Clark received news from Dominic that someone by the name of "Tales of the Weird and Unexplained" was at the door of the mansion. He imagined and hoped it was Chloe. He raced towards the front door to greet her, but it was Lois instead.
"Don't look so pleased to see me, Smallville."
"I was just expecting someone else," Clark explained.
"Like who? Chloe?" Clark nodded. "And why would that be?"
"It was her favorite book. Can I help you?"
"I'm thinking we might be able to help each other."
"Can I get your and your guest anything to drink, sir?" Dominic asked.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry. What would you like?"
"Does this place have a cappuccino machine?"
"Maybe?" Clark had no idea. "I can go check…"
"See to your guest, Master Julian." Dominic chuckled. "I'll bring your drinks to the study."
Clark led the way and the two walked in silence. "So, what's this visit about?" Clark sat on the sofa. Lex might not be here, but it seemed like an intrusion to sit at the desk.
"Chloe told you her theory about your jangled memory. I don't exactly have one, but I might be able to disprove hers."
"How?"
Lois took in a deep breath. "By asking a simple question. Does Lana have another last name?"
Clark shook his head. "No. That's her name. Lana Lang."
Lois felt her heart sink.
"Wait. No, that's not right. Her mom broke up with her dad and she dated Henry Small. Then she got back together with Lana's father, except she had Lana shortly after the wedding and Lana found out Henry was her biological father."
Lois couldn't help but grin. She felt as if she was on cloud nine; her hard investigative work had paid off. Lois had found a Lewis Lang whose high school sweetheart had been Laura Potter. From there, she had investigated hospital birth records and found out she had given birth to a daughter. "Exactly. A Laura Potter married Henry Small and shortly after their wedding had a child named Lana Small. But they moved out of Smallville before you were adopted by Lionel Luthor. This disproves Chloe's astral projection theory."
Dominic came in and the two stopped talking as he handed Lois a cappuccino and Clark a hot chocolate. As soon as the butler left, Clark asked, "How?"
"Simple. With Chloe's theory, you merely observed events as they were happening while you were in a coma but put a spin on them that made you feel more comfortable and involved. The question remains then, why would you bring in someone you never met? Besides, you know about the Wall of Weird."
"But it wasn't at the school."
"It never was. The Wall of Weird was a scrapbook Chloe and I created. It got it's name because I would hang a few of them up whenever I moved. I can't say I have definitive proof we never said the name aloud when you were sleeping, but that's been a sore subject for Chloe lately so my guess is 'no'. Smallville, I really think something did happen to you."
"So did I. But I found something, or rather, didn't, that proved Lex was telling the truth. So, whatever I thought was real, was just a figment of my imagination."
"Or it could be something else. Look, all I'm saying is that it's worthwhile to look into. Maybe we'll find something. Maybe we won't. Either way, don't you want to know for sure?"
"Okay," Clark agreed. "But promise me you won't tell Lex? I don't want him to worry."
"Gliding under the parental radar. My specialty." Lois gloated. "Smallville, you got a deal."
"So, where do we start?"
"I'm thinking fingerprints. What?" Lois asked when Julian rolled his eyes. "For all we know you could be a clone. Or an evil twin."
"If I was a clone, wouldn't I have the original Julian's memories? Or no memories at all?"
"Right now, we're just collecting data. If the prints match, that narrows down what it could be. If they don't, it opens up a lot more possibilities. Like brainwashing and plastic surgery."
"Fine. I'll get a copy of my birth certificate and compare my prints."
"I don't think so. If someone went through all this trouble, I think switching your records would be the first thing on their to-do list. We have to compare your prints to something we know the real Julian touched prior to the accident that couldn't have been sabotaged. Question is, what would that be?"
"I think I know someone who could help us with that."
Jeff was surprised when there was a knock on his front door. He was further surprised to see Julian Luthor and Lois Lane there. And he almost couldn't speak when he heard they were there to see him.
"Hi Jeff. I was hoping you could help us out with something." Julian said.
"Uh…sure. I mean, maybe. Come on in."
They all sat around the kitchen table and Jeff offered them some soda. "So, what's going on?"
"We're investigating if Julian is actually Julian. We're starting off by comparing fingerprints and Smallville here thinks you might know of something Julian touched before his accident. Something that would still have his prints on it."
