By David Mycock Time Wave 20
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of smallville or superman they belong to the people who created them at the time the other characters belong to their respective creators.
Pairing: Clark/Lana/Raya/Diana
Summary: Set during season Four, Clark is hit by a mysterious wave of energy which gives him knowledge of the future and how to prevent a dark future from befalling him and those around him. He decides to act on the knowledge especially concerning Lana.
(Metropolis entryway)
Clark almost groaned as he landed on the hard ground the blows from Doomsday were powerful, more so thank any he had felt before except from his memories of the future and at least with them he had not remembered the full pain that this creature could bring down on him. He slowly pushed himself back to his feet noting they were now at the entrance bridge to Metropolis and that meant very soon they would begin to encounter people if he did not manage to slow the brute down.
He just barely managed to ward off another blow but again it knocked him a few feet backwards and he could feel the ground give way beneath him as he strained to push the creature back, taking a risk he lashed out with one of his legs and managed to knock it off balance allowing him to land as many blows as he could on it but the thing just took them barely flinching but slowly moving backwards until it suddenly moved forward and caught both of his arms and then head butted him sending him to the ground and he could feel he had a broken nose as was beginning to bleed.
He lay on the ground for a few minutes until a huge foot came down at him and he quickly rolled out of the way cursing himself for letting himself loose focus, he jumped back to his feet and charged forward only to be nailed in the chest with a two handed blow that sent him flying into the city through three buildings and straight into a area filled with people who quickly began screaming as Doomsday came crashing down intent on finishing his prey who was weakly trying to get back up as he coughed up blood.
(Fortress of Solitude)
Lex watched as Brainiac worked on the control consul before taking a better look at the fortress itself, he was truly amazed at the level of technology involved to create something so big so quickly without anyone been the wiser. He also noted how different it was from earth technology, it was less mechanical and more like a piece of art which glowed, the power it spoke off filled a small part of him with fear until he remember he now had the same kind of power as these people thanks to him getting his hands on the stones of power.
He was startled out of his thoughts as his phone went off and he quickly answered, he listened as the Riddler reported he had been successful in capturing Lana Lang and he smiled widely at the mere thought of it. He quickly ordered that she be put through the same sessions that had broken the meteor freaks, he frowned somewhat as he was told she seemed to have two different personalities before he recalled Lana been processed by a witch name Isobel and so he ordered she have the power collar put around her neck which was ensure it was Lana who was broken and keep Isobel under lock and key before hanging up.
"We have Lana and I've ordered her immediate conversion to our cause" he said walking over to Brainiac "This time I will not give Clark a chance to ruin my plans for her" he added his smile still firmly planted on his face as Brainiac turned to face him with his own smirk
"Good she will make a good queen for General Zod" Brainiac said almost laughing at how gullible this human was before he finally unlocked the portal to the zone and quickly released Zod
Lex screamed and fell to his knees as a bright red light struck him from the portal which appeared behind him, he could barely breathe and had also lost focus. He had been betrayed, he fumbled for his gun which held bullets coated in the green meteor rocks but he found his hands were no longer obeying his commands
"Say goodbye Lex Luthor as you now become the host of General Zod" Aethyr said her face filled with delight as she watched the rebirth of her master alongside Nam-Ek
Lex closed his eyes and tried one desperate gamble to escape the red light but now his whole body would no longer obey his commands and slowly he felt himself loose more and more focus and it felt almost as if he was falling asleep before he collapsed completely unconscious.
"He should not have fallen unconscious" Nam-Ek questioned Brainiac somewhat confused
"He did this time because I altered how the transfer would happen to ensure he could not be exercised by the crystal of El like he was in the future" Brainiac explained "Our lord must not have such a weakness this time" he added "Now pick him up and let us leave before the league return" he ordered before quickly heading for the exit followed by Nam-Ek who carried Zod and Aethyr
"What about the Fortress?" Aethyr inquired looking back at the structure
"We'll be back for it when the league is destroyed and Kal-El lies dead at Zod's feet" Brainiac assured her before all three took flight and left
(Secret Base)
Isobel screamed from inside Lana's mind unable to aid her host after the collar was put on her, she had hoped to be able to escape but for some reason the collar seemed to keep her power locked down. She could do nothing as whatever Luthor had planned began, she believed it was some kind of means of brainwashing Lana and making her compliant with Luthor's goals.
