Clark and Lois – Two Universes - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 7 27/32
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.
This particular story takes place after Lois and Clarks.
* * 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)
Previously:
As they moved outside Clark briefed Jack on what to do. He picked him up and flew him to the Plaza.
Jack breezed past the desk and ran up the stairs to the second floor. He went straight to the door of the room that Lois was in and pushed it open.
All of the occupants looked up in surprise at the interruption. Luckabee and Smythe in irritation; Lois in relief.
Jack approached Lois and said, “Ms. Lane, I was sent to fetch you. You’re needed at the office, pronto.”
Not wanting it to look too much like this was a rescue and wanting to give the impression of wanting to spend more time with Luckabee, Lois asked, “What’s the big emergency?”
“Don’t ask me. I was just told to bring you back with me. I guess the boss will explain it when you get there.”
Lois looked at Luckabee with what she hoped he would take as a look of disappointment and said, “Sorry, you know how it is. There’s probably a fire or some other emergency he wants me to cover. Anyway, thanks for the lovely dinner. We’ll have to do it again, sometime.”
The disappointment was evident on Smythe’s face, but he didn’t make any move to prevent her leaving.
Luckabee replied, “Count on it. Mr. Smythe will be calling to schedule.”
Lois and Jack walked out, together. As soon as they were out of the building they hailed a cab and directed the driver to take them to the Planet.
As soon as they arrived they took the elevator to the top floor and then the stairs to the roof. Superman was there waiting for them as they came out through the door.
Lois walked over and threw her arms around Superman and gave him a kiss. She looked him in the face and said, “Thanks. I don’t know what they had planned, but it probably wasn’t good.”
Jack was still standing near the door. Superman looked over at him and said, “Thanks, Jack. That was an excellent rescue job. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Lois turned to Jack and said, “Yes, thank you. I think you just saved me from a fate worse than death.” She moved over and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Jack flushed and said, “Awwww, I didn’t do nothin’.”
Lois replied, “On the contrary, you did what neither I nor Superman could do. You got me out of that trap. You’re my hero.”
“Nah, really, after all, I’m part of the team. We all have to work together. I’m glad I could help.”
Lois smiled and said, “You sure did that, partner.”
Jack started to smile and said, “Partner, really?”
Lois smiled even broader and said, “Sure, we’re all on the same team; that makes us partners.”
Looking back at Clark she said, “So much for tailing them to find out where they are now. We might have had a chance if not for this. I don’t know if we’ll get another chance as good as this one was.”
Jack spoke up and asked, “You want me to go back and see if I can find and follow them?”
“Not this time, Jack. We’ll keep that in mind for the next time.”
And Now:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 25 – Jack – The Gumshoe
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 - Local designation – Alt 1
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The following Monday, Lucy and James returned from their honeymoon, James resumed his position as Editor-in-Chief and at the morning staff meeting he assigned Clark to the threatened transit strike. Lois was going to spend some time bringing Lucy up to speed on the Luckabee investigation. After the meeting, while Lois and Lucy put their heads together Clark started looking into the entire transit system. The city depended on buses and cabs while many other major cities had either subways or elevated trains to take some of the load. The Transport Workers Union which controlled all of the bus drivers in the city was the organization that was threatening to strike. Meanwhile there was the unfinished and abandoned subway system that had been under construction some years prior.
When he started digging into it he found that it was a remnant left over from Luthor’s days. The project had primarily been funded by Lexcorp and when Luthor had been killed work on it had been stopped and the project abandoned. On the surface it looked like the project had been simply a goodwill gesture to the city. It had netted him the Man-of-the-Year title that year, so it appeared to have been a successful effort.
Clark was in the conference room looking at a sub-surface map when Jack came in. “Need a cup of java, Mr. K?”
“Thanks, Jack. Yeah, that would be good.”
Jack went to the coffee station and fixed Clark a cup and grabbing a cake donut made his way back to the conference room. As he was putting the donut and coffee on the table he saw what Clark was looking at. He asked, “What’s so interesting?”
Clark, in a distracted way replied, “Oh, this is the sub-surface map of the old, incomplete subway line.”
