shlomo
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Post by shlomo on Apr 30, 2021 20:18:18 GMT
Prologue
(the framing story takes place between Linda Danvers’ quitting her job in San Francisco (Adventure Comics #424) and starting classes in Vandyre University (Supergirl Vol 1 #1)
“Missed!” Supergirl said gleefully, as her cousin spun around from the force of his swing, “another point for me!”
“Just wait ‘til next time,” Superman said, tossing the j’lanti ball back to Supergirl to serve. The cousins were visiting Supergirl’s parents Zor-El and Allura in Kandor, and the four of them were playing mixed doubles in a Kryptonian sport similar to tennis.
Supergirl served forcefully.
“You’re playing rather…aggressively, Kara,” her mother said across the net, which was true enough. She was visibly upset, despite being ahead.
“I’ve a lot of steam to let off,” her daughter replied, as she deflected the ball.
“Is this related to your leaving your job?” Zor-El asked.
“A bit. I’m still annoyed about one of my, thank Rao, former co-workers.”
“This nice Geoff fellow you told us about?” Allura asked, catching her daughter off guard.
“What, no!” Supergirl said, fumbling. The ball fell at her feet.
“Nasthalthia Luthor. She’s been a thorn in my side since my last semester in Stanhope.”
“Ah…” Zor- El said, “you’ve mentioned her. Is she related to the Luthor Kal knows?”
“She claims to be his niece.”
“I thought your friend Lena was Luthor’s only sibling, and she’s your age.”
“Yes, I thought so, too. But then Nasty came, apparently part of a new Luthor-Luthor team.”
“Now wait,” Zor-El parried, “from what you’ve told us about Lex Luthor, his feud with the two of you and the law is purely a personal one, based on something that happened in his and Kal’s youth. You’ve mentioned how he does everything he can to make sure Lena and her son are protected from the consequences of his actions and protected in general.”
“Yes,” thought Superman, “family brings out the humanity in Luthor. If only he could always stay that way.” Out loud, he said
“In general, he seems not to want anything to do with his family so long as he’s a criminal. Except Nasthalthia.”
“Maybe Nasthalthia has a similar grudge against you, Kara,” Allura said, “and he found a kindred spirit.”
“But I never met her until she came to Stanhope, and she already was out to get me!” There was nothing more they could say on the subject, so they continued the game.
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shlomo
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Post by shlomo on Apr 30, 2021 20:20:44 GMT
Chapter 1-Making Impressions
Springfield, July 1955
Springfield was abuzz. A European aristocrat, from the impoverished country Galonia, was going to be spending the week in town raising money. The High School band was practicing the Galonian national anthem to greet him, and everybody else as well was working on a proper welcome for him.
His car arrived early Friday morning, and almost everybody was there to greet him. He was average height, around forty years old, with a mop of red hair on top. He graciously accepted the key to the city and sang along with the band. The mayor introduced him to everyone they met on the way to the hotel where the baron, Baron Alexei Luthor, would be staying.
One of the people they met was Jules Luthor, who owned a farm outside town.
“Ah, a kinsman,” the baron said when they were introduced.
“Well, I don’t know about that,” Jules said, “my family isn’t Galonian.”
“Neither is mine, on one side anyway. There is a certain resemblance of our features, you agree?”
“I can see it,” the mayor said, “why don’t the Luthors join us for dinner? You’ll have time to talk about it then.”
“Wonderful idea!” Alexei said.
“I’ll have to check with Arlene, but I think we can come.”
Dinner was served at 6. While waiting to begin, the Baron was introduced to Jules and Arlene’s 18-year-old daughter Lorelei, and their five-year-old son Alexis. All five Luthors sat together during the meal, and the baron regaled them with stories of Galonia’s golden age, and of his own adventures. It was late in the night when the baron said
“Cousin Jules, if I may call you that, perhaps you could help me.”
“Sure.”
“I will be going around all the towns in the county. I think it would be best if I had some sort of aide de camp from around here. Perhaps you can suggest someone?”
