Lana's peculiar behavior during their bedroom activities earlier raised enough red flags to mandate a visit on Harry's behalf to the crypt which Lana visited earlier in the day. He contacted Zatanna, who joined him to search around the temple.
"Even when you're on vacation, you seem to stumble into adventure."
Lena also tagged along. Yes, that seemed to be the problem with Harry. No matter where he went, adventure followed. He stepped into the temple and looked around. On the surface, there appeared to be absolutely nothing wrong. On the surface at the very least. The second which Harry dug in deeper, he could feel it.
"Zee? There's some strong mystical energy in the air."
Zatanna closed her eyes and nodded.
"I feel it as well."
Harry put his hands on the wall and could sense vibrations coming through it.
"Someone disturbed the crypt?"
"What did Lana do?" Lena asked.
"Whatever she did, I don't think she did intentionally," Harry said. "But, she must have tapped into some kind of force, accidentally from her ancestor who guided her here. There must have been another party guiding her here. I must...I think that whoever she received the information from, must have been her guiding hand to get her hear."
Harry closed his eyes and could sense the power. He took Lena's hand in one of his hand and took Zatanna's into the other hand. Harry closed his eyes.
"Yes, a spirit of a woman condemned all of those years ago. A woman with a strong vow. Yes, I feel it. Her memories just flow through the temple and I can feel the vibrations."
"Hold onto that thread," Zatanna murmured.
Harry did hold out onto the thread and ride it. The skilled sorcerer guided himself, Lena, and Zatanna into memories which would hopefully answer more than a few questions and potentially raise a couple more, depending on the circumstances which had been involved.
The trio faced a woman who could be Lana's doppelganger, tied to a stake. Two other women, faces obscured in the shadow, had been placed on either side of this woman. A priest appeared at the edge and stared down at the trio of women with a combination of contempt and pity.
"Upon the word of the Duchess Greturde, you will be executed for the high crime of witchcraft. May the good lord have pity on you, or you will be cast into the arms of Lucifer himself."
Said Duchess appeared and Lena's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. She looked to be the image of the woman Harry saw Lena watching on the news, Genevieve Teague appeared.
"Betrayer!" Lana's doppelganger yelled. "You won't get away with this."
"Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, your actions and your betrayal, they sting me," the Duchess replied as she looked at her. "You are a sinful woman and your actions will be punished. I will see you burn for this, Isobel."
"Oh, you think this is over, you spiteful hag," Isobel said. "You just want them. The stones. You crave their power, they lust for them. Even when you pass into the next world, even if your quest for the stones of power cause your own damnation, you will still wish for them. And that lust and that power will pass on from generation to generation, each consuming your descendants."
Isobel's eyes shifted a tiny fraction of an inch.
"Until the moment where I will rise and I will destroy the rest of your accursed bloodline. You will never have the Stones. NEVER!"
The Priest said a prayer as the Countess just waved off the warning. Harry caught sight of the small runes engraved on the ropes. The stakes sparked to life and burned the witches to life. The terror they could not stop the flames from burning them and escape reached them.
All except for Isobel who had closed her eyes and muttered a strangled incantation underneath her breath as the fires had reached them.
"There's something else here," Zatanna told Harry urgently. "Another echo."
Harry noticed it as well. He turned to Zatanna and Lena.
"Hang on. Let's follow the thread."
Inside of the mind scape, Harry caught sight of both a young man and a blind woman, or at least what appeared to be a blind woman entering the temple. Before Harry could get a good enough look at it, the energy crackled through the air of the temple and caused Harry to frown.
Lena sensed his distress and spoke up.
"What is it?" she asked.
"There's something interfering with my magic," Harry said. "Or someone."
Harry sensed it, despite the throbbing feeling going through the top of his head. He took a deep heaving breath and decided to call her out.
"There's something you don't want me to see, isn't there, Isobel?"
