There was so much blood.

Blood everywhere, staining the dank floors of the murky tunnel, swirling in strands like marble inside the snot-green water that pooled on the ground. It hadn’t come from the guard. He was merely unconscious. Whoever was bleeding had fled around the corner.

She followed the trail.

The bloody puddles grew larger the more she followed them, until they formed a solid line pointing to where the intruder had fallen and curled up to die like a wounded animal. There was something else on the ground. A phone.

Lois’ phone.

“No.”

Chloe surged forward, dropping to her knees and lifting her dying cousin into her arms. “Oh God. Lois, you're gonna be all right, okay? I'm gonna get you out—oh my God.”

That was when she saw it. The wound. It shouldn’t have surprised her, given that all the blood on the ground had to have come from somewhere, but… this made it real. She couldn’t deny this.

“Oh my God,” she repeated. “Lois. Come on, Lois. You're a fighter.” She started to shake her, wanting to believe that her cousin was only sleeping, only trying to pull one on her.

“Come on. Come on, Lois. Come on.” She said it over and over, like a chant; a prayer.

A plea.

“You're the strongest girl I know,” she continued, shaking Lois again. “Come on! Please! You can't die. I can't lose you. I love you too much. Please.”

But Lois didn’t wake. Her eyes didn’t open, the corners of her mouth didn’t twist into a wry smile, her lungs didn’t bounce and she didn’t laugh hysterically, didn’t tell her that it was all a joke. Because it wasn’t. Because she was actually dead.

Chloe shut her eyes. A tear fell. Then everything disappeared in a bright flash of white….

…light. Surrounding her. Pressing against her eyelids, assaulting her with a reddish haze. She didn’t want to open them. Didn’t want to face reality.

HONK!

Her eyes snapped open.

The tunnels were gone. Above her, Chloe saw only open sky. That and buildings. Lots of buildings.

Clutching a hand to her temple, she sat up—carefully. She looked around. She was in the middle of the street. There was a car to her left, still honking at her. She stood, waving apologetically to the driver, then scurried over to the much safer sidewalk. Once there, she leaned up against the side of a building.

How the hell had she ended up in downtown Metropolis?

Chloe rubbed the sides of her head, trying to remember what happened after the flash. But she couldn’t recall. She only remembered crying and… then she was here. Like she’d just….

‘Teleported,’ she realized, and she slumped down, clutching her knees to her chest as realization hit her.

‘Great,’ she thought, ignoring the increasingly bizarre looks that the passers-by were giving her. ‘And I thought not knowing my meteor power was bad. Now I find out I’m just like Alicia Baker.’

It all made sense now. The blonde hair, the obsession with Clark…. This was justice. She was destined to become just like the ones she had damned. She had tried to atone, tried to make up for judging them, but apparently it wasn’t enough. She was going to lose her mind, any day now. It was only a matter of time.

But right now she had a job to finish.

Shooting to her feet, she flagged down a policeman. There was something odd about his uniform, but she was in too much of a hurry to try and place it. She didn’t have any time to explain herself, so she just spat it out:

“I need to get to Reeves Dam.”

The officer arched an eyebrow. “Where?”

Chloe sighed, realizing that she should probably let this man in on what she knew. He could be trusted. “It’s where Lex Luthor’s been conducting 33.1 experiments. Experiments in human cloning.”

“Who’s Lex Luthor?”

She looked at him like he’d gone crazy. “Lionel Luthor’s son, duh! Ever since he took over LuthorCorp, he’s been carrying out experiments on meteor freaks, abducting them, and using their powers to build an army. Now he’s using alien DNA to try and make clones and….”

Now the officer was looking at her as if she’d gone crazy. But she wasn’t! He had to believe her!

“Look, Miss.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I need you to calm down. You’re disturbing the peace.”

“Disturbing the peace?!” she shrieked, incredulous. “There won’t be any peace if Project Ares goes into full swing! I have to get to Reeves Dam so I can help stop him! Clark can’t do it alone! Lois might be dead and I….” Her eyes stung and she blinked, not wanting to cry, not wanting to show vulnerability. Because she had to be strong. “I just need your help getting there!” she finished.

