Clark and Lois – Two Universes - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 7 01/32
By Ken Janney
Rating PG-13
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.
Author’s note:
This is the forth part of the Clark and Lois arc the explanation of which follows. If you haven’t done so as yet, please read the previous Volumes. You will have a better understanding of the fundamental premises of the set if you do. I wish to express my thanks to my Beta readers Ray Reynolds and Artemis for their invaluable help. I also wish to especially thank Corrina for help with the Aussie dialogue. A special thanks goes to Artemis for her assist with the wedding party and wedding. This was a VERY rough draft when it first landed in their hands.
By trade I have been a scientist for 30 years and now have been involved in Computer network admin for 10 years. I try not to use ‘techno-babble’. I will attempt to substantiate the science I cite although there may be some cases where I need to extrapolate for future discoveries. I promise that I will not simply try to ‘snow’ you with a bunch of hand waving and gibberish. My ‘hard science’ as much as is possible is just that science fact.
One absolutely critical point: In this entire series I will be dealing with time travel and multi-universe travel. It is therefore critical that you have the concept of alternate universes and be aware of which one the story is currently in at all times. I try to make sure you know where you are by using the “Universal Locator Designation”. Some of the differences in ULDs will be very slight, changing only at the Tau value. If you don’t keep this in mind you will easily become confused as to what is happening and think I am simply changing the story already presented in an earlier volume when it is actually another universe. As far as times, I will attempt to insure that time markers are always present.
This particular story takes place after Lois and Clarks.
These are all volumes of a single story loop. I expect to be publishing a goodly number of volumes so hang on, it’s gonna be a fun ride.
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ “denotes telepathic communication”/
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary]For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout.
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
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Common name – Alt 2
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
OK, so you’ve already read a book and you haven’t even started the story yet. Thanks for your patience. Now, without further ado I present for your enjoyment:
Clark and Lois – Two Universes - The Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 7
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How we got to this point:
This story, which is number 7 in the Matchmaker Chronicles series, is the fourth story in the Clark and Lois arc.
The Clark and Lois arc started in Volume 3 of the Matchmaker series. The title is Clark and Lois – The Lost Years:
At the close of “Lois and Clarks” as Herb Wells was taking Alt Clark back to his universe, Herb offered to assist Alt Clark in his quest to find the Lois Lane of his universe. Clark accepted the offer and Herb transported him back in time and to Brazzaville, Congo so that he could pick up her trail when she arrived to start her investigation of the illegal gun running. Clark managed to meet her and form an acquaintanceship. Through a series of circumstances she found out that he was investigating the same story, however he led her to believe that he was a government agent. After a rough start they cooperated on the investigation and their relationship became more than a partnership. They were on the trail of the guns when the incident which had prevented her return occurred. Lois and Clark were captured by a rebel band and Clark was unable to prevent Lois from being shot. Clark was able to subdue her assailant without revealing his powers and got her to a hospital. At this point a new universe was created and the Lois in this new universe survived her injuries.
Clark discovered that some things had changed and he was of the belief that they had simply changed history. After Lois recovered from her injury they were wed and returned to Metropolis to continue the investigation with Clark being hired by Perry White on Lois’ recommendation. The investigation resulted in the ultimate downfall of Lex Luthor and his death at the hands of Bill Henderson in a gunfight.
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Volume 4 of the Matchmaker series – Clark and Lois – Despair to Hope is part 2 of the Clark and Lois arc.
When Lois had been shot by the rebel, there had been two possible outcomes, 1) she lives, 2) she dies. When the new universe had been created it had been because she had lived as opposed to the recorded course of history of Alt 1 where she had died. In this story we return to the Alt canon universe where Lois had died. Due to the death of his soul mate Alt Clark had been plunged into the depths of despair which almost claimed his life. Some friends he had made in Brazzaville had nursed him back to health and a chance comment by one of them reminded him that there were many Lois Lanes in the multi-verse. Clinging to this hope he patiently awaited the return of Herb.