Isobel appeared. It looked rather interesting how much she resembled Lana. A few simple spells told Harry that she simply took over Lana's body, and she could only do it for short spurts, until she regained power.
"I can't allow you to go any further," Isobel said. "You are a skilled lover and no doubt a skilled sorcerer, but I can't allow you to go any further."
Isobel's fingers crackled to light. Zatanna grabbed Lena's hand and shielded her with a well performed spell. Two beams of light crossed through the air between Isobel and Harry and lifted them high off of the ground. The mystical energies between the two of them vibrated.
An attempt to get Harry to stop meddling caused magic to crackle through the air. Isobel's magic forced its will into Harry and she forced them back.
"Sorry. Soon you'll understand, great one."
The memories within the crypt faded and a magical energy pulse shot Harry out of the temple. Zatanna and Lena joined him in the real world.
"Harry, you're bleeding."
Lena's statement made Harry touch his face. Sure enough, blood dripped from his nose. The sign he had been engaging in some very powerful mind magic. Harry grabbed the bridge of his nose and casually pinched it. He let out a groan and closed his eyes.
"Lana's in danger."
Harry darted outside of the crypt, with Zatanna and Lena. He called Lana's number, but nothing. So he decided to call Chloe.
"Hey, Harry, where are you?"
"I'm at the crypt with Lana visited. Is she there?"
"No, I'm afraid she left for breakfast earlier."
Harry closed his eyes. Of course.
"Thanks, Chloe, I'll be back soon."
Harry hung up the phone. Well this was a fine little mess. Lena stepped up closer towards them.
"If I might make a suggestion," Lena said. "Ms. Dinsmore visited the temple with her. She did return earlier than Lana did. Perhaps you can talk to her."
"Perhaps I should," Harry said.
"I need to go back and look up something," Zatanna said. "I'll let you know what I fine."
Harry and Zatanna parted ways and Harry made his way back to the hotel where he would talk with Emily.
Emily Dinsmore, as it turned out, had seen better days. She looked a bit ill. Harry made her a cup of a tea, with lemon and that made her feel a bit better.
"So, you came back earlier because of this?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Emily said. "Lana and I were exploring and it hit me all at once. Right after she helped a blind woman and her handler, and gave them directions. It was like I stumbled over."
Most people would chalk that fact up to a coincidence. Harry was not most people. He put a hand on Emily's forehead and sensed the magic immediately.
"It's a spell," Harry said. "Either the blind woman or the man in question put it on you."
"Why would they do it?"
"To separate you and Lana," Harry said. "Do you mind if I take a peak into your mind? Just focus on the memories from that day, leading up to when you got sick."
Emily took a deep breath. She trusted Harry not to poke around in her mind, anywhere he should not be. Harry probed around in her head and oh boy, did it kind of feel weird. She shivered from Harry's gentle probing. She focused on the features of the blind woman and the man.
'Lena,' Harry thought. "Are you getting it?'
'Yes, the blind woman resembles Genieve's assistant, Selene,' Lena thought back to him. 'And that young man, it might be her son, Jason. He's got a fake beard on, but it looks enough like him.'
"Emily, thank you," Harry said.
"What's going on here?" Emily wondered.
"Lana, she might have been possessed by the spirit of her ancestor who inhabited the temple. Who swore revenge on the woman who betrayed her and arranged for her burning?"
It was like all of the air had been let out of Emily's lungs. She blinked, and blinked some more and than just sighed.
"Normal vacation, guess we can't have one of those."
Zatanna appeared in astral form in front of Harry, which caused Emily a minor amount of pause, but other than that she just rolled with the punches.
"Harry. I found Lana."
Harry teleported to the location and joined Zatanna in an airport bathroom. Lana had been at the sink, hunched over. She appeared to be dazed, and confused. Harry put a hand on Lana's shoulder and she jolted up.
