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[b]New Troy, Metropolis[/b]

It had taken Clark Kent all of two seconds to realise the trouble he was in. As he’d pierced Corben’s aura, he’d felt that same feeling he’d felt in Lex Luthor’s office. The life and strength had been sapped from him in an instance, the nausea that ran bone-deep set in, and when the two men crashed against the ground there was [i]actual[/i] pain. He didn’t know how but Corben was powered by the meteor rock. That meant he’d bitten off more than he could handle. He was no longer in a fight but a struggle for survival. Each blast of energy Corben let loose, every punch, brought Clark to the edge of unconsciousness. It took everything he could to bop and weave drunkenly around them. His punches were like feathers against the man’s chin and the pounding headache in his head made it near impossible to aim his heat vision. Clark was in a fight for his life. And it was one he was losing.

Worst of all was that Jonathan Corben knew it. He pounded on Clark, seemingly taking no pleasure in it, and with every opportunity for a coupe de grace would stall. Finally as Clark puffed for air desperately the metal man loomed large over him and let out a sigh.

[color=yellowgreen][b]"You’re a good man, Superman, I know that much. You help people. It’s why I feel bad that I [i]have[/i] to do this. I hope you understand that I take no joy from any of this. The opposite, in fact."[/b][/color]

Clark frowned through the pain as the word “have” caught his attention. At last the reluctance seemed to make sense. He’d had Kent at his mercy more times than he could count without finishing it.

[color=steelblue][b]"H…h-have? Who… who’s making you…?"[/b][/color]

Corben shook his head, the last vestige of skin clinging to his skull shaking loose as he did so, as he lifted a glowing green hand in Clark’s direction.

[color=yellowgreen][b]"Tsk, if I tell you that I can’t imagine my benefactor is going to be very pleased with me. He seemed pretty fond of his anonymity."[/b][/color]

From the ground, Clark reached out a shaking hand in the man’s direction.

[color=steelblue][b]"You don’t… you don’t have to…[/b][/color]

Corben gritted his teeth a little and lowered his hand. He watched as Superman, the Man of Steel, writhed in pain in his very presence. As the cars had been stripped of paint and paints had withered, Superman seemed in anguish in Corben’s very presence. 

[color=yellowgreen][b]"What’s [i]wrong[/i] with you?"[/b][/color]

Clark reached up and pointed towards the green energy pouring from his attacker.

[b][color=steelblue]"It’s… the…"[/color][/b]

Corben sneered and pulled open a metal panel at the centre of his chest. It contained a green, beating heart impaled by shards of meteor rock that throbbed and beat without rhyme or reason.

[b][color=yellowgreen]"Oh, you mean this old thing?"[/color][/b]

Clark shook his head at the sight of it. It [i]wasn’t[/i] possible. There was nothing else inside of Corben’s chest. No lungs, no organs, just a beating green, meteor-rock studded heart. The only one with that kind of meteor rock was… [i]Lex[/i]. Could it be a coincidence that he’d shown it to Clark and that this had appeared but a day afterwards to make Superman’s life Hell? Before Kent had the chance to ponder the thought, Corben was on him, his metal hands clamped around his throat as he lifted him to his feet.

[color=yellowgreen][b]"I wasn’t always like this. I was a man once, a normal man, but… someone made me like this. Don’t you worry though, once I’m done here I’m going to make sure they get what’s coming to them too…"[/b][/color]

As he struggled for breath, Clark coughed and spluttered as he tried to push a word from his throat.

[color=steelblue][b]"No..."[/b][/color]

Corben frowned and loosened his grip some to let Superman speak.

[color=yellowgreen][b]"No? No [i]what[/i]?"[/b][/color]

Clark’s piercing blue eyes, turned bloodshot red with stress, stared at Corben earnestly despite his vice-like grip.

[b][color=steelblue]"It doesn’t work… revenge. It… it [i]never[/i] works."[/color][/b]

For a moment there was a look of reluctance on Corben’s face. He pondered Clark’s statement for a second before thoughts of what had been promised him in return for killing Superman crept back into his mind – a normal life, love, his body restored to what it had once been. All of that awaited him if only he poured every ounce of meteor energy coursing through his body through Superman whilst clamping down on his neck. Were Corben a stronger man he would have let Superman slip from his fingers but… he was not. Fewer men were. Instead of loosening his grip, he tightened it and willed the meteor energy to overload the Man of Steel’s cells.

[b][color=yellowgreen]"You’re a better man than I am. When it’s my turn to account for my sins, I’ll tell them that, Superman. I’m… I’m sorry about this. I [i]really[/i] am."[/color][/b]

With a wince Corben clamped down and the green energy around him slid along his arm and enveloped Superman. Clark cried out in pain, writhing in Corben’s hands as he struggled to break free of the metal man’s grip, but it was no good. The meteor rock had weakened him to the point that he couldn’t muster the strength to pry Corben’s fingers apart. A futile blast of heat vision missed its mark and Kent’s leg kicks became more frenzied, more desperate, before slowing some as the life began to drain from Clark altogether.

His whole world was going dark. He felt the life slipping away from him, the warmth slipping from his limbs, as thoughts of Lois, Martha, and Jonathan began to creep into Kent’s mind. He had let them down. He had let them [i]all[/i] down. Not by failing but by leaving them alone. Clark prepared to say a silent goodbye to his loved ones when suddenly a red blur knocked Corben’s hand from around his throat. Clark fell to the ground with a heavy thud and Corben was spent sprawling away from him. Kent felt the life rushing back into him and his strength returned to him in almost an instance. He said a silent prayer as he pushed himself up from the ground and opened his eyes to find that it wasn’t God he needed to thank for his salvation.

It was a Goddess.

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