But to his surprise, Brandon's arrogance was a moot shield against Adrian's sudden strength.
When Adrian seized him by the throat in mid‑air, Brandon felt a sharp pain ripping through him.
His legs kicked wildly, a muffled scream struggling to escape his throat. "What have you done to me?" he gasped, shock and fear overtaking his bravado.
The power he had always banked on, the thing he boasted about endlessly, was useless. Confidence crumbled into panic, replaced by a terror he had never known.
At that moment, Clark Kent and Lois Lane arrived, breathless from running but horrified at the scene before them.
Seeing Brandon suspended by Adrian's grip, Lois's eyes widened with shock. "Don't kill him, Adrian!" she cried, voice trembling. "I have a better way to handle him!"
Adrian spared her a cold glance before casually letting Brandon fall to the ground.
With a heavy thud, Brandon landed in pain, groaning.
Before he could gather his wits, the ground beneath him darkened, pulsing with an eerie shadow that slithered like ink across solid earth.
In disbelief, Clark and Lois watched as tendrils of darkness emerged, slipping from the soil to coil around Brandon's panicked body.
The tendrils dragged him downwards until only his terrified head remained above the black surface. His screams echoed through the abandoned school's corridors.
"Save me! Please! What is this, hell? Somebody, help me! I don't want to go in! Save me!"
But neither Lana nor Chloe dared approach. Shock and dread rooted them to the spot.
Finally, Brandon's head was swallowed by the viscous black mud, pulled screaming into a place no one could see.
Adrian stood still, his eyes cool and unblinking as the black surface settled back into lifeless dirt.
He had thrown Brandon into the "Shadow Land," not out of cruelty, but for a grim experiment.
Moments later, in his mind's eye, Adrian watched Brandon's fate in the Shadow Land — the warped illusion of his high school replayed like some cruel movie. In it, Brandon suffered every humiliation he could imagine.
In that same hostile realm, Chloe stabbed him with an ice spear, Lana decapitated him, and even Heli, the girl who had become trapped with them, delivered fatal blows.
Brandon's death there was complete and absolute.
Adrian's eyes remained thoughtful as he observed this. Does death in the Shadow Land mean real death? he wondered silently.
He glanced at Cindy and Amanda Waller, two souls trapped within that realm, still fighting, still alive despite constant torment.
To even survive a day there was an achievement. But that kind of existence was torture, not life.
Adrian retracted his awareness, withdrawing from the Shadow Land and returning to the physical world.
He turned toward Lois with cool detachment. "I've let him go," he said, his voice blunt, "but he's likely gone to hell."
Lois swallowed hard, eyes wide with conflicting emotions.
"You did that?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"I am not Death incarnate," Adrian replied simply, "I didn't make the Shadow Land. I just tested its effect."
Then he turned and walked away.
Lana, still at the bottom of the stairs, watched his retreating back, her eyes flicking toward the remains of Heli's shattered frozen form.
For the first time, something like satisfaction, even quiet hatred, flared within her.
It wasn't too much for this man to be sent to the Shadow Land.
Adrian had done the right thing.
Chloe stood nearby, staring at Lana with a strange, almost giddy expression.
"Is Adrian moonlighting as Death now?" she murmured in disbelief.
A secret thrill pulsed through her. Her friend — a superhero, and also someone who could send people to a realm of living nightmares. The thought made her heart beat faster.
She wanted to tell everyone — but she knew she couldn't. This secret was hers alone. And that alone made her feel alive in a way she had never expected.
Clark watched the black puddle slowly fade from the ground, a thought forming in his mind just beneath the surface. He didn't voice it, just exhaled slowly and moved toward Lana and Chloe.
"Lana, Chloe, are you both okay?" he asked, his voice soft but grounded.
Despite the terrifying encounter with Brandon, it did nothing to dampen the festive mood sweeping Smallville High.
Strange events had become normal in the town since the meteor shower years ago — unexplained disappearances, bizarre powers, alien artifacts and more. The police in town, except for Officer Nancy, had grown blasé toward the strange and impossible.
The following morning, while Adrian and Clark prepared for graduation, an unexpected visitor pulled everyone's focus away from celebration.
Lex Luthor had arrived.
Well, not exactly Lex — but a young man occupying Lex's body. In truth, this was Lionel Luthor's soul inside his son's body following the strange soul swap that had occurred earlier.
Jonathan and Martha Kent were surprised by the unannounced appearance, but still gracious.
Lionel, attempting to mimic his son, cleared his throat and spoke with forced ease, "Actually, I'm here to talk to Adrian and Clark."
Clark, already wary, watched his old friend — or what appeared to be his old friend.
"They're preparing for tomorrow's ceremony," Lionel continued, "Your relationships with them are good. Attending this together might be pleasant."