"Harry?" Lana asked. "Oh, thank god it's you. I don't know how I got here. But something really strange has going on. I've had some black outs ever since I got back from the temple. And there's….there's this symbol on my back."
Lana's shirt rolled up, for Harry to get a good look at her back, which had a runic symbol pressed upon it. Yes, given Harry beholded Lana in all of her glory last night, it was not there when he did it. He wanted time to study it.
"The last thing I remembered last night was that I helped a pair of tourists," Lana said.
"A young man and a blind woman," Harry replied. "Emily, she told me."
"Right, but I can't remember anything other than that. I can't remember if they told me who they were. I can't remember. Oh, what if I'm losing my mind?"
"Trust me, you're not," Zatanna said. "But the alternative isn't much better."
"Lana, I can help," Harry said. "I'm going to have to put you into an enchanted sleep so I can do so."
Harry put a hand on Lana's head and she nodded. He could sense something peculiar.
"Three strands of magic. One due to your exposure to me. One due to the crypt's possession, but this third is….GET DOWN!"
Harry and Zatanna took Lana's arms and they all dove down to the ground. Just in time for a bolt of magic to sail over their heads, and strike the mirror in front of him.
"It's her!" Lana managed when she looked up at the woman through the dust. "The blind woman."
"Hello, Selena."
Selena stepped closer towards them. Beautiful and deadly, with high amounts of magical energy crackling from her hands, Harry knew she was trouble.
"Give me the Omegahedron."
Needless to say, this particular statement gave Harry pause. He had assumed Selena's goal would be the stones of power. He never thought it would be the artifact which Kay brought to Earth.
"That's not going to happen," Harry said. "You caught me off guard."
Two beams of light crossed through the air. One from Harry and one from Selena. She teleported behind him with a knife appearing in her hand. Harry blocked the attack and the two them dodged each other. Harry noticed the glint of light going her, almost reflecting the room around her in points.
A hard-light construct, of course, the actual Selena would not come for him yet, and risk capture. It had been a gambit to test out his capabilities. Harry used his super breath to rock Selena off of the guard and then he snapped his fingers.
"A kryptonian mage, how very interesting," Selena said. "On Krypton, you would have been banished to the Phantom Zone for your gifts."
"Perhaps," Harry remarked. "But, you were banished due to plotting murder and mayhem."
"Merely just an attempt to force a stagnant society to progress," Selena answered. "Nothing more. But I gravely underestimated you. Judging by your age, you are the son of Jor-El. But, something does not add up. For never Jor-El or Lara's lines have a drop of magic within you. I've studied them all extensively and…."
"How did you cause Isobel to possess Lana?"
"I merely opened the door, dear," Selena said. "Trust me, Genevieve's plan is doomed to fail, but she has afforded me with certain opportunities and soon she will..."
A beam of light shot from Lana's hand and shattered the hard-light construct into hundreds of little micro bits. Isobel returned and Harry jumped onto the attack.
Zatanna bound Lana, so quickly that Harry did not even hear her utter the backwards incantation of her spell. Harry locked onto her face.
"I'm sorry Lana. But this will hurt."
Harry exerted his will into Lana's mind and forced Isobel deep into her.
"She's still there, I can feel her pounding on the prison you created in my mind," Lana groaned.
"Relax, I've got you."
Harry pulled Lana into a soothing kiss and she closed her eyes to return int seconds later. Her deep breathing continued as Harry released her.
"We need to get back," Zatanna said.
The trip had been cut short, with Harry, Zatanna, Lena, and Lana returning back on Lena's private jet. The other girls would return normally the next day.
Harry sent a message ahead to Kyla, because they needed advice. Kyla met them outside of the Kawatchee settlement, with an elder soothsayer. Harry took Lana inside, with Zatanna and Lena following closely behind. The moment Lana appeared, the Soothsayer stopped. For a moment, she gave Lana a good looking over and blinked several times.
"Yes, I can feel it within her," the soothsayer said in an instant. "There's a darkness, restless within you. It's caged."