“Oh? Let me see.” Jack moved in for a closer look. “Oh, yeah, I see it now. Denny and I spent some time down there, before we found that basement. Too many rats down there. I wonder why they never finished it.”
“Lex Luthor was funding it and when he died the funding died as well. Hmmmmm, Lex Luthor, I wonder, Luthor never did anything that wouldn’t benefit him in some way.”
“What are you thinking Mr. K?”
“This guy we are dealing with – it looks like he is trying to reestablish Luthor’s old criminal empire. I wonder if this could be part of it.”
“Want me to go scope it out for you?”
“No, Jack, I don’t think that would be a very good idea. It would help if you would keep your eyes peeled for those guys from that room, though.”
“You’ve got it Mr. K.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As usual, Luckabee was behind the bar and Smythe was sprawled in an easy chair. Apparently Smythe was in a good mood as evinced by the music that was playing. The tune was somewhat upbeat and he recognized a word, or was it a name – Figaro. He said, “I actually think I’ve heard this before. I recognize that name, Figaro.”
“Ah, yes, the barber, Figaro.”
“What is this?”
“This is ‘The Barber of Seville’. Figaro is the barber who advises the count to disguise himself so that he can woo the fair Rosina. There are parallels between this opera and our situation. I am putting on a disguise, you, to woo the lovely Ms. Lane.”
“Perhaps, but when he removed his disguise, he was a handsome count underneath. You …”
“Watch it Luckabee, my patience is wearing thin with you. You’re lucky that right now it would be difficult to spoil my good mood. Development has been completed on the Quantum Disruptor. It has been tested on some inanimate objects and it works perfectly. It is ready for the ultimate test. Now all we need to do is lure Superman into our trap.”
“Just how do you plan to do that little thing?”
“We need some bait. Once he has taken the bait we have the green rock to render him powerless. Once he is powerless, as long as we keep him from sunlight we will be able to use the weapon on him, but before we do we will have Ms. Lane attend so that she can be given a choice.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The watchers had been observing all of the people living at 348 Hyperion Ave., reporting back any movements in and out.
The fact that Lucy was no longer there had been noted and reported.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jack had been running an errand for Denise in research which had him over on the other side of town. He had just completed his errand and was starting back when he saw a limousine pull up to the curb some way ahead of him. Jack recognized the two men that got out as the men that had been in the room with Lois the night he had rescued her. The one with the messed up face was impossible to mistake. He thought back to the conversation about finding where they were holed up came to mind. He thought, <Mr. K and Ms. Lane want to know where these guys are hanging out now. If I follow them, I could find out and then tell Mr. K. I’ll do it.>
He started following them and he didn’t have to go very far before he saw them begin acting suspiciously. He was peeking around the corner of a building half a block away when they started looking around to see if they were being followed or watched before they ducked down a set of steps that looked like a subway entrance.
Making a decision, he followed to see exactly where they were hiding and once they were down the steps and out of sight he hurried over to the steps. He looked down the steps and when he saw that they were vacant he entered and descended. What Jack didn’t know was that one of the men that had been watching the comings and goings from 348 Hyperion was stationed near the old subway entrance. He saw Jack enter and descend the steps. He signaled to a couple of the other guys that were stationed around the entrance and they closed in around the top of the stairs.
Jack followed Luckabee and Smythe down to the platform area and hung back until they, it at least looked like, moved into the tunnel itself. Once they were out of sight he quickly crossed the platform to the point where they had disappeared. Peering around the corner he saw their figures in the dim light of the passage provided by the trouble lights spaced at intervals down the tunnel. He saw them pass two lights and somewhere between the second and third they disappeared from sight.
Tiptoeing down the tunnel he traced their path. After he passed the second light he started feeling along the wall on the right. Almost midway between the second and third light his hand lost contact with the wall because there was a side tunnel. He stopped and stepped back so that he wouldn’t be outlined by the light of the tunnel. Dim as that illumination was it would look like bright daylight in comparison to the pitch black of the side tunnel. He peeked around that corner and suddenly there was a sliver of light which rapidly became a doorway into a lighted room. He saw two figures pass through the door and then the door was closed.
