Clark's eyes shifted restlessly as he woke to find himself in what appeared to be an infirmary. Clark noticed that his cape and the upper part of his uniform had been removed. He looked down to see that his chest and torso was covered with bruises; one of them across his chest was bigger than Clark's entire hand. Clark sighed as he remembered when Hulk had pounded him into the ground with his fist. Clark remembered the pain as he reached down to his ribs to discover that he wasn't wounded as badly as he had been...the sickness had left him. Clark could see a strange device that rested at the end of his bed.
Clark sat up and could see a number of electrodes placed over his head and on several points along his body to monitor his vitals. He looked over to his left and saw the rest of his uniform was hanging on a chair next to another bed, which was occupied by a man with short blonde hair; his arm was in a cast and he had a bandage around part of his head. Clark examined the name above the bed; Clint Barton. Clark took notice of the tattered purple uniform that lay on a chair next to him.
"Oh, you're up too. Good, I called for the nurse not even a minute ago." Clark spun his head around to his right and saw Tony Stark sitting in the bed next to him. Tony's arm was in a sling and Clark could see the bloody bandage on his shoulder. His nose had a brace on it which made him sound strange. Clark rubbed his head as he tried to remember how he had gotten here.
"What happened? Last thing I remember is Luthor hitting me." Clark asked as Tony narrowed his eyes before responding.
"Same. My head is still spinning." As Tony spoke he looked down to Clarks chest and was baffled by how quickly he was healing. Suddenly the door to the infirmary burst open and Pepper Potts came barging in, a look of worry and terror, mixed with annoyance and rage contorted her face to something Tony had only seen on one occasion when he had left her in Russia.
"Tony! What in gods name is wrong with you? Do you have any idea how much that cannon cost?" Pepper shouted as she waived a folder in the air. "Do you have the money for this? Because the company does not! I've told you that I don't want you using the company funds for your hero escapades." Pepper continued to badger Tony as some of the Avengers entered the room.
Captain America entered first; he left his shield at the door and removed his mask as he entered. Thor followed next, he placed Mjonlir beside Captain Americas shield and followed his companion; Reed entered wearing a lab coat, behind him was Thor with Peter Parker, who wore a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt Peter Parkers eyes lit up as he saw Clark sitting up in his bed.
"CK! You're looking a whole lot better." Superman gave Peter a confused look. "Oh yah, you never saw me without my mask." Peter reached into his back pocket and pulled out his Spiderman mask and put it on. "There, recognize me now?" Clarks face lit up with a smile as he removed the electrodes from himself.
"Whoa there, I'm not sure if you're fully healed yet." Reed said as he approached Clark.
"I feel better. What ever Lex did to me has worn off." Clark said as he reached for his uniform and began to put it back on. Reed turned to the machine that rested at Superman's bed.
"Yes. I was worried that even if we cured the sickness that your injuries would have been too severe to save you...I rigged up this device to emit a small solar burst, but we only got one use out of it. Glad to see it was enough to charge your powers up." Superman picked his cape up off the chair and held it in his arm as he listened to Reed. "I'm not sure how this sickness of yours works. I have no idea if you'll have any form of withdrawal from this procedure." Reed said with a worried tone.
"Don't worry." Clark began. "I've been healed before by using a similar device built by a friend of mine. I should be alright." Superman said with a smile as he began to put his cape on.
"Don't get ready to go anywhere just yet." Captain America said as he stepped forward. "We still have a lot of questions that we need answered." Clark looked over to Steve Rogers, a look of concern and slight irritation on his face.
"I'll tell you whatever you need to know." Clark said as Steve looked over to Thor, who gave Steve a harsh look.
"Sorry Mister...Kent. I'm afraid we're going to have to go to more...drastic measures to get the truth." Steve said as Clarks left eyebrow raised slightly before he placed his cape back down on the chair.
"What do you mean drastic measures?" Clark said in a strong tone. Reed stepped forward again with a comforting look on his face.
"Nothing dangerous I assure you. We have called in a specialist who is very capable at getting to the truth." Clark cast Reed a worried look. Steve stepped in knowing what Superman was thinking.
"He's a telepath. You don't have any problem to that do you?" Steve asked as he watched Clark closely.
"That depends on who this man is. I don't want an inexperienced person jumping through my head. A crazy Superman is the last thing I want to be." Clark said as a smile formed on Steves face.
