Clark & Lois – When Worlds and Universes Collide - Matchmaker Chronicles V 8 21/36
By KenJ <ken.janney@kjanney.com>
This version is rated PG-13
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 – Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 – Alternate Prime - Lori and Clark
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Alt 1, Alt Clark and Kryptonian Lois – (Alt 1 )
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Alt 2 Kryptonian Lois' home universe.
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 040 – Alt 1 alternate (Alt 3) Alt Lois and Alt Clark
Previously
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Alt 2%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
A/N – Alt 2 is Kryptonian Lois’ home universe.Nor was puzzling this information, out loud, “Why would they be visiting a residence in the middle of nowhere?”
Rena answered his question, “It must have something to do with the child. If she just gave birth then she must need to feed the child. We can place a watcher there and if she is there at regular intervals, then that has to be the answer.”
Nor replied, “See to it. If we can identify the location of the child we can eliminate that problem. That would only leave the current vessel of Kal-El’s essence. She could have additional children and they would in turn be a threat to my rule.”
“Why would that be? I am not sanguine about killing the child and I really don’t know why it has to be so, but if you are to kill the child, you will be able to force Zara into a life bond. Why could you not force Zara into a life bond without killing the child? If you did, wouldn’t that end the threat? She is the one in direct line of succession.”
“It is because of Gee-Ra’s directives. Unless Lord Jen-Mai can convince the council that such should be the case they could hold out for future offspring. If this is a male heir then it would only be a matter of time before Zara could complete a life bond with that child. If it is female then there is the possibility of future male offspring.”
“No, we must destroy this child and defeat the El family in this combat and kill them or have them banished. That is the only way we can be sure that I will be the undisputed ruler of New Krypton. As ruler of New Krypton we can then conquer this miserable planet and enslave all of the inhabitants. You, Fina, Ran-Na, Gam-Re and Col-Re will each have a kingdom here. We can use these super powers to completely subject the entire population and submit them to our will.”
Rena was somewhat pragmatic as she replied, “Before we start building castles in the air, we need to end this conflict and be the winners. If we fail, we are the ones that will be banished to the Phantom Zone. If it becomes known that we violated custom and used non-family members in the ritual combat it will go doubly hard on us. In fact, they could decide that banishment to the Phantom Zone is not sufficient punishment. We could have our atoms scattered across the galaxy. I for one do not want that to happen to me.”
“All the more reason to do what needs to be done to successfully prosecute this combat.”
Rena stood up to leave and as she did, she turned to her brother and said, “If we fail, rest assured, I will do what is necessary to avoid having my atoms spread across the galaxy. I will gladly accept banishment to that alternative. I would venture to say that any of your followers, if they even think that is a possibility will turn on you in a heartbeat. You could very likely find yourself all alone at the end and I would not shed a tear over what happens to you because you are the author of your own fate. I will not allow you to drag me down with you.”
Rena left and when she did, Nor sat for a time thinking. He realized that in order for him to even survive he needed every one of his followers to do their best and in fact needed more in order to be sure of a victory. There could be no half measures. He would kill the child and he would kill the woman that had the essence of Kal-El and had given it birth.
Nor had managed to ‘stop the bleeding’ after he had lost only three supporters. He had started off with 25 non-family supporters. The loss of three made the numbers exactly equal on both sides. Somehow he needed to increase his numbers if he was to assure a win. His options were very limited. Indeed he had more followers, however they were back on New Krypton and even if he were able to summon them it would take a month for the ship to get there to pick them up and another month for them to arrive. There was no way that this conflict could be drawn out for two full months. He was cursing his fate and how things had turned out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Nor called Jen-Mai to himself.
When Jen-Mai entered Nor’s ‘throne room’ he moved to the foot of the Dais and placed his closed fist over his heart while giving a small bow. “You called me, Lord Nor.”
“Yes, my lord, Jen-Mai. What are you doing to move the council in the direction of awarding the combat victory to me and my family?”
“Lord Nor, it is very difficult to do that in view of the fact that the members of the El family are in fact not subdued. You and I both know that they are in fact family, but I have successfully kept that information from the Council of Elders and will continue to so for as long as I can. Now, of course, your family has not lost in that you are in fact free also. I don’t know what more I can do on your behalf. You need to subdue them in order to win.”
