Hey, guys. I'm back with Chapter Three for Second Chance. I'd like to give a quick shout-out and thank-you to DC Watchergirl for writing the sequence for where Lois, Kara, and Megan go dress shopping. As much as I'd hate to admit it, I've never really had a girlfriend, so I don't really know what it was like shopping for clothes, let alone wedding dresses, I am not that old yet, and I certainly don't want to be seen as a cross-dresser. Check out her works, because she's half the reason I started work on fanfics back in 2017. (The other half was LOTSLOVER.) Btw, if you're reading this, Ozai37, don't get jealous.
Edit 11/5/2018: Added missing words to sentences. It's not like we're Bethesda releasing video games.
Gotham, New Jersey; November 11, 2077 11:40 PM EST
After telling Dana his plan, Terry was once again flying towards another emergency.
He reached the origin point of said emergency, which was the Gotham City Mall, and had... a dead White Martian.
"My God." Terry whispered in shock, as he realized that M'gann was killed.
A dozen police officers, plus an ambulance speeder, were at the crime scene, Sergeant Matthew McGinnis among them.
After discovering that his older brother was Batman, Matt evidently wanted to follow Terry's footsteps by joining law enforcement.
Terry glided towards his brother to find out what had happened.
"Sergeant McGinnis," Terry greeted, as he was not sure if the other officers knew their secret.
"Batman," Matt saluted back.
"What exactly happened here?" Terry asked.
"It is no secret that ever since Miss Martian's failed suicide, she has experienced accidental telepathy and shapeshifting." Matt redundantly explained. "The traumas she endured during the invasion and afterwards gradually destroyed her mind, making her a vegetable. And on her so-called 'good days', she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Just a few minutes ago, she had accidentally attacked my squadron of police officers telepathically."
There was a brief pause afterwards, as Matt didn't know how to tell his brother what happened.
"I... I had to shoot her in self-defense to save my squad." Matt confessed. "I'm sorry."
If Terry's mind had a mouth, it would be agape in shock right now. He didn't know how to respond to his brother's confession.
He didn't know if he should be feeling angry for killing M'gann M'orzz or to be thankful for putting her out of her decades-long misery.
Terry sighed as he made up his mind on what to do.
"I shall be the one to tell Superman what has happened to Miss Martian." Terry decided. "It's not your fault, Sergeant. I know you would have found a nonlethal solution if it was possible."
Terrence began flying away again, and activated his communicator to speak with Clark.
"Superman here." The familiar voice spoke. "Who is it?"
"It's Terry. Just found out that M'gann was killed in Gotham." Terry reported. "Officer had to shoot her to save his squadron."
"So, I guess I really am the last." A somber voice sang.
Not the last Kryptonian. But rather the last of his family.
Even though Conner and Megan never married, they were close to each other for so long, Clark essentially considered Megan to be an in-law.
Now she was gone too. The number of heroes on Earth was getting smaller every day, thanks to age, illness, or violence.
For M'gann's case, it was all three. Because of the erratic shapeshifting and telepathy as a result of her failed suicide, she was soon diagnosed as mentally ill. And as she began to grow older, her mind deteriorated as well. Whereas she was previously able to live for centuries with virtually no side-effects, her failed suicide had damaged her brain and caused her to age poorly, therefore making her a vegetable. In fact, her death at Matt's hands might be considered a mercy-kill, as she would no longer have to suffer anymore. And if there was a heaven, she and Conner would meet each other once again. Although, it might become awkward if they both looked the same as when they died. Hmm.
"Clark." Terry finally spoke.
"Yes?" Clark responded.
"I've decided that I'm going back to the past to fix what went wrong." Terry told him. "I'm going to make sure that your family doesn't die violently. I'm going to make sure that Darkseid doesn't devastate the planet. If I succeed, none of these tragedies will never happen."
"Bruce told me about your mission. I hope you're right." Clark wished.
"See you in negative fifty years." Terry said as he cut the signal.
At least I won't have to worry about a political backlash regarding M'gann's death. Terry thought as he flew back to the Batcave.
Gotham, New Jersey; February 20, 2027 12:01 PM EST
Bruce Wayne jolted awake from his bed in reaction to yet another nightmare. This time, it was the Joker dropping Rachel down to her death a dozen years ago.
Not even the scent of the afterglow in the bedroom that he and Diana shared could calm him down.
Turning his head towards his lower left, he saw an equally naked Diana, covered only by the sheets.
Needing to refresh, Bruce grabbed himself a pair of pants to put on and left to go get a glass of water from the adjacent bathroom.
