Chapter Twenty-One: Blood Ties.
Lex zoomed closer to Clark, hand extended and ready for a throw down. Clark could see by the look in Lex's eyes Zod was truthfully and completely in the driver's seat. He extended one hand out and blocked Lex before Lex could punch his lights out. Both of them struggled against each other.
"You might have more experience mentally," Clark said. "You're not used to this body, though, are you?"
Clark took a moment to hurl Lex a few inches into the air. Lex landed with a thud. Zod situated the body and watched when Clark jumped up to try and secure him. Zod used his new vessel to zip out of Clark's grasp. He went around him and pummeled Clark with a series of rapid-fire punches to the side of the neck. Each punch became more dangerous than the last at dazzling Clark.
"Maybe not," Zod said. "I'll adapt, though."
Zod took Clark down to the arm with an arm throw. He rode on the shoulder and tried to push it behind Clark's back.
"The Son of Jor-El will find his proper face at the feet of…"
Clark flipped back into the air and hurled Lex a few feet into the air with a flip. He took Lex's body high into the air. The two of them flew in mid air. Zod tried to fire heat vision at Clark. Clark responded with a blast of the heat vision of his own. The General hurled back down to the ground and landed down.
Zod pulled his ragged body up a rocky incline. He pulled up and noticed the son of Jor-El coming down from the heavens. Zod blocked his attempt to render him unconscious. Zod held the pathetic Kryptonian's arms back and began to nail him with a series of blows to the side.
"Your human upbringing weakens you," Zod said. "It makes you pathetic. It makes you unable to fight me. It makes you lazy! It makes you nothing, nothing at all, other than pathetic!"
Zod hammered in these words with another punch. Clark reached behind him and hurled a rock at the speed of light. The rock caught Zod in the chest. The oxygen left the lungs of the vessel. Clark pulled him up and threw him head first into the caves where he landed down onto the ground.
"You're going back to the Phantom Zone!" Clark yelled.
"Oh, are you willing to sacrifice this vessel to get me back there?" Zod asked. "Maybe we aren't that different from each other. Maybe I look into your eyes and see a reflection of what could be. Perhaps you are not like Jor-El."
Clark knocked Zod a couple of steps back. Zod flopped down to the ground. Clark still had the crystal. All he needed to do was jab it into Zod and he would be on his way. Yet, there was a moment where he paused.
"Those who hesitate will always lose the battle!"
Zod came back with a huge palm blow to the face. The sound of palm against bone rocked Kal-El back and blood spurted from his nose. Zod kept hammering away at him until the Son of Jor-El blocked another punch. He grabbed Zod and rocked him with a headbutt which caused blood to spurt down to the ground.
Raya slipped in behind in the middle of a fight between Kal-El and the human who had been possessed by Zod. She wondered what Kal-El waited for. Kara dropped down a few inches behind Raya and caused her to jump with a start.
The momentary distraction caused Zod to nail Clark in the side of the neck. Zod grabbed Clark around the neck and peered at Kara with a smile.
"It's good to see my own flesh and blood is loyal to the cause I preach!" Zod yelled. "All you have to do is finish off the House of El!"
Clark broke free from Zod's grip and slammed Lex's body into the cave wall. The human crumpled against the walls of the cave, unable to hold his head up for very long. All he could do was flash a very blood smirk at Clark which he intended to wipe off the face of this man.
"What are you talking about?" Clark demanded.
The bloody smile grew even more prominent. Zod looked to be enjoying this.
"Kara's my daughter, her name isn't Kara Zor-El, and while she's considered family by Lara, she's not Zor-El's daughter. She's mine. Her name is Kara Dru-Zod, and…"
Clark grabbed Zod around the throat and his eyes glowed red.
"You're not going to slander her name like this!" Clark howled at the top of his lungs.
Clark bounced the enemy off of the edge of the cave and smashed him down onto the ground. Zod smashed through the cave walls and landed in a heap. Clark pulled him up and threw him down to the ground once more. He only barely acknowledged it was Zod using Lex's body. The only thing Clark saw through his unbridled rage was Zod. He kept pounding this monster.
"We have to stop him," Kara said. "For his sake."
Raya agreed. She grabbed Clark gently and yanked him off before he slammed the enemy down to the ground.
"This anger solves nothing," Raya said.
"He's…..he's lying," Clark said.
He was lying, wasn't he? Kara turned her attention away from the situation and looked up into the sky with a sigh. Everything came back to her. She didn't acknowledge who her father was, but the fact stared in the face. There were other problems, mostly because Kara's memories had been tampered with and she didn't know where to start.
"You will learn to obey me, all of you!" Zod yelled. His body healed. "My humble servant prepared this one well. But now, I have an entire world to control and build a brand new Krypton."
Clark charged Zod to try and take him down. Zod blocked the attack and hurled Clark down to the ground. He zipped off, with the three other Kryptonians in pursuit.
"Zod must not be allowed to recall the rest of his followers!" Raya yelled.
Clark didn't need to be told twice. He kept flying, as fast as he could after him. There were no two ways about it, he had to catch up and they had to stop Zod before he caused more damage to the world. Damage which could not have been reversed, if Clark's theory was right, and he really hoped they were not.
Tess did her very best to keep calm despite the very bad situation she dealt with. The attempt to break through Brainiac's encryption put her back to square one. She would have to get the devil, or in this case, the psychotic machine his due. He was more than capable of preventing anyone from getting through his encryption. She sat in front of the computer and managed to get most of the access through the LuthorCorp security grids.
'Ninety-five percent access just isn't enough,' Tess thought. She kept plugging away.
One small misstep would lead to the dangerous protocols being enacted. The world would be bathed in a never-ending nuclear fire. Tess wouldn't allow this to happen because she had done too much to cause the world to be destroyed.
Why would Zod want to destroy a world which he also intended to take over? Tess never really understood how the minds of the deranged work. She guessed, and maybe she was wrong, it was the case of where if he couldn't have the world then no one could have the world.
'He's pretty arrogant to a fault,' Tess thought. 'But, arrogant or not, he covered all of his bases.'
Tess continued to tear away. She hadn't heard any information regarding what happened with Zod or where he went off to. No news was very bad news in this case. Tess tried not to distract herself from the important things in life, namely trying to hack this system.
A very small misstep would result in everything collapsing. Tess didn't normally leave her mind open for self-doubt. She almost accessed the main control panel, and here it was tricky. There was a very intricate code and if one didn't type it into the letter, it would launch an emergency nuclear sequence.
"Please, step aside."
Tess looked up towards her personal assistant. The red-haired woman stood off, submerged mostly in the shadows. Her indigo eyes shined bright when looking towards Tess.
"Well, if you really want to try and override Brainiac's work, then by all means."
"That inferior sequel?" the personal assistant asked. "If I cannot and truthfully counteract his programming, I might as well be declared obsolete and be shut down once and for all."
Tess didn't want to discourage her assistant. The woman stepped out into the hallway. Everything was quiet, way too quiet to be honest. So quiet, she almost expected another portal to open up and Phantoms to pour out. Tess hated when her expectations veered in this possible direction. Regardless, she needed to focus on getting things done.
'Time to check in with the Fortress.'
Tess accessed the control console to patch herself into the Fortress.
"I'm here," Lara said.
"Good, I'm almost into shut down Zod's control on the Earth's communication systems and the nuclear launch sites as well," Tess said. "I've got some very good people working on it, so we should be almost out of the woods in a little bit."
Tess considered crossing her fingers for an added bit of hope. The strong woman discouraged herself from doing so. It would be bad form and would show a lack of confidence which should be discouraged at all costs.
"They're back on Earth," Lara said.
Tess couldn't even try to hide the jubilation in her voice. "They're…back….Clark and Kara…they've found their way back to Earth!"
"Yes," Lara said.
Tess hated herself for doing so, but she needed to ask the other question. She took a moderately deep breath and frowned.
"Now when they came back to Earth, they didn't bring anyone back with them, did they?" Tess asked a few seconds later.
"I don't know," Lara admitted. "I'm working on trying to figure that out, but….we need to get ready. I'll get in touch with them, and hopefully, we can track down Zod…."
