A/N Well, here it is: the final chapter of Shattered Illusions. I want to thank all you who have been so patient while I got through all of this insanity. There will be more to this tale, as this is only the first of several more installments. But please understand, I have my daughter's wedding to help plan, and job hunting to do, so I might take a while.

Chapter 29

Lois' stomach clenched when the doorbell rang. Clark's suddenly pale face was all she needed to determine who the guest was. She looked to her still unmoving husband, disbelief evident on his face.

Lois put a her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle push. "You should get changed. I'll get the door."

As Clark whooshed up the stairs, Lois pasted her smoothest smile on her face before opening the door. "General Zod. I would have never expected someone of your stature to visit the home of a lowly reporter."

The General looked at Lois, a tepid smile crossed his face just to be smothered by a mask of unpretentiousness. "I seek an audience with your husband – Lois Kal-El."

Lois blinked in disbelief then came to herself just as quickly. "At least you used the door this time," she said under her breath.

"What is it you wish to discuss, General?" Kal El's voice boomed behind her, causing her to start.

Zod looked past Lois toward the top of the stairs. "I wish to set the record straight. I wish to clear my name with the remnant of Krypton, so that I may live the last of my days in peace." He produced a long red crystal and presented it to Kal El.

"I thought that you destroyed this on Krypton." Kal El's brow furrowed as he examined the crystal carefully, as if using his x-ray vision to look at its very structure. He looked up, bewilderment etched across his features. "I don't understand."

"The crystal is real, Kal El. The one I destroyed was corrupted, falsified to meet the needs of those who wished to hide the truth. This contains the complete record of the events leading to my exile. It also contains, I'm afraid, documentation of your father's betrayal: How he succumbed to political pressure and surrendered his and your mother's life, as well as all the lives of Krypton to the Counsel."

Kal El glared at Zod, anger blazing in his azure eyes. Lois hoped then feared that he would release that anger and fry the tyrant.

"Clark. Kal El," Lois placed her hand gently on his arm. "Don't do anything you'll regret later."

Kal El didn't seem to hear her. "After everything you have said and done… you really expect me to simply believe that this is a true artifact from Krypton? If it truly is what you claim it is, where have you kept it? Why wait until now to deliver it to me?"

Zod crossed his arms over his chest. The simple pose spoke of his defiance. "I can understand your hesitance to believe me, your resistance to viewing its content. It is always difficult to find that what one has perceived to be true is in fact a falsehood. What was considered an act of evil to in fact be an act of good."

"You didn't answer my question. How did this get here?"

Zod stared back at Kal El coldly. "If you truly stand for truth and justice you will study this crystal and listen to all that is said. Look for the truth, or Krypton's fate will befall this world. I must leave you now. I am sure that you will do what is right, Kal El."

General Zod bowed to his host, then taking Lois's hand, placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. "It has been a pleasure, Lois Kal El."

Lois looked at her husband as if she had been dreaming. "What is going on here, Clark?"

Clark carefully turned the crystal in his hands as he studied it, then silently walked into his office closing the door behind him. The click of the lock confirmed to her that he wished to be alone, sparking a sense of frustration deep inside her. "Damn him! He still doesn't understand he doesn't have to do any of this alone," she thought to herself.

After she gave herself a few minutes to cool off and ponder Zod's message, she decided that if Clark wouldn't let her in, she would do what she always did. Walking to the locked door, she pulled out her handy hairpin, and deftly unlocked the door to his study. She pushed the door open as quietly as she could, hoping that he was more drawn to the crystal than to her at the moment.

An image floated in the air above Clark's desk then suddenly winked out. The offensive crystal rested in the portable console he had constructed when he hid Jason in the crystal ship. Clark's blue eyes were bloodshot. Moistness glimmered on his cheeks.

"If this is true, than I have been wrong. What am I going to do, Lois. What if everything I have believed about the destruction of Krypton was wrong? What if…" Clark's voice trailed off.

Lois crossed the room and placed her arms around her husband. Too many people saw only the Man of Steel — the impervious hero who always saved the day. Only a few knew that underneath that visage was a man as fragile as any human. And only she truly knew just how fragile that was.

"We created it, Lois," Clark said. "My ancestors made it. My father stumbled across it, released it. He released evil, he wrought destruction on Krypton."

The air pressure in the room changed and Lois sensed another prescience enter. Once again Kal El, her husband looked up to acknowledge their new visitor.

"Never trust Zod, Kal. Our ancestors did not create a super-weapon, nor did your father release one. What happened was the natural course of action.

"Krypton was unstable at the end. Rao was dying, extending its gravitational pull. Krypton was as delicate as the crystal in your hand. Science stabilized Rao, but the counsel refused to believe that the planet was in danger.

"Your father told you truth. Zod tried to use the impending catastrophe to rally his followers to push for Kryptonian expansion. He wanted Earth. He wants only to rule in totality. And will stop at nothing to achieve just that."

Kara looked from Kal El to Lois. In her eyes was a silent message, a plea for her to be Kal El's strength. In a moment the feeling had passed and the Kryptonian woman was looking at Kal El again.

"Zod would not have revealed that crystal to you unless he had a specific purpose. He was right about one thing. Earth faces the same fate as Krypton, but not for the reasons you believe. It's time to put fear and doubt aside. Krypton is gone, and we are all that is left. You were born to be a guardian, Kal. The world will need you now more than ever."

Zod alighted in an alley in Suicide Slum. "These people have been the easiest to sway. Their covetous nature rules their lives. So unwilling to lift themselves out of their pit, looking for a 'saviour.' Too bad – Kal El isn't him."

Zod walked from the alley and onto the dilapidated sidewalk. The red brick buildings that made up most of the slum butted up to the streets in some areas. Bricks were broken and missing. Windows hung dark with the grime and soot from years of neglect. The inhabitants of the slum, as well as many other slums around the world, gathered together in abandoned buildings and warehouses — any place big enough to hold a large assembly.

As those that have been neglected and maligned gathered, the petty thieves, drug addicts and drunks, buildings all around the world lit up. The image of Zod flickered to life as he stood on the stage constructed for this day.

"My friends," He spoke with proud confidence. "Today is the day we have all been waiting for. Today is the day that we all will have justice. Those who taken from us will pay for their actions. Those who look down at us will learn what it means to be made low."

Zod smiled as he imagined the cheers swelling around the globe. Soon it would all be his. "Today, my friends, is judgment day!"

Well, this is it for now. There are a lot of unanswered questions, and many loose ends to tie up. I'm hoping that it won't take me as long to get the next story written as it did this first part.