ACK!!! Posting anxiety! <deep breaths> (EDIT - Yay! This post made it through!!! I kept losing connection with the boards to sedoparking - ugh!!!)
*clears throat*
Ahem, hello everyone! I’m back with another story (although I don’t think I was really gone long enough for anyone to miss me – I just can’t seem to stay away very long <g>) I actually didn’t intend to start posting this one yet (I don’t think I have enough cushion) but Sue insisted that I post. So, if I run out of story and you have to wait a while for the next part – blame her. LOL. Oh and I don't have any idea how many parts this will be - but I think definitely less than ten...
I didn’t intend for this to be another HoL rewrite, it just sort of happened that way. Come to think of it... I actually have another HoL rewrite on the backburner. Hmmm... Maybe HoL will be my TOGOM? LOL!
Okay, blah blah blah, enough of that. On with the story...
Disclaimer: This fic could be darker/different than my normal stories. I don't know if this is good or not, just bear in mind that you've been warned.
Description: There's another Superman in town - one who doesn't seem to have Clark's morals. Can Lois & Clark uncover the truth before Superman's reputation is permanently tarnished? Timeline: After Vatman and before Barbarians at the Planet.
Flawed
By MetroRhodes <metrorhodes@yahoo.com>
Rated: PG-13?
Submitted: September, 2007
All characters and settings are the property of someone else, definitely not me, and whoever else can legally lay claim to them. No copyright infringement is intended. This story was written purely for fun, not for profit. A thank you to the writers of Lois & Clark, without them we wouldn’t have this wonderful world to play in. A special thank you to the writers of the Vatman episode, which I have shamelessly borrowed and used several lines and scenes from.
And, of course, a thank you to Sue for her, always wonderful, beta work. Sue, you know I couldn’t post without you (and oftentimes wouldn’t post without your insistent urging - LOL.)
**********
“Breaking news.”
The radio announcer’s words caught Clark’s attention and he opened one groggy eye to glance at the time on his alarm clock – six forty-five. After smashing more alarm clocks than most people cared to own in a lifetime, he had bought one with a radio instead. It was set to go off in the mornings on a classical music station - soothing and pleasant to listen to.
That way he didn’t have to turn it off until later, after he had woken up and was more in control of himself.
The music had been playing for a while but Clark hadn’t gotten up yet. If this truly was ‘breaking news,’ it might mean Clark would be getting up to put on an entirely different morning ensemble.
“Reports confirm that Superman was seen robbing a bank earlier this morning...” a man’s voice continued.
WHAT? Clark’s brain stammered and the rest of the announcer’s words were lost in a static fog. Had a bank robber actually impersonated Superman? He focused back in on what the announcer was saying.
“...said several eyewitness accounts, but beyond that, there is security camera footage showing the Man of Steel busting through the armor-plated door of the bank vault and carrying out a large bag. Bank officials have now confirmed that over a million dollars in bank assets were stolen by the once-esteemed hero...”
Once-esteemed? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Superman hadn’t even had a chance to defend himself yet...
Wait a minute - had he just said that the robber had busted through the armor-plated vault door? That wasn’t possible, was it? Not for a normal human, anyway.
Could it be another clone?
How? He had been careful not to donate any more locks of hair – even making sure he used his heat vision on the remains after giving himself a trim. And his clone and other DNA had been disposed of when he had launched it into the sun.
Clark frowned sadly. He hadn’t wanted things to end that way. It would have been nice having a... a what? A brother? That was about the closest analogy he could make. But the clone had been dying. He had been in pain. And he had asked Clark to destroy him. So Clark had obliged.
In light of the current situation, he wished he had been able to get the clone to tell him who had created him. But, try as he might, he hadn’t been able to coax the information from him. The clone had said that even though he didn’t completely agree with his father’s ideals or what he had done, he wasn’t willing to betray him, either. The clone felt that he owed his existence, however brief, to that man.
At the time, Clark hadn’t seen how it could possibly come back to haunt him.
Obviously he had been wrong.
He let out a deep sigh. At least the other clone had attempted to be somewhat helpful, however selfish and misguided his attempts at it were. Whoever this imposter was – they had made their debut with an act of violence and crime.
It didn’t bode well.
“More breaking news on this as it unfolds. Back to you at the station, Tim...”
Clark reached over and turned off the radio before bringing his hand back to run it through his sleep-tousled hair. It either had to be a clone, or someone had rigged up some kind of mechanized device or appendage that was powerful enough to bash in that vault door. Maybe after he got dressed, he would pay a visit to the bank, take a closer look at that door.
He climbed out of bed, headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower. His body felt strangely lethargic for having finally gotten a good night’s sleep. It was the first time in a long time that he had slept so well or for so long. The last time he remembered waking up was to a police siren at about two o’clock in the morning, and it had been a false alarm. Now it was almost seven.
Clark grinned wryly at himself. Maybe he had gotten too much sleep.
