Clark & Lois – When Worlds and Universes Collide - Matchmaker Chronicles V 8 14/37
By KenJ <ken.janney@kjanney.com>
This version is rated PG-13
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 – Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -124 – Alternate Prime - Lori and Clark
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Alt 1, Alt Clark and Kryptonian Lois – (Alt 1 )
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Alt 2 Kryptonian Lois' home universe.
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 040 – Alt 1 alternate (Alt 3) Alt Lois and Alt Clark
Previously
Chapter 13 – The Birth
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Alt 1%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
A/N – Alt 1 is the canon Alternate universe.Half an hour and numerous contractions later Martha returned to the birthing room. Before she did though, she stopped in the bathroom and washed, thoroughly because she knew that the time had come and that the baby would be coming soon. When she entered the room, she immediately moved to the foot of the bed where Lois was. When she finished checking she said, “Okay, Lois, it looks like we are good to go. You are between 11 and 12 centimeters dilated. The next time a contraction hits I want you to bear down and push.”
As Martha finished saying this another contraction hit and Lois screamed out. Ignoring Lois’ scream Martha said over it, “Okay, now … push! … Come on Lois … PUSH!”
When Martha had first given that command Lois had tried to squeeze her abdominal muscles in an effort to bear down and push. The second time, in order to make the effort stronger she had tried lifting her torso off the bed, sitting up straighter. Clark had put his arm behind her back to assist her.
When the contraction passed Lois collapsed back on the pillows. She was panting with the effort and the energy expended. Her hair which was already sweat soaked was even wetter than it had been.
Clark marveled at this, normally temperature extremes didn’t affect their Kryptonian physiology and even when utilizing all of their strength it was a rare event when they broke a sweat. Most of the times he had actually broken out in sweat were times of emotional upheaval or embarrassment such as when Suzanne and Colette had been trying to seduce him. This was eloquent of the effort that Lois was putting into this.
As he finished his musing the next contraction hit.
Lois screamed, “aaaaaAAAARRRRrrrrrrrggggggggg.” She looked at Clark with anger in her eyes as she said, “This is all … *your* … fault!!!! AAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh You did this to MMMEEEEeeeeeeeeee.” She grabbed his wrist that was holding her hand and twisted and squeezed his wrist. Clark was amazed that it actually hurt.
Martha shouted, “PUSH!”
Lois was sitting up with Clark’s arm behind her and she screamed at Martha, “I *AM* pushing!!!!!”
As if this was an everyday occurrence, Martha calmly said, “Here it comes. I can see the head.”
The contraction passed and Lois collapsed back on the pillows.
Martha said, “It won’t be much longer now. One or two more. The rest should be easy.”
Lois gasped out, “Easy for you to say! You’re not the one on this end. Aaahhh her comes … another … one … aaaaAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggg.”
Martha shouted, “PUSH!!!!”
Lois rose up with Clark’s help and bore down with all she was worth. She could feel movement. The second the head passed out through the birth canal and was outside she knew it and started crying in relief’
Martha shouted, “I have the head. One more push should deliver the rest of the body!”
Even as Martha was saying this the contraction hit. Lois was instantly up and pushing. This time she didn’t scream, her whole being focused on delivering this new little person. She felt it when the rest of the baby passed out of the birth canal. The feeling of relief was palpable. She knew that she still needed to deliver the placenta, but that was the easy part.
Martha held the infant up and used a squeeze bulb to clear the nose and mouth of amniotic fluid and holding it up by the ankles gave it a slight swat on the bottom which it responded to with a lusty, healthy cry. Martha quickly used two clamps on the umbilical cord and turning to Clark said, “Use your heat vision to cut the cord, between the clamps.”
He did just that and Martha turned away with the baby to clean it up. She said, back over her shoulder, “Clark, rub Lois’ tummy in gentle circles. She needs to deliver the placenta. I need to clean this little one up.”
A few seconds later, Martha turned around with a clean baby and said, “Congratulations, it’s a …”
Just then, unexpectedly, Carrie came running into the room and shouted, “Bad men are here,” Interrupting Martha.
Suddenly Lois and Clark heard a powerful telepathic communication, /”We search for Kal-El’s child!”/
The communication was so unexpected and forceful that both Lois and Clark were stunned for a second.
In surprise, Clark said, “Kryptonians.”
