Epilogue
The rain fell down on Clark Kent as he read the names on the two adjacent gravestones - Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent. He was surprised how much their deaths had affected him … still affected him. He remembered back to his younger days on the Kent Farm, when his adoptive parents had seemed invincible, able to do anything, but those days were more than a century ago.
As the storm continued, Clark wandered the graveyard some more, coming across the untended grave of Pete Ross. Pete's death had been fairly recent - it was as if Death had forgotten all about him. He'd still have no doubt been alive today, albeit immensely decrepit, if he hadn't taken that journey to the site of Kal and Insect Queen's legendary fight. It had been the centenary celebration of the unexplained phenomenon that was a hole to the center of the Earth (unexplained to most, but Clark knew that it was Insect Queen's unstoppable acidic saliva that had been the cause). Pete Ross had apparently been having a great time there that day until that village suddenly appeared out of nowhere and fell on him. Still, as Clark knew all too well, these things happen.
The next grave he came across was Chloe's. My, how he'd admired her. While he'd gone off to Metropolis wasting his powers fighting Lex Luthor, Brainiac, the Parasite, Mr. Mxyzptlk and lots of other bald guys who were envious of his hair, Chloe Sullivan had drawn on her experiences in Smallville and set herself the task of changing the way people think, challenging their perceptions, delivering a message to the world. Not only that but she'd been incredibly successful at it, becoming one of Hollywood's hottest writers. From her initial autobiographical TV beginnings with a series unkindly dubbed Dawson's Freak by the press, to a series of movies on the same theme that had been box-office smashes, even leading to numerous parody movies (Not Another Teen Mutant being a particular favorite of Clark's). Still, nobody lives forever, thought Clark, apart from himself of course.
Finally, he made his way to the pink marble headstone inscribed Lana Lang, Not dead, just resting. Lana had left the world tragically young. He still remembered the tear-stained note that Pete Ross had shown him.
Dear Pete,
You probably don't know this, and I try to be brave and not to let on, but there is a great sadness at the core of my soul, an emptiness in my heart, that dates back to my parents' death at the hands of a meteor. So consuming is my sadness that I must finally take action. I'm going to meet my parents, Pete. Please don't wake me.
Have a nice day.
Love,
Lana
Clark left the graveyard and made his way through the storm to the deserted town center. Standing there was a large golden statue of Smallville's greatest defender Insect Queen, with the words IN MEMORIAM inscribed at the base. Clark owed everything to Insect Queen, whoever she was (he once considered using his X-ray vision to peek behind her mask, but she was nobody he knew so why bother).
It had been Insect Queen who'd inspired him to become a costumed crime-fighter. Well actually, now that he thought about it, it was probably Cow out of his favorite TV show Cow and Chicken - he'd even stolen the look - but Insect Queen definitely helped. Indeed the only reason he could leave Smallville for Metropolis was that Insect Queen remained behind to protect his home town. Fortunately Smallville's mutant population finally died down and Insect Queen disappeared (coincidentally, just a week or two before Lana's death).
Clark turned away from the statue and walked out of Smallville for the very last time. There was no longer any reason for him to go back there. Apart that is from Lana, who wasn't dead but just resting, but Clark didn't know that - only Pete Ross had known that … Pete and a few select insects.
Years passed and the tale was handed down, from insect generation to insect generation, about the sleeping princess - about her incredible beauty and her endless sadness. Now, after all these years, an ant called Miles, who'd braved a perilous journey to reach her, was finally going to wake the princess. As he looked at the giant cocoon he couldn't believe its size - this was going to take some time.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Miles picked apart the cocoon. "Wake up my princess!" he thought, as loudly as he was able.
Picking up the ant's telepathic signals, Insect Queen finally started to awaken, and then, seeing the cocoon enveloping her, started to panic. As she writhed around, tearing the cocoon, Miles was thrown across the cave. Looking across, he saw a figure like none he'd ever seen before emerge from the cocoon's interior.
"I'm not a princess. I'm a queen!" corrected the still sleepy Lana Lang, as she shrunk down to Miles' size, and used her wings to flutter over to him. "What am I doing here? Why have I got wings?"
"You don't remember?" asked Miles. "Legend says that you used your enchanted ring to spin a cocoon so you could sleep for a thousand years. And in that time it appears that you've somehow been transformed. All of your aspects have merged - your winged costume, your enchanted ring, your magic gasses are now all a part of you."
"Cool," said the shimmering naked Lana. "So this is the thirty-first century?"
"I've no idea," replied Miles. "We insects haven't invented calendars. But don't worry, your highness. I'm sure you'll like what you see."
And so Miles led Lana out of the cave, and all around was desolation as far as the eye could see.
"So where is everyone?" asked Lana.
"We're everywhere," said Miles.
"No, the people?" asked Lana.
"There are no people," explained Miles. "Only the insects survived."
Lana Lang had insisted on growing big again and exploring the desolate world, so the patient Miles, perched on her shoulder, tagged along.
"What is it you're looking for exactly?" he asked. "Maybe I can help."
"I'm looking for a time machine," replied a despondent Lana. "That's why I came to the future."
"Is that all? There are hundreds of those lying around."
Lana's smile suddenly dazzled Miles. "There are? Do you know how they work?"
"Of course I do," responded Miles cockily. "One hand points to the minute, and another points to the hour."
"You're talking about a watch or a clock, aren't you?" Lana replied as her smile turned upside down.
"Yes," said a startled Miles. "You know of such devices? Surely you are a visionary."
"We had them back in my time," explained Lana, suddenly feeling very old. "What I actually need is some way to travel back into the past. I once met some people from the future, and I was hoping that I could get them to take me back to the past so that I could save my parents."
"Oh, a chronal displacement unit," Miles said, realization dawning. "Why didn't you say so? There's one here in Smallville."
Hours later, Lana and Miles had made their way past the long-decayed security measures to find themselves in a large underground chamber. Lana used her glow worm abilities to light the place up, and looked at the numerous posters adorning the walls.
"Who lived here?" asked Lana.
"Oh, a great villain," began Miles. "His name was Tempus. He traveled back in time, and used his knowledge of future events to make himself rich, stealing another's identity and even killing their parents. He changed the timeline drastically causing chronal displacers to be forever outlawed thereafter."
"He sure has a lot of Bee Gees posters," observed Lana. "So, back to business, where's this displacer thingy."
And so Miles showed her the chronal displacer, which was fortunately still working (since it used energy from the past as a power source). As she stepped on the mat, she looked over at Miles.
"Thanks for everything."
"Goodbye, my queen," replied Miles as Lana Lang disappeared from his life forever.
Lana Lang found herself back in 1989 hovering over Smallville. Suddenly a meteor rushed past her heading for a cornfield, and then another one heading towards the town center. Suddenly Lana was flying faster than she'd ever flown before, catching up with the meteor and, as the heat destroyed her delicate wings, falling onto it. As Lana's new, improved body started sizzling away, her mind was on other things - she had to divert this meteor.
Being stuck in the cocoon with her shrinking gas canisters all that time meant that she could shrink, but she'd also had growing gas canisters with her. And so, ignoring her pain, she grew as large as she could. It looked like death was going to be an awfully big adventure for her, and she didn't mind about dying, for suddenly she felt the meteor divert ever so slightly from her path. As tears of joy and agonizing pain filled her eyes, she knew that her parents were safe.
Unfortunately the same couldn't be said of the girl in the fairy costume across the street who the meteor was now heading for, but, hey, sometimes you've got to make sacrifices.
THE END