The Kid From the Future

By Bre Castellani (lovedeanc@aol.com)

Summary: Lois and Clark are visited by Tempus and one of their future offspring.

***

It was a stormy night in Metropolis. Lois Lane and Clark Kent were at home sleeping. Suddenly, they heard a loud boom. Tempus, a villain from the future, stepped through a porthole and into their bedroom. A man came through after Tempus.

Lois and Clark didn't know what to do. "Lois," Clark whispered, "Tempus is in OUR bedroom! What should we do?"

Lois replied, "Normally I'd say 'Run!' but I think Tempus would notice us. So, um, just ignore him."

"Okay," said Clark.

Tempus didn't even notice that he was in Lois and Clark's room. He walked past them as if they were ghosts. He and the man went through the door and left the house.

Lois said to Clark "Whoa, that was close! I'm surprised he didn't see us!"

"I'm gonna go make sure he really left."

Lois heard a loud whirring sound as her husband shot off, out the window, and off into the distance. "I still can't believe I'm married to SUPERMAN!"

***

Superman flew over the city in search of Tempus. He found him in Centennial Park. Tempus was talking to the same man Clark had seen him with minutes ago.

Superman was satisfied. He left Tempus and the other man to return home to his wife.

***

When he arrived home, Lois was asleep. "Can't even stay awake long enough to kiss me goodnight," Clark sighed. Sometimes he wished he wasn't a superhero.

***

The next morning, Lois was up before Clark. She made her specialty, Oatmeal Ala Soup. Clark came down the stairs in his bathrobe. He sat down at the table to eat breakfast with Lois. "Well, at least the oatmeal's not burnt," Clark muttered to himself. "Could have been worse."

After breakfast, Clark got dressed. He and Lois went to work at The Daily Planet. They had been working together on a story for weeks. It was about a crime ring in Metropolis. They were at a dead-end. There were no new angles to pursue, no new sources to question, or no new clues to analyze and explore.

"Perry, put us on another story. We're at a dead-end with the other one," Lois and Clark said together.

"I don't know. A crime ring is a pretty important story to the people of Metropolis. They'd want to know about it," Perry replied. Clark told Perry about Tempus. "Do you know what he was doing in your bedroom?" Perry questioned. "Or why he was there?"

"No," Clark stated.

"Well… why don't you find out?!?" Perry said rather loudly.

"So we're off the crime ring story?" asked Lois.

"For now," replied Perry.

Lois and Clark left The Planet to find Tempus. Three hours later, they'd all but given up on him.

Suddenly he appeared out of nowhere. Tempus said, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Lois Lane and Clark Kent, reporters for The Daily Planet. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Where did you come from, Tempus?" asked Lois.

"Why, I've come from the future. I've come to dispose of Superman. Clark… you can run, but you can't hide from the force of evil. Evil always wins." With that, Tempus disappeared into the porthole, as he did the night before.

"Isn't that what he came through last night? I wonder where it leads," Lois said.

"Well, I'm going to find out," Clark replied to Lois.

Lois followed Clark down the street. He lead her into a vacant building. Clark changed into Superman. After saying goodbye to Lois, he took off.

With nothing to do while Clark was away, Lois headed home.

***

Shortly after she arrived home, Clark came through the door. "Lois, I've found Tempus!" Clark shouted. "He's down on Dakun Street."

"Okay, we'll pay him a visit tomorrow," Lois yelled back to Clark.

***

The next morning both Lois and Clark were up rather early. They wanted to get to Tempus' hideout early.

They arrived there at about 7 a.m.. But Tempus was nowhere in sight. "Maybe he went back to Utopia," suggested Lois.

"Tempus leave Metropolis without reeking havoc? I don't think so. He's probably just out robbing a bank or… or… S.T.A.R. LABS… of KRYPTONITE! Lois, oh no! That's where he is, I just know it!" Clark said in a hurry. He quickly turned into Superman and flew away to S.T.A.R. Labs.

***

"Dr. Klein! Dr. Klein!" Superman shouted.

"Yes, Superman?"

"I'm here on urgent matters. Is the Kryptonite still here?" said The Man of Steel.

"Uh, I think so. Let me check," Dr. Klein. He left the room. He came back in a few minutes. "Yes, it's still here, why?" asked Dr. Klein.

"Never mind. Thanks. Can you put it in a vault? Have someone check it every now and then? Make sure it's there," stated Superman.

"Yes, sure. Okay, why?" Dr. Klein asked. "I have a feeling there's someone in Metropolis who wants to use it against me," responded Superman.

Minutes after Superman left S.T.A.R. Labs, Tempus arrived. He used his porthole to get into the vault undetected. He took the Green Kryptonite back to his Dakun Street hideout.

