Birthday Fic: Scion, 1/8
Title: Scion, 1/8
Author: htbthomas
Fandom: Smallville/Superman Returns crossover. Mostly set in the Smallville universe, with a few comics/toonverse touches.
Rating: PG
Word Count: Part 1: 1,208 words
Betas: van_el, mark_clark, jenn_1
Summary: Chloe, Clark and Lois encounter a strange visitor… from another dimension.
Author’s Note: A belated birthday fic for lilyoftheval5. The core idea for this story is somewhat similar to my 2006 fic Dissonance, which is set in the Spider-Man universe. The plot is quite a bit different though, so apologies to any of you who notice a resemblance. :)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He floated high above the ground, invisible to the naked eye… invisible even to X-ray, infrared, or even telescopic vision… with a string of failures in his past dealings with Earth’s heroes, it was best to be infinitely cautious.
No, not failures, he reminded himself, simply unsuccessful attempts. When one had an infinite lifespan, the past was insignificant. His time spent planning to conquer Earth was merely a molecule in the time stream, the Earth a gnat hardly worth his attention.
Still, a gnat which needed to be swatted.
Before him were the windows of the Daily Planet building, Clark Kent’s place of employment. In the 31st century, his ‘home’ time period, Kent’s identity was known, his life a subject for the history books. No man, human or otherwise, was as greatly revered in Earth’s history as Kal-El, son of Krypton.
Kal-El had proven troublesome in the 31st century, as well as in his original timeline, even as Superboy. Perhaps if he could not defeat the Kryptonian in his own dimension - at least not yet - he could dispose of him in this alternate reality. Particularly this one - one in which Superman did not yet have any superpowered allies.
He brought his golden-gloved hands up, waving them in a series of patterns that no mere mortal could duplicate, and intoned a few short phrases:
Invok'd by the power of the Scar of Scath's
Depart from here the scion of Krypton's last!
He lowered his hands with a satisfied nod. He would come back later to be sure of his handiwork, but for now there were other worlds to control. Without even a discernable shimmer to mark his passing, the sorcerer Mordru disappeared.
- - - - -
He shuddered and opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the evening light coming through the blinds, the only light in the room. He had been having a very strange dream, one with all swirling colors and nauseating light. But as he stretched, the sounds of the Daily Planet soothed him.
He came to a sitting position on the couch, the black leather squeaking under his weight. He wondered whether his dad had returned yet from his mission to the moon. It would probably be on TV if he went into the bullpen…
Wait… the leather squeaking…?
With a start, Jason White’s eyes fully adjusted to the office he was sitting in. This was not the same room he’d gone to sleep in. He had never been in this room before - he would have remembered - his mom had told him he’d inherited his good memory from his dad.
Had someone kidnapped him? Maybe Lex Luthor, the bad man from a couple of years ago?
Frantically, he leapt to his feet, searching for some sign, some object that would give him a clue…
…and his eyes landed on a copy of the Daily Planet. He lifted the paper from the desk - he didn’t recognize the name plate - and tried to read the words quickly. At seven, Jason was getting faster, but he wasn’t as fast as his dad was yet. After he had turned a couple of pages, he sighed with relief. Under a small article on the city council was an article by Lois Lane.
So he was in the Daily Planet, somehow. Listening again, he could hear the sounds of reporters typing on computers, and getting interviews over the phone. When he focused intently, he could hear the printing presses far below in the basement. But why did everything look different? He’d only curled up to take a nap for an hour or so - he hadn’t been sleeping that long!
Setting the paper back on the desk, Jason crept toward the door of the darkened office and slowly inched it open.
The door opened onto the bullpen floor, which was filled with desks and computers, people and noise. It looked very different though, the colors all wrong. And worse yet, he didn’t see anyone he recognized at all…
He spied the elevator at the far end of the room and made a decision. If he could get out of here, and onto the roof, maybe he could shout for his dad. If he was back from his mission, he should be able to hear him anywhere in the world. If not…? Well, he was getting better at waiting. Really.
Jason slipped out of the doorway and closed the door behind him with a quiet click. He walked quickly, trying to make a beeline for the elevators, smoothly weaving in and out of the busy reporters crossing his path. Most people ignored him in the bullpen he knew well, so hopefully he could make it out of here without anyone noticing…
“Hey,” a female voice called from the right. “Are you lost?”
