A/N: Thanks for catching the prologue being listed as epilogue Katie147. I kept having trouble changing the chapter titles and somehow never caught the mistake. I also want to thank everyone that has reviewed this story. Even though there have not been many reviews or even hits for that matter, the reviews you have left mean a lot to me. Since I don't think I will be quitting my day job anytime, it is always cool to hear someone likes what you have written.
Chapter 6
Oliver cast one last look at the buildings containing the people before turning and returning quickly to the boat he and Clark had just been behind. Slowly he peered from around the end of the vessel, trying to find a route that would get him closer to Doomsday yet still keep him from being seen. Finally he was able to choose a path that would utilize some of the damages boats and buildings. As quietly and as low to the ground as he could, Oliver ran toward the ongoing battle. He only stopped a few times to make sure that Doomsday's attention was still occupied. It took a few minutes for Oliver to make his way close enough to Doomsday that the beast was within range of his bow.
In the meantime Clark had been able to hold his own. Both he and Doomsday had landed a few punches each. However, Clark was starting to fatigue and it was beginning to show. He was obviously not fully recovered from their last encounter and the lack of sufficient sunlight this far north was not helping. Oliver knew that if he didn't find some way of helping Clark soon, this fight was not going to last much longer.
Once in range Oliver positioned himself for a shot at Doomsday and looked into his quiver. He only had one explosive arrow, and three regular arrows left. He knocked one of the regular arrows and readied himself for the shot. He waited until Clark was clear and pulled back on the string of the bow. Immediately his arms went weak causing him to drop his bow and fold over in pain, his broken ribs crying out defiantly to the strain placed on them from drawing the bow. Oliver grunted as the pain in his chest took his breath. Slowly the archer gathered his wind and forced himself upright just in time to see Doomsday land a vicious blow to Clark's side, again knocking him to the ground. Clark was unable to immediately return to his feet, which gave Doomsday enough time to land another blow to the side of Clark's face splitting his lip and knocking him flat to the ground. Clark moaned in pain and spit out a mouth full of blood, as he rolled from his side to his back. Oliver knew that he had to act or Clark was going to die so he took his position once again. He took one long slow breath, this alone causing the pain in his ribs to worsen, before drawing his bow to it full length. The pain in Oliver's ribs felt as if someone had stabbed him with a white-hot poker, but he steadied himself before releasing the arrow with a loud groan. Although Oliver did not see the arrow hit its target, as he was again doubled over in pain, the shot had been true. The razor sharp diamond tipped blades attached to the titanium and graphite shaft sliced through the air, striking the monster in the right eye just as the beast was about to land another blow to Clark's supine form.
Oliver raised his gaze at hearing the creature howling in pain as it stumbled a few steps back. Instinctually, the beast reached to its eye and pulled on the arrow. For the first time since the fight had begun Oliver saw the creature bleed. It was also apparent that the creature was now blind in its right eye as it tripped over a pile of rubble falling to one knee.
The delay gave Clark a chance to gather himself and muster the needed strength to climb back to his feet. Once he was standing he was able to see how the creature had been injured. A green arrow, now covered in blood, was lying on the ground at the beast's feet. Clark briefly glanced in the direction the arrow had to have come from, seeing Oliver bent over in plain sight holding his ribs. Clark could not help the gratitude that he felt for Oliver putting himself in danger to try to help his friend.
Clark turned his attention back to the monster and circled to the creature's right. The creature could not see him coming due to the damage Oliver's arrow had caused. The first blow that Clark landed came without warning, catching the still distracted beast by surprise. The loud cracking of bone echoed through the air, as the bony armor that protected the beast's head gave slightly under the force of Clark's fist. Again the creature stumbled backwards as it howled in pain. Clark did not give the creature time to recover as he unleashed yet another devastating punch to the side of the creatures head. This time Doomsday was knocked all the way to the ground. Clark wavered as he walked towards the beast, the amount of energy his already depleted body had expended during the strike fatiguing him further. He tried to gather himself yet again by leaning on a demolished car, but stumbled weakly to the ground. While he tried to catch his breath Doomsday began to climb to its feet. However, it did not attack once it was standing. Instead the creature looked at Clark through its one functioning eye before leaping high into the air. The injured creature was retreating away from Clark, landing a few hundred feet away. Unfortunately, the creature was retreating towards the town, as well as the buildings both Clark and Oliver knew contained many trapped people. Landing with a thunderous BOOM approximately half way to the buildings, Doomsday turned and unleashed a deafening roar in Clark's direction before his attention seemed to be drawn to something near the buildings behind him.
The movement behind the creature also caught Clark's attention. It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped onto Clark's back as a child ran down his spine, "OH NO!" the hero whispered, his voice dripping with fear.
