The Untold Tale of the Rebel Son of Krypton completed nov9 - R- Chlex, Lex-ar/Caelie

[Catheryne]

The Untold Tale of the Rebel Son of Krypton

AN: The next story from me was supposed to be a Wars of the Roses historical romance, but as with ay writing bug, a Krypton storybug bit me without notice. I present to you then a tale I've started to call, "The Untold Tale of the Rebel Son of Krypton."


Part 1

Without you, I am a ship without a sail, adrift in a cold, endless sea.

Long after Smallville, after Lex Luthor has emerged the head of LexCorp. As with all filthy rich businessmen, Lex had had his share of quirks and eccentricities. The most famous of these began when he was a mere high school student in one of his several boarding schools, when he started collection of mint baseball cards, cars, then planes, and then of women. His women proved to be his most popular pastime. Lex Luthor loved them tall, slender, and luxurious.

And then all of sudden, Lex seemed to have lost all interest in these. It was the same year that a Metropolis hero emerged. Once Superman's photos started gracing the front page of various newspapers, Lex Luthor turned his fascination on the Man of Steel. It was unnatural, to say the least. Like a man possessed, Lex Luthor researched on all that Superman did. What seemed to be fanaticism to others had turned out to be extreme curiosity that eventually, to the amazement of Lex Luthor himself, hatred.

It was then feeding to this unhealthy preoccupation of his that Lex Luthor turned away from his microscopes and to telescopes surveying the sky. On a cold lonely night, Lex's eyes glinted in excitement at the sight of a quick sparkle then a blaze across the sky. To his sharp estimation, an object from space, having been traveling so fast that it glowed with heat, entered the atmosphere. If his calculation of trajectory was correct, he knew where it landed. Lex Luthor then made his way to the cornfields of Smallville, Kansas.

In the same vicinity two decades ago, a meteor shower killed dozens of residents in the hamlet, and turned a sickly boy into... Lex was ever sure what exactly, but he had certainly changed. He was then on the lookout for that object that landed. From a distance he saw smoke floating from some stalks. He approached the object that quickly cooled, if the atmosphere around him was any indication. When he peered through the stalks, Lex grinned. It was a great find, he knew. On the ground, half buried in a crater it had itself created upon impact, was a silvery grey spherical object that had a fixed orbit. On the surface were creases and dents that told of a treacherous journey in space. Lex reached out for it carefully, in case it was stlll hot. After checking for himself that it was of acceptable temperature, he smoothed his hand over it. At his touch, foreign characters on the surface revealed themselves. They were familiar only because of his long preoccupation with all artifacts relating to Superman.

Lex read the characters on the metal. The last character was common, and he had seen it in many artifacts. It was the name of the planet, he knew--Krypton. The other two roughly translated to 'document' and 'partition.' With the insignia stamped below the name, Lex could only read them as RECORDS BUREAU KRYPTON. It contained government files, and thus worth a lot to Superman. Before he could open it, an image appeared beside the lock that asked for authorized access. He picked it up and took it with him to his car.

He placed his hand on top of the lock and with a click, the voice spoke in a dozen different tongues before Lex heard, "Assessing native dialect. Earth. English. Welcome Lex-ar. What do you wish to perform?"

"I want to know what this is," Lex said slowly, still caught unaware.

The darkness of his car was swallowed by sudden brightness when a small holographic image shot up. It was of a beautiful young woman wearing a long white dress. She was pale, with full pink lips and hair the color of fire. "This is a case of a thought-projection disc, Lex-ar. I'm hurt that you do not know. These are your thoughts immortalized."

He frowned at the words. He had never before heard of thought projection discs, and the hologram read it in his reaction.

"In Krypton, momentous occasions and events are recorded in these discs, to be kept in the Records Bureau for the sake of other generations. You have deemed it fit to record memories into these discs."

Lex accepted that it was a smart idea. If it were a possibility, then it would save so much. If this were a technology available on Earth, he was certain the oldest families and the brilliant minds would make good use of it. He placed the thought on a parking lot in his brain so that he could tweak it as a future LexCorp innovation." And you?"

The holographic woman smiled and bowed her head. He could see her cheeks flushed with delight. "I'm your representation of the memories you want preserved."

"I don't doubt that," Lex agreed. "I would surely remember you."

This time, the holographic woman looked up at him. As small as she was that she would be able to stand on his palm, the wealth of emotion in her eyes was so intense that he could read her so clearly. "Would that it were true."

"What do you mean?" Lex whispered.

"You were more brilliant then yourself," she answered. "Lex-ar, do you want me to play?"

"What will you play for me?"

The holographic woman sat on top of the sphere on which she stood, preparing herself for a long stationary period. "I will show you the story that you made certain you will see. I've started calling it, The Untold Tale of the Rebel Son of Krypton."

"Quite melodramatic, isn't it?"

"All of Krypton's children either perished with the planet or were saved not by their own will but because it was not made possible for them to stay on Krypton as it exploded."

"And this rebel son?" Lex prompted.

