CHAPTER TEN - PHANTOM
"Clark!" Lois yells, backing away. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices more of the creatures forming - attempting to trap her.
A glance at Clark reveals him still agonizing from the sound of the alarm - but wait... something else is wrong. His eyes - they're glowing again, and he's straining vocally. The crystal - or crystals now, she supposes - are fighting for control of him again. And Lois suspects that the reason why… is to get him to eliminate her.
And in a room bare of anything but crystals determined to destroy her, and with Clark preoccupied, she's essentially defenseless.
"C'mon, Clark! I could really use Superman's help right now!" she urges, shaking his shoulders.
"Stop… Stop it!" he screams as he falls to his knees, obviously trying to fight off the crystal's influence. But his eyes are still glowing that eerie blue - an indication of just how badly he is probably losing control.
Meanwhile, one of the crystal robots avoids Clark entirely as it lunges at Lois, its jagged arm extended to impale her. Luckily, she manages to roll to the side just in time, and backs farther away from her attackers, hoping that distance will buy sufficient time for Clark to come to his senses.
She struggles to maintain her balance on the slippery floor, and her heart is hammering inside of her chest with fear. Sure, Lois has faced death a multitude of times, but never at the hands of something as… strange… as crystal robots from Krypton. Enemies like these are usually Superman's area of expertise, and right now, Superman is not their target - Lois is. And she'll admit it. With her current odds of surviving, and the robots closing in on her, she's terrified.
"I… won't… I won't, damn you," Clark grits out, talking to some unseen assailant. And then, with a mighty yell, he pounds his fist into the ground. The force of the blow shakes the entire fortress, and spider-web cracks creep along the crystals' surfaces. Clark, meanwhile, breathes heavily as he lifts his head to reveal his eyes - normal eyes (or for him, as normal as Kryptonian eyes can get) with an iris and a pupil and sections of white.
And then he is flying around the room, red light pouring out of those eyes as he cuts the crystal robots into pieces, ceasing their advance. The heat avoids her completely, but Lois can still feel the inferno his vision produces, like air from an open oven, as it sweeps through the room.
Unfortunately, just when Lois and Clark think the robots are incapacitated, they resiliently begin forming again. She suspects that there is no way to stop them - every time they go down, they'll probably come right back up.
"Lois, hold on tight! I'm getting you out of here!" he calls to her, immediately flying in her direction. He has evidently predicted the futility of their situation as well, and soon enough, he has scooped her into his arms and is swooping toward the door, his hand outstretched to activate its opening mechanism.
But as he presses his fingers against the panel, the door does not budge.
"What's going on?" Lois demands.
"I don't know!" Clark exclaims. "It's supposed to work!"
"Ahjah awuhkh, Kal-El," Lois then hears the computer blare in an urgent tone. "Krypton nim zhehiodia chao jor vot dokhahsh. Ewuhsh voiehd udolzrhygahs Earth zrhaorrahs nahn dokhahsh wis fah rraop."
Clark's head swivels around to glare at the console, his arm tightening around Lois. From here, the device protruding from the floor - the one that he called a "Phantom Projector" - seems to glow a little bit, but Lois wonders if it is just her imagination.
But a glance at Clark reveals that whatever the computer console just said… must have been taken personally. His expression is clearly upset and offended, like someone freshly insulted in the worst of ways.
When he responds, his words come out as a near snarl.
"Rraop nahn jolum. Khahp zhindif shovuhi - zhindif thronivi - Earth."
Then, he turns to Lois, his eyes nearly desperate. "Hold onto me, and brace yourself."
She does as he asks, and as she grips him tightly, she can feel his muscles tense. He manages to hold her steady as he strikes the wall of crystals with an incredible amount of force - force unlike anything Lois has ever truly experienced before. She wonders if that is the sort of force he used to defeat Mongul, and suppresses the urge to gape in wonderment. So much strength… contained in one person… how is it even possible?
Naturally, the crystals can do nothing but shatter, leaving an opening large enough for them to fit through and escape.
