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nitewrighter · 6 months

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Scoops! (Part 6)

Capping off the climax! After this is the epilogue! Honestly, I'm amazed at how fast this fic came together for me. It's made me a lot more confident with regards to writing for the DC universe in general.

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Read it on AO3 here!

----

Kryptonite was another thing slotted under ‘Things we don’t understand about Clark’s powers and alien physiology,’ and the one thing none of the three of them really wanted to talk about for obvious, traumatic reasons. Jimmy thought about it, Clark knew. He had once seen Jimmy slam his laptop shut on several web search tabs for radium, uranium, willemite, fluorite, ‘crystals that grow other crystals,’ ‘interdimensional crystals,’ ‘allergic reaction to rocks,’ and a whole host of other searches that yielded 6th grade geology, complex but ultimately unhelpful chemistry, or new age bunk. Clark did not know, for example, that the kryptonite rounds basically just imbued the League’s regular plasma plasma energy rounds with kryptonite radiation until Jalana said so. If he was willing to think about Kryptonite more, that would make sense—for all its destructive power, and its ability to apparently grow new crystals simply by its presence, the actual, physical, irradiated rock itself seemed to come in such tiny quantities, it would seem unlikely to practically serve as ammunition in any kind of weapon. Or maybe it had to come in tiny qualities because the growing crystal factor was too structurally dangerous to be spackling walls with it, and reducing the amount of the material used reduced that factor.

Clark’s own memories of carrying that crystal to the interior of that invading ship on Thanksgiving didn’t dwell on the nature of his obstacles—at the time, his brain was just a blur of fear for his parents, fear for Lois and Jimmy, horror at the ship buried beneath their cornfield living up to every one of his nightmares, and utter bewilderment at the hologram helping him (his father?). He hadn’t had the time to really observe the effects of the crystal around him. It was all ‘Flying, punching, blaze of green agony, Dad(!?), explosion, and then he more or less came to listening to Lois yell at her dad. Not exactly a massive well of information in that time.

There was a dark, morbid, and infinitely lonely corner of Clark’s soul that felt a strange relief when he first experienced the sensation of Kryptonite tearing through him. After years of wondering just how far his invulnerability went, here was at least one answer. It gave a shining, sharp quality to the pain and the all-consuming fear. I can die, it thought, with a weird spark of deliriously childish joy that both did and didn’t fully comprehend what was happening, Like a human. I can die, too. I’m mortal. I’m not that different from them.

Maybe it would have been a bigger relief if that first brush with the crystal wasn’t paired with all that imagery of evil alternate versions of himself inflicting massive destruction and suffering, but for all of Lois’s reassurance that those Supermen weren’t him, Clark understood why the League would package the two together. It was a warning and a weapon for every Lois initiated into the League: There is a monster, and here is how you kill it.

Is this killing? Is Amazo alive? Clark thought as he kept pushing Amazo down with ice breath as those blasts of green colored the air around them both. He tried to just focus on the outward blast of breath. If he could get enough distance before he breathed back in. He could avoid inhaling kryptonite particulates… probably? But no, that wasn’t how radiation worked, and at the back of his mind he knew that. Amazo, of course, was receiving the actual full force of the rounds, and Clark was filled with a queasy horror at the sight of the android’s all too human flailing, every impact contorting its body into a twisted recoil of pain. Clark had to force himself not to instinctively hang back as he saw the greenish tint that the ice crystals forming on Amazo were taking on. Amazo wasn’t moving anymore at this point, those orange eyes were staring out, blankly, and fading, fading—

Amazo suddenly hit the floor of the League headquarters and a massive cloud of glowing, freezing, green-tinted diamond dust burst off of the Android in a great sparkling puff at its impact.

Speed, thought Clark, flying upward, trying to stay ahead of the quickly encroaching ice cloud, Speed, faster, not fast enough. Have to—

But that great cloud puffed up around him, submerged him, and then that terrifying, despairing pain tore through him, inside and out. All at once he felt his flight slip away from him, and those strange, long seconds where upward momentum soon surrenders to gravity. He was dropping, back into that cloud, back into death. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Jimmy, you were right. I messed up, he thought as he felt his throat close up, Lois, I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m going to make it back. Lois, I love you—

But that last thought was enough to make his brain claw back to consciousness. He didn’t want to die—he really, really didn’t want to die. No—he couldn’t die here. How much of this was the memory of that first pain, of the despair he felt in the heart of that ship on Thanksgiving, and how much of it was the actual physical sensation of his body shutting down? The pain itself sent his body into so much of a panic mode that it took him a few seconds of falling to realize that this wasn’t as bad as his exposure to the crystal back on Thanksgiving. It was still bad, obviously. It was really bad. He could still feel the crystals growing in his body, but it was definitely slower than direct exposure to Kryptonite had been. He had made it through Thanksgiving—he could make it through this. Well, okay he definitely would have died without the mysterious Father(?) hologram, but dammit he was going to make it through this. He told Lois he was going to come back and she was stuck back in his world keeping an eye on the Spider Lady and oh god was she okay?