"Sacrifice Lex if you need to put Zod away," Tess said.
Tess realized many people would cause her selfish for such an action, but she resolved to protest Clark in anyway possible. If it meant doing some really shady and underhanded things, then so be it.
"Indy, are you close?" Tess asked.
"Almost there," the girl said with a smile. "Just got to clear one more path, and we'll be pretty close to being good to go."
Tess only could smile for the first time today in a long time. Maybe they did have a chance to take the world back and stop Zod from coming back now, or the future. All she could do was wait for Indy to work her magic, and for Clark to do what needed to be done. All of the pieces of an intricate puzzle fell into place. Tess would have liked to say it was by design this happened, and maybe it was.
Or maybe it was just because all of them were way too stubborn to give up when giving up was an obvious thing to do.
Martha Kent prepared for the very worst but didn't try and betray herself by thinking too negative about the situation. Everything was going to be fine, they were going to find a way to get out of this just fine. Smallville experienced many frustrating attacks over the last several years. It all started with the meteor shower which brought them a gift and brought the people of Smallville many other challenges.
She kept a firm and steady gaze on the road. Every now and then, Martha hit a bump on the road. A car had been knocked off of the road as well which had been a bad omen. Martha drove around the wreckage the best she could. She only had one thing on her mind, and that was getting her husband to safety.
Jonathan would have moved hell and earth for her and Clark. Martha resolved to do the same thing. She stopped at a stop sign and allowed this moment to steal a look at Jonathan. He closed his eyes and looked rather shallow with his breathing. It was hard for him to catch his breath.
"I think this is it," Jonathan muttered. "This is the big one...I can barely…."
"You're too stubborn to give up, and you know it," Martha said.
Jonathan thought stubbornness only got so far. He made the deal with Jor-El years ago which ended up leading to the first heart attack. The damage done to his heart was immense, and it would only be a matter of time before his heart eventually gave out. Jonathan refused to allow a death sentence be put on him, but even then, they had to face facts.
Engaging Lex, or whatever he had become, with these powers, sealed Jonathan's fate. He managed to summon up the strength thanks to the resolve left even though there were only so many beats left in his damaged heart.
"Martha, promise me if someone attacks, you'll get yourself out of there, leave me," Jonathan said.
"I'm not leaving you," Martha said.
"Someone….needs to be there for Clark," Jonathan said. "And I…"
"We'll get there, you'll be fine," Martha said.
Martha turned around and made her way towards the hospital. She pushed open the doors of the pickup truck and swung out before dropping down to the ground.
"My husband, he needs help!" Martha called at the top of her lungs.
The doors of the hospital opened up, and two medics came out, wheeling a gurney. Martha opened the door of the truck and they loaded Jonathan into the gurney. He reached up and squeezed Martha's hand lightly.
"Tell, Clark, how proud I am…of the man he's becoming," Jonathan said. "And the man he will become."
"Jonathan, you'll have a chance to tell him yourself…"
Jonathan closed his eyes when being wheeled into the hospital. Martha could see it had been a chaos because of the attacks. The hospital's staffing problems resulted in some headaches. Martha closed her eyes, trying to think of a more positive spin on this. She could not think the worse.
'Remain strong.'
Clark stopped at the end of the road. He lost Zod, but a plan started to form on how to get him back. Clark walked forward, arms extended out.
"You call yourself the greatest leader in Kryptonian history!" Clark yelled. "But, how great can you be when you keep running from someone who you consider to be a mere child?"
The words flew through the air. So far, Zod didn't answer Clark's attempt to call him out. It was fine, Clark could wait. He looked over his shoulder to see Raya and Kara standing on either side of them. Both girls wondered what Clark was playing out.
"I didn't think after all I've heard you hyped up that the great and powerful Zod was nothing but a coward who is too afraid to face me!" Clark yelled. "Are you scared? Scared to face the son of the man who put you in the Phantom Zone!"
The image of Lex flashed in front of Clark. Zod's fury burned out though Lex's eyes. The young man's hands clutched together tightly as if imagining wrapping said hands around Clark's throat and squeezing the life out of them.
"I don't fear you," Zod said. "I don't fear you. You are nothing but an insect who is little more than to be squashed on the underside of my boot."
Clark answered with a smile. He appreciated Zod finally coming out. He was close, very close to the attack. All he needed was to get Zod in position.
"Well, if you think I'm an insect, then try and crush me!"
Raya turned towards Kara and almost opened her mouth to protest. Kara stepped directly off to Raya's side and stopped her from doing anything to act, anything to protest.
"Don't worry, it will all work out," Kara said. "He's saving the world. Just trust what he's doing."
Raya wondered if what he was doing was a good thing after all. She turned from Kara to Kal to see him standing there in front of Zod. Zod's eyes flared with dangerous intentions she wasn't sure if the last son of the House of El understood about.
"So, be it!"
Zod charged forward and went towards Clark. The punch aimed at his throat to crush his worthless windpipe.
"You're nothing, but a child and you deserve nothing more than to be crushed beneath my feet!" Zod yelled.
Clark blocked Zod's hand before turning him around and hurling him down onto the ground. He was mindful this was Lex, but also at the same time, he couldn't sacrifice many for the needs of one.
'Whatever happens, I'll deal with it later.'
The two traded punches with each other. Clark backed Zod off a couple of steps towards where he needed to go. Almost in the perfection position, Clark could put him away.
Zod realized a second later what the spawn of Jor-El did and it was much too late to fight it off. He reached in and grabbed his adversary by the throat. The Son of Jor-El responded by hoisting Zod off of the ground and flying him as far away in the other direction as possible. Both of them smashed through a set of windows.
The glass and dust laid on the ground. Zod pulled up and noticed he was in the same location where Brainiac brought him to this world. He looked down towards the worthless, traitorous vermin. Zod stared down at him.
"You think you can be a man against me?" Zod asked. "You think you can stand up. Your father had to hide behind the council and didn't speak up on my behalf despite all I've done for him. He sent me to the Phantom Zone and betrayed me, betrayed all of Krypton. If it wasn't for his betrayal, Krypton would still be here."
"I'm more of a man than you ever would be!" Clark yelled. "Why don't you ask Kara?"
Zod flew into a rage and went to grab Clark around the throat. It was just the impulsive action he needed. Clark caught him in the chest and whipped out the crystal in one motion.
"NO!" Zod yelled.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Clark responded.
Zod struggled against the current. He had been drawn into the Phantom Zone without any more trouble. The energy of the crystal exploded through his body, sucking him directly back to the Phantom Zone.
Lex's body dropped to the ground like a puppet having its strings snipped. Clark caught the still breathing man from hitting the ground. Kara and Raya stepped over towards him.
"I'm fine," Clark said. "Zod just packs a punch."
'I did tell you how dangerous he was," Raya said. "You saved them all."
Clark needed to get Lex out of here and back to the hospital. He wondered how much Lex would remember when he woke up, well if he ever woke up. Clark had his doubts on that to be perfectly honest.
'One thing at a time,' Clark thought.
Clark had more than a lot on his mind after the dust settled. He dropped down onto the ground to join Kara. Kara stood at the end of the pathway, arms folded.
"Where's Raya?" Clark asked.
"She went back to the Fortress," Kara said. "Lara insisted she get checked over, to make sure nothing off happened to her. She did spend almost twenty years in the Phantom Zone, so it's best to make sure….there are no side effects."
Kara sounded pretty much distracted in her words. Clark reached over and gripped Kara's shoulder before giving it a gentle squeeze to bring it back into life.
"Are you thinking about what Zod said?" Clark asked.
Clark could tell the other Kryptonian survivor's anxiety hit a new level. The two of them walked up the road to check up on his parents. Diana waited for them at the end of the road, keeping out of the way. There was a lot of problems in Smallville.
"Kal, there's something you should really know," Kara said. "What he said was true….but I didn't know until right before we went into the Phantom Zone."
Clark tensed. He didn't really know what to make of this.
"I swear, I thought I was Kara Zor-El, I believed it, and I had memories which told me that," Kara said. "And maybe I am…but at the same way, I'm not…it's…..I can't even begin to explain it."
"Just do your best," Clark told her.
