Chapter Summary
Previously, Lois and Jimmy convinced the team from the League of Lois Lanes that they can help track Mxy (and Clark). Out in space, the villain Lord Manga Khan learns of a premium energy source.
Now, Lois, Jimmy, and the Leaguers meet with the Commander and learn more about the interdimensional rift, and travel to the parallel universe and No Man's Land. And Mxy is bored and sleepy.
—
"I will alert the Commander to your request. Please standby," Redhead Jimmy answered. Without waiting for another reply, he cut off the transmission. The holo-device went dim.
"And now more waiting," Lois grumbled under her breath.
For Lois, the wait felt like hours. In reality, it was at most twenty or thirty minutes tops.
Not known for her patience, Lois started pacing the small conference room about five minutes in. Jimmy tinkered with his camera, avoiding the others' watchful eyes.
Just as Lois had started to wear a groove into the floor, Jalana returned with two League-issued, all-purpose uniforms. She explained the benefits of the uniforms. They were temperature and weather-adaptive, monitored their vitals, and even had pockets! Among other more minor yet handy features.
Lois (reluctantly) and Jimmy (eagerly) left the room to go down the hall to private changing rooms.
Jimmy returned first and excitedly showed off his new outfit. To the unamusement of Lewis and Punk Lois—the uniform was essentially white noise to them. Seriously, every Leaguer wore them. Jalana complimented him just to be polite.
It was a while before Lois had returned as well. Jimmy thought she might've gotten lost. That or snooping. Yeah, probably snooping.
—
Finally, Lois walked back in, tugging insecurely at the skin-tight outfit. However, the insecurity came more from the association with the League than the fit. It's not like they had made a great first impression, making her feel like the worst Lois in the multiverse.
Plus, it made her feel like she was submitting to being a cog in the wheel, a tool to be ordered around. She hoped she and Jimmy weren't making a mistake in trusting the League.
"We'll need a new sample for tracking Clark and Mxy." Jalana asked, approaching Lois with a rueful smile. "If you would be so kind?"
"Huh? O-oh. Well, at least you asked nicely this time…" Lois grumbled, plucking out a strand of her hair and handing it over.
Jalana gave her another smile, silently communicating, 'Sorry about last time.' Lewis initialized the organic material scanner, and Jalana dropped the hair onto the console. The program started with a progress bar showing a fraction of movement.
Lewis began going over some mundane procedures, which Lois tried her best to stay focused on. However, her thoughts wanted to drift. Jimmy seemed to be having a better time soaking up the information, so at least she could rely on him.
Lois was snapped out of her worries about Clark when the holo-projector flickered back to life.
Lewis and everyone else also perked up, sitting straighter in their seats and wiping the boredom off their faces.
The semi-opaque projection of Commander Lois Lane appeared in the center of the room.
The Commander was a middle-aged Lois. Her long black hair was much wavier than that of the more commonly seen straight-haired Lois. Along her temples, it was peppered with the tiniest bit of gray. Her lips were coated in dark red lipstick, but her face was as smooth and attractive as any of her younger subordinates.
Her sharp eyes swept over the group with a calculating yet almost motherly gaze.
"Thank you, Lieutenant Lewis and Gamma Team for your patience. I reviewed your report log moments ago. You've stated Mxyzptlk was last detected on Earth-12 and has since portaled off-world? And he is again in collusion with Earth-12's Clark Kent?"
Lewis stood up. "Yes, Commander. Gamma 3 has been tracking Mxy's movements. We also have the means to expedite our efforts."
He gestured to the other side of the room where Lois and Jimmy sat. The Commander turned to follow his gaze.
"We've requisitioned the assistance of Earth-12's Lois and James. Through a tachyon analysis we can determine Kent's and Mxy's current location," Lewis explained.
Commander Lane frowned and considered for a moment before nodding. "I trust your judgment, Lieutenant. As long as your team follows protocol, I'll leave this in your hands."
"Thank you, ma'am. And the status update on Alpha Team?" Lewis asked.
"Alpha Team successfully triangulated the interdimensional rift's center of origin," the Commander answered. "Which is in the Delta Triangulis binary star system in sector 0598. The flagship arrived approximately three hours ago and sent out a probe for preliminary investigation."
"Commander, apologies for the interruption. But you said Sector 0598, correct?" Jalana interjected. Her brow furrowed, and her eyes bounced back and forth slowly as she read the screen in front of her.
"Yes, that's correct. Is there a problem, Olsen?"
