forgot to say this anyway

Began my yearly rewatch of smallville

December 31st 2025 HERE WE GO!

Nightwing and Flamebird #0 “War of the Supermen Redux”

ART BY @fastestmanalive333 (Me)

Summary: This is an alternate ending for War of the Supermen, what if Thara Ak-Var survived? What if Chris Kent went back into the Phantom Zone? What if War of the Supermen had a satisfying ending, to not return to the status quo but to change it, setting it up for future stories, like what sinestro corps war did with Blackest Night? All will be revealed in this issue so may I present Nightwing/Flamebird #0 “War of the Supermen Redux”

Dead Kryptonian bodies floating in space, lifeless eyes staring at nothing. The cold void between worlds, littered with the casualties of Zod’s war.

“I need to reignite the sun.”

Thara’s voice, determined and desperate. Chris could see her silhouette against the dying red star, flames beginning to ignite around her body.

“I won’t let you do it alone.”

His own voice, but he hadn’t spoken yet, Chris flew after her, dark energy surrounding him empowered by the nightwing entity they locked hand in hand together as Thara reached the sun first, plunging into its core without hesitation. Chris felt her scream through their connection, not pain, but fury, the Flamebird rejecting death, rejecting the end of Krypton’s children. She dove deeper, into the star’s core, as the sun reignited back to its former color returning to it. The solar radiation sent out a  shockwave that would have vaporized Chris if the energy from the Nightwing entity hadn’t wrapped around him like a cocoon. He felt Thara burning, felt her essence scattering across the solar winds, and reached out with everything he had- 

The darkness caught her, Pulled her back…Nightwing and Flamebird, shadow and flame, Chris held her in his arms, feeling warm in her embrace, she was unconscious.. But alive.. ALIVE

The surroundings seemed to shift as the nightwing entity pulled chris away, he gave thara a kiss on the cheek, as he vanished into the darkness into the shadows into-

 the middle of metropolis, superman in a brutal battle with Zod, the phantom zone projector shattering in Supermans hands, black tendrils of Nightwing energy coiling around his arms like living shadows.

“You destroyed New Krypton Kal-El, everything i built gone, it doesnt matter either way i will make this world kneel before me! I wont let you put me back in! NEVER”

Zod’s fist rocketed toward Clark’s face as he dodges, but barely as black tendrils are seen wrapping around Zod’s arms, his chest, pulling him back… Chris appears over them.

“You’re right father” his voice ominous, his eyes glowing blue as dark energy swirls around him.. Clark looks at him in disbelief  “Superman wont put you back in there… we will put you into an eternal prison someplace you will never escape from”

Supermans eyes widen “Chris?!”

Chris smiles “Hey dad..” 

The little boy clark took in.. gone.. in his place floated a young man, carrying the power of a god.

“Chris, you’re-” Clark started, but Zod interrupted.

“Lor-Zod.” His voice hardened, the moment of shock passing. “You survived the Zone. Good. That makes you strong. That makes you worthy.” He strained against the tendrils, muscles bulging. “Release me, my son. Together we will take this world. Together we will rebuild what Kal-El destroyed!”

“I’m not your son,” Chris said quietly.

“You are my BLOOD!” Zod roared. “My heir! The future of the House of Zod! You were born to stand at my side!”

Chris thought about the abuse, the neglect, the torture, the beatings he recieved in the phantom zone, About the day Zod had broken his arm in three places for not hearing his orders. About the night he’d cried himself to sleep, a child.. Feeling utterly alone, and Zod standing over his bed saying to him “Weakness. You shame the House of Zod with your tears.“

Then he thought of Clark and Lois.. their warmth, the joy he felt when he was with them, in such a short amount of time, and never once asked for anything in return. The two people who’d taught him how to play baseball who helped with homework and read him bedtime stories. Who’d looked at him with nothing but love.

Lor-Zod.. That name was dead to him.. He knew who he was.. And would never forget..

"You are my son!” Zod struggled harder against the tendrils. “My blood! You will never escape me!!”

Chris finally snaps

“MY NAME IS CHRISTOPHER KENT!”

