Whatever afflicted Martha, it appeared to pass, at least for now. It only took eight intense hours of love making and almost made Harry late to school. He walked up to Lana and Emily, who had been in the process of talking about something.
"Morning," Lana said. "Can you believe Nell's going to sell the Talon?"
"Oh, that hasn't been open in years, has it?" Harry asked.
"It was a cornerstone of the community up until five years ago," Lana reminded Harry. "But, it had to get shut down due to a few high end nightclubs snuffing out any business. Morgan Edge really did a number on a lot of the small businesses in Smallville."
"And yeah, I still think a nice, quaint place like that has potential," Emily said. "Can't believe Nell is going to sell it. And for forty thousand dollars. And Edge just plans to bulldoze it to the ground, if you believe the rumors."
"Well, either she sells it or the bank forecloses on it," Lana said. "I think there's still a place for the Talon, if we just spread the world. Especially with the prices in Edge's clubs. And the fact that you have to be eighteen to enter one."
Not that it stopped people with fake IDs from getting in. Lana caught Harry's eye.
"I have some ideas," Lana said. "You know, I talk to a lot of people, and with the old Mall being shut down last year, people need a place to hang."
"You know, if Edge is going to give forty thousand, I think I can get you a much better deal," Harry said. "And perhaps restore the old building. If you're willing to put in the work to make your ideas happen."
"I'm all for it," Lana said. "Just...talk to us later. Right now, we have to finish our psychology homework."
"Need any help?" Harry asked them.
"Well, it's about the nature of the human mind," Emily said. "Namely phobias, and what you're most afraid of. And well, it's no secret what I'm scared of. Large open bodies of water."
Even after her guardian angel saved her, Emily had a deep rooted fear.
"Well, I don't like heights," Lana said. "At least outside of airplanes, those are fine. That big watertower outside of the city, you wouldn't catch me dead up there."
Emily turned to Harry, curiosity brimming through her eyes.
"What are you afraid of?"
Harry dropped his voice to a more somber tone.
"Waking up one morning and being the last person on Earth."
Both girls shuddered at that particular thought.
"Oh, that would creep anyone out," Emily said.
At this point, Alex and Chloe made their way around the hallway and walked over to join them.
"What are you afraid of?" Lana asked. "We're working on our psychology homework, about the nature of fear and the human mind. Harry is afraid of being the last person on Earth, I hate heights, and Emily is afraid of drowning."
"Well," Alex said thoughtfully. "I'm kind of scared of letting down my friends and family at a crucial moment."
"Reasonable," Lana agreed. "How about you, Chloe?"
"Um, hey, did you hear about that truck that crashed yesterday afternoon?" Chloe asked evasively. "The guy was out of his mind, rambling, and talking about how he had to kill Lionel Luthor for the good of humanity."
"Well, I'm sure he's not the only one who had that thought," Emily said.
Harry noticed Chloe's abrupt change of subject. That was odd and very peculiar behavior to say the very least.
"Harry? Do you think we can talk to you?"
A couple of Harry's classmates walked up to him. Harry noticed a fair bit of acne on their face. Not bad, but one of them looked a bit distressed about it. Given how he knew these two particular girls to be very much the type to hate any blemish, this was good.
"You gave that miracle cure to Abigail," she said. "Really turned her from a three to a ten."
"No, an eleven!" the other girl yelled. "Um, she was very nice before, I'm sure, but she's now one of the hottest girls in the school, all thanks to you."
Now Harry recognized these two, as part of the gang of girls who constantly harassed Abby because of her acne problem. And now they had a bit of a problem of their own.
"So, you want me to give you a cure?" Harry asked. "For your problem?"
"We'll pay you!" one of the girls yelled. "Anything. Anything, just please."
"Our social lives will be totally over if this stuff gets any worse. Or scabs like Scab...I mean Abby did."
Harry just frowned and Alex just leaned over towards him with a tiny smile appearing on her face.
"The fists of karma strikes without discrimination."
Still, at their offer for payment, Harry looked rather thoughtful suddenly.
"So, Martha's acting odd," Alex said. "Granted, most women would act that way around her…."
