I've noticed that Tank has been very quiet on these boards of late. Okay, he has been away at FallCon, but that's not really enough of an excuse, is it? It's been some time since he posted a story. So I thought I couldn't allow his writing talent to atrophy, and therefore it was about time that I gave him another challenge to get his teeth into. 
For anyone not familiar with the concept of Tank and Wendy challenges, the basic principle is this: Writer 1 posts the first part of a story, which ends in some sort of a cliffhanger. And Writer 2 must solve it and achieve a happy ending in just one further part. There is just one more condition: Writer 1 must have a solution in mind; I'm not allowed to post a challenge where I don't have a way of resolving it.
And so, without further ado, here is part 1. Enjoy! ~ Soul...mates? ~
A Wendy and Tank Challenge Clark Kent stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the tall building looming in front of him. This was it. This was the place he’d dreamed of working ever since he’d realised that he wanted to be a journalist.
The Daily Planet. In Metropolis.
He had an interview with the editor-in-chief in fifteen minutes, so he had a little time just to stand here and soak up the atmosphere. He was nervous, of course - a lot was hanging on this - but, thanks to the last couple of weeks, he was calmer than he might otherwise have been.
Because he now knew that working at the Daily Planet was what he was meant to do. And that inside that building lay... his destiny.
Clark caught his breath, thinking that soon - very soon, he hoped - he would get to meet her. Lois Lane. The woman whose writing he had admired for the last few years, but whom he’d never thought would be special to him, except as a colleague he’d be honoured to work with, if he got the chance.
That was... until the strangest thing of his life had happened. Even weirder than discovering all those powers he possessed, and learning that he could fly.
An odd little man wearing old-fashioned clothes and a bowler hat had appeared on his Smallville doorstep one evening. And he’d been dumbfounded by the tale the man had told.
Of alternate universes. And other men who, just like him, could fly. And were also called Clark Kent - and who were from a planet called Krypton.
One of those Clark Kents, the man named Wells had said, needed his help.
And so he’d allowed himself to be persuaded to accompany Wells, via what the man had called a ‘dimensional transport mechanism’, to another universe. There, he’d met a man who looked almost exactly like himself, except a few years older.
And he’d met a woman who’d made his heart stop beating the instant he’d laid eyes on her.
Her name was Lois Lane, he’d discovered. And she worked at the Daily Planet along with this world’s Clark Kent. And... they were married.
His initial sense of crushing disappointment on realising that this woman was off-limits had quickly been replaced by elation. In his own world, there was also a Lois Lane - he’d been reading her stories in the Daily Planet for long enough to be aware of that.
And she was still turning them out, every bit as good. Take that morning’s edition - interrupting his reminiscences of his universe-hopping, he smoothed out the paper he’d carried tucked under his arm and studied the front-page headline once more.
Three more corpses found in Hobb's Bay
by L. Lane.Lois Lane.
If his world was as similar to the one he’d visited as his had hosts assured him, then his world’s Lois Lane would be the woman he would fall in love with. And, if he was very lucky, he’d get to marry her.
The other world’s Lois had been pretty confident of that. She’d told him that she knew of at least one other world with a Clark Kent, and that that Clark had found his own Lois a year or so ago - apparently, she’d been lost in the Congo while investigating a gun-running story, but with Wells’ help Clark had found out where she’d gone missing and had finally found her, suffering from amnesia and living as an adopted member of a remote tribe.
They were married too now.
Clark had spent close to two weeks in that other universe. At first, Lois Lane had been impatient; she’d said something very puzzling to Mr Wells once she’d noticed how young he was. “You couldn’t possibly have managed to find someone a bit more experienced, I suppose?” she’d asked sarcastically. “Twice isn’t enough for me to have to create Superman?”
“But you are so good at it, honey,” Clark’s counterpart had interjected, causing his wife to thwap him lightly.
Wells had muttered some excuse and left, and then Clark had been blown away by the series of explanations which had followed - the biggest of which had been Superman.
Superman. His counterpart actually dressed up in red and blue Spandex and flew around openly, helping people.
It would have sounded crazy, if it hadn’t at the same time sounded so utterly... tempting.
He could do that.
He could use his powers to help people, the way he’d always wanted to, but had never thought he could dare to do.
