[Chapter 8: Two]Clark subtly peered into his apartment as he and Lois walked to the door.
He quickly spotted the one-eyed Superman standing in the kitchen, directly in line of sight of the front door, which he supposed was better than remaining in his bedroom, since it’s likely he entered through the largest window there. However, the invasion of his apartment aside, what was truly more disconcerting was that the man locked his eye on him the moment he had turned his x-ray vision on him, as if he could
sense his sight.
The only thing that prevented him from turning around and convincing Lois that they would find the real Superman first was the look of relief on the man's face.
Clark took a deep breath and opened the door.
The lights were off, but he quickly remedied that by flipping on the light switch.
The Superman suit appeared identical to his own, save for the eyepatch, and the man wearing it remained standing in the kitchen, between the kitchen table and the sink.
Lois stepped beside Clark, staring at the eyepatched Superman in bewilderment, but the fact she remained close to him told Clark that Lois had become certain that this was NOT Superman.
This man held himself differently. While Clark tried to appear aloof but kind as Superman, this man was daunting while somehow also inviting. The closest comparison he could make was to Santa Claus or the Dalai Lama.
/I wanted to talk to you alone. Why is Lois here?/
Clark jumped at what sounded like his own voice in his head.
“I . . . don’t know how to answer that. Literally," he answered.
“Is he talking to you, Clark?” Lois asked, still holding his arm.
Superman, or the man dressed like him, sighed.
"I suppose I should have expected her to join you," the imposter said, still not moving.
"Who are you?" Clark asked. "What do you want?"
"Help. I want help. From what I've been able to deduce, I'm from an alternate reality. Well, parallel universe, most likely."
Lois gaped, and Clark was just as flabbergasted.
"I arrived this afternoon. A man appeared in my universe on a strange . . . contraption and stole some technology from my world. I tried to stop him as he activated the machine. Long story short, a weird bubble appeared around us, he had kryptonite, we struggled, his machine went out of control, I fell out of the bubble, the machine blew up, and then I woke up on the ground near West Boulevard and Washington Street on this world," he said before taking a deep breath.
"It was you! You were the reason why there were so many sonic booms earlier today!" Lois blurted.
"Oh. Yeah, probably. I was trying to figure out why everything was different so I zipped around a bit. Sorry," he said. “Are there rules here on that?”
Clark couldn’t help it, he laughed.
His counterpart was actually serious.
“No, there’s no rules here on that, at least not involving Superman,” Clark answered.
Superman sagged in relief.
“Are there rules on your world for you?” Lois asked, curious.
“Well, I have a treaty with my world, so yeah. But it doesn't restrict me from breaking the sound barrier, thankfully,” he said.
Clark blinked and Lois was deeply intrigued.
“A treaty?” she asked.
“The Treaty of El,” Superman clarified. “We made it soon after you discovered . . . well, my world’s Lois discovered me.”
“Discovered you?” Clark asked, confused.
“She was investigating mysterious rescues for years and when a few big things happened where I couldn’t hide my involvement, she proved that an individual was responsible instead of the supernatural. She asked me to reveal myself and . . . I took her up on her offer. I was tired of hiding. It’s a lot easier to work with rescue teams if you don’t have to worry about staying in the shadows,” Superman answered.
“For
years?” Lois asked, baffled.
Clark swallowed.
“What big things? What sort of things did you do?” she continued, oblivious to Clark’s unease.
“Saved a space shuttle and stopped a meltdown of a nuclear reactor. No one saw
me do those things, but the evidence was undeniable that someONE had. I had fried a few cameras and, though I don’t leave fingerprints, I warped the piston coming down at the power plant and the world saw the space shuttle go into orbit without the thrust of a rocket on live television - not to mention my Lois being taken out of the space shuttle to safety at superspeed. All that led to my Lois writing the article that compiled all the evidence of my physical existence, including previous rescues she had investigated. Of course, she didn’t actually know who I was, just that I was a physical being and not an angel, but it convinced me to stop hiding,” he said with a shrug.
“Wow. So this treaty,” Lois continued, moving forward and plopping herself at home on Clark’s couch.
Clark joined her and the one-eyed Superman moved forward and took a seat in the closest kitchen chair.
“It’s with the entire world?
All the nations? How was that done? How long did it take? Were there issues?” Lois asked.
Superman smiled, appearing unbothered by her stream of questions. Perhaps all Loises had an insatiable curiosity?
