Clark and Lois - Despair to Hope – Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 4 – 18/22
By Ken Janney
This version is rated PG-13
* denotes emphasis *
< denotes thoughts >
[ playback of a recording ]/ telepathic communications /
(#) footnotes
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Reminder:
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
Previously –
Trenchcoat man sounded incredulous. “You’re the one who contacted me?”
Alt Clark had seen a picture of Eric Press and knew that this wasn’t him but he did recognize the family resemblance to him. The young man said, “Actually, that was my brother. He’s the one with the high level access.” That confirmed Clark’s supposition. It also told him that Eric Press wasn’t really missing. He was working *with* his brother.
Trenchcoat man sounded bored now. “Whatever. Just so we're clear; we're not having this conversation, this weapon doesn't exist, and I'm not really here.”
Press was obviously itching to get his hands on the item, so he replied with a quick, “I understand…”
There was a flat surface nearby and the man placed the case on it and opened it. Inside was a shiny device looking like a beer keg with a pistol grip, a small telescope and at the ‘business’ end, a clear object which was probably the barrel mounted on it. “What you're looking at is the most deadly weapon on Earth, the Quantum Disbander, a new and improved version of the Quantum Disruptor.” As he lifted it out of the case he swung into the sales pitch, “It's lighter and more energy conscious than its predecessor, yet still more than capable of long range target annihilation.”
The only reply Press made was a calm, “Cool.”
Trenchcoat man enthused, “A lightning blast of supercharged particles blasts the selected target, departicalizing its molecular structure until it -- disappears. Forever. Beyond permanently.”
The young man asked politely, “May I?” and extended his hands.
The man handed him the weapon he asked, “Out of curiosity, what are you going to use that for?”
Holding the weapon at arm’s length and admiring it, Press replied calmly, “Actually, I'm testing to see exactly how much force it requires to drain Superman's super reserves which would, according to my theory, render him vulnerable, which would then, in turn, create a brief window of opportunity for me to be able to kill him. And, from everything you've described, this weapon sounds like it'll do just the trick.”
The man who had been blasé was clearly appalled and ready to run.
Ethan pointed the business end at the man and asked, “Does it work like this? Oops, I forgot – you’re not really here.” Before he had a chance to bolt, Ethan pressed the trigger and trenchcoat man started to dissolve right in front of his eyes.
Alt Superman watched in horror as the man disappeared in a swirling ball of disassociated particles, systematically breaking him apart into a billion bits, then -- poof! -- what was left of him fell to the ground like fairy dust.
Press looked admiringly at the gun. “Totally cool.”
Alt Superman now knew what he was here for. But he needed to wait and see what was happening because Eric Press was still missing and they needed them both if this case was to be resolved properly. He decided that he should follow this Press brother and see if he led him to his brother.
He noted the direction he was headed and giving him a slight head start took off to follow. The problem was that as soon as he was airborne and started looking for him, he had disappeared from sight. He started using his enhanced vision, but he ran into a problem that he hadn’t anticipated. There was a lot of lead based paint in all of these old buildings and it was nearly impossible to see anything.
Knowing that the Press brothers now had the weapon he would need to be extra alert in his efforts to protect local Superman. He headed back to the Apollo.
And now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 16 – Revelations
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 020 x Gamma 155 x Tau -180
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
After losing Press’ trail after he actually got the weapon Alt Clark decided that the next morning he would need to be on the alert, so he got a good night’s sleep and was on duty bright and early.
While he was on the way to the Planet, Alt Superman heard the noises of a panicked evacuation. Sure enough it was another emergency at the rocket propulsion center and he was sure that local Superman was going to respond. He was closer so he was able to get there first.
Knowing that the Press brothers now had the weapon in their possession, Alt Superman knew that this could be the event he was here to guard against. He put on an extra burst of speed and moving too fast to be seen, Alt Superman slipped into the silo while the alarms were ringing and he hid in a dark section off the floor among some structural members. He watched as almost immediately the Press brothers slipped in and hid in an area off to one side. He continued his surveillance as less than a minute later the local Superman flew in and removed the warhead from the missile and dropped it down a safety silo and closed the lid, holding it closed against the explosion by main force.