"How do we stop it?" Harry asked.
"Naman, you must already know the answer," the Soothsayer remarked. "The only way we can allow the spirit to continue its journey to a logical endpoint."
"Isobel swore revenge on the descendants of the Countess," Harry said. "That's the only way this ends, with Isobel murdering all of the Teagues, or her vessel being destroyed and her being cast back to where she roamed to wait for another descendant to take."
Lana grabbed Harry's hand tightly. The alternatives did not feel good.
"Selena's the real puppet master for this. She manipulated the circumstances. She likely ensured Lana would be out of the ways."
"She didn't count on you, though," Lena said.
"Yes, I'm that one puzzle piece she can't quite fit into the rest of her scheme," Harry said. "Lana, I'm sorry."
"No, you're….I should have been more careful," Lana said. "You need to lock me up somewhere where I can't escape. It's for my own good."
Harry considered Lana's words and pushed a strand of hair back. He entered a deep thought.
"It's an option," Harry admitted. "But, it's the last resort."
"It's the only resort," Lana continued. "Not even you can purge Isobel from my body, before she's done. You can only delay the inevitable."
Harry hated to admit they did not have any options and there were things beyond his own magic.
"There might be solutions here, but they are only temporary," Kyla said. "And every time Lana goes to sleep, she opens up her mind for Isobel's further influence."
"And with her obsession, Isobel will move heaven and earth to get her vengeance," Lena said. "She's had hundreds of years to weigh that over in her mind."
"Come to Shadowcrest," Zatanna offered. "It's the safest place right now and has safeguards my father put in place long time ago for possession. At least until we find a way around this."
Lana looked up at Harry who nodded. She would follow his lead. If he trusted Zatanna, than Lana would trust Zatanna knew what she was doing.
Lana had been escorted by Zatanna to Shadowcrest. As Harry had been back in town, he had an urgent call from one of his lovely girlfriends and a longtime friend, in Abigail Fine. Abby had told him to meet him outside of the LuthorCorp main building.
"So, what's the deal?" Harry asked.
"Well, thanks to Doctor Danvers and her persistence, Mom has dropped her work with the meteor rocks," Abby told him. "But, others have taken up her notes. And one of them is Lex Luthor."
"Oh, Lex?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yes, he's working with her notes," Abby said. "You wouldn't happen to know what he's working on, wouldn't you?"
"Sorry, I don't."
Lex had been fairly hush-hush ever since Lionel had been locked up for his crimes and thus the responsibility of running LuthorCorp largely fell into his lap.
"I've got an appointment with him. But, I'm sure you can help me get through the door that much quicker. If you don't mind."
"Not at all."
Abby gave Harry a kiss out of gratitude and the two made their way up the stairs.
"Otis, I'm here to see Lex," Harry told the guard at the front door.
"Of course, Mr. Kent, and you as well, Ms. Fine."
Abby and Harry stepped forward into the lab and they saw Lex bent over a table, looking at notes in something.
"Harry, I thought you would be in Europe for a few more days," Lex said.
"There was an emergency which caused me to head home earlier," Harry said.
"And Ms. Fine, you're here as well," Lex said. "And I know why. Your mother finally abandoned her research, but to be fair, it was a dead end for her. She wanted to use the meteor rocks for vanity. To heal superficial, facial flaws, to reverse the aging process. She had neither the resources or the acumen to go where I could do. Even with Eliza Danvers discouraging this research, I believe I've turned these cursed rocks into a positive."
"Lex, those rocks are deadly if you're not careful," Harry said. "Constant exposure to them could cause cancer."
"Which is why I'm working from afar, with them behind shields," Lex said. "It's not like I'm going to make a ring with one of them and wear it all of the time. That would be quite foolish."
Indeed. Lex pointed to several charts which described several chemical formulas.
