. Time ticked by. He would have to make a decision. There was a part of him who just wished to take Kara, and fly off to find a new world to start a new life. Responsibilities be damned, Harry just could not handle the deaths and destruction that he had inadvertently caused. He stepped forward, and turned around.

"I will need to consider what my next move is," Harry said.

"You are merely a fair and just ruler," Fine said. "But I feel that you can be much more. Just trust me on this, Emperor Potter."

Harry felt like Fine was the devil on his shoulder, whispering what to do to him. He had no idea what was going through his mind. All he knew was that he had to figure out something. He needed to speak with Kara about this. Kara seemed to encourage this conquest, but he had a feeling to her loyalty was tied to him and only him. Harry had to make sure.

He helped his girl fine the three stones, and construct her Fortress. The two of them had bonded at that moment. Through the trials and tribulations, the two of them had grown closer than any two people in the universe could have ever hoped to dream. The monster they slayed, and managed to put down for good was their greatest triumph.

It all went wrong. He had given Kara that red necklace on a whim. It did seem to change her a little bit; however it had made her far more adventurous in many ways. Not that she was not already adventurous before he handed her that red necklace. A voice within Harry had silenced every single one of his little doubts that he had.

"Tonight, I will know for sure," Harry told Fine.

A looming presence within Harry Potter grew frustrated and impatient. He was nearly able to get through Potter, and use his body to return to his more natural form. There were times where he thought he had got closer. However, Harry remained utterly stubborn in giving in to his inner nature completely.

It was all about that girl. She would need to perish. Potter and that alien would be taken out. And also Fine would have to suffer. The dark force within Harry Potter had understood what must be done. He knew that machine had his own agenda. Oh yes, he knew he was a machine, and he suspected that Harry Potter suspected that fact as well.

Soon everything would come true. The plan that had been created many years ago would come to light. He would rise again. The steps had been taken where he would never die.

And Harry Potter, the alien, and that computer would all perish. Lord Voldemort would rise once more. Combined with the own darkness that Harry Potter had tried hard to repress, he would be unstoppable.

There were many changes that happened in this new timeline. Among many of them was that the Horcrux inside Harry had never been vanquished. Fine's attempts to weaken Potter had made him stronger, and able to take control of this vessel. Yet, there would be a stronger vessel coming, one that was invulnerable to all attacks. Combined with his magic, he would be invincible.

All would tremble before his power.

Clark stood outside, and peered through the bushes. The sun was coming down. There was some kind of eerie beauty about a red sun that he could not explain. Luna stood beside him, and began to hum underneath her breath. She saw the guards move around.

"Well, the cat's out of the bag right now," Luna told Clark. "They know you're here. My mother told me stories about the traveler, but with heroic, bold, and brave, without tact was not one of the many adjectives that were given to you. Not that it is a bad thing. There are heroes that are bold and brave, but they have no sense of subtly. I would think that with an advanced race, you would be able to understand what to do. Your training should have conveyed this much to you."

Clark sighed. He did not know how to tell someone that his training still had not officially begun. Luna stepped forward, and shook her head. She turned and put her hands on her chin, cupping it. A smile spread across her face.

"From what I've been able to tell, they have a distinct shoot on sight policy regarding you," Luna told Clark. "While bullets cannot hurt you, magic can in many ways. That particular weakness has been determined through my mother's studies. She was researching many matters before you died. I have some awareness from myself in the other universe."

"How is that possible?" Clark asked. "Aren't you dead there?"

"I assume that I am," Luna said in a cheerful voice. "However, you just never know what happened. I'd like to think that my death was an elaborate hoax. Somewhere out there, I am riding around with a UFO with Elvis, Bigfoot, and Tupac just waiting to make my move, but that's beside the point."

Clark really had no idea how to react to this girl. She most certainly viewed the world through her own unique perspective. Not that it was a bad thing, but it was a strange thing. Luna tapped her foot.

