Second Chances: Superman and Lois - Rough Draft

Chapter 10

Superman barely managed to dodge the blast from the Stranger in time.

"What do you mean save this world from me? And how do you know my real name?" Superman demanded.

"I know a lot of things about you Kal-El. Like how to kill you." the Stranger said as he flew forward and punched Superman with enough force that it almost hurt him.

"I would never turn on this world." Superman said.

"Maybe not yet, but you will. Just like how you did on mine." the Stranger said, taking him aback, since that was a new one.

"You're from another earth." Superman said.

"That's right. And I won't let what happened in my world happen on this one." the Stranger said as he blasted Superman again and this time it hit him and Superman knew what it was. Red sun energy.

"You're the one who sabotaged those power plants." Superman realized.

"That's right. I was testing you, trying to find out exactly what your limits are. Plus, since those facilities are always lined in lead, I could study you without you seeing me." the Stranger said.

"I would never turn on this world." Superman said.

"Yeah, the Superman of my world said that once too. Until he turned on us." the Stranger said.

"That's not me. I've devoted my life to protecting this planet." Superman said as he finally started fighting back and punched the Stranger in the chest hard enough to send him flying backwards.

"You really think that this suit can't take a hit from Superman? In fact, I built it specifically for that purpose. But also so that I could hit back." the Stranger said as he held out his hand and suddenly, a hammer flew into it.

"Nice toy." Superman said.

"Built it specifically to fight you. The further the throw, the heavier the hit. Allow me to demonstrate." The Stranger said as he chucked his hammer at Superman, which sent him flying back.

"I admit, that was good." Superman said as he retaliated and continued to fight back, even getting in close, only to feel stabbing pain in his gut as he felt a familiar substance enter his gut.

"That's right. I know what Kryptonite is. The only surviving fragments of your true home and it's toxic to you. It's rather poetic honestly." the Stranger said as Superman fell to his knees as he managed to pull the kryptonite out of his system.

"So what, you have a thing against Kryptonians. You gonna kill Supergirl next?" Superman asked.

"No, I'd never kill her." the Stranger said.

"But why kill me but not her?" Superman asked.

"Because I will never let you do to her on this earth what did to her on mine. I will never let history repeat itself. I will never let you hurt her." the Stranger said, surprising Superman.

"I would never hurt her. She's my own flesh and blood." Superman said, his eyes powering up, furious that this man would ever imply that he'd hurt his cousin.

"And yet that didn't stop you from killing her right in front of me on my world. And I won't let you do that again." the Stranger said, right as his AI perked up.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but our power levels are quite depleted. I recommend a retreat for now." the AI said.

"You got lucky Kal-El. Next time you won't. But until then, let me leave you with this." the Stranger said as he blasted Superman again with a red sun blast, knocking him back and by the time he came too, he found the Stranger was gone.

"Wait, so he said he was from another world?" Sam asked after Clark told him and Lois about the fight back at the house, since Clark had asked Lois to call her father there.

"Yeah, apparently in his world, Superman is everything Lex Luthor said I'd be." Clark said.

"Are we sure he's telling the truth? After all, he's not the first nutjob in a high tech warsuit who's tried to kill you saying he was saving the world." Lois said.

"No, this wasn't like Lex. I could tell from his voice that whatever happened in his world, he believed it to be real. That conviction, it's something that can't be faked." Clark said.

"Clark, what else did he say? I can tell that he said something to you that clearly startled you." Lois said and Clark sighed.

"He said that on his world, he watched me kill Kara." Clark said.

"What? Clark, you would never do that." Lois said.

"I know, but clearly the me in his world did. And I can't help but feel like that has somehow made this personal for him. It sounded like he wasn't so much trying to save this world from me, he was trying to save Kara from me." Clark said.

"Now hold up, before we believe any of this, maybe we should find out if he's telling the truth." Sam said.

"He is Sam." Clark said.

"I'm not talking about the alternate earth thing, I've heard crazier things. I'm talking about you attacking his earth." Sam said.

"So we find him and get some answers." Lois said.

"Do you have anything that might help us do that?" Sam asked.

"Not really. I mean, he had red sun tech and kryptonite, but something tells me he's smart enough to keep them shielded from detection and I have no idea what his suit is made of." Clark said.

"We'll figure something out. Get some rest Clark. I have a feeling you'll need it." Sam said as he left the house.

"What are you thinking?" Lois asked her husband, recognizing the look on his face.

"People from other earths isn't really our area of expertise, but we do know someone who is used to it." Clark said and she knew who he was talking about.

"Star Labs." Lois said.

"From what Kara's told me, Barry deals with people appearing from other earths on a weekly basis." Clark said.

"You didn't mention that to my dad?" Lois asked.

"I don't want to put them on Sam's radar yet." Clark said and Lois nodded in agreement.

"You should head to Central City and talk to them about it." Lois said.

"In the morning. That fight took a lot out of me. I need to sleep." Clark said as he headed upstairs.