Clark told Herb the story of how Lois had died while he returned him to his proper time in his time sled. When they arrived back in Clark’s apartment an older version of Herb showed up, appearing through a time window, with an offer. After sending his younger self on another mission the older Herb proposed to Alt Clark a series of missions. While he and the resources of TTEMPO searched for a Lois without a Clark, he needed Alt Clark to visit a number of other universes where the presence of a second Superman was crucial to the survival of the Lois or Clark of the subject universe. This would be similar to the time that he had helped the Lois that had helped him create Superman and her Clark against Tempus. Thus Alt Clark began his own version of the twelve labors of Hercules.
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Volume 5 of the Matchmaker series, Clark and Lois – Hope Realized is part 3 of the Clark and Lois arc.
Herb picked up Alt Clark after successfully completing his twelfth mission with a promise of one final mission. That mission was to unite him with a Lois whose Clark had been killed.
In that universe, just prior to the White Orchid Ball, Miranda had sprayed Lex with Revenge; however it had a delayed effect. It kicked in when Lex saw Lois at the ball and he became obsessed with having her. Finding out that Lois and Clark were engaged Lex was determined to eliminate his competition and contracted a hit on Clark.
One day shortly after that there was a call about a baby in the Wishing Well in Centennial Park to which Superman responded. The Newtrich sisters were there with their laser to attack Superman; however their laser didn’t use red Kryptonite. It was a hybrid form of red and green. When Superman was hit with that beam it not only transferred his powers to Lois it modified both of their physiologies making him Earth human and Lois Kryptonian human and this change was irreversible.
Lex’s hit on Clark was successful but the arrival of Alt Clark was timed to coincide with it. His presence prevented Lois from falling into the same depths of depression he had suffered by the loss of his soul mate in his own universe. After some time and grieving on Lois’ and the senior Kent’s part, Alt Clark was able to assume local Clark’s identity and form a bond with this Lois.
When Herb returned at their scheduled meeting time he found them together and married. This left a problem. Now there were two universes that needed superheroes and one pair that didn’t want to separate. This problem was solved by Herb giving them a TaDT (Time and Dimensional Transport) device which was locked on to their two universes so that they could cross back and forth at will.
In Lois’ universe (called Alt 2) they proceeded with their investigation of Luthor. At this point there are two fully Kryptonian superheroes in this universe.
All Kryptonians are able to communicate telepathically and those communications are denoted by /” dialogue”/. That is where we will pick up with this story.
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What is Past is Prologue:
From Hope Realized - Volume 5
Chapter 00– Capturing Luthor
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Common name – Alt2
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Lois had completely forgotten that she was still in her disguise until she heard the wolf whistles and cat calls that she started receiving when she entered the room. She looked down at herself and blushed. The hooker costume she was wearing was a little more revealing than her normal attire. She looked around. She saw Jimmy standing at his desk with his eyes almost bugging out of his head. She looked around with a withering look at all of the males in the office and said, “You’ve never seen an undercover costume before? Get a life!”
Clark chuckled and took off his suit jacket and put it over her shoulders. He said, “I can’t blame them. You look amazing, in a cheap sort of way!” With a smug look she pulled his jacket around herself and, sat down at her desk and pulled out the sheet they had gotten from Henderson so that she could check the last name and address.
She asked, “How do you want to handle this last one?”
He said, “The messenger outfit worked out well the first time. We could try that again.”
Lois said, “Let’s make sure that he’s home.” She picked up the phone and dialed his number. A switchboard operator answered. Using a sultry tone she asked “Is Frank Baxter at home?”
The switchboard operator said, “At this time of the day, you can usually find Frank at the Metro Club.”
Lois said, “Thanks, I’ll look for him there.”
Clark had heard the entire conversation. Lois said, “Looks like I don’t need to change. I’ll see if I can pick him up at the Metro Club. Do you think he’ll like what he sees?”
“How can he help it? I’ll be right outside.”
Lois stood up and removed Clark’s jacket and as she handed it back to Clark she scanned the bullpen and could see that all eyes were on her. She did a slow pirouette displaying herself. This elicited a new round of whistles and cat calls.