When his efforts were no longer needed to keep the lid closed, suddenly the silo doors closed blocking the light.
The Press brothers came out of concealment Ethan Press was holding the Quantum Disbander. He said to his brother, “You see Eric, I told you that Superman would save the day.” The tone of his voice was mocking and full of self-congratulation. Then he turned to address Superman derisively his voice almost literally dripping with disdain. “You superheroes are so predictable.”
Superman crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Eric, as in Eric Press?”
Eric responded, holding out his hands in denial. “I swear Superman; I never wanted anything to do with this.”
Ethan said, “Stop groveling. Anyway, you’re wasting your mea culpas on him. He won’t be around long enough to exonerate you. To wit.” He triggered the weapon.
When he fired at Superman, Superman staggered back and appeared to start dissolving but then quickly reformed.
Thinking that he could hide in the darkness or at least be a more difficult target, Superman used his heat vision to fuse the relays in a power panel which killed the lights.
Ethan Press, assuming that Superman in his weakened condition wouldn’t have gone very far, used the laser targeting sight to find Superman again.
Thinking only of allowing sunlight in to reenergize him local Superman used his heat vision again, this time against the power panel that controlled the silo doors. Ethan saw the sparks fly and laughed. He said, “You’re wasting what little time you have left. I locked out that system with a computer override.”
Too late local Superman realized he had made a mistake. Instead of the power panels he should have targeted the weapon. Trying to remedy this error, local Superman tried to use his heat vision against the weapon itself but found that his powers had been depleted by first the blast from the weapon and then using his heat vision against the two power panels and was unable to do more than warm the surface slightly. Not even enough to make Ethan drop the weapon. He started mentally kicking himself for his error, but he started thinking that he wouldn’t have much more time to do that. He thought about Lois. If he was going to die, he wanted his last thoughts to be of her.
Ethan Press found him with the laser targeting sight of the Quantum Disbander. He was about to pull the trigger, but just as he was about to, Alt Superman used his x-ray vision to locate the wires from the power supply and then switched to heat vision, severing the wires and rendering the weapon useless.
In apparent triumph, Ethan said, “Goodbye Superman.” He pressed the trigger and … nothing happened. He looked at the weapon in surprise. He shook it and tried again. Still nothing happened. In dismay he said, “Uh oh.”
Just then the garage style doors at the side of the silo caved in as a result of Lois ramming them with her Jeep. Sunlight flooded the space and Superman could feel his powers being restored. He grabbed a piece of metal strut work and bent it around the Press brothers effectively securing them until the police would arrive.
Alt Superman remained in hiding until all of the activity settled down and the Press brothers were taken away by the police.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jonathan and Martha were going to be coming over for dinner, again. The last time dinner had been interrupted a number of times. First Lois had had several calls about problems at the Planet, a broken down delivery truck among them. Then Clark had needed to leave because of a bridge collapse.
Lois and Clark hoped that this time they would not be interrupted and that they could have a pleasant dinner with Clark’s folks.
Clark was in the kitchen preparing the meal and Lois was in the dining room setting the table when there was a knock on the door.
Lois shouted to Clark, “Honey, what time are your folks due?”
He replied, “Oh, they’ll be here in about a half hour. Why?”
She responded, “There’s somebody at the door. I hope it isn’t a messenger from the Planet. I don’t want to be interrupted again tonight.” Lois answered the door and did a double take when she saw Clark at the door. She was so startled that all she could do was stammer out, “Wh, wh, wh, who, who are you?” as she looked back over her shoulder in the direction of the kitchen where Clark was in the process of making dinner and started to say, “How ..”
Alt Clark interrupted her, asking, “Can I come in? It would look a little unusual for me to be standing here in the doorway since everyone would think it’s my house.”
Lois, shaken, said, “Yeah,” and stepped back. After he passed her she stuck her head out the door and surveyed the street to see if anyone had noticed. Spotting one of her neighbors she smiled and waved before closing the door.
Obviously Clark had heard her close the door because she heard Clark from the kitchen asking, “Who was at the door Honey?”
