Chapter 11:
Lois didn't know if she should laugh or she should cry: barely believing what her eyes were showing. Her own sister was part of the gang who kidnapped her. She hadn't heard from her sister in years: Clark's departure from Smallville years ago with unfinished issues with Lex made possible for Lucy a second chance but quickly Lucy made a lot of mistakes and her troubled relationship with Lois only got worse and Lucy left everything behind, disappearing and until then, Lois had never Lucy again.
"Lois Lane speechless? That's a new one…" – Lucy remarked sarcastically.
Her surprise was too big to articulate any words but eventually she asked the obvious question. - "What's going on Lucy?"
"Always direct, cut the crap…" – she signaled the other members to come at her side. – "Meet the gang: Michael Dubois, prankster, all interested in meeting Superman. Do you know where he is?"
"Taking a vacation at the Bahamas: I've heard its great this time of the year." – Lois answered ironically.
"Always sassy, always the same: Old habits die hard." – Lucy declared with a touch of bitterness.
"He'll find me." – She stated, flatly.
Lucy approached Lois, standing right in front of her, smiling. - "That's a universal law: whenever Lois Lane is at danger, Superman always shows up to the rescue and believe me sis, we're counting on it." - She began to put the pieces together: the kidnapping, the signal watch. It was very simple: she had become a bait to lure Superman into a trap.
Fate had always playing tricks on both of them not letting them be together and then she knew they couldn't be together since she was going to be the bait for the trap: Providence was cruel sometimes.
Star City, September 2010:
They were having dinner at one of the several dinning rooms that enormous mansion had.
She stopped eating, looking around the room: it was a fantastic room. Oliver prepared a dinner, a romantic environment which every romantic woman would dream of: candle light, roses all over the room, the wood burning at the fireplace, something that would impress even her: although she wasn't the romantic type, she liked a little romance from time to time and everything in that room was perfect with one exception: herself.
They began dating almost a year ago when Oliver Queen was in Metropolis for a period for six months and they were introduced by a mutual friend. Oliver Queen was the leader of Queen Industries and his business lead him to Metropolis. If Bruce Wayne was Gotham's favorite son, Oliver Queen was definitely Star City's equivalent. Rich, slightly spoiled, he and Lois clashed in the beginning and eventually their attraction for each other lead things to become quite serious to point which Lois requested transfer to Star City when she finished her graduation. It seemed everything was going on wheels but that day had brought something she wasn't expecting: precious information about Clark Kent.
She was a friend of Barbara Gordon: her father had become the new commissioner of Gotham City and was best friend of general Lane, her father. Both women went at the same school for a year and when one time Barbara was being bullied, Lois helped her and became close friends. When the Lane family went to Europe again, Lois and Barbara maintained contact in spite of the distance. For years they had frequent contact, mostly from email but occasionally they would meet, most of the times, in Metropolis.
Barbara was slightly younger than Lois, four years to be more precise and recently she had become a freshman in Gotham University while Lois was finishing her degree at Met-U and was already working at the Planet along with Chloe.
Lois told Barbara about Clark and everything that happened between them, the good and the bad and even showed a photo of Clark to Barbara in their last meet. Then, in that day, in that morning, Barbara called her with a shocking revelation: Barbara told Lois she had seen Clark in Gotham University.
The affirmation shook her world: nevertheless Lois asked Barbara to take a picture of the man she thought she saw. Hours later during the afternoon, Lois received an mms in her cell phone: there was no mistake, it was Clark Kent.
She froze, seeing him once again, after four years. What she thought was long gone, had resurfaced once again: The memories, the times spent together, the love. She couldn't stop thinking about him and she kept thinking about him all afternoon: sudden and strong doubts took over her mind.
"Should I go to him? What would be his reaction? Is he still in love with me? And Ollie?"
"Something's wrong?" – asked Oliver seeing Lois so distant.
Oliver's question pulled her back to reality.- "No." – she quickly replied but once she looked at him, she no longer hided the truth. – "Yes."
Oliver became apprehensive about Lois's indecision: he had never seen her like that.
"I found out where Clark is." – She confessed unsure of Oliver's reaction: she told Oliver once about Clark when they started dating. Lois had refused Oliver a couple of times but Oliver insisted and learned about the man who left such a big mark on Lois.
Lois looked at Oliver: she could see how concerned he was but she wasn't sure if he was concerned about her or if he was concerned about a ghost who somehow had always hunted their relationship.
