Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Earth – 167; Smallville
Lex stood right in front of Clark with the Book of Destiny in his hands, gloating with a smirk, foreseeing the death of a new Superman. But the Clark of Earth – 167 looked at the bald man with little interest. He looked at him as if he had a joke in front of him. He stared at her for a moment, before he said nonchalantly:
"You're not Lex."
But the psychopath did not give way.
"Maybe not the Lex you know. The Multiverse has a way of aligning fates."
"What'd you do with those people?" Clark asked, looking at where his four visitors were.
"Sent them back to their flying tin can in the sky." Lex replied. "Let's hope they learn from this teachable moment. Now I'm here for you, not them."
Then Clark turned to his visitor and eyed him firmly.
"Whoever you are, I'm just a guy working on his farm."
"You will always be my greatest enemy," Lex said. "On any Earth. It's written in the stars. (He showed her the Book of Destiny.) Or I wouldn't know that on this Earth Clark Kent heh heh is Superman."
Not at all scared, Clark of Earth – 167 continued to stare at the bald man with disinterest. Then Lex continued, as if nothing had happened:
"Where I come from, that would be ridiculous. He can't see past his glasses."
With a sigh, Clark threw off his work gloves.
"So what do you want?" he asked.
"To kill you, of course," Lex replied. "And every version of you across the multiverse so that if the, uh, super friends somehow find a way to save existence there won't be a single Superman to stand in my way."
At that moment, an interdimensional portal popped up, and then Thor emerged from it with his hammer and ax, ready to intervene.
"Luthor, get away from him!" he ordered sharply.
But Lex held up the Book which sent a burst of energy propelling the Asgardian away.
"You're too late, God of junk!" the bald man shouted, delighted. "Thor, Son of… uh… anyway, whatever… where was I? Ah yeah, it's time to kill Superman!"
Thor quickly stood up, then ran to join Clark from Earth – 167, to see Lex pulling a small metal box in his black jacket, a fragment of kryptonite.
"NO!" Thor yelled, horrified.
He was going to react, but to his surprise, Clark didn't seem weakened. With a simple gesture, he took the piece of kryptonite from Lex's hand, and threw it away.
Thor and Lex were stunned.
"Kryptonite doesn't affect him," the God of Thunder exclaimed in amazement. "How is that possible?"
"It has no effect on me ever since I gave up my powers." Clark replied to Thor.
"You gave up your powers?!" Lex was angry, and disappointed.
Thor chuckled, amused by the situation. Even the farmer was jovial.
"Can't say I've missed these chats." he said.
But Lex was angry that his enemy had become a mere mortal. He looked like a child whose toy had been confiscated.
"You were basically a God! You could fly! You could see through walls! You had superstrength…"
He broke off when he saw that he had just stepped on a small toy tractor. Thor saw the toy and then understood:
"He has children!"
"You're kidding me?" Lex roared, frustrated.
"That is worth more than any superpower." Clark simply replied with a smile.
Then a female voice was heard:
"Hey, Clark. The girls want to show you what they've made."
Thor supposed it must be Lois Lane on this Earth. Lex looked at Clark angrily, and wanted to raise his arm in the air as if to hit him.
"I think it's time for you to…" Clark said before noticing Lex's gesture.
Thor wanted to act, but Clark was able to react before him, hitting the bald man in the face, pushing him away.
"Still stronger," he replied proudly.
Lex stood up and eyed the farmer with rage and hatred.
"You took all the fun out of it. Enjoy your little slice of mediocrity while you can, Clark. You're all doomed anyway."
He took out his extrapolator, and opened an interdimensional breach. Thor ran to catch up with him, but Lex had already disappeared into another universe.
"Be cursed Lex Luthor! He can run, I will eventually get him!"
Then he turned to Earth – 167's Clark.
"So you gave up your powers to be able to start a family with your Lois."
Clark nodded, smiling.
"I will never regret doing it. I loved flying, being fast and super powerful… but having kids changes everything. I love them, and I wouldn't change that!"
Thor smiled at him and squeezed his hand.
"I'm Thor, Son of Odin, God of Thunder, and also, Keeper of Paragons. I don't know what that means yet… but anyway, I'm very happy for you, Kal… Clark. I would like to stay, but I have a mission to fulfill! I hope we can stop this Crisis before it destroys your Earth… because I was happy to have met you. Goodbye, Clark Kent, and take care of yourself!"
