No wonder Old Kent hadn't been resurrected, Clark thought. So this Grim Reaper could trace bloodlines—only biological parents would do. Of course, maybe his father had rejected him in Hell, leaving him no choice but to settle for second best. Still, that was settling pretty damn far.
Clark cared deeply about relationships, but only if he had actually built one with the person. He truly had no feelings for his biological parents. After all, he had never even met them.
He had seen their projections aboard the ship, but that had only been one meeting. He was less close to and familiar with them than he was with his coworkers at the Daily Planet. If that Grim Reaper killed and resurrected the editor-in-chief, then had the editor call to curse him out and order him back to work, Clark might actually have fallen for it. But now, he had no desire whatsoever to go back.
Clark was checking the message while Diana continued speaking. Worried that she had not explained things thoroughly enough and that Clark might still be affected by the mutant's plan, Diana recounted Lex Luthor's intended scheme from beginning to end.
The more Clark listened, the more familiar it sounded. He interrupted Diana and said, "You need to come take a look at this."
A few minutes later, Diana and Ron flew over first. Barry had somehow even brought the bound Lex along. Diana was the first to walk over to Clark's side.
"What is it? Why did you suddenly come to this ship?"
Clark said nothing, merely pointing at the communications screen. Diana saw the Kryptonian writing on it and could not understand it, but Clark had already read it aloud to her.
Upon hearing the specific contents of the message, Diana looked at Clark in