Lois made a wide circle around this strange visitor and when she was standing in the doorway between the vestibule and the living room she said, in a very distracted tone, “Clark, you’d better come here and see this.”
Clark came out of the kitchen and was confronted by himself standing just inside the front door. Clark rolled his eyes and the look on his face told the whole story, surprise, disbelief, concern, worry, he said, “Oh no, not again. What are you, a clone? I thought we were done with all of that. Who sent you?”
With a chuckle Alt Clark said, “No, I’m not a clone although we do share the same DNA. I’ve got a lot to tell you. Can we go sit down?”
Lois stepped back so that she was close to her Clark as he first x-rayed this look alike and finding no weapons or mechanism said, “Okay. Let’s go sit in the living room,” and he led the way with Lois, who was giving Alt Clark a wary eye the entire time, holding on to her Clark’s arm.
Once they were settled, Alt Clark started the ball rolling. He looked around the room and said, “I like what you’ve done with the place. It looks very comfortable.”
Lois automatically said, “Thank you.”
Alt Clark looked directly at local Clark and said, “Today, you had a problem with the Press brothers. Did you stop to wonder why he failed to fire the final shot with the Quantum Disbander?”
Clark spoke up in response, “Yeah, I was wondering. Another shot from that device and I would not have recovered. Are you implying that you had something to do with that?”
Alt Clark replied, obliquely, “I’ll answer that question in a minute. First, let me give you some background. Do you guys know anything about parallel dimensions?”
Local Clark said, “I’ve read about them in some science fiction stories. They always seemed rather farfetched stories to me.”
Alt Clark laughed as he said, “Then I guess I’m a figment of your imagination. Parallel dimensions aren’t as farfetched as you would think. You see, I’m *from* a parallel dimension, or as we have chosen to call them, an alternate universe. In my universe, I am you. So you see, we have the same DNA and from that aspect, I am like a clone, however in this case it’s more a case of parallel development. We are learning more and more about alternate universes all the time. One thing we do know is that almost all of them have a Clark Kent/Superman and almost all of them also have a Lois Lane. In those where Lois and Clark get together and marry, their offspring bring about a societal change, which results in a utopian society.”
There was a sudden gasp emitted by both the local Lois and Clark as he said this.
Lois and Clark exchanged looks and said, in unison, “Offspring???” They turned to look at him. “We are going to have kids?” They reached out and grasped each other’s hands. “We were told that we couldn’t have children.”
Alt Clark smiled and said, “You just need to be patient. There are some changes that have to be made to Lois’ physiology but that will happen with time. Just keep in mind the old adage, ‘Good things come to those who wait’.”
Alt Clark gave that thought a couple of minutes to sink in before he continued, “Anyhow, to answer your earlier question, yes, I was responsible for the failure of the weapon. I was in the silo in hiding and used my heat vision to melt the weapon’s power leads.”
Local Clark said, “I don’t know how to thank you. If he had hit me again with that thing, it would have killed me.”
“Keeping you from dying in this incident was exactly why I am here. This is my latest stop on a series of missions to keep Clark Kents and Lois Lanes alive so that they can get together. Herb will be here to pick me up in a few weeks.”
Local Clark and Lois both gave a start at this. Clark blurted out, “Herb?!?!? Do you mean Herb Wells?”
Alt Clark asked, “Oh, you know Herb?”
Lois said, “Well, yeah, if not for him I wouldn’t be here. He helped us clear a curse that would have killed me immediately after our wedding night. We haven’t seen him since.”
Alt Clark replied, “I don’t know if this is the same Herb or if there are more than one. I’ve only interacted with the one, well the same one but different ages of the same one. It gets complicated.”
He continued, “Anyhow, since I’m here, if you want to, you can take a break from being Superman and I’ll handle things for you. The two of us being seen at different places at the same time can only help your secret identity. I probably won’t contact you again unless I show up in the Suit to talk to you. Now, I think I’ll get out of here and let you guys have some together time. I understand that’s been at a premium since Lois took over for Perry as Editor-in-Chief.” Alt Clark, placing his hands on his knees, prepared to rise from the chair.
