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.
To Be Continued on January 29th, 2017.