Kingdom Come
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Note 1: This has been a long time coming. Loosely inspired by both the comic book version, and the Arrowverse's version with a Millma Verse twist, this story will evolve over 4 chapters, the first 2 here, the 3rd on a Hitchhikers and the last on Karry Universe. Enjoy!
Note 2: If you couldn't guess by the premise, the Clark of this world is portrayed by Brandon Routh! This isn't mentioned in this story but will be referenced later on in my upcoming Hitchhikers.
The Justice League Kills
The door to the Fortress of Solitude blew open as Diana Prince marched through the threshold. She was a woman on a mission as she paused to scan the larger-than-life room, almost like a cathedral with crystal sculptures and alien tech adorning the place.
"Clark?!" She called out, marching into the large room, and looking around – at that moment though, a small robot came flying out of nowhere and stopped before Diana.
"Diana Prince?" The little robot looked up at Wonder Woman, who glared at her. "You destroyed the doors to the Fortress of Solitude – that's nearly impossible."
"Nearly, yes, but I did it. Now where is Clark, little one?" Diana asked, unsure where to go from here – she'd never exactly been to the Fortress before.
"Kal-El is –" but the robot was spared anymore words as a man in a bathrobe, with long hair, a beard and a curious expression came from a side room. He stopped at he stared at Diana. Then he looked at the door to his Fortress and groaned.
"How…?" The man asked as Diana sighed, all anger dissipating at seeing his dishevelled appeared.
"Oh, Clark…" Diana moaned, moving toward him. "It's been a long time."
"What are you doing here?" Clark asked, batting the little robot away as he leaned against the wall, folding his arms. "How are you here?"
"You told me about this place a lifetime ago – although what happened to the key?" Diana folded her arms as Kal-X moved off to fix the door.
"I took it inside so exactly this wouldn't happen," Clark sighed, waving at Diana dismissively. "Why are you here?"
"Getting you back into the world of the living," Diana sighed. By the looks of him, he would not be easy convince. "You've been a recluse for too long."
"I removed myself from the world because I didn't see the point," Clark stated, eyeing Diana. "And you're trespassing."
"I'm not leaving without you," Diana stated back, her hand moving to the hilt of her sword as both glared at each other. But then Clark smiled.
"I won't fight you, Diana. I can't. I had Kal-X install red-sun emitters throughout the Fortress – I'm weak here," he stated after a moment, relaxing a little. "Besides, it's home. It's why I like it here. I don't need to be god to the people."
"But you do," Diana pointed out.
"Why?" Clark frowned now, curious as to why she was here – a lot went into this one word as he scanned her up and down, wondering. He had known Diana for a long time. She was frustrated, worried and desperate. He could tell this.
"Bruce is dead," Diana stated, everything placed into these three words, wondering how Clark would react to his former friend's death.
"How?" Clark blinked at that; he, Diana and Bruce had been close friends before Clark had left the world of man, although a rift had formed between them before that. They, along with the Martian Manhunter and the Flash had formed the Justice League, after all.
"Oliver killed him," Diana explained. Although calmer now, she kept her hand on the hilt of her sword still, just in case – she didn't know this Clark anymore.
"I guess there's no surprises there," Clark groaned. "Oliver was always power-hungry. Is that all you came here to tell me, that Batman finally bit the bullet?"
"No. As I told you, I'm not leaving without you because the world needs you – the world needs Superman," Diana stated, moving forward now as Clark stiffened once more. "The Justice League has changed, Clark. They kill anyone who gets in their way – and all because of Oliver. He's their leader now. The world has lost hope without you."
"I thought Wonder Woman imbued hope?" Clark frowned at her now, somewhat disturbed by the information Diana had presented to him. "What exactly have you been doing since I left?" Clark wondered how Diana let things get as bad as she said if she was there.
"Well…" Diana sighed now as she sat on the floor, crossing her legs as she looked up to Clark now, who crouched down in front of her. "After you left, Bruce took it hard. He regretted what he did, how he pushed you away. I needed a break from it all – I returned home, to Themyscira. I had been there for a long time before I came back to find everything changed. Wonder Woman isn't enough anymore; the world needs their League back – their real League."