"I figured that it could happen eventually," Harry said. "I just thought it would be more reluctance on her part until she caved in."
"Yeah, not her jumping you," Alex said. "Mom was glad you thought to call her. Really wish I was there, I could have backed you up."
The two stepped around the hallways of the school. They had to take the long route around the school on their way to lunch.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Harry said. "Best things kept simple. Eliza managed to convince her to run some tests. Don't know how."
"Mom's amazing like that," Alex said. "She's….what do you think caused it?"
Harry had thought about it. News of a few oddities, namely the truck driver who crashed and swore a blood feud with Lionel Luthor popped up into his mind.
"Mandy, you can't do this to me!"
"Maybe you got hit a bit too hard last week. But it's over! Over, over! I'm not taking you back."
"You're sleeping with him, aren't you? Oh, if he's blackmailing you to give you your body for homework help, I'll kick his ass!"
Harry stepped over and sure enough Mandy and Kenny had been in an argument. A few of Kenny's teammates lingered about, although they had been a bit uncomfortable.
"Harry didn't do anything to him that I didn't beg for."
"So, you're a slut?"
"Excuse me?"
Alex's eyes narrowed and Harry stepped towards Kenny. Kenny grabbed Mandy by the arm but Mandy kicked him hard in the shin. Kenny backed off a couple of steps only turned around to face Harry.
"You! You bastard! Why do you have to steal all of the girls in this school? Why couldn't you leave some for the rest of us?"
"Kenny, leave," Harry said.
"No, I'm not going to leave, you need to be taught a lesson of how to treat these women right. You've blackmailed all of those women to sleep with you. Mandy would never sleep with someone like you. Not like those sluts, Sullivan and Danvers, oh no, you must have blackmailed her. It's a good thing Jonathan Kent is dead, because he would have died in shame with what a fucking pig his son's become. Then again, your real parents gave you up. Good thing they did too!"
Harry's eyes narrowed when he stared Kenny in the eyes.
"Kenny. Leave. Now. Before I do something that I'll regret."
"Oh, what are you going to do? Huh? You're all talk, and no action."
'Fuck off Braverman!" Alex snapped.
Kenny started to shove Harry a couple of times. On the third time, Harry caught his hand and threw Kenny back into the locker room.
"This is your last warning."
"Kenny, maybe you should….."
"GET OFF OF ME!"
Kenny shoved the two football players who held him back. He swung at Harry and hit him. The only thing he accomplsiedh was breaking every single bone in his hand on Harry's face. Kenny, never one to do the smart thing, and back off, tried to shove Alex away. Alex grabbed his arm and held him in an armhold before putting him down onto the ground.
The next few minutes passed into complete chaos, until six Football players grabbed Kenny and yanked him off. One of them looked terrified.
"Have you lost your mind, dude?"
"I'm going to fucking kill Kent! Kill him! Then Mandy will come back to me!"
"How is Mandy going to come back to you if you're in prison for murder, Dingus?"
Kenny tried to break free, until the teachers and school security staff all raced into the hallway to prevent a chaotic scene from breaking down.
"Zero Tolerance policies are the dumbest invention in all of education."
Alex had been fuming and rightfully so. She and Harry sat in the principal's office. They had been facing an in school suspension thanks to being involved in that fight. Several of the Football players who pulled Kenny off, along with Mandy, had also been reprimanded and likely were being punished. But, Kenny had been the aggressor and yet they all got the same punishment.
"Kenny's an idiot,' Harry said.
"Thanks, didn't figure that out on my own," Alex murmured.
Harry squeezed her hand which got her to calm down.
"But, he's not suicidal. And that's what worries me. He would have just shouted and acted tough normally. And not take a swing at me. Especially when you're standing right next to me."
"And he wouldn't have...yes, I understand," Alex said. "So, what the hell is going on? Is there something in the air?"
The doors opened, as Eliza, Lena, and a very pissed off Kara showed up. Harry noticed that Martha was not there.
"You're getting let off with a warning," Lena said. "Both of you."
"Thanks," Harry said.
"I had to pull a couple of strings, but you didn't deserve this," Lena said.
"Danvers, Kent, you're free to go."