“I do!” Lorelei exclaimed. Everyone at the table looked at her quizzically, “that is, I can be your aide. I just graduated High School and have nothing else planned this summer. I know all about the area. I’d be perfect for—”
“Now, wait,” Jules said, “you have responsibilities at home. Between the farm and Lex, your mother and I need all the help we can get.”
“I’ll work out a schedule,” she said, “oh, please. Think of the opportunity this is, it would prepare me for a job!”
“That’s true,” Arlene said. Husband and wife looked at each other.
“All right,” they said, “if you have a schedule.”
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Post by shlomo on Apr 30, 2021 20:51:06 GMT
Chapter 2
Alexei Luthor grinned as he and his aide walked through the streets the next day. (Besides the fundraising dinner at the end of the week, the baron said he’d walk around getting to know the people and the country.) ‘Baron.’ He liked how that sounded.
For Alexei Luthor was not a baron, nor was he from Galonia at all. He wasn’t even from this time or universe for that matter. This had all started in late 1942 (in Superman Vol 1 #20). The Daily Star had published a story claiming that their reporter Clark Kent was Superman. It was a hoax, of course, but it had given Luthor an idea.
What if he could see tomorrow’s headlines, or tomorrow’s weapons for that matter? He’d be unstoppable. He immediately began work on a time machine. (Actually, during the period he was working, he became involved with a time-traveling criminal names Dr. Doome. Fortunately, Luthor escaped both Doome's fate and the jail sentence Superman thought he was on his way to—see DC Universe: The Space Time Gambit) and could now focus on his own time machine, free of the obvious flaws in Doome's. Based on his forecasts, it would be twelve years before he could easily find what he sought, so once he figured out what his cover identity would be, he set the machine for 1955 and activated it.
Unknown to Luthor, not only did he travel forward in time, but he also traveled into an alternate universe, one later know as Earth-1. But Luthor had no reason to believe he wasn’t on his earth, except perhaps a lack of Superman, which he found rather refreshing.
Now he was walking around a small midwestern town. Not, as he had said, to get to know people, but to analyze the future. He had no doubt that he could reverse-engineer any technology he saw, mentally, and he was kept rather preoccupied by it, even as Lorelei kept pestering him with questions.
Would she ever shut up? He had to admit, she had a use, but why did she keep asking about Galonian traditions, the way his family manor looked, what sort of education the lower classes had there? Was the girl studying to be a reporter? She certainly sounded like one. Luthor hated reporters almost as much as he hated Superman.
At the end of the week, Luthor sat in his hotel room, moping. He was disappointed. Most of what he’d seen was easy enough to understand-- he’d been working on it himself before he’d left 1943. There was this ‘atomic bomb’ he heard of, but the library had insufficient data, and probably so many mistakes by the uninitiated authors that Luthor was afraid he’d lose intelligence reading them.
There was a knock at his door. It was Jules.
“Ah, Cousin Jules. To what do I owe this pleasure? Please, take a seat.” He sat down in the chair next to Alexei.
“It’s about my daughter, I’m not blaming you for anything, but I think you ought to know and do something about it.”
“About what, dear cousin?” The worst part of this trip was definitely the way he’d been stuck talking this whole week. If it went on any longer, he’d probably lose his mind and become a gentleman for real.
“She’s, well, fallen for you,” Jules said, uncomfortably.
“She, in love with I?” Alexei laughed.
“Yes. She told us, and that you’d done nothing to encourage it. That’s definitely appreciated. But you’ll have to tell her it can’t be. Why, you’re older than I am!”
In more ways than one, thought Alexei.
He thought further. So, the cherished daughter of this country bumpkin had fallen for him. No wonder she wouldn’t shut up. He wasn’t sure he’d wish such a girl on Superman.
Then, a different thought popped into his head—a way that this trip wouldn’t be worthless…
“Why?” Alexei asked.
“WHY?! Is this a joke?” Jules was hysterical.
