The World Falls AwayFolc4evernaday
Chapter 3: Hang On________________________________________
Lois dipped the tea bag inside the steaming cup of hot water, watching as the color from the tea bag circled around the cup. The faint pigments swirled around the cup and she frowned, taking a deep breath as she carried the cup with her to the living room where Clark was seated on the corner of the couch across from where the mysterious visitor that had shown up less than an hour ago.
Her mind was racing and her heart hammered in her chest as she struggled to rationalize the chaos that had unfolded within a blink of an eye. Clark was Superman. The revelation had come from not one but two strangers she’d never seen or heard of before. Though it had been just words, Clark’s reaction the mysterious caller and whatever torture the caller had subjected him to appeared to confirm the accusation.
He didn’t deny it.
Though he was barely making conversation after the caller had ordered him to ‘stop this charade and admit to the world the truth.’ After the second stranger had shown up asking to see ‘Superman’ it was hard to deny the evidence staring her in the face. Every disappearance and lame excuse came rushing back with each rescue she’d either reported on or interaction she’d had with Superman. It was him. The entire time. It was him. Her partner. Her friend. Her…what?
Clark.
It had always been him.
She placed the tea in front of the strange man, watching as he reached over to stir the light pigmented liquid with a spoon. “Ah, thank you, Miss Lane.”
Lois bit her lower-lip, uncertain how much longer she could sit here without bursting with the questions racing through her mind. “You said you knew who this mystery caller was, mister…?”
The man cleared his throat and nodded, “Yes, quite, I hope you’ll forgive my evasiveness, but I beg you please try to keep an open mind. Time is of the essence and Tempus will stop at nothing to destroy Superman.”
Clark’s head jerked up, seeming to come out of the disoriented daze he’d been in and he eyed the man in front of him warily, “What does this have to do with Superman?”
“Well, you are Superman, aren’t you?” Lois ventured cautiously.
“No, no, no,” Clark shook his head. “I…I have to go.”
“No, no, we can’t have you leaving until we know exactly what Tempus is up to.” The man stood up, placing a hand on Clark’s shoulder, preventing him from standing up with a firm grasp.
“Who’s Tempus?” Lois asked.
The man bit his lower-lip, “I bet you to remember you live in a city where a man can fly.” Before she could respond he quickly added, “I’m Herbert George Wells. A time traveler and I’ve come to help stop Tempus – a fiend from the future – who will stop at nothing to destroy Superman.” He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to respond. “Yes, I know you don’t believe me. I know you don’t believe in time travel and will probably try and dismiss this claim with a joke or try to order me into a nut house. I don’t have time to prove myself. The timeline is changing every minute Tempus is teamed up with Lex Luthor and I fear what this will mean for the future.”
Lois blinked, processing the revelation from the man in front of her claiming to be the very deceased science fiction author from the nineteenth century. Her lips parted as she searched for a response to the revelations made to her in the short span of her asking one simple question.
“Time travel?”
“Yes, Ms. Lane.”
“Why does he want to hurt Superman?”
“To stop the utopian future he and his descendants helped found.” H.G. Wells explained.
“Luthor.” Clark grabbed ahold of the name, frowning with disdain.
“What’s wrong with him?” Lois asked, looking at H.G. Wells for an answer. “He hasn’t been the same since…”
“Yes, well according to what I’ve been able to discover a device was extracted from the Superman museum in 2293. A former weapon used to assassinate leaders by ordering them to put themselves in harm’s way. Once a target has been established the subject is helpless to do anything but respond and follow the orders given. That mixed with the missing Kryptonite…”
“Kryptonite?” Lois gasped in surprise.
“Silver Kryptonite to be exact,” H.G. Wells explained.
“Silver…wh-what?” Lois gasped in surprise.
“A disastrous experiment on the road to developing a cure for the deadly effects the green variation has on Superman.” H.G. Wells explained with a frown. “I’m afraid, combined the results are extremely dangerous.”
“I have to stop Luthor.” Clark interrupted, seeming to be unaware of the conversation taking place. Something clicked inside him and then he added. “Before the press conference.”
“What press conference?” H.G. Wells asked.
“The one he was ordered to call so he can stop lying to the world.” Lois explained with a bite in her tone.
“Noon tomorrow.” Clark answered in a monotone voice.
“Oh, dear…”
________________________________________
The hint of silver pigments mixed with green light emitting from the device in front of him cast a light green hue across Tempus’ face as he set his folded arms against the tabletop. He eyed , ethe radiating glow that emitted from the small ring he had hooked up to the phone he’d leveraged to send the subliminal messages through and thanks to the 22nd century’s technology developed to assassinate threats through the audio waves and the enhancements he’d made with Kryptonite to ensure it would work on Superman everything was falling into place. He tapped his hand across the ring, smiling gleefully as he eyed the powerful weapon he’d confiscated from a rogue government agency in the future. It always was fear that did mankind in, and he was all the willing to take advantage.
________________________________________
Lois ran a hand through her hair as she looked behind her to where Clark had unwillingly come along with her and H.G. Wells to STAR Labs where Jimmy had been able to trace the caller from. Was it really that simple? Probably not. Her experience with Lex and other criminals that had come out of the wood work over the last year told her nothing was that simple.
She readjusted the ballcap on her head and turned to Clark who was standing a few feet from her, hoping to see some sign of normalcy from him. “Clark?”
“This is a bad idea. We should just call the police….” H.G. Wells hissed in a harsh whisper.
“Well, I don’t think they’ll take my call seriously.” Lois snapped back as they snuck past the sleeping guard that was on duty. She reached over the desk and grabbed a visitor’s badge to scan the entry door with. “Let’s hope this works.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of….”
Lois let out a huff as they turned the corner and reached the elevator doors at the end of the hallway. “She pressed the call button, noting the dirty thumbprint on the panel. “They went this way.”
“How can you be sure?” Wells asked.
She pointed to the panel and he nodded his understanding. She looked over to Clark who was growing more and more antsy standing there waiting. “He’s getting worse.”
“You’re forcing him to go against the order. It’s a natural reaction.” Wells explained. “He has to recognize the order is wrong and not his own internal thoughts but something more sinister in order to break the hold Tempus has on him.”
Clark glanced at the clock in the hallway, “I should really talk to my parents before the press conference…”
“Yes, but we have to stop Luthor and Tempus first,” Lois explained, recalling the clear minded focus he had earlier when Lex’s name was mentioned.
“Right, Luthor.” Clark’s features hardened. “He has to be stopped.”
“Right.” Lois flashed him a weak smile.
“Then the press conference.”
The elevator doors opened and inside they found an unconscious guard. Lois yelped in surprise, quickly covering her mouth in shock when she saw the slumped body in the corner of the elevator. “Oh, my God!”
“They’ve been here.” Wells summarized with a disappointed frown.
Clark knelt down next to the man and nodded, “He’s still breathing.”
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The monitors began blaring, drawing Lex’s attention to them. He quickly turned to see three figures on the screen, scowling when he saw Lois with Clark Kent and a mysterious stranger dressed in a trench coat and bowler hat. “What is this?”
“Well, it appears we’ve got company,” Tempus said, reaching for the green glowing device on the table. “I believe Superman needs to be reminded of the consequences for not doing as he was told.”
TBC...
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