And now -
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 14 – When Worlds Collide
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Universal Locator Designation
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 – Alt2
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Coming out of his stupor, Clark replied, /”Who seeks Kal-El?”/
The reply came quickly, /”We do not seek the impostor. We seek the offspring of Kal-El”/
/”I *am* Kal-El.”/
/”No, you are not! You are an impostor. You do not belong here. Kal-El died after passing on his essence to his mate. It is the child of that which was Kal-El that we seek.”/
/”Why do you seek Kal-El’s child?”/
/”It must not be allowed to exist. As long as it exists then there is another claimant to the rule of New Krypton and I will not allow that. Therefore the child must be destroyed.”/
/”Who are you to decide the fate of this child?”/
/”Oh, did I neglected to mention that? My name is Nor, Lord Nor and I’m the new ruler of New Krypton. As long as there is no claimant from the house of El, that is.”/
/”Well, I’m sorry to inform you that there is no way I will allow you to kill this child.”/
/”I don’t think you will have any say in the matter.”/
/”I think I can have a significant say in the matter. You see, I’m the father and I don’t take kindly to death threats directed at my child. The only way for you to kill this child is for you to do it over my dead body.”/
/”I’m sure that can be arranged.”/
/”I can be rather hard to kill. Others have tried and failed. This communication is ended.”/ Clark and Lois both threw up mental blocks to prevent further communication. Clark said, “It could make it harder for them to find us if we have our blocks up.”
Lois, in a pleading tone asked, “Clark, what are we going to do? We can’t let them kill our baby! What is to stop them from killing us as well since we can have more children which Nor would perceive as a threat to his rule?” As she finished saying this she delivered the placenta.
Clark cleaned his wife up and assisted her to cover herself as he replied, “Absolutely nothing, in fact, that is exactly what he would have to do.”
“Whatever we do, it will have to be final.”
Carrie said, “Don’t worry Mommy. I won’t let bad mans hurt baby.”
Lois held out her arms to Carrie. Obediently Carrie stepped over so that Lois could wrap her up in her arms. Lois said, “I know you won’t Sweetheart. No matter what happens, I want you to stay here with Grandma, Grandpa and baby to protect baby.”
“I will Mommy. I’ll protek baby.” As she finished a tremendous yawn escaped.
Looking at Carrie, Lois said, “Well, if you’re going to help take care of baby, you need some sleep. I think Scrappy is waiting in bed for you. He needs his sleep too and I don’t think he’s sleeping while you’re in here with us. You need to go in there so that he can sleep.”
After another yawn, Carrie said, “Okay Mommy. I’ll go to bed.”
“That’s my girl. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Carrie scampered out of the room headed for her own bed.
Martha handed the now swaddled baby to Lois and she put it to her breast for its first feeding. She felt the first flow and heaved a sigh of relief.
While Lois nursed, Martha went to Carrie’s room and tucked her in.
When the baby finished Lois handed it back to Martha who put it in a cradle.
As she was getting up Lois said, “I’m going to take a quick shower. Afterwards we need to discuss how we are going to handle this.”
Clark was standing over the cradle looking down at this new person and in a distracted fashion said, “Are you sure you’re ready to be up?”
With a small laugh she replied, “I’m just super. Clark …”
”Yeah, Honey?”
“I’m sorry about what I said … I didn’t really mean it. It was just everything that was happening, the pain and all. Do you understand?”
He stopped looking at their new child and gave her his full attention as he said, “Don’t think anything of it. Mom warned us, remember? I guess that happens every time a baby is delivered. It just, I don’t know, happens, I guess.”
She looked at him and said, “Thanks.” Then with a mischievous grin asked, “Want to scrub my back for me?”
With a smile he replied, “Try to stop me.”
While they were in the shower Lois said, “Okay, Papa, what did we have? I couldn’t see.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to peek, but when I cut the cord I couldn’t help but notice. It’s not an it anymore, it’s a she. We had a girl and she’s as cute as a new penny.”
“Penny, huh? How about Penelope? That can be abbreviated to Penny. Penelope Ann Kent. What do you think?”
“I like it. Penny Kent. I wonder how long until her super powers will manifest.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next day
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At the breakfast table, Lois was holding Penny as she was eating. She made an announcement, “We’ve decided on her name. We have named her Penelope Ann Kent, Penny for short. What do you all think?”
Carrie smiled and said, “I like Penny. It’s short.”
Martha and Jonathan both smiled their approval and nodded.
After a big country breakfast with Carrie, Jonathan and Martha, Lois and Clark outlined their plans. They felt that concealment here at the farm would reduce the possibility of Nor finding the baby. Lois and Clark would be maintaining their blocks and Lois would be returning so that she could feed and change the baby. After breakfast Lois put Penny in her cradle then she and Clark spent a few minutes with Carrie before they left.
