A/N: Yeah well it's hardly the most original idea but it seemed an appealing storyline to me at any rate. And yes I know Doomsday's actual origin story and no this doesn't necessarily follow that completely, but it's pretty close. Also, I wrote another Smallville story on FF about Clark meeting up with Hal Jordan so that's why he's in this story and no you don't have to read that other story to understand his appearance in this one, because in this one he actually does have the ring.
Several months ago, Kal-El of Krypton, Clark Kent of Earth, was trapped in an inter-dimensional prison known simply as: The Phantom Zone. Shortly thereafter he escaped and unintentionally freed several other prisoners in the process. Over the next several months, Kal-El would encounter these escapees and either capture those that were merely spirits, or eliminate those that weren't. It was not the easiest task in the world, voluntarily putting oneself in harms way and possibly risking death just to save the lives of others, but Kal-El was cut from a different cloth than the rest of humanity. Chloe Sullivan had stated correctly, he was more than just a hero he was a superhero and so he rounded them all up without once complaining. But as so often happens in these situations, he missed one. Not that it was necessarily his fault. After all, the other 'Zoners' as he referred to them were essentially allowed to roam free in the Phantom Zone and merely continued to do so on Earth. But this one…this one was heavily bound and sealed inside a massive metal coffin that was placed into the Phantom Zone and so when it was sucked back to Earth, it was buried deep underground following its impact with the surface. But the impact it made also had the unforeseen consequence of freeing its bound arms and it began the slow but arduous task of attempting to break free by pure brute force.
Smallville: Clark Kent was in the loft of his barn going over what information he and Chloe had managed to gather on Project 33.1. It was not very much, Lex Luthor had a very good stranglehold on the project, but at least they had something to go on. And with Clark's mother now in Washington working on Capitol Hill, he had a lot of time on his hands since farm chores exceedingly took less and less time to finish with his ever growing powers. But despite it all, he felt empty inside. His connections with this place were becoming less and less all the time. His father was long since gone, his mother no longer here, his best friend Pete had left as well for his own safety, and with Chloe working more and more at the Planet and Lex and he no longer on real speaking terms after the whole deal with Lana, Clark found himself at least once every day longing to just go and vanish into the night forever. All he needed was an exit, but so far that had proved elusive. Truth be told, he was also scared about when that exit finally arrived, what would be his final decision, but until then all he could do was delve further and further into his work keeping his inner thoughts a secret from anyone and everyone.
"Hey Clark," said Chloe Sullivan as she appeared from down below. "How is it going?"
"The same as yesterday and the day before that," said Clark disgusted as he tossed the pages onto his desk. "The connections are there, I know they are, but there's always just one piece missing that I can't figure out."
"It'll come Clark believe me," said Chloe trying to reassure him. "But why don't you take a break from all that, let's go get some lunch at The Talon."
"Alright," said Clark not wanting to give up but realizing he had no choice. As he got up, he instantly fell down in pain as he tried to cover his ears to stop the sound of the intense pounding that he heard.
"Clark? Clark?" asked Chloe concerned as she knelt down to try and see what was wrong with him. Clark clenched his eyes tight and willed the sound to go away and through intense concentration it finally did and he once again stood up, a little groggy.
"The pounding again?" asked Chloe. Clark had heard this intense pounding noise on and off for the past month now and eventually he let Chloe in on it when it had interrupted a phone conversation of theirs a week ago.
"Yeah," Clark confirmed as he started walking. "My superhearing must just be going haywire or something, I can't figure it out."
"Well have you figured out the source of the noise yet?" asked Chloe.
"No," confessed Clark. "But they're doing some construction down the road so it's probably just that."
"And if it's not?" asked Chloe prodding. Clark turned to face her.
"What are you getting at?" he asked with slight force.
"I'm a reporter Clark," explained Chloe not backing down. "And that means that I can't assume anything, I need facts to make a conclusion and you don't have any right now."
Clark waved her concerns off and kept walking. "If it comes to what I think you're thinking then I'll deal with it, I always do."
"I know you will Clark, I know you will," said Chloe with a smile as the two left the barn.
Elsewhere: The dirt on the ground shook almost imperceptibly to nearly everyone except the individual now standing over it. The individual's eyes began to glow bright red as if scanning the ground somehow.