"Are there others out there?" Clark asked.

"Kara, Harry, and I have been mostly holding the fort down, until what happened occurred," Luna told him. She closed her eyes. It was hard to deal with something like this. Especially since her, Kara, and Harry were all so close in this world. "I ran off to try and find help for Harry and Kara. The two of them don't deserve to be used like this, but what they've gone through to get to this point, it's understandable why they are vulnerable like this. They would kill me for even thinking that they were vulnerable, yet the strongest of us tend to have our moments of weakness."

Luna remained calm. The experiment that her mother was doing with the meteor rocks that lead to her death had caused an indirect side effect on her. The rocks had empowered her, and allowed her to view the world through a different perspective. She saw things that others could not see. It had caused her to be considered a misfit, to be dubbed insane. However, she had seen the things that people would not even acknowledge.

She peered out into the distance. The girl remained silent. Clark seemed to be impatient. Luna thought that this was one of his more annoying traits. Luna folded her arms over her chest.

"You said Brainiac is here?" Clark asked, and Luna responded with a crisp nod. "It's almost like he knows that I'm here."

Luna pondered this matter for a second. It was hard to explain how the BrainInteractive Construct had fit into this equation. However, she had to give Clark her honest response of the matter.

"I'm sure that particular problem knows that you're here," Luna said. "There have been several messages sent here through the time stream. The Harry and Kara you know sent one through."

"I found that one," Clark agreed.

"And if they could sent the messages through, it stands to reason that Brainiac could communicate to his counterpart here as well," Luna said. "I normally don't assume, because you know what that does to you and me, but this is one case where I feel confident that we could. Assume that he knows everything about you, and prepare for it. He will be waiting for you, and he plans to use Harry to enact his plans. However, the puppet master is about to be strangled with his own strings. And Harry and Kara will both be hurt in the crossfire by the real mastermind. We have to separate Harry from the thing that is infecting him."

"How?" Clark asked.

Luna just smirked, and pulled out a lead lined box from her robe. She handed it to Clark, and cracked it open. There was a very familiar black rock in it.

"Harry can't be affected by Kryptonite," Clark told Luna.

Luna just smiled. "Yes, normally he couldn't. However, Harry is Kryptonian enough where with the modified charm work; he will be affected just as much as the next person."

Clark was taken aback by this.

"Harry has Kryptonian ancestry deep within his bloodline," Luna told Clark. "One of his ancestors was Kryptonian, but he managed to suppress his powers to live a normal life. Harry's bond with Kara has awakened his lineage deep inside him, the first member of his family to tap into those gifts for generations."

Luna remained calm as if this was nothing at all. Clark would normally have had all of the questions in the world. Time ran shorter.

"This should separate Harry from his dark side long enough to banish it and any lingering parasites," Luna told him. "We can break Kara's spell as well, and she can help us save Harry. And then Harry can return you home."

Clark hoped so. The time was running out. He was not relishing stepping one foot into the Shining Light Foundation. Kara threatened to kill him the last time he entered there, and threw him through a window.

The only consolation was that Kara was not herself. He had been down that road before, and could understand. Plus, Clark reminded himself that he did not exist in this world, and he had brought up a very touchy subject.

"It's time, Kal-El," Luna told him. "Through that gate, and be ready to fight. They will kill you if you show any mercy."

Clark stood. He did not want to take a life, but these Death Eaters were far more dangerous than anything he had ever fought, except maybe the criminals from the Phantom Zone. Harry had said a few things about them, even if they were a subject that he would have liked to avoid.

The two moved forward. Clark was determined. He could fix this all, even if he was sure he was gone for almost a day. Time was running out.

The time they had spent looking for Brainiac had given Kara a lot of time to think. She was given ample time to think about whether or not the destruction of her beloved home planet was going to be something that was inevitable no matter what was done. It did seem to be the case. It was scary to think that no matter what was done, there was nothing that she could have done there.