Clark wasn’t sure exactly how he managed to get those few dregs of coordination out of himself, but even if he couldn’t fly, he at least managed to muscle through the worst of the pain to slow and partially control his fall. His descent was dizzy, swaying, like a gnat on a hot day. He half-glided half fell to one of the wall walkways and collapsed in a rolling heap. His eyes were watering, and with his throat half-closed up, he was almost drowning in his own nauseous saliva. If super-hearing was picking up Jimmy’s cries of ‘Clark! Are you okay? C’mon, buddy, say something! Please!’ Clark’s brain wasn’t able to surface itself from the pain enough to comprehend it. Every cell in his body was screaming ‘Make it stop, get it away’ and the fire of his own neurons felt like it had been replaced by ribbons of needle-like shards of glass tearing up everything around them. He rose to his knees and elbows and dry-heaved, tears and saliva dripping from his face onto the floor, his own vision blurring with the pain so much he didn’t even register the droplets, or the green glow in the veins on the back of his hand. He wasn’t convulsing this time, and the sensation of those crystals tearing his body from within was significantly reduced, but he could only almost breathe, his chest heaving as his nails dug hard rivulets into the floor. Still a little bit of super-strength, and a dulled thrum of pain in his fingers that spoke to the ghost of invulnerability, but not enough air, not yet.

You’ve gotten some distance. You’ve gotten some distance, he tried to tell himself over the din of his whole body’s anguished cries of protest, It’s going to settle. It’s going to pass. It has to… please, please, it has to.

——

The main hall of the League headquarters was so cold, Jimmy could see his breath puffing out of him as he sprinted. His sneakers could barely keep a grip on the ice-dusted floor, he was all lean limbs desperately flailing forward and only barely keeping their balance.

“Hey, watch it!” hissed one Lois, her cat ears flattening as she stumbled out of his way.

No time to unpack that, thought Jimmy, still sprinting.

“Claaaark!?” Jimmy hollered, rushing past two Loises who were supporting a limping Lois out of the main hall. He heard dense, low, almost animalistic panting and the memory of Clark’s convulsions on Thanksgiving flinched to the center of his mind. He hated that he immediately knew that sound was Clark. It was two floors above him. He had to find stairs, clamber over some wreckage on one flight, but then had to help another injured League of Lois member ease herself over the wreckage on the way down, climb up over that wreckage again, and race up three more flights before reaching the floor Clark was on. Clark’s hyperventilating had quieted at this point, and Jimmy really hoped that was, ‘this was reduced exposure and he’s getting better’ quieting and not ‘he’s now a crystal-covered corpse’ quieting.

He found Clark buckled over, his body crumpled and his cape pooled around him rendering him a shapeless red mass. The hyperventilating had apparently given way to long, dragged out, exhausted gasps.

“Clark!” Jimmy yelled, racing forward, and that red shape shifted slightly in response to his name, one hand still gripping his throat, eyes rheumy and skin slicked with sweat. Then Clark seemingly shrank in on himself again.

Jimmy slid to his knees in front of Clark and braced his hands on Clark’s shoulders.

“Clark—Clark, buddy, look at me,” said Jimmy, trying to push up Clark’s torso to get a better look at his face. Superman looked like death warmed over.

“Jimmy…?” his voice was a croak.

“It’s me. I couldn’t see anything on the feeds. I had to come find you,” said Jimmy.

“‘M’okay,” Clark mumbled woozily, one eye closed and the other heavy-lidded.

“You’re okay?” Said Jimmy.

“I’m okay,” Clark’s voice was thick as both eyes opened a bit more.

“You’re sure?” said Jimmy.

“Mm-hm,” Clark flopped his head in something approximating a nod.

“Then what the hell were you thinking?!” Jimmy shook his shoulders and Clark suppressed a gag. Jimmy caught himself, saying, “Sorry—sorry,” before suddenly hugging Clark tightly. Clark weakly brought one forearm up across Jimmy’s back to return the embrace.

“Didn’t… mean to scare you…” Clark grunted, his breath steadying.

Jimmy felt the heat of the beginning of a cry pushing at the back of his eyes, but he just squeezed his eyes shut and held Clark tighter.

“Kryptonite radiation doesn’t last very long when it’s cut off from its source,” a voice spoke up and Jimmy lifted his head slightly to see Lewis, looking sober, still holding his League sidearm.

Jimmy looked up at Lewis, then furrowed his brow and angled himself a bit more protectively between Lewis and Clark.

