Submitted: July 2006 Author's Notes: This is the fifth and final story in a collection of vignettes based on the same theme--a theme that I have never seen in any of the Lois & Clark fic I've read—-well, at least not very often, and definitely not the first time through the fanfic archive. It's a good thing I got my third season DVD set last Wednesday, or I would've probably had to set this vignette somewhere else in continuity. Ironically enough, the DVD set (which I'd pre-ordered from Amazon 3 months before it was released) arrived at my door on the exact same day as SUPERMAN RETURNS came out in theaters. How's that for great karma? This fifth--and final!--vignette is set in the third season, during "Virtually Destroyed.” Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the settings in this fanfic. I only own the idea. The rest belongs to Warner Brothers. ----- "Superman, I can't create an exit window for us, so unless we can find X's escape window, and steal it, we'll be trapped inside. Maybe forever," Jimmy sounded worried, as well he should have. As often as Lois got in trouble, it still harried her friends, who just could not sit still until she'd been rescued. Before Superman could answer, the two frenzied males were interrupted. "Perhaps I can be of assistance?" Superman glanced toward the origin of the voice, and then looked back as Jimmy scoffed without looking up from the monitor, "Not unless you know your way around a virtual reality system." The woman who had spoken before had red hair, Superman noticed, and almost-familiar features. "Do I--" he began before she walked right past him and to Jimmy's side. "May I?" she asked, indicating the keyboard. Finally, Jimmy looked up at the woman, and seeing she was serious, he lifted his hands from the keyboard and pushed his chair back before standing and offering it to her. "Be my guest." Just then, Perry walked by and noticed that Jimmy was away from the computer. "Everything okay, son?" he asked. "Lois back yet?" The young man did not get a chance to reply, however, since all three men were startled as the woman's fingers blurred across the keyboard. Perry's eyes widened, but he was the first to recover from the shock. He turned to Superman. "Relative of yours?" Superman shook his head in bewilderment. "I--I'm pretty sure that's impossible. As far as I know, all the other Kryptonians were killed when the planet exploded." "Not all," the woman interjected, still typing. "A select few were able to leave the planet just after your ship broke from Krypton's gravitational pull. You were not informed of this, because no one was certain that they would be able to make it, and they had not had time to refit the larger ship for faster-than-light travel." Superman just stared. Jimmy gawked, mouth open, at the woman's explanation. "Cool." Perry, taking pity on the superhero's dumbstruck expression and adding a bit of his own southern manners, felt it would be good to get some introductions out of the way. "Well then, I'm Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet, the newspaper which is based in this building here. And you are?" Somewhat distracted with the woman's typing—-especially after the keyboard started to smoke ("Such primitive technology!") and Superman fixed it with his freezing breath--Perry was confused, and at least a little surprised, when Superman—-literally—-fainted as she said simply, "Lara." ----- Author's Notes: In case you haven't figured it out yet, this collection of vignettes is based on the theme, "What if Jor-El (or even Jor-El and Lara) HAD survived the explosion of Krypton, but had to use a slower ship than Clark's?" In this particular story (as I think will be the case for the other stories), I have left room for continuation, or a sequel. I may or may not do this myself, although I do have a few different branch-off ideas with which I can continue--I just have trouble deciding which ones I want to go with. Actually, my idea for this vignette changed slightly from conception to typing. Originally, either Jor-El or Lara was going to land in Perry's office (because they'd seen Superman with the El shield on the front page of a recent edition of the Daily Planet), asking where he or she could find Superman (he or she would've called him Kal-El, of course, probably confusing Perry, after which he or she would show Perry the paper). Perry would have then called Clark into his office to ask him if he could "contact" Superman, and then Clark would have told Lois (this would've been sometime in 3rd or 4th season) that he figured it was time to tell Perry the secret. But then, I thought of this idea, and liked it better, so the original idea went by the wayside, never to be written in full. Anyone who wishes is welcome to write their own stories based on any of the beginnings I have or will have written for this vignette collection.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Computer Whiz's Genius by DSDragon
