From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9804E" ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 05:31:47 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Re: A fanfic writers' listserve Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:50 AM 4/28/98 PDT, Peace wrote: >I've just joined a newly organized fanfic writers' listserve (I'll be >forwarding information on it in just a moment, in case others on >this list are interested) I do. >and wanted to share a quote in the .sig >of the first message that I got: > > "Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage > done in a system where contemporary myths are owned > by corporations instead of owned by the folk." > Henry Jenkins > Director of media studies at MIT > >I like this! Me, too! Wow will they be surprised when we superfly in en masse, eh? Debby :) Debby@swcp.com who really *needs* more email to read... sigh! :D ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 07:54:21 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gary Subject: Re: There's ONLY ONE (was Re: A fanfic writers' listserve) In-Reply-To: MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 08:42 PM 4/28/98 -0600, you wrote: > >Ah yes, but what I meant was the fandom itself. The parallels between B&B >fans and L&C fans, especially when it comes to fan vs. producer visions >for the characters, were almost eerie. > I know that's what you meant, and by the transitive property, if the stories be the same then it follows that the fandoms and yes, sadly, that the producers will be the same as well. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | Gary A. Rudick mailto:gar8434@rit.edu | | "You decide what you feel heaven is worth" - Deborah Gibson, TWYH | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 16:24:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS: Episode 20 "Then Came You" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Following this message, I will be posting my TUFS episode titled "Then Came You." It is a story about the alternate dimension's Clark Kent, and his search for that worlds Lois Lane. Hope you enjoy it. Comments are encouraged. Note: There are six (6) parts to the story. Well - this half of the story. :-) ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 16:26:12 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS: Ep 20 "Then Came You" - Part 1/6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #20) "Then Came You" Part 1 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- *** [Teaser] {Present Day, Metropolis} "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Clark," she licked her lips, "this chocolate mousse is delicious." Clark watched, fascinated, as her tongue ran across her lips. "It certainly, er, looks delicious." It suddenly felt warmer. Lois shot him a wicked grin. "Is it getting hotter in here?" "You noticed it too? I thought it was just me." A flash of lightning highlighted her features, and thunder sounded close by. The spring showers were a bit zealous tonight. "Aren't you impervious to..." she slowly sucked a bit of chocolate off her finger, "temperature changes?" "To temperature changes, yes. To you, no." He squirmed a bit in his chair. He glanced around to see if anyone else noticed the effect his wife had on him. He had planned on eating on the terrace for privacy, but the weather hadn't cooperated. The staff had tried to seat them as far away from everyone else as possible, but it wasn't the same. She brought his attention back to her. "Thanks for the wonderful anniversary present. This little cafe is just charming. The food was great, the dessert even better." She leaned toward him, letting the low cut neckline of her blouse work to her advantage. A new heart-shaped diamond dangled from a simple chain. She reached up and fingered it lightly, drawing his attention to it. "The pendant is beautiful. Nice and simple -- just like you." She looked up with a smile. His attention was fixed on the necklace, and the cleavage behind it. She laughed a little, snapping him out of his trance. "I'm, uh, I'm..." he had to clear his throat. "I'm glad you like it. It looks *great* -- on you," he hastily added. She reached over and took his hands in hers. "It's hard to believe we've only been married for six months. I've only known you a little over a year, but sometimes I feel like I've known you all my life." Clark smiled warmly. "I know I'd searched for you all of mine." They stared into each other's eyes, letting their emotions and feelings convey themselves naturally. "I sometimes feel like this is some B-rated romance movie and any moment I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone." Lois squeezed his hands a little harder. "I'm not going anywhere, hon." Just as he spoke the words, there was a brilliant flash as lightning struck just outside the cafe, hitting an electrical pole. The transformer mounted on the pole exploded and sent hot chemical- laden oil streaming everywhere. Pieces of metal from the transformer sliced through the air, embedding themselves in everything close by: metal, brick, and flesh alike. Inside the cafe, people were screaming as the darkness sent a flood of panic through the small crowd. Clark jumped up and gave an apologetic look to his wife. "I'm..." She held up her hands and smiled reluctantly. "Go. There are people hurt." Clark hurried over to the large street-front window which had been shattered by the flying debris. A young couple had been sitting right next to the window when the lightning hit. They were covered with multiple cuts from the flying glass, but what worried Clark the most was the large chunk of metal sticking out of the woman's left thigh. His X-ray vision confirmed it was dangerously close to an artery. If she didn't receive medical attention soon, she could bleed to death. "Can someone help us?" the young man pleaded. "Has anyone called an ambulance, please!?" "The phone isn't working," someone answered. "I'm trying my cell phone, but I'm not getting through," came another voice. The young man, despite the cuts he had suffered, was trying to comfort his companion. Clark could see the fear in the young man's eyes as he saw how much blood she was losing. He stepped forward through the crowd. "Here, let me help." He bent down beside the young woman. "Are... are you a doctor?" she asked in a weak voice. Clark smiled to her. "No. But I can get you to one *very* fast." First checking for a back or neck injury, he effortlessly picked her up off the floor. "What are you doing?" the young man exclaimed, as he leapt up from the floor. Looking the young man in the eyes, Clark put on his voice of confidence. "I'm going to take her to the hospital. I'll be back for you in a moment." With that he lifted himself and the woman off the floor about three feet. There wasn't time to change into the Suit. He angled forward and started to fly through the shattered window. "Don't worry, Miss. We'll be there in no time." After a faint whooshing noise and a distant boom, the crowd was left staring at the empty spot where they had once been, a slight backwash of air signaling their departure. Lois stepped through the crowd and muttered, "Showoff." *** [Act I] {18 months earlier.} She tore through the jungle, small branches whipping at her legs and hands. She was making too much noise! They would find her for sure if she didn't go quietly. she screamed back to herself. Faster, she had to go faster. She tripped and fell down an outcropping of rock. She landed wrong on her left ankle, the pain shooting through her leg. She quickly looked around to get her bearings. She could hear them calling, yelling her name. She crawled under the outcropping of rock, biting back the pain as she moved. She positioned herself up against the rocks and covered herself with leaves, twigs and other scattered greenery. They were very close now. Her pursuers stopped directly above her. She could feel the little pebbles their boots had kicked over the edge fall and scatter across her legs. She was scared to even breathe for fear that something would move and they would find her. She could barely control her muscles. They were on the verge of shaking from fatigue and fear. They were talking in French. In shock, she realized she could smell them. The pungent odor of their sweat drifted down to her. If she could smell them, could they smell her? She closed her eyes and willed them to leave. She could hear them move away from the edge and go tramping into the distance. She was exhausted. She relaxed a little bit and let her head lay down on the ground. Something hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes shot open to find that one of them must have stayed behind when the others went to look for her. He had jumped off the outcropping directly on top of her. His wide, toothy grin filled her field of vision. "My, my, my. What do we have here?" He was lying on top of her, pressing his full weight onto her. He moved his leg and bumped her injured ankle, and she let out a small yelp. "Oh, are we hurt?" he asked with false concern. His toothy grin returned. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of you." His hands roamed down to her hips and up again. She instinctively tried to yell, but he covered her mouth with his dirty hand. "No, no. We don't want the other boys to find us before we've had a chance to have our fun. They'll get their turn... in time." He reached up with his free hand, grabbed the front of her shirt, and pulled. She sat up straight in bed, her own screams echoing in her ears. She cast her eyes around wildly, searching the room for any dangers. It took her a second or two to figure out where she was. "A... dream," she mumbled between panting breaths. "Only... a... dream." She got out of bed and made her way to the small bathroom. The room she was renting wasn't big, nor was it necessarily in the nicest part of the city. But it did have its own bathroom and it was cheap. She clicked on the overhead light and turned on the cold water. She picked up the washcloth she had used earlier to remove her make-up and began soaking it. She looked up into the mirror over the sink, and stared into bloodshot green eyes. She looked like death warmed over. "Hello, beautiful," she said sarcastically to the image in the mirror. She turned off the water and wrung some of the excess water out of the washcloth. Applying the cool cloth to her face and neck, she could feel the tension start to subside. Again, she looked into the mirror. She looked little better. Not much, though. She ran her fingers through her short, red hair, straightening it as best she could. No sense in trying to go back to sleep right away. Ever since she came to Metropolis she'd been having nightmares." She turned back toward the room, shutting the light off as she went. She made her way through the dark to the bedside table and turned on the lamp. Sitting down on the bed, she pulled out a folder from under the bed. She began flipping through the newspaper clippings. She pulled out the largest one and laid it face up in her lap. A large, color photo of a familiar red, yellow and blue figure stared back at her. "You're gambling a lot, coming here, Amanda. Let's just hope your interview at the Planet goes well tomorrow..." She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "Today," she corrected. So much depended on him, the man in the suit. Was he for real? Was he to be trusted? Regardless, her answers lay at the Planet, so that's where she had to go. Amanda put the clipping back into the folder and removed another piece of paper. She stared at the address and phone number. "I want to call you, Sis. I want someone I can talk to. It's been so long." She could feel the tears start to form in her eyes. She blinked them back, and wondered yet