And then they are flying - flying fast enough to make the average plane jealous, but not so fast that the wind is too much for her body to bear. Of course, Clark blocks most of that wind with his cape, which he has draped around her - much like he had wrapped the crystal, two days ago. He doesn't talk for the entire flight back - not that she could hear much anyway, at this altitude.
Eventually, they are back in Metropolis, landing on the roof of their apartment building. He gently sets her feet down on the concrete, but doesn't necessarily let her go. Even though she is standing upright, his arms are still wrapped around her, clutching her closely. He pulls her so close to him that she can yet again feel the beat of his heart - but this time those beats are panicked and angry. Guilty, even.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes in anguish. "I almost lost you - over one stupid decision. I should've known that you bringing you there would be too dangerous… I should have-"
She shushes him, trying to keep him from blaming himself. Right now, everything that just happened is a bit of a blur, it occurred so fast. But she is certain that it is not his fault. She decided to visit that fortress with him, regardless of the risks. It was not his fault.
"Obviously there was some sort of glitch in the system," Lois asserts. "How could you have known about it?"
Clark sighs. "I don't think it was a glitch."
"What do you mean?"
"The computer…it told me that 'Earth culture is beneath me.' And then…"
"And then what?"
Clark's expression seems like that of someone tasting something sour. "It told me to end my sin.' And since it only started reacting when I was interacting with you, I can only take it to mean-"
"That it wants you to end your Earth relationships, starting with the interspecies one between us?" Lois fills in, continuing his words for him in a small voice. And it's certainly odd, mentioning that their relationship is an 'interspecies' one. Sometimes Clark seems so undeniably human that it's impossible to think of him as anything otherwise. When he's with her… he seems especially human.
But they are different, aren't they? Genetically different in the extreme, even if humans and Kryptonians look almost physically identical. If anything, the recent display of Clark's immense powers proved that quite clearly.
But she supposes nothing is more confused by Clark's choice of company than the Kryptonian fortress.
Right now, Clark looks exceptionally bitter as he says, "Lois… is my culture - the legacy of my people - defined by a superiority complex and an inability to accept differences? Because I love Earth - and I love you - and if Kryptonians can only see that as a 'sin'... then I don't want to be Kryptonian."
"Well, you're not just Kal-El, the Kryptonian. You're also Clark Kent, the Kansas farmboy, and Superman, the American icon. I don't think you could possibly fit into any sort of umbrella term or stereotype, Smallville. Don't let this 'Eradicator program' crap bug you. I love you. Humanity loves you. And your parents clearly loved you, if they sent you off to survive here."
In the subsequent moments of silence, he seems to be considering her words as he affectionately brushes her cheek with his thumb. There is intense concentration in his features, as if he is memorizing the feeling of her skin to replace an unpleasant memory. The nervousness in his face fails to ease, which leads her to believe that something else, something far more important, has gone wrong.
"Clark," she begins, "that damn computer didn't say anything else, did it?"
His expression darkens further. "It said… 'Krypton will be alive and new through the phantoms.' I...I don't know exactly what it means. But I didn't like it one bit."
Neither does Lois. Krypton is gone, isn't it? How could it be 'alive and new?' And even if that was somehow possible… what exactly would phantoms have to do with it?
"You were right," Lois says suddenly. Her cheek is leaning against Clark's bare chest as they lay in bed together, snuggled under the covers. The lights are off, indicating that they were prepared to sleep, but after today's events, rest somehow remains elusive to both of them - especially to Clark, who got his fair share of shut-eye after the crystal went off in the Arctic.
It's rather comforting, however, that Clark's nightmares have ended. The crystal fulfilled its programming, so from what Clark understands, its signals should not bother him further while he sleeps.
Unfortunately, now the crystal wants him to fulfill its horrific Eradicator imperative - which he will not think about, or facilitate. Now that he knows what the crystal does, and how it affects him, he is confident that he can shake its influence. It most certainly is not powerful enough to turn him against Earth or its inhabitants. He is stronger than that. Even in his dreams.
