Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville, DC, Spider-man or Marvel
This is another part of my 'Struggle of the Apprentice' series, taking place after The Hunt, the first paragraph referencing the end of that story and taking place straight after. It continues Sieg's story, but also serves as a continuation of Smallville and the Raimi Spider-man films.
Smallville was a great part of my DC teen hood, and has been my favourite DC TV project overall (favourite non-animated project, so Batman Beyond still takes first place :) sorry Young Justice :(
Spoilers for Spider-man: No Way Home, just in case (but come on, who hasn't seen it) the Raimi Spider-man films rekindled the love of super hero films and seeing Tobey take up the mask again in No Way Home was a treat.
The futures of Clark and Peter from those universes are taken to what I imagine (cause this is fanfiction lol) there natural progression (ignoring the CW Crisis On Infinite Earths appearance, but accepting the Season 11 comics as canon, along with a few added bits) with Clark's role as Superman having evolved with a time gap and seeing Peter's life on his Earth.
Then we bring them together for a Multiversal crossover. Universal Collisions is my next comic book, comic book TV and comic book movie series collection as more than different Earths collide, but entire Multiverses too.
Anyway enjoy the first chapter covering the first wonder, Superman.
Universal Collision: The Trailblazer
It was a battle for the Earth, a battle for the universe even, though no single hero on Earth truly knew that. Project Pegasus was the name of the facility, and it had housed many an artefact of power. One such artefact was the cosmic cube, a device capable of altering reality itself through thought. The Avengers and the X-men fought a being considered to be the embodiment of chaos and disorder, Muramasa. The white haired, armoured man raised the cube high and invoked spells of destruction, tearing a rift through the fabric of reality that would slam two worlds together. We haven't yet come to the question of what if, because it is not a question, the heroes of Earth 616 looked up at another world and that world looked back briefly.
Earth 166 was the designation, a branch of an Earth called 167. For on that Earth there had lived a young man named Clark Kent, a resident of Smallville. He was the last child born on a dying world, Krypton, he was raised on Earth, discovered his incredible abilities and he went on a hero's journey. By the end of that journey he had taken his first step to becoming the world's greatest hero. Then, years later, he and his wife had twins and he gave up his power, he gave up his heroism. Even during a great crisis he did not reclaim his power. But what if he had never given up his power, indeed what if he never had a reason to give up. Earth 166 was the result, so when a blue singularity appeared in the sky, Daily Planet reporter and still Smallville resident Clark Kent looked up at the sky and saw the heroes of that Earth fighting.
He saw two Captain Americas fighting to avenge a Falcon, he saw the Black Lantern Swamp Thing rampaging across Washington, the combined Initiative and X-men forces trying to stop them. He saw two Hyperion's clashing and he saw the embrace of a father and son. Sven Reilly and his adopted son Sieg.
Clark Kent saw the climactic moment when Cade Hunter invoked powers of the emotional spectrum, his dark armour briefly turning white before it became gold. The spirit knight of justice and the spirit knight of faith both made sacrifices to save their world. Cade destroyed the Swamp Thing and Sieg flew through the tear, absorbing the Tesseract energy.
"CLOSE!" Sieg yelled, swinging his sword around.
It was done, the rift closed and both Earths were safe. Clark moved quietly into a Metropolis Alleyway. He took off his glasses, roughed up his dark hair out of its neat style and pulled open his suit shirt. When the buttons came apart, it revealed a black suit and a white symbol emblazed on the chest, a shield that from a first viewing would appear to be an S. But it is a symbol of alien origin, a Kryptonian house symbol meant to embody the flow of a river, the flow of hope. Within moments his jacket, tie and shoes were abandoned and he was flying above the city, a different man altogether. With black gloves and boots on his limbs and his white cape billowing behind him, he flew; the Superman flew high, a sight many of the people of Metropolis pointed towards.
