Just a quick note -- I changed a bit in the last section & added some dialogue in the part where Lois is telling Clark about the tip she received about the cemetery. Also changed the informant from Arianna Carlin to Mrs. Cox, since that's who gave the info. in the actual episode (A Bolt From The Blue) and because that makes more sense anyway. Now, moving on...
* * * * *
"Well, I'll tell you one thing," Perry said, as he peered at a photo someone had snapped of the orange-and-blue-clad Superhero. "THIS guy sure as heck ain't Superman's son!"
"It was the most incredible thing, Perry. I mean, one moment, my life is flashing before my eyes, and the next I'm encountering THIS!"
"Thank goodness you weren't hurt, hon. Where was Superman when you needed him this time?"
Clark bristled at this comment. He would have stopped the car! And besides, he'd pushed Lois out of the path of the vehicle, so... she would have been okay! It was he who'd been in actual danger... well, sort of. Okay, not really.
"It's not like he follows me around everywhere, Perry. Superman can only do so much. Thank goodness this -- whatshisname -- was there, though!"
"Ms. Lane?" A messenger was at the door to Perry's office. "This just came for you." He held out an envelope.
Lois took it and thanked him. She opened the envelope, pulled out a sheet of paper, glanced it over and then let out a yelp.
"What's wrong?" Clark said.
"That jerk! It's a BILL! He's CHARGING me for saving my life! $29.95: 'A small price to pay for being plucked alive from the snapping jaws of certain death.'"
"Incredible!" Clark shook his head. Inside, he was fuming. He'd saved that man's life the other night, and now this guy'd saved Lois's -- and now he had the nerve to bill her for it!?
"Kids, do you think you can handle running with both stories?" Perry asked. "I mean, this is BIG... a grown man with Superpowers... a kid with Superpowers... it's like there's something in the water."
"We're on it, Chief," said Lois.
"You know," said Clark, as they left Perry’s office, "up until this morning, our best lead was the idea that the boy was some kind of genetic creation, and that's how he got Superman's powers. Which, you know, wasn’t that solid of a lead anyway. But now that this older guy has powers, too..." He stopped short. He couldn't very well tell Lois what had occurred that night in the cemetery. Yet it all seemed to be clicking, and he longed to share what he knew -- or thought he knew.
Fact: the man from the cemetery now had Superman's powers. How had he gotten them? The answer was obvious to Clark, yet it seemed so crazy -- and so simple -- he could scarcely believe it. The lightning! They had been physically connected when the lightning had struck and... the powers must have transferred. Amazing. Bizarre. How very... Kryptonian.
But if his powers were transferable, then maybe -- somehow, some way -- his powers had, also, been transferred to little Justin Driver. But how? When? Sure, he'd been struck by lightning before -- many times. But never when touching someone, to his recollection.
He longed to tell Lois all the things that were going through his mind. If only he could say, "Hey Lois, I'm Superman and I accidentally transferred my powers to someone else the other night, and now I think I know how Justin Driver got to be a superkid, can you help me figure out where and when?" But of course he couldn't. It was so hard, sometimes... Lois was a sure bet when it came to figuring out tough problems. And yet he couldn't divulge this because he couldn't.... She couldn't know....
Maybe someday things would be different. Perhaps someday he'd tell Lois everything. And maybe, if she didn't run screaming (or, more likely for her, run AT him screaming), they could work together on things like this.
For now, he would have to just go to her having “just talked to Superman.” Like usual. Someday, maybe, things would be different. But until then, this would have to do.
* * * * *
The new superhero, who was now calling himself Wonderman, was all over the news. The tabloids were in heaven. Rumors swirled. Were Wonderman and Justin Driver related? Were they part of a superhero army, sent from Superman’s home planet? Were there more like them?
If things had been bad before, they were downright terrible, now, at least for Superman. He couldn’t make a single rescue without being hounded for information -- and not just by reporters, but by every person with a working larynx. Women who didn’t outright hate him were begging him to father their children. Others were convinced he knew how to bestow his powers on others, and would he share? And if not, why not? How selfish he was to keep his powers for himself! It wasn’t fair!
And there was yet another problem. Wonderman -- though he called himself a superhero, wore a colorful costume, and did indeed save lives -- was quite the opposite of what a superhero ought to be, at far as Clark was concerned. Charging people money for having saved their lives? Tacky. Telling people upfront that he would not put out the fire in the burning home and save their puppy unless they paid upfront? Abhorable.
To make matters worse -- at least in Clark’s mind -- Wonderman had taken a shining to Lois. One evening, he showed up at her apartment and brought her flowers, and even offered to take her out on a date. Clark arrived at Lois’s door with a timely knock, and Wonderman eventually left. Lois told Clark she’d only played along because she was hoping for an interview. But alas, Wonderman wouldn't divulge anything for free. She was not able to find out who he was, where he’d come from, or how he’d gotten his powers. But she was determined to find out.
“I may be able to help you out with that,” Clark said, as he made himself comfortable on her couch. “I just came from talking to Superman and he thinks he knows how Wonderman got his powers... and maybe Justin Driver, too.”
“TELL!” Lois said, unable to hide her excitement.
