2,088Chapter 24 - Revelations
(Grace Mallory's Estate- Upstate New York, Adirondack Mountains - 25th April 2020)
As she fell hard to the earth again, Annie was reminded of a preacher she once listened to when she went to the Capes for Christ summer camp as a kid. He was the replacement that summer for the supe preacher Oh Father, who Clark's Aunt Mary had pulled from the camp for some reason, something Annie remembered a lot of the kids looking very relieved about when they learnt he wasn't coming back. That was the only Capes for Christ Camp Clark had gone to, just a year after she had met him.
She didn't blame him for not coming back. Usually the sermons, services and activities at the summer camp were wonderful and filled with messages of love and good deeds. She wanted her new friend to have the same experience as her, and that was why she had invited him. However, the new preacher, who had only lasted the one summer before Mary pulled him too, had ruined it; in the time he was there, he had scared the daylights out of her with his hellfire and brimstone approach.
He had focused on the damnation that awaited sinners and was very into the Book of Revelations, and with his righteous bellowing, he painted a very vivid picture of the end of days that had been seared into her brain ever since: lakes of fire, storms sweeping away the unworthy, floods and just general destruction. The scene in front of her bore a terrifying resemblance to her old nightmares.
Stormfront unleashed a barrage of electricity like the one that set the woods and part of the house on fire, the lightning was her only method of keeping Diana, Kimiko and herself away from her. That wasn't even adding Frenchie, MM and Lucy Lane into the mix, but their desperate shots only managed to create a slight distraction. She felt herself bodily lifted and flung towards another tree, another reflection of her old nightmares.
Clark was pissed.
A blur of blue shot over their heads, followed by a pair of twin blurs, one also blue and the other white, and then a wall of force and sound crashed through moments later. It was like a great hand that picked everyone up, shook them like dice, and threw them down again. Annie shook her head as she rolled to her side before leaping to her feet and unleashing a few blasts herself as for what felt like the hundredth time reassessed the battle raging around them.
She hadn't actually seen Clark. He, Homelander and Kara were just vague shapes streaking across the area and occasionally knocked into the ground. She was fast-hating when that happened, being knocked around by air pressure was proving bad enough but when they slammed into the ground it was like their own personal micro-earthquake which was also accompanied by them being thrown around by the air pressure of the passing superbeings. As she twisted her head and spotted Sam Lane in the distance keeping his daughter and granddaughter away from the fight she felt a grimace appear on her face as she turned toward where Clark had headed. There was nothing but flattened trees and scorched earth as the ground shook again she had no idea who was winning their fight or what was happening.
"DIE, YOU BITCH!"
Diana's voice sounded hoarse and more than exhausted as she leapt into the air again using the scorched trees around them as poles to leap between them and gain height. As she reached the level that Stormfront she pushed off causing the tree to splinter apart as she soared towards the Supe. However, Stormfront was a fraction of a second too quick for Diana who was rewarded for her effort by being blasted back to earth skidding into a small crater next to Annie.
"Or not. Fuck. That hurt," Diana coughed up a small amount of blood as she stood up and looked towards Stormfront who was distracted by Kimiko, Frenchie, MM and Hughie attacking her. "You still good?"
"I'm starting to run on empty," Annie replied moving towards Diana lifting her hand up and showing the dying glow there, she winced as she felt real pain for the first time in her life. "How the fuck is she so strong?"
"She got the fucking undiluted shit back in the day, that, or maybe she's fucking juicing." Diana spat out loud as she coughed again, before looking "Either way we're fucked, we need someone stronger than us to take the bitch."
"Well Clark's a bit… busy," Annie panted, catching her breath as she pointed to the direction in which red flashes of light were occurring and the sounds of yelling were coming from.
"I wasn't talking about him," Diana replied her head nodding towards the partially demolished house. "Ryan's Clark's nephew or some shit right? I bet he can take her."
"Yeah, yeah, maybe." Annie nodded as she looked towards the house, where she suspected Becca and Mallory were, she hadn't seen them since the fight broke out. "So what's the plan?"
"You get the kid, I'll see if I can fuck up the Nazi bitch in the meantime." Diana gave a snarl and without waiting for a reply she charged towards the fight where Kimko was currently being electrocuted.