“It’s nice to see that some things between universes are the same. My Lois never breathes either when she’s digging for answers,” Superman said with a chuckle.
Lois blushed but still looked on expectantly for him to answer.
“All the nations were involved. There’s a few that I can only enter to help with natural disasters, but that’s not a problem. I prefer to stick with natural disasters or accidents anyway. As for how long, a few months, and the UN orchestrated it with the Foundation after the United States Senate interviewed me,” he said.
Lois’ eyes widened and Clark could hardly believe his ears. This man was seriously involved!
“Why is it called the Treaty of El?” Lois asked, no doubt gearing up for another batch of questions.
His double looked utterly baffled. “El is my family name. Is that not known here?” he asked.
Clark was suddenly struck by the look of concern Superman shot him. Did he think he didn’t know his birth name? He supposed that was a fair assumption if he came by the globe through similar means as he had.
Lois slowly shook her head. “No.”
“My world knows my Kryptonian name is Kal-El,” he said. “I learned it from a special globe my parents left for me in the spaceship that brought me to my Earth.”
Lois gasped and turned to Clark. “Clark! His globe! I knew it was important to him, but I never imagined this!”
Kal-El suddenly startled.
/You haven’t told her?!/
Clark jumped, and not just because of receiving a thought not his own. He could feel the man’s astonished disbelief and, yes, even horror. As if he was afraid for him!
“Uh . . .”
/Why haven’t you told her?! Are you nuts?!/ he continued, appalled.
Lois looked back and forth between them, immediately knowing something was amiss.
“Hey, are you thinking to him? You’re thinking to him again, aren’t you? Clark, what’s he saying?” Lois complained.
Clark looked pleadingly at him, his heart hammering in his chest.
What would he do?
Lois then leapt with a squeak. What had he just thought to her?!
“Don't worry, I can’t read your mind. It doesn’t work that way, fortunately. Anyway, if you see your Superman, can you tell him that I’ll focus on finding him tomorrow? It’s why I needed to talk to you. You’re easier to find than Superman and I had hoped our worlds were similar enough for you to be willing to help,” he said with a pointed look at Clark.
Clark silently heaved a sigh of relief as he answered. “Sure, no problem.”
“Thanks. Also, to make things easier on all of us, you can just call me Kal, if that works?” Kal suggested.
“That’s fine,” Clark quickly replied.
“Uh, Kal, since you’ve already been answering our questions, would you be alright with this being an interview?” Lois asked, not about to miss an opportunity.
Of course.
“Sure. If the other Superman is okay with that," he said.
Clark wondered if Kal was this open on his world.
"So you're telepathic?" Lois asked, though it was hardly a question and instead a probe to seek more information.
"Yeah. All Kryptonians are, but we have to learn, and I'm a little . . . different."
"So our Superman is telepathic too?" she asked excitedly.
Kal glanced at Clark before focusing on her. She thankfully didn’t notice.
"Probably not right now, to be honest. I learned how in late 1995, after I had hurt my aura. And my telepathy is a little different from other Kryptonians' because of that," he explained.
"
Other Kryptonians?" Clark asked, unsure what to think as his heart lurched. He wasn't alone? "There are others in your universe? And 1995? What year is it in your universe?"
"It's summer, 1997. As for other Kryptonians, I don't know if it's different here, but in my universe, there were survivors. They settled on a planetoid and named it New Krypton. They came to get me in May of 1996 but I decided to remain on Earth and I named someone to rule in my place after I reworked a few things."
Lois straightened. "Wait-wait.
Rule in your place? So you, what, were supposed to be their king or something?"
"Lord, actually, but I surrendered that responsibility and became Keeper of Earth. I serve as Earth's defender and ambassador."
"Wow!" Lois exclaimed.
Clark was astonished too; really, he was downright reeling. Was he a Lord too?!
"And they were okay with that?" Clark asked.
"It's a long story. I can tell you the whole thing later, if you want, especially since if the New Kryptonians come here, your Superman could likely use some pointers because I had to deal with assassins as well, but anyway. . . ."
Lois looked at Clark in concern. "Do you think Superman knows any of this?"
"I'll update him when I get the chance," Clark stated, meeting Kal's eye.
"Sorry for alarming you. I know this is all really out there, and while I imagine some would question me being this upfront, this situation isn't like the standard time travel trope. It's not like I'm going to erase my future by giving you some possible teasers on your future. This world is different from mine, and, to be frank, I don't want any parallel world to experience what had resulted in the aftermath of the New Kryptonians' visit. Forewarned is forearmed."
