Because E asked me oh-so-nicely to post this in time for her birthday.

Happy birthday and enjoy, my friend!

Thanks Vicki, just what I wanted!! *pastes a birthday-cake-scented bandaid over her cracked heart*

Excellent (if evil) work, madame! You exceeded all my expectations flawlessly!

Sorry I ruined your birthday! But, hey, you asked for it!

Seriously though, thanks for reading and I'm so glad you enjoyed the story! It was one of the most fun things I've written so far.

This was such a strong and moving story. Thank you for this written “gift” to all of us.

Awesome story - Thanks

Thank you for this wonderful story. I really enjoyed it

Fantastic story. I did not see that ending at all. I thought you would be leading us into a sequel not into utopia. Very well written and characterized. Thanks for writing.

Thanks for reading! Glad you enjoyed it. It's definitely far from the "typical" Clark story we see, but I'm glad it went over well!

Thanks for reading! Glad you liked it!

Thank you! It was an absolute joy to write and I'm so glad it was received well!

Thank you! Glad I could pull off a little surprise there. It just felt right to give a throw over to the Assassin's Creed franchise with Abstergo/ The Animus since it so highly influenced the story idea to begin with. And it just felt right - a tortured soul like this particular Clark would take a lifetime to heal, if ever, and would have a hard time, I think, in becoming a Superman-like entity.

I do kind of wish the muse had left it open for a sequel - this was one of those stories where it was very hard to leave that universe behind!

Well after the tears finally stopped falling and my heart stopped hurting, I thoroughly loved and appreciated this ending! This was such a well written story and I absolutely love the stories that veer off the usual path. I’m also a sucker for an angsty ending which I don’t see often so this was a pleasant shock. So overall, amazing story!

Wow! What an amazing (though very dark) tale. Clark/Kal as the Son of the Luthors is an interesting perspective. I remember a Smallville episode where an alt-Clark was raised by Lionel Luthor and became an evil rogue.
I also like the idea that both Lionel and Lillian were good philantropists and only Lex was always the bad guy... This one shows a really dark version of Lex.
I can understand how and why Clark changed the way he did under Lex' control. I loved the way you showed his change throughout the story.
It was fascinating so see also the change in Lois - from the person who would love to kill her family's murderer to the one who loves the same (though changed) man.
I also liked the way you characterized Bruce Wayne here. I'm not really a Bruce/Batman fan and I regulary don't like hi as a character, but in this one he was in interesting antagonist who becomes a protagonist later, Aan I would say that he also changes during the course of the show. (Wonder if he is or ever was Batman in this universe.)
By the way: Who is Jason? Is this your version of Dick Grayson/Robin? (like I said, don't know much about Batman)
The ending was definitely unexpected. don't saw this coming at all. But, in some way, it was inevitable for this dimension that Clark dies...
I don't know "Assasins Creed" (never heard of that) so I can't say anything about the parallels to that series, but I assume that this isn't necessary to understand the story.
Great (and fascinating) work!

Thank you so much! I'm glad the ending didn't turn you off. I enjoyed taking the typical story way off course and I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

Thank you so very much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

I'll be honest - I couldn't get into Smallville (L&C totally spoiled me). But the idea of an evil Clark is fun!

I'm glad you liked the gradual changes of the characters over the course of the story. It was a lot of fun to craft and I'm so glad it was enjoyable. I thought it would be interesting to start Clark off with a very promising future - imagine all the good he could have done as a rich, super-powered person. Making Lex, and Lex alone, the reason for Clark's spiral into darkness was fun.

Bruce is definitely Batman in this universe - a few veiled comments allude to it, but he can't let Clark know because he doesn't trust him. Jason is Jason Todd - one of the Robins who was killed in the comics. It made sense to have Clark be the reason for his death in this universe, rather than randomly killing Dick Grayson.

You totally don't need to have played Assassin's Creed for the story - at least, I deliberately tried my best to make the references in the end understandable. AC is a game franchise where you play as a character who enters into the Animus and live out the life of an assassin in whatever time period the person lived in (I was in Ancient Egypt while writing the story, now I'm in Ancient Greece in the most current game, and rumor has it the next will be in Ancient Rome, for example). Abstergo is the company that created the Animus.

