Chapter Twenty - Sinful Thoughts

"What's happening?"

Chloe turned her head around towards the voice and saw that Clark had suddenly materialized behind her. Recently it seemed that he didn't even care who knew about his super powers.

"Nothing, Clark, just a little disagreement between Jimmy and Ursa."

"She broke his finger?" asked Clark, looking at Jimmy's hand, which The Doctor was now repairing with his sonic screwdriver.

"No, that was me," confessed Chloe, and then thought it best to change the subject. "Anyway, what's this reality like?"

Jimmy Olsen cringed, knowing that this probably wasn't the best question for Chloe to ask Clark.

"Well I met Lana but she looked an awful lot like … let's not go into it, okay. Maybe it's best if we just carry on with our journey."

"Good idea," said The Doctor, leaving Jimmy and moving towards the control console. "Time for our next bite of reality."

"Where are the others?" asked Clark, as the Tardis started its journey.

"Well, Zod's still laid up in bed," explained Rose. "As for Uncle Fester, he's gone off to take care of Morticia."

Clark shook his head and sighed. He'd left the Tardis for just a couple of hours and while he was away they'd gone and picked up the Addams family of all people. This day just got weirder and weirder.

"Okay, we've reached our destination," interrupted The Doctor as the Tardis finally finished its latest journey. "We'll have to stay here a few hours while I make repairs, so you may as well go out, take in the local sights, send your friends some postcards."

Clark suddenly disappeared from Chloe's sight. "He couldn't wait to leave," she said.

"Shouldn't you have told him the truth about Ursa?" asked Jimmy.

"No, if he finds out that Zod and Ursa might have killed Lana then he may turn into a weapon of mass destruction. Trust me, that's not going to happen."

"Thanks for breaking my finger anyway," responded Jimmy. "If you hadn't done that Ursa would have killed me."

"No, The Doctor would have saved you," Chloe reassured Jimmy.

"That's right," agreed Rose, joining in.

"Well, thanks, Chloe, anyway," said Jimmy. "I owe my life to you."

"Forget about it, Jimmy," said Chloe dismissively. "After all I could never let anything happen to you. There's a bond between us."

"There is?" said Jimmy hopefully. He knew about the feelings he'd started to develop for Chloe but he was convinced she only had eyes for Clark.

"Sure, we're both reporters," explained Chloe. "So, Jimmy, any good stories in this place?"

"Lots of stories, all depressing. The Black Pack should feel right at home here."

"Sounds like fun," said Chloe sarcastically.

"And most things are in monochrome," warned Jimmy Olsen, "so don't freak out when the color drains from you, and also you'll find yourself constantly narrating your own actions in some hard-boiled internal monologue - that takes some getting used to."

"You're making this up," laughed Chloe.

"Wish I was," said Jimmy.


Her name was Lana. She was my reason for living, but now she was dead, on ice, and nothing could bring her back. That's why I'd come to this bar, to try and forget, but I'd never forget Lana. I look around, nearly everything black and white, including me. I look down at my jeans, bright blue, the same color as the Tardis when I sped away from it. Normally I wear red and blue, but these days I'm just blue. The red's gone out of my world and so has the pink. I look at the dancer on stage in the cowboy outfit. She's pretty but she's no Lana. As far as I'm concerned she may as well be invisible.

I drink another beer, my thirtieth, and I don't know how, maybe it's this reality, but I'm starting to get drunk. Getting harder to think, reaction times slowing down, coordination getting tricky - a bit like losing my powers. Still I keep drinking, hoping that I'll get to see some elephants, hoping that they'll be pink.


"Can I help you with your repairs?" Rose asked The Doctor as she sat down next to him on the floor.

"Go away," said The Doctor bluntly.

"Well there's no need to be rude," said an indignant Rose Tyler.

"I'm not being rude," explained The Doctor. "I'm being honest. The Tardis' problems are psychological not physical."

"Psychological? In what way?"

"The Tardis is sentient, and the Tardis is telepathic. It is also, at the moment, carrying far too many passengers with far too many emotional problems. Basically it just needs a rest. Otherwise I'm afraid of what it might do."

"What do you think it might do?" asked a concerned Rose.

"Remedy the situation," replied The Doctor. As Rose looked at him blankly, he elaborated. "The Tardis is telepathic. It alters our minds routinely to cope with language problems. What if it starts altering minds to deal with its own problems?"

"What if it already has?" asked Rose. "What if it's responsible for getting Zod and Ursa to kill Lana Lang?"

"Exactly," said The Doctor.

"I think I'll pop out for a while," said Rose, getting up and leaving the Tardis. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stay in it anymore, especially if it was turning into a serial killer.


It's just like Jimmy said. We're both black and white and in my head I'm narrating this tale that no-one will ever read. We're in a bar, full of lowlifes, the jukebox only plays moody background music, and over there I can see Clark and his bright blue trousers. With his eyes he can see anything he wants to see, but he doesn't see me. I just blend in with the rest of the black and white. Still, if he could see me, he'd just be looking through me, wondering why I couldn't have died rather than Lana. So here I sit, trying to ignore the way Jimmy's looking at me, and wondering if any of this is real or if I've just gone mad. Still, it doesn't matter. Whatever my story is, it's depressing. Just like Jimmy said.
Lex had been trying to reason with Ursa, talk some sense into her, teach her the meaning of patience, when The Doctor had caught up with them and ordered them, along with a limping Zod, off the Tardis until he'd finished repairing it. At least that was what he told them. Lex half expected the blue Tardis to disappear the minute they left it for the black and white landscape outside. Fortunately, as the narrator inside his head insisted on reminding him, this had proved not to be the case. The only things to disappear were Zod and Ursa.

That was hours ago, and Lex had looked for them everywhere, including a seedy bar where a drunken Clark had insisted on polishing Lex's head. Finally, just when Lex had given up hope, he heard a loud bang and felt a burning in his chest. Slumping to the ground, he looked up to see Ursa standing over him, a smoking pistol in her hand, her black costume now stained white.

And then everything went black.