Eight minutes later, Clark was fully dressed and down the stairs. But there was no sign of Lois Lane. She probably didn't even wait two minutes, he thought. He ducked into an alley and shot into the air, destination, Daily Planet. Or was he supposed to meet her at the lab? In any case, he was diverted by cries for help before he had the chance to remember.
Back at the Daily Planet, all eyes were on the large, flat screen TVs that were showing images of a massive fire uptown that had started in the early morning hours. Several apartment buildings had been completely destroyed, and three more were engulfed in flames. The question on everyone's lips, where was Superman?
At the fire locale, TV cameras were positioned to capture Superman's descent onto the scene, just as firefighters were pulling a badly burned young woman from a building. He landed on one of the few balconies still free of flames, and to all the onlookers' shock, just stood there. Firefighters began yelling at him, asking for help. He looked up at the conflagration, contemplating. He stifled a yawn, and then slowly blew onto the fire. The flames danced, and the crowd started clapping, until they saw them shoot even higher in the air. A TV camera moved in for a close-up and caught a mischievous grin on his face.
Meanwhile, Lois was driving towards the lab. She was hoping that she would find some clue that would help move the case forward. It being a staff in-service day at Jason's school, her son was in tow in the backseat. She tapped her fingernails on the steering wheel, deeply troubled. The radio was tuned to the news and she was listening to reports coming in from all over town.
Superman caught a man falling out of a ten-story building, only to drop him to the ground while still hovering five feet in the air. The scene of a bank robbery caught him helping the robbers secure an escape route, destroying a police car in the process. Then, a commercial airliner en route to Metropolis Airport had engine trouble. Superman was reported to have flown up to the troubled plane, grabbed a hold of the nose of the aircraft, and waved to the pilots through the cockpit window. He then flew away, doing nothing to help the distressed plane or its passengers.
The news went on and on. Lois couldn't believe it. She missed the turn into the parking lot and had to circle the block. Somewhere in the recesses of her brain she heard Jason talking.
"Why didn't Superman help those people?" He asked.
It broke her heart to hear the sadness in his voice. "I don't know, Jason."
"He didn't visit me last night. He always comes. Why didn't he come?"
"I don't know, honey. You know he's very busy." Lois was worried. She'd never seen him out of control. She was always amazed how cool and calm he was under any circumstance. Now she realized that it must be a deliberate act on his part, he couldn't afford to lose control.
Lois parked the car, took Jason's hand and walked into the laboratory. The building was in the older part of town. Pale green paint was peeling off the walls and the air smelled musty. While in the waiting room, she tried to avoid watching the television, which was highlighting all of Superman's bizarre morning escapades.
"Lois Lane? Hi, I'm Dr. Stein." The doctor was a short man in his mid-fifties. He wore wireless frames which sat precariously atop his nose and accentuated the thick lenses of his glasses.
"Nice to meet you."
"Isn't that something, huh?" He said, pointing towards the screen. "Thanks for coming so quickly."
"What can you tell me?"
"It's not a gem. At first I thought that it was just some old rock. There were a few properties that I'd never seen before, but that's not unusual in a meteor rock. But then, I got my hands on this." The doctor pulled out a familiar piece of green rock. Lois immediately pulled Jason behind her.
"I had an instinct that you would know what this is." Dr. Stein remarked. "Ever since Superman lifted that island into space, pieces of this stuff have been crashing to Earth. A ten-year-old boy on a playground picked up this one about a mile from here. Then, on a whim, I ran an analysis to compare the two pieces."
"What are you saying, doctor?"
"This here, for lack of a better word, is a red form of kryptonite. There were substances in both rocks that I couldn't identify. It's possible that the effects on Superman could be different. Did you hear of him conduct any activity in the vicinity of the jewelry store in the last 24 hours? I think he must have been exposed to it somehow. If the green kryptonite kills him…"
"Then maybe the red …" her eyes drifted over to the TV screen, her mouth opening in horror. "I've got to go." She ran out the door, swooping Jason into her arms.
Outside, Lois yelled, "Get in the car!"
"Mommy?" His arms hurt because she was pulling him so hard.
"Get in the car now! Mommy's going to drop you off with Daddy, okay?"
"But you said I could stay with you today," Jason pleaded.
"I'm sorry sweetie but something's come up." She phoned Richard and asked him to meet her at one of their favorite restaurants, a small, intimate Italian place by the river. She and Richard had spent many evenings there, and it was where he had proposed.
As she looked at the place now, it was as though the memories made there involved a different woman. They stood out on the balcony, and as she spoke with Richard he almost seemed to vanish into the background. She pleaded for ten minutes before she convinced him of her plan to help Superman. She also insisted that he take Jason to a friend's house. She wanted her son safe and away from any place Superman might look should he want to find him.
After Richard departed, Lois drove back to the jewelry store where she and Clark had first encountered the meteor rocks only 24 hours ago. Maybe the storeowner could remember something pertinent.
But as she approached the store, she noticed a vaguely familiar figure departing. She pulled up onto the curve, screeching the tires and leaving tracks several feet behind her. The undercarriage of the car made a very loud thud as it collided with the curb. She jumped up out of the car and approached the woman as onlookers glanced at her with passing curiosity.
"Did you have anything to do with this?" Lois demanded.
Lana laughed. "I only gave him what he deserved."
"What did he ever do to you?"
"What did he ever do to me? Oh I guess he never told you, did he. He killed my parents. And all the while I was searching for the truth, her pursued me, made me love him."
"You're insane. He would never kill anyone."
"But he lets people die, just like he's doing right now."