again, *** {Mar 1997, the skies over The Democratic Republic of Congo (Formerly known as Zaire)} Superman hung in the air like a lifeless doll, staring down at the ground, but not really seeing anything. He had been flying around this miserable country for hours, searching, hoping. Yet, he knew the answer before he even bothered to look. Nothing. He had found nothing. Again. What was it H.G. Wells had said? Never say impossible? He had been so cryptic. Clark had tried to get more information out of him, but the little man wasn't very forthcoming. Clark had been so filled with hope at Wells' words. Maybe Wells was going to bring him back just before his Lois would die and he could prevent it. He would save the day, save the girl and save his life. Cut - print - get-it-developed-so-we-can-start- making-money. However, upon his return to his own dimension, he found he was still alone. H.G. Wells was nowhere in sight. At first he thought he was in a different time, a different place, but after checking, he realized that Mr. Wells had put him back at almost the exact time they had left. Confused and needing Lois more than ever, he had decided to give the Congo another look. As his disappointment grew, so did his anger. He flexed his hands around some unseen throat. Take him from his lonely, torturous life; thrust him into the presence of the one person who had cast a shred of light on his darkened existence; and then to throw him back, as if nothing had changed. The little weasel had even made that parting remark about 'nothing is impossible', 'look where you least expect', yadda, yadda, yadda. Clark turned toward home and shot across the sky. In the blink of the eye, he was in his apartment in Metropolis. There, on the table, was a hand-written letter, from Mr. Wells. Dear Clark, Don't think me too cruel. I suspect you went back to the Congo for another look around. Remember what I said. Look where you least expect. The answer to your quest may be closer than you think. H.G. Wells "Well, that doesn't help me any!" Clark yelled to no one in particular, as if he could shout his frustration across the time and dimensional barriers. He flopped down into a leather chair and stared out the window overlooking Metropolis. He lived in the penthouse of the tallest building in the city. One reason was to get away from everyone after his "skills" had been discovered. The other was that he could get anywhere from here pretty fast. It was a good operational decision. But it didn't have the same homey feel his original apartment did, though, and he missed that. He recoiled in disgust at having even entertained that thought. He knew it wasn't fair; he barely knew anything about the man. Or the woman beside the man. He tried to imagine what that other Clark's life must be like working at the Planet, investigating stories with his soulmate. Investigating. At the Planet. "Yes!" He levitated into the air automatically, riding on the joy of his thoughts. He stood up and walked over to the French doors. The very fact that H.G. Wells had given him any hope at all more or less confirmed that his Lois Lane was still out there; he just had to find her. Once out on the terrace, he located the Daily Planet. He took a quick peek to see if Mr. Olsen was in his office. He was. In a flash of color, Clark was gone. *** ================================================================= End of Part 1 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 16:27:04 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS: Ep 20 "Then Came You" - Part 2/6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #20) "Then Came You" Part 2 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- The doors of the elevator opened on the newsroom floor and Clark felt a little numb, unable to move. He quickly put up his hand to keep the elevator doors from closing. He exited the elevator and stood there, taking in the sights, sounds and smell. He missed it. Sure, he still wrote freelance for the Planet, but it wasn't the same. He looked over in the direction of Mr. Olsen's office and saw that he was still there. He made a beeline toward his office, determined to find the answer to his constant question: "Where is Lois Lane?" Fixed on his mission, Clark failed to realize that Mr. Olsen had someone else in his office at that moment. Clark knocked on the door and, without waiting for a reply, walked into the room. "Mr. Olsen, I need to have access to the Planet's archives..." The rest of his sentence died on his lips as he realized how rude he had been by barging in like this. His single-minded mission had blinded him to the presence of someone else in the room. James Olsen sat up with a surprised look on his face at Clark's intrusion. He took a moment to acknowledge him. "Clark?" "I'm... sorry, Mr. Olsen. That was incredibly rude of me." Clark turned to leave, pulling the door shut behind him. Recovering, James held up his hand. "No, wait, Clark!" Clark hesitated, then turned back. "Come on in, Clark. It's good to see you. I don't think I've seen your face around here in quite a while." James got up from behind his desk as he talked and walked over to shake his hand. "How have you been? You should come around more often." He led him back over to the desk and offered him a chair. Clark sat down. "I've been... busy." The word seemed to lack the ability to express just what his life was like now, but it would have to do. "I understand. Clark, I'd like to introduce you to one of the newest Daily Planet employees." He stepped to one side, motioning with his hand to the other chair. "Clark Kent, this is Amanda Hart. Amanda, Clark Kent." Clark was struck speechless for a second. He felt a faint tug in his chest, but wasn't sure why. She was staring at him, her hand extended to shake his, but hanging in the air where he was ignoring it. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ms. Hart. My mind is a bit preoccupied at the moment. Nice to meet you." He reached up and took her hand is his. He almost jumped at the tingle he received when their hands touched. "Oh!" she said in a soft voice. She laughed. "Static shock. Sorry. Nice to meet you, Mr. Kent." Clark stared at her another second then realized he was still holding her hand. He let go. "Clark. You can call me Clark." "Okay. Just Amanda then." She gave him a peculiar look. "Are you all right?" "I'm just... I came to..." he looked up at James, who was giving him the same peculiar look. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be here and I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I will wait outside, and when you're finished, I have something I want to ask you, Mr. Olsen." James had gone back to his side of the desk and sat down. "No problem, Clark. Amanda and I were just wrapping up. Sit tight." He picked up his pen, signed some documents, and handed them to Amanda. "Here you go; anything else?" "No, sir." She stood up and turned to Clark. "Nice to meet you," she said as she left the room. Clark watched her go. There was something strange about her, but he couldn't figure out what. "So, Clark. What can I do for you?" James pulled Clark's attention to the problem at hand. "Mr. Olsen, I'd like your permission to have full access to the Planet's archives of information." "Sure, no problem. I still consider you an employee of the Planet's even though you only freelance for us. What's up?" Clark hesitated to state his reason. "I'm... searching for... something." "Or someone?" Caught. He smiled. "Or someone." James sighed. "I won't pretend to understand what happened a little over a year ago. If you feel it's worth pursuing, then by all means, pursue it." "Thanks, Mr. Olsen." He stood to leave. "I'll get someone to help you," James picked up his phone and started to dial a number. "That's all right. I won't need any help." "You haven't seen the new computer system I've put in down in Archives." James flashed him a smile. Clark remembered that Mr. Olsen was big into the computer industry. He thought about his offer for a second, then decided against it. He worked alone; for now. Someday he would have a partner, but not today. "No... really. I want to do this alone." James held up his hand in surrender. "All right, all right. I'll just let them know to expect you and to cooperate fully." He waved him on and finished dialing the phone. Clark walked briskly across the newsroom, shooting a quick glance at where his desk had been. James shook his head as he watched him enter the elevator. "Amanda? Clark Kent is coming down to archives for some *private* research. I'm giving him full access to anything he wants. Give him anything he needs, all right? Great." He hung up the phone and steepled his fingers under his chin. "Good luck, Clark." *** Clark rubbed his aching temples. "Why doesn't this computer system like me?" he mumbled not quite to himself. Clark was glad the criminal element hadn't attacked him with a computer yet. It seemed capable of reducing him to ashes right now. "I'm usually so good at this sort of thing..." He attacked the keyboard again, only to be rewarded with numerous beeps and error dialogs. He slumped back. He was out of practice or something, that's all. Right. Hadn't had much use for a computer for awhile. Right. Amanda walked up as he let out another sigh. She touched him on the shoulder. "Is everything going okay?" Clark jumped. He had forgotten she was down here. "Fine. Fine. I just seem to be... stuck... a little." She smiled. "At first I thought we had a gas leak down here. I kept hearing this sound like air escaping or something. Now I know it was only all the sighing going on over here." Clark threw up his hands. "I just don't remember it being so hard to use before." "Want some help?" "No, no... I'm sure I can..." "It's my job, you know. Working down here in archives, helping people. Researching things, finding clues." Clark looked up into her green eyes. Something about her made him uncomfortable. He looked back at the screen. He made his decision. "If you could just... give me a quick course on how to navigate around this software, I think I can handle the rest myself." Amanda thought. "I've only worked here a month or so, but I was here when Mr. Olsen had this new system installed, so I'm pretty good on it." She pulled up a chair next to his. Clark scooted a little to one side to give her access to the mouse and keyboard. He couldn't explain why, but he felt uncomfortable around her. "First thing we need to do is get rid of all these open dialogs and documents. We'll start simple and work up from there." She began closing down windows on the screen. Soon she was left with only the main window. "What would you like to look for?" She turned and looked into his eyes. Maybe that was what bothered him. She always looked straight at him. Almost like she was looking into him. Most people these days were too busy gushing over his other identity to *really* look at him; Clark Kent. Amanda didn't even seem fazed by the fact that she was sitting next to Superman, Champion of Justice, Man Of Steel, Defender of Truth, Justice and the American Way, All Around Hero. Was his ego suffering? Didn't he always want people to act like this around him? Just like he was a "normal" person. Now that he found someone who was, he felt -- odd. "What if I was looking for someone? I want to look up all information that might be available about them," he answered guardedly. He didn't want to tell her, a virtual stranger, that he was looking for the love of his life, even though he had never met her. He definitely didn't want to go into the whole alternate dimension thing. It made his head, and his heart, ache. "Okay, we can see what the Daily Planet has written about that person, if anything. We can also link to most major newspapers in the world. Finally, there's