“Lightning.”
“What, now?”
“Remember the thunderstorm we had last week? Superman says he encountered Wonderman that night; saved his life, actually. Only he wasn’t Wonderman, he was just an average, middle-aged guy trying to do himself in. While Superman was stopping him, they got struck by lightning. Superman was afraid the man would be hurt, but he was fine.”
“And then, a few days later, the guy shows up with superpowers!” Lois gasped. “So... Superman’s powers can be transferred via electricity?”
“Powerful electricity, anyway,” said Clark.
“Did Superman say that’s what happened with Justin?”
“That’s just it,” said Clark. “Superman says he’s never met Justin before in his life, not that he remembers, anyway. Besides, he said he’d remember if he’d been in a direct lightning encounter with someone before, but says he hasn’t -- that the other night was the first time that’s ever happened.”
“Clark, you told me that Superman said that Michelle said Justin’s powers first started appearing this past summer. If we could get an exact date--”
Clark looked at her excitedly. “Lois, I just remembered, I--” He caught himself just in time. He had been about to tell her about the time he’d landed a plane in a lightning storm back in July.
“You what?” asked Lois.
“I, uh, remember... that... Superman told me about landing a plane in a lightning storm this summer. He said he was struck by lighting!”
“Was he touching the plane when he was struck?” Lois asked.
“Yeah! Well, I mean, I assume so... if he was trying to land the plane, he’d be touching it, wouldn’t he?”
“What are the odds that Justin Driver was on that plane?” asked Lois.
“I guess we’ll have to find out.”
“But even if he was, why would only HE get Superman’s powers? Why not everyone aboard the plane?”
“Maybe he was sitting in the seat closest to Superman at the time?”
“Maybe,” Lois said thoughtfully. “Well, either you or Superman is going to have to ask Michelle about that -- I highly doubt she’s ever going to want to speak to me again, not after our little conversation the other day."
“The only thing is, if that’s indeed how Justin got his powers, does that mean he’s stuck with them forever?”
“Well, I don't know... maybe there’s a way to transfer them back,” said Lois. “Once we find out for sure Justin was on that plane, I’ll get in touch with STAR Labs and see what they say.”
* * * * *
The next morning, the Daily Planet newsroom was in an uproar. Every TV was tuned to a different news station, and they were all airing the same story:
Justin Driver had disappeared during the night. Richard Fennerman, Michelle’s attorney, was nowhere to be found. The FBI had been called in.
“This is all my fault!” Michelle sobbed into the TV cameras. “I trusted him! Oh, my baby!”
All thoughts of Wonderman, lightning strikes, and paternity issues were pushed aside as Lois and Clark took on this latest crisis.
“Why would someone take him?” Lois asked, as her eyes fixed on one the TV screens. Though she didn’t have children herself, she felt an aching in her chest for what Michelle must be going through. She knew what it felt like to have someone you cared about ripped away from you. She knew what it felt like to deal with the idea of never seeing that person again. She had felt it all too recently, with Clark.
“Ransom?” Clark suggested. “Extortion? Maybe someone thinks they can get money out of Superman. Or maybe somebody wants a super-child....”
“Surely someone must have seen something!” said Lois. “I know it happened during the night, but with all those reporters camped out in front of the house, how could anyone have possibly sneaked off with him without anyone noticing?”
The answer to this question came about half an hour later. It was reported that round 2am, a car had pulled out of the Drivers’ garage and driven away. Several reporters noted that the driver looked like that attorney, Mr. Fennerman. They hadn’t noticed anyone else in the car -- but perhaps Justin had been lying in the backseat. The next unusual thing that had happened, said witnesses, was that Michelle Driver started screaming around 6:30am, upon the realization that her son was not anywhere in the house.
Upon hearing this, Lois looked at her partner and said, “We’re going back to Maryston.”
On the drive to Maryston, a thought struck Lois. “Clark, what if someone else figured out how Superman’s powers can be transferred -- and what if they kidnapped Justin, thinking HE can somehow transfer powers to THEM?”
Clark let out a whistle. “That’s a long shot, Lois. Sure, a lot of people think it CAN be done, but nobody knows HOW, do they? We haven’t printed anything, and I doubt Superman told anyone else, so....”
“I know, but I was thinking -- what if someone was there the night Superman saved Wonderman? What if someone witnessed what happened, and put two and two together?”
“Someone in the cemetery?” Clark asked, before he could stop himself.
“It happened in a cemetery?” Lois asked.
“Uh... yeah. Superman told me that’s where the lightning struck.”
“Sheesh, was EVERYONE hanging around cemeteries that night?” Lois asked. “Well, whatever, say someone saw Superman get struck... and then realized that the guy he’d been touching later became Wonderman, so they realized, oh, okay, Superman’s powers can be transferred. And what if they thought, if Superman can transfer his powers to one person, maybe THAT person can transfer their powers to somebody ELSE! But instead of going after a middle-aged guy who’d probably be too smart to fall for it, you go after a little boy by offering him candy or a new puppy or what have you, and then somehow figure out a way to get the powers from him?”