He lunges at zod punching him in the face with full force creating a shockwave, hurtling zod backwards off the face of the earth as Chris teleported to him, tears streaming down his face as he punches him through the void again and again tears freeze immediately into the vacuum creating a trail of ice crystals

 "YOU WERE NEVER MY FATHER!!“

He catches Zod and hurls him upward (if there is even an “up” in space) toward the edge of the solar system, The black tendrils came out of Chris’s body, spreading wider, growing larger, taking shape taking the form of a dragon, its wings spread miles, its eyes burning with fury, grief and rage. Zod stares up at him in terror screaming as the tendrils wrap around zod like a serpent, carrying him higher and higher..

"FATHERS LOVE YOU!” Chris screamed, his voice breaking across the void. “FATHERS PROTECT YOU!”

Each word feeling like a nail in Zod’s coffin. Each word like a rejection of everything Zod represented, as they wrap around his neck tightening around him as his fists clench

“FATHERS DON’T BEAT YOU FOR CRYING! THEY DON’T MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE LESS THAN WHAT YOU ARE! THEY DON’T-”

Clark catches up with him “CHRIS!” he puts a comforting hand on his shoulder as he looks at him 

“..t-they dont..”

His voice cracked completely. He was sobbing now, sobs that shook his entire body..

"They don’t make you hurt all the time,” he finished in a whisper “they don’t make you wish you were dead”

Clark’s hand tightened on his shoulder. Through his tears, Chris could see Clark was crying too.

“Y- you are dead to m-me” Zod tells him, his face bloody, battered and beaten

Clark gives him a nod.. To end this

Together they pushed toward the Source Wall, the wall between reality and the source of all that exists. Faces pressed against it from the inside trapping all those who try to pass through it.

Zods eyes widen in fear, his anger now gone, now a fear of dreaded horror “No. No! LOR-ZOD! I am your father! I gave you life! What are you doing??”

“What am i doing? What superman would do!!” Chris hurled him forward with all his strength as chris screamed as zod sunk deep into the source wall hanging suspended at the barrier’s edge. His hand reached out toward Chris, toward Earth, toward the empire he’d never build. His mouth moved, forming words..

“You will never escape my shadow Lor-Zod!!! I WILL RETURN.. I WILL RETURN!!! I WI-”

The wall fully takes him

Absolute. Irrevocable. Final.

The shadowy dragon behind chris dissipated.. its purpose fulfilled. Chris floated in the silence, staring at his biological father’s frozen form. 

I gave you life.

You are my blood.

You will never escape my shadow Lor-Zod.

Chris’ breath comes to a stop for a second… His hands started shaking…

He’d done it… He’d stopped Zod…  Saved Earth… Saved Clark..Saved everyone

“Chris?” Clark’s voice, soft and concerned.

Chris stares at zods body in dread, he cant look away.. Thinking of the other times.. The times Zod had almost smiled when Chris did something right. The times he’d almost looked proud. The times Chris had been desperate, pathetically desperate, for even a scrap of approval from the man who’d made him…

That’s my father, some broken part of him whispered. That’s my father and I just- i-

“Chris, look at me.” Clark moved in front of him, gently blocking his view of the Wall. “Son, look at me. Not him. Me.”

But Chris saw past Clark, saw Zod’s reaching hand, and something inside him shattered.

His face crumpled. A sob tore out of his throat raw and broken and young, the sound of a child who’d been holding himself together through sheer force of will and couldn’t do it anymore.

“He’s my father,” Chris choked out, tears streaming down his face. “He's—I know what he did, I know what he was going to do, but he's—” Another sob. “Why couldn’t he just—why couldn’t he have just loved me?”

His whole body shook with the force of his crying, deep down… he was still just a little boy who’d never been good enough for the man who was supposed to love him unconditionally…

“Why wasn’t I enough?” Chris whispered. “What was wrong with me that he couldn’t- that he never-

"Nothing.” Clark grabbed him, pulling him close. “Chris, listen to me. There is nothing wrong with you. Nothing. Do you hear me?”“

Chris grabbed onto Clark like a drowning man, buried his face in his father’s shoulder, breaking down into heavy sobs, . All the pain, all the years of abuse, all the desperate hope that maybe if he was just good enough, strong enough, perfect enough, Zod would look at him the way Clark did-

It all came pouring out.