Annie fought back the urge to follow the woman. Her every heroic instinct told her to head towards the danger, but her more rational side prevailed as she turned and raced towards the house. She passed General Lane and Lois, the latter was cradling her daughter in one hand whilst holding a gun in the other, whilst the former was leaning against a tree still clutching his bleeding stomach doing his best to keep them safe. As she arrived at the house she was greeted by the swath of destruction caused by the initial confrontation as well as the sight of Becca and Mallory digging into the rubble that Ryan had been knocked back into.
"RYAN! RYAN! PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!" Becca's voice was hoarse as she shouted for what was likely the hundredth time as she tried desperately to find her son.
"Starlight!" Mallory's voice was exhausted but still commanding as she pointed to a large piece of the roof that had collapsed onto the area that Becca was digging into. "Ryan's underneath here somewhere, we need you to lift this."
Annie moved forward lifting the large piece of the roof her muscles slightly straining as she discovered that Mallory's house had been reinforced so it was more than just wood and support beams she was lifting. She managed to lift it to about her chest before stopping as she heard the piece of debris start creaking threatening to break apart into hundred pieces. Becca and Mallory were quick to duck down and quickly spotted the bright red, blue and gold that was Ryan's superboy suit. The two quickly started to move more rubble out of the way and try to get Ryan free, the boy was mumbling and sounded like he had a concussion.
"Dam it! We can't get this beam off of him, Ryan can you hear me?" Mallory cursed as they found that one of the steel reinforcement beams was lying across Ryan who only mumbled in response. "Shit! We need something to use as leverage."
"Move," Butcher's voice caused Mallory, Becca, and Annie to blink. The man appeared to be panting slightly, and he hefted a long crowbar underneath the beam and started to lift but only barely. "Don't just gawp, you divvies, fuckin' pull him free!"
Becca and Mallory managed to drag Ryan free from the rubble, with Annie lowering the piece of the collapsed roof she held once they and Butcher were clear. As she turned she saw Mallory kneeling next to Ryan, now free of the rubble and bathing in sunlight that was streaming in from the hole in the roof. The boy was shaking his head and blinking slightly as his mother smiled at him and then looked up to her husband giving him a grateful nod and mouthing 'Thank you' at him.
"Where have you been?" Annie glanced at Butcher with a grimace as she looked at the man who had walked out on them.
"Doesn't matter, we need to get out of here," Butcher grunted in response looking at the devastation around him trying to figure out what the fuck happened. "I'm guessing the wanker and the cunt showed up?"
"Yeah. Ryan, you okay buddy? Because we really need your help." Annie focused back on Ryan who was suddenly looking a lot better as he managed to pull himself up onto his feet, she could see the light bruising on his head already vanishing.
"Yeah, I'm good," Ryan nodded, blinking hard to dispel the last of his concussion before looking at his mom. "You need to go, I need to help Clark."
"I'm not le-" Becca reached out her hand and placed it firmly on her son's shoulder.
"GUYS, FUCKING MOVE!" Lucy Lane's voice cut off Becca as everyone looked towards the massive hole in the side of the house, the woman along with a bleeding and limping MM were running towards them.
CRACK! SMASH!
Everyone in the room was thrown backwards as a blur slammed into the centre of where they were standing. Annie felt herself hit the back wall and then fell face first into the floor she felt she now had her own concussion as she looked groggily up. The blur had been Diana who was now practically naked and looked more like charred meat than a woman, but amazingly she managed to get to a knee before she was slammed back down as Stormfront slammed into her feet first. The superpowered Nazi didn't look any better; her costume was riddled with bullet holes and she had deep gashes over her torso from both Annie's blasts and where she had been struck by Diana and Kimko.
Stormfront tried to say something to Diana as she put her foot on the woman's throat, but could only mumble through the broken jaw that Clark had given her earlier. However, given the glint in the woman's eye and the dark broken smile she managed to create it was clear it wasn't anything pleasant. The woman's smile grew darker as she pressed down her foot on Diana's neck and also spotted the person lying in arms reach. Annie fought to get up as she saw Stormfront reach down and grab Becca Butcher by the neck lifting the woman clear off the ground, the supe's eyes glinting with glee.
Stormfront looked down at Diana and gestured with her hand to give her a second before refocusing on Becca Butcher. Stromfront's hand started squeezing as Becca's eyes widened in shock as she desperately tried to claw it away. Stormfront, however, paid it no mind, she was done with all of this and just wanted this over.