Nonetheless, at first opportunity, he resolves to head back to that "fortress" (as Lois calls it) to see if he can reprogram the crystal's prerogatives.
"What did you say?" he asks Lois softly, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. It's not often that Lois admits that she is wrong about something - mostly because she isn't wrong often, and she's beautifully stubborn even when she is - so he figures that he heard her incorrectly, even with his super-senses.
"You were right, Clark," she tells him, much to his surprise. "About Lex. I was… ignoring what he was. Out of gratitude. But that was wrong. It went against everything that I stood for, and though I love you, and I'm grateful that he saved you… I can't let that stop me from stopping him."
"You're thinking about Lex while you're cuddling with me?" Clark asks jokingly. "Should I be jealous?"
She snorts. "Don't be ridiculous. It's just...I've been thinking about the last year a lot. I remember when I was in the hospital after that Kari Pope arms deal. During my stay, Lex came to visit. He made this...declaration of love, and tried to explain to me how his actions were for the greater good."
Carefully, Clark replies "Did you tell him off?"
"Not at first. I think that's what scary about him, you know? How he can make so much sense to me sometimes. Makes me wonder if deep down… we're the same."
Clark places a hand under her chin and lightly points it upward, so that she is looking at him - into his eyes. He hopes that she can still see him, despite the darkness.
"You're not," he tells her seriously. "Not in any way, shape, or form."
"But that's you, Clark. You only see the best in people. I don't think you're even capable of seeing the things that are wrong with me, inside and out."
"There's nothing wro-"
"You're only proving my point," she interrupts. "And regardless, this is something that I need to prove to myself. I've lost sight of parts of who I am. The parts of me that promised Lex that I would take him down for all of his crimes. There can't be anymore of this - of this needless endangerment of lives, so that he can advance himself, and no one else. We have to stop it."
Clark laughs under his breath rather quietly, but Lois still hears it. In response, she asks: "What? Do I sound ridiculous?"
"Not at all," he replies. "It's just…"
"'It's just' what?"
"I think I'm in love with you, Lois Lane," he tells her, wrapping his arm firmly around her back.
"Funny, Smallville. But this isn't just a half-assed, New-Year's-resolution-level promise here, Clark. If I do this...if we do this - investigate him again, I mean - then your identity will be seriously endangered. Everyone we've ever met will be at risk. Your parents. Lana. My sister. Our friends at the Planet."
"And you, Lois," he adds with concern.
"And you, Clark" she also continues. "Lex knows who you are, and keeps a stash of deadly weapons that includes, but is not limited to, several tons of Kryptonite. And who knows who could get caught in crosshairs, if he decides to act against us. We're playing with a lot of lives..."
"You're right," Clark agrees. "But we're also endangering a lot of other lives by doing nothing, when we have the capability to do something. We can't allow ourselves to place the lives of our personal friends above the lives of the many."
She nods. "...I know. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it."
"Lois, you told me that you'd always believe in me. That goes both ways. Always. So where do you plan to start with this story?"
"To start?" she repeats. "Well, I think there's a loose end we've never addressed. Blonde hair. Bad attitude. Eager to shoot eavesdroppers."
"Kari Pope?" Clark answers for her, easily following her thinking. "She went off the map, didn't she? I was never able to find her after that night. As much as I hate to say it, it's pretty likely that Lex killed her."
"Maybe. But if we can still find her, then that misfortune could work in our favor, so long as we can connect Lex to the murder. But if she's not dead, then she could be a veritable little goldmine of information."
"And where do you propose we start looking for her?"
Lois rolls over so that she is directly on top of Clark, her face leaning over his. "Give me some time to think it over," she orders. "But until then-"
"We can hope Wayne strikes gold with the Lexcorp lawsuit?"
Lois snorts. "Interesting prospect. But hey, who knows what'll happen when two sets of billion dollar lawyers go head to head?"