the Internet." She put the cursor over the words "Daily Planet Archives" and clicked the button. Next, she clicked on "Search" and put her hands on the keyboard. "Who should I do a search for?" She looked over at him again. "Oh, ah... how about..." think of someone else, "someone who has disappeared." That left it fairly vague. Amanda ran her hand through her short red hair and laughed. "Someone who disappeared? Like who? Got someone in mind? Are you looking for someone in particular?" Clark squirmed in his chair. He was getting annoyed. "Do you always ask so many questions? Just anyone. Try that Dobs fellow who started that computer company, Pear." "Orange," Amanda corrected. "Okay, okay. Are you always so personable?" Clark let out a loud sigh. "There's that escaping gas noise again," she popped off. She looked around at the ceiling, acting like she was searching for the source of the sound. Clark had to smile despite himself. "You never give up, do you?" "What?" "I mean, I might not feel like... socializing... right now. I might not feel like sharing with you, a perfect stranger, what I'm looking for, or what I'm doing down here." He looked her straight in the eyes, and she looked straight back. That unfamiliar tug in his chest returned. Amanda looked right at him. "Something tells me you need me." Clark pointed at the screen. "Just show me how to use the system -- please." *** Amanda sat at her desk and thought about how the training session had gone today. Clark was a reluctant pupil. At first, he seemed very closed-in, focused inward. He was not at all what she had been expecting. He had needed to run off a couple of times to do some Superman jobs. He was never gone long, and she never saw him in the Suit. One second he would be there, watching her as she showed him the system. Then, he would politely interrupt her and, almost instantaneously, be gone. He would reappear just as fast after several seconds, or once, after several minutes. It was - breathtaking. She tried not to let it show; she wanted him to feel comfortable around her. As they worked together, he had opened up a little - letting some of his charm show through. She suspected the real Clark Kent was a totally different person, and she felt the sudden urge to find out what that person was really like. She could read all she wanted about Superman, but what was the *man* in the suit really like? Blushing, she realized how her thoughts could have more than one meaning. He was good looking after all. She walked to the break room to get some coffee. As soon as she entered the room, a hush fell over most everyone there. She proceeded to the coffee pot, noticing the odd looks people were giving her. "What is everyone staring at?" Amanda finally asked. Carol from accounting spoke up. "What's he like?" "Who?" "Superman! What's he like? You've only been working with him all day!" Amanda looked around the room, and noticed that everyone was hanging on what she was about to say. Amanda finished pouring her coffee, took a sip, then sat down. "Well, he's... quiet. He doesn't say a whole lot. I just showed him how to run the new archive system, and he listened." Megan from procurement sighed. "He's so different looking in real life. I just love the way that blue suit fits him." Several other female co-workers agreed. Amanda felt like defending him. "He's more than something to look at. He's got a mind too. There is a real person inside that suit." Carol giggled. "Yeah! You and nearly every other female would like to find out what he looks like under that suit." That got a response from the crowd. The men looked disgustedly jealous, and the women looked starry-eyed. Amanda cleared her throat. "I admit, I've looked at his... external attributes..." "Hah!" several women laughed. "... But! After spending some time with him, it became clear to me that he's really a sweet guy. Probably lonely." "Whoa, slow down, girl," Megan said. "Get those thoughts out of your mind right now. The Defender of Truth, Justice, and the American Way is taken. Or at least he thinks so." "Right," said Pamela. Amanda placed her; she worked on the newsroom floor. "He's already picked out his dream woman." She rolled her eyes. Amanda was curious now. Clark had seemed so private, she couldn't imagine who would have been able to break through that shell of his. "Really? Who is she?" Carol spoke first. "Well, there was this reporter that worked here at the Daily Planet ages ago. Seems she was some top banana. She disappeared on a story before Clark ever worked here. Somehow, he's become infatuated with finding her." Amanda sat back in silence at this revelation. "I wish he would give up that pipe-dream and move on," Pamela said. "I mean, I'm readily available, and I exist!" Everyone chuckled at that. Amanda's watch beeped at her, interrupting her thoughts. "Well, I've got an appointment. I'll keep you all informed if he comes back." She smiled at the look on their faces. "You had better!" the crowd of women said in unison. *** ================================================================= End of Part 2 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 16:27:58 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS: Ep 20 "Then Came You" - Part 3/6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #20) "Then Came You" Part 3 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Amanda left the Daily Planet building and hailed a cab. Surprisingly, she had little trouble getting one. After a short trip through Metropolis' better side of town, she arrived at a simple apartment complex. She thanked the driver as she paid, then almost hollered out for him to stop once he started to drive away. She felt the feelings of indecision rise again. Before she knew what she was doing, she was ringing the doorbell on the appropriate apartment. Within seconds, a young, dark-haired woman answered the door. "Yes? May I help you?" Amanda stood motionless, staring at the young woman. She tried to open her mouth to say something but couldn't form the words. She realized she should have planned this better, although, how she didn't know. She laughed slightly at herself, ashamed at how silly she must appear. Out of habit, she reached up to push her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry... it's just that I thought I knew what I was doing, but I guess I really didn't." The woman had a strange look on her face as she watched Amanda brush her hair back. Her hair was almost too short to need it. The gesture was more out of habit, she decided. "Do I know you?" the young woman asked. "I'm sure you do. We can talk about it, and I can explain everything once we get inside... Punky." The young woman had started to pull the door closed slightly at the mention of coming inside. The nickname Amanda tacked on the end of the statement left her wide-eyed and shaken. "Who... how did you know that?" Her voice was starting to rise in octave and volume. Amanda looked at her, fixing her with as serious a look as she could muster. She, herself, was starting to feel her emotions reach the breaking point. "Punky - trust me. We need to get inside... *now*!" The young woman hesitated a brief second, then opened the door fully. Amanda brushed past her into the apartment. The young woman looked around to see if anyone was around before shutting the door. The two women turned to look at one another. Each looked the other over from top to bottom. Finally, the younger woman looked Amanda in the eyes, searching for something. Amanda let her look, let her take her time. She saw the emotions play across her face. Anger. Confusion. Searching. Wonderment. Surprise and finally, recognition and disbelief. "Only... only my sister called me that. It was a pet name." "It's true. It's really me, Lucy." "Lois?" They closed the distance quickly, throwing their arms around one another, crying. They both started talking at once, not making much sense to each other, but not caring. Finally, Lucy stood back to look at Amanda. "My God, Lois. I thought I'd never see you again! You just... disappeared!" Anger started to come alive again. "Where on *earth* have you been! Do you realize how... long--?" Lois cut her off. "Lucy, stop. I said I would explain everything, and I will. By the way, it's Amanda now. Amanda Hart. At least till I can get this mess straightened out." They sat down on the couch together. Amanda took a deep breath. "Where to begin?" "How about the beginning?" "Easier said than done, believe me." Amanda shook her head trying to compose herself. "You left to find some gun runners..." Lucy said, trying to get her talking. "Right. Perry called me in and told me about this hot tip he had about gun runners operating out of the Congo. I jumped at the chance. He knew I would," she added bitterly. "Huh?" "I'll get to that in a moment. So, I'm off to the Congo, searching for some non-existent gun runners. I didn't know that then, but I do now." She paused and wiped some more tears from her eyes. She could feel them starting to build again. "What really happened is even worse. I was... betrayed... by the only man I thought I could trust." She couldn't hold it back. She started crying again. "Lois..." "Amanda! You *must* call me Amanda." She got up. "I shouldn't have come here, I shouldn't have put you into the middle of this." She started toward the door. "Where the hell do you think *you're* going?" Lucy grabbed her by the arm and swung her back around. "Don't think for one second that you can waltz in here, disrupt my whole life, and then waltz back out again without even sticking around long enough for me to beat some sense in you... AMANDA!" That stopped her. She could see herself in Lucy. Herself from four years ago. The infamous Lane attitude. She sat back down. When Lucy didn't sit down, she patted the sofa next to her. "Please?" "You won't try running off again, will you? Because I'll tackle you and fight you with all my strength to keep you from leaving again." Amanda laughed. "I won't leave. I promise. Now sit down. Okay, good. Where was I?" "Betrayed." "Oh yes. So, I thought there were gun runners. However, what I found waiting for me at the airport in Bandundu was the Border Patrol." "I'm lost again." "It seems they had a 'tip' that an American woman posing as a member of the press would be transporting illicit drugs into the country. I landed in Zaire, and in less than 30 minutes I was being strip-searched." She shuddered at the memory. "I'm so sorry." The pain for Amanda was audible in Lucy's voice. "It's okay. It could have been worse. They didn't try anything, and it was a woman who did the search, but still. They didn't find anything, naturally, but I was still sent off to jail. I was there in that filthy little rat's nest for 3 weeks. Finally, they came to take me to my trial. I asked: What trial? I haven't done anything! They produced all this 'evidence' of my drug smuggling at the trial. I tried to tell them that they didn't find it on me, but the officials who did the search claimed they had." "What did you do?" "What could I do? I was being railroaded! They sent me back to the prison to await sentencing. Some of the guards got a little drunk and thought they could take advantage of the fair-skinned, weak American woman." "Oh, mistake number one." "Right. They're probably still singing soprano. What was really stupid was they left the cell door open. I got out and hit the streets. Conditions over there are very, very poor. The military muscles everyone around horribly. Since the locals saw that the military was after me, they helped me out of defiance toward them. I slowly made my way across the border into Angola and from there to South Africa." "Wow. How long did all that take?" "It took me a year to get to South Africa. On foot mostly into Angola. From