"No, you're wrong, Lex," Lionel growled, gripping his son's arm, "I'm not the one who opened Pandora's box, you are!"
Lex Luthor did not flinch beneath his father's force, but Lionel didn't wait for his defense. With a sharp shove, he backed Lex into the ornate study at Luthor Manor. Then, without hesitation, Lionel approached the desk, pulled out a pistol, and aimed it at his own son.
"My team discovered that crystal in Egypt," Lionel said, managing cold control despite the shaking in his hand. "It was stolen from me. My archaeologists found the tomb. Then your people," he spat the words like venom, "your team plundered it without restraint."
He paced once, then held the pistol steady, his gaze unblinking.
"I know you found a crystal in Egypt, and another in the Magic City. Two of the three are already in your possession. Yes, you're right — the final one is here," Lionel said, nodding toward the desk.
With his weapon raised, he felt the upper hand. Lex's eyes narrowed, his expression unreadable.
"Three years ago," Lionel continued, pulling a small fragment from a drawer and placing it on the desk, "my team uncovered part of a Mayan Rain God statue in the underwater ruins of Honduras."
The shard looked aged yet etched with curious, unfamiliar symbols.
"We found this in the depths," Lionel said, his voice steady, "then we began tracing similar inscriptions across Egypt, in those Native American caves nearby Smallville, and beyond. A pattern emerged: these symbols appear in ancient sites tied to legend."
His eyes shone with a mix of ambition and desperation.
"The fragment before you," Lionel said, leaning in, "had a crystal inside, and the ancient text carved into it relates to water. In Mayan lore, there are three crystals — water, air, and fire. Combined, they grant immense knowledge and treasure, infinite power according to legend."
His grip tightened on the pistol.
"So Lex," Lionel said, voice hard, "hand over the crystal representing air."
Lex met his father's gaze without fear, his voice sharp but calm.
"You actually pointed a pistol at your son for myths?" he said with thin disdain. "Ambition and selfishness are written all over you."
Lionel's eyes flickered, a shadow of pain mixed with resolve.
"I have no choice."
He took a breath, pain tingeing his words.
"I've been diagnosed with liver cancer," Lionel confessed. "In a month, the doctors say my liver will fail. If trying to survive is a crime, then I am guilty. But all I've done is sing life's hymns with every shred of sincerity I possess."
Lex froze, disbelief crossing his face.
"When?" Lex asked, his voice quieter than before.
"Not long ago," Lionel said, lowering his gaze briefly, "but Lex, we are father and son. It shouldn't have come to this."
For the first time in hours, something like vulnerability flickered in Lionel's eyes.
"As long as you give me your crystal," he said, voice shaking with emotion, "I can be saved. I swear I speak no lies. Investigate if you must, but we share blood. You would not let me die."
Lex hesitated, jaw tightening. The world seemed suspended in that moment.
"Is that so?" Lex said after a breath, his voice lower, controlled.
Slowly, he nodded.
"I'll give you the crystal I have, not for gain, but for what remains of our family bond."
Lionel's face softened, his expression unguarded for an instant. He lowered the pistol and extended his hand toward his son.
"I knew you would choose what's right, Lex," Lionel said, relief flooding his voice.
Lex regarded his father's hand for a moment before taking it.
Their palms met.
"You know, Lex," Lionel began, eyes never leaving his son's, "there are many things I regret in life, but one thing I never have," he paused, voice trembling slightly, "is that I love you."
But Lex barely got a word out before pain hit him like a thunderclap inside his hand.
A sharp drop of blood slipped between their palms. Something was wrong.
"What — what did you do?" Lex cried, eyes widening in shock.
"I love you, Lex," Lionel whispered, face filled with sorrow, "but I had no choice. I'm sorry."
Suddenly Lex screamed.
It felt as though his soul was being torn from within — invisible hands wrenching at his very essence. A wind rose around them, gusting in violent spirals as his consciousness was yanked downward, deeper and deeper, as though plunging into a pitch‑black sea.
When Lex regained awareness, everything had changed.
He was sitting where Lionel had been moments ago. And in front of him sat — himself.
No, not quite. It wasn't Lex Luthor standing there. It was Lionel — but in Lex's body.
