Chapter Forty-One: The Last Stand I
"I could just vibrate at the same frequency." The Flash suggested to the concerned Superman.
Clark gazed over Barry's shoulder at his computer terminal as he responded "...Are you sure it leads somewhere?"
"Yeah...mostly."
Victor Stone, Cyborg, addressed this recklessness by turning in his chair and saying "Clark...we'll find her, I promise you that, but I don't think taking blind jumps is the way to do it."
Barry scrunched up his face in hesitant disagreement. "...How would we feel in his spot, Vic?"
"No, he's right." Clark crossed his arms as he spoke. "There has to be a better way...a way to...pull her back through?"
Barry tapped away on the computer terminal. "Well, theoretically, we could if I made some adjustments to the cosmic treadmill...but we don't have Silvia's data on record. If it were say, a Leaguer over there, we could plug their unique signature into the computer and anchor them back here."
"And since Sil isn't a League member, we never logged thorough scans of her physiology..." Clark muttered.
Cyborg and Flash both sent their eyes to Clark, who took a moment to weigh his options. He knew that he needed to find a way to get over there himself, to wherever Silvia was taken.At the moment, the only traces of evidence were a unique energy footprint that was left and an echo that Barry felt in the speed force, as if someone used a great deal of its energy.
Without warning, a bright flash of blue lightning consumed Clark's vision. His hearing went white, and every muscle in his body tensed and throbbed. He gritted his teeth and tried to peer through the lightning as it began to fade away.In came the images of a loaded and cluttered laboratory.
The slight 'pain' faded, and Clark stood taller as he saw who brought him here. "Luthor."
"Before you do anything rash...scan my vitals. It'll tell you everything you need to know."This mysterious Lex Luthor's request did in fact answer the big question. Silvia was taken to a parallel Earth...and now, so was Clark. This was an alternate Lex Luthor...
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Clark demanded.
"I know. I've been watching your world for some time. Unlike your Luthor, I never indulged in lawbreaking. It was quite disturbing to see, honestly. But what I'm about to tell you might be even more so for you." Lex keyed a few commands into a nearby terminal, and the machine that seemingly brought Superman here cooled to a dull silver and halted its low hum."I called on you because Bruce will never go through with it, though he tries to pretend like he will. This world needs you. It needs Superman." Lex admitted.
Clark halted and thinned his lips. "Where's Silvia?"
"...He has her. Our Clark Kent."
They were such close rivals that Clark could instantly read the dread and anger in Lex's eyes, even though they were from separate universes. "What aren't you telling me?" Clark asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.
"...Our Silvia was murdered. She was...pregnant."
Clark froze. The words bit at him with such ferocity he feared it would leave him an empty shell. His chest ached and any doubt that people could die of a broken heart seemed, for a second, to fade.
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you how he felt. As if it wasn't enough, a nuclear warhead levelled Metropolis. Millions died. It was the Joker...that psychopath." Lex recounted sorrowfully. The words stung him like daggers. "Clark...was my friend. But he was overcome with grief and anger. It made him cross the line. Bruce told me he tore through that madman's chest like he made out of wet newspaper. First I understood it. I didn't condone it...but I knew why. But it didn't stop. Then it was our friends, people you undoubtedly know and love. The only one left standing against Superman's regime is Bruce. It needs to stop."
Clark felt a shiver run through his spine. He thought losing those he cared about was his worst nightmare...but this news drove a stake through his heart.
Lex sighed. "Flash brought Silvia here. He thought it would help him heal."
"And it hasn't." Clark muttered.
"I don't know. He's changing, definitely, especially when she's involved... but I'm not sure if we have the time to wait and see if she can change him." Lex sighed as he paced to a chair and slumped into it, mind racing.
Clark, shaking his head, bore a bitter grimace. "I'll stop him."
"You can't, not on your own. He has followers; like-minded metahumans and super criminals that he's...rehabilitated. You need the League, Superman."
"Whatever it takes." Clark stated sternly, a confident and powerful look on his face. "If it's any consolation, I like you more than the Lex I'm used to."
Lex arched an eyebrow as he chuckled. "Yes, it would've been hard to top him, I'm sure."
--
Less than twenty minutes later Booster Gold shrugged carelessly as he said "Were you planing on asking us about all this before yanking us over?"
"What exactly did he need to consult you about? People are in danger here." Hal Jordan rebutted.
"This isn't our planet. Why should we even--"
Diana rapidly chimed in, in an effort to both put her foot down and calm her colleagues. "A life is a life. A world is a world. Am I clear?" Her voice boomed, yet flowed like silk.
Silence followed as Booster bit his tongue.
"This may not be our world, but it is someone else's." She continued. "It is oppression and tyranny, regardless."
"She's right. If you were up against Supes back home, you can be damn sure you'd want help." John Henry Irons, Steel, remarked as he heaved his massive sledgehammer with the aid of his power armour's servo motors.
