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Beyond Smallville: Time Shards 4

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  • Beyond Smallville: Time Shards 4

    Time Shards 4 - The Aquamarine shard.

    Superman again spun through the time vortex. The breakneck speed and spinning and twisting motion should’ve been more than any human could handle, yet his close allies persevered. Admittedly, Clark was no expert on time travel and quantum physics, and the humans were barely scratching the surface on this advanced technology. The science was at its infancy.

    Kal El glanced down at the now familiar white light that danced at the end of every time vortex. Each time he’d spied the white light, he knew that a new timeline would come into being. Traveling up to this point had been haphazard at best, bouncing him from alternative reality to alternative reality.
    There had been little to no consistency between the varying timelines until now. During the last time shard sequence, Clark had come across the controls for the Eye of Rao’s use. Still, this new timeline smelled unique, as he spilled out of the vortex’s swirling multicolored bottom.

    Superman felt the salty sea air hit his unsuspecting face. Something smacked against his back. He soon realized that he was moving quickly across the water. The waves pounded the craft to and fro. After pressing the aquamarine colored shard on the Eye of Rao pendant, he’d been sucked into the vortex.
    Most of the alternative realities he encountered were defective, and appeared to do very little to help him in his overall quest.

    The plan was to travel back in time and gather the Justice League members much earlier than he’d originally met them. Kara Zor El Kent, his young cousin, had helped devise the mission, while she attempted something similar on her own. (See “Beyond Smallville: Girl of Steel”)

    Both Kryptonians intended to stop Darkseid from committing genocide, as he and the Dark Force Fleet planned a devastating attack on the people of Earth, either enslaving or outright killing the humans. In the future, Superman and Supergirl failed. This was their one chance to resurrect the Justice League, and band them together with other helpful alien freedom fighters.

    For years Kal El and Kara had lived in the shadows, trying to fit in with their adopted people, the humans, which they’d grown to respect and love. Their nonintervention had failed miserably. A full eighty percent of Earth’s population had been enslaved or killed by Darkseid’s minions.

    Now, the friendly aliens must right this terrible wrong. Clark’s head popped up from behind a large green tarp which had come loose from its moorings. He quickly shoved the tarp beneath him. “Hey Smallville! Where did you come from?” Lois’s pleasant voice echoed above the crashing waves.

    Superman lazily cast a glance at her. Lois was about twenty five, wearing a florescent orange bikini, sported a decent tan, and her hair had lightened considerably, likely caused by exposure to the sun.

    Oliver Queen and Chloe Sullivan sat at the cockpit controls of a large light green yacht. Oliver was tearing up the surf, as if he was trying to race or outdistance someone.

    Chloe gazed back over one tan shoulder at Clark with a puzzled expression on her face. She wore a bright pink bikini, and now had lengthy blonde hair curled partway down her mostly bare back.

    “Hey Clark!” Oliver greeted him without taking his eyes off the churning sea ahead of him. Superman wasn’t sure when this timeline began or how much anyone knew about the situation. He noticed that several crushed beer cans were strewn about the rear corner of the boat.

    “Geez Lois, how many of those beers did you have? I’ve been back here the whole time.” Clark pretended to be mildly angry with her. “Uh, Clark must’ve fallen asleep behind the Queen’s Gambit’s tarp.” Chloe immediately defended. Chloe’s excuse told him a lot. Apparently, in this time shard he hadn’t yet told Lois the truth about him being a super-powered alien refugee from Krypton.

    “That sounds like my Smallville.” Lois cheerfully remarked. “He’s always the epitome of excitement.” She gently ribbed him. Clark sat up attentively leaning against the yacht’s rolled up tarp. He tried to determine where and when they were. Apparently, Oliver was taking them for a cruise across some tropical sea, likely in the midst of the Caribbean. Clark used his enhanced vision to survey the area.

    Superman could identify very few ships in the immediate vicinity. He spied only a few oil tankers, and a luxury cruise ship miles away from them. To their left, just coming into view over the horizon, stood a large oil rig. The structure towered a few stories higher than the current ocean level.