Carrie watched as they did their spin change into their uniforms. Lois knelt down and gave her one final hug and kiss before they slowly took to the air headed for Metropolis. Carrie waved as they took off and both Lois and Clark returned her wave before putting on a burst of speed.
After finding Luthor and helping the MPD re-capture him, Lois as Olive and Clark had written up that story and had spent a few days on follow-ups before taking some time off. They figured that Lois should be nearing her term and felt that it was time for some vacation. Lois and Clark, in order to hopefully conceal the location of the baby had decided to go back to Metropolis and in to work. Fortunately, thanks to her Kryptonian physiology and the fact that under Earth’s yellow sun she was super, her figure would return quickly. Another benefit of being super – no stretch marks. She would still be able to wear her bikini at the beach.
After they had wrapped up the Luthor recapture, they had been out for a little over a week for the birth and now, because of the Kryptonians they would have to cut the vacation short and head back to Metropolis. When they had left the Planet for vacation, Lois had been in her Olive disguise.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they stepped off of the elevator into the bullpen Lois was no longer wearing her Olive disguise. It had become something of an open secret in the newsroom that it was really Lois, but considering the fact that Luthor was on the loose, everyone kept it hush hush. Perry was the first to see them and he got a smile on his face. He stepped to the door of the office and shouted, “Lois, Clark, got a minute?”
Hearing Perry, Jimmy looked around and shouted, “Welcome back, guys! Both of you!”
Lois said, “Thanks Jimmy. It’s good to be back.”
Conspiratorially, Jimmy asked, “Is Olive going to be making a return visit?”
Laughing, Lois said, “I hope not! She was here for two full months! That’s long enough I think. Besides, I don’t like the competition.” She looked at Clark and smiled at the joke as she said, “She was teamed up with my husband. I prefer it be me.”
Jimmy was chuckling as he played along, “I don’t think you had anything to worry about. She wasn’t as attractive as you, she looked like she was pregnant and those glasses, ugh.”
Lois and Clark were both laughing as they made it into Perry’s office. They both sat on his couch.
“Welcome back you two. That was a nice job you did on Luthor, helping the MPD corral him like that. How did you tumble to his whereabouts?”
Lois offered, “Well, it’s this way … we started trying to think like Luthor, which means we had to start thinking like the rat he is. Clark asked where would a rat hide out? The obvious answer was … underground! From then on it was simple.”
Clark said, “We checked and found out that he had been behind the construction of the subway. We passed the info on to Superman.”
Lois continued, “When he found a lead lined bunker … well, why else would there be a lead lined room underground … in an abandoned subway?”
Clark added, “From that point on it was just coordinating with the MPD. Actually he was pretty smart, laying that false trail to make us think he had fled the country and doubling back into the city, right under our noses, so to speak.”
Perry was smiling at their explanation, the way they meshed, finishing for one another. That was what made them such a good investigative team. The best he had ever seen, even better than the legendary Norcross and Judd.
He asked, “So you’re back from your vacation now, is that it?”
Lois said, “Yes, with reservations.”
Instantly alert, Perry asked, “What reservations?”
Clark replied, “We just had a hot tip about a story.”
Smiling Perry asked, “What do you have?”
Lois tried to explain, “Through our contact with Superman we have found out that we may soon be invaded by some aliens, well, not exactly aliens, people related, well, not really related, people from Superman’s home planet.”
“So, they will be super powered like Superman and Superwoman?”
Clark replied, “Unfortunately, that will probably be the case. The problem is that they may be less than friendly.”
Perry was intrigued rather than frightened, “Less than friendly, how?”
“Something about Superman and Superwoman being a threat to the ruler, a guy by the name of Nor.”
Just then there was a knock on the door and Perry motioned the individual to enter. A petite brunette wearing a conservative beige business pantsuit came in through the door.
As she was entering both Lois and Clark rose from the couch and turned to greet the newcomer
When she entered, Perry introduced her, “Uh, Lois and Clark this is our new research assistant, Sara. I hired Sara while you were on vacation. Sara, Lane and Kent, the Hottest Team in Town.”
Sara put out her hand and Lois took it. As they shook hands, Lois felt the clasp tighten, far in excess of what an Earth human would ever be capable. For a second she had a startled look, then, looking at Perry, Lois said, “I think we need to talk to Sara, you know, get to know her.” Looking at Sara she said, “Why don’t we go into the conference room and talk.”