"Where is he?" – Oliver asked cautiously, trying to be as neutral as possible.
"Gotham…"
"Do you want to go there?"
"I almost gave up searching for him but now…"
"…since you know where he is, you want to meet him." – Oliver got up and came close to her, grabbing her hand, looking fixedly at her. – "You have to let go your past: live your present and share your future with me."
"What if I don't see you in my future?" – Lois looked at him and Oliver stepped back: his worst fears were taking shape and he knew both had to make a decision.
"I can't live with a ghost between us Lois. Don't live your past." – Slowly Lois got up and approached Oliver and kissed him.
"He's my past, present and future." – She declared once the kiss stopped and Oliver knew that was the goodbye kiss. – "I'm sorry Oliver."
She stepped back and saw how devastated he was: her hand reached his cheek. – "There's someone for you out there: maybe some blonde with a stunning voice." - Oliver remained silent and she turned her back on him and left him alone.
Quickly she grabbed her stuff and took a taxi to the airport to take the next flight to Gotham City where Barbara was expecting her. Once she arrived to Gotham, she and Barbara went to the Gotham University where they searched for Clark. Speaking with a lot of people, they discovered Clark's location: they went to the university campus, to his room and entered his room but it was clean as if no one was sleeping there for days.
Talking with some of Clark's colleagues, they discovered a strange but important friendship Clark had since he arrived to Gotham: Bruce Wayne.
Fortunately for them, Barbara Gordon's father, the new Gotham's Police Commissioner was a good friend of Bruce Wayne and he managed to arrange an appointment between them and Bruce.
They headed to the Wayne tech building, in Gotham's downtown and waited in the waiting-room for Bruce.
Finally after some time, the secretary came to them and led them to Bruce's office: Both entered and Barbara was impressed about the office while Lois, who was accustomed to Oliver's luxuries, wasn't impressed and was more concerned about hearing news about Clark.
"Ladies…" – he pulled two chairs for Lois and Barbara to sit. – "…what can I do for you?"
Lois took of her purse a photo and handled it to Bruce. – "You know him, don't you?"
Bruce grabbed the picture and looked at it. – "Clark! Of course I know him…"
"Where is he?" - Lois asked promptly, interrupting Bruce, waiting impatiently for the answer she desperately needed.
Bruce looked carefully at Lois and soon understood what was happening. – "I'm afraid to say that Clark left Gotham days ago. He came to me and said he had to go away, his past was tracking him."
Lois remained silent while Barbara seeing Lois upset, she apologized to Bruce. – "Sorry, Mr. Wayne. Thank you for your help."
"You're welcome." – Bruce showed a sly smile while Barbara grabbed Lois and both walked out of there and exited the room leaving Bruce all alone.
He went back to his desk and grabbed his cell phone and dialed. – "Hello? Yes… she was here, you know?"
"She was devastated when I told her you're gone. Are you sure about this, Clark?"
"Fine! I've a good friend at Oxford's and I'll tell Alfred to arrange everything for your transfer. Keep in touch."
He hung up the phone and went to the window, seeing them at the street, Barbara comforting Lois. – "Happy endings are for fairy tales."
October 2016, somewhere in the skies:
His feet had reached the top of the plane: x-raying the plane, he saw several people heading towards one section of the plane and calmly he walked in same direction as they were but he was still outside. The air patrol was surrounding the plane like hawks waiting for their chance to strike however; he knew they couldn't attack the highest and most important man of the nation. Still x-raying, he followed them from outside and quickly he realized they wanted to evacuate Luthor.
However something else caught his attention: something hit the plane's rear, destroying its stern: Immediately he went to the plane's rear from where he heard someone shouting. – "LEX DIE!"
With the plane disestablishing as he looked to the rear, he noticed someone with the same outfit as his one: the person was about to tear apart the door which separate them but he managed to quick enough to grab the other person's arm.
"Stop!" – Superman shouted and he became shocked with the vision he just had: the other person was just like him in every way, the hair, the eyes, and nose, everything just like him.
"NO! LEX DIE!" – he punched Superman throwing him away from the plane but quickly Superman recovered and again was quick enough to embrace his other him, immobilizing him for seconds, enough time for the Air Force One to escape from the rage: however three planes from the patrol stayed behind and launched an attack on both men, shooting missiles.
With the missiles hitting both men, Superman let loose his copy. – "BUGS!" – The copy shouted, angrily and immediately used the heat vision to wipe out the three planes. With the planes taken down, the creature set its course to the Air Force One which was far ahead but Superman stood in his front and punched him.
