I got the idea for this chapter after watching an [Official Fanmade Alternative Story Music Video] of Carrie Underwood's song "Black Cadillac", and the song "Life Is Beautiful" by Sixx: A.M. . Maybe give them a listen?
[ Disclaimer: Superman: Man of Steel belongs to the Warner Bros. and whoever came up with DC Comics. The song "Kiss It Better" is owned by the duo He Is We. I own nothing but Eve ]
Epilogue
"We gather here today on this red evening to morn one of Earth's mightiest heroes," the preacher briefly looked over the hundreds of heavy faces. He spoke into the microphone, his voice grave. He felt almost forced to speak these words—they were hard for even him to grasp—his words and prayers came out hard and rasp.
Zod stood in the safety of his ship, watching from the giant monitor in the control room.
An older woman in the crowd dabbed her eyes but the tears kept falling. She had traveled from a farm out of state to attend. Her graying hair protected from the sun by a straw hat. It was the hat he'd worn so many times since he was young...
A large older man wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the young man at his side. The young redhead wiped his eyes briefly, but the tears kept falling for his best friend.
Zod tapped his foot impatiently. He wished these humans would hurry the process. As much as it bothered him, he understood and granted them the request to hold this last of traditions.
"There will be no way we could thank him enough for all that he's done," the preacher looked down along with the mayor of the city near his side. 'There's no way we could now, anyways,' he thought bitterly to himself.
A child hugged its guardian, in the crowd, crying lightly, unsure completely of the grave situation.
Another mother morned for her lost child, hugging the arm of her younger daughter. The young woman, the younger daughter, was not far past the age of 24; her wavy/curly hair was shorter than her sister's, held up in an afro. She stared straight, tears threatening the corners of her eyes.
A large silver casket lied at the end of the large outside stage for all to see. On the front was the engraved picture of a large shield with the Kryptonian symbol for Hope inside it. One one of the smaller dark caskets nearby had an identical symbol, only smaller.
Zod glanced at the controls to the World Engines. 90 more minutes, that's all they would be given left.
Three black Cadillacs drove down the dirt road. It was hidden by forest to how if one was not looking attentively, the road could be easily missed. It didn't matter—the crowd of three hundred-and-growing followed the vehicles down the path, some by foot, some on wheels of some sort.
It was a black parade in more ways than one.
"That shield-crest had become the symbol to us all as it was back on his home planet: it stood for hope. He had become the symbol for hope not only here in this city, but as we all know, the entire globe."
Officer Hunt, General Swanwick and other heads of authority had approached Zod days earlier to plead for more time at the least, which approaching him was in itself not an easy task. The alien was a "shoot first, don't question later" type. It almost turned ugly when Hunt mentioned the Kryptons old traditions that many had surely died still upholding when the planet was killed and what Zod was no doubly trying to keep. It was a difficult task at first, but Zod had to hold—and by ugly, Hunt had almost been incintigrated on the spot. Though, eventually, Zod had been persuaded to allow the people of Earth to perform this final act.
"Eight sunrises" is all mankind was given left.
Worldwide, every person was notified who ever had a television, internet, radio or some way of communication.
"To some, he resided under the name Clark Kent, who worked at the local newspaper The Daily Planet alongside his late lover, Miss Lois Lane, and later, his then-future fiancé, the late Miss Eve Lancaster."
This information was discovered by investigators who had looked thru all three's apartments while they were in jail. It didn't take too long to put the pieces together for the authorities—Lois' red hairs on the carpet, notes scribbled on random sheets of paper, DNA samples throughout the apartments and the mattresses of Eve's and Clark's, his Superman suit tucked away in a compartment under a floorboard, and a small 3-carat woman's ring in a small black velvet box hidden in Clark's drawer all seemed to tell stories in themselves. Of Lois' dreams of death she had before her murder, Clark's constant inner turmoil of his double life, and so forth. The authorities were astounded, to say the least, that someone as Superman—a situation as this—had hid under their noses for so long. One of the women had marveled at the diamond on Eve's had-been future engagement ring.
But there was no reason to hide anything now; might as well put all the details out in the open now. Might as well let them all know. The world hadn't taken it smoothly finding that Superman had been basically one of them.
The preacher continued: "to the majority, he was known as Superman, Earth's friendly alien superhero and protector. It didn't matter what he was called or what he wore. He continued to stand for kindness and helped those in need. He," the preacher paused, choking up. "...He had been a better person than we could ever have been."
The headlights shown bright in the setting sun. This would be the first time the two women inside the smaller Cadillacs would meet. Yes, they've interacted back in the office, but it was under uncomfortable instances; this would be the first time they would, peacefully.
Just like how the cause of man's death in the alley was found, the forensics had found all the little secrets that were kept. It was like the second half or the ending to a bittersweet love story.
