Who: Clark Kent and Damien Thorn When: Morning (backdated before this thread) Where: Thorn Industries What: Investigating the antichrist Rating: PG Status: Complete
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True to his word, Clark had been checking out the antichrist suspicions that Bart had. He had been following certain vehicles that left the plant with the canned food. Sure enough, they had made it to the homeless shelters just fine. An x-ray scan revealed that there was no tampering at all. The food was as healthy as pie. By all appearances, Damien was running a completely legitimate humanitarian operation.
After following one more car, he used his super-speed to return back to the Thorn Industries parking lot, appearing behind a truck and walking into view as though he'd walked back normally.. it was then that he saw the 21-year-old CEO. "Hi.. I heard that you needed help getting these to the shelters. I can help."
Damien looked up from the crates. "That's very kind of you. Thanks for the support." He stared at Clark briefly, then his eyes narrowed. Not an exact lie.. but it's also not the whole truth.. ahh.. I see, he is here to investigate me. Speedy told him.
Clark wondered what the young man was staring at so curiously. He had that look himself at times, but he doubted Damien had x-ray vision. "Are you okay? Ohh.. my name is Clark, by the way. Nice to meet you."
"Hmm.." Damien smirked, chuckling to himself. "Any other reason why you're here, Clark? Other than to help deliver these cans?"
"Err.. I'm not sure, possibly." Clark had an odd feeling. It was as if the boy had an instinct as to his true purpose for coming. But that wasn't possible. Was it?
Damien said, "Let's not have our first meeting to be tainted by lies. I believe that was Lana's reason for leaving you. Come, let's put our cards on the table; you were sent here by Bart Allen. Was he too shy to come himself?"
Clark opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Dammit.. how.. how did this man know that? He seemed to know exactly why he was here. And his past as well. As if he read his mind or something. He stood tall then, not wanting this person to get the best of him. "I guess. He's not the only one. I understand that the Jonas boys, possibly their guardian too, thinks you're not what you appear."
Damien just slowly shook his head. He was not too amused, but he wasn't going to let this man get to him like that. "You know, I do not abide deceivers in my midst. He should have come himself. I think you better go now, Kal-El. Leave.. or I will have security escort you off the property. And I wouldn't advise using your skills on them.. there's a camera watching us."
Clark gasped at that. How did this freak know his Kryptonian name?? He wasn't normal. He just wasn't! "Fine.. I'll go. Just let me see how many cans.." he went into x-ray mode, looking at the food. Then he looked back at Damien. He saw his skeletal structure, organs, nerves, and such. Normal. But then he noticed something odd.. there was among the nerve endings on his scalp, a cluster of three digits.
666. The number of the beast, foretold in Revelation 13. Damien Thorn.. was the Antichrist. Clark blinked, stepping back. "You.. err, right, cans are just fine. Thanks, I'll pass it along.."
Damien glared then, as though he had learned something new.. as if new thoughts came to light. "You bastard. What did you see, Kryptonian? Did you x-ray me? Well.. that is unfortunate." He saw Clark's look of denial, but he wouldn't hear it. He continued to stare, looking sternly into his eyes.
Clark knew he should turn away, but he didn't. He knew that he should. But something compelled him to keep eye contact. Similar to a train wreck: you can not look away. And as he held that gaze, he felt something. There was a brief moment then, and felt a bit light-headed. "Wait.. umm.. wait, what is this? Damien?"
"Yes..." Damien said questioningly, still looking into Clark's eyes. He was rerouting information, cutting off this memory and implanting that one, and so on. He could not let Clark walk away with what he had currently know. He was also instilling a desire to leave immediately.
Clark paused. "Well... I think I should go. Why did I come here again? I'm supposed to.. find something.. learn something.." He scratched his head, trying to recall his reason for coming. Something to do with Bart.
Damien blinked, looking away so as to break the connection. Then he looked back at Clark with a smile. He knew that Clark still did not trust him. He could change that too, but.. no. Best to not do it all at once. "I don't know. Maybe you came to investigate something, or perhaps you're making sure this operation is just as honest as it seems."
"Right.. yes, right.." Clark nodded, remembering at least that much. He had followed the vehicles, seen the contents of the canned foods, and then returned here. He was talking to Damien about helping. And then.. what? He didn't know, it felt like he blacked out for a second after that. "Well, it all seems to be in order." He was also here to investigate whether or not this boy was the antichrist. But something was weird here. For some reason, that plan didn't seem as important right now.
Damien said with a sigh, "So if you're satisfied.. look, I got things to do here. I'm just trying to make sure everything runs smoothly. Maybe you should go let others know that I'm not poisoning the food, or whatever else BS rumors are going around?"
Clark agreed, though reluctantly. He knew he was supposed to do something, but what was it? He couldn't recall it now. Maybe he would later. So, he said, "Okay, fine.. I'll go do that." He was still slightly suspicious, but there wasn't much he could do now. So he walked behind a pillar.. and in a half-second, he was gone...