"I won't let you do this." – Superman declared, resolute which ticked off even more the copy and furiously he attacked Superman.
In the middle of the air, both fought against each other: one man angered, determined to kill the President of the United States of America while on the other side was Superman resolute to save the President, the man who wanted his head on a plate. He knew that bizarre creature he was battling against had made things worse for him but if the creature killed Lex, he knew the worst has yet to come.
Fighting each other, with punches and kicks, they went down in spiral until they reached the ground causing a massive crater: Clouds of dust emerged from the ground but the lack of sight didn't hold them. The fight continued, using their hears as a guide: the smallest noise indicated their position and each one diverted the opponent's attack until Superman was able to catch off guard his adversary and punched him.
With his foe lay down, Superman was able to immobilize him, at least temporarily, putting his arm around the opponent's neck: the creature was with the stomach faced to the ground.
"Who are you?" – Superman inquired the creature, still stunned.
"Me?... Me am you…" – the creature replied with some difficulty.
"What do you want?"
"LEX DIE!" – a sudden and unexpected strength came from the creature and set free from Superman: the two were standing in front of each other ready for another round when suddenly a familiar sound reached their hears.
Immediately Superman recognized the sound: he would identify it anywhere, at anytime; Jimmy's signal watch. Unfortunately that sound always meant trouble and in that particular case, it meant double trouble.
Jimmy was in trouble and he was battling someone just like him, just as powerful as him and apparently his opponent was also hearing the sound Jimmy's watch was emitting.
He also thought about Lex: he couldn't let Lex at the hands of the creature he probably created. No matter how hard he wanted Lex out of the way, his death would only made things worse.
He faced a moral dilemma but quickly he made a decision: he focused his hearing, trying to "find" Air Force One but he heard nothing. Possibly the plane had already made an emergency landing and Lex had been evacuated. The worst case scenario was the plane crash and he was going to be somehow held responsible for the plane crash.
The signal watch had to wait a little longer: the twisted copy was still distracted the signal's watch and attacked the creature, punching hardly, tossing it against a wall of stone and continued punching it, repeatedly at super-speed until the creature was too dizzy. The punches had created a vertical depression and taking the chance, Superman lifted a huge rock and stuck the creature between the mountain and the huge stone.
He knew the creature wasn't going to be stopped that way but at least it was the best he could do in such short notice: he had to be fast as the signal watch kept ringing.
Superman took the opportunity: he focused his hearing again but that time, he focused on Jimmy's signal watch and he flew away leaving the creature alone and stuck in the mountain. He flew as fast he could, straight forward to the source until he arrived at the location, the Daily Planet rooftop.
The watch was on the floor, still emitting the signal: he grabbed the watch and out of nowhere he heard someone.
"Finally we got your attention." – He looked around but saw no one. – "You don't have to worry about Jimmy Olsen. He's at Metropolis general hospital but he's not the issue here. On the other way, Lois is…"
"If you harmed her in anyway…" – Anger began clouding his judgment but the voice interrupted him, forcing him to regain logic.
"Lois is fine and she will continue like that if you cooperate with us."
"I'm listening." – He stated, expectantly.
"There's a universal law: whenever Lois Lane is in danger, Superman goes to the rescue. This time, if you want to save her, be ready within three hours: we will broadcast the coordinates for our meeting, to take you to the Metropolis P.D and take the prize which is your alien ass."
Just as the voice appeared, the voice disappeared:
He felt he was losing control of the situation: there were too many loose ends to tie up and explanations were harder to find. The subject Metallo had recovered the long gone human conscience and the cost was his right hand and the lost opportunity to kill Superman. And then, minutes ago, the subject of project BIZARRO tried to kill him in the middle of the air and he had to thank Superman for saving his life: how ironic the situation was becoming since he was trying to kill the man who saved him minutes ago.
Somehow, Superman and Bizarro stayed behind and an emergency landing was made and immediately he was evacuated to the nearest Air Force base while several fighting planes flew to encounter Superman and Bizarro.
Hidden in a bunker, alone in a room, he expected anxiously for news: he walked around, impatiently like a lion inside a cage until finally someone entered the room: Mercy, his personal assistant.
"Give me some good news." – He walked to her, expectant.
She raised an eyebrow. - "I've got good and bad news. Which one do you prefer I tell you?"
"The good first."