Had he turned around, he would have seen Diana wake up in reaction out of worry for her lover.
He grabbed the glass, and turned the faucet to pour cold water.
He flipped the light switch to gaze upon in the mirror the reflection of a man who had been having too little sleep for the past three nights.
The glass finally full, Bruce turned off the water, and downed the cool liquid.
But not even half a dozen ice cubes could help the drink cool down the sweating man.
Once he put the glass down, he turned around to see Diana with a red and blue bathrobe on. Evidently, she grabbed it from the closet in the opposite side of the bedroom.
"Bruce, you had another nightmare." Diana stated, noting the times that Bruce had awoken prematurely in the middle of the night before.
"First, my parents shot, then Jason being blown up, now Rachel falling to her demise." Bruce reiterated.
Early on in Bruce's career as Batman, Rachel Dawes had been taken hostage by the Joker, and Bruce came to her rescue.
Unfortunately, the encounter resulted in her death, and the ensuing fight that ended on the streets would have ended in Joker's, had Dawes not spent her final breaths making Bruce promise her that he would never take a life.
He would have gone to a self-destructive spiral if it weren't for his going to one of Zatanna's shows later that week.
Unfortunately, their relationship had to end, following Bruce taking in Dick Grayson as his first ward, though their amicable parting probably had more to do with how their last date happened to be at the circus where Dick's parents were murdered.
"It's going to be okay, Bruce." Diana promised, with zero hint of seduction in her eyes, but rather sad concern.
Bruce smiled back, and was about to give her a gentle kiss, when the communicator implant started ringing.
"Bruce, you there?" Nightwing called.
Bruce groaned before he responded.
"Yes, Dick. What is it?" Batman asked.
"We have a problem." Dick answered, semi-ominously. "D.I. accidentally walked in on Wally and Linda's 'soap play' in the sauna's showers, and fainted as a result. He's stable, now, but we need you back on the Watchtower ASAP."
Damn it. This was why Bruce didn't want a party up there in the first place. Because he knew that Wally would somehow screw up.
"Okay, Richard." Bruce said. "I'll be right there. Just let me get in my uniform."
"Sorry if I interrupted an intimate moment between you and Diana." Dick semi-sarcastically apologized. "If it makes you feel better, Wally's call interrupted me and Kory."
An awkward pause filled the space between their next words.
"Hey, at least we have the discretion to do it inside our quarters." Dick defended.
"Fair enough. Batman out." Bruce ended the signal and smiled before giving Diana a brief peck on the lips and leaving to head towards the Batcave to equip his uniform.
Watchtower, Orbit; February 20, 2027 00:15
Batman, Nightwing, and Kid Flash were now in the infirmary, wearing their uniforms, checking on D.I.
"Judging from the trauma received by falling backwards, D.I's likely out for the next week." Wally reported.
"And judging from previous incidents regarding being knocked out, it's more than likely that we might be in for a personality change from him." Dick reported.
"What is it that they say again?" Bruce sardonically asked. "'What happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom,' I believe the saying goes. If you can't keep yourself under control, at least don't do it in the sauna's showers."
"And how many times were your love affairs on the front page for the tabloids?" Wally shot back. "I know you've got at least one illegitimate kid!"
"Those affairs were faked." Dick explained. "Bruce sent them home without bedding them, then he paid the media to spread libel about his playboy antics."
Frozen in shock, Wally's mouth was agape. Keeping his mouth shut was the only thing Bruce could do to keep himself from bursting out laughing.
Once he had proper self-control, he began speaking to Nightwing.
"Once he is freed from shock, tell him that he's on sauna cleaning duty again." Bruce ordered, alluding to the time when Wally was punished for two-timing Artemis and Jinx, though that never really took effect due to the subsequent brutality inflicted on him by Roy.
Dick chuckled at the punishment, as his mentor left.
"And by the way, I'm holding you accountable for what happened." Bruce called from the hallways.
It was Nightwing's turn for his mouth to drop in shock, as he couldn't believe that he would be blamed for something that wasn't even remotely his fault.
"I'll take responsibility over Wally's dead body!" Dick retorted. He really hoped that it would never come to that.
Metropolis, New Jersey; February 27, 2027 9:30 AM EST
About a week later, Lois, Kara, and Megan started shopping for wedding dresses, as there was still the matter of the wedding that would take place at the start of spring. In addition to providing funding for the ceremony, Bruce was hiring private security contractors to protect Smallville from threats such as Luthor and Darkseid.