Clark wrapped his arms around him.. Holding him.. Like he did when he still felt small in his arms.. His hand cradled the back of Chris’s head, the other rubbed circles on his back, them in the ambience of space.

"I’ve got you,” Clark murmured against Chris’s long brown hair. “I’ve got you, son. Let it out. Let it all out.”

“I wanted-” Chris gasped between sobs. "I wanted him to be proud of me. Even after everything. He did to me.. I still wanted-”

“I know.” Clark’s voice was thick with his own tears. “I know, Chris. That’s not weakness. That’s not wrong. You wanted your father to love you. Every child wants that. It’s normal.”

“He never did,” Chris sobbed. “Not once..”

“Then he was the broken one,” Clark said fiercely. “Not you. Never you. You are brave and kind and good, Chris… dont ever think otherwise.. Dont ever think it..”

Chris clung tighter, his fingers digging into Clark’s suit..

"You did the right thing,” Clark continued, his voice steady even as tears ran down his face. “…And I am so, so proud of you…”

“He’s my father,” Chris whispered 

“No.” Clark pulled back just enough to cup Chris’s face in his hands as they looked up at each other “He was the man who made you. But I’m your father. I’m your dad. Me. And nothing, not blood, not biology, not anything… will ever change that. You’re my son, Christopher Kent…. And I love you. Do you understand me? I love you.“

Chris stared into Clark’s eyes seeing that love, that joy, that warmth.. The man who saved him.. Who took him in.. who chose him.

He wipes down the tears from his eyes, as chris calms down

"Dad,” he whispered, and Clark pulled him close again, in his embrace

“I’ve got you,” Clark murmured, holding his son “I’ve got you, son. You’re safe now. You’re home. And you’re never going back to the dark. Never. I promise.”

Behind them, Zod’s frozen hand reached toward them.

But Chris didn’t look back.

He was finally free.. Free to live again

After the battle the Guardians of the Universe imprisoned Zod’s followers near a red sun, where Superboy Prime was once imprisoned, while other of zod’s followers escaped, still at large, the remaining survivors who opposed? Looked on hopelessly at the fallen planet of new krypton, Clark and Chris fly on past the debris, the dead bodies, and where the war had just taken place.

They’d won..

Yet chris couldnt help but feel he was forgetting something

“Chris.” Clark’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Come one need to get back. The sun-”

The sun. Thara

Chris’s heart stopped, He spun away from clark trying to reach out for her.. Trying to reach for the asteroid he had left her on

“WAIT! WAIT! I need to find her,” Chris said

“Find who?” Clark asked

“shes someone special to me.. Shes hurt I need to-”

Clark softly grabs his arm “I can come with you”

"No.” Chris looked back at Earth, “they need you down there.. Mom needs you”

. I’ll- I’ll bring Thara back.“

Clark studied his face for a long moment, then nodded. "Be careful. And Chris?” He squeezed his shoulder. “I meant what I said. You’re my son. Always.”

Chris managed a weak smile. “I know, Dad.”

As Clark flew off towards him Chris headed down towards the asteroid near the sun, he floats down to her.

“Thara” chris catches her cradling her carefully, her head rolling against his chest “I’ve got you. we okay. We’re-”

Her eyes flickered open.. glowing in the starlight

“Chris?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Zod?”

“Gone,” Chris said. “It’s over. We won.”

“And.. superman?”

“He’s fine.. Hes helping the others back at earth he smiles slightly “we did it..”

Her hands intertwining as she coughs a bit as blood is seen on her lips

“Are you okay?”

"The Flamebird… it wanted me to burn. To become one with the fire completely… But I thought about you, about Earth, about…” She trailed off, her eyes slipping closed again.

“Hey, no, stay with me.” Chris holding her closer “Thara, stay awake. We’re going home. You’re going to be fine.”

Her eyes opened again, just slightly… She looked up at him… really looked, as if she was seeing him for the first time.. The boy she’d pulled from the Phantom Zone, now a man.. The scared child, now a hero.

“Chris,” she whispered. “I need you to know… in case I don't—”

“You’re not dying,” Chris said fiercely. “You’re not. I won’t let you.”

