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Beyond Smallville: Time Shards Pt 1

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  • #16
    bump up for the summer

    Time Shards will continue this year!

    The Boy Becomes the Man. The Man Becomes the Legend. The epic love affair begins, and truths will be revealed. Smallville Season 10 starts now!

    keep reading, and thanks

    gardy1

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    • #17
      Thanks

      Sadly, this season Smallville will end. I still hope for a sequel or spin off series, but if not, i'll continue writing. Thanks for reading.

      The stories will be at my website:



      Thanks,
      gardy1

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      • #18
        Time Shards 1

        See how it all began. Bump up to try and finish this story during the January hiatus.

        gardy1

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        • #19
          Time Shards The Ultimate Gambit – Blue Shard

          Clark Kent, now known as Superman, has gone back in time to save mankind’s future. His mission is to create and unite the Justice League much earlier in time than before. That is the only way that Earth can survive Darkseid’s onslaught. He has been forced to ally himself with Lex Luthor, his former arch nemesis. The scene: the beach alongside the bridge where young Clark first saved Lex’s life.
          Lex watched Clark fly away towards Metropolis. “Amazing.” He muttered, shaking his bald head. “He was right under my nose this whole time. I knew that I was originally right.” Lex flipped on his early twenty-first century cell phone. “Dalton? This is Lex. Can you bring the limo and pick me up?”

          “I trashed my Porsche.” Lex glanced back at the silver and black sports car now minus its roof. The Luthorcorp driver sounded worried as Lex responded. “No, I’m fine, Dalton. Let’s just say it was a miracle.” Lex smirked as he spoke and flipped off the cell phone.
          Lex took a deep breath, enjoying a pain free gulp of fresh air. Later that day, Lex arrived at the Kent barn, unable to wrap his head around the mysterious alien benefactor’s existence. He found Clark waiting at the loft window, gazing out over the golden Kansas farm fields.

          “Clark? Are you sure about all this?” He asked without preamble. “Sure about what specifically, Lex?” Clark replied curtly, turning from the loft window. “Sure about needing me to save the world.” Lex answered, cautiously approaching him. “Definitely.” Clark responded with conviction.
          “As I admitted earlier, Kara and I failed to protect Earth.” The weary alien continued. “I needed to try a new approach. I also admit that I had never considered time travel as a viable option.” Lex simply gawked at him. Clark absently fingered the Eye of Rao within his pants pocket.

          “Something else?” Clark asked with a definite edge to his voice. Clearly, Lex was beginning to realize that Clark was no longer that annoyingly idealistic kid who’d first saved his life. This Clark seemed distant, war weary, and even aloof. “This plan will not fail. It can’t.” Clark reassured him.
          “Speaking of this plan, Clark, or Kal El, or Superman, I don’t even know what to call you.” Lex rambled. “Which one are you?” Clark sighed patiently. “I am Kal El of Krypton, and Clark Kent of Earth.” He replied tiredly. “Superman is the persona that I created, with a little help from humans of course.”

          “I’ll call you Clark. That seems simplest.” Lex decided. “Good.” Clark replied. “So, Clark, what if we interfere in this timeline of yours? I mean how do we react to Lana, Lois, Chloe, or even Kara?” Lex posed a good set of questions, Clark mused. “First off, if we don’t save Earth from the dark force, what we’ve done here in Earth’s past won’t make a darn bit of difference.”

          “I can tell you that you must somehow inherit your father’s vast Luthorcorp fortune for all of this to work.” Clark began vaguely. “You mean I have to kill my own father?” Lex was surprised and shocked that Clark would even consider such a thing. On the other hand, Lex mused, he obviously hadn’t known Clark well at all. “Not necessarily.” Clark commented.
          “Maybe you can convince Lionel to make you a full partner.” Clark brainstormed. “Put it this way, to save Earth you’ll need to do what must be done, as do I.” Lex thought about that. “That idea would be short of killing my father?” He double-checked Clark’s answer. “Yes. If possible.” Clark sighed.

          “I understand the value of sacrifice, Lex, believe me. My Earth father, Jonathan Kent, was the first of many to sacrifice themselves for me. I pledged to return their sacrifice if needed to protect Earth.” Clark paused to let all that sink in. “As for the others, like Lana, Lois, and such, I think it would be best to keep them out of our plans.” Lex shook his head. “I’m not a monk, Clark.” He argued.
          Clark snickered. “No one says that you have to be, Lex. I’m sure that there are plenty of other women that you can choose to spend time with. But, keep your eye on the ball, to quote Lionel. We can afford no major distractions for the plan to work.” Lex gazed past Clark at the slowly setting sun.