Clark started to snicker and said, “I didn’t know you were such an exhibitionist.”
She giggled and said, “Just giving my adoring public one last look.” She used an exaggerated sway to her hips as they exited the newsroom, receiving even more wolf whistles and cat calls as she did. She turned and did a little bow as they were about to enter the stairwell. As she stood up again and started to move into the stairwell she was laughing.
When they exited through the roof door she was still laughing. They took to the air and headed for the Metro Club. They landed in an alley down the street and Lois changed back into her hooker costume. As she exited the alley to head for the club she stuck a stick of gum in her mouth and started chewing.
When she entered she looked around and spotted Frank Baxter at a table. She moved to the bar and took a seat on a stool. When she did she made sure that her left side was toward him so that he couldn’t help but see her leg through the slit. She ordered a drink. While she waited to be served she crossed her left leg over the right which only displayed her legs that much more.
Spying her from where he was sitting at a table, Frank thought, <Wow, what a hot babe! What’s a dame with those kind of looks doin’ in this place?> It only took Frank a few minutes to get up from his table and walk over to her. He said, “You’re new around here, ain’t you?”
Popping her gum she replied, “Yeah, I just got inta town. Thought I’d try to find out where the action is.” She popped her gum again as she looked him up and down pretending to be interested.
Noting her appraisal, Frank tried to put on an air of importance as he said, “If you want action, babe, I’m your man. You want I should show you some action?” Frank thought of himself as quite the ladies man and as he leered at her thoughts of the kind of action he would like to show her flitted through his head and he tried to make his ugly scared face look sexy, though the effort was doomed to failure before he even tried.
Lois thought, <Ug, ladies man he isn’t. Well, I need to play along, no matter how much it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.> Popping her gum once more she replied, “Sure, let’s get outta here. You can show me some of the action and maybe I could show you a good time.”
Hopping down off the stool she took his arm as they started walking out. As they walked out the door Superman appeared behind Frank and grabbed both arms. Lois spun into her uniform and checked Frank’s pockets. She said, “This is getting monotonous, they are all carrying Kryptonite.” She relieved him of his box and launched it into space.
Realizing, belatedly, that he had been duped, Frank’s countenance fell, realizing that he had tried to pick up Superwoman. He thought, <No wonder she looked so hot!>
Superman said, “Lieutenant Henderson would like to have a talk with you.”
Frank blustered, “Whadda ya mean. I got rights! You can’t do this to me. You gotta have a warrant.”
Superman said, “It’s at Headquarters. They just want to have a friendly talk.” They lifted off side by side with Superman carrying Frank. A few minutes later Frank was in interrogation 7.
Superman and Superwoman exited and headed home. Lois changed into a regular work outfit and they returned to the Planet.
When they walked into the newsroom everyone turned, and seeing Lois in her regular clothes started booing.
She laughed and said, “Sorry boys. That was a special occasion. Usually Clark is the only one that sees me dressed like that.”
Chuckling, Clark said, “Eat your hearts out, guys. She’s mine.”
Heading over to Perry’s office, they knocked on his door and entered even before he could say ‘come in’.
As they sat on his couch he said, “What do you have for me? What was that stir in the bullpen a while ago?”
“Sorry about that Perry. We were helping Superman and Superwoman and I was undercover. It was a little … revealing.”
“As long as it doesn’t happen too often. What’cha got for me?”
“The case against Luthor is moving ahead. That’s what we were doing. Bill Henderson got some material witness warrants and we were helping Superman and Superwoman execute them. Four of Luthor’s underlings are now in custody and being questioned. It’s only a matter of time now.”
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Luthor dialed a number. In interrogation 3 Nigel’s cell phone began to ring. Nigel looked at Henderson. Nigel could see from the caller ID that it was Luthor. Henderson saw the caller’s name also and said “Put it on speakerphone so we can record it.”
Nigel answered and put it on speaker. “Nigel here.”
“Nigel, where are you? You’ve been gone for hours.”
“I’m trying to arrange that little job for you, sir.”
“Have you found a sniper to take out Kent yet?”
