Pitbull, Chapter 13

Perry and full cast, from "Perry"
Season 3
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the CW and DC Comics, not to me.
Read the story from the beginning here.
Read Chapter 12 here.

At their campsite, Clark was tossing stuff out of Pete's trunk when his cell phone rang. Distractedly, he dug it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Clark." Lana sounded breathless. "I need help. It's Mr. White-- we're at Saunders Gorge, and he-- he's gone crazy, and I don't know what to do--"

"Don't do anything," Clark told her, trying to sound reassuring in the face of her obvious panic. "I'll be right there."

He closed the phone and spun around. Pete looked at him, worried. "What's wrong?"

"I have to get to Saunders Gorge," Clark answered. "Right now."

He bolted across the field, but nothing happened, and he stopped, aggravated.

"Your speed thing still out?" Pete asked.

Clark barely resisted the urge to cuss. "I got nothing, Pete," he said instead. "It's all gone."

"Get in," Pete said. "I'll drive."

*****

Pete had barely stopped the car when Clark slammed the door open and scrambled out. A single glance told him that the situation Lana had briefly outlined on the phone was just as bad as she'd said. Perry White stood on the railing of the scenic overlook, precariously balanced over Saunders Gorge.

Shit.

Lana ran toward him, looking terrified. She might not like White much, but none of them wanted to see the guy splattered on all the rocks at the bottom of the gorge. He reached out and caught her by the arms.

"Lana, you okay?"

She nodded and spoke breathlessly. "I'm fine. I was... I was driving him to the bus stop and he pretended to be sick. I pulled over, and he ran out to the viewpoint and got out on the ledge and said he would kill himself unless I called you."

Clark let go of her and turned toward Perry. She grabbed him by the arm.

"Look, Clark, be careful. He's really drunk."

"Not unless iced tea packs a punch," Perry called. There was a broad grin on his face, like standing over a deep, rocky gorge was vastly entertaining. "I knew you'd never show for me, so I had to trick Lana into making the call."

Great, so White wasn't drunk, just crazy. Somehow Clark didn't find that reassuring. He walked toward the older man, his hands out in a let's-discuss-this gesture. "Mr. White," he called, his voice carefully calm and nonjudgmental. "Don't do this."

Perry kept grinning. "See," he said cheerfully,"the way I figure it, you're strong, you're shockproof, you're incredibly fast. Plus you're cursed with this hero complex."

The thought that White knew everything about him should have scared the hell out of him, but right now he was more terrified by the fact that the older man was standing right there on the edge of death, and he didn't have his powers to save the guy if he slipped. His awareness of his own impotence in this situation made his heart pound heavily in his chest, and he could feel himself sweating.

Just do what anyone else would do, he told himself. Play along, and talk the guy off the ledge.

"Yeah," he answered, trying to sound respectful. "Why don't you come back down on the deck? We'll talk about that."

Perry's grin didn't change, but beneath the cheerfulness Clark could see his eyes glowing with a fanatical light. He'd seen the same light in Chloe's eyes often enough to recognize it. The guy knew he had a story almost in his grasp, and he was reaching for it with both hands.

"No," he answered. "Not till I have my story."

"Wait," Clark said desperately, moving toward him a little faster. "Look, you're wrong about me..."

"I'm betting you'll save me," Perry said.

Ordinarily, Perry was right, but Clark couldn't save him now, and he knew it. His heart thudded faster than ever. Don't panic, he told himself. Don't startle him into doing something stupid. But despite his efforts to be calm, he couldn't quite keep his voice down.

"I can't save you!" he yelled, a little louder than he meant to.

Perry grinned more broadly, and more insanely, than ever.

"I guess we'll find out, huh?"

To Clark's horror, he saw the guy tense to leap. He lunged and grabbed hold of Perry's collar, but the older man's momentum carried him right over the edge of the overlook.

And then they were both falling.

Read Chapter 14 here.