[Chapter 7: Save Thyself]From high above in the night sky, Kal spotted the Lois and Clark of the world he now found himself in. They were in a company car and, from what he could conclude, on their way to an illegal gambling club on Hobs Street to hopefully get information on someone named Georgie Hair-do. If Kal hadn’t heard it himself, he would have thought it was a joke, especially when, according to Lois and Clark’s conversation in the car, someone named Capone was after him.
If being in an alternate reality wasn’t confusing enough, the bad guys were reminiscent of criminals of the past. What sort of world had he ended up in?
He shook himself and followed Lois and Clark from above, keeping his ear focused on them as well.
After a bit, Lois and Clark approached the nondescript building.
“Pretty classy crowd for an illegal gaming club,” Lois commented.
“Isn't that Congressman Haines and his wife?” his counterpart asked as the password ‘the fat lady sings’ was given at the front door.
Kal continued to watch as the night wore on, smirking when Lois cheered at winning a few hundred nickels while his counterpart ventured off to mingle, which, admittedly, was a bit cringe worthy. Clark managed to extricate himself from a lady in question when a man — presumably her boyfriend — approached in a huff.
“Look. Um... it was nice meeting you. Both of you. But I have to go... find someone,” Clark said, before immediately heading toward Lois. Fortunately, it seemed like Clark had learned the information he needed for his investigation before he ventured off to find Lois.
O o O o O
Lois couldn’t believe that old woman had stolen her bucket of nickels! What a horrible thing to do!
With a huff, she spun around, trying to spot the old hag, but was suddenly distracted by Clark's approach.
"Clark!" she said urgently, grabbing him. "I just found out Georgie Hair-do's dead!"
"Yeah. Well, Bonnie and Clyde are here. We've got to call the police! Let's go," he said, keeping his voice low despite how high strung he obviously felt.
"You go. I've got to find a gray-haired lady with a bucket of my nickels," Lois answered, not about to abandon her winnings.
However, her hope of finding the old woman was quickly erased and overridden by the front doors bursting open.
Capone, Dillinger, and several other thugs entered, armed with tommy guns. Dillinger fired a short burst into the air, causing the club goers to scream and two bouncers to go for their weapons, but it was no use. Bonnie and Clyde disarmed them and the club instantly fell silent.
"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen, for this little interruption. I just came by to announce that Georgie Hair-do has wisely decided to retire from the hospitality business," Capone announced, stepping forward and taking a long drag from his cigar before pointing to himself. "So from now on, this club belongs to Al Capone."
Dillinger then eyed Lois, and Lois felt her stomach twist in disgust.
"Hey, Al, how 'bout we name this little cutie our new head hostess?" Dillinger asked, approaching Lois with a leer. "You know, I always was partial to a lady in red."
Lois froze as his hand touched her cheek, too stunned to slap him away – but she didn't need to.
Clark grabbed Dillinger’s wrist and tossed it aside.
"Leave her alone," Clark stated firmly.
"Who are you? Her big brother?" Dillinger mocked, shoving Clark back before reaching for Lois.
Lois tried to move away but everything was happening faster than she could think, even though everything appeared to be moving in slow motion.
Clark stepped in front of her, blocking Dillinger as Clyde leveled his pistol at Clark.
"Clark, no!" Lois cried, even as three loud bangs echoed forth, coupled with screams.
But then a louder noise cut across them all, accompanied by a blur of red and blue. A form solidified in front of Clark.
Superman!
Lois could have fainted from relief, but her adrenaline was too high.
Superman caught the three bullets and then blurred once more, whirling around the room and disarming and tying up Capone and his gang in less than five seconds.
And then he was standing before them.
Everyone stared.
Superman had a dark blue eyepatch over his left eye, its band snug around his head.
Lois, like everyone else, was astonished, but she was also concerned.
What had happened?!
When?!
He had been in the news only yesterday and he was fine!