Voices in My Head by DSDragon
Submitted: July 2006 Author's Notes: This is the fourth in a collection of vignettes based on the same theme--a theme that I have never seen in any of the Lois & Clark fic I've read-well, at least not very often, and definitely not the first time through the fanfic archive. It's a good thing I got my third season DVD set last Wednesday, or I would've probably had to set this vignette somewhere else in continuity. Ironically enough, the DVD set (which I'd pre-ordered from Amazon 3 months before it was released) arrived at my door on the exact same day as SUPERMAN RETURNS came out in theaters. How's that for great karma? This fourth vignette is set in third season, and just to be evil, I'm setting it between "Through a Glass Darkly" and "Big Girls Don't Fly," with a twist. Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the settings in this fanfic. I only own the idea. The rest belong to Warner Brothers. ----- Lois was calling him. This was not an abnormal occurrence, but as her voice registered to his senses, so did the just-ebbing tide of excruciating pain. He thought to himself as his muddled brain climbed toward consciousness that the sensation was rather odd--out of place. That is, until he remembered the Kryptonite. His eyes snapped open, and the dim glow of the street lights just outside of the alley next to his apartment dancing around Lois's dark head blinded him until he blinked a couple of times. "Clark!" he heard again, clearly this time. He moaned in response. The pain ebbed further, and he felt her delicate hands on his chest, reassuring her that he was going to be all right after this latest ordeal. "I'm okay, Lois," he said, his voice only slightly slurred. He took a deep breath, and suddenly felt much better. Surprising his fiancée, he stood, his powers returning rapidly after his--thankfully--short exposure to the deadly substance. Lois, her relief embodied in near-hysteria, flung her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "Thank God! I thought I'd lost you when you wouldn't wake up from the Kryptonite force field, and then Sarah and that Miller guy--Clark, they FLEW away, just FLEW up into . . ." She didn't stop there, but he missed the rest because he heard a different voice--a voice he could not put a face to anywhere within his telescopic x-ray vision, which was improving by the second. Lois must have noticed he wasn't listening, because she shook him gently, asking, "Clark, what is it? Is someone in trouble?" Focusing on her face, he shook his head, confused. "I . . . I'm not sure. I don't think anyone's in trouble." "Then what is it?" "Maybe it's just the last effects of the Kryptonite." He dismissed his confusion. Lois wasn't so sure, and even if she was, that wouldn't have stopped her from asking, "What did you hear?" Clark opened his mouth to answer--he was planning to start with, "It sounds crazy," but didn't get past "it" before he heard it again . . . a soft, somewhat feminine voice coming from somewhere . . . in his head? His eyes grew wide and Lois looked at him in concern as he listened again. And the voice had a searching, questing quality to it as it said, Kal-El, my son? ----- "Wh-who's there?" Clark asked the air, momentarily forgetting that Lois was beside him. "Clark?" Lois said. "There's no one here but you and me. Unless I can't see them, which is entirely possible, but--" He re-focused on Lois, and said, "I think I'm just hearing things." Getting a bit irritated at his cryptic responses, Lois snapped quietly, "WHAT things?" Clark looked down, and mumbled in a voice he knew Lois could barely hear, "Voices . . . in my head. It must be leftover effects from the Kryptonite." Lois was doubtful. "But you've never just 'heard things' before after Kryptonite--have you?" He shook his head. "No--wait, it's happening again . . ." Kal-El, my son? If you can hear me, say 'Yes' in your mind. Clark's eyes got even wider, and he did as bid while providing commentary for Lois. "Now, the voices are giving me directions. It was confusing enough when they were calling me 'son.'" At that moment, he had an idea. Who are you? he thought into the "direction" from which the mental voice seemed to be coming. WHERE are you? "Clark?" Lois asked. "This is getting kind of weird." When he heard the answers to his questions, Clark couldn't disagree with his fiancée. "I know," he told her. "And you're not going to believe this--I'm not even sure I believe it . . ." The possibility was mind-boggling, but despite the part of him that hounded him with impossibility warnings, deep down, he couldn't help but believe the voice when it said: Look into the Earth's orbit, where the transport which has carried us to you these three decades has finally arrived. I am Lara.
