Superman: The Ark of Krypton

Chapter 43

by

Jason Richard

The clone stood in the middle of the room, looking around curiously at all the machines, vials, and other lab equipment around him. He had been given simple white clothes which blended in with his pale, white, inhumanly smooth skin. He had messy, unkempt black hair, and eyes with just whites and the black point, no other color surrounding the black.

Other than these he looked exactly like Superman.

The machines surrounding the clone scanned him thoroughly. He had no comprehension of what they were doing or the sounds they made, he just watched with fascination as beams of light danced over him.

And from a control room, observing him, Lex Luthor looked over the readings from his scans.

The information Luthor was getting made him ecstatic. True, this wasn't a perfect clone as it probably had Rudy Jones DNA mixed in, as well as whatever other species Rudy Jones had stolen powers from, but it was still enough. This clone was powerful, and soon it's secrets would be unlocked.

Of course Luthor had a fail safe in case the clone turned against him. While it was mostly alien DNA, it had enough of Rudy's mutant DNA left that Luthor would be able to rewrite the clone's DNA just once with the right application of energy and a few cells thrown in. If the clone ever became a problem he could effectively turn it human...a mutated human with pasty white skin maybe...but just as harmless.

For now, though, the Clone exhibited a childlike personality and followed simple hand gestures. As Luthor looked over his readings he couldn't help but look at the clone, see it grinning stupidly at all the bright lights around it, and feel a shred of confidence. If he could create a creature as powerful as this and learn to control it, he could do anything.

Soon Mercy walked into the lab as Luthor looked down at his console. She handed him some paperwork nonchalantly.

"Here," she said. "You need to sign this, this, and…"

Something bumped the glass, making them both jump. They looked up to see that the clone had flown up from the observation chamber and put his hand on the glass. He looked at Mercy as if she was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

"Hello pretty lady," said the Clone, grinning childishly.

Luthor and Mercy looked at the Clone curiously now.

"When did you teach it to speak?" asked Mercy.

" I didn't," said Luthor, rubbing his chin. "Hello...Superman?"

"Yeeeees?" the clone replied as if it was natural.

"It has memories?" said Luthor in amazement. "That shouldn't even be possible. Unless one of the creatures its DNA is responsible. Amazing. The possibilities this presents us…"

"Or the opportunities?" asked Mercy, smirking.

"Oh how well you know me," said Luthor, chuckling.

…

A few days later.

Lois slipped away from her desk with a few files in her arms. For the call she wanted to make needed to be in private. Technically she was still assigned to covering Superman stories, but Even Perry white had to admit that the stories were getting less and less exciting with crime getting so low. It seemed people were even driving more carefully with less accidents. Soon there wouldn't be any Superman related stories worth reading about, and Lois wasn't going to wait for that to happen.

In the corner she made her call to a whistleblower at Lexcorp.

And from his desk, using his Super hearing, Clark heard every word.

"So," said Lois quietly, "What have you got?"

"Oh," said the man on the other end. "Lexcorp is definitely experimenting with cloning. Don't know why that's such a big deal though."

"Everything Lexcorp does is a big deal," said Lois, looking over the files she had. "This especially. Lexcorp declared cloning a dead end three years ago. No practical applications for it. If he's back into it, it means something has changed...though as to what…" she thought for a few moments but nothing clicked, so she said, "Alright, thanks. If you find anything else, keep me posted."

"Sure thing," said the whistleblower before hanging up.

As Clark listened from his desk he hadn't really learned anything he didn't' already know, so he forgot about it. Truth be told he was just as frustrated with his assignment as Lois was with hers. Let her have Lexcorp, he thought. He'd rather investigate rumors of other costumed heroes popping up in the world, also with strange powers. A red blur that could move at the speed of light, a woman with a sword, shield, and glowing lasso, and there were even rumors of a bat monster terrorizing Gotham City mob bosses. He had a feeling if he got on top of this story it would be his ticket to the front page for the first time.

Besides, what could Lex Luthor be doing with cloning anyway?

…

"Tell me again," said Lex Luthor, visibly irritated. "Where is your ship?"

"North," said the Clone of Superman, grinning excitedly.

Lex had been questioning the clone in a dark, windowless room for a few days now, and had gotten nothing substantial out of him. The Clone's memories seemed disjointed at best and absent at worst.

"North of where?" asked Luthor.

The clone thought really hard for a few seconds, then said, just as excited, "North!"

"Where is your base of operations?" said Lex, crossing his arms. "Where do you sleep?"

"At home," said the Clone, proud of himself for some reason.

"And where is that?" asked Luthor.

The clone scratched his head and stared at the ceiling. Lex Luthor was just about to give up and just dissect the thing already. There was no chance of restoring any substantial memories as the clone even having memories was probably a fluke to begin with. It was at this point he realized this was a dead end.

But where one door closed another opened, for at that moment the Clone, who had superman's hearing, found the voice of Lois Lane in that very building. Despite his incomplete memories he remembered that voice. He grinned stupidly once again and sought out the voice.

Now the clone had been surprisingly cooperative so far, following directions and doings what he was told, so Lex Luthor was very surprised when he turned away for just one second only to hear a crashing sound make him jump. When he looked back the Clone had already busted a hole through the floor flying down.

And within moments the whistleblower who had been speaking to Lois Lane on the phone got a nasty surprise. The moment he put the phone down something crashed through the ceiling and startled him. He looked around to see the clone with a bewildered look on his voice.

"I heard Lois," said the Clone. "Where Lois?"