Booster rethought his stance on the matter. "Uh...yeah. Still doesn't explain why we gotta help. Whatever, just point and I'll bring the hurt."
Starfire furrowed her brow and spoke up "We cannot risk Silvia's well-being with an attack. They have her." She made sure to exaggerate Silvia's name in the hopes that Booster would notice.
Clark sighed as he walked back to his team from the next room... Starfire was right. This world's Superman may care about her, but Clark wasn't willing to risk Silvia's life on that. The only life he was willing to risk was his own. "We have the element of surprise. We should keep that until we know for absolute certain where Silvia is."
The Leaguers listening intently were Hal Jordan, Wonder Woman, Starfire, Steel, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold and Zatanna. Booster wasn't everyone else's favourite person...but Clark knew that deep down, beneath the parts of him that monetised being a hero for personal gain, was a genuinely good person. No one else but him could see it.
J'onn instantly stepped forward. "Clark, I can conduct reconnaissance on the outside world. Perhaps I can find clues pertaining to Reaper's whereabouts."
"We can't risk that. I can only block us from detection if we're all together." Zatanna answered. "If what Lex is saying is true, which it is according to Diana, Superman will be able to detect you solely from your Martian heartbeat. He almost killed this world's version of you."
Clark's eyes fell to the ground as the sorceress mentioned his name. This place was his hell. A place where the name 'Superman' incited fear. Where he would kill his friends...where he would kill anyone without need. The worst torture of this hell was that it could happen to him. The feelings he had when Brainiac killed his father haunted him. He saw this strange world within him...like it was festering and waiting to surface.
"Clark?" Hawkman repeated, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Oh, excuse me..." He said in response. "I must've...zoned out."
Steel voiced his concern for his mentor "We could take care of this for you. No sweat."
"No. This is my fight...No one else dies."
"Yeah, and just point out someone here who could take down big blue if he wasn't holding back." Booster whistled.
"Wow, you actually do have brain cells in there." Hal joked.
Hawkman huffed angrily "This waiting...it feels useless, Clark. The sooner we end this madness the better."
Clark didn't even have time to respond before Lex came barreling in from the next room. "Superman, corner of 13th and White! She's there, she escaped!"
His eyes widened. Then time slowed, for no one else but him. He finally knew what to do. Clark rocketed through the ceiling, passing straight through it like it was made of styrofoam. Metropolis turned into a blur of concrete and reflections as he sped through the strangely similar city. Focusing hard enough, he managed to single out Silvia's shallow breaths...and elevated heart rate. She was in trouble. Not much can get her that worked up.T
The Man of Steel clenched his fists and raised them in front of him as he soared towards the sound. He could see her now...and his heart froze. "No...no...! No!!" He roared.
Without any pulled motions, Superman rammed into the side of Silvia's attacker, who was in the middle of burying a sword into Silvia's neck. Knowing that these Regime agents were strengthened, his rage didn't allow him to take the time to identify his foe.
Hand clenched firmly around their neck, he forced them back first into the pavement, slowing their course and tearing the road to shreds. It was...Diana. "K-Kal...?"
Clark stood tall, squeezed tighter, then threw his other fist at Diana's face. The ensuring impact would've been deafening to any human within five metres. Nearby windows shattered as this alternate Wonder Woman was sent flying backwards into an empty construction site, levelling the entire ten storey structure with a puff of grey dust.
Clark stopped from hurling himself at the attacker once more. His breathing quivered. He thought he couldn't be capable of whatLex said he was...until that moment. Until Silvia was about to die. He felt it.
"Clark...?" Silvia's weary but skeptical voice asked.
He instantly turned around. Her face was soaked in sweat and her hair was matted and tangled. Blood stained the rest of her uniform...and Clark didn't think it was Diana's. "Sil...! Are you hurt?" He said, pacing to her.
Silvia launched herself into Clark, who was almost winded by the sudden 'attack'. She buried her face into Clark's chest as she fastened her arms around him. "Oh god, Clark...Oh my god. I-I...I missed you."
"Are you hurt?" He repeated.
"I've had worse." She pulled her head upwards and looked into his eyes, her own pooling with tears of joy. "How are you?" She joked with a smile.
Clark couldn't help but smile back. She never let him stay angry. She was too smart for that. "Just peachy...now that I've got you." He wiped her tears away tenderly.
The shifting of concrete in the construction site won his attention. Clark muttered "I think our third wheel wants another shot."
"You two were banging before, by the way. Well not literally, but as in you were together. So it would be safe to assume that you had a couple times."
"Stop talking, Sil." Clark quipped, focusing on the moving rubble.
"Mhm, yes sir." She said obediently, digging into her pocket and slipping her mask on.
He glanced at Silvia, smirking. "You might wanna, you know...move. I should take this one."
"Be my guest. She didn't like me very much anyway."
With a fierce grunt, Wonder Woman freed herself from the mound of concrete with a vicious punch, showering the immediate area with shrapnel and debris. "You dare strike me?" She threatened.