"A very, very long lawsuit, I assume. At least until a settlement is reached."
"A settlement won't put Lex behind bars, though."
"True. You better get on that Kari Pope lead, then."
"Hey, I'll cover it. Lois Lane always gets her man. Speaking of which..."
He smirks as he interrupts her, relatively sure that he's reading her expression pretty well, even in the dark. "It's not like we're getting much sleep right now, anyway…"
"My thoughts exactly, Smallville."
He catches her lips in a kiss and rolls over, taking her with him.
When the morning light starts streaming through the windows, Clark gently disentangles himself from both Lois and the sheets. After stretching, he stands up and approaches the chair in the corner of the room, where he carelessly tossed his Superman costume the night before.
Last night was literally the best sleep he has experienced in a long time (when they eventually and actually fell asleep, that is). And while it would be preferable for him to lay in bed for several more hours, Clark knows that he should attend to the problems in the fortress before heading to work at the Daily Planet.
Lois wakes slightly when he gets up, grasping blindly for him in the half-empty bed. Soon enough, she realizes that he is no longer present and moans: "mmm...Clark...?"
"I'm here," he whispers back, tugging on the pants of his costume as he hops back toward the bed. Lois likes to call them tights, but they're not… they're just tight on him.
In an attempt to block out the sunlight, she turns her head so that she is face-down on the pillow. Thus, when she talks, her petulant voice comes out muffled.
"Ugh...You better come back to bed right now…or I'm gonna… gonna..."
He smiles with amusement. "You're gonna what? Yell at me? You do that already."
Clark sees her briefly glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It reads 6:00 a.m., which is a bit before they usually get up in the morning. Of course, there are those rare instances when early disasters require Superman's attention, on which Lois sometimes reports. But right now the city is mostly quiet, and he knows that he should take advantage of the calm.
"Do you have any idea how freaking early it is?" she asks as he pulls on the top portion of the costume, which sheathes his chest in the S shield that has become one of Metropolis's favorite symbols. The cape falls around his shoulders and hangs by his ankles like a heavy, red curtain. Its weight has grown familiar to him, like a part of his own body.
"You usually get up in an hour. So it's not that early. Plus, I was trying to get dressed quietly - you're the one who decided to make a loud fuss."
"Because if it was something life or death, you'd be changed and gone by now," she points out. "But instead you're here, dawdling, which means that you don't really want to go where you're going, but think that you should."
"Ooooh. Good investigative reporting there, Miss Lane. I suppose you'd recommend that I just climb back into bed with you instead?"
"Yup. Seems like the most productive way to spend our time."
Smiling broadly, Clark sits down on the mattress so that he can kiss the top of Lois's head. In the moment that he does, she shifts her head so that it ends up being a quick kiss on the lips. Which means that she's trying to be convincing...and doing very well at it, he can admit. But he should - he must - go fix the mess that he (and Lex, in many ways) created.
"I want to stay; trust me." His smile fades. "But it's bad enough that I left the fortress in that sorry state, especially when…"
"-it's spouting anti-human, bigoted bullshit?" she finishes for him bluntly.
Clark mockingly suppresses a cringe at the swearword. "Cranky, much? You know what I said about children and swearing."
She snorts. "Sorry, Smallville. It's early. Forgot about your 'no-swearing' rule."
"It's just unnecessary, is all."
"Well, there are no children around, unless you're hiding something from me."
With another peck on her cheek, Clark stands up again and walks toward the window, fully outfitted in the Superman costume. "Lucky for you, I just x-rayed the room, and I can confidently say that there are no kids around."
"Good. Then I can start swearing more often."
"Well, I'd prefer if you didn't."
Her face becomes exaggeratedly contemplative. "I suppose I could clean up my language. You're lucky I have a soft spot for blue-eyed aliens who can shoot lasers from their eyes."
Clark opens the window, but before he climbs out of it, he spins around and says: "Speaking of shooting… did you figure out how we're gonna track down Kari Pope?"