"You won't have to worry about that. This man's the best at what he does." Clarks worry dissipated as Pepper Potts voice rang through that air.
"I don't care how much you didn't like the guy! I'm selling the Porsche AND the Lamborghini to help pay for this." Pepper shouted as she grabbed the folder from Tony's hand and stormed out of the room. Everyone looked over to Tony, who had a disappointed look on his face.
"Awe; not the Lamborghini..." Tony looked over to the others before a look of annoyance fell over his face. "You. All of you. Out...I want to be alone right now." Tony said as he turned his face away from the others. Clark could hear Tony sobbing slightly. The group exited the room, Thor and Steve picked up their weapons as they left. Clark heard Tony mutter under his breath "It was worth it. Stupid, bald jack-ass."
As the group made their way through the hallway Steve Rogers grabbed Clark lightly by the arm before calling out to the others as they walked on. "We'll meet you in the conference room." Steve then looked to Superman. "I have a few...personal questions if you don't mind." Clark looked at Steve Rogers with a look of confusion.
"Sure. What's on your mind?" Clark said as Steve took his hand off Clarks arm.
"You told Spiderman that your name is Clark Kent...is that true?" Clark nodded his head. "I see...Do you happen to know...I mean where you come from. Do you know a Matthew Kent?" Clark's eyes lit up brightly.
"My Grandfathers name was Matthew." Clark said softly as he looked at Steve Rogers with intensified curiosity.
"And did he...fight in the Second World War by any chance?" Clark crossed his arms.
"What are you getting at Captain?" Clark said with a tinge of irritation. Steve lowered his head.
"Follow me, please." Steve began to lead Clark down the hallway to his private quarters. Clark took notice of how the whole room had a fifties inspired theme to it...Clark liked it. "Is that him?" Steve Rogers asked as he pulled a picture off of his wall and handed it to Clark. Clark looked at the picture of Captain America with a squad of American Soldiers in WWII Germany; and there standing not three feet away from the Captain was his Grandfather, Matthew Kent.
"That's him alright...so is that your Grandfather in the suit.?" Steve laughed slightly as Clark handed the picture back to him.
"Nope...that's me." Steve said laughing as Clark looked at him in disbelief. "It's a long story. Frozen in Ice while fighting a Nazi general named Red Skull." Steve said as Clark smiled.
"Sounds like quite an adventure...so how'd Grandpa Matt help you out? In my world he had joined the Navy and served on a Carrier for five years." At Clarks words the smile that covered Steve Rogers face faded and was replaced by a look of grief and sorrow.
"My team...they all went in with me to take down Red Skull. None of them came out." Clark looked to Steve Rogers with a cross look.
"So he died?" Clark said, shock evident in his voice.
"Yes...sometimes I blame myself for what happened to Matty...to all of them. They followed my orders; my orders put them right into that mess..." Steve Rogers lowered his head in shame. "Sometimes I've wondered what I could have done different to save them." Steve lifted his head and turned to face Clark with a look of sincerity. "But the second you said that Kent 'The Boy Scout' was your Grandfather...that meant that somewhere out there he survived...he lived. He had a son. A son who raised a Superman." A look of pride crawled over Steve Rogers face; he quickly shook his head and brought himself back to reality.. "Sorry...I...we should get going to the conference room." Steve said as he moved towards the door and held it open for Superman as he walked by and into the hallway. The two said nothing to each other as they walked.
Steve Rogers and Clark Kent entered the conference room. Thor, Reed and Peter; who was still wearing his Spider-mask, all sat around the large table in the middle, and were placed near the other end of the room. Standing to the one side of the table was Black Widow beside a tall man with graying brown hair and an eye patch; he wore a blue jumpsuit with the SHIELD Emblem on his arm. At the other side of the table were two people Clark had never seen before. One of them was a bald man who sat in a wheel chair. He seemed to be older in years than anyone else in the room; and standing beside him was a man with brown hair who wore a strange visor over his eyes and a long black trench-coat. They all turned to face Clark and Steve as they entered. "Captain Rogers; I take it you have a good reason for letting the prisoner walk around unrestrained." Nick Fury said as he eyed Clark down.
"He helped us to contain the Hulk even when we were fighting against him, General. Plus if he wanted to leave, I doubt we could stop him." Steve said as he looked over to Clark and gave him a look that told Clark it was time he spoke for himself.
