Last time...
She first looked down at him, trying to calm her wildly beating heart. After a long moment, she looked upwards at the man who was kneeling beside her.
“Did I hurt you?” His voice was urgent and apologetic.
“No,” she gasped. “You… thank you… you… saved my life,” she gasped.
He stood up, and helped her up as he did so. She didn’t flinch from the contact. Like Clark, he was nothing like Lord Kal – or even this clone.
“That was close,” gasped the other Lois.
“I didn’t think he was going to drink the damn thing,” said Clark. “That almost didn’t work!”
“But it did work,” said the other Lois. She looked over at her twin, and then said the first thing that popped into her mind. “You look nice,” she said, amazed by the dress. God, am I that beautiful? Maybe I should grow back my hair? She stole a look at Clark to see if he was struck by her twin as well.
Clark did not appear overly affected by Lois’s dress. Rather, he seemed a bit agitated by the events of the evening. She stepped over and placed a hand on his arm.
“It’s okay, honey.”
Lois watched them wistfully. I want Clark.
“I should change,” she said. “And then… we go find Clark?”
She went into her room, and quickly changed. She came out, and eyed the clone fearfully.
“Let’s just go,” said Clark. “If it was Kryptonite, it’ll be a while before it leaves his system.”
“Right. Lets get out of here.”
“Do we drive… do we fly…?”
“Both,” said Lois firmly. “We’ll need the car, to escape. If Clark is doped up with Kryptonite, then Clark won’t be able to pick him up to fly him out of there. Clark – you can fly us and her car together… okay?”
“Sounds like a good idea. Are you okay with that?”
She looked at him, appreciating his asking her opinion.
“Oh… sorry,” said the other Lois. “I keep taking over, don’t I?”
“I don’t care! I just want Clark back. It’s fine with me. Let’s go!”
Part 56
“Before we do anything,” said the other Lois, “I need to use your bathroom.”
“No problem – it’s –“
“I know where it is,” she smiled. “It’s incredible how our apartments are so alike!”
After her double disappeared from view, Lois didn’t know how to handle herself. She felt awkward in the presence of this Clark – he reminded her too much of the man she loved, and yet, she still couldn’t erase the image of him dressed like Lord Kal.
Spurred by those thoughts, she turned away from him. She regretted that action as her eyes caught glimpse of something even more frightening. She looked at the unconscious body of the clone, and felt a deep chill go through her body.
She stared at it a long time.
He was going to rape me. He was going to turn me into his slave. It would have been Lord Kal all over again, and he was going to do it – here… here where I’ve shared such fantastic moments with Clark. He was going to hold me down and hurt me. Wearing Clark’s face, body and name.
Clark looked over at her, and saw that she was shivering. She seemed transfixed by the clone, and he thought, with a stab of horror, about how close she must have felt to being with the monster who had abused her all those years.
Taking a huge chance, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, hoping, if anything, to remind her of the good and gentle man that she had fallen in love with. A man she now had to save.
“Lois,” he said quietly.
She turned eyes that were still wide with shock in his direction, and he could feel the trembling under his hand.
“I know that was hell for you,” he said, his voice quiet and gentle.
She slowly nodded her head, and swallowed some of the freezing terror out of her throat.
“It’s just… he… he… he was so much like Lord Kal.” Her voice was barely audible, but his super-hearing picked it up. “I… I – I spent three years as his slave,” she said quietly. “He hurt me – he – he made me feel like nothing. And then – it was going to happen all over again. I couldn’t have stopped him. It was going to happen all over again.”
“I’m sorry,” said Clark, expressing remorse not only for having let this creature lay a single hand on her, but also for every other bit of pain she suffered at the hands of the man who was him in another world. “We should have found a different way to stop him.”
She shook her head, impatient with herself and all her bad memories.
“No. No apologies. Don’t feel bad for what I chose to do. I did what I had to do. And – you know… I discovered something really important in the process,” she said, her voice full of wonder. “My love for Clark is stronger than my fear of Lord Kal. I never knew that. I – all this time… I doubted myself – and whether we could make this work… but – I think I’ve … come to realize – thanks to the clone … that I can do it. I’m not weak. I’m not … nothing… Lord Kal was wrong about me.”
“Yes. He was,” said Clark. “You are very strong. You have my complete admiration.”