Jalana gulped. "Ma'am, the tachyon analysis indicates that Earth-12 Clark and Mxy were in the star system Delta Triangulis. Same as the rift. I…I wonder if Mxy is involved somehow?"
Commander Lane's expression froze, and Lewis and Punk Lois gaped speechlessly.
The Commander cleared her throat. "We'll need to analyze the dimensional energy composition of the rift. If it appears to give off 5th-dimensional energy signatures, we'll likely have an answer to that speculation.
"However, if Mxyzptlk is stowed away in Delta Tri somewhere, there's no guarantee of safety in a pursuit. The rift is just too unstable. Anyone who enters it may be trapped in another universe if it suddenly closes."
"What?!" Jimmy squawked and stood up, following along with the science speak better than Lois. "Clark could be trapped in another universe? How are we gonna rescue him?" He rested his trembling palms on the table as he pleaded with his eyes to Lewis and the others.
The Commander sighed, not surprised by his alarm. "If Kent is with a 5th-dimensional imp like Mxyzptlk, I suspect they are alright. Mxy's powers may be reduced, but they are still nearly limitless beyond our understanding. Don't let his visage fool you; his kind are incredibly powerful beings."
Both Lois and Jimmy shared a look, wide-eyed and thin-lipped. Yeah, the so-called Chaos God was a little frightening the last time they encountered him, but was he really that incredible? Their group restrained the little guy in a matter of minutes before. The pair had their doubts, but the Leagerers also seemed much more serious than before. The two gulped and nodded to the holographic Lois Lane floating above.
"Lieutenant," the older Lane addressed Lewis. "If and when Alpha Team's probe returns, we'll transmit the data packet to your starship. And, if the rift is composed of 5th-dimensional energy, we can assume Mxyzptlk is culpable, and Gamma Team may proceed with the mission to track and capture him at your discretion.
"Alpha Team's mission will continue to be observation and containment procedures for the rift. As you know, our goal is to seal the rift as soon as possible.
"Lieutenant, your team will need to move swiftly. We will not delay in sealing the rift for any reason once the opportunity arises. Do you understand?"
Lewis and the other Leaguers went pale. Even always-angry-face Punk Lois looked like she'd seen a ghost.
With a strained voice, Lewis replied, "Un-understood, ma'am." His usual aloof smirk was missing, and he lowered his gaze, bangs falling over his eyes.
"Good. Alpha 2 will be in contact with an update shortly. That will be all, Lieutenant." The Commander ended the transmission, the room going dark yet again.
—T&J—
A lonely and bored imp rested on a ratty old armchair in the Plant Station sitting area. He sneezed, waking himself up from his snooze. A glass of lukewarm and not-that-crystal-clear water sat on a little end table just out of reach of his short arms. Instead of getting up, he sighed wearily and snapped his fingers, making the glass of water poof into his waiting hand. Mxy sipped through the bendy straw and then let out a long sigh, feeling more refreshed.
"Yeesh, what is taking this Clark so long? Prime Earth Superman woulda taken care of whatever those glowy green thingies were by now. Meh, Super-Prime is an old fart nowadays anyway. I'm having way more fun with this Clark. That is if he hurries up already!"
Mxy flopped onto his back again, resting his legs over the arm of the chair. He closed his eyes, pulled his tiny purple bowler hat over his face, and resumed his lazy little imp nap.
—T&J—
After another hour or so of waiting and procedural lectures from Lewis, the other League team sent over their report.
"The results from the probe are promising," Jalana said, pulling up some graphics and stats on the holo-screen in the conference room.
But it was like Jalana had suspected. The probe sent through the rift detected distinct 5th-dimensional energy readings. Unless there was another 5th-dimensional entity out there causing chaos, Mxy must've been involved.
"We are getting vibrational readings that are not too dissimilar from compatible universes. But it's not one we have on record," she said, mumbling that last part.
"It's surprising that the hunk of junk probe even made it back in one piece," Punk Lois commented, resting her chin in her real hand.
The probe returned without any defects, to the great relief of both teams. But that was an unmanned machine. The risk of living beings getting close to the rift still worried the crew.
Jalana ignored the comment. "We even received image captures from the other side." She pulled those up in new windows.
The images showed different views of an uncharted portion of space. In most images, there was nothing but unfamiliar constellations. One image captured two bright balls of light, binary stars, one a vibrant yellow, the other a slightly duller orange.
Jimmy was mind-boggled at the perfect lighting exposure and resolution of the images. Where can I get a camera like that?
They browsed through more and more images, looking for something of interest. Punk Lois rolled over and clicked through them quickly, seemingly getting bored.
