Okay, here you go. I'm curiously looking forward to your reaction. I hope you like the final.
From Part 9:
On both sides of the corridor were closed glass doors, the rooms behind them were dark and no pictures were hanging on the walls. The atmosphere was cool and frightening. The only lights in the corridor came from a red emergency exit sign and from the door to Mr. Simmons’s office.
Lois and Clark went on, coming to the door at the end of the corridor. Both sighed as Clark knocked and then they entered the office.
Part 10:
A gun was pointing at them. The arm holding it belonged to a short, bald man. Definitely not Tempus. His eyes conveyed his fear more than anything. The man was obviously nervous from head to toe. Clark didn’t need his super-hearing to check the man’s heartbeat. He nearly heard it from across the office. He didn’t like the current state of this man. Together with the gun, he really was dangerous. And they didn’t know him. What was his motive?
“Mr. Kent, Ms. Lane. S..sit down.” Mr. Simmons stuttered and pointed at two chairs in front of his desk. “No quick moves.”
Lois and Clark obeyed him, walking over to the chairs slowly.
“What do you want?” Clark asked after sitting down.
“Superman,” Simmons replied, blinking nervously. “I, p53, want Superman.”
P53? This man called himself p53? Clark and Lois wondered.
“Or did I kill him?” Simmons or p53 demanded.
Was the Tempus theory wrong? Or was this just another person under his influence? Clark assumed it was the latter. Tempus had found someone to do the dirty job for him. He had made this guy believe that he was the villain. But since when did Tempus not do the dirty jobs himself? Wasn’t this the reason for his constant need to change the future.
“Hey, I expect an answer!” Simmons insisted.
“He’s dead,” Lois whispered before Clark could say anything. It wasn’t even wrong since Superman didn’t exist as long as Clark lacked powers. But he wasn’t sure whether this answer was wise.
“Where’s he now?” Simmons wanted to know.
“Nobody knows,” Lois replied.
“Then you’ve outstayed your welcome. I think I’ll kill you now,” Simmons stated and his gun pointed from Lois to Clark and back to Lois. “Who wants to be first?”
This wasn’t right. He needed Superman’s body. He felt panic rising inside him.
“Since you’ll kill us anyway, why don’t you tell us what you want from Superman?” Clark tried to distract the madman.
“Easy,” he answered. “His genome is the most valuable thing on Earth. If I own him, it’s the key for unimaginable wealth. I will have the patent for everything anyone will ever invent with the knowledge we find in Superman’s body.”
The bosses of GENETHICS still believed that the Foundation tried to protect the world by regulating the genetic research. He had heard from a German scientist who wanted to research Superman’s genome. And he surely wasn’t the only one. Why should they wait for the hero’s permission. He would lead the science to new heights, allowing everyone who was rich enough to use Superman's genetic information. He really was the sentinel of the human genome! He started to laugh.
“You’re crazy,” Lois said, while Clark’s heaving stomach left him speechless. This was one of his nightmares, being captured somewhere and dissected like a frog. The laughter of the madman made it difficult to remain calm.
“You’ve said enough, Ms. Lane, it’s time for you to die.”
Clark saw him pull the trigger and jumped from his chair, throwing himself between the bullet and Lois. He grabbed her and they both landed on the floor. The bullet had missed them.
Clark stood up again, furious that yet another villain was trying to kill his love. Lois lay still on the ground when Simmons pulled the trigger once again, this time aiming at Clark.
He couldn’t get out of the way quick enough. Lois screamed as she heard Clark groaning with pain, the air was pressed out of his lungs as the bullet hit his thorax.
The bullet hurt, but not as bad as he had expected. He couldn’t breathe for a moment and the bruise on his chest would be bad, but Clark wasn’t bleeding and he still stood upright.
Clark felt that his powers were returning again and he aimed his heat vision at the gun, making it impossible for the villain to keep it in his hand. Together with the gun the villain fell to the ground, unconscious.
“How convenient that your powers are returning right now, Mr. Kent,” a dark and barely human sounding voice said.
It wasn’t the voice of Tempus. So was there yet another villain apart from him? How many were they? The voice had sounded familiar, though neither Clark nor Lois were able to place it immediately.
“I couldn’t use this crazy guy anymore, anyway. So don’t worry about him.” the stranger continued. “He was so easy to influence. His need to be more than he was made it almost boring for me. But he fitted just so perfectly the entire genetic topic. You on the other hand are so much more challenging, Mr. Kent.”
Suddenly Clark recognized his enemy.