Kara was here on Krypton. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that her powers had not returned. The two of them could have stopped it from all happening had they had their full powers. However, there were many consequences. She stood, arms locked with Harry. This was the person she wanted a future with. Krypton was something that was part of her distinct past. The echoes from the past threatened to overwhelm her. People begged her to save them.

Yet, Kara could not save them. In her heart, she knew that. There was no way to stop it. A lot of good people died, and Kryptonians had thought that their civilization would last for thousands of years more. There were times where their own arrogance had gotten the better of them. In hindsight, the destruction of Krypton was something that everyone should have seen coming. The Ruling Council had brought it upon themselves, and greed had driven them the rest of the way. No one did, and Kara could sense the millions of mistakes that were made.

Perhaps she could use the foundation of the mistakes from the past to build a brighter future. Those were the thoughts in her mind. Even if she could not save Krypton, perhaps she could help Harry prevent the same fate from Earth. Earth would evolve to that point someday, and in a few hundred years, they could be at a similar crossroads.

Growing complacent was the downfall of many great civilizations. One did not have to be a historical scholar to understand that. Kara bit her lip, and frowned immediately. Harry stood by her, and scanned the area.

"Is he near?" Kara asked Harry quietly.

Harry nodded. "I'm sure he's very near. I don't think this time travel thing was going as planned. The only solace is that the past cannot be changed. An alternate timeline would be created. Normally this would not be a problem. However, I think that Brainiac modified what was in the scrolls enough to also transport Clark to the doomed timeline."

"The timeline where he doesn't exist," Kara said quietly. She turned towards Harry, a pleading look in her bright blue eyes. "What…what…what will happen if Clark stays in that timeline?"

"He'll be erased, because he doesn't belong," Harry said grimly. "We can't allow that to happen. And we need to find a way off of Krypton before everything explodes. Heralds of Death or not, we might not be able to survive the explosion. Especially when our powers are at our weakest."

Kara frowned. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"How long?" Kara asked.

"How long before the destruction or how long before our powers return?" Harry asked her.

Kara clarified the statement. "Just how long before we get our powers back."

Harry remained calm, and thoughtful.

"One hour, forty eight minutes, and twelve seconds," Harry said making the calculation in his head. "We don't necessary need to defeat Brainiac in that time, but stall him. We got slightly more time before Krypton explodes. About two hours and eighteen minutes."

Kara just allowed that all to sink it. It was rather sombering to hear about the death of a planet.

"Do you think that we could save it?" Kara asked. Harry looked at her strangely. "Hypothetically speaking if we had a chance, could we save it."

"I wish we could save many people," Harry told Kara. Kara nodded. "However, if we save Krypton today, something could happen where it blows up tomorrow or the next day. Eventually, the scales would balance itself. Or some other planet or civilization would be sacrificed. Maybe even Earth."

Kara had to concede that Harry had a point. Her hand tightened around Harry's. They walked around, getting one last look at Krypton. It was still a beautiful day, and Kara could hardly believe that this perfect day would mean the end. She was glad Harry was here with her to experience the beauty one last time, before it was gone. There would be no return. Her memories would be the only thing that would be intact from her experiences.

There would be new memories with Harry. They would get off this planet alive. Then the future would be bright.

"I think we found Brainiac," Harry whispered.

Kara looked determined. What happened to Claire was fresh in her mind. While she would be safe when they got home, the fact that Brainiac tried to kill her child really pissed her off.

"Good, let's pay our respects," Kara told him.

The two Heralds of Death were united. There was a little over an hour before their powers returned, and a little under two hours before Krypton would meet its inevitable end. Brainiac did not care if he perished. Harry and Kara saw them heading towards Jor-El's laboratory. Where the ship was about to be launched as they spoke.

Harry and Kara would beat him there. Their minds were one. They had no idea what the consequences would be of failure, but the two of them knew that they could be dire.