Quickly he moved down the tunnel and listened at the door and when he didn’t hear anything he eased the door open a crack and peered in. The light wasn’t as bright as he had thought, being lit only by more trouble lights. It was only bright in contrast to the dark tunnel. Opening the door wider he saw another descending stairway. Cautiously he descended the stairs. At the bottom he found another shorter platform. On the right was a short tunnel, so short it could almost be called a vestibule with a door in it.
Jack crept up to the door and put his ear to it. He could hear some kind of classical music playing, lots of strings and brass, not the kind of music Jack favored. The problem was that the music drowned out all but the loudest sounds so he had a hard time overhearing any conversation. Suddenly he heard a cell phone ring which cut right through the music. He couldn’t hear most of the conversation, but the sudden outburst from Smythe of “What???” warned him. He quitted his post and was up the stairs almost before the door was opened. He managed to make it all the way to the end of the second tunnel before the door behind him opened. He turned to the right, down the tunnel, away from the direction he had come, hoping that being in that bright room would have affected the night vision of anyone in the room and keep them from seeing which way he went.
He ran a short distance and then he jumped down off the platform to the track area. Once on the ground he stopped and dropped to all fours and crawled close to the platform and then lay down flat against the base of the platform wall. He picked up a handful of dirt and smeared it over his face and the backs of his hands. He was thanking his lucky stars that today he had worn dark pants and a dark jacket over his white shirt. They would have a hard time seeing him.
He heard the sounds of pursuit and it was a lot more than two pairs of feet that he heard.
Once they passed by his hiding place he breathed a silent sigh of relief. He risked getting up and looking down the tunnel in the direction his pursuers had taken and he could see them as they passed the lights and they were at least five away.
As silently as he could manage he started sneaking back toward the exit.
Hearing another pair of rushing feet approaching he dropped back down to the tunnel floor until they passed.
Thinking that now the coast would be clear he hoisted himself back up onto the platform and ran, as swiftly and silently as he could toward the exit.
He found the steps and started to ascend. He remained cautious, stopping every few steps to listen and look around.
When he was only a few steps below the entrance he stopped again and listened. He heard a cell phone ring and when it was answered he heard, “Yeah… Lost him? How could you lose him? … I know it’s dark down there. … You think he might have doubled back? Okay, we’ll keep a sharp eye out.” He closed his phone and said to his partner, “The boss says to look sharp. He could be coming back this way.”
Jack retreated a few steps. As he did he trailed a hand along the wall. Suddenly his hand fell away, or rather the wall fell away from his hand, just the way it had done at that side tunnel. He was instantly alert. With his hands he explored the space. It was a small alcove in the wall, probably meant as a nook for statuary. A plan formed instantly. He stamped his feet on the stairs and shouted as if in pain from a fall and then crawled into the nook. Once again he hoped that the lack of night vision would help conceal him. He held his breath as with shouts to each other three men passed his hiding place.
As soon as they were at the bottom of the flight Jack silently jumped out and took off up the final stairs into the light.
As he popped out of the stairs he heard a shout and started running as fast as his legs would carry him. He darted around a corner and saw a busy street in front of him. With reckless disregard he took off directly across the street. There were the screech of brakes and horns sounding as he crossed the busy lanes of traffic narrowly missing being hit a number of times, but by this maneuver he managed to elude his pursuer.
What Jack didn’t know was that he had been recognized and his pursuer had called ahead to the watchers at the Planet with a description.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jack was feeling really cocky, he had managed to escape from the subway tunnel and elude his pursuers without much effort. Now all he had to do was report to Mr. K and let him know just what he had found out.
Whistling to himself as he walked along he made his way back to the Planet. He could see the Planet building ahead and felt very pleased with himself that he was home free when suddenly he was grabbed from behind, dragged into an alley, his arms twisted behind his back and a hood put over his head.
His captors were restraining him, but he still struggled to reach for his watch, but the hold on his arms precluded him doing so.
He was bundled into a car with a captor on each side. They drove for a time and when they stopped he was taken out of the car and led away.
Even though one of his captors each had one of his arms, he stumbled as his foot unexpectedly dropped farther than expected before it hit a step. Instantly he realized where he was, back at the subway entrance. A plan formed and he put it into effect. He deliberately stumbled again and wrenched his arm away from one of his captors and managed to push the button on his watch.
