The night air was thick with the scent of upcoming rain as Jeremy moved through the mist-shrouded edges of the Luthor estate. He wasn't heading for the hospital or the Kent farm; he was following a trail of molecular instability that led him away from the main mansion and toward the modest stone cottage tucked into the woods.
The Palmers had been loyal servants to the Luthors for years, but loyalty was a fragile thing when the "Wall of Weird" started to seep into the groundwater. Anna Palmer hadn't been a "natural" meteor freak—she was a consumer. And every consumer has a supplier, usually found close to home.
…
Jeremy stepped into the basement of the Palmer cottage. It was a chaotic contrast to the refined elegance of the mansion above: a mess of glass beakers, industrial solvents, and crushed meteor rock stolen from Lex's own collection. In the center of the workbench sat a single, glowing vial of viscous, silvery liquid: the Shimmer Serum.
Jeremy pulled the Refined Shard from his pocket, his internal "Vessel" opening with a predatory hum. He reached out, expecting to feel the familiar frequency of a new power—the ability to fold light, to become a ghost.
He placed his hand over the vial.
Nothing.
Jeremy's brow furrowed. He pushed deeper, his Static searching for the biological spark, the "life" that usually accompanied a meteor mutation. But the serum was cold. It was a chemical imitation, a hollow distillation of power that lacked the living resonance Jeremy required to "eat."
"It's a dead end," Jeremy hissed, his voice echoing in the cramped basement. "It's not a gift. It's a drug. A parlor trick in a bottle."
He realized then that the serum was a double-edged sword. If he couldn't absorb it, he couldn't control it. And if Lex Luthor—currently recovering from a concussion in a high-security hospital wing—got his hands on this formula, he would become even more dangerous. Jeremy or Clark would literally not see if they were being watched from the shadows. He would simply brew an invisible army from the very servants who polished his silver.
Jeremy looked around the lab. Lex's security teams would be here the moment the investigators cleared the mansion; they were efficient, even when their leader was sidelined. He had to move fast.
He didn't just want to steal the serum; he wanted to erase the very memory of it.
Jeremy raised his hand, his eyes glowing with a sharp, electric blue. He didn't use the Ice this time. He went for the Static, but instead of a bolt, he created a high-frequency vibration that resonated with every glass vessel in the room.
CRACK.
Every beaker, every test tube, and the final vial of Shimmer Serum shattered simultaneously. The silvery liquid spilled across the workbench, reacting violently with the other chemicals and the dry wood of the cottage basement.
"Time for a fresh start, Anna," Jeremy murmured to the empty air.
He grabbed a nearby Bunsen burner and knocked it into the pool of accelerant. As the flames caught, turning a brilliant, sickly green from the meteor residue, Jeremy used his Speed to blur out of the cottage and back into the safety of the woods.
By the time the fire reached the floorboards above, Jeremy was half a mile away. The notes, the formulas, and the last traces of the Shimmer were nothing but ash.
…
An hour later, Jeremy stood in the sterile, dimly lit hallway of Smallville Medical Center. He looked through the glass of the intensive care unit, where Lex Luthor lay in a dreamless sleep, his head wrapped in heavy bandages.
Lex looked smaller here—less like a titan of industry and more like a man who had been blindsided by his own domestic staff.
"You're looking for ghosts, Lex," Jeremy whispered against the glass, his breath fogging the surface. "But I've made sure the ghosts are all gone. When you wake up, you'll have nothing but a headache and a servant who doesn't know the recipe anymore."
Jeremy felt the Refined Shard in his pocket, pulsing with a steady, satisfied rhythm. He has protected Clark's secret by proxy, but more importantly, he will ensure that the "Alchemist's" secrets die with the flame.