Gods and Demons

Primus En Veritas

Scene: Smallville, just after the defeat of Zod and the Kandorians.

Flashback sequence: The day started off normally. Lois recounted. We had just finished setting up the Kent Farm for the day. Clark, with his mother's permission, had sold off over twenty acres of prime farmland from the Kent Farm, to a neighbor, Caleb L. Jones. He'd been farming all of his life.

The sold acreage was in good productive hands. Clark and I had fed the livestock, collected eggs, and were about to head inside for breakfast. I had just passed by the pen containing some good sized, nearly matured, hogs.

I heard a growling noise, and glanced behind me. There was no one there. I figured that maybe it was my stomach grumbling since we hadn't yet eaten. After I'd turned back around, the pigs that I mentioned all squealed at once. The largest of the pigs bolted towards the corner of the pen that was nearest to me. Two more pigs followed him, and another one came all the way across the pen.

They all stared at me, which I found unusual to say the least. I'd just fed them, so they couldn't have been hungry already. Maybe I was just being paranoid. The second pig climbed atop the first. I guessed that it was some sort of mating thing. The third pig climbed atop the other two. Okay. Weird. I was about to turn around and leave the hogs to do their thing, when the fourth pig leapt straight up like a freakin gazelle and landed atop the other three. The stack of pigs wobbled a bit under their weight.

Then things got really strange. Lois continued. Clark had arrived just in time to see this amazing display of hog acrobatics. "What the?" Clark stopped and glared at the bizarre sight. "You…don't belong here…Kal El." The pigs spoke, each one taking a word. I nearly jumped into Clark's arms. "Honey, I know this is Smallville, but do your livestock normally get weird and mouthy?" I asked Clark.

Lois edged close to Clark. "Who are you?" Clark bravely addressed the acrobatic and smart mouthed hogs. "You don't belong here, Kal El." The pigs chorused. "That's it!" I shouted at the belligerent hogs. "You are all going to be a major part of my bacon and egg breakfast!"

Just then, I heard a quick clap of thunder. A hissing sound emerged from behind us. A spinning cloud of pink and purple smoke about six feet high, appeared, followed by a leggy female with long straight black hair. She was brandishing a gold and silver broadsword which was berthed in a gold and black hilt. She suddenly whipped the sword out and jammed the tip of the sword into the soil before the stacked hams.

It hit the ground with a ferocious crack! "LEPMOC!" (Compel!) The woman yelled and immediately the top two pigs squealed and jumped down to the ground, spraying muck in all directions. An ear splitting shriek echoed throughout the mostly silent farm. Flaming black smoke evacuated each of the frightened hogs. Four whirling black clouds disappeared into the ether. "Zatanna!" Lois yelled at the new arrival. "Now this all makes perfect sense." Chloe Sullivan-Queen commented on Lois's story.

"The poor pigs all ran back to the other side of the pen squealing and shuddering." Lois continued. Zatanna raised the sword and replaced it in her leather bound sheath, as the flashback resumes. She adjusted the broadsword more comfortably across her back. "What the hell was that all about?" Clark demanded from the young sorceress. "Exactly, Clark." Zatanna responded curtly.

The magician turned conjurer checked to make sure that all of the hogs had fled. "Now what are you babbling about, Hermione?" Lois taunted her. The edges of Zatanna's bright red lips curled upward. "I wish that this was as simple as a children's movie." The attractive magic user replied coolly. "You guys know that there are powers in the universe that neither of you can understand, right?"

Zatanna's condescendence aside, Lois was quick to retort. "Oh you mean like magic, angels, demons, why socks always seem to disappear, and why it took the Chicago Cubs over one hundred years to win the World Series?" She asked, her voice filled with sarcasm. "Yes Lois." Zatanna said coldly. "Next, you'll be telling me that a new horde of space aliens are living among us disguised as humans." She added cynically as she turned to Clark. "No offense, sweetie." Clark smirked. "None taken." He responded.

"I'm sure that some are." Zatanna deadpanned. "Clark, did you think that all of this would go unnoticed?" The young sorceress began vaguely. "All of what?" He snapped, beginning to lose patience with her games. Zatanna began to lead them away from the pig pen, and kept looking back as if to see if the hogs were still listening, or plotting another bizarre display.

Clark and Lois exchanged confused glances. They had continued along the lightly pebbled path that wound past the barn, and towards the Kent farmhouse. "Hey Lois! How about tossing some fresh hay my way?" A low, rough voice said from alongside them. "Honey, why would you want me to help you with baling the hay? Can't you just toss a few bales around like I toss party balloons?"

Clark stared at Lois blankly. "What are you talking about?" A chestnut brown and white horse had trotted up to them from the west pasture. "Yo! Lois! Over here!" Lois stopped as Clark and Zatanna looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Are you talking to me?" Lois asked the horse, immediately feeling completely stupid for doing so. "How many Lois's are there here?" The horse wisecracked.

Lois faced the horse. "Do I look like freakin Doctor Doolittle to you?" She admonished the horse. "Wait a minute!" Zatanna muttered something aloud. "Geez Clark! How can you put up with her?" The horse spoke in a more feminine voice. Clark gasped. "Shut it, Chelsea!" Lois snapped at the family pet. "What about the hay?" Chelsea the horse argued impatiently.

"Zatanna! I don't know how or why, but I'm sure that this is your fault!" Clark accused angrily. "Uh, no its not!" Zatanna replied defensively, as she tried to keep her temper in check. "This is actually your fault!" She faced Clark. "What? How's that?" He'd forgotten about the talking horse.