“No sir, but, I’m working on it. That is a very specialized skill. I’m sure you understand.”
“I’m growing impatient. I have to have Lane and Kent is in my way. I want him eliminated. Don’t you have any contacts from your time in MI6 that you could use?”
“No sir, none that are still around. You’ll have to be patient.”
“What about Frank Baxter? He’s done a number of jobs for us. He’s good with firearms.”
“His specialty is close work with a hand gun. I don’t know if he can handle a scoped rifle.”
“Talk to him. I want this done and I’m getting impatient. I have to have her.”
“I’ll see to it sir.”
“See that you do.” The connection came to an end.
Bill started rubbing his hands together. “I’m glad we got that on tape. That is incriminating. Nigel, I’ll talk to the DA and see about moving forward on your guarantees.” Bill turned to Sergeant Adams and said, “Keep at it. Get as much as you can. I’ll check back later. Get him some coffee or tea if he wants it.”
Bill moved down the hall and entered the room that held Izzie Banks. He had already informed Izzie what they had on him and offered a deal. He had been anxious to cut the deal because what they had on him based on Nigel’s testimony was enough to send him to prison for a very long time. He was spilling the beans on everything he knew about Luthor’s operations. The same thing pertained to Mitzie Daphne and Frank Baxter. In Frank’s case the deal had been a reduction to life in prison rather than the DA going for the death penalty.
Bill returned to his office and placed a call to the Daily Planet.
When it was answered he heard, “Daily Planet, Clark Kent.”
“Clark, Bill Henderson. It looks like it’s all over but the shouting. With the testimony of Nigel, Izzie, Mitzie and Frank we have enough on Luthor to throw the book at him. His secret books would be the icing on the cake. I’m getting ready to go to a judge for a search warrant for his offices and a warrant for his arrest. According to what Nigel said we will need Superman to get the evidence out of the safe before it can be destroyed. But, Superman can’t get near that office while that Kryptonite is there. Any suggestions?”
“Yeah, from what Nigel said it’s a little chrome plated statue. If you take some lead sheeting or a lead lined box to put it into, it can be rendered harmless.”
“Assuming I get the search warrant we can be ready for a raid in three hours. Do you want to get in on it? It’s your story.”
“I really need to be here so that you can call me when the Kryptonite has been dealt with. Then I can contact Superman and let him know the coast is clear. By the way, don’t forget the statue in Nigel’s office too. They will both need to be dealt with.”
“You’re right Clark. I had forgotten that. I’ll get the warrant. When we have the Kryptonite neutralized I’ll call you. Should be about 3 ½ hours from now. Talk to you later.”
A few minutes later Clark’s phone rang again and he answered, “Daily Planet, Clark Kent. How can I help you?”
“Mr. Kent, this is Ed Jackson, the realtor. We just got word that the seller has accepted your offer on 348 Hyperion Ave. We can go to closing on Wednesday, next week. You can take possession then. What time are you available? It will take about an hour.”
Clark answered, “We should be available by about ten a.m. Will that be okay?”
“Ten a.m. Wednesday it is. I’ll send the details to your e-mail address. See you then.”
“Thanks Ed. We’ll see you then.” Clark hung up and looking over at Lois said, “They accepted our offer. We go to settlement next week!”
Lois jumped up and almost flew into his arms. She kissed him and said, “We need to start looking at paint and fabric and upholstery and furniture and …”
He interrupted, “Whoa, one thing at a time. Let’s get past settlement, then we can think about all those other things.”
She had a little pout on her face and in her voice as she said, “Spoil sport. This is going to be my, our, first house. No more being an apartment dweller!” She added, /At least in this universe. We have the farm on the other side./
He said, placatingly, “I’m not saying we aren’t going to do that. All I’m saying is that we need to wait a few days. We have a lot on our plate right now.”
Lois relented, “Oh, okay. I guess you’re right. Let’s take care of Luthor first.”
Switching over to telepathic communication again, Clark looked over at Lois and thought, /You could go and wait in the lobby until I get the call. I’ll let you know when it’s clear and then you can go up to the office and be there when I arrive./
/”Sounds like a plan.”/ Out loud she said, “Let’s go tell Perry what’s going down and then get a bite to eat.”
