Chapter Eleven - Star-Crossed Lovers

At The Daily Planet offices, Rose and Jimmy were talking to Lois Lane. Rose was amazed by how much she resembled the comic book Lois Lane - those artists had, albeit unknowingly, really captured her likeness.

"I'm afraid Jimmy's not around at the moment," said Lois, "although I'll tell him you lost his camera. He'll no doubt be thrilled."

"Is Clark Kent anywhere around?" asked Rose. "I was hoping I'd meet him."

Lois eyed Rose suspiciously. "No, he's not around either. But that's Smallville for you, never around when you need him."


Ursa pushed Lex hard against an alley wall.

"I've been wanting to do this since the moment I first set eyes on you," she purred.

"The feeling's mutual," replied Lex, putting his hands on her hips.

And then, without warning, she smashed her forehead against his face while, at the same time, introducing her knee to his groin. As Lex fell to the ground she looked at him pitifully.

"You seriously think I'd want you?" she asked, as she delivered a sharp kick to his head. "What sort of sick mind would come up with a Kryptonian/human relationship?"

Before he could answer her question, her elbow smashed into his stomach. As Lex writhed on the ground, remembering his younger days back in Smallville when this sort of beating was a common occurrence, and swiftly deciding that nostalgia was over-rated, he struggled to speak. "Disappointing."

Ursa paused for a second and raised an eyebrow quizzically. "I'm disappointing?"

"You should have killed me by now," groaned Lex. "Just my professional opinion."

Ursa kneeled in front of him. "Twenty four hours ago, I would have done. A fist would have gone straight through your stomach, or I'd have stared at you and engulfed you in flames, or I'd have breathed on you then shattered your frozen body. But a lot's happened since then."

Lex lay there, regaining his strength. If he was to be really critical, Ursa was making the same mistake that he'd made many times - delivering a lecture rather than a killing blow. Still, that mistake was keeping him alive, so silence seemed the best option.

"For a start," continued Ursa, "a be-wigged fool known as Lex Luthor led to us losing our powers. I realize that wasn't you, Lex, but still you're the nearest thing I've got right now. That's why I'm going to kill you slowly, prolonging your agony, and making you realize just what I've lost."

Lex tried not to smile. His death didn't matter to Ursa. All she wanted was someone to talk to, although his death would ensure that their conversation stayed private.

"I remember when we first got our powers, we felt so great, like we'd live forever. You can't imagine what it was like after decades of being powerless, deprived of sensation in that rotating two-dimensional Phantom Zone, to suddenly be really alive again, more alive than we'd ever been."

Suddenly Ursa lunged forward, and, the next thing Lex knew, her arm was wrapped around his throat. "Don't worry, Lex, I Haven't forgotten about the matter in hand, after all I'd hate to disappoint you. Now, where was I?"

"Alive," groaned Lex.

"Yes, more alive than ever … able to think faster., more clearer than we ever had before. You can't imagine what it's like Lex, so much more wonderful than anything you've ever known. I remember the night we took over the world, the night that lasted forever."

Lex, rapidly turning red-faced, tugged at her arm around his throat, but it wouldn't loosen.

"Zoddy and I made love, against a backdrop of stars, as we continuously orbited the Earth faster ever faster. Time stopped still for us, and then moved backwards, as we enjoyed each other like we'd never enjoyed each other before … our unmatchable endurance prolonging the act while our heightened senses took in every sight, sound, smell, heard our hearts beating in perfect unison. And then, finally tired, we'd rest while time caught up with us and then we'd start all over again. By the time we'd finally finished after days, maybe months, we looked around at the sky decorated with our past selves. Together we lay there, floating in the cosmic firmament … breathless."

Ursa suddenly remembered about Lex, and slackened her grasp on his throat so that he'd make it to the end of her story.

"And then, Zod gazed at me, not with his microscopic vision that had already examined my every pore countless times over, but with his X-ray vision, and within me he saw what we'd created - our star child, the last son of Krypton."

And with that, Ursa lifted Lex from the floor and swung him forcefully against a wall.

"And that's the end of the story," she said, as she swung her final kick towards him. She'd done this sort of thing before, numerous times, and she knew this blow would be fatal, and she knew that nothing could stand in its way.


"These two heartbeats?" asked The Doctor. "Was one faster than the other, and, say, not as noisy?"

Clark nodded.

"Ursa's pregnant," explained The Doctor. "There's going to be an Ursa Minor."

"Oh, I guess that's a possibility," Clark was forced to admit. Suddenly he heard the telltale hum, that told him the Tardis was traveling, die down. "So, why have we come back to my Metropolis, Doctor?"

"It's best you don't know, Clark. You just go outside and keep yourself to yourself. Whatever you do, don't do a Chloe and meet your future self."

"Would that be bad?" asked Clark.

"Would it ever. I remember when Rose met her younger self that time. Then again she made things even worse by saving her father from dying."

"She saved her father's life?" asked a stunned Clark.

"Yeah, of all the time travels clichés. Just imagine."

And as Clark left the Tardis that was all he could do … just imagine.


Back in a different reality's Metropolis, Chloe Sullivan finished her coffee and put the photograph that she'd shown to Lana away. If she'd have looked at it more closely she might have noticed that it had just started to change.