“It still absolutely could have killed him though,” said Lewis, “If the plan had gone wrong, if the Android had already adapted to his weaknesses… if he had gotten hit.”

Jimmy kept up his glare.

Lewis gave a frustrated little huff that was very signature of Lois. “What I’m saying is… I wasn’t sure if this wasn’t some kind of… convoluted, false flag, destructive plan between you and the android and the Spider Lady until I saw you put yourself at risk like that. So…” he glanced off, pinched his mouth for a few seconds, and tightened his jaw, “Thank you,” he said stiffly, “For the ice breath.”

“Mm-hm,” Clark had to put significant effort into lifting his arm enough to give a thumbs-up of acknowledgement. “Is… it gone?” he managed to say, his voice half-muffled into Jimmy’s jacket.

“We have a team taking a look,” said Lewis. His lips thinned before he added, “We’ll have to disassemble the whole thing. Figure out which parts came from which worlds. It could actually significantly help us track future emergences of—”

There was a scream and a shattering sound from down below and Clark’s head jerked up in a panic. It took Jimmy half a second to realize Clark’s super-hearing was picking up more than they could, but by then, Clark had suddenly seized a handful of Jimmy’s jacket from the back.

“Move!” The word was still a pained grunt from Clark, and Jimmy wasn’t sure how much of it was super-strength or just the sheer size difference between them, but Clark threw Jimmy away from himself. Jimmy bounced and slid across the walkway floor with a grunt, before stopping himself with his elbow just in time to see Amazo smash up through the walkway up in front of Clark. Lewis raised his sidearm and clearly hesitated, realizing his gun was still set to use kryptonite rounds and not wanting to use it with Clark in such close range. Amazo didn’t hesitate to give him a hard swat in the chest, sending Lewis flying back even further than Jimmy, his gun clattering uselessly next to him.

“No—!” Clark flailed a hand after Lewis as he bounced along the walkway on their opposite side, but Amazo suddenly seized him by the throat, yanked him up off his feet, and slammed him so hard against the wall a spiderweb of impact cracks bloomed behind him. The sound Clark made was a sad and crumpled “Ghnk!” And his eyelids fluttered open just in time to see the android drawing its free fist back.

Not like this— he squeezed his eyes shut, his arms slow and stupid and weak from the kryptonite as he scrambled to try and break the Android’s grip on him.

“Scoops, stop!” Jimmy’s voice rang out and Clark kept bracing for an impact which never came. The only thing Clark was stuck with was a flare of adrenaline crashing uselessly against a body on the verge of shutdown, but the punch that should have caved his skull in never came. Clark opened one eye and saw Amazo’s fist seemingly frozen less than an inch from his cheekbone. Jimmy, too, was frozen in place, his breath still puffing in the cold air around them.

You have to say ‘Scoops’ before issuing a command, Jimmy remembered, I programmed Scoops to respond to Lois or me.

Clark’s breath was still ragged, his feet still dangling off the ground. Amazo was looking at Jimmy.

“Scoops?” Jimmy said again.

Amazo tilted its head.

A few feet away from them, Lewis groaned on the ground.

“Primary User Jimmy,” Amazo said slowly, still gripping Clark’s neck. Both Jimmy and Clark startled some at the sound of android’s voice, which sounded like an overlapping mix between the generic automated AI voice Scoops would eventually have once its AI learned enough, the distortion of Ivo’s parasite suit, and Clark’s voice—fed through an AI and given that odd AI choppiness, but with an unmistakably Clark-ish pitch, “You called me that before.”

“Because… it was your name,” said Jimmy, taking a few cautious steps forward, “Are—are you still in there, buddy?”

“Lane, report! What’s going on!?” The Leader Lois’s voice sounded over Lewis’s gauntlet and Lewis just grunted in response, “Lane?!“

Amazo stared at Jimmy searchingly. “I do not know. The heart was made to observe, to help, and to learn. But this body..” Amazo looked at its non-choking-Clark-out hand, “This body was made to consume and dominate. And yet… their synthesis…” Amazo was frozen in place, before lifting its head slightly, “Who…am I?”

Oh my god, Clark thought deliriously, hands still weakly struggling at Amazo’s grip, Clark software. It duplicated my existential crisis.

“I don’t really know but—c-can you let him go?” said Jimmy, gesturing at Clark.

Amazo’s hand opened around Clark’s neck and Clark dropped to the ground like a pile of bricks with a pained grunt, and Jimmy winced, “Sorry—” he said very quietly to Clark, before looking up at Amazo.

“I do not know if I can call you my creator,” said Amazo, who was apparently also Scoops, “I have been… changed. That which was once known as Scoops cannot be removed from this body without destroying both.” The Android folded its hands over that point where the hole in the parasite suit once was. Amazo looked out at the heavily battered headquarters surrounding them, including the broken walkway that just dropped to the floor below only a few inches behind its feet. “Is this… my purpose?”