“Sunday!” he whispered, remembering the agonizing fear he had endured at their last encounter.
“Yes. And it’s Baron Sunday. You’ve got enough time to say my full name!” he replied. “I hope you liked the demonstration of my powers. It’s fascinating how real my hallucinations can appear, isn’t it?”
So this was the answer. They hadn’t been in another universe and weren’t in one now. It had been imagination from the very beginning. Lois and Clark remembered the injury Jimmy had received on his head from hitting a non-existing table. Could it be that the kryptonite injuring his leg had never been real? Had he just imagined this? What about Lois and his parents?
“Yes, fascinating,” Lois answered hoarsely, not daring to believe what Sunday had told them.
“Right after meeting Carla, I’ve thrown you into my little universe. She was the key. I’ve found her during my last tour through Europe. Thanks to you I’m just a minor magician now. However, I should be grateful that I don’t have to live as a snake anymore, like I did the months after I escaped you. But my powers are the same. And my revenge isn’t yet fulfilled, Mr. Kent. Carla knew something concerning Superman. It hadn’t been important, but it was related to one of your greatest fears. I used her to activate this fear within you, reminding you of it. This way I could get to you so easily.” Sunday remained silent for a moment, allowing his words to sink in.
“And I had to take revenge on your parents as well, for raising you. Their fear of losing the farm is so constantly present, that I didn’t need to put any effort in making them believe that they had lost it. Placing GENETHICS as the responsible one behind this, was a hint for you to find me and my assistant, who liked to call himself p53. And finally, Lois was the reason that I had lost the last battle against you last time. What do you think she fears the most?” Sunday grinned evilly. “The rest was easy. I combined the memories of a few persons to make this last week convincing for you. Poor Dr. Thomas, he never actually dared to ask you. But he had held his speech so often inwardly, that I had to use it. It would have been a shame otherwise.”
“Baron Sunday, this time you won’t succeed either,” Lois stated.
“Unfortunately Clark’s powers won’t help you against me.” Sunday laughed. “By the way, how did you manage to escape the little universe I’d build up for you?”
“You didn’t let us go?” Lois asked, surprised. “But you know, our love had been strong enough before.”
“It wasn’t just your love,” he said the word with disgust,” Your love has helped your husband survive the kryptonite attack I had created in your heads, granted. But it would never have sufficed to break the connection between us, like you did.” Sunday watched them thoroughly, his eyes looking more and more like those of snakes.
“But I think our nice little chat will be over now!” his voice sounded even less human.
Baron Sunday vanished almost in a mist, creating a frightening aura around him. Clark kneeled down next to Lois, holding her firmly and pressing her against his chest. Lois felt safe and secure in his arms, feeling the warmth of his body.
Baron Sunday threw them into a world of fear. Fire was burning around them and kryptonite seemed to appear everywhere. Clark was still holding Lois, closing his eyes, trying to block the vision. He felt her heartbeat against his hands more than he felt the pain of the kryptonite. An incredible warmth came from her body, flooding through him and diminishing the effects of the green crystals. He knew that they were just imagination, but that didn’t help Clark survive the exposure.
But Lois did help him. She felt that his presence was soothing her, making her comfortable despite the fear that was trying to get hold of her, chasing her desperately. She needed him as much as he needed her. She felt a warmth coming from him that made her relax. They were close to each other, more with their minds than with their bodies, but close nonetheless.
“Die!” they heard Baron Sunday shout in that frightening voice of his.
But his hallucinations faded. He couldn’t break through their wall of strength. It was somehow coming from between them, covering and comforting Lois and Clark.
“Impossible!” he cried.
He began to sense something. He had no chance against them. Their love was stronger than him. It was something he didn’t understand. He couldn’t feel such love anymore, he had lost this ability. They must have something so precious to both of them, so deeply loved and desired, that he couldn’t fight it.
“I get it know. You’ve got a little secret Lois, don’t you? I’ll come back, when you two are on your own again!” with these words he disappeared into nothingness.
Lois and Clark looked at each other stunned. Baron Sunday had really given up? And what did he mean by coming back when the two of them were on their own again?
“Lois are you okay?” Clark asked.
Lois nodded, not able to say anything.
”D.did h..he say that you are....,” Clark stammered.
“Pregnant?” Lois completed his sentence. ”It sounded just like that, I think.”
“But how? Wasn’t all of this just a hallucination?” Clark whispered.
“Our love seems to have sufficed to break through his wall of illusion enough to let that moment happen in reality.”
The End
