Chapter 49

Chapter 49: The Last Stand Part One.

Autumn weather arrived and was in full swing, even if the hints of the summer were still here, and what a six months it had been since the final battle of the Artic. One Harry Potter knew that better than anyone, and they had been given the runaround with their third Herald of Death, who had shown up, and disappeared for weeks at a time, doing who knows what.

Harry also was keeping tabs on their newest guest from Krypton, who seemed to be not as dead as many people would have thought. Then again, Harry wondered if anyone was ever really dead, there seemed to like a lot of people just cheating the edge of death. Harry had been so busy with tracking down undesirables with Kara and Chloe, so they had no real idea whether or not Clark knew of Raya's return.

It was not down to Harry to tell Clark what was going on, he respected Raya's wishes to want to remain mostly off to the side, just in an observatory role for now. Kara grudgingly agreed with this, although she was not too happy about Raya's presence, making a few choice comments about her being Jor-El's lapdog. Harry really hoped that he would not have to break up a super powered Kryptonian catfight, because when Karen and Kara did it, it was bad enough, he did not want to have to do it again.

"Three more off of the list in the last three months," Kara answered, breaking Harry out of his thoughts, and Harry just nodded. One of his wives leaned over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and snuggling her face into the back of Harry's neck. "Just think, eleven, twelve more to go, I think."

"At our last count," Chloe responded before she showed up at this point, putting a pair of hands on her hips, the blonde grabbing Harry by the hand on the other side. "But, there's something else strange going on, and it's regarding something with our third Herald, and something she did."

Kara and Harry racked their brains at what Chloe meant, but they were struggling to figure it out. So Chloe took a moment to enlighten then, offering her employers and lovers a smile, before raising a little eyebrow, before she spoke.

"Remember, she attacked that paramedic all that months ago, Davis Bloome."

"After all of the insane things Karen did, it's kind of hard to remember them all," Kara answered, looking rather dismayed by the thoughts of her cross-dimensional twin. She honestly wished that Karen would actually join them for real, but she seemed to be beating to her own drum. Kara really worried about how unstable the Herald of Death powers were making her, without the proper grounded influence.

Then again, if Kara knew herself, she knew how stubborn that she was, so why should an alternate version of her be so different?

"Well, do you remember Linda Lake?" Chloe asked at that point, and Harry racked his brain.

"Yeah, crazy woman who liked to ruin the lives of others, and could turn into water. I had her blackballed so hard and so fast, if I recall correctly. Lois told me she swore revenge, but she was found dead a few days later."

Harry did not shed too many tears for that woman, she reminded him of Rita Skeeter. Albeit one could turn into water to spy on her latest victims, whilst the other could turn into a beetle. Be that as it may, both of them were pains in the ass, and could not care about revealing the deep dark secrets of those who they wished to stab with their poisoned pen.

"Yeah, but Davis was the one that found her, dead on arrival, and I dug through some records, and it was not the first time that happened, six more cases over the past few months," Chloe answered, and Harry and Kara just exchanged a rather tense look.

Harry was trying hard not to think of the worst.

"Perhaps he just has a bad track record," Harry answered, trying to play the devil's advocate, but even his voice lacked conviction at that point, taking a long and deep breath.

"Maybe," Chloe offered in a rather skeptical voice, with a slight raised of her eyebrow. "But I took a look at his lifeline reading aura, but maybe my powers aren't as fine-tuned as yours."

"What did you see?" Kara prompted, giving Chloe an encouraging smile and nod, and Chloe was prompted to delve into her mad theory.

"I don't know how any of this is possible, maybe there's something faulty with my powers, but his dot is half red and half gold."

Harry and Kara stood up straight at that point, there was only one other person to have a gold lifeline reading, and that was Clark, given his unique nature. Even Raya had just a white reading when the two of them had checked her. That was something that the two of them needed to check out first hand.

How could someone be both an undesirable and have a reading like Clark? If he was gold, that meant Heralds of Death could not kill him, yet they had to kill him because he was red and an undesirable.

That reading really did not make any sense whatsoever, and Harry offered a frown, before looking Chloe dead in the eye.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to really check that out, but if Bloome is dangerous, stay away from him," Harry answered, and Chloe opened her mouth to protest, but Harry cut her off with a well placed kiss to the mouth. Chloe found her mind shut down with Harry's efforts with a kiss, and she found herself agreeing.