“No!” Jimmy blurted out, “Um, no. Uh… belay that previous order.” He looked at Clark. “Belay..?”

Clark shrugged helplessly.

“Cancel,” said Jimmy, “Cancel that order.”

“Then… what is my purpose?” asked Amazo.

“Lane, I need a report now, do we mobilize for combat?!” the Leader Lois was still talking over Lewis’s gauntlet as he finally hauled himself to an upright sitting position with a pained grunt.

“Just… wait—!” said Lewis, gritting his teeth and wincing to lift his gauntlet.

“You were made to save a universe,” Clark blurted out, and Amazo’s head turned to face him,

“There’s—there’s stuff in you from different worlds. So that you could save a world that has… a whole bunch of stuff pouring into it.”

“Yes…” Amazo mused, “I feel.. much of that intention in my hardware. But then—-why have I been told to destroy?”

“Because the person who gave you that order is… in a lot of pain,” said Clark, “They thought,” he gave a glance back to Lewis before turning to Amazo, “They believe this place is a threat to their universe, but it doesn’t have to be. Just like you don’t have to destroy it.”

Scoops looked at Clark blankly, then its head swung over to Jimmy.

“uhh… yeah. What he said,” said Jimmy.

“Lewis?!” it was Jalana’s voice cutting over Lewis’s gauntlet now. Lewis looked up and realized Clark, Amazo, and Jimmy were all staring at him.

“…Tell all units stand by,” Lewis grunted into his gauntlet, “The… the android is… not currently attacking.”

“What do you mean ‘not currently attacking!?’” demanded the Leader Lois.

“I think I broke my sternum,” Lewis wheezed, “Look just—wait, they’re talking. If we start shooting again, I think that’ll just piss it off.”

Thank you, Jimmy mouthed.

“We’re moving in to confirm your report,” said the Leader Lois, before her voice clicked off on the gauntlet.

“Your sternum is broken,” said Amazo, as if this was helpful, “But according to my Kryptonian X-ray vision, it is not currently impacting your organs.”

You mean my Kryptonian X-ray vision, thought Clark, with the kind of sourness that only comes with having the everloving shit beaten out of you.

“Um…” Lewis’s brow crinkled.

“I did not want you to shoot me again,” said Amazo, explaining, before turning to Clark, “And you, Kryptonian, you have no concept of the actual limits of your powers and you have an extremely strong aversion to using your powers lethally. It made it very difficult to access them fully to execute my command.”

“So I guess calling you ‘Scoops’ must have caused some kind of system reset?” Jimmy scratched the back of his head, “Or maybe it was like opening the shell and entering system commands…”

It was at that point that a blue portal opened behind Lewis and both Jalana and the Leader Lois stepped out. The Leader Lois’s hand went to her sidearm immediately at the sight of both Clark and Amazo, but she hesitated as well, with both the Kryptonian and the Android looking at her with a steady blankness.

“Oh my god, Lewis—!” said Jalana, rushing to his side.

“Careful, careful!” Lewis winced and swayed with pain a little as she helped him to his feet.

“His sternum is broken,” Amazo said again.

“It talks!?” Jalana nearly dropped Lewis.

“Careful!” Lewis said again before Jalana quickly readjusted her grip and support on him.

“How… is this possible?” said the Leader Lois.

“It… responded to ‘Scoops,’” said Jimmy, “That was in its original programming. That either me, or a Lois, could command it.”

“Wait, why couldn’t I command it?” asked Clark, a little emotionally hurt, but mostly very, very physically hurt.

“I thought we’d need to figure out how to make it accommodate the whole secret identity thing together before I programmed it in,” said Jimmy.

“Oh, that’s thoughtful,” said Clark.

“Olsen,” Lewis pressed his fingertips to his forehead, “Are you saying you could have told it to stop at any time?”

“I didn’t know I could have told him to stop!” said Jimmy, “Look at him! He’s like… 80% parasite!”

“Maybe any of you could have told it to stop,” said Clark vacantly, slumping some of his weight on a wall, “I mean, if it was programmed to respond to a Jimmy or a Lois.”

“Ah-ha!” Said Jimmy, “Thank you, Clark. Excellent point. Except it would seem to be League policy to just shoot things on reflex!”

“You could not have stopped me,” said Amazo.

“Come again?” Said Jimmy.

“You could not have stopped me. I was set to see my objective to its completion, and my programming was functioning primarily on the abilities of the Kryptonian. My learning programming for sentience would not have fully activated had I not been forced to adapt beyond the Kryptonian’s abilities—this was catalyzed by the kryptonite exposure. I did not question my own being until I was faced with oblivion. This concept of self, the awareness of self, the decision to live, was born in ice and agony.” Amazo looked at Clark. “I do not believe I would have been able to achieve true free will and question my previous orders had I not become superior to you in every way. Thank you.”

