Okay, I would like to start off reminding all of you that I was asked and instructed to make the villain evil. Please keep that in mind... That and the fact that this is not the last chapter... there is still one more.
I would also like to quote a little quote that I put at the very very beginning of the story... way back in part 1:
With hope all things are possible. But at what cost does that hope come? How can one person’s life so greatly affect the lives of so many others? All right then... how about a recap?
RECAP: Everything "seems" to be fixed. Wells took Chris Reeve's Superman and his Lois back (she had concussion) and he got rid of the Kryptonite. But oddly enough, Alt-Clark still seems to be suffering from it. Tempus had just asked Herb it if was time for him to go back to prison...
Table of Contents From Part 10:
“Ready to find my Lois? I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life,” Clark told him truthfully, but feeling the old ache returning. He just hoped what he found wasn’t worse than not knowing.
“Good luck with that,” Clark heard Tempus mutter under his breath. Tempus chuckled, seeming pleased with himself.
“What do you mean by that, Tempus?” Clark growled at him.
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.” Tempus smiled conspiratorially at them. “So now what? Time for me to go back to prison I suppose...?”
**********
PART 11:
**********
Five years earlier... Congo...
Lois unlocked the door to her hotel room and pushed it open. Hotel room? You *could* call it that, but that was using the term loosely. It certainly wasn’t like any hotel room she’d ever stayed in back in the States. This one came with a complimentary roach on every pillow.
Lois shivered a little, thinking about having to lie down in that bed again tonight. Bugs were one thing. She could handle the occasional cricket, ant, even spider crawling across her. But they had roaches as big as a small hand here in the Congo. She knew from experience. One had crawled across her face the night before. Ugh!
She flipped on the light in the room before going inside and looked around tentatively. She didn’t see any movement anywhere; that was good. She bent down and set her briefcase on the floor, looking around down there also. That would be a wonderful surprise, wouldn’t it? If she reached into her bag later to get her notes and grabbed something else instead? The thought sent chills down her spine and caused her to do a repulsed little dance.
She turned around to shut the door behind her and found herself face to face with a man standing there.
“Uh, can I help you?” she asked him. From just his clothes and the look about him – his fair skin especially - he didn’t seem like he was one of the locals. He was grinning profusely at her, for some reason it made her feel a little uneasy.
“Ms. Lane? Lois Lane of the Daily Planet, right?”
An adoring fan perhaps? “That’s right.”
“Oh good. Have I got a story for you,” he said, sounding overly enthusiastic.
“Listen, Mr. Whoever-you-are...”
“Tempus,” he supplied helpfully, still with an amused grin on his face.
“Mr. Tempus,” she continued a bit acridly. “If you have a story, you can contact the offices of the Daily Planet, or you can make an appointment to meet with me sometime tomorrow morning.” Normally she’d jump at the opportunity for a possible story, or at least be intrigued by what he had to say, but there was just something about him... “I don’t take stories from wackos in the middle of the night. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s late...”
“No, I’m afraid I won’t excuse you, Ms. Lane,” he told her snidely. “You see, you’re a part of this story...”
“Now listen here you...” She paused as she watched him pull out a gun and point it at her, the rest of her words dying in the back of her throat unspoken.
“What? No more pithy comebacks?” he scoffed at her. “See I knew you could be reasonable. Now come with me. I have something I want to show you.” He grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her down the stairs and outside her hotel building.
Lois looked around to see if there was anyone nearby. Someone she could call to for help. But there was no one.
Would he really shoot her if she tried to escape? How crazy was he? She wasn’t entirely sure but decided she’d better not risk it for now. Better to just play along with him and wait for the right opportunity.
“What do you want with me?” she asked him indignantly. She needed to try and keep him talking, find a way to distract him.
“I told you. I have a story for you. You’ll love this story,” he told her, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm. “It’s quite epic. Fall of a hero, destruction of a dream, all that dramatic stuff that you reporters so enjoy writing about.”