Immediately, Harry immobilized Brainiac. Brainiac tried to shake himself free. This gave Kara the opportunity to fly forward. The simulated yellow sunlight empowered her, and she tried to focus her X-Ray vision on Brainiac. If she could find his central processor and damage it, he would take a long time to repair. And Harry would be able to input the virus to destroy him without any firewalls blowing him.

Brainiac sent a wave of energy. Kara caught Harry, and the two of them flew into Brainiac. A tremor shook the planet, which mean time was running short.

"It is folly what you're trying to do," Brainiac said.

"For a computer, you talk way too much," Harry said, and he tried to rip through Brainiac.

He was more damaged than he been during the past attacks. Harry continued to make headway. Perhaps his powers were slowly coming back sooner than he could have hoped. The battle between the Heralds of Death and Brainiac raged on.

So long as they stood together, the battle was never hopeless. The tandem attack cracked Brainiac. They had to keep him away from the ship before it launched. Then everything would be okay.

The guards turned their heads from side to side. They thought they heard something. One of them stepped forward to verify that he was not seeing, or hearing things. He paused, and looked forward. He blinked a few times.

"Just a cat," the guard said.

The guards were all knocked out the moment that their backs were turned. Luna had taken out five of them in one hit. They all toppled to the ground like dominoes. Clark seemed rather impressed, and she motioned for him to go through the gate. He moved forward, but stopped. He knew by now to look before he leaped. The X-Ray vision had been focused.

"There are nine more guards up there," Clark told her.

Luna responded with a nod. "We just got to keep going then. We're almost there."

Luna stepped forward, and pulled the door open. The doors flung open with an unlocking charm. The guards stood. Luna turned the stairs into a slide. They staggered. Clark rushed up the stairs. For a brief second, Clark thought he had gained flight. However, those hopes were dashed when he realized his feet were firmly on something.

The quirky blonde followed him. The guards dropped down, their arms were snapped together, and they fell over the banisters to their doom. Clark gave Luna a quizzical expression. Luna pushed open the door, and they were into the main throne room.

"Get the necklace, and throw it out the window before it tempts you," Luna told Clark.

Clark did not need telling twice. He super sped into the scene, and rushed towards Clark. Kara extended one hand forward. She was far quicker than he was. Kara blocked his hand, and knocked Clark off to the side with a huge kick. Kara stepped forward, and her eyes narrowed with malice.

"Kara, fight it," Clark managed. Kara grabbed him by the throat. She squeezed, and Kara tried to push Clark down to his knees. Clark struggled. His strength pushed her off of his throat partially, but he had come the sad realization that Kara was holding back. There was still a part of the real her still in there. "Kara, you're not like this."

"I warned you about coming back here," Kara said. "I guess they were right, I am too soft with those who are beneath me."

"Kara, you don't believe any of this," Clark said. "You're not yourself."

"You will kneel before me!" Kara yelled.

Luna crept it while Clark was trying to plead with Kara. With a swift movement, she snapped the necklace off of Kara's neck. Kara staggered around, and she began to come back to her senses. She shook her head. Her eyes blinked.

"Luna…what happened to me?" Kara asked. She shook her head and then everything became far more clear to her. She came down on her Red Kryptonite induced high. Fear completely flooded her at the moment. She shook her head, and took a few breaths. "Harry…it's Harry…there's something wrong with him. We got to snap him out of it too. And Fine, he can't be trusted."

Luna smiled. She pulled the other blonde into half of a hug and offered her a light kiss on the forehead.

"It's good to see you back Kara," Luna said. "We must…."

Luna, Kara, and Clark were all knocked down at that moment before Luna had finished this sentence. The three of them were down on the ground. Clark tried to get up, but Brainiac had showed up to immobilize the three of them.

