[Chapter 6: Plunge]Lois sighed as she sat down on her couch after leaving a message on Clark’s answering machine.
She hoped he was okay, but at least she was confident he had spoken with Superman. Before she had returned from meeting with Star, Clark had called in a story (Superman save) and had asked Jimmy to tell her that he likely wouldn't be back in for the rest of the day because Superman had invited him to accompany him on a few rescues.
It was just as well, she supposed. At least this way, if anything happened. . . .
She forced herself to push that possibility away.
She refused to even imagine it!
A knock on her window saved her from her struggle.
"Superman!" she gasped, hurriedly going to the window and opening it for him. "Hi. Is everything okay?"
Superman floated in and quietly landed.
"Yeah, everything is fine, or as fine as they can be given the circumstances. Clark updated me on everything," he said.
"You're keeping an ear out for him, right, in case he’s attacked again?" Lois immediately asked.
"Uh, yeah, though I have more practice with you," he answered, smiling at the end.
Lois blushed, heartened he felt confident enough to tease her, but pressed on. “Okay. Well, I've recently learned a bit more and I'm quite certain the Boker is Baron Sunday. I need to update Clark about it and I hope he calls me back soon. Knowing him, he’s likely calling his parents before checking his messages.”
He better call her back soon!
"Anyway, Baron’s assistant, who is called Ziggy, is the one who called me earlier today and warned me that Sunday is targeting you," Lois said.
"Baron Sunday?" Superman asked, confused. “That name sort of sounds familiar but I can’t place it."
"It didn’t sound familiar to me at all, but he's actually a pretty popular magician who happens to also be in town this week. We're currently working on getting more information, especially on his assistant," she said.
Superman nodded his understanding. "Was anything found on the people Matt Young listed? Clark mentioned you two had potential leads there?” Superman asked as they went to her couch and sat down.
“Oh! Yeah. Unfortunately, it looks like one of them passed away from a heart attack two weeks ago in New York. And, what do you know? Baron Sunday had done a few magic shows there at the same time!” Lois said, excited that the investigation was bearing fruit.
“Wow,” Superman said, his eyebrows up.
“I know we don’t have enough to actually get law enforcement involved yet, but it’s a start,” Lois said.
“It definitely is,” Superman agreed. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help with the investigation.”
Lois beamed. “I will. Maybe once we have a location on Ziggy or Sunday you could do a fly over?” she suggested.
“Of course,” he agreed with a smile before glancing at the window. “Well, I suppose I should head out. It is getting late.” He stood up.
"Should you though?" Lois quickly asked, suddenly concerned as she got off the couch as well and touched his arm. "I mean, maybe we could go to Clark’s? I don't think you or Clark should be alone. You two are the ones being targeted, after all, and Clark's already been attacked more than once. What if something happens?" she went on, barely taking a breath. "It just seems like it would be wise to take precautions. To stay together."
Superman blinked, and Lois could only guess that he was baffled that his safety would be anyone's concern.
She waited for him to respond.
Finally, he smiled at her and started to reply, but something seemed to pass over his face. The next second, astonishingly, he stumbled backward.
"Superman?!" she cried in alarm.
He looked as if he had just been slugged in the chest.
His eyes snapped up, staring above her head, seeing something only he could see.
"Superman, listen to me! It's not real!" she shouted as he began gasping in breaths of air and took several more steps back.
She firmly grabbed his arm as his hand went to the top rim of his uniform. His other hand reached out above him, as if trying to block something.
"I can't breathe!" he wheezed, beginning to lean forward, breathless, before he gave a sharp yank at the edge of the blue fabric below his neck.
The sound of tearing cloth ripped through the air as he fell to his knees, his eyes wide.
"Lay down! I can help you!" Lois pleaded, kneeling before him.
Superman obliged by falling straight back, clipping her coffee table and crushing the corner in on itself. Lois didn't care and shoved it further out of the way to make more room as her eyes shot to his partially bare chest with his shield torn aside, but that was secondary.
"No!" she cried in despair as the now familiar serpent materialized on his unblemished, olive skin.
Superman gave a shout and he truly looked afraid.
She leapt forward, placing her right hand on his forehead and her other at the center of his chest, on top of the snake.
"Superman, try to focus on me! Nothing else!" she pleaded as a glow began to ebb from the snake.
She would NOT let him die!
Her vision wavered, and a strange pull of resistance in what she could only label as the back of her mind appeared.
She suddenly didn't feel like she was in her apartment, but she could still feel the living room carpet beneath her knees and Superman's warm skin under her hands.
And then she could feel . . .
emotion.She felt confusion and panic, but had no idea why.
It was so strange, so
faint and yet persistent. It felt like a shadow. Similar to feeling embarrassed for someone in a precarious situation, only in this instance there was no known situation to subconsciously respond to.
Was she feeling what Superman was feeling?
She didn’t know, but if what Star had said was happening and she was anchoring his soul, it at least seemed possible.
She looked up as her vision focused, finding a diminishing light above her as if a door of some kind was closing. It shut with a hiss, and she was suddenly reminded of the pressurization she had heard on Prometheus.
The door had just sealed.