there, I had to work to get enough money to make it into South Africa." "Why didn't you just call home for help?" "Where!? It wasn't like I could use my cell phone; they took that. I doubt it would have worked anyway. An AM/FM radio seemed to be the high-tech toy to them. I very rarely found a phone or radio that worked. And when I did, it was owned or manned by the military. Since I didn't exactly fit in, I couldn't walk up and ask to make a call. I tried to get messages relayed home through the underground. I could never tell if they made it out." "If they did, we never heard about it. Mom and Dad have been going crazy since you left. It's brought them back together. They spend all their spare time and money bugging the officials about you. We never gave up." "Thanks. We can't tell them yet." "But..." "Lucy, no. Not yet. Every time I thought I was safely away, someone would show up looking for me. There had to be more to my situation than a faked drug smuggling. It just doesn't make sense. After I got to South Africa, I started searching for why these people were after me. I couldn't stay in one spot for long. I tried several times to get out of the country, but was stopped every time. It was like they had people everywhere. "I soon became afraid to contact you or someone else for fear that they would come after you to get me. So I decided to stay away until I could figure out what the hell was going on. I must have something they want. They kept coming and coming after me." "So, what can I do?" Lucy looked at her expectantly. "I just needed to see someone. I needed to talk. I've been carrying this around for so long, I feel like I'm dying." "You mentioned something about a betrayal. Is that why you're back in Metropolis?" Amanda stood up and looked out the window, barely trusting herself to speak. "I heard one of them one time. He said something when he had me trapped in the jungle." The nightmare came back and she fought back the feelings. "He said that Mr. White had always said I was a pretty girl; it was just too bad he had to use me like this." "What? What does that mean?" "I can only guess that somehow, Perry was part of whatever it is I'm involved in." Amanda threw up her hands in surrender. "I can't believe it, but after I thought about it, it started to make sense." "No way, not Perry." "I denied it for a long time. Then, one day I got to putting the pieces together. He sent me over there. Alone. He made the travel arrangements. Usually I did my own, but he said he did them because of time. He was the only one who knew I was going and only he knew where I was going to land. I've done some checking on him, and he appears to have several bank accounts in foreign banks, very cleverly hidden, by the way. He's getting money from somewhere, and not from being Mayor of this place." "He... he always seemed to be so nice. Like a father to you." "I know, I know. Don't remind me. I've heard his name used several times by my pursuers." Lucy sat back. "It's still so hard to believe. Why would he have done this?" "I have no idea. I ran and ran, and yet they always found me. Then, about a little over a year ago the chase started to slack off. I haven't seen anyone for about 8 months now. I don't dare feel like I've slipped away from them yet." Amanda sat back down next to Lucy. "And that's another piece to this strange puzzle. I know now that Perry won the mayor's race about the time the chase slacked off. I don't know what the correlation is, but I'm looking into it." "This is going to take some getting used to. I mean, Perry was a father figure even to me at times. I would have trusted him with my life before," Lucy said. "I did." Lucy looked at Amanda, going over her again, from top to bottom. "Man, that hair style and color sure change your looks. And the eyes... contacts?" "Yes." "I *know* it's you, but when I look at you, I find it hard to believe. I guess because you have been gone for so long." "Did anyone come around, asking questions about me while I was gone?" "Sure," Lucy said, "when you first disappeared, several government types showed up. Then there was Superman. He's been around several times." Amanda was surprised again. "Superman?" Lucy looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure why he's interested, but he seems very intent on searching for you. I couldn't help him much. He always seemed so stressed - so on edge. It was like he *had* to find you." "This complicates things," Amanda said. "Why? I would think he would have been a good choice for helping you solve this situation." "Well, I thought so as well. It was one of the reasons I came back here and got a job at the Daily Planet." "You work at the Daily Planet!? And no one recognizes you!?" "No one yet," Amanda smiled. "Anyway, I wanted access to the Planet. I figured that something had to be buried there somewhere about what was going on. Plus, I figured I would see Clark there." "Who?" "Clark Kent - Superman," Amanda said, surprised at having to explain it. "Oh yeah. I forgot what his name was. He almost never uses it anymore." Lucy got up and started walking toward the kitchen area. "Want something to drink?" "Thanks. Water would be great." Amanda stood up and followed Lucy into the other room. "You are right. Initially, I planned on getting Clark... Superman... to help me. But now, twice in one day, I've found out that he seems to be searching for Lois Lane on his own." "Do you always talk about yourself in the third person?" Lucy asked with a smile. "More than I care for." Amanda took a sip of water. "Clark worked under Perry for awhile, and he seems to be pretty good pals with the Mayor's office. I'm starting to wonder if I can trust him." "You're telling me you can't trust Superman, Man of Tomorrow? Defender of Truth, Justice and..." "... and the American way. Yes, yes, I've heard it all before. Wonder how those things get started?" "Marketing." They laughed at the small joke. "Clark seems so private, so closed-in. It took me almost an hour to get him to crack a little and relax," Amanda stated. "You've seen him then? Recently? In real life?" "What is it with people? Sure I've seen him. Today. We worked together for awhile in archives. I showed him how to use the new computer system." Amanda shook her head in wonderment at Clark's ability to awe people. "So. What are we going to do now? He will probably be back around here again. He's come by several times, asking about you. What you did before you left, that kind of thing. I would bet that he'll show up again." Amanda agreed. He would be back to interview Lucy again. "We need a cover in case we're spotted together." Between the two of them, they outlined a basic past history. They had met online, in a chat room. They needed something in common to chat about though. They both had tropical fish as pets, so they used that. When they had found out that they lived close together, they had started a friendship. Amanda left, promising to keep Lucy updated on her findings and to stay in touch. *** ================================================================= End of Part 3 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 16:28:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS: Ep 20 "Then Came You" - Part 4/6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #20) "Then Came You" Part 4 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- [Act II] {April 1997, Metropolis, Daily Planet Archives} Amanda watched Clark as he stared at the screen, scanning information at super-speed. Over the past few weeks, he had come in only about once a week. He never stayed long, always leaving from time to time to perform super-acts. She decided that if she were going to learn more about him, she would have to initiate the conversation since he was ignoring her. Clark wished that Amanda would quit staring at him. She wasn't like everyone else who stared. They all stared at him as if he was an alien. Maybe he was, who knew? The mixture of awe and fear most people pointed in his direction was difficult for him to accept. Amanda stared at him as though willing him to talk to her. He didn't want to talk to her. She was friendly enough. Good looking enough. She was helpful, but not subservient. His feelings toward her puzzled him. At times over the past few weeks he had almost come into the Daily Planet. He had planned on using the search as an excuse to see her and talk to her. When he had realized what he was doing, he would avoid the Daily Planet as much as possible. Only when his information trail ran dry would he go back for more. What was it that he was feeling? Every once in a while he would catch himself staring at her when she wasn't staring at him. He let out a sigh as he punched the mouse button over the search icon. "I thought I'd heard the last of that escaping gas weeks ago," Amanda said cheerily as she walked over toward him. The closer she got, the stronger the tug in his chest became. He was both glad and upset that she was talking to him. "I'm just starting to run out of leads, that's all," Clark said, pointing to the screen. Amanda sat down next to him, and looked him right in the eye. So far, she was the only one who could do that on a consistent basis and make it seem so natural. It unnerved him. "Why don't you tell me what it is you're looking for? Then I can help you find it." "I can't. You would think it's silly," Clark wrung his hands together. "Everyone thinks it's silly..." He let his voice trail off. "I promise. I won't do that." She sounded so sincere. He looked into her eyes for a moment. He could feel the attraction. The computer beeped with a system message, breaking the hold her eyes had on him. "I'm trying to find someone." Amanda sat there patiently, waiting for him to continue. "She... she used to work here at the Daily Planet. Her name is... Lois Lane. She disappeared about four years ago on a story in the Congo." He looked at her for some reaction. What he found was stranger than what he expected. He expected to see a smirk, hidden laughter in the eyes. This was the common reaction from people he knew. It wasn't a *big* secret that he was looking for Lois Lane. Still, he didn't like to admit it to people because most of the time they tried to humor him. Amanda, however, looked almost sad. With a touch of guarded fear. He tuned into her heart beat and found that it was a little fast. "What..." her voice cracked a bit, and she had to clear her throat. "What have you found so far?" Clark summarized what he knew. She had left and never returned. There was no record of her showing up in any of the airports that he had been able to check out. He pulled up the list, and Amanda noted to herself that Bandundu was in it. He had checked out all the major hospitals and detention centers, again with no results. "Surely, those aren't online," Amanda said in disbelief. "They're not. I went over there and checked them out in person." "There must be *hundreds* of places to check!" "I'm fast," Clark shrugged. "Didn't you take a look at Travel's records? Surely there are records as to where she was going." Clark shook his head. "I checked. There were no records. No credit card transactions on her business card. No requests filed on-line for funds. Nothing. I've checked her personal credit cards, and found nothing there either. She never purchased tickets with a credit card for this trip. I can't find any records of savings account or checking account transfers either." Amanda looked at him in surprise. "How did you get that information?" She was starting to get a little worried about her plan to include Clark. Clark fidgeted in his chair for a moment. "Well, let's just say it's a good thing I can move real fast, can read real fast, and have a photographic memory. We'll keep this to ourselves; otherwise, there are certain financial institutions that might start to panic." He grinned genuinely at her. "Okay," she smiled back. He had a nice smile. She decided to change the subject a bit. "I've only seen you here a few times the past few weeks. I know from the paper and the television you've been pretty busy with your... job." Clark laughed. "Job. Right. Superman. Defender of..." "Please! I don't want to hear it again, sorry." Clark really laughed this time. "Hey! That's fine by me, I don't know where they get this stuff anyway." "Marketing," Amanda said between laughs. Clark laughed harder. Gosh it felt good to laugh like this, with someone else. "I'll have to ask Murray if he's responsible for that." "Murray?" "He's my," a brief sigh, "agent. I guess that's a good word for him. Back when I first went public, I quickly realized my job at the Daily Planet was pretty much forfeit. I used to work here as a reporter," he explained to her. "Anyway, I was going to need money somehow, somewhere, some way. It seemed natural to form the Superman Foundation. Murray Brown tracked me down almost the same day I made myself known publicly. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He would market the Superman persona -- cape, boots, S and all. The majority of the money goes to various charities and community programs. He keeps a percentage and I get a percentage." Amanda nodded. "Seems reasonable. I've noticed all the toys, shirts and stuff. Guess I never thought about where it all comes from." She turned their attention back to Clark's "problem." "Did you go over there and ask about Lois Lane by name? Did you show them a picture?" "Of course." "Maybe that's why you didn't find anything. If they were wanting to hide something, you tipped them off to exactly what you were looking for." Clark thought for a moment. "I suppose they could have been hiding something from me. I was so narrow-minded, I might have missed it." "Did you check court records for a trial of some kind? How about the morgues? Military records, command orders? Did you try to find out who the local underground is and nose around in there?" "Wow. You act like an expert in all this cloak-and-dagger stuff." He looked at her with a new appreciation. She was actually trying to help him! "I've just been around a bit. You read some amazing things down here as well." She paused as she tried to find the words for her next question. "Why exactly do you want to find this... Lois Lane so badly?" Was that too forward? She could see the beginnings of his good mood dissipate. He shrank back into himself a little. "Let's just say, I need her." Amanda thought. She looked at Clark, silently asking for more. "Don't look at me that way, I'm not going to tell you why. You'll think I'm crazy," he shook his head. There was real sadness in his eyes. Amanda continued to sit there patently, giving him the tell me look. Clark glanced at her. She sure was stubborn! He could feel his resolve disappearing. "Promise you won't laugh, or roll your eyes or any of those other goofy things." "I promise." "Lois Lane is that special someone I've been searching for all my life. Whenever I was around her, I could feel this... thing... this *chemistry* that made everything so much better." Shocked was a bit of an understatement to describe how Amanda felt about now. "When you were around her? I thought you said she disappeared before you came to work for the Planet?" She would have remembered seeing him, she was sure of that. "You're right. I showed up later. This is where it get weird and people start thinking I'm a nut or something." He paused. "Somehow, another Lois Lane from an alternate dimension showed up here one day." He looked over at Amanda and could see she was beginning to think something had slipped upstairs. "I'm serious, Amanda. She showed up in the newsroom bigger than life. Ask Mr. Olsen, or anyone else who was there last January. She was here. She changed my whole life in the short time she was here. I'm Superman today because of her. Recently, I saw her again; in her own dimension. The feelings only got stronger, deeper. As I was coming back, I was told that nothing is impossible." He looked deeply into her eyes. His faith, love and conviction heavy in his voice. "The Lois Lane of this world is out there, and I'm going to find her." Amanda almost blurted out "I'm here! It's me!" She held back at the last instant; it was too soon, and she wasn't sure of anything anymore. An alternate dimensional version of herself? It was a bit hard to believe, but then who would have believed a man could fly, and here she was sitting right next to one who could. Clark looked at her, trying to read a reaction. "Well?" "I don't know what to say." "You believe me?" "Sure. I mean... it's a bit... out there. But so is a guy who can fly. If that can be true, then so can this." Clark shook his head and laughed. "You're amazing. Most people think I'm some sort of kook or something. I've heard what people have to say about me," he tapped his ear. "These pick up more than I care for sometimes." "Clark, I've a question for you," Amanda stated. "Do you spend much time doing things other than being Superman?" That was a surprise. "What do you mean?" "I mean, do you do your job 24 hours a day, seven days a week? Or do you play Clark Kent once in a while as well?" Play Clark Kent? Where does she get off on thinking... "Look, Amanda. I help people. They need me. I represent something to most people they didn't have before. A whole world out there looks up to me. I..." "What about the one person who needs you the most?" she reached out and laid a hand on his chest. "Yourself?" Her touch felt like a small charge of electricity again. That feeling in his chest centered around where her hand lay. It nearly knocked the wind out of him. "I... I'm fine," he whispered. "Are you? Do you realize you spend most of your time being something for someone else, and no time being you, Clark Kent?" "There's no reason to be Clark Kent. He's got no family. Few friends. People need me. They need Superman. I help them." Amanda sat back, removing her hand from his chest. He was torn between happiness and sadness at the gesture. "Oh, please. I've only known you a little while, and even I can see that there is more to you than just being Superman. That may be your job, but it's not the whole you." Clark had never had anyone talk like this to him. The whole situation had him reeling, trying to regain his emotional balance. What was she doing to him? Amanda could see she had him off-balance. She reached out and grasped his hands. He flinched slightly. "I want to help you, Clark. I'm not trying to upset you." She squeezed his hands slightly. "Look, it's almost quitting time. Why don't I go get us something to eat and we can work some more on your problem." She stood up and walked over to her office. She reached in and took out her coat. "What sounds good?" "I don't know. I should probably be going." "Clark! Give yourself a break! You're not going to get anywhere unless you do some research first. You have to have your facts straight before you go after the story." Clark looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Have you ever been a reporter?" "No! No, why?" "That last comments sounds like something someone who was used to doing some investigative reporting might say." "Well. Down here is no different. Sometimes you feel like you're investigating things while you search for information. All those reporters up there," she waved a hand over her head, "have to get their information somehow. I provide it for them." "You're babbling," Clark said with a strange smile on his face. "What's so funny?" "I've only known one other person who babbles quite like you just did." "Oh, well. Lots of people babble. I'll... go... now. I'll go get something to eat. You stay here." She turned and started walking away as fast as she could and still keep it natural looking. *** ================================================================= End of Part 4 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 16:29:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS: Ep 20 "Then Came You" - Part 5/6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #20) "Then Came You" Part 5 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- They sat in the middle of various Chinese take-out boxes. Amanda hadn't asked Clark what he had wanted, so she bought some of everything it seemed. Clark laughed when he told her he didn't need to eat. "You don't need to eat?" she had asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. "No, but I like to." He couldn't keep a straight face for long when he saw her look of dismay at all the food she had gotten. He had let her in on his little joke. "Of course I have to eat, everyone does, and I really do like to as well." Now that supper was over, they were taking a bit of time to talk before going back to work. "So, Clark, where are you from?" "Smallville, Kansas." "You're kidding. No place is named 'Smallville'." "Seriously. Smallville, Kansas exists. I haven't been home in a while, but I'm sure it's still there," he laughed. He told her about his parents, their accident, how he had developed his powers slowly. Amanda was content to sit back and listen. She could tell he needed to talk it out. There was still a lot of pain evident in his voice when he talked about his parents. "So, how come you started developing these powers? Do you have any clue?" Clark shook his head. "I don't know. I might be a mutant..." Amanda shook her head and wrinkled her nose. "Too good-looking to be a mutant." Clark smiled. "Thanks. I know I was adopted. My parents never tried to hide that. The only thing they ever told me was that they found me right when they needed me the most." He used his chopsticks to scrape the last bit of food out of a container. "I could be a misplaced government experiment, or an alien from another planet. I have no idea. I was told I was found in a spaceship as a baby." "You don't look like an alien either. From what I can see, you seem to have all the parts of a regular man..." she looked up in shock as she realized what she had said aloud. Clark looked amused. "I am a man, Amanda, just like you're..." he took a quick glance over her from head to toe, "a woman." Amanda felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She felt like crawling under a rock, right then and there. She looked up into Clark's eyes and saw that he was still intently looking at her. She wasn't sure how long they looked at one another like that. Suddenly he got a strange look on his face. With a bit of disappointment he stood up. "I'm sorry. I hate to eat and run, but I think I just overheard a report of a struggling refugee boat off the coast of Florida." He started to gather his stuff together. "You could hear that? How does that hearing gizmo work?" "I'm not sure. Sometimes my 'hearing gizmo' just seems to automatically tune in to certain things. I'll be back in a few seconds probably." He stood up and paused. Having reached an internal decision, he did his spin change in front of Amanda. The look on her face made it worth it. He smiled and then disappeared. "Wow!" Amanda whispered to herself. She blinked several times, as if she was trying to clear the image from her retina. She picked up the empty food containers and threw them away. She was just finishing up when he came back. He did his spin change again. "That was fast." "It usually doesn't take me long. One of the first skills I mastered was speed. Even before I became Superman, it was important to do what I could to help people. When I was trying to hide, I had to learn to do things very fast. The faster I moved, the less likely someone would see me and find out about me. Now, speed is just as important since I have so much more to