It feels so good to fly again. I immediately break through the cloud cover in order to get the strongest rays from the sun. I feel renewed instantly, and I know without a doubt that my powers are fully restored. I still have no idea why they disappeared in the first place – did it have something to do with the strange mirror? But it doesn’t matter now. I have a job to do.
As I head towards EPRAD, I notice a large, ominous shadow in the sky. It’s what’s left of the asteroid that the other Superman had broken up. It looks wicked and menacing through the higher clouds, but I am confident I can take care of it.
I have to be.
Landing at EPRAD causes a stir of excitement. People immediately begin questioning me about what happened, and I explain that I lost the communicator with the first impact. I say that hitting the asteroid cast me further into space than I expected, which took me longer to return to Earth.
They believe my semi-plausible explanation and begin explaining how the asteroid had been hit directly in the middle the first time, which is why it is still on a course towards Earth. Several scientists explain how I need to approach it a second time. They suit me up with an extra oxygen tank and soon I am ready to leave.
I look around. News crews are here, several cameras—but no Lois Lane. She’s taking care of her Clark Kent… so there’s no good luck kiss for me, Superman.
I push these thoughts aside and concentrate on the mission before me. I soon leave the earth below me and head towards the asteroid in the heavens…
*~\S/~*
As I fly into the outer atmosphere, I immediately see the asteroid. It is larger than I thought it was, and I wonder how big it was before the other Superman had rammed it. Again I am impressed by his courage. But I am determined to be just as brave, just as capable.
Mission Control is talking to me through a small earpiece, reminding me how I should aim to best impact the asteroid. It’s both farther out than I thought and yet dangerously close to Earth. Its craters are menacing and foreign, a large dark rock that could destroy so many lives.
I pick up speed as I aim for impact. Silently I count down to myself: “Five, four, three, two—“
It’s like hitting a brick wall, yet I manage to divert it. Mission Control screams in my ear that the asteroid will miss the Earth.
All thanks to Superman.
*~\S/~*
I feel ebullient beyond measure that I made a difference. As I near Metropolis, I hear sounds of joyful celebration. People are honking their horns and homemade signs that read, “Thanks, Superman!” and “Superman saves the day!” greet me as I fly over the city streets. I head to the Daily Planet, eager to see Lois again and hopeful that Clark might be feeling more like his old self.
As I fly into the newsroom, I am greeted with applause. Even Lois comes up to me and gives me a hug. I wish I could live in this world forever. But I see Clark at his desk, smiling at me, and I know I am just the stand-in.
As people start returning back to work, I ask Lois about Clark.
“He’s starting to remember things…”
“Lois--- I’m sorry about what I said. It wasn’t my place to tell—“ I began.
“But you didn’t know what else to say to get my attention,” she finishes for me. “It’s okay. I am a little shocked—but I think Clark and I will survive,” she says with a smile that reaches in and clenches my heart.
I suddenly hear the elevator open and I see a man I thought I might never see again – HG Wells. I feel relieved, hoping that I might finally understand these strange turn of events. But I also realize that it might mean it’s time for me to return home.
Lois is about to turn back to her desk, but I reach for her hand. “Lois,” I say. “I’m glad I met you.”
She smiles that intoxicating smile that haunts my dreams and I wonder, just for a moment, if I could possibly stay in her world…
“Me too… And about—you know. Well, I’m just glad that Superman saved the day after all.”
I smile in return and see HG Wells gesturing for me to meet him in the elevator. “I have to go, Lois. Good-bye.”
She stops me suddenly, by simply putting her hand on my chest. She leans in close and I struggle to resist the urge to kiss her. But her kind eyes meet mine and she says, “Don’t give up, Clark. She might still be out there.” She then reaches up and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek.
I take those words and tuck them inside my heart as I head to the elevator.
Wells smiles at me as I step inside and the doors close. He pulls the stop button and grins at me.
“Well, don’t you feel so much better?” he asks, a little too smugly.
“What do you mean?” I ask and then an idea hits me. “Were you behind all of this?”
“Well, sort of. You see, you were so deep in the doldrums… and though your world isn’t this one, it still needs a Superman. Perhaps more so. You need to instill the optimism into the people that Tempus tried to take away. And so I talked with the Utopian Council about what to do… I had to show you that you have a purpose. That people need and respect you.” He suddenly winks at me. “And I knew seeing Lois again would do you good.”
“Then, the kidnappings and the fun house—was it all a set-up?” I ask.
Wells nods. “Yes. I knew I’d have to appeal to your instinct to want to help people. And I needed to expose you to some Kryptonite. I do hope you forgive me for that… But you see, I wanted you to see yourself as Clark Kent for a while and get to know yourself again. I’m so worried that you had been lost in the shadow of Superman for far too long…”
I look at him, incredulous. I think I should be angry, yet all I feel is gratitude. Wells is absolutely right. I suddenly reach out to shake his hand. “Thanks,” is all I can say, but it doesn’t convey what he had restored to me.