Kara drew in a deep breath. How did she explain multi-verse interweaving in a way which didn't make everything complex?
"Well, the point is, there's another Kara out there, or there might be, who might be trapped," Kara said. "I hope my memories come back completely because we might have a better idea as to who did this, and why did they do this."
"I hope your memories come back as well."
Clark turned towards her. Kara was looking down on the floor. Clark reached over and gently squeezed her shoulder.
"You know, it doesn't really matter where you come from," Clark said. "It matters where you're going. You're his daughter…what does that matter? You're not him, and no one should blame you for anything he did."
Kara wondered if Jor-El knew and tried to warn Clark about it. Or maybe he didn't. Kara suffered such a crisis of identity.
"You're Kara, that's what matters," Clark said. "We're not defined by our destiny, but by our choices."
"Truer words had never been spoken."
Diana walked up to meet the two of them. She could see Kara was a bit distracted. The older girl led the younger woman closer towards her and pulled her into a warm and gentle embrace.
"Sorry, about….well I'm sure you're going through a lot," Diana said.
Diana knew what Kara went through more than she could hope. For years, Hippolyta told Diana the story about how Hippolyta crafted her by clay and the goddesses gave her life. This was a story to cover Diana's true parentage, or rather her father. It had been a revelation, to be honest.
One could allow herself to be defined by such a revelation. Diana got strength, though.
'It doesn't mean it's easy to swallow something like that.'
Clark, Diana, and Kara walked inside the room. The first thing they saw there was Martha sitting there. Her head hung low, hands shaking, and breathing rather shallow. A couple of sobs came from her and the instant Clark saw what was going on with her, he knew.
Martha noticed her son and rushed over to throw her arms around Clark. Clark could feel her tight squeeze around his neck.
"Clark, I'm glad you're safe," Martha said. "But...Jonathan…he…he didn't make it."
Clark could not say anything. Despite his father's medical problems, he didn't see Jonathan Kent ever dying. He held his mother tight as Diana and Kara looked on, misty-eyed as well.
"He's…he's gone," Kara whispered. "Mrs. Kent, I'm sorry."
Martha wished she had been a little bit quicker in getting him medical attention.
"None of this is your fault," Clark said, seeing how uncomfortable she was.
"Neither is it yours," Martha said.
Clark closed his eyes. Today had been a day where his entire life changed. He couldn't help but think what might have been if he was a bit quicker in getting out of the Phantom Zone. His father wouldn't have stood up to Zod, and suffered the beating which strained his heart for the final time.
'And to think, I wasn't around to say goodbye.'
Martha detached herself away and sank down, with Diana sitting on the other side.
"Please tell me everything is safe," Martha said.
She just barely choked back a nerve racking sob. Clark looked towards her.
"Zod's gone, but…."
"We should consider ourselves fortunate then," Martha said. "And Jonathan would tell you the same thing, and also tell you how proud he is you managed to…..do what was right again."
Clark wrapped an arm around Martha. The most galling thing was he never had a chance to properly say goodbye.
A dark cloud covered the relief they all felt after Zod's defeat.
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Secrets We Keep.
The dark clouds rolled over Smallville days after the arrival of Zod and did not look like they wanted to disappear anytime soon. The people of Smallville were once again trying to put their lives back together after the latest crisis. Many tried to joke in good humor this seemed to be an event which happened every few months. Meteor mutants attacked and most of them had been rounded up.
None of the people in Smallville had any idea how close they were to getting obliterated by a trigger-happy army. Someone called that off, and exactly who it was, well that was not known. Hell, very few people knew it happened in the first place. Some individuals would be blissful in their ignorance and would move on with their lives. Not knowing how soon their lives would have ended in the first place.
One person did see his life end on this day in Smallville. Clark leaned over the freshly dug grave and peered towards the gravestone which indicated Jonathan Kent's death. He died of a fatal heart attack when confronting a Lex who had been possessed by General Zod.
Clark didn't really know what happened to Lex after dropping the young man off at the hospital. All he knew was Tess assured him it would be taken care of. Clark really didn't spend too much time worrying about that, he just spent a lot of time worrying about what to do with the funeral. The inevitability of death hit Clark, and he knew, most of the people around him would meet death.
Jonathan Kent came close to perishing a couple of times. This heart attack had been the big one, the one he couldn't wake up from. No one could return from that, unfortunately.
His mother told Clark that his father thought of what might happen to Martha and Clark after he died. When his very last breath, Jonathan told Martha to tell Clark how proud he was of what he's done and the man Clark has become. The thought made Clark struggle to force tears back.
'It shouldn't have happened,' Clark thought. 'This shouldn't have happened, I shouldn't have been here.'
A gentle hand touched the side of Clark's arm. He turned slowly to see an attractive redhead looking back at him. Clark thought she looked familiar. Still, it would be best if he allowed her to introduce herself properly.
"I'm really sorry for your loss," she said, leaning closer towards him. "I know….I know what you're feeling. I lost my father a few months ago as you know."
Now it clicked in Clark's mind. He looked towards the girl.
"You're Doctor Swann's daughter, aren't you?"
The girl answered with a solemn nod. "Yes, I'm Patricia Swann. And I've wanted to meet you for a long time. It's just….well, I think we both can say it would have been under better circumstances than a funeral."
Patricia buried her father after he died under what the official investigation claimed to be natural causes. She wasn't certain she really believed that. No, her father's death wasn't anything natural, as far as she could tell. Foul play was involved, given some of the projects her father had been involved in.
'There's really nothing to prove it.'
"You think you're alone in this world," Patricia said. "But, know that there are always going to be people to help you, to help guide you, no matter what the cause. And when you need a hand, there's always going to be people here to give it to you."
Clark nodded in response. One of the people who he thought was going to be here for a long time left his life pretty quickly. He really didn't know how to take it. All he could do was walk a little bit around the graveyard.
"Your father was a great man," Clark said. "And I can see how he raised a great daughter as well."
Patricia answered with a half-smile. "And I can tell the kind of man your father was by looking at you as well."
She heard stories about the traveler and what he could do. Patricia reminded herself those stories were just that, stories. The truth might have been more extraordinary than any story.
"He would have liked to see what you would have grown into," Patricia said. "But, I think we both agree you're at the crossroads of life. You can go anywhere you want."
Clark answered with a nod. His father's death showed Clark more than anything that there was so much to do. And he was going to do it. It was time to step up and see what he could do.
'It's time to move forward.'
Clark turned from one redhead to another. Tess walked over towards him and gave him a smile before leaning into him.
"I'm sorry about your loss," Tess said. "It just seems like some things in life are inevitable, like loss."
"My father told me what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger," Clark said. "And he would have told me to just take what life gives me, and use it to….do what I need to do next."
"Your father was a very wise man," Tess said. "And now, you're at a crossroads. You'll have some interesting decisions to make in the next couple of years."
Clark could not help, but smile. It was a genuine smile as well.
"It's funny; you're the second person to tell me this today."
"Well, it's a matter that needs to be reinforced," Tess said. "I'm sorry to stay long. I need to make sure Lex is where he should be."
Clark understood Tess and where she was coming from. The two shared another nod and a handshake. Tess paused for a second as if considering something. Whatever she considered, she decided against it. Clark watched her retreat from the graveyard.
He noticed a figure standing on the hill, watching the proceedings. The mysterious mourner dressed in a green hood.
Clark blinked and the figure was gone as quick as they arrived. He wondered who showed up to pay their respects, and why they didn't spend a lot of time there doing so.
'Mysteries to figure out for another time,' Clark thought.
Raya propped herself up on the examination table at the Fortress of Solitude. It never ceased to amaze her out the Fortress was always a marvel of Kryptonian technology. It brought a satisfied smile to her face.
Jor-El's original design had been modified and tweaked. Normally, Raya would be a bit offended by someone modifying such perfection. Another look around cleared those thoughts from her mind. She had to admit how much Lara made it work, and how much she made the Fortress more efficient.
Speaking of Lara, Raya needed to remain perfectly still because of the scan being performed her person. Lara insisted on scanning Raya the second she came home from the trip to the Phantom Zone. Raya wasn't too inclined to argue because it would be a lot easier to do so this way.