Had she a body she would have broke down and cried knowing she had failed Kal-El as she had failed Xan-El when she had been corrupted by the Teague family in their search for the stones only this time Lana would pay the brunt of her failure and there was nothing she could do to save her but wait and hope the others would eventually come for them but by then she feared it would already too late at least for Lana.
(Metropolis)
"As you see Metropolis is once again been torn apart by a vicious battle between a creature of unknown origin who seems to process enormous strength and a costumed protector who is new to the scene but seems to be intent on stopping the monster and this is just ten minutes after this city and Washington D.C itself was ripped apart by a raging battle between Batman, Green Lantern and an assortment of other costumed heroes mostly new ones against an alliance of some of the worlds worst criminals Including the Joker, Riddler and Deathstroke who seemed to be leading a small army of insane madmen who had access to powers never seen before" the reporter paused as a near by building shook before continuing
"We have no idea why this war has suddenly broken out but it does seem certain it will continue and that this is not an isolated incident, we've had no word from the government or police sources and so we can only watch and wait and pray whoever this costumed hero is he can stop this beast before he causes even more damage and takes more life this is Kelly Benson of the Daily Planet reporting" she continued before sighing off and quickly got out of the way of the fight but made sure her cameraman continued to shoot
Across from where she had been reporting Clark was leaning against the destroyed wall of what had once been a shop, he was bleeding from multiple wounds and his strength was rapidly failing him but he refused to stay down. He wondered briefly how everyone else was doing before shaking his head and focusing on the task at hand, it was time to push Kal-El back into control of his body because he had no clue had to even slow Doomsday down let alone kill him and so he closed his eyes and concentrated hard on Kal-El.
Kal-El suddenly looked around and noted he was back in control, he groaned as he came to realise what kind of shape he was in. This was no good especially against Doomsday, he floated into the sky to get closer to the suns healing rays only for something to grab his foot and jerk him back to earth with enough force to make his head strike the pavement which hurt a lot and he noted Doomsday was on him once more.
However he was more than up to defending himself even at half strength and badly injured having survived multiple fights with this creature and so he quickly used his heat ray at full power to burn a scorching wound on the things chest forcing him back which allowed him to get back to his feet before he launched himself forward and swung his fists up as hard as he could and managed to catch the beast right in its face as it came back at him and sent it sailing into the street with enough force to break the road up. He looked around as police cars came to a screeching halt around them and they quickly took up defence positions with their weapons all armed and pointed at Doomsday.
Doomsday quickly got back to its feet only to back off as it was hit from all sides by gunfire causing it to roar in anger and irritation before it quickly charged the nearest of his attackers destroying it easily and sending the police around it flying and killing one out right. Kal-El quickly attacked again before more of the cops could be killed, he was sent staggering backwards as Doomsday caught him coming and nailed him with a right hook. He shook his head and started forward again only for Kara and Raya to come from behind him and combined their strikes to send Doomsday to the floor where Diana and Donna quickly descended on him followed by Dax-Ur and Jor-El, he allowed himself to collapse to his knees as the rest of the league arrived and took up positions as Doomsday quickly got back to its feet and vanished just as Kara and Raya came back at it.