The officer gripped her other shoulder. “Listen,” he said calmly, looking her in the eyes. “I’ve never heard of Reeves Dam. Lionel Luthor doesn’t have a son. There’s no such thing as clones, aliens, or… what did you call them?”

“Meteor freaks.”

“Yeah, those. Have you taken any drugs recently?”

“What?!” She recoiled from his touch, disgusted that he would even think that she, Chloe Sullivan, would…. It suddenly dawned on Chloe that this man didn’t know her. And she probably did sound a little crazy or high just babbling on like this. She took several deep breaths, then looked up.

“No,” she said on exhale, “I haven’t taken any drugs.”

The officer stepped forward, gripping her arm this time. “Well you’re obviously distressed. I’m going to take you to the hospital, see if everything’s all right up there.” He pointed to his temple, as though he thought she wouldn’t get what he was referring to. But she got it, all right. She understood exactly what he meant. And she thought it was absolutely ridiculous.

“You think I’m crazy?” She pulled back again. “I’m not crazy! The world is in danger! I have to help stop it!”

“Miss….”

“Get away from me!” she screeched, shrinking back. “If you’re not going to help, then just leave!”

“I am trying to help, Miss. I’m just going to get you to the hospital and everything will be okay.”

“No it won’t!” She was having trouble standing. She could hardly breathe. She wasn’t crazy! She had to help Clark! She had to see if Lois was okay! She had to get out of here!

“Miss, are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine!” she rasped, clutching her head. At least she would be, if the damn streets would stop rocking back and forth. She lost her balance, then felt the concrete rush up and smack her in the face. But it didn’t bring her wits back. It only made her more confused.

“Miss!” His voice sounded far away, as though she’d somehow fallen into a well. But she was still on the sidewalk.

She knew that because her palms still stung, having taken the brunt of the impact when she’d toppled. The pain was fading rapidly, replaced by a growing numbness. She pushed against the earth, managing to slide her knees under her hips, before depositing her last meal on the pavement.

Then she collapsed again, and everything went black.

It was the dripping that woke her.

All the other details, such as the fact that she was on the floor, covered in dirt and sewage, didn’t occur to her until she opened her eyes. But the leaky ceiling was what had roused her to begin with. Everything else came after that.

Groaning, Lois sat up. She rubbed her temples, trying to remember how she’d gotten here. This definitely wasn’t a nookie motel, and she wasn’t lying in bed naked next to some stranger, so at least she knew that her epic headache wasn’t indicative of a hangover. This was confirmed when she found a lump on the side of her head, probably received when she fell down and got knocked out in the first place.

She looked around. Somehow she got the feeling that someone else should be here with her. With a mighty effort, and despite feeling like she’d just drunk a gravel smoothie, she managed to rasp out a name:

“Chloe?”

Lois shook her head. Out of all the names, why that one? Chloe wasn’t here. She was somewhere safe. She could sense it.

Grunting, she eventually stood up, though not without a fight. She found it odd that she would be so fatigued. Even though she still slumbered until the late afternoon whenever she could get away with it, she always woke up feeling refreshed and energized. But right now she felt absolutely horrible. Like she’d just….

‘Died,’ she realized, and then the memories returned.

The guard. The knife. The wound in her side. She lifted up her shirt, looking down at the exposed skin there.

It was unscathed.

There was blood of course, but the puncture wound was just… gone. As though it had never existed. If she didn’t distinctly remember being stabbed and the blood wasn’t there to serve as a physical reminder that she had, in fact, spilled her life fluids all over the floor just a few minutes ago, Lois wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Hell, if this wasn’t Smallville, and she didn’t know that weird and scientifically inexplicable things happened on a regular basis, she would have just counted herself lucky. After all, it wasn’t wise to look a gift horse in the mouth.

But what if that mouth held all the answers?

Shrugging, she determined that she would figure it out later. The answers she was after right now were far more important.