“I need you to know,” she continued, ignoring his protest, “that pulling you out of the Zone… that was the best thing I ever did. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Chris’s vision blurred with tears. “Thara—”

She pulled him down, and their lips met.

It was gentle, sweet.. Chris didnt want to let go… and neither did thara.. 

When they pulled apart, both of them were crying.

“Don’t you dare die on me,” Chris said, his forehead resting against hers…”dont you dare.. We’re in this together remember?”

She laughed weakly. “Guess I better stick around then.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

Chris held her close and flew toward Earth, toward home, toward whatever came next.

”c:>//DAILYPLANET//securelogin/loislane

They call it the hundred minute war following the destruction of their planet.. Upwards of two thousand kryptonians  led by General Zod attacked earth.. While the rest stood by and watched in fear.. And in just under two hours they were repelled.. Both sides suffered great loses”

Chris is seen floating down with thara led by the rest of the kryptonian survivors while clark took her in and stared at the other kandorians, without a home.. Or a place to go

“Both human”

Lois stares down at her fathers grave as a man stands by her 

“You didn’t bring flowers miss?” the gravedigger says

“No dad didnt like flowers” She said wearing her sunglasses then walking away “and frankly doesn’t deserve them”

“..and kryptonian”

In antarctica Clark stands with Kara and the other Kandorian refugees in silent memorium..

“Several metahumans were responsible for stopping General Zod’s attempted destruction of the planet of earth and yet.. Not all of them were accounted for”

In metropolis science police headquarters (still under construction)

Jamie Harper sits in the truck with Jim and Gwen Harper

“You sure you want to leave Metropolis, Uncle Jim?” she said to him

“I came here to bring drew to justice. I stayed to help control. Done and done are you sure about leaving with me and gwen Billi?”

“I came here for you and stayed for Mon-El”

“So done and done too I guess huh?”

“Er, not quite”

On the daily planet rooftop

Clark and Kara talking quietly, while Steel is there too, his armor still showing scorch marks from the battle. And Conner, Superboy, trying very hard not to stare at Chris like he was some kind of anomaly. 

“So you’re like, what, technically my nephew?” Conner finally asked. “Because Clark adopted you, but you’re not actually related, so it’s more like-”

"Conner!!” Kara said to him with a stern voice

“What? I’m just trying to figure out the family tree here. We’ve got Superman, two Supergirls if you count Power Girl, me, and now Nightwing. It’s getting complicated.”

Chris turned, managing a small smile. “I’m just Chris. You can call me Chris.”

Conner grinned. “Cool. So, the Nightwing thing.. that’s like, god powers, right? Cause i saw that youtube footage of you like manifesting this badass dragon a couple weeks back that was insane.”

“It’s… new,” Chris said to him “I’m learning new things about it every day. About what I can do. What I’m becoming.”

“You’re becoming a hero,” Clark said, walking over. He’d changed out of the Superman suit into civilian clothes, he pressed his glasses to his face and smiled warmly “A great one.”

In the weeks that followed they’d spent hours talking. About the Phantom Zone, about Zod, about the years he had lost, and how painful it was. About what came next for him

It’s going to be complicated,“ Kara added. "There are still Kryptonians who followed Zod, who believe Earth should kneel. They’re on the run, but their influence remains.”

“We’ll take it one step at at time” Clark said, looking at Chris. “For now.. I would like to spend alone time with my son”

They both flew off together, for hours taking flight around the city.. A father and son reunited

*“today is about healing”*

In star labs, a few days later

Chris walked into tharas room, it was quiet, she looked up at him, mostly healed now.. And she smiled..

“Hey hero..” she said to him

“Hey yourself” Chris said sitting by her bedside caressing her hand “How are you feeling?“

"Like I flew into the sun.” She paused. “Oh wait, I did.”