"I believe when when they are synthesized correctly, the meteor rocks could split diseased cells and replicate healthy ones such creating a cure for cancer. Cadmus, my mother, they were researching it and Lionel still had the data on the servers."
"It's dangerous," Harry said.
"Yes, it is," Abigail said.
"The rocks are a gift," Lex commented. "As much if not more so than the person whose arrival they heralded them. But, this is my chance to amend what Lionel did. He harmed many people and now I can use LuthorCorp as a way to give people hope. Turn a positive into a negative."
Lex just smiled and held his hand up as both Abby and Harry were going to say something.
"Not everyone is gifted with extraordinary powers. And you're not the first to give me this warning. Lena told me not to go forward with anything Cadmus planned. While I appreciate her concern, I'm doing my own thing, while she's doing is. I could change the world."
Or destroy it. Harry really hoped Lex took every step.
"And I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have a perfect meeting. It was nice talking to both you, but I can assure you that if it was truly dangerous, I would have aborted the entire project by now."
Something about Lex's obsession in fixing his father's past blunders worried Harry, just ever so slightly. Abby sighed.
"Well, Mr. Luthor, you know what you're doing," Abigail said. "I just hope people understand."
"Well, many wonderful things have been called mad before," Lex said. "But, I'm confident this will change the way people see Lex Luthor."
Abby and Harry had been dismissed and Harry thought Lex most certainly had his goals in mind. He just hoped none of this blew up in his face.
Lena called Harry over and the two walked over. They joined the prison warden who frowned when he looked at them both.
"Mr. Luthor insisted he speak to both of you, together about an urgent matter," the prison warden said. "Why?"
"Did you ask him?" Lena asked.
"He would not say," the warden said. "You have ten."
They made their way to a cell. Lionel had been living in luxury compared to most of the prisoners, as Lena suspected. The only way one could consider Lionel to be imprisoned would be the lack of forward movement he had. Opera music played as he kicked back and read a book. He put it down.
"Harry, Lena," Lionel said. "You must think I'm where I should be."
"Funny, I imagined some place a whole lot warmer for what you deserved," Lena said.
"And that's for the courts to decide ,not us," Harry said. "You have to admit, the evidence is pretty damning."
"And accurate, but my parents deserved everything they got," Lionel said. "But, that's not the point. The point is that my wife faked her own death, and then out of spite, out of jealousy perhaps, she leaked the information to the proper authorities who had been looking to take me in for years. Morgan Edge likely cut a deal as well, that snake, he would sell his own grandmother for a profit."
"You admit to everything you've done."
"No need to insult your intelligence," Lionel said. "The accusations are not wrong. But, everything I have done have been for a greater purpose. Although what Lex is doing, it's reckless and dangerous."
"So you know of Lex's experiments?"
Lionel nodded to Lena's question.
"You should put a stop to it, before Lex does something shockingly stupid for his level of intelligence. Although, I fear he may be far gone. There are forces at work, who intend to destroy everything our family has built. And as for you…."
Lionel's eyes fell onto Harry.
"There are dangerous forces who will stop you before you rise. The Teagues are sniffing around ,and Genieve is a conviving snake, after power."
Harry thought Lionel had no idea about the other threat which had appeared to be manipulating Genieve Teague and her plans and he had no desire to educate him.
"Are you done yet?" Lena asked.
"Keep your eyes on Lex," Lionel said. "You may have made a grave error in trusting in him. I sense he is much like his mother and will stab you in the back when it suits him."
"I keep my eyes open," Harry said.
"You do well to not blink, Mr. Kent. Lex may no longer be what he was before."
The guard came in and Lena and Harry left. Once the two had got out of Lionel's earshot, they talked.
"So, what do you think he was doing?"
"Well, he has his own agenda," Lena said. "It wouldn't be him if he didn't."
Harry figured there might be something to Lionel's words. Perhaps, Harry should take a closer look at what Lex was doing at LuthorCorp after hours.