"I understand why you've done all of this. Lex believes that he and I are destined to fight to the death; and he's willing to use and hurt anyone it takes to kill me." Clark clenched his fist as he began to think of how many more people had died when the bank exploded. "But if you still want to go through my head to figure this out...then I'll allow it." Clark said as he took a seat at the table. General Fury smiled brightly, saying with shock in his voice,
"Wow. That was easier than I thought it would be. We didn't even have to coerce you at all." Clark cast Fury a defiant look.
"You'd be surprised how co-operative people can be if you give them the chance." Clark said proudly; Fury's smile widened as he fought back the laughter.
"Sure pal." Fury picked up a walk-e-talkie off the table. "Mr. Grimm, could you bring in the prisoner." Fury placed the walk-e-talkie down as Ben Grimms voice cut through the air.
"Yeh; no problem. I hate playen' babysitter fer this bozzo." Peter and Reed laughed lightly to each other as Fury began to approach Charles Xavier.
"This won't be too much a strain on you, will it Chuck?" Before Xavier could respond Scott Summers took a step forward so that he was uncomfortably close to Nick Fury.
"His name's Charles. Or Professor Xavier, to you." Cyclops said as his visor flickered slightly.
"Scott..." Xavier said as Cyclops took a step back. "To your question General Fury; no, it will not be too much for me. And please forgive Scott; you can understand his anger." Nick Fury cast an aggravated look at Scott Summers.
"You need to learn to let things go son. It was war; people die." Scott's anger took the best of him as he grabbed hold of Fury by the collar and slammed him into the wall.
"You people and your radical fears started that war! We tried to stop radicalism on both sides of the conflict! And what did SHIELD do? They enforced the MRA and even killed innocent mutants!" Fury didn't struggle against Scott; he could have easily put the boy in a coma; but Fury knew that Xavier wouldn't let his guards hurt anyone...especially not here. "Havok and I tried to stop your men and they killed him! Do you know who he was? Do you even care? You don't even know his name" As Scott shouted into Nick Furys face, Nick continued to smile back at him with a mocking glare. "Alex! His name was Alex!"
"Scott! That's enough!" Xaviers voice rang through the air. Scott seemed to struggle with himself as he released Fury and took a seat at the table...he was happy that people couldn't see him cry.
Ben Grimm entered the room with Lex Luthor on a dolly; Lex was bound by leather straps across his arms and legs. His hands and feet were also bound so tightly that it was impossible for Lex to escape without assistance. "Mr. Luthor; you've been very busy since the last time we spoke." Nick Fury said as he rubbed hin neck before he approached Lex, Ben Grimm walking over to join Reed at the opportunity to leave Lex's side.
"I've just been trying to do what I told you I would. Do you treat all of you partners like this?" As Lex spoke, Nick heard a light chuckle escape Scott Summers. Fury cast him an angry look with his good eye before returning his attention to Lex.
"You attacked our team. I'm pretty sure that wasn't part of our agreement." Nick said to Lex with irritation as he turned to Xavier. "Let's get this over with. Ms Romanov; please move Mr. Luthor closer to the table." Nick said as he took a seat next to Cyclops, who became very uncomfortable and crossed his arms; Fury taking a comfortable position in his seat.
Black Widow moved Luthor over to the table and placed him next to Superman, the two did not look at each other as Xavier rolled up in front of them both. "You need not worry; I will be doing nothing more than reading. You will both remain exactly as you are once I am done." Xavier said as Black Widow took a seat next to Fury. Charles closed his eyes and for a moment nothing happened; then Clark and Lex both felt a wave of euphoria run through them as their heads lumped over, and they fell into a psychic connection with Xavier.
...
Flashes of images rushed through Xaviers mind; at first they were completely jumbled; but Xavier began to distinguish between which images came from Superman, and which ones came from Lex. Xavier focused his attention and asked each of them how they knew each other.
Both minds responded with the same series of images. A young man walking along a bridge, Lex is driving up behind him; he reaches down to change the station on his radio and in that second his car swerved into the other boy and both he and the car fell into the river below.
The image changed quickly to reveal how Clark had saved Lex from the crash. Several scattered images flickered of Clark and Lex standing in a barn, or in a large exquisite mansion; sometimes they laughed, other times they argued; but they were friends none the less. Suddenly an image from Lexes mind took over as the image of a beautiful young woman with long red hair appeared before the two of them. Charles heard their two voices whisper the name "Lana."