Calling upon the full extent of her combat training, Lois started walking. The pain receded with every step she took, until it was every bit as nonexistent as the wound that had almost killed her. After a few minutes of sneaking, she found what she was looking for.

There was a heavy metal door at the end of the hall, about thirty feet away. That was the lab. That was where they had turned Wes into… whatever the hell he’d been before he died. She was sure of it.

She noticed a keypad next to the door, and found herself wishing that Chloe were here, or even Smallville. He had always had a way with locked doors. She’d never cared enough about him to ask how he did it before, and she wouldn’t even ask now if he were just here to somehow open it for her. But no, she was going to have to do this on her own.

Lois smiled. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sticking to the shadows, Lois crept along. The halls intersected about ten feet from the door, meaning that she would have to be cautious not to alert anybody who might be waiting in the other hallway. With that in mind, she sunk lower to the floor.

How was she going to get the door open? She didn’t have her cousin’s mad hacking skills, and she didn’t possess Kent’s farmboy intuition (or was it just dumb luck?), so she needed to think fast.

The door opened suddenly, and Lois remembered her own lucky streak. Her grin turned predatory when she identified the bald billionaire who seemed to be fleeing the lab.

“Luthor,” she sneered, and prepared to rush her adversary.

Before she had the opportunity to charge him, however, there was a blast of wind, and in less than a second, Lex was pinned up against the wall. That didn’t shock Lois nearly as much as exactly who was doing the pinning.

“Smallville?”

She had whispered, so she didn’t think either man noticed her presence yet. She decided to watch for now.

“She was your wife, Lex.” Clark snarled, tightening his grip on Lex’s collar.

For once, Lex didn’t seem eager to talk. “Now is not the time to lecture me about my marriage Clark.”

“Why did you do it? Just tell me.”

Lex struggled, but Kent’s grip didn’t falter. “Get your hands off me!”

Clark only squeezed tighter. “You afraid she was gonna bring you down, or was it just too humiliating for you that she was gonna leave you? Why'd you have to kill her? Why?”

“What are you talking about?” the billionaire choked.

“You already know,” accused Clark, leaning closer. “Lana is dead.”

Ten feet away, Lois was floored. And yet, at the same time, she wasn’t surprised in the least. ‘Serves the crazy bitch right,’ she thought. Unlike her cousin, Lois had absolutely zero tolerance for Lana’s manipulative “fairy princess” routine. She’d only put up with the girl because Chloe seemed to be her personal cheerleader, even though it was clear that she resented Lana on some level. She’d never acknowledge it of course, because Chloe was too nice for that; too noble. She always put others first. Always assumed their burdens. It was just the kind of person she was.

Lana had taken advantage of that. She’d unloaded all her insecurities, all her petty frustrations, all her huffy indignation at being treated like a fairy princess when deep down she relished the attention, and she’d never given Chloe anything in return. Hadn’t even offered. Chloe was just a stress ball for Lana to squeeze whenever her weepy soap opera of a life got to be too much for even her to handle. It broke Lois’ heart to see how Chloe just took it all, turned the other cheek, tried to stay loyal, hoping it would all pay off someday. Lois knew it wouldn’t. But she wasn’t about to ask Chloe to stop being herself.

And as for what she’d done to Clark…. Lois didn’t particularly like the farmboy, but even he didn’t deserve to go through what Lana had pulled. And just what the hell did she expect, getting involved with a Luthor? Lana deserved whatever had happened, as far as Lois was concerned. She’d brought it on herself.

Something seemed to break in Lex and she watched his eyes widen in horror as the revelation hit him. If she hadn’t known just how gifted—and motivated—of an actor Lex was, she might have believed that he was genuinely shocked at the news.

Might have. But probably wouldn’t.

“No,” was all he said in response.

“No.” Clark caught the denial, then hurled it back at him. “You don't need to act so surprised. You're the one who killed her. You put a bomb in her car. You're the one who killed her!” For a moment it looked like he was actually going to strangle Lex, and Lois found herself debating whether or not she should stop him.