"I could always seduce Lex into revealing her location," she jokes.
"So could I, but we should probably try a more wholesome route."
"It's still a bit early, to be honest. And I'm still thinking…but Christ...there has to be way to take him down…and I feel like Kari Pope is the key."
"Well," he replies, throwing himself out of the window, "tell me when you figure it out!"
Clark shouldn't have stayed home.
By God, he shouldn't have stayed home.
Even when he's several hundred miles away from the Arctic, he can see what has gone wrong. So he puts on extra speed as he flies, barely feeling the way that the temperatures drop, the farther North he travels. All he can recognize is that he is made a humongous mess - one that he doesn't even understand. And maybe he needed those moments of domestic peace with Lois… but that doesn't mean he had a right to take them. Not right now, anyway. (He worries that he may never have a right to take them.)
Upon arriving in the Arctic, he is greeted by a sight unlike anything he has ever seen.
The fortress still rests on top of a glacier, glinting in the sunlight like the alien monument that it is. But Clark is far more worried by what is in the sky.
There are swirling, glowing blue portals, each suspended in several spots above and around the fortress. One of them sits over the ocean, while the other two rest above the snow. Clark's vision reveals that they are made from a Kryptonian energy - one unlike anything that he can comprehend. It is a spectrum he can detect, but is unable to make sense of. The inside of the portals are made of a sort of… non-matter, if that makes sense. There's something that looks like matter, but somehow doesn't have any substance at all.
How these portals got to be here, Clark doesn't know. He also doesn't know how long they have been here, or to what they lead.
Clark lands in front of the fortress entrance, expecting to find it still in its shattered state. But such is not the case. Its walls are as intact as when he first woke up inside of them. Obviously, the fortress is able to recreate itself quite readily.
He's not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
The doors still open at his touch, and he heads straight to the computer, trying to ignore the chills that the Fortress gives him. In his mind, he is still reluctant to be here - especially if the computer is so insistent that he cut all his ties to humanity. It might as well ask him to cut off his limbs - which would not only cause emotional difficulty, but may also present a physical impossibility.
"End this sin," that same computer recently told him in Kryptonese. "Earth culture is far beneath you. Krypton will be alive and new through the phantoms."
The device that he has come to know as the Phantom Projector is glowing so brightly that he resists the urge to shield his eyes. It has created little veins of light that extend throughout the crystals in the fortress, leading Clark to believe that the Projector is the source of the portals outside. Logically, it makes sense - the energies from the device must conduct through the crystals, allowing large-scale portals to be made and maintained.
But as he tries to consider the science of the Projector, his mind still travels back to his recent problems here.
"You're wrong!" he said in response to the computer's cold words. "I will always love - always protect - Earth."
He meant every Kryptonian word he uttered. And now he will have to use a few more.
"Computer!" Clark orders in Kryptonese. "Turn off the projector immediately!"
"Are you sure, Kal-El? You gave the authorization for its activation only a few hours ago," it informs him in a monotonous voice, its holographic screen glowing and blaring.
Knitting his eyebrows together, Clark says, "I did no such thing. You're acting of your own volition - infringing on my orders and directions. It ends now! Tell me how to reprogram you!"
"This system is operating in prioritized parameters. The protection of Kryptonian culture outweighs user input, unless otherwise specified by the user. Without direct reprioritization, contamination of the fortress by the presence of a lower-level life-form had to be dealt with according to the Eradicator protocols, and user input took second precedence. Meanwhile, the activation of the projector was, in fact, done on user command."
"They're not lower-level life-forms, okay? They're people. And I never commanded you to activate the Projector."
"Your biological readings suggested that you felt a coital attraction toward the lower-level life-form. The system was obligated to act, fearing that your time on this planet has afflicted your cognitive abilities, and that further contamination would ensue if no action was taken."
Clark blushes beet red and resists the urge to be embarrassed. He's not ashamed of his relationship with Lois, but he is ashamed that this computer was watching his bodily functions… especially those particular bodily functions… so closely.