Megan was somewhat amused to know that her shapeshifting would be used to test how Lois would look in the various dresses.
Lois was surprised to find out that Conner didn't really take advantage of Megan's shapeshifting that often, besides in Justice League operations.
Lois's red and blue Porsche entered the shopping mall's parking lot, and the three women exited the car.
Raising the brown glasses that Clark gave her for her twentieth birthday, Kara walked casually along with Lois and Megan.
It was a really good thing that neither she or the White Martian were on the Watchtower right now, as D.I. had recently become very rude after awakening from his week-long coma just hours ago.
Clark had secretly assigned Kara to protect Lois, should Metropolis come under attack today.
Had Lois found out, she would have found it very cute how much Clark cared.
Clark was covering for Lois's shift at the Daily Planet right now, so he couldn't keep an eye on her.
Entering the clothes store of the mall, the trio of women looked around at how much clothing was for sale.
"Whoa," Kara said.
"So many dresses," Megan added. "How we ever going to find 'THE ONE' for Lois?"
"Lois, you have any ideas what you what?" Kara asked.
"Well, I have a picture in my head but..." Lois began. Megan eyes glowed briefly.
"Ah, that dress is so pretty!" Megan said. They looked at her questioningly. "I read her mind. So now that I know what it looks like I can help you find it! Come on!" She grabbed Lois' arm and they took off for one of the aisles near the back of the store.
"Um... would it be too much to ask to be clued in?" Kara called. She then ran to catch up to them. She found them in an aisle that had ballroom type wedding gowns. Megan had already given Lois at least five dresses.
"And here's one more," Megan said as she placed one more into Lois's arms. "Now you can go try them on!"
"Wow," Kara said in awe when she noticed one of the dresses on the aisle. She ran her fingers over the chest design of one of them. "SOOOO pretty!"
"Um, Kara could you give me a hand?" Lois asked. "I need some help finding the dressing room." Kara turned to look at her.
"Oh! Sure," Kara responded. "Follow me." She and Megan both guided Lois to the dressing room, which thankfully for Lois, was close by. Lois went inside and Megan and Kara waited.
"So, what was the dress she had in mind?" Kara asked.
"It was a ballroom type gown with tiny scales on the skirt part and a lacy pattern on the top and pearls on the hems... Oh, it was SO beautiful!" Megan told her.
"It's wonderful, marriage, don't you think?" Kara said. Megan nodded.
"Yes, it is," Megan responded.
"And exciting! Kind of makes you wonder who's next," Kara said.
"What are you implying?" Megan asked. Kara shrugged her shoulders.
"I was just wondering if I'm possibly going to have a cousin-in-law soon," Kara said. Megan's surprise was written all over her face and Kara giggled. Megan blushed.
"Now Kara, that's, um, well... Hey, let's see how Lois is doing?" Megan said hastily. She went over to the stall which Lois was in. "You okay in there?"
"Not really," Lois called back. "This dress is tight on my breasts and I'm having a hard time zipping it up."
"Well...try on the next one then," Megan responded. "Come out when you're ready." Megan then went back to Kara and sat down next to her.
"Soooo, you never answered my question," Kara reminded her.
"Kara, I don't know," Megan replied. "I'd like to but from what I've heard the man is supposed to ask the woman. Not the other way around."
"You have a point," Kara responded. "Can I borrow your phone?"
"Why do you want my phone?" Megan asked.
"So I can call Conner and tell him he's an idiot for not proposing to you," Kara said. Megan's jaw dropped.
"Kara!" Megan exclaimed.
"What?" Kara responded. "He is. We all know he loves you."
"Yes but..." Megan started. Then Lois walked out in one of the dresses. It was white, had shoulder-straps with pearly and lacy flowers, and had a "belt" like that at her waist with one large flower in the middle.
"So? What do you think?" Lois asked. "Cause I don't like this one."
"Same," Kara agreed.
"Yeah, it's too... simple," Megan said.
"I'll try the next one," Lois said. She went back to the stall.
"Anyways... so have you grown a pair?" Megan asked.
"Me? No, not yet," Kara answered. "I'd like to."
"Anyone in particular?" Megan asked.
"Well... there's this one boy," Kara said. Lois walked out in a different dress. "Oh... that dress is nice." Megan turned to look at her. The white dress was in a trumpet-shaped, strapless, the top was lacy, the "belt" at her waist was black, and the skirt part had two thin lacy covers.
"I like it," Megan responded. "It looks good on you."
"This isn't gonna work," Lois told them. "It's WAY too tight at the waist."