You Learn Something New Every Day by DSDragon
Submited: May 2006
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the settings in this fanfic. I only own the idea. I couldn't begin to tell you who actually DOES own them?although I suppose I COULD look it up, but I'm not that industrious.
Author's Notes: This is a collection of vignettes based on the same theme?a theme I have never seen in any of the Lois & Clark fic I've read.
This vignette, the third in the collection, is set sometime in fourth season, after "Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding." On second thought, better make it after "Soulmates."
-----
Jimmy Olsen strolled down a busy Metropolis street on his way to the Daily Planet. Just as he reached the overhang underneath the globe, he heard someone say, "Pardon me, but I wonder if you might help me to find someone."
Turning, Jimmy noticed a man who was about Perry White's age coming forward out of a shadow near the Planet's entrance. The sun was behind the building at this time of the morning, so Jimmy hadn't seen the man as he walked around the corner.
Realizing that the man was expecting an answer, Jimmy said, "Sure. Someone specific, or just in general?" He gestured toward the Planet's doors. "We've got personal ads for the general stuff, and sources for the specific."
"I'm looking for my son," the man said. "His name is Kal-El."
Jimmy stroked his chin with one hand and pursed his lips. "Hmmm," he mused. "I've never heard a name like that before. What's he look like?"
Before the man could answer, however, Jimmy saw his friend Clark Kent coming toward the building from the opposite corner. "Hey, CK!" he called, waving the man over.
Clark joined the two men standing outside the entrance to the Daily Planet. "Hey, Jimmy. What's going on?"
"This guy says he's looking for his son," Jimmy explained, "but his son's name isn't anything I've heard before. Maybe you know him?"
Clark looked at the older man and shrugged. "Maybe. What's your son's name?"
"His name is Kal-El."
-----
Clark blinked. Clark wanted to stare at the older man, but at the same time didn't dare, for fear of giving himself away to the young photographer.
Thinking quickly, Clark stalled. In as calm a voice as possible, Clark said, "Yeah, I know who that is, Jimmy. Why don't you go on inside and I'll go get him."
Between sentences, he thought, looking at the older man, I am Kal-El, but I thought you had died with Krypton.
That is what you were told. We were not certain we would survive long enough for the larger transport to make its way to Earth, came the answer. Why does this young man call you "CK?"
"Okay," Jimmy answered, shaking Clark and the other man out of their mental conversation. As he moved toward the entrance, he turned back and asked, "So who is Kal-El? And how do you know him?"
"Kal-El is the name Superman was given at birth," Clark answered. Stay here. I'll explain when I return, he added mentally, watching Jimmy. "And unless I miss my guess, he's really going to want to see this man here, so I better go get him."
Jimmy's eyes widened as his hand rested on the door. "Wow! Superman's got a dad?"
Clark chuckled. "Who doesn't?" Before Jimmy could go inside, however, he thought of something else. "Hey, Jimmy? Could you ask Lois to meet me at the brownstone for lunch? We were planning on walking to the deli at the corner, but I don't know how long it's going to take to find Superman, so . . ."
"Oh, yeah sure, CK. No problem!" the young man enthused.
Clark heard Jimmy muttering to himself. "Wow. Superman has a dad. Learn somethin' new every day, I guess. Two somethings for me today."
Then, just before the door to the Daily Planet closed behind him, Jimmy paused for half a second, and mused, "I wonder what 'Kal-El' means."
-----
Author's Notes: In case you haven't figured it out yet, this collection of vignettes is based on the theme, "What if Jor-El (or even Jor-El and Lara) HAD survived the explosion of Krypton, but had to use a slower ship than Clark's?"