He raised his ax in the air, summoning the Bifrost. He disappeared into a rainbow beam, leaving behind a large circle on the ground.
Stunned, Clark stared at the man who had just disappeared before his eyes.
"Wow, he really is a God!"
He was joined there by his Lois, who walked towards him.
"Hey. Was somebody here, or were you talking to the cows again?" she asked. (Then she noticed the circle left by the Bifrost on the floor, and looked surprised.) "What happened here? Did you have a barbecue?"
"That was Lex Luthor from another Earth." said Clark still surprised by what he had just seen. "Apparently, the Multiverse is ending. I even met a real God who had a hammer and an ax."
Lois looked at him for a moment, then burst into a giggle.
"Ha ha! Smallville, you made a funny. It's taken you about a decade, but you're getting the hang of it. Have you met a god? No kidding! Ha, ha, ha!"
Clark said nothing more about his meeting, then spoke with his wife.
"What'd the girls make?"
"A mess. They can't wait for you to see it."
"That sounds like a job for us," Clark said, taking Lois' hand.
And the young couple walked back to the house, quietly.
Earth – 99; Gotham city
At Wayne Manor, Kate then told the Bruce of Earth – 99 current Crisis, and her assumption that the old man could be the Paragon of Courage. But to her surprise, Bruce didn't seem very enthusiastic.
"Paragon of Courage?"he exclaimed stunned.
Then he sighed sadly.
"I could have been. But not anymore. You're a few years too late," he replied, handing Kate a diary.
The young woman read the front page article of the Gotham Gazette and looked dumbfounded as she read the headlines.
"Death of Batman?" she exclaimed, shocked.
"Like I said," Bruce replied with a sigh. "I've a lifetime of injuries. There was a time when I was Batman and proud to fight crime. At that time, I could have been… that Paragon… But not anymore."
"What happened?"Kate asked.
"Superman and me, we founded the Justice League," Bruce said. "We had a few disputes, however, we had the same goal: to protect the Earth from all threats. And there was this threat that changed everything. The same threat that reduced me… to this!" (He gestured to his exoskeleton.)
"What was that?"
Bruce took a breath and responded with a dark voice.
"Darkseid! A threat from another universe that came to conquer Earth. After we stopped Thanos from annihilating half of the universe with the Avengers, Darkseid came along and wanted to bring tyranny to Earth. Superman and me, we worked together to stop him. But… our pride has led us to disaster. There was a battle. I saw… a great number of heroes fall… I lost… allies and also… my family… I lost Alfred, Barbara, my son Damian, Dick… and even you, Kate… My Kate who thought to succeed like me saving the world… my Kate… I watched her die in battle… After that, Darkseid took Superman to his world, to control his mind, to make him his slave. I was able to free him and stop Darkseid from destroying Earth, But not without a price. Clark Kent ended up sacrificing himself to keep Earth from being destroyed while I… after fighting this monster… had my body broken… Now I'm reduced to walking with… with wires and metal… That day, we lost Superman and Batman forever… Since then, I live alone in this house, surrounded by ghosts with only Luke for company."
Kate was silent, thinking about what she had just heard, as Bruce bowed his head, remembering the losses he had suffered, then turned to the young woman.
"I'm sorry you came here for nothing, Kate. Because I can't be your Paragon. It can't be! I made the choice to save Earth from Darkseid, and that choice cost me more than I wanted it to."
"You're nothing but a life-bruised and depressed hermit, waiting to die in this eleven bedroom, seven bath coffin…" Kate commented. "But I can offer you another way. If the Monitor has sent me to you, it's not without obvious reason. I give you the opportunity to become the hero you were once again. The hero who wanted to protect the Earth. Protect Gotham and the whole universe."
But Bruce shook his head, in denial.
"I'm sorry. But I can't. I can not anymore. This hero's life no longer exists for me! This is my destiny!"
Earth – 1; Waverider
On board the Waverider, Ray Palmer was working hard on building a Paragon detector machine. He was assisted by Shuri and Rocket, who had volunteered to help him. Especially since the Monitor had asked Black Panther's sister to help Atom with the machine.