“If you had been somewhat quicker in declaring a victor at the time that we had them all subdued it would have been finished then.”
“It all happened so quickly! Before I had a clear view of all of them restrained, one of them was free and by the rules of the combat a victor could not be declared.”
“Lord Jen-Mai, if you wish to be the head of the Council of Elders, you will have to do better than that. Perhaps they could be discredited. You could make them out to be criminals unworthy of the rule of New Krypton.” Nor thought for a second before continuing, “Yes, that’s it. We must paint the house of El as a house corrupt and seeking world domination at all costs even going to the extent of violating custom to do so. See to it.”
“I will do as you say. It will be difficult, but I will endeavor to remain the only liaison between the council and the planet.”
“Good, that should forward our ends nicely. You may go.”
Jen-Mai backed out of the audience chamber.
Nor chuckled to himself and thought, <Gullible fool. He thinks that once he is head of the council that he will depose me and assume the rule himself. Who does he think he is? The right to rule rests with me and me alone. I will brook no interference in that. I will use him to win this conflict and then I will dispose of him before he becomes troublesome.>
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As Jen-Mai was retreating down the hallway he was thinking, <Arrogant fool! Just who does he think he is? Just because his aunt was the wife of Gee-Ra that does not put him in the royal line. He would be a usurper at best. We would be better off with someone not related to either the house of Na or Ra. Time will tell.>
And now -
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Chapter 21 – Conflicts
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Alt2
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It was later in the day and Nor found that there was to be another formal challenge, this time by the imposter. He was worried. He could not be sure of marshaling his forces on such short notice.
He sent out a mental call, /”This is Lord Nor. I demand that all of my followers gather and prepare for another conflict.”/
Immediately after Nor sent out his summons, Local Clark sent a broadcast thought, /”Nor, I’m waiting for you. I’m in the combat area. It’s just my family and me. Come meet us in fair combat.”/
Nor was with his brother Ran-Na when that thought came to him. Nor asked Ran, “How did you get away from your opponent?”
“I damaged a populated structure. That weak fool along with some more of his family stopped to rescue the Earthlings that were in the structure. Perhaps that is a weakness that we can use to our advantage. These ‘supermen’ and ‘superwomen’ care overly much for these people. They wish to preserve their lives. What are a few slaves, more or less?”
“Yes, we could lose half of the population of this world and there would still be enough slaves to serve us adequately. Perhaps you are correct and we could use that to our advantage. However, the combat area was selected because of its limited population.”
“We could use the others to create diversions around the globe of this pitiful planet to draw away his family then at least the numbers would be closer to equal. Where did all of these people come from anyhow? We were told that they didn’t have any other family.”
“Fortunately, the Council of Elders hasn’t verified that they are all of the house of El. I don’t know how there are four of each of them, but unquestionably there are four Kal-Els and each has a wife. The rest have all proven to be family, either children and their bond mates or a nephew and his bond mate. There has to be some way to get them out of the picture,” Nor mused.
“Perhaps we could lure them into a trap. Get them underground where it’s dark and their powers won’t regenerate.” Ran-Na suggested.
With a pitying look, Nor said in a tone usually reserved for a not so bright child, “That would presuppose that we had a way to strip them of their powers to begin with, which we don’t and that the same thing would not affect us at the same time. You forget that we have the same weaknesses as they have."
Ran-Na persisted, “But, that is the only way we can end this conflict. One side has to kill or at least subdue the other. The Drei has proven itself to be ineffective against Kryptonians in this environment. Even when powered by a super powered individual it is ineffective against an invulnerable body. There just has to be something we can use."
Nor and his brother left the ship and headed for the surface. They found the rest of the family with their followers. After Nor and Ran-Na landed they all gathered as he addressed them. “We have found that these weak fools will do anything to protect the inhabitants of this planet. We will use this weakness against them. By creating emergencies around this globe we will keep them too busy to protect one another. We will isolate them and kill them, one by one.”
One of his followers spoke up, “Lord Nor, how are we to do that? If they are as super as us, how can we kill them?”