I'm not sure whether it was ever mentioned to the public in general (on the show, of course) that Superman's Kryptonian name was Kal-El. The only time I can think of when it might have been said was when the New Kryptonians were around, but I don't remember enough about that part of the series (at this point, Season 3 isn't out on DVD yet?still another month to go).
In this particular story (as, may be the case for the other stories), I have left room for continuation, or a sequel. I may or may not do this myself, although I do have a few different branch-off ideas with which I can continue?I just have trouble deciding which ones I want to go with.
Anyone who wishes is welcome to write their own stories based on any of the beginnings I have or will have written for this vignette collection.
Phone Call by DSDragon
Submitted: May 2006 Author's Notes: This is the second in a collection of vignettes based on the same theme--a theme that I have never seen in any of the Lois & Clark fic I've read. This vignette, the second in the collection, is set in the beginning of second season, before “Church of Metropolis.” Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the settings in this fanfic. I only own the idea. The rest belongs to Warner Brothers. ----- The telephone rang just as Lois pried herself out of her best friend’s arms to put the second video into the VCR. Since they were in his apartment, Clark took the call while Lois finished rewinding the movie they had just finished. “Clark Kent,” he answered, picking up the receiver. “Honey,” the voice on the other end of the line said without preamble, “I think you’d better come over to the farm for a little bit.” Puzzled, Clark asked, “Sure, Mom, what’s the hurry?” “You probably aren’t going to believe this,” Martha Kent said, “but there’s a man here who says his name is Jor-El, and that you’re his son.” Clark gasped, eyes wide. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lois notice his reaction and creep toward his bedroom. Curbing his surprise for the moment, Clark interjected before his mother could say more. “Could you hold on a second, Mom?” There was a distinct but quiet click on the line as Lois picked up Clark’s bedroom extension. “You might as well hang up, Lois,” he said, watching her surprised facial expressions with his x-ray vision. When she had put the receiver back to her ear, he continued. “I promise I’ll tell you what’s going on, but I have to explain a few other things first. Just let me finish talking here, and you can ask all the questions you want.” Lois accepted his terms-there was another click on the line as she set the phone back in its cradle. Clark made sure her hands left the phone completely, then brought his vision back to focus in his living room. Speaking a bit more quietly than before, Clark let out a breath and said to his mother, “Mom, give me an hour, and I’ll be there--with or without Lois.” He could hear the smile in Martha’s voice as she said, “You’re really going to tell her then?” “It’s kind of a moot point now,” Clark acknowledged. “She’s curious, and she won’t let up until she knows that she knows everything that I know. And believe me, she’ll know if I’m hiding something.” “You’d better believe it, Farmboy,” Lois looked at him pointedly, crossing her arms and standing in front of him on her way back from the bedroom. Martha chuckled. “Well, good luck.” “Thanks, Mom. See you soon.” “Bye, honey.” “Bye, Mom,” Clark hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and sat down with a deep exhalation as he waited for Lois to sit again. “I guess I should start at the beginning, then,” he said. “Remember, during our first story I told you I’m not your typical male? . . .” ----- Forty-five minutes later, Lois hadn’t said a word. “So, as you know, my mom just called,” Clark began to conclude his explanation, which had touched on not only his history at the Kent farm, but also the globe he had found in the warehouse owned by Bureau 39 on Bessolo Boulevard. Lois nodded, a bit overwhelmed and somewhat shell-shocked. “Apparently, someone claiming to be my biological father has come to the Kent farm looking for me.” When it became clear that Clark had no more to say for the moment, Lois asked, “And you’re just going to believe this guy?” “Well,” Clark answered, “He did tell Mom his name was Jor-El. I’ve never told even Mom and Dad the names of my biological parents--and I haven’t told them the name I was given at birth, either. There’s no way anyone could have known the name Jor-El unless they were Kryptonian themselves--not even Jack knows, since he never saw the first message in the globe.” “So . . . what?” Lois