Chapter Seventeen - Grave Concerns

"Ultra Woman?" gasped Clark. "But it can't be." He sank to the ground. "That's who we were going to stop, but I persuaded The Doctor to bring us here instead."

"It's not your fault, Clark," said a still-stunned Chloe, walking over and putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Of course it's my fault," yelled back Clark, his hurt-filled face turning towards her as he brushed her hand away. Chloe Sullivan flinched as Clark continued. "This is all my fault. If I'd just let us continue we might have got to Cat Grant in time, prevented her becoming Ultra Woman, prevented her killing Lana."

Chloe fought back her tears and tried to stay calm. It looked like she'd have to be strong for both of them. "You couldn't have done anything Clark. It was destiny. The future Chloe told me that something tragic had happened to Lana."

"I know," shot back Clark. "I overheard you."

Chloe looked puzzled. "But how? Where were you?"

"I had a decent hiding place," replied Clark sarcastically. "Anyway, that's how I knew something tragic had happened to Lana, and that's why I came back to Smallville in 1961, hoping that I could change the past, and avert that future, but I didn't - I caused that future."

"It's all me, me, me with you, isn't it?" interrupted Lex. "I guess you and Lana were soul mates in that respect."

Clark turned his head towards Lex, his eyes glowing red, as Lex continued. "But you didn't fail, Clark. You did change the future."

Lex looked at Clark and Chloe, both of them waiting for him to continue and then, after a suitably dramatic pause, he did so. "I fear that you and Chloe misconstrued that future Chloe's words. The tragedy that prevented Lana Lang being at the wedding that day was simply that her plane was delayed. And now, thanks to Chloe Sullivan's gift for exaggeration, you've actually killed Lana Lang, erasing her from that future entirely."

"I told you that you weren't responsible," said Chloe to a shaking Clark. "It was both of us."

"I'm sure Ultra Woman deserves some of the credit," observed Ursa, who was finding all of this fuss over one dead human highly comical.

"So what do we do next?" asked Jimmy.

"We do what we should have done all along," said Clark, drying his eyes. "We stop Cat Grant becoming Ultra Woman."

Lex laughed. "We can't. Nobody can stop Ultra Woman."

The Doctor disagreed. "Lex, I realize that Ultra Woman's intrusion into this reality makes it seem pre-ordained that we fail to stop her, but we can't give up hope. Oh, and General Zod, you can put Lana down now,"

As General Zod gently rested Lana Lang down on the floor, and, having done that, dropped unconscious beside her, Lex continued. "I realize that the future isn't a certainty, Doctor - Chloe and Clark have demonstrated that admirably - but what I do know is that Ultra Woman cannot be stopped."

Rose was suspicious of Lex. "Why are you telling us this now, Lex, at a time when our morale can't sink any lower?"

"Because, my dear Rose, while my previous talks with Ursa and The Doctor had revealed that we were out to stop a lady named Cat Grant from stealing Superman's superpowers, they'd completely failed to mention to me that our nemesis would become known as Ultra Woman."

"So what difference does that make?" asked The Doctor.

"I can understand the others not knowing the significance of that name, Doctor, but you … well, I thought you'd be well-read. In my time, Doctor, Ultra Woman is infamous - she was the mystery villainess who turned up from out of nowhere one month and proceeded to kill the greatest hero the world had ever known."

"She killed Superman?" asked Chloe.

"No," replied Lex. "Warrior Angel."


"So, where are we going now, Doctor," asked Rose, as the Tardis began its journey.

"Back to the Metropolis we last left," explained The Doctor, "so we can continue following Jimmy's trail."

"But I was here in 1961 Smallville," said Jimmy, slightly confused. "Can't we just start from here?"

"No, we can't risk it. If this is the second iteration of our journey then we have to follow our previous path as closely as possible. We can't risk any more detours or shortcuts."

"What about Lana?" asked Rose.

"She's dead," explained The Doctor. "Nothing we can do about it."

"But shouldn't we take her back? Surely she deserves a funeral?"

"We haven't got time."

"You've got a Tardis," said Rose despairingly. "You can make time!"

"And how do we explain her death to the authorities? Even the years on the gravestone would confuse people."

"Well, couldn't we do something here for her?"

"Well, I've put her on ice," explained The Doctor, and then saw Rose's exasperated face. "Oh, you mean something like a memorial service, just like the one we didn't have for Non. How do you think that would make Zod and Ursa feel?"

"But surely …"

"Okay, Rose, I'll see what I can arrange. No point doing anything now though. Chloe's finally catching up on her sleep, Zod's resting from his beating, Ursa's looking after him, Lex is wandering around being enigmatic and shiny, and Clark …"

They looked over at Clark, sat huddled on the ground, using his super-intelligence to go over and over the numerous ways in which he could have prevented Lana from dying, and, as each possibility occurred, saying it at a speed that made his words impossible to follow, not to mention high-pitched liked some demented cartoon character.

"… Clark will take some time," concluded The Doctor.


General Zod opened his eyes to see Ursa perched on the end of his bed.

"Is it safe to talk?" he whispered.

"Yes, we're in the Tardis' medical bay," replied Ursa. "There's no way Clark will be able to hear us from here. Besides, he's got other things on his mind right now."

"Did they believe me?"

"Every word," said Ursa. "The broken bones and bruises were a nice touch, although I wished you'd have asked me to help."

"Lana did this," he groaned.

"And you killed her," added Ursa with a smile on her face.

"No, this was after I killed her," replied Zod, before slipping once again into unconsciousness.