A series of images echoed all around of both Clark and Lex professing their love to this girl, and she chose Clark. Lexes mind began to struggle as images of him, sitting in his mansion all alone, arguing with his father and with his friends began to overpower the memories of Lana. Xavier could feel the betrayal that Lex felt; he could feel the grief that had never left him.
Suddenly the images changed as Charles could see Clark saving many people; using his powers to protect the people of his home town, and in time growing to protect more than that. There were images of a strange rocket, a projection of a man in strange attire who called himself Jor-El. Lexes memories took over again as an image of a green rock found in the middle of field formed. Lex picked up the rock; then the image shifted to Lex showing the rock to Clark; whose skin changed to an unhealthy shade of yellow.
Lexes memories began to shift through his time spent investigating Clark. Charles saw several images flash through his mind of Lex paying people to follow Clark Kent...this was how Lex found out of Clarks abilities. Xavier was horrified when he saw the images of Lex killing the men he had hired. A thought of Lexes echoed through Charles mind as Lex pulled the trigger, "I have to protect him." A feeling of disgust came over Charles. Charles could see that if Clark needed protection, it was Lex he needed to be protected from.
Charles saw a few images of Clark and Lana arguing; Clark had trouble telling her the truth; and in the end this drove her into the arms of Lex. Charles watched in an instant as Lex manipulated and twisted the sweet girl and changed her into someone Charles barely recognized; Lana lost weight, became sick, became so unhappy but was unable to force herself away from the lifestyle that Lex had groomed her to be accustomed to. Suddenly Lexes memories were overtaken by Clarks as the image of Lana lying in a bed in a black dress with a bullet in her head, and the gun in her own hand.
The image changes to Clark confronting Lex; the two argued until Clark accused Lex of driving Lana to suicide. Lex pulled out the rock he had once found in a field and began to beat his friend with it. The image shifted to one of Lexes memories where Clark lay unconscious, recovering from Lexes attack in his bed; with Jonathan Kent screaming at Lex to leave his house. A heated argument occurs between the two and after Lex leaves, Jonathan Kent suffers a fatal heart attack from all of the stress. Clark rushes from his bed, despite his overwhelming sickness, to be at his fathers side in his final moments.
The image shifts to Lexes last memory of his own father. Lionel Luthors hair was blowing in the wind a he was half hanging out of his broken penthouse window; Lex holding him by his suit collar. The look of shock on Lionel's face changes to a look of pride; he whispers "I'm so proud of you...son." Lex pushed his father lightly and Lionel Luthor fell 49 stories to his death.
The two never spoke again as friends; and did not encounter each other for years to come. Charles watched as Clark traveled through the Arctic, seeking answers about who he was. An image of the Fortress glistening in the snow appeared before Charles as he began to see several of the images of Krypton; visions that Clark had seen during his time in the fortress. Suddenly the image changed to the symbol that Clark wore on his chest as he flew out of the Fortress and into the world.
Charles then followed the path of Lex as he took control of his fathers business and began a series of secret experiments in preparation of the day that Clark returned for revenge. Charles watched as Lex lived his life in fear; constantly telling himself that the most powerful being on the planet wanted to kill him.
Charles then saw time after time that Superman fought back Lexes best attempts to beat him. He saw as Superman built a legend around himself and inspired a whole world to greater things. He also saw Lex use this greatness to try and crush Superman countless times; his anger and jealousy growing with each defeat.
...
Charles opened his eyes, and as he did tears began to form. Charles reached up and wiped the tears away as Scott stood up, worry etching its way over his face. "Professor! Are you alright?" Scott asked as Charles looked up to him, Clark and Lex regaining consciousness.
"Yes Scott. I am fine." Charles turned to Nick Fury. "I would get tighter restraints for Mr. Luthor." Charles said as he moved over beside Scott.
"That's good enough for me." Fury said as he motioned Black Widow to remove Lex from the room. As Black Widow pushed Lex from the room; Lex began to laugh hysterically.
"You saw it too didn't you Clark? You can't lie to yourself anymore." Lex said as he continued to laugh as the door shut behind him
Clark clenched his fist as he resisted the urge to chase him down and show him who was lying to themselves. "What are you going to do with him?" Clark asked as he looked to Nick Fury, an angry look in Clarks eye.