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The road was becoming more and more barren as Lois and Chloe approached the small town. Once they finally reached the town there were hardly any people on the street at all. In the distance Lois could see smoke billowing into the air. As they continued the source of the smoke became apparent. At the end of the deserted street were a number of over turned cars, some of which were engulfed in flames. Many of the buildings near the cars were in ruins as well. Lois continued down the street, but decided to turn off the siren and the flashing lights. "No need to draw any unwanted attention," she remarked to Chloe as she did so.
Chloe couldn't help but chuckle, "So says the girl that is driving headlong in the direction everyone else is running from," earning a smirk from Lois in response.
The two women did not speak again as they continued down the street toward the destroyed area. Lois had to weave in and out of some of the damage as the road began to become more and more congested with debris. They had just made it around a fiery overturned SUV in the middle of the street when they got their first glimpse of the open area they had scene on the newscast. Before they could go any farther, a loud BOOM caused the two to jump in their seats, Chloe letting a small squeal escape in the process. Lois slammed on the brakes bringing the ambulance to an abrupt stop, but it was too late. In the now visible clearing the massive bony creature from Chloe's wedding stood only a few hundred feet in front of them, and it was looking their way. "Oh Shit! Too close!" Lois exclaimed as she quickly threw the ambulance into reverse. However she had forgotten about the SUV around which she had just navigated. When she pressed hard onto the accelerator the ambulance dart back colliding with the fiery vehicle. The impact caused the upside down car to spin, effectively blocking the road and the only escape route the two frightened women had.
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At first Oliver did not see the ambulance arriving at the edge of the clearing. It was not until the ambulance collided with the other vehicle that he realized someone new was there. He had just turned his attention in the direction of the collision when two women jumped from the ambulance and began running towards the remains of some destroyed buildings. Oliver immediately recognized the two women, "Lois?!" Oliver let out in an exasperated huff.
Unfortunately, the vehicles collision followed by the running women had very effectively gotten Doomsday's attention. He took one lurching step in their direction before Oliver reacted. He did not know what he was planning on doing, but he could not let the beast follow his friends. He of course was worried about their safety, but he was also concerned about the people trapped in the buildings the two women were now running towards. Running as fast as his weary legs would carry him Oliver made it to a position from which he could make a clean shot. He grabbed his last explosive arrow, and took a deep breath to draw his bow. He was not able to get his bow to full draw before firing the arrow, but he was able to send the arrow soaring through the air far enough to land at the monster's feet. The explosion accomplished its task. Although no real damage was done to the creature, the explosion did knock the creature back a few yards. It also drew the creature's attention away from the fleeing women.
Doomsday turned his attention to where the arrow had come from. At first the creature had a hard time finding Oliver due to its now blind right eye. However, Oliver was completely out in the open so it did not take long for Doomsday to spot him. The creature lunged in Oliver's direction, pulling its right arm back while in the air.
Oliver remained standing where he was, trying to prepare to fire another arrow at the beast. He had the arrow ready and tried to draw the bow to fire the arrow just as the beast was about to strike him, but it was no use. His ribs cried out worse than ever, causing his arms to again fall limp to his sides from the pain coursing through his chest.
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Clark had climbed to his feet while watching as Oliver distracted Doomsday away from Lois. He had known instantly who was in the ambulance when it arrived. He had used his vision to see who was driving the vehicle even though somehow he already knew. When he had looked into the ambulance he had seen the fear in Lois' eyes when Doomsday had moved in their direction. That fear had given him the strength to climb to his feet. He still wavered as if he was standing on a boat at sea, but at least he was standing. Clark used the car next to him to stabilize himself as Doomsday began moving quickly in Oliver's direction. As soon as Clark realized that Oliver was not going to get out of the way in time he tried to speed to his friend's aid. The first few steps Clark felt as if his powers were gone, but steadily his speed grew.
The delay proved costly as Doomsday's right claw swept down striking Oliver hard to the left side. The impact sent the archer tumbling through the air. Clark being at less than his top speed forced him to arrive just seconds too late to stop the blow. The thud of Oliver landing in a heap nearly 50 feet away caused Clark's stomach to drop, feeling as if he had failed his friend. The friend that had refused to leave his side just minutes before.
Although he did not reach Doomsday in time to prevent the beast from getting to Oliver, he did reach the animal with a head full of steam. Using as much energy as he could summon, Clark threw his shoulder into the right side of creature. Clark drove the beast to the side with both he and Doomsday sliding to the ground. The force of the blow was enough to daze Doomsday, but it also dipped heavily into Clark's already low energy reserves. Both Clark and Doomsday lay on the ground heaving deep breaths trying to recover some of their strength.