“Actually, I was so glad you stopped by. I was going to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
“Well I hope you know better now!” Jules said, getting up to go.
“Yes,” Alexei said, “I know I won’t have your blessing.”
Furious, but afraid of causing an international incident by punching a baron, Jules stomped out. The look on his face was priceless, in Alexei's opinion. This, coupled with his new plan, restored his mood, and he set to work planning everything out.
Jules went home and told Lorelei there was not chance on earth she’d marry that baron. She went up to her room to cry afterwards, but Jules and Arlene were sure everything would be fine the next day. She would understand that she was just not ready to get married. Until then, they left her alone in her room.
When they looked in the next day, though, she was gone.
Lorelei and all her belongings had disappeared.
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Post by DocQuantum on Apr 30, 2021 22:26:48 GMT
This is such a great premise for a story, I wish I’d thought of it first! You’ve covered all the angles I think, if I can guess where the story is going next. And it’s an enjoyable read, to boot.
It’s interesting that Alexei doesn’t recognize himself in the 5 year old Lex or see Jules as a doppelgänger of his own father, whom we know nothing about, which suggests the Earth-2 Luthor comes from a very different background than Lex.
On Earth-2 in the present of the late 1980s Alexei does have a daughter in her twenties named Alexis Luthor, so it could be interesting if at some point she and Nasty became aware of each other.
BTW, one thing I should note is that Smallville being in Kansas is a Post Crisis retcon by way of the movies, and that the Earth-1 Smallville is near the East Coast within a short distance of both Metropolis and Midvale.
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Post by johnreiter902 on May 1, 2021 2:53:34 GMT
It’s interesting that Alexei doesn’t recognize himself in the 5 year old Lex or see Jules as a doppelgänger of his own father, whom we know nothing about, which suggests the Earth-2 Luthor comes from a very different background than Lex. I was just thinking that. When the two Luthors teamed up in DC Comics presents, it was implied that Alexei has no living family, and may never have had a sister, which is one of the reasons he is more ruthless and less empathetic than Lex. It may be that his family life was totally different on Earth-2. He may not have even grown up in Smallville. When he realizes this is an alternate universe, I wonder if it will compare his counterpart's life to his own and we can examine the differences.
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Post by DocQuantum on May 1, 2021 9:08:48 GMT
Another continuity point that may or may not be of any interest is that the Luthors weren't always in Smallville. There's a Superbaby story that portrays young Lex (born on September 28, 1949) living in Smallville as a young child, a meeting that young Clark doesn't recall. Because when Superboy first meets young Lex Luthor, he and his family have just moved to town! So something drew Jules Luthor away from Smallville for a few years before he and his family moved back. Pre-Crisis Superman continuity is complex.
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Post by dans on May 1, 2021 12:18:16 GMT
great to see a new writer and such a good start to a story!
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shlomo
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Post by shlomo on May 2, 2021 15:01:35 GMT
Thanks all for the comments. Regarding Luthor-2's full background, I'm going back and forth how much I want to think about it, maybe to be saved for another story. He does note a family resemblance between himself and Jules, though that could be part of his act. Reg. Smallville-since I got 'into' continuity I've placed, as you said, on the east coast, but I'm not sure what the story is in the 5earths continuity. The earth-2 stories place it in Kansas. As a side note, I believe that started before the crisis, once the movie put it there. I vaguely recall the New Adventures of Superboy stated as taking place in the midwest. And yes, I now that the Luthors weren't in Smallville Lex's whole childhood. Honestly, it probably doesn't affect the story, so I guess a rewrite could change the location. Honestly, does anyone think Luthor-2 is a bit too cartoony? I mean, marrying Lorelei just to spite is almost Sivana-like (not that there's anything wrong with that), though I could see early post-crisis Luthor thinking along those lines. Of course, (Earth-1) Luthor's Lair featured his 'heroes,' and until Mr. Maggin they were Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and the like.