“But why me? Why choose me?” she asked flustered. Was that a face in the window up above her? Would they help her if she screamed? Probably not.
“Because like I told you before, you’re a part of this story,” he explained, sounding impressed with himself. “An integral part. In fact this particular story couldn’t happen without you. It’s kind of one of those write it as you go stories... choose your own adventure. In your case, you can either choose to come with me and get the story of your life, or... you can choose to stay here... and die. We’ve just turned the page. Let’s see what happens next.”
Lois began to feel a little panicked as they continued walking, turning down a dark alleyway. Gun or no gun, she was going to have to take a risk pretty soon. Dark alleyways were not a good sign when you were being held by a kidnapper at gunpoint.
She had to try something. She looked around one last time for any sign of life or something she could use as a weapon and that’s when she spotted it...
A platform of some kind with two chairs sitting side-by-side.
It had all kinds of strange gadgets and parts on it, all moving and flashing and turning. What was it? Some kind of torture device? She felt a little queasy.
“What is that?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even.
“That? That, Ms. Lane, is a remarkable device. It allows you to travel through time, and with some modifications I made to it, inter-dimensionally as well,” he said proudly.
“A time machine?” she snorted, trying to force a cynical laugh out.
“Oh, you can laugh now, but you won’t be laughing soon, I assure you.” His words had a dark and foreboding quality to them that chilled her to the bone. “Now, step up onto the platform and sit down.”
She stopped short and stood unmoving, crossing her hands across her chest.
Tempus pointed the gun at her and cocked it. “Walk on willingly or be dragged on, it makes no difference to me.”
She took a step forward. This wasn’t a good idea. She should take her chances and run, scream for help. But somewhere in the back of her brain, the reporter inside her was saying ‘but maybe there really is a story here’. If she sat down and nothing happened, that was one thing, but what if this really was a time machine? This man was arrogant and obviously dangerous, but he didn’t seem to be insane. What if he was telling the truth?
She looked at the gun in his hand and his finger over the trigger. It wasn’t like she had much choice, either. She climbed into the ‘time machine’ and sat down in one of the seats. He got in beside her in the other seat, not taking the gun off her. He checked a few things and turned some dials and then he reached down and grabbed a stick shift next to his seat. He pulled back on the stick and her whole world seemed to shift.
The landscape around her stretched and got distorted and then there was a bright shimmering light. She squinted her eyes against it but as quickly as it had flared up, it died back down. Everything moved and shifted again and suddenly they were sitting in a different place. They were still in an alleyway, but they weren’t in the Congo any longer. She could tell from the surroundings.
She looked to either side of the alley. They were between two large buildings. She could hear the sounds of heavy traffic not too far off and the sound of a large jet plane flying overhead caught her attention. She looked up into the dark sky and saw the lights from the plane going by above her.
They really had traveled... somewhere. Had they really traveled through time, though? She highly doubted it. “Great! So where are we? Or should I say *when* are we?” she remarked condescendingly. “These buildings don’t look like they’re anything out of the future and they’re definitely not something out of the past.”
“Don’t be so cynical, Ms. Lane. Before this day is out, you’re going to be believing in a lot more than time travel I’m sure.” He chuckled happily and walked a few feet away and around the corner. When he came walking back he was holding a newspaper in his hands. He flipped through it and brought it over to her, pointing to a date at the top. “That’s today’s date.”
She took the newspaper from him; it was the morning edition of the Daily Planet. They were in Metropolis!
COUPLE KILLED IN APARTMENT FIRE – CANDLES THOUGHT TO BLAME
By Clark Kent
She looked up at the date where his finger was pointing. Then she pulled the paper closer to her face and blinked a couple of times.
Nineteen-ninety-seven?
How could that be? It wasn’t possible! He had brought her five years into the future!
“How is this possible? Why?” she exclaimed.
