Chapter 1
The world was facing one of its most terrifying days. A blackout caused by Brainiac for his master Zod was the source of it. Scared citizens running around cities, massive riots, violence, unprotect stores and markets being assaulted. It was hell on Earth and its lord goes by the name of Krypton’s most dangerous outlaw, Zod.
However, not only the people in the ground were suffering. In the sky in an airplane where one of Brainiac’s duplicate piloted it, two more people were focus of his path of destruction, Martha and Lois. They were losing oxygen, causing Martha to collapse. Lois managed to open one of the oxygen masks compartments with a spoon but wasn’t strong enough to grab it and then passed out.
The plane started to fall. Everything seemed lost until a bright light surrounded the airplane making it land abruptly on snow.
Martha regained consciousness several minutes later with a headache. “Lois?”
“Lois? Lois?” She got up and kept calling, breathing heavily. Martha then found her Chief of Staff, her body laying between the airplane and the snow, blood coming out of her head. “Oh, my God! Lois! Lois! Lois!” Martha then grabbed Lois’s body and turned her face to her chest and realized a metal perforated her stomach. “Oh, my God! Sweetie.”
Lois was still breathing, but barely conscious. Tears threaten to fall from Martha’s eyes. “Everything is gonna be all right. I’m gonna get us out of here.” Martha covered her body with a blanket, but Lois started to cough blood and her eyes started to close. “Lois! Lois!”
Desperate, Martha headed to the pilot cabin where the radio communication was. “Mayday. Mayday! Our plane is down, one person is severely hurt. Can anyone hear me?” She then stopped at the sight in front of her. Through the windshield of the airplane, she saw an unusual crystalline building, which by Clark’s description could only be the Fortress of Solitude.
Using all of the strength she had left, Martha put Lois on the yanked door of the plane and dragged it to the Fortress with a rope. Lois’s state was getting worse as they walked in the snow.
They reached the Fortress. “Lois. Lois,” Martha tried to keep Lois awake and protect her from the cold with the blanket.
“Martha Kent,” Jor-El spoke.
Martha got up and crossed her arms, protecting herself from the cold. “Jor-El. This is the Fortress Clark told me about. Why did you bring us here? Why did you crash our plane?”
“You were taken was pawns by the Brain Interact Construct, the being you know as Milton Fine.”
“Clark –“
“I gave him a dagger to kill the vessel of Zod. Instead, he chose to use it against Fine.”
“Where is he? Where… Where is Clark?”
“The dagger is part of this Fortress. Pluging it into Fine destroyed all copies but also damaged this structure and released Zod.”
Martha raised her voice. “What happened to my son, Jor-El?”
“Banished forever by Zod.”
“Bring him back. You have to bring him home,” she said, trying to contain the tears.
“Not within my power. His destiny is now his own.”
Martha angered. “I’ve lost my husband and now my son by your games!”
“We have both lost so much, Martha Kent. But you must put your anguish aside if you wish to save your world. Kal-El’s mission must be completed. Retrieve the dagger and kill Zod’s vessel… Lex Luthor.”
“You want me to murder Le –“
Martha was interrupted when a pain sound came from Lois. She was trembling, blood coming from her mouth nonstop. “Lois! Lois, sweetie, stay with me.” Tears started to drop from Martha’s eyes. “Jor-El! You have to help her.”
“You must hurry, Martha Kent. The world doesn’t have much time left.”
“She’s dying, Jor-El. Please, you have to help her. She’s important to your son. She’s important to me.”
A bright light surrounded Lois’s body. Martha took a step back. After a couple of minutes, the light disappeared revealing an unconscious Lois. “Lois Lane will be fine.”
“Thank you, Jor-El.”
“Zod has taken over Lex Luthor’s body and given him all the powers of a true Kryptonian. You must find a way to end this or all is lost.”
“All right. Send me back.” Martha joined Lois’s side and put her hand on Lois’s cheeks, relieved that she was safe now.
“Everything you’ve done for Kal-El… You have my deepest gratitude. I couldn’t have wished for a brighter light to guide my son. Farewell, Martha Kent.”