Clark and Lois both looked at his eyepatch.
"Is that what . . . ?" Lois asked with a nervous motion to his covered eye.
"Yeah. Also, off the record, if your Superman doesn't have trusted allies with sound and kryptonite weapons, help him get on that," Kal stated seriously.
Clark’s eyes widened.
"Sorry. I need to get back on track. Does the Foundation exist here or should I just go talk to the UN?” Kal asked. "I don't want to worry people with my presence, though hopefully I won't be here long."
"Uh, the Foundation exists, but why would you go to them? They just handle donations and charities, right?" Lois asked.
"The Foundation doesn't coordinate things with the UN or US Embassies? How does your Superman handle making public statements?" Kal asked, confused.
Clark fiddled with his glasses.
"He sort of . . . doesn't," Lois admitted. "Other than giving an occasional interview, he doesn't really talk to the public much."
"Huh–" Kal tilted his head and his eye seemed to glaze over.
/Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. You take the night off,/ Clark heard in his head. /If you want, I'll even forgo the patch. I have a contact underneath for when I'm out of the suit. As long as I don't need to use my heat vision, no one will know./
Clark gave a subtle nod.
"I hear something I can help with. I'll see you two later most likely," Kal said, standing up.
“Thanks!” Clark hurriedly said before Kal could dash off. “Thanks for catching those bullets. You . . . you saved me.”
Kal stilled and looked at him with a gentle smile. “You’re welcome.”
And then he disappeared with a blur, and it felt extremely surreal to Clark to hear a sonic boom he didn’t make echo so close.
O o O o O
Clark had tried to find him after Lois headed home. Unfortunately, he had no idea where he had gone and the world was a big place. He had even tried thinking to him, but he was pretty sure it hadn't worked.
He glanced at the time. He had a little while before work, though he suspected Lois would be going into work early. They had talked a bit and they had decided they would give Perry a heads up on what had happened but only submit the article including the interview after they had spoken with Superman.
Hopefully, that would give him some time to decide what to do.
He shook himself and decided to call his parents. It was 5:20am now, so they should be up.
He picked up the phone, but then realized this was a conversation best had in person.
He shot off to Smallville.
"Hey, son!" his dad greeted from the kitchen table as Clark entered through the back door with a knock. "We weren't expecting you until this weekend. Everything okay?"
His mom stepped in, and, by his look, quickly sat down next to his dad.
"There's, uh, a lot to tell you," he said, before sitting himself.
He then told them everything.
"So, you believe he's telling you the truth?" his dad asked.
"Yes. He . . . It's hard to describe. When he spoke in my head, I could feel his emotions. And when he spoke, I don't know. I don't why, exactly, but I feel that I can trust him."
"So what are you going to do? And how is he going to get back to his world?" his mom asked.
"I don't know, but I guess if he ends up being here for a bit, the world will need to know about his existence. I couldn’t ask him to ignore calls for help, and I don't want people to panic with there being two of us," he said with a frown.
His mom nodded. "I think being proactive and open might be best here. And it sounds like his frankness on his world has been beneficial to him."
Clark nodded before frowning. "I'll need to talk to him about the Kryptonians. If there are survivors, I want to be ready for whatever may come."
His dad nodded in staunch agreement as something far off suddenly got his attention.
He heard a radio report that a bridge was on fire in North Carolina.
"I've got to go. There's a fire," he stated, before disappearing.
O o O o O
A sizable portion of the bridge was completely engulfed in flames. Hovering in the sky, Clark immediately began scanning, searching for trapped people and identifying weakened areas.
A semi truck with chemicals was the source, with two cars crumpled into the side. No doubt a car accident due to ice on the bridge. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anyone still within the vehicles so they must have gotten out before the fire spread, but the cars and flaming truck had blocked off the bridge. This resulted in people being unable to get around or back away from the growing flames and the threat of explosion thanks to the traffic behind them.
/Need help?/ a voice asked in his head before Kal appeared beside him in the cold morning air.
He had his eyepatch and looked calmer than Clark would feel if he suddenly found himself in a parallel universe.
"Sure," he said.
/I was down in Mexico helping a sinking vessel earlier as you, but I figured the patch now would be okay?/
"It's fine," Clark said, having to talk loudly over the roaring flames below. "You'll need to teach me how to think back to you at some point."