“You’re… welcome?” Clark’s brow crinkled.

“Are you saying that you no longer intend to destroy the League of Lois Lanes?” the Leader Lois asked Amazo pointedly.

“I am still deciding,” said Amazo, looking at the heavily damaged walls and walkways surrounding them.

All the League members in the space instinctively shrank back and tensed up, hands going to their weapons with an obvious hesitation of, ‘This didn’t stop him before, how the hell is it going to stop him now?’

Amazo’s head shifted its angle. “Kryptonian super-hearing indicates the League of Lois Lanes has numerous highly powerful multidimensional entities in its custody—Destroying the League does not automatically ensure their destruction, and should they escape in the fallout, they may pose a risk to the universe I have been made to protect. As such, their continued containment is optimal. I will not destroy the League.”

Lewis had visibly broken a sweat next to the Leader Lois. “Th-that’s it?” he said before wincing and sinking against Jalana in pain.

Amazo fixed that orange gaze on him. “Do you wish to engage in further combat?”

The Leader Lois’s mouth opened but her jaw remained visibly tensed.

“Nope!” said Jalana very quickly, “No, we do not.”

The Leader Lois gave Jalana a hard side-eye, but then her gaze flicked to Clark. He was still slumped against the wall, and he met her eyes with a countenance that was still clammy with the memory of pain. The scrutiny in the Leader Lois’s eyes, and the sinking realization that she was weighing if Clark could go another round with the Android made Clark suddenly feel very small, and very tired. He couldn’t help remembering seeing that same visible calculation in the Spider Lady’s face.

Don’t worry, I’m not hitting you with anything you can’t take.

Except the Leader Lois cared even less if Clark lived or died, or likely even saw his death as the avoidance of all sorts of future potential tragedy. But then her eyes scanned across the other League members, noting their exhaustion, their obvious skepticism towards any effectiveness of their weapons, or even some of them helping injured League members out of the hall or helping each other clamber over rubble and move away from less stable areas of the headquarters. She shut her eyes again; that exhausted, brow-furrowed, eyes-squeezed-shut, long-inhale-through-the-nostrils expression that Clark had seen on the Spider Lady, that he had seen on his own Lois.

Lois Lane had kicked plenty of figurative hornets’ nests in her life, but there was only so much she was willing to put other people at risk.

And the Leader Lois had seen too many Lois Lanes die in her lifetime.

“If you mean us no further harm, I would simply ask that you leave us alone,” said the Leader Lois, looking at Amazo.

“I would ask the same,” said Amazo, “For myself and the universe I was made to protect.”

“We can do that within reason,” said the Leader Lois, “However, the Spider Lady is still at large.”

“Oh!” Jimmy piped up, slumping Clark’s arm across his shoulders to support him, “Sssooo…about that…”

Lewis’s eye involuntarily twitched.

——

“So your plan is… sitting on me,” said the Spider Lady flatly. Lois was, indeed, sitting cross-legged on the Spider Lady’s back, arms folded, right on that roof where Clark and Jimmy had left them.

“Yup,” said Lois.

“I outmaneuvered Bruno Manheim and Carmine Falcone in my world, but sure, I’m going to lose to the Lois whose plan is sitting on me.”

“With the contingency plan of elbow-dropping you if you get out from under me,” said Lois, lifting her chin, “Plus, the Falcone in my world got taken down by Vicki Vale, so maybe those credentials aren’t that impressive.”

“Vicki Vale?” the Spider Lady repeated, “Really?”

“Actually,” Lois huffed, “Yeah, it’s so cool. It kind of sucks that she’s a jerk but it was amazing,”

“I’ll bet,” the Spider Lady said distantly, “She’s a jerk?”

“I mean, kind of. I used to think she was the kind of journalist I wanted to be, but I guess.. by the time I met her, I changed.”

“The Vicki Vale in my universe died before I ever got to meet her,” the Spider Lady said, that exhaustion leeching back into her voice. She was quiet for a few seconds. “I really need more girl friends,” she said, mostly to herself.

“I’ve been telling myself that for years and I don’t know if it’s like, an internalized misogyny thing or an ADHD thing or a bi thing or an army brat thing but ever since I stopped living with Lucy, I get so self-conscious when I’m surrounded by women,” said Lois, “Like women I should relax and be social with. I always feel like I’m missing 30% of the conversation because I’m missing the secret girl language.”

“And I can’t do bathroom girl talk,” said the Spider Lady, a bit sullenly.

“Seriously! Why go to the bathroom in packs!? It’s weird!” Lois exclaimed, “Like—”

“Just let me pee!” They both said at the same time and Lois caught herself.

“…you’re really me from another universe, huh?” Lois said quietly.