Silence descended as they all looked around at the destruction the city had undergone through both attacks as the police saw to their wounded and dead and people appeared to cheer them as well as a reporter who quickly ran over to Batman who just stood behind Green Arrow
"Batman, can you tell us just what is happening?" Kelly Benson asked noting some of the league check on the wounded member who had fought the beast
"A war has begun started by Joker and his allies, I and people like me who wish to protect this world have banded together to stop them" Batman answered after staring at the reporter for a few seconds
Kelly was startled the dark knight had actually replied to her question as he usually avoided the media but she quickly shook off her surprise and plunged on knowing this was a once in a lifetime opportunity
"Where did some of your allies come from most of them have never been seen before?" she asked
"New they maybe but I have no doubt of their loyalty to the cause of protecting this world from the likes of Joker and his ilk" Batman responded "This is just the beginning, they will be back and the Justice League will be ready to fight them whenever and wherever they strike" he added before he activated his crystal along with the others and vanished leaving a stunned crowd and world wide audience
"This is Kelly Benson and I have just witnessed the end of a titanic battle which according to Batman is the opening shots of a war between what he called the Justice League and an alliance of criminals, he stated quite clearly he and his friends stood ready to defend us wherever and whenever they strike" the reporter quickly spoke turning to her cameraman "What this means I cannot even guess at this time but I think it is clear more cities can expect find itself a battleground when these two sides meet, the attacks in Washington and Metropolis itself caused widespread damage and the list of fatalities is growing as is the list of injured and we can only hope the government can respond quickly so if this does occur again the people will not be caught so unawares" she stated before signing off and looking around and felt a well of dread creep up inside her at the idea of this happening again because if it did it meant she'd have to cover it and risk her life again
(Fortress of Solitude)
Raya and Kara quickly laid Kal-El down and allowed Dax-Ur to check him over as the rest of the league sat down and took stock of what had happened, the fortress came back to life as Jor-El returned to the structure and quickly began scanning to make sure Brainiac did not leave any surprises for them in the system.
"Did you really think it wise to say what you did Bruce?" Arthur inquired feeling tired and wanting a good rest
"Yes, best we get our side out first to the people before Luthor or someone working for him and his friends paints us as the bad guys" Bruce responded "It will also put the people and the governments on alert making it harder for Luthor and his allies to succeed in their goals" he continued as he pulled his mask down
"Luthor is no longer who he was" Jor-El interrupted
"Then Brainiac succeeded and managed to release Zod" Raya said feeling her anger spike at the mention of the man who had destroyed their planet been free
"He did and he made sure Zod can not be removed from his vessel through the crystal I gave you Raya, he altered the process to make sure Zod remained in this world" Jor-El informed them
"So what do we do now?" Bart spoke
"We rest and recover first of all" Oliver put in "And then we get ready for this to escalate as we knew it would once Zod was released" he added "We managed to stop them this time without taking any casulties next time we may not be so lucky" he continued
"We should try and recruit some more members because I doubt Joker and Zod himself will not try and add to their numbers" Kara suggested
"A good idea Kara" Kal-El said as he pushed himself into a sitting position ignoring Dax-Ur's advice to stay lying down "Bruce I want you, Dick and Helena to return to Gotham and find Selina Kyle and recruit her and Batgirl too" he went on
"Very well although I am reluctant to pull Barbara into this I guess we're going to need the help" Bruce said with a nod and he, Dick and Helena vanished
"Oliver I want you and Bart to track down Ray Palmer also know as Atom as we know he is active somewhere in the mid west, if you can't find him leave it and get back"
"No problem Clark" Oliver said as he and Bart nodded and quickly vanished as well
"Is there anyone else out there who is active or just about to become active we can contact Clark?" Jade inquired
"Black Canary will be active next year but apart from that the majority are either half way across the world and we have no time to track them down or they are not active or on earth at the moment" Kal-El responded "Hawkman and Hawkwoman will not arrive on earth for another five years and even then it would take us time to find them time we may not have" he added with a shake of his head wishing it was not so before he closed his eyes and allowed Clark to resume control
"We'll make do with what we have Kal-El" Jor-El spoke up deciding to move things along "There is some bad news my son you have not yet been told" he continued just as Chloe, the Kent's, Talia and Ra returned to the fortress
"And what is that father?" Clark asked tiredly wanting nothing more than to lie down and rest for a long while
When no one answered he looked around and noted how everyone seemed tense and then he noted someone was missing and he felt his heart clench where he realised who it was
"Where is Lana?" he demanded to know as he forced himself to his feet
"I'm afraid she was captured Kal-El during the fight in Metropolis" Raya spoke up "She somehow got separated from the main area we were fighting in, none of us knew she was missing until they retreated and the majority of the meteor freaks were dealt with" she continued "I am sorry Kal-El" she said worried about her friend but more so on how this would affect her lover
Diana watched as Kal-El processed this news as Martha Kent quickly began shouting in anger ignoring her husband as he tried to calm her down, Chloe collapsed into a chair in shock but everyone else watched Clark for his reaction
Clark closed his eyes feeling the well of anger, hate and fear that threatened to overwhelm him but he managed somehow to force it back down. He knew more than ever before that this was bigger than any one person and he could not rush off on a rescue mission for her as he would have done before this happened, he could not put the world at risk again just for Lana no matter how much it hurt.