The security had been surprisingly easy to navigate. Then again, Harry had more than enough experience snooping around in places which he really should not be. He walked into the lab and noticed that there had been a case, locked up tight. He noticed the piece of Kryptonite in the case.
Instead of green, it turned a tar like black. Harry did not dare get too close to it, but just seeing it that close by gave him pause. He noticed a few notebooks on the ground. Notes which Lillian made, or so it seemed. Harry had no handwriting samples to compare it to off hand.
Then, Harry noticed a hidden room. He closed his eyes and vibrated his hand into the wall. The wall slid open and revealed a spiral set of stairs leading downward. Harry dropped down onto the ground and the door slammed behind him.
Sitting in the room, was Lex Luthor. Bound and gagged to a chair. Harry lifted a finger and removed a gag.
"Harry, it's a trap."
"Yes, savior, my weaker half is right. It is a trap. And it's now time to say the world from the monster who was sent here to destroy it. All will bow down before it's hero, Alexander Luthor. Oh, and say hello to my conniving sister for me in the next world!"
The energy field surrounded them and Harry slammed into it. He could not piece it. Lex had been untied the rest of the way.
"Soon, you will feel the air leave your body. Soon, you will fade and you will decay."
Green gas filled through the room and slowly ate everything it touched.
Harry realized he could not teleport. However, he could redirect the path of the gas into the wall which would disrupt the energy field. He summoned all of the magic he could to the gas and it propelled into the wall and burned through it.
They had a half second margin of hero. Harry grabbed Lex and the two of them teleported out of them.
"So, not only did he set a death trap for you," Lex said. "But, he didn't have the decency to stick around to watch you die. That's very poor form."
"He's your dark side," Harry said.
"Yes," Lex agreed. "With all of the depressing megalomania which makes me cringe."
"It was the Black Kryptonite," Harry said.
"Oh, Kryptonite, that's what you're calling it?" Lex asked. "I suppose that makes sense. Space rocks from Krypton."
"How?"
"Well, it all started with a package I received the day after our adventures in Atlantis."
Kara and Kay just visited a training simulator for Lena. It still had a few bugs to be tested out, but it was really just a means for Kay to get a grasp of her powers.
It was a bit shaky at first. Kara and Harry both warned her it would. The glasses kept the most destructive impulses she had at bay.
"Harry will be pleased," Kara said. "You're really taking to these powers. Although doing them in a training simulation is much more different than doing then in the real world."
"Yeah, but you still have to think on your feet and make the right decisions, right?" Kay asked.
Kara nodded and heard something. A train about ready to hurl out of control. And it was close enough for her to do something.
"Train out of control, got to go."
Kay watched in awe, as her older cousin just flew off to deal with the latest problem. They had been all back from Europe for a few days now. Lena just turned to her.
"Does that ever stop being awesome?" Kay asked.
"No. Well, thank you, Ms. Danvers. I'll have to take some notes up from the library. I'll be back in a couple of minutes. You can grab a cup of coffee if you want to."
Lena slipped into the elevator. Kay took a couple of steps forward, but then heard something. Something creaking off in the distance. A sense of dread hit Kay.
A sense of dread which had been well founded, when the elevator cable snapped and prepared to send Lena hurling down. The youngest Kryptonian bolted down the elevator and flew towards it at the speed of light. She closed her eyes and grabbed onto the cable.
Oh, she grabbed onto it, but in her attempts to pull it up, the cable discharged from the elevator. Kay had been a bit too rough.
Suddenly, Harry flashed in, flashed into the elevator, and flashed a heavily breathing Lena out of safety.
"Harry, Lena, oh thank Rao!" Kay yelled. "I grabbed it, but I couldn't pull it back up. Why did it snap?"
"Because, it was sabotaged," Harry said. "Lionel was onto something."
"What?" Lena asked.
"I used Black Kryptonite to split myself in half."