The Principal dismissed them. He did not say a single word beyond that. Harry followed Alex, Kara, Eliza, and Lena out into the hallway. Mandy had passed them in the hallway.
"Sorry," Mandy mouthed to him.
"Not your fault," Harry said.
She moved off with some of her friends.
"Where's Mom?" Harry asked Eliza. "Didn't they call her?"
"She's...she's just been taken into the hospital," Eliza said.
"What?"
"I was about to call the school to let you know when they called me about Alex being involved in that scuffle," Eliza said.
Eliza had her eyes on her daughter for a long second.
"I don't start fights," Alex said. "But, I'll finish them."
"Yes, of course," Eliza said tensely while giving her daughter the "Mom" look for a brief second. "Martha, she's under observation. She's been poisoned. The effects of it have been staved off due to your encounter last night."
"We've taken samples," Lena said. "Tests are being run. We should be able to get to the bottom of this."
"Does this have anything to do with the truck driver who crashed this morning and swore vengeance on your father? And Kenny's little outbust?"
Lena thought about it for a second and nodded. Oh, she thought there was a pretty good chance. The group walked outside, as Lena had been putting some thought into it. Kara grabbed Harry by the shoulder and stopped him.
"You alright?" Kara asked.
"Physically, fine," Harry said. "Although, I'm worried about what just got unleashed. What was in the truck that crashed?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out," Lena said. "It may be the key to this entire thing."
"Thanks for bailing me out."
"It's not a problem," Lena said. "I don't want you to get in trouble because of some stupid rule which should have been abolished a long time ago. And I hated playing the "my father" card, but it sure worked getting you and Alexandra off of the hook."
Harry was grateful, because he could focus on other things that were important, other than a little schoolyard tiff with the Quarterback. Kenny had been infected by whatever infected Martha and the truck driver.
"You'll be coming with me," Lena said. "We need to get to the bottom of this."
"I'll help," Alex said. "This is more important."
Patricia joined Harry, Alex, Kara, and Eliza. Lena dipped out for a moment. The group studied blood samples taken from Kenny, Martha, and the truck driver. The truck driver had died in cardiac arrest earlier in the morning, which ramped up the urgency of what they are doing.
"We isolated all of the common factors," Patricia said. "Figure out what caused these out of character outbursts."
"We've isolated some kind of spore, or a pheromone," Kara explained. "I've been looking into things."
"As have I," Patricia said.
Harry took their readings and frowned. He passed it off to Alex, who came to the same conclusion he did.
"There's nothing like that."
"At least not on Earth," Kara said.
"Well, maybe," Eliza said. "At least nothing that's currently living. I dug deeper, and the only thing close to this is the Nicodemus flower."
"The Nicodemus Flower?" Harry asked. "Yes, of course. I read about the plague the plant caused."
"Yes," Lena said as she reentered the room. "It's the closest match from whatever records it's caused. It's been extinct for a century. And there were very few who were sad to see it go. There were a few long dead samples kept, and if someone was able to bring it back…."
"It would take a heavy amount of radiation to make a plant like that rise," Eliza said. "It's dangerous and reckless."
Lena snapped her fingers. It came to her in a blink of an eye.
"The meteor rocks. They could have brought them to life. I recall reading a paper from a botanist from Gotham City, who suggested that the meteor rocks could cause long dead seeds to rebirth long extinct plants. Although, the consequences could be deadly.
"I'll confirm your theory."
The entire group turned around and came face to face with Lex Luthor.
"I heard what happened," Lex said. "And I know the driving force behind it. It's a man called Steven Hamilton. He's a colleague of mine. The driver who crashed, he worked for Hamilton, but he stole one of the flowers. I don't know why, no one is going to know now that he's dead."
Lex grew somber and a bit regretful.
"The flower went off and caused him to crash," Lex said. "Martha Kent was on that route, along with a few others, including that nitwit Quarterback who tried to pick a fight with you."
Alex appreciated Lex's assessment of Kenny, although it would be far kinder than she would give.
"We're going to have to track down everyone on that route," Harry said.
"No easy task," Kara said.
"Once I get word of the symptoms out there, more people should come forward," Lena said.
"Yes," Lex said. "You should and soon. Hamilton's been working on a cure, but it's been rather slow going."
