Wow, DJ, this was intense!
“Okay. I bet you want to know if Lex's limo was at the bank robbery that Superman thwarted yesterday,” he said, crumpling his napkin and setting it on his empty plate.
Lois rolled her eyes. “No, first of all, *I* already know the limo was there. I saw it myself. Secondly, *you* don't know that it was "Lex's' limo. And thirdly, I'm not so sure *that* was Superman.”
Clark tells Lois that Lex is evil, and Bobby Bigmouth gives her damning information about Lex - and she won't believe either of them? :rolleyes:
She shoved them discreetly under the table and passed them to Bobby. It wouldn't do for her uncle to find out she got her brownies elsewhere.
You had me ROTFLOL-ing at that, DJ!
Lois opened the door and stumbled inside her dark apartment. Hadn't she left a light on? She swore she had left the light over the kitchen sink on...
A soft sound, like someone clearing their throat, caught her attention and she glanced over towards her open living room window. A neon light had been put up across the street and she was still trying to get used to the unnatural red glow that now filtered in through the window. When she had the lights on in her apartment she normally didn't notice it. But with all the lights off and her eyes not yet acclimated to the dark, it...
The darkness, broken only by some unnatural red light... do you know what that reminds me of, DJ?
![[Linked Image]](http://religion-cults.com/Eastern/Hinduism/hell-11g.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://rocksnsucks.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/hell.jpg)
(I found an even better, more red-black image, but it was too big...)
“You wanted to see me, Lois?”
The voice was as dark as the room, but familiar. The question was soft and hesitant, but held an underlying tension. Superman? Was it him?
Creepy, DJ. It's almost him, but not quite. But there's no need to panic just yet. (Like I said... not
yet.)
“Superman?” she asked, hopeful.
“Yes.”
“Oh. Here, let me get a light.” She turned towards the lamp beside her to click it on, but she was prevented when a large hand came from behind and caught hers.
<shudders>
“Why did you ask me here, Lois?” he murmured, his voice low and unexpectedly different... Was it her imagination or was there longing in his tone?
Wow! Amazing! It's like Beauty and the Beast, except that it's a far scarier beast than the one in Disney's movie. This is a real beast, a rapist... but it is also a wounded soul, full of longing for the woman he desires.
What had Clark told him? Never mind that, what did she tell him? “I...” she stammered, not turning to face him, her thoughts not coming together the way she had planned. He had caught her off guard, being here, waiting for her to get home. And now, touching her like this – she was exquisitely aware of the heat of his hand on hers.
Indeed, why
had she asked him to come? No wonder she can't remember why in this situation.
“You like me, don't you, Lois?” he asked softly. His hand pulled gently, coaxing her to turn around.
Her stomach fluttered nervously. Wasn't that what the clone had asked her? The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming as she turned to him and admitted, “You know I do.”
The clone, Lois? If only it was. Then the real Superman could have saved you.
Her breath caught in her chest. He... he wasn't wearing his Suit! Or cape! He was dressed in... regular clothes. He had on a dark-colored men's suit with a white dress shirt. There was no tie. The shirt was completely unbuttoned, exposing the simple cotton t-shirt he was wearing underneath. The white sleeves of the shirt were exposed where they rolled back over the coat sleeves and his shirt was untucked.
Oh, wow!!! This is just so...
depraved somehow. Sexy but slimy. Depraved.
Superman doesn't dress like that! Superman doesn't
act like that!
The red lighting from outside was casting a surreal glow to his features. His hair was tousled from its normal slick appearance and his eyes were dark and intense.
Can't resist posting this image. It's actually an excellent image of a so-called planetary nebula, called the Cat's Eye Nebula... but it does look wicked, doesn't it?
![[Linked Image]](http://www.eno.iac.es/img/ciencia/ciencia4_80.jpg)
“Let me go,” she said, trying to slip her hand free from his. This wasn't Superman. It couldn't be. He had never come to her like this before, dressed like this, with that look in his eyes – it sent a shiver down her spine as memories flashed through her mind of the first clone.
His hand tightened on hers, barely even perceptible, but enough that she knew without a doubt that this wasn't Superman. Not her Superman.