He was trying too hard to sound like Lex — it didn't come naturally.
Adrian walked downstairs and found "Lex" on the sofa, smiling awkwardly.
Something was off.
The aura around him felt foreign, the energy didn't match Lex Luthor's usual self — no swagger, no cold calculation, just wrong.
Adrian frowned slightly and activated his Super Vision, piercing through clothing and flesh.
In an instant, his gaze stopped at the familiar glint of a crystal beneath the stranger's shirt — it was the same kind Adrian carried. The second magical stone.
They had found it.
Without rushing or showing surprise, Adrian walked toward him.
"Lex," he said flatly, "I thought after what happened in the barn, you'd lie low for a while."
The impostor smiled awkwardly, though the tension in his posture betrayed his nerves.
While Jonathan and Martha continued talking, Adrian leaned in slightly.
"I know you're not Lex. Tell me, who are you?"
The man startled, reaching for a coffee mug to steady his hands.
"You must be joking, Adrian," he said, attempting a laugh. "I am Lex."
Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Oh? Maybe I'm mistaken. Sorry, just a small joke," he said, dismissive in tone.
His indifference only made the impostor more uncomfortable.
There were no further questions, as the conversation dissolved. The plan to extract information about Lex's situation had evaporated.
After the impostor left, Adrian stood still, eyes thoughtful.
The second magical stone was now in play, and only the third remained to be found.
He wasn't focused on what happened with "Lex" — just on the fact that one more stone was out there, waiting.
Graduation Day — Smallville High
The next morning, the campus was transformed.
Flags fluttered, streamers lined the walkways, and families gathered with pride. The temporary stage stood at the center of it all.
Parents chatted excitedly about their graduates, while students in crimson gowns waited under the bright morning sky.
Half an hour later, the principal stepped to the microphone to begin the ceremony.
Martha and Jonathan Kent sat together in the audience, watching Clark and Adrian in their red gowns with warm smiles.
In the back row, "Lex" — wearing sunglasses — surveyed the scene with an unreadable expression.
Lois stood at the front, camera ready, prepared to capture every moment.
Bart and Jenna shared a bench behind her, Bart proudly holding a sign that read Kent Family Graduation Ceremony, Highest Celebration, and Jenna snapping photos with her new phone.
Outside the campus entrance, Pat and his daughter Courtney climbed out of a slightly old car, eyes wide at the throng of people.
"So many people here today?!" Courtney exclaimed.
"When you graduate, you'll see even bigger crowds," Pat replied, amused.
"If you hadn't wasted time changing outfits, we wouldn't be late," he teased as they found seats next to Jonathan and Martha.
Courtney brightened when she spotted familiar faces in the crowd.
As the principal read names — Jason Cooper, Caroline Gillis, Cody Davis — students in crimson gowns walked onto the stage to receive diplomas, met with cheers and applause.
Below the stage, the crowd erupted with pride and whistles.
Adrian stood with Chloe, next in their group, waiting for his name.
Chloe's chest fluttered nervously.
Adrian, instead, turned his gaze upward, a thoughtful expression settling over his face.
"Adrian," Chloe murmured shyly, "when you go on stage, can you pin the badge on me? I think…" Her cheeks colored slightly, "it would make it feel more ceremonial."
Adrian didn't answer at first, making Chloe's shoulders sink with disappointment.
Then the principal called his name.
"Adrian Kent!"
A cheer rose from the audience.
"That's Adrian! It's his turn!" Martha said, patting Jonathan's arm excitedly as they stood to applaud.
Lois hurriedly snapped photos, Bart whistled louder, and Courtney waved enthusiastically — until Adrian missed seeing her.
Her smile faltered.
On stage, Adrian stepped forward, received his diploma and commemorative keepsake, and waved to the crowd with a slight, almost distant, smile — and then to Clark.
Chloe stepped onto the stage behind him. As she turned to step down, Adrian hesitated, then called out softly.
He reached for her hand and carefully attached her graduation badge to her gown.
Chloe's eyes lit up, and she leapt forward with joy, wrapping her arms around him.
"Happy graduation, Adrian!"
Below the stage, Clark watched the moment with a soft smile.
Despite Adrian's usual snark and cold indifference, there was something in the way he cared — a subtle bond formed over four years of struggle, fear, friendship, and hope.
Then Adrian gently pushed Chloe away, his demeanor shifting back to its usual unbothered cool.
His phone buzzed urgently in his hand.
He answered it.
A tense voice came over the line.
"Adrian, this is Lex. You must leave the school immediately. Get out of Smallville — now."
"Lex?" Adrian repeated, eyes flicking down to the stage.
There, sitting among the graduates, was the impostor — his face hidden behind sunglasses, but unmistakably watching Adrian.