"Then go start it!" Clark waved a hand at that. "I won't return, not after what happened to Lois, after what Bruce did to the Joker. But you can do it alone. You don't need me."
"Lois died believing in hope! She wouldn't want you to waste your life here, alone." Diana snapped, jumping back up from the floor now, forcing Clark to look up to her. "What Bruce did was bad, unforgivable, but it's gotten worse. I do need you Clark – and so does your cousin."
"I don't have a cousin?" Clark stood at this, cocking his head. "Last of Krypton, remember? And my human mom and dad had no other family."
"You're not the last of Krypton and you do have a Kryptonian cousin. Kara Zor-El. She arrived soon after you left," Diana stated, a little coldly now. "I had raised her on Themyscira after her pod landed on the beach."
"You did…? Kal-X!" Clark turned on his heel, and the small robot who had greeted Diana appeared again, ever the humble servant. "I have a cousin?"
"Indeed, you do," the little robot stated, surprising Clark. "She was sent after your own pod, to raise and protect you on Earth. However, her pod vanished into the Phantom Zone after Krypton's destruction. You arrived alone. All systems indicated she must have died."
"But she's alive," Clark pointed out. "Diana said about Themyscira…"
"Indeed. A similar pod was detected thirteen years ago heading to that destination," Kal-X stated, surprising Clark. "Our systems did register it as Kara Zor-El's pod."
"And you didn't think inform me?!" He snapped at the robot, angry. He had a cousin. He had family. A reason to live beyond these walls.
"You had just started your isolation. You didn't want to be disturbed for anything," Kal-X explained, and, as if to back up this claim, a holographic image of a slightly younger, beardless Clark appeared, projected from the robot. He looked haunted, distressed, and full of sorrow.
"Kal-X," the holographic Clark said, "I can't go back. The world has changed too much. Lois is gone, my parents are gone, Bruce has… changed – I have nothing. I'm staying here, in the Fortress. Do not disturb me for anything, got it?" The image frozen at that as the present Clark groaned.
"Damn…" Clark sighed, turning back to a now bemused Diana. His own orders to the robot had backfired on him. As smart as these Kryptonian servants were, they could not sense an event that had changed those orders. Kal-X would not have informed him of anything.
"That explains that one," Diana stated quietly now. "Kara was raised by me. She left for the world of man years ago – I followed after a message from her told me of the changes, of what the League and the world had become."
"I'm sorry, but I am glad you got to her. It could have been a lot worse," Clark said with a sigh, knowing his words to be true. If Kara had landed anywhere but Themyscira and Diana had not been there, harm could have come to his cousin. "Is Kara okay?"
"Yes and no," Diana stated, surprising Clark. "This isn't the life she thought it was… but Clark, so much more than the League has changed."
"But Kara…?" Clark stated.
"If you want to meet her, you can," Diana stated, a little more calmly now. "But I cannot guarantee she'll want to meet you."
"What? Why? I'm her family, her blood! That means everything to a Kryptonian," Clark pointed out, nodding to the large crystal statues deeper in the room – his parents in embrace.
"She's not exactly Kryptonian, not anymore," Diana sighed, glancing from the statue and back to Clark. "Like I said, I raised her on Themyscira."
"So, she's Amazonian," Clark smirked now.
"Something like that," Diana nodded. "Maybe a cross between a Kryptonian, human, and Amazonian. She's… well everything I could have hoped for in a daughter."
"I'm glad she has family in you. I hope I can be family too," Clark nodded solemnly.
"You can if you leave with me now," Diana stated, firmly now.
"Okay," Clark nodded, surprising and pleasing Diana. "Rao… I need to clean up," Clark added. "I need to meet her."
"Good," Diana smiled now. "And then Superman –"
"The world can live without Superman," Clark countered, quickly.
"Why are you so resistant?" Diana snapped. "I knew Lois's death would change you, but make you into this man…?"
