Chapter Twelve
"I know exactly what I'm doing," Clark said, holding up the sniper rifle. "Using this is a last resort. That monster, who calls himself Kal-El… whether he is a future version of me, or whatever he is… the difference between me and him is that he's a killer, and I'm not. That's what separates us. He kills. I don't. We only use this gun if absolutely necessary, and even then, we use it to wound him, not to kill him. Is that understood?"
"Absolutely," Superman said in agreement.
"So we lose, then," Diana said. "You said it yourself. He is a killer, and we are not. If we engage him in battle, he will destroy us. He won't hesitate to deliver the killing blow to each and every one of us."
"It may not come to that," Superman said. "I have an idea. Wells, you said earlier that this reality must be being sustained by some variation of your Temporal Disruption Regulator, correct?"
"Indeed," Wells said. "It's the only way to explain it. I went back in time and prevented Tempus from murdering young Clark's family and friends, and yet the future refused to change. The only possible explanation is that Tempus created some type of Regulator to keep this reality from being altered once he'd established it."
"Well then," Superman continued. "It stands to reason that Tempus would want that Regulator to be kept somewhere that it would be as safe as possible, and where he would still have access to it. I'd be willing to bet that it's somewhere in this Fortress."
"Of course!" Wells exclaimed.
"And if we could find it, and destroy it…" Clark began.
"Then the time stream would fix itself, and this twisted future would never have occurred," Superman finished.
"Ingenious! But a Regulator powerful enough to sustain this entire reality would have to be enormous," Wells said, adjusting his glasses. "As big as a football stadium, maybe even larger. Perhaps there is some kind of sub-basement?"
Superman's x-ray vision quickly confirmed Wells' guess. "I can see it. It's underground, a few levels below us."
"Then we should hurry," Diana said. "Let's get down there before…" She trailed off as she noticed that both Clark and Superman had turned their heads toward the door.
"Someone's coming," they said in unison.
Diana closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Hera, help us," she said softly. "It's him."
The door to the Trophy Room flew open, and Tempus barged in, nursing a nasty head wound. He was surrounded by a small battalion of the armored guards.
"Here they are, Your Majesty!" Tempus cried, flailing his arms dramatically. "The escaped traitors who overpowered me! The ones I warned you about, who would try to destroy you!"
The armed guards parted, and in strode a menacing figure dressed all in black. A chill ran down the spine of everyone in the room as soon as he entered. It was as if an aura of evil and poison surrounded him. He was Kal-El, and he was the unopposed ruler of this world. Clark and Superman both felt nauseous as soon as they saw the silver "S" on Kal's chest, and the hatred deep within his eyes.
"Thank you, Tempus," Kal said. "I will deal with them. You may leave us."
"But…" Tempus started to protest. Kal shot him a glare that interrupted him rather quickly. Reluctantly, Tempus and the guards marched back out the door, closing it behind them.
Kal turned back to the group of four gathered in front of him. Something that was almost a smile graced his lips as he set eyes on Wonder Woman. "Diana. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"Not long enough," she replied, her voice ice cold.
As he began to walk toward her, Clark and Superman both stepped in front of Diana, blocking him from her. Kal laughed.
"Don't tell me you need these 'big, strong men' to protect you! You never seemed the type to let a man stick up for you."
"And I'm not," Diana said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and pushing them apart. She stepped forward and faced Kal eye to eye. "You know I can handle myself."
"I certainly do," Kal said, grabbing her roughly by the wrist.
Clark slammed his hand down on Kal's forearm. "Don't touch her," he growled.
Kal glared at Clark. Then, his expression slowly faded to one of surprise, as if he was just now realizing that this Clark Kent looked exactly like him. Before Kal could speak, Superman landed a crushing blow across Kal's face, knocking him off balance. Then he grabbed Kal by the shoulders and head-butted him, sending him right to the floor.
"Clark!" Superman yelled. "Stick to the plan! I'll hold him off, you go find the Regulator!"
Clark nodded and began to sprint for the door, but Kal-El was much faster than his young counterpart. He had already recovered from the blow Superman had dealt him and was blocking the door by the time Clark got to it.
"Have a seat, boy. You're not going anywhere," Kal sneered, then cut loose with a blast of heat vision so powerful that it sent Clark clear across the room. He tore through several of the trophy cases as he flew, landing harshly in a pile of broken glass.
Superman dove at Kal, landing punch after punch to Kal's face and chest. Kal, unfazed, grabbed Superman by the shoulders and super-sped into the wall, smashing him right into another trophy case. Kal then proceeded to pummel Superman mercilessly with his fists and heat vision until he was barely conscious.
H.G. Wells knelt down beside Clark. "I say, dear boy, are you all right?" Clark could only moan in reply. His skin burned. Then, something small and round caught Wells' eye as it rolled past him, knocked from one of the trophy cases that Clark had smashed through.
Kal spat at Superman as he walked away from his limp body, leaving him dazed and bleeding in the shattered frame of the trophy case. "Rookies," Kal scoffed. Then he turned his attention back to Diana. "So tell me, whore. Where is my child?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, seething with anger.