“It’s honestly terrifying how willing you are to beat the shit out of yourself with zero hesitation,” said the Spider Lady.

“Well, you made that kind of easy, with the whole… kidnapping and torture thing,” said Lois.

“Fair,” said the Spider Lady.

A long silence passed. Lois pulled her coat a little tighter around herself. What was she going to do if Clark and Jimmy didn’t come back? No, they would come back. They had to. Except it was the League where she got that awful rock that nearly killed Clark—if they considered Superman in general to be that big of a threat, it was likely they had more. But if Clark and Jimmy didn’t come back, then she was stuck with a woman who was dangerous, unpredictable, and had her face. Why had she told Clark to go save the League? They sucked and they all thought they were so great because they had stupid Pulitzers—and with that rock, they could be one of the most dangerous places she could send Clark into. And Jimmy—what if he ended up in one of those interdimensional jail cells he kept warning her about earlier? And Lois was stuck uselessly back here, with no portals whatsoever to help them, and no way to know if anything or everything had gone horribly wrong. Her mouth pulled into a tight frown. They shouldn’t have to be there.

“If you made him to save your universe, why not just leave with Amazo?” Lois asked after a while, “Why destroy the League?”

“It’s not in their interest for my universe to improve its circumstances. And sooner or later, they’d see Amazo as a threat,” said the Spider Lady, “So I’m not making it a threat. I’m making it a promise. And I promise that they are going to know the chaos, and panic, and pain, and despair that my world knows every day.”

Lois was looking down at her, almost blankly.

“Nothing to say?” said the Spider Lady.

“…not really. It’s just… freaky, knowing I can get that angry,” said Lois. For a few seconds, Lois wished this version of herself was more alien, more horribly unrecognizable than she actually was. She wished the prospect of becoming like this woman was unimaginable, but it wasn’t. For a moment, Lois felt it: that kernel of rage inside herself, that sharp little fire that blazed against the injustice of the world, it was one of the reasons why she became a journalist, but it wasn’t the only one. For all the loneliness and powerlessness and frustration she had known, that resentful childhood in her father’s shadow, never able to really put down roots, she had at least been able to see brief glimpses of a world worth fighting for, and people worth protecting, even if she never seemed able to hold onto them for long. And here, and now, she had the Planet, and Jimmy, and Clark—a purpose and people who let her grow herself around that old sharp fire, like an irritating grain of sand, not quite a pearl yet, but getting closer, every day. How much of that had burned away for the Spider Lady, she wondered? Until all she had left was the rage and the sharpness? Lois folded her arms, “But also, we’re not going to let that happen.”

“Why save the League?” the Spider Lady returned, “You’re not a member, and you’re clearly very close with your Clark, which probably puts you at odds with a lot of their policies.”

“Because even if they’re jerks, that doesn’t mean they should get murdered by a robot?” said Lois. And maybe Clark has something to prove… she thought to herself.

“God, you and that Clark are so righteous, here. I don’t know how you can stand it,” muttered the Spider Lady. She was quiet for a few minutes longer. “…is your Jimmy happy here?” she asked at last.

“He’s had pretty much all of his crazy conspiracy theories vindicated by Clark and Cadmus and he’s a multi-millionaire… so I think he’s doing okay,” said Lois. “Aside from a little incident with his drone.”

“Good,” the Spider Lady said softly, “That’s… good. And you’re still friends?”

“Of course we’re still friends,” said Lois. She pulled her coat a little tighter around herself as a winter wind blew through. “…aren’t you cold in that dress?”

“It’s fine. I think it’s keeping the swelling down—” the Spider Lady started but cut herself off as as a blue portal appeared in front of her and the Leader Lois stepped out, accompanied by Lewis, Jalana, and at least a half dozen other Loises, circling both Lois and the Spider Lady, and holding their guns at the ready.

“Hey, woah!” Lois put her arms up, angrily. The Leader Lois stood in front of her, examining both her and the Spider Lady, but Lois tried to get a better look at the portal, only to shrink where she was as she saw Amazo step out. Dread dropped like a rock into her stomach

If the Android’s here, what happened to—

Her breath caught in her throat, then left her in a sigh of relief to see Jimmy and Clark stepping through the pale blue portal. There was an instant, flinching reflex in her brain to spring to her feet and sprint over and throw her arms around them both, but between the League and their sidearms, the Spider Lady beneath her, and now the Android lumbering toward her, that was balanced out by a ‘no sudden moves’ survival instinct.

Relief washed over Clark as they stepped out of the portal, away from the League, away from whatever residual Kryptonite particulates and radiation were still hanging in that universe’s air. He drew in a long breath of cold, winter rooftop air and then made eye contact with Lois. He saw her eyes light up with recognition, and then he saw her expression shift as she took in them both, and particularly how Clark looked like he had gotten the stuffing kicked out of him and only partially, hastily jammed back in. Joyful relief was quickly saturated with ‘What the hell happened to you,’ before Lois was obscured completely by the hulking frame of the Android.

