Description:
This is an Elseworlds story in which the universe is basically a mixture of the Lois and Clark and Smallville universes. Find out what might have happened in the episode Neverending Battle had events been a bit different. Then, see how characters from Lois and Clark such as Tempus, H.G. Wells, Linda King, Jason Trask, and others fit into this different world.
Neverending Battle: The Adventures of Lois Lane
By Lois_Lane_Fan
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, which I assume are all owned by DC comics. I’d like to thank everyone who worked on the TV shows Lois and Clark and Smallville. Most specifically, I’d like to thank the writers of the episode Neverending Battle, which the opening to this story is heavily based on.
Introduction
This introduction is meant to explain my universe, allowing readers who have never watched Smallville to still enjoy my story. It will help to lay the groundwork for the actual fanfic.
Lois Lane is an ace reporter working at the Daily Planet. She was saved by a superhero named the Green Arrow when a man with a gun tried to mug her outside of the Daily Planet. Now, she has an extreme crush on the Green Arrow, similar to her crush that she had on Superman on Lois and Clark.
Clark Kent is currently in his early 20s, he does not yet wear glasses, and he is not yet a Daily Planet employee. Furthermore, he has not yet donned the Superman costume, nor does he know how to fly. However, all other abilities present on the series Lois and Clark are present.
Chloe Sullivan is also a reporter working at the Daily Planet. She is Lois’ cousin, and the two of them are very close.
Jimmy Olsen is a photographer working at the Daily Planet.
The Green Arrow is a Robin Hood-like superhero. He dresses in a green costume, and he uses a bow and arrow as his weapon. He does not have any superhuman powers, but he is the leader of the superhero group the Justice League, and he is a close friend to Clark. His secret identity, Oliver Queen, is a billionaire playboy who once dated Lois Lane. However, that relationship is over.
The Justice League contains the Green Arrow, Impulse, Aquaman, and Cyborg. Impulse, or Bart Allen, has the ability of super speed. Cyborg, or Victor Stone, is a cyborg. Aquaman, or Arthur Curry, is a very good swimmer, and he has the ability to communicate with fish. Together, these superheroes are starting to become very famous due to their heroism.
Grant Gabriel is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet. Although he was a love interest to Lois Lane in the Smallville series, that is not the case in this fanfic.
Lex Luthor is a villainous billionaire. He suspects that Clark Kent has a secret, and he also hates the Justice League. He sees both Clark and the Justice League as a threat to his many criminal activities.
Lucy Lane is Lois’ sister.
Lana Lang, although not featured very much at all, is a close friend of Clark’s, and she is his former girlfriend. There is no current romantic relationship between the two, nor will there be one at any point in my story.
Characters familiar to Lois and Clark fans that will be introduced include Tempus, H.G. Wells, Linda King, and Jason Trask. Other Lois and Clark characters not listed may also make appearances.
*****
Chapter 1 “Ordinary? Give Me a Break!”
The Daily Planet newsroom bustled with activity. Lois Lane, Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent, and Lana Lang were all standing around a sketch artist who was drawing the image of the Green Arrow. The Green Arrow and his band of friends had recently been behind some amazing heroic deeds, and everybody wanted to know the story behind them. There were no photos of the heroes, but reporter Lois Lane had seen the Green Arrow personally, and now, she was trying to describe his appearance to the sketch artist. It seemed like a sketch would be the next best thing to an actual photograph.
Jimmy Olsen, who seemed to be busy wandering aimlessly around the Daily Planet, was spotted by editor-in-chief Grant Gabriel. "Olsen, where are those photos of the Green Arrow? I sent you out to get some photos of him hours ago!"
"How am I supposed to find him? Nobody knows where he is. I don’t have anything yet, so just give me some more time, sir."
"More time! The American people want to read about this “Justice League” today! I don’t have “more time.” I need something right now!" Then, Grant turned towards the rest of the newsroom. "All right, staff meeting, tomorrow morning, six a.m." He pointed at Jimmy. "*With* some photos of this Green Arrow." He shook his head as he walked back to his office.
Meanwhile, Lois was still trying to get the best image possible from the sketch artist.
"No, the color's wrong," Lois said, sounding annoyed.
Chloe chimed in with, "The eyes are more almond-shaped."
The artist had drawn the Green Arrow from Lois's description, but the face didn’t resemble the hero. Instead, it appeared to be more of a villainous version of the Green Arrow than something that actually resembled the heroic Green Arrow.
"You said green," the artist said.
"Yes, his costume is green, but it needs to be a different shade of green.” Next, Lois added, "No, the features are too coarse --"
Clark noticed a small disaster elsewhere in the newsroom. A coffee pot in the snack area was about to topple off its shelf onto an unsuspecting secretary. He zipped to the coffee stand and caught the teetering pot. Only a few drops spilled on the secretary, who wiped them off with a puzzled frown.
"Think noble, think... Greek God," Lois continued to tell the artist.