Thinking that he had stumbled because he couldn’t see, his guards removed his hood.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Suddenly, Clark and Lois heard the 85,000 hertz signal, “Zee, zee, zee, zee” and knew that either Jack or Denny had activated the distress signal.
Lois looked at Clark and he started for the stairwell and as he did the signal seemed to fade, getting softer and softer as time went on. Before it faded completely he was able to get a general bearing and headed in that direction. Before he was able to get a definite location the signal faded so that he couldn’t hear it from altitude. He started a circling descent. On one leg he thought he heard it again and concentrated his search in that area.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Smythe and Luckabee had come out of their hideout to meet their men and see just who their captive could be.
When their men stepped off the stairs onto the first level platform they both recognized the office boy that had summoned Lois Lane back to the office, preventing her capture at the dinner.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The watchers outside spotted Superman as he was circling overhead and called their boss to report it.
When Shythe’s phone rang he answered it immediately, “Report.”
“Superman is circling overhead. Like he’s looking for something or someone.”
“Keep watching. Let me know if he gets closer.”
Trying to make his gravelly voice have an ingratiating tone, he addressed Jack, “Is the alien looking for you?”
With a show of bravado, Jack answered, “Why would he do that? I can take care o’ myself.”
“The fact that you live with him might just have something to do with it. He has a number of powers, is one of them the ability to identify your thoughts? Perhaps he could take over your mind and see through your eyes. Blindfold him again.
Once again the sack was placed over his head and he was led away, down to the second level.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Clark was getting very frustrated. He would occasionally hear the distress call, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. Finally he decided that he had to get a lot lower so he finally landed and started walking the streets.
After wandering around in circles which mimicked his areal pattern, describing ever decreasing circles he finally started to hear the signal. It was so faint that at times he couldn’t be sure he was really hearing it. He started to move in that direction. Slowly the sound became clearer. The problem became one of direction. If he deviated left or right he would lose the sound and inevitably there were obstacles that he had to swerve to avoid, fortunately he now had a better idea of the correct direction so he was able to reacquire the signal more easily as he got closer.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Smythe’s lookouts saw Superman as he was approaching. A call was made.
Smythe grabbed a small kit from a drawer. After he opened it he pulled out a preloaded syringe. At a signal from him one of his thugs pulled up Jack’s sleeve using two hands to hold him.
Jack shouted, “Hey, whaddya think you’re doin’? Lego me!”
Ignoring his protests, tearing open an alcohol swab, Smythe, with a quick swipe, cleansed an area of Jack’s forearm and jabbed him with the needle, shooting the plunger home.
Jack shouted, “Oww! What was that???”
Seconds later the thug lowered the unconscious Jack onto a cot at the side of the room.
Smythe distributed his henchmen in such a way that they would be apparent as soon as Superman entered the room while he took up a position against the wall near the cot that Jack was on. In his hand was a fairly large chunk of a green glowing crystal.
The trap was set.
The phone rang once. There was a pause and then it rang once more.
Smythe said, “He’s entered the stairwell.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Seeing where the sound was leading him Superman saw the reason for his difficulty. Apparently Jack was underground. The signal was strongest directly in front of the stair opening. It would appear that the ground was muffling the signal, but that the tunnels and stairwells were acting as a wave guide conducting the signal above ground. Seeing the object of his pursuit nearby he took off and flew down the stairs landing on the platform. Slowly he spun around and finally located the direction that the signal was coming from. As he flew down the tunnel the volume increased, but just as he thought he must be nearing the source it started to fade again. Stopping, he hovered and turning around discovered that the sound was now behind him so he flew back, more slowly this time and using his infrared vision finally spotted the side tunnel. Flying down this he x-rayed the door. There was nothing behind it but another set of steps. Passing through this door he floated down to the lower level so that there would be no footfalls on the steps or platform. He thought, <I don’t remember this being on that sub-surface map I was looking at earlier. This must have been Luthor’s reason for funding this project.> He sent, /”I’ve found him in a sub level of the abandoned subway.”/
/”How is he?”/
/”I don’t know yet.”/
/”Be careful!”/
/”Always.”/
After landing at the bottom of this second set of steps he was confronted by yet another door. He tried his x-ray vision again looking through the door and this time he saw a room. He tried to scan through the wall, but there his vision was blocked. He thought, <The walls must be painted with lead based paint.> Returning to the door he looked through it and saw a number of thugs, none of whom he recognized. He sent to Lois, /”The room must be painted with lead based paint. The door is apparently new. I can see several gunmen. A few are sitting around a small table playing cards apparently unconcerned.”/ Tuning in with his superhearing what he heard was mostly the conversation concerning the game. He did hear a comment about the kid in the corner which told him that Jack was in there. Suddenly, he heard a voice, “Hey, this kid ain’t lookin’ too good. That shot must not agree with him.”