"So…the rumors are true," thought the individual with dread before it vanished into the night sky leaving a trail of red behind.
33.1 Lab: Lex Luthor was furious. He had learned about these alien visitors too little too late and all of them had either been eliminated or killed before he could learn what they were doing here and before he could use their living genetic structures to aid him in his quest to create the ultimate soldier.
"We will continue on somehow sir," said his aide Bartlett. "We still have the rest of the prototypes to experiment with."
"They are still only human," said Lex bitterly. "And people are ultimately weak. I need that extra edge, that edge I had when I lost my memory, in order to make 33.1 the ultimate force to be dealt with."
"Yes sir," answered Bartlett backing down. Lex finally stopped his pacing.
"Are you certain we have located all of the craters?" he repeated again.
"As far as we know, unless one of them fell into the ocean and they'd likely either be dead or have shown themselves by now like the others did," responded Bartlett.
"And that localized seismological event we've been monitoring?" asked Lex.
"Unchanged," answered Bartlett. "Growing in strength but not moving at all."
Lex filed this away for later use as he resumed his pacing.
"Very well, tell me about experiment 12-A," he said.
Underground: The metal of the box began to stress more and more until finally the creature managed to break through. It roared in anticipation of finally being freed from its incarceration.
The Talon: Clark sat there eating his sandwich as he was alone in his own little world as Chloe watched him concerned as always. Clark had become more and more withdrawn as time had gone on and Chloe could recognize this more than anyone, and it made her nervous. Clark was the one person she knew she could always count on; he was her rock both physically and emotionally. He could offer her emotional support and be her army of one all at the same time, but she knew that between her and everything else that came up, that the responsibility was wearing him down. She could see him look longingly out the window every now and then and she knew that one day she might go to the farm and he'd be gone.
"Could the world survive without a super man?" she wondered as she always did. But she would never voice these thoughts out loud, Clark would likely get defensive about it and just leave and Chloe needed him now more than ever with 33.1 in full swing.
"Clark?" she asked snapping him out of his reverie. "If there's ever anything wrong you know you can tell me right?"
"I know Chloe, but I'm fine, trust me," said Clark with a half-hearted smile that did nothing to soothe Chloe's feelings. "What's Lois up to?"
"Oh the usual, trying to get by one story to the next," said Chloe sighing.
"Has she made any headway with Lex's super soldier project?" asked Clark. Chloe just shook her head slowly at that.
"She's got the resolve I'll give her that, but that's about it," she responded. "I keep praying she'll get some breakthrough but since this is Lex we're talking about, I'm not holding my breath. As bad as that sounds."
Clark nodded and once again retreated into his inner sanctum to Chloe's disappointment. But a few moments later to her surprise he began looking around confused.
"Clark, what is it?" she asked not sure the cause of his attention.
"I have to go," said Clark getting up hurriedly and heading for the exit.
"Clark," said Chloe chasing after him and grabbing his arm to stop him. "What's wrong?"
Clark looked at her and then down at her hand and before Chloe could blink he was gone and her hand had been left where he once was.
"Clark…" she said sadly as the wind briefly whipped through the air marking his passing at superspeed.
Metropolis: At the top of LuthorCorp. Lionel Luthor sat at his chair sipping some champagne from his drinking glass when the wind whipped through his office signaling the arrival of Clark Kent.
"Ah, Clark so good of you to come," said Lionel amicably. Clark looked at him through narrow eyes.
"What is it you want Lionel?" he demanded.
"Oh this time it's not about me I assure you," said Lionel holding up his hands in defense. "It's he who summoned you I just provided the location for the meeting."
Clark looked behind him to see two red dots shining out of a darkened corner of the room before the Martian Manhunter became visible.
"We have a problem Kal-El," said the Manhunter wasting no time in getting down to business. "Doomsday is coming."
Underground: The creature finally succeeded in clawing its way out of its metal coffin and now began the arduous task of digging itself out of the tons of dirt and rocks that it was now buried under. But the creature did not complain, it did not talk, it just continued on its course to escape from this earthly tomb.
Luthorcorp: "Doomsday is coming?" asked Clark dully. "Again?"