"A Greek God?" he repeated.
"For example, the chin -- it's square, but not plain. The chin of a man who stands for something --"
"Like Clark's," the artist said.
Lois protested violently. "This is *the Green Arrow* we're talking about, not some Tom, Dick --" Clark quickly grabbed a donut from the coffee stand before returning to his original spot beside Lois just as she turned to swat him on the chest. "-- or Clark!" she concluded.
Since Clark was starting to get a little jealous of Lois’ glamorization of the Green Arrow, he added, "Y'know, he didn't seem all that special to me. I mean, except for being some nut that runs around with a bow and arrow while dressed as Robin Hood, he could be any ordinary guy."
"Ordinary?" Lois repeated scornfully. "Give me a break!”
*****
Chapter 2 "We? There Is No We."
The next morning, Lex Luthor sat in a chair alone in his mansion. Suddenly, he turned his attention towards several different newspapers on the table, feeling disgusted by the headlines of each paper. He quickly noticed The Daily Planet, and Lois Lane's byline stared up at him under the headline, "Justice League to the Rescue.”
"Justice League... Green Arrow..." he whispered quietly as he looked at several different newspapers, each carrying the same story. "Justice League... Green Arrow!" he shouted angrily. The billionaire continued to sit and think about his problem.
*****
Meanwhile, the Daily Planet staff gathered in the conference room for the 6:00 am staff meeting.
"Jimmy, these are no good," Grant declared as he looked at Jimmy’s pathetic photos. You could see a tiny image of a man that might possibly be the Green Arrow, but the image was too small to tell who it really was.
"Oh, they're okay," Jimmy grumbled.
"Okay? Okay doesn't cut it at this newspaper," Grant growled. "All right, sit down, just sit down. How's everybody this morning, sleep well?" he asked the rest of his staff.
Everybody collectively nodded.
"I didn't," he told them. "Last night our publisher called me into his office and asked me one question. The question was, how come the Daily Planet hadn't nailed down the Justice League story. We are the best newspaper in the world, so we should have an actual interview with this band of superheroes by now." He looked around the room, adding, "Now I took this as a personal criticism, and I assured him that each and every one of my staff would chip in, would not rest until the Justice League was ours. Now... is that clear?"
"No!" Lois objected instantly. "Grant, you can't be serious. I was the one the Green Arrow saved, I wrote the original piece on the Green Arrow, I *found* him!"
"Actually, he found you," Chloe corrected her cousin.
"Thank you, Chloe," she said sarcastically. "Grant, this isn't fair. I should have the exclusive on the follow-up. Those are the rules."
"The rules are off, this is too big," Grant told the haughty reporter.
"But he's mine!" she protested, jumping up from her seat. The other staff members were all amused. "He's --" She broke off and looked around at the laughing faces. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she added "-- mine, as in my story... story mine."
"From now on, the Justice League and the Green Arrow are fair game. Every reporter for
himself... or herself," Grant added, staring at Lois.
"All right!" Jimmy exclaimed.
"Enthusiasm, see, I love it," Grant said approvingly.
Then, the phone rang, and Grant answered it while the reporters all started to chatter.
Lois was pouting as she turned to Chloe to say, "I'll find him."
"How?" Chloe asked. "He could be anywhere.”
"I'll find him," she insisted.
"What if he doesn't want to be found?" Chloe joked with her cousin.
"What're you talking about? Why wouldn't he want to be found?"
"Maybe all this frenzy isn't what this guy expected. Maybe he's gun-shy."
"That's ridiculous," Lois quickly dismissed. "He has no reason to hide. Especially from *me*!"
"All right, everybody, let's think," Grant called out after hanging up the phone. "What would draw the Justice League out? Use your instincts. Beat the bushes, turn the stones... Get me the Justice League!"
The staff members immediately jumped up and left the room, ready to go after the story.
Chloe stood, looked at her cousin, and asked, "So, where do we start?"
Lois stared at Chloe coldly. "We? There is no we."
"How do you know that I don't have the inside track on finding the Justice League?"
Lois laughed at Chloe's remark as she gave Chloe a very superior smirk. "Sure Chloe, and when you run across Jimmy Hoffa and the Easter Bunny, why don't you reel them in, too." She continued to giggle as she walked off.
*****
Later that day, Lois was on the phone. "Well I don't care what the radar is normally used for, all I'm asking for is a simple --" There was a click. "Hello? Hello?" She angrily hung up her phone. Then, she glanced over as Chloe's phone rang.
"Chloe Sullivan," Chloe said into the phone. "Really? He's there now? Great!"
Lois sat up straight. Was her cousin onto something? Wanting to overhear, Lois emptied her coffee into the dead plant on her desk and went to the coffee pot near Chloe’s desk, pretending to prepare another cup.
"Give me the address again?" Chloe requested. "344 Clinton, okay. Tell him I'll be right over, don't let him leave." She hung up, tore off the page she had written the address on, and left the newsroom.