“And mine,” said her doppelganger. “I’ve never had to be as brave as you just were. You amaze me.”
“Oh,” said Lois, smiling at her twin. “Come on… knock it off.” Her words were harsh, but her smile told a different story.
“You are amazing,” her twin reasserted firmly. “And… I hope that this encounter will give you strength for the one to come.”
“I hope so too.” Her voice was suddenly sober again as she realized the daunting task that still lay ahead.
“It could get bad,” said Clark, quietly. “Luthor is … ruthless. And – “
“I don’t care,” she said, her eyes burning with fierce determination. “I would sell my body and soul to Luthor, if it meant saving Clark.”
“It won’t come to that,” Clark responded with equal determination. He looked over at the other Lois nervously. “Are you ready for this?”
She gave him a brave smile. Ready to face Luthor? Never. But we’re doing this. Hey – if she can face up to this creep… then – we can do this.
“I only hope I can live up to her example,” she said, with a lightness that concealed her own fears at seeing Luthor again.
Lois looked at her doppelganger in amazement.
“All this time, I’ve felt like I’ve … somehow … wanted to live up to you. To the bravery and compassion that you showed when you were here… for never once fearing Clark for his strength and power – but rather, for always seeing what he was, and what he could be… I tried to turn the tide of public opinion against this wonderful man because I thought he was a monster in disguise – you… you always knew…”
“I hadn’t been badly treated by his doppelganger,” said the other Lois firmly. “If I had – It would have been a very different story.”
Lois nodded gratefully. “Thanks. I guess I’m still carrying around a bit of guilt. But guilt won’t help us now. Clark needs us, and I have to be strong.”
“As do we,” muttered her doppelganger.
“What do you mean?”
“In our universe, we both… fell afoul of Lex,” she explained. “He nearly killed us both, and on more than one occasion.”
“Both of you…”
“Yeah,” said Clark. “And we’ll explain later – no point in dredging all that up now – it’ll just psyche us out.”
“How are we going to get there?”
“You both could get into Lois’s car, and I could fly it there. “
“Sounds like a good idea,” she said.
“Are you okay with flying with me? I don’t want to bring back any – “
“It’s okay. Clark and I have flown together a few times. I’m an old pro.” No point in telling him how much it scares me still. “However… I should change before we go,” she said nervously. “I can’t go like this.”
Before she could leave the room to go change, the other Lois, who had been looking more troubled by the second, spoke her mind.
“Um… guys…? Before we go off on full-speed-ahead, can we just rethink this for a second? Lex Luthor is in possession of Kryptonite. He can hurt Clark. He can hurt us, and we don’t have any kind of weapons whatsoever at our immediate disposal. Seems to me – we need backup… or help – or whatever you want to call it.”
“What did you have in mind,” asked Clark?
“Lois? Can you think of anyone who you can really trust to help?”
“Perry. I can call Perry. He knows about other universes, so he won’t be too freaked out to find out about you two. And maybe he can get Bill Henderson involved. He might be able to put together a discreet team of people to help us out – who can be trusted not to talk about having met people from another universe!”
“It’s a good idea,” agreed Clark. “As Lois said – we aren’t exactly well prepared to go fight Luthor, and he does have Kryptonite – he must… right? I can’t imagine he used it all up in that poison that he gave Carissa.”
“Okay, then. It’s settled. I’ll make the call.”
She picked up her phone, and dialed Perry’s cell-phone number. She knew he’d answer it when he saw it was her.
“Hi! Perry… I – “
“Lois! Are you okay? Is… is anyone there with you? Are you in any kind of danger?” Perry’s voice was urgent, and it gave Lois pause.
“What are you talking about? Why do you think I’m in trouble?”
“I – “ he hesitated, and she could sense his nervousness over the phone. “I… Clark was acting really strange today,” he said. “I – I – I was kind of worried about you.“
“I’m okay,” she assured him hastily. “But you were right to worry. Something very bad is going on, and I need your immediate help. I need you to come over here, as there is something I have to show you… and I can’t bring… it… to your office.”
“Yes. Of course… I – “
“I also was hoping you could arrange for Inspector Henderson to come by as well. I have a feeling his help is going to be needed as well. “
“Uh… yeah – actually – I’m in a meeting with him right now.”