He raised his fist and flew faster, faster, knowing that he had to save someone who others could not see. Gravity wasn't an issue to him, there was no pull to keep him down on Earth, he flew above the clouds, above Earth's sphere and into space. That was where he found him drifting, the boy who saved a world by giving up his home. Siegfried Wallace, or perhaps it is more appropriate to call him Sieg Reilly, having accepted Sven Reilly as his father, having accepted his power as a spirit knight and choosing the destiny of a hero. A tuft of silver hair decorated his unkempt brown hair, he was young, had an athletic build that was still far from perfect. The boy was wearing pieces of white and blue armour, the sleeves of his black shirt exposed and the helmet broken enough to reveal part of his face. Superman gently held the boy out of care and appreciation for him, he does not return a favour, he does what he sees as right and flies Sieg back to Earth, to air.
Superman landed in a meadow in New England, ripping off a piece of the helmet over Sieg's nose so that air could get in. Then gently he poked his chest, a force equivalent to a chest compression, if Clark used even a fraction of his palm's strength he might have shattered the ribs in the boy's body. It took two compressions before Sieg gasped for breath, shooting up into a sitting position with Clark tenderly rubbing his back.
"Slow, take it easy, just try to breath," he said.
There was a 'whoosh' sound as Clark ran, faster than Sieg could see even if he wasn't half conscious. A nearby store owner is shocked when a note and money appears on his counter, 'sorry had to get a bottle, keep the change, S'. Sieg heard another 'whoosh' before Superman appeared in front of him, offering him a bottle of water. He looked up at the new hero in his eyes, saw him blocking the sun and there was awe in his eyes, as if he was looking up at his father again.
"Have a few sips, you're dehydrated, a result of the zero G exposure," Superman stated.
Sieg sipped the water, and then took a few gulps. Clark looked over the boy, he had already done it earlier but he scanned his body for any faults. X-ray and even microscopic vision allowed the Kryptonian to see any kind of foreign other world bacteria Sieg had bought with him, nothing out of the ordinary and no broken bones. Sieg groaned, falling back, his armour finally shattering to reveal the costume he wore underneath, a white tunic with black shoulders and long black sleeves, padded grey and red gloves and boots, black trousers, a black cowl with red lenses over his eyes and a belt with pouches on it.
"You did it son, you saved both Earths," Clark said, hoping that Sieg heard him.
He pushed the device lodged in his ear, a micro-connection to a satellite watch tower. It enabled communication with individuals like Clark, people with extraordinary circumstances.
"Tessa, J'onn, Oli, get to the fortress, we have an incursion scenario," Clark said.
He took Sieg in his arms and flew him across the world, through the cold planes of the arctic to the fortress hidden within it. The crystal castle was a preserve of Kryptonian technology and other lost alien artefacts. Within moments he had placed Sieg within a chamber to assist him with his healing. Then he looked up and said:
"I can see you watching us!"
…that, I was not expecting.
Ordinarily Clark could use the incredible reserves of Oxygen he stored in his lungs to fly into space. But for occasions when he had no idea how long he would be up there, he used a specialised suit built by a friend. The 'super space suit' was bulky and ugly, the white and black colour scheme was pending but the original blue and red would do its job. He flew up to the moon, where the mysterious figure watched, a somewhat curious and shocked expression on his face. The figure was almost a giant, towering over Clark. Blue robes covered most of his body, he had a bald head and a cranium larger than a human's. His eyes were also a clear white.
"Kal-El of Krypton, Clark Kent of Smallville, the Superman of Metropolis, curious, until a moment ago I did not know of your existence, now my mind and my vision have expanded and it is because of that boy in your fortress of solitude," the 'Watcher' (for lack of a better name) explained.
"Do you mean him or this Earth harm?" Clark asked.
"My charge is not to interfere, only to witness events of significance," Watcher said.
"And what event do you consider of significance?" Clark turned his head, looking down at the Earth he protected.
"Aquaman has just saved a group of fishermen off the coast of Hawaii, Wonder Woman is attending a peace summit, Superboy and his friends are at a park celebrating their graduation, a world war 2 veteran has just passed away, a single mum has just gotten her kids to soccer practice, a mother polar bear has taught its young to swim and a butterfly just hatched from its cocoon. Was there anything there of 'significance' to you?"