One of the reasons things had got so bad in the future was because he continually put her before the world and his destiny foolishly believing she was more important. He could not be so selfish this time, he could not go and he could send no on else either because they were all needed which meant Lana was on her own as was Isobel and he could only prey they would survive unharmed until they could be rescued although he knew that was a foolish hope
"There is nothing we can do for Lana" he finally spoke as he opened his eyes and everyone could see the pain this decision was causing him "We can not risk everything for any one person no matter who it is, I would expect the same choice from you even if it was me who had been captured" he continued before his mother cut him off
"Clark how could abandon Lana, you cannot just leave her in Lex's clutches" she shouted unaware Lex had been processed by Zod "She loves and trust you and you must go and save her" she pressed pushing Jonathan away as he tried to pull her back
"I can't mom" Clark argued with a shake of his head "We don't even know where their new base is, and even if we did how do you expect me to get to her through the numbers he'd have there which now includes Zod himself" he continued "I know it sounds cold but this fight is more important than anyone of us, you think I want to leave her there you think I don't want to try and save her well I do nearly ever fibre of my being is screaming at me to try but I know it would be a mistake one that could cost me my life or the life of anyone I sent" he stressed trying to make his mother understand "I'm sorry if you don't understand or you think I am been cruel but rescuing Lana will have to wait" he added before he flew off into the sky and straight into space hoping for some time to himself
"How could he" Martha whispered horrified at her son's choice
"He made the only choice he could Martha" Jonathan responded as he led his wife away from the league to where Chloe sat "As much it hurts he is right this whole thing is bigger than any one person, he has to put his personal feelings aside and concentrate on stopping the world from being destroyed which is why he received his future memories remember" he reminded her and Chloe who quickly joined the conversation
"But he's always gone after Lana before" Chloe stated trying to understand her friends choice
"And to him that is proberly one of things that led to the world been destroyed" Jonathan told them having guessed a lot about what his son believed since he received the memories of his future self "He believes he was never where he needed to be because he was always busy saving Lana, well he is not willing to do that this time he fears if he did it would cause the very thing he is trying to stop" he added
Martha and Chloe stared at him before both shook their heads still not truly understanding why Clark had refused to act, Jonathan sighed knowing this was not going to be sorted out any time soon.
(Secret Base)
Zod's eyes snapped open and he quickly got to his feet before pausing as he realised he once again had a body, he smiled as he felt real flesh again. He looked around and noted Brainiac, Nam-Ek and Aethyr knelt before him and his smile widened as he realised he truly was out of the zone
"Well done my servants" he said "Where are we?" he asked
"Earth General the same place where Kal-El son of Jor-El lives" Nam-Ek reported as they stood "Other followers of Jor-El are feel as well including his cousin Kara and Raya" he continued "Also Jor-El himself is here although he is restricted to the fortress of knowledge and his vessel" he went on knowing his master would want to know
"So the last stand of the house of El will take place on this sad ball of mud" Zod mused "Still I will kill each and every one of the El's" he said his eyes alight at the very idea
"My lord much more is going on here please sit and I will tell you the whole story" Brainiac finally spoke
Zod stared at the A.I for a few seconds before sitting down and listened as he told him everything that was going on, halfway through he felt like killing someone as he learnt of events to come that had not happened yet and now would not happen including his defeat at the hands of the son of Jor-El something he found hard to fathom