Chris chuckled slightly “you were great out there… I admit i was a bit.. scared”

“I was too..” thara looks down “they’re really gone are they.. “

“Im sorry thara…” chris sighed squeezing her fingers “..but we got each other.. Thats what matters”

The door opened as kara walked in carrying a duffel bag “and you got me too!! Thank god you’re up i uh brought you some clothes, the data pad dad gave you when we were kids.. And some earth snacks thought you’d like”

"Thank you…” thara said to her friend “means a lot”

“Dont come at me like that you scared me half to death”

She said sitting in her chair as the three sat in silence

"What happens now?” Thara finally asked. “To the Kryptonians who didn’t fight? Who dont have a home?”

"They stay,” Kara said. “The city’s being rebuilt on earth.. We’re calling it new kandor a place where both peoples can learn to coexist.” She smiled wryly. “And well.. They want me to be ambassador surprise surprise..”

They both jump up

“WHAT?!?!” Chris and thara both say looking at her

“Boy.. thats.. Great news”

”..yeah.. Yeah i guess it is..”

“You’re still thinking about your mother”

“Well sure she wasnt perfect.. But.. i still loved her… seems we all lost something in that war huh? ..and doesnt help how they’re treating sam lane as a hero even when he was the one who started all this”

“Kara.. im sorry” Chris said to her

“Don’t be.. We lost a world of people because of paranoia and fear..”

Thara looks at Chris as the three look at each other

“We’ll take it one step at a time”

*”My father in law once told me that the only constant in life is change, change affects us all in different ways and sometimes we lose sight of whats important sometimes we can’t let go of the old ways of life”*

Clark and Lois’ Apartment

The smell of burning pancakes filled the apartment.

"Clark, honey, you’re supposed to flip them before they turn black,” Lois called from the kitchen table, where she was looking through her article notes

“I did flip them!” Clark protested. “I swear its the pan-”

“Those pans are brand new!” Lois reminded him. “And the smoke alarm is about to go off.”

Chris walks out of his bedroom already dressed in jeans and a hoodie as thara followed out with him, both their hairs still damp from the shower wearing clothes borrowed from kara

Clark turned from the stove, wearing an apron that said “KISS THE COOK,” looking sheepish..

“There may have been some casualties. But I saved three pancakes!”

“Three pancakes for four people?” Thara looked down at them

“I’m not hungry,” Lois said, not looking up from her laptop. “You three can split them.”

Clark set down the plate of charred pancakes on the table

“So. School today. You two ready?”

“Define ready,” Chris said, pouring syrup over his pancake.

“Ready as in, you’ve packed your bags got your lunch ready the usual stuff”

They exchange quick glances “welll… we were doing some talking and.. were not going to school today”

“What??”

“We decided to go help Kara and the other kryptonians in New Kandor” thara said

“We were actually thinking of staying there… together… alone”

Clark raised an eyebrow “alone? You’re not staying there overnight are you?”

“Just for a couple days! We’ll be back!”

“Just be careful..”

“DAD!” Chris looked turning red in embarrassment

Clark chuckled “just kidding I trust you.. but text is alright?”

He goes and hugs him and then kisses Lois “I’ll be back mom” 

“mwah! Stay safe” Lois said kissing him back smiling 

Thara waves to them “good luck Mr and Mrs Kent” she said as she and Chris took each other’s hand and flew off

Clark sighs sitting next to Lois 

“I’m proud of him” Clark says as he puts his arm around lois 

Lois stares as she looks up as they fly off from them away them to whatever lays beyond

“Is something wrong lois?” He says to her with a puzzled look as she remembers the first time she held Chris in her arms as a tear goes down her eye “he was in there all by himself.. Without us…. “ she leans a head on his shoulder

“He’s back now.. Thats what matters…” Clark holds her up to him

“And what about the kryptonians.. Its gonna be chaos, people are still going to be scared of them”

“We’ll get their trust again.. Trust me lois.. We’ll take it one day at a time” 

*”One Kryptonian came to earth and helped make it a better place we made him our greatest hero”*

Clark gets up and takes lois’ hand “care for a flight m’lady? Seeing we’re alone together now”

Lois takes his hand as they fly off through the metropolis skies together

*”100,000 kryptonians came and they were seen as a threat. They were met with suspicion, hatred, and many.. Died because of it, I still like to imagine there is hope for humanity, to go look past that”*