Lois watched Chloe carefully, and she quickly started to follow her cousin.
*****
Chloe walked into a department store to meet Lana and Clark. Together, Lana and Chloe planned on buying Clark a birthday present. Just as Clark had commented that he really liked a particularly expensive suit, he ran his hand across a particularly dusty shelf. Noticing some dust on his hand, he immediately blew it off. Unfortunately, when the nearby door started to open, his super breath slammed it shut. As the doors opened again, a woman stumbled into the store.
"Lois!" Clark exclaimed in astonishment.
"Where is he?" she demanded breathlessly.
"Who?" Chloe asked.
"Who?" Lana echoed.
"Where am I?" Lois asked, realizing that this obviously wasn’t the lead she thought it was.
"Lana and Chloe are buying me something for my birthday," Clark told her, confused.
"Hmm!" she sniffed as she turned on her heel and angrily stormed off.
Lana laughed as they heard the sound of a cat howling in alarm as Lois stomped by.
*****
Lex Luthor sat behind several computers. Surrounding him were several of his employees.
"What do we know about the Justice League?" he asked them. They just stared back at their boss, not quite sure what to say.
"That fish-boy sure can swim," one of them commented.
"Yes, but how fast?" Lex asked.
None of them knew how to answer his question.
"Of course, one of them can run extremely fast, too," an older employee with a British accent eventually added.
"Yes, but, again, how fast? I mean, is he faster than a speeding bullet? Faster than the speed of sound?"
"They’re still all men," the only female present giggled. "All men are weak."
"Obviously, we know very little," Lex said. "So I've designed a series of tests for this Justice League, and I need your help." He stared at the female employee, whose face clearly displayed her lack of faith in his plan. "Do not worry. My plan has been perfectly calculated," he assured them.
*****
The CB on Lois's desk, tuned as always to the police emergency frequency, crackled with an announcement. "Attention all units, code four, a possible jumper, Metropolis Bay. Crowd control and a negotiation team to the site. Emergency response requested."
Lois stopped her work, repeating Grant’s question to herself. "What would draw the Justice League out?" She quickly rose from her seat. This could be just what the reporter had been waiting for!
Clark, too, had heard the bulletin while visiting with Chloe at her desk, but instead of heading for the elevators like Lois and Chloe, he headed for the stairs. With his super speed, he could make it to Metropolis Bay faster if he used the stairs. Clark was ready to save the day!
*****
Lois leaped out of her cab as soon as it arrived at Metropolis Bay and joined the crowd gathered behind the police barricades, looking up at the man who was ready to jump from the bridge.
Just then, the Justice League arrived on the scene. As Clark arrived, the man jumped. However, Aquaman jumped into the water, swimming out to save the man. At just that same time, Clark heard another announcement on somebody’s radio that stated there was another possible jumper. This one was standing on the top of a building. Since Aquaman had this situation under control, Clark motioned for Bart to follow him, and the pair ran to the top of the building, which was across the city. There, they found Luthor’s female employee, claiming that she wanted to jump.
However, as soon as Clark said, “You don't really want to do this," she stepped down from the ledge.
"You're right. I've seen the error of my ways," the jumper said.
Was it really that easy? "Come on," Clark said, as he and Bart made sure she got out of the building without some type of mishap.
Lex watched the heroes on his monitor. He had been timing Bart to see how fast he could run, and he also wanted to observe Aquaman in action. He noticed that Clark had somehow made it across the city just as quickly as Bart. Although he was curious, Lex just added this moment to his growing list of odd occurrences that surrounded Clark. He could tackle the issue of Clark Kent later. He was trying to focus on the issue at hand.
*****
Meanwhile, back at the building, Lois got out of her taxi and squirmed her way through the crowd. "Excuse me! Daily Planet, Daily Planet, pardon me, Daily Planet." However, she was too late. "What happened?" she asked an older lady in the crowd.
To Lois’ surprise, Chloe appeared at her side. "Lois, it was incredible. Clark and Impulse talked that lady down from the ledge. You should've been here," she added, getting a dig in at her cousin.
"Chloe that's great, that's really great," she said as she smiled at her cousin. "Just great," she repeated as she realized that she had just lost the Justice League story.
"I'm going to phone it in," Chloe said proudly.
"Oh, don't!" Lois suddenly told Chloe, an idea coming to her. "They'll just rewrite you up," she explained. "My advice is to get back to the office and start typing. Look, take my cab," Lois generously offered. "Go on!"
"Lois," she said in shock. "I appreciate it." Chloe had beaten Lois to the story, but Lois still seemed to be very gracious. "I owe you one."
Lois just smiled at her cousin until she was out of sight. "No, I owe you one," she muttered, pulling out a cell phone. In a moment, she had dialed the office. "City desk, Lois Lane. Get me Doris in Copy. Doris? Lois! Take this down. The Justice League..."
To Be Continued...
Next up: Chapter 3 "Yeah, But Who? Godzilla?"