asked. “Why tell me now? And don’t give me that ‘You’ll just pry it out of me anyway’ spiel, because I’ve known for months that you’ve had a secret from me and I haven’t been able to pry it from you yet.” “I want you to come with me.” Lois’s brow furrowed at Clark’s response. “Why?” “Think, Lois,” Clark begged. “All my life, I’ve wondered who I was, where I came from. Last year, I learned just a little bit of that, and now here’s this person claiming to be someone I thought was long dead. Someone who could give me all the answers I want.” “Yeah, so?” Lois still didn’t see. “It all seems like it may be too good to be true,” Clark continued. “I need that Lois Lane skepticism--just in case this man really isn’t who he says he is. Basically, I need you there as a buffer for my over-enthusiasm.” Lois raised an eyebrow. “Who’d’ve thunk it? Superman needs me, Lois Lane, of all people, to play the bad cop.” “No,” he corrected her. “Clark Kent needs you, Lois Lane, to play the city-girl skeptic to his innocent farm boy.” “Well, what are we waiting for?” Lois asked as she jumped to her feet from Clark’s sofa. “Let’s get going!” “You’re not mad at the whole secret thing?” “I might be later, but right now, I think I might just need to vent some skepticism--and you’ve just given me the perfect chance to do it.” Clark chuckled. “Okay then, let’s go.” Lois turned toward the apartment’s French doors. “Lois,” Clark asked, “where are you going?” “To the car,” Lois answered as she rolled her eyes. “Where else?” "How about the balcony instead?" Clark answered, then spun into the familiar spandex suit. "It's much faster," he added, scooping her into his arms. Lifting off into the evening sky, Clark laughed when he heard Lois say, “If you keep doing things like that, I may not have much skepticism left by the time we get to Kansas, Flyboy.” ----- Author’s Notes: In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this collection of vignettes is based on the theme, “What if Jor-El (or even Jor-El and Lara) HAD survived the explosion of Krypton, but had to use a slower ship than Clark’s?” Also, I’ve checked, and no where in “The Foundling” does Clark tell Jonathan and Martha that his Kryptonian name is Kal-El--and he doesn’t mention the names Jor-El and Lara either. This story was based on the assumption that he actually had not told them the names that the globe told him, just why and how he was sent to Earth. In this particular story (as may be the case for the other stories), I have left room for continuation, or a sequel. I may or may not do this myself, although I do have a few different branch-off ideas with which I can continue--I just have trouble deciding which ones I want to go with. Anyone who wishes is welcome to write their own stories based on any of the beginnings I have or will have written for this vignette collection.
Unexpected Visitor by DSDragon
Submitted: May 2006 Author's Notes: This is the first in a collection of vignettes based on the same theme--a theme that I have never seen in any of the Lois & Clark fic I've read. This first vignette is set in late first season, after "The Foundling," but before "Fly Hard," and begins with a revelation. Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the settings in this fanfic. I only own the idea. The rest belongs to Warner Brothers. ----- It was time, Clark Kent had decided, to tell Lois Lane the truth. Of course, he had wanted to tell her all along, but with the way she had been seeing Luthor lately, he felt it best that she know just who he was. Whether he meant himself or the multi-billionaire, Clark wasn't certain, but he figured it was more important for her to make a decision between the two of them based on all of the facts. So, one Saturday, during one of their movie and pizza sessions at his apartment, Clark began, "Lois, there's something I need to tell you." Lois, curious, looked at her friend intently while he squirmed and tried to figure out just how to go about his explanation. I probably should have practiced first, he thought to himself, forgetting that he had only made the decision to tell her a few seconds ago. So, he stalled. "Well, two somethings, actually. And you have to promise to hear me out for both of them." Lois rolled her eyes. "Fine, Clark, I promise. Now will you just tell me already?" Clark nodded, then opened his mouth to speak, only to have the words stop before they reached his tongue. He closed his mouth and tried again with the same result. After a few more attempts, Clark gave up with a sigh. "Maybe I should just show you the first one." His partner gave an exasperated nod and gave him a "get on with it" gesture