          “By the way, if you run across a woman named Tess, don’t sleep with her. She’s actually your stepsister.” He dropped the bomb on Lex. “I have a stepsister?” Lex asked incredulously. “Yes Lex. Obviously, Lionel has always kept a number of secrets from you.” Clark reminded him.
          “As for the rest of the plan, Marcus Worthington, Oliver Queen, and Bruce Wayne of Gotham City would be your business partners.” Clark began the set up. “Queen? Oliver Queen hates me.” Lex whined. “Yeah, he does.” Clark admitted. “You can leave him to me. I’ll have to introduce you to Marcus Worthington and Bruce Wayne as my friend.” Lex whistled.

          “Do you really think that anyone will buy that?” Lex questioned. Clark shrugged. “That remains to be seen. In this timeline you’re not the evil SOB you used to be, yet.” Lex smirked at Clark’s comment. “We can play the angle that I saved your life from drowning, which is actually true, and that I trust you to do the right thing. You felt indebted to me, and introduced me into your social circles.”
          “I’m impressed, Clark. I’ve never seen you create this much intrigue before.” Lex complimented him. “People change, Lex.” Clark defended. “If there’s one thing that Kara and I can do its adapt.” He added. Lex fiddled with Clark’s Smallville High School Crows pennant still hung alongside the window.

          “Is our heroic Supergirl on board with this grandiose plan of yours?” Lex grilled. “The Kara of the future is. In fact she helped me develop it. This time period’s Kara is young, inexperienced, and headstrong.” Clark answered. “I may have to convince her to help save humanity.”

          “What kind of a threat are we facing, Clark?” Lex quizzed. “I don’t want to reveal too much, but a dark force from another planet, in fact, another part of the galaxy, decides to conquer Earth. This dark force is pure evil, and they don’t need our resources. The dark force simply exists to conquer and subjugate our people. It’s like an infusion of dark matter, destroying all goodness and light.” Clark explained.

          Lex’s eyes widened as he spoke. “You mean like a demon?” Clark shrugged. “Call it whatever you want, but the fact is that this dark force can’t be reasoned with, or bargained with, like a normal enemy. It simply wants to destroy.” Lex, usually tough and cocky, felt a shiver run down his spine. “You’re talking about the total extinction of the human race?” Lex openly gawked at him. “Exactly.” Clark confirmed.
          “Do you really think that I would have risked coming back in time, let alone allowing you the freedom that this knowledge brings, if it wasn’t that serious?” Clark narrowed his eyes. Lex gasped. “Clark, you blew my mind.” He shook his head as he spoke. “Good.” Superman said curtly.

          “I wanted you to be aware of how dire this situation will be.” Clark continued. “I have never seen this level of evil before. My death, yours, even Lois’s or Lana’s is irrelevant. We must succeed.” Lex thought about all this for a while. “How can we stop this dark force alone?” He rationalized.

          “We won’t be alone, Lex.” Clark reminded him. “I plan to gather the largest fighting force in the history of Earth.” He added conspiratorially. “It will take all of us and more if we have any chance at all to defeat this dark force. Those that will fight at our side will be saved, those that don’t will be left behind. If we pull this off, and defeat the darkness, Earth’s reward will be substantial.”
          “Clark, this sounds like the Bible story in Revelations, the great reckoning, the purge, Armageddon.” Lex took a deep breath of reasonably fresh air. “It very well could be.” Clark stated casually. “If we are victorious, not only would we guarantee the survival of humanity, but Earth’s people will be welcomed into the larger universe. “ Lex was still incredulous. “Do you mean interstellar space travel?”

          Clark nodded. “Yes. Initially, humans would no longer be limited to life on Earth. We can terra form the immediate solar system. Advanced civilizations would offer mankind interstellar trade.” He appealed to Lex’s inherent penchant for greed. Clark knew that Lex wouldn’t change that much. His arch rival wouldn’t suddenly decide to become a hero like the rest of the Justice League.
          Clark knew Lex all too well. With the proper motivation he would be more cooperative. The best way to handle Lex was to dangle an irresistible carrot in front of his face, in this case, substantial wealth and power. “Lex, think of it like any other investment, you help us save the world, you make a substantial profit, and an investment in your own future.” Clark continued his pitch.

          “We have to start now, Lex, or frankly you’ll be too old to do us any good.” Superman smirked. “Nice, Clark.” Lex pretended to be offended. “Okay, you sold me. When do we start?” Clark playfully put his hand on Lex’s shoulder. Superman wasn’t naïve. He knew that Lex would ultimately be self-serving, and probably, betray him, but he really hadn’t any other choice. The ultimate gambit was that Lex would do anything to save himself. In fact, Clark was counting on it.