“Well my boy, it’s the least I could do. Now, are you ready to head back to your Metropolis?”
I x-ray the elevator door, taking one last look at Lois Lane. My heart sinks knowing I will probably never see her again, but her memory will remain with me forever.
I turn back to HG Wells. “I’m ready.”
*~\S/~*
I feel so much more myself after my visit to the other side of the mirror. My writing is better, and Superman is much more respected these days. I’ve even made some friends around the office.
Every now and then, though, I glance over at the empty desk—the one that used to be Lois Lane’s. Perry has never had the heart to give it to anyone else. I feel like she’s here with me, as I remember her perfume, and her beautiful, captivating smile. I may not have her in my life, but she will always be in heart.
“Kent! Get in here!” Perry calls, excitement in his voice.
I shake myself out of my daydreams and head into his office.
“What is it, Chief?”
Perry turns to me, a piece of paper in his hand. It’s a telegram, which one rarely sees anymore. “I don’t believe it. I simply *don’t* believe it!” said Perry, handing me the telegram.
I’m puzzled, but take the paper. It’s an old fashioned Western Union telegram, dated two weeks ago. It reads “I’m alive. In Dakar, Senegal. Perry, can you get me home? Lois Lane.”
I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I stare at those two words at the end of the message. Lois Lane. She’s alive. She’s alive!
“Clark—would you mind getting our girl and bringing her home?” Perry asks, choked with emotion.
I don’t even answer as I spin into the Suit and head out of the newsroom. My heart is lighter than air and I know I break the sound barrier as I leave Metropolis’ shores. But the other half of my soul is just over the horizon and I can’t seem to get there fast enough.
It takes no more than five minutes to get to Dakar. I realize I don’t know where in the city she is and my excitement is making it hard for me to focus. I try to calm down, knowing I don’t want to scare her when I do find her—she has no idea who I am or what we might eventually mean to each other.
Realizing I look entirely too conspicuous as Superman, I spin back into Clark Kent. I ask a few locals about a brunette haired white woman, and I’m not surprised that they all know exactly who she is. They point me to a hotel, on a desolate beach. I have to rein in my superspeed as I go racing towards the hotel.
I step inside and immediately see her. She’s sitting at the bar, sipping a lemonade. Her hair is a bit shorter than the Lois I met, but still in a bob. She’s wearing white slacks and a pastel print shirt. She looks radiant.
I walk up to the bar and take a deep breath. “Lois Lane, I presume.”
She looks slightly startled as her eyes meet mine. I feel like she can see into the depths of my soul and my heart rejoices, knowing I’ve found my Lois.
“I’m Clark Kent. Perry White sent me to get you,” I say casually, showing her my press pass.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe one of them got through!” she says with excitement. “You have no idea what I have been through for the last three years…”
“Well, we have a long flight back. Why don’t you tell me about it?”
She pays for her lemonade and we head out the door.
“We’re pretty isolated here,” she says. “How are we getting back to Metropolis?” Lois asks, sudden tears coming to her eyes.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” I ask her, wanting more than anything to take away those tears.
“I’ve traveled through the jungle, desert… I’ve sent letters and telegrams---for *three years*. I feel like—I don’t know, Alice falling into the rabbit hole, you know? So completely lost. I’ve survived a snake bite—gunmen—a whole world of trouble--- but one thought kept me alive.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“I had to make it back to the Daily Planet. I just *knew* that I had to survive,” she says with simplicity.
My own heart breaks at hearing about her trials, but also surges with joy. Selfishly I think she survived for me.
“Anyway,” she says, wiping her eyes. “About that transport?”
I figure it’s now or never. Maybe I can start my life with my Lois with the whole truth laid out on the table…
“Do you trust me?” I ask, reaching out my hand for her to take it.
“You look like the least frightening thing I’ve encountered in my time here in Africa – so, yes, I do,” she says with a smile as she accepts my hand.
I pull her to me and lift her in my arms. She laughs, and it’s a heady sound to my ears. “Smooth move, Romeo. But what now?”
“This,” I say, as I lift off the ground. She holds on tighter to me as we begin to fly out towards the ocean.
“How—what?” she asks in total shock.
“It’s a long flight home, Lois… Just relax and I’ll tell you everything…”
She begins to settle into my arms. “I guess that just goes to show that life is full of surprises. Okay, Fly Boy, what else have you got up your sleeve?”
I begin to tell her my story as we travel across the warm ocean, an orange and purple sunset beckoning us home to Metropolis – and, to our future.
*~\END/~*