As if right on cue the phone rang. Lois said, “Excuse me,” and answered it, “Lois Lane … Is it the same truck again? Another one this time. Okay, how long to repair it? … Rent another truck until the repairs are complete, in the mean time shift portions of that route to all of the other trucks.” She hung the phone up and said to local Clark, “This was a big mistake. I wish Perry had never moved upstairs.”
Local Clark, trying to soothe her said, “You’re doing a fine job, Honey. It should get easier with time.”
Lois retorted, “Really??? Look at what happened on this story. I tried to kill it and it almost killed you. I should have let you go with your reporter’s instincts on it and supported you.”
“You did what you thought was best.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that it was the wrong decision. Oh Honey, I’m sorry.”
Alt Clark cleared his throat to get their attention. “I’ll be going now. If you need me I’m staying at the Apollo as Charlie King. I’ll do your regular patrols and handle emergencies until Herb arrives.”
Local Clark stepped up to him and stuck out his hand, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you did for me, uh, us. You saved my life and you have given us hope. Wow, kids.”
Alt Clark laughed, “Yeah, I guess I let the cat out of the bag with that one, didn’t I? Oh, here’s another thing. Herb, well, how do I explain this? *My* Herb may just give you guys a visit.”
Lois spoke up, “Your Herb? Why not ours?”
Alt Clark replied with a laugh, “I’m here with mine and mine knows about this and I don’t know if yours does or not. Anyhow, after I leave, *my* Herb may come for a visit and if he does he will have a gift for Lois. Call it a late wedding gift or an early baby shower gift, whatever. I believe that it is something you will really get some use out of.”
Her curiosity piqued Lois asked, “Oh, what is it?”
In a teasing tone Alt Clark said, “It’s something for you to wear, but I’m not telling you any more than that. You’re going to have to be patient.”
With a pout Lois said, “Now you’re just being cruel. I hate to wait for presents and I hate surprises.”
Local Clark started laughing, “Yeah, I remember how you reacted when I finally told you who I was.” Turning to Alt Clark with a half smile he said, “It wasn’t pretty.”
Lois retorted, “If you hadn’t waited so long it might just have had a different outcome. Did you ever think about that? Besides, I had already figured it out on my own. I was just getting back at you.”
Local Clark looked at Alt Clark and asked, “Is your Lois like that?” Immediately, local Clark regretted asking the question because he saw a look of unutterable sadness take over his visitor’s features. He asked, “What happened?”
Once Alt Clark had settled somewhat he replied, “My Lois was killed during the Congo arms investigation.”
Lois reached out and put her hand on his arm as she said, “I’m so sorry. I can see how it happened though. I was almost caught on that investigation. I just got lucky. I was following them when a group of them came out of nowhere. I had to defend myself. Fortunately, they underestimated me and I was able to escape. I had to kill one of them in order to get away. When that happened, I was able to run. I had to leave my pack behind and I had a hard time on the trail getting back but I was able to travel faster without it and I made it back to the river in a short amount of time and into Dongou where I caught a boat back to Brazzaville. When I got there I went into the local office and contacted Perry. He arranged my passage home. If you’ve ever heard an ‘I told you so’ from Perry you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say he had told me he didn’t want me on that trip because it was too dangerous.”
As Lois was finishing up Alt Clark broke down in tears with a look of unbearable pain on his features. Lois had just confirmed his greatest fear. *He* was the reason she had died. Here was the proof that if he hadn’t been there she would have escaped on her own. All of the pain of her loss and the self-recrimination of the events that led up to her death came on him in a flood. He choked back a sob and fought the tears that threatened to appear.
Seeing this, Lois moved over to him and attempted to console him but all her touch accomplished was to bring it home to him that much more.
After a time, he settled down. Alt Clark swallowed the lump in his throat and finally said, “Thank you Lois. This is the first time I’ve heard the details of the incident. Now I know how it happened and I also know why it happened. She died because in the history of my universe she was dead and I was the reason, the instrument in the hands of fate that caused her to die.”
Lois put her arms around him. She was crying for him, in sympathy as she crooned to him comforting words as local Clark also tried to comfort him as well.
