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go by ch 16 pt 2


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The stranger with the large red X across his chest towered over Clark, his blue cape billowing and dissolving within the gusts of fine, black sand.

"You know who I am?" Clark asked, shielding his eyes. From his bare chest a wound wept bright blood.

At that moment, Clark realized they were speaking Kryptonian.

"You bear the family crest." Red, glowing eyes flicked directly at Clark's. "Are you not, Jor-el?"

Clark touched his wounds, smearing the blood between his fingers. So the man knew about Krypton, and recognized him as...

"I am Jor-El." There wasn't a hint of deceit, nor a falter in Clark's expression. Only his heartbeat sped, a quiet confession to this fabrication. The stranger saw very clearly that Clark was hurt, wounded, weakened. And yet so far he had done nothing take advantage of his position, doing nothing but block the fine granules of sand that struck Clark repeatedly in the face. This had been the only soul Clark had come across for many days, weeks...

The red eyes looked at him longer, and then, "It has been a very long time, my old friend."

Friend. Clark, repeated. If Jor-El had been here before, there must be a way to leave. Jor-El died on Krypton, not here.

"It has." Clark spoke carefully, and then watched as the stranger extended his green skinned hand. Clark hesitated, and then reached out, letting the stranger pull him up and to his feet. It was there that Clark measured how tall the stranger was.

Several feet taller.

He nodded, studying Clark as his long, blue cape fluttered behind him.

"You don't remember me," he said as if he could read Clark's thoughts. "Perhaps," he continued sadly, "perhaps I have been here longer than I thought."

As Clark parted his lips to speak, a terrible, screeching howl descended towards them.

Phantoms.

A wraith like blur moved within Clark's upper periphery in smearing streaks. Cries echoed from dune to dune, like advancing black thunder clouds.

Wordlessly, the stranger spiraled upwards from his position, capturing the black ghost in his fists, thrashing and scraping at his chest.

Another wraith caught Clark's back, driving its claws into his vulnerable flesh. Clark screamed, tossing it away as he fell to his hands and knees.

"Get up!" The red eyes glowed deeper as the stranger continued to fight off the phantom at his throat, "You must stand and fight!"

Clark spat into the sand, and looked up with hot tears in his eyes. Was it possible to fight in his condition? No powers? No anything? The newly created lacerations to his back stung with every whip of the tides of wind. Every breath Clark took seemed to deepen the shards of glass in his sides.

The gusts were worse now, the phantoms appearing to swarm within them.

Clark begged himself to stand, wiping away the tears of frustration, and then turned towards the phantom.

It breathed death, the hollow cage of its body shuddering. Black tendons quivered and stretched as it levitated closer to Clark, its body evanescent, hardly materializing before it streaked across and attacked him again.

Clark took more lashing to his arms, holding the phantom as far from him as possible. Its claws dug deeper into his skin, crawling even closer as Clark's remaining strength faltered. His body shook in the struggle to push it away.

Above, Clark heard the howls of even more phantoms.

They smell your fear, as do I. Clark glanced to where the stranger struggled with the other phantom. He heard his voice but... was it in his mind?

Above them, shadows materialized and descended downward. It would be a long climb to the top of the newly formed labyrinth of sand, their walls shifting like tides of a black sea.

Above the dark canopy, the sliver of white light grew smaller. He had to escape this maze now, before he was caught there forever.

Red light emanated from the strangers eyes, much like Clark's lost ability. The light burned through the phantom's shuddering body, injuring it enough for him to breakaway. Clark watched as the phantom above him disintegrated through his hands.

The red X towered over him again, eyes glowing bright as ever. The stranger engaged Clark again through thought, You must fight your way to the light.

Clark pushed the remains of the phantoms from his chest, staring as the red eyed man summoned his heat vision again, disintegrating several more phantoms in the distance.

Whoever he was, he wasn't Kryptonian.

Clark searched the narrow canopy above once more, and took to his feet, clawing his way up the sand in a frantic sprint.

Phantoms flocked towards him, tearing at his bruised flesh.

Clark thrashed his head and elbows to defend from their attacks, crawling upwards to where the light would bathe him in mercy.

Out from his periphery, he saw the stranger levitating effortlessly, his blue cape shielding from the black monsters.

Come with me. The stranger spoke wordlessly again, gently taking Clark by the arm and lifting him into the air.

Clark held on, veins bursting from stress on his lone arm.

The stranger looked upon Clark quietly, lifting them up and away from the dark hole, the bright white light washing over Clark's eyes once they ascended the horizon.

At the top, the stranger dropped him to the ground. "You are at your weakest."

Clark looked up from his knees, "I..." He choked on the dry sand, and blood that occupied his mouth.

"I followed your scent here, so did the other Phantoms. I have followed you for many tides now." The stranger knelt down, resting a hand on Clark's shoulder.

"Why did you wait for so long to reveal yourself?" Clark asked once wiping his mouth.

The green alien thought a moment, "I had to be sure you were him."

Jor-El. Clark thought again. "Who are you?"

"I am J'onn J'onnz." He said proudly, "You once called me a Manhunter. I was your friend, once." The man paused in reflection, "You promised you would come back for me, Jor-El. And now you have."

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