“Oh. You are?” The wind taken out of her sails again, she stopped talking.
“We were kind of brainstorming about … Clark. I’m sorry – you know the man is like a son to me – but his behavior today has been… really – frightening. And – well… we were … talking about how to deal with … “
“Perry. No apologies needed. I know precisely how you feel. Please – you have to come here quickly. Time is very much of the essence.”
Twenty minutes later, they heard a knock at the door. After Clark affirmed that it was them, she opened it, ushering them quickly inside. She hastily closed and locked the doors, not wanting anyone to see what was inside her apartment.
“Oh my god,” said Henderson as he saw the prone form of the clone. “What happened to Clark?”
Perry rushed over to his friend’s body, and knelt down, placing a hand on him to see if he was dead.
“Lois – what happened? Is he sick? What – “
“Actually,” said Clark. “He’s been poisoned.”
Both men turned in surprise towards the man speaking, and were shocked to see Clark Kent standing there.
“Somebody want to explain what’s going on?” Henderson managed to keep the calm in his voice due to years of being a policeman.
“That…” said Lois pointing at the clone, “is a clone.”
“A clone.”
“Yes.”
“Of Clark?”
“Yes.”
“And – he’s the one who was acting so … belligerently today?”
“Yes.”
“Clark. Why in god’s name would anyone clone you?” Perry was bewildered.
“Well… if whoever did this could control the clone, he could take over the world, if he wanted. Know anyone who fits that bill?”
“Luthor.” Perry’s voice was emphatic.
Bill hesitated a moment, pondering that.
“He does have the financial resources needed to do something like this – but does he have the motivation? Clark… what I don’t get is… where the heck were you while your clone was masquerading as you today? I mean – that was the clone, right? You don’t treat people like that…not even people who others may think deserve rough treatment.”
“No. But… I think you should let Lois answer these questions… it gets even weirder.” Clark felt uncomfortable pretending to be his counterpart.
“What… uh… what… what went on here?” Perry looked over at Lois, taking in her pallor. Something else had happened here. Did the clone hurt her in any way? She looks really nervous.
“I can answer all your questions, but you just need to stop asking them, and let me get to the explanation. Okay?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Bill. “Explain away.”
She took a deep fortifying breath, and told the story.
“Okay. Last night, I had this bad feeling that something had happened to Clark. I called Perry about it, and he told me to turn on the T.V. I saw that Superman was out and about. Normally, I would have just called him – but I just had this weird feeling of… something not being right – something not being right about what I was seeing on the T.V. So instead – I went out to try to find him, figuring that it might be safer to talk to him in public.”
“Well – I know that you’ve had your doubts about …” Bill turned and looked at Clark apologetically.
“No. I’m past all that. Clark and I have started a relationship,” she blushed. “We’re… dating – but… it’s a secret still… okay?”
“Lois – believe me, gossiping about people’s love lives is hardly my – “
“I know. I know. I’m sorry. I just had to say that. “
“I just don’t see how you went from one extreme to another…”
“Just let me finish!” Her voice was exasperated, and Bill had to fight from smiling. It was always fun to get under her skin a little. He liked and respected her, but she had been a thorn in his side one time too many.
“I did run into Superman. He rescued me from being mugged. But he was very brutal with the mugger, and I felt really uncomfortable around him… he wasn’t acting himself. And then, he just… flew away with me – brought me to Clark’s apartment.” She paused, trying to compose herself. She noticed that Perry was now looking pale, and very intent. She shook her head, and smiled at him, trying to get him to calm down a bit. It’s okay. I’m okay.
“He made a pass at me,” she said, affecting a casual tone to her voice which completely belied the terror she had felt going through it at the time. “And I put him off, by reminding him that we had a date tonight. It worked, and I quickly made my way back home, trying to figure out what was going on. After the clone kissed me, I knew that he wasn’t Clark."
Perry grimaced.
“Later on, Carissa showed up at my door and told me some crazy story about how she had purchased a so-called love-potion from someone, and had slipped half of it in Clark’s drink last night. She was supposed to drink the other half, but had failed to do so, fearing it might somehow alter her looks. Moments after Clark drank his spiked wine, he lost consciousness. She was hit on the back of the head, and when she regained consciousness, she was alone. She came here to tell me what had happened – she was terrified. I got her to give me the rest of the poison. When the clone came here for our date, I gave him wine that had been spiked with the poison, and it worked.”
