Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: After Nightfall: The Return of Superman (1/12)

It's taken a lot of work to get here. My special thanks to Morgana for the keeping this on my mind the last few years. Also thanks to HappyGirl, IolantheAlias, Morgana and The Fabulous Beverly for input and beta reading.

Comments here please.
Bob

Yay, another Bobbart story. I look forward to reading it.

I did want to let you know, though, that I have already posted a story with the same title ( TOC here ). And it is actually one of my few multi-part stories.

I don't know whether there is a policy on having multiple stories with the same name, but I suspect that they might cause confusion.

Joy,
Lynn

Hi, Lynn I guess I should have said something about this being almost a pure A-plot story. I hope it still feels like one of mine.

Usually I check for that, but this time I missed it. (And I read that story.) I don't feel married to this title. I just liked it better than my 2nd choice "Superman Returns" which has sort of been used before. I know that there are no rules against duplicate names, but I do generally try to avoid doing that.

So, if everyone wants "Superman Returns" or can suggest a better name, I'm happy to re-title the story to avoid confusion.

Bob

Wonderful! I really, really enjoyed "When the Sky Falls," and I have been waiting with baited breath for the promised sequel. I can't wait to see how Superman will come back, or what happened to Lex Luthor...

Can't wait for the next installment!

An intriguing setup. And thanks for the refresher on the events in your earlier story. I know I had read it and enjoyed it, but the details were a little fuzzy in my mind.

Thanks for being willing to consider a different title. My first thought upon reading this section was, "The Fallout." Unfortunately, it might prove too close to another story that is out there -- the archive has a story called simply, "Fallout" (without a definite article.) If I can come with anything else, I'll let you know.

Looking forward to part 2.

Joy,
Lynn

So here are a few ideas

• Defying Gravity: The Return of Superman
• Rebound: The Return of Superman
• Ascent: The Return of Superman
• Superman Rising
• Above the Rubble
• Through the Rubble
• In Flight

I like Defying Gravity: The Return of Superman

Of course part of the reason is I love the song
Defying Gravity

I like Bob's title and it fits very well with his original fic "When The Sky Falls". It would not be a disaster for the Archive to have two fics with the same title - it has happened before. FoLCs can easily differentiate based on author.

My actual original working title was The Return of Superman. I thought it would make a nice bookend opposite my The Return of Ultra Woman from a few years ago. The only reason I didn't use that title was that I didn't want to risk confusing a potential reader into believing that those stories were associated.

In any case, this time I did check the archive for the name first, so I know this one is unique.


Ultra Lucille: Thank you. I have also been anxiously waiting for my muse to deliver the promised sequel. For the first year, the only delivery that I got was a courtroom story with Superman on trial for crimes against humanity. While I couldn't bring myself to write that, parts of it did end up in Identity.


Lynn: I just didn't see any way to have this story be accessible after all this time without a serious review of SkyFall. It does cause the story to get going a little more slowly than I like, but I didn't see any other way. It did provide a reasonable platform to explain where Clark's parents were during the original story.


Framework4:
Thank's for the suggestions. As you can see, we were mostly on the same page. I did want to retain a link to the original story so I used the form you suggested with a slightly different beginning.

I hope you enjoy where it goes.


IolantheAlias: I'm glad you liked it but, as I said to Lynn, had I done my normal due diligence, I would have picked another title right from the beginning. My story Rumors is based on the song Something to Talk About , but when I looked in the archive I discovered that there were already two stories there with that title, so I've done this before. It's just that usually I do that research before I post anything.

Thank you for the beta help and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.


Bob

The title says it all.

It is was soo awesome to see this work come to life. Bob has worked for a long time to bring this story to fruition. I am very happy to have had a small part in that.

Now let us all take in this story which answers a great deal of questions!

YAY! So happy to see this story!

It's good to know that Jonathan and Martha are well. Clark has already lost so much. It's like he lost all his past life. Now at least he has his parents back. They will help Clark to recreate Superman because they are the best Superman experts in the world.