"We were going to put him on Rykers; but I'm going to try and get him into the Vault. Usually we use it as a Meta-prison; but considering how he was able to hack IronMans suit...I don't think Maximum security would be good enough." Clark nodded in agreement.
"Do what you want with him. Just make sure he doesn't get the chance to hurt anyone ever again." Clark said as Spiderman, who had removed his mask and walked up beside Clark, put his hand on Clarks shoulder and spoke in a comforting tone.
"Hey CK; you okay? Hope Xavier didn't shake you up too bad." Clark looked over to Peter with a smile.
"I'm fine...I just...haven't thought about some things in a long time..." A look of grief fell over Clarks face. Xavier approached Clark with a look of concern.
"I'm sorry if you feel I intruded on anything too private." Clark looked over to Charles, his grief shifting to light anger.
"No. Is there somewhere I could be alone?" Clark said as he turned to Nick Fury.
"Captain Rogers will take you to one of the spare rooms." Nick looked over to Steve Rogers; who immediately began to make his way towards the door. Xavier raised his hand into the air.
"I will take him Captain." Xavier said as he made his way to the door, Cyclops following close behind him.
"You know where it is? You've only been here twice; I still get lost from time to time." Peter asked as he looked to Xavier slightly confused. "Oh ya, right. Telepath. Duh." Peter said as he scratched his head.
Clark and Charles, followed closely by Scott summers, exited the room and began to make their way through the hallways. "May I ask you something Mr. Kent?" Charles said in a comforting tone.
"You might not get an answer." Clark said with mild irritation; he had not enjoyed having his memories of Lana and his father brought up, and he didn't want to talk about it now.
"It is about Mr. Luthor. If he knew about who you really were; why did he not just tell the world? Release your secret to the press?" An angry look covered Clarks face; Charles quickly read the emotion to find that the anger was not directed at him.
"I don't know why. My friend Bruce thinks that if the world knew that Superman and Clark Kent were the same person it would make me...more human to the people. Bruce thinks that Lex wants to avoid having the public looking at me as one of them." Clark looked to Xavier,
"Then why not tell the people? Let them know who you are?" Clark shook his head.
"If my enemies knew who I really was...well I doubt all of them would be as 'kind' as Lex has been. There are people I care about, and if the world knew Clark Kent was Superman, then that same world wouldn't be safe for them anymore." Clark said as he look over Xavier, who seemed to be deep in thought. They walked in silence the rest of the way to the room. As Clark opened the door Charles asked him,
"What will you do now?" Clark looked back to him.
"I don't know. I...I need time to think." Clark entered the room and shut the door behind him. He wanted to badly to be alone and think; but it was torture for him to think of how he would get home. Lexes box didn't make it here with them; and if it did it was in too many pieces to ever hope to put back together.
Clark opened his eyes and began to approach the bed. As he lay down there was a sudden flash of blue light. Clark rose right back up from the bed and was face to face with the blue-skinned-man with the strange symbol on his forehead that he had seen during his battle with Thor. Clark got into a defensive stance. "What do you want?" Clark shouted as he clenched his fists.
"Fear not, son of Jor-El. I am no enemy of yours." The man spoke with a soft voice that seemed to reverberate off the walls as if he were speaking deeply.
"Who are you?" Clark said as he lowered his fist to his side.
"I have had many names. The one I was given from the Earthlings of my world was Dr. Manhattan." Clark cast a confused look at the man.
"Your world? Do you mean that...you're from another universe?" Clark said awestruck.
"Correct." Clark smiled as he looked up to Dr. Manhattan with a look of hope.
"Why are you here?" Clark said as he took a more relaxed stance.
"I was contacted by the Monitors of your quadrant of the Multiverse. They knew that you had been removed from their multiversal threads, but were unaware of where you had gone. It is quite a feat for one to escape the view of those who can see all that occurs in multiple universes." Clark did not understand much of what Dr. Manhattan had just said. Monitors? Multiversal threads? Yet the terms didn't matter; this man offered a way home.
"How did you get here? Can you move through Universes?" Clark asked as Dr. Manhattan held the same expression on his face.
"I am able to move through the universal threads. Though finding you has proven a more consuming task than I originally anticipated. Thankfully I was aided by a quite pleasant Spider-Goddess." A confused look came over Clarks face.
"What? But that was you I saw during the fight. Are you saying that you haven't done that yet?" Dr. Manhattans face changed to a slightly confused look for a moment.