"You should not have come here, Kal-El," Brainiac said. He stood with his eyes narrowed. Clark tried to fight him, and the struggle continued. Luna and Kara both rolled over. Kara made a motion to help, Clark. Luna held her back.

"This is his battle, he must fight it," Luna told Kara. "If he gets in trouble, only then will we intervene."

Kara watched the cousin she never really knew in this world. There was something that was beginning to tell her that everything that happened in this world was never meant to be. Clark and Brainiac surrounded each other, and began to fight with each other.

"You are as weak as my counterpart told me," Brainiac said in a crisp voice. He slammed Clark against the wall hard, and began to strangle him.

Clark began to knock Brainiac backwards. Brainiac was sent crashing towards the throne. He pulled himself up. "We have a different idea of what weak is and what strong is."

Super speed was avoided, and Brainiac grabbed Clark, and choked him out. Kara and Luna tried to intervene. Both girls were sent backwards. Luna tried to blast through the shields with magical energy. Kara unleashed her heat vision through the shields. The two of them continued to slam their shoulders through the shield.

Clark hammered. He would not disappear. He could not fail everyone. There was something that told him that if he did not return to his timeline in time, this fate would happen. Determination flooded through Clark's face, and then he slammed into Brainiac. Again and again, he tried to rip him apart. Brainiac divided into half. One drone attacked Clark from one side. The other drone attacked Clark from the other side.

He remained on his feet, and slammed them together viciously. They smashed together. The two Brainiacs shattered from the impact, but a third stepped into focus. His hand slammed down across the back of Clark's neck.

"All you will know have failed," Brainiac said.

Clark pushed Brainiac off. At that moment, a black light impacted Brainiac in the face. Clark stood, and watched as Harry Potter stepped forward. Brainiac dropped to the ground, crumbling into ashes.

"No man, or no machine can hope to get the better of me," Harry said in a cold voice that was not unlike him. Clark stood, and then was knocked into the wall.

"Harry, fight it!"

Kara's yells fell on deaf ears. Clark tried to pull himself to his feet, and Harry slammed him down hard. A magical noose had wrapped around Clark's neck, and choked him. His strength managed to push Harry back.

Like a blur, Kara grabbed Harry from behind. She tried to hold him into place. Harry gently broke her grip, and she was stunned, dropping to the ground.

"You made me do that," Harry told Clark. His voice was getting colder. His eyes turned from red to green. Luna moved over to revive Kara. An electrical shock knocked her back. "This is the great hero that was prophesized to be sent from the stars. Humanity's last line of defense against the dark elements that rise."

Clark tried to fight, and Harry knocked him down. He was on his knees. Clark tried to hold his head up. His face was smashed into the ground. Strength tried to push his way out of the attack.

"You're not yourself, you're not yourself," Clark said. "Harry, if you're in there somewhere, fight it."

"He is in there somewhere, but he's finally slipped and I've taken control," Harry said in a cold voice. "And you Kal-El, are going to be the sacrifice I need. Both you and Harry Potter will perish. And I will return to your timeline and conquer it."

"Over my dead body," Clark managed.

Harry gave a high and cold round of laughter. "All in due time, Kryptonian. I know you have a plan, and you think it will work. But it will be inevitable to fail. That machine has been poisoning me for months, thinking he can weaken this form to use as the proper channel as a vessel for his master. However, while he weakened Harry Potter's mind, he left the door open for me to return. He fulfilled the objective of the Arising."

"You're him," Clark gasped.

Harry laughed once again.

"Yes, Kal-El, I am him. Lord Voldemort knows that you're not stupid."

Clark tried to calculate the plan. Both Kara and Luna were trapped. He was in a world where he could get erased at any second.

A voice whispered in his ear.

'Kal-El, you do not need to merely beat him, but you just nearly need to stall him until Harry can re-take control of his mind and then he can send you the rest of the way back.'

Clark knew who this was. Harry stood before him, his newly slit like red eyes staring down him with thinly veiled contempt.