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Post by shlomo on May 2, 2021 17:46:25 GMT
Chapter 3
The last time Lorelei Luthor saw her parents was at the farewell/fundraising dinner the next night. After she had gone to her room the night before, she’d packed everything she had and had snuck out of the house once she was sure everybody was asleep. She left a note that she’d decided she needed a break and would ask one of her friends in town, maybe Betty Anderson, to put her up for the week. She’d just reached the outskirts of town when the baron met her and ‘confessed his love.’ He convinced her to sneak back home and remove the note, and to return with him to the hotel—he’d buy her a room.
She accepted the offer of a room and resolved to call her parents about it first thing in the morning, to say she’d accepted the baron’s proposal. She didn’t get up until nearly noon, though, and by then she and the baron had a full day. She didn’t even have time to sit and talk with someone until late in the night, after her parents had left the dinner.
The next morning they had to rise early for the train which would take the baron on the next stop on his tour of the country. To think, that she’d be part of this noble mission!
Lorelei, having been born in 1937, remembered the war and its aftermath. Ever since she saw pictures of the destruction in Europe and other places, she’d resolved that she’d become a diplomat, traveling the world bringing the good of America. She’d been following the various missions, especially, recently, those in Galonia. She was especially interested in education—like a good American she believed it to be the basis of good citizenship.
Alexei, for his part, had no such humanitarian ambitions, to say in the least. Besides the technology he was after, he started contemplating somehow getting a barony in Galonia, as a new base for his experiments. After all, he had at least one willing test subject, he noted wryly. He also would probably look into the history of the last 12 years. What little he was hearing around town seemed confused, to say in the least. Nary a mention of Superman or his other costumed pals.
They traveled around the country, picking up money and intel. Alexei was starting to find Lorelei indispensable. After all, she knew more about what the money would supposedly do than he did. After a few months, some places were just inviting her to speak, leaving the baron to deal with his own matters.
He started finding contacts in the underworld, some of whom could even put him in touch with atomic scientists he could induce to give him information. He also flew out one night to Galonia, and won himself a barony in a duel. It was a good thing he’d studied up on Galonian tradition before his trip. It was also lucky that it worked the same in both universes.
Yes, he’d come to a conclusion that he had entered another universe. In this one, no costumed crime fighters like Superman or the JSA had emerged in the 1930s. Similarly, there seemed a lack of master criminals like himself. Nobody in the underworld seemed to remember him, or his proposed counterpart anyway; or, say, the Ultra-Humanite. He’d actually seen a 1954 Dolores Winters movie. This was a more mundane world, one he could easily exploit, which wouldn’t even recognize some of his methods. Perhaps he would conquer it once he was finished with him home reality. He had unfinished business he wanted to deal with there first.
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Post by shlomo on May 2, 2021 17:46:51 GMT
Chapter 4
Alexei and Lorelei Luthor ‘returned’ to the ancestral estate in early 1956 and were married in the manor, a high-class affair attended by all the most important people in Galonia. After their honeymoon and their household had been set up, Lorelei immediately set to work on supporting schools, hospitals, and the like, again, thankfully leaving Alexei to his devices.
These were their golden years. Lorelei was helping people as she had always wanted to, and Alexei was unlocking secrets of the atom and the universe which would, hopefully, one day give him ultimate power.
Then, in 1958, their daughter was born. Lorelei named her Nasthalthia, after a girl who died of polio the winter before. Alexei had been getting a bit uncomfortable in this universe, there were rumors of a ‘superboy’ in the United States, which portended trouble. Perhaps he should have taken over this world immediately, no doubt he'd be even easier to deal with than his own Superman. Yet, his earlier experience with time travel kept him wary of affecting the history of this world; just as his traveling to the past to prevent the existence of the Green Lantern had been thwarted (see DC Universe: The Space Time Gambit Book 1, 2), so too would his 'traveling to do so in another universe' (even if not his initial intention) be 'thwarted.'
There was also the matter of his daughter. Children of the nobility were to be privately tutored in the manor, which meant that he’d be responsible for her education. Ironically, but unfortunately not all that uncommon, Lorelei’s activities kept her away from home and family too much to be involved in her own child’s upbringing. Alexei had no interest in being a caretaker, and contemplated returning to his own time and place.