"Oh. I see. Yes; I will be making an observational comparison between your time spent here and another's time displaced from their original universe at some point in the future." Clark looked even more confused than Dr. Manhattan did.
"In the future? But it already happened." Dr. Manhattan turned to Clark.
"It can be confusing. When moving through the Multiversal threads, I am able to displace myself through time; though I won't figure that out for several years." Clark began to look at Dr. Manhattan as if he were crazy; to which Dr. Manhattan turned to him with a worried look. "I apologize if my words confuse you. My perceptions...they have changed drastically since my discovery of the Multiverse. I am still trying to best articulate the experience." Clark cast an interested look at Dr. Manhattan.
"Changed? How did it change?" Clark asked.
"When I became aware of the Multiverses existence it was as if...one life became many...my life became instantly tied to those of others within the Multiverse...but they were always tied, I had just not yet discovered it. It opened up my perception in a way I never thought possible. As you are my counterpart, I am able to see your life as if it were my own...when you first learned of your heritage; when you saved Lex from his car; when your father died...the trials that made you stronger became a part of myself. That is how I was able to find you...and it is the same here...though with your presence here my perception of this universes counterpart seems...distorted." Clark's eyes widened.
"Counterpart? You mean...there is a me in this Universe? Where is he? Is Krypton still here?" Clark asked in desperation as Dr. Manhattan shook his head.
"It does not work as such. There are billions of factors to take into account when perceiving the Multiverse and its vastness of possibilities. If but one chemical is changed in the formation of a star, then that star; and the celestial bodies which encompass it, will be changed. The same can be said for the formation of a galaxy; or of a Universe itself... And such is the diversity; and wonder, of the Multiverse."
"What can you see? About this universes counterpart?" Clark asked with curiosity as he watched Dr. Manhattans eyes shift through a dazzling rainbow spectrum.
"He has sat..he has waited. He has grieved." A sad look overcame Dr. Manhattans face as his voice became deeper. "Father! Father! Come home Father!" Clark took a step back from Dr. Manhattan as he listened to the sorrow in the voice. "Come home to Zenn-La! Father!" Dr. Manhattan lifted his hand to his forehead. As he spoke his voice was back to normal.
"I apologize. My perceptions were overwhelmed for a moment. Your presence in this reality makes it difficult." A worried look was etched over Clarks face.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" Dr. Manhattan nodded his head. "What's Zenn-La?" Clark asked as Dr. Manhattan looked over to him.
"It is the planet in which our counterpart awaits his fathers return." Clark cast a confused look to Dr. Manhattan.
"Do you know what happened? Is there anything we can do?" Clark asked as Dr. Manhatten began to stare off blankly into the distance.
"Kaelin Radd's grief is not for us to worry ourselves with. You have a more pressing question to ask." Clark smiled lightly as he looked into Dr. Manhattans eyes.
"Can you get me home?"
"No." Dr. Manhattan said in the same bland tone of voice he had been using when he was first speaking.
"What? What do you mean no?" Clark asked in disbelief.
"I mean it is not within my power to transport others through the Multiversal threads." A feeling of disappointment flowed through Clark. "Do not fret Kal-El. It was not my mission to bring you home, only to determine your location." Clark looked back to Dr. Manhattan with a light smile on his face.
"So what will you do now?"
"I will report back to the Monitors of your Multiverse, They; and those you call friends, will find a way to bring you home." The smile never wavered from Clarks face as Dr. Manhattan spoke.
"They will. That's what I like to hear." Clark said as Dr. Manhattan smiled back to Clark as his eyes began to shift through a different arrangement of colours than Clark had seen from before.
"Three days, Kal-El. Three days and you will hold the one's you love dearest." In a flash of blue light Dr. Manhattan disappeared from the Universe; leaving Clark alone in his room.
"Three days? I'm sure I can keep myself busy." Clark said to himself with a smile. "Maybe I can catch up with Steve Rogers. I'm starting to wonder just how different the Matthew Kent he knew was from my Pop-pop." Clark thought to himself as he exited the room. But as he did he heard the voice of an excited Peter Parker as he ran down the hall.
"CK! You gotta check this out!" Peter ran up to Clark with a newspaper in his hand.
"What is it Peter?" Clark said as Peter handed him the paper.