It was just too tempting to incorporate the references at the end for what felt like the ultimate twist to me.

Thank you for reading and I'm glad you had fun with it!

I did not see that coming. Yes, I suppose I was warned. Ultimate twist you mentioned. Yup. Of all the ways for that ending to happen, that was probably the most gallant.
Well done.
Glad I waited until the whole thing was written to read it. Sorry to bombard you with comments.

Hi Julie!

Glad you enjoyed the story! I do hope it was worth the wait as I posted the last few chapters. I don't blame you for wanting to binge the entire thing in one shot. I wish I could do that with TV shows myself. (An entire week between episodes? Blasphemy!)

I'll have to look into the securitized thing. It's possible that typos snuck past Val and me during the beta phase.

Thanks for taking the time to read and review! And I'm glad the ending worked for you!

I’m really not sure how to feel about this ending. The transition to the future was slightly jarring, but I can see why you did it that way. I had been wondering how you were going to sufficiently wrap everything up in one last chapter, but you managed it.

It seems fitting that Clark dies at the end. He could have pushed on and tried to have his happy future with Lois, but he would always be plagued by his past. Not that someone in his position couldn’t have a happy life, but there are a lot of obstacles that he would need to work through to get there. Storytelling-wise, his death brings the story more closure.

All told, I liked the story. It didn’t go the way I was expecting at pretty much any point, which is refreshing. It’s a really interesting thought experiment into what Lex would do if he had control over a Superman that no one else knew existed.

Yeah, I figured the transition would be a little jarring, but it was the only way I could fuse together Clark's death (since we're mostly in his POV throughout 95% of the story) with the information needed to wrap up the story. Also, the Assassin's Creed games will occasionally do that - pull you out of the reconstructed memories of an assassin who lived in the past to let you play as the modern-age person who is in the Animus and living those memories. So it was kind of an homage to that as well.

Clark had to die. I never considered a different fate for him. His past would have weighed on him too much - he never would have been free of the guilt and bloodshed. Of course, damaged as he was, I think Lois would have been amazing at helping him heal, but it only made sense for the story that he give his life trying to right the wrongs he'd help bring about.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story and that it gave you an unexpected ride throughout! Thanks so much for reading!

I don't have the context to have connected it to the game. I've heard of Assassin's Creed and the premise, but that's about it. I think you explained enough of what was going on that it makes sense, except that I wondered how they got Clark's memories in the first place.

Another thing is that Clark's relationship with Lois is very unequal. A lot of it is based on Lois helping him get through his trauma and her suppressing (or repressing) her trauma in order to make him feel better about what he has done. It works in the short term, but they would need to adjust the dynamic over time to really work long-term. Maybe they would have done that naturally if given the chance, but there's a lot of emotional baggage that Clark has dumped on Lois that would get emotionally draining and exhausting.

There's also the point that, even though Clark has had a lot of exposure to culture through books and TV, he has very little experience in inter-personal relationships and interactions. Lois is the first real friend he has had, let alone the first woman he has really gotten to know. When your social circle is Lex, Nigel, and Mrs. Cox, that doesn't leave a lot of room for learning how to deal with friends nor a girlfriend.

Hi MrsMxy!

I figured few, if any, would have the frame of reference for the game. I'm glad I was able to make it at least understandable for you. They could have gotten his memories in a number of ways (in the games - or at least the two I've played - it's been linked to an item that was important to the assassin - in Odyssey, for example, it's the broken spear of Leonidas that acts in place of the traditional hidden blade on the arm gauntlet). Maybe Abstergo got permission to borrow the journals, maybe Clark the first had a lucky penny he always kept on him, etc. I would also lean toward the memories being linked to the bloodline - the fact that it's Clark the Fourth and not some random guy.

You're right that the relationship between Lois and Clark would always be unbalanced. She can only do so much to heal him (and he to heal her, making amends for what he did). It's Lois and Clark, so I don't doubt that it would have worked out in some fashion or another, but it would NOT have been an easy road, not by a long shot. Even with a lifetime of therapy, Clark would still be stunted in so many ways from his upbringing. He would have had a very hard time indeed functioning in normal society after that - even with Lois by his side.