Harry heard of the self-proclaimed meteor freak and his tendencies. There had to be a way to track down everyone who had been infected by the spores.
Most of the ingredients were at hand, or at least, Harry had a shrewd idea where to get them. As for the others, well he had an idea.
"I know someone else who could help speed this up," Harry said. "I'll be back shortly."
Harry left which caused Lex, Lena, Kara, Alex, Eliza, and Patricia to all look baffled.
"Guess he has more of an idea than we do," Lex said.
A soft pop echoed through the hair. Harry arrived at a place called Shadowcrest. A nice looking house appeared in front of him. Harry walked up the steps and knocked on the door.
The door opened to reveal a gorgeous raven-haired woman, a couple of years older than Harry. She took a step back, and looked aghast when she put her eyes on him.
"Harry?"
"Hello, Zee, it's been too long."
The lovely Ms. Zatanna Zatara threw her arms around Harry and pulled him into a huge. She paused a second later, pulling back from him.
"I'm guessing this is not a social call."
"No," Harry said. "You have heard of the Nicodemus flower?"
"Yes," Zatanna said. "I read about it causing a plague a hundred years ago in Smallville."
"Well, someone brought it back to life," Harry said. "Using the same meteor rocks that came down with me when I arrived on Earth."
Zatanna just frowned. Oh, that sounded not too bright at all, for obvious reasons.
"I have most of the ingredients in my bag," Harry said. "I know you're familiar with the scrying spell."
"Yes, we can use it to track down anyone who is infected," Zatanna said. "So should we get to work?"
Zatanna and Harry took the ingredients out of the bag. With Zatanna having a full inventory on what Harry had, she slipped into the store room. She returned seconds later with all of the ingredients.
"It's good to see you again. I just wish it was under better circumstances."
Harry and Zatanna worked together. They could get a better idea of how many people had been infected. And a cure would be easy after that. The problem was the summoning needed a steady hand to make it work properly.
"Me too, Zee. Me too."
The scrying ritual had been a very simple piece of work, if one had a steady hand and they knew what they were doing. Zatanna and Harry finished crafting together everything about the ritual.
"Everything's almost done," Harry said.
"We're missing one vital ingredient. A raw sample of the flower to tie the scrying spell together."
"Don't worry. I know where we can find one."
They left the ritual, ready to go. Harry took Zatanna by the hand and they arrived at the lab of Steven Hamilton, the self-proclaimed meteor freak. He had been hoarding Kryptonite to a rather dangerous level. Harry had been very glad he was shielded.
"Good thing that shielding spell we worked on is efficient enough to block all this out," Zatanna stated.
"Yes, it is. Otherwise, I'll be on the floor."
They spotted a dark-skinned, older man approached the lab. Several samples of the offending flowers appeared in the instance. Hamilton had been muttering underneath his breath.
"This is all wrong. All of it is wrong. I was supposed to help save the world. But now, it's all wrong. Okay, we can cure this, we can fix this…."
"You're running out of time, Doctor Hamilton."
Hamilton almost jumped ten feet in the air. He staggered back until a figure grabbed him from behind.
"Did you think anything good would come from playing God?"
It had been a while since Zatanna had seen Harry manipulate his aura in such a frightening manner. It still sent chills down his spine.
"I didn't….I didn't...he should have never taken...it."
"But, perhaps he would never have taken it, if you didn't bring these plants back to life."
"I'm working on a cure!" Hamilton stammered. "I can fix this. I swear. I thought if I could bring the seeds back to life then perhaps…."
"You could use the meteors to raise other things from the grave? It's a dangerous assumption. And one which will end up blowing up in your face?"
Hamilton could not see this mysterious force which had been threatening him. As a man of science, he hated what he could not explain. He hated what he could not describe. Terror gripped the man's mind.
"A cure is useless if you can't find anyone. Give me one of the samples and I can reverse what's done."
"Take it, take it!" Hamilton yelled.
The sample had been lifted off the table and carefully preserved in a jar. The invisible force squeezed Hamilton around the throat from behind and made him gasp.
"Remember, there are dangerous consequences for messing with those meteors. They have warped people in many ways."