Nor’s tone was imperious as he addressed them, “Find a way, I command you. If it takes a dozen of you using the full force off your heat vision then use two dozen to make sure, but you must kill them. It is worth your lives and the lives of your relatives on New Krypton. If you fail me, they will all be forfeit! Do you understand me?”
The one he had been speaking directly to replied, “Yes, My Lord Nor. I understand.”
He turned to some of the others and as a group they took off and flew away.
All that remained behind were Nor’s direct family. He said, “Let us go. Perhaps the odds will be in our favor.” He nodded in the direction of his departed followers, “Perhaps they will be able to distract enough of them so that we will have an advantage.”
They flew to the combat area and landing they saw the El family lined up against them. Each of the men had a Drei in his hands. The women were all unarmed.
Nor checked and all of the women on his side bore Kryptonian forged blades while he and the other men all bore the Drei.
One of the Kal-Els strode forward. Nor couldn't tell which one it was because they all looked alike. He was twirling his Drei in an offhand manner as if baiting Nor to use his. Nor issued a command, "Col-Re, destroy the interloper."
In obedience to the command, Col-Re stepped forward and began to spin his Drei.
2013 Clark watched and saw the energy build up. Not surprisingly he was not worried. He could see the glow as the power built and compared it to what he and the other Clarks had generated in their practice sessions and realized that he had taken stronger hits from them.
In order to intimidate this relative of Nor, he stopped twirling his weapon and waited for Col-Re to take his shot.
2013 Clark was braced and when the bolt came it staggered him, only forcing him back several paces.
2013 Clark then taunted him, "Is that the best you can do? That was disappointing! I thought you could do better than that." While he had been speaking he had started twirling his Drei around. The glow both of the sphere on the Drei and the emblem on his chest was easily twice as bright as Col-Re's staff when he released his bolt. A few seconds later the bolt had struck and Col-Re was twenty feet away and lying on his back.
Nor's anger was boundless. He railed at Col-Re for his failure as he was picking himself up and shaking his head to clear it. When Col-Re was finally on his feet Nor could see that he was unsteady. He knew that the bolt he had received would have killed a non-super powered individual and that in itself was cause for concern. He had researched the journal archives of the planet and had discovered that Kal-El in his personna as Superman did not at any time take a life, in fact there was evidence which suggested that he took any loss of life by these Earthlings as a personal affront. As if it was through his personal failure that they had died. Thus, the power behind that bolt was a surprise.
Local Clark challenged, "Nor! What are you waiting for? I thought you came here to fight! Well, I'm waiting for you. Why don't you quit hiding behind the other members of your family? What are you going to do, send one of your sisters out next?" As he spoke the Drei was in motion and Nor could see the power building as the glow of the Drei brightened.
Nor was actually shaking both with rage and with fear. This was the imposter. He had not grown up on New Krypton and yet he handled the Drei with skill and power. How could this be? The period allowed for practice had been severely limited, by design to give his family another advantage yet he handled the weapon like a master. He was very happy that at this time his followers were not here to witness his humiliation yet he longed to have them there for the numerical advantage they afforded.
He knew that sooner or later this could devolve into a personal, one-on-one battle and even though he had won many tournaments with the Drei he was actually afraid to go up against this man.
It occurred to him that the reason for the difference was twofold. In the first place he, Nor, was fighting for position and his desire to rule over a subservient population. A simple and yet, to his mind, adequate motivation while his opponent was fighting for the life of a child, his child and on top of that the freedom of his adopted world. Those two motivations trumped his dramatically.
This realization coming suddenly gave him reason to fear and that fear was compounded. Now that the die was cast he had to win because if he didn't, the Council of Elders would hear of his use of non-family auxiliaries and he would be branded a rogue and cheat. His family honor would be destroyed and the least sentence he could hope for would be hard labor in the fields like a common farmer. Then there was banishment to the Phantom Zone or execution. Yes, the die had been cast and now he needed to do whatever he could to make sure that he won.
Instinctively he knew that if he engaged personally and failed he would lose a lot of his followers. They only followed him because of his strength and a lot of that was a result of his braggadocio. He was able to claim clean tournament victories when actually there had been unscrupulous practices involved that he had seen to it never came to light. If the truth ever became known even his own family might not follow him.
