Author's Note: After writing the previous chapter, I came up with yet another alternative regarding johnsmith's 'Dark Tide' ficlet. This one also has a character from the Buffyverse who helps change things in an entirely different way, as can be seen below.
Martha Kent stared at the horizon, weeping gently at seeing the advancing black line there which meant the world's ending. She was standing in front of her Smallville farmhouse, which only hours ago had been visited by her adopted son Clark Kent who'd coldly told Martha he'd chosen to join the other Kryptonians in their spaceship in orbit above and remake Earth in a new image to then be settled by the alien race from another destroyed planet even though that decision would kill every other human alive. The first of those people to die had been Lois Lane, murdered on the spaceship when she'd failed to stop this awful plan.
A numb Martha had next been informed by Clark that she alone would be allowed to survive on the Kryptonian spaceship, brought by him to there to watch helplessly while the World Engine recreated Earth into New Krypton. All as a reward for raising him to adulthood after she and Jonathan had found Clark as a baby in his wrecked shuttlecraft.
Martha promptly rejected Clark's proposal and also any former loving maternal feelings she'd previously felt for the alien boy and man cared for by Martha and her husband. She'd die as she lived, on the farm where Jonathan was buried, and Clark could damned well go to hell without either of them!
Hearing her decision, an expressionless Clark then left the house. A few minutes later, a loud rumble shook the small building from the direction of the barn, where Clark had obviously collected the remains of the shuttlecraft buried years ago by Jonathan under the barn floor. Martha didn't bother to go see, instead slumping into a parlor chair to start crying for hours.
When Martha eventually turned on the tv to catch the news, she heard the frantic reports about immense geological damage that was spreading from the Indian Ocean without any signs of stopping. Martha despairingly knew what was happening, the Dark Tide that wouldn't stop until everyone and everything she'd lived with was obliterated.
She went outside to wait for the end, soon catching sight of the wall of blackness advancing from the far horizon past the waves of corn that'd never be harvested. Martha opened her mouth, in perhaps a final protest, only to start off with, "I, I wish…"
Trailing off in her complete desolation, Martha next unexpectantly heard from behind a very impatient, "Yes? Yes?"
Turning around with abrupt astonishment since she thought she was alone, Martha recoiled at seeing standing there a few yards away a blonde woman with a horribly wrinkled face regarding her with obvious annoyance. She then heard from that presumed lady, "Will you get on with it already, your wish? It's not like you have all day about this!" who finished that inexplicable statement by pointing past Martha.
Martha followed this indication to see where the Dark Tide was definitely closer. She turned back to ask in bewilderment, "Who are—"
Rolling her eyes, the other woman rattled off, "I'm Anyanka, a magical vengeance demon from another reality, specializing in revenge against men who wronged women! Finish your wish, and if it's imaginative enough, I'll carry it out!"
At seeing the sudden hope blossom upon Martha's own face, Anyanka shook her head in exasperation.
"No, I can't stop the Dark Tide or save anyone here. The most you can hope for is a final measure of payback, so will you just hurry up?!"
Martha stared in shock at the irritated demon, her thoughts in a whirl. From out of nowhere, she imagined how Lois Lane would've promptly interviewed that unearthly creature for her latest newspaper scoop and then smugly held this triumph over an amused Clark at the Daily Planet in their relationship together that'd never come to pass. Exactly like all the other affectionate liaisons between human men and women which led to love and marriage and children…
Struck by a sudden inspiration, Martha Kent told Anyanka the vengeance demon her wish.
This resulted in that same fiendish envoy from Arashmaharr laughing in utter delight, accompanied by Anyanka declaring with satisfaction, "Oh, but that's definitely artistic!" She next eyed Martha with growing interest.
"I don't suppose you'd like to join us in the vengeance business? You've got a real talent for it!"
Martha just shrugged, "I already turned Clark down when he offered to save me. That goes for you, too. Sorry."
In turn, Anyanka did a regretful shrug of her own. "Too bad. I'd get one big bonus for bringing you to D'Hoffryn. Well, might as well as get started—"
"Wait!" interrupted Martha. "Could you do me a favor? When you're done, tell whoever's the most responsible the following." She then mentioned several more words.
"Nice, very nice," an appreciative Anyanka commented. "Sure, I'll pass it on." She watched with mild cheerfulness how that offhand agreement made the human woman turn calm while Martha Kent then faced the onrushing Dark Tide with resolute courage.
In the very next instant, everything around Anyanka was annihilated by this unstoppable wave of destruction, her latest wishing customer included. Of course, by virtue of her demonic powers, she was unharmed and eager to get to work.
Merrily humming an old Viking tune usually done while quaffing ale from the hollowed-out skulls of their worst enemies, Anyanka did some tweaking of reality. A little of this, a little of that, and ta-dah! One wish completed, sealed and delivered. Only one last thing remained, as per a vengeance demon's recent consent.
Anyanka was going to enjoy this.
Several days later, General Zod used the Black Zero's viewscreen on this prison frigate's command deck to once more observe the ruined planet from orbit. Though, Zod didn't think of what was below him as an absolute ruin, but instead as the beginning of a glorious renewal. It'd take time and many generations of new Kryptonians to rebuild that planet into what Zod considered fitting, but his race would surely have both.
Even now, the Genesis Chamber recovered by Kal from the ancient scout ship which'd crashed onto the planet long ago was running through the genetic samples collected from the entire crew of the Black Zero. Once this was done, the embryos for the first children to be born on New Krypton would be created, soon to be given over to their parents.
