Author's notes: When I said I'd go on hiatus because I had stuff to do, that stuff is now done. And there actually was no hiatus, well more than 2 weeks.
Let's go back to Earth-3 now, shall we? Oh, and for the references to Doctor Who characters, I don't think I need to explain those anymore.
Earth-3: Part 2
Location unknown
TZAAAP!
''AAAhhh!'' Clark let out as he was brought back to conciousness by what felt like unimaginably high amount of electricity.
Shaking his head, Clark found out he was strapped to a chair, still wearing his Superman-suit and being pointed at by a huge lamp. And with his hearing that felt like it was coming back, Clark managed to hear hearts it the dark room he was in.
''This lamp is a gamble giving you a 50-50 chance of surviving in it,'' a strong voice of an elderly man said in the shadows behind the lamp. ''I'm smart enough to see the difference between the letter on your chest and someone else, who is weakened by this particular spectrum. How does it make you feel?''
''If it's from a yellow sun,'' Clark said
CHALK!
pulling his right hand free, ''it's actually making me feel better.''
TZAAAP!
Another blast of electricity hit Clark and the lamp was shut down. While he was recovering from all the buzzing in his ears, Clark attempted to meke out the people behind the lamp. One male, other female. The man looked old, about 60-70 years old, but also looked like he was in terrific shape. His silouethe showed that he was balding and wearing somekind of gauntlets. The woman was close to same age as the balding man and they were both wearing somekind of survival gear with cloaks and hoods. Seeing as Clark had obtained a small amount of his powers back, he decided to passively use his x-ray vision to scan their bodies for DNA to identify them. And shockingly, he did.
''Lex? Hermione?'' Clark said shocked as the two people he never had believed to see in the same room together turned to him. ''What did you do to Harry?''
''YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY HIS NAME!'' 'Hermione' yelled at Clark in anger, pointing at him with what Clark assumed was the thing causing the electric shocks he had been given.
''I just proved that is not Ultraman!'' 'Lex' said grabbing 'Hermione's' arm. ''He is however something similar and with his companion-''
''You do have Harry!'' Clark said releasing himself from the chair and speeded at them, grabbing and throwing away their weapons. ''What have you done to him?!''
''Listen to me!'' 'Lex' who was wearing a eye-patch said raising his arms. ''The Ultraman we knew would have killed us as soon as he had freed himself, but you are not even holding onto us!''
''I'm not your Ultraman,'' Clark said shaking his head, but kept a serious look. ''The name people gave me because my S-symbol is Superman and this symbol means hope.''
''You don't sound like him either,'' 'Lex' said lowering 'Hermione's' defensive armes. ''You are not Ultraman! His symbol was force and I can see from your eyes you have not killed anyone in your life.''
Clark blinked and swallowed.
''He is a killer!'' 'Hermione' said accousingly as soon as she saw Clark's bad pokerface. ''You might not be Ultraman, but you are not a saint. You have blood on your hands!''
''He might have, but he also feels guilt,'' 'Lex' said attempting to calm her down. ''Was it an accident or a-''
''Where is Harry?'' Clark asked again, calmly and non-threatingly. ''Where have you taken my friend?''
''Who did you kill?!'' 'Hermione' asked with poison in her voice.
''General Zod!'' Clark said and then looked down, guilty of still being force to remember it. ''I killed General Zod, to stop him from killing any more people.''
'Lex' and 'Hermione' seemed to be unfamiliar to Zod's name, but seeing Clark's mood remembering what he had done was the final evidence to these people that he was nothing like the monster they had thought him to be. Atleast on one of them.
''My name is Alexander Luthor,'' 'Lex' said placing his left hand on Clark's shoulder and gestured a handshake with his right one. ''If you are, and are not, like Ultraman, then who are you?''
Hogwarts, Gryffindor Tower
''Potter?''
Harry woke up slowly on a sofa, in what looked like runned down and dark version of the Gryffindor Common Room, surrounded by people in survival gears. Those who didn't have headgear to cover their faces, he managed to recognize as noticeable older versions of the same people he had studied in Hogwarts with and worked in Ministry now.