Bringing in non-family auxiliaries had been a chance he'd had to take and telling his followers that he'd had reports that their opponents were going to use non-family members in an attempt to achieve an unjust win had brought them in to support him to make it fair. If word got out that they were in fact family he would be deserted by any honorable Kryptonian.
He sent a thought to Ran-Ga, /”Let’s attack simultaneously.”/
Nor saw out of the corner of his eye that his brother was powering his Drei. Nor put his into motion.
Local Clark received the warning from Ching, /”Kal-El, they mean to both attack you at the same time.”/
He replied, /”Let them. Their combined power still can’t do any serious damage to me. Just make sure that they don’t succeed with everyone.”/
/”As you wish.”/
Local Clark braced himself. Fortunately it is very difficult to coordinate a burst of energy. The bolts actually came one right after the other. Clark was staggered by the first and as a result the second came as only a glancing blow, but he was still staggered enough to go down on one knee. When he stood he looked at 2091 Clark and got a nod. As he and 2091 Clark both spun their Dreis he said, “Two can play at that game.” Realizing what had saved him from a serious hit he sent, /”You take the brother, I’ll take Nor.”/
/”You got it. On three. One … Two … Three.”/
At three twin bolts of energy lanced out. One caught Nor and sent him sprawling while the other knocked Ran-Na ten feet and dropped him to the ground.
The remaining members of Nor’s family gathered around to prevent the El family members from capitalizing on their advantage.
Noga, Ran-Na’s wife pulled her Kryptonian sword and flew at local Lois. She aimed a blow at her head. Superwoman stood her ground and simply waited. Not wishing to take a chance as the blade fell, Superwoman brought up her arms, crossed at the forearms and caught Noga’s forearm in the ‘V’ that was formed, arresting its downward movement. Spinning her arms she grabbed Noga’s arm and twisted. This resulted in her sword flying from her grip and her arm being twisted up behind her back in a hammerlock. Freeing one of her hands from gripping Noga’s arm, Superwoman succeeded in grabbing Noga’s free arm and twisting it behind her back in a double hammerlock, effectively subduing her.
Fina, seeing her sister-in-law defeated so easily pulled her sword and flew to her aid.
Before she was able to strike a blow however, 2013 Lois – Ultra Woman attacked her from the side. The impact took her by surprise and she lost her grip on her sword. They tumbled over and over grappling, trying to subdue one another. 2013 Lois had a distinct advantage though. Herb had given her an extra pendant and her strength was the equal of her husband’s and superior to that of Fina. Once she was able to get a good grip on one of Fina’s arms she easily twisted it around behind her the same way that local Lois had subdued Noga. That fight was over in seconds and at the end the El family had two of the Na family captive.
Nor was recovering as this was all happening. He saw the woman that he needed to kill restraining Noga and saw an opportunity. He started to twirl his Drei. Local Clark saw his action and assumed that he would be the target, however at the last second Nor changed his target and the bolt struck local Lois throwing her ten feet and knocking her to the ground.
Local Clark literally saw red and roared in rage. He saw Lori fly to local Lois’ aid and he took off at Nor. Nor was twirling his Drei again however he had not built up sufficient charge before Clark hit him. Nor’s family were surrounding him, but Clark knocked them aside like so many bowling pins. He barreled into Nor at full speed catching him with a one-two left cross followed by a right uppercut. Nor was unconscious as he flew into the air under the power of Clark’s fist. Clark followed him airborne, grabbing his leg to pull him back down. Nor was regaining consciousness as he felt himself being dragged down and started to flail his arms around.
Clark unleashed his full strength in a punch to Nor’s midsection causing the air to leave his lungs in a rush. As he bent over from that blow his guard was down and Clark sent his other fist into Nor’s face. Clark had the satisfaction of feeling a solid contact and thinking that in a normal human fight it would have resulted in the one on the receiving end having a black eye. He followed up on his advantage with another fist to the face, this time feeling the flesh of Nor’s face crushed under his crashing rock hard fist. Nor’s teeth shifted under the onslaught. If not for his invulnerability his jaw might have been broken by that blow.