"You are a man who values every life; it is what makes you a hero across the Multiverse. But something has happened, I now see worlds I never believed could exist, worlds that are not simply branches of others, but new trees in themselves, new flows of new rivers even," the Watcher explained.
"This world is protected," Kal-El said.
"You will find no threat from…" the Watcher paused, his eyes narrowed in fear and suspicion.
Superman looked down, back towards the fortress of solitude. There, an orange door appeared near Sieg's chamber. Out of that chamber walked individuals in black riot gear. One held a pad in his hand, and looked at Sieg.
"Strange, this entire world shouldn't even exist, this must be the 'unknowns' that Director Richards talked about," the man said.
"We should report back," one of the other men said.
"Report back, it's a pruning job," the commander scoffed.
"The director had strict commands."
"Gary's department has been filled to the brim with reports on these 'unknowns' and I'm in no mood to wait on the sidelines as more disruptions to the sacred timeline occur," the commander explained.
"I've never pruned a kid before," the younger of the soldiers said.
"You're always pruning kids, now plant the charge and let's get on with this," the commander said.
The younger soldier pulled a device from his belt and planted it into the ground. It began to fill itself with a purple liquid, the lights on its side blinking. Inside the chamber, Sieg's eyebrow twitched and his fist tightened. Suddenly, a red and blue blur slammed one of the soldiers into the wall. The commander widened his eyes as Clark appeared behind him. The commander clicked a button on his belt, generating a wave of manipulated time, moving it at half the pace. Clark simply smirked, easily grabbing the club the commander swung at him. He broke the commander's baton, destroyed the device he used with his heat vision, and then poked the commander in the head, all actions committed within four seconds, double the time it would have taken Clark anyway. The younger soldier's knees shook, watching his commander fall unconscious to the ground.
"What did you just put in the ground?" Superman asked.
With a whoosh, he pulled the device out of the ground, holding it and turning it as he examined it with his vision.
"It's not Anti-Matter, and it isn't atomic in nature," Clark mused.
The young soldier twisted his baton, lighting the tip, before he could get near Clark however the Kryptonian blew, releasing a strong wind that launched the soldier across the fortress.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it I knew we shouldn't have stopped," the young man pulled a tablet from his belt and quickly typed in a set of commands.
A portal appeared and he prepared to step through, only for a projectile to strike him. Bola wire wrapped around his arms, causing him to drop the tablet and fall to the ground. He looked at what had hit him, a green arrow.
"A Barton variant?" he looked up at the shooter in shock.
He folded his bow and put it on his back, walking out of the shadows and revealing the green padded outfit and the sunglasses covering his eyes.
"I don't know what you just said, but I'm incredibly cold, so I'm not exactly at my best with concentration today," said Oliver Queen, the archer known as Green Arrow.
The commander partly regained consciousness, looking at Superman with his back turned. He pulled from his belt a spare baton, turning the device and lighting the tip up. Suddenly, Sieg's crystal chamber shattered, sending debris flying between Clark and the soldier, creating a cloud of dust from the ice. There was a spark of red energy as Sieg rushed through the dust, red and white particles formed in his hand, creating a round guard with a rectangular blade, the red spine of the white blade glowed as Sieg swung the sword around. The blade cut cleanly through the commander's baton and when Sieg swung it again, he hit the commander.
'No,' Clark thought, thinking he had brought home a killer.
But whilst the blade cut through the baton, when it struck the commander it acted more like a blunt bat, knocking the man into the ground.
"TVA," Sieg muttered.
He suddenly fell to his knees, blue energy coursed through his veins and he yelled in pain.
"You're okay young man, just take it easy," Clark said, kneeling by Sieg.
"Sentry, Hyperion? Who the heck are you?" Sieg asked.
"You ask me Superman, something tells me he can explain that variant stuff the other guy was on about," Green Arrow said.
He shielded his face when dust blew into his eyes. A playful smile crossed the synthetic face of a red and yellow android, her red hair in fact as synthetic as the rest of her body. Tess Mercer, the Red Tornado smirked at her old boyfriend, then cast a sympathetic gaze at Sieg's convulsing form.
"If you guys are like the rest of the Squadron, then I won't let you…"
"Please, calm yourself," a voice echoed through the fortress.