"Secondly," the computer continues, "you gave clear instructions to activate the projector. The system adhered to the following instructions…"
The holographic screen suddenly pulls up a strip of audio, recorded from only a few hours ago. Immediately, Clark is able to recognize his own voice.
"-I would have preferred to learn about Krypton from someone actually from there..." Briefly, the sound of the audio fast-forwarding fills the air, before more of his words are replayed. "...I should try to open the door-"
"Those were taken out of context!" Clark yells in anger. "And they were said in English - meaning that they weren't meant for you!"
"You ordered these systems to learn and utilize the English language, Kal-El. It's possible that the meaning behind your words was misconstrued, given this system's novice understanding of the-"
"But why would you think that the portals would help me learn about Krypton?" Clark muses, more to himself to the computer. But as he considers that thought, he realizes the answer, and his eyes widen. "Computer… are there Kryptonian beings in the Phantom Zone? Living ones?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why?"
"The Phantom Zone was created in secret by the Kryptonian council - known only by members of that council, and its creator, Jor-El. It is where the worst intergalactic criminals are stored, never to be retrieved - except by using a Projector, of course."
"Criminals?" Clark repeats, suddenly panic-stricken. "Oh God...Close the portals now! That's an order of highest priority."
"Reprioritization accepted. Portals are closing."
At this command, the light from the Projector dies down, as do the circuits of light extending throughout the crystals.
Clark doesn't exactly trust this computer anymore - and with good reason. It has already acted of its own accord far too many times. Thus, instead of simply accepting the computer's statements as truth, Clark uses his superspeed to fly outside. He wants to make sure the portals are closing - with his own eyes.
As he floats above the glacier, the wind whipping his cape, he witnesses the giant, swirling portals grow smaller and smaller, until they are each hardly larger than a car.
It is then that Clark is alerted to an odd sound - one that he initially thought was the roar of the wind. But now, upon listening closer, he realizes something else entirely - someone is yelling. And that someone's voice… is coming from one of the portals.
He squints at the portal in question, and soon enough, he can see some sort of figure approaching from this odd, non-matter dimension. The person's cries are anguished - dripping with desperation and fear, though the language is warbled. It is only with strained ears and new Kryptonian language skills that Clark can make out the words.
"Please!" the person is yelling in Kryptonese. "Do not leave me here!"
Clark has been told that this Phantom Zone holds criminals. He should stop whatever is trying to come through the portal. But the voice sounds so pained… so fearful… so human, that he hesitates. Besides...this person...whoever he may be… he or she is from Krypton. And to know someone who can tell Clark about his heritage… wouldn't that be worthwhile?
He spends so much time considering his options, and considering what is the right course of action is, that he misses his chance to act. Soon enough, the figure is tearing through the portal, and the only thing Clark can do is catch him as the man plummets toward the ground, flightless.
As the man falls into Clark's arms, he looks at his rescuer, stunned. This person is utterly unfamiliar to Clark - he has a rugged, bearded face, with dark brown hair and tired ice-blue eyes. But in those eyes - and in that face - is also obvious recognition. He gapes at Clark like he is some sort of ghost, and not the welcome kind either. Given his expression, one would think that Clark is the ghost of some past nightmare, returned to haunt him. A nightmare that has suddenly gained the incredible power to fly, no less.
"Jor-El?" the man gasps.
Clark is taken aback. This stranger knows his father's name?
But then the man's eyes slide toward the sun, like it is some sort of great beacon demanding his attention. He appears to revel in its rays before he falls unconscious.
The portals close completely, leaving Clark wondering whether anyone else has come through, and whether or not she should have let this interloper enter Earth in the first place.
TBC...
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING SUPERMAN OR SUPERHERO OR DC COMICS RELATED
A/N: I'm exhausted from work and studying and exercise, so I didn't have the mental capacity to thoroughly check this over for technical errors. Please excuse any that you find.
I'm going to sleep. Hope you enjoyed and please review!