    The ocean was very choppy, and more than once, Lois had slipped off her seat, conveniently landing squarely in Clark’s lap. “Hey Smallville, nice catch!” She flirted heavily, as Clark held her by her slim waist. Chloe watched her cousin’s antics and shook her head, as Oliver laughed loudly. “Real smooth, Lane, real smooth!” He teased. Ollie turned the Queen’s Gambit towards the oil rig.

    “I have a confession to make.” Oliver began. “Oh really?” Chloe asked playfully as she gathered her lengthy blonde hair into a tight ponytail. “I have to investigate some complaints about that oil rig up ahead. Queen Industries International owns it, and as exec president, I have to show that I have concerns.” He stated as the Queen’s Gambit skirted some twenty foot plus waves.

    “You’re going to rip someone a new one in orange swim trunks and a tacky white Hawaiian shirt?” Lois asked incredulously, climbing back into her seat just above Clark. “Yeah, I have a change of clothes below deck in the cabin.” Oliver explained. “This is a business slash pleasure cruise, then?” Chloe asked. “Pretty much.” He answered. “That’s my guy.” Chloe praised, rubbing Ollie’s suntanned leg.

    The Queen’s Gambit continued to close on the smoke spewing oil rig. Lois stood up and mock saluted Oliver. “Ahoy you scurvy dogs! Swab that deck, hoist the mainsail, you bilge rats! Argh!” She continued to clown. “Oh? You mean you want me to open up the twin 500 HP motors?” Oliver taunted, and throttled the ship’s speed up to near maximum, knocking Lois right back into Clark’s lap.

    “Ollie! You are a child!” Chloe rebuked him. Lois, meanwhile, leaned heavily into Clark, and pressed against his bare chest. He instinctively put his arm around her. Superman momentarily forgot about his dire mission. It had been a long time since he’d held his love close to him, in his arms.

    This Lois seemed to be younger, impetuous, and appeared to be slightly immature. Even if it wasn’t the tough, hard-nosed reporter that he remembered his Lois to be, to him this felt like home.

    Lois continued to whisper into Clark’s ear what she’d like to do with him, and how often. Oliver, meanwhile, began to explain the problem with the oil rig. “The EPA and some other annoying government watchdog agencies have been registering complaints against this specific QII oil rig.” He added. “I’ve had my people monitoring the issue.”

    “The experts claim that there is a small crude oil petroleum leak emanating from the rig’s base. It seems to be working its way to the ocean floor.” Oliver clued them in. “I figured that a surprise inspection was in order, because when I tried to call the rig officials on the carpet, they tend to tell me what I want to hear.” Chloe nodded. “That makes sense.” She remarked.

    “You told the other execs and everyone else that you were going on a vacation.” Chloe clarified. “Exactly.” Ollie agreed. Clark was listening with interest, but had forgotten all about Lois’s romantic suggestions playing out in his other ear. “Huh?” He finally glanced at her.

    “Really?” Lois scowled. “Way to ruin the romantic mood, Smallville!” She said crossly. Before Clark could respond, the sea before them began to spin. Lois stood up and walked over towards the edge of the ship’s stern. She held the titanium reinforced railing and glowered at Clark.

    The sea behind her began to swirl, and the swells buffeted the yacht. He lazily glanced up at her, and was surprised at what he saw. “Not that I’m complaining, Smallville, but my eyes are up here!” Lois teased him. “Lois! Don’t move!” Clark ordered. “Why?” Lois glared at him. “Oh! I get it! You want to remember me as is, the waves crashing behind me, the brisk, salty wind whipping through my sundrenched, soon to be bleached blonde hair?” She toyed with him.

    “Something like that!” Clark responded as two large, great blue whales surfaced beyond Lois’s silhouette. In an instant, Superman was up on his feet, fearing that Lois would be pulled over the side of the boat, and into the turbulent sea. Oliver throttled down the Queen’s Gambit to a much slower pace, as he noted the quickly shifting currents. It seemed surreal to Clark, still unsure of what he was seeing.