"Can't we get it modified to make it fit you better?" Kara said. Lois shook her head.
"I'm not paying for that plus the charge for JUST the dress," Lois responded. "I'll try on another one." She went back in the stalls.
"How many did you give her?" Kara asked.
"Only seven," Megan said.
"Only seven?" Kara teased.
"And she's tried on three so that means there's four left plus the one she picked," Megan told her.
"And then later this week we're coming back to get OUR dresses?" Kara said.
"Yes, since we won't have enough time to get hers and ours," Megan said. "Oh! I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun! Especially with Diana."
"Diana's joining us?" Kara questioned.
"Yes, she's one of Lois's bridesmaids," Megan said.
"Right, I forgot," Kara responded. "Lois's sister will be joining us too since she's her maid of honor."
"What's her name though?" Megan asked. "I forgot."
"I don't know," Kara said. "I don't know her family that well. Oh, here's Lois." She walked out in another white dress. It was strapless, had a plain top, a black knotted leather "belt", and was very puffy at the bottom.
"It's a bit... plain," Kara said.
"I'll go change," Lois responded. She went back into the stall.
"So that's number... four?" Kara questioned. Megan nodded. "So three more, then the one she picked?"
"Yes," Megan answered.
"Hey girls," Lois called. "How's this one?" She walked in the one she had originally picked. It had long thin lacy sleeves and collar, a plain top, thin "scales" on the skirt, and pearls on the waist "belt" and on the bottom hem.
"Whoa!" Megan and Kara said. Lois twirled in it and looked at it admiringly.
"It's perfect!" Megan exclaimed.
"Lois, you look amazing!" Kara exclaimed.
"Thank you Kara," Lois said. "And I agree. THIS is the one."
Metropolis, New Jersey; February 27, 2027 10:30 AM EST
Elsewhere in the mall, but in an adjacent section to the clothes store, were a pair of young heroes at the cafe secretly ordered to keep an eye on the trio of women by Batman.
Of course, Wally had a tendency to get distracted by the opportunity to order a large quantity of food, much to Dick's chagrin.
Right now, the red-headed speedster was ordering a dozen pancakes, three sausage biscuits with egg and cheese, and orange juice.
Once he had finished that order, Nightwing just gave the counter a credit card that was connected the Watchtower's bank account, which was, for most intents and purposes, unlimited.
While Wally shoved in the multitude of food into his mouth, Dick turned to see Lois, Kara, and Megan walk out of the clothes store.
The black-haired young man discreetly pulled out his communicator to tell Bruce that "Lois, Kara, and Megan are safe."
"Good, just be ready for anything. An enemy can attack in any circumstances, even in the most peaceful settings." The growling voice warned.
Turning it off, Richard turned back to see Kid Flash barely digesting the food.
"So how did last weekend go for you and Linda?" Dick asked, curious about his best friend's love life.
"Well, since D.I. accidentally walked in on us, it quickly became a mess, if you know what I mean." Wally answered.
"I don't need to know the details of what happened there." Dick said in disgust. "What happened after last Friday night?"
"Well, we agreed that it might not be the best idea to have any more dates on the Watchtower." Wally answered. "We're still seeing each other, just don't expect Conner to play matchmaker anytime soon."
"No joke. Superman's tying the knot soon, and there's no doubt that Conner will be among the guests." Dick agreed. "Don't know if he and Megan will ever get married, though. But I doubt that will change the way in how Clark already sees her as his in-law. Can't remember whether he saw Conner as a son or a younger brother. Eh, let's just go with younger brother. That leaves Clark already seeing Megan as his sister in law."
"Yeah, about that." Wally said, suddenly getting more serious. "Seeing how they've been able to have a stable love life for years reminds me that I'm not the best boyfriend."
"Hey, don't feel bad about yourself." Dick encouraged.
"I mean, can I become a family man with Linda, or am I going to break her heart just like I did with Artemis and Jinx?"
"Wally, I am ordering you to stop." Nightwing requested, pulling rank on him. "Stop self-loathing. We need your comic relief to keep things from getting too dark."
"You're right." Kid Flash admitted. "You're right."
"We should probably get going." Dick suggested, getting up from his table.
Wally quickly followed suit, and the two friends left the cafe.
Next time on Second Chance, Terry finally goes back to the past, and Clark and Lois have their wedding. Will the couple be able to say "I do" before Terry enters 2027? Find out next time on Second Chance Chapter 4!
Also, just one more thing. The scene where Megan was shot by police is not intended to be a commentary on recent events, so please don't interpret it in a political way.