The area was plunged into darkness and the sound of a baby's cry echoed forth.
Fear coursed through the air.
Where was she? What was this? This was . . . Superman's fear?
“Superman? If you can hear me, it’s me, Lois. I’m with you. We're still in my apartment. Baron Sunday is doing this, it’s not real,” she said out loud as she tried to look around in whatever she was in.
However, she found that she couldn’t change where she was looking as she realized the baby had to be very close to her because its cries were essentially right next to her and had grown more insistent.
Now, she was no baby expert, but these cries were high. She would even label them as wails. Wails of desperate need and confusion.
But where was the baby?
Something soft and warm seemed to be wrapped around her, but it felt . . . distant almost. The feel of the carpet under her knees in her living room still felt more substantial than the fabric, and yet she couldn’t deny also feeling foreign cloth around her legs and waist.
What was happening? It was still pitch black.
Suddenly, loud bangs rumbled through the walls and the baby’s cries amped up to ones of fear as everything began to shake.
It was so loud, she could no longer hear the baby, but the emotions had instantly warped and solidified.
She could feel fear, shock, anger, disbelief, confusion. . . .
It was so intense and layered, she wondered if it was normal for Superman to feel so much so quickly, but then something else happened.
Words.
Speech.
It was like listening to hundreds of radios at once, and they were without echo. They were voices in her head.
She couldn’t understand what was being said, but the desperation was plain, even in the chaos. Hundreds of voices calling out for help, screaming out in terror. . . .
And then she realized something.
She was feeling emotions from more than just one person now. More than just from Superman.
And this was Superman’s memory.
Could his people feel each other's emotions? Share thoughts? Her instincts adamantly declared
yes!The baby was now in hysterics as a pressure fell upon them before she could think further.
She felt her whole frame pressed back and a groan of metal vibrated about as something outside shifted. It was as if she was on a rollercoaster being launched forward and her body could barely cope with the acceleration.
The immense cluster of emotions and layered speech instantly evaporated, leaving behind only what she could presume was Superman’s feelings.
Fear and confusion were at the forefront as the baby’s cries faded to whimpers.
The force on her chest eased off and a dim light appeared.
An alien, mechanical voice spoke and Lois stared as tiny, baby hands reached up toward the glow illuminating the small space.
She gasped, and part of her wanted to slap herself. How had she not realized it sooner?!
She was seeing through Superman’s eyes, experiencing everything he had in a memory of when he had been an infant!
This was how he had left Krypton? He had left as a baby?!
An odd mist filled the air a breath later and Superman’s baby hands slowly dropped as his eyes closed. An odd hum then rose in the gentle darkness.
Had he just been placed in suspended animation or something? she wondered.
“Superman? I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m still here. It’s okay,” she said, but before she could continue, there was an odd rushing sensation and heavy disorientation.
An instant later, she felt Superman’s fear return as the vessel gave an alarming jolt. She could see inside again. Baby Superman was awake.
The foreign language returned, speaking in an electronic, monotone voice as the vessel began to shake. The vibrations became more and more violent and for a long moment all she could hear was a terrifying groan of metal before. . . .
The ship jarred her back hard, and the baby gave a sharp cry of alarm as a scraping noise reverberated throughout for a long moment. And then it stopped.
Time seemed immaterial as apprehension rose. She wasn’t sure if it was her own or Superman’s.
“Superman?" she asked.
She felt his chest shudder beneath her hand as he moaned.
"It's alright, I'm still here," Lois assured, despite how extremely disorienting it was to essentially be in two places at once.
She was pulled more firmly into the memory a second later as a hiss of released pressure sounded.
Pale light poured in as the hatch overhead lifted.
A gasp from outside the craft reached her ears as two forms appeared above her. Her eyes couldn’t adjust to the light fast enough to see their faces before she saw a pair of hands reach in as a woman exclaimed, “A baby, Jonathan!”
A wave of realization, relief, and awe surged forth, and Lois knew it was Superman’s.
The fear was completely and utterly gone, and in its place was such immense gratitude, impossible love, and immeasurable sadness that she could barely breathe.
The seconds ticked on as the memory slowly bled away. She became more aware of his chest moving up and down under her hand and her apartment became the only place her consciousness resided.
Her vision finally focused to find Superman laying on the floor in front of her, exceedingly exhausted but alive.
She could no longer feel what he was feeling, but she could see that he was still getting his emotions under control. He blinked up at her, tears in his eyes as his breathing continued to calm.
She rubbed her thumb up and down the bridge of his nose and he closed his eyes as they both just took in the silence.
“Are you okay?” Lois asked once his eyes reopened.
“Yes," he said, though he didn’t move. “Thank you.”
She eased back.
“Do you . . . want something to drink? Can I get you anything?” she offered.
“No, just, stay with me. I'll get up in a moment," Superman said, placing his right hand on top of hers that was still on his bare chest.
“Take as long as you need," she said as he closed his eyes again.
O o O o O
It was impossible!
Superman had been weaker than Clark Kent and yet he had endured the most intense spell he had cast thus far!
Was it because he was an alien, or something more?
Well, he would just have to try something else, despite the risks.
O o O o O
Comments