“Lois, that’s so far out--”
“--that it might actually be true!” Lois finished for him. “Either way, I think we can safely assume the Driver’s attorney is involved somehow. Now, whether he’s after the powers himself, or if he’s just working for somebody else, I don’t know.”
This time, Lois had to park six blocks away from the Driver residence, and she found herself unable to get anywhere near the front door. She was just about to instruct Clark to create a diversion so she could sneak her way in, when she overheard some other reporters talking.
“--house is empty, except for some FBI guys--”
“--they’ve had her down at the police station for hours--”
“Great!” Lois said to Clark. “Michelle’s not even here!”
“Let’s just... look around for a bit,” said Clark, who had his own agenda in mind. “Just mingle and hear what we can hear.”
Lois had to admit this was a reasonable idea, so they split up.
Clark x-rayed the house's interior, but wasn’t able to find much of anything of interest. Justin’s bed was tussled, like he’d slept in it the night before, but there didn’t appear to have been any kind of major struggle. He also noticed sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet, and wondered if they had been consumed the previous night -- perhaps there had been a reason why Michelle hadn’t been aware of her son being taken.
After about twenty minutes, the team found each other and Clark told Lois what he knew about Justin’s bed, attributing the information to a reporter he’d overheard. Lois had acquired the make and model of the car Richard Fennerman had been driving. “It’s Michelle’s car,” Lois said, “So I’m guessing he stole it. It’s a dark blue 1993 Mazda Sentinel, license plate--” she checked a notepad she was carrying “--RMT 396. I had to give that awful Blake Mezzington from the Metropolis Star $20 for that information! But maybe it’ll do us some good. We should let Superman know about this... maybe he can help search from the skies.”
Clark agreed to contact Superman as soon as they could find a phone. Lois suggested they make their way to the police station and see if they could talk to Michelle. After making some queries, they learned the police station was only half a mile away, so they decided to cover the distance on foot.
Reporters were staked out in front of Maryston’s tiny police station as well. Clark x-rayed the building, looking for Michelle, and found her sitting in a tiny office, being questioned by two FBI agents. Her face was red and tear-stained, and she looked like she’d just crawled through hell.
“Lois, I’m going to go find a phone,” Clark said. “To call Superman.”
“Okay, I’ll see if I can get in the building,” she replied.
Clark took off, looking for a place to change. He knew that FBI agents were unlikely to stop right in the middle of what they were doing to let a Daily Planet reporter talk to their subject. But maybe they’d be more open to....
“Superman!”
“It’s Superman, look!”
Superman landed near the front door to the police station and, as calmly as he could, entered the building. He gave the receptionist quite a start at first, but once she realized who she was looking at, she immediately went into action. He told her he’d like to speak with Michelle Driver. She told him she’d see what she could do.
The FBI agents very well could’ve told Superman to beat it, but instead, they allowed him into the tiny office. With four of them in the room, there wasn’t any room to turn around.
“Superman, we’ll have to ask you to keep this brief,” said one of the agents. “Normally we wouldn’t allow interruptions, but considering your connection to this case--”
“He’s not the father!” Michelle burst out.
“Excuse me?” the agent said.
“Superman’s not Justin’s father. It was all a lie... I just... I just thought if Superman could help us, everything would be okay.”
“I can still help you,” Superman said gently. “Michelle, I may not be Justin’s father, but I still care about what happens to him. I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure he comes backs to you safely. If there’s any information you can give me, please... let me help.”
Before he left, Superman was given the details about the car Fennerman had been driving (which he already knew) as well as Fennerman’s last known address, place of employment, and connections. He thanked everyone profusely, made one last promise to Michelle to find her son, and left through a back door.
“Where’ve you been?” Lois asked, when Clark had changed into his regular clothes and returned to the front of the building.
“I was, uh...” Clark nodded toward the gas station across the street.
Lois rolled her eyes. “Well, I assume you called Superman, because he showed up and they let him inside. Not sure if he’s still in there.”
Clark heard his pager go off. He held up the device and glanced at the number. “It’s Jimmy,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
From the gas station pay phone, he called Jimmy.
“CK, I’ve got something. Someone sent Lois a package about half an hour ago. The security guys opened it, and found... what looks like a pair of Superman pajamas, kid sized. There was a note, too. It said - ‘Tell your boyfriend we want $1 million, or his kid dies.’”
“WHAT?!” Clark yelled. He tried to wrap his brain around this new, disturbing information. Someone had sent Lois a package, meant to be a message to Superman... a ransom note? One million dollars!? And they were threatening to kill Justin? But how? He was invulnerable! Unless they had Kryptonite...?
Clark felt sick. It didn’t seem to matter what the truth was, anymore -- whether people believed Justin had gotten his powers from his father, or through a bolt of lightning -- none of it mattered right now. All that mattered was that a little boy was in danger... because of him.
After hanging up with Jimmy, Clark found Lois as quickly as he could, and relayed the information to her.
“What do we do?!” she asked.
“Go back to the Planet,” Clark instructed her. “See what you can dig up on Fennerman. I’ll wait for Superman to come out and let him know what’s going on.”
Lois took off toward her jeep, and Clark sighed deeply. What a mess this had turned out to be.