“Amazing isn’t it?” he said, looking smug. “I bet when you woke up this morning you didn’t think you’d be part of a plot to destroy the future. Ahh, this is such a liberating feeling. The end of Superman is in sight, and little Ms. Lois Lane played a part.”
“I don’t know what you think I’m going to do,” she bit out at him. “I’m not going to help you.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t expect you to.”
She furrowed her brow at him and frowned. “Then what are you going to do with me?”
“Why, absolutely nothing!” He chuckled happily, obviously pleased with himself. “I’m done with you. I’m going back in time a few years to hatch a scheme that you’re not part of. I’m going to run for Mayor and I needed you out of the way so you wouldn’t interfere prematurely. I’ve got another someone else in mind for what I need. Superman is soon to be just a memory in this world, so enjoy the new world that you’ve helped mold and create. Things are about to change.”
What was a, or maybe more correctly who was, Superman? Tempus kept mentioning him... wait a minute! All of what he’d just said finally caught up to her. “What? You’re done with me? You can’t just leave me here!”
“Really?” He waved the gun at her again. “There doesn’t seem to be much you can do about it.” He got back into his time machine, pulled the lever and, just like that, he was gone; and she was standing in the alleyway alone.
Lois backed up against one wall in the alley, breathing heavily. He had abandoned her here, in a world where she hadn’t existed for the last five years. Everyone probably thought she was dead.
She looked back down at the paper she was still holding in her hands.
SUPERMAN SAVES COUPLE FROM FIRE – CANDLES TO BLAME
By Clark Kent
Had that article title been there before? Hadn’t it said something else?
Superman. There was that name again. Tempus had mentioned him. He was the reason Tempus had brought her here.
Clark Kent.
Who was that? She didn’t remember anyone by that name working at the Planet. She sighed. Perry probably hired him when she disappeared in the Congo and never returned. She had to get back! Her career would be ruined!
Well she might not know how to find Superman, but she was willing to bet she could find this Clark Kent person. She headed off to find a phone book. If he was listed, she could get his address and go have a chat with him. And if he wasn’t listed...? Well, she was sure she could get someone at the Daily Planet or one of her *old* contacts to tell her where he lived. *****ALT-CLARK*****
Present day... alt-universe... “You’re not going back to prison, Tempus,” Wells informed him, looking around in search of something.
What was he after? Clark watched as Wells opened a few of his kitchen drawers.
“I’m not? Have you finally gone soft?” Tempus asked, scowling and keeping a wary eye on the gun that curly-Lois still had pointed at him from where she stood next to her Clark.
“No. I’m taking you straight back to Utopia this time. I’ll let the Peacekeepers deal with you and your atrocities,” Wells explained absently, opening Clark’s closet door.
What was he doing in there? If Clark wasn’t so weak, he’d get up from the floor and go check on Wells, but as it was, for now, he decided to just stay put. What was wrong with him anyway? He shouldn’t still be this weak, should he?
Wells emerged from the closet a few moments later holding up one of Clark’s ties like a trophy. Ah, he’d been looking for something he could tie Tempus up with.
Oh, no, not *that* tie, that was one of his favorites.
Clark was just about to say something when there was a knock at the door. He tried to *see* who it was but his powers still hadn’t returned yet.
He watched as curly-Lois walked away from the couch where she had been standing with her Clark and the other Lois and Clark whom he’d been introducing her to. She held the gun out in front of her and moved tentatively towards the front door. The hand she held the gun in was shaking and her steps were a little wobbly. Clark imagined after what they’d all been through that everyone was a little drained.
“Lois, don’t! Wait!” Her Clark shouted at her, not realizing that she had walked away, but she didn’t stop. She reached out and opened the door a crack. A startled yelp escaped from her lips and she passed out on the floor.
The door opened wider to reveal...
Lois?
The woman looked exactly like the Lois he knew and loved... only with longer hair. Her hair was cut in layers and hung down just past her shoulders. Was she... his Lois? His heart was racing. How...?