Lara's new body took some getting used to, and Raya missed the old one. Not that the new one was bad, it was just familiarity lead to comfort. And Raya had been well acquainted with Lara's old body. In addition to being Jor-El's lab assistant, she also assisted Lara in certain aspects which her husband neglected.
'I hope this comes clean,' Raya thought. 'If it doesn't, then some damage has been done and I don't know what will happen.'
Kara returned from the Fortress after attending the funeral of Jonathan Kent. She only barely acknowledged Raya's presence when walking inside of the Fortress. Her mind looked to be pretty much all over the place. The girl stumbled forward and walked towards Lara who hung over the console.
"I'm scanning Raya for anything foreign which she might have picked up from the Phantom Zone," Lara said. "So far, there haven't been any clear issues."
"Good," Kara said. "I'm glad there really aren't any problems."
Lara adjusted one more setting. She had to do one more deep scanning to make sure there were no problems. She turned around to look towards Kara who looked frustrated.
"Kal mentioned what you said," Lara said. "And I know you're in shock with what you've found out."
"Shock doesn't even begin to cover it," Kara said. "Why would my memories come back at the worst possible times?"
Lara paused for a moment to try and figure out the best answer. This entire situation was delicate. Kara's parentage had not been surprising, though. Lara didn't really want to destroy her worldview; on the off chance, she was wrong. Plus, Kara recovered the ordeal of losing pretty much anything. Lara had a pretty clear idea how much that affected the person.
"Shock, of the worst kind, tends to jar memories which have been surpassed, or modified," Lara replied. "I couldn't even begin to guess why you were sent back with modified memories."
"Kal's right, though," Kara said. "It doesn't really matter who my parents were….all that matters is who I am right now, and what I become."
Kara intended to be the best possible Kryptonian she could be. It wasn't going to be easy at all, in fact, it might end up being one of the harder things she did. Some people whispered you couldn't fight your inner nature. Kara refused to believe it. She refused to allow herself to be sent down this particular road.
"We have some good news," Lara said. "You are clean after your trip to the Phantom Zone."
Raya took a moment to sigh in relief. She had thought, for a moment, given how long these scans took, Lara would have picked up on her getting something from the Phantom Zone. The fact she had been cleared and ready to go was a tremendous amount off of Raya's shoulders.
"Thank you," Raya said. "And it's good to see you again."
"I hope you understand why we disconnected Jor-El's AI and regulated it to maintaining the Fortress archives and nothing more," Lara said.
"Yes, even though it's a shame it had to end that way," Raya said. "He wanted the best for his son…he wanted the best for Krypton, and every single planet in the universe, Earth included. It's just….using that particular method of AI, disconnecting himself from the emotion, his actions came off as a bit callous."
"The most intelligent of us don't realize how callous we come off," Lara said. "Until it's too late I guess."
Lara reached over and locked her fingers into Raya's. Raya leaned closer towards Lara, smiling when the other woman leaned towards her.
"Do you think I can trust you?" Lara asked.
"Yes," Raya said. "I swear, I'll help Kal-El in any way he wants me to."
Lara smiled; those were the words she wanted to hear. The words she needed to hear, now that Raya was here.
The funeral passed, and Clark only caught a few glimpses of his mother during the entire proceedings. Martha had been busy with friends of Jonathan, and his remaining relatives. Therefore, it had been hard for Clark to get a reading on exactly what was going through his mother's mind. Something told him she would be fine, but Clark still wanted to check up on her.
Kara returned to the Fortress after paying her respects. Clark understood why she didn't want to stick around. She had more than enough going on in her life and in her mind. It had been a very harsh shock for Kara.
'A lot of our lives have been turned upside down today,' Clark thought. 'And I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon, at least, I don't think it will.'
Clark made his way over towards the door to knock on it. Before he could do so, the door opened up, Martha opened the door.
"Hello, Clark," Martha said.
Clark could see how tired his mother was, and it was for a very good reason. She had been put through the ringer today at the funeral and didn't really come out the better for it. All he could was reach in and grab her hand to give it a solid squeeze, to tell her he was there for her.
Martha smiled and led her son in with a wave of her hand.
"You should sit down," Clark said. "You've been ran ragged all day."
"I'm fine," Martha said. "Besides, if I keep busy, then it keeps my mind off of….well everything."
Martha really hoped she never had to bury anyone else anytime soon.
"Sit down, though," Clark said. "I don't want my mother to work herself to death as well."
For a moment, Clark thought he had pushed things too far with that statement. Martha looked at him and with good grace, she sat down, while pushing a plate of food and something to drink in front of Clark.
"You've been a long day as well," Martha answered. "And I know deep down you're blaming yourself for what happened to Jonathan."
Clark shifted in the chair. The thing was, he couldn't really deny it with a straight face. Martha would have detected whatever bullshit he tried to give her at a moment's notice. So all he could do was a slump in the chair and respond with a swift nod when looking towards her.
"Yes, I'm blaming myself for this," Clark said. "I should have been there….if I had thought about getting you out first….."
"I know it's hard for you to believe this sometimes," Martha said. "But, sometimes you have to have faith in people who protect themselves…..there are times where you go out there, and do what you do, and….I try and hold a brave face. But despite who you are, and what I know you're capable of, I'm scared to death."
"I don't mean….."
Martha held up one hand to prevent Clark from speaking.
"I know you don't mean to do so. I just have to have faith you can handle yourself. And if it doesn't work out right, then we're going to have to deal with it then."
A second passed with Martha looking thoughtfully.
"Your father didn't have to go out there to face Zod," Martha said. "He did it because he felt he had to. And maybe, he knew there was nothing good coming from it. But the thing is, he wasn't going to just back away and not do what he could to stop Zod from overrunning him."
Clark understood instantly.
"That doesn't mean your help isn't appreciated," Martha said. "Because it is, but if someone gets hurt, it's not your fault."
"This is more than someone getting hurt," Clark said.
Martha leaned in and placed a hand on her son's shoulder and tried to convey to him that nothing which happened was his own fault.
"No one said everything was always going to end up fine all of the time," Martha informed him in the most gentle voice possible. "Still, you can't always be looking over your shoulder. Things happen for a reason, and Jonathan…..I'll miss him, and you will too. But, I think his death happened for a reason."
Clark hated to think this was all part of some grand destiny Jor-El always talked about. The young man looked towards the door where Chloe and Lana stood. The door had been left half open.
"Girls, you should come in," Martha said. "You both should know the door is always open for the two of you."
Lana and Chloe stepped into the Kent home. Clark could tell because of the looks on the girl's faces.
"Sorry, just seemed like a private, mother-son thing, but…really, we didn't mean to eavesdrop on anything," Chloe said.
"We just wanted to come up and check on both of you," Lana said.
"We're managing about as well as can be expected," Martha said. "I won't lie to your face and tell you things are going to be easy because they most certainly aren't going to be easy."
'Nothing in life ever is easy,' Martha thought in despair.
She turned fully towards her son.
"Clark, if I need anything, I'll be in touch," Martha said. "You should get out, get some fresh air."
"Yes, she's right," Lana said.
"You really do need something to keep your mind off of things," Chloe said. "A movie, maybe dinner, something, anything other than…what's been happening."
Lana and Chloe moved over to either side of Clark. Both girls busted out into grins. Clark looked at both of them, and he would have, to be honest, he was smiling as well.
"Well, really, how can I say no?" Clark asked.
"You can't really say no," Chloe admitted to him.
Clark rose to his feet, with Chloe taking one arm and Lana taking the other arm.
"Especially with the two of you double-teaming me, I don't think I have a chance," Clark said.
Chloe and Lana answered with knowing smiles before they lead Clark out the door. It was very hard for Chloe to keep a straight face at this point, even though the girl did manage.
'Oh, you have no idea the double teaming that's to come, Mr. Kent,' Chloe thought.
"Go out there, have fun," Martha said.
Clark's last bit of resistance, not that there was too much left, faded away. Chloe and Lana lead him out of the room, arms interlocked with his and smiles crossing the faces of both of the beautiful young women in question.
Lex Luthor had been hooked up to a chair. His eyes glazed over, looking a tiny bit bloodshot in the process. The doctors who observed him all muttered in excitement.