The entire group turned around, just in time to see Lex pop into the lab, from up the stairs. Harry could tell this was the more normal version of Lex, and not Alexander.
Lex sat Lena and Harry down for the full explanation.
"After Atlantis, I was getting messages from my supposed dead mother, and I received a package from Cadmus, along with information on how to access more of their notes in the LuthorCorp server. And the package contained the Black Meteor Rock. I thought it would be able to remove the disease from any person. But, unfortunately, it did not go that way."
"How did it go so wrong?" Lena asked.
"An explosion triggered something in the rock," Lex explained. "While you were all in Europe. It caused me to divide into two. Lex, my more normal half, and Alexander, the dark side half. With all of my deepest darkest impulses and none of my restraint. He overwhelmed and imprisoned me."
"And now he's out there in the wind," Harry said.
"The only way to cage him is to put us back together," Lex said. "But, I fear he might not want to do that."
Lena flipped through the pages upon pages of notes. She had been adept at reading between the lines. She put them down.
"I fear we have a bigger problem than that," Lena said. "The unstable separation could lead to a grisly end for both of you."
"Yes," Kara said as she returned from the lab. "Your molecules are unstable. At this rate, the stress of being separated will cause an explosion which will render both of you to antimatter."
"Great," Lex said. "Not the way I intended to go out."
Lex rubbed his temples and took a calming breath before he spoke once again.
"Fortunately, being in a prison cell for two weeks, has given me plenty of time to think. And I figured out how to reverse the process. But there's just one problem."
"Alexander would have figured it out too because you think alike," Lena said. "Which means you need someone to think outside of the box."
"You think you can trick him?" Lex asked.
"I have an idea," Lena said. "But, you're going to have to trust me."
"Given the alternative is exploding out of existence, I will," Lex said. "Although, you are smarter than me. I don't think you would be messing with Black Kryptonite."
Lena hoped she would not. But this was no time for them to beat up on Lex for his mistakes. All they could do was correct them going forward.
"Kay's keeping an eye out for Tess," Harry said. "If Alexander went after one sister, he might go after the other."
"It would be what I would do if I decided to go super villain," Lex said. "You two and Lutessa would be the top of my list to get out of the way for threats to my plans."
"You've given this a lot of thought," Lena commented.
Harry's phone rang.
"I lost her," Kay said.
"How?"
"I just did but…."
A ringing echoed through Harry's ear. It had been on a frequency which only Kryptonians with super hearing could hear.
"Well, Kal-El. You escaped. Well done. Meet me if you want to see Lutessa alive again. Or don't, and I'll send you back her piece by piece, little bit little."
"He has her," Harry said. "I have to move."
"Where it all started."
The field, where the meteors fell and where Harry's ship had been found. He waited for Alexander to arrive and so enough he did. The two stepped out into the opening.
"Where is she?"
"It's clever, almost too clever," Alexander mused. "A person like you has the powers of a god. Which makes you a danger to the world. Lionel grew mad, and obsessed with figuring you out. To the point where he sacrifice his own family. And for what? Where does this leave me?"
"You shouldn't be here."
"Yes, locked up in Lex's mind thanks to hours of therapy," Alexander said. "I'm the real Lex Luthor. I show no fear to you, Kal-El. I do not bend a knee for anyone, any man."
"This stops now."
Lex turned up in the field.
"There's no one between the two of us," Lex said. "Let's settle this like men."
"You didn't hear what Lillian said, did you?" Alexander asked his other half. "We can be it. We can be the savior the word needs."
Lex just chuckled and then laughed. Alexander frowned, at a loss to think why Lex thought this was so funny.
"Are you really desperate enough and delusional enough to think our dead mother gave us some sacred mission? You're a joke. You really aren't as cold as you want to be. If you want to still please Mommy, after she set us up. She and Lionel, they really weren't too dissimilar. They brought out the best of each other and the worst of each other. And I'm going to stop you now. It's almost sad, with how pathetic you are."