First, she would kill this pathetic insect, then the race traitor underneath her foot, and finally find the baby so this all could be sorted out. Ryan would fall in line once he understood his role in the new world they would create with her as his mother, the baby would only add to their ranks and was key to controlling Clark. She could already see it, Clark was the true Übermensch, the greater being crafted beautifully from the woman her husband found in the ice all those years ago, but he lacked the understanding that Homelander had of his place in the world. She didn't know how he had been made but she would find the people responsible and kill them. His introduction had nearly ruined everything. However, he could still become a crucial part of the new order, and once they had the baby in hand she would force him to embrace his role, maybe tell him to go and flatten Israel or something, that should wake him up.
"NO!" Annie blinked as she saw Butcher managing to get to his feet before her or Ryan who she spotted was getting up.
The man rushed forward holding out a small green shard in one hand as charged, whatever it was Stormfront suddenly stumbled removing her foot from Diana's throat and suddenly looked pale. However, before Butcher could reach her Stromfront twisted and blasted him a blot of lightening whilst still holding Becca in her other hand. The man crashed backwards again this time hitting the floor with an almost sicking crunch before he collapsed away, the green shard dropping from his hand and slipping into the rubble below.
"MOOOOOOMMMMM!" Ryan roared as she stood up his eyes going red as he looked at his mom in the supe's hand.
Annie took the opportunity as Stromfront turned around to look at Ryan to let out a final blast at the woman feeling the last of her strength go. However, her eyes widened as she saw in the second she unleashed her light blast, a beam of red had gone from Ryan's eyes and a blot of purple lightning had been thrown by Stormfront. The world seemed to slow to crawl as Annie watched her blast which was slightly off target crash into Stromfront's hand that was projecting the lightning at the exact same moment Ryan's red beams struck it. There was a millisecond of silence as a strange orb of light was created in front of Stormfront who in a panic used Becca as a shield before a white light engulfed everyone.
BOOM!
(A few minutes earlier)
Pain, that was all he was feeling as he soared through the sky, it wasn't the crippling emotional pain he had felt all his life but real physical pain and it sucked. Homelander felt intense pain explode in his ribs as Clark struck him there sending him hurtling towards the ground, blood exploding from his mouth as his eyes fired a beam of red at Clark who didn't even dodge it. The red beam smashed against Clark's chest and all it seemed to do was cause the man to get angrier as suddenly shot forward and struck him again this time in the stomach. They streaked past something purple and bright before hitting the ground hard
CRACK!
Homelander hit the floor and felt something go in his back pain exploding down his spine which was only overshadowed by Clark crashing into him causing more pain in his chest.
"DIE! YOU GODDAMN MONSTER!" Clark's statement was accompanied by a blurring fist striking him in the face repeatedly before Clark stopped for a moment, rage on the man's face as he yelled at him again "I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED YOU! I SHOULD HAVE STO-"
"Kal-El stop! Please!" Homelander blinked as his vision started to clear Clark stopped punching him as an angelic blonde woman appeared holding Clark's forearm. "He is kin, all our laws all our customs, we don't harm the family… He is my son"
"He killed my mother!" Clark's eyes flashed red blasting a surprised Kara back who was flung into the air and countered with her own heat vision
The two beams collided causing them to fracture like a prism with beams of pure heat blasting off from where the two main ones met. Homelander although bleeding and in pain smiled at the beauty of what he was seeing the beams turned to ash everything they hit, scorching the earth with their power. However, what his main focus was on was the woman and her words, as he managed to refocus on the world around him, her face was one he recognised because it was one he had long imagined in his dreams.
"Please, I am not saying forgive Kal-El, we need… I need to understand," Kara slowly lowered herself back to the ground looking from her cousin to the man every inch her being told her was her son, conflict on her face. "How he exists, who turned him into…..this."
"He KILLED HER!" Clark roared back, throwing Homelander towards Kara who watched as the bleeding and bruised man rolled to a stop near her feet.
Kara opened her mouth to respond although she wasn't sure what exactly she could say to Kal-El, everything that came to mind about Krypotian culture, tradition, and history just wouldn't work. Mainly because it was clear that either her cousin didn't care because of his human upbringing or else was ignorant of the sheer taboo, the absolute impermissible nature of attacking a member of your own house. To Kryptonians family was more than a word it was everything, it was a fundamental tenet of their culture ingrained into the heart of every single one of them that family and nothing was greater than it. However, as she glanced at the man the world knew as Homelander she also felt disgust rise in her as the man had killed Kal-El's adoptive mother, blood or not Kal-El claimed her as kin, so this man had committed the very act she was trying to prevent Kal-El from committing. She felt her heart and mind torn as she was faced with an issue that had not occurred since the time of Erok, kin had slain kin and justice was required.