"Lois was my everything," Clark snapped now. "We were Bonded, remember? I felt her, like she felt me, and when she died… I couldn't do anything to save her. It broke me deeply – more deeply than you can possibly comprehend."
"And holing yourself up here wasn't exactly the miracle cure you needed," Diana stated, pointedly. "You just wallowed in self-pity. Never moving on. It's not good. It's not right."
"There is no miracle cure for what happened," Clark mused, "but I cannot remain in here, you're right – not when family still exists out there."
"And the world needs hope, Clark," Diana pointed out, Clark giving her an exasperated expression before he turned on his heel and left to clean up.
He returned a few minutes later, with no beard and shorter hair. He looked instantly like his younger self – apart from the clothes. He wasn't in human attire, but nor was he in a super costume. If anything, it looked Kryptonian, completely black with the El symbol present on the chest, and no cape or even hair curl he had once been so famous for.
"Take me to Kara," Clark stated. "Kal-X is fixing the door."
"Before that," Diana stated, now following him out of the Fortress, glad she had done something good today. She glanced back at the little robot rebuilding the door behind them. "We must talk with Oliver Queen."
"Must we?" Clark groaned, as he took a moment to soak in the solar radiation that powered his super cells – he'd been in the Fortress for so long, under red sun tech, that he'd been human for all that time. Now though, he felt powerful again.
"You need to see this," Diana stated, as she and Clark took to the skies. "You need to see what the Justice League we started has become."
-Kingdom Come-
Clark and Diana flew over Gotham City, which surprised Clark as, the last he knew, the Green Arrow operated in Starling City.
"Starling is gone," Diana explained to his look as they landed on the rooftop of a small tower block.
"Gone? How?" Clark asked.
"Bombed. A former League of Assassins member, Malcolm Merlyn, had this Earthquake machine – it was only meant to take out the suburbs, but it destroyed the entire city. So many lives lost. Oliver and his Team Arrow relocated to Gotham thereafter," Diana explained, just as an arrow whizzed pass her ear. On instinct she spun, her sword instantly out as a sonic cry hit into them, but both stood their ground as Black Canary swung onto the rooftop, followed by the Green Arrow.
"Well, well, well," Oliver Queen growled behind his mask as Laurel Lance, with short blonde hair and a yellow-and-black outfit remained a little behind him – her canary cry not having been too effective, it seemed. "I never thought I'd see you back here, Superman," Oliver added.
"I'm not back," Clark stated quickly. "Well, at least not for you. This was Wonder Woman's idea. I only want to see my cousin," Clark figured Oliver had to know about his cousin. He didn't picture her not being known by others, from what Diana had said.
"You want to see Supergirl with the rebels?" Laurel laughed, then saw Clark's face. "He doesn't know…?"
"He will," Diana said, stopping whatever Laurel was about to say. "But we came here to talk to you."
"Well, whatever," Oliver shrugged. "Do you want back in on the Justice League? Our offer remains open to any former members," he nodded to Diana at this.
"What you do isn't justice," Diana stepped in as Oliver stiffened.
"What we do is what is needed," Oliver countered. "I've told you this before, Diana."
"Was the murder of Batman, justice?" Diana countered.
"We've been through this," Oliver groaned, rolling his eyes behind his mask. "Bruce was getting weak; he didn't see what the rest of his League saw. He needed to step down."
"So, you murdered him?" Clark asked, folding his arms in curiosity. He and Batman had his difference especially since Batman had killed the Joker for what he did, but Clark had never pictured killing him.
"He got in the line of fire – it's not our fault it was fatal," Laurel pointed out with a shrug.
"He tried to get you all back on track!" Diana countered. "You failed."
"We never fail," Oliver snapped at this.
"We take out the bad guys and make the world a safer place," Laurel added.
"How is it safe when you kill even the pettiest of criminals?" Diana asked. "People need to face justice, not death."
"The less baddies there are in the streets, the more the public can survive, can hold their heads up high and feel safe," Oliver stated.
"But they don't feel safe…" Diana countered. She had clearly had this argument many times with the group. "Not anymore."