After a time they separated and Alt Clark said in a defeated tone, “Thank you. At least now I know for sure. I think not knowing was actually worse.”
Local Clark asked, “Would you like to stay for dinner? My folks are coming over and they would probably like to thank you for saving my life.”
Alt Clark said, “I really don’t want to impose.”
Lois said, “It’s no imposition. There’s plenty so one more mouth to feed isn’t a problem. Besides, you’ll like Jonathan and Martha.”
“I know. I’ve met them in other universes.”
Lois’ reporter instincts had not deserted her with her move to the big office and she picked up on his statement. She said, “You’ve met them in several other universes. What about in your universe?”
Alt Clark with a sad tone still in his voice replied, “Jonathan and Martha Kent, my Mom and Dad were killed in a traffic accident when I was ten years old.”
Lois threw her arms around him and started crying for him. Through her tears she said, “Ohhhh, I’m so sorry. You *have* to stay now. I know that they aren’t the same ones, but, they might as well be.” She had a tone of pleading in her voice as she finished up, “Please, stay and have dinner with us.”
Alt Clark relented, “If you insist. Thank you.”
Lois turned to her Clark and said, “You had better go finish dinner. I’ll stay here with him.”
Giving her a wary eye Clark demurred from going to the kitchen.
Lois stood up and moved into her Clark’s arms. She kissed him and said, “You have nothing to worry about. It’s like he’s your twin brother, my brother-in-law.”
Clark relented, “Okay, I’ll go finish dinner.”
As Clark turned away to go finish dinner, Lois sat on the couch next to Alt Clark. She said, “Tell me a little about yourself.”
Musingly he said, “Where to begin?”
Lois suggested, “How about when you lost your parents. What happened to you?”
He asked, “Do you know Wayne Irig?”
She said, “Yeah, we had an encounter with a wacko by the name of Trask on Wayne’s property. Wayne had found a Kryptonite meteor and Trask found out about it. He wanted to use it to kill Clark.”
“When my parents died Wayne was made executor of the farm and I was placed into the foster home system.”
While they waited for Clark’s parents he gave her his life story.
Clark finished up in the kitchen shortly before his parents were supposed to arrive and Lois suggested a practical joke that they could play on them so, when the elder Kents arrived, Lois answered the door and ushered them in while the two Clarks stood side by side. When they saw two identical Clarks all Martha and Jonathan could do was stand there and stare.
Lois finally asked, “Well, Martha, which one is our Clark and which one is another Clark?”
Martha turned to her and said, “Our Clark, another Clark?”
Without hesitation Martha walked over and put her arms around Clark and turned to Lois and said, “This has to be Clark.”
Both Clarks began to laugh as the other one said, “Over here Mom. That’s our guest.”
Martha, chagrined, looked back and forth between the two, finally giving up and saying, “You are as alike as two peas in a pod.”
Laughing the entire time Lois said, “They ought to be, he is Clark, just another Clark. You guys need to thank him. He saved Clark’s life today. If not for him, I’d be a widow right now.”
Alt Clark, somewhat embarrassed by the attention said, “No thanks are necessary. I’m sure he would have done the same thing for me if things had been turned around.”
Local Clark said, “Well, barring any further interruption from the Planet, let’s eat.”
The dinner party was pleasant for all. Lois didn’t have to deal with any emergencies and Clark, either one, didn’t have to leave to deal with any problems requiring super assistance.
Over dinner the elder Kents had been very interested in Alt Clark’s story. Martha, in particular, was moved by the fact that he had had to grow up in the foster home system. When he told them the names of the families he had been placed with, in most cases they expressed their approval of the choices since they knew all of the families involved.
Eventually Alt Clark felt that the time had arrived for him to depart. As he was preparing to leave Martha approached him and asked, “Will we see you again before you leave?”
Alt Clark replied, “I’m not sure. If you guys really want me to, I’m sure it can be arranged.”
Jonathan stepped up and putting out his hand said, “We’d like that. Just let Clark know when you are coming and we’ll be here. At least to say, goodbye.”
He turned to local Lois and Clark and seeing their nods of agreement he said, “I’ll do that. Thank you,” and exited.