Since they were maintaining their blocks Lois could not send a telepathic message to Clark.
Sara nodded and the three of them headed for the conference room closing the door to Perry’s office as they left.
Once the door to the conference room was closed behind them, Lois moved over and closed the blinds. When she was done Lois rounded on Sara and hissed, “Okay, just who the hell are you?”
Clark had been watching this behavior in bewilderment and when Lois was finished, asked, “Lois, what’s going on?”
Without taking her eyes off of Sara she said, “
She’s not from
around here.”
Looking back and forth between the two women he asked, “How do you know that? Does she have an accent that you picked up on?”
Sara answered, “No, Kal-El, she means that I’m not from Earth. I’m … Kryptonian.”
Clark’s eyes widened in surprise and he asked, “Are you with Nor?”
Sara looked at Clark and said, “No, I’m not. Quite the contrary. Where can we go so that we can talk?”
Lois asked, “What about right here?”
“Too much chance of being overheard or someone walking in on us. If you don’t have anywhere you can be sure of we have a place, in a warehouse across town. It is secure.”
Lois was skeptical and it was evident in her voice as she asked, “What makes you think we will trust you? You could be leading us into a trap.”
“I assure you that I am not. Perhaps this will convince you. Kal-El, do you know what your mother’s name was?”
"Yes."
“It was Lara, was it not?"
Cautiously he replied, "That is correct."
“On Krypton the family name is part of a woman’s name. Your mother’s name Lara means La of the house of Ra. My name isn’t Sara, I changed it slightly to meet Earth naming conventions. My name is really Zara, Za of the house of Ra. Your mother, Lara, was my aunt. Kal-El, you and I are cousins. You didn’t know it, but I am also your birth wife. Our joining was arranged before either of us was born.”
Lois was shocked and blurted out, “Wait a minute; you’re supposed to be his wife? Well, he already has one, thank you very much, and I’m not about to let him go so that you or anyone else can marry him. I’m kinda old fashioned that way. We’re married and we’re going to stay that way. It can’t even be a question of him marrying an Earth woman because I am Kryptonian.”
Zara held up her hands in a gesture meant to be calming as she said, “I understand that and I’m not here to try to steal him from you. Like I said, the bond was arranged before either of us was born. A lot has happened since then. Can we go to our secure location so that we can talk freely?”
Lois, still giving Zara a wary eye said, “Okay, lead the way.”
After exiting the conference room, Clark stuck his head in Perry's door and said, "Chief, we have to go out and follow up on that story we were telling you about. I think we need to take Sara with us. She is going to be a big help. We'll check back in later."
Perry waved his hand in acknowledgement.
Zara led the way to the roof. She did a spin change into a gray two piece suit vaguely reminiscent of a military uniform and took to the air. Lois and Clark both spun into their uniforms and followed. They landed and Zara led the way into what looked like an abandoned warehouse. Inside was a large white sphere. As Zara approached she put up a hand and all three were suddenly inside what appeared to be a small conference room. Zara hit a switch and, indicating the chairs and table that rose out of the floor said, “Please have a seat. We can now talk freely and we will be undisturbed.”
Clark could hear a very faint hum after Zara hit that switch so he did a quick x-ray scan of the walls and discovered that he could not see through them. He asked, “Where exactly are we?”
Zara spread her hands to indicate the space and said, “We are inside a travel pod. Ching and I stole it to come down from the ship.”
Just then a portal opened in the wall and in stepped Lt. Ching.
Lois and Clark both noticed the look that passed between Zara and Ching as soon as he entered.
Stopping just inside the room, Ching said, “Lord Kal-El and Lady Lois, I am pleased to finally meet you. I am Lt. Ching, bodyguard to the Lady Zara.”
Lois and Clark heard the words, but they both knew that there was more to it. There were obvious feelings there. Curious, Lois asked, “How is it that you know us?”
Ching replied, “We have been observing you since you arrived in Metropolis this morning.”
Zara said, “Please Ching, come in and sit down.”
Once Ching was seated Zara began, “The field I activated will keep Nor from hearing what is said and will also prevent him from listening in telepathically, therefore we can speak freely. As I said, Kal … or would you prefer to be addressed as Clark?”
“Clark and Lois would be fine.”
