Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK - Taking Down A God: The Rest of the Story 2

Comments are always appreciated...

I am so glad there is a continuation of this story. I like the take on it. Hopefully you will post the next part soon.

Kathy
www.chili-everyway.com

I love your sense of desciption, even if it is disgusting.

This is an interesting continuation. I expected that Taking Down a God was a replacement for, and not a precursor to Vatman. I really liked the story, but I needed a bit more of a transition. Lois seemed to recover from surgery almost immediately, and yet she doesn't make the connection that this Superman may be another clone like the last one.


Elisabeth
who is eagerly awaiting part 3

Yes, this is a re-write of Vatman. Lois's surgery is actually set for the next day - most of this section is a flashback while she, physically, is getting settled into a hospital room. (Maybe I need to make that clearer.)

I understood that it was a flashback and that most of part 2 takes place before part 1, as we get filled in on the backstory to the main drama.

I'm glad that it wasn't Clark who turned evil, and it makes sense that it was Luthor's cloned Superman who went rogue. I'm looking forward to part 3 to see if Clark is really dead (and if Lois has figured out that he was the original Superman) and if we can get some semblance of a happy ending out of this interesting, albeit tragic, scenario.

Kathy

I never saw this coming but it is a great explanation! I would hate for our Superman to turn into Evilman.

How is Clark?

More now please!

Natascha

Wow. I was one FoLC that didn't imagine that your first part was about anyone other than Clark gone insane, but using the Luthor Clone was a great idea.

That was ominous, although inconclusive as to whether the clone killed Clark. Is it wrong to hope that he's somewhere - oh, say in Kansas - recuperating or waiting to see if any other clones appear?

I hope to see more soon.
B

I don't share the title Queen of Evil for nothin'

Oh, great continuation!!! More soon!!

Artemis

I was really happy to see this part because after Part One I was having really bad thoughts about our Clark/Superman.

But "the new improved version" is really scary - it sounds like he really injured Clark. Except doesn't Clark have super-healing?

Now I'm interested in the time between the confrontation on Lois's apartment, and the time that the false Superman is taken down. How long was that? How long was the reign of terror? You said in Part One that over a hundred people had been killed. (At least Lex Luthor was one of them, in poetic justice.)

And does Henderson know that CK=S? Did Clark actually end up going to the hospital? And did the Bizarro Superman keep on coming back and hitting on Lois? Was she assaulted again?

I can't wait for the next part!

Iolanthealias wrote:

I wouldn't be too worried - Dandello has killed Clark before, but only to bring him back again. Now if it was Lois who was seriously injured, though....

Ann

Wonderful. I do hope Clark came through okay but there seems to be a lot of backstory that we still don't know. I have to believe that Lois knows that Clark is Superman now, but what about...

1. What happened to Clark?
2. Does Lois even know what happened to him?
3. What does Henderson know about Clark and/or Superman?
4. If Clark is alive, will anyone ever trust Superman again?
5. What happened to Scardino?

How bad is it that part of me hopes Scardino was taken out by the clone? Oh, well, as I say to my coworkers, "Never mistake me for a nice person." (Although usually that only applies when I am reviewing one of their documents of designs.) With Scardino and Lex, "not nice" certainly applies.

Bob

I'm going to be the party pooper here. This is an interesting, well-written story, and I am curious to see how it ends. But...



I think the original part was stronger as a stand-alone. Especially the poignancy of the last line. Orginally, the implication was that Lois had loved him as well--that's what made it so heart-breakingly tragic. With the addition of the backstory, that implication--and therefore the gut-wrenching punch of Lois being the one to bring Superman down--is lost. The clone Superman is a horrible villain who must be killed, but not a former hero with a tragic flaw who must be destroyed be the one who loves him. Interesting and creative, but not as powerful emotionally.

You do have a potential new tragedy here--either Clark is dead, or he is consigned to forever hide his powers because this world will never accept another superhero. He'll be back to wandering the globe again unless he can harden his heart enough to never use his powers again. (No...he could learn to be better at not getting caught, but that would be a constant tightrope walk.) Still, I found it more powerful as a stand-alone.

Happy, who can't believe she's publicly advocating for the unredeemed WHAM option.

Well, I had seriously considered leaving Part 1 as a stand alone but Lois's potential angst was too good to pass up. What I may do is post 'Taking Down a God' to the archive separately from 'The Rest of the Story'.

Or maybe not...

Happygirl said:

I agree completely. Anyway, this also proves my point: Lois can be made evil - for no particularly good reason, she can be turned into a horrible witch - but Superman's character can't be tampered with. Ever.