"I have to say, it's just a slight bit more responsive than his father was," one of the doctors said.
Lex twitched from his position. The occasional eye twitches were the only movement, other than when he ate three times a day. And he didn't eat any more than needed to survive.
"Yes, this is promising," a crisp, monotone voice said off in the shadows. "Make sure you keep up with the observation. I want to know everything he does know. His mind is an untapped resource."
The doctors had been at this observation for three days. They really didn't have many clues to Lex's insight or mental processes other than these slight, not so subtle movements. The light shined in his eyes when he moved.
"It's…it's…"
These words coming from Lex resulted in the doctors growing for rigid and extremely excited. Finally, the mute young man was going to speak. Some of them put pen to pad and were going to jot down some notes.
A hand reached forward and grabbed the microphone. They were so close to striking gold, he was not going to be denied this particular treat.
"Mr. Luthor, I know you hear me, and I know you understand what I'm saying," the gruff voice said. "I want you to focus on who you are, and tell me what you're thinking. I know that impressive mind of yours hasn't stopped working."
Lex hadn't suffered brain damage which was very surprising given the circumstances. The physical exams showed that much. In fact, his mental processes had been spiked to an inhuman level thanks to the exposure of this entity known as Zod. The poltergeist, for lack of a better term, had been exiled before any of them had a chance to look at it.
"Take your time, we have all day."
The doctor looked at the brain scans. He feared Lex had many complex thoughts that he could not articulate due to his impressive brain power.
'There's always a chance he's speaking, but humans cannot perceive what he's saying. And we don't have the capacity to understand. And he doesn't have the capacity to dumb it down for lack of a better term.'
The doctor drummed his pen against the notepad. There had been several notes, but more of the same. Understanding Lex's mind, could enhance the mental processes of many normal people.
"It was so beautiful!" Lex yelled. "I had it!"
Two short sentences were about all they could get from Lex. Lex's eyes bulged out, and he returned to the twitching and slight hand movement.
"A disappointment, but we know he's still capable of speech."
The other doctors turned around as a balding gentleman wearing thick glasses stepped closer into the light. The man, Hugo Strange, studied some of the most fascinating minds in his time. He always was interested in piecing together more about the physical and emotional capabilities of humanity. The human mind had been an enigma for as long as the universe had created life.
"It's the first time he's spoken in sentences," one of the doctors said.
"Yes, it shows whatever trauma he's undergone, he's slowly processing," Strange said. "We will continue with the observation."
So far, it had been most illuminating.
Clark felt a little bit more relaxed after a night on the town with Lana and Chloe. The two girls slipped away to shop, and they insisted Clark just stick around elsewhere in the mall. Clark didn't really question it. He would rather fight two meteor mutants than two girls shopping.
'Although come to think of it, Chloe doesn't seem to be the shopping type,' Clark thought, as the three had arrived back to the Potter Estate. 'Hell, Lana doesn't really either these days, well not as much as most girls.'
The two girls had something in those bags, though, and they seemed to be smiling at Clark, almost knowingly. They didn't have X-Ray vision, but Clark was pretty sure they were undressing him with their eyes. He couldn't help but smile at their expressions.
'You just wait,' Clark thought to them.
"So, are you relaxed?" Lana asked.
"Yeah, I got my mind off of everything," Clark said.
"Your girlfriends really do know how to take care of you," Chloe said.
Chloe leaned in and caught Clark with a hungry kiss. She pushed him up against the wall and dug her nails into the side of Clark's face. The kiss was extremely aggressive and exciting. Chloe took the opportunity to suck Clark's face, and also grind up against him.
Lana watched how the most powerful man in the world had been backed off. Then again, Chloe could be pretty feisty when she wanted to be.
"You know, I'm feeling a bit left out," Lana said.
Chloe turned around and the same predatory look spread over her face. Lana had been a bit excited, and also a fair bit scared. Chloe reached over towards her and kissed Lana on the lips with an extremely hungry kiss.
Clark watched the two attractive girls swap saliva with each other. His pants became a bit constricted at the sight. Lana's hands moved around and cupped Chloe's backside. They pushed together in each other, eyes locked onto Clark when they concluded their sloppy make-out session.
"I think we should get you upstairs, and out of those pants," Lana said.
Lana stole a quick kiss from Clark. Her hand reached down and cupped Clark's crotch through his pants. She squeezed his manhood while kissing him.
"Yeah, that looks a bit tight," Chloe said, empathizing her words with a very shameless squeeze of Clark's crotch.
The two of them walked Clark up to the bedroom. Lana opened her door and the lavish bed was there. Lana looked out.
"You know, Clark, if you had a telescope, you could see my house from your loft," Lana said.
"Oh, come on, the boy scout would never do that," Chloe said with a smile.
Clark shifted a little bit. The two girls relieved Clark of his pants and stepped back.
"We're going to slip into something more comfortable," Chloe said. "Just don't get started without us."
Chloe swayed her ass which made Clark throb even more than he did before.
Clark waited. It took every fiber of self-control not to peer through the window.
The surprise had been more than worth it. Chloe sauntered out of the kitchen. She attired in a sheer red bra which covered her breasts. Her flat, toned stomach was on display. A nice red garter belt came down, with some transparent red panties. Clark saw her legs covered in stockings. Chloe turned around to show him the panties were also a thong.
Lana stepped out of the bathroom. She dressed in a black lacy teddy, with a choker collar. A sheer black thong, knee high stockings, and a garter belt added to her body. Clark could feel the blood rushing from his head at the sight of both of the girls.
"Poor baby," Lana said. "Why don't I kiss that and make it feel better?"
Lana revealed Clark's cock to the entire world. She cupped the young man's balls and squeezed them before leaning in and kissing the length of his manhood. She swirled around his cock, using her warm tongue to pleasure Clark's manhood.
"Hey, you need to share," Chloe protested.
Lana licked the length which allowed Chloe a chance to take on the head. She wrapped a plump set of lips down Clark's head and raked down the length while Lana kissed it. Chloe took her lips down his manhood and kept taking him into her mouth. She bobbed down onto Clark's immense length.
Clark grabbed the back of Chloe's head when she sucked him. He could feel Lana's warm mouth coming down, to suck on his balls. The young man groaned when feeling Lana's mouth on top of him.
"Oooh, "Clark groaned. "Yes!"
The two girls exchanged his cock and balls, switching back and forth. Both of them had the time of their life going down on Clark beneath his belt. A feeling of pleasure coursed through Clark.
Chloe smiled and cupped Clark's balls while Lana bobbed up and down on him. Lana's hair formed a dark curtain around Clark's manhood and tickled the throbbing flesh.
"Nice to see you're nice and full for us," Chloe said. She squeezed him. "Let's hope we can keep that going for the rest of the night."
Clark thought he was going to die. Chloe kissed his balls and licked them. The feeling of those balls made her hunger for more of him, more of his cum. She slurped him, smiling when going down on him all of the way.
Lana took the length of his cock into her warmth. She bobbed down on him, digging into his thighs. She looked up, running her hands up and feeling Clark's rock hard abs. It complimented his rock hard cock quite nicely. Lana slurped him, licking his manhood.
"Damn, I'm going to!"
Both Chloe and Lana joined at the edge of his throbbing manhood. They kissed and sucked him. Their warm tongues batted at his cock before Chloe came down onto his manhood. She took as much of his cock down to her throat.
Lana kissed Clark's sweaty abs, before going down between his thighs. She took Clark's balls and squeezed them. Lana tickled his balls, feeling how sweaty they were.
She pulled down her panties and sat on the bed, making sure Clark could see her pussy. Lana fingered herself in time with Chloe bobbing her head down onto Clark's hard manhood.
"Go ahead, Clark, blow your load down her throat," Lana said. "I'm sure there's going to be more."
Clark held onto the back of Chloe's head. The lovely look on her face made Clark only drill himself into her. Those balls slapped against Chloe's chin. Her beautiful face when going down onto him was quite the sight.
He groaned and shot his load into Chloe's mouth. Chloe kept going down onto him, bringing her mouth down onto him. She stroked his balls, and went down to him, taking the massive prick deeper into her throat.