A little while later the elder Kents took their leave.
Lois had just closed the door behind Martha and Jonathan and Clark putting his arms around her from behind whispered in her ear, “Leave the dishes for now, I’ll take care of them later. Let’s go out back and sit on the swing for a few minutes. If we can’t hear the phone you won’t be interrupted by problems at the Planet and with him here I won’t have to respond to any calls for help. Tonight we will have no interruptions.”
Once they were seated on the swing Lois cuddled up to Clark and said, “I meant what I said earlier. I was wrong when I tried to pull you off that story. The first sign that I was wrong was when it caused our first fight. If not for his intervention, we wouldn’t be sitting here together. I’d be a widow. I don’t know if I’m really cut out for this job, I mean, if I can make that kind of mistake and that was a major mistake, I know it was. How many other mistakes am I making? The worst part is that the whole thing was totally avoidable. All I had to do was listen to you, but, no, I had to have things my way.”
Clark leaned in and silenced this babble with a kiss.
When they came up for air Lois said, “MMMmmmmmm, that was nice. I’ve missed that these last few days.” She was thoughtful for almost a full minute and then she said, “I just made a decision. I’m going to talk to Perry tomorrow and see if he can’t make someone else acting Editor-in-Chief. I want to go back to working with you, not bossing you around.”
Clark was surprised and you could hear it in his voice when he asked, “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Absolutely, I know where I belong and that’s at your side. That’s where all the action is. I liked being Editor, don’t get me wrong, but, I’m just not cut out to live behind a desk. That’s just not where I want to be.”
“Where do you want to be?”
“Usually, with you.” She wormed her index finger between the buttons on his shirt. “Ah,” she breathed, “no Suit.”
Clark kissed her softly and said, “Maybe we should start working on that offspring thing.”
“Thing, there’s a thing? Does this mean we’ve made up?”
“Yes, we could definitely make out, up. How’s some time alone and undisturbed in our own room sound? We could take the phone off the hook and then take a leisurely shower together and then see where we wind up from there.”
She leaned in for another kiss as her fingers started undoing another button. When they broke from the kiss most of his buttons were open and her hands were on his chest.
She squealed in delight as he scooped her up and superspeed them upstairs to their bedroom. Seconds later she found herself naked in the shower with the water cascading over her back. With a contented sigh her arms went around his neck as her body melded to his and they started another kiss.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next day, Perry showed up in the editor’s office. He said, “Lois, you know, uh, it’s like this, I have a little time on my hands and thought that, maybe, if you would be willing, we could, uh, maybe, share some of the editor’s duties.”
Clark was standing there, Lois gave him a look and then turning to Perry said, “No, you may not share this office with me. I won’t have it.”
Perry was crestfallen at her response and started to turn away.
Lois said, “Where do you think you’re going?”
Perry in a downtrodden manner said, “You aid you wouldn’t share.”
Chuckling Lois said, “No, that’s not correct. I said, I won’t have it. I meant the office! If you want it back it’s yours. Last night I decided that I didn’t want it anymore. I was going to ask you if you wanted it back, but you beat me to the punch!”
Afterward Lois wished that she had had a camera to capture the look of joy on Perry’s face when this all sunk in.
Lois walked over and picked up her name plate and carried it with her as she stepped over to Clark and put her arm around him and said, “Let’s go partner, there are stories out there waiting for us to write them.”
Perry chuckled as he watched them disappear out the door. He walked and sat behind his desk with a look of contentment on his face.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A couple of week later Alt Clark contacted local Clark and they set up another dinner party.
This time as Alt Clark was about to leave Lois threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, “I don’t know how to thank you. It has been wonderful not having Clark running out for rescues all the time. We have had some nice together time thanks to you.”
Alt Clark replied, “I’m glad I was able to help out.”
After Lois released him he addressed both Lois and Clark and said, “Remember, look for *my* Herb to visit. I’m sure that you’ll appreciate the gift he will bring. I wish you a long and happy married life.” He shook Clark’s hand. Martha gave him a hug and Jonathan shook his hand before he exited to go meet Herb.
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 17 – The Green, Green Glow of Kryptonite