But they were working hard, because baby Jonathan was crying in Mick's arms as he read his book wide open.
Overwhelmed by the baby's screams, Ray looked up at him.
"Mick, we just we really need to concentrate if we are ever gonna finish this Paragon detector the Monitor asked for." he said gently but exasperatedly.
"Yes, because it's difficult to concentrate with a crying baby," added Shuri.
"Nebula was right," Rocket added. "Who had the idea of bringing a baby aboard the ship?"
Indifferent to others, Mick turned away from them and resumed reading his book:
"Sure." (Then he reads aloud with the baby in his arms.) "Once he awoke her desire, he was hers to explore willingly…"
Ray, Shuri and Rocket looked at each other with disgusted looks as they listened to the novelist's strange reading.
"Is that your…?"Ray asked.
""Caged Passion", my romance novel!" Mick replied proudly.
"What is that? A romance novel?"Shuri exclaimed, stunned. "More like an erotic novel! Mr. Rory, I don't think this kind of reading is appropriate for a kid Jonathan's age. And I don't think his parents appreciate this kind of story on their son."
"Sure, it is," Mick replied. "It's very friendly. Kid loves it. Look at him. Besides, he doesn't cry anymore, so he like this."
"I'm glad Groot isn't here to hear that!"Rocket replied, resuming the detector's work.
"Here we go again," said the novelist, as if he had not been interrupted. "Anyway, "Chapter 19. As he caressed the nape of her back, he struck like a cobra". Heh heh. You like that. So do I. It's my best writing. Anyway."
Rolling his eyes in amazement, Shuri was about to pass out.
"If I had known, I would have stayed in Wakanda with my family," she said. "I'd rather work in my lab on my own, than hear that!"
"Seriously, your Mick really looks like this asshole?" Rocket exclaimed at Ray, surprised.
Earth – 96; Metropolis
Thor, along with Clark, Lois and Iris, had just entered this Earth's Daily Planet newspaper. The Asgardian wore civilian clothes. He scanned the reporters around him.
"I was able to trace Luthor's path to this Earth," he explained. "So this is where he will strike! I hope the Superman of this Earth isn't already dead."
"Let's find him!" said Iris.
"If he's Clark Kent, you can easily find him here at the Daily Planet," Lois explained.
Then Lois suddenly bumped into a tall man wearing glasses and a gray suit.
"Oh, excuse me. So sorry," said the man with the glasses.
Lois stammered out apologies, while the others were stunned. This man was the perfect double of Ray Palmer, but with glasses.
The man looked at Lois curiously.
"You seem so familiar. Have we met before?"
Before Lois could answer, Clark cleared his throat, then the man turned to the other three people.
"Uh, he looks just like Ray Palmer." Iris exclaimed, stunned.
"Who?" the man whispered.
Then he noticed Clark and gave him a friendly smile.
"Nice glasses."
"Oh thanks," said Clark.
Thor turned to him.
"Sorry but, um, do you have a minute?" he asked.
The man noticed Thor and asked him with big round eyes:
"Are you Chris Hemsworth?"
Thor frowned, confused.
"I'm sorry, who?"
"Actor Chris Hemsworth. You look a lot like him! Would you be his twin brother or a double? I wish I could meeting him!"
Thor shook his head.
"I'm sorry, you've the wrong person. I'm not actor! I don't have a twin brother. And I'm not this Chris Hemsworth!"
Clark intervened in turn.
"That's very important. We need to talk to you! Do you have a second?"
"Sure," the man said, smiling. "For a citizen of Metropolis, always. If you wouldn't mind contacting my assistant." (He held out a card.)
"It's about Lex Luthor," Clark added.
Immediately, the reporter stopped smiling and seemed intrigued. Thor took the opportunity to ask him:
"Are you Kal… uh, I mean Clark Kent?"
"Yes, it's me," replied the man. "And who are you?"
Earth – 99; Gotham city
At Wayne Manor, while Kate was with Bruce, Kara was with Luke in the library.
"How did you say you knew Kate?" Luke asked him.
"I didn't." Kara replied, looking around. "We're still sort of Getting to know each other."
She saw there a whole row of shelves made up of books, with a table with a chess set on it.
The Girl of Steel began to X-ray the whole room, only to see lead walls. Then her attention shifted to a shelf with items on it.
"What are those?"