Clark emptied the contents of himself down onto him. Chloe pulled up and gave his still half-hardened cock.
"Well, help yourself," Chloe said.
She pumped Clark's cock until it stood up into the air. Lana crawled over onto the bed and positioned herself on Clark. Clark could see an unrestricted view of Lana's toned ass. He grabbed the object of his affection when Lana mounted him reverse cowgirl style.
Lana's warmth surrounded him. Clark reached up and ran his hands down her back when she bounced up and down on him. She twisted and turned around on him.
"You two are too much," Clark groaned.
"Well, someone needs to make sure you get everything you deserve," Chloe said. She pushed Lana's hair from her face and kissed the girl when she bounced up and down on her.
Lana put her hands on Chloe's lovely chest and squeezed her breasts. She brushed Chloe's stiff nipple and twisted it, before coming down from her body.
Chloe rocked her hips when Lana parted her thighs. A couple of fingers slipped into Lana's dripping womanhood when she kept bouncing down on Clark from the position.
All Clark could see was Lana's lovely ass slamming down onto his hips when she drove herself down onto him. Clark reached around to her and explored the front of her body. Clark stroked her clit which caused her to moan.
"Yes, that's a good spot, she's really dripping," Chloe said.
"You have room to talk," Lana said.
She twisted a finger inside Chloe's insides. Her wet cunt closed around Lana's probing finger and milked her. Lana pulled out of Chloe and pushed her finger between her lips before sucking it dry. She pushed the finger back inside Chloe and repeated the ritual.
Clark pushed into Lana's tight pussy. She closed in around him and moaned when pushing as much of his cock inside her as she could manage. She contracted around him.
"Damn, you're really…you feel really good," Clark breathed.
"Good as your wet dreams I'm sure," Lana said.
Clark brought her up to a peak. Lana was starting to wobble. She grabbed onto the bed and brought herself down onto Clark's pelvis. She took a few more thrusts onto her.
Chloe anticipated Lana burning herself up, and she would take care of Clark. She watched his swollen rod pass between Lana's thighs which started to come up and down on him.
"Damn, it's…you're not the slightest bit tired are you!" Lana yelled.
Her pussy throbbed with need. She spread her legs and pushed as much into her as possible. Lana rocked herself down to impale him deeper into her. She could feel him stretch her out and it was so good.
"No, I can do this all night," Clark said.
Chloe nibbled Lana's lips and could feel her mad scramble to her body. She cupped Chloe's chest in her hand and squeezed it. Their tongues found a pattern with each other.
One more orgasm put Lana out of commission. Chloe gripped Lana and gave her a long, tongue-centric, kiss before pulling her off.
Chloe crawled on top of Clark, her breasts hanging out of her top. They slapped Clark in the face.
"Squeeze them," Chloe said.
Clark wasn't about ready to turn her down. Every inch of Chloe's flesh burned him up. All he could do was take those supple breasts in his hand and squeeze them. He took a couple of moments feeling their firmness.
Chloe could feel Clark's cock, still dripping from Lana's juices. The beautiful woman spread her legs a few second. Her lips beckoned him.
"It's mine now," Chloe said.
"We should have done this years ago."
"Does it really matter?" Chloe asked. She nibbled his neck when easing her thighs apart. "It matters we're doing now, and we're going to make up for lost time."
Chloe surrounded Clark and pushed all the way down onto him. He grabbed Chloe's delicious rump and squeezed it. The feisty woman pushed down onto him. She drove down onto Clark and pushed him deeper into her. The beautiful woman bounced up and down on him.
Clark found himself surrounded by her. Her pussy was tighter than Lana's, although they were both really tight. Chloe's enhancements gave her a bit more endurance. And speaking of enhancements, Clark reached up to cup her. He took her aching nipples and squeezed them.
"You're just the gift that keeps giving," Chloe breathed.
Clark cupped a breast and sucked on it. Chloe shoved more of her tit down into his mouth. He kept sucking it.
Chloe looked over and saw Lana arching her hips back and up. Clark reached over and finger fucked her at the speed of light. Lana collapsed down onto the bed after the orgasm.
"That's amazing," Chloe said.
She bounced upon Clark's stiff pole. Chloe ached with need and could not have enough of her. He was like a drug, her addiction, and Chloe was going to indulge herself in him.
"Why don't you give it a try? "Clark asked.
Chloe smiled. She slipped her fingers into Lana's nearby pussy, still balancing herself on Clark. She fingered Lana while driving herself down onto Clark.
"Mmm…oooh…you're killing me!" Lana breathed.
Her body reached another excellent peak. The dark haired woman's body came down from the pleasurable spike.
"Then you're going to die happy," Chloe said with a grin.
Clark watched Lana fade out with a blissful smile on her face. Chloe returned to Clark and shoved herself down onto him. She worked herself to the peak.
The two joined each other at the loin. Clark held her breasts and squeezed them. Chloe responded by bringing herself down onto him. Her beautiful moans made his cock throb. The orgasm was really close.
"Fucking cum!" Chloe yelled. "Fucking fill my pussy with your alien seed!"
Clark's muscles tensed up. Chloe's words and latest orgasm sent him over the top. He fired inside her, depositing his seed into her. Chloe clenched and twisted around him to milk the seed out of him.
Chloe finished milking Clark's orgasm, having one more of her own. She pulled off of him when she was done. Some of the dripping cum collected on her fingers.
A wicked grin spread over her face. She bent over Lana and slipped her cum stained fingers into the girl's mouth. Her legs spread apart for Clark one more time.
Clark figured if she wanted more than she would get more. This time he pushed into Chloe and took out his frustration on her pussy.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Lost in Time.
The Fortress barely became visible for someone who looked for it. Well, it barely was visible for someone without the ability to see through the snow. Clark was able to maneuver through the snow, flying at an immense speed and closing in on the Fortress of Solitude pretty fast. Despite being fast, Clark's mind kept going fast.
It had been about a week since the incident involving Zod, and Clark's entire life had been turned around to put things bluntly. The death of Jonathan Kent forced Clark to come to certain realizations. He already began stepping up for battle, but now, there were other things he needed to do if he wanted to become the hero. Everything started with a single step.
'Everything is just….one step at a time,' Clark mused.
Clark dropped down outside of one of the entrances to the Fortress. The Last Son of Krypton touched the side of the wall. The wall flashed and slid open to reveal an entrance point. Clark stepped on through the wall and made it inside.
The Fortress was a bit more inviting than when it first got put up. Lara worked very carefully with some modifications, some which would serve them well. Clark looked around and noticed a large map on the wall of Earth. Crystals lined up against the wall, and Clark also recognized the crystal drive from Kara's ship on a table. Kara claimed her mother's AI was inside the drive.
"We haven't been able to figure it out. And I doubt anyone other than the person who invented it would be able to determine how it worked."
Clark turned around and saw Raya standing there. Raya dressed in a casual black tank top and a pair of blue jeans. It looked a bit odd to see the woman in Earth clothes. The clothes showed what a nice figure she had, and it was something that Clark appreciated.
"Alura In-Ze had her share of critics," Raya said. "One thing we can't deny is she's a genius."
"Well, it must run in the family," Clark said.
Raya only responded with a smile. There was no denying this older Kara was a genius, but that could lead to some deception. So, Raya kept her head on straight.
"We may be able to figure out how to get the AI working if we track down…your true cousin," Raya said.
Clark responded with one of those looks and leaned forward to grab Raya's hands in a very firm squeeze. Raya almost jumped up, startled at what Clark did. She knew he would be strong, but the Kryptonian assistant had no idea.
"Kara belongs here just as much as anyone else does," Clark said. "Just because of who her father is, it doesn't mean you should condemn her."
"Forgive me," Raya said. "I just am trying to think of the worst possible outcome, and what might happen if….she goes down that dark road. If her mother is who I believe….well, it's obvious why she was able to convincingly pass off as your cousin Kara."
Clark had a pretty good idea who Raya eluded to, and he didn't think that would be out of the realm of possibility. Regardless, Clark tore his eyes away from the beautiful woman and took a moment to look around the area of the Fortress.