A soft chime ringing through the command deck interrupted Zod's contented musings. Excellent! That sound meant the Genesis Chamber was finished in its preliminary tasks and would presently switch over into full production. Smiling, Zod left the command deck and headed towards the lower level where the Genesis Chamber had been installed.
Arriving there, Zod's exultant mood improved even further at seeing virtually all of the Black Zero's contingent save for those crew elsewhere at essential duties already gathered around the Genesis Chamber. Zod approvingly noted how Kal and Faora were standing next to each other, each decidedly glad to be there together. They'd make very good parents for their numerous children, Zod beamingly thought.
Another chime came from the Genesis Chamber, and the row of lights set at the upper edge of this round chamber flared into full illumination. Zod and the others there eagerly awaited the machine's announcement of complete success…only to hear from the Genesis Chamber something utterly unanticipated:
"SAMPLES INCOMPLETE. ADDITIONAL COMPATIBLE MATERIAL REQUIRED."
Shock spread over the faces of virtually all there, with only Kal looking confused. Not paying any attention to him, Zod ordered the Genesis Chamber, "Explain that! What additional material?"
The Genesis Chamber just repeated itself, "SAMPLES INCOMPLETE. ADDITIONAL COMPATIBLE MATERIAL REQUIRED."
A loud uproar burst from most of the crewpeople there wanting to know what the problem was, leaving Zod to his frantic thoughts. Samples incomplete? Could somebody on the ship have avoided contributing their genetic material? But why would they…
In a furious bellow which abruptly cut off the other shouts, Zod ordered the Genesis Chamber again, "Scan the entire ship and find what's missing! NOW!"
Bright scanning lines issued from the Genesis Chamber and swept across the spaceship level, passing over the Kryptonians there. Waiting in growing wrath, Zod knew these same scans were moving throughout all of the Black Zero. If someone had dared to defy him—
The scanning lines abruptly blinked out of existence, save for one straight ray connecting the Genesis Chamber and…Kal-El's chest?
The machine then commenced to announce, "ADDITIONAL COMPATIBLE MATERIAL LOCATED. PRESENT FOR EXAMINATION."
A stunned silence fell in the level, while Kal himself anxiously reached down past the front collar of his upper garment and pulled out from there a small trinket that was on a neck chain. Holding it out so that not only the entire population of the spaceship level could see but that the scanning line from the Genesis Chamber could probe it, Kal proceeded to fiddle with his possession.
The lid of that tiny metal oval popped open. Zod, crowding closer to stand by a bewildered Faora, saw the Genesis Chamber's scanning line run over and then through the glass surface of the interior covering a primitive image below of two people smiling out from there—
The Genesis Chamber unemotionally informed everyone there, "SCANNING COMPLETE. ADDITIONAL COMPATIBLE MATERIAL AT 0.00001% AMOUNT DETECTED. INADEQUATE FOR FULL PROCESSING. ADDITIONAL COMPATIBLE MATERIAL REQUIRED."
"What's that?!" Faora demanded.
Kal regarded with absolute bafflement the locket he was still holding out for all to see. "My parents. They gave me this for graduation, but what's that thing talking about, additional mat—"
A choked gasp from Zod interrupted Kal, who naturally looked at him, along with everyone else. They saw their leader's face turn pure white in fear and horror.
He managed to say, "Oh, Rao…Jor-El, you knew!"
"Knew what?" Kal got in first.
Swaying on his feet, Zod stared at Kal with eyes full of total despair. "You said it yourself, the day you declared yourself one of us. Why did Jor-El send you to a single specific planet, when there were so many others you could've arrived at instead? More advanced, easier to live on, without such barbarous natives he insisted you learn to care about?"
"I don't understand," Kal began, only to be overridden by Zod's desolated voice.
"The Genesis Chamber detected genetic material from your adoptive parents on your locket that's compatible with ours, but it won't bring the embyros in there to full term without more! Except the only possible source for this is from other humans…AND WE KILLED THEM ALL!"
That last came out in an anguished scream from Zod, deposited in the bubble of silent dread around the pair of Kryptonians being listened to by the others there. They then heard Kal guiltily try to argue, "Can't we find more humans somewhere else?"
"Where do we even look?" Zod bitterly responded. "Any inhabited planet we already know about won't have the same genetic material as them, otherwise you would've been sent there, so there's no point— Uh!?"
That pained gasp from Zod was the result of Faora pulling free her personal dagger from its scabbard and then plunging this weapon with full force into Zod's lower back, directly into the kidney there. Ripping out her dagger with one last twist to inflict maximum damage, Faora ignored Zod's stricken body falling to the floor to instead stalk towards Kal, dripping dagger ready in one hand.
The expression on her face now was completely beyond any possible description of sanity. Just like the rest of the crewpeople crowding up behind Faora, all of them who now knew their race would soon become extinct without more children that would never come.
Kal promptly spun around and ran for his life out of the level, pursued at a dead run by a mob baying for his blood.
Feeling his own life drain away by the moment, Zod crumpled onto the floor was the only person remaining on the spaceship level…until he heard loud, gleeful laughter coming from by the Genesis Chamber. Zod painfully turned his head to see a complete stranger with a severely deformed face casually leaning against that machine. She quickly stopped laughing to instead give him a mocking grin when they both heard from the outside corridor Kal-El's screams when he started being ripped apart by the bare hands of Faora and the other Kryptonians.
Straightening up to stroll over at Zod's body, that woman with the decaying face squatted down on her heels and told the dying man, "Here's a totally appropriate message from Martha Kent, Lois Lane, and every other human woman having their revenge upon your entire species: Fuck you."