/”There seems to be a problem with Jack. I have to get to him.”/ Feeling assured that there was not much to fear, ten seconds later Superman pushed the door open and sped into the room.
Since he hadn’t been able to check the room, except for what he could see through the door, before entering he had decided to superspeed in get Jack and speed out. The problem was that he couldn’t locate Jack by looking through the door. Taking the chance that he would have the time he needed he decided to secure the thugs for the police so he had the thugs around the table bound before he realized anything was amiss. As he was about to tackle the remaining thugs he felt the pain of the Kryptonite as the rays tore through his body. Smythe had been standing against the wall next to the cot that Jack was on where he couldn’t be seen and he was holding the Kryptonite.
The noise from Jack’s signal watch was almost deafening at this range and it had masked the sound of the additional heartbeats. His step faltered when looking around he saw Jack on the cot, but before he could move in that direction his strength gave out. As he was collapsing to the floor he only had time to send, /”Kryptonite trap. We don’t both want to be caught. Stay away. Stay safe,”/ before he passed out. He only hoped she would heed his warning.
He had been able to deal with the relatively small piece of crystalline green Kryptonite that Luthor had provided to his muggers because that had been a relatively small piece. The larger chunk in Luthor’s vault had actually knocked him out due to its larger size. This piece was larger than even that.
When Superman collapsed, Smythe stooped and placed the Kryptonite on the floor next to him. Smugly he said, “He fell for it. We only had to say that line twice. As soon as he thought the kid was in trouble he just had to try to rescue him.” Then he turned to Luckabee and said, “Take the limo, go to LexLabs and find Nell Newtrich and identify yourself. She should recognize the name of the owner of the lab. Tell her that she is to pack up the Quantum Disruptor and bring it with her. Bring her and the weapon back here with you. I need her to install this green rock into the power supply. Make sure you blindfold her. There’s no reason for her to know where this place is.”
As Luckabee was leaving with a driver, Smythe turned to two of the thugs who had just finished releasing their bound friends and said, “I have prepared an area for the execution. Drag him over here.”
There were two pillars, probably primary support members for the floor above. Shackles were attached to each and Superman was hoisted up and a shackle attached to each wrist. Superman dangled there between the two pillars, hanging from his wrists with his arms stretched out and back behind him with all of his weight on his arms. Smythe placed the Kryptonite at his feet and stepped back.
Once this was accomplished Smythe moved over and lifted Superman’s head so that he could look directly at him and said, “You’re through interfering with my plans. You’ve been a worthy adversary, but I’ve won. The final act of this opera is about to begin.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After a short time Nell Newtrich arrived with a sack over her head. Luckabee was carrying a large case which presumably contained the Quantum Disruptor. Luckabee set the case down and removed the sack from Nell’s head..
Smythe picked up the Kryptonite and handed it to Nell. “Here, install this in the RTG. Once it is installed, how long until the device is ready?”
“It will take some time to get it into the RTG. Once installed, it will take some more time to build up the power. It will take at least 3 to 4 hours to build up a sufficient charge.”
Smythe ordered, “Get started. When you are finished installing the green rock, let me know.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour and a half and some miscellaneous cuts and pinched fingers later Nell announced that the job was done.
Smythe ordered, “Get her out of here.”
The sack was again slipped over her head and she was led away.
Once she was outside, Smythe said, “Now all we have to do is wait for sufficient charge to accumulate. Let’s allow a generous margin of error and place the call to Ms. Lane in four hours. By the time she is here, there shouldn’t be any question as to the weapon’s status.”
comments go here TBC