It's not that I'm asking for an evil Superman, per se. It's rather that I find it interesting that the complete destruction of Lois Lane's character in Terry's The Cold Shoulder could garner as much acclaim as it did, even if some people were deeply, deeply critical. In response to that story, I wondered if it was possible to destroy Clark Superman Kent's character in a similar way. I guess the preliminary answer is no.

Ann

Dandello, I like this story, whether as one complete whole or with part one as a standalone. You have so much potential here, it's hard to know where to begin. I only wonder if Lois - no, when Lois will remember how fast Clark was moving before the fake Superman threw him across the room.

And people, may I ask that you quit taking shots at me here? This thread is for Dandello's story feedback, okay? Let her know how you feel about her work. I already know how most of you feel about my story.

I tend to agree - it also goes along with DC's underlying theme that heroes (and villains to a lesser extent) are born, not made - while Batman was born of Bruce Wayne's trauma over his parents' death, Bruce Wayne would have become a great benefactor to humanity in any case. He's just made that way. (Does anyone really think he would have pulled the trigger in Batman Begins?)

The same goes for Clark - even without powers he is destined to become a hero. And even in story lines where he appears to become evil or does evil things, it's always due to outside influences - red kryptonite, magic, meddling time traveling aliens, etc. - and he can always be redeemed. It's his inherent nature.

BTW Terry, I personally 'liked' Cold Shoulder very much. As much as I wanted Lois to recover completely I also know it wasn't likely given the set up. I applaud the fact that you stuck to your guns and gave a chilling outcome to Clark's and Lois's short-sightedness in the initial situation.

Well, sigh. Lois can be evil. Clark can not. Lois can die and not be returned, at least not in her own body. If Clark dies, he will be returned as himself and in his own body.

I realize that to most people, Lois Lane is a really minor character compared to Superman. So it's no wonder that Clark will be portrayed as so much nobler, stronger and hardier than Lois. It's just that to me, it's painful to see that Lois can be portrayed as such a morally and physically weak character, while Clark will always remain an unshakable pillar of moral strength.

Woman, thy name is Weakness and Wickedness. So if Lois had been Eve, she would still have picked the forbidden fruit. But if Clark had been Adam, he would carefully have taken the succulent evil from Lois and put it back in the tree. And mankind would have been saved.

It's a good thing, then, that men have learnt their lesson since Adam. Nowadays men do their best to keep women to the straight and narrow, because women are so evil.



Ann

MODERATOR EDIT: Photo has been removed after multiple complaints. Ann, please see your PMs.

"And even in story lines where he appears to become evil or does evil things, it's always due to outside influences - red kryptonite, magic, meddling time traveling aliens, etc. - and he can always be redeemed. It's his inherent nature."

If we take only the first story, the answer to Ann's question is 'Yes.' Superman can go very wrong indeed. But people like happy endings, and Dandello chose to provide one (maybe--we haven't seen the end of hers yet, although she has already exonerated Clark). Terry chose not to. That doesn't make Terry's Lois inherently evil. It makes her damaged. Terry's brain damage of Lois is just as much an outside influence as magic or red K on Clark. The difference is that the brain damage is not reversable, but that's the nature of the injury, not any inherent wickedness in Lois. If Clark weren't invulnerable he'd be liable to the same kind of injury.

BTW, if you want to see an evil Kal-El, check out the Long, Strange Journey. There a few stories with evil Lord Kal Els. The premise there being that heroes aren't born; they're raised by peolpe like Martha and Jonathan Kent.

I don't think I've ever seen a story in which Lois is a minor character. Lois and Clark are both indispensible to each other--not that the other couldn't survive alone, but it would be a lesser life than it would have been with the two of them together. Ad Astra Per Aspera is an example of the two of them surviving, but not really thriving, seperately.

Dandello, I am really enjoying your take on this story. Like Happygirl said, I feel that some of the impact of the original is lost, knowing that it was the clone that Lois helped destroy. I personally prefer to think of this as an "alternate ending/continuation", so I would be very happy to see you post it on the archive separately from Taking Down a God.

In any case, like everyone else, I need to know what has happened to Clark. Is he recovering somewhere? Does Lois know the secret? And if Clark is still alive, how will he suppress his need to help, since Superman would remain an unwanted figure?

And although I'm wandering off-topic here, I have to comment to this:
Ann, we all know of your strong opinions about Lois' role in the entirety of the Superman universe. But remember that here you are preaching to people who love this incarnation of the Superman mythos, not the general public at large. Although some - maybe even many, but certainly not all - of those in Lois & Clarkdom may cite Clark as their favorite character, do any of us regard Lois as a "really minor character"? Truly - maybe we should ask for a show of hands...

Kathy