"You," clarified the hologram, "escaped."

He sighed and knew that this would take time and energy. Besides, if he were to find out how it all worked, he needed to be where no one else would see what she was doing. "Then since it seems like we need the entire night, you should start when we get home."

"As you wish. Lex-ar, call me Caelie Van-el."

At the name, Lex scratched his eyebrow. It would be just like him, if he was this Lex-ar to name the very representation of his precious memories after a woman from the House of El.

tbc

[Louie]

Hmm, interesting. Can't wait for all the explaining of how he's Kryptonian.

[Kit Merlot]

Catheryne, great beginning!

I can't wait for more

[teejei]

yey! new Catheryne fic!

[Krysia]

You have me on the edge of my seat allready I can't wait for more.

[star del mar]

A new story! I'm excited! This was a vey interesting start, I can't wait to see what unfolds, update again soon.

[hfce]

Interesting I can't wait to see how Chloe fits in this one.


Hope

[starmoon]

great beging can't wait for more.

[sylvia]

Absolutely fascinating. Love the subject matter (yay for mythos!obsessed!Lex) and the way you're building up suspense. Do update soon!

[Catheryne]

The Untold Tale of the Last Son of Krypton


Part 2

"Love builds bridges where there are none.”
-R.H. Delaney

Kypton

The night was calm, deceptively enough, to Mag-el's thinking. The wind moved nary a bit, so far opposed to the usual tempests that brought down skyscrapers. One would not see a night as still as this in his home back in Argo City. Kryptonopolis, however, was unpredictable of weather. And so under the unexpected blanket of darkness and languor Mag-el worked through the golden pathways and slipped into the Hall of Worlds.

As he strode through the corridors, all around him the 3D displays of otherworlds lit up. He focused on his destination. Dwelling on memories woken by Lex-ar's creations would only serve to draw from him ill will that no member of the House of El should ever possess. Mag-el had vowed on the crypt of his lost bride that he would never take part on the feud that took her life. Blind to the images of life on other planets that were the fruit of Lex-ar and Jor-el's collaboration, Mag-el went towards the basement of the museum.

Using his passcode on the keypad, Mag-el unlocked the portal to the basement and lowered himself in the midst of intellectual chaos. He took in his surroundings. The whitewashed walls that closed around the large room were marred by endless numbers and formulas. There were sketches and representations of orbits and arcs. Theorems long buried for their complication were scrawled on the walls.

The most powerful men in Krypton were the scientists. The House of El, Mag-el's own clan, was a house of the top scientists in the planet. The calculations that turned into graffiti on the wall merely reminded Mag-el that he had walked into the sanctuary of a man so brilliant that even the House of El had feared him.

"Lex-ar," he said quietly, to draw the scientist out of under whatever he was working on. "You have not nourished yourself for so long."

Mag-el did not need to sit for a long time to understand the physics that Lex-ar was trying to break. He knew, firsthand, what the ultimate derivation should be. He had played with it, in his mind, but science and math or not, Mag-el knew when to give up his search. Lex-ar had not. Mag-el knew he never would.

"Space is nothing," Mag-el continued on the off chance that Lex-ar was listening to him. He walked over to a far wall and traced the drawing. Galaxies and galaxies away, he gathered. This was the expected result. He then turned to the other wall towards a more complicated formula. "But time, Lex-ar? Do you really believe you can defeat time?"

Only then did Mag-el notice the few sparks of light behind the curtain that hid the control room from him. Very slowly, he walkd towards it and recognized the sounds of working metal.

"Lex-ar, you cannot think of following the craft. It is far too--"

"Not stupid."

Mag-el turned around to take in the image of the man who had for always been his bride's true love. If Caelie could see him today, her heart would break. The rings around his eyes spoke clearly of restless nights. The wonderful golden hair that she had adored -- and he knew, for once or twice he had caught her running her fingers through it when she thought Mag-el did not see -- had all been shaven off. His clothes, Mag-el recognized, were the ones he had been wearing since judgment day.

Lex-ar walked around Mag-el to part the curtain, and revealed a pair of robots tasked to create a simple enclosed seat.

Mag-el was relieved, yet even more puzzled. "It is no spacecraft."

With a hint of triumph in his tired eyes, Lex-ar shared, "I am much more than a vehicle-maker."

Mag-el recognized the spite in his words, for had not the El family invented the trasport crafts that littered the major cities?

Lex-ar then indicated a final wall where the numbers and representations were so much neater. It occurred to Mag-el that Lex-ar had prepared everything.

"The prison shuttle will land in these coordinates," he stated. "Did you replace the crystals?"

Krypton, at the time, sent judged criminals away in prison shuttles with the bodies surrounded by cleansing crystals that washed away all criminal tendencies from the brain. Mag-el had rebelled on the judgment, but had been judged the victim in the entire charade.