Horrible. She begs him to let her go, but instead his grip on her tightens barely imperceptibly - but just
barely imperceptibly. <shudders>
“You're not Superman,” she said quietly, trying to keep the fear from her voice as she continued her attempt to free her hand of his grip.
“Yes, I am, Lois.” He levitated off the floor a few inches as if that was supposed to prove something and then lowered himself back down. “You said you wanted to speak with me. So here I am.”
It's like a nightmare.
He pulled her closer to him, until she could feel the warmth of his body bleeding through her clothing and caressing her skin. She could feel an underlying tension in his posture. His proximity was making her dizzy. He leaned down, brushing his lips near her ear. “Why did you ask me here, Lois?” he repeated, the need in his tone now clearly manifest.
“I...” Her mind was unable to form a coherent thought. Why *had* she asked him here?
Her body went rigid when his lips placed a kiss just under her ear next to her hairline. It sent tingles down her neck and goosebumps rose on the backs of her arms. She had dreamt of this very situation a million times. Superman would come to her, admit to her that he was in love with her. He would touch her... kiss her.
Her mind swam and then began to founder from his slow, sensual kisses to her lips; the soft touch of his hand to her face, sliding down to cup her chin as he deepened the kiss.
I love the words and expressions you use here, so charged with meaning and associations. She could feel the warmth of his body bleeding through her clothing and caressing her skin. She could feel a tension in his posture. His proximity was making her dizzy. Her body went rigid. His kiss sent tingles down her neck and goosebumps rose on the back of her arms. Her mind swam and then began to founder.
There is sheer poetry here. It's beautiful, but really scary, too.
“What did you say to me just before you left to destroy the Nightfall asteroid?” she quizzed him.
“Mmmm,” he murmured, giving her another slow taste. “I said I'd come back... we'd go flying.”
Her brain stuttered. This *was* Superman. The real one. No one could possibly know that but him.
It's him, Lois. Accept it.
“I know,” he admitted softly. “You wanted to know how I felt about you - isn't that right?” he murmured, his voice thick with a strange intensity.
Oh god. Clark had told him! “I wanted...”
“I know what you wanted,” he told her, taking her other hand in his. He wrapped her arms behind her, despite her efforts to resist him, and grasped her two smaller hands together in one of his as he brought his other hand up to trace his fingertips lightly over her cheek.
He took in a shuddery breath before continuing, “I know what you want because it's what I want too. What I've wanted for a long time.”
Really? No, she pulled herself away from the daydream. Something wasn't right. He seemed to be Superman, but he just wasn't acting... normal. She needed to get back in control...
Oh yes, she had wanted it, but not like this... not when he was so weird and scary.
Lois jerked her mouth away from his, gasping for breath. “No! No, you're wrong. This isn't what I want. And you're not Superman.” She didn't care what questions he'd been able to answer. “He would never behave like this.”
His smile sent chills down her spine. “You're wrong. I am Superman. I'll prove it to you.”
Lois was panicking. No. No, this couldn't be happening. “Clark,” she heard herself whimper. She wasn't sure why his name had sprung to her lips – she should have been screaming for the real Superman to come.
But for some reason, it made him pause.
“Clark?” he asked, sounding amused. “You think Clark's going to save you? Clark's not coming.”
I love it! She is calling for Clark! And somehow, on some level, that penetrates at least a little of his haze.
“What?” she whispered in shock. Why would he say that? “Have you done something to him?” Dread filled her heart. This was the clone – and he had done something to Clark. Horrific images began to flash though her mind.
A noise came from his lips that could have almost been a chuckle if it hadn't sounded so dark and disturbing. “I am Clark.”
Wow!!!! Oh, wow!!!! What a revelation, DJ!!!
“What?” Confusion and disbelief jolted through her body. No. No, it couldn't be. But as she looked at his face again, into his eyes, she realized it was the truth. She didn't know how she had never seen it before, but there it was, staring her in the face. Clark Kent was Superman. She knew it like she knew the grass was green or the sky was blue. It suddenly just was. A thousand different moments became clear. A hundred different memories abruptly wove themselves together into a fabric that encompassed both of the men now standing before her.