with her hand. Clark stood, removed his glasses, and began to spin. Faster and faster he spun, the black and grey of his comfortable muscle tee and shorts becoming vibrant red and electric blue before he stopped, arms folded and hair slicked back, glasses tucked away. Lois stared. And stared. Then finally spoke. "Well, that explains a few things," she said. "I assume," she continued, crossing her own arms, "that you are going to explain the rest?" Clark nodded. "But do you mind if I change back? This suit--" He gestured to the spandex he wore. "--is kind of embarrassing." Lois blinked. "Why?" "The first thing Mom said when I tried this one on was, ‘No one's going to be looking at your face,'" Clark answered, blushing. "And, well, that was the point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, does it?" Lois giggled--giggled!--while Clark, disbelieving, spun back into his muscle tee and shorts. He left the glasses on the coffee table. "Who'd've thunk," she said when he sat back down on the couch, "that Superman's sternest pose was actually an attempt to cover up?" At that statement, Clark had to do a double-take. He chuckled. "You know, I've never thought about it that way." "Of course you didn't," Lois pointed out. "You were the one doing it." Clark didn't follow, but he had a better thing to do than follow up on Lois's weird logic. "You're not mad?" Surprised, Lois shrugged. "I might be later. But right now, you're going to tell me everything from Krypton to Kent." Clark smiled. "Well, you're in luck," he said. "I just found out all that stuff a few weeks ago." Lois's eyes widened at that, but she didn't say a word while Clark began his story. "I was born on Krypton, just as the planet was dying . . ." ----- ". . . and then the Kents found me in Schuster's field, raising me as their own. They were a bit surprised when they found out I could lift the tractor all by myself, but they've been the best parents I could've hoped for," Clark finished his tale. "So, why Superman?" Lois asked. "What do you mean?" "What made you become Superman?" she clarified. "You did." Clark's answer surprised her. "Me?" He nodded, but before he could answer there was a knock at the door. "I wonder who that could be," he said, puzzled. "Usually, the only one who knocks on my door this late is you." "Well, don't just sit there," Lois urged. "Answer it!" "Oh! Right." He stood, put on his glasses again, and made his way up the stairs to his front door. Forgetting about his x-ray vision, he opened the door. On the other side of the threshold stood a man who looked about the same age as Jonathan Kent. But that coincidence was not what stopped Clark in his tracks. The man looked familiar to Clark, although he was certain he had never met the man in his life. "Can I help you?" he inquired, unconsciously staring at the man, trying to figure out who he was. He had already forgotten that he still had to tell Lois about Luthor. "I am looking for my son," the man answered. "I was hoping you might know of him." "What makes you think I know him? Who is your son?" "Clark?" Lois asked from the sofa. "Who is it?" Just as Clark turned his head to answer Lois's question, the man said, "My son is Kal-El, of the planet Krypton." Clark's head whipped back to the old man, this time studying his face even more intently than before. Unconsciously, he backed away from the door, letting go of the knob so that the door swung farther open. When he didn't say a word, Lois walked to his side from the couch. She put her hand on his arm and asked, "Clark, what's wrong?" At her touch, Clark was shaken out of his surprise. Slowly, he looked into Lois's eyes, his own filling with the joy of the smile he felt coming to his face. "It looks like I may have been a bit mistaken in the story I just told you." Lois, confused, asked, "What do you mean?" Indicating the old man, Clark said, awe and wonderment tingeing his tone, "Lois Lane, I'd like you to meet my father, Jor-El of Krypton." ----- Author's Notes: In case you haven't figured it out yet, this collection of vignettes is based on the theme, "What if Jor-El (or even Jor-El and Lara) HAD survived the explosion of Krypton, but had to use a slower ship than Clark's?" In this particular story (as, I think will be the case for the other stories), I have left room for continuation, or a sequel. I may or may not do this myself, although I do have a few different branch-off ideas with which I can continue--I just have trouble deciding which ones I want to go with. Anyone who wishes is welcome to write their own stories based on any of the beginnings I have or will have written for this vignette collection.