"Mementos From Batman's greatest victories." Luke clarified. "Back in the days when he was the Dark Knight fighting crime."
Kara then saw a large joker card lying on a board on the shelf. Next to it, she saw a large penny coin set on a plinth. Then she saw a ventriloquist puppet displayed as a work of art. Then it was a scarecrow mask, a green hat with a question mark, a large black hat with a monocle and finally, a strange ice pistol.
"Trophies besides mementos," Kara said, looking at the objects.
It was then that she heard hums coming from outside. She walked to the window. She looked at the sky above the city, and saw what looked like a swarm of large birds. But with her Kryptonian eyes, Kara saw that these were not birds, but large winged creatures, with faces of demons, flying in the sky. The creatures were making their way in flight to Wayne Manor.
"What are these creatures?" Kara exclaimed, stunned.
These monsters were unlike the Shadow Demons she had fought on Earth – 38.
Luke saw the monsters from the window and looked horrified.
"Parademons!" he clarified with horror. "Darkseid's minions! They must come for you!"
Earth – 96; Metropolis
At the Daily Planet, Thor and his companions followed the Clark of this Earth who led them to his office as the editor-in-chief of the building.
He had turned to them.
"Look, I appreciate your concern, but this isn't my first go round with Luthor." he assured them confidently. "I can handle him!"
He took off his glasses.
"Except this Lex Luthor isn't the one you know," Thor clarified. "He's got a mighty Book with him."
"And with that, he is able to do anything," added Iris. "He made us vanish right in front of the last Clark."
Lois' attention was drawn to a wall covered with commemorative plaques of several people, including those of Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, Ron Troupe and Lois Lane.
"Why are all these names on your wall?" the young woman asked the Clark of this Earth.
The editor-in-chief lowered his head sadly, and walked over to a newspaper article hanging on the wall. The photo in the article showed the Daily Planet building covered in green gas.
"A...reject from Gotham felt that we didn't cover him enough, so he played what he called a practical joke...and gassed the building."
"All these people died?" Iris said, shocked.
Clark from Earth – 96 nodded sadly.
"My friends, my wife. I lost everyone in one fell swoop."
"Almost as if you've been through more loss that any mortal man could endure." Lois replied.
"You are the Paragon we seek," Thor replied, looking at the new Clark.
"We need you to come back with us." said Iris. "I know this sounds insane, but...you might be the key to saving the Multiverse."
Clark from Earth – 96 smiled again.
"That's actually one of the least insane things I've ever heard."
He disappeared in super speed and reappeared in a suit similar to Superman's. Thor saw a difference in this new costume. The Kryptonian symbol was depicted in red and black.
"We stay and face Luthor." said the new Superman in front of our heroes.
Clark in turn disappeared and reappeared in super-speed as Superman.
"And you won't do it alone," he told her.
Then Thor made lightning appear. Immediately his Asgardian armor covered him, and brandished his hammer and ax.
"I am Thor, son of Odin and God of Thunder, to help you, Kal-El," he announced. "We will face Luthor together."
"We won't let him kill you," Lois added.
It was then that Lex appeared with the Book of Destiny open, in his hand.
"Oh, I changed my plans," he clarified disinterestedly. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but...I'm sick and tired of killing Supermen."
"Luthor, this madness ends here," Thor thundered, brandishing both weapons straight in front of him, causing lightning to appear.
Lex looked at the God without showing the slightest interest.
"Really, is this Storm-man going to stop me?"
"Lex!" roared Earth – 38's Superman angrily.
"Hello Clark," Lex told him, as if he was saying hello to a friend. "Sorry to have to cut his reunion short, but I have things to do here!"
"You're not going to do anything!" Thor snapped, walking towards him with his body covered in lightning.
"It's too late," replied the bald man with a smirk. "Like I said, I'm no longer looking to kill Superman. It's so much more fun making Superman... kill Superman!"
Thor looked confused and looked at the two Supermen in the same room. The Earth – 96's Superman leaned forward, as if in pain. Then his gaze changed. It was a look of rage. And he looked at his double with contempt.
"I'm going to kill you! He said between his teeth.
"I think we're in trouble," Thor whispered, realizing that Lex had just used the Book of Destiny to influence the Superman of this Earth and subdue him so he could kill the other Superman.