This is a very interesting and ambitious experiment, Paul! But eek, you weren't kidding when you said there was a WHAM at the end -- talk about a bad situation!
Others have made the suggestions I came up with already, but I'll mention them again so I won't have wasted my thought process. <g>
For Lois, I think she'd first try to figure out what Clark was working on, since she can't know for sure that he went missing dressed as Superman instead of as Clark. After that, I think she'd definitely call in all her sources -- Bobby Bigmouth and anyone else she can think of. She might also express concerns that Clark and Superman might have been taken together, if for no other reason to explain why Clark is missing, too, and to throw anyone off the track who might wonder about that coincidence. And she'd definitely tear the city apart looking for him!
I have a feeling her email wasn't a coincidence ... she'd definitely want to keep that appointment. But she should in no way go alone, or at least without telling Jimmy (or maybe Perry) where she's going. She'd run the risk of them finding out CK=S if it is related to his disappearance, but it would be the smart thing to do anyway. If it's a trap, she'd want someone waiting in the shadows to know that she was taken, too, and hopefully follow her to where Clark is being kept.
As for Clark, I also think he should "play sick", making them think he is more affected by the K than he really is. He'll want them to think there is no reason to use it on him so often. Then, of course, he should try to escape whenever he gets a chance. Does he recognize the voices, btw? I would think he'd be trying to figure out who it is who has him.
But for a little more off-the-wall suggestion, maybe Clark could think back to how he felt when Lois left their dimension (btw, that's a minor mistake in the backstory -- Lois didn't lose several days in her universe, only 10 seconds or whatever it was Clark said) and how they could "hear each other" in HIWTHI, and try to use "the bond" to either gather strength or try to communicate with Lois somehow. I know they don't know about telepathy in depth yet, but the bond is a big part of S3 (HIWTHI, NoS, etc.) and I'd love to see it come into play here somehow, even if it's not as a plot device for fixing everything right away. (Too easy to have them suddenly become telepathic and communicate, after all.)
OK, that's all I can think of right now. Interesting idea, Paul. I can't wait to see how it comes out!
Kathy