"This isn't the League we set up," Clark spoke up, having watched the exchange in silence since, realizing now why Diana had been so imploring of him returning to the world. The Justice League now was definitely on the wrong way.
"No, it's the League we have now," Laurel countered. "What we do is good – with government backing too. They made us Red Tornado after all."
"That was the backing Bruce set up," Diana stated, darkly now, "before everything went to hell."
"And you are friends of Bruce," Oliver said. "Which is why we want you back in the League."
"Seriously?" Diana sighed. "After everything that's happened since, after what we've just said? Not to mention the meta humans and their war?"
"War?" Clark asked, turning to Diana at that. There had been mention of rebels earlier, but not a war.
"I told you that so much more than just the League has changed," Diana turned on Clark at this.
"Thirteen years changes a lot," Oliver spoke up, almost sympathetically.
"Don't I know it," Diana muttered.
"What are you doing here if you don't want to re-join the League?" Oliver now asked the pair, folding his arms.
"What I've been doing since I came back to the world of man – to convince you not to kill the bad guys," Diana implored. "I had hoped with Clark here maybe you would see sense. Maybe we could all re-join into what the League once was, remake it to actually protect the people. Not defend a corrupt government and kill anyone who breaks the most minor of crimes."
"But it seems we're at a stalemate," Clark, in fact, chuckled now, speaking up. "We don't want in your League as it is, and you don't want to change…"
"We don't exactly need an old Super and Wonder Woman," Oliver pointed out. "If you flat out refuse to join, we have plenty in our League. We're good."
"I won't stop trying to convince you though," Diana stated, folding her arms. She wasn't giving up on these people. No matter how lost they were, they once had the hearts of a real hero.
"I look forward to the challenge, Diana," Oliver smirked as he held up his quiver, shot an arrow to a higher building, and he and Laurel swung out of sight, leaving Diana and Clark alone.
"What exactly was that meant to prove to me?" Clark rounded on Diana now. He didn't see why he was here. Why Diana had not taken him to his cousin like he asked? The need to see her was growing.
"That we need you," Diana stated. "And if you couldn't bring Oliver back over to the good side, then something needs to be done about it."
"Like what?" Clark scoffed.
"Like, we start our own League," Diana stated.
"We?" Clark frowned. "I told you –"
"You're here," Diana countered. "Look, Clark, I know you, even if you don't know yourself right now. We've been friends since I came to the world of men. You didn't just leave your hiding hole just to meet your cousin – you wanted this. You want to protect your home world. The world that took you in and gave you so much. There is still so much here. Even without Lois, without your adopted parents. There are people in this world who need you."
"I…" Clark paused, not knowing how to answer to that.
"I know some heroes, some who don't want in the Justice League or want to fight in this meta war," Diana stated. "It would only take us a few minutes to get them together. With them we can make a new Justice League. Bring back the hope to the people."
"No," Clark held up a hand. "No. I want to see Kara first. Anything after… well, that can fall into place once I see her."
"Fine," Diana sighed. "But there's something you should know before I do. Follow me," without waiting for him, Diana flew up and Clark sighed as he followed, the pair leaving the city to the seclusion of open fields beyond.
"Diana, what's up?" Clark asked as they landed, Diana finding a nearby tree stump to sit down as she looked up at him, almost regretfully now.
"Oliver and I mentioned meta humans and a war…" Diana started. "Like I said, a lot has changed since you left the world. You need to know about the change before you see Kara. She is not what you are expecting."
"I figured," Clark sighed but raised an eyebrow. He needed to know what Diana was talking about. What did this war, or rebellion, or whatever, have to do with his cousin? "You keep trailing me along but with no details, no reason…"
"Because if you knew the full details when in the Fortress of Solitude, you'd have never left with me," Diana admitted, not knowing how to break this news to Clark.
"This sounds big," Clark said, leaning against a tree now.
"It is," Diana started. "It begins – and I suppose, ends – with the Flash."
Post-chapter Note: And there you have it for this week! The Millma Verse's Kingdom Come has debuted. Next week will be a much longer chapter, have some twists and turns, but I hope you like what we have so far.
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Karry Beta and Master OUT!