She slowed when a set of photos captured a planet in the distance. The next couple of photos were zoomed in on the tan-gray planet. It didn't appear very hospitable, with no rich blues of oceans or bodies of water or greens of forested or fertile lands anywhere. Jimmy counted four or five moons of various pale colors in different photos.
"Delti Tri is noted to be a sapient-free system throughout almost all universes," Jalana noted.
"What would Mxy be doing out there? Can we even tell where he and Clark are now?" Lois asked. "Are they even on this side of the rift or…" she finally addressed the elephant in the room. Everyone wouldn't be so concerned about the rift if Clark was still on this side.
Jalana looked away from Lois, but Jimmy caught her eye.
"He isn't, is he?" Jimmy asked quietly, seeing her poker face fall.
His counterpart shook her head and sighed. "Their energy signals tapered off, meaning they likely left just as quickly as they arrived. If I had to guess, there's a strong possibility they went through."
"But why? What does he want with Clark?" Lois asked, raising her voice.
"Duh, his favorite pastime is messing with Superman. Does he need another reason?" Punk Lois scoffed. She rested her hands behind her head and kicked her boot-clad feet up onto the table.
Lewis stepped over to Lois and Jimmy, his chin in his hand. "True. But it seems an odd coincidence that he'd bring Kent to the rift. He usually just makes mayhem in Metropolis."
"What if…What if Mxy thought Clark could do something about the rift? Help close it?" Jimmy thought out loud.
The group looked at him, eyebrows raised or with other thoughtful expressions.
"Pfftt, hahaha! Yeah, okay," Punk Lois broke out into laughter. "I'd sooner—HAH. I'd sooner marry Lex Luthor!" she said, practically between laughs. "...than Mxy do something good for once."
"Actually… James may be on to something," Lewis said, interrupting Punk Lois's waning tide of laughter.
"He is a trickster with evil tendencies, but he has gotten softer according to his history. I recall in a report from Earth-38, he assisted the Supers there."
"For real?" Punk Lois said, sounding genuinely surprised. She lowered her feet from the table.
Lewis nodded, placing one hand on his hip and raising the other in a shrug. "At this point, it's the most logical reason I can think of, too."
"Well, we have to do something," Lois urged, getting more impatient.
Jimmy and Lois knew Clark wouldn't hesitate if he were in their place.
"If the probe was able to enter and exit the rift, doesn't that mean a ship would be fine too?" Jimmy asked. He didn't have the formal expertise that the other Jimmy's and Jalana did, but he spent plenty of his free time studying strange things like astrophysics, aliens, and pseudoscience.
They didn't come all this way to sit around and do nothing.
"Right? It seems normal on the other side from these photos," Lois added.
"The Commander did say we could continue our mission if the probe cleared," Jalana offered.
Lewis surveyed the group. He smirked. "Well, unless there are any objections, we'll proceed with the mission. Let's catch that imp."
"And rescue Clark!" Jimmy added, a toothy grin brightening his face.
With that, Lewis took the lead and headed out of the conference room. Lois, Jimmy, and Jalana smiled, following the boss. Punk Lois rolled her eyes and brought up the rear.
—T&J—
Jimmy's knuckles were stark white as he gripped the edge of his seat for dear life. This was it. There was no turning back now.
The group of five (the Fantastic Five? No, that didn't sound right. He'd come up with a cool name later) was back on the League starship, just exiting a hyper-jump to the Delta Triangulis system.
Despite the faster-than-light (FTL) speed travel, it had taken hours, maybe even a whole day to get to their destination. Jalana showed the pair back to the sleeping quarters, where a few tiny bunks were located. The two took turns with the Leaguers to get some much-needed shuteye.
Out of the viewport, Jimmy could see the interdimensional rift ripping through the canvas of blackness in the distance. From the group's vantage point, the expansive tear in space was an even stranger sight.
The rift spread long and wide like a migrating flock of starlings. In contrast, the surrounding darkness of space was dotted with tiny glowing stars lightyears away and not much else.
The sight was hard to describe with words, like an abstract painting. You could almost make out images, but it was mostly a garish mixture of colors and shapes, glowing in tints that tricked the eye. Sparking tendrils of purple framed the vast central portion. They moved sporadically, like the filaments in the toy plasma globe Jimmy had as a kid.
If not for the vacuum of space, he imagined it would sound like the hissing of static or the booming noise of a planet-sized piece of paper being ripped in half over and over.
After a moment, Jimmy shook off his fright and lifted his camera to his face. He took photo after photo of the spectacle.