"We have a lead on Clark Kent's whereabouts." – Mercy handled a photo to Lex who looked carefully at it. Good, bring him here."
"And now the bad news…" – Mercy delivered a report to Lex. – "According to the latest report, the military base where Project BIZARRO was held, was destroyed by the program's subject: it killed Dr. Donovan and his assistants. As you know, Mr. President, Superman's D.N.A isn't possible to recreate perfectly: its clones died shortly after being released from the cryogenic capsule. Its structural cell integrity collapsed hours later but it served your purposes by using the latest clone to simulate an attempt on your life in order to capture and kill Superman."
What she said, was nothing new to him and he wanted an answer for his question. - "Why isn't he dead?"
"Well, it seems this last clone maintains its cell integrity but loses its mental faculties: this is only speculation but since the subject has lost some mental faculties, probably has confused its gold: instead of faking an attempt on your life, it actually wants to kill you."
"And now I have a Frankstein stalker with homicidal tendencies…" – he turned around and debruçou over the table.
"What about Metallo?" – He asked, unaware of Metallo's whereabouts.
"Unknown…" – Mercy replied: Abruptly, he threw everything which was over the table against the wall. – "Get me Kent!"
Metropolis General Hospital: it wasn't the first time he was there and every time he was there, he hoped it would be the last time. A lot of his friends had been there and this time it was no different: this time was his pal, Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen.
Discretely, he managed to enter the hospital without being noticed: he ran at super-speed, fast enough to read the log and know where Jimmy was. Everyone saw nothing and just got the impression of a freakish wind along the corridors of hospital.
Finally he arrived at Jimmy's room and entered quietly.
"Superman!?" – Jimmy was surprised to see him like that: a gabardine covering all the tights and cape leaving only the red boots at sight.
"How are you doing?" – He asked concerned with his friend.
"I'm fine. How did you know I'm here?" – The thought had crossed Jimmy's mind since only Perry and one or two of his friends came to see him.
"I know Lois was kidnapped: whoever they are, they want me and they threat to kill her unless I show up."
Jimmy's memory was still fuzzy about those last moments before he lost consciousness. – "Yeah she was…" –
"Do you have any idea who they were?" – Superman asked but hesitant: he watched his friend in bad shape and he didn't want to push his friend to the limit with such recent trauma but Lois was in danger. Jimmy tried, hardly, to remember more about those last seconds but nothing came up.
"I'm sorry but I'm blank."-
Superman approached Jimmy and put his hand on Jimmy's shoulder, assuring him. – "Rest Jimmy, don't worry."
However, his worries only increased when the same voice talked to him. – "Superman…wherever you are, time's up. You're going to the Metropolis Harbor, warehouse nº14 and you're going to wait there."
"What is it?" – Jimmy noticed a sudden change in Superman: he could see how apprehensive Superman was.
"I have to go. Take care." – Abruptly Jimmy lost sight of Superman.
He flew away, raising high above, in the sky of Metropolis: he stopped and looked at the Metropolis Harbor.
Slowly he dove until his feet touched the floor: he walked to the warehouse nº14 but his surprise, Lois was lay down at the warehouse's entrance unconscious.
He walked to her, suspiciously: he didn't know what to expect. He was feeling a mixture of relief, anxiety and suspicion: He bended one knee and x-rayed Lois. Fortunately she had nothing wrong, just a couple of bruises.
"She's fine." – Slowly Superman looked at the direction from where the voice was coming from.
"Lucy Lane…" – he recognized her: it was a long time since he last saw her. She didn't know Clark Kent and Superman were only one and the same but he did know what happened to her.
"You don't have to worry about me." – Lucy stated, trying to assure Superman but he didn't believe her. Then he noticed someone coming out of the shadow.
"Flash…" – Finally he was relieved by someone familiar: slowly he noticed more and more heroes showing up. – "Green Arrow…Wonder Woman…Cyborg…Aquaman…Black Canary…Thank you so much for helping me…" – he grabbed Lois with his arms and lifted her, carrying her.
"We need to stop Luthor. There's…"
"This isn't what you think, Superman." – Wonder Woman interrupted him, stepping forward. He looked at her, confused. – "What?"
"Put Lois on the ground, Superman. We're here to take you to justice." – Aquaman declared.
The relief faded instantly: then he noticed he was surrounded by the heroes, forming a perfect hexagon ready to go to battle if necessary.
Wonder Woman stepped forward. - "So, what's going to be Kal? The easy way or the hard way?"
To be continued…
eheheheheheAAA