"It's you! Well I mean it's a story about you! Just check it out!" Clark opened the Daily Bugle to see a picture of himself in full costume floating above the group of people he had saved from the bank. The article was entitled: Step Aside Masked Vigilantes. There's a 'Superman' In Manhattan. "I think you may have made J.J. Jameson your biggest fan." Peter said with a smile.
...
Three Days Later:
Clark watched as the sun began to set on his final day in this world as he stood atop the Baxter Building. Clark smiled to himself as he looked down at his uniform; Reed had added a thin layer of nanites to his suit that gave him an almost perfect immunity to Kryptonite, the Nanites formed into an almost tech-like design along his forearms and at several points on his legs. Clark smiled to himself as he thought back over his final day and how he had worked alongside the Fantastic Four; Clark chuckled as he remembered how Benn Grimm and himself had fooled the Rock Golems and saved the rest of the team.
Clark was certain of one thing; he had certainly had the time of his life here once he had stopped worrying about what was happening back on his own Earth; but he knew that Bruce and Diana and everyone else would be able to handle things while he was gone.
Superman heard the whisper of the Web-slinger as he made his approach. Clark liked that whenever he was on Manhattan Island he could always hear that whisper. Spiderman came up the building at high speed as he webbed hold of the roof of the Baxter building and swung himself lightly to the ground.
"Woah! Kind of overshot that one." Spiderman said as Clark moved over to meet him.
"Good to see you Peter. How's Aunt May?" Peter smiled.
"Oh you know her; she won't let me cook, she won't let me clean...she's doing fine." Clark returned the smile.
"Glad to hear it. What're you doing up here?" Spiderman scratched his head.
"That transparent am I?" Spiderman laughed lightly to himself. "I know how much it means to you that you get home as soon as you can; but do you have to go so soon?" Spiderman asked in a sad tone. "I mean, you've been here for three days. Well four if you count the day where everyone thought you were evil." Spiderman said as he shrugged his shoulders. "But I mean, just look at everything you've done here! You've got people looking into the sky with hope! And since I've been working with you Jameson can't get on my case without ticking off the whole planet!" Clark smiled.
"You can handle him Peter. I saw you take that Kraven character down with one arm, quite literally, tied behind your back." The worried look on Peters face was replaced by a grin.
"Yah. I am pretty amazing aren't I? Spectacular, even?" Spiderman said as he struck a pose with his fists placed on his waist. Clark laughed at Peters attempt to mimic his most famous of poses. A slight chuckle escapes Clark as he turned to face the setting sun.
"I do appreciate everything you've done though Peter. I just wish there was some way to stay in touch after I leave." Clark said as he watched the sun continue to move down towards the horizon. Peter walked up behind him as he began to speak
"I'm sure Reed will figure something out. If anyone can it's him." Clark turned around.
"I can agree to that. Reed is one of the most brilliant scientists I've ever met." As Clark spoke the sun disappeared behind the horizon.
"It's time." Clark whispered as the final rays of the sun vanished from the sky. For a moment nothing happened. Peter shuffled about in his spot restlessly until a bright orange light emanated from behind them. They both swung around to the sight of a dazzling swirl of orange energy seemingly hovering before them. Soon Clark could hear a voice shouting through the vortex. Clark grabbed Spiderman under the arms and flew with him above the Baxter building. Suddenly there was an outpour of light from the vortex as a red blur exploded from the light, and in less than a second, was soaring off the edge of the Baxter Building. As the figure slowed down Clark instantly recognized the red uniform and the yellow lightening bolts of the Fastest Man Alive...Barry Allen; as he began to plummet over seventy stories to the streets below.
"CK! Hail Mary!" Spiderman said as Clark looked down to him, a smile crept over Clarks face as he lifted Spiderman above his head and tossed him lightly towards The Flash as he fell to the ground. Spiderman zoomed by Flash as he sent a series of webs that connected from several adjacent buildings to form several sheets of webbing that Flash crashed into, slowing his descent as the webbing clung to his entire body and prevented him from harming himself due to whiplash. Spiderman then sent a web-line and used his speed to swing himself completely around and launch himself back towards Superman; who caught a web-line that Spiderman shot and set him down on a nearby building before descending to meet Barry on the webbing.
"Help! Somebody help me! I don't want to be Spider-chow!" Barry shouted as he feared that he might have accidentally ended up in some terrible spider-dominated universe.
