Chapter Fifty-Four

Clark wanted to go to the penthouse so he could use the sports arena Lex had created for him. He needed to think and doing something physical helped him focus. Clark ran laps. He tossed footballs and ran to the other side to catch them. He spent time lifting weights with enough weight on each side the bar bent. The boy never even broke a sweat.

Clark sighed in frustration. When he woke up, believing he was Clark Kent, the world told him he was Julian. Now that he was certain he was Julian, Lois started to tell him he was Clark Kent.

Lois had mentioned how she saw the photo of him with his parents in front of the porch. That could be an easy guess. But then Lois had mentioned Lana's old cappuccino machine had exploded. It hadn't really; Clark's heat vision had gone haywire and destroyed it. Lana had been frustrated with the new machine Lex had bought her to replace it. Lana had complained about it for months, saying she hadn't gotten the hang of it just yet. Yes, Clark had mentioned to Lois that Lana had been in charge of the Talon coffee house, but he had never mentioned the exploding coffee machine. And Pete. Clark had said he remembered being friends with Pete, but not that he had shared his secret with him.

The Clark Kent secret. The secret that didn't exist in the world he woke up to.

Since Luthor Corp had collected the loose Kryptonite from around the town, less people had gotten infected. That meant Clark hadn't needed to leave his friends when they were hanging out at inopportune times to save someone. Yes, he still had his powers, but there was less guilt.

There was also less need to worry. Clark wasn't sitting at the top of the stairs listening to his parents fret over how they were going to make the mortgage payments. Or how to purchase feed for the cows. Or debate if they could get by with replacing parts on the old tractor instead of taking out a loan to buy a new one.

But Clark would give up this life in an instance to return to the Earth where his mom and Dad were waiting for him.

Your Mom's pregnant. You're going to be a big brother. Lois had said.

Clark shook his head in frustration. That couldn't be true. His Mom wouldn't have kept something like that hidden from him and Dad for so long.

We've had this conversation before. Clark remembered Lex saying. And I have a feeling in a month we might have it again. At some point, Julian, you are just going to have to accept things as the way they are.

Lex had never lied to him. But Lex's proof was always what Clark had known and compared to what was before him. But, if what Lois said was true, then he was from another reality and what he knew existed in that other Earth. The one where the Kents really did find him in the cornfield, took him home, and raised him and loved him.

Clark threw a football. He raced after it and leaped in the air to catch it, landing on the ground with enough strength the floor shook. It wasn't like he could just ask Lex if there was a device on a Cadmus shelf that could open a portal to another dimension. If Lex really was a villainous genius who kidnapped him, he would lie. Cassandra's vision had warned him that someone wanted to trap him. Maybe, Alex keeping him in another reality was what she had seen.

There had to be a way to settle this once and for all.

Clark thought back to his journal. Or Julian's journal. He still hadn't made it all the way through. Even when he read it, he only fully read some pages. Clark had never studied it. But, if he really was a different person than the one who had written it, there were sure to be some clues inside.

With his superspeed Clark was able to get in and out of the mansion before anyone knew he was there. Clark settled on top of his bed with the journal, the night sky above him. This time, Clark read through it like a manual; analyzing if what the author wrote was something he would say or think about.

Clark read about the Luthor summer trip to the ranch in Montana, working right alongside the ranch hands with Lillian, Lex, and Lionel. He read about fantasying about being a superhero like Warrior Angel, fighting bad guys, and saving the day. He read entries that explored philosophy and how he was supposed to use his powers and what destiny had in store for him.

There were some pages at the very end of the journal, a handful of blank pages in between. The writing was sloppy and smudged, as if the writer wrote quickly and had cried. Clark read the entry. Then read it again, not able to believe what had been written. In shock and horror, the journal dropped out of his hands. Clark got out of the bed and paced the floor. He felt sick. Everything made sense now.

The world where he had loving parents and saved his friends from mutated innocents was nothing but a dream. A dream to cover a horrible nightmare. Clark knew that now.

Clark ran into the night to the mansion.

He needed his brother.