Autumn in Smallville brought the Fall Festival. Harry returned back home to help Martha load up on the crops. It had been an annual tradition and one which had been very big in the Kent Household. Martha could see the look on her son's face and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You've been running yourself ragged with everything that's happened in Metropolis. I've heard about that awful Intergang. And their benefactor."
"Yes," Harry agreed. "Although, they have been quiet. Too quiet."
Martha responded with a sympathetic nod. The two loaded another basket in the back of the truck. Each year, there were less people attending the Festival. Many of the regulars moved on. Yet, from those who had remained, there was still a sense of small town pride.
"And that awful Joker character," Martha said.
"No body, he's still out there," Harry said. "Things were a bit simpler dealer with everything in Smallville. But, at the same time, it prepared me for what is to come. My entire life was leading up to something big. And I don't know what to say but it's…"
Martha put her hand on Harry's and leaned in a little bit closer towards him.
"Everything happens for a reason."
"Everything escalates," Harry said. "I'm actually glad to have some time to head back home for a bit, prepare, relax, unwind. Calm before the storm."
"Well, you need it," Martha told him. "You put the entire weight of the world on your shoulders. And it's bound to end up crushing you if you're not careful."
Yes, that was a problem which Harry had. He always had been a bit determined to do what he help everyone. Especially those who could not help themselves. The last few months though, ever since the trip to Argo, Harry felt like the coming darkness caused him to be more on edge and more focused than usual.
He was glad to return to Smallville for a brief time. Something about it was calming, even though the calm and the relaxation it would not last, it never did.
"How are your guests?"
"Siobhan is really coming to terms with what she went through," Martha said. "Poor girl."
"Yes, I know, her family curse," Harry said. "But, we're helping her."
"And Maxima, she's adapting to life well," Martha said. "You using a firm hand to help her worked out well."
Harry chuckled,that much was for sure. Still, he was glad that after some time, Maxima did not cause any more grief. She had been humbled, repeatedly by Harry and his girls. She had been strong, although her arrogance dulled a lot of her strength.
"It's still beautiful," Harry said. "Smallville."
"And no incidents for a while," Martha said. "Well, unless you count a tornado scare last spring. But that's just how life in Kansas is."
Harry smiled, he could appreciate something as mundane as a tornado. He finished helping Martha load the rest of the crop in the back of the truck.
X-X-X
The Talon had been brustling with business. Harry bumped into Alicia who had been clearing the tables.
"Lana's happy with the extra business," Alicia said. "She'll want to talk to you while you're here. And I might want to catch up a little bit as well."
"I'm more happy for the extra help."
A tired, but smiling, Lana Lang, rushed out of the back room. Fall Festival brought a lot of business to the Talon. Not that business was bad the rest of the year. She moved over and threw her arms around Harry to kiss him ravenously. Emily Dinsmore stepped out of the back room, and smiled at Lana.
"Hope you save some of that for me," Emily said. "Although, I'm sure there's a more than a few patrons who are disappointed that's not on the menu."
Harry pulled away from the kiss and greeted Emily the same. Emily and Lana took Harry by the hand and lead him in a bit towards a back room.
"Chloe told me about everything that's been happening," Lana said. "First in Metropolis, then in Gotham City. Surprised you found time to come back here."
"Yes, well, I could use the break," Harry told them. "Although, I don't think you're going to have one anytime soon."
"Which is fine, business has been a bit sluggish over the summertime," Lana said. "It's picking up right now, with all of the new people in town. All of the added traffic, and all of the people just willing to help out a small business. They could go right across the county for a fancy inn, but they stuck with here."
"Well, service is a bit more personable here," Harry said.
Harry stopped short of the backroom. He noticed a bald gentleman, hanging a bit in the background. Something about him seemed family. The bald man turned when locking eyes with Harry for a second.
"Problem?" Emily asked him. "No offense, but you look like you just saw a ghost."
"Maybe," Harry said.
That ghost looked a lot like Lex, although by the time Harry got a look at him, the bald gentleman was gone.
Alicia rushed to the back, with Kyla in toe beside her. Kyla looked out of breath and panicked.
"Is there a problem?" Harry asked her.
"We uncovered something," Kyla said. "You need to see this. It's very troubling, if it's true."
Well, Harry could tell that Kyla would not come to him with at threat.
"You better go," Lana said somberly. "If it's that serious. We'll catch up later. Plenty of time after you deal with whatever this is."
Lana encouraged Harry to go with a soft kiss and then pulled away. Harry turned his attention to Kyla and the two walked out of the Talon at a breakneck pace.
X-X-X
Harry, joined by Lena, Alex, Kay, and Kara, all of whom had been close by the Kawatche settleman at the time.
"What's going on here?" Kara asked.
"She'll explain," Kyla said in a soft tone of voice.
The Soothsayer sat before them. Alex locked eyes with Harry. The two had an unspoken agreement that things were a little bit uneasy. There had been a long pause with the Soothsayer looking up from her trance and locking eyes directly on Harry.
