My apologies for this taking so long--real life kind of got in the way for a bit. Hopefully, the next chapters will take less time to go up!

Many, many kudos to Morgan, without whom I wouldn't know half of what I need in order to make this work. I have to add in special kudos this chapter for helping me *finish* the thing; without Morgan's help it'd still be sitting forlornly on my computer hard drive.

For those of you who are interested in the Evil Overlord rules--they do exist, and you can find them here: http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html

Once again, I can't emphasize how much your reviews mean to me. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed the story so far--it really means a lot to me, and it's what keeps me typing away over here.

Couple of minor notes--in chapter 2 I had Chloe telling Perry White that she and Clark had known each other since third grade. That was obviously before I saw 'Obscura'; it'll be fixed at some point.

For those Chlark fans out there--yes, there *is* a backstory to what you're reading, and yes, I *will* write it at some point. Don't hold your breath, though! *g*