do. If often wondered if I had been faster if my parents..." He let the sentence trail as a wave of sadness came over his face. "Well, anyway, speed is important in my kind of work." Amanda pulled up a chair to the computer. "Well, let's get busy, shall we? Let's start by going over everything you know, and we'll see what we can do from there." Clark pulled up his chair. "Thanks, Amanda." She looked up at him. "For what?" Clark smiled. "Just because." *** The next day, Amanda and Lucy had made plans to get together since it was a Saturday. They met at the park, and each had a brown sack lunch. They walked around together for awhile, catching up on things in the family. Finally, they settled down on a quiet park bench, away from the afternoon crowd. "So, have you seen Superman lately?" Lucy asked. "His name is Clark, and as a matter of fact, we spent a great deal of time together last night." "Ohhhhh. I want all the dirty little details," Lucy said, her eyes gleaming. "Nothing like *that*," Amanda said. "We did some research on his problem -- finding Lois Lane -- and we ate. Talked a little." She smiled at the memory. "Are you falling for him?" "No!" Amanda firmly shook her head. "Clark is, well, he's complicated. He's moody, closed, private, a bit pigheaded at times... unselfish, caring, gives too much of himself and doesn't expect anything in return. He's... wonderful. God, I am falling for him." "You could do worse," Lucy said with a note of laughter in her voice. She bit into her sandwich and grinned at Amanda. "It's just... well he's so hung up on Lois Lane." "There you go again, third-person-talk," Lucy shook her head. "Not really. I could give you the whole story, gory details and all, but he has fallen in love with a version of Lois Lane I never was. I don't know if I ever will be." "I guess I'm going to have to get used to being lost around you. You seem to enjoy it so much." Amanda recounted Clark's story of the alternate dimensional version of herself. How she had helped him to become Superman. What he felt about her, and how he had described her. "You're right. That doesn't sound like you at all. What happened to Mad Dog Lane, I can do it myself, I don't need anyone? Ms. I'm top-banana, you're scum, now get out of my way. Top Investigative Reporter, who just so happens to be a woman and damn proud of it, now move, I'm off to a story. Ms..." "Are you quite through now? I wasn't that bad was I? Really?" "Sometimes, you made me wonder where all that hate came from. I won't deny that you used it well, moving up the ladder, becoming a respected reporter. But you stepped on people sometimes. Unintentional or not, it happened." She bent over slightly and parted her hair. "See? I think some of the marks are still there..." Amanda playfully swatted her head. "Oh stop. Okay, okay, I was a bit... high strung." She shot a nasty look at Lucy's laugh. "Things are different now." "I know. So what makes you think you couldn't ever be like the woman he described?" "That's just it! I don't want to be like someone he described. I want to be me! The real me. Not some pipe dream of his, or -- or *this*," she said, gesturing to her herself. "I want to be the real me. The one who overcame incredible odds to escape from hell, clawing her way back to civilization, digging up the dirt on the slime bag who pushed her down, and knocking their teeth in with the evidence she's uncovered to triumphantly proclaim 'I'm back! You couldn't put me away! I'm *ME* again!'" Lucy put her sandwich down, applauded, and whistled. "You go, girl!" "You're terrible," Amanda laughed. "I want Clark to love me for who I am now. Not who I was, or who she was." "So what's stopping you? Go for it -- or him, I mean." "In a weird, twisted sort of way -- I'm stopping it. I'm fighting a battle with myself." *** {Metropolis. Daily Planet Archives.} Amanda and Clark searched through the Daily Planet's Travel Department's records. Amanda was taking advantage of the fact that Mr. Olsen had given Clark complete access to all internal records. It had said a lot about the trust between the two of them. After several minutes of digging, Amanda pulled up the travel request voucher she knew had to be there. "Got it." Clark leaned over to get a better look. On the screen was a copy of a travel voucher Perry White had written for a trip to Bandundu. "Well, that at least gives me a starting place. Does it have anything about what airline?" Amanda brought up the information and showed it to Clark. "They surely have documentation on who got on and off the plane," Clark said excitedly. He stood up and spun into the suit. "Keep looking. I'm going to pay some people a visit." With a whoosh he was gone. Amanda thought. She used Clark's access to prowl all over Travel's records, looking for more clues. She wanted to see if there was any pattern to Perry's traveling. She noticed several trips to Washington D.C. Next, see went into Accounting's records and looked at Perry's expense records. Again, the pattern in Washington D.C. developed. Clark returned a couple of hours later. "Well, we've got something. The airline records show she boarded the plane. Also, they show she de-boarded the plane in Bandundu. I went over there and did some digging around. After some talking, and some pressure, I found out that she was taken in by the Customs Bureau. I looked through their records, and they show the apprehension of a white, American female drug smuggler posing as a reporter. The report said she was sent on for prosecution, but it doesn't say where." Amanda brought up a second screen she had been saving for this moment. "I did some digging while you were gone. Here is a list of all the state-run Houses of Justice in that area. Along with each one is a list of the types of trial they have there. There are three that conducted trials for drug smuggling. Since we know roughly what time frame to look at, we should be able to tell what courthouse her trial might have taken place in. Maybe they will have more information there." "Great! I'm going to head back over there and rouse a few bodies. I think it's time for Superman to pay them a direct visit." Amanda looked at him. "Didn't you go over as Superman before?" "No, I went as Clark Kent." "And people don't recognize you?" "Not usually. I sometimes wear a disguise." He laughed at her surprised look. "It's incredibly simple. I just put on a pair of jeans and any old shirt and my glasses. The real secret though, is the ball cap. I put that on, and it's like I'm invisible." He could see her skeptical look. "It's true! No one would guess that Superman would walk around like a normal guy. Everyone expects him to be this bigger-than-life persona. Which is good. I try to foster that actually. I don't stay in one place long. I don't carry on conversations with people in the Suit. I do my business, do it fast, and move on. The majority of the population think Superman is over six and a half feet tall, with blue eyes." "Amazing. I'm surprised you can get away with it. I would have thought you might have to do something like," "change your hair color or something to hide out." He looked at her for a disturbing few seconds. "Hmmm. That might work, but a wig would be easier. It takes time to dye hair. And all the switching back and forth would make that impossible. But a hairpiece is something I could carry with me." "You actually foster this misconception in people? Why?" Clark sat down next to her, putting his arm around the back of her chair unconsciously bringing him close to her. "I wanted to live a more normal life. I hadn't planned on going public. That was sort of... forced... on me. In the beginning, people flooded me with requests, pleas for assistance. I had governments bugging me and every criminal in the world seemed to have the need to test me. I got sick of it real quick. I was so used to living a private life, I missed being me. So, I had Murray build the dolls bigger than life... with blue eyes. I try not to let myself be photographed. If I think someone might take some pictures, I vibrate my face in such a fashion that the pictures come out fuzzy looking. I've thought of using my X-ray vision to wipe out the film, but people have to make a living. I figured a fuzzy picture is better than no picture." Amanda smiled at Clark. Just like him to think of others when he was trying to protect himself. What a Boy Scout. Inspiration struck. "Clark, why don't you come over to my place for supper tonight. What time do you think you will be back?" Clark was a bit confused by the change of subject. "I can be back at any time I guess I..." "Great. Be there around seven," she scribbled her address on a piece of paper. "Here you go." He looked at the piece of paper, trying to figure out how they had gotten here from where they started. He shook his head and gave up. He looked up to notice that her face was only inches from his. How did they get so close? The tugging in his chest became stronger. He felt his body lean closer to her. Her perfume filled his every breath. He looked at her lips, red and inviting. He watched her tongue slip out and wet them. "Hey! Anyone down here?" James Olsen called from the doorway at the other side of the room. Clark sat up straight, becoming very self-conscious with how close he was to Amanda. He pulled his arm back off of her chair and leaned back, crossing his left ankle over his right knee. James came around the bookshelf. "Oh, there you are. I was hoping to catch you here, Clark. I was wondering how the investigation was going?" Clark had to clear his throat. "It's going great Mr. Olsen. I... we..." Clark motioned to Amanda and himself, "have pinpointed where Lois was headed, and I was just about to..." he looked at Amanda, who was blushing. "Um. I was just about to go over there and do some more digging." "Great! If you find her, make sure she knows she has my full support in clearing up whatever it is that caused her to be gone so long, all right?" Amanda looked up at Mr. Olsen, and saw the genuine concern and honesty on his face. she thought. "Okay, Mr. Olsen, I'll make sure to tell her." James sat down. "I want to help her. I want her to know she has a place to come where her friends will look out for her." Amanda had to do some revising of her puzzle. Originally she wondered if Mr. Olsen wasn't in on the whole thing. His money could have been used to back some kind of operation. She was sure a person in his position would know something. His offers of kindness confused her. Clark stood up. "I'd better be going." He turned to Amanda. "See you later." Then he was just gone. Amanda blinked a couple of times, and then looked at Mr. Olsen. He sat there with an amazed look on his face, blinking himself. "Wow!" he said. "You actually get used to it after a while -- kind of." *** ================================================================= End of Part 5 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 16:30:41 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS: Ep 20 "Then Came You" - Part 6/6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #20) "Then Came You" Part 6 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- {Metropolis. Amanda Hart's Apartment. 7:23 p.m.