Part Five: The Battle
Clark's eyes flashed.
Maybe they didn't flash red like when he was unknowingly exposed to red kryptonite. (At that time, he was unaware the red K was the stone in his new class ring.) Instead of flashing red, Clark's eyes flashed silver, and with anger. When he looked at Slick-Superman, he saw Whitney Fordman.
"You hung me up in that cornfield!" he shouted.
Promptly, Clark slugged Slick-Superman and sent him flying.
"You are very lacking in respect, young man!" the slick one shouted back as he got up. He was hunched over with dark anger in his own flashing eyes.
Nerd-Superman, likewise, saw a football player (Brad) in place of Mild-Superman. He flew over and slugged him.
The two of them ended up wrestling in midair.
"I won't let you hurt Lois!" Mild-Superman shouted. "Not after all we've been through. I won't let anyone take her from me!"
"I won't let her die!" Nerd-Superman cried, his tearful eyes blazing silver. His face was full of anger as he gritted his teeth and swiftly delivered one punch after another.
Dad-Superman flew up and sent them both flying.
"I won't let you hurt my family!"
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Clark retorted and sent Nerd-Superman flying. As Nerd-Superman collided with Mild-Superman, Dad-Superman sent them both flying once again, one at a time, with easy effortless arm motions.
"I defend my friends!" Slick-Superman shouted.
"So do I!"
"Time to teach you some manners, young man!"
Before Slick-Superman could hit Clark, Dad-Superman collided with the slick-haired man. Casually, Slick tossed him away, and his facial expression was far from amiable. His face was twisted up in a deep scowl as his eyes blazed an even brighter silver. Glaring as he lowered his head, he marched toward Clark. In response, Clark bowed his own head, almost like he was on the football field, and he ran toward Slick at super-speed, sending him flying.
It went on like that for quite a while, with Lex laughing and the heroes shouting.
"I don't want to hurt you, son!"
"You can't!" Once again, Clark moved at super-speed, sending all four heroes flying.
"Stupid idiots in your stupid costumes!" he shouted, waving his fists.
Unfortunately, once each hero landed, each one stood hunched over, teeth gritted and eyes blazing with silver light, and anger.
"You're starting to really tick me off there, Clark," Mild-Superman said grimly.
"Passed that a long time ago," Clark said, fists clenched as he bent over and scowled.
"You're not very nice," Nerd-Superman said, jabbing the air with his finger.
"You need a timeout," Dad-Superman said.
"More than that," Slick-Superman said. "You need a lesson in manners."
"Bring it," Clark hissed.
Slick-Superman tossed him one-handed. Once Clark landed, he looked uncharacteristically furious, even worse than when he was on red kryptonite.
"You're pretty tough, old man." Clark didn't finish the thought as he noticed Lex laughing. When Clark glared at him, he lowered his head. "What are you laughing at, baldie?"
Lex's eyes widened, and his mouth formed a tiny "o" just before he uttered, "Huh?" As Clark moved toward him, Lex quickly recovered.
"Time for a booster shot," Lex grunted as he aimed his weapon. But Clark used super-speed to dodge the shot. He grabbed the weapon but ended up on his knees, gasping and groaning.
"It's laced with kryptonite," Lex said with that sick smile as he retrieved the weapon.
Using super-speed, Mild-Superman pulled Clark, and himself, away then threw Clark across the room.
"I won't let you hurt that man!"
"Oh, man," Lex cursed.
"I won't let you hurt anyone!" Dad-Superman roared. Standing with his fists clenched, Dad wore a look of frantic rage in which his face was almost red.
"Thought you'd elude us, Clark?"
"The best laid plans of mice and men."
"Thanks for the Shakespeare. Now take this!" Clark slugged them all but Dad-Superman got in a punch of his own. When Clark got up, he became like a tennis ball to the others, swatted first by Mild-Superman then Dad-Superman then Nerd and finally Slick.
Once again, Lex laughed as he waved his weapon in their direction.
"Guess what it does, Kryptonian heels? It amplifies your emotions. Fear, pride, anger. When your emotions are strong, you briefly hallucinate. Combine that with your cold haughty warlike Kryptonian nature, and you end up with this glorious destructive conflict!"
At this point, Clark and the four Supermen were all in a circle, each one hunched over, each one with an angry look.
"I've never felt better," Mild-Superman insisted in a growling voice.
"I feel like myself," Nerd-Superman said. "No more play-acting, no more pretending."