Kara is seen talking at the United Nations “I stand before you as a daughter who has just lost her parents.. Taken by hatred, and anger in a pointless war done out of hatred… and i know many of you people in this room still hate us.. But my father” the words come out as a whisper “he would have wanted us to put aside our differences he would have wanted us to stand together, for the people to see that despite our differences.. We all bleed the same, we all grieve the same, we dream of peace the same… deep down we arent so different.. The color of your skin.. The kind of clothes you wear.. What planet your from, what country, I will carry out my fathers legacy, I believe in a better future for tomorrow, a future where we can look past our differences and realize, we’re not so different at all that is why we would like to establish New Kandor as an official country and nation a place not built on the ashes of a war but on the promise of a future where kryptonians and humans can walk together as one ”

People whisper and stare for a second, a moment of silence is heard throughout then followed by an applause

*”To side together, live together peacefully, sometimes that seems an impossible goal”*

Weeks and months pass and finally, many people came along and helped to rebuild krypton, from all over the world, even the Justice League, The Justice Society and even the titans, kryptonians and humans working hand in hand, together as one, until finally.. New Kandor.. A new beginning, chris and thara sit on top of a building staring at the horizon of the newly built city, Thara lays head on Chris’ shoulder as he wraps his arm around her waist

“Its finally over” she says sighing with relief “its beautiful” 

Chris looks at it “yeah.. It is”

"Do you think it’ll work?” Thara asks quietly. 

“I don’t know,” chris replies, “But Kara stood up there and asked them to try. And they listened. That’s something.”

“That’s everything,” Thara corrects softly.

They sit in silence for a while, as the sun begins to set quietly over the horizon, giving it a pink, orangish tint. Two young kryptonians, the nightwing and the flamebird, two hosts to gods, two kids who survived the unsurvivable.

Chris turns to look at her, and Thara meets his eyes. There’s no need for words. They’ve been through too much together for that. They’ve laughed together, they’ve cried together, they’ve fought together side by side.

Thara reaches up and touches his face gently, as chris leans in to kiss her, it is long, tender and sweet.. A reassurance that everything is going to be okay, their heads touch each other as he kisses her hand.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

“For what?”

“For not letting me do all of this alone.. For being here.. For staying.”

He holds her close as the sun begins to fully set

“Always”

*”for now all we can do is hold on to hope, dream for a better world to sustain us”*

The End

There it is the ending to my Nightwing and Flamebird alternate ending fic I did, hope you all like it, this is the first of an idea I had that would be a continuation of Post Crisis Superman from a certain point if this gets enough likes I will write Nightwing/Flamebird #1 and put it on AO3, if it doesnt oh well

Conner and Chris Kent bonding together

Two years after Alternate finale of new krypton event, Kon becomes Sentinel, Chris and Thara stick around, Chris is one year younger then Kon with Kon being the most experienced, they share a moment together on a rooftop art done by me

Cassie Sandsmark Adult Design help!!! I have a name probably Pantheon but like I have designs for Bart, Kon.. Tims is just his Red Robin Design but i have nothing for Cassie!! please send me some messages and give me ideas

Drew Kon and Cassie again, Drew their TT Vol 3 versions originally now I decided to draw their YJ Versions they came out adorable

Brothers

Reminder Tim and Conner may be friends.. but Bart is Kons BRO!! no matter what people say

KonCassie drawing I finished working on.. I slacked on it for a bit but finally finished

Adult Conner Kent/Sentinel Design

Age: 20

Alias: Sentinel

Fictionalized Comic run:

Kon-El: Sentinel(2015)

Sentinel/Fury(2015) -KonCassie team up book

Titans (2016) - YJ Gen

Conner graduated from Smallville High, a year ago he has since retired from Superboy and gone to Metropolis University, Simon Valentine has gone there as well, having stayed out of the spotlight for awhile he has gotten a job as a mechanic, working and fixing cars and motorcycles, life seems to be going well until he is forced back into the spotlight by a few of his old villains, all led by none other but the ghost of an enemy long thought dead being Amanda Spence.. who is leading a newly reformed agenda,

Note: whilst Kons history is mostly the same Tana Moon will be deaged to be a teenager within his history being a reported for his school newspaper still dead, yet without any of the questionable stuff