Red eyes glowed on the wall of the fortress, revealing the blue suited form of a green skinned man. His skin and bodysuit shifted however, taking on the appearance of a dark skinned man in a coat and green shirt with a red X across it. Sieg looked at the symbol and felt a familiarity with it.
"You have strong mental defences young man, I won't even try to go through those impressive psychic blocks, but know that you are amongst friends," J'onn Jones, Mars's last survivor spoke with compassion in his voice.
Sieg clutched his chest, his sword shattering when it hit the floor. He took a few deep breaths and centred himself.
"I did it, I saved them," he said.
"I saw it son, whatever happened or was going to happen to our Earths, you managed to save them," Superman said.
"TVA, who are these people?" Green Arrow asked.
"There is something odd about their minds," J'onn's eyes glowed red as he approached the young soldier. "To push into their minds is a violation, but something tells me something has already been done to them."
He touched the top of his head, and a series of images shot through J'onn's mind. As a detective in Metropolis's famed 'suicide slums' J'onn had witnessed many terrible things, images that would haunt people. He would never tolerate injustice, but he could endure tragedy, cope under the pressure of a traumatised child or a grieving or angry parent with a corpse in the next room. What J'onn saw in the young man's mind was a multitude of corpses, many of them showing the same face, the soldier's face. This was the crux of his memories, but there were more that lingered, memories of lines of people in brown jump suits, people being judged by tribunals. There was fear particularly in his remembering of a man who stood behind the tribunal. It was at that point that J'onn felt a type of backlash, he could endure that too. But he needed to keep his patient in mind too, he needed to back away.
"His connection to his memories has been cut, there are also psychic traps within his mind," J'onn said.
"Traps, like a type of mind field for psychics?" Oliver asked.
"It would make sense for that to be the case with the others," Tessa said.
Clark guided Sieg into a sitting position by where his old blue and red costume was. He got the water bottle and gave it back to him. Sieg looked down at the TVA woman, his eyes briefly glowed blue.
"Squirrel," he said.
The Kryptonian looked at the boy as he passed out, smiling, understanding how he could be delirious. Even the most powerful man on Earth could be overworked. Clark removed his cloak and placed it over Sieg like a blanket. There was an unspoken conversation between Clark, Oli and Tessa, the two of them understanding that Clark had somewhere he wanted to be. But it would be enough for Clark to at least make a call. He took out his phone and unlocked it with his eye print, then he pushed the number for Lois. It rang for a few minutes, before going quiet, Clark smiled, his wife was busy too as he expected. She was working her own story then, if Perry had her on the 'Earth in the sky' story then she would have been calling him for answers. Putting the phone away, he looked towards the TVA agents; Oliver stripped their equipment belts and placed them on the pads for the barrier cells. The lights that shined over the unconscious soldiers were Kryptonian designed barriers, capable of holding aliens with enhanced strength.
"This appears to be high tech disguised as primitive tech," Tessa said.
She was holding one of the pads the soldiers had been using. Her fingers traced over the buttons, partly feeling them and analysing them. Though Tessa's soul lived in a synthetic body, it had been designed and upgraded over the years to eventually allow her to experience the same human sensations she had once been robbed of. She could shift the look of her body to appear as her original human self, she was even able to have a physical relationship.
"Perhaps we should call Emil," J'onn said.
"My husband is a little busy on his own project, besides you already have a great mind here to figure it out, me," Tessa smirked. "Although figuring out the tech side of it would have been easier with…Victor," she looked down, stopping her work until J'onn touched her shoulder.
"I miss him too," he smiled warmly.
Oliver remained silent, feeling the TVA baton he was looking at.
"It isn't made of the same material most police or army issue clubs are made of," he broke the moment so they could focus, so that they wouldn't distract themselves with grief.
Clark smiled appreciatively; this life had robbed them of a few friends, Kent, Carter, James, Victor and Bart. Their new charge had once again regained part consciousness and had chosen exploration, still wrapping himself in Clark's cloak. Superman floated into the chamber of remembrance where Sieg looked up at the statues of Cyborg, Hawkman and the Flash. The silver haired youth turned around and looked at Clark.