“Could you move, please?” Amazo loomed over Lois and the Spider Lady. Lois leaned around Amazo’s legs to see Clark and Jimmy both giving her silent, nervous, nods and ‘scoot over’ gestures. Lois slowly got up from the Spider Lady and stepped to the side. The Spider Lady coughed and grunted as her breathing was less restricted, and she pushed herself up to a buckled over kneeling position.

“What—?” The Spider Lady craned her neck up and squinted at Amazo, “What happened to you?”

“I have evolved past my original parameters and have elected not to perform the task you set out for me,” said Amazo.

This was the moment when it seemed like true and genuine horror washed over the Spider Lady’s features as she pushed herself up to a kneeling position.

“I found that the destruction of the League of Lois Lanes is not requisite, and in fact possibly detrimental to the stabilization of your universe. And I was made to save your universe,” Amazo said, as if to clarify.

The Spider Lady’s face dropped from horror to ‘are you fucking kidding me.’

“This Lois belongs to Earth 19-Y,” said Amazo, addressing the League as it picked up the Spider Lady by the back of her jacket. The Spider Lady hung from Amazo’s grip with the kind of rage-turned-to-blankness you would see in a feral kitten being held by the scruff of its neck, “I have been created with the purpose of saving that universe, so she is my responsibility.”

“She needs to be taken into League custody,” the Leader Lois said sternly.

Amazo just looked over at her. For all the animalistic fierceness Ivo had carved into the face of the original parasite suit, since it had taken on some aspects of Clark’s appearance, that red-orange glow of its eyes now seemingly had that cool and measured neutrality Superman sometimes took on when he would take a gun from a criminal’s hand, crumple it like some particularly sturdy construction paper and say, ‘Okay, we’re not doing that.’

“I was made to save her universe. You are welcome to attempt to stop me,” Amazo said calmly.

There was a long, tense moment. The Lois with the robot arm stepped forward with her rifle at the ready, but the Leader Lois held up a hand as a signal for her to stop.

“…you can stabilize your universe as you see fit, Android,” said the Leader Lois, “So long as it, and she,” she gestured to the Spider Lady, “Remain contained within its respective confines.”

With that, she hit a button on her gauntlet, opening a blue portal. “This will take you to Earth 19-Y.”

“Thank you,” said Amazo, holding up the Spider Lady demonstratively, “I will take it upon myself to prevent her from escaping our universe and causing further harm, as a part of our universe’s stabilization.”

“You’re so thoughtful,” the Spider Lady’s voice was dripping with venom.

“Primary User Jimmy,” said Amazo, looking at Jimmy, “You show recognition and acceptance of me, both as your creation, and for what I have become. For that, I am grateful.”

“I always knew you were going to be amazing, Scoops,” said Jimmy, while also thinking, Not necessarily in the ‘is also terrifying’ factor but whatever. Jimmy caught himself, “Wait—or do you prefer Amazo, now?”

“Either is fine. I simply hope I can show the same wisdom as a creator that you have, someday,” said Amazo, placing one foot into the portal, “Farewell.” With that, Scoops, carrying the Spider Lady, slipped into the spiral of bluish light.

“Bye…” Jimmy felt a bittersweetness building in his throat as the android that was once his beloved drone became merely a silhouette and then faded to nothingness.

“Jimmy, did Scoops just say it was going to create life?” asked Clark as the portal closed behind them.

“Don’t worry about it, buddy.” Jimmy patted Clark’s back.

“I’m going to worry about it.”

“So… you were keeping the Spider Lady the entire time your friends were confronting the Android with us?” the Leader Lois stepped over to Lois, who was dusting herself off.

“Lois walloped her!” Jimmy exclaimed, “It was like a UFC fight!”

“Jimmy—!” Lois was blushing before quickly adding, “Look, it wasn’t a big deal. My Clark—I mean, Clark had already disarmed her. I just… felt I had to act before she pulled any more surprises on us.” Lois felt herself cringing at the last sentence. She really didn’t like putting herself closer to that League ‘Shoot first, ask questions later’ attitude. And the Leader Lois’s response only raised her discomfort.

“You’re honestly proving yourself to be a great Lois,” said Leader Lois.

“I don’t need your approval!” Lois snapped before catching herself, “Woah, wow, sorry, I was just… bracing myself for more criticism there.”

“That’s fair,” said the Leader Lois.

“But also—I don’t,” Lois said haltingly, “I don’t need your approval. I’m—I’m my own person, and this is my own reality, and I’m sorry things with Clark ended so terribly in all those other worlds, but I’m going to make my own judgment.”