On the one hand, she wanted to see Luthor dead. This had nothing to do with his calling her a “muffin peddler,” nor his habit of digging a little too deeply into the personal lives of everyone in Smallville. Those things she could deal with and not want to split his bald skull open like a watermelon. It was because of what he’d done; what he’d turned Wes into just to satisfy his own selfish ends. It was about vengeance and settling the score.

But she also knew that Clark Kent was not a murderer. Revenge wasn’t the way he operated. Lois was suddenly reminded of the only other time that she had seen Clark like this. It was when Tim Westcott had begun his misguided and short-lived crusade to restore Smallville to moral righteousness by attempting to murder Lana, and then Jason, before finally succeeding with Alicia Baker, hanging her from one of the rafters in her own barn. Clark had been so wounded by the experience of seeing the woman he loved murdered, that he had attempted to do the same thing to Tim. He had very nearly succeeded.

Lois had stopped him then. Would she do the same now?

Yes, she decided, standing up; she would. If anybody was going to get revenge against Lex for what he’d done, it would be her. She was the vengeful one. She was the one who equated justice with reprisal. She would see him suffer for what he’ done. But she wouldn’t watch it. Not when she wasn’t the one causing it. And definitely not when the most righteous person she knew was. She had to stop this.

She had just started towards them when the door opened again, and a tiny figure stood silhouetted in front of a blinding light. Fog billowed out into the corridor, and Lois noted that the figure was a small boy. She briefly wondered when her life had suddenly become a low-budget remake of The Grudge.

“Get out of here,” said Lex, inclining his head towards… what exactly was it, anyway? It couldn’t have just been a boy. He must be possessed. “He’ll kill us both.”

Lois smirked at the realization that Lex still hadn’t noticed her. Then again, she had to admit that a creepy demon boy was pretty damn distracting. She sincerely hoped that it didn’t notice her either.

“He is right,” the boy said in a voice so deep that it was just inhuman, confirming his status as a demon. “At last… a Kryptonian.”

A what? Lois barely had time to reflect on what the demon meant by that when the boy suddenly opened his mouth, spewing out what appeared at first like a dark cloud, which quickly formed non-corporeal appendages that somewhat resembled arms, as well as a devilish face. It rushed towards Clark, who released Lex, and the billionaire broke out running.

‘Oh, no you don’t,’ Lois thought determinedly, exploding into a mad dash of her own. Within moments she had intercepted him. She stuck out her leg, and his extreme momentum caused him to flip once before landing hard on his back. His hairless head bounced twice on the concrete, knocking him out cold.

Lois dusted her hands off, smirking proudly. “Stay there,” she ordered the unconscious billionaire, then turned her head around to look for Clark.

“Smallville?” she called, but no one answered.

She heard footsteps behind her and whirled around, raising her fists. Whoever was stupid enough to come in here would probably be safer if she incapacitated them. But when she saw who it was, she lowered her hands. She wouldn’t knock this one out just yet.

“Lionel,” she deadpanned. “I’d ask what you’re doing here, but then again you’re so involved in your son’s life I'll bet you sometimes wish you had tits.”

Lionel blinked. Then his face contorted as he tried to make sense of what she’d just said. “What?”

“That was a breastfeeding joke.”

“Oh, right, right,” he said hurriedly, not even bothering to retort. Now her face was wrinkled in confusion. Lionel Luthor never failed to retaliate, even against such a bewildering insult. Something must have deeply unsettled Lionel for him to lose his focus like this. “Have you seen Clark?”

So that was it then. Yeah, she was a bit unsettled too at the moment thanks to the farmboy. Not that Lionel needed to know that.

She crossed her arms. “I might have. Shouldn’t you be more worried about your son?” She nodded her head to where Lex lay sprawled on the ground, still unconscious.

Lionel turned, and leapt with surprise. He hadn’t even seen him there when he entered. Just what exactly had him so upset that he wouldn’t notice his own son?

“Miss Lane,” he said, nearly panicked, “I need you to tell me where Clark is. The world could be in danger.”

“From what?” She’d had enough of being kept out of the loop. She was going to get her answers before she let him pass. If she let him pass.

“I don’t have time to explain, I….” His eyes widened, and he pointed just over her shoulder. “There.”