He stopped. Something in the voice sounded familiar - a tone of concern he associated with his mom… He turned and saw a young blonde woman, her fingers paused over her keyboard in mid-stroke.
“Um…” he said, biting his lip. “Maybe.”
Her eyes twinkled and she tilted her head. “Maybe?”
“Yeah. I’m…” He struggled with the right thing to say. He still wasn’t sure if someone had brought him here on purpose, or if this was some big mistake. Finally, he decided on the most important truth. “I’m looking for my parents.”
She stood, and came over to him, crouching down slightly to face him at eye level. “Well, my mom is about as tall as you, except she has brown hair, kind of curly.” It was weird. This lady looked a lot like his mom, actually. “And my dad is really tall, with black hair and-”
Suddenly the young woman’s eyes flickered to the left, toward a man who was coming from the elevators. “Chloe,” he said. “Did you get a chance to…?” The man trailed off when he realized she was talking to Jason.
Jason did a double take. “Da-Clark!” The man looked almost exactly like his dad - or really, just like his dad had looked in the pictures from Smallville. But instead of a business suit and glasses, he was wearing a red jacket, t-shirt and jeans.
Clark’s face took on a puzzled smile. “Do we know each other?”
He doesn’t know who I am! “Uh…” Jason stammered, thoroughly confused.
“He’s looking for his parents,” Chloe said, gesturing to Jason. “A woman with brown wavy hair, and a tall man with black hair. Did you see anyone like that coming in?”
“I might have…” His dad - or the younger version of his dad - looked upward in thought. Exactly the way his dad looked when accessing his perfect memory. “Were they together?”
“Um…” Jason ran a hand through his hair, his eyebrows drawing together in a distressed frown. He had no idea where he was, or what to do! Was he still asleep?
“Oh, hey, Smallville,” a familiar voice called from behind him. “Who’s this?”
Jason turned slowly - almost afraid to look into the face he knew he’d see. But as soon as he saw her, it didn’t matter that her clothes and hair weren’t exactly right. He suddenly felt an outpouring of overwhelming relief, and raced the distance between them to rush into her unsuspecting arms.
“Mom!”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Next: Part 2
Is your birthday soon? Request a ficlet!
Author: htbthomas
Fandom: Smallville/Superman Returns crossover. Mostly set in the Smallville universe, with a few comics/toonverse touches.
Rating: PG
Word Count: Part 1: 1,208 words
Betas: van_el, mark_clark, jenn_1
Summary: Chloe, Clark and Lois encounter a strange visitor… from another dimension.
Author’s Note: A belated birthday fic for lilyoftheval5. The core idea for this story is somewhat similar to my 2006 fic Dissonance, which is set in the Spider-Man universe. The plot is quite a bit different though, so apologies to any of you who notice a resemblance. :)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He floated high above the ground, invisible to the naked eye… invisible even to X-ray, infrared, or even telescopic vision… with a string of failures in his past dealings with Earth’s heroes, it was best to be infinitely cautious.
No, not failures, he reminded himself, simply unsuccessful attempts. When one had an infinite lifespan, the past was insignificant. His time spent planning to conquer Earth was merely a molecule in the time stream, the Earth a gnat hardly worth his attention.
Still, a gnat which needed to be swatted.
Before him were the windows of the Daily Planet building, Clark Kent’s place of employment. In the 31st century, his ‘home’ time period, Kent’s identity was known, his life a subject for the history books. No man, human or otherwise, was as greatly revered in Earth’s history as Kal-El, son of Krypton.
Kal-El had proven troublesome in the 31st century, as well as in his original timeline, even as Superboy. Perhaps if he could not defeat the Kryptonian in his own dimension - at least not yet - he could dispose of him in this alternate reality. Particularly this one - one in which Superman did not yet have any superpowered allies.
He brought his golden-gloved hands up, waving them in a series of patterns that no mere mortal could duplicate, and intoned a few short phrases:
Invok'd by the power of the Scar of Scath's
Depart from here the scion of Krypton's last!
He lowered his hands with a satisfied nod. He would come back later to be sure of his handiwork, but for now there were other worlds to control. Without even a discernable shimmer to mark his passing, the sorcerer Mordru disappeared.
- - - - -
He shuddered and opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the evening light coming through the blinds, the only light in the room. He had been having a very strange dream, one with all swirling colors and nauseating light. But as he stretched, the sounds of the Daily Planet soothed him.