"Are you Avengers?" he asked.
"We try to stop there from being anything to avenge, but if you're asking if we're heroes, I hope you'll give us the chance to prove ourselves worthy of our name, the Justice League," Clark explained.
Sieg nodded his head, taking off Superman's cloak and offering it back to him.
"I'm Vic…no, call me Aeon," he said.
"Okay, you are definitely in need of a rest young man," Clark supported Sieg's back and guided him into a sitting position.
"I need to try harder, being a hero requires…"
"Some rest, or you won't be able to save anyone," Clark walked back to the lab area, where Tessa was working on the TVA device.
"Parallel Earths, we knew about them, we knew about Crisis events, the attack by the Monitors and that Anti-Matter wave and subsequent reboot of our Multiverse. But for there to be other Multiverses entirely," Tessa drifted off, the fascination and fright clear in her voice.
"The Dark Multiverse, I hope we aren't dealing with another Batman who laughs scenario," Oliver muttered.
"I had a brief glimpse of Sieg's world, and a brief glimpse of worlds 'Pruned' by the TVA," J'onn said.
"What do they mean exactly by Pruned?" Oliver twisted the baton he was holding, looking at the glowing tip curiously.
He drew an arrow from his quiver and held it out, cautiously moving the tip of the baton towards it. As soon as the baton touched the arrow, Oliver let it go and watched it disappear in a yellow and blue light.
"That would be Pruning, and they've done that to many worlds, many of which have things in common with Sieg's world, heroes called the Avengers," J'onn stated.
"Earth's mightiest heroes," Sieg said as he walked into the room.
"You should be resting," Clark told him but the boy shook his head.
"Mentioning Crisis events doesn't exactly create a very restful environment, and these guys aren't finished with us yet," Sieg stated.
"No they aren't, but we can fight this without you breaking yourself down, trust me there will be times ahead to fight the TVA but whilst you can take the opportunity to rest, you've already saved two worlds today Aeon, leave the rest of the Multiverse to us," Clark explained.
Clark was about to continue reassuring the young hero when he heard something ringing in his ear. The exact frequency matched a machine Chloe had made to act as a type of emergency alarm, a call for help. Without moving or looking, Clark could determine where the alarm was coming from, the Kent farm in Smallville. Then he focused on the farm, the family house, the radio was on 'save me' by Remy Zero was playing (the station really loved that track).
"What do you want?" he heard Lois demand.
"First a cup of coffee Ms Lane, I trust your partner will be joining us in three…"
WOOSH!
Clark flew out of the fortress and across the world within the man's countdown. He had also changed from his costume into his shirt and slacks, putting on his glasses just as he walked into the family house.
"Lois, sorry I'm late, I was chasing a lead," he said, shifting his voice just that little bit to give off the impression of meek farm boy Clark Kent.
"Whilst I Smallville was getting the expose," Lois said as Clark walked into the kitchen.
The kettle had been on, coffee had been poured and the intruder was sitting on a chair with his jacket behind it. Clark was taking aback by his demeanour more than his appearance. A dark skinned man whose hair had short curls in it. He wore a dark green shirt and a tie that was a slight purple shade. With his sleeves rolled up Clark could see that the man kept himself in good shape, marks on his hands too matched with someone who spent his time using them, an inventor or a scientist, and from the scars on his knuckles, he was definitely someone who fought (or at least hit people) often. He took a relaxed and silent sip from his coffee mug, smiling when he saw Clark.
"Mr Kent, lovely to meet you face to face, you have a good home, both the farm and this Earth that is," the man stated.
"You are from another Earth?" Clark asked, feigning ignorance.
"Your Earth is already familiar with the concept of the Multiverse, as well as the concept of the Crisis, a concept I myself have only recently come to be aware of, along with the idea of there being a Multiverse of Multiverses," he explained before he let out a low chuckle. "The TVA was originally designed to prune worlds, to destroy branching timelines and maintain the existence of one single universe," the man explained.
"You've been committing genocide," Clark said.