Lex stared at his hands, now aged, weak, marked with the tremors of illness. His breath caught as he turned to the mirror across the room, and when he saw his reflection, his eyes went wide with disbelief.
He had become his father.
The face in the mirror was Lionel's, worn with age and illness, while the body he had been standing in moments ago, the one now facing him, was his own — young, strong, and dominant.
The two had somehow exchanged souls.
Lex's consciousness now resided in Lionel's dying, frail body. Meanwhile Lionel roamed freely in Lex's youthful form.
"What have you done to me?" Lex's voice, now distorted by age, shook with fury.
"Just as I told you," Lionel said casually, standing in Lex's body without apology, "we swapped. This gives us each a chance to live the other's life. I want to understand what it's like to be a father, and this seems like an apt way for you to learn about the burdens of responsibility."
Lex felt rage flare hotter than ever, his body weak, his breathing uneven.
"Despicable," he hissed, stumbling toward a drawer and attempting to grab a pistol.
But Lionel turned swiftly in Lex's body, grabbed Lex by the throat, and slammed him back against the wall.
Now that Lionel had youth and strength, he handled Lex with ease. Lex, trapped in an aged body, lacked the vigor to resist.
"Hand over the other crystal, Lex," Lionel commanded, his voice firm and cold, "or I'll snap what remains of your frail neck."
"Fine," Lex rasped, though his voice betrayed neither fear nor surrender. "Kill me then."
Lionel paused for just a heartbeat, narrowing his eyes at the defiance shining through.
Instead of killing him, Lionel released his grip, shoved him to the floor, snatched the pistol from the drawer, and strode from the room.
Lex, now stuck in Lionel's frail shell, watched helplessly, reaching out in vain toward his own robust body as it disappeared around the corner. Panic and betrayal surged inside him like a living thing, and with it, excruciating exhaustion washed over him until he passed out.
Meanwhile, at the University of Kansas astronomical observatory, a red warning blinked urgently across the radar displays.
"Professor Wellington, the right ascension is strange," a technician said, pointing at a series of blips cascading across the monitor.
The professor, adjusting his glasses, inspected the data.
"This wasn't here," he murmured. "That looks like a vast field of space rock headed into near‑Earth orbit."
"How long has it been active?" he asked.
"No more than ten seconds. Everything was normal just moments ago. I don't know what caused this."
Professor Wellington's face went pale at the implications.
"A large‑scale meteor impact can't just happen randomly. Something must be triggering this. These objects could collide with Earth."
His voice steadied into grim resolve.
"Notify the government in Metropolis immediately."
As that call went out, the radar continued to paint a disturbing picture of ominous objects accelerating toward the planet.
Back in Smallville, Adrian had just returned to the Kent farm from school when he ran into Bart Allen and Jenna Scott.
"Hey, Adrian," Bart said casually. "I heard you're graduating. Have plans to leave Smallville?"
"No matter where I am, I can be back here in seconds if I want to," Adrian replied, his voice cool and confident.
"Have you been hanging out at the Justice Society Headquarters a lot lately?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, I've been there," Bart said, a hint of regret in his tone. "Still feels weird that you're leaving for college. I wish I could go with you."
Bart gestured toward the newly built house on the farm, a structure erected with his super‑speed––and his pride made visible in every beam.
"I could never keep up in college," Jenna said with a sigh, adjusting her backpack. "Bart wants me to skip grades and follow you, but I know I'd fall behind."
Adrian watched them exchange words and felt an unexpected spark of thought.
He remembered Jonathan's worry about farm labor. Bart's super‑speed alone would turn hours of work into minutes. Jenna's culinary skills had already won praise from Martha.
Adrian's eyes narrowed, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"If Clark and I leave this farm," Adrian said plainly, "you two should move in."
"Move in?" Bart and Jenna said in unison, taken aback.
"Yeah," Adrian continued, voice steady, "This place is empty without you. If you don't have a home, it's not impossible to make this place yours, at least temporarily."
They exchanged stunned looks.
Just then, a car pulled up behind them. The engine cut, and a flustered figure rushed out.
"Something's happened!" Lois Lane called out, breathless and wide‑eyed.