They both got up and moved to Perry’s office. After closing the door they stood in front of Perry’s desk. Clark said, “I just had a call from Bill Henderson. They are going to be raiding Luthor’s office in about three hours. They expect to be arresting Luthor and we’ll be covering it. It’s our exclusive so save page one.”
Perry was so excited he jumped up and started pacing. “How soon will I have your copy? How much do you have at this point? Are we looking at a full page spread or just above the fold?”
Lois said, “I’d say, full page with a banner headline!”
Perry grabbed his phone and punched in a number. “Composing, put a hold on page one. You’ll get the copy in ... “ He looked at Clark who looked at Lois who shrugged and looked over to Clark.
Clark said, “Five hours.”
Perry completed, “Five hours, that’ll be too late to make the evening edition. We’ll have to hold it and put it out as a special.” He hung up the phone, “Go get me the story.”
Lois said, “You got it Chief.” They exited his office.
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Three hours later Lois was in the lobby of LexTower when a squad of police entered. Plain clothes came in first and took the security guard by surprise as they took him into custody. They kept him away from his panel so that he couldn’t alert Luthor. The squad piled into an elevator car and Lois watched as it went up and stopped on 98. She thought, <So far so good. They are neutralizing the Kryptonite in Nigel’s office.>
A minute later she saw the elevator resume its course to 100. She wished she could be there for a ringside seat but she had to content herself with waiting where it was safe.
A minute later she saw Luthor exit another elevator. She sent a thought to Clark, /”Clark, it looks like Luthor was warned somehow. He must have had someone at the precinct on his payroll that Nigel didn’t know about. He just exited an elevator while the police were going up to apprehend him. I’m going after him.”/
/”Lois, no! He’s dangerous.”/
/”He won’t do anything to me! He wants me, remember?”/
/”I’m on my way.”/
Lois maneuvered so that Lex would almost literally run into her. She stopped him and said, “Mr. Luthor, I’d like to reschedule that interview. When would you be available?”
Nervously he looked back over his shoulder. He looked back at her and said, “How about right now?”
Lois said, “I don’t have everything I need to do an interview. I *would* like to schedule it though.”
Luthor said, “I’m sorry, but I must insist on right now.” He reached out and grabbed her elbow and started dragging her toward the exit. Just then Clark Kent came in through the doors they were headed for. He pretended to just see them and said, “Lois, oh I see you found Mr. Luthor. Did you schedule the interview?”
Luthor said, “We’re going to do it right now! Get out of the way.”
Clark said, “Wait a minute. That’s my wife. I think I have something to say about when she does an interview.”
Luthor growled, “Not any more, you don’t,” as he pulled a wicked looking automatic from a shoulder holster.
Lois was wearing heels and before he had a chance to take aim Lois tramped down with her spike heel on his foot and knocked his arm up just as he pulled the trigger. The pain of her heel being jabbed into his instep caused Luthor to scream and pull the trigger in reflex.
This gave Clark the opening he needed and he rushed him using just a smidgen of superspeed. He closed with him and grabbed his gun hand with his left hand and delivered an uppercut just off the point of Luthor’s jaw. There was a sickening crunching sound and Clark did a quick x-ray exam. Sure enough, he had broken Luthor’s jaw. He was satisfied that he hadn’t killed him. Luthor was unconscious before he hit the floor. Secretly Clark hoped that his jaw would be wired shut for a long time.
The report of the firearm caused some of the people to duck, but, human nature being what it is; there was an even greater number that wanted to see what was happening. What they saw was a woman, apparently being abducted by an armed man and another man taking him on with nothing but his fists. A cheer went up when Luthor was felled by a strong uppercut. There were also numerous flashes as people pulled out their cell phones and activated their cameras to document the action. One individual seeing the confrontation between Luthor and Lois early on had grabbed his phone and made a video of all of the action. Later Lois downloaded the video from the internet where it had been posted on a video sharing site as a memento.
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