Clark was glad to find that the Fortress of Solitude was in the same location that it was in his universe, but his flight control wasn't exactly perfect since he was wrestling with a certain unkillable creature.  

Metropolis was now a battlefield for two Justice Leagues, and Clark knew that if he and Doomsday stayed there, it would become less of a battlefield and more of a crater. Their short fight in Metropolis already leveled buildings and tore up the foundations in such a way that it had to be completely relaid in certain parts. He had one idea to try to get rid of Doomsday though...and he needed the Fortress.

Superman speared through the air, arms wrapped around the impenetrable hide of the Kryptonian monster. Doomsday dropped blow after blow onto Clark's spine, and tried to wrench itself to disorient the Man of Steel. Clark had no choice but to grit his teeth and hold through the pain.The crystalline structure of the Fortress grew larger and larger, until the two god-like beings came crashing through it.  

Clark grunted in pain as he came rolling to a halt on the ground. When he opened his eyes, he saw that this Fortress was somewhat similar to his own...but it was still different. He focused and scanned the massive location, and finally found the device he was after. The Phantom Zone projector was on the other side of the Fortress but getting Doomsday there would be easier said than done. Sure, Clark had gotten him all the way over here...but accelerating at a great speed and not worrying about precision is much less tedious. Doomsday is like a wild bull; if he realizes what Clark has planned he'd be smart enough to take control of the fight.

As Clark pushed himself up, he saw Doomsday do the same. Superman huffed and clenched his fists. He knew that he could let loose now. Doomsday was an abomination; an unnatural synthesised lifeform with only the desire to murder. Clark would certainly put it down if he could. The most difficult thing about Doomsday was that whatever you killed it with, it would swiftly resuscitate itself and become immune to whatever it was that caused its death...

"Okay, ugly, where were we?" Clark muttered.

He performed a leaping strike, bounding into the air and smashing a fist into Doomsday's jaw on the way down. Doomsday's face glared back with a vicious grin. It sent a knee into Clark's chin, sending him flying into the air.The monster bounded after him, raised its hands and slammed them into Superman. The blow buried Clark into the ground.

The beast spat, then threw itself at Superman. Eyes igniting, the Man of Steel zipped up into the air, sent a hand out and clutched Doomsday's neck, preemptively ending its coming body slam. With a primal scream, Clark unleashed a ludicrous amount of heat from his eyes, bathing Doomsday in extremely lethal amounts of energy. 

The entire chamber was washed crimson, and massive cones of uncontrollable fire poured from Superman's eyes and tore at the grey creature's flesh.Suddenly, Doomsday fastened a hand onto Clark's face. The energy folded back onto its origin pointcand built up until it had nowhere else to go. 

Bursts of red light escaped from the gaps between Doomsday's fingers, and the air around the pair fizzled and popped. The overwhelming heat caused an incredible explosion that compromised half of the Fortress' structural integrity.

The explosion tore open the kryptonian castle, sending shrapnel and waves of heat outward in a blossoming flower of destruction that melted almost anything in its path.Once again, Clark found himself fighting against the urge to blackout... He blinked rapidly, trying to regain his eyesight.An incredible force closed upon his throat and squeezed. His eyes refocused, but everything seemed to be a blood red colour. 

Doomsday, his body burnt almost black and covered in soot, strangled the Man of Steel with a single hand. Clark swung an arm into Doomsday's elbow, resulting in a crack as loud as a sonic boom. The creature's arm folded irregularly and its grip loosened.

Within the passage of a second, Clark zoomed over to where he saw the Phantom Projector and desperately rummaged through the pile of rubble. His eyes were still readjusting...he couldn't use his x-ray vision.

"Bingo." He heaved the scarred device up just as he heard the enraged growling of Doomsday. Clark spun and keyed in a specific command, pointing the camera-like object at his charging foe.

The area flashed with a bizarre 'black' light, as Clark's body throbbed with what felt like lightning. When it cleared, Clark noticed that he was standing alone in a massive field of debris.At least forty percent of the Fortress was in ruins now. He then tossed the projector to the side with a heavy sigh. "And that wasn't even the main bad guy..."

He wiped the soot from his eyes and face and discovered a bead of sweat running down his face. His costume was stained with the stuff as well, dulling the once bright colours of the kryptonian uniform.

"I should've expected to see you here eventually." He heard...himself...say.