Chloe sank down on the chair with Harry and Kara, and the news broadcast was on, there was a huge Luthorcorp Press Conference on, and Harry turned up the sound when it was started. Luthorcorp had many pieces of business that were outstanding, and Harry and Kara had a casual relationship with Tess at best.

"Look, Oliver," Harry whispered, and he saw the owner of Queen Industries walk up to the podium, at the plaza where the Press Conference was occurring.

A blinding flash of white light appeared on the screen, like a flash bang and knocked the cameras off, leaving nothing, but a test pattern screen. Kara, Chloe, and Harry all bounced up to their feet, and watched, listening.

"We lost the feed, but our reporters on the scene have seen Oliver Queen go off the stage, someone has shot him, I repeat someone has shot Oliver Queen, and…"

A loud explosion like a bomb, and the two Heralds and their Herald watched, their eyes widened at that point, mouths opened at the events that transpired.

Tess and Oliver both were inside, along with many others, and it seemed like someone had lethal intentions in mind for them.

A young scientist was running from a facility that was owned by Luthorcorp, taking a long and pained breath, when suddenly a figure flew in front of the scientist, and grabbed him around the throat.

"I'm going to ask you once, and I'm going to ask you nicely, where is Luthor?"

"Luthor, I don't know what you're talking about, I just work here," the scientist responded in a trembling voice, but the flying figure slammed him hard against the wall, and he winced with his ribs cracked at that point.

"Let me guess, you're just doing the job," the young robed woman said, her blonde hair framing her face, and a smile crossing her face underneath the robe. The young scientist began to nod his head, looking like an overgrown bobblehead.

Karen almost took pity on him, seeing how pathetic he was, and she really hoped that he would not blubber about how he had a family. Weakness was something she could not abide by, but thankfully the man was able to look her directly in the eye. Karen picked up a huge stone, and crushed it in her hand.

"So you were just doing your job. That does not absolve you from having blood on your hands. People who worked for some of the worst dictators in the known galaxies were just doing their jobs. People were herded into death camps to be struck down, just for the crime of being alive, and who they were. But naturally they were just doing their job. "

Karen paused before she asked the question on her mind.

"Did Luthor finish the suit, or not?"

"I don't know, I don't know," the scientist stammered, his heart beating heavily against his ribcage, and Karen retracted her grip, the last thing she wanted to do was have this man drop dead of some kind of heart related ailment.

"Do you know someone that does know?" Karen asked, her eyes flashing with a hint of heat vision, which the scientist noticed, shaking madly.

It was amazing how quickly people were willing to volunteer information when their life was on the line and that was what this scientist did. His body shook, and he began to spit out the information that Kare needed.

"Lab Four, Lab Four, there was something hush-hush going on there, people were going in and out of there at a rapid rate. I don't know what, but I heard a whisper that Luthor might have been kept there."

Karen felt herself rather pleased with this fact, finally there would be a reckoning with someone named Luthor. While this version of Lionel was already dead, Karen could take her aggressions out on his demon seed. Flying at a ballistic fury, Karen smashed open the doors of the lab, and continued to pick up a lot of steam with each passing movement, going faster and faster.

Lab four had the highest security that money could buy, and was on the very top floor of a very large building. However, those facts were no barrier for Karen, for she sped past the stairs, knocking out security who had no idea what was coming. She quickened her movements heading further and further up the stairs, until she reached the destination she sought.

Security was tight, as she figured, and while she had often preferred the sweet sophistication that science offered, there was no time for it. Grabbing the door, Karen ripped it off of its hinges, and ripped it off the hinges. The door was torn off like it was tissue paper, and Karen threw it to the side, moving up to the shell shocked scientist.

She saw an operating table, and rather high tech equipment around the lab, but she was not concerned by that. Rather, she was concerned with grabbing onto every single bit of information that she could. Karen reached over, and grabbed the scientist around the throat, before slamming him hard into the walls of the lab. The plaster cracked, and the spine of the scientist would have had she done so even more.

"I'm going to ask you one time, and I'm not going to ask you again," Karen remarked, through gritted teeth, practically snarling the next four words. "WHERE IS LEX LUTHOR?"