"Oh, man. I'm in another galaxy lightyears from home. In a spaceship about to go to another universe. Going to save my alien best friend from a magic dimension-hopping imp dude. With another version of me from another, another universe, but who happens to be a chick. And I got new threads! This is the greatest, yet most terrifying, day of my life!" Jimmy said, mostly talking to himself with one eye looking through his camera.
"Yeah, now let's just hope we all live," Punk Lois said after punching in the navigation commands. She squinted her eyes closed. Her arms crossed over her chest tightly, tapping her foot incessantly. Despite universe hopping being a regular thing for the Leaguers, she looked sick to her stomach.
Lewis cleared his throat. "Alright team, brace for transference. This might be a bumpy ride."
They all sat and strapped into their seats.
As they crossed the demarcation line, the rift reacted like a waking beast. The wavering tendrils shot out and licked the vessel as if getting a taste of its next meal. The colors and shapes within roiled like a choppy ocean.
Spots of light flared blindingly, and the colors shone with such intensity that the crew had to shade their eyes.
The static-slash-tearing noise Jimmy'd imagined earlier resounded within the ship. It made his skin tingle and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
For the briefest of moments, he felt an out-of-body sensation. Like the rift was pulling his very essence right through his skin. It wasn't painful, but it totally weirded him out.
And then, before they could even react, everything snapped back to normal.
The group sagged back into their seats. Inside the ship, it was silent. No more bright lights or static.
Jalana started up a systems diagnostic check. But so far so good.
We made it through? We're okay? Yes, this is definitely the best day ever.
—T&J—
Jalana quickly picked up Mxy and Clark's energy signatures coming in strong. She directed Punk Lois to fly the spaceship toward the planet they'd seen in the probe's photos.
As they approached, the ship detected a small number of man-made satellites orbiting the planet. That fact took the group entirely by surprise. The satellites' presence indicated a strong possibility of intelligent life on the planet.
After running some scans, the team was further surprised to find a sizable population and several cities and towns scattered across the surface of the desert planet. A much smaller population than many other inhabited planets, certainly only a fraction of Earth's. But no doubt, people lived down there.
The initial scans only gave them minimal information, but once they portalled down, they'd get to see for themselves.
Jimmy was positively freaking out to meet some aliens. He started throwing out wild guesses of what kind of lifeforms evolved on such a planet. Lizard people, giant roadrunners, some sort of cactus monsters—the ideas kept getting more outlandish as he went on.
Once Punk Lois settled the spaceship into stationary orbit around the planet, the team prepped for portalling.
A flash of light later, the team found themselves planet-bound. The five stepped through the portal, walking into a sweltering, sandy environment.
The League uniforms quickly compensated for the drastic temperature change.
"Wish these uniforms came with a visor or something. I think I'm gonna go blind," Lois grumbled, shielding her eyes. She squinted, looking around. "Oh wow, there really are two suns."
Jimmy whipped up his camera, not wasting a minute before taking photos.
"You two, keep your voices down. Mxy is within the vicinity. We need to catch him by surprise," Lewis said in a hushed voice.
Jimmy lowered his camera. He and Lois nodded, becoming more serious.
"Mxy's signature is coming from that building over there." Jalana motioned to a curved-roofed building with a lightbulb-shaped sign in the near distance.
"Gamma 2, take the left. Gamma 3 take the right. Lois, James, stay with me," Lewis ordered, reaching for the blaster rifle on his back.
Punk Lois and Jalana mirrored his action and took off in a hunched jog around the sides of the structure.
Lois and Jimmy, who hadn't been given any weapons, shrugged and followed along quietly with Lewis.
When all five got within striking range of the "Plant Station" as the sign read, they ducked down out of view of anyone who might be inside.
The Plant Station was more or less similar to what a gas station would be on Earth. There were some kind of fueling pumps for vehicles off to the side. The main building was nothing more than a large, shoddily constructed shack. It had a couple of windows and at least one metal door on the front side.
From the small earpieces they all wore, the hushed voice of Punk Lois came through. "I got visual on the fugitive. He appears to be… uh sleeping?"
"Copy that," Lewis replied in a whisper. "Gamma 3, do you have a visual from your position?"
A hiss of static. "Negative. There appears to be two humanoids in another room—a living quarters. An elderly male and female, human in appearance."
"Gamma 3, move to Gamma 2's position and wait for my mark," Lewis ordered, looking through the window.
Lois peeked into the shack too and spotted Mxy lying in the armchair across the room. She didn't see Clark, though.
"Copy that," Jalana replied. After a moment, she said, "In position."
Lewis reached for the handle of the door. "Breach on 3." He paused and then counted. All three burst into the room, blasters readied.