"Walk away, Diana."
"You are a coward. An insult to the real Kal-El."
Silvia whistled "She doesn't seem to like you either." Clark sent her a rather annoyed and serious glare, making her respond with "Okay okay, I'm hiding." She jogged off into a nearby alleyway.
"You all became cowards the second you turned the Justice League into a world dictatorship." Clark added as he took firm steps towards Diana.
The warrior princess unsheathed her blade and leapt at Clark, sword poised for a lethal strike. Clark swung his left forearm out as Diana closed in, parrying her sword with ease and sending it flying out of her grip. His right hand followed with a hook to the jaw, then came around with a backhanded blow and his left delivered an incredible uppercut that landed on Diana's stomach.
Nothing but growls escaped the Amazon's throat as she ignored the pain and thrusted her forehead into Clark's.The resulting force pushed him a step back, a big enough opening for Diana to take advantage of. Diana winded back, and lashed out with a tremendously fearsome front kick.
The blow struck Clark in the chest and propelled him backwards, head over heels, as he bounced along the road like a pebble skipping across water. He impacted with a cacophony of bending steel and shattering glass into the side of a bus, tearing a hole in it and causing it to fall over from the immense force.
Clark was scared...not of Diana, but of himself. He didn't want this twisted future to be his...and it prevented him from cutting loose. But he needed to... to protect Silvia and the innocent people being subjugated in that world.
With a grimace, Clark wrenched himself from the mangled vehicle and rose to a hover several meters above the bus. He squinted, focusing his eyes until they projected beams of pure heat at Diana.
The jets of red hot energy knocked her onto her back, then Clark speared into his downed opponent like a missile. The pavement erupted, a crater forming where the Man of Steel smashed the Amazon Champion into the ground. Clark stood, eyes pinned on Diana's dazed body.
"That is quite enough!" A voice commanded.
Clark huffed, knowing that it couldn't be good. A thin man with a black moustache, a yellow and black uniform, matching yellow helmet...and reddish skin floated down from the sky. To his right, bound by glowing yellow stocks, was Silvia. She was struggling fruitlessly against the yellow energy of Sinestro's power ring.
Behind him, on the ground, were Killer Frost, Bane, Aquaman and...a Yellow Lantern Hal Jordan.
"It's me you want, Sinestro. Let her go."
"I'm afraid she is the one I want. Move a single muscle, and I will cut her in half." The Korugarian pompously declared.
Clark bared his teeth...until he heard a relieving sound. His serious demeanor morphed into a rather jokey one. "You might want to watch your back."
Sinestro snorted with laughter. "Your empty threats mean nothing to--"
Without warning, the signature metal mace of Katar Hol, Hawkman, slammed into the back of Sinestro's large skull with a startling crack. His now limp body slapped against a nearby building, and the shackles binding Silvia disappeared.
She landed on her feet and spun to Clark "Pitch me!"
"You sure? We haven't practiced--"
She leapt at Clark, who fumbled in confusion as he caught her. "Do it!" She shouted at him as she lay in his arms.
Clark took a millisecond to smile at her and say "You're the boss." as he twirled, and released the Reaper at the nearest target. Silvia, now a human projectile, soared into Aquaman, taking him into the hood of a car.
Booster Gold dove in from the air, tackling Killer Frost to the ground. "You just hit the jackpot, sister!"
"I'm not sure what's more disturbing. That one-liner, or seeing me as Sinestro's lackey." Green Lantern remarked as he threw a handful of missiles at his counterpart.
As the incantation "Pord mih otni eht yawbus!" echoed through the air, the ground under Bane's feet shook, then crumbled. The gigantic man fell underground, and Zatanna swiftly dove in after him.
Diana, the real one, landed by Clark, lasso of truth in hand. She smiled tenderly. "I'm glad you found her, Clark."
"Me too. Thanks for coming."
"Well. This is strange." Wonder Woman quipped as she glanced at the other Wonder Woman at Clark's feet.
In a sequence that was fairly odd for both Clark and Diana, she bound her counterpart tightly in the lasso as she regained consciousness. "Where is your Superman?" Diana pressed.
The counterpart struggled to resist the lasso but even she couldn't. "The...Fortress of...Solitude. But you...won't live to see him. Your end is here."
A familiar thud snared Clark's attention. He gazed down the street, past Silvia as she fiercely pummelled Aquaman into a bloody mess... In a pile of car wrecks and rubble was the gigantic grey creature whose red eyes were the only things that could strike true fear into Clark's heart. And Silvia was in its direct path. "Doomsday." He muttered.
"Go. You're the only one who can take him. I'll protect Silvia with my life." Diana said.
Clark's gaze never left Doomsday, and the second Diana had made her promise, he had taken off in the monster's direction. There wasn't any time to thank her but he knew that she meant it. Their Diana was nothing like the one from this alternate universe. She would fight for Silvia until the death.