Clark slowly peered over his shoulder and saw the spitting image of himself. He was older...and wore a different costume but there was no denying that he was Kal-El as well.

"This ends now. Enough people have died." Clark threatened.

Kal-El lowered from his hover and landed with grace. "That's why I started this. You can feel it, can't you? You and I are the same."

"I would kill to prevent deaths...not out of blind revenge."

"I prevented deaths by dealing with these animals. The only language they understand is violence."

"Don't lie to me. You didn't do it for the good of mankind. You did it because you lost her. Everything was because you lost her." 

The alternate Superman's eyes shone a bright red as he roared "She was taken from me!! I won't let you take her as well!!"

Clark frowned at the hypocrisy. "You've lost. Your Regime is being dismantled. You're the only one left."

Kal-El gritted his teeth as he paced anxiously back and forth. "No...no." He stopped. "I have Silvia. She's going to stay here. She's mine now."

"She doesn't belong to anyone. Especially not you."

"Not while you're alive."

Clark, exhausted and spent from his clash with Doomsday, was thrusted into the ground with a colossal impact that shook mountains. Clark growled, realizing that this Superman was a man with nothing to lose...and everything to win.

More blows like that would have the potential to start seismic events around the globe; tsunamis, earthquakes, maybe even wake dormant volcanoes. Clark had to find a way to stop him from destroying the planet, whilst being out of breath from his last encounter.

As he pushed upward, Clark instantly leapt for the Phantom Projector only to find it already in the hands of his counterpart. With minimal effort, Kal-El crushed the Projector between his palms as if it were made of tin foil. "You won't take her away from me."

Clark grimaced and heaved himself at his counterpart, the air bursting around the pair from the sheer speed. Clark tackled this alternate Superman, hurtling both of their bodies through the air like missiles. He made sure to brutally wrench a hand over Superman's eyes, while struggling to control his flight. He felt intense burning on the palm of his hand as Kal-El roared and forced the pair of kryptonians downward.

They striked a mountaintop, instantly penetrating it and passing straight through, suffering no decrease in velocity. As the snow-capped mountain shattered and came collapsing in on itself, Clark screamed in exertion. Kal was fighting his efforts to move the brawl into space...

Suddenly, Kal broke free from Clark's grapple and seized him by the neck. As he squeezed, he raised a fist, lent backwards, then sent it at Clark's chest and released the chokehold at the same time.

The rush of wind, sound and pain enveloped Clark as the punch sent him rocketing away from the Arctic at supersonic speeds. He furiously wrestled with gravity, trying to stop his wild spinning to no avail.

Thousands of miles were covered in seconds, and the Man of Steel hurtled into the base of an office building. His body destroyed support after support, the concrete and steel being no match against the force of Kal's blow combined with Clark's near invulnerability.

Clark managed to force his eyes open and saw with x-ray vision that the building was going to tip, with hundreds of people inside. There were bodies nearby him. His eyes began to water as he stared at them, horrified. He curled a fist.

Clark dashed outside and saw that he was smashed through several other buildings on the way over. Not having time to focus on that, he turned to the toppling building...but saw no one inside anymore.

"They're out, they're safe!! Take care of the building!!"

"Barry...?" Clark muttered

There on the street was The Flash...of this world... Clark didn't have time for any conversations, he had to stop that building. He inhaled, a massive gale entered his lungs, then he blew ice cold air at the bottom of the falling structure. The arctic winds instantly froze the base of the tower, securing minutes at the most.

"Someone needs to take care of this!" Clark called to Barry. "This'll only hold for--"

The next strike would've hit its mark if Clark wasn't expecting it...but he was. Kal's fist was caught in Clark's palm. Clark hissed "You're a monster. You're nothing like me."

Clark twirled Kal by his arm, spinning so rapidly that they seemed to morph into a spinning disk in the sky. He released as the daylight moon was in sight. He practiced that back home...that was exit velocity, alright. Clark took a second to brace himself, then took after his alternate self with no time to lose.

In less than a second, the blue sky faded to black, and the white spots of distant stars came into view. The moon grew, and so did a certain red and blue speck. Clark gained on the disoriented Kal-El, and unleashed a threshold of heat vision that would've instantly vaporized any planet's atmosphere in the blink of an eye.

Space was washed bright red, and Clark could hear the vibrating of Kal's throat, in attempts of pained screaming. All the while, he didn't slow down. As the energy bathed his foe, Clark flew in with a planet-killing haymaker.

