Clark flew from the house and toward Metropolis, Lois' words echoing in his head. There was truth to what she had said, and he admitted to himself that he was more afraid that he wanted to show. All of this seemed oddly coincidental, and almost planned down to the wire. Clark wasn't sure he knew why this was all happening, there seemed no identifiable reason for the President and Lord to work together. And yet they were. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he got to where the cry for help had come from.
Clark landed in between two streets and saw a woman with blonde hair and two men both of them bigger than her. "Excuse me, but what seems to be the problem here." Clark asked.
One of the men turned to face him. "Bugger off."
Clark bit back a grin. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Now why don't you both leave this lady alone and perhaps we can sort this out properly."
The man looked at him and snarled. "Bugger off."
His friend let go of the woman and drew out a gun. Clark sighed, he knew how this was going to go. He sped to where the man was, grabbed his hand and pulled the gun out, before pulling back and breaking the gun right in front of the men. "Now, will we have a civil discussion? Why don't you let the lady go?"
The two men stared at him in horror, then turned and ran. Clark looked at the lady, saw that she had blonde hair and green eyes, and something in him thought he'd seen her before, but he was not sure where. "Are you okay, miss?" he asked.
The woman nodded. "I am, thank you."
"Do you need help getting back to wherever you call home?" Clark asked.
The lady shook her head. "No, I'm okay, thank you. I live just down the road."
Clark smiled at the lady. "Very well, enjoy your day miss."
"You too." The lady replied before walking passed him. Clark stayed where he was for a moment before he took off once more into the air. He stayed in the sky, listening, focusing as his father had taught him all those years ago, on the sounds of the people, listening for anything out of the ordinary. He heard nothing odd, nothing strange, all was silent, and then he heard the sound of patter near a building on third street. He sped off in that direction to see what it was, and was surprised at what he saw.
Bruce Wayne, dressed as Batman was beating up criminals, thieves by the looks of it. once the last criminal had been put down and arrested, Clark landed next to his friend. "You could have called if you were in town."
"Not enough time." Bruce replied, panting slightly. "They had information I needed and they were making the buyout today at this exact time. I needed to be here."
"A buyout for what?" Clark asked. He had a rough idea but he wanted confirmation.
"A source gave me a tip off that there was something being bought for Maxwell Lord and I wanted to be here when it happened." Bruce replied.
"Do you know what it is?" Clark asked. "This thing that he is buying."
Bruce held up a paper wallet. "Papers pertaining to classified government documents from the sixties."
"Gog." Clark said.
"Gog." Bruce confirmed as he placed the papers inside a part of his suit that Clark was amazed existed.
"They're really going for this aren't they." Clark said.
"They are." Bruce replied. "I believe they're trying to figure out everything about Gog and how to bring him into existence even without the amulet."
Clark nodded, then before he could respond he heard a shot ring out, and a scream. He narrowed into it and felt his heart quicken. "Lois is in trouble. I've got to go." He said. Bruce nodded. Clark leapt into the air, and sped off toward the pier, he knew he should have gone with her to the pier. It had felt too good to be true. He sped off, trying to keep his breathing even and his heart normal, it was a difficult task. He came to the pier, saw the car that Lois drove, he saw a body, he landed and hurried over. "Jimmy." He breathed. His nerves growing. "Lois?" He called out knowing that perhaps he shouldn't have done that.
He walked forward, he saw Lois' phone nearby, he picked it up, the screen was cracked, an image of the three of them, him, Lois and Jonathan last Christmas appeared as her lock screen. He moved forward a little more and found something else. A necklace, silver with a little L on it, something he'd given her when they'd first started dating. She'd always worn it. his heart hammered even more. He moved forward a bit more, and found something that would've stopped his heart. A little bracelet Jonathan had made when he was five, Lois never took it off, and said it was the best thing she owned. Jonathan always blushed when he heard that, but Clark knew Lois meant it, he looked at his own bracelet. "Lois?" He called out.
There was still no response, he knew he had an speaker built into the suit he turned it on now and whispered. "Bruce are you there?"
"What's wrong Clark?" Bruce asked sounding concerned.
"Lois is missing. She went to see a source about something to do with Serial Four and the President, Jimmy's dead." Clark said fighting to keep his voice calm.
"I'll get people to looking." Bruce said.
"Thanks." Clark replied before turning off the speaker. He advanced forward, before stopping and groaning in pain. A flash of green light sparkled before him.
"Clark Kent, otherwise known as Kal El of Krypton. Thank you for joining us." A man said.
Clark advanced forward before slumping forward. "Who are you?"
The man came out of the light. "Clifford Devoe, Bartholomew should have mentioned me. I presented a deep challenge for him."
"How did you get out of Iron Heights?" Clark asked.
Devoe snorted. "It was easy enough the schematics are not what are needed to keep me inside." There was a brief pause. "I hope you will forgive the use of such tools, but I need you to listen."