Andreia

Thanks for the recap. It's been a while since I read Sky Fall and I had forgotten that Clark still didn't have all his memories and/or powers back. I do remember thinking, "Here?! You're ending here?!" So, I too am glad for the sequel.

I always thought that M&J had been taken out of Smallville by Clark, which he didn't remember after losing his memories. I love the clan get together of the Irigs. What fun! How nice of them to allow the Kents to bunk with them. Poor M&J, not knowing whether Clark was alive or dead. You could do a whole other story just about what happened to them and what they went through.

I look forward to where you might take this. I'm sure that Superman won't have an easy return, from all the death and destruction left in the wake of Nightfall. I'm sure Lex will come back somehow and blame him.

I'll be reading, even if I don't always time to comment as I'm trying not to fall behind in my story.

I did think of another title last night, but you had changed it before I had time to comment:

After the Sky Falls or After the Sky Fell

which, of course, would link it to the previous story and wouldn't change your original title all too much. Although, when I saw your new title I began to wonder if the "Fall" was referring to the fall of the hero or the fall of Superman and not necessarily just to Nightfall.

Yes, I too try to double check the Archives to see if a similar title was already used before choosing my final title. Then again, with my stories I have a tendency to use similar titles (my apologies to anyone who gets confused).

When I saw that this was a sequel, I decided to go read the first one first. Turns out that When the Sky Falls is a story I had wanted to re-read but couldn't remember the title or author. Thanks for "finding" it for me! I really enjoyed your take on the Nightfall story and the explanation for Clark's amnesia. I also liked the sweet romance between Lois and Clark. I look forward to enjoying the sequel.

It's funny reading Martha and Johnathan explaining where they've been because I had thought that you had given their explanation at the end of the first story, and it didn't match what I thought I had remembered. I think I must have come up with my own ideas of where they were after reading When the Sky Falls the first time. I thought they had been traveling to Metropolis for some reason and got delayed on the way, but I like your explanation that they were with Wayne's family.

Hi, Morgana: Well, they were and they did.


Bob

When nagging brings out this kind wonderful story it is well worth it!

You DO lOOOve cliffhangers.

That's my story gang and I'm sticking to it.

The sequal is finally here. I gave up hope of every seeing this sequal, but I guess it did come about.

Morgana


John You and me both!

Bob

I had to read When The Sky Falls again before starting to read the sequel, it is such a great story.

KateB Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yes, their presence should come in handy in several ways.

Bob

Hi Bob!

It’s been way too long since this was posted, erm, since I had time to FDK
Oh boy, I guess some things you do forget in 8 years

Oh, she’d rather her in-laws where dead, huh? Less hassle. Either that, or it gives them the opportunity to correct her from anything starting with ‘we’re ghosts’ to ‘alt-parents’ or ‘robots’ and ‘clones’. You never know with these two.

Yeah, they probably don’t know that Lois is now a woman wed and not just some floozy shaking up with their innocent little boy.

Probably measuring temperature, body density, micro-gravitational pull and heartbeats to rule out ‘robot’ and ‘ghost’.

*blinks* I also apparently forgot his ongoing bout of amnesia

Yes. Not a floozy.

Oh right. Lois is wearing a wedding ring but staying with Clark. She’s probably run out on her husband and shacked up with her boyfriend.

See? Even Clark felt it necessary to disabuse his mother of the above mentioned notion regarding Lois’s character as a wife.

Martha probably wonders, considering the amnesia, if Lois is already aware that her husband has gravitational issues. And is not particularly concerned with the possibility of his wife scratching his back.

They didn’t want the little one to be born outside of wedlock. That darn honeymoon suite kind of left a mark.

Yeah, that would have been awkward, what with him always running out and returning with lipstick on his color and smelling of various perfumes, not to mention the strands of long hair he’s bound to collect during his endeavors.

Oh. Wait, what?

Yes, a perfectly legitimate deal where one exchanges goods and services for other services.

The cramped living arrangements probably got on his nerves.

Nice touch!

Rock slides in the mouth of the valley?

Yeah, now that they don’t need any emergency meat reservoirs any longer, it’s probably for the best.

Great way to get us all caught up!

Michael