The scientist was shaking, nearly wetting himself in the terror at what Karen had to do to him, and he was stammering. This girl was not one who was much for patience, so she continued to shake the scientist like a ragdoll, and he felt himself wilt underneath her impressive grip, a heart beat getting heavier and heavier with each passing moment.

"He's gone, left," the scientist responded at that moment, breathing at that moment. "He was bonded with the suit a few weeks ago…"

That was not the lesson that Karen wanted to hear. It took every single bit of her self-control to hurl this pathetic bit of humanity to his demise below, but the blonde Kryptonian held herself at bay.

It was at that point where Kara showed up, with Harry in toe. Karen looked at her two fellow Heralds of Death, and Harry immediately grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, before pinning her against the wall. Karen did not put up too much of a fight, and Kara grabbed Karen by the other side, holding her firmly against the wall.

"Explain what you're doing now," Harry replied cooly, making sure both he and Kara had Karen pinned against the wall.

Karen smirked, she had many fantasies that started like this, although they got far more interesting as time went by.

"Depends, are you going to give me a kiss to say hello?" Karan asked in a husky voice, that nearly made Harry stand at attention, but through the sheer voice of will, he kept himself at bay.

"Maybe, you'll get a reward, if you're lucky," Kara responded, taking control.

"From both of you?" Karen asked with a hopeful gaze.

Kara responded with a smile, and Karen proceeded to explain what was going on.

"I'm after Lex Luthor, I believe that he might have been bonded to that suit. Seems like he's more slippery than we thought he was."

"And he's on the loose, in a super powered suit," Kara answered, letting out a breath, wondering if this day could get worse.

"We have other problems, we think he's struck for revenge, there was a bombing at the Metropolis Plaza, and Oliver Queen was shot," Harry informed Karen, and Karen seemed disinterested by this fact. As far as she was concerned, Oliver Queen was of no concern to her, he deserved to be taken down several pegs. "And if Lex is behind it…"

"He's not done yet, and I doubt he'll rest until he gets his hands on Clark and Lana," Kara added, and Karen nodded, knowing what they must do.

"The suit doesn't appear to have a weakness," Karen chimed in, but it was Harry who answered at that point.

"Everything has a weakness, there's just a matter of us finding it and exploiting it."

Despite his powers, Harry did not see Lex as someone who would be overly careless at first, he was going to stalk and calculate from the shadows. For all Harry knew, Lex had already been bonded with the suit for a couple of months, and had been off in a secluded area, testing it out, while he plotted his revenge.

It was not for the first time where Harry regretted saving the life of Lex Luthor almost a year ago, but perhaps things were meant to happen. Right now, the three Heralds of Death once again had to work together, but after this was over.

"And you were right about the paramedic, there's something really odd about him," Harry added as in an afterthought.

"If he's gone gold, there's no way for us to stop him now," Karen answered, and Harry and Kara responded with a nod. "I hate to say that I told you so, but I told you so."

"We'll figure out what to do then later, right now, Lex is our top priority," Kara answered, and the three Heralds of Death prepared to take flight, after Karen did a quick memory wipe with the crystal. Kara was quick to call out her double on this, looking her directly in the eye. "I don't know how you could do that, if you're like me, Zor-El has wiped your memories, and I would think you would not be so casual about doing it to others."

"Zor-El is a great and noble man, and he would never do that, how dare you speak that way about our father!" Karen snapped hotly, and Kara and Harry realized what happened, and suddenly a lot was explained.

Karen was never enlightened about the truth about her father. She likely was a victim of someone in that alternate world, with her father's beliefs about humanity echoing in her mind, and her believing many of them. Coupled with the Herald of Death powers, and that was a recipe for her to go absolutely manic.

Harry and Kara had to sort out the state of Karen's fractured psyche at another date, right now Lex Luthor was on the loose, and more dangerous than ever.

The three Heralds of Death saw the scene outside of the Metropolis Plaza, there was smoke and dust everywhere that choked anyone who had been foolish enough to step in too close. That much was certain, and Karen exchanged an expression of disinterest with Harry and Kara. They wondered why, but Karen was too happy to let them in.

"It's not Luthor, at least not directly," Karen answered, and Kara and Harry opened their mouths, asking how she could be so sure. Karen was all too happy to elaborate for them, and proceeded to answer. "This is not subtle enough for Luthor, he would not leave such a big bang, especially with a building that he owns."