Even though her instincts told her that Lionel was just trying to distract her, Lois looked. No matter how distressed he seemed at the moment, Lionel was too sophisticated in his trickery to try pulling that one. Besides, she was curious. So she turned around.

And then she saw it.

A hole.

That hadn’t been there before. Did that thing make it? She somehow doubted that was the whole story. Sure, the wraith was probably involved, but… there was something else going on here. And Lois was determined to find out what.

By the time she turned around again, Lionel was already dashing towards the opening. She ran after him, but he got there first. She ducked through and when she looked up, her eyes were met with a cavernous space that she recognized as a generator room.

She looked around, trying to find where Lionel had gone. She saw him to her left, next to… Clark? Something seemed different about the farmboy. Why were his clothes suddenly so dark?

“Clark. Son,” she heard Lionel say. Lois rolled her eyes. What was it with evil billionaires and delusions of grandeur? “What is it?” he finished.

“That’s not me,” said a voice came from her right, and she turned to see Clark… again. This time his clothes were the right color, though. “It’s the Phantom.”

The… what? She looked between them, amazed that none of the men in the room seemed to notice her yet.

The Phantom got up. “How do you like my new look?” he said, gesturing widely, like he was trying to give his own giant ego a great big hug. Yeah, this definitely wasn’t Smallville.

Lionel moved suddenly, reaching into the box that she hadn’t noticed up to this point and producing… a meteor rock? What did he plan on doing with that? He thrust it towards the Phantom’s chest, and the dark-clad doppelganger seemed almost… drawn to it.

Ever since she came to Smallville, and especially during the last year, Lois had seen a lot of strange things. She had seen barn doors fall from the sky. She had been kidnapped by a modern day Robin Hood with a green leather fetish. She had even kissed said Robin Hood, and then seen him run away at the speed of light. But none of that compared to what she was witnessing now.

The meteor rock started glowing, and energy seemed to flow from it into the Phantom’s chest. After a few moments, it was completely drained, and now it appeared to be no different from an ordinary crystal.

Letting out a satisfied breath, the Phantom turned to Lionel. “Thanks,” he said, grabbing him by the shoulder. “That’s just what I needed.”

Before any of them could react, Lionel was thrown against the wall, and he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Clark, still too focused on the Phantom to even notice her, swallowed and inquired: “What the hell are you?”

“I’m you,” the Phantom answered, grinning devilishly. “Only a little more bizarre.” Then he started to run at Clark, who did the same.

Lois didn’t know what the hell was going on anymore, but she knew she couldn’t stand back anymore. “Smallville, look out!”

They both stopped.

And turned.

Smiling sheepishly, she made a nervous wave with her hand. “Um… hi.”

The Phantom grinned lasciviously, turning and slicking back his hair. For a moment, she thought she saw his eyes turn orange. But only for a moment. “Why hello there,” he crooned, his voice heavy with lust. “Come here often?”

Lois blinked. Was this thing hitting on her? His colossally inappropriate timing, not to mention the fact that he looked a little too much like Clark, kept her from being flattered. Instead she was flabbergasted beyond words.

“Uh… I… er… um….”

“Whaddaya say we ditch this place?” the Phantom offered, swaggering closer and still grinning like a demon. “I wanna explore this new planet. Wanna be my tour guide?”

She commanded her legs to kick him in the nutsack, or at the very least carry her far away from here, but they wouldn’t respond. It was like being stared down by a cobra—she was afraid to make any sudden movements, for fear that he would strike.

Before she could even get her next breath out, Clark was suddenly between them. “Back off,” he ordered.

The Phantom laughed, but obeyed. “Fine then. I’m bored with this anyway. Catch you later.” He crouched low to the floor.

And then he flew away.

She barely saw it happen. One moment his feet were on the ground, and the next there was a hole in the ceiling, and the Phantom was gone.

They stared after it for several moments before Lois turned to Clark, and scowled. “Alright farmboy!” she bellowed, stabbing a finger in the direction of the dam’s new skylight. “What the hell was THAT?!”