"Kal-El this isn't a joke," insisted the Martian Manhunter uncertain as to why the Kryptonian would take this matter so lightly. "Doomsday is coming and we need to stop it."
"So what form is it taking?" asked Clark wistfully. "Nuclear War, Lex's schemes, global warming, what?"
"Doomsday is not a colloquialism Kal-El it is the name your father gave the creature when it was finally captured on Krypton," answered the Jonn J'onzz. "For had it not been, it would have brought about Krypton's end long before it finally exploded on its own."
"What?" asked Clark confused. "You mean…there's another Zoner?"
"As much as I deplore the use of such a simplistic term, yes there is another prisoner of the Phantom Zone still on this world," answered the Martian.
"Ugh," said Clark rolling his eyes. "Just what I needed another headache."
"If the Prisoners of the Phantom Zone were a headache Kal-El then this particular one would be the equivalent of a migraine that could kill you," said Jonn. "Doomsday is not to be trifled with. He is death, rage, and bloodlust personified. He cannot be reasoned with, he cannot be bought off, and he will only stop when every living creature in the universe is dead."
"But he's still a Zoner," Clark pointed out. "And we've dealt with the worst of them. I took out Titan and Zod and you took out Aldar, believe me whatever this new guy is he can't be worse than them."
Clark made a motion to leave when the Martian Manhunter blocked his path.
"You don't understand Kal-El," said Jonn desperately trying to show how dangerous this new threat was. "At least Zod, Aldar, and Titan were allowed to roam free in the Zone, Doomsday had to be bound and gagged and sealed inside a metal coffin and then placed inside the Phantom Zone. He couldn't be allowed to roam free otherwise he could have escaped the Zone through sheer brute force."
Clark briefly hesitated at that before shrugging it off. "When he appears, call me. Until then goodbye, I have bigger things to worry about right now."
"You don't understand Kal-El, this problem cannot be solved as easily as you think. We cannot kill him and we cannot simply place him back in the Zone, we need a plan of action before he arrives!" said the Martian Manhunter angrily.
But Clark was gone at that and the Martian Manhunter only sighed.
"He doesn't understand," said the Manhunter to Lionel. "And how could he, but now his understanding is needed more than ever."
"He is very headstrong but he has every reason to be," said Lionel. "Still, if he will not do something about it, then we must."
"Unfortunately there may be nothing we can do," said the Martian Manhunter. "I have seen the images of its rampage across Krypton and if the Kryptonians as advanced as they were could barely stop its swath of destruction then I do not see how this world can hope to fair any better."
"Well I for one am not to give up on it," answered Lionel. "I have done terrible things in the past that I wish to atone for and this will just be one step on that path."
The Martian Manhunter nodded his head in agreement and then moved towards the desk to see if there was any way they could solve this problem because they did not have much time.
Underground: Doomsday kept hammering away on the ground pushing it up and up as it continued clawing its way slowly but surely up to the surface.
Surface: The ground was now visibly shaking from the impacts deep below and seismologists began to take notice and so too did the military.
Europe: A building exploded throwing debris everywhere while nearby a stealth VTOL raced through the air away from it.
"Another job well done team," said Oliver Queen aka The Green Arrow. The other members of his team were celebrating their latest victory over Lex Luthor and his experiments. Victor Stone aka Cyborg, Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, Bart Allen aka Impulse, and finally Hal Jordan aka The Green Lantern who was at the moment securing the VTOL on autopilot rounded out the rest of Ollie's team and so far they had done very well for themselves. They'd destroyed several 33.1 facilities and this one had been no harder than the last. But there were still more out there and the team was fully away of this.
"So where too Ollie?" asked Hal curious. He and Ollie had been friends for years and when Hal had come asking for a job on their team, Ollie had only been more than happy to welcome him aboard. His energy ring had also come in handy though Hal had remained tight lipped on where he had gotten it, only revealing that it existed to help them.
"Yeah man, we going to some nude beaches around here?" asked Impulse with his ever present grin. The rest of the team groaned at that.
"Hey it's not my fault we've got no hotties on this team besides me," said Impulse. "Except for that Chloe Sullivan, man what a babe!"
"She's got a boyfriend!" the rest of the team shot back.
"I never saw him, how do I know he exists?" Impulse reasoned. The team just rolled their eyes as Ollie chuckled.