Kara nodded, but that was immediately skeptical about what was coming out of Karen's mouth, and decided to call her out on that subject. "I don't know, that might be just what Luthor wants us to think."

Karen shrugged her shoulders, not expecting to be believed, but she scanned with her X-Ray vision for debris, and found a small chunk of a bomb. Quickly, before anyone could see it, Karen took the bomb in her hand, and read the label on it.

"Property of Winslow Schott," Karen read to her two fellow Heralds, and she eyed the bomb with distaste, throwing it down. "What kind of idiot puts their name on the bomb they used?"

"One with an ego problem," Kara suggested casually, but Harry just frowned, before he activated the earpiece, getting a direct link to Chloe, who was at the Daily Planet right now.

"Hey, Chloe, you busy?" Harry asked her over the communication link.

"Just trying to find out the latest news about the explosion at Metropolis Plaza, why?" Chloe asked with a frown.

"Do you think you can run a quick check on Winslow Schott?" Harry asked, and Chloe seemed like she was going to question that, so Harry filled her in. "We found a chunk of a bomb with his name on it, and we think he might have been behind the explosion."

Kara waved her hand, and the three Heralds shifted to invisibility mode, with the police walking by, and the fire department trying to shift through the rubble at this point. Harry waited patiently for the next twenty minutes whilst Chloe conducted a search. Kara scanned the building with her X-Ray vision at that point, but a lot of it was lined with lead, so she could not see much past a certain point.

"Here we go Harry, Winslow Schott," Chloe responded, pausing before she was certain that Harry had given her his full and undivided attention. "He was a man who worked for Queen Industries for years, a tortured genius type, who always brought toys into his place of work. He started smuggling explosives into work, so he was fired. He also had a bit of an attitude problem, and a temper."

"And let me guess, he swore revenge on Queen at some point," Harry answered, and Chloe chuckled.

"That's putting it mildly, there have been eight death threats towards Oliver in the past year, and one restraining order filed," Chloe responded over the communication link. "He also committed petty crimes, getting locked up for them for a time, but he seems to have gotten released for early parole."

"He has a friend in a very high place then," Harry concluded, and there was no need to really delve into who that friend was.

"I really wish I would have crushed his skull when I found in him Siberia," Karen mused, and it was at that point where Harry and Kara spun around to face her.

"You didn't think to make sure he was at least locked up in a safe location, when you found him," Harry responded to Karen, staring her down, but to Karen's credit, she did not blink in any way whatsoever. "I'm not too sure if…"

"Well, I was kind of busy searching for the Fortress that you two, Kal-El, and Miss Lang lost, which you're welcome for getting back by the way," Karen responded in a crisp voice, and the three of them seemed ready to have it out.

Suddenly, a crackling voice could be heard elsewhere in the city, and the three of them stood up straight.

"The first shot has been fired, and this city spurned my genius. While other men put away their toys, not thinking they were something that adults should play with, I have fine-tuned mine. I will have Oliver Queen's head on a plate, and I want a ransom of one million dollars for funding."

"One million dollars?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow at this odd request.

"Whatever you say Doctor Evil," Chloe commented over the link, still listening in.

"I have made my demands, and if I see any do-gooders try to be a hero, several buildings in this city will be blown to smithereens. I have hidden over a hundred bombs at strategic locations in this city, some of them work while others are duds. I'm not bluffing. If you do not deliver my cash to Metropolis Plaza within ninety minutes, the next building will go up in flames, and the next for every ten minutes after that. I am left waiting."

The taunting voice of the Toyman continued to echo in their ears, and Harry tried to trace the signal, but it was being broadcasted through several different channels, it would take at least an hour to isolate the frequencies and eliminate the dummies. And that was with magic at his disposal.

Toyman might have come across as an eccentric nutjob to some, but he was a glorified terrorist and utterly dangerous. This might have been the darkest hour that Metropolis had ever suffered.

"Luthor can wait," Harry responded, and Karen opened her mouth to protest, but Kara clapped a hand over it.

"What…Luthor, what happened?" Chloe asked, annoyed at being left a bit out of the loop at this point.

"Lex Luthor has gotten full feeling in his body back, and he's stronger than ever," Harry explained, resolving to keep his voice calm. "He's bonded to a super powerful suit that will either match or exceed Clark and Lana's combined strength."