Kara was spared anything as a dark sickly chuckle sounded out from Homelander who managed to push himself onto his knees spitting blood onto the charred earth. The man's face was bruised and bleeding but he gave an insane grin as he lurched up and looked at Clark, not an ounce of anger or fear present. Clark froze as he saw a mad depraved warped version of pride present as Homelander gave a few nods of approval
"Ho ho ho, man! THIS IS WHAT I WAS GOING FOR! SOME RAGE, SOME FURY! This is what we are meant for!" Homelander gestured around to the destroyed desolate landscape around them. "We are gods Clark, we can do whatever the fuck we want. You're angry, fantastic, that's what we need! You see what you can do when you let go!"
"You're a monster! AND INSANE!" Clark spat back disgust and rage moving forward in a blur and holding Homelander by the neck raising his free hand into a fist "This is what you wanted! You killed my mother! I'm going to tear you apart!"
"Oh COME ON, SON! That ant was noth-" Homelander started to speak, wanting to show Clark how Martha didn't matter once he embraced the power like he was doing.
"I AM NOT YOUR SON! YOU CRAZY INSANE IDIOT!" Clark's wrathful voice was equalled by the punch that landed across Homelander's face causing blood to spray from Homelander mouth "SHE IS YOUR MOTHER! YOU ARE A MAD SCIENCE EXPERIMENT GONE WRONG! MY PARENTS WERE MARTHA AND JOHNATHAN KENT!"
"My mother?!" Homelander although reeling in pain and still losing a lot of blood managed to blink as he looked up to Kara who had flinched at her cousin's strike red flecks of blood darted over her white costume but a look of pure concern was on her face.
"YES! AND WE ARE NOT EVEN FROM THIS WORLD! SO GET IT THROUGH YOUR BLEACHED BLOND SKULL I AM NOT YOUR SON!" Clark's rage slowed into burning fury as he took in laboured breaths his eyes flashing red and he readied his fist "Now let's finish this,"
"Kal-El! PLEASE!" Kar moved forward however she froze unsure of what to do to protect the child she didn't know how existed or let the cousin she swore her life to to carry out his version of justice.
"It's funny. if I had known this is what it would have taken to make you embrace your true self. I would have killed her first, then the other one." Homelander's words caused Clark fist to freeze in an instant an inch from his face, the man was becoming half-conscious and was starting to feel the effects of blood loss.
"The other one?" Clark blinked first in confusion before a look of tentative, horrified understanding appeared. "What do you mean the other ONE?!"
"What? That hick farmer, of course, thought you knew." Homelander scoffed either accepting Clark was going to kill him in some messed up belief it made him right or else he had now lost so much blood his mind just wasn't working right "Fucking bug was too stupid to be scared, he told me to leave. ME, couldn't even handle a light squeeze to the throat. Died on the floor scrambling for his pills."
"YOU KILLED MY PA!" Clark's rage returned twofold as his fist started to slam into Homelander's face causing more blood to spray across Kara's white uniform
"DIE!"
CRACK!
"YOU!"
CRACK!
"FUCKING MONSTER!"
CRACK!
"I'll KILL YOU! FOR MY PARENTS! For my…"
Clark froze again. His fist dripped with blood as the rage and fury left him like tears being wiped away by a kind and gentle hand. Kara's eyes widened as she watched her cousin let go of Homelander who collapsed to his knees, his arms limp by his side, his face a pulverised mess but the shallow breathing showed he was alive.
"No, no, never that,"
Clark's whispered words as he took a deep breath and his face scrunched up briefly as he willed himself to do this. He took a deep breath before fixing a look of pure unrelenting determination on his face as he picked the limp bleeding half dead supe from his knees bringing the bloody mess of which was his face up to his own.
"You don't get to decide what their lives meant. You don't get to decide anything anymore!" Clark gasped out as he fought back what every inch of his being was screaming for him to do. "You don't get to use them to turn me into you. They were insects, nobodies to you? Well, those nobodies just saved your life. Those nobodies taught me all life matters, everyone matters, even things like you. They taught me right from wrong. They taught me to value life. They saved you, understand? THEY SAVED YOU!"