***

Ten minutes later, Clark arrived home. As he expected, Lois wasn't there. "She's probably investigating," he thought to himself.

There was a loud crash upstairs. Clark ran as fast as he could. Which was fast, considering he was Superman. There, on the bathroom floor was a little girl. She looked maybe 13. "Are you alright?" asked Clark.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks…Dad?" the girl said as Clark helped her up.

"What? No, I have no children," Clark said with a peculiar look on his face.

"Now you don't, but I'm not from NOW. I'm from the future. Fifteen years, to be exact."

"What? Do you mean you're my daughter from the future?" Clark asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I am. I'm not born for 2 years yet," the girl replied.

"What's your name? Wait, lemme guess. Jenni Marie?" Clark guessed.

"Nope! Not even close! I'm Alicyne Alexis Lane- Kent. Do you know what it's like going through life with the last name Lane-Kent?" Alicyne said softly.

"No, not really. Wait! How do I know you're my daughter and not just some thief?" Clark asked.

"Well," replied Alicyne as she began to float, "can a thief do this?"

"Not that I know of," said Clark with a high-pitched voice.

"If you're from the future, then do you know Tempus? He's a man from Utopia," Clark said.

"Sorry, I don't. I'm from the time before Utopia was created- 20 years from now," Alicyne stated.

"How do you know that if it wasn't created yet?" Clark said with a chuckle.

"Well, see, in my time, there's a thing we call a window. It allows us to travel back and forth through time. That's what I used to get here," Alicyne replied to Clark.

"So… that's what Tempus had!" Clark said happily.

"Clark, I'm home! Where are you?" yelled Lois.

"Up here, honey," Clark shouted back.

Lois followed the his voice until she reached the bathroom. "Who's that?" asked Lois.

"I'm Alicyne. Your daughter from the future."

"What?" said Lois, almost fainting.

"Let's not dwindle on that," Clark said, "I think I've figured out where Tempus got that porthole thing."

"Where?" Lois asked.

"From the future. That's how Alicyne got here," Clark told Lois. "How do you know she's even OUR kid?" Lois asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well, for one thing, she can fly, run really fast, and has heat vision," Clark said pointing to a hole in the white wall.

"Oh," was all that Lois said.

"Do you want to go look for Tempus again, or do you want to wait until tomorrow?" asked Lois.

"I say let's go," said Clark.

"Okay, but can we go Superman Express?" Lois asked Clark.

"I'd rather we don't. I don't want to attract attention," Clark said.

"Then how do we get there?" questioned Lois.

"I have an idea," said Alicyne, pulling out a silver square box. "Where is Tempus at?" she continued.

"Dakun Street, I believe," Clark said to Alicyne.

"Okay," she said while punching in some numbers. "We'll go through this." She opened the porthole. "Just step through."

***

They arrived on Dakun Street in a matter of seconds. "Wow! That was so cool!" shouted Lois.

"Lois, shhh. Now, to find the house," Clark said.

"Well, let's try the second one on the left. That looks like a good hideout house," whispered Lois.

"Okay," Alicyne and Clark said together.

They peered through the only window on the front side of the house. "No sign of Tempus," said Lois quietly.

"Well, if you were a criminal, would you sit right in front of a window?" asked Alicyne.

"Good point," said Lois.

"I'm going in," said Alicyne.

"I'm with you," stated Lois.

"No you're not," said Clark. "What happens if we get caught. We're immortal, you're not."

"True, but you're not immortal to Kryptonite. I'd imagine Alicyne isn't, either."

"You're right. Alicyne, we can't take that chance with you. You'll have to stay here. We don't want to change the future," Clark said.

"Yeah, but what about you guys? What happens if one of you get injured? Then what would happen to the future? There would be no Utopia, no peace, and Tempus would be the ruler of Earth," Alicyne stated.

"We'll be careful," Lois said.

***

"Well, well. If it isn't Lois Lane and Clark Kent. We meet again. Too bad it's under such… drastic circumstances," Tempus said as evil-like as ever.

"We're not afraid of you, Tempus," Lois said without the least bit of fear in her voice.

"Well, you should be," Tempus said pulling out Green Kryptonite. "I have the power to kill you now, if I wanted to." There was a sudden creak in the doorway. Clark saw a short, plump man standing there with a gun. He ran at super-speed to capture him. That distracted Tempus. Lois kicked the Green Kryptonite from his hands. She ran and grabbed it. She threw it out the window.

"See? All those karate lessons I had as a kid really paid off!" Lois said excitedly.

Clark smiled at her. "Good job." Lois smiled back.

***

When they came out, Clark had Tempus in one hand and the man in the other hand. Alicyne had called the police.

They pulled up and took Tempus and Jack, Tempus' brother, into custody. They questioned Lois and Clark for about 5 minutes