The autopsy had been the worst part, and not because it had taken the doctors several tries to find a material tat would cut Clark's skin. Ana, the woman who was in charge of the autopsy, who had been doing it alone in the beginning leaving it to the others, had ran from the room, holding her mouth to keep from puking on the floor. She had performed on Lois Lane, and when she had gotten the other two, she repeated in her mind that it was no different. She looked passed Lois' slightly molded, bloody corpse and Clark's dented and bloody body, broken jaw and nose, and missing eyeball. However, she was wrong when she opened up Eve Lancaster.
Zod had done more than kill a worldwide-known legend and prepare for mass genocide. Back in the jail, he had killed three lives, not two.
Ana had held her stomach as she emptied its contents into the trashcan. The image of the bloody, scrambled fetus spilling out from inside of Eve was still very clear in her memory. She doubted neither the father nor mother had known of the child's existence, given she hadn't looked remotely pregnant.
They did not, in fact.
The child had already formed bright blue eyes and began the ears.
The crowd circled around the three large holes in the ground, only giving room for the crane that would lower each down in their respective graves.
A man nearest the grave stood, his hands crossed in the front of him. He wore an expensive suit that complemented his black hair and blue eyes. His brows knitted together as he continued to bite his lip to keep from crying. The woman next to him wore a Greek tunic, she was adorned with ancient-style tiara, bracelets and jewelry. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he soon had his hands around her, silent tears cascading down his face for their friend and commrad.
A retired military general crossed his arms over his chest, his head bowed for his fallen baby girl.
There was not a dry eye in the crowd, those who watched live via internet or listened over some way of communication.
This day, everyone was the same. Whether you were the old man still working at a newspaper since youth or the gifted, super-speedy young man at the side. Whether one was a billionaire or originated from under the sea, everyone was connected by hope.
Somewhere in the giant alien spaceship, a Kryptonian woman, looking to be around the age of 26, held her hands over eyes. She slid down the wall, crumpling to the floor, her blonde hair hiding her face as she bawled silently for the loss of her little-big cousin and from Zod brainwashing her long enough into making her agree to join him.
Everyone was going to die.
The crane had lowered Lois to rest and was now reaching for Eve. She will be put to rest alongside her child, also in its own casket inside with her.
"Lord, bless these innocent souls. Let them be reunited with loved ones in your kingdom." It was obvious the preacher's words was not only directed to those in the caskets. His words of prayer, of thankfulness, forgiveness, and then access into Haven fell upon muddled ears.
The large silver casket was lowered into the ground, in a grave between the two.
As the people passed, each tossed in a handful of dirt into each hole, some taking more than one.
The ships's doors hissed as they opened. Faora Hu-Ul stalked into the room, stopping to stand beside Zod. He glanced her way, satisfied that she had healed from her injuries from the encounter with Kal and his troupe of humans.
Zod turned to the controllers to the World Engines. His cold eyes lingered on the button that would start them. He presses it.
The End of The World
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Dedicated to all the amazing reviewers! Really, I could not have made it without you all. I can't say thank you enough for sticking with me and putting up with my crazy updates. You all do not know how much this means to me helping me finish my first story successfully, albeit a short short one. But still, thank you all, SO SO ZO MUCH :D
Oh, before I forget, for those who couldn't guess the people mentioned at the funeral, in order mentioned:
-Martha Kent with the hat;
-Perry White is who hugs Jimmy Olsen (the redhead) around the shoulders;
-a random child with his/her parent/guardian;
-Eve's younger sister is who is the 24-ish with their mother (the older woman);
-Bruce Wayne is the man in the expensive suit and Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) is the woman in the Greek-style tunic-dress;
-the retired military general is Lois' father;
-the blonde Kryptonian woman is Kara Zor-El a.k.a. Supergirl. So yeah...pretty much everyone.
*f.y.i., the Faora and Zod pairing is actually canon, for those who didn't know ('cause I didn't). They are actually a couple in some versions, and there is mentions of them having a kid later too.
Don't forget to fill that review box with any likes, comments, concerns, questions, quirks, quims, and other words that start with Q
Hate me yet? LOL Well This is a tragedy for a reason, right
Okay, so instead, I have two more ideas for Supes fics and I'm probably (most likely) going to be writing 2 more fics, so that would be 3 Supes stories total. The first couple chaps for at least one of them should be out sometime soon. 2 are probably going to be another two short stories, the other 1 I'm planning on it not to be so much. They will not all be under Movie→Superman, one is going to be under Justice League in the Comics category. Why you ask? Because one of the episodes sparked it and I'm just crazy like that ;P
This is when checking the author alert and typing in that review box down there comes in handy :)