Then, it occurred to him that Nasthalthia could help in his plan to rule this world. When she reached schooling age, he selected a good, obedient, tutor, and designed a curriculum for dictators, consisting of Machiavelli, Nietzsche, and others. No doubt, after he ‘disappeared’ he would leave a little monster in his place, sure to cause Lorelei heartache and grief, and perhaps have this world ready for him whenever he got back (after all, she still wouldn’t have the scientific knowledge to beat him).
So, on her seventh birthday, when the 10-year tutoring was set to begin, Baron Alexei Luthor through the switch on the time machine he’d built here to return to 1943 on the world later known as earth-2. To cover for his disappearance, he informed the household and the Galonian public that he'd be going on an expedition to hunt for Galonian treasures stolen during the war.
Unlike the first machine he’d built, which sent him through alone, this one was a booth that would travel with him. He almost didn’t make it. While in transit, the screens and clocks seemed to be running out of control, backwards, forwards, and unimaginable ways. It seems he had entered his original entry year, 1955, in one computer one point, while of course the machine was set to 1943, where he was going. Somehow, the computer started to claim that 1955 and 1943 were the same year! Then it went ahead and claimed the same about 1976 and 1963! There were explosions and half the screens went dark, the machine shook, and Luthor only barely found the power and supplies to complete the trip.
He was indeed exactly where he had left those years ago, only minutes later. This was satisfying. Now, what had gone wrong on his return trip? A few days’ study convinced him that, obviously, the trips into and out of the alternate universe by a foreign agent had been too much for it, and it had simply broken from the stress! He had escaped with the skin of his teeth. He’d certainly never travel to another universe again, at least until he could fix that problem. And, of course, even then, he’d never see that universe of Lorelei and Nasthalthia ever again.
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Post by shlomo on May 2, 2021 17:47:24 GMT
Chapter 5
Alexei, though, had not destroyed the universe he’d left, not that it couldn’t of happened. In fact, in the perspective of this universe, he'd returned. The turbulence in the void had created quantum duplicates of transporter and the scientist, one of which went on to the universe later known as Earth-Two, while the second returned to Earth-1. Unfortunately for that duplicate, he did not survive the transition, and was found dead in his laboratory later that day.
Now Lorelei was in charge of the estate. This distressed her in a number of ways, including that she now had to spend time dealing with the estate's finances. At least she could spend more time with her daughter. Not that that lasted very long, either. A few years later, word came out of the notorious Lex Luthor, Superman’s enemy, and his background. Lorelei recognized him as her younger brother and died from grief.
Nasthalthia grew to maturity and completed her father’s curriculum; she had grand ideas of how she could rule Galonia and the world. There was a hitch though—she would have to start from scratch. Her father had never particularly cared about the estate, and try as she could, her mother couldn’t maintain it, so Nasty was down to a cottage and one servant, when one a gift from heaven landed on her lawn.
Alexis “Lex” Luthor, Superman’s arch-enemy was flying one day over Galonia in an invisible dirigible, which malfunctioned and crashed in front of a cottage. It was intact, but would take a few hours to repair. Out of the cottage came a young woman, perhaps 19 years old, with raven-black hair and a somewhat familiar face.
“You’re Lex Luthor!” she said.
“You bet I am! And if you think you can call the police to get me, then—”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, Uncle Lex.”
“What did you call me?”
Nasthalthia brought Luthor into her cottage and told him her history.
“I see,” Luthor said, “you say you’re my older sister’s daughter. My parents told me she had died in a fire when I was five, but,” he said wryly, “that seems to have been a habit of theirs.”
“The whole affair with my father must have embarrassed them so much that they wanted to put it behind them,” Nasthalthia said, “but surely, you won’t abandon your family?”
Lex thought of Lena and her son Van. He had no such emotional attachment to this mystery woman.