A full second passed... That's what it took for Clark to shake off the disorientation caused by the sheer force and stress caused by landing such a hit. On the moon had created a brand new crater...smoking and white hot.

Clark hovered to the centre of this impact mark and landed beside Kal. He was unconscious but very much alive. At first he was terrified by how alike he and this Superman seemed... but his disregard for life showed him that they were nothing alike.

It wasn't long after that he had flown the tyrant back to Earth and cuffed him, a fair sized rock of Kryptonite hanging off of the chain and keeping him powered down. The Clark from Silvia's universe had to stay a fair distance away from it to not feel its effects and so when everyone crowded around Kal he still kept back.

Many of the Regime had been defeated and taken away, some were still on the run but would be easily found. Kal, however, was stronger than most. Him and the select few that measured up to even half his power level would have to be secured somewhere else. The Phantom Zone seemed like a viable option, but now with this worlds projector destroyed, it was proving a little more difficult.

Kal lifted his head weakly, eyes half-lidded but still full of rage. "Lex... You were my friend. I trusted you!"

"I'm sorry, Kal, but your reign of terror had to end." Lex didn't seem to regret his decision nor did he feel any guilt for it. Maybe he was just mourning the friend he once knew.

Silvia, who was standing between the crowd of heroes and Clark, couldn't believe that this was Lex Luthor. Their version was a lot less... good. The Batman from this universe was the only one standing there. Silvia was somewhat relieved that the other one hadn't been pulled through, though that also meant that he was probably monitoring things from the outside.

Batman had taken one look at her and exchanged an expression with so much hatred that it immediately weighed out her own Bruce Wayne. This time she couldn't blame him... she was the main reason that he had been living in his own personal hell for the passed few years. Silvia smirked. Something good did come out of this after all.

"I regret that it had to come to this." Bruce spoke in a voice much older than he was. "But you gave me no choice."

The glare Kal gave was dangerous despite his exhaustion. It made Silvia think he would break free of the shackles and kill them all... but he didn't. He couldn't. "It doesn't matter where you try to imprison me, Bruce. I will get out again."

Beneath his mask Bruce's face scrunched up. He had no comment. He would try to the best of his ability to make sure he's put somewhere he'll never break away from, but Superman had never been one to give into impossible scenerios.

More unfortunate than Kal-El's words was Silvia quickly approaching him. Batman felt a growl become lodged on his throat. She grabbed his arm and he turned with an annoyed look. "Barry said you'd give me time to change him... You barely gave me half a week!"

"You weren't fast enough." Was his swift, monotoned reply.

Silvia's face darkened with shadows. "I made more progress than any of you!"

"Every minute you made a little bit of progress more people died." Batman spat back. "Though I'm still against taking people from your universe. It doesn't seem right."

"Wait, then why did you-"

"I didn't." Bruce pointed towards Lex who politely, and very discreetly, bowed his head to her. "I may despise you more than anyone but I was willing to give you more time... for Clark's sake."

Batman quickly moved away from her, obviously having as little interest in her company as she had in his. Silvia felt her fists clench until her knuckles whitened. "I could have done it... He could have been the Clark you knew again." She hissed at Lex who shook his head.

"He'd never be the Clark I knew, no matter how much you changed him." Lex replied calmly, posture straight and hands behind his back. "You can fix what's broken, Miss Stone, but it'll never be good as new."

Silvia inhaled sharply, lungs zapping in the air to prevent herself from starting a fistfight. She stepped closer to him, eyes catching his in an intense glare. "You don't know that."

"Oh, but I do." Lex sighed. "You can disagree with my methods, but never question my intentions."

"If you knew the Lex from our world you would never ask that of me."

Lex smirked. "Yes... I've heard he's quite the charmer."

"Wipe that smug look off your face. I can't believe you can smile at a time like this."

"It's bittersweet, this moment. This is a victory for all of us, and the friend I once had in Clark." Lex shook his head, turning his gaze to the sky. "He may look like Superman but we lost him long before this... If you have anything to say to him then I suggest you do it. I will be sending you all back soon."

Lex moved away as well, but at least he had a reason to. Silvia glanced back at Clark who was still maintaining a suitable distance between himself and the Kryptonite. She gave him a weak smile, and just as he realised what she was doing, she disappeared into the crowd of superheroes.

