Chapter Two - Save Me
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"
The chilling robotic voice dragged Jimmy Olsen's attention back to the pepperpot-shaped machine of destruction looming towards him.
"It's a Dalek!" he gasped, turning back to the stranger who was offering a helping hand.
"That's right," replied the man, grabbing Jimmy by the arm and helping him to his feet. "Rose," he shouted to his companion. "Behind that van."
The Doctor pointed towards the wreck of a burnt-out van lying on its side at the center of a road just behind them. Rose didn't see how hiding would prevent their inevitable demise but The Doctor had managed to keep her alive thus far so she didn't argue.
The Dalek was aiming its gun at The Doctor just as he and Jimmy Olsen dove out of sight behind the van wreckage.
The Dalek stopped, as its electronic eye surveyed the van that its quarry was hiding behind.
"Exterminate!" it declared one last time as the blast from its gun vaporized the van. And there, behind where the van had been, there was nothing, except for a single manhole cover.
Seconds earlier Rose Tyler wouldn't have been surprised to be told that she'd now be six feet under, although she wouldn't have been expecting the pungent smells. As she and Jimmy followed The Doctor as he ran down the sewer, the road above and behind them was blasted away, causing sunlight to come streaming down, along with a levitating Dalek.
"Resistance is futile!" explained The Dalek, just as his prey reached an intersection and disappeared once more from sight. By the time the Dalek reached the intersection, they'd disappeared in the maze of sewers beneath the destroyed city.
As the Dalek began the slow laborious process of searching every inch of the sewers, The Doctor, Rose Tyler and Jimmy Olsen were climbing out of the sewer next to a large blue police telephone box.
"It's the Tardis!" exclaimed Jimmy Olsen.
Rose was a bit confused as to how this man knew about the Tardis. Also, she could have sworn she recognized him from somewhere.
The Doctor didn't seem a bit surprised though, but then again he never did. He just nodded. "Yes it is. Do you want to come inside?"
Jimmy Olsen looked at the destruction that surrounded him and decided that that would the sensible option. "Sure."
The Doctor opened the door and beckoned him inside. "I'm The Doctor," he said, introducing himself, "and this is Rose Tyler."
"Hi, I'm Jimmy Olsen."
At that moment realization dawned on Rose. "That's right. You played him on TV. I recognize you now."
Jimmy shook his head. "No, I'm the real Jimmy Olsen."
"But Jimmy Olsen isn't real," explained Rose. "He's just a comic book character."
"Yeah, just like Doctor Who's a TV character," countered Jimmy. "Although he's certainly changed. The Doctor Who I knew was an alien with garish dress sense."
"Like your friend Superman?" Rose asked with a surplus of sarcasm. "And who's Doctor Who?"
"Multiple realities," said The Doctor, interrupting Jimmy and Rose's bickering. "What we know as a comic book character actually exists in another reality, just as in some other reality we're just characters in a TV show."
"You've got to be joking?" said Rose. "Even if there were other realities how would we know what was happening in them? What are they - noisy neighbors?"
"Some realities are so big they cast shadows, Rose."
"Okay, so you're saying all TV shows are just other realities."
"Exactly … except for reality TV shows ... and the ones that are completely made up."
Realizing that her conversation with The Doctor was as fruitless as the one she'd been having with Jimmy, Rose Tyler decided to shut up for a while.
"So, Jimmy," asked The Doctor. "What brings you to this reality?"
"I had this device that enabled me to travel across time and realities, but then that Dalek destroyed it, along with Clark Kent."
At that point Rose forgot that she'd earlier decided to stay quiet. "That's where we came in. That guy looked just like that guy out of Smallville."
Jimmy gave a sigh. "Well that guy was Clark Kent. Well, a Clark Kent, but now thanks to me he's dead."
"He's not dead," laughed The Doctor. "Lost in time, lost in space, admittedly … but not dead."
Clark Kent suddenly materialized on the streets of Smallville in the exact same place where he'd left. He looked across at The Talon, except the sign above its doors didn't say The Talon anymore but The Green Rock Café.
He wandered up to the doors, hearing the loud music blaring from within, and entered. Once inside he stared in shock at the clientele - the place was full of mutants. Where coffee had been served before, there was now alcohol, and there at the bar, buying a drink from a huge metallic grey bartender, was a face he recognized.
"Lana," he said, rushing over to the leather clad girl at the bar.
"Can be if you want me to," she replied, as she sipped at her drink. "Or, if you prefer the intellectual type …"
At which point her face morphed into Chloe Sullivan's.
Clark couldn't believe his eyes. "What's happened here?"
"We've taken over, Clark," she replied.
"You know me?" asked Clark.
"Every green-blooded girl in Smallville remembers you, Clark," she laughed. "Yeah, you were pretty rad for a plaid guy. To tell the truth I was really sad when you disappeared, what was it, about five years ago. And now you're back and you haven't changed in the least. Not like the rest of us."
"Who did this to you?"
"It was your friend, Lex. Guess it took his mind off searching for you."
"He turned you all into mutants on purpose?" asked an incredulous Clark.
"Professor Lex and his Lex-Men? You've got to be kidding me, Clark. We're just the test subjects he experimented on - the ones who survived anyway."
Clark couldn't believe his friend was capable of this. "Why would he do this?"
"Money of course," she replied, as if the answer was obvious. "Lex never had a day's illness following his exposure to kryptonite."
Clark still failed to comprehend so she continued her explanation. "Kryptonite - a cure for the common cold, a universal panacea - can you begin to comprehend how much that's worth?"
Clark nodded. "So, you mutants have taken over The Talon?"
"No, Clark," she replied patiently. "We've taken over Smallville. The locals don't care anymore - they're all out stoned in a field somewhere. And please don't call us mutants - we prefer the term freaks."
The bartender started to walk over to the other side of the bar and Clark suddenly caught a glimpse of a green piece of kryptonite at the back of the bar. Suddenly his body tensed and he started to feel dizzy and nauseous.
The girl looked at him. "What's the matter, Clark? You don't look at all well." A hand went to his throat. "Let me put you out of your misery like all the rest of the norms." Her hand squeezed tighter. "Whose face do you want to see as you die?"
Clark gasped for breath as the kryptonite sent pain throughout his body.
"Lana?" she asked, as her face morphed to Lana's. "All the freaks loved Lana … often."
At which point the bartender walked back over to watch Clark being choked. As the bartender's body passed in front of the kryptonite, Clark started to feel his strength returning. Slowly he grabbed hold of the girl's fingers and peeled them from his neck, and then, using his super-speed he lunged for the bartender, grabbed him and dragged him over the bar, keeping him positioned between the kryptonite and himself. "Let me guess - you're made of lead."
Slowly Clark backed out of the bar, holding the bartender aloft, all the freaks staring at him. Suddenly he collided with a blind boy behind him.
Clark said an apology that was covered up by the loud music, and then the blind boy held his head as if he was looking straight at Clark and said "You will scream the word NO three times before this night is finished."
Clark ignored the boy and continued to leave the bar. As he finally got out he flung the bartender back inside and then started his super-speed journey to what was left of the Kent Farm.
His night was about to get worse.