And she can see the truth of it so perfectly clearly.
Her stomach rolled abruptly, her mind screaming white noise. Something was wrong with him. What had happened to him? Who had done this to him? This wasn't him. This wasn't Clark! This wasn't Superman!
And she knew then, without a doubt, that there was no clone.
Superman had done all those things.
Yes, Lois, he had. It was him all along.
There had been nothing to stop him from stealing, from behaving callously in the face of other people's distress. Lois was in trouble and, this time, Superman was not going to save her. *She* had to stop him. It was up to her.
Yes, Lois! It's up to you to stop him!
Her mind and thoughts were tripping over one another. She was grasping at them like they were feathers floating on a swift breeze.
Love the graceful poetry of this.
“No,” Lois cried, determined to resist him. “Please, Supe-- Clark, please don't do this.”
His only answer to her plea was to capture her lips in another kiss, his fingers fumbling with her buttons. She turned her head violently to the side, trying to escape.
There was a ripping sound as her shirt was pulled off one shoulder and down her arm. His teeth grazed her shoulder as a groan came from his lips.
<shudders>
Clark felt like he was coming out from a deep sleep. It was dark and he couldn't see... but he could hear a voice distinctly. It was Lois's.
“Stop it! You're hurting me!” She was screaming the words at him.
Then there was another voice in his head. A familiar voice, though he couldn't place it. But it wasn't speaking to him; it was more like a memory – instructions repeating.
//”...force her. You must show her that you are not to be denied. Her subjection must be complete. Even if you have to force her. You must show her that you are not to be denied. Her subjection must be complete. Even if...”//
“I...” Clark stammered, the room blurring in and out of focus. He was hurting her? “Lois, I...” He didn't *want* to hurt her. He shook his head, trying to clear it, trying to fight whatever was happening to him.
But it was exhausting. The more he fought, the more he felt as if he were mentally slogging through quicksand.
On some level I have trouble believing this - I mean, I have a hard time believing that Superman could be mind-controlled so completely. Remember that Lex would be working against a lifetime of teaching and upbringing and conditioning on Clark's part, DJ. I'm not saying that it's impossible to brainwash people, far from it! Just yesterday I listened to a radio documentary about North Korea, and you could hear the sounds made by tens of thousands of people as they were crying and wailing at the death of the former dictator (can't remember his name). Honestly, all those people sounded like a chorus of thousands of pitifully howling poodles. Unbelievable. But remember,
they have been brainwashed all their lives, too. Clark has been taught about morals by his beloved parents, and he has tried to live their morals, which became
his morals, all his life. Could Lex undo a lifetime of deep-seated beliefs by a mental command?
//”Obey. You must obey. There is no right. There is no wrong. There is only my voice and my command. Obey. You must obey. There is no right...”//
No right... no wrong...
You don't believe it, Clark. Admit it.
(Okay, but if he doesn't believe it, we won't have this yummy fic... so... okay, I will accept that he believes it, DJ.)
He relaxed, allowing the darkness to envelope him and drown out his disquieting thoughts. He was doing what he was supposed to. This is what Lois had always wanted, after all. Superman. She had yearned for him... thrown herself at him.
She wanted him.
And he wanted her.
Yeah, well...
that should be rather easy to believe!
He used one hand to tug at her clothing. She fought to stop him – why was she fighting him? And then he heard her crying out to him again.
“Plee... hee... heese, Claaaarrrk,” she sobbed.
His body stiffened. No. This wasn't right. She was frightened. She was begging him. He had to help her. Clark struggled against the darkness in his mind, but the effort bordered almost on physical pain. He began to lose focus and would have receded into the black void once more but a pitiful whimper escaped Lois's lips, and her fear compelled him to fight. Help her, help Lois – he began mentally reciting the words like a mantra.
But Lois's fear and pain pierces his mental fog! Yay!
His eyes flew open. Lois was pinned between him and the wall, her face so very close to his own. Her lips were red and swollen and her expression was contorted in fear.
“Lois?” Her name felt thick in his mouth. What was he doing? What was happening?
“Don't do this,” she pleaded, hope springing into her eyes as a tear streaked silently down her flushed cheek.
No. No, he didn't want to hurt her.
//”subjection... complete... force her... not to be denied... must obey... subjection... force her...”//
Clark shook his head, trying to clear the rambling thoughts, trying to fight against them as they threatened to overwhelm his senses once again. Lois was crying. He had to make her stop crying.
“I don't...” he rambled, not able to concentrate and lost in confusion.
He had to make her...
//”not to be denied...”//
He had to make her see who was in control.
He wakes up and realizes the horrible thing he is about to do to Lois (and the sufficiently bad thing he has done to her already), but then he succumbs to Lex's mental command
again? A few tears slipped from Lois's eyes as she shut them against what was happening. There was no escape – she couldn't fight him. She didn't have any strength left to fight him with. Laying her cheek against his shoulder, she whispered softly in his ear. “I know you don't mean this. You would never do this.” She let out a shaky breath and shut her eyes even tighter, steeling herself for what was about to happen, fighting him would only make it worse.
Clark jolted to full awareness, memories flooding from his mind. He grasped at them but couldn't hold on to them. As he became aware of his surroundings, he was instantly confused about why he was in Lois's apartment and simultaneously horrified by the tears on her cheeks and her torn blouse... The words "you would never do this' echoed over and over in his mind. One of his hands was pinning her hands behind her and the other was...
He wakes up! Her helplessness and sorrow was more than he could take.
He jerked his hands away from her and stepped backwards so quickly that he almost fell down.
Lois gasped when Clark's hands were suddenly gone and she was teetering unsteadily under her own power. She opened her eyes to find him standing several feet away from her, a shocked and confused expression on his face.
“Lois?”
“Clark?” she whispered, and then, “Superman?”
His eyes widened further. “No... I... No, what's happening? What am I doing here?”
I love that she called him both Clark and Superman.
The anguish in his voice added to her own, breaking her resolve. She began to cry in earnest and collapsed with relief down to the hardwood floor beneath her.
She heard Clark gasp and sensed him take a couple of steps towards her, but then he stopped.
“Lois, I'm sorry. I don't know what... God, Lois...”
And then he was gone. She could feel the gust of wind as it ruffled her hair and she opened her eyes to find herself alone in her apartment.
Yes, when he finds out that he has been about to rape Lois, Clark-in-his-right-mind would decide that the only acceptable thing to do would be to remove himself from her.
She lay on the floor for a few moments in shocked disbelief of what had just happened, but then, she finally snapped out of it. That was Clark that had just flown out of her window.
He had seemed confused, and yet, he was the only one who could give her answers. She got up and went to her window, looking out. Lois knew he was gone but she still had to look...
But Lois would realize that she had to make him come back to her. He simply had to answer her questions, and they had to try to solve this awful problem together.
And that's when she saw it.
A black stretch limo.
Of course!
Okay, Lois, now you know that there is no clone, that Superman himself has been doing all the bad things, and that someone is controlling him. You also know that those who control him drive a black limo registered to Lexcorp. Plus, you know that Clark is Superman.
So, Lois, how about you
don't go to Lex this time and ask him for help to save Superman?
Wowzers, that was an amazingly intense chapter, DJ! Looking forward to more!
Ann
I'm psyched. This has been much awaited. On with the show! 
DJ, you're giving me a heart attack!
]
Only 2 or 3 more chapters to go? Oh, dear. Please, please, update soon!
I'm craving more! Where's the next part?
Girl, you're missed on the nfic side. Got the hint? 
Hello all! I'm back! And I don't see any angry mobs or anything <whew>
And yes, sorry to disappoint you but I've sort of retired from nfic. So that's also why he stopped <snort> But I've been trying to talk Sue into writing an alternate scene. LOL. Not that she doesn't have plenty of other stuff to write...
), but honestly, this time I knew that I had absolutely no reason to stay away from this fic.
Oh dear... But I'm at least glad that meant that you could trust me enough to read. Thanks Ann.
I may cheat and read it ahead of some others.
"