"Of course," was his simple answer. He would not have allowed his Caelie wiped clean of all that had occured. Mag-el had replaced the cleansing crystals with those that he himself had made. Through his own fault was she in that dire predicament and he had vowed to give her back the innocence that she had lost since joining the House of El. The crystals he had placed in her prison shuttle then reversed the aging process, that she would not land in an otherworld so old and gray with nothing to look forward to.

Through strict calculation then, Lex-ar had devised the way to bring her back to him.

"This is the most precise time and coordinate to travel to," Lex-ar stated, pointing to his final answer. "My time-space machine is built. Mag-el, after all the grief and hatred, you have lone been my supporter. I shall grieve alone until the death of Krypton if you should tell me not to use it, but I will honor your wish. Then, Mag-el," Lex-ar continued, "will you allow me to travel to retrieve your wife for myself?"

The pause was long, and Lex-ar fought against the urge to use his invention whether or not the man who had become his friend would agree. Caelie was his, had been his since the beginning of time. He needed no permission from the man who was only an incidental in their life.

Mag-el turned to look at the machine, then took in the work that had taken place on the walls of the basement. Then, he looked up into the weary hope in Lex-ar's eyes. He was a far cry from the golden unreachable man who had always been first in his wife's heart. Bald, tired, broken, Lex-ar deserved one answer, "Pursue your love. You are nothing without her."

Upon hearing the words, Lex-ar's eyes drifted closed and Mag-el clearly saw the trembling lashes that indicated rough emotions overwhelming.

Lex-ar tremulously walked over to the machine and sat on the chair. He carefully punched in the time and coordinates then gripped tightly at the handles.

~~

Smallville

Once again she remembered the breakup stories she had watched in the home movie theater that her father had splurged on with last year's Christmas bonus. She had been addicted to love stories from January to May. They had instilled in her a complete devotion to land a man, to be swept off her feet and to adore someone who truly loved her. She had actually believed that "I love you beyond my own life" existed. She was, however, completely mistaken. After months of pretending that she lived in a romantic movie, and that love was just around the corner, she had finally landed her guy.

And that was when she found out that "walking on clouds" was a great conspiracy. She just was not the heroine type. She could play second fiddle to the heroine, true. She was never going to be first billing in a romantic story.

She had fought it through. It was not as if Chloe had given up easily. Three days after she had finally captured her hero Clark Kent, Chloe had known it was not all it's cracked up to be. But she stayed and she tried to pretend that his bumbling around was cute and his sad efforts romantic. It was not to be. And so she decided to just get it over and done with. She had a fear of beaking up, of course. Movies made her scared of it. Some of those people who got dumped committed suicide or became villains. Clark was not going to be an attractive villain. If he tried to hang himself from the Fortress, it would collapse.

And so when Chloe finally opened the discussion during dinner, and Clark Kent had looked so relieved, she felt betrayed by those movies again. It wasn't hard. In fat, breaking up was so easy that she almost felt insulted. Clark seemed to only have been waiting for her to say goodbye.

"I love you, Chloe," he said.

"But not more than life itself," she muttered to herself.

"But I'm not in love with you."

"Same here," she grudgingly admitted. "I wish we were though."

"Yeah," Clark responded. "It would be so much easier. There would be no chasing, no angst, no pain. We'd just be together."

And that was when Chloe found out the missing ingredients. Their hookup was too easy. There were no complications. Great romances always go through so much pain. With Clark, it was a phone call, a date that morphed into a series of the same.

"So, I better go," Clark said, scuffing the toe of his shoe on the Sullivan's welcome mat.

"Guess you should," she answered.

Chloe sat on the porch steps as she watched Clark walk away. She was beginning to hate romance movies. Really. They brought nothing but false hopes.

She had started to believe that there was no man on earth for her.

Light flashed from behind her. Chloe whirled around and saw the flickering light through the window. She stood and peered through the window. A large contraption was inside her living room. Slowly and quietly she turned the knob on the door and slipped inside her house. She was caught in amazement when the contraption opened and out stumbled a tall haggard looking man. When he straightened, he met her eyes, and Chloe was captivated at the very likeness of Lex Luthor who seemed to be in pain.

She saw his face crumple in a grimace. He clutched at his gut and fell onto his knees. He glanced towards his right, and then at her.

For an endless moment their gazes met. The universe around them stopped.

"Caelie," she heard him murmur.

And then he gritted his teeth and cried out in pain. Chloe forgot that this was a mysterious and possibly dangerous stranger. She rushed over to him but could not reach him. He grasped the contraption and collapsed inside. And it vanished in a blinding flash of light.

~~

Krypton

The next face that he saw was that of Mag-el. Lex-ar clutched the proffered hand, but was sapped of all his strength and was unable to pull himself up.

"Lex-ar, what's brought you to this?"

Lex-ar fell back down on the floor of his time machine. "I must return," he gasped out. "Caelie..."

Despite his concern, Mag-el's features brightened considerably. "My Caelie is alive and well?" he asked. Mag-el helped lift Lex-ar up and onto a chair.

"I must return," Lex-ar insisted. "A vile green rock sits within her home."


"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."
-Henry Drummond