    Superman had realized that all of the previous trips through time and shifting realities began to take a toll on him. He assumed that his reactions were hindered each time he appeared in a new timeline. Obviously this had never been done before, so he could only guess that it created a type of jet lag.

    Finally, Oliver placed the ship into a slow arcing turn just to the west of the original route toward the QII Oil Rig. The two whales had matched their angle and speed to that of the Queen’s Gambit. The nearest whale spouted sea water from its blowhole, completely drenching Lois and Clark. “Ew!” Was all Lois managed to get out before she turned to face the large sea mammals.

    To everyone’s surprise, a man stood atop the whale. He’d been holding a large harness that was strapped across the whale’s head, secured beneath its chin. The whale was partly visible below the clear water’s surface. The second whale had an obviously female rider perched atop it as well.

    Superman gawked as Lois slowly backed away from the sea animals toward the center of the boat. She slid into Clark’s arms, and realized that there was something oddly familiar about the whale rider. “AC? What the hell?” Lois yelled above the din of the still churning sea.

    “AC, you know that this isn’t Sea World!” Lois shouted. “You’re not allowed to ride the wildlife!” The young woman pointed a meter long golden silver trident at Lois. “Silence!” She bellowed. The female whale rider had lengthy soaking wet, slicked back, black hair, and was barely dressed in a silver and gold bikini which looked to be made of some type of reptilian skin.

    Clark noted that she wore a thin golden tiara, that had multicolored pearls inlaid within it. “Who are you talking to, Missy?” Lois challenged as Clark scowled at her. “Lois!” He snapped. “Not helping!” By now, Oliver had down-shifted the yacht to a crawl as the whales drew nearer. He turned to face AC.

    “What’s up, fish face?” Oliver taunted. “You don’t call, you don’t write, not even a message in a bottle?” AC, or Arthur Curry, had been part of their fledgling dysfunctional group from the very beginning, Clark mused. But this AC didn’t appear to be the same one he’d recalled from the original timeline.

    “I’m now called Prince Arthur.” AC began haughtily. “Then whose she supposed to be, fish stick, Lady Guinevere?” Lois said as she snickered. “Allow me to kill the over dwellers for you, my Lord!” The young female whale rider growled seriously, again pointing the trident at Lois and the center of the boat.

    “Whoa! Back off!” Chloe threatened. “Quiet, Mira!” AC ordered angrily. “As you wish, my liege.” Mira said as she gave everyone the evil eye, committing their faces to memory. She pointed the trident back into the air. “Okay Prince Arthur, what’s your problem?” Oliver began coldly.

    Clark hadn’t said anything yet, as he tried to determine how this timeline would fit into his overall plan. So far, he’d had a decided lack of success with his dire mission. Arthur Curry still had the sandy blonde hair that he’d always had, but in this timeline, AC sported a matching moustache and goatee. His most unique feature, his protruding gills, flapped in the vicious sea wind. AC considered his next statement.

  • #2
    Yesterday I saw this fic and decided to give it a try and started last night with the first time shards, but got really confused. At the beginning seemed that Lois was the love of Clark´s life but later in the story he said to Lana that she was his big love and later with Lois was kind of cold and now in this one he seems to love Lois again...what is it?

    To be honest and I know this is not a love story or anything like that but I really really despise Clana, then I would like to know if this would be Lana and Clark more that Lois and Clark, to see if I keep on Reading or leave it, pls tell me!!

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    • #3
      Thanks for reading Eleidich, yes I admit that the Time Shards saga is confusing, even to me. I'm attempting to pull all of the episodes together before its grand finale. It truly isn't a romance story, but I decided to explore both relationships Clana and Clois briefly. I hope that you'll keep reading to see how Superman ultimately resolves his mission, and his relationships. Thanks, Gardy1

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      • #4
        Me encanta clois...

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