"Don't play dumb, it doesn't suit you. The last time I saw you, you were pregnant with my child. It's been more than a year since then. I want to know where the baby is."
"I lost it."
"You're lying." He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, violently. "I'm only going to ask you once more. Where is it?"
"He," Diana corrected quickly, in anger. "Not 'it'."
A sinister grin slowly crept across Kal's face. "So I have a son. This is wonderful news." His hand zipped to Diana's throat, choking her. "Now tell me. Where. He. Is."
She struggled against his grip, coughing and sputtering. She kicked at his shins and thrashed around, trying desperately to break free.
"What's that, Diana? I can't quite hear you. You'll have to speak up."
He squeezed tighter. The color drained from her face. She hit his hand and arm and shoulders and face, trying to get him to release her. Her mouth opened wide, gulping for air that she just could not take in. After a few moments, her legs gave out beneath her. Her struggling grew weaker. Kal stared her right in the eyes as he forced her to her knees, his hand still tight around her throat.
Clark watched in horror. This woman had saved his life only hours ago, when Tempus had been moments away from sending him and Superman to The Phantom Zone for all eternity. Now he was forced to watch as this monster was about to strangle her to death, right in front of his very eyes. This monster that looked exactly like him, talked exactly like him… this monster who was him. This vile, disgusting creature of pure evil who was everything that he hated about himself, everything that he feared becoming, everything that Jonathan and Martha Kent had warned him about, everything that they taught him was wrong.
Clark looked down at the sniper rifle that was on the floor, only inches from his hand.
"This is your last chance, bitch," Kal snarled. "Tell me where my son is."
He momentarily released his grip on Diana's throat. She gasped, taking in huge breaths of air. "He's safe…" she wheezed, finally. "Safe… from you."
He gripped her throat even tighter this time, with both hands now. She spat and sputtered, trying desperately to pry his fingers from around her neck.
Clark's head was still spinning, and every muscle in his body ached. His skin still felt hot from the blast of heat vision he'd taken. Slowly, his hand went for the rifle. His fingers touched the gun, which felt cold as ice against his searing flesh. He wrapped his fingers around it, and lifted it off the floor.
Diana's eyes rolled back in her head. Her choking whimpers for precious oxygen were coming fewer and farther between. Her struggling had all but ceased. She was moments away from death.
Clark looked through the sight of the sniper rifle and aimed it so he could see the silver "S" on Kal's chest.
He pulled the trigger. A kryptonite bullet shot out from the gun.
The bullet bounced right off Kal-El's chest.
Kal looked down in surprise at the crushed green bullet that lay at his feet. Then he laughed. A laugh so loud and terrible that the walls of the trophy room actually shook. He threw Diana aside like a child discarding a toy he'd grown bored with. Diana coughed and gagged and took in huge gulps of air once more, still alive but barely conscious.
"How…" Clark stammered, looking at the gun in confusion. "How? Those bullets were real kryptonite… I know they were. I could feel them when I got close…"
"Yes, idiot. They are kryptonite," Kal said, slowly walking towards Clark. "But kryptonite doesn't affect me any more. I've become immune to it. I guess I should thank Lex for that. It was the last favor he ever did me, although he had no idea what he was doing. When he blew up Metropolis with that kryptonite-laced nuclear missile, I had to confine myself to this Fortress, keeping it surrounded by a force field from a Green Lantern ring at all times. I realized what a ridiculous way that was to live, let alone rule this planet. I thought of all the times that damn rock had almost killed me. It was my one weakness. I had to rid myself of that weakness."
Clark just stared up at Kal-El as he snatched the sniper rifle right out of his hand.
"So I let down the force field and went outside," Kal continued. "The green mist that hung in the air was so thick back then that you couldn't even see your own hand in front of your face. The first time I went out in it, I didn't even make it ten seconds before I lost consciousness and my guards had to bring me back inside. But each day, I managed to last a second or two longer. Every day I would go out into the green mist, and every day I'd last just a little bit longer against it. I'd hold out just a few seconds more. Until, after only a few weeks, I was able to stay outside for minutes, not seconds. After a few months, I could last for over an hour. And now," Kal said with a smile, "Now the damned stuff doesn't even affect me. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."
He pointed the gun at Clark, just inches from the boy's forehead.
"Do you really think that I'd be stupid enough to keep a weapon here that could actually hurt me?" Kal sneered.
A wild burst of emerald energy blew Kal across the room, sending him crashing into another row of trophy cases. The sniper rifle flew out of his hand, skittering across the ground and breaking in half as it struck a wall.
Kal shook broken glass from his arms and hair. "What the hell?!" he thundered.
H.G. Wells shuddered as he tried to recover from the blast of energy he'd just fired from the Green Lantern ring he currently sported on his left hand. "Oh, dear," he muttered, putting a hand on his head. "That took quite a lot out of me."
Kal stood up, letting out a primal yell as he threw his arms to the side, ripping apart the remains of the trophy case. "I don't know who you are, little man," he roared. "But I'm going to kill you!"
Superman, battered and bloody, stepped between Wells and Kal-El.
"No you're not," Superman growled. "Because if you want to get to him, you'll have to go through me first."