"Lara is at work, making sure nothing slipped out of the Phantom Zone," Raya said. "There was a simple margin of error where something could have popped out of the portal."
Clark had thought about that. To be honest, the Kryptonian survivor was more preoccupied with stopping Zod, but now he was back in the Phantom Zone, hopefully forever.
"Wouldn't there be a sign something popped out, though?" Clark asked. "Like murders, or something like that?"
Raya shrugged in response. "It does depend on what came out of the Phantom Zone at that particular time. Some of the prisoners aren't exactly raving lunatic types, although the Zone does change people."
The fact the Phantom Zone changed people reminded Raya she was not immune to these changes as much as the next person. Lara spent a lot of time examining her, both physically and mentally. And Raya only just barely kept out of the line of sight of some of the more dangerous prisoners of the Phantom Zone.
The reasons why Jor-El put her there was understood by Raya. She didn't really question it, well not completely. There were times where Raya almost wondered if Jor-El did the right thing. It turned out to be a perfect thing due to Kal-El, and Kara she supposed, being sent to the Phantom Zone. She was in a position to help them.
Every day, Raya lived in fear, because of the Phantoms potentially finding out her connection with Jor-El. They wouldn't hesitate to get revenge through a proxy.
The two crossed the edge of the room and walked inside. Lara positioned in front of a monitor and frowned. The image of the portal leading out from the Phantom Zone flickered about the screen.
"Hello, Kal," Lara said.
Despite the greetings, Lara didn't remove her gaze from the screen in front. Lara didn't really mean to be rude, at least intentionally rude. The Kryptonian pulled up another screen and slowed down the images on the screen.
"Tell Kara I wasn't intentionally not working on trying to access her mother's AI," Lara said. "Believe me, we could use Alura's brilliant mind right about…"
Lara trailed off when looking at the screen. The woman's mouth turned fairly dry when leaning closer towards the screen. Clark came out of the portal first, followed by Kara and Raya. The portal closed, but the light flickered. A figure, dressed in ragged Kryptonian military garments, exited the portal. The figure's face had been covered.
"So, it's just as you feared then," Raya said.
Lara answered with an unfortunate nod. She peered at the viewscreen and tried to rewind it back one more time. Lara made her attempts to get anything, a distinguishing feature, anything. The prisoner moved fast, to avoid detection.
"That's who saved me and Kara," Clark said. "From Nam-Ek and Zod's other follows in the Phantom Zone."
Raya didn't know what to make of this. Then again, she just regained her bearings here on Earth, so it was hard for her to figure out too much of anything.
Lara frowned. Raya groaned when seeing that look in Lara's eyes. When Lara got obsessed about something, she could get scarily focused about it. It was almost to the point.
"Do you have any idea who it might be?" Clark asked.
Lara frowned and studied the footage as intently as possible. "Yes, I have ideas."
Clark had no idea whether or not this was a good idea or a bad idea. Lara didn't give Clark a chance to clarify.
The dust finally cleared after the incident involving Zod. And Tess had an entire mountain of paperwork to deal with in the interim. Lionel had been locked away, just like he had ever since the second meteor shower all of those months ago. He talked nonsense. There were times where the man spoke a word or two of coherency, but when buried within all of the nonsense, Tess didn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.
Lex ended up being another matter entirely. She arranged for Lex to be hauled off as well for his own good. Lex wasn't in any position to fight it. The man had grown less than coherent. The man's once brilliant mind had been shredded, in the worst possible way.
Was it possible he faked the incoherence? Naturally, Tess suspected there was a chance Lex played a charade. Which is why she kept him under close observation, both Lex and Lionel, as a matter of act.
The Board of Directors of LuthorCorp tried to swoop in for their piece of the pie. Tess really didn't know why she expected any different from those people. No matter what the timeline, the LuthorCorp board of directors looked to be pretty self-serving. This remained the same no matter what universe, timeline, or whatever, Tess found herself in.
Tess walked into her office and had been greeted with several documents. The massive amount of documents were not was bad as Tess feared, but taking a lunch break would be a luxury Tess could not afford to have for quite some time.
'Well, here we go.'
The redhead businesswoman didn't have a chance to settle down properly because a knock on her door broke any concentration, even as narrow as it was.
'That's right, I almost forgot,' Tess thought. 'And given the brain power I have, I really don't have any excuse to forget anything, but here you go.'
Tess cleared her throat. "Come in."
The door opened and Patricia Swann stepped into the office. The moment she saw stacks of paper on Tess's desk as far as the eye could see, Patricia took a step back towards the door.
"Look, if this is a bad time…"
"I actually could use someone to keep me company while I wade through this mess," Tess said. "I'd offer you a cup of coffee but…."
The door opened up and in a blink of an eye, a tall dark haired woman entered the office. She wore a pair of glasses, a nice button up red blouse, and a jacket, along with a black skirt, and stockings. Patricia found it quite interesting how much she resembled Kara Kent, at least facially speaking, but it could be one of those weird coincidences.
'Or a shapeshifter, or a clone, or a long lost relative,' Patricia thought. 'This is Smallville after all.'
"Here you go," the girl said. "If there is anything that I can get you, please do not hesitate to tell me….."
"Do you think I can have some more sugar?" Patricia asked. "And maybe a bit of cream?"
Tess's assistant produced both of the items in a blink of the eye. Patricia smiled and moved to put both of the items into the coffee. She tipped it in.
"Thanks," Patricia said.
Tess shifted off some of the clutter. She thumbed through the documents. Various business deals were about ready to go into place. Some of these deals benefited LuthorCorp, while others didn't. Tess shifted the documents into two distinct piles. The documents containing the deals which benefitted LuthorCorp and the pile of the documents were something she needed to go through.
"So, where did you pick her up?" Patricia asked.
Tess looked up from the paper and looked at Patricia with mild curiosity.
"You mean, Indy?" Tess asked. "Oh, I picked her up on my many travels. She was lost, without a purpose, after the latest Crisis. I managed to give her one."
Tess continued to move through the papers. Patricia wondered why the woman acted the way she did a lot of the time. Tess came to her with information, information Patricia doubted even her father knew. It verified something happened in the future.
"Clark's coming along pretty fast," Patricia said. "The question is will he be ready for the challenges?"
"I have to admit, I would have liked to do the time jump much sooner," Tess said. "And once Kara remembers everything she's forgotten, she'll agree. But, I suppose it can't be helped."
Patricia wondered what happened to her in the first timeline. Tess had been a bit reluctant to share these details.
"This isn't the first time you've been back in time, have you?" Patricia asked.
"I've had a couple of trial runs," Tess admitted. "But, there is really nothing like this time jump…..but hey, I'm pretty sure most of my memories are in place."
The methods she and Kara (or Karen as she had been known in her civilian life in the future, or Power Girl as she would be known in her super-powered life), had gone back in time had been drastically different.
"The Orb is missing," Tess said.
"You're kidding me, right?" Patricia asked.
"Yes, it's key to everything that's going to take place over the next couple of years," Tess said. "I tore Luthor Mansion from top to bottom apart, trying to find it….but it's been moved."
Tess wondered if her trip back caused butterfly effects both good and bad. The ripples spreading through time were impressive by all means, and Clark was taking the road to becoming Superman much faster than they could hope. Perhaps not as fast as she would have liked, but maybe if they bumped it up by a couple of years.
"You do realize what will happen if the Orb falls into the wrong hands, don't you?" Tess asked.
"Yes," Patricia added. "It can be a useful asset but….."
"There are other things inside the Orb which could cause problems," Tess said. "And have you had any luck tracking down our elusive Mr. Bloom."
Tess really wanted to nip that problem in the bud before it became one.
"No, he wasn't at the address my friend dug up," Patricia said.
The signed showed Tess how frustrated Patricia had become and she shared the frustration, to be honest.
Changes for the good and bad both happened. The universe had its way of balancing out. Tess frowned when looking at one of the contracts. The Board thought they were being very clever trying to sneak this one through, but this would be a definite one for the "no" pile.
"We're just going to have to keep searching," Tess said. "Both for him, and the other Kara."