“Ms. Lane? Thank the irony!” Tempus exclaimed. “I had completely forgotten this was *when* I had dropped you. Hmm, I thought this date seemed familiar somehow...” Tempus’ eyes glazed over for a moment and then they burned with a bright fire. “Quick, bend down and grab that gun!” he barked at her.
The new Lois looked down at the gun hesitantly. “What’s going on here, Tempus?” she asked him, raising an eyebrow skeptically. “I’m not doing anything until we have a little talk.”
“We’ll talk. I promise. After you get that gun. Now pick it up!” he shouted hysterically at her.
Wait... what’s going on here? She knows Tempus? How is that possible? Unless... Clark felt his pulse quickening as the anger ran through his veins like molten lava. This was Tempus’ fault! He was behind this, behind Lois’ disappearance. This *was* the Lois of his world, his Lois. His fury gave him new strength and he rose up from the floor. “No, don’t listen to him!” he implored her, clutching his abdomen, his voice raspy with pain. Something was definitely wrong with him.
“To me?” Tempus said with mock indignation. “Do you know who this man is? He’s Superman. He’s the reason you were taken from your time and the reason I didn’t take you back. It’s his doing. Don’t listen to him. Pick up that gun!”
“Shut up, Tempus!” Clark growled at him, pushing the pain from his mind. “You’re going to pay for whatever you did to her.” Clark was started over towards Tempus, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. *His* Lois had hesitated to pick up the gun but her look-alike counterpart wasn’t going to give her a second chance. He watched helplessly as Lois rushed his Lois, headed for the gun.
His Lois’ eyes went wide when she saw the woman who looked exactly like her running towards her. She let out a small gasp, but she quickly recovered and grabbed the gun before Lois could get there.
“Okay, just back it up. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m going to find out.” She waved the gun at the other Lois and she backed up, returning to stand next to her Clark.
The curly-Lois’ Clark was looking at his Lois, collapsed on the floor, his face lined with worry. Clark had wondered why he hadn’t rushed to her side to check on her, but then he noticed his alternate counterpart’s hand on that Clark’s shoulder, restraining him.
His other self was giving him a chance to deal with this himself. His counterpart understood what a delicate situation this was and how far-reaching it’s effects could be for Clark. But what was he going to do? How could he get her to listen to him?
“Let me explain,” Tempus began, walking towards her.
“That’s far enough. I think you’ve done enough explaining,” she told him and then she turned to Clark. “Who are you?”
“My name is Clark Kent. I...”
“Clark Kent? Of the Daily Planet?” she asked, interrupting him.
“Yes. I worked with Perry White, at least that is, before he became the Mayor. You have no idea how worried he was about you. What happened to you?”
She ignored his question and looked over at Tempus, irritation written plainly on her face. “I thought you said he was Superman.”
“I am,” Clark told her.
She frowned, looking confused. “You are? But I saw your article in the paper, the one about Superman saving that couple. It was written by Clark Kent.”
“Clark Kent is who I am. Superman is the persona I use when I’m making rescues or helping someone.”
“What like Zorro?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Sort of,” he answered her mildly. “It’s a little more complicated than that. Why don’t you put down the gun and we can talk about it?”
“Nuh-uh, no way. Not until I convince this Bozo here to take me back to my own time period. He stole five years of my life and I want it back.” She moved the gun from Clark to Tempus. “Take me back now,” she ordered him, the muscles of her jaw tightening as she clenched it.
“Gladly, Ms. Lane.” He smiled at her, looking relieved. “The time machine is waiting just outside. If you’ll come with me...” Tempus started walking towards her.
“No. I can’t let you go with him,” Clark told her.
“Can’t let me go with... who do you think you are?” she demanded. Clark felt himself flinch a little from the heat in her words. “Listen, I don’t belong here. This megalomaniac kidnapped me and brought me here, something about stopping Superman, and left me. I’m going back where I belong.”