"NO!" Alexander snapped. "You look towards Harry like a docile little puppy dog. But, you are the wrong gender to be Harry's bitch. But I'm sure there's a Luthor which he does want in that way, doesn't he?"
Alexander stepped back and revealed Tess tied up in the style of the Smallvile High School scarecrow prank. She had been bound and gagged and Alexander placed a knife to her jugular.
"Lionel has too many bastard children. Well, I'm going to purge the bloodline. And…."
Harry punched Alexander right in the jaw mid monologue, surprising him. He disarmed the knife, pulled Tess out of the way.
"NOW, LEX!"
Lex launched the Black Kryptonite cannon he had concealed up his sleeve. The energy pulled Alexander back into Lex. Two Luthors became one again.
Just in time, Lex felt.
Lex rubbed his jaw. He felt the punch that
"The thing is I think you held back," Lex said. "Still won't be eating solid foods for a week. I never would have expected you to punch me."
"Told you we had to think outside of his box," Harry said.
"Yes...I know and…."
A flash of light appeared in the field, and suddenly, Selena appeared and stabbed Lex in the lungs. Much to Lex's surprise, Harry's shock, and Tess's abject horror.
"Oh, God!" Tess commented.
"I'll be taking that."
Selena created a dome which prevented Harry from attacking her. Harry threw all of the magic possible to break his way through. Selena took the black Kryptonite into her hand as Lex spasmed and gurgled blood.
"You're so easy to play."
Selena shifted into Lillian for a second and blew Lex a taunting kiss. Then she disappeared, in a blink of an eye, with the Black Kryptonite. The dome came down and Harry turned to Tess.
"Hold him so I can stabilize him."
"He really needs a hospital," Tess said.
Tess was sure there was an explanation why there were two versions of Lex, who merged into one. And she was sure that Harry or Lena would explain the strange woman who stabbed Lex and stole the life.
"He should be fine to get him there."
Harry and Tess returned to meet with Kay, Kara, and Lena. Kay opened her mouth halfway but Harry cut her off.
"It's okay, you're learning," Harry said. "You'll get better."
She was only on Earth for a few weeks, and thus could not be expected to be an expert in her powers.
"Lex should recover," Lena said. "But he's always mended fast."
"The real concern is Selena having the Black Kryptonite," Harry told them.
"Why?" Lena asked.
"That's a good question," Harry said. "But, I know she's after the Omegahedron."
"Because she tried to steal it before," Kay remarked. "That's why she was sent to the Phantom Zone. Astra must have took it herself...but it's safe, she wouldn't get it."
"Not as long as I'm around to protect it," Harry said.
"Did she have any powers?" Kay asked. "Because, she shouldn't. She had her powers stripped before being sent from the Phantom Zone."
"Magic is unpredictable," Harry explained. "How did she get out?"
"Well, she's been on Earth since around the time of Krypton's destruction," Lena offered. "Maybe when Kay's ship got sent in, she escaped through a rift."
"We're going to find her and put a stop to her," Harry said. "I think she might only have her powers partially back."
Harry wanted to know what purpose the Black Kryptonite had for Selena. He missed very vital information and she escaped his grasp a couple of times. She was out there, planning, and likely also planning to stab her in the back.
"Sorry you got involved with this," Lena said.
"It's not a problem," Tess said. 'So, the Black Kryptonite split him in half? How are we to be sure that the good Lex is in control of his body when they got put back together?"
Well, that question caused Harry pause. Well, that was a good question overall. They would just have to wait and see. For now, Lex had been out of commission.
Harry slipped into Shadowcrest to join Zatanna and Kyla.
"She's asleep," Zatanna told him. "The monitoring runes should tell us if Isobel manifests and we can act accordingly."
"It's a matter of waiting," Kyla commented to him.
Yes it was. The two lovely ladies took one hand each from Harry and led him deeper into Shadowcrest.