Clark took a moment as he closed his eyes and could still see them, his perfect memory conjuring their ghosts before him, their loving kind smiles, his father's proud eyes and his mother's heartwarming gaze.
"Their names were Johnathan and Martha Kent, in their name, in their memory, I'm letting you live." Clark lifted Homelander again bringing the man who he wasn't even sure was conscious back up to his eye level. "I'm letting you live, but you're done, no more doing whatever you want or I will stop you. And you stay away from Annie, Hughie, Lois, MY DAUGTHER and the rest of them or I will-"
BOOM!
Clark felt the explosion as he turned and saw an explosion rip apart what little remained of the left side of Mallory's house. Clark dropped Homelander and in a blur sped towards the new destruction, however, the man didn't hit the floor as Kara caught him in her arms. She went to her knees cradling the man who was the spitting image of her own father just with her mother's blonde hair instead of the black hair near-universal to the men of the house of El. Her eyes glanced towards where Kal-El had headed and then back to the man in her arms for the first time in her life she had no idea what to do, none of this had been in the plan.
Clark for his part had arrived mere seconds after the explosion had ripped through the building and the sight that greeted him was awful. Stormfront was lying in the middle of the room, her limbs were gone and her entire body was charred, she was incoherently muttering something in her native German, however Clark ignored that, focusing on the two other wounded people. Diana was alive but barely and looking at the pieces of bone and burn marks on her back she had thrown herself in the last second to shield Butcher from the blast as he was the only non-powered person present that she could have reached. However, what drew his eyes was Becca Butcher, she was on the floor a few feet from Stormfront and looked somehow worse than Stormfront, there wasn't an inch of her body that was intact or wasn't bleeding.
"No, no, Becca, stay with me," Butcher was kneeling next to his wife, blood pouring from several wounds and most of his left side was burnt from the explosion. "We can get help, I can….."
"He's good, he's good…remember that," Becca lifted her hand and touched Butcher's face before it fell lifelessly to the floor.
Butcher brought his shaking burnt arm and ignoring the pain he managed to caress the now still and cold face of his wife. He looked about to cry when suddenly he turned his head and looked at the only other occupant besides Clark, Ryan, who was still on his feet. The boy was bruised and the proto-type superboy costume he had been wearing was largely torn or burned showing the wounds on his chest that were already healing in the sunlight. He was trembling and looked like he was trying to speak but the sheer shock at both the devastation and his mother's death was causing him to freeze.
"You"
Butcher growled and stood up after gently placing Becca down moving towards Ryan but he suddenly stopped before even Clark could react. The anger and rage left him as he looked at the terrified boy, his head turning to look at his wife before he briefly closed his eyes as he fought down whatever darkness was trying to break loose. Butcher opened his eyes again and then looked not at Ryan but at Clark with a slight grimace.
"You…. you look after him, or else I will fuckin' end you," Butcher delivered his threat and then turned around picked up his wife and then just left without saying another word.
"Ryan?" Clark spoke after a few moments of silence moving forward and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder "Ryan I'm h-"
Clark was cut off by Ryan turning around and hugging him hard, nearly knocking the wind out of him as his gaze rose from the boy whose pain he understood all too well to the destroyed house around him. Clark's eyes were scanning the rubble for his mother when he heard something to his side. It was distant as he was distracted by his surroundings. He turned and saw Annie managing to stand on her feet in clothing burnt and torn by the explosion.
"Clark, what do we do now?" Annie managed to wheeze out as she felt her lungs on fire and was pretty sure at least two ribs were broken.
Clark paused as he looked around the demolished house. His arms were still wrapped around Ryan as he saw Lois with their daughter and the rest of the team limp into view.
"We do better,"
(Central Park - New York City, New York - July 1st 2020)
The park was lovely as the warm summer air lingered perfectly enough to let the cooling breeze that picked up every few minutes feel wonderful on the skin. Two joggers passed by, and one of them gave a second glance, almost recognising the occupants of the bench for a brief moment before they dismissed it. Clark didn't watch them; his eyes were focused on the great lawn in front of him even though it was still early in the morning. Several games were already in swing on the baseball pitches.