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Chloe and Lois watched helplessly as Oliver landed hard on the ground. The force of Doomsday's hit sent Oliver in their direction, ending up only 100 feet from them. Both Lois and Chloe moved in his direction while turning to keep an eye on the attacker. Lois did not see Clark approaching the beast but she did see the two of them sliding across the ground. Wordlessly she stopped and watched as Chloe continued to their injured friend before turning to look at Clark still lying on his back breathing very heavily.
"Get up...Get up Clark," Lois whispered to herself. But Clark did not move. Instead the bony behemoth lying a few yards from him began to stir. Lois' already racing heart felt as it were going to jump straight from her chest as she watched the creature climb to its feet. "Clark Kent stand up...come on...PLEASE STAND UP!" again she pleaded, this time the volume of her cries increasing.
---
Clark could hear her voice, nothing more than a quiet whisper, begging for him to get up. And he wanted to, he really did. Even if it was just to take some of the fear that he heard in her voice away. However, he couldn't even lift his arms at his sides. To move a finger felt as if he were trying to move the earth. Again she cried for him to get up, this time much louder. He focused his strength on turning his head. Even to move enough just to look at her was unbearably difficult, but he had to see her. Finally his heavy head turned in her direction. He could see her staring at him, tears rolling down her cheek. Before he could make another move his view of Lois was gone. Between them Doomsday stirred and began to climb to his feet. Once standing the creature turned and slowly paced in his direction.
---
Lois' feeling of horror just kept growing as Doomsday slowly walked towards Clark's beaten body. The temporary reprieve she had experienced at seeing Clark turn and look at her was gone as he failed to move any further even when Doomsday was coming straight for him. The creature had obviously been affected from the battle as well. The right side of its face was covered in blood and it walked as if it were trying to protect an injury to its right side. The creatures pace was slow and with a slight limp. Lois turned to look at Chloe caring for the unconscious Oliver, knowing that neither her cousin nor the fallen hero would be able to help Clark now. She turned back to see Doomsday reach Clark's supine form and raise its massive hands above its head and then swiftly back down, hitting Clark square in the chest with a viscous blow. The hit caused Clark to cough loudly and gasp for air. Again the creature raised its bony arms and brought them crashing down on Clark. This time the blow hit Clark on the side of his face, eliciting a loud pain filled groan from Clark.
Lois could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks. She could not just stand there and watch this THING beat Clark to death. Finally her fear for Clark's life overcame her fear for her own as she dashed toward the creature. She stopped only once to grab a few small chunks of concrete. When the beast raised its arm once more Lois threw one of the rocks at Doomsday with all of her strength. The rubble hit the beast on the back of its left shoulder, but was not enough to distract it from its task at hand. The bony arm came crashing down striking Clark in the ribs yet again. This time Clark rolled onto his side gasping for air before letting his head fall heavily to the ground. Lois did not see any movement coming from his seemingly lifeless body. Enraged she threw another small piece of concrete, this time striking the beast in the side of its head.
This time the stone was successful in getting Doomsday's attention. The tall hulking figure turned to face Lois who stood defiantly in front of him. She refused to move until she was sure that the beast was now more interested in her than hurting Clark any further, "Come on you ugly son of a..."
When the creature finally took a step in her direction, Lois made her first move. She turned, and as fast as she could, ran for a series of overturned cars. Not really having a plan, other than lure the monster as far from Clark as she could, Lois ran for an area in which she thought she could elude the beast for as long as possible.
Doomsday only huffed when the woman in front of him began to run away. He began to follow her in long slow strides. Although his legs moved at a slower pace he was able to stay with the tall woman. Lois continued to run, climbing over and around the obstacles in her path, whereas Doomsday merely threw the objects in front of him out of the way. Lois was able to stay ahead of the beast for a few moments before coming to a dead-end. The road ahead of her was completely blocked by the remnants of a destroyed building as well as a couple overturned cars. The entire lot was on fire, preventing her from climbing into or over the rubble. She was trapped.
The path back to where Clark was lying was a straight shot and the monster had cleared the way as he pursued her. Looking back Lois could see Clark's motionless body lying in the dirt off in the distance. She was not even sure if he was still alive or not. The rage she had felt started to burnout, taking with hit her will to fight.
Doomsday knew its prey was trapped and slowed it approached the human. Lois looked the beast square in the eye. "Well Lois you've had a good run," she spoke to herself, trying to be brave in the face of death. However, the tears that sprung to her eyes betrayed her. She turned her gaze at Clark one last time, "Goodbye Smallville...I...I love you." Lois spoke the words in a hushed whisper, ready to have them be her last.