"Yes!" Slick-Superman said fiercely. "No more Mr. Nice Guy!"
With an intensely angry look, Dad-Superman waved his fists in the air. "I can finally let loose with my powers!"
Clark looked confused. "This is not right." He spied his backpack, threw it, knocked the weapon out of Lex's hand.
The smile dropped briefly, replaced by a scowl, as Lex quickly picked up the weapon.
"Very clever, Kryptonian. For the rest of the battle I'll be inside this force field." He stepped off to his right and became shrouded in a silver glow.
For Clark, the silver glow in his eyes began to fade.
"This is all fake," he whispered.
"Just keep telling yourself that, Kryptonian."
Above Clark, the Supermen were midair as they punched each other. Along with the sharp cracking noises, there was much grunting and groaning.
And yelling, of course. Though they all seemed to be ignoring Clark for some reason.
Despite this, Clark tried to concentrate, to focus.
"Think of Chloe….Lana...Pete….Mom and Dad."
Clark closed his eyes. Inside the force field, Lex frowned then winced.
When Clark opened his eyes, he saw Slick-Superman running toward him with fist raised. Clark grabbed that fist and hung on. Of course, the impact sent him back several yards but by digging in his feet Clark finally managed to bring them both to a halt.
"Listen to me," he said through gritted teeth. "We need to fight this!"
"I need to fight you!" Slick-Superman roared.
Clark gave him a determined look. "You need to go against this."
Slick-Superman responded in a raspy voice. "The only thing I need to do….is fight you." But he sounded weaker than before.
Roaring loudly, he grabbed Clark by the neck and sent him flying. Clark crashed into each one of the flying Supermen before landing on the floor.
He quickly got up.
"Listen to me, you guys," he pleaded, holding out a hand. "You can snap out of this. Think of the people you love."
The head of Android Superman shot up.
"He's right," he said. "Think of Perry and Lois and Jimmy."
Lex growled, and the silver glow vanished. He aimed his weapon but the android had already crossed to him. He tossed the weapon then grabbed Lex by the neck and held him.
"It doesn't matter, android," Lex said in a choking voice. "They're still feeling the effects of the ray."
"We'll get out of it," Clark said, bold and confident.
As if to confirm his words, the three Supermen gently floated down to Earth and took their place next to Slick-Superman. Each Superman clutched his forehead.
"I don't know what it is, Clark," Nerd-Superman said.
"You've somehow overcome this first," Slick-Superman said.
"Maybe because you haven't had to deal with a dual identity," Mild-Superman said. "Not yet."
"Could be," Clark said.
"You're just…. you," Dad-Superman said quietly.
Clark smiled. "You're right about that."
"I think I'm okay now, junior."
"Great! Only don't call me 'junior.'"
"It's a deal. As long as you don't call me 'old man.'"
Clark smiled. "Deal! Will do….old-timer."
Slick-Superman laughed heartily as he posed like a statue once again.
"Now let's get to work on the others, shall we?"
They saw Nerd-Superman and Mild-Superman looking angry with glowing silver eyes so they held them back.
"Good idea," Dad-Superman said with eyes glowing once again. He held up a fist. "You hold them, I'll pound them!"
Briefly, Slick-Superman held up a hand of peace. "Not exactly what I had in mind there, friend."
Dad-Superman wrinkled up his face. "You are my friend, aren't you?"
"We may have only recently met. But yes, I certainly am."
"We both are," Clark said gently.
Slick-Superman chuckled. "After all, we Supermen have to stick together."
"And Clark," Dad-Superman said with a smile.
Two of the Supermen, Mild and Nerd, looked like they were still struggling, pain etched in their faces. There was even some gasping.
"Think of your friends," Clark urged.
"Yes, think of the people you love," Slick said with a nod.
"Jimmy and Perry," Nerd whispered in a kind of nerdy voice, eyes all wide. He stopped struggling. There was a slight grin. "And Lois."
Mild-Superman nodded. "Jimmy and Perry. And Lois." And he seemed calmer.
Nerd turned to Clark and Slick. "Inside my mind, I had a battle with my evil self. And I won."
"Good work," Slick said, briefly touching his shoulder.
"Glad to hear it," Clark said with a nod.
Dad-Superman adopted a distant look as he whispered, "My sons. Jordin and Jonathan."
This seemed to calm him. The struggling Supermen looked more relaxed, less struggle in their faces, less tension in their posture.