"Yes, all for the sake of avoiding chaos throughout the Multiverse, yet," the man sighed. "It turns out our mission was wrong, because no matter what we did to maintain the 'sacred timeline', we couldn't keep the Multiverse from existing, I'd imagine the poor fools in other TVAs are losing their minds with the realisation that they are not unique, that their lives didn't matter."
"Their lives matter, they were lives you took."
"Believe it or not Mr Kent, I'm not even the worst version of myself…speaking in terms of honour that is, the reason I've come to you Mr Kent is because I'm seeking an alliance, a partnership," the man stated.
"Well for a start you could show a little candour, like why you've come to the house of a mild mannered reporter and his award winning wife," Lois explained.
"Because I know," he began, standing up and putting his mug in the sink. "That your husband is an alien, I know he's this world's greatest hero and a man of strong moral principles. Your psychic friends could have ripped my agent's heads open to get answers, you could have done the same to that young man you picked up, you bruise and wound but you don't cripple or kill, without hesitation you saved a stranger and rather than punish those who tried to destroy you're world, you're actually trying to help them. But I suspect you didn't just take a leap of faith, those senses of yours come in handy for spotting liars right?"
Clark hesitantly removed his glasses, his eyes narrowing sternly at the intruder in his home.
"It helps that I've known a lot of liars," Clark said.
"Like attracts like it seems," the man smirked.
"Tell us what you want before we kick you out," Lois demanded.
"It is quite simple; it goes along with your moral code Mr Kent. As I said there are worse versions of myself, three in particular have proven to be particularly cruel and without honour. They are Director Timely, the Superior and the Pharaoh, help me Superman, help me stop my worst selves!"
"But who are you exactly?" Clark asked.
"You can call me Mr Gryphon for now, or Nathaniel if you'd like," the man smiled, offering Clark his hand. "So Mr Kent, will you help me to save worlds?"
There was another side of Clark Kent's story, the most important player (even though he missed a significant part of Clark's story). He was currently living in a penthouse apartment in Gotham, negotiating the acquisition of a certain Inc's brand. Bald and wearing an expensive suit, he used his laptop to navigate the stock market, his earpiece to negotiate the business arena, his note pad for scientific calculations and his mind itself for his more ambitious plans. Whilst Superman was the pinnacle of might and power, Lex Luthor was the pinnacle of intelligence and business acumen.
"Yes Mr West, I am in complete agreement, nothing truly beats the original…yes, it is a failing of corporations nowadays to even disrespect a legacy…no, there will be no 'out with the old, in with the new', the brand is a good selling point, I'll respect where it comes from…thank you Mr West, your shares will go to good use," he stopped writing, diverting to another number. "Miss Rose, how is the recovery going? I assure you my handling of the brand will be safer…I'm glad I can reassure you, now I'd like to explain to you my idea, inclusion, diversity, the very basis of these things must be respect, and I believe one must respect the past too, one can support something new, uplift it, without disrespecting what came before…" Lex paused, listening to his potential business partner speak, when she finished, he chuckled. "Yes, I'm glad you're in agreement, you'll be restored to your original role with greater security and greater freedom, because happy workers are productive workers, stay safe Miss Rose," Lex clicked the phone off.
'And ignorant,' he thought, finishing his equations for his concept computer program.
"Mr Luthor," a voice spoke behind him.
Lex looked over his shoulder, his gloved hand briefly going to the drawer, considering taking out the customised pistol. The chamber was filled with armour piercing, tungsten rounds, dipped in a liquid Kryptonite solution. Simultaneously he analysed the intruder, the man who had seemed to appear in his home. It wasn't Gotham's protector, as Lex expected, he looked at his watch and saw that the hands were not moving. His mind raced and conceived, perhaps the intruder had a short range EMP field, thus knocking out Lex's security and the monitoring devices the vigilante thought Lex didn't know about (though to give him credit, that included the ones Lex didn't know about). But when he looked at the whiskey in his glass, he came up with another notion. Tipping the glass, the liquid remained inside, unmoving.
"A chroniton field, impressive, if you're here to kill me perhaps you could try to make it quick, I have a meeting with Carlton Whitfords people tomorrow and I'd rather avoid their droll and simplistic dialogue," Lex explained.
