Earth I
They were flying back to Metropolis and were fast approaching the city.
“Superman, what’s that?” Lois asked, looking back over his shoulder. He paused in midair to turn and look behind. A quarter of a mile back, the blue sky was gone, replaced by a curtain of roiling black clouds lit up by phosphorescent green lightning. Wind began to whisper around them. The late-afternoon sun had vanished behind the black clouds.
"I don’t know," Superman admitted. Lois was surprised to see worry in his face. The wind grew louder and stronger and Superman dropped to the ground, hunkering down to protect Lois from the brunt of the wind.
The storm was on them. Gale force winds shoved at them and even Superman’s strength wasn’t quite enough to stand against them. There was a piercing wail as if the universe itself was crying out in agony. The sound drove through their skulls. They covered their ears, but the keening wail was too knife-sharp, driving itself into their brains. It was louder even than the thunder that rolled all around them.
Then, the world fell up.
The scream stopped. The thunder stopped. The lightning stopped. The slashing rain stopped.
They stood and looked around. The afternoon sun was shining through a cloudless blue sky.
“What was that?” Lois asked. Superman’s face was pale and his eyes were dark with worry.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen or felt anything like it.”
“Maybe we’d better get back to Metropolis,” she suggested. He nodded agreement, picked her up in his arms and took off again, toward the city.
Earth II
They walked through Centennial Park, taking time to sit beside the fountain where he’d first proposed to her, and where, later, she proposed to him.
“Are you okay?” Clark asked. Lois had been unusually quiet.
“I’m fine,” she said, brushing a dark strand of hair away from her face. “Have you told Richard and Penny yet, about Zara and Ching, I mean?”
“I’ve told them they’re expected sometime this week,” Clark said. “But I haven’t filled them in on the details. I didn’t want them to get their hopes up.”
“It’s a pity they can’t have kids,” Lois said. “Richard’s so much like you it’s scary sometimes. He’ll make a great dad, and Penny will make a pretty good mom.”
“Well, you certainly shaped up, Mrs. Kent,” Clark said with a grin, nuzzling her neck.
She slapped his chest then grabbed her belly, wincing in annoyance more than pain. “I think this one’s just about ready to make an appearance.”
“Do you want me to get the car, or do you want . . .” He made a sideways waving motion with his hand, their sign for Superman.
She repeated the sign back to him. “My water hasn’t broken yet, but this kid is on its way.”
“Stay right here, and I’ll be right back,” he promised.
* * *
If the first sign that something was amiss was the unnatural storm, the second sign had to be that the Wannamaker building was still standing.
The city below them was undamaged. Superman looked closer and realized there were differences from the city they’d left only hours before. Buildings had been subtly shifted. The Daily Planet building was the most changed. It was the same height and similar in appearance, but there was no mistaking the building was not the same as the one he and Lois had left that morning.
“Lois, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more,” Superman muttered.
Lois’s eyes followed his gaze to look over at the Daily Planet building. Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant.
“Where are we?” she asked, heart pounding.
“I have no idea,” he admitted with a frown. He could hear Lois’s heartbeat next to him, but Jason’s was missing from the city. And, more oddly, there was another heartbeat below him, in Centennial Park that almost matched Lois’s. This one belonged to a pregnant woman who was in labor and appeared annoyed. She had dark hair pulled back into a loose French braid.
“Superman!” she was calling quietly, as if she didn’t want to be overheard by bystanders.
He landed softly near the fountain, setting Lois on her feet before approaching the dark-haired pregnant woman.
“You called, ma’am?” he asked. The woman turned and her eyes widened in an odd mixture of shock and disbelief.
“Who the devil are you?” she demanded before doubling over with a hard contraction as her water broke.