"I'll get in touch with them, warn them," Chloe answered, biting her lip, but shaking her head. Lois had also left with Clark on an assignment, regarding the bomb threat, and Lana, as Clark's protector, was not far behind.

"We're going to see if we can get Queen out of there," Harry told Chloe over the communicator link. "Also, Tess is in there."

"Let her rot," Karen responded in a harsh voice.

"She hasn't done anything yet," Kara replied to Karen, looking her dead on in the eye.

"You mean besides save Luthor from certain frigid death," Karen answered, and her eyes just narrowed, with a smirk. "Unless you want to keep her as a pet…"

"Okay, Herald to Herald spat, I'm leaving now to try and warn Clark and Lana about the danger they're in," Chloe answered abruptly, leaving at that point, cutting her end of the communication link.

The three Heralds prepared to pop inside, to try and find Tess and Oliver, along with anyone else who had not been able to get inside. However, they saw one of the paramedics outside, Davis Bloome, who was lurking. Karen's eyes narrowed, but they had other business to attend to, they supposed. The hero thing, making sure everything was okay was first and foremost, as much as she loathed admitting it.

Tess shook her head, to be honest she had far worse days, and she was trapped in the basement of the plaza, surrounded by rubble. Her only companion was Oliver Queen, boy did that bring back some memories that she would like to put behind her. Tess tried to figure out how to get out, there had to be a hatch, an exit to the sewer, anything.

"I don't think we're getting out anytime soon," Oliver answered, wincing, as he had lost a lot of blood, but at least he was only shot in the leg. If he was shot in the arm, or the head, things would have been a lot worst. In the arm, Oliver would have lost the ability to shoot an arrow, and in the head, well it's likely he would be dead.

"You maybe, but I'm checking out as soon as I can," Tess replied, swiftly trying to shift apart two boards, but it just caused more of the dust to settle, and a crack to continue to widen in the ceiling. "Cave in; damn it!"

Before Tess could respond with any other words, several miniature toy helicopters arrived though an open vent. The vent was just large enough for them to get through, but not large enough for any human past the age of about four to slip through. The helicopters hovered over them dangerously, and once again the voice of Schott could be heard by them.

"So, Oliver, do you take me seriously now?" Schott taunted in a cold and sadistic voice, and several small pellets began to shoot down at Oliver, nearly missing his crotch. He was on one leg, and had no arrows.

Those pellets on their own was not going to be a problem, but all of them being fired at once, that could constitute as a bit of a problem. Oliver Queen drew a deep breath, and decided to improvise in the situation.

Oliver reached into his pocket, and pulled out a rubber band and several pencils. Taking careful aim, Oliver managed to shoot them at the miniature helicopters, taking them out one at a time with his expert marksmanship. They were knocked out of the air, shattering into debris at that moment.

Tess on the other hand, opted for a less skilled approach, but never the less I was one that was rather effective. The woman picked up a fire axe, and began swinging it wildly, damaging all of the toys with a wild swing, shattering them into millions of tiny fragments.

"Hey, you have a playmate down there, that's not fair," Schott responded, and Oliver jhad a bit of a smirk appear on his face.

"Life isn't fair, Toyman, that's what you learn when you grow up," Oliver answered, and there was a loud howl and a shriek from Schott at that statement.

"And respect is something that you will learn, pretty boy, before you die!"

The walls smashed open, and several large toy soldiers stopped their way inside, followed by a miniature tank that had been outfitted by rather real weapons.

Tess, not being an idiot, wondered how Schott had smuggled something like that into the basement of Metropolis Plaza. That could not be done without inside help, and now Tess was beginning to question what was going on at that point.

The toy soldiers had been smashed suddenly when three blurs had shown up, barely visible to the naked eye. One of them took out the spying device that had been blast with a rapid fire blast of heat vision. Tess watched, mouth a gap, as one of the toy soldiers prepared to bring its bayonet down on the top of her head.

The dark haired young man rushed in, and pulled Tess out of the way, before she could lose her head. Two blasts of heat vision had blown the soldiers into saw dust.

"Arcane, Supergirl, and…I'm sorry, I've not had the pleasure of meeting you," Oliver responded, and Karen just dropped down, preparing to state her codename, when suddenly the walls on the other side broken apart.

Tess spent more than a moment in the arms of Arcane, but managed to regain her composure and slowly dislodge herself with dignity. Even though a part of her regretted having to do so, almost feeling the power radiate off of him.

