I want to echo Elisabeth and say that your writing style is always delightful, and sometimes it really does achieve the heights of pure poetry.
Like Beth, I, too, loved Ultrawoman's debut. I loved how Clark was there with her and did the most delicate work, while Lois was allowed to be just the backup he needed. Clark was like a mentor, showing Lois the ropes. It was great.
This was great, too:
One of the older girls stepped forward and said, “Hey, you're a girl just like me!”
Ultra Woman smiled slightly. “Well, maybe not just like you, but I am a girl.”
“What's your name?”
“There are those who call me Ultra Woman.”
The girl's eyes opened up and she breathed, “Ooh, Ultra Woman! That is such a cool name!” She took Ultra Woman's hand in hers, turned to the other kids, and shouted, “Hey, guys! This is Ultra Woman! She saved us!”
The kids cheered and rushed to surround her. There was no way to get away from them without injuring one or more of the kids, so Ultra Woman just stood there listening to their shouts.
Then one first-grade boy wrapped himself around her leg and shouted, “Thank you thank you thank you oh thank you!”
I absolutely loved it!!! In particular, I can just hear and see that little boy wrapping himself around Lois's leg!
However... you knew something was coming, right? Yes. Cat. Terry, you may or may not have heard that I don't like villains. In a way your story is appealing to me precisely because there are so few outright villains. Lex, for example, isn't a villain. (Unless, well... I have my suspicions against Alex Winfield...) And Cat isn't a villain at all. She isn't a villain because she isn't malicious. She does not
want bad things to happen. But in her attempts to cause no more harm than is absolutely necessary, she is aiding and abetting a despicable villain. And I
hate that.
But poor Cat's awful situation isn't what I hate most here. No, it's the way the good guys behave! Consider. Lois has received word from Lex that there is a mole at the Daily Planet, and she believes in that information. She informs Clark, who is skeptical. They inform Perry, who not only believes them, but who understands who the mole is, too. Cat. So he... asks Jimmy to keep an eye on her.
That's it??? He asks Jimmy to keep an eye on her, when he and Cat happen to be in the newsroom at the same time. At all other times she will be completely unsupervised? Even though an attempt has been made on Lois and Clark's lives, and dozens of other people were killed? Even though Cat acted
very guilty when she thought that Lois and Clark were dead, and even though she demonstrated the most incredible relief
and guilt when they returned? Perry decides to leave Cat at least partly unsupervised, even though she may very well be indirectly responsible for the death of dozens of people and for the attempt on Lois and Clark's lives? And who knows what new horrors she could make happen if she is allowed to continue doing whatever it may be that she has been doing?
“Hey! You made me think of something. Superman and Ultra Woman both insist there's nothing romantic between them, right?”
Clark frowned slightly and nodded. “Yeah, so?”
“And we've never seen or heard of Superman being on a date, have we?”
Apparently unsure of where she was going with this, he cautiously responded, “Not to my knowledge, no.”
Lois's face almost split from suppressed laughter. “So, maybe that's because he's just not interested in girls.”
The light came on for him. “Oh, no, don't go there, Lane! You and I both know that Superman is – “
“Is gay! Has to be!” she finished brightly. Then she skipped across the newsroom floor to her desk.
Clark spluttered shortly, then called back, “So, does that mean that because Ultra Woman isn't interested in Superman she's gay, too?”
Lois came to an abrupt stop. “You had better NOT go there, Kent!”
Clark didn't speak, but his face looked funny for a moment. Then Lois's face looked funny, and they both chuckled.
And they kept on spitting out alternating bouts of laughter for the next fifteen minutes. Either they were the company's quickest typists and were sending each other goofy e-mails, or they were telepathic.
Had to be quick fingers, Cat decided.
The tidbits about Superman and Ultra Woman weren't what Cat had expected to learn, but at least she had something to report now. Even if it wasn't true, it might get her off the hook for the day.
You know that this drove me up the wall, Terry? Completely! Lois and Clark are putting on a performance for Cat, joking and giggling about Superman and Ultrawoman and almost telling Cat that they themselves are the costumed heroes. And if Cat doesn't figure it out on her own, surely her "boss" will.
I
hate this kind of unbelievable stupidity on the part of the "good guys"!
You'd think the heroes were being bribed by gamblers who have put their money on the villains! Please don't tell us you fear that we wouldn't be getting our "villain's worth" out of Cat if you allowed Perry to put a stop to her activities sooner, Terry!
Heroic stupidity Gaaaah!!! Okay. I'll try to cool down, even though I think that Perry, Lois and Clark's behaviour is inexcusable. Anyway. Just a final thought. Someone else has already mentioned it - I forget who - but it would certainly be hugely interesting if the mysterious "Boss", the one who distorts his voice when he is talking to Nigel, is actually Lex himself! Yes, but not Lex
as Lex, but Lex as Alex Winfield. It would be so interesting if Lex suffers from a split personality, so that he doesn't know that he has two separate personalities. What if one part of Lex truly, honestly loves Lois, but the other part of him - Alex Winfield - hates Lois and wants to kill her!
Doctor Luthor and Mister Winfield? Here's hoping that you put a stop to Cat's activities in the next part, before she manages to give the "Boss" any more damaging information about Lois and Clark. There is no good reason
not to stop her!
Ann