} Clark climbed the stairs of the old building, searching again for the address hand painted on the doorway. He, again, verified the address with the scrap of paper he was carrying. It was a match, but Clark was finding it hard to believe that she would live in such a place. he chided himself. He would have to try harder to keep up on the living conditions and neighborhood safety of others. He went in and saw a man at a desk behind what he assumed to be bulletproof Plexiglas. There was a large, steel door to the right. Clark walked up to the Plexiglas and waited to be acknowledged. The man behind the desk was watching television and seemingly didn't see him. Clark knocked on the Plexiglas to get his attention. "Yeah! Whadda you want?" he shouted without looking away from the television screen. "I'm here to see Amanda Hart." The man looked at him, assessing him from top to bottom. "What's your name?" "Clark Kent." He checked a list out of Clark's sight, then pointed at him. "Got any I.D.?" Clark laughed. He got out his wallet and showed the man his New Troy driver's license. The man grunted then pointed at the door. "When you hear the buzzing noise, push real hard." He went back to watching the television. Clark pushed when the buzz sounded and was deposited at the foot of a set of stairs. He looked at the piece of paper. "Apartment 501..." he mumbled out loud. As he was about to round the landing to go up the second flight of steps, he noticed a sign out of the corner of his eye. It read: "Series 500. 500-510 Left. 511-520 Right." He opened the door at the first landing and looked at the door right in front of him on the other side of the hallway. Apartment 501. "501? On the first landing?" He shrugged, then stepped over to the door. He tried to knock on the door, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He was suddenly a bundle of nerves. Why was he here? Why did he agree to this? He thought of looking through the door. Maybe she had given up on him and had left. He started to pull his glasses down, then thought better of it. He wanted to see her. The feeling in the core of his being started making itself known to him. At first it had felt like a tugging in his chest. Now, he didn't know how to describe the feeling. It was almost like when he discovered he could fly. All crazy and mixed up. He thought about what he had discovered in The Democratic Republic of Congo. His feelings for Lois Lane were still as strong as ever, but somehow he had developed this new feeling. Suddenly the door opened, and Amanda came walking out, her head down. She ran right into Clark, and nearly fell over. Instinctively, Clark wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from losing her balance. "Oh!" she said, startled. "I'm... sorry, Amanda. I was just about to knock..." She had gripped his shoulders for support. They stood looking at each other in this semi-hug embrace. "I thought you might have changed your mind. I was just about to go ask Lou if he had seen you." Clark, shook his head. "No. I just had to stop by Australia. The funky weather patterns haven't been kind to them." "I'm glad you came." Clark just smiled and nodded. "If you would like to dance, I can put on some music." With a look of horror, Clark realized he was still holding her. "No, no! Sorry. I... I was just... being foolish." Amanda stood to one side and allowed him to come into her apartment. "You were not being foolish. You were keeping me from falling." She smiled to let him know she was teasing him. Apartment? Room was a better description. Clark looked around the single room of the apartment, amazed that she lived here. "It's not much, I know," she said, seeming to read his thoughts. "It's cheap, and clean. There is just this room, and the bathroom is over there." "It's..." "quaint." Amanda laughed and shot him a hurt look. "Please, don't try to compliment it. It's hopeless and I know it." Clark took the opportunity to take a good look at her for the first time. She was breathtaking. She wore a simple dress that accentuated her figure perfectly. Funny, he didn't remember her curves looking so curvy before. Her hair was slightly curly, and swept up, away from her face, giving definition to the shape of her neck. He traced the line from her collarbone, up her neck to her ear with his eye. He lingered at the earlobe, looking at the small earring there. Simple -- like her. "Something wrong?" Clark blushed slightly. "No, I was just... you look wonderful tonight." "Thanks," she smiled. She looked at him; his black slacks, simple collared shirt, and ever-present glasses made him look very GQ. "You look nice too. I noticed you came without a ball cap." He laughed. It was so good to hear him laugh. She walked a little further into the room and pulled out one of the dining area chairs. "Dinner's ready; why don't sit down? You probably get hungry out ~->" she made a wavy motion with her hand. "Huh?" Clark repeated the wavy hand motion. "Out... flying... doing your job?" "Oh... I get it. Neat hand signal there." "Thanks." She patted the back of the chair. "Sit." Clark sat down. "So, how was the rest of your day?" "Not bad. I have some more stuff we can go over after we eat." Amanda pulled out some plates from the oven and put them down on the table. "They were just starting to get a little dried out. I put them in the oven on low to keep them warm. Be careful, the plates are hot." She looked up at his chuckle. "Amanda, hot plates are something I usually don't have to worry about," he smiled, the humor shining in his eyes. "Oh! Right." Clark looked at his plate, and was surprised. "Chicken-fried steak? Mashed potatoes, with milk gravy, corn and a hot roll." "I... did some research on native Kansas cuisine. Did I get it right?" Clark shook his head. "I don't know... do you have any idea how long it has been since I had one of these?" "I thought it might have been a while," she sat down and put a napkin in her lap. "Go ahead... taste it. It won't hurt you." Clark took a bite. "Oh man. Hhhmmm. Mmmmm. Oh." "What? What? Too hot? No, that wouldn't hurt you either. Too much salt? It said salt to taste, but I've never had one of these before so I wasn't sure what that meant. Too greasy? I tried to use..." "No, no, no... It's wonderful." Clark swallowed, and let out a sigh. "Absolutely wonderful," he smiled warmly. "Great! I was worried about the gravy. I didn't want it to taste too floury. Is that a word?" Clark was trying to clear the mouth full of mashed potatoes to answer her. "Mmmm. It tastes fine. Better than fine." Amanda cut herself a piece and tried it. "Hmmm. Not bad. A bit heavy for what I'm used to." Clark was eating with enthusiasm. "Boy, does this bring back memories. Where did you get the recipes? They are very similar to my mother's." "Oh, I found them on the Web. It's amazing what you can find out there. A really nice grandmother in Plains, Kansas sent them to me." "The only thing that could top this would be some home made ice cream." "Really? I didn't think of that. I did make an apple pie though. I even have some ice cream to put on it if you want. It's store-bought, but from that marble-slab creamery over on 122nd street. They claim to make their own ice cream fresh each day." Clark put a hand over his heart. "Oh! I've died and gone to heaven. Apple pie and ice cream. Is the pie still warm?" Amanda laughed and nodded her head in affirmative. "Oh! You've done it again," Clark reached over and took her hand in his. "Thank you." "Why? What have I done?" Clark smiled. "Just because." "That's the second time you've said that." Clark felt his chest get tight, that familiar tugging getting stronger. He reluctantly let go of her hand. "I mean every word too." "Well... I'm glad you are enjoying the food so much." "And the company," Clark added. "And the company," she agreed. "I like to cook, but don't get to really go crazy too often. Cooking for one is the pits." "I know. I can't remember the last time I cooked," Clark sat back and buttered his roll. He motioned with his knife around the room. "I'm afraid to admit, I was surprised to see you living here." "Oh?" "It's not exactly the best side of town. And it's a little..." he looked around again, "small." Amanda put her silverware down. "Well, it's not much, true. And it could be in a better neighborhood. But, when it's all you can afford, you have to do what you have to do." "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to..." Amanda cut him off. "It's okay, Clark. Really." Clark fumbled with his silverware, poking at his food, trying to think of something to say. "I appreciate this, I really do. You've been nicer to me than just about anyone. I have a hard time making friends. Before it was because I was always hiding. Afraid that if people found out I was different, they would come and get me or people would hate me for being different. Lana seemed to be the only one to understand. What a joke that turned out to be." Amanda was curious. "Lana?" "Yes. Lana Lang. High school sweetheart from Smallville. We nearly got married. She used to tell me that she was the only one who understood me. Only she would be able to live with who or what I was." Clark sat back, a far away expression coming over his face. "Then she showed up. Lois Lane. She made me feel things, made me think things, I'd never felt or thought before. She made me realize that being 'super' was all right. That just trying was sometimes enough." Amanda shifted awkwardly in her chair. It was obvious he was head over heels for this Lois Lane. She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "She's made quite an impression on you. We better get down to business and find *your* Lois Lane for you." Clark snapped his attention to her. He'd heard something in her voice, even though he could tell she was trying to hide it. Jealousy? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go all gushy. This dinner was great. I can't wait to try the pie." Amanda stood up and cleared their plates. "I'll be right back." There was an uncomfortable silence as she dished up the pie and ice cream. Clark tasted it and melted just like the ice cream. "Oh... this is great." "Hmm." Obviously, he had done something wrong, but he wasn't sure what. Was it his comments about Lois? Amanda knew what his mission was: Find Lois Lane. Did this suddenly upset her? It upset him that she might be upset. He was just about to ask her what was the matter when she stood up. "You can leave your plate and stuff there, I'll clean up later. I found some interesting information while you were gone earlier." She walked over to a desk set into the corner of the room on the far wall. There were papers and clipping spread all over the top of the desk. Clark followed, not sure what to do. "On a hunch, I contacted some people I know who owe me some favors. I wanted to know if the government had any dealings in Zaire back in 1993, especially around the time Lois Lane disappeared. I used Mr. Olsen's weight in certain circles to confirm the rumors I found. The Center for National Security's Agency 38 was operating out of Washington D.C. and was involved in some slightly shady dealings in Zaire at the time. The name of the city that her plane was going to..." she held up a finger for Clark. "Bandundu," he supplied. "Right, Bandundu, was mentioned as one of their operations hubs." "Wow. What possessed you to look into our own government, of all places?" "Disappearing without a trace takes backing. There is going to have to be a lot of money trading hands to keep things quiet, to cover tracks, to do away with certain documentation, that sort of thing. Very few people have that kind of money or influence. The government, on the other hand, does have the money and the influence. So does organized crime. Since the government was the easier of the two to get information about, that's where I started." "You really think there is a tie-in?" "I don't know. Further investigation reveled that Agency 38 is now operating here, out of Metropolis. They're kind of considered a bunch of kooks now. Funding is getting tight, and information leaks freely. I got the address of a warehouse on the East Side that is supposedly a storage depository of some kind. I thought we might check it out." "We? As in you and I?" Amanda started to get mad. "Yes, dammit, we. I found this information, and I'd like to go along. You might need me." "No. If there's trouble, you could get hurt." "Oh, and you can't right? So you have to protect us poor, weak females." "Yes, I can't get hurt. Mostly. And no, not because you're a poor, weak female." "Mostly?" Clark shrugged. "Well, there's this green rock, but I've only seen it once. Anyway, you're not going." Amanda continued to simply stare at him. "No. No way am I taking you." Clark turned around and walked over to the window. He opened it and turned back around. Amanda was pulling out some dark clothing. "You're not going Amanda. That's final." Amanda simply smiled. *** To Be Continued... ================================================================= End of Part 6 of 6. Continued in one week. Don't Miss It!!! ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 19:16:57 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: IndiBlue Subject: Lex Luthor Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Question: Besides Lois and Arianna Carlin, did Lex have any special loves in his life? ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 19:19:59 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: Re: Lex Luthor Question In-Reply-To: <7bc9e816.3547b4ea@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 07:16 PM 4/29/98 EDT, IndiBlue wrote: >Question: > >Besides Lois and Arianna Carlin, did Lex have any special loves in his life? Himself. I just could NOT resist that one. Oh, and I've always thought that deep down . . . way deep down . . . he loved Superman. Now, don't anyone get the wrong idea here, because that kind of love is NOT what I mean. What I mean is that Lex Luthor, especially the Luthor of L&C, loved the concept of Superman and wanted to BE Superman . . . and couldn't, which is where the whole basis for his intense hate of Superman and desire to destroy Big Blue comes into it. I can't remember any other 'love' interest ever mentioned on the series, though. Of course, somebody must have been Jaxon's and Lex Jr's [aka trollman] collective mothers. Hmmm, now there are some of repulsive thoughts . . . little Lexies seeded all over the world. Ewwww. Slinking back into obscure lurkdom now. Beverly :-) ******************************* Beverly Latham blatham@hop-uky.campus.mci.net ******************************* ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 15:17:50 -1000 Reply-To: shore@maui.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jamee Jones Subject: I agree about Lex MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What I mean is that Lex Luthor, especially the Luthor of L&C, loved the concept of Superman and wanted to BE Superman . . . and couldn't, which is where the whole basis for his intense hate of Superman and desire to destroy Big Blue comes into it. I always figured the same. Maybe not love, but for some reason I always felt that Lex "wanted" to like him but just couldn't because he was just such a horrible person . Also over jealousy, of Lois and over all the attention Superman got. Anyways I'm actually just trying to practice this cut and paste thing I see everyone doing. Hope I did it right!:-) j-me ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 21:09:55 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Breezae Subject: Editing a new fanfic Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hey guys, I know I haven't ever put any of my fanfic out for anyone to read, but now I've got enough nerve up to ask, I need some help editing a story I'm in the process of writing. It would help if you have a bit of knowledge about the Blues Brothers, even better Blues Brothers 2000 as this is a cross over, my first cross over attempt actually. So if anyone could help me out I would be very happy with your help. Just e-mail me privately at LaraofEl@aol.com and I'll send off what I have because I have a feeling it could take me a while to finish and I may need some help with direction. I realise this is a lot to ask and I also understand if no one takes the task, but puuuuhhhhh- leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease! I begging, someone? Well thanks for taking the time to read this. Brrrrrrrreezy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 14:31:33 +0300 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zohar Gilboa Subject: Re: Lex Luthor Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In "Pheremone, My Lovely", we know of a small romance between Luthor and that other one *g*. But as he said, it was not passion. "You were an itch, you've been scratched" and the perfume only works on Lois. About his love for Superman: In... Seconds I think (or Double Jeopardy), Lex states that he and Superman are dependent on one another. Lex is Superman's only true rival and vice versa. I believe that that is true for Lex - there are only two people in the world he couldn't survive without - Lois and Superman. Lois as a lover, Superman as an opponent. He conquered the buisness world, now he needs a challenge - more power. And what stands between him and that power is Superman. Zohar Gilboa rami_gil@netvision.net.il Phrase thingy: ;-) Stupid Emerald! Stupid white head attack exploder thingy! :-) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 10:08:13 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandra McDermin Subject: Re: Lex Luthor Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii At 07:16 PM 4/29/98 EDT, IndiBlue wrote: >Question: > >Besides Lois and Arianna Carlin, did Lex have any special loves in his life? >>Himself. I just could NOT resist that one. << Joke or not, you're right. The only person Lex loved is himself. Even though he "selflessly" let Lois go with Superman, when they were threatened by the cave in during the last part of the non-wedding arc, I just never saw the love there. I always wondered -- if Lois and Lex had married and he actually came to "possess" her -- how long it would have taken for him to get bored with her and want to go on to the next conquest. >>Oh, and I've always thought that deep down . . . way deep down . . . he loved Superman.<< Once again, I don't think love is the right word. Lex envied Superman his position, his power, his ability to command adulation almost without wanting to. In fact, I think that's what bothered Lex the most -- that Superman didn't seem to "get off" on it. There are several scenes that pointed that out, either blatantly or subtlely. The scene in ILTY (I think that's it. It feels like a long time since I used these acronyms.) where Superman was the man of the year in place of Lex. The scene at the auction where Superman attracted more of the ladies' admiration than Lex. Also, note the look on his face during his virtual fantasy in House of Luthor when he sees himself flying through the air as Lexman. He's finding it absolutely orgasmic. The funny thing about this is that, on a certain level, Clark did enjoy being Superman. Not in the way Lex would have enjoyed it, however. I think Clark enjoyed making a difference, "righting wrongs", doing good works -- even if they involved no superpowers. For instance, he would enjoy helping an orphanage or a charity. Certainly, as just plain Clark Kent, Clark couldn't do half the things that Superman could do for charity -- just by showing up to some event or selling his time or a product. He has no money and commands no great authority -- such as, strangely enough -- both Mindy Church and Lex Luthor could do because of their wealth and position. Clark's growing attachment to the Superman persona was exemplified for me in the Ultrawoman episode. Clark certainly tried to help the man being attacked, but I think he was frustrated at the limitations normality put on him. He even enjoyed telling "war stories" as he was beginning to do over the phone when Lois (as Ultrawoman) was trying to save a plane. The point is, Clark eventually came to enjoy being Superman, but it would never be the kind of enjoyment that Lex would feel in the same position. And, I think Lex recognized that, and it kind of bugged him. I also think that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop -- to see Superman actually come to use and/or enjoy power the way Lex would have. Sandy smcdermi@nas.edu ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 13:58:49 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Larus2407 Subject: Re: Lex Luthor Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-04-30 10:09:06 EDT, you write: << Joke or not, you're right. The only person Lex loved is himself. Even though he "selflessly" let Lois go with Superman, when they were threatened by the cave in during the last part of the non-wedding arc, I just never saw the love there. >> I'm not sure it was totally "selfless." I think he was also trying to prove himself (to Superman) -- prove that he was capable of love, prove that he was worthy of Lois. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 16:31:18 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Breezae Subject: New Fanfic Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Well, ok guys, just to entice all of you... here's the first part of the story... Untitled (Possibly A Little Bit of Blues) by Breezy Walsh You know the disclaimer that fits here, of course it also goes for the Blues Brothers characters. None of them belong to me, but Shaylin is my little sister who wanted me to write her into the story and everything written is my own work. Most of all ENJOY! And any questions or comments or people wanting to edit my wreck e-mail me at LaraofEl@aol.com. It’s been a few months since I last saw or heard from the band... I wonder what they’re up to. Last I had heard Buster had been sent to a new orphanage someplace in Metropolis and the rest of the band just went back to their jobs. Sometimes I think about writing to them and then I change my mind because they don’t want to hear about a 40-something year old convict, let alone one that almost got them into jail with me. Well, I guess I’ll look them up when I get out and see about getting the band back together, for one more show, that’s it, I swear. *** “Lois, Clark! Get in my office at once!” Perry White bellowed from his shrine to Elvis, that also doubled as his office. Lois had known Perry for long enough that she knew that he meant business, so she saved the article she was working on and walked into his office along with her partner, Clark Kent, a man that had confused her from the day that she met him. Lois had always been a good judge of character, but this guy kept her baffled, at first he was timid and shy, then the next minute he’s making snide remarks about her view on their partnership. Maybe he was just like any other Kansas farm boy, however the feeling she was getting was that he was not like anyone else in the world, which is the way Clark felt about Lois. He knew the minute he had met Lois Lane that he had met his soul mate, now how does some hack from Nowheresville show a city girl like Lois that he was hers forever? They walked through the doorway and into Perry’s office, where this story starts... “What’s up Chief?” Clark asked. “Well, ya see there’s been several kidnappings in the last couple of weeks, and I believe they’re all connected.” “Why do you say that?” Lois asked. “All of the children that had disappeared have been orphans, and all from the Shaylin House.” “And I figured that you two could get started on this case ASAP, considering you haven’t had anything big in three or four days. And I expect this to be finished before you two go off for vacation.” “Sure thing, Perry.” Lois answered. Then there was silence. Perry looked up to his two top reporters for a minute. “Is there any reason why you haven’t left already? Or are you looking for a permanent vacation?” “No, no, Perry there isn’t, we’ll get right on this.” Clark said as he rushed Lois out of his office.