Band of Blue TOCChapter 29 “Er, Clark. There’s something that we need to talk about.” Lois’s voice brought him out of his reverie. He opened his eyes and realised that he was floating. Dropping quickly to the floor, hoping she hadn’t noticed, he tried to act naturally.
“What is it Lois?” She lifted up her head from his shoulder and stepped back off his feet. Somehow their hands became linked and she lifted her face to look at him. When she didn’t speak his nerves began to manifest. “Lois?” She let go of his hands and let her arms drop to her side.
“Superman. We should talk about Superman.”
Clark turned away, trying to hide the worry on his face. It took a moment before he could speak. “Really?” He started to wander off a little, putting some distance between them. “Why, what has Superman got to do with this?” He turned back to face her. “With us.”
“Clark. It has everything to do with us.” She stepped forward, an earnest look on her face.
“I ... I don’t get what you’re saying Lois.” He tried to act genuine and stepped towards her. They were in reaching distance again.
“You know that I’ve interviewed him.” She smiled a little.
“Yes,” he replied with a hint of a question.
What is this leading to? “Well ... I ... we connected in some way. And even though I haven’t spent much time in his company I feel like we have this special bond. Kinda like you and me.” She reached out and took his hand. “Although I’ve been denying that for too long.” She looked up at him and smiled lovingly. Clark felt his heart miss a beat.
“So you’re saying that you are in love with Superman.” He felt hurt, yet happy at the same time.
“Sort of.” She flicked her eyes back and forth as if searching his face for something.
“Well, do you love him or not?” he asked, a little severely.
“I love YOU, Clark,” she replied.
“So why did you bring up Superman?” Clark watched as Lois closed off her emotions. He saw the change in her facial expression and she stepped away from him.
“I guess I don’t know.” She looked down at her feet but when she looked back up she was smiling. “Well, I guess I should get going home.” She lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “I’ll see you at work?” She phrased it as a question. “Or ... you could call me.”
Clark felt confused.
What just happened? What was she trying to say? She turned and walked away. As she passed a work bench she stopped and put her hand in her pocket. “Oh, you left this.” Clark watched as she placed his High School ring down and continued to walk away. At the door she turned and smiled at him. “Bye,” she waved.
Clark waved back. “Bye Lois.” He watched her disappear out of sight and realised that he’d just missed probably the best opportunity to tell her.
But am I ready. We’ve only just ‘got together’ ... five minutes ago. How can I know that she’s ready for the truth? He walked up to the bench with the ring on it but avoided getting too close.
Clark, you idiot, she just forgave you ... no explanation asked for... after ... she’s ready. He shot off a blast of heat vision to destroy the ring then sped to the barn door. “Lois, wait.” Just before he reached the door he felt a vibration from his pocket. He stopped and removed his phone.
“Ollie this isn’t the best time,” he said.
“Clark, we’ve got a major problem with Project Ares. Lex has reopened it. And there’s more. Can you get here asap?”
Clark looked longingly out of the barn door into the night and sighed. “Sure,” he replied quietly, full of sadness and regret.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lois ambled away from the barn feeling like she was walking on air. Only moments ago she actually had been. She smiled to herself, happy.
Why did I ever think I could just be his friend? When he’d put his arms around her she’d felt complete. Her smile dropped a little at his unwillingness to tell her the truth but she would still stand by him.
Maybe he’ll trust me soon. “Lois, wait,” she heard him call from behind and her heart stopped. Turning slowly she frowned when she couldn’t see him.
“Clark?” she called and walked back into the barn. As she entered the first thing that she noticed was a large scorch mark on the work bench. “Clark?” she called again as she walked over to investigate. The ring she had left had melted into the bench. She turned away and called out again. “Clark? Where are you?”
After a thorough search of the barn she came to the conclusion that Clark had been called away only moments after calling out to her.
What did he want? And what called him away so urgently? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three weeks ago Lex stared at the news report playing across his screen.
... and disaster was averted when Superman extinguished the fire and sped all the workers to safety. Lex was frozen in shock. The picture of the hero named Superman flashed across the screen. A sudden close up showed the face of this caped wonder.
Jor-El; My jailer. He is the image of Jor-El. And he has powers. “Miss Mercer,” he pushed the buzzer for his predecessor, “get me everything on this Superman.” He must have the clue to my missing powers.
One week ago Lex opened the file in front of him and stared at the picture. It was the man from the Warehouse news report; the man who looked like his younger self.
“Report in, team leader,” he spoke out loud.
“We have target in sight.” A voice barked out of his speaker.
“Make sure he is kept sedated at all times. If he breaks free, even for a second, you are dead.”
“Acknowledged, sir.”
“Then get him.”
Lex looked back down again and trailed a finger across the rugged face.
I thought Superman was the key to my powers but it’s you, my son. You are the solution ... Davis Bloome. One day ago “Any progress?” Lex asked his scientists.
“Unfortunately, apart from the first day we drew blood we have been unable to penetrate his skin.” Dr Langston spoke matter-of-factly.
“I told you that would happen,” Lex shouted. “Please, tell me you drew enough blood on that first day?”
“Of course, Mr Luthor,” he replied. “If you need more we could swap the sedative line for a blood line?”
“No, once you remove that line it will heal and the most important thing is to keep him sedated. If he comes round at all none of us will survive.”
Dr Langston turned to look at the subject shackled and sedated on the other side of the glass and frowned.
How could he be so dangerous? “Are the initial tests with his blood promising?”
“Yes sir. I have been able to isolate certain blood platelets and DNA strands.”
“Then, as of this moment, Project Ares is in full swing again. I want my super soldier.” Dr Langston watched Lex leave the room.
I get the feeling you want to BE the Super Soldier, he thought.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Superman stood in Oliver Queen’s apartment with the rest of the Justice League. He watched the large screen scroll through reams and reams of data.
“As you can see,” Oliver indicated while pulling a green strap up his arm, “Lex reactivated this project. It’s a natural extension of 33.1 and it’s experimenting on some poor sap and trying to create a super soldier.”
“I see. We need to shut it down then.” Superman stepped forwards to study the data. “Wait, stop. Go back,” he shouted suddenly. Ollie pressed a button on the computer keyboard and the started tapping backwards though the stream. “There, what’s that?” he asked and stepped forwards again.
“Not a clue,” came Oliver’s reply. “Looks like Egyptian hieroglyphics to me.”
“More like Kryptonian symbols,” replied Superman.
“Kryptonian? What does it say?” Oliver asked.
“Doom ... Offspring ... Power ... Doomsday.” Superman looked up in shock.
“Well that sounds like a fuzzy, gentle experiment,” Ollie replied.
“Hey, live feed is coming through.” Superman and Ollie turned to look at Cyborg who was loading up a separate screen. “We left a few micro cameras in the dam during our last mission there. It was most definitely a dead project so something must have happened for Lex to restart it.”
Quiet descended as the picture started transmitting and everyone gathered round to observe. They saw scientists in white lab coats hovering around some medical equipment. Lex entered the room and began asking questions, shouting and ordering people around. As he turned to leave he muttered something under his breath and Superman inhaled a sharp breath in shock.
“Kryptonian. Lex just spoke Kryptonian.” Everyone stared at him in shock. “I think we need to shut down this project immediately. Can you guys deal with it, I need to visit ... someone I really don’t want to. He may have some answers.”
When everyone nodded and suited up Superman left and shot into the sky heading north as fast as he could.
Lex went missing in the arctic and when he came back he claimed not to remember what had happened, but my fortress is in the arctic, and he reappeared just after the stones created it. Jor-El better have some answers. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Jor-El! Jor-El, are you here?” Superman shouted.
“You have returned, my son,” came the emotionless voice. “Are you here to train?”
“I don’t need your training. And people rely on me. The world relies on Superman.”
And Lois needs Clark, he thought, smiling to himself in joy.
“That is your opinion, Kal-El.”
“I have come because I think an old foe is about to become a large threat to this world. My friend Lex Luthor seems to understand Kryptonian and is searching for power.”
“Kal-El, it is not your friend who is the true threat but the consciousness which inhabits him.”
“Consciousness? What do you mean?” Superman stepped forwards and looked into the air, as if searching for a visual manifestation of the voice.
“Lex Luthor found this fortress months ago, he was the first to possess the stones before they passed to you. I banished him to the Phantom Zone as he was not worthy of the knowledge held here. He has now been released from his jail but he became possessed by a Phantom whilst imprisoned.”
“What is this Phantom Zone?” Superman asked.
“It is a prison which holds all the criminals in the known galaxies. The criminal which possesses your old friend is the worst of them. Zod; a general of Krypton and the destroyer of your home planet. He is truly evil and will be looking for ways to gain powers like yours. If he does he will destroy earth as he did Krypton.”
“How did he escape, Jor-El,” Superman asked.
“I released him to test you.”
“What?” he shouted in disbelief.
“As you refused to train I set you a test. It seems you have discovered the presence of Zod before he became a danger. You will not, therefore, be tested to your fullest and I have no way to ensure that you are ready to be earth’s true protector.”
“I cannot believe you would put the world in jeopardy to spite me.”
“Not spite, Kal-El. A test.”
“Tell me how to imprison this ... General Zod, Jor-El. How can I stop him from become a menace?”
“If you really desire my help then you will agree to train. I will help you to send Zod back to the Phantom Zone but you will return here once he is defeated.”
Superman turned and paced away. “But Lois!” he turned back, feeling a tear in his eye.
“That is my requirement.”
Superman dropped to his knees and let the tear roll down his cheek.
Lois, I just found her. He stood slowly, draining all emotion from his voice and his countenance. “I accept. Now tell me what to do.”
“Take this crystal.” The air in front of Superman began to shimmer and a small shield shaped crystal formed. “If you bring this into contact with the host then the Phantom will be transferred into it and back into the Phantom Zone.” Superman reached out his hand and the ‘S’ shield dropped into his palm. He closed his hand round it.
“I will return ... father. Thank you.” He turned and leapt into the air leaving his heart behind, on the floor, in tatters.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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