Chapter Four - Standing On A Bridge, Waiting In The Dark
Rose looked at Jimmy Olsen quizzically. "So you're trying to destroy Superman?"
"No," replied Jimmy, "not me. There's another descendent. I've got to find Superman and warn him before they kill him."
"But who could kill Superman?" she asked.
"Ultra Woman," replied Jimmy Olsen.
"And who's Ultr-"
Suddenly Rose's question was interrupted by a loud hum as the Tardis' controls sprang into life.
"Next stop, Smallville," announced The Doctor, standing at the control console grinning.
"So, is that just like the TV show?" asked Rose Tyler, mildly irked that her life of exploring new worlds and discovering new galaxies had suddenly been interrupted for a spot of channel-hopping.
"Don't know," replied Jimmy. "Never watched the show. Although I took a photo the first time I was there…"
Jimmy started searching his pockets but couldn't find it. "Great, I've lost it, just like I lost that other Jimmy Olsen's camera."
"What, the original Jimmy Olsen?" asked Rose.
"No, not that Jimmy Olsen," replied Jimmy, sympathizing with Rose over her confusion. He'd had a hard time keeping grasp of realities recently too, just as realities had had a hard time keeping grasp of him. "No, this was another reality altogether - this Jimmy had red hair and freckles and there were superheroes all over the place - you just wouldn't believe it. Anyway, I visited that Daily Planet and told them my story but they just laughed at me. After all, if there were multiple realities surely Superman and the other heroes would have come across them by now. Still, Jimmy Olsen loaned me his camera so that, if I was ever back in that reality, I could come back with some photographic evidence."
"How many realities have you been to?"
"Too many," replied Jimmy. "I've seen different Supermen, different Loises, different Perrys (if they really could be called Perry with their apathy towards Elvis), different Luthors, different Smallvilles."
The Doctor interrupted them as the loud humming noise waned. "Speaking of Smallville, we're here."
Moments earlier Lana Lang and Chloe Sullivan had reached the door of The Talon only to see a deserted street before them with no sign of Clark or the man who'd just been in. Now they just stood looking in amazement as, on the same street, a blue police telephone box suddenly pulsated into view.
"Do you see what I see?" asked Chloe, worried for her sanity as the vehicle of a clearly fictitious character finally became solid.
"Uh-huh," replied Lana.
"Doctor Who," murmured Chloe.
At which point the door to the Tardis opened and three figures emerged.
Chloe looked at the three figures, the guy calling himself Bart who she'd just seen in The Talon, a taller man with short brown hair and a leather jacket, and a blonde-haired girl. Sadly, for Chloe, there was a complete absence of plaid.
Chloe and Lana marched up to the strangers.
"Where's Clark?" asked Chloe, voicing the question that was on both their minds.
"And what's with this funny money?" added Lana, waving the dollar bills Jimmy had given her earlier in front of him.
"Relax," replied The Doctor. "There's no need to panic - Clark's just slightly lost for the moment."
"Lost?" echoed Lana. "Well shouldn't we try and find him?"
"Well, that's kind of difficult. We don't know where he is or when he is or what reality he's in (assuming that he's not stuck between realities)."
"So he could be lost forever?" asked Chloe.
"Exactly." The Doctor nodded and smiled reassuringly. "Now if you could just direct us to his parents we can prepare them for the possible eventuality that they'll never see him again."
As he wandered directionless through the pounding rain, Clark realized that he'd probably never see his parents again, or Lana or Chloe or Pete. What was Pete doing in that graveyard anyway? Had he come back to Smallville when he'd heard his friend Clark had gone missing? It didn't matter now - Pete, all of them, were dead. Nothing mattered anymore.
And then Clark noticed where he was, where he'd walked to. This bridge was where he'd first met Lex. If only he'd not been there on that day, then Lex would have died in the water below, the water in which he could now see mutant heads bobbing to the surface, and his parents and friends would still be alive.
"Feeling sorry for yourself?" asked a voice behind him. "Thinking this is all your fault?"
Clark didn't even bother turning. "Of course it's my fault. If I … if the meteors had never come to Smallville then …" Clark's words got stuck in his throat just as tears started to come to his eyes.
"Pathetic," replied the voice. "I don't know why my master cares so much about you."
Clark turned towards the voice and, as if on cue, there was a flash of lightning, illuminating the stranger. He was wearing a long cape and his headgear prevented Clark from seeing all of his face.
Unimpressed, Clark turned away again. "You may as well leave, stranger. Leave me with my memories."
"That's all you've got left, isn't it?" replied the stranger. "Thinking of giving up?"
"Why do you care?" asked Clark, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I've come to help you."
"What, is this one of those It's A Wonderful Life things?" laughed Clark, through his tears. "Are you an angel who's going to show me how Smallville could have been even worse if I hadn't shown up?"
The stranger was silent.
"No, it couldn't be any worse, could it? This wasn't how things were supposed to be."
And then Clark remembered the photograph that the other stranger had dropped inside The Talon hours, or was it years, ago. He'd forgotten all about it - thinking it must be a fake, not knowing the stranger could travel through time - but now he put his hand in his pocket, desperate to dig it out, to see that wedding photo, where he was marrying Lois, desperate for a look at the future that should have been.
He pulled the photo out but it wasn't how he remembered it. The bride Lois was as beautiful as before, although her face looked sadder than he remembered, and her white wedding dress had now turned black and, most importantly of all, she was now marrying Lex Luthor. "The photograph … it's changed," he gasped.
"Looks like time's catching up with you," observed the stranger.
Clark turned to the stranger and, to the stranger's surprise, was smiling like an idiot. "But this photo's got the date written on it, and that date's in the future. That means that that time-traveler will be there at Lex and Lois' wedding and that means I can get him to take me back in time with him."
"Well actually someone will come to rescue you before then," explained the stranger, "but they'll be too late." And with that he took a wooden lead-lined box out from beneath his cape, and opened it to reveal a glowing green rock.
"But I thought you were here to help me," said Clark, backing up against the side of the bridge.
"I was, but that's when I thought you were feeling suicidal."
Clark struggled to reply "I still am," as, using all his remaining strength he threw himself over the side of the bridge.
Sadly it was to no avail, as, just before he hit the water, Clark felt something wrap around his ankle. As Clark struggled on the end of a rope, the stranger pulled Clark back up to the bridge and then, in the green glow of the kryptonite, held Clark up by his neck.
"Who are you?" asked Clark.
"I'm Batman!"