Kal-El was right in the centre, head hung low and body weakened. She felt her expression drop at the sight of it and knelt right in front of him.

"I'm going to lose you again, aren't I?" He whispered lowly to her, eyes only meeting hers for the briefest of seconds... but in those dwindling moments she saw a pain unlike any other. Once he was a glass figurine, perfect to the eye, fragile underneath. Her death had ground him to the finest of dust - still glass, yet vulnerable to any gust. He still felt pain, so much raw pain, but he thought he couldn't be broken anymore... until now.

Silvia had to hold her breath to stop herself from breaking down. She never wanted to see that look on Clark's face, not even this version. "I'm... sorry..." she managed to choke out, sorrow caught in her throat. "I tried to help, like you did for me... but I couldn't. I failed you."

The whole idea of her own failure to save the man that had rescued her from her own darkness was too much. Only certain people had such a profound influence over others... only very few had that kind of power. And much like with everything else, Silvia wasn't one of them. Still she thought she'd be able to do it this once, for someone that had done it for her... she should have expected that the result would always be the same.

Silvia's eyes narrowed then her fingers twitches. Finally she found herself wrapping her arms around the weakened figure of Superman, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "Sorry... I'm so sorry..." she repeated, unable to verbalise much else.

Kal leaned into her touch, only slightly able to move. "I'll break out, then I'll find you again."

Silvia's eyes widened and she pulled away from him. "No... you can't."

Instantly his eyes fired with anger once more. "So you really are picking him over me." He hissed to combat the pain in his chest. "He can't love you like I do. He can't keep you safe. That weakling doesn't know how it feels to lose you."

"And he'll never have to if I have any say in it."

Kal scoffed. "You had no say in leaving me, this time won't be any different."

It seemed pointless talking to him. He was so set in his ways, so torn apart from the events of a few years ago that it didn't look like he was willing to listen. Silvia knew she wouldn't get another opportunity again, and so she stayed beside him a little longer.

"Maybe not, but I always knew the risk and I chose to be with you anyway." Silvia sighed. "But if I had known what kind of effect I would've had on you... I don't know if I would have stayed."

He looked up again but this time it wasn't just him. In the distance Clark was listening too and she could sense his eyes on her. Both of them were hurt but her Clark was most certainly still overwhelmed by this world... maybe he was thinking the same thing.

"I understand killing the Joker, he was a lost cause. I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing, but for this to continue the way it has..." Silvia tried to continue but she struggled to put it into words. "It's wrong, Kal. Innocent people are suffering... people that stood up for you when the world was afraid of an alien with impossible powers were repaid with more fear. The criminals that changed their ways because of the second chance you gave them were killed for the laws they broke in their youth."

"It was for the greater good. I was protecting this world, keeping them all alive and safe."

"This is no life. A world of fear isn't worth living in at all.... This is the universe my father would have created, the one he created for me when I was young." Silvia's hand touched the side of his face gently, forcing out each sentence in one last effort to get him to listen. "Surely you can see that this dictatorship you've made is an insult to the Silvia that died fighting for a world without fear."

Then she saw it again, the light in his eyes that proved that part of the Clark she knew remained buried inside of him.

"Even if I'm not here, I'll be rooting for you." She smiled, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. "Everyone deserves a second chance, that's what you taught me, so it's only fair that someone that once brought so much security and joy to the world deserves one too. You've always beaten the odds before, a cell isn't going to stop you... make me proud, Clark. Show them why I fell in love with you, not the result of your loss."

She doubted that one small goodbye would change him but at the very least she had given it one last shot. Her fingers grazed across his cheek, to his lips, then finally, away from his face entirely as she stood back up.

"It's time to go." Lex said behind her and she couldn't ignore the twinge of guilt that contracted beneath her ribs.

Silvia gave Kal one final wave and the hero looked defeated after that. Unsure of what to do, and whether he was right or wrong. The questioning was more than he was doing before though, even now he was making progress.

The walk over to the people from her own world, and to Clark who towered above all of them, was a long one. It was both a relief and a sadness at the same time. She wanted to get away from this world but she still couldn't shake the feeling that she'd failed the man that she loved... both versions.

Clark held his hand out towards her and she quickly took it. They both equally needed the support but when they got back she knew it would be tense. He was just as scared as she was, maybe even more so, of the possible future that didn't seem too far away.

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