/We can work on that after this,/ Kal agreed. /So, plan?/
"I'll move the vehicles back while you focus on putting out the flames," Clark decided.
Kal nodded and shot off.
It was very strange but invigorating to work alongside his counterpart. However, the emergency crews and those present immediately took notice of Kal.
"Superman?" a fireman asked as Clark gently set a car with passengers down at a safe distance from the flames.
The fireman’s eyes glanced up at Kal's form carefully extinguishing the flames on the truck. The car fires were now out.
"He's a friend. I'll be giving a statement later," Clark assured, before turning back to the truck.
/The fire is out and the chemical tanks are cold,/ Kal thought to him after one more huff
of frost breath.
Two minutes later, the fire crews had the clean up under control.
"We should probably head back to Metropolis," Clark said, doing his best to ignore how everyone near was staring at them.
Kal nodded as they took off. They slowed their approach as Metropolis came into view.
"Lois is itching to submit that interview, huh?" Kal asked knowingly.
"Yes. Perry already knows about it, but he promised to hold off until Superman gave the okay," Clark explained.
"Which is what we're going to do now?" Kal asked.
"I . . . suppose?"
He really had no idea.
They stopped and hovered high above the city.
"This is your world, so I'll follow your lead, but I would like to draw some attention. I have no idea how to get home. So at this point, I think the only hope I have is to make some waves and get the Time Police or something to notice me and hopefully take me back to where I belong," Kal said earnestly.
Clark frowned, actually feeling Kal's fear of being trapped here forever. He slowly nodded, hoping they could get him home.
"Okay. Let's go to the Daily Planet and you can make a statement," Clark decided.
"Thanks," Kal said.
O o O o O
Lois looked up at the television, enraptured like everyone else as they watched two Supermen work together.
They worked seamlessly as a team. While one shot in and out carrying vehicles to safety, the other was zipping around, carefully blowing out the fire. And then the fire was out and they disappeared together.
"Judas Priest!" Perry exclaimed, coming up to Lois' desk. "I know you had told me, but it's still hard to believe!"
Lois smiled. "Oh, I know, it was very strange to talk to him."
"I can imagine," he said, before they all startled at the sound of a . . . double sonic boom?
And then there were two Supermen standing before them.
"Superman! Both–uh," Perry said, at a loss as he looked back and forth between the two of them.
They were twins! Same height, build, and hair, not to mention uniform. There were a few differences of course, specifically the blue eyepatch, but the biggest was actually the way they stood.
Lois stepped forward, silently taking in their differences.
Kal appeared far more relaxed, although he also held himself more . . . confidently?
Superman was a bit more rigid, as if he was waiting for something to happen.
"We apologize for startling you all," Superman said, before focusing on Perry. "May we speak with you, Mr. White? I understand Lois and Clark informed you of my counterpart’s arrival?"
"Oh! Of course, of course. Please, let us talk in my office," Perry said, before looking around at the Planet's employees. "Alright, everyone, get back to work!"
He motioned for Lois to join them.
"Thank you, Mr. White," Superman said as Kal-El silently fell into step behind him.
Lois closed the door behind them and ignored how everyone in the bullpen was craning to see inside.
“So . . . what can I do for you, uh, both?” Perry asked, trying not to appear too intimidated with two Supermen standing on the other side of his desk as he motioned them all to sit.
“Thanks. We’d like the Daily Planet to publicize a statement. I’ll be having the Foundation help as well, but we felt this would be the most efficient way,” Superman said, sitting down as Kal-El did as well. “As you can see, Kal-El is, well, he looks a lot like me, and that’s because in . . . a parallel universe, he is me.”
Perry’s eyes widened. Lois had told him that already, but it was still hard to believe. Although. . . . Perry looked at Kal.
“I definitely see the resemblance,” Perry said.
“I want to assure the world that, while I’m here, I just want to help,” Kal said.
Perry nodded. “Okay. And the interview yesterday?” he asked, looking to Superman.
Superman glanced at Lois and took a deep breath. Lois bit her lip. She hadn’t deeply contemplated how Superman would feel about what Kal-El had said and if he would be alright with it becoming public knowledge.
“Yes. That can be shared, but please stress that Kal-El is from a parallel universe. There are differences, although I’m admittedly not ready to reveal how different,” Superman said, looking back at Perry.
Lois relaxed as Kal-El clasped Superman’s shoulder in thanks and support.
O o O o O
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