Tess wasn't sure this other, younger, Kara existed before the great Crisis. Well, the latest great Crisis, there has been more than a few of them. And the Cosmic shifts caused elements of multiple Earth's to be merged together, and the dust still settled.
"We've got a lot to do," Patricia said. "Has Lex coughed up any information?"
"No, he's not talking," Tess said. "And that can be a huge problem."
Kara hovered outside of the window of the loft overlooking the entire Kent property. Clark mentioned many times he found herself in this particular spot to think over the various things which happened. Or just be alone with his thoughts. Funny enough, it was his Fortress of Solitude before the Fortress of Solitude.
Thoughts, Kara really needed to be alone with a lot of those right now. She closed her eyes tight and dipped into her thoughts, her mind, and yes, her memories. Those memories didn't really match up. And now, Kara understood why, thinking everything over carefully.
It was all about time travel. Kara could have kicked herself. A deep concentration exercise put together many Kara's past memories, at least in part. It was very hard to do at first, with Kara not trusting her own memories. Memories of her spending time with Alura, thinking of her as her mother and for all intents and purposes, Alura was her mother.
She remembered the younger Kara, her cousin, and the reason why it was so easy for her to think of Alura as her mother. It was for the simple reason Kara was around Alura most of the time.
'And I made Alura a promise I would protect both of them, no matter what,' Kara thought. 'Both Alura and Lara…and I can't help, and I think I've let both of them down for some reason. I don't really know what to do.'
Kara really didn't know what to do now. Conflict spread over the mind of a girl who was unsure where to go with her life. And this really affected Kara's ability to help Clark, and do the things that he needed to do. Clark really could be one of the greatest heroes the world could see.
The legends of the young man from deep in the future made Kara smiled. The problem was legends were they could be embellished. And yet, reality could be more extraordinary than any legend. Kara clasped the edge of the window and flashed a smile out of the window.
'What to do now.'
Kara rested her hand on the edge of the window and leaned further outside. Many thoughts passed through the mind of the younger girl. What to do, what to do indeed.
"I thought I might find you up here."
Clark turned up behind Kara. The Kryptonian moved over and walked up to Clark. The girl threw her arms around Clark's neck and pulled him in close for a tight hug. Kara leaned closer towards Clark, and their lips brushed together for a light kiss before Kara pulled away from him.
"Sorry, if I haven't been….well sorry if it seems like I've been avoiding you," Kara said. "I didn't mean to. But, you know, there comes a time where you have to stop running from who you are. Or you might become that person."
"Your father?" Clark asked. "Or your mother?"
Kara blinked when staring at Clark. A few seconds passed as she mulled that particular question over. It was a pretty good question and one which was hard to consider.
"Both, really," Kara said. "They had a lot for me to live up to. I won't say they were all bad. Zod was a brilliant military leader, but he suffered a few losses. And I don't think he found out I was his daughter until….well towards the end. Maybe the revelation I had been hidden for fourteen years was the thing that broke him."
Kara looked outside. The clouds sure looked beautiful, tranquil either. Clark moved closer towards Kara and squeezed the girl's shoulder.
"So much has changed as well," Kara said. "I guess, a couple of timelines got merged together or something…..I'm going to have to talk to her."
"You're going to have to talk to who?" Clark asked.
"To, Tess," Kara said. Clark looked back towards her. "We made the jump back into time together."
Clark looked at Kara. It was Kara's turn to lean in and put a hand on Clark's shoulder to squeeze it.
"I was sent her to protect you and Kara…the younger one," Kara said. "My aunt and mother liking the same name lead to….well, it led to a little bit of confusion. I decided to adopt the name Karen to…let up on the confusion. In the future, I took up the identity of Karen Starr, Starr coming from Star Labs, you know. And Karen…derived because it was close enough to Kara."
Clark nodded, he understood where the name had come from.
"So, are you going to adopt the name now, in the past?" Clark asked. "Well, the present or…"
Kara laughed and leaned in to place her fingers over Clark's lips to prevent him from talking. Time travel already was pretty confusing without Clark trying to make any sense of it. She knew that more than anyone else.
"Let's just worry about this one step at a time," Kara said. "I do like the name I took on the future, you know when I was a superheroine."
Clark wasn't sure about the entire codename thing, but he was never the less curious.
"Power Girl was my superheroine name," Kara said. "And I was one of the charter members of the Legion of Super-Heroes….don't worry, you'll meet them someday."
Clark wondered if Kara should be telling him the things she did.
"The timeline already is different," Kara said. "It won't be the Legion I knew, but it is going to be a version of the Legion. I know, it's a lot to take in. I just hope we can have a good relationship, even if I wasn't…who you thought you were."
"It doesn't matter where you come from," Clark said. "Your parents…you can't choose them..."
"You can only choose your actions," Kara said. "I feel like we have this conversation….and regardless, we're still linked…..were among the few survivors of Krypton left."
"Us, Lara, the younger Kara wherever she is…and Raya," Clark said.
Kara responded with a nod. She would respectfully keep all opinions on Raya silent. Lara assured Kara she would deal with Raya, so Kara would leave that to her. They would clash on an ideological level.
"Oh, I was at the Fortress, "Clark said. "We aren't the only ones who left the Phantom Zone."
Kara tensed up for a second. Clark grabbed her.
"You could have told me this earlier," Kara said. She didn't mean to sound so sharp, but it just kind of slipped out that way.
Clark's sheepish look made Kara feel kind of bad for snapping at him as well. Kara reached up to wipe his hair from his eyes and reassure him with a smile.
"I know, but….it's not an immediate threat, at least Lara and Raya don't think so," Clark said. "Although, it seems like my mother has a pretty good idea what's going on."
Kara was certain. Some people overlooked Lara's intelligence, their problem to be honest. Kara had her own theories on who broke out and wanted to ask Clark some questions to verify it.
A car pulling into the Kent Driveway caused both of their attentions to be diverted. Clark saw an attractive redhead exit the car and walk up towards the front steps.
"If it's not immediate, it can wait," Kara said.
"So, you're Virgil Swann's daughter," Martha said. "I'm really sorry to hear about your loss…your father was a very brilliant man."
"Yes, and a bit dedicated to his work," Patricia said. "And I'm sorry to hear about your husband's death as well. It must have been a shock to you."
Martha sat across the table and offered Patricia a cup of coffee. Patricia made sure to secure the case on the table and took another cup of coffee and also a slice of pie.
"I'm here to talk with your son," Patricia said. "My father left a couple of things behind for him, and he would have wanted him to have a look at them."
Martha was about ready to inform Patricia that Clark was out, but suddenly, she spied Clark and Kara walking across the pathway towards the Kent home.
"His ears must have been burning," Martha said.
Patricia answered with a smile. She really did hope to catch Clark here and have a conversation with him. The item resting on the table would answer some questions or maybe raise any more.
The door opened, and Clark walked up towards the redhead who rose to her feet.
"Patricia, what do I owe the pleasure?" Clark asked.
"Well, I was going through some of my father's old boxes, trying to see if I can find anything that could help you," Patricia said. "And I've come across this."
Clark took the box in hand and opened it up. A slightly melted silver orb rested in the box. Kara gasped when looking at it.
"It's a primitive form of the Kryptonian Birthing Matrix," Kara said. "And….the symbol on it, it's from the House of Zod….."
Kara closed her eyes. Her own connection to the House of Zod aside, some very interesting questions had been raised.
"Zod's son had been murdered underneath the siege of Kandor," Kara said. "Along with his first wife…..and this must have been an attempt for him to clone a son."
"An attempt which may have proven to be successful," Patricia said. "At least in certain senses….my father and a group of his associates came across a young boy all of those years ago, on the day of the first Meteor Shower…..and they thought he was the Traveler."
Clark blinked a couple of seconds.
"He wasn't, he was something worse," Kara said.
"If we can find my father's journal, we might be able to shed some further light on this situation," Patricia said. "Why don't we head over to STAR Labs? There's someone over there that I think both of you would want to meet. And my father left a couple of items there which I'm certain only you can access."
Patricia moved to go for the car. Clark smiled and scooped up the woman in his arms, before zipping out of the Kent Farm.
Kara picked up Patricia's shoe which fell to the ground, smiled, and followed the two of them out the door.