Clark made a gentle inquiring look. "Jordin and Jonathan?"
Dad-Superman nodded. "One's named after my adopted Earth father, the other after my biological Kryptonian father."
"That's very nice," Slick said, happiness back in his face again. "You honor them both."
"Both sides of your heritage," Mild said.
"Our heritage," Nerd said.
"I consider Jonathan Kent my father," Clark said. Slick, Mild, Nerd and Dad murmured their assent. "I don't really consider Jor-El that great an influence." Especially since Jor-El inspired him to blow up part of the farm.
"That may change. Clark," Nerd said. "And you might make peace with it."
"As I did," Dad said.
"I barely knew him myself," Mild said. Slick nodded.
"In time, Clark, you may learn more about your Kryptonian heritage," Dad said.
"Maybe," Clark said.
"Isn't this nice?" Lex sneered, still held by Android-Superman.
Little Lex spoke up, cheerful as always. And moving! "Why don't you talk more about your experiences? It may help you overcome the effects of Evil Lex's ray."
Slick nodded in agreement. "Our short little friend is correct."
"Is he really our friend?" Clark asked, raising skeptical eyebrows.
Slick folded his arms. "I believe he is."
"Certainly more than Lex," Nerd murmured.
"The other Lex," Mild said.
Dad-Superman tilted his head. "And the freezing ray was only temporary, apparently."
Slick chuckled as he folded his arms, a gesture that now came across as friendly rather than impatient. "Whatever the case, Clark, we need to focus on those things and those people who mean a great deal to us."
"Sounds good to me."
"It'll make us stronger," Mild said.
"Oh, yes!" Little Lex exclaimed, clapping his hands.
"I think you're right there, Clark old pal," Nerd said with a grin. Dad nodded, his face stiff but happy.
"Good!" After giving a slight wink to Clark, Slick turned to Dad-Superman. "Your sons are lucky to have you And whatever your Lois is going through, I'm sure she needs you."
"She does."
"And I need her," Nerd-Superman said, looking very serious, almost glum. "My Lois died once. I had to reverse time to save her."
"That's intense," Clark said.
Slick-Superman once again folded his arms over his big red "S." "In my case, I didn't exactly reverse time. A time machine sent us back to the caveman days."
With a serious look, Mild nodded. "My Lois lost her memory. It delayed our wedding."
"That must have been rough," Clark said.
"I hope things worked out," Dad said.
"They did," Mild said.
"I let Lois stay on the farm when she got kicked out of school."
"Uh-oh," Slick said. "What kind of trouble did she get into?"
"You don't want to know."
Briefly, Slick rubbed his chin. "It seems Lois Lane is someone we have in common."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Lex shouted. Roared, really. The bald genius gritted his teeth as he struggled to break free of his android captor.
"My android is adaptable," Little Lex said. "That's how he was able to overcome the effects of your ray, Evil Lex." He raised a thin pale finger. "And the Supermen have defeated you, too!"
"Kind of like when I was shot and learned to heal faster," Clark said.
Nerd made a face. "Who shot you?"
"Lex. And my dad." At the others' puzzled looks, Clark explained. "My dad was high. From a flower. And Lex was under mind control."
"No one controls me!" Lex growled.
"Quiet, you." Little Lex chuckled. "I suppose my android is like Superman. Doesn't Superman have to adapt?"
"I suppose," Clark said while the others smiled and nodded.
"I can adapt, too!" Lex declared triumphantly. His armor gave off an electrical charge, and the Superman android fell back. Promptly, Lex fired his weapon, and the android was caught up in a silver glow, indicating a force field. As the android pressed his hands against the air, Lex fired his weapon at the others. Once again, they were frozen.
With an intense glare, he marched toward the Supermen. "You see? I can adapt. It just took a while to recharge." With a slight smile, he aimed his weapon as he made his grim pronouncement.
"And now, Kryptonians, the killing blow. For all of you."
Once again, the Supermen struggled to break free. (And Little Lex, too, of course, with the Android-Superman lying still.) Mild-Superman, wearing a deep frown, shifted his eyes back and forth as he spoke in a slightly suppressed voice.
"Gentlemen, if I could, I would take the killing blow for all of you."
Slick-Superman spoke in his bold voice. "Only after me, fellow Superman."
"Me, first. I insist," Nerd-Superman said in a gentle and cordial tone. His usual.