"Of course Mr Luthor, you are a busy man," the voice echoed out of the darkness.
Metallic boots clicked against the floor boards, a long cape flowed behind the stranger. The armoured man walked out of the shadows, his crystalline and majestic armour gave him a bulky, giant appearance. The man's helmet covered his face, the horns on it giving it a demonic appearance. Luthor though was not impressed, understanding such elaborate design had no practical value.
"I have a proposition for you Mr Luthor, formerly president Luthor," the armoured man said.
"A title that was necessary, but not one I miss, I gave up a lot of power to be president," Lex said.
"Power, is that truly all that matters to you?"
Lex narrowed his eyes, feeling an itch at the back of his skull. He stepped back, his hand going to the drawer again. A migraine suddenly hit him, causing him to grit his teeth together.
"Telepathy, are you one of the Martians?" he demanded.
"Artificial telepathy," the man tapped the side of his helmet, "Harvested from a mutant famous in my Multiverse, my apologies Mr Luthor but I have no time to be gentle in restoring your mind," he explained.
Lex gripped the sides of his head, images bombarding his mind. He tried to fight, for he was a slave to no one. But though it was both agonising, it also seemed somewhat comforting too.
"It is always a tragic thing, to be broken, to be robbed of what is yours, you were robbed of it twice it seems," the armoured man said.
Luthor yelled as more images filled his mind, voices, his own, and another's.
"Thanks for saving my life."
"I'm sure you would have done the same thing."
"A sword?"
"It's a foil Clark, every hero should have one!"
"Lex, do you ever miss not having a sibling?"
"I used to, until I met you Clark, you're closer to me than any blood brother."
"Lex I want to…"
"Then do it Clark, my father's never gonna let me out, you're my friend, please Clark, don't let me out of this cesspool."
"Lex!"
"You still say it the same way, astonishment, mixed with a hint of dread yet with a hopeful finish."
"You know I used to think it was our families that made us who we are, then I hoped it was our friends, but if you look at history, the great men and women of the world have always been defined by their enemies."
"It was never a competition!"
"Of course I wasn't, you were born to be the chosen one, you're simply better than us."
"And that always killed you."
"No, no what killed me is that you didn't even want it, you fought it, you hid from it, I would have taken it and relished it, embraced it."
"I'll always be there to stop you, always."
"Oh I'm counting on it."
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you Lex!"
His eyes snapped open, he looked at his surroundings in confusion. Then he remembered, the armoured man, why he was in Gotham, what he was doing before, he remembered. He remembered Smallville, the crash, the curiosities and strange things that came out of that small town, he remembered, a friendship, a betrayal, and an apology. He remembered everything. Yet he stood with a sense that he was no restored, but reborn, his marketing campaign in Gotham had been to respect the past, now he could truly respect the past because he knew what his past was.
'Superman, Kal-El, Clark Kent, Clark,' he laughed when he came to this realisation.
"Do you remember Mr Luthor?" the armoured man asked.
"I remember everything, but what will this good deed cost me?" Lex asked, narrowing his eyes at the man he still perceived as an intruder.
"No good deed comes without cost, I wish for your help Mr Luthor, to bring together a group of remarkable people, to bring doom to worlds that have forgotten it, to save worlds through injustice," the man explained.
"Where do we start? But more importantly what do I call you?"
"Patriarch will do, and another Earth Mr Luthor, I want us to start with a symbiote!"
Next Chapter 2: Tally-Ho
Hope everyone enjoyed the start, my preview for this story at the end of the Hunt established this was after Loki, so Mr Gryphon is a variant of a certain character to be played by Jonathan Majors
So design wise I was going for Lex's current actions to be inspired by his recent appearances in the Batman comics, but the decision to bring back his memories was one I knew had to be made to move his character forward, making him remember his prior friendship with Clark and what he will do with that is his character arc.
For Clark's Superman design I thought, Twenty Years after Smallville ended, I know it isn't quite fifty years but lets go with a Batman Beyond inspired design taken from concept art from the Superman the Authority series.
Next time we go to Spider-man's Earth, picking up where No Way Home might have left off for OG Peter.