"Where is my wife?" Clark demanded, fighting against the sharp pain in his chest. The green light was blinding.
"Ah, yes, the indomitable Lois Lane. Kenneth, do you mind?" Devoe asked.
A figure walked forward, and Clark felt the pain in his chest grow. "Clark!"
"Lois!" Clark called out. "Are you okay?"
Before he could hear Lois response, Devoe spoke. "You will get more time to speak with her once we are done, Mister Kent." A pause. "Now, I know you have been looking into Serial Four, and I believe that there are some things that I can provide for you."
"Why should I believe you?" Clark grunted.
Devoe did not respond, instead Lois was dragged forward by a monster covered in green and silver, Kenneth Braverman, the man Clark had known in school. Braverman held Lois against his chest and squeezed, she screamed in pain. As her screams grew louder, Devoe held out a hand and Braverman stopped. "Now, will you listen?"
Clark nodded, unable to speak. Devoe clapped his hands together. "Good." A pause. "Now, Serial Four, as you know includes President Matthews and that fool Maxwell Lord, however they were not the founding members. No, the founding members are long since dead or disappeared. They founded the organisation in preparation for your arrival onto this planet. In preparation for what they saw as the greatest threat to humanity since the Dominators landed. They prepared and they developed businesses to make money to fund their operations. Matthews and Lord joined the organisation as young men convinced of their own righteousness, and their own reason for doing this. They saw you, Kal El, as an abomination someone who needed to be removed. And so, they continued Serial Four long past its relevance. For you had proved to be not a thorn to humanity but a guiding light. Naturally men with such low IQs as the President and Lord have, they did not like that and sought to change it."
Clark groaned, the kryptonite was getting more and more painful. Devoe continued. "Of course, you are wondering why I am telling you this and why I hold your wife hostage. It is rather simple of course. You see Kal El, you are the ultimate weapon for those of us within Serial Four who have grown tired of dealing with such ingrates as the President and Lord. We wish to free ourselves of their restrictions and bring something new to the world." There was a pause, Clark groaned a little more. He could feel his organs starting to fail. Devoe continued. "You see Kal El, I know that you have the capabilities for greatness in you, and I know that you will never truly be able to access those qualities unless given the push."
"Don't listen to them Clark, don't listen to them" Lois cried out. Her words were replaced by screams though as Braverman squeezed tighter, her screams stopped at a wave of Devoe's hand.
Devoe continued. "You see Kal El, there are greater threats out there than you, or than Gog, there is a being so powerful that he collects worlds. A being who cannot be allowed to come to Earth. For if he comes then we are all doomed. Governments will try and bow before him and grant him sovereignty, and he will abuse that power and reduce us to ash. We must have someone, a leader who can take control and someone who can keep the infighting out of the leadership. You are that man."
"I will never side with you." Clark gasped. "I know what you did to Barry." The imprisonment, the false charges, the near death. He'd heard about it and wished he could have stopped Devoe.
"Ah, but you see Barry Allen is so much more now because of it. He has yet to reach his full potential though. But he will under you. We all will." Devoe answered. "We cannot afford anything less."
The kryptonite was leaching away at his energy; he could feel himself fading. Somehow he managed to speak out. "I won't join with you; I won't do anything for you. This world has problems, but it can be fixed by the people."
"Ah, I disagree. Mister Kent, the world is broken. We are destroying one another. Humanity will kill itself within the next twenty years sooner if it is not careful. And with this threat coming from outer space, we must ensure we are prepared. Governments do not know how to achieve that; they only know one thing and one thing alone. How to pander. They will pander to this thing if it means they keep their power. We need a new world." Devoe answered.
"Your world is wrong. It is broken and can't be fixed." Braverman said, why he had spoken Clark did not know. He did not care.
"Unhand Lois." Clark snarled, though it came out as a whimper.
"I am afraid that that is not possible anymore. For this new world to be born, for this world to have a chance, our saviour must sacrifice that which makes him human. You must like Christ before you, be tempted and tested and broken and built back up again. It is necessary, for your world to die, for ours to live." Devoe said.
It took a moment for Clark to comprehend what was being said and when he did he gasped. "Please, no." he struggled up and fell down.
"I am afraid I have no choice. Mister Braverman." Devoe said.
Lois screamed, Clark heard her muscles crack, heard her heart stop, heard her organs crash. He heard her fall to the floor. "You will see it was for the best." Devoe said before he disappeared and Braverman with him. The kryptonite disappeared also, and Clark hurried over to his wife.
"Lois." He sobbed. "Lois. No please, my love, please stay with me."
Lois looked at him her eyes were weak, her breathing shallow. "I love you. I love you Smallville. Tell Jonathan, tell Jonathan I love him."
"No Lois, no! You can't die. I won't let you die!" Clark cried. He turned on his comms. "Bruce, Lois is dying, I need help!" he didn't hear Bruce's reply, he didn't hear anything but his wife, and her shallow breathing. He heard it when her heart stopped. He heard it and he screamed.