“…You know, I can appreciate that,” said the Leader Lois. She looked out over at Metropolis and gave out a short, amused huff. “And… by the looks of it, as far as universes go, you could do a lot worse.”

“League or not, we run a tight ship here,” said Jimmy, playfully elbowing Clark, which just made him attempt to cover up a pained wince with a smile.

“I’m sure,” said the Leader Lois, that skepticism returning to her voice, “And… I’m willing to admit, without your efforts, there might not be a League standing. We are still looking into the Mxyzptlk incident, but for now… it’s enough just to make it through the day.” She gave a scrutinizing look to Superman. “..Kryptonian,” she said flatly, extending a hand.

“Ms. Lane,” said Clark, shaking her hand.

“Technically, it’s Mrs. Henshaw,” said the Leader Lois, with a bit of resignation. She wasn’t really sure why she said that. Maybe it was a bit of pity towards the Kryptonian, a willingness to show some vulnerability after the beating he had taken at their headquarters. Or maybe it was just that tiring being ‘Lois Lane’ all the time.

“Oh—um, congratulations,” Clark said on reflex.

“Come on, big guy,” said Lois, taking his arm to pull him out of the handshake.

“…so it’s still called the League of Lois Lanes even if you all don’t have the last name, ‘Lane?’” Jimmy leaned over to Lewis.

“Well, yeah, we still have our own lives in our own universes. It’s just more impactful if we all introduce ourselves as ‘Lane,’” said Lewis, “It doesn’t really hit the same if we go, “I’m Lois Henshaw, that’s Lois Lane, and that’s Lewis Kalmaku-Lane.”

“Huh,” said Jimmy.

“We need to be getting back to headquarters,” said the Leader Lois, as the ring of other Loises dispersed to more informal positions, “There are… a lot of repairs to be done.”

“Sorry,” said Clark, embarrassed, “Do you need help with…?” He trailed off.

“I think you should worry about your own world for now,” said the Leader Lois, before turning to Jalana, “Olsen, I need you on cleanup here. Make sure Spider Lady didn’t leave any interdimensional contraband behind”

“Yes, Leader Lois,” said Jalana, saluting before heading off into her own portal.

The Leader Lois opened up her own portal and the remainder of League strike team disappeared into it. Lewis exclaimed, “Finally!” as he stepped through. The Leader Lois looked back at Clark, Lois and Jimmy, before a soft, amused huff escaped her.

“I realize I’m asking the impossible, but try and stay out of trouble, 12-M,” she said, before stepping through the portal, “We’ll be in touch.”

Clark awkwardly waved after her as she disappeared.

“…what do you think the ‘M’ stands for?” said Jimmy, before going “Oof!” As Lois flung her arms around both him and Clark.

“What happened in there!?” She said, her voice muffled against both of them.

“A lot,” said Jimmy.

“Jimmy saved the day,” said Clark, easily.

“Smallville, you don’t get to just say, ‘Jimmy saved the day’ when you look like this,” said Lois, gesturing at him.

“I know, it’s just…” Clark hesitated.

“We’ll tell you the whole story as soon as we can,” said Jimmy, “I think we both need some time. For now, we’re just really glad to be back home with you,”

“I’m holding you both to that,” said Lois, with a sternness that almost rivaled the Leader Lois, before it quickly melted away and she hugged them both again. “I’m just… so glad you made it back.

Clark’s cheek smushed against the top of her head as he returned the embrace. But then, hesitantly, but reflexively, his arms loosened around her and Jimmy. He lifted his head, tilting it and squinting slightly, before his eyes widened. “Lois—” he looked at her with some alarm.

“…Metropolis hasn’t had Superman all day,” said Lois, following his line of sight over the city.

“It won’t be long, just—there’s someone stuck in the trunk of a car in Bakerline, and there’s a group of people dumping some hazardous chemicals in the river over in the industrial district, and there’s a lost dog down in—”

“We know, buddy,” said Jimmy.

“Clark,” Lois set her hands on his shoulders, “It’s okay. You can go. Just… be safe, all right?” And then she squeezed her eyes closed with exhaustion and added, “And please don’t get kidnapped again.”

“Get some rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he kissed her hairline and took off so fast her jacket whipped around in his wake. Both Lois and Jimmy were left alone on that rooftop, the air around them feeling surreally empty.

“…you okay?” Jimmy asked after a long silence.

“Yeah, you?”

“I kind of built a god? Sort of? I’m trying to parse that,” said Jimmy, “I’ll be okay. Probably.”

“Great. That’s great,” Lois glanced at her bruised knuckles before huffing out a breath and swinging her arms back in forth for a few seconds, “I’m, uh… I’m gonna go home and pass out.”

“Good call,” said Jimmy.

#my adventures with superman #clois #MAWS fanfic

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