          “Primarily, you’ll call a meeting with Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne, and Marcus Worthington. Each of them is worth in excess of a billion dollars. We’ll have to convince them to pool their vast resources, and promise them the same profit that I promised you.” Lex listened intently to Clark’s plans.

          “I hate that you know me so well.” Lex admitted after Clark had concluded the planning session. “There’s still the matter of my father, though.” Lex pointed out. Clark was prepared for that question.
          “I’ll talk to Lionel.” Clark offered. “You just set up the preliminary meeting with Queen, Wayne and Worthington.” He directed. “You got it, Clark. Call me if you need anything.” Lex amazingly sounded trustworthy and motivated, Clark observed, not that he would be willing to buy all of it.

          Lex left the barn loft and hopped into a sporty silver and black convertible, quickly heading for Metropolis. Now on to Lionel, Clark thought sourly. In seconds, Superman flew toward the Luthor Mansion, landing stealthily on one of its many roof turrets.

          Lionel Luthor and his father had brought the ancient mansion over to America from Scotland, brick by brick, and painstakingly set all of the stonework up, adding modern features as they went along. Clark actually felt saddened when in a previous timeline, the historic mansion burned to the ground.
          Clark slipped in through one of the colorful antique stained glass windows. In this time frame the windows still sported the letter V from the Veritas debacle. Naturally the burglar alarms were set off. In moments, three armed security guards rushed into the vast study where Clark silently waited.

          Clark had chosen to appear as Superman, sans the blue outfit and cape, in a black T-shirt, the S like family crest of the House of El prominently displayed on his chest. Lionel followed his security guards in.
          The well-appointed room filled with expensive woodwork, a fanciful looking stone fireplace, and a number of high-priced art pieces, seemed inconsistent with the hard-nosed businessman Lionel Luthor’s personal tastes. Clark assumed that Mrs. Luthor had authorized the décor before she died.

          “What the hell?” Lionel growled as the guards stared blankly at Clark, peacefully crossing his arms at the center of the room. “Clark? Why didn’t you just make an appointment, or at least use the front door?” The middle-aged billionaire asked. Superman stood defiantly glaring at the security team.
          Clark heard Lionel’s heart race. “Lionel, we need to talk.” He began in a menacing tone. “Lower your weapons.” Lionel ordered as the guards complied. “Clark, have a seat.” Lionel offered as he brushed past the guards and faced the young superhero. “You may go.” The elder Luthor dismissed them.

          Lionel gestured toward the plush chair that faced an old oak desk. He circled Clark and sat in another executive style chair behind the desk. The guards slowly moved away and into the corridor as Clark took the seat. Lionel noted the Kryptonian symbol on Clark’s chest.
          “You know that Dr. Virgil Swann never did figure out your language.” Lionel opened. Clearly, he’d known who Clark was or at least had an idea that the mysterious farm boy was involved in the Veritas project somehow. Clark had found that all out much later in a previous timeline.

          “Hold on.” Lionel said as he pressed a small blue button hidden beneath a drawer panel along the bottom of the antique desk. “We can talk freely now. The electronic surveillance listening devices that are scattered throughout the room have been jammed.”

          “Veritas is actually a dead end, Lionel.” Clark began without preamble. “Yet here you are.” Lionel butted in crossly. “Yes, I am the traveler that Dr. Swann spoke of. The Teagues, the Queens, and the Swanns were right, but the situation has changed.” Clark made direct eye contact with the elder Luthor.

          This told the wise and experienced businessman that Clark was being truthful and serious. Lionel gawked with fascination at the unusually forthcoming young alien.
          “Okay, Clark, then why are you here and what do you have to gain by showing yourself to me?” Lionel questioned. “My Kryptonian parents sent me here when they realized that our red star, Krypton, would explode. The star went supernova shortly after I arrived in Earth’s solar system.” Clark filled him in minus a lot of details. Lionel didn’t need to know what would happen to him and Lex.

          Lionel’s eyes went wide. “The Kents adopted you after I processed the paperwork clandestinely for them.” He quickly put everything together. “Correct.” Clark confirmed, adding: “I’m grateful for that, and the financial considerations you gave my Earth parents over the years.”
          Lionel was taken aback by Clark’s directness. Clearly the alien was no timid, unsure of himself teenager. After he mentally filled in all the gaps, Lionel posed the question: “You said the situation has changed, how so?” Clark smirked. “Are you sure that you’re ready for this, Lionel?” He teased.

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