Zatanna reached around her back and grabbed the broadsword again. She swung it wildly, barely missing Lois's right shoulder. "Whoa! Easy Zee!" The star reporter for the Daily Planet said as she instinctively stepped backward. Zatanna again thrust the tip of the sword into the gravelly road. "ENOGEB!" (Begone!)She shouted as the earth beneath them vibrated.

The conjurer's trademark backwards pronunciation of spells had indeed gotten more powerful, Clark observed. Perhaps it had been amplified by the gleaming sword, he mused. Immediately, another black wraith slithered out from the startled horse's back. It screeched horribly in what Lois believed was a woman's voice. The evil spirit zipped away and was soon out of everyone's sight.

Clark grabbed the frightened animal by its shoulders. "Easy girl! Easy Chelsea!" he soothed the tired beast. "What the hell is all this, Zatanna?" Clark asked very angrily. "You said it was Clark's fault!" Lois jumped in with irritation. "How?" She persisted. "Hold on!" Clark ordered as he stripped off his trademark red flannel shirt, and covered the spooked animal's face with it.

The young superhero carried Chelsea back to her stall using super speed. He unwrapped her face, and the horse whinnied, though she settled down as soon as Clark fed her some fresh hay. After Chelsea was munching contentedly, Clark stepped away, and then sped back to the girls. He stood before them in his bright white t-shirt, which garnered their immediate attention. This barely took a few moments.

"I assume that you have some explanation for all of this." Clark stared at Zatanna and spoke in an accusatory tone. "I do indeed." She responded smugly. Zatanna replaced the broadsword in its sheath. "As I said earlier, did you think that no one would notice?" She began mystically. "No one would notice what?" Lois forced herself to be calm as she questioned the leggy sorceress.

"Every time Clark saves someone from death, he interferes with the natural or supernatural order of things." Zatanna was still being evasive. "I don't understand." Lois put in. "Wouldn't saving people be a good thing?" She asked skeptically. "Of course it is." Zatanna hedged. "You're inherently good nature is a blessing, yet it is also a curse." She added gravely. Clark glowered at her.

"My dad already gave me the 'with great power comes great responsibility' speech." Clark said coldly. "Yes, and Jonathan Kent was exactly correct." Zatanna snapped. "You can't deny your true nature. Just like darkness and evil can't deny its nature. Every time that you saved a life you upset the overall balance of the world." She let that statement hang in the air for effect.

"So what?" Lois defended. "Should Clark have let them die? Who wouldn't want to live in a world where you can live safely and happily? Clark knows that he can't save everyone." Zatanna glared at Lois. "That's just it, Lois. Clark can save everyone." She countered. "No I can't." Superman put in. "Even I can't be in two places at the same time anywhere in the world."

"Let me put it another way." Zatanna continued. "You can be in two places at once, Clark. Did either of you ever hear of the multiple universes theory? I doubt it." She added arrogantly. "Only highly unusual beings can skip from one universe, realm, or plane of existence to the next." She explained. "Yet such beings exist. I can travel magically through the veils between realms and dimensions."

Clark sighed. "That sounds dangerous and confusing. I would never attempt such a thing." Zatanna shook her long hair and brushed it away from one eye. "It is. The problem is that you have already disrupted the entire continuum as it relates to Earth I specifically."

"There are now multiple Earths, each exists outside of each other's time. Meaning, while you and Lois and I are talking, in some other realm, our counterparts are doing the same, or not. Each Earth can be slightly different, or completely, wildly different, than this one." Zatanna concluded.

Lois crossed her arms defiantly. "How is any of this Clark's fault, and how do we know that these multiple Earths weren't always there?" She challenged the mystical being. "You're essentially correct, Lois." Zatanna gave in. "I only know for a fact that a few of these multiple Earth's exist. Here's my point, though. If you can affect other Earths, than other beings can also affect it, like Darkseid."

The mention of the super powered alien sent a chill down Clark's spine. Darkseid was behind the escape from the phantom zone of the Kandorians, as well as the attack on Lois earlier in the year, by the wraith called Darkness. Thankfully, Clark and Kara had saved Lois from any harm, and Kara had actually helped Clark face the Darkness Wraith. "Are you saying that an attack by Darkseid is inevitable?" Clark fished.

"Yes. I believe so." Zatanna responded with conviction. "I'll be around. I have to track those wraiths, and find out how they got into this realm, and how I can send them back." She was about to disappear, when Clark stopped her. "Wait! We can all help with that. Should I contact the League?" He offered. "Thanks, but I need to do some reconnaissance on this fiasco. I'll contact you soon. Adieu!"

Zatanna evaporated into a large colorful spinning puff of smoke. "That was fun." Lois said cynically. Clark sighed. "It's always something!" he grumbled. "At least Zatanna helped us by giving us the heads up." Lois nodded as she took his hand. They walked towards the yellow and white farmhouse. Lois eyed the two crows suspiciously that sat on the upper branches of a tree nearby. Thankfully, they seemed to have nothing to say to her. Clark and Lois arrived at the house, and Shelby happily padded towards them.

"I suppose that you have something to say." Lois looked down at the dog as she barked. "Hey, what about my water and food for this morning?" Shelby asked her. Clark only heard his beloved pet barking. "Uh, Shelby said that she's hungry." Lois reddened as she glanced at Clark. "Zatanna!" Clark shouted.

Chloe sat at the breakfast table across from Lois as she finished her story. She put her head in her hands and sighed. "We're not ready for this." Chloe admitted. "Ollie, Jon Jonz, and Clark really need to corral our League buddies." Lois silently agreed. Shelby barked again, as Lois stared at her. "I have to pee!" The dog said. "Geez! When will this spell wear off?" Lois complained. "C'mon girl!"