He came to a sitting position on the couch, the black leather squeaking under his weight. He wondered whether his dad had returned yet from his mission to the moon. It would probably be on TV if he went into the bullpen…
Wait… the leather squeaking…?
With a start, Jason White’s eyes fully adjusted to the office he was sitting in. This was not the same room he’d gone to sleep in. He had never been in this room before - he would have remembered - his mom had told him he’d inherited his good memory from his dad.
Had someone kidnapped him? Maybe Lex Luthor, the bad man from a couple of years ago?
Frantically, he leapt to his feet, searching for some sign, some object that would give him a clue…
…and his eyes landed on a copy of the Daily Planet. He lifted the paper from the desk - he didn’t recognize the name plate - and tried to read the words quickly. At seven, Jason was getting faster, but he wasn’t as fast as his dad was yet. After he had turned a couple of pages, he sighed with relief. Under a small article on the city council was an article by Lois Lane.
So he was in the Daily Planet, somehow. Listening again, he could hear the sounds of reporters typing on computers, and getting interviews over the phone. When he focused intently, he could hear the printing presses far below in the basement. But why did everything look different? He’d only curled up to take a nap for an hour or so - he hadn’t been sleeping that long!
Setting the paper back on the desk, Jason crept toward the door of the darkened office and slowly inched it open.
The door opened onto the bullpen floor, which was filled with desks and computers, people and noise. It looked very different though, the colors all wrong. And worse yet, he didn’t see anyone he recognized at all…
He spied the elevator at the far end of the room and made a decision. If he could get out of here, and onto the roof, maybe he could shout for his dad. If he was back from his mission, he should be able to hear him anywhere in the world. If not…? Well, he was getting better at waiting. Really.
Jason slipped out of the doorway and closed the door behind him with a quiet click. He walked quickly, trying to make a beeline for the elevators, smoothly weaving in and out of the busy reporters crossing his path. Most people ignored him in the bullpen he knew well, so hopefully he could make it out of here without anyone noticing…
“Hey,” a female voice called from the right. “Are you lost?”
He stopped. Something in the voice sounded familiar - a tone of concern he associated with his mom… He turned and saw a young blonde woman, her fingers paused over her keyboard in mid-stroke.
“Um…” he said, biting his lip. “Maybe.”
Her eyes twinkled and she tilted her head. “Maybe?”
“Yeah. I’m…” He struggled with the right thing to say. He still wasn’t sure if someone had brought him here on purpose, or if this was some big mistake. Finally, he decided on the most important truth. “I’m looking for my parents.”
She stood, and came over to him, crouching down slightly to face him at eye level. “Well, my mom is about as tall as you, except she has brown hair, kind of curly.” It was weird. This lady looked a lot like his mom, actually. “And my dad is really tall, with black hair and-”
Suddenly the young woman’s eyes flickered to the left, toward a man who was coming from the elevators. “Chloe,” he said. “Did you get a chance to…?” The man trailed off when he realized she was talking to Jason.
Jason did a double take. “Da-Clark!” The man looked almost exactly like his dad - or really, just like his dad had looked in the pictures from Smallville. But instead of a business suit and glasses, he was wearing a red jacket, t-shirt and jeans.
Clark’s face took on a puzzled smile. “Do we know each other?”
He doesn’t know who I am! “Uh…” Jason stammered, thoroughly confused.
“He’s looking for his parents,” Chloe said, gesturing to Jason. “A woman with brown wavy hair, and a tall man with black hair. Did you see anyone like that coming in?”
“I might have…” His dad - or the younger version of his dad - looked upward in thought. Exactly the way his dad looked when accessing his perfect memory. “Were they together?”
“Um…” Jason ran a hand through his hair, his eyebrows drawing together in a distressed frown. He had no idea where he was, or what to do! Was he still asleep?
“Oh, hey, Smallville,” a familiar voice called from behind him. “Who’s this?”
Jason turned slowly - almost afraid to look into the face he knew he’d see. But as soon as he saw her, it didn’t matter that her clothes and hair weren’t exactly right. He suddenly felt an outpouring of overwhelming relief, and raced the distance between them to rush into her unsuspecting arms.
“Mom!”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Next: Part 2
Is your birthday soon? Request a ficlet!