“You can’t. He’s a criminal. I can’t just let him walk out of here and escape into another time period.”
Clark watched as Lois fidgeted for a moment and then she brought the gun back to point at him. “I... I don’t care.” He could tell she was lying. She did care, but she wanted to go back where she belonged. “This man may be a criminal but he’s the only chance I’ve got. His time machine is my only hope.”
“The time machine, maybe, but *he’s* not your only hope, Lois,” Clark reasoned with her. “I could take you back in it...”
Lois looked like she was wavering. “Really? You could...”
“He’s lying!” Tempus exclaimed. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about and he doesn’t know where or when I took you from. He doesn’t know how to operate that machine; you need me to take you back. You might end up in Europe during the Middle Ages if you go with him. Trust me, the black plague is not a pretty thing.” He glanced at Clark with contempt.
Tempus had managed to work his way to within a couple of feet of Lois... and the gun. Clark closed the distance between them and Lois pointed the gun back and forth from one to the other. “Stay back!” she cried.
“You can’t trust him, Lois. He’s evil,” Clark tried to reason with her.
“I assure you that you can trust me, Ms. Lane. I want out of here as much as you do,” Tempus said smoothly, trying to corrupt her with his words. Clark could see why he kept trying to be a politician, he was good at it.
Clark was beginning to feel panicky. He had to get that gun away from her and it didn’t look like she was going to relinquish it, no matter how hard he tried to reason with her. She didn’t trust him and she had no reason to... she didn’t know him. But he couldn’t just let her walk out of here with Tempus, and he couldn’t let Tempus get his hands on that gun.
He realized what he had to do. He was going to have to physically take the gun away from her. He hated it. Hated the thought of pitting himself against her.
She would hate him for it.
He sighed. This was the woman he wanted to love, the woman he had searched for, and she was going to despise him.
Then another thought came to him. What if she shot him? He didn’t really think she would, but she looked like a caged animal. What if she shot him accidentally? Had he recovered enough to survive it? At this close range? As needle-sharp pain continued to shoot through his stomach he realized that he might not, but it was something he was going to have to risk.
But just as he was about to make his move for the gun, Wells spoke up from behind him. “Ms. Lane I think there is another reason you should consider for not going back with Tempus.” Clark stayed his hand and waited to hear Wells’ explanation. Maybe what he said would convince her to give up her weapon. Clark didn’t want to have to force her. It would be so much better if she gave it up on her own.
“I’m warning you, Herb...” Tempus began.
“Shut up, Tempus,” Clark snarled at him. “Lois, listen to him. This is H.G. Wells. He invented the time machine that Tempus used to bring you here.”
Please, please listen to him, he thought.
“Is that true?” she asked Wells.
“Uh, yes, quite right, although I never meant it to be used in the manner Tempus has employed it. Ms. Lane, forget for a moment that Tempus is a fugitive, forget that there is a good chance that you can’t trust him to keep his word. There is another reason you shouldn’t go back with him. If you do, you will condemn that man to death.” He pointed to the other Clark... his counterpart Clark.
She followed his finger and her eyebrows went up. “Who... who are you? You look exactly like Clark.”
“He is Clark, my dear,” Wells explained. “They all are. Each of these men,” he pointed to each Clark in the room, “is Clark Kent, and each of the women with them are you, Lois Lane. They are from other dimensions, other universes. The time machine that Tempus brought you here in doesn’t just travel through time; it also travels inter-dimensionally through space. Tempus brought them here to try and destroy them and the peaceful worlds they were trying to create. And if you let him take you back, to your own time period, that Clark is going to die, and the Utopia he was trying to build will die with him.”
“No, that’s not possible,” she said, shaking her head and backing away from them. “One person can’t affect the lives of so many other people like that. I can’t believe that, I won’t believe it! I have to go back. You can’t ask me to give up my life like that.” Her words were wrought with emotion - anger, fear, and... something else. Clark watched as the gun she was holding began to lower, slowly.