The door slammed against the wall. Lewis immediately pointed his blaster where they'd seen the imp.
The chair was empty.
The Leaguers scanned the room methodically. Punk Lois looked out the station's windows.
"Outside!" she hissed, charging out the door.
Everyone dashed out behind her. Lois and Jimmy in the rear.
Punk Lois shot a few times, but a purple blur dodged nimbly.
"Mxy! Come quietly! You can't run from the League forever!" Lewis called authoritatively.
"No thanks!" the imp's echoing voice replied from above. There were at least three illusions of himself, and the Leaguers all turned in different directions to aim at them.
Lois felt so useless, yet desperate to do something. Anything. Her fingers itched towards her shoulder bag she'd brought along. But she restrained herself.
Instead, Lois stepped forward to one of the illusions."Where's Clark?! What did you do with him?" she shouted up at the imp,
"Oh, ho ho! Well, if it isn't Fun Lois! What in the world are you wearing? Tsk, that uniform doesn't suit you, deary." All the Mxy's broke out into smirks.
A couple of blaster shots phased through the illusions. The ones hit shimmered away, but new ones took their places nearby.
"Ooo, so close, but no cigar," the Mxy's chuckled, flying around in an amused dance. A purple light sparked in the center of them, growing larger into a portal.
"Maybe next time, loser Lois's!" They waved and dove into the circle of light.
"Jalana! Track him!" Lewis called, shooting one last blast at the imp as the portal closed.
"Got him! He hasn't gone far. His powers must be waning. He isn't moving as fast as before."
She punched in a couple of keystrokes on her gauntlet, and the League portal opened again.
"Let's move!" Lewis shouted, waving the group along.
—
An older couple who attended the Plant Station stood looking out a dust-coated window.
"I think there was somethin' funny in that wam-tabacca, Muriel," the tall man said, adjusting his glasses. "Sure I was seein' things…"
"Oh, Eustace, you know my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Those youngsters were sure causing a big ruckus out there," the short, pudgy lady replied, squinting behind her own thick-lensed glasses.
"Maybe we outta move back inta town. Gettin' too old to work the station…"
"Aye, could drive a person loony out here…"
—T&J—
The Leaguers leaped out of the portal with practiced dexterity, taking strategic positions to search for the fugitive imp. Lois and Jimmy, on the other hand, stumbled out, Jimmy falling against Lois's back, knocking them both over.
Mxy, breathing heavily and sweat dripping down his face, peeked out from around the corner of a building, catching Lewis's keen eye. The imp yelped and ducked back behind cover.
"Over there!" Lewis called, running off. The other two Leaguers were close behind.
Jimmy clumsily rolled off Lois as she pushed herself into a kneeling position, spitting out sand.
"Sorry!" Jimmy squeaked, hopped to his feet, and offered her a hand.
She took it and hauled herself up. She looked around frantically. "Where'd they go? We can't lose them!"
"I saw them run into that town! Let's hurry," Jimmy replied, starting to jog in that direction.
Before they took even a dozen steps, an ear-splitting explosion stopped them in their tracks. A second later, the shockwave carrying a cloud of sand and dust blew over them.
The pair ducked down and shielded their faces. Jimmy must have taken a lungful by mistake because Lois could hear him coughing roughly.
When Lois felt the gust peter out, she slowly squinted her eyes open. The dust in the air was thinning out, but she kept her mouth covered with her arm. She stood and stepped over to Jimmy to make sure he was okay.
His coughing was still harsh, but it was getting better. Lois took out a canteen from her bag and placed a hand on his shoulder.
He squinted one eye open, grabbing it gratefully and took a short swig.
"I think," he coughed. "I think Mxy… went a little overboard." Another cough. Another sip of water.
Lois was about to agree, but numerous shouts nearby caught her ear. They sounded mostly like men's voices, unlike Lewis or the others.
"I don't think that was Mxy," Lois said, looking around. She caught a glimpse of two men running down a street and then out of view.
"Uh, maybe we should keep looking for Mxy? Explosions are not my idea of fun…" Jimmy offered.
Lois considered for a moment. She was starting to get flustered, losing track of the imp and their chances of finding Clark. But if Clark was still with Mxy, something like a giant explosion would surely draw her superhero to investigate, right?
"If Clark is here, he'd dive in to help people no matter what. We're going to check out whatever that was. C'mon!" Lois decided.
"What about League procedures?" Jimmy stumbled to chase his strong-willed friend. "This is a bad idea. This is so a bad idea," he whined.
—T&J—