"It's coming, it's been unlocked," the Soothsayer said. "It's path of destruction will lead you straight towards you. It's a slayer of gods, created to stop you and to eliminate you."
"Slayer of gods?" Lena asked. "This isn't…"
"Not the Darkness," the Soothsayer said somberly. "A creature of pure destruction is coming. It will bring Doomsday to you."
"I will stop it," Harry said. "Whatever is is, I wil meet the threat."
The Soothsayer rose up to her feet, hand placed on Harry's face. A flicker of concern came from her face, in her stoic indifference. She lightly pulled Harry in closer towards her and more time passed for her.
"It will bring about your own end. It's been described in some paintings on this wall. The great battle and it opens the gateway for the Darkness which is going to come."
Kay, Kara, Alex, and Lena gazed at the paintings. Kyla had been all too familiar with them, although she hoped that the signs had been misread.
"Harry, I don't like this at all," Alex said. "And you're going to face it."
"Yeah, he is," Kara said. "But not alone."
"Anyone who gets in this creature's way, will be destroyed," Soothsayer said.
"Maybe, that's what your tribe believes and I respect that," Lena commented. "However, we all find our own path. And we all find our own way."
Harry's phone beeped. He picked it up.
"Barbara," Harry said. "There's…."
"The first sign is trouble in a troubled city," the Soothsayer interrupted.
Not a coincidence then. There were few cities which were more troubled than Gotham City. Harry and Kara locked eyes with each other and knew they had to take care of this.
"Hey, Barbara, talk to me."
X-X-X
"Every worker inside of the morgue has been slaughter," Barbara said. "The GCPD are searching for whatever did this. The one person who was close enough to cause this kind of destruction, well he hangs out more in the sewers than in the morgue."
Harry and Kara slipped into the morgue. The smell of rotting flesh and decay and death penetrated their nostrils as they took a good look around the area.
"Pretty bad," Barbara said.
"The crime scene photos you sent do it no justice," Harry said.
Kara gasped and turned around. Harry followed the progress of her stare to lock eyes onto a crudely drawn shield on the wall. The House of El shield and it had several crude slashes and stab marks on it.
"That's foreboding," Kara said.
Harry carefully navigated around the blood trails. The first one lead to a table which a body must have once laid. Harry picked up a scan and frowned.
"Peculiar," Harry said. "Not quite human."
"Kryptonian?" Kara asked.
"Close, but not quite," Harry said. "We're going to have to get this DNA back to the Fortress."
"And I'll keep an ear out for any similiar signs of destruction," Barbara said.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
Harry and Kara heard the arrival of footsteps outside. The Gotham City Police Department returned. They took painstaking care not to disturb anything on their way out. The pair of cousins moved off at the speed of light and disappeared in a flash.
X-X-X
Harry and Kara returned to the Fortress, where Astra, Lara, and Raya poured over the scans before them. Raya bit down on her lip and frowned.
"The baseline is Kryptonian," Raya said. "But, the rest of it, I have no idea."
"Something about it is familiar," Astra said. "Although, corrupting DNA to this point is a very serious crime. It's almost like they are creating the ultimat weapon."
"It's worse than you fear."
Harry, Kara, Raya, Astra, and Lara all turned around to look at Selena. The witch spent the time walking the Earth. While Harry and others kept close tabs on her, she mostly stayed out of trouble and to herself to find her purpose.
"The Worldkiller Project was enhanced," Selene said. "And this Doomsday weapon was created by Zod and Braniac, as a failsafe in case their original plans failed. They wished to go, I believe the term is, scorched Earth, if their plans turned out for the worse. If they could not have Earth, no one could have it."
Kara just sighed. That was about right, she feared.
"Oh, this is bad," Lara said. "Wait, look at this?"
The Fortress scanned the DNA several times over and matched it to that of Zod's. It had a partial match for Zod, although the rest of it had been unknown.
"We're dealing with a creature which is highly adaptable," Raya said.
"It was one of the men that Blackfire took to the swamp to sacrifice to bring Grundy," Harry said. "The Gotham City morgue should have records on the men, even if they were killed."
Harry pushed his ear piece in.
"Barbara?"
"Yes," Barbara said.
"There's this creature which is on the loose, but it was once wearing a human shell, although it was killed by Blackfire when he brought Grundy to life," Harry said. "Can you get the names?"
"Michael Hunter, Phillip Andrews, Joe Cochran, Davis Bloome, Willie Smith, Jackson Edwards," Barbara rattled off in a second.
"Bloome," Harry muttered. "He's the paramedic that we saw. The others...I don't know, but he was most certainly notable."
Perhaps Harry was jumping to the world's biggest conclusion, but they found Doomsday's human identity. And they had to track him down. It was time for them to take a closer look into Davis Bloome and see what they could uncover about the man behind the monster.
"You're going to fight it," Kara said. "Unless you think there's any humanity left in him?"
"Maybe enough to distract the monster and deal with it," Harry said.
"I'm coming with you."