That was the last blow that Clark was able to strike because Gam-Re and Col-Re, Nor’s cousins, each grabbed an arm to restrain him. Before they were able to subdue him however 2013 Clark and 2091 Clark were both at his side pulling Nor’s cousins away. The distraction afforded Rena and Bela an opportunity to grab Nor and fly away.
When local Clark turned around he saw his Lois standing with Lori by her side his anger was abated somewhat and the three Clarks flew back to their side of the field.
2013 Lois still retained her hold on Fina and the rest of the family closed in around her.
Local Clark turned back to the Na family and asked, “Where is your sense of honor?” He hooked a toe under the shaft of a Drei and flipped it into the air where he grabbed it and held it aloft. His visage was very grim as he continued, “This weapon is restricted to the men! When Nor used this on my wife, my bond mate, he violated the traditions of this combat! I demand satisfaction! Where is the coward Nor? He isn’t man enough to fight man to man! He has to use a weapon against a woman. He is beyond contempt!”
The remaining members of the Na family were all looking very uneasy. They all knew that yet another sacred tradition had been broken. It was another demonstration of just how low Nor would sink in order to achieve his ends. It had weighed on them that Nor had recruited non-family auxiliaries, but this act reached a new low, even for Nor. They each were shamed by his action, but none of them were willing to admit it.
Ran-Na finally spoke up, “You have Fina, but unless you can subdue all of us you do not secure the victory and rest assured that Fina will escape if at all possible. I, personally, regret Nor’s actions.”
There were nods of assent from the other members of the Na family.
Local Clark turned to 2013 Lois and said, “Please release her.”
2013 Lois replied, “Whatever you say. It’s your show.”
As soon as 2013 Lois released her, Fina turned to her and placing her closed fist over her heart and giving a small bow, said, “Thank you. You have displayed more honor than my brother. You have been a most honorable combatant and I honor you.” She then flew back to her family.
Ran-Na said, “I do not know how we can make this up to you, but you have my word that this atrocity will not be repeated. I will inform my brother that if he ever tries something like that again he will be alone in this fight. We are not all like him. You have my word.”
Local Clark nodded his acknowledgment of Ran-Na’s statement and the members of the Na family took off and returned to their ship.
Local Clark moved over and put his arms around his wife as he asked, “How are you?”
She replied, “Oh, just shook up a little. I wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.” She looked at Zara and asked, “What are the consequences for his action?”
“If the elders had seen it he would have been declared in default, but since none of them were here, not even Jen-Mai, that won’t happen. It might not have happened even if Jen-Mai had been present given that he is supporting Nor.”
Lt. Ching, who had been standing off to one side observing flew over and said, “The council needs to be made aware of what is going on down here. I can’t believe that they are listening to Jen-Mai and taking it for granted that he is telling them the truth.”
Zara replied, “So far there has been no harm done.”
Ching was angry and it could be heard in his voice as he said, “Only through good luck and the intervention of their friend Herb. If not for him bringing the additional family members this conflict would have been lost in the first second.”
Zara replied, “Let’s just thank Rao that he did.” She turned to 2013 Clark and said, “You will need to warn your family members of what has occurred. They will need to be alert to tricks of this sort in their interactions with Nor’s supporters. We can’t assume that they will be as dishonorable as their leader, however, we should not discount it as a possibility.”
“Agreed, I’ll see to it that the word is passed along.”
Local Lois said, “It’s time for me to go feed the baby. Why don’t we meet back at our house?”
Local Lois and Clark along with Protector and Supergirl took off for Smallville while the rest headed for Metropolis.
Since Carrie was flying by using her telekinesis she couldn’t match the superspeed of her parents or sister and they accommodated their speed to hers which enabled them to talk as they traveled.
Since they were traveling somewhat slower it was easier for them to be observed and followed by an adherent of Nor who did just that. He followed them all the way to Smallville and observed as Lois went into the house while Clark and the kids remained outside. He saw an older woman leave the house and bring what appeared to be refreshments to them on a tray. They all interacted on a most friendly basis. He thought, <I must report this back to a member of the family. It could be important.> He had no idea as to how important this information would actually be.
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