He stepped in and out of the shower in a matter of a few seconds, drying off with a towel before tying it around his waist. He headed back into his bedroom, spinning out of the towel as he went and throwing on various pieces of clothing. When he stopped spinning, he checked himself in the full-length mirror. His tie was a little crooked. He gave it a slight adjustment before heading for his front door.
When he opened the door and started to walk out, he almost plowed into Lois, who was standing there with her hand poised to knock.
“Oh good, you’re ready. Let’s go,” she said nonchalantly, as if her being there made all the sense in the world.
“Lois?” Clark furrowed his eyebrows. “Go where?” Had he forgotten about an appointment they had?
“To the First Metropolis Bank. Don’t you listen to the news, Clark?” she asked with a roll of her eyes. “They’re claiming that Superman robbed the bank last night, which is utterly preposterous and completely unbelievable, but I want to get down there and check it out. I’m sure Henderson’s there.”
“Yeah? And you and Henderson are such good friends...” He smiled teasingly at her.
Before he could say anymore, Lois stopped him with a smack on the arm. “Don’t get cute. Now are you coming or aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m coming. Just let me lock my door.” But Lois was already down the steps and headed for the street. Clark sprinted after her to catch up.
It was going to be one of those mornings.
**********
Lois fiddled with the radio in her Jeep, changing the station every two seconds. Surely one of these stations would have something more about the break-in at the bank.
“Unbreak my heart, say you’ll love me again, undo this hurt that you’ve caused...” Toni Braxton’s lilting voice was cut off as Lois hit the tune button to move to the next station.
“And the score from the Metropolis Tiger’s twilight baseball game last night was impressive...”
Lois curled her lip in disgust and pressed the button again.
“And you, too, can have tighter abs in just...”
“And then a hero comes along. With the strength to carry on. And you cast your fears aside. And you know you can survive...” Lois paused. She wasn’t a huge fan of Mariah Carey but she did like this song. It made her think of Superman.
Superman.
Lois angrily switched off the radio, risking a sideways glance at Clark. He was looking out the window, but his eyes didn’t seem to be focused on anything.
“Hello? Earth to Clark,” Lois said wryly, waving one hand in front of his face. “You could be doing something useful like trying to help me find another news report.” She didn’t mean to be so snippy with him. The whole situation was just infuriatingly ridiculous – how people could actually think that Superman, of all people, had robbed that bank. Preposterous!
“Sorry. I was just thinking.” He turned to look at her and she could see the concern in his face.
“About a rational explanation for what happened?” she guessed.
“Yeah.” He frowned and pulled at his pant-legs a little, re-positioning himself in his seat. “Have you thought... I mean, did you wonder if...”
“Spit it out, Clark.”
“What if it was another clone?”
It was Lois’s turn to frown. “But Superman said he disposed of the body and the DNA sample.”
“Yeah, maybe. But what if there was another sample that the clone didn’t know about? What if there was something left?”
Lois shuddered. Another clone. If she lived a hundred years without ever having to see another clone of Superman, it would be too soon. It had been absolutely disgusting to see a creature that so resembled Superman, to her mind’s eye, so badly mangle the ideals that he stood for. So badly betray the reputation that Superman had built for truth, justice, fairness, and... goodness.
She could still remember the night that the clone had come over for dinner. Lois had been unsuspecting. She hadn’t realized that it wasn’t the real Superman. He had acted like a bad prom date. She could still remember the way his arm had slid behind her back in that a horrible excuse of a stretch, and the way he had lunged at her for a kiss. At that moment, Lois had realized what so drew her to Superman.
His goodness.
Oh, sure, it didn’t hurt that he could fly and had saved her life on more than one occasion. But it was the fact that she knew, without a doubt, that Superman would never use her. He would never knowingly hurt her. She felt safe with him in a way that she wasn’t sure she could ever feel with any normal guy.
And she had realized it that night – at the same point that she had realized that the man on her couch was not Superman. *He* did not make her feel safe. He was like the flipside of a coin - what Superman could be like if he didn’t have the morals that he so thankfully possessed.
That clone may not have had Superman’s moral compass but he most certainly had possessed Superman’s physical qualities – his amazing gifts and abilities, including his incredible strength. She wasn’t certain who would have won the stand-off between Superman and his clone if the clone hadn’t been dying, hadn’t been weakened. She hadn’t really wanted to think about it.
And what she wanted to think about even less is what would have happened that night after the clone had come on to her... if Clark hadn’t shown up when he did.
<You like me, don’t you?>
Lois let out an involuntary shudder. Yes, what would have happened, indeed? A Superman void of morals. ‘Might is right’ – that’s what he had believed in.
And yet, even that clone hadn’t been completely evil. Not in the end. And he certainly could have bested Clark that night, if he had wanted to.
Lois glanced over at Clark. He was watching her expectantly, still waiting for an answer. “I don’t know. I guess it’s possible.” She signed long and deep. And it was possible that if there was another clone, maybe whoever had created it had gotten their experiment right this time – and if that was the case...
Superman had saved the Planet from annihilation by an asteroid, but he may not yet have faced his biggest challenge.
Himself.
**********
So... what do you think? Do you want more? Any and all fdk is welcome. Thanks.