"Barry! Please tell me you came here looking for me!" Clark said as he used a lightly ray of his heat vision to melt Spiderman's webbing away from the Flash, holding onto his arm so he wouldn't fall.
"Clark! Oh thank god! I was afraid that something had gone horribly wrong there for a minute." Barry said as he began to take notice of Clarks new suit. "Wait, you're Clark, Clark right? The one that was fighting Lex in a lab?" Clark gave Barry a confused look through his smile.
"Uh, last time I checked, I was. How many other Supermen did you go through?" Clark said as a joke as he flew Barry up towards the building he had left Spiderman on.
"You don't want to know Clark, trust me. If it weren't for The Monitor showing up when she, or it...whatever that's not important. We need to move, the portal won't hold for long." Clark nodded his head as they landed on the building with Spiderman on it.
"Hey there; let me guess...Bolt-man? Captain Lightening?" Barry laughed.
"The Flash." There was a blur of red and The Flash was behind Spiderman. "And don't you forget it." Barry said as he winked at Spiderman. "Better say your goodbye Clark. We have to go." Clark turned to Spiderman, who looked up to him with a look of sorrow.
"Wow...I guess this is it CK." Spiderman said as he lowered his head, "I...I'm really going to miss you." Clark reached out his hand,
"It's been an honor working with you...Spiderman." Spiderman looked up to Superman with a smile and shook his hand.
"Who knows? Maybe we'll even meet again." Peter said, the smiles never wavered from their faces as they shook hands.
"Remember our deal Pete. No one dies. Not on our watch." Superman turned to Flash. "I'm ready." Superman said as he flew into the air, grabbing Flash under his arms and flying him to the top of the Baxter building where the vortex still lingered. As they approached the roof Superman dropped Flash to his feet as he began to run as fast as he could.
"We have to break light speed as we breach the vortex, once were through just follow me!" Flash shouted as the two of them broke through the swirl of orange light.
...
Barry burst through the vortex and into Ray Palmers Lab on Manhattan Island, followed closely by Superman. This time however Flash was ready and began to stop himself the moment he felt his feet hit solid ground. Superman and Flash looked around as the vortex dissipated behind them. Ray Palmer, Mr. Terrific and Bruce Wayne were all standing by; and approached the two as they turned off the equipment. "It worked! He did it!" Ray Palmer shouted as he ran forward towards Superman; placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Clark! You're okay! What happened to your suit?" Ray said as he examined the new designs all across Clark's suit.
"A gift from a friend." Clark said hastily as he began to walk by Ray Palmer and towards Bruce. "Kara?" Clark said as he gave Bruce a serious look.
"She's recovered." Bruce said quickly. Bruce could feel Clarks tension, and Bruce knew that talking, and acting fast would be the best way of easing Clarks worry.
"I'd like to see her." Clark said as Bruce handed him his Justice League Communicator.
"She's had hers on ever since she found out you were missing." Bruce said as Clark began to smile.
Clark turned to the others. "I can't thank you all enough for getting me back home. I hope you all don't mind, but I have some things I need to take care of."
Barry laughed, "Don't worry about it. We Superheroes are used to not getting any recognition." Barry said as Clark laughed and began to make his way to the exit.
"Hey, Clark...where's Luthor?" Mr. Terrific asked as the rest of the League Members also took notice that Lex was not with him.
"He won't be a problem anymore." Clark said as he walked out of the room, Bruce following close behind him.
"So, do you want to talk about it?" Bruce asked as Clark continued walking.
"Maybe later. Right now I just want to check up on my cousin; and then go home and hold my wife." Clark said as Bruce smiled and stopped in his place.
"Was it very different from ours? The Earth you were on?" Bruce asked as Clark continued walking down the hallway.
"I'll tell you one thing Bruce. It was really...something marvelous."
END-?
(Well that was it. Superman is home and all is well. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this because I had a blast with the concept of this. It was really fun for me writing Dr. Manhattan into this. I've always wondered where he might have gone and how his power might have evolved. Hope you liked my interpretation of that. I also wanted to have more DC characters show up, but I hope I did justice to the ones that were there.)
(Thats it! Hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review and let me know what you liked/didn't like. I'm always looking for creative feedback. )
Though the story ends, the Legend continues. Head on over to the Epilogue to get a taste of what is to come; and check out the next stage of the story as it continues in; "Superman and The New Avengers"