“I don’t necessarily believe we are family. Even if we are, I am a criminal scientist, you may have heard. My kind isn’t exactly known for sentimentality.”
“Of course. I wasn’t thinking of any kind of support. In fact, I’d like to support you, as an assistant.”
“What? You want me to take you on as an apprentice? Surely, you must be kidding. Either that,” he said, getting up, “or this is some trick, no doubt thought up by Superman for me to give myself up.”
“Let’s get a DNA test. You must have the equipment in your lab. If we are related, then let me help you destroy Superman and Supergirl!”
“Do you have a feud with them?”
“All I know is that my father, when he was alive, hated Superboy with a passion, and made sure I did, too. Similarly, I have no affection for his cousin, and would love to see her wiped off the face of the earth.”
Lex stood, silently contemplating this.
“All right. There are many things in my lab that can verify what your saying. Be ready to go there tonight at six.”
“I’ll be here.”
She was ready well beforehand. In the meantime, she finished off her application to Stanhope University, where everyone knew Supergirl patrolled. It was likely she was a student there in her secret identity. Nasthalthia intended to find out.
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Post by shlomo on May 2, 2021 17:51:02 GMT
Epilogue
Nasthalthia had been working extra hard at KSF-TV since Linda had quit. She hated it. Honestly, she didn’t really like the job at all, but it was where her target, Linda Danvers AKA Supergirl, was found. Now she’d have to follow her again.
Unless…
She had some unanswered questions about her background. Lex’s machines had indicated that she had ‘foxian particles’ that didn’t match this universe. Her father, then, may not have been who he said he was. Her uncle didn’t have time to devote to an inter-universal transporter, but maybe she did. And she definitely had an estate to use as testing grounds, even if not much space was left.
She gave Geoff her two weeks’ notice (Linda hadn't, and Nasty relished one last chance to show her up), finished up in San Francisco, and, with some help from her uncle, set up a lab in Galonia working on the secret of Alternate Universes. Her tests weren't promising. It was likely a leap would kill her, like it had her father. Oh, well. She had her work cut out for her.
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Post by johnreiter902 on May 3, 2021 1:34:51 GMT
Great story! A good first work.
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Post by jonclark on May 3, 2021 5:16:03 GMT
I agree, great work. I may go back and edit my use of Nasthalhia to better match this. I had implied her mom had killed her dad and been sent to prison.
Is there any reason the dead body left behind couldn't have been Alexei's? When i was reading the scne my first thought had been the difficult transition had somehow split him so that a living part returned to Earth-Two while leaving a dead body behind on Earth-One. Sort of a Scroedinger's Cat effect where the cat is both alive and dead depending on which universe the box opens in. While I realized as i read further that Alexei had left a doctored corpse, I don't understand why he'd have done so. Why would he worry if no one could prove he died? In fact, wouldn't his planned return to reclaim Galonia be easier if he was "just missing" with no corpse? He shows up a decade or so later claiming some amnesia related even ready to step back into his "rightful position".
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Post by shlomo on May 3, 2021 13:57:19 GMT
I agree, great work. I may go back and edit my use of Nasthalhia to better match this. I had implied her mom had killed her dad and been sent to prison. Is there any reason the dead body left behind couldn't have been Alexei's? When i was reading the scne my first thought had been the difficult transition had somehow split him so that a living part returned to Earth-Two while leaving a dead body behind on Earth-One. Sort of a Scroedinger's Cat effect where the cat is both alive and dead depending on which universe the box opens in. While I realized as i read further that Alexei had left a doctored corpse, I don't understand why he'd have done so. Why would he worry if no one could prove he died? In fact, wouldn't his planned return to reclaim Galonia be easier if he was "just missing" with no corpse? He shows up a decade or so later claiming some amnesia related even ready to step back into his "rightful position". Fair point. I guess if he planned on returning, faking his death would be a bit odd. I wish I'd though of the quantam duplicate, and I'm definitely changing that. Luthor-2 will still need some excuse, the one he was going to use to disappear for a few years. Thanks
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