Zatanna and Harry returned to Shadowcrest, with the Nicodemus sample. Zatanna carefully added it to the ritual. They took added care not to shield them. While it might not affect them due to their magical abilities, Harry and Zatanna both agreed that it would not be a good idea to test that theory. And perhaps have it mutate into something else entirely.
"So, how have you been?" Harry asked. "It's been a long time."
"My father recently died under mysterious circumstances."
"Sorry to hear about that."
Zatanna focused on tying the ritual together, with Harry's helping hand assisting her in weaving all of the elements together.
"And I heard about your loss as well, and I'm equally as sorry," Zatanna said. "My father went to the grave with secrets."
Harry could see the warning signs. Curiosity, it could be dangerous. Especially for matters like this. Harry had been down that road more than a few times where his curiosity ended up biting him, very hard. He pulled Zatanna in and calmly placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I know that you're tempted to seek out what he knows. But, perhaps those secrets were secrets for a reason. And should remain such."
"Perhaps," Zatanna agreed.
They located every person who had taken the Nicodemus. Harry's phone went off.
"How do you have a signal in here?" Zatanna asked.
"An equally impressive bit of magic," Harry said. "Lena?"
"We have a cure."
"Good, we have the people and….oh that's not good."
Harry noticed a familiar face who had been about ready to head to an empty body of water. About ready to jump in.
In a blink of an eye, Harry and Zatanna appeared outside of Lena's lab. Thankfully, she had been the only one around. Harry knocked on the door and Lena opened it.
"Oh, you were closer than I thought. I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure?
"This is my friend, Zatanna," Harry said. "She'll be helping you distribute the cure. I'm going to need a sample."
Lena, to her credit, did not ask any questions. She could see the urgency on Harry's face and simply rolled with it. She slipped a cure into his hand and he went off.
An unknowingly infected Emily Dinsmore stepped close to a familiar body of water. She prepared to face her greatest fear. She stood outside of the same place where she almost drowned as a child.
"Emily!"
Harry appeared. Emily almost fell over but caught herself at the last moment. Her attention turned to Harry, strong and resolved.
"I have to do this!" Emily yelled. "I have to prove I'm not a coward."
"Listen, you have nothing to prove to anyone," Harry said.
"I have something to prove to myself."
The anxiousness in her voice showed a high rate of infection. The talk about fear this morning must have planted a seed this morning and the spores did their work, getting Emily pretty much back to normal.
"I know you're worried that it will happen again. But lightning can't strike twice! And I can't drown twice!"
As Emily turned, she got dizzy and almost fell into the water. Harry sped over and caught her before she hit the water. Emily takes a deep breath as Harry holds her up in his arms, almost hovering over the head.
"That was close,' Emily breathed.
Harry slipped her the cure and Emily's eyes faded over, slowly.
"I guess lightning can strike twice. I can brown twice, and Harry...you're floating."
"Am I?"
"Yes, you are!" Emily yelled. "That means, oh God, that makes way too much sense. I guess a part of me almost knew….does Lana know? I figure Chloe and Alex might and then...I'm not feeling so good."
"The cure is breaking down the poison in your body."
"What poison?" Emily asked. "Um, Harry, it's….I'm here!"
Harry pulled Emily a bit away from the body of water. Now that her senses returned, Emily's phobia hit her and almost paralyzed her with insane fear.
"I'll get you away from here," Harry said. "Back to the hospital. Just to make sure that you're okay, and there are not any side effects."
Emily nodded vigorously in response. She had about ten million questions right about now. Okay, maybe just a few. However, she had nearly done something very stupid. If Harry was not watching out of her again, she might have passed out in the water and it might have been days before anyone found her.
"Thank you for looking out for me. For looking out for all of us. But…."
"Shhh, answers later."
Harry planted a light kiss on Emily's forehead, which satisfied her, at least for right now.
The aftermath passed, with Harry, Alex, Lena, Zatanna, and Kara checking and double-checking everything.
"We've gotten to everyone in time," Kara said. "Some people are going to feel really stupid, but most of them are going to be okay."
"Yes," Alex said. "Thankfully for that."