"Where'd you get the red kryptonite?"
"I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd figure it out so quickly. But then you are Metropolis' star reporter. I am simply a scientist conducting an experiment on a lab rat. He hurt me and now I hurt him. It's really quite simple." She stared hard at Lois, baiting her. "By the way, isn't he a great lover? The way he moves, ah! Talk about stamina!"
Lois punched the woman in the face, the impact knocking Lana onto her knees.
She grabbed the side of her face, her hair tousled. "You little bitch!" A purple and blue bruise imploded on Lana's cheek. "Did he ever tell you that we were engaged to be married? We were going to tie the knot right after college. But he didn't trust me you see. With his secret."
"What are you talking about?"
"Lois. It's just us girls here. If I had never met you and suddenly we passed each other walking down the street I would know that the pain in your face was caused by Clark Kent. I know, because I used to see it in my reflection every day."
Lana picked herself up off the ground and continued. "One day, out of the blue, he told me what he was. He told me how he arrived here. It didn't take me long to put two and two together. I knew he had to be involved in my parents' death. I confronted him about it. You know what he said? He said it was an accident!"
"You blame him for something that happened when he was five years old?" Lois couldn't believe it.
"It's not just that! The moment that I learn what I spent my whole life seeking to know, he steals it from me. I woke up one morning with a hole in my head. I couldn't remember the last few weeks of my life. But soon I started remembering things, having flashes. Then when I saw your article in the Daily Planet about this super man, saw this thing in a big red cape, everything snapped back into place."
Lois stood listening to the woman's tirade, painfully aware that time was not on her side. She needed to find out a way to save Superman, and this woman was the only one who knew how. But something in her words bothered her. Then it dawned on her. "You couldn't handle it, him being different. That's why he erased your memory." She said it a low, controlled voice. What hurt the most, however, was the growing realization that the same words could be said of her.
Then, more confidently, "You know what you are, Lana? A coward! This man shares the biggest secret on the planet with you and you run like a little child. You try to hurt him. I can assure you that you won't get away with this!" The image of tire tracks pressed upon Lana's body flashed through her mind.
Purging the thought, Lois left the young woman standing on the street and raced back towards the laboratory to pick up the only object she knew could stop him. As she pulled away from the store she watched Lana in the rearview mirror. She had to take her mind off that woman, and think about how she was going to catch Superman's attention.
Back at the Daily Planet, she took the stairs up two at a time, avoiding the elevator and any curious co-workers. When she got to the roof, she walked to the edge and sat down, straddling the railing, allowing one leg to dangle freely. Flashes of their intimate moments in that very spot overwhelmed her senses, and she tried hard not to cry. She couldn't lose him now, not after everything's that happened.
It had been difficult for her, after Superman left. But the complications of her non-human pregnancy were made worse by the fact that she knew he had intentionally made her forget their last few days together. Specifically, the time after she discovered who Clark Kent really was.
She had been so vicious to Clark since his return to the Daily Planet. It had been easier to forgive him as Superman than as Clark. Superman was a god that no mortal could snare, but Clark the man was just a man. Her friend. And now that she knew he had once been engaged to Lana, knew that he once contemplated spending his life with someone, her anger at him jumped tenfold. Why couldn't they be together?
Lois took a deep breath, knowing it was now or never. She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Help! Superman!"
She hoped, despite his drunken state, that he would be aware enough to hear her, to still care for her. She screamed again.
A few seconds later, she heard an ungraceful thump behind her. Without looking around, she knew it was him.
"What are you doing?" he said.
She approached him slowly, choosing her words carefully. She wouldn't get a second chance. "You're not well."
"I don't get sick," Superman slurred.
"You need help."
"I'd like your help," he replied, stumbling over his feet. "I think you can make me feel much better."
As he stretched out his hand to touch her cheek, Lois reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of green kryptonite.
"That's not very nice." He grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly towards him. She held on steadfastly to the kryptonite, knowing that it was her only defense against him. She pushed him away easily, the cumulative effects of both rocks rendering him virtually defenseless. She quickly removed her shoe and swung the heel into his head. He slumped to the ground, out cold.
Lois collapsed near his immobile figure, her heart pounding and face wet with tears. She immediately dialed Richard's number.
A few minutes later the elevator door opened and Richard came running out. "Dear god! Lois, what happened?"
"Help me get him in the elevator."
"What?"
"Please."
They managed to drag his dead weight into the elevator. Richard stood next to the button console, his figure curled up against the close button, just in case the elevator stopped en route to the parking garage.
Down in the garage, Lois waited in the elevator while Richard pulled the car around. They pulled Superman into the back seat and sped out onto the highway.
"Did you do what I asked?" Lois asked.
Richard nodded. "But where are we going?" Not answering, she looked onto the back seat, where a blanket lay over Superman's unconscious body, leaving only the tips of his red boots exposed.
They drove for twenty minutes as rain began to fall, the thwap thwap of the windshield wipers the only noise puncturing the silence. Soon they arrived at a private airstrip. Richard pulled up to the plane he had earlier in the evening rented, at Lois' request. It was much larger than his own seaplane, and capable of traveling a much greater distance.
"Are you going to tell me where we're going or do I have to guess?"
"Kansas."
"You've got to be kidding! What the hell's in Kansas?"
"The truth." She replied quietly, cupping Superman's head in her hands.
For the second time in recent weeks, Richard looked down at the unconscious superhero. It was then that he admitted to himself what his subconscious knew all along; that despite all the rationalizations he made, all the assurances she gave, there was no way Lois Lane would ever marry him.
TO BE CONTINUED