Shaking her head, Tess looked up, and saw Oliver get shot in the arm by a tranquilizer dart, as several more helicopters and toy soldiers entered the room.

The three Heralds of Death were ready, and little did Schott know that the more things he sent in, the closer that Harry was to pinpointing where he was holed up, and it would allow him to take the Toyman down.

In other worse, Schott was putting his own neck in a noose, and was blissfully unaware of it. The three Heralds began to smash the toys with their powers, with Tess offering a rather useful ax related assist. They blew into smithereens, but knew that the battle was far from over.

"Schott's big talk, I don't know how he could have put a hundred bombs in Metropolis, without anyone noticing it," Lois remarked, walking next to Clark, and she gave him a significant look. "Without the Blur noticing it at the very least."

"He can't really be everywhere at once," Clark answered, and Lois peered over her shoulder when she turned to Clark.

"Our contact said one of the bombs might be in here, but we should take a look around," Lois answered, and then she shrugged her shoulders a little bit as an afterthought. "I don't know why Schott would have put a bomb here, it's been cleared out for two years. Even the rats have abandoned this place."

Clark was on his guard, there had to be some kind of method to Schott's madness, the trick was to try and pinpoint what was what. Adjusting his X-Ray vision, Clark tried to see what he was up against, but found all of the boxes were lined with lead.

"Being kept in the dark about something doesn't seem too charming, does it Clark?"

Lois spun around, and saw Lex Luthor standing there, dressed in a black suit, bold as brass, and before Lois could say two words, Lex calmly knocked her back. All it took was a flick of his finger, and Lois was dropped to the ground, knocked completely unconscious.

"You!" Clark yelled.

Lex smiled back at Clark, his anger not fazing him at all.

"Yeah, after you left me for dead, I bet you never thought you'd see me face to face again," Lex answered at that moment, offering a smile to Clark. "My little puppet Schott, well, he's doing a great job keeping the real threats distracted from my plans. His bombs, well all of them work, especially the one that I planted in his workshop, and all they need is one little signal, and kaboom."

Clark was done talking, and he rushed forward, to grab Lex, but Lex repelled him back. There seemed to be some kind of field around him, preventing Clark's attacks. No matter how much Clark pounded away at Lex's force field he did not break through.

With a fury, Lana flew in from behind, and knocked Lex back a few inches, before the field around her suit propelled her back into Clark. Clark caught Lana in his arms, and threw her back onto his feet in one swift motion.

Lex just stood, and had his eyes fixed firmly on Clark and Lana, all humor having left them. There was no mirth, no amusement, merely stone cold seriousness.

"Lana, it appears you have acquired a backbone with your new abilities, pity I'm going to have to remove it," Lex answered, and he just offered a bit of a smirk. "Metropolis goes off with everyone inside, starting with Metropolis Plaza."

Chloe sped in at that moment, saw Lois, scooped her up, sped her out, and then returned to look at Lex, who chuckled. He was rather amused by Chloe showing up.

"Well, the gang's all here, it looks like," Lex answered, and he fingered the detonator, which he could send the signal remotely to any bomb that he chose. "I wonder if I should press it now, or make you sweat it out just a tiny bit."

Chloe's eyes snapped to Lex, and saw Lana try and attack Lex once again. The field around the suit repelled her back once again, so a combined attack by Clark and Lana was tried. The attack fared only slightly better.

"Lex, Tess is inside Metropolis Plaza," Chloe informed him, hoping that this bit would resound with Lex given that Harry informed Chloe of Lex's connection with Tess and she assumed someone as resourceful as Lex would pick up the puzzle pieces.

Once again, Lex just offered a sad smile, almost as if he regretted it, but if Tess did not get herself out in time, that was not his problem.

Besides, he would be dong her a favor, sparing her of certain horrors that might be to come.

"It's a rule of chess and business, certain sacrifices must be made," Lex answered, a smirk spreading over his face. "In fact, I could take all four of us out in one big bang right now. I might lose, but the world won't have its protectors any longer."

"You're bluffing," Clark managed, and Lana wished Clark would not have said that, that was the worst thing he could have said.

Lex just offered a smile, and offered three words to them all, stating them slowly and meticulous. "I never bluff."

With a press of the button, the bombs below them were detonated, and the world around them enveloped in a blinding light.