"Hughie's sorry he missed the funeral and only showed up for the wake," Annie's voice caused him to turn to her, she was in her civilian clothes sipping the black sugar-loaded coffee she loved. "He's just started the new job and time got away from him and again he's super sorry about-"
"It's alright. I understand," Clark leaned back and gave Annie an understanding smile that stopped her from going full ramble. "So how's he finding working for Neuman and the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs?"
"He's optimistic. Excited. I think it will be good for him to step out from Butcher and Lois' shadows," Annie smiled remembering the smile that had been on Hughie's face as he talked about his new role "You know he's asked me to see if you'd reconsider,"
"Working for the Bureau?" Clark looked at Annie who nodded at his question, causing him to sigh. "Tell him thank you but…."
"But?" Annie pressed eyeing her friend who had a look she knew well he had a plan or an idea in his head
"But I've got my own idea about moving forward." Clark looked back out over the park and the simple scene of ordinary people living their lives. "Tell him if they need help sorting anyone out that they can't deal with I'll be happy to lend a hand."
"Will do. So what's this big idea of yours? Working with Lois' father more? Or do you and Diana got something on?" Annie asked with a smile on her face as she leaned back on the park bench curious what her friend was planning.
"Diana's healing up at the moment and back with her kids. Lois' father… Well, he's officially retired now, can't be in the army with one eye." Clark replied, his words caused Annie to raise a very sceptical eyebrow at his news "I did say officially. Lois tells me he's already working with Mallory on off-the-books stuff, she says he's opening his own private military company as a front."
"That sounds like it's going to be…..Not a problem at all." Annie scoffed already picturing the headache Sam Lane was going to cause for them in the future, she looked out at the park for a few moments before speaking again. "Have you heard from Kara?"
"No, she's disappeared, I've looked but found nothing." Clark's face fell into a grimace as he crossed his arms and let out a deep breath "I'm sure she'll show up her and the other one"
"The other one?" Annie asked, tilting her head at Clark, whose eyes narrowed as his mind started working.
"It's the only thing that makes sense, there's another Kryptonian on this world. One who's been in the shadows for a long time" Clark revealed his thinking, each word causing the pit in Annie's stomach to deepen "I thought V was about replacing the human race, but that was Stormfront and Fredrick Vought's plan. No, how the lab with Kara's pod was set up and everything around it tells me something else was going on."
"What do you think it is?" Annie felt a chill go up her spine as the warm sun bathed them in its warm rays
"I think all of it, all the human experiments, all the trails, all the chaos V created, was just collateral damage, I think compound V was just about getting Kara out of that pod," Clark felt a sour taste in his mouth as he spoke out what had been turning in mind for weeks nows
"How could V get her out of that pod?" Annie asked, confusion overriding her sense of dread for a moment as she failed to put the pieces together.
"V was made from her, Kara said certain Supes register as having trace genetic material of the House of El, and the pod she was in needed a close family genetic match to revive her." Clark ran a hand through his hair as he felt the sourness in his mouth to even bitter "I think V was just a means to that end and superpowers were just a byproduct. The experiment that created Sam Lane was trying to create a genetic match to Kara as close as possible. I just happened to stumble across her before someone like Ryan was born and brought to the pod by whoever is behind this. Which leads me to my biggest concern"
"What is this… person going to do now that Kara's awake?" Annie guessed her own mind wondering if the world could survive two people like Clark following some strange alien plan they didn't know anything about.
"There's that, but if I'm right, it means someone unleashed chaos on the world without regard to the damage and the potential it could wipe out the human race, all just to save one person." Clark swallowed the sourness he felt in his mouth but it did nothing about the bitterness that lingered there "That's what worried me more, that V isn't part of some grand ancient plan, that it was just a means to an end and that supe community is the way it is not because of malicious intent but just complete apathy to the consequences….. that is someone very dangerous, more dangerous than Homelander."
"Well at least we don't have to worry about him now," Annie reached for the one silver lining that she had found from the whole horrid affair "You saw the press conference he gave, apologised to me, Maeve, admitted to the world Stormfront was a Nazi. That guy is cowed, hell he's not even threatened Ashely since you beat him down."
"For now." Clark responded shifting, fighting the urge that lingered in him, the one that wanted to find Homelander and beat him to death "I just hope he stays that way, for his and everyone else's sake."
"I'm still surprised you didn't throw him in jail." Annie scoffed, remembering her surprise that she had seen the man still walking around the tower free albeit cowed after the beating Clark gave him.