"Yeah, I do actually. Hang on." Jeff ran into his room and came back out with the box that had the rare comic book inside. "I haven't touched this since I got it. It definitely came from you. Or Julian before the accident."
"Perfect." Lois grabbed the box. "I'm off to send this to my lab guys. It might take a few weeks if negotiations go south. Wish me luck."
"Kind of sounds like issue forty-seven." Jeff said once Lois had left.
"Huh?"
"Of Warrior Angel. It was the start of a trilogy where Devilicus takes advantage of an amnesiac Warrior Angel. Devilicus had tried to kill him, but once he found out his enemy lost his memory, he decided to convince him they were partners instead. So, Warrior Angel was helping Devilicus take over the Guardian Realm instead of protecting it."
"So, you think I'm trying to take over the world?" Clark joked.
"Oh, no. I'm just saying the whole amnesia thing made me think of that. There's usually at least one amnesia storyline in comics."
"You know, I must have at least two dozen Warrior Angel shirts, but I can't remember reading a single comic."
"I can show you. I mean, I know where you keep your collection if you want to hang out for a bit."
"Okay."
The two boys went up to Julian's bedroom and read through his Warrior Angel comic collection. Dominic brought them up cookies and glasses of milk.
"Julian," Lex knocked on the bedroom door hours later. "It's time for dinner."
"Can Jeff join us? Please?"
Lex forced his face to stay neutral. He was beginning to enjoy his meals with his new brother and truth be told, he didn't want to share. But the priority was to make Clark feel at home.
"It's okay. I should get going," Jeff said, noticing the pause.
"No, please, join us. Any friend of Julian's is always welcome here. I see you're also a Warrior Angel fan."
The conversation at the dinner table revolved around Warrior Angel. Clark seemed interested in the conversation, though he didn't have more than questions to contribute.
"Okay, I've been dying to ask, why did you hire a magician for your Warrior Angel fundraiser, Mr. Luthor?" Jeff asked.
"Please, call me Lex. A magician seemed like a logical choice for the fundraiser's entertainment. There was the magic villain the Fortune Teller in the comics, and I was lucky enough that the famous Zatara was available to entertain on such short notice."
"But the Fortune Teller was such a lame villain." Jeff complained. "He robbed pet stores for white rabbits. What was he going to do with all of them? His costume didn't even include a top hat. It left so many unanswered questions."
"Let's be honest. The people I was catering to have a very limited knowledge of Warrior Angel lore. They just had to be in a good enough mood to donate." Lex turned to Clark. "It was a fundraiser for the hospital you were at during your illness. I needed to keep myself busy and planning it distracted me.
"But remember, in the revival issue, the Fortune Teller turned out to be a formidable opponent. Magic was a weakness Warrior Angel hadn't counted on and he was stripped of his powers. But he still faced him."
"How'd he get out of it?" Clark asked.
"Luckily for him, the Enchanter, a magical superhero Warrior Angel sometimes paired up with, ended up saving the day." Jeff explained. "I never understood why WA didn't just wait for Enchanter. He didn't stand a chance without his powers."
"He must have felt responsible." Clark said.
"Exactly," Lex said. "Powers aren't what makes Warrior Angel. They are merely a tool the hero uses."
Lex and Clark shared a secret smile across the table. Clark believed Lex was giving him a compliment, and he was. But Lex couldn't help but find it a little funny how close a comic could come to reality.
Besides Devilicus, I couldn't find any Warrior Angel villains, so I had to create one. The Fortune Teller is inspired by Batman's Penny Plunderer. It was the first villain with a stupid gimmick I remember hearing about. The Fortune Teller has terrible puns like "I see death in your future" and "so the cards have foretold". He's a petty thief whose robberies are either money when his funds or low, or magic supplies for his next show. His signature outfit is a green suit and a cape that ends at his waist. He's often seen holding a wand that electrocutes anything it touches. This is how he's able to open locks; it melts the metal. Fortune Teller was originally defeated by picking up the wrong end and electrocuting himself. The fact that he didn't use tarot cards like his name implied was a huge complaint fans had and was remedied in the villain's revival. You really don't need to know this.