Wrong TrilogyBook 1: Another Dimension, Another Time, Another Lois By VirginiaR.
Rated PG-13 for adult themes and
WHAMs a plenty.
Description: This time Tempus succeeds in destroying Utopia with unrealized consequences. Now, it’s up to Lois to save the day before time runs out. Set in an alt-canon-dimension (but not alt-dimension).
Author’s Note: This is Book 1 of my Wrong Trilogy and is a prequel to Book 2. It is a stand-alone story, but I suggest reading it before reading Book 2. That being said, you may – however – read the three Books in any order (the wonders of time-travel stories). Should you decide that this story is entirely too dark for your taste, feel free to skip it and move on to the lighter Book 2. Book 1 is not required for understanding Book 2 (or, for that matter, Book 3) of the Trilogy. The Books are set chronologically in alt-Clark’s life.
To make it easier to read the part numbers, I shall use my abbreviated nickname for this story "Another Lois" in the Header (Subject) Line.
You can find the
Another Dimension, Another Time, Another Lois[/i] TOC here.
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PrologueClark knelt beside her grave. He came here often just to talk to her, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him.
Since meeting and falling in love with Lois Lane – that Lois Lane who was tossed into his dimension by Tempus – he realized that there could be no Superman without her… some version of her. Sure, he could rescue people, stop the bad guys, and breathe in and out, but without a Lois Lane he felt empty inside, unable to truly live. Without a Lois, there was only this façade; there was no Clark Kent, no one who truly understood him. Without her love and support, he didn’t know how long he could keep up this life.
It troubled him that he was being selfish, that he would change this newly discovered Lois’s destiny because [i]he needed her, that she wouldn’t get a choice in the matter… Not that she would choose the alternative.
True, he rescued people every day without this being a dilemma. He had even saved that
other Lois before without this being a problem. This time it felt different. His motivation felt different. Even though he knew he was saving her so that her current fate would change, he was also saving her in hope that she then would save him from heartache. That was the selfish part.
If she knew why he was rescuing her, would she resent him? Would she think that he felt she owed him something? Would he ever be able to convince her that he would be happy just having her in the world? Breathing in. Breathing out. Knowing she was safe, hopefully happy. He would not expect anything nor should he. He would love her. He didn’t require that she return his love.
Actually, it would probably be better for her if she didn’t. Friendship would be nice though, having her available to talk with, to laugh at his jokes – pathetic as they might be, to challenge him. With Lois Lane in his world – or in this case, him in her world – he would be a better man… a better Superman.
Clark heard a sound behind him. Without turning his head from where it rested against Lois’s tombstone, above her empty grave, he knew H. G. Wells had arrived to take him on his journey.
“Are you sure about this, Clark?” H. G. Wells asked him and not for the first time.
“We’ve been over this, Herb. Lois needs me. Without my interfer… help, she won’t survive.” And without her neither would he. “I promised I would save her.”
“Lois is dead, Clark,” Wells reminded him. “The decision is yours and yours alone.”
Clark sighed.
“I know this was my idea, but now… I’m not sure,” Wells went on. “I hate leaving any dimension without a Superman.”
Clark nodded. He hated that too. “Isn’t that why you suggested this in the first place? So her world wouldn’t be without a Superman? If it doesn’t work, I can always return. At least, this new Lois will have a second chance at life.”
“I’ll come back in three months, Clark, in case you decide to return home.”
Clark took one last long look at the gravestone. He would miss her –
his Lois. He didn’t
want to leave her, but the other Lois
needed him. He closed his eyes and pictured her in his mind. ‘
I will always love you,’ he told her, reassured her… reassured himself. He would never – could never forget her. This woman he had never met, never saved.
He stood up and picked up his suitcase. He glanced around this ‘world.’ He would miss this dimension. It was so different from the one where he was going. This was home. He sighed. “Let’s go,” he told H. G. Wells.
Clark was taking a huge risk. If this other Lois discovered his secret, she would have the power to destroy him. Unlike any bad guy he had met, this woman had that power over him. Should she choose to be, Lois could be more deadly to him than Kryptonite.
***End of Prologue*** Part 1 Comments