And he would, too; when Wells had reappeared to take him home again, Lois had presented him with a bag containing one of her husband’s Suits. “Use it well,” she’d told him. “You’ll make a terrific Superman, I’m sure of it. You’ve done great while you were here.”
The reason for his presence in that universe had soon become clear during that initial conversation: Clark Kent, alias Kal-El, had to make a trip to a planet called New Krypton - which had required several further explanations - to lend his support to its rulers, the Lady Zara and her consort, Ching. Because he and Lois hadn’t wanted to advertise Superman’s absence, they’d asked Wells to see whether a Superman from another universe would be prepared to lend his presence for a week or so. Clark Kent, they’d decided, would be visiting his folks in Smallville, so Clark wouldn’t be needed to pretend to be his counterpart in his normal identity.
It had been a fascinating two weeks, playing the part of a superhero and learning about the lives of another Clark Kent and Lois Lane. And, he remembered, learning from Lois how *not* to behave with his world’s Lois Lane, once he met her. The lesson which had stuck in his mind most firmly was Lois’s advice not to give her counterpart the chance to fall in love with Superman.
“I understand why he did it, but Clark really shot himself in the foot,” Lois had explained. “Every time I started to feel close to Clark, he’d visit me as Superman and make me all confused again. Even worse, a couple of times he kissed me as Superman. It was no wonder I couldn’t choose between them!”
That made a lot of sense, Clark thought as he studied the famous globe attached to the front of the Planet building. He certainly wouldn’t make that mistake.
And there was another mistake he wasn’t making. His counterpart, once he’d returned from New Krypton, had asked him about his preparation for the upcoming interview with Perry White. And, as a result of the other Clark’s advice, nowhere in Clark’s portfolio was a certain story about the mating habits of knob-tailed geckos. Instead, he had a collection of articles concerning both hard news and human interest stories. Most were relatively low-key compared to the kind of articles the Planet ran every day, but they were well-written, Clark thought, and they showed his ability and potential.
With luck, he wouldn’t have to jump through the kind of hoops his counterpart had in order to get the job.
Realising that time was moving on, Clark entered the building, giving his name to the security guard in the foyer. Within seconds, he was being directed to the elevator, the guard saying that he would call ahead to the newsroom floor.
And then the elevator doors opened, and Clark was actually in the newsroom of the Daily Planet.
It looked, sounded and even smelt like a newsroom - a very busy one, at that. Clark felt a sense of excitement as he glanced around, seeing busy reporters at work, typing into computers, talking on phones or yelling at gophers or copy-boys.
He couldn’t, hard as he looked, see Lois Lane anywhere. But then, she was probably out chasing down leads or interviewing someone. Never mind, he told himself. He’d get to meet her some other time - he just hoped that it would be soon.
This was it. This was the place where he wanted to work.
All he had to do was impress Perry White sufficiently so that the editor would offer him a job.
He almost held his breath as the editor invited him into the corner office. But ten minutes later he was grinning from sheer delight.
He had a job. He was a reporter for the Daily Planet, effective immediately.
“I can’t tell you how much this means to me, Mr White,” he said emphatically.
The editor offered his hand. “Welcome to the Daily Planet, Kent. And rest assured, I’ll be expecting you to show me just how much it means to you! I expect hard work and lots of it from my reporters.”
“And you’ll get it,” Clark promised. “By the way, will I get a chance to work with any other reporters?”
“If the occasion demands it,” the editor said. “Got anyone in mind?”
“Well, I’m a huge fan of Lo -” About to say Lois Lane, Clark broke off. Lois’s columns always had the byline L. Lane, and he didn’t want to invite any comment - and especially not from Lois - about how he knew her first name. “L. Lane,” he finished.
“Aw, yeah,” the editor drawled, a distant smile on his face. “L- ”
Just then the door opened abruptly, and out of the corner of his eye Clark could see a slight figure enter. Perry White turned to see who the intruder was, just as the young man said excitedly, “Chief!”
Clark glanced over, pleased to see that someone else clearly enjoyed working at the Planet just as much as he was going to. The newcomer was around his own age, he guessed, smartly dressed in a dark suit and pale shirt, and with hair in a neat, short style. Dark hair framed an almost boyish face, and eyes almost as dark as his own looked curiously over at him.
“Just the person,” Perry White said enthusiastically. “Kent, I’d like you to meet our star reporter. Lucas Lane, meet Clark Kent.”
*********
Over to you, Tank!! 