Perry looked over at her in sheer admiration.
“Lois! He could have killed you – My god – he could have – “ He trailed off, not wanting to go down a hurtful path.
“He would have, Perry. He would have … abused me… and then – I’m sure, over time, he would have killed me – and many others. He seemed cruel, you know? Nothing like Clark.”
Bill looked over at Clark.
“Where the heck were you in all this? If Carissa drugged you- what happened next? Are you still suffering from the effects of the drug – do you not have your powers – I don’t –“
“I’m not Clark, either,” he said. “Well. I am… but not … the Clark that you know.”
Bill stiffened. “Are you a clone too?”
“No. I’m … I’m from an alternate universe.” He winced as he said it, realizing how crazy it all sounded.
“You’re… okay… april freaking fools. Come on – kids – give me a break here.”
“He’s telling the truth, Bill,” said Perry gravely. “Is Lois with you? I’m assuming you’re the Clark that comes from the same world as that Lois who showed up here and convinced our Clark to become Superman?”
“Yes, and Yes. Lois, you can come out now. They know.”
Both men’s jaws dropped as another Lois Lane came ambling out from Lois’s bedroom.
Bill shook his head. “I’ve lost my mind.”
“No. Bill. Clark and Lois told me about alternate universes. It sounds insane, but – I believe them, wholeheartedly. “
“But… two Lois Lanes,” he groaned? “Two? Won’t this universe explode or something under the weight of both of these women?”
“Hey!” Both women responded in the same indignant tone, and Perry had to fight from a slight burst of hysterical laughter.
“Okay. So let’s just say that I’ve lost all reason, and I believe all this. Where is Clark?”
“We think Luthor has him,” said Clark. “I’ve been able to connect with him telepathically – just a glimpse – and – we believe that he’s at the bunker that Lex had built during the asteroid threat.”
“Telepathically?” Bill’s voice was incredulous.
“Uh. Kryptonians are telepaths,” he said carefully, knowing that this knowledge might be upsetting to many humans.
“He can read minds? He never mentioned it – “
“He didn’t know until very recently,” said Lois hastily.
“Neither did I. It wasn’t until I met other Kryptonians, that I found out about it.”
“Other… “
“Just some weird stuff going on where we come from. “
“Did you tell him that he had telepathic abilities? How did he find out?”
“Um. Well – that’s kind of my doing,’ said Lois awkwardly. “You see… I was … abducted from this world, and forced to live in another universe. That’s where I was for all those years. And… there were Kryptonians on earth in that other world. They had taken over the world.”
“Oh my god,” said Bill. He was starting to believe her, and this was getting grimmer by the moment. It certainly did explain why she had been so upset about Superman back when she first resurfaced.
“In this universe – there was no Clark. He had never been sent to earth. He was the leader of his people, and he was a vicious and cruel man.” Her lips trembled as her eyes lit on the clone again. Troubling memories poked at her mind.
Perry moved close to her and lay a gentle hand on her arm. “You don’t have to continue…”
She gave him a small grateful smile.
“No. It’s okay,” she said. She took another deep breath. “I was enslaved by Clark’s counterpart – he called himself Lord Kal.”
Clark flinched as she said those words. And now that’s my name.
She walked over to Henderson, and then turned to the side, tugging at her shirt, so he could see her brand.
“He gave me this – my first day there… a mark of ownership. I – wanted you to see it, because it’s further proof that I’m not telling you some crazy story. I suppose I could have done this myself – but – “
She stopped talking as she saw the horror now written on everyone’s face. Oh. Right. These are decent people. This kind of thing bothers decent people.
“Sorry,” she said, feebly, breaking the silence. “I … “
“No,” said Perry. “Please don’t apologize… it’s just…”
“Awful,” said Clark. “God… just awful!” What if they do this to people back home?
She bit her lip and looked at Henderson.
“So… so – that’s my … explanation.”
“Right. And… it’s quite an explanation, Lois.”
“Will you help us get Clark back?”
Bill sighed heavily, and looked at the expectant faces.
“It’s not like I can say no,” he grumbled grumpily.
[tbc]