"Only after me," Dad-Superman said. "So my family, along with the world, is free."
"Same for me," Clark insisted with fierce determination in his eyes. And maybe a little nervousness.
Lex bowed his head as he narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Very touching." When he jerked his thumb, the weapon gave off a high-pitched whining noise. "Just a few more seconds, please. Once this device is fully charged, you're all dead. Gone. Finished."
The whining noise stopped.
A blast followed. The Superman all reacted by blinking their eyes. But they were all standing upright. Lex fell forward with a groan, his weapon clattered on the floor.
Over him stood a woman in a beret. She wore all camouflage, including the fatigue shirt and skirt. Clark saw that she looked a lot like his Lois with straight brown hair and brown eyes.
The large silver rifle she held was smoking. She blew on the barrel then briefly glanced at unconscious face-down Lex.
"That's what happens when you talk when you should be taking action." As she shouldered the weapon, she looked around and smiled at the group. "Hi, guys! Great to meet you."
"And you," Slick-Superman said.
"Here, let me just….." She pushed a button on Lex's weapon, pointed and fired.
"Thank you very much, young lady." Hands returned to hips as Slick-Superman spoke. "To whom do I have the honor of addressing?"
"FBI Agent Lois Lane," she said with a grin and a confident nod. "And I've been tracking this guy for some time. Found his monitors and his dimension-hopping machine. His prisoner, Walter, was more than willing to help me out. So I followed our big bad guy to this place."
Slick-Superman laughed heartily. "I see that Lois Lane is a force to be reckoned with on any world!"
"Thank you, Superman. From you, that's quite a compliment. From any Superman, really."
The others murmured their appreciation. Clark thought how this Lois, unlike the one he knew, sounded friendly and pleasant, not stuck-up and rude.
"You were just in time," Mild-Superman said, dusting himself off.
"Yes, Lois," Slick-Superman said. "His weapon had just finished recharging."
"Otherwise…." Clark trailed off.
"It doesn't surprise me a Lois Lane would help," Dad-Superman said.
"We're very grateful for your help, Lois," Nerd-Superman said with a boyish grin.
She smiled and gave a nod to each one as she spoke in a gentle tone. "Please, don't any of you be embarrassed. Sometimes even a Superman needs help."
Yep, Clark thought. Definitely a lot more pleasant than my Lois Weird for a tough FBI agent.
"Besides, it looks like you got most of the important work done before I got here. I'd hate to break up a fight between a bunch of Super-guys!"
"I'm guessing in your own way somehow you'd manage to do it," Slick-Superman said in his hearty-laughter voice.
Clark wrinkled his eyebrows in what he hoped was a questioning but friendly look. "You're different from my Lois," he noted.
"Is that good?" When Clark shrugged, Lois did the same. "Okay then."
Clark continued his inquiring look. "If you're like my Lois, a general's daughter-"
"I am."
"-it looks like you became some kind of commando who takes on Lex Luthor, other worlds and, I'm guessing, helicopters?" He referred to the time he and his Lois had been chased by helicopters out on a cornfield.
"Something like that." Her brown eyes twinkled a little.
Lois pushed another button on the weapon, and the Android-Superman, now standing once again, was freed from the force field, the silver shimmer gone.
"I bet when you became an FBI agent, you never thought you'd go into other worlds," Dad-Superman said.
A slight shrug from Lois along with the pleasant grin. "My coworker Olivia Dunham has some experience in that area."
"Good to hear! Yes!" Lois blinked in surprise as Little Lex, wearing that big crooked-teeth smile, clapped his hands loudly and sharply. "Let's get back to relating and friendship, shall we? That could be even more fun with Lois here."
"Or not," Clark murmured as Lois cast him a sly glance.
Little Lex laughed. "Give it a chance, Clark!"
"Like that John Lennon song 'Give Peace A Chance,'" Nerd-Superman said. "Let's give talking and friendship a chance. What do you say, Clark? Lois?"
"Sure," Lois said.
"Why not?" from Clark.
"Yes, yes! Give each other a chance. Afterwards, I shall send you home with no memory of this. But something of the others will remain with you."
"That's too bad we have to leave," Clark said. When the others looked surprised, he shrugged and explained. "I was just starting to like you guys."
While the others smiled, Slick-Superman placed a hand on his young counterpart's shoulder. "We like you, too, Clark. Speaking for myself, I've always been a fan of Clark Kent!"