Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Erased (7/24)

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Double yikes.

Before I get to Clark's condition, I wanted to note that I saw this:


It's really not funny, not in this story and especially not in this setting, and I'm sure you didn't write this for humor. But having something in the criminally insane ward of an insane asylum that would drive a normal person crazy is - well, ironic is a good term.

It's a safe one, anyway.

Now Clark.

We knew his hands and feet were crippled. We knew he'd been conditioned to insist that Clark Kent didn't exist. We kinda knew he'd had electroshock therapy.

But this - this abomination, this horror visited on him is itself criminal. Now that he's out of that black hole of Calcutta/Gotham, will he ever heal? He's crippled in both mind and body, damaged beyond the pale of this world, and it's conceivable that nothing can reach him, nothing can reverse the utter destruction visited upon his soul.



I don't know how anyone could help him at this juncture. And while I understand that Lois loves Clark truly, madly, deeply, she's essentially stopped her life for him. No family of her own, no friends (only coworkers and fellow laborers in the search), no real life apart from an obsessive and desperate need to find the man she loves. She's spent twenty years - twenty years, fellow readers, almost the middle third of her life - looking for him, working every lead she can find no matter how thin, reminding other supers (sometimes gently, sometimes not, I'm sure) that their friend Superman is still missing. Will she now enlist their help in discovering the perpetrator of this - this violation of a fellow sentient being? Will Lois, when she finally realizes the extent of the devastation of Clark Kent, ultimately give in to her understandable fury and outrage and hatred, and murder Luthor when he's unmasked to her? After all, she's pushing fifty by now, and by the time Clark comes back to her - assuming he does so - she can kiss goodbye any thought of bearing his children.

You're not a third of the way through your epic opus of a beloved superhero and deeply loved man. There must be ripple effects from this, consequences resulting from this.

Here's a plot bunny from one of my deeply disturbed muses (they're conjuring story paths even as I type this): Clark cannot be reached. Not ever. He remains, as now, barely more than catatonic in mind. His powers come back but his mind does not. Dr. Klein develops (or already has developed) a process to transfer Clark's powers to a human. Lois convinces him to give the powers to her. The elderly Jonathan and Martha train her to use them safely. She investigates as only she now can - as Ultra Woman - and uncovers Luthor as the baddie. He maneuvers her into his wine cellar and drops the K-cage on her. She fakes being affected, then turns the tables on Luthor and kills him (and Nigel). Clark eventually wastes away and dies, unable to survive as a free man.

That would be dark, even for me. But I doubt if it's as dark as the passage through which you're going to lead us.

I'm eager to read the next chapter - with my fists clenched and eyes narrowed. I may just write a story to torture Luthor incessantly in reaction to this tale of terror.

Terrific job, DC. Keep up the great work.

Hi Terry!

Thanks for continuing to read!

The "driven Lois crazy" thing was, indeed, a mostly deliberate choice of words. Mostly because I would have described it that way anyway, but within the confines of an asylum, it made all the bigger impact. No, it wasn't meant for humor (despite my love of dark humor). But it just kind of hammered home the "insane" thing. My muse likes the darkness.

You're right, of course, it's very possible Clark may never heal. His body - of course there's potential there. Lois will be sure to feed him and get him back to a healthy weight/bring him back from malnourishment. His mind is where the terror really lies.

Lois has, as you said, mostly put her own life on hold. You can assume she's dated (I nearly wrote something in about how this idiot, Dan, couldn't handle her need to find Clark - mwhahahaha!) but nothing's really stuck. She would have been too busy, too preoccupied, and still grieving. She's built a solid career for herself - she hasn't JUST searched for Clark - imagine, if you will, a more crowded space in her Kerth closet. But Clark has always been there, a ghost in the corner, haunting her.

However, you point out her age. Just going to throw it out there that, yes, Lois is in her mid-forties now. But, depending on her body, she COULD still have a slim chance for a baby - with Clark or with anyone. I have two cousins who had children in their mid-forties. Risks certainly get higher with age, but unless she's fully gone through "the change," the opportunity is out there.

You can bet that Lois wants to bring down all the forces of Heaven and Hall alike on whoever hurt Clark. If only she had any kind of lead to use...Let's just say, Luthor might be harder to reach/pin things on than one might think, even for the great Mad Dog Lane.

As for your plot bunny - I LOVE it! It's so DARK and TWISTED! I look forward to any revenge you may want to enact on Luthor in response to what he's done to Clark.