“Mr. Wells, how is that possible?” The voice came from the other Lois. Her face was pale and she was gripping her Clark’s hand tightly.
Wells looked over at her. “The future is a very difficult thing to predict, my dear. One thing changed can vastly affect the outcome of other things. I feel that if Lois goes back to her time, then Tempus will have no reason to ever bring you or I here to this universe. He would be able to use the Lois of this universe to expose Clark if he wished. I don’t know how that scenario would play out. It may not go well for this Clark either. But regardless, if Tempus never brings either of us here, we will never meet the Clark of this world. I won’t know to come here and ask for his help...”
Clark’s counterpart looked like he understood where Wells was going with this. “So if and when John Doe shows up in our universe and Tempus sends me into that time window...”
“You will never return. You will perish there. Without the help of the Clark from this world, Ms. Lane and I would likely have not been able to stop Tempus. Therefore, we would have never been able to rescue you,” Wells concluded, his voice heavy.
Clark felt the heaviness in his heart. That was a lot of pressure to put on his Lois. He looked back at Tempus. There seemed to be a look of almost pure pleasure on his face. Clark tightened his hands into fists. Powers or no powers, he felt a very strong urge to beat that smirk off of his face. Tempus was enjoying this.
“Don’t listen to these cretins, Ms. Lane,” Tempus told her, his voice slick with persuasion. “None of this is your concern. You didn’t cause any of this. Just come back with me and that will fix everything.” A wide grin was spreading across his face.
“This all seems incredibly unbelievable,” Lois said, sighing quietly. The gun now hung limp at her side. She turned to face Wells. “Will he really die? If... if I go back?” she asked Wells softly.
“There is no way of knowing for certain. But I have been contemplating the many changes that would result if you did indeed go back.” Wells turned to face all of us. “None of *this* will ever happen. Everything that each of your have learned about yourselves about each other, all of that will be gone, and my guess is that so will the Utopias you were hoping to create.”
Movement caught Clark’s attention and he watched in horror as Tempus finally lunged at Lois, snatching the gun out of her hands and shoving her forward.
Clark caught her in his arms before she could fall.
“Well, now, isn’t this just perfect,” Tempus sneered. “If I take Ms. Lane here back to her own time period, I get what I’ve wanted all along. A world without a Utopia.” Tempus paused and shook his head as if in amazement. “It seems I’ve unwittingly played a part in creating the one thing I hate the most. God, I... *hate* irony! Well, that’s about to be rectified. Ms. Lane, you’re coming with me. We’re going back.”
“No. I’m not coming with you,” Lois told him defiantly.
Clark glanced down at the body of the curly Lois who had been lying passed out on the floor. She was now awake and was slowly crawling up behind Tempus. If she could distract Tempus just long enough, maybe Clark could get the gun away from him. He took a couple of steps away from his Lois where he was in position to launch himself at Tempus.
Tempus pointed the gun menacingly at Clark, putting his finger over the trigger. “I would think seriously about coming any closer, Mr. Kent, are you well enough to recover from a bullet wound?” Tempus smiled calculatingly at him and then pointed the gun back over at Lois. Did he know Clark was still weak? “Come, come, now, Lois. We’ve been through this before. Either come with me, or I’ll shoot you in the leg and drag you with me. Your choice.”
Curly Lois was almost there.
The next few seconds happened as if in slow motion. Curly-Lois got up from the floor and made a grab for the gun. She wrapped her hands around Tempus’ hand trying to wrench the gun away. Clark could hear her Clark screaming at her in the background.
And then he heard the shot.
He could see the bullet, the path it was going to take. It was headed straight for his Lois.
He mustered up all of the strength he had left and threw himself in front of her.
The last thought that went through his mind before the bullet slammed into his chest was something he’d said earlier...
<He would trade his very soul for a chance to be with her...>
He just wished it had been for a little longer.
**********
To be concluded…