The group walked down the hospital. Harry stepped a few feet away until Zatanna stopped him from going.
"I'll meet you back later," Zatanna said. "Go check on your mother."
Zatanna walked down the hallway, leaving instantly. Her departure had been obscured by Martha Kent who had risen from her hospital bed. She looked at Harry for a long moment.
"You know, you should be in bed," Harry said.
"I'm fine," Martha assured her son.
"Physically speaking, she is," Lena agreed. "And I suppose it would be to much to ask, to keep you overnight for monitoring."
"It would be," Martha told Lena. "I've got a lot to do. And Harry….I….what happened was…"
"Was the Nicodemus flower pushing you into something that you wanted deep down," Harry said. "I'm not going to speak ill of the dead, but it's been brewing for some time. I've noticed, ever since I reached a certain age. And…."
"We really shouldn't," Martha said.
"And yet we did," Harry said. "If I wanted to stop you, I could have."
"You wanted to find out what happened," Martha said. "And going along with this, it was the best way to subdue me. It's not...I hope we can move past this."
Harry reached over and cupped Martha's face. He pulled her into a gentle, loving kiss, right on the lips. Martha thought about breaking it instantly. However, she could not resist turning it. And Harry pulled away without a word.
"If you want to get back to the farm, I'll arrange a ride for you," Lena said.
"Thank you," Martha said.
"And I'll tag along," Kara said. "Make sure you're doing okay."
She should, but a person could never be too careful in circumstances like this. Kara knew that Martha had conflicting emotions. It was not her fault that Harry had managed to draw her in. He did that with a lot of women.
Lena stepped back after arranging a ride. Harry motioned for Lena to follow him down the hallway.
"Lana should be getting in touch with you soon."
"Right," Lena said. "I have heard about Nell wanting to unload the Talon. Thought she got a bad deal, and if Lana has an idea, let me hear it. I'm willing to listen."
"She'll be glad," Harry said.
"I'll convince Nell to hold off," Lena said. "But, Lana has to be the one to convince me it's a worthy investment."
"Lena, I'm sure after today..."
Lena stopped Harry short by putting a finger on his lips.
"Not today," Lena said. "Later. I've got...to untangle this mess. Given that this has my family's fingerprints all over it. And I have to talk to Lex's pet scientist. Lex called me and told me he was shaken."
Lena stepped away. This left Harry in the hallway alone with Alex.
"So, you and Zatanna?" Alex asked. "Why do I think there's some kind of past there?"
"Because, there is. Once my body caught up with my mind, I had an overload of tantric energy. You know, sex magic."
"Yeah," Alex said.
"It was an unhealthy amount to hold around," Harry said. "Thankfully, I helped Zee out with a situation in Smallville, and she repaid the favor by helping me unload it. So I didn't just take you and Chloe before you were not ready."
"I wouldn't have minded," Alex said. "Honestly, I wouldn't have."
Harry just smiled. Oh, if it only was a matter of Alex's consent, which he knew she would so willingly give at any time, since they were about fourteen. If not sooner, and much too young at that.
"I know you wouldn't," Harry responded. "But, I would have hurt both of you if you were too young and I didn't have the control not to hurt you."
"I see," Alex said.
Eliza and Zatanna were the two people who helped Harry deal with his problems the most, when his body caught up with his powers."
"You walk a very interesting path."
Zatanna and Harry returned to Shadowcrest. Several candles had been lit as they stepped into the bedroom. Zatanna changed into a very silky bathrobe as she stepped back.
"Your allure strengthens," Zatanna said. "You are dragging in a lot of lovely women. And it seems to be getting stronger. I wonder how strong though?"
"I don't know," Harry said. "And thank you for your help. I owe you big time."
"You don't owe me anything."
Harry just responded with a knowing grin. He leaned a little bit closer to Zatanna until they were almost face to face.
"I don't know. You might just like the method of payment."
With another step forward, Harry planted a huge kiss on Zatanna's lips. Zatanna eagerly returned the favor. Slowly, but surely deepening the kiss from Harry. Their hands roamed to each other's bodies. The candles flickered around them, as Zatanna slowly backed Harry towards her bed. Eagerness danced in her eyes as she prepared to take the next step