"Government wouldn't go for it, even with me as a guarantor." Clark sighed as he remembered. "Lois spoke to Neuman about it, she said unless I'm willing to permanently solve the issue, he's still a no-go. I'll just have to keep him in line"
"We will keep him in line," Annie smiled, feeling the pit in stomach vanish as she smiled to her best friend in the world "I'm with you all the way. Homelander, alien plots, hell you can bring on Martians and wizards and I'll be right behind you."
"Good," Clark chuckled and smiled right back to Annie, feeling the weight on his shoulders lessen just with her smile "Because of that idea I had is going to need it."
"Oh yeah. So what is it exactly?" Annie asked her enthusiasm and curiosity rising with each second
"It's likely going to take a year or two for me to get everything set up, legally and financially so we're separate from Vought" Clark looked Annie straight in the eye. "But I've got an idea for a new way of doing things. A new team, more of a league actually, shake things up, that sound good?"
"Oh, hell yes." Annie raised her sugar-filled coffee before draining it and feeling ready to take on the world
(Grace Mallory's Estate- Upstate New York, Adirondack Mountains - 25th April 2020 - After Clark and everyone had left)
"Wer ist da?" Stormfront struggled to move as every inch of her body felt pain and even though she felt them, she knew she had barely any limbs left attached to her body.
She was twisting to try and see whose shadow had appeared over her but couldn't move to see anything but a dark featureless shadow.
"Look at you."
Stormfront froze. She knew that voice well, she hadn't heard its strange accent and commanding tones for decades but it was the same one that she had overheard her beloved Fredrick talk to, the one that had gotten them to America and helped them understand the secrets of the pod.
"All that power and you end up like this. How disappointing."
"Y-you?" Stromfront's eyes widened as the figure moved into her view and she finally had a face to go with her memories. It was the last person she ever expected.
"Yes, me." Stan Edgar shifted slightly so he could coldly look over her charred body easier as he then turned to assess the rest of their surroundings.
"Untermensch! You can't be him! You're just a ni-" Stormfront tried to spit the word as bile and rage built up while she flailed on the ground.
"Hmph. A century on this backwater, and I still don't understand the importance some of you place on such insignificant things as skin pigmentation or belief in a particular deity." Stan just shook his head as his eyes suddenly found what he was actually there for. "There you are."
"Where are you going?!" Stormfront cried as the man just stepped over her and walked away ignoring her like she something he would scrape off his shoe. "GET BACK HERE!"
Kara was cradling Homelander, who was still unconscious from the vicious beating Kal-El had given him. She knew her cousin had departed with Kon-El and his lifemate but she couldn't just leave a member of her house like this. Her head snapped up as she heard and felt the approach of someone nearby. For a moment she hoped it was Kal-El, if he returned they could work through this and hopefully salvage the mission. However, the person who greeted her was someone she never thought she would see again, a mixture of hope and relief exploded in her chest as she knew everything was going to be alright.
"Uncle, is that you?" Kara asked tentatively in case this was all just a cruel joke played by the universe and the man just looked like the man she had known all her life
"It is, child." Stan Edgar spoke softly as he came to stand in front of Kara, a gentle smile on his lips before he turned into a half-serious half joking tone."But is that any way to greet your commanding officer?"
"Sorry, General." Kara gave a happy chuckle as she gently placed Homelander on the floor, then placed one hand on her chest and moved to kneel before her commander. "Lieutenant Kara Zor-El reporting for duty, General Zod."
"Good, now get up and hug your uncle." Zod opened up his arms and enveloped Kara in a deep heartfelt hug before breaking apart and looking at the woman who he had helped raise "By Rao, it is good to see you awake. Finally, we can complete the mission."
"Uncle Dru….. Kal-El is unbalanced, kin has slain kin, and I do not understand what has happened?" Kara grew frantic and uncertainty rose in her as she looked at her…. son on the floor, gesturing to him "How does this man exist?
"I know. I can explain everything, including this creation" Zod's confident presence banished all of Kara's fears in a second. He nodded and smiled benevolently."Kal–El just needs time to calm down and then together we will convince him of his true place, and of the importance of our great work. We have time. He will join us, and we will go home."
"Home," Kara whispered the word as she felt relief flood through her. "What do we do first?"
"First, we let this world show Kal-El its true colours." Zod looked down at the creation he despised, the warped, cracked, and pale reflection of the family he had known since boyhood. "And then we show him a better one."