''How are you alive?'' Seamus Finnegan asked looking down on Harry.
''What?''
''The Potter we knew,'' Draco Malfoy said with attitude, ''was killed by Ultraman. The same man we found you with at the old Torchwood Ministry. What were you-''
''That was not Ultraman!''
Turning to the direction of the voice, up to the balcony above, Harry saw an unknown man wearing an eyepatch with an aged Hermione and Clark, wearing his Superman costume again and looking like he had been told bad news.
''What do you mean 'not Ultraman', Alexander?'' Draco asked looking up to them and Alexander lifted up a green glowing rock that caused Clark to loose his footing and take hold of the railing to stay up.
''Unghh,'' Clark grunted in deep breaths as Alexander then pushed him over the railing and down to Harry and everyone else.
''CLARK!'' Harry said rushing up and to Clark who looked sick.
''All of you saw that and you all know what this is?'' Alexander said holding the green rock out so everyone could see it. ''You all who know what reaction this substance has on Ultraman, look down to what it is doing to this man!''
''PUT IT AWAY!'' Harry yelled to Alexander, while next Clark who was sweating and breathing heavily. ''YOU'RE HURTING HIM!''
''Exactly,'' Alexander said addressing to his people. ''I am hurting this man with the very substance that gives Ultraman his powers. What does that tell you all?''
''It can't be Ultraman,'' Neville said looking at Harry and tortured Clark.
''Exactly,'' Alexander said throwing the rock to another room, before turning to the staircase behind him and walked down to face Harry. ''And from what I have heard of you, Harry Potter, you would be the last person ever to defend him.''
''You're… Lex Luthor?'' Harry said looking at Alexander while helping Clark back on his feet.
''Alexander Luthor, Mr Potter,'' Alexander told Harry, ''if that really is you.''
''I am!'' Harry said pulling his hair of hir forehead to show his lightning bolt scar. ''But I'm not the same Harry Potter you knew, just as Clark is not your Ultraman.''
''We're from a different Earth,'' Clark said having gathered some of his strengths back. ''A man named Outsider opened a Rift in Cardiff in our world, bringing your world's Crime Syndicate there and sending us here in the process.''
Alexander looked at Harry and Clark with his hands crossed and with the Hermione, Draco, Neville and Seamus also looking at them. When they looked at Harry, they had mixed feelings of joy and skepticism on their faces, but on Clark's case, they still gave him dark glances of disgust and distrust. But Alexander had a calm face when he was looking at Clark.
''A Rift, you say?'' Alexander said taking a step forward. ''Between parallel worlds, that sounds like Torchwood in 2010.''
In explanations provided by Alexander and Hermione, this world's history was very different compared to Harry's and Clark's, starting with the final year of Voldemort's reign. Ultraman had found this world's Harry, Ron and Hermione at cafe, but unlike Clark, he had burnt the Death Eaters to ashes. He had not however, joined them then there right away, but much later at the Ministry, where he had killed more people and ended up with them after that.
''And Ron didn't leave us,'' Hermione said bitterly glaring at Clark. ''Ultraman's company was uncomfortable with how much lethal force he used, so we staged a fight where he would attempt to leave and lead Ultraman away.''
''He killed Ron?!'' Clark said realizing what Hermione was saying. ''Ultraman-''
''Heat slash, that's what he does,'' Hermione said gesturing beams being shot from her eyes. ''Fear of Voldemort grew smaller with every moment we spent in Ultraman's company.''
''It however took some time for the Death Eaters to see that,'' Alexander said taking out an old photograph. ''Many were fleeing from them to America, including my sister, Lena. She came to me for help and two Death Eaters followed her, killing her. I killed one of them and forced another to lead me to their master. I was there when Voldemort and our world's Harry both realized how much of a threat Ultraman was and attempted to kill him.''
''Voldemort came to an agreement with your Harry?'' Harry said disbelieved.