“Very well, Clark, as I said, before either of us was born a marriage was arranged, a birth marriage binding the house of El more securely to the house of Ra. The son of Jor-El, the head of the council of scientists, and the daughter of Gee-Ra, the traditional ruler of Krypton, would form the basis of the new ruling house. Jor-El discovered the core instability of Krypton only a double hand span of years before Krypton destroyed itself. His announcement was generally dismissed; however some other members of the science council took his warning seriously and took the appropriate steps to ensure the continuation of Krypton. In secret they built a ship to act as an ark carrying samples of the genome of the entire planet. At the time of lift off I was three years old and you had just been born. It was determined that you would not survive the rigors of cryo-sleep and were left behind while I slept for three years, the time it took for the maintenance crew to find a suitable world. For the last twenty years we have been attempting to establish ourselves on this new world.”
Zara stood and started to pace, “The current Council of Elders determined that the time had come to reestablish the ruling house. Since Jor-El and Lara perished with Krypton along with Gee-Ra and his wife Mona a search was conducted. As the time of Krypton’s destruction had drawn near, the science council became aware of Jor-El’s experiments with an advanced FTL drive. It was considered to be a possibility that Jor-El and his family had survived so a search was made. Faint traces of a drive signature were discovered which led us to Earth.”
Zara stopped pacing and turning to Clark asked in a challenging tone, “It was discovered that only Kal-El had survived. A bioelectromagnetic signature of Kal-El had been recorded at his birth and that was used to trace him. A grave was found with his remains and in an adjoining grave were those of a woman. Both bodies bear a striking resemblance to the two individuals sitting across the table from me. Can you explain?”
Calmly, Lois replied, “The Kal-El of this world was killed in an attempt by a criminal to eliminate his competition for my affections. Shortly before this his Kryptonian physiology was transferred to me making him vulnerable to the attack.” Turning to face Clark she said, “Clark, Kal-El, my husband, is the Kal-El from a parallel universe. The woman in the grave is the Lois from his reality. She died during an investigation. He was brought here, to me, so that we could be together and fulfill our joint destiny.”
Nodding, Zara said, “That explains the bodies in the graves. It is also the grounds for our problem. There is a faction within New Krypton that wants to replace the ruling family with a new ruler. The head of that faction is Nor. He is attempting to usurp the rule and become dictator of Krypton. Traditionally the rule of Krypton has been benign and beneficent. But, if Nor were to assume the position of dictator, the peace of Krypton would be destroyed. He would be a cruel taskmaster. He has already made threatening statements about Earth. The fact that while on Earth Kryptonians enjoy super abilities, makes inhabiting Earth desirable for them. He has spoken of enslaving all of the peoples of Earth. The only thing preventing him is that as long as there is a descendant of Kal-El, or in this case Kal-El’s essence, with me there is a legitimate claimant to the throne.”
Lois looked at Clark and then placing a hand in his turned back to Zara and said, “We just had a baby. The telepathic broadcast we received was a threat against our child.”
Zara replied, “Because that child represents a threat to his rule. You see, Nor’s full name is Nor-Na. Mona, who was the wife of Gee-Ra the traditional ruler of Krypton, was his aunt and his family is the last of that line. A union between the house of Na and Ra would be accepted almost as well as a union between the house of El and Ra, which was the expressed wish of Gee-Ra and that is the case he will make.”
Lois asked, “What can we do to prevent him from harming our baby?”
Ching gave the answer, “There is a custom of Krypton which allows for single combat to resolve issues such as this. The combat is limited to family groups. Nor could be assisted by his sisters, brothers, cousins and their spouses. There would be nine altogether.”
“Not very good odds. It would be me and Lois against nine of them.”
Zara pointed out, “As your cousin, I could fight at your side.”
“Okay, that makes it three against nine. That’s still not very good odds. Where would this combat take place?”
“Since Earth is the object of the conflict, it would take place here, which means …”
“Which means that all of the combatants would be super powered. We don’t have any more relatives on New Krypton?”
“I’m afraid not. You and I are each the last of our families.”
“How soon will this war start?”
“We have a couple of days to prepare. There is a Kryptonian weapon allowed. It is called a Drei. It is a staff of power. Lt. Ching will instruct you in its use.” Zara looked at Lois and said, “Women are prohibited from using the Drei. There are a number of other weapons we can choose; however, they will be largely ineffective against a super powered individual. All we can hope to do is overcome them one at a time and keep them subdued, preventing their relatives from freeing them while keeping from being overcome ourselves.”
With a sarcastic tone Lois said, “Yeah, with three to one odds against us. While we are dealing with one of them two others could trap us. This sounds like a no win scenario.”
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