"And I wouldn't argue against it. But we have to figure out where it's heading. And for that, we're going to have to get to know Bloome."
In Harry's mind he was attempting to figure out the best way.
"Chloe," Harry said. "I've got someone else looking into this, but given this is closer to Metropolis, perhaps you could lend me some insight on Davis Bloome."
"On it," Chloe said. "Give me a few."
X-X-X
Davis Bloome was still cold despite the temperatures being warm. The blood on his hands was a reminder of what he did in a state of madness. And yet, there was a monster just clawing away at his head, threatening to break out. Bloome's shaking hands only proved. He could hear the sounds of cars underneath the bridge he was staying at. And the desire to pop up from the bridge and slaughter everyone only grew with each passing second.
"Be still my child. Your suffering is at an end. And his is only beginning."
This calming voice soothed an on edge Bloome.
"You're beginning to realize one true, pumpkin. You were never human. You were just a monster bred for destruction. You aren't human."
"I'm human," Bloome said.
"And why did you survive being shot and being thrown in the swamp?" the woman asked. "No, no, honey, it is a mask and you should remove it now. It's time. But, don't fret, pet, dear Granny would show the way."
The robed figure stepped forward and produced a black rock. Bloome felt even worse than he did before. His skin rippled and agonizing scream rattled through him. He was being ripped apart by something. Something very painful tore through his skin and made him scream. Blood oozed from his mouth and his ears.
Suddenly a hideous creature had been rose up from Bloome. Grey skin, red eyes, and bone like spurs penetrating from his body. It growled when looking at the pitiful human before him.
"You are gorgeous," Granny cooed before her voice dropped to something more menacing. "And you are useless."
Granny picked up a staff and fired the beam of light at Bloome to eradicate him. His human body was not but a pile of dust before them.
"And now that you've been taken away from that awful thing, you may continue, pet."
Doomsday let out a roar and almost sent Granny flying back. Granny just smiled underneath her hooded robe as Doomsday was now on the move.
X-X-X
"Paramedic, very dedicated to his work," Chloe told Harry. "And also undergoing depression and anxiety issues, regarding his performance. He turned to the Church to seek salvation and answers, and took an extended leave of absence."
"And that got him underneath Blackfire's thumb," Harry said.
"He was an Orphan," Chloe continued. "Records stretch back to around the time you came to Earth, although he was much older. He had no memories of his past before the age of six or seven or so. Despite that, he trained to be a paramedic and helped lives."
"Yes, and now he's a monster bent on my destruction," Harry said. "I just hope the Genesis Blade will be enough to slay the monster."
"You better ensure it's permanent," Selena said. "Sorry for the abrupt cutting it, but the monster was designed to get stronger with each death."
"Zod and Brainiac really wanted to ensure that it would complete it's objective," Kara piped in.
"It won't," Harry said.
"And it can't be killed the same way twice."
Well it was a good thing Harry was not planning on shooting the creature and dumping it in the swamp. He had to take it out once and for all. Even if there was a bit of Bloome left inside of it, it did not matter at this point. That last death destroyed that humanity and unlocked the door for bloodlust.
"Going to keep him down," Harry said.
The sounds of screams echoed further out. Harry steadied himself. He could sense trouble coming a great deal away and now he had to be ready.
"What if you can't do it?" Kara asked.
"That's not an option and you know it," Harry said.
"You could have at least considered sending it to the Phantom Zone though," Kara said.
"And have it come back stronger than ever?" Harry asked. "No, I want it to be done. It's worth the risk. I'll be fine. After everything I've survived, I'll be fine."
Harry grabbed Kara's hand in reassurance. Although, Kara could not help but think he was trying to reassure himself that everything was going to be fine, as much as he was trying to reassure her. Seconds turned to minutes.
"Secure the area," Harry said. "And wish me luck."
Kara thought he was going to need a little more than that. The two cousins nodded towards each other and went their separate ways.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Chloe asked. "How can someone like Bloome become so twisted?"
"He was born to destroy," Harry said. "And Blackfire saw that spark deep inside of him and brought it out much sooner."
Harry tried not to think of the selfless paramedic who had saved lives. This creature was far more dangerous than anything Harry ever had to face and needed to be put down as soon as possible.
X-X-X
A bus drove down the streets of Metropolis. Doomsday appeared and smashed right in front of the bus. The driver screamed in agony and several of the passengers freaked out. Doomsday ripped the bus driver out of the bus and hurled him down onto the ground with a thud.
The bus driver made an attempt to scramble. Doomsday grabbed him and ripped him open. Blood gushed out like a fountain, with Doomsday's malicious eyes widened a fraction of an inch when he tore into the poor, hapless bus driver.
Then he put his hand on the ground and crudely wrote the letter "S" on the ground. Doomsday threw his head back and growled loudly.
Suddenly, from the skies, dropped the Man of Steel. His eyes were glowing when he stared down Doomsday.
"Looking for me?"
Doomsday rushed Superman and the battle began. Neither side was willing to back down from their goals.