''They made a short truce until Ultraman would have been killed,'' Drace told looking at Clark. ''But even two Killing Curses couldn't kill Ultraman. He was so powerful that he didn't die. He was weakened, but didn't die.''
''And then he killed both Harry and Voldemort with what was left of his heat vision,'' Neville said, ''and in that state, we could have killed him then and there.''
''Why didn't you?'' Clark asked, thinking it seemed very out-of-character for these people not to do that.
''That was when Owlman and his witch partner attacked,'' Alexander said, pointing at his eyepatch. ''We were all weakened from fighting one another and Ultraman, that fourth party was too much. I lost my eye there.''
''Owlman and his witch partner?'' Clark repeated trying to imagine them. ''Batman's and Zatanna's counterparts in this world. That's how they begun to form the Crime Syndicate.''
''And that was why we had to reach out to the Muggle Community,'' Hermione said. ''Ultraman was already seriously taken threat, but with Owlman and his Court of Owls backing him, we couldn't just leave the muggles uninformed that they were as much in danger as we were.''
''So letting muggles into the Ministry of Magic they formed Torchwood?'' Harry asked.
''That's how it was told to the larger public,'' Alexander explained. ''I helped out with connecting Torchwood to my company and after the Cybermen incident we recieved an ally from Peter Tyler and his daughter Rose-''
''Rose Tyler,'' Superman recognizing the name. ''Valeyard's lost love, the one he was going kill 12 Batmen and that young Bruce Wayne.''
''What?!'' Harry said shocked and surprised turning to Clark. ''Bruce Wayne is Batman!?''
''Wayne?'' Alexander said surprised. ''Thomas Wayne Jr and his wife were one of our allies in US when were fighting the Cybermen. Their company's resouces were a big help against them.''
''Until they were revealed to be Owlman and his witch partner?'' Harry assumed .
''No,'' Draco said shaking his head. ''Ultraman and some of the Syndicate members didn't usually fight us on full assaults, but Owlman led Talons and Syndicate members Johnny Quick and Atomica to Torchwood One in what he referred as 'retaliation for Annataz's murder'. Tyler and 'her Doctor' were with me, and those two psychopaths came to us. Johnny Quick beat me up and Atomica played with Tyler's brain, causing hemoridge and death.''
''Owlman lead the attack, Atomica killed Rose Tyler, the Doctor's clone turned into Valeyard,'' Clark said realizing the pattern in the events. ''And how did your world get turned into this?''
''Professor Martin Stein and Cybermen,'' Alexander said pointing at the ceiling. ''He was one of Wayne's top scientists working on Cybermen and he… he made some bizarre breakthrough in focusing in the mental transformations and where the human dies and Cyberman is born. He made some test to replicate it by switching cybernetics nuclear power. Thus turning himself into a being calling himself Deathstorm.''
''And Deathstrom is the reason why Sun is red and magic doesn't work,'' Hermione said with a bitter voice. ''In his current form he can control the radiation around himself and alter it. Sun's molecular structure was altered to what it is to keep it from harming Ultraman.''
''Wait! You mean, those rocks that you used to weaken me make him stronger,'' Clark said realizing the bioogical difference between Ultraman and himself, 'and where yellow Sun gives me my powers it takes his away?''
''That is exacty what we are telling you,'' Alexander said and Clark got up on his feet.
''I was here before, not long ago,'' Clark said inquisitively, making Harry see the reporter in him asking questions. ''On one of the Justice League's cases-''
''Justice League?'' Draco repeated amused. ''Yeah, right the exact opposite of 'Crime Syndicate'.''
''The League and I were pulled to another universe when our Batman was taken by the Valeyard and we met a man called the Doctor,'' Clark said continueing. ''He lead us to this exact same universe, where we didn't see anyone but saw all this damage. Including the Cybermen heads and remains out numbering the human victims. Can you explain to me, what caused the Crime Syndicate to crossover to our world and shor the human populace to just you?''