With that, Martha and Lois disappeared within the bright light.
--º--
When Martha returned to Smallville, Lana decided to take by herself the mission to kill Zod – and Lex – with the dagger. Lana then failed and started to get choked to death by Zod, being saved in the last minute by Clark, who had escaped the Phantom Zone. Lana passed out and Clark blasted with his heat vision the hard drive Zod used to start an earthquake on Earth, stopping it. After a difficult fight, Clark managed to send Zod back to the Phantom Zone with a crystal that Raya, the Phantom Zone guardian, gave him, freeing Lex from Zod’s control.
Lois was in a hospital bed, uncomfortable, when Clark entered the room. “Hey, Smallville.”
“Hey, how are you feeling?” He sat on a chair next to her bed.
“Great, actually. I don’t even know why I’m in the hospital.”
“You suffered hypothermia. You need to be watched.”
“Guess I have to thank your mother for that. You know, honestly... I don't even remember the plane going down. The cabin lost pressure and I was gasping for breath and then I was in this palace of ice. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I was bathed in this warm light, and I knew everything was gonna be okay.”
Clark looked surprised. “Lois, you were, uh, hurt pretty badly. Maybe you were hallucinating.”
“No. It was real. I think I died and went to heaven.”
Clark smiled at her choice of words. “Then I’m glad you’re back.” He held her hand with his.
Lois looked at his hand holding hers and back at him shocked. Clark then realized what he did and pulled back immediately. Silence and uncomfortableness took over the room and then Clark left it, saying goodbye to Lois.
--º--
“Clark! How are Lois and Chloe?” Martha asked, happy to see his son.
“Fine. Both are gonna be fine.”
Martha smiled. “Good. Lionel told me his connectionto Jor-El is gone.”
“Along with any influence he had over him,” Clark said, concerned.
“Maybe we're all better off without Jor-El in our lives,” Martha retorted.
“I took Raya's crystal to the Fortress for safe keeping. I tried to talk to Jor-El, thank him for saving Lois, but he wouldn't ... he wouldn't answer. The Fortress is dead.” Clark’s expression changed from concerned to sad. “Everything's changing. Dad's gone. I can't talk to Lex. Lana's... I don't know where to go from here.”
“I didn't either when I was your age. Just follow your heart... and you'll always do the right thing.”
“Maybe some Kryptonians believed the same thing. Jor-El sacrificed himself trying to save Krypton. Raya died saving me.”
“Every world needs its heroes, Clark. They inspire us to be better than we are.” Clark looked at her. “And they protect us from the darkness that's just around the corner.”
--º--
Lois was discharged from the hospital one day later. Once taking a shower and changing clothes in her apartment, she headed to the farm. “Hey, Mrs. K.”
Martha frowned at her. “Lois, what are you doing here? I thought we agreed you wouldn’t get back until next week.”
“Relax, Mrs. K. I’m not here as your Chief of Staff, I’m just visiting. Besides, I’m feeling great, better than ever.”
“You still won’t get back to work. I can handle things by myself for a week.”
Lois shrugged. “So, where’s Smallville?”
“He’s sleeping. He stayed all night cleaning up the barn.”
“I bet so.” She sighed. “Since Chloe is working, I guess I’ll have to go to the Crater Lake alone. I need a sunbath ASAP.”
Martha gave her a smile. “Have fun.”
Lois kissed her goodbye. “I will.”
--º--
Clark had spent all the nights of the week cleaning Metropolis. He had took it as his responsability. The problem was, he was also feeling more worn out as the days went by. Martha tried to make him to take a break, but he dismissed her concerns saying he was fine.
Clark was in the barn, fixing some steps of the stairs. His nose was growing irritated, his face was covered with sweat. And then Clark sneezed, the air expelled from it so strong that it blew the barn door of its hinges and into the sky. His face was filled with shock.
Lois was out jogging. Suddenly, she superspeeded to the next road. The barn door that Clark blew fell next to the spot she was before, unbeknown to her.
Lois looked at her body and the place around her, shocked. “What the hell?”