"Actually you might be pleased to know that we're heading back stateside," he responded as he took a drink of some water. The team looked at him confused by that statement.
"I thought we were going to clean out the US after we finished with the rest of the world," said Hal confused.
"We're not going back to the States because of 33.1, we're going because there's something odd happening on the west coast near Coast City," said Ollie mentioning Hal's hometown. "And also near my hometown of Star City. Something buried deep underground is apparently trying to fight its way to the surface. Now who or what that is, I don't know but the local police and military probably clearly won't be able to deal with it and so that leaves it up to us to get things done," Ollie finished as he cracked his knuckles.
"You want us to expose ourselves publicly?' asked Victor a bit concerned.
"We may have to or else millions may die," said Ollie helplessly.
"What about Clark, will he help us out?" asked Hal. Ollie shrugged.
"I haven't been able to contact him but if there's trouble he should show," responded The Green Arrow. "Anyway, I hope we're able to succeed even without his help."
The others nodded and remained silent as the helicopter continued onwards.
"Are we ever going to get a babe on this team?" asked Impulse finally.
Metropolis: Chloe was in the basement of the Daily Planet sipping a latte when Lois came barging in.
"Hey Lo, what's up?" asked Chloe.
"I just wanted to say don't expect me to be hanging around the apartment for the next few days, I have a story," said Lois excited.
"Really?" asked Chloe happy for her. "What about?"
Lois looked at her suspiciously. "You sure you're not just out to steal it?"
"Lois I'm stuck in the basement of the DP, I'm not going anywhere," said Chloe reassuringly.
"Well daddy was telling me about some earthquake in California that's got the military spooked so the Inquisitor's sending me to cover it," said Lois. "So…have fun back home in nowheresville."
With that she was gone out one exit as Clark walked in another.
"Where's she off to in such a hurry?" he asked.
Chloe shrugged. "Guess something weird's going on in California that's got the military's attention."
Clark appeared thoughtful at that.
"I wonder…," he thought before shrugging it off.
"What is it now Clark?" asked Chloe looking up at him.
"Not much," said Clark nonchalantly as he sat down. "Would you believe me if I told you 'Doomsday' is coming?"
California, later: The ground was acting as if exploding from within as the military took up positions all around it while the police tried to keep back the throng of reporters and others come to witness what was going on.
"Keep them back!" ordered General Sam Lane to the police as the ground continued rumbling behind him throwing dirt into the air.
"Yes sir," came the response from the soldiers when General Lane's phone rang.
"Lane?" he said into it.
"Hi, daddy," came Lois's voice. Lane rubbed his hand down on his face.
"Lois now isn't the best time," he said into it as he made motions for the tanks to take up a flanking position around the disturbance.
"Yeah I can tell seeing you up there all commanding," came Lois's response.
"Commanding? Lois where the hell are you?" demanded Lane.
"Oh out here in this crowd your soldier boys seem intent on pushing back," came the response as terror crossed General Lane's face as he looked out at the crowd.
"Lois it isn't safe here you've got to get out!" he roared into the phone.
"No way, I'm here on assignment, I need a quote from you before I can leave!" Lois complained. General Lane finally spotted her amongst the mob of people and quickly tapped a corporal on the shoulder.
"See that young woman over there with the cellphone next to that tall giant," he asked as the corporal nodded. "Get her out of here now!"
The corporal nodded and made their way into the crowd.
"Daddy you can't do this I-!" began Lois when suddenly the ground erupted in one massive explosion and a massive roar permeated the air. As the dirt finally settled, to the horror of all it revealed a large greenish/gray creature with bony protrusions all over its body. It looked around at the tanks surrounding it and roared a challenge at the world. In his home, Lex Luthor looked at the creature on his TV stunned as did Lionel and the Martian Manhunter at their location at the top of Luthorcorp Tower. The creature's presence was even felt high in the air as Ollie and his team watched the screen with dread and deep in the basement of the Daily Planet as Chloe looked at the hanging television screen in shock.
"Clark…my God," she said speechless. Clark whirled around from where he had been standing and looked at the screen as the creature stared right at the camera, as if at the Kryptonian before bellowing once more its challenge to the inhabitants of this world and any would be challengers.
Unbelievably, Doomsday is here.