''You ask rational questions, I like that,'' Alexander said getting up. ''It helps me see how you are not Ultraman. Doctor Noble, or Valeyard as you called him, awoke all the Cybermen Torchwood had gathered up all in one place and sent them to fight Crime Syndicate and everyone needing 'an upgrade'. Rose Tyler's death in Owlman's raid brought him to that.''
''And that's when the world's end started,'' Neville said, ''by one of our greatest assets. When everyone were fighting everyone, Alexander and some of us managed to manipulate some of the Cybermen to lead the Crime Syndicate, the whole bunch to the remains of Torchwood One.''
''That's where the Cybermen had originally attempted to crossover to some other universe and we pushed the Crime Syndicate through that same hole,'' Alexander said scratching his face under his eyepatch. ''We threw our greatest scientific asset and soldier to the great unknown with the cancers eating our world while it was being sanitized.''
''How long have you being trying to rebuild the world after that?'' Harry asked looking at what was probably only people on this world.
''Very long,'' Seamus said. ''With no magic or telecommunications, we have only been able to use the train to go from here to London and back so far, but not being able to find any other survivors.''
''I used to have hair back then,'' Alexander said pointing at his balding head and Clark made a sarcastic laugh. ''Something funny?''
''My world's Lex Luthor is near my age and you have more hair than him,'' Clark said turning away and walked to the window. ''What was that hole you used to send Crime Syndicate away?''
''Why?'' Draco asked.
''Because if Crime Syndicate is in my world right now, Harry and I need to get back there.''
Prime-Earth, Watchtower
The number of Crime Syndicate's prisoners had risen from three to four. Ronald Weasley was kept in a deadlocked mechanic binds, Valeyard in a locked room in wearing his strait jacket from Belle Reve and an unknown woman with tattooed face kept in another locked room. Owlman walked past these three cells and opened a fourth one, entering there with a subdued woman, bearing the same face he had once known.
And so, missed noticing a man in fedora hat and blue suit with a traveler's cloak over it and carrying a necklace made from pieces of silver, entering the third prisoners cell.
''Hello, Pandora,'' the Phantom Stranger said addressing the third prisoner.
Author's notes: There are survivors on Earth-3 and some of their history was now revealed to Harry and Clark.
Also, where as some of Earth-3's inhabitants have noticeably aged, the Crime Syndicate had been in a Limbo of sort before crossing over to Prime Earth and that is why they still close to same age as the heroic counterparts. And, I'll add this to the cast list, but mention now that Alexander Luthor is played by Gene Hackman, the greatest actor to portray Lex Luthor ever.
Replies to Reviews:
Exodus: As Batman said, he wishes he had never created that rock and he only know what it can do due to the theoretical experiments. Math and calculations, he has not tested it's affects on a Kryptonian, because all of them are on Phantom Zone, save for Superman. The rock was not meant to kill, but it can make that happen and so Batman couldn't have left it behind for someone like Owlman or Outsider to come and find it.
tiger 5: Owlman's and Zatanna's connection was pretty much explained there, but I'll get back to elaborate it in the next chapter. And for Hermione's part, that last scene.
Miss Singing in the Rain: I was mostly channeling Zooey Deschanel on Zatanna's lines and actions. Let me tell you, she would be the perfect actor to play her. First time I saw her in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I though, ''Wow that looks just like Zatanna.'' One of those contingency plans will come in use in the next chapter.
And the Joker's jokes were referencing to old episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, mainly the episodes My Hero and Nothing, but the Tooth, and also the movie Pooh's Grand Adventure: Search for Christopher Robin. If I have to explain how, then there would be no jokes.
No, there shouldn't have been, Black Manta just happened to be swimming there and dragged Black Adam to Luthor. They are now focusing on resuscitating him from his fight with Ultraman.
As it was said in this chapter and the one before last one, Owlman had a witch partner named Annataz, who as Superman deduced was Zatanna's Earth-3 counterpart. And yes, Owlman and Annataz were romantically involved.