His good eye glanced at her before focusing on Clark, who was still partially in front of her.
Clark looked just as surprised by Superman's eyepatch and startled with a gasp as Superman met his gaze.
Lois opened her mouth, about to ask Superman if he was okay, when Superman tilted his head and promptly disappeared.
"Clark?" Lois asked, grabbing hold of his arm.
She took a deep breath as her mind struggled to catch up with everything that had just happened.
"Are you okay?" Clark asked her, turning and gently grasping her in return.
She nodded, reeling from the knowledge that, if it hadn't been for Superman, Clark would have taken three bullets to the chest at near point blank range because he had been protecting her.
She embraced him. "Clark, you could have been killed!"
He hugged her back as the police arrived.
O o O o O
Clark closed his eyes after he and Lois submitted the story, but he knew it would be a long time before he actually relaxed.
How was there another Superman?!
Was it another clone?
Had Luthor made more than one and that one was just now released or something? If so, how?
Why?And he had saved him. Saved him from revealing his secret. . . .
But why did he have an eyepatch?!
And how did he talk in his head?!!! He was telepathic?!
Unfortunately, because Lois refused to leave his side, he couldn’t make any attempt to find answers. She was bouncing between being grateful to him, angry he put himself at risk like that, and confused by Superman’s appearance as well as behavior.
“Why did he just leave like that?” Lois asked, bringing up the topic of Superman again. “And what happened to his eye? When did it happen?”
They were alone, finally leaving the Planet.
“I don’t know, Lois. I’m just as confused as you . . . maybe more,” he admitted.
“How can you be more confused?” she asked, looking at him.
He swallowed, not quite sure how to answer, but at this point, he supposed it wouldn’t be bad to talk about what had happened.
“I don’t think that was the real Superman,” he stated.
“Who else could he be? He caught bullets and zipped around at superspeed, unless . . . you think he could be another clone?” she asked, horrified.
“I . . . I don’t know, but he . . . he spoke in my head,” he said softly.
“He
what?!” she gasped. “What did he say?”
“He said he . . . needed to talk to me,” he said, wondering if it was wise to tell her, but if this was a clone or if he had bad intentions, he would rather Lois know than not.
“Needed to talk to you? Why?” she questioned, baffled.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, whoever he is, assuming he’s an imposter, why would he need to talk to you? Oh! Maybe he needs to talk with the real Superman? Do you think he thinks you can get him in contact with him? Did he say anything else?” she asked, only taking a breath at the end.
Clark frowned, suddenly kicking himself. He shouldn’t have said anything.
“He said something else, didn’t he? What did he say?” she pressed.
He sighed, knowing she wouldn’t stop until he answered.
“He said he would wait for me at my apartment,” he said, giving in.
She frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We would have left hours ago!”
“Lois, he could be dangerous!” he complained.
She pursed her lips. “He saved your life and stopped Capone and his gang. Would he do all that just to hurt us later?”
Clark sighed. “Well, when you put it that way, probably not. But the first clone had done good things too.”
“I don't think this is like that. Let’s just go talk to him. And if you think you're going to leave me behind, think again! I'm not letting you go anywhere without me, especially tonight!”
Clark looked down at their clasped hands, making a decision. “Okay.”
O o O o O
Kal forced himself not to pace as he waited for his counterpart to get home. How long did it take to write a story? Granted, he supposed Clark – alt-Clark? – also needed to make a statement to the police, but it had been hours!
He couldn’t believe what had happened, and he desperately hoped his counterpart would somehow be able to help him. But then, what could he do?
Kal inwardly groaned.
What would
he have been able to do if an alternate self had appeared to him two or so years ago, or even yesterday?
He shook his head.
Well, maybe together they’ll be able to do something. Get the attention of time or dimension police or something? That had to be a thing, right?
He really hoped so.
How else would he be able to get home?
Suddenly, he heard footsteps near the front door.
O o O o O
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