The World Falls AwayFolc4evernaday
Teaser________________________________________
Lois Lane grimaced as she descended the steps into the sewer, feeling goosebumps rise up on her skin as the murky unknown came closer and closer. She found her bearings on a concrete slab and turned to her right where a dimly lit lantern hung on the wall, providing guidance on where to turn next. She turned her head to the left, flashing an uneasy smile to Clark who had his hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before following her to the damp walkway.
“It’s a long fall from a penthouse in the sky,” Clark commented, shaking his head as they reached the corner where a long corridor of what appeared to be some kind of workshop and possibly even living quarters was lit by three lanterns posted on the wall.
Lois grimaced, looking around as she heard a rustling noise come from the corner ledge they had just descended from and quickly turned on her heel, “What’s that noise?”
Clark’s arm reached over, gesturing to the trickling water nearby where a rat was scurrying across the narrow corner.
Lois felt her jaw tighten as she looked around the dark sewer, letting out a hiss, “I hate rats.”
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The alleyway cats scurried across the pavement, and the sound of screeching followed by glass shattering echoed in the distance. Herbert George Wells ran a hand across his jacket, picking a stray hair off it and glancing at the pocket watch in his hand. Judging from the events, he’d just witnessed in 2020, he could only conclude one individual as being responsible for the mayhem and destruction he’d witnessed.
Tempus.
He crossed the street to where a heavy grate was open, and a woman with short blonde hair and dressed in a leather jacket and matching black jeans stood waiting with her gun trained on the darkness below her. He pulled a small metal device from his pocket, tapping a few keys into it and then aimed it in the woman’s direction.
A moment later, the woman was frozen in place, and Herbert George Wells let out a sigh, eying the alleyway behind him. He let out a heavy grunt, reaching over to carry the woman to the alleyway away from prying eyes.
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The scurrying of rodents slithering in the background echoed through the sewer. Clark peered over Lois’ shoulder, where she was fanning through an open file folder with pictures of an intersection by the Metropolis bridge. Below the photos was a map of Metropolis with red marker outlining a path from the Metropolis Penitentiary to the courthouse. An ‘x’ was placed over the intersection of the Metropolis Bridge with a circle around it.
“Clark!” Lois tapped on the map with the ‘x’ in the center.
Clark nodded, following the route with his finger and commenting, “It starts here at the Metropolis Men’s Prison…and ends at the courthouse.”
“Of course,” Lois breathed, putting the pieces together. “Bender got Vale a new hearing so he’d be right where they wanted him.”
“Luthor’s going to break Vale out of prison,” Clark summarized, shaking his head, gathering up the evidence in front of them. “Come on, we’ve got to get this to the police.”
Lois nodded her agreement, following him to the pathway they’d come from. If he left now, he could make it to the intersection and stop Luthor.
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Lex Luthor held the remote control to the explosives that had been planted along the street in his palm, salivating over the anticipated destruction that was to come. His thumb hovered over the red button, and he felt the intoxicating euphoria as his adrenaline pulsed, anticipating what was to come. He heard the sirens grow closer, and his thumb moved closer to the red trigger button.
“Steady… not too soon…” Nigel ordered as he held up a finger.
Lex looked over, seeing the police car and prison van roll over a manhole cover just a few feet away, and his thumb rested against the button. He looked at Nigel for confirmation.
“Now!”
Lex grinned as he jammed his thumb against the red button and felt a rumble from the explosion a few feet away. The patrol car flew up into the fiery inferno and sent the patrol car flying through the air as the prisoner van behind it crashed through a bench before smashing into a brick wall.
Lex quickly exited the van he and Nigel had been seated in and ran toward the crash, tucking the tranquilizer gun into his jacket as he tugged the ball cap over his face to prevent him from being recognized by passersby. Nigel approached on the other side of the van, aiming his own tranquilizer at the guard seated in the passenger seat. A simultaneous whistle escaped each tranquilizer gun as the guards were knocked out
“He looked like he needed a rest,” Lex remarked with a sly chuckle.
“Yes, he'll have an awful headache when he wakes up,” Nigel agreed.
“And so, will you,” an unfamiliar voice spoke up as he watched his trusted friend Nigel collapse to the ground.
“You imbecile! Do you have any idea what you’ve done!” Lex hissed out in fury.
“Saved you from falling into your own demise and eventual betrayal.” The man stepped forward, smoothing a hand through his light brown hair.
“You’re going to have me behind bars at this rate,” Lex fumed as he made his way toward the back of the prisoner van.
“Ah, ah, ah,” the man countered as he held up the tranquilizer in his hand and aimed it at the door.
Lex growled under his breath, jerking the door open.
“Who’s the clown?” Rollie Vale asked, pointing to the man with the tranquilizer trained on him.
“Someone of no importance,” Lex sneered.
“Indeed,” the stranger let out a chuckle just before striking Vale in the chest with a tranquilizer.
Lex turned on the stranger, his eyes dark black with fury as he reached over to grab the stranger by the collar before he lit into him. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, you meddling fool. Do you have any idea what you’ve done? I needed Vale to take me to where he has stashed my supply of Kryptonite.”
“Yes, the mysterious location of the Kryptonite does need to be revealed, doesn’t it?” The stranger reached over to pull up Vale’s sleeve and opened a latch on the robotic arm. Inside a familiar green glow emitted, and the stranger pulled the Kryptonite out of Vale’s secret compartment.
“My Excalibur,” Lex breathed out, staring at the stranger suspiciously. “Who are you? How did you…?”
“How did I know Vale was hiding the Kryptonite in his robotic arm?” The stranger gave a mocking laugh. “Please, Lex, I learned about that back in 4th grade. The history of robotics. Metallo’s reign and the radioactive power supply were a snore, but I did pick up a few things.”
“What are you babbling about?” Lex growled irritably.
“Well, I’m from the future, Lex. How else do you think I was able to predict the precise moment that you would step into the plans for betrayal and slip into your own demise? How else do you think I would know that Nigel over here was set to sell this Kryptonite…” he tossed the green meteorite in the air, “…to the highest bidder and left you to your own devices?”
“Who are you?” Lex asked again, growing more and more irritable with the stranger and his evasiveness.
"I believe it's time to go.” The stranger pointed to the bridge where several patrol cars were driving over to where Lex had the getaway van parked.
"Name," Lex demanded.
"Tempus." A grin washed over his face. "Now, about this plan for Lois Lane…"
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Police sirens and ambulance approached from the distance. Clark knelt down on the pavement, looking over the shattered glass and debris outside the police van. He grimaced when he spotted a trail of blood dripping down the back bumper of the van.
“Superman?”
A voice came from behind, and he looked over his shoulder to one of the patrol officers arriving on the scene. He pointed to the van, gesturing to the bullet shells littering the ground, unable to let the words escape his throat. He didn’t dare x-ray the van for fear of the haunting images of what laid inside. The blood trickling down on the pavement, spoke for itself.
“We’ve got bodies!” the officer called out as he opened the backdoor.
Clark clamped his eyes shut, but before he could, he caught a glimpse of the bloody scene Luthor had left in his wake. He took a heavy breath, mustering through the internal battle that was tumbling inside him. He approached the police van, recognizing both Rollie Vale and Nigel St. John amidst the carnage that had been left behind.
The scene quickly grew more chaotic as ambulance and more patrol officers arrived as everything became a blur of blue and white. It didn’t make sense. Why would he go to all this trouble to break Vale out of jail only to kill him?
He cleared his throat spotting the lead officer by his patrol car, “Is there anything I can do to help here, officer?”
“No,” he shook his head. “It looks like these guys knew exactly what they were doing. Poor guys never had a chance.”
“I’m sorry,” Clark responded, unable to find the right words to reflect the guilt he felt for not stopping this carnage from occurring.
“It’s not your fault, Superman.” The officer scowled. “It’s Luthor’s.”
“Yeah,” Clark nodded, turning to leave.
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Lex stared at the digital print in front of him, revealing Clark Kent as Superman across the headline and a photo of the hero amidst other caped heroes wearing the familiar emblem. This was the future? It was hard to imagine a world where the man behind the cape was nothing more than a giblet like Kent.
It had to be a trick.
A blue light emitted across the room, and he spied the man that had identified himself as Tempus stepped through a mirror-like doorway. He looked around the darkened room where the guards that had been securing the STAR Labs basement were knocked out cold.
It seemed they had some work to do.
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TBC....
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