SmallvilleX: Evolution (Fanfic)

SmallvilleX: Evolution is a crossover between Smallville and X-Men: Evolution by ben10987654321. This story is the first part of a series that so far consists of:

And also the following 2 omake chapters:

an outline of Earth 2 (Evil Mirror Universe): SmallvilleX: Earth 2
a possible glimpse of the future: SmallvilleX: Evolution Death, Rebirth and Something In-between

So far the series has covered Seasons 2, 3 and 4 of X-Men: Evolution, and Seasons 3, 4 and part of 5 of Smallville.

The story begins when the Kents are about to lose the farm after Clark's Red Kryptonite binge in Metropolis. Lex Luthor is out of the country and is unable to buy the farm like he did in canon. Virgil Swann informs Charles Xavier of the situation and recommends inviting Clark Kent to the institute in Bayville.

Meanwhile Magneto and Sabertooth are in Smallville investigating the Kryptonite infected mutants. While most of them are too unstable for Magneto to use he is hoping at least one of them is a genuine x-gene mutant that can fight for his cause. He receives a tip from Dr. Essex at Belle Reve to observe Clark Kent, whom Essex believes is simply an extra powerful mutant.

What's notable about this crossover is the effort made to blend the two stories together. The backstories are fused together nicely and the threats are a mix of villains from both continuities. The author isn't afraid to use characters from other Superman/X-Men continuities if it helps the story.

The series has been acknowledged by the author of Child of the Storm as an influence, and there are certain similarities.

Tropes:

Accidental Pornomancer: Not as dramatic as most examples, but Clark tends to attract a lot of women (though, in a number of cases, he would be very happy if they just left him alone).
Adaptational Heroism: Volcana is a slightly psychotic Anti-Hero instead of a sympathetic Anti-Villain.
All Your Powers Combined: Even to begin with, Clark has a version of Scott's optic blast, strength and invulnerability approaching that of the Juggernaut, Pietro's speed, Logan's healing factor and enhanced sense of smell, plus super-hearing and x-ray vision. And he's only getting stronger. No wonder Magneto wants Clark on his side.
- In the sequels, Clark also has other super-senses (hearing, primarily), ice-breath (somewhat similar to Bobby Drake/Iceman's power - in fact, he uses it to frame Bobby for a prank), has super-breath and is starting to develop his flight power (while not able to fly properly as of the most recent chapter, he can slow himself down when falling). At the end of Best Served Cold, he masters flight, following Lionel Luthor's attempt to nuke Smallville, taking SHIELD, the X-Men, the Acolytes, the Hellions, and, of course, Clark, with him.
Badass Boast: Clark as War gives a dark and epic twist on Superman's traditional Truth and Justice maxim.
War: I am that which strips away the façade of civilisation to reveal the Truth of the real person beneath. I am that which delivers the only true Justice. The strong survive me and the weak perish as they deserve to. I am War!
Badass Longcoat: Clark occasionally wears one of these, dismissing capes - and even these he attributes to his mother's preferences.
Batman Gambit:
- The preferred modus operandi of Clark's 'Kal' personality (released by Red Kryptonite and later by Emma Frost, with Isobel's help... though it turns out she was being played from the start, being a deadly dangerous Manipulative Bastard (when the mood suits him). As Rogue puts it, he's "scheming and manipulative."
- How Black Swan prefers to get things done, usually by including just the right combination of Exact Words to manipulate people.
Beam-O-War: Scott's Optic Blasts vs Clark's Heat Vision. They were tied until Kryptonite was used.
Beware the Superman: More than a few organisations are wary of Clark at best, once he makes his debut.
- War plays this trope straight as an arrow.
Big Bad: Year 1:Lionel Luthor and Magneto with Bolivar track and Willam Stryker being Arc Villain
- Year 2:1 Crusade: Due to the storyline being a version of hunt for the stones of power it has an Big Bad Ensemble Consisting of Magneto and his Acolytes, SHIELD who are working with Lionel and Lex ( the former of whom is working on his own escape and revenge), the ghost of Isobel, and finally, The Hellfire Club represented by Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost with their boss Selene Giallo being Greater-Scope Villain With personal ties to Clark's father and Isobel.
- Year 2:2 Best Served Cold: Lionel Luthor, with a number of witting and unwitting Co-Dragons
- Year 2:3: Dark Horizons and Ascension: Apocalypse, with trying (and failing) to keep him from being released by Mesmero being the main goal of both Xavier and Magneto in Horizons and Ascension centering around stopping him.
- Year 3:1: Hellfire Burns Eternal: It's a Big Bad Ensemble again. The Demon lord Belasco Being Clark's main antagonist for a few chapters. But then Brainiac seeking to free Zod disguised as Clark's school principal and using Graydon Creed for his own plans. Becomes Clark's main enemy Principal Kellys political campaign are the main antagonist for Johnathan's storyline While Graydon Creed and the Friends of Humanity backing him. However, they are more or less Big Bad Wannabe due to them not being much of a threat. and last but not least, The Hellfire Club With Selene Adrienne Frost and Sebastian Shaw having a plan to take full control .
- Year 3:2 Clones, Copies, and Collectors: Had three Arc Villains for its three main storylines. For the Clone Saga, Green Goblin who turns Kitty into Carnage. The Goblin Queen, aka Madelyn Pryor, Jean's long lost cousin/biological twin sisterm who wants to steal Jean's life. And finally, the Collector of Worlds.
- Year 3:3 Kneel Before Zod: Zod.
Boxing Lessons for Superman: Clark learns how to fight, primarily from Logan.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Deadpool, of course.
The Cameo: Spider-Man makes an appearance as well as a few members of his Rogues Gallery, before becoming an important secondary character.
- Bruce Banner also appears, first heavily medicated and working for SHIELD to try and save Captain America (which he does, with samples of what turns out to be Clark's blood), then later, as the Hulk and his less medicated self, teaming up with Superman when the latter is being chased by SHIELD, then the Army.
- Stan Lee made a cameo appearance at a party of Tony Stark's, as did the Fantastic Four, who become recurring characters.
The Cape: Clark, naturally, though, at points, he leans more towards The Cowl. Ironically, he dismisses capes as absurd - though when he gets his New 52 armour, he only wears it once, noting in vague puzzlement that it's somehow incomplete...
Character Development: Both good and bad, on Clark's part.
- On the one hand, one side effect of Clark joining the Institute is that he no longer ends up fixating on Lana, and is introduced to a more serious world much quicker. This means that he grows up one hell of a lot faster and leads to him taking up his 'Blur' identity much more quickly, before becoming Superman (this time, the name comes from the Daily Bugle), albeit in the gear he was wearing in Smallville Season 10 or a Badass Longcoat, rather than the classic Cape.
- On the other, thanks to a mixture of repression and Apocalypse's machinations, however, it also leads to him developing fully fledged Multiple Personality Disorder, with four separate personalities: Clark Kent (his own basic personality), Kal (his easily bored, extremely selfish, deeply cocky, 'scheming and manipulative' Id-driven persona, initially released by Red Kryptonite), Kal-El (his Straw Vulcan persona, created by AI Jor-El), and War (Kal-El 2.0, a vicious Blood Knight created by Apocalypse's machinations and corrupting of the Jor-El AI). Clark interacts (and argues) with Kal and Kal-El, and Kal actually escapes his head when an /enhanced Rogue accidentally absorbs him, and promptly punches him in the face - however, they do generally cooperate (grudgingly). An attempted merger of the first three by Jor-El (actually merely superficial and trying to brainwash him into War) leads to him cycling through aspects of all three personas, more or less at random. A successful merger still leaves him haunted by War, who keeps attempting a Split Personality Take Over, until Illyana destroys him with her Soul Sword.
- The end result leaves Clark stable, but Darker and Edgier, and feeling that he's been tainted - and the canon Smallville version of the Legion of Superheroes agree. However, he comes to disagree with this, and feels that while he's shadowed by his experiences, he's learned from them, and remains his classic All-Loving Hero self.
Clark Kenting: Obviously, but puts more effort into making it plausible than canon (magic is involved).
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Lionel and later, Lex Luthor, both qualify.
- The Hellfire Club is full of these, with Sebastian Shaw being the prime example.
Crossover Ship: Clark/Rogue - broken up seemingly for good, then reunited offscreen prior to the epilogue,, Clark/ Callisto of all people (broken up, apparently for good), Clark/Jean (is teased from the start, before finally they get together after Clark breaks up with Illyana, broken up offscreen prior to the epilogue, Jean/ Arthur Curry, Chloe/ Bobby Drake Jubilee/Bart and Clark/Illyana Rasputin (broken up at this point).
- And for a one night stand, Lois Lane and, of all people, Lance. This one is mostly just Played for Laughs.
Deadpan Snarker: A fair few characters, particularly Rogue. Clark's no slouch, either.
Demoted to Extra: Lex only makes one appearance in the first book, and that's just to explain why Chloe and Pete are in New York right before Christmas. He's also out of the country for most of the first couple of books. However, after Lionel's defeat at the end of Best Served Cold, he starts becoming much more prominent (though he still isn't appearing nearly as much as he does in Smallville), being a secondary antagonist, if not a primary one.
Distracted by the Sexy: Several characters experience this, particularly when Clark is in some state of undress.
- Clark himself isn't totally immune, as the examples of Rogue, and later, Jean Grey, demonstrate.
Don't Explain the Joke: Early on, the author tended to add asides to explain completely obvious comments, innuendo, and jokes, though it fades out in later books.
Eating the Eye Candy: The ladies frequently do this where Clark is concerned.
- And when Jean buys a bikini and shows Scott what he's missing, pretty much every male in the Institute - including a currently distant and distracted Clark - pays attention.
Evil Mentor: In both cases, despite attempting to act as The Corrupter and doing a lot of damage, they're surprisingly helpful.
- 'Jor-El', after it's revealed that he was actually reprogrammed by Apocalypse to guide Clark onto the intended path.
- 'Luna' a.k.a. Selene serves as this for Wanda. While she does try and seduce Wanda down a darker path, she actually teaches her some very helpful things about her powers and magical combat, accurately pointing out why, despite her power amp, she lost to War (she went all-out from the start and thanks to human limitations, he outlasted her).
Forceful Kiss: When Wanda arrives, unaware that Kal is in charge of Clark's body - or, indeed, of Kal at all, save in very general terms - he cheerfully reminds her that he once said that if she met 'evil him' she'd never forget it. When she asks, baffled, what he means, his response is to grin, introduce himself as 'evil Clark', and lay one on her. After the pleasant initial shock, she hexes him into a wall.
For Want Of A Nail: This time, Lex isn't prepared as Zod's vessel. Scott is.
"Freaky Friday" Flip: Clark and Magneto swap bodies. This is exactly as terrifying as you would think.
Fridge Logic: In-universe. When Magneto discovers Clark's weakness he observes that it makes no sense for an invulnerable mutant to succumb to space rocks. He knows he's missing something, but doesn't initially make the alien connection.
Gambit Pileup: Headed this way. We've got Xavier's plans for peace, Magneto's plans for mutant domination, Lionel's plans to exploit mutants, Mystique's own agenda, Stryker's mutant vs mutant plan, Trask's Sentinel project, Apocalypse's plan to take over, and Jor-El's plan to do God knows what.
- It's getting even more complex now - Trask is in jail for the moment after the Sentinel attack that exposed mutants to the world, but the Hellfire Club has been getting involved in recent chapters. Magneto and SHIELD are both after the Kryptonian Stones of Power, and the Hellfire Club might soon join them thanks to Isobel (the witch who possessed Lana in Smallville Season 4) joining up with them (her mother is Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. Plus Lionel and Lex are both working with SHIELD for their own reasons, and Lex just made an alliance with a member of the Hellfire Club.
- Then, after the Stones are found and become the Fortress of Solitude, new players enter the game - Apocalypse. Oh, and Tess enters the game, initially working for her father, then scheming for her own purposes after he's defeated, while Brainiac is planning to release Zod, the Phoenix is biding her time to return and go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge after Darkseid (who tore her apart thinking that she'd have the secret of the Anti-Life Equation within her), and the Collector of Worlds plans to go to work on Earth.
Genius Bruiser: Clark is very adept at using his brains in combat, and outside of it, with the likes of Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and even (very grudgingly) Lex being genuinely impressed by his intellect.
The Hedonist: Kal and Alison Blaire - though in the latter case, it's a coping mechanism, one that vanishes after Emma forces her to go cold turkey. In the former, Kal just does whatever he feels like and whatever makes him feel good.
Hidden Depths: Clark is capable of being a lot more manipulative and ruthless than most would expect from an 'aw shucks' farm boy, or even a total Troll like Kal. For one thing, as Kal he effortlessly plays first the X-Men and the Brotherhood (including Mystique) and, the second time he appears, Rogue describes him as "scheming and manipulative." She proves to be completely right, when he promptly plays the entire Inner Circle like a harp. He also later shows the capacity to play the part of Kal when he's not on Red Kryptonite and it suits him (or, when he feels like annoying Emma Frost).
I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Not a literal death, but the fact that Lana is still being possessed by Isobel and that he failed to save her is something that consistently bothers Clark. Once it's resolved he feels a good deal better.
I Was Quite a Looker: Professor Xavier shows the X-Men a photo from his younger years, back when he could walk and had a full head of hair. They are very surprised and Xavier jokes that the years have not been kind. However, Domino points out he's still very attractive for a man of his age.
Knight Templar: Magneto, as usual. The Kal-El persona of Clark's also qualifies, being ruthless, merciless, and entirely focused on his goals to the exclusion of all else.
Knight Templar Parent: Mystique, in spades. It's usually why her children - Kurt and Rogue - have problems with her.
Kryptonite Is Everywhere: Even when Clark is 1000 miles away from Smallville the Green Rocks just will not leave him alone - though, to be fair, that's partly because Lionel's set up in Bayville and is still experimenting with them, as is Essex, while Magneto figures out its effects on Clark. Then SHIELD realise how effective it might be. When he learns to fly, he makes a point of finding as much as possible and throwing it towards the Sun - and is understandably annoyed when it still keeps on turning up. Then there's all the different shades.
Make-Out Kids: Clark and Rogue are like this, for a while.
Mama Bear: Mystique, to the point where her entire motivation is to do what she feels is best for her children. Most obviously, she's like this with Alicia, whom she adopted for legal reasons but comes to genuinely care for. She's like this with her other children too, one way or another, though her methods generally leave a lot to be desired.
Manipulative Bastard: Clark is dangerously capable of this, as he demonstrates as 'Kal' (Clark on Red K), effortlessly arranging a fight between the X-Men and himself and the Brotherhood simply to get Rogue to absorb Alicia and find out how she knew about Red K. As Logan points out afterwards, he played them all without them even getting the slightest hint of it until after the fact - and, more to the point, when Martha and Jonathan said that Clark was capable of being "more dangerous than you can imagine", this might have been what they meant.
- He later proves to be exceptionally good at this, to the point where he plays the entire Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club like a violin and the X-Men note that Kal is a) dangerous, b) 'scheming and manipulative', c) always going to have his own agenda. Clark isn't half bad at it either, since he let Kal out on purpose.
Nice Guy: Clark, whenever his Kal or Kal-El personas aren't involved. He oscillates between this and Jerk with a Heart of Gold in Dark Horizons, thanks to Apocalypse's manipulations, via Jor-El.
No-Sell: War shrugs off everything thrown at him, including Kryptonite, until Wanda amps up her powers.
Occam's Razor: Lampshaded. Rogue's power doesn't work on Clark simply because he's an alien. Until her powers get amped by a machine designed to mutate people with Green Kryptonite.
Oh Crikey: Pyro's response to seeing Colossus beaten by Clark.
Physical God: Clark gives off this impression at points, and is growing into this status. Kal-El, when initially enhanced, and later War, are both comfortably in this category.
- Thor.
- Wanda with an X-Gene Enhancer, fighting War on his own level.
Psychic Block Defense: Telepaths can't understand Clark's alien thoughts or more precisely, those of whoever happens to be in his body, as if they are spoken in a foreign language. Magic, however, can and does override this. As does the Phoenix.
Red Herring: During the search for missing Jean some Smallville fans will notice Clark's sudden fatigue and expect him to develop super-breath like when this happened in canon. However it was just a sliver of Kryptonite doing that and no new powers in that chapter.
The Reveal: Sebastian Shaw, Martha's Old Flame, reveals that he used a lock of Martha's hair to rewrite an egg cell into becoming one of hers, fertilised it with his sperm, and had a surrogate carry the resultant child - Claire Selton a.k.a. Volcana, making Claire Clark's sister, albeit by adoption.
Running Gag: From Book 2 onwards, Clark/Kal has a habit of leaving snarky hand-written notes for Emma Frost (in the case of Kal, in her cleavage), usually after having arranged for some of her students to defect, all accurately ending with, 'cue the blood-curdling scream of frustration and rage.'
Shout-Out: the Limbo arc and Clark's retention of his beard and being forced to resort to the old t-shirt and jeans costume references his 'Truth' arc in Action Comics towards the end of the New 52.
- His capacity to act the part of Kal from time to time greatly resembles Angel pretending to be Angelus in Season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Squee: Spider-Man's reaction to Clark revealing that he's an alien.
Took a Level in Badass: The entire cast, consistently, most notably Clark, who combines his powers with extensive Danger Room training from Wolverine and his genius level intellect.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Clark, a couple of times, usually under the influence of Red Kryptonite or after severe psychic trauma. The latter is considerably more frightening than the former: Kal is a hedonist, and for the most part, harmless. An extremely irritating troll, yes, and terrifyingly manipulative when he wants to be, but mostly harmless - and a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Kal-El, meanwhile, is The Spock - coldly clinical, blunt, capable of killing out of ruthless pragmatism, and generally condescending to humans (with a few exceptions, such as Professor Xavier), but non-malicious. War on the other hand, is a very different, and very dangerous, kettle of fish.
Troll: Again, Kal. It's pretty much what he does, and why he does it, except for when he's feeling nice.
Shipper on Deck: Kitty encourages Rogue and Clark to get together.
Slasher Smile: Kal tends to develop these when he's in a particularly manic and vicious mood. More or less everyone finds it deeply disturbing.
Spanner in the Works: Clark's super-hearing lets him detect Mystique despite her enhanced shapeshifting, which prevents her from executing her plans to infiltrate the Institute.
The Spock: Clark's Kal-El personality and, at points, Clark himself, can come off as this. It's part of what causes the collapse in his relationship with Rogue.
Superdickery: Kal's usual activities and raison d'etre summed up in two words.
Troll: Kal, and occasionally Clark himself, with Emma Frost usually being on the receiving end.
Villainesses Want Heroes: Clark is, occasionally, on the receiving end of this, much to his chagrin.
Villain Sue: Black Swan a.k.a. Patricia Swann was verging on this - exceptionally powerful, brilliantly intelligent, and an incredibly gifted manipulator thanks to her time travelling abilities, a myth even to Doctor Strange, and impossible for Clark to pin down. Then, in Kneel Before Zod, Clark discovers her weakness: Central City dampens psychic powers for some reason, and as a result it's a massive blindspot for her foresight.
What Happened to the Mouse??: Since Clark left Smallville, who's fighting the Monster of the Week?
- There's been more than one reference to a private security force led by Lex that's helping the police to keep the peace in Smallville. Presumably they (and latterly, Lilandra's community) are dealing with the various Monsters of the Week.
What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Spider-Man feels his powers are this in comparison to Clark's.
I need better powers.
Wild Card: Clark's Kal personality is described as 'scheming and manipulative', and always having an agenda of his own. This means that he can never be trusted and that you generally don't know what he's up to until it's already happened.
The Worf Effect: Clark brings down Beast, Storm, and Logan in minutes by himself while under Red Kryptonite, just to show off how much the X-Men are screwed without Green Kryptonite.

Fanfic / SmallvilleX: Evolution

Tropes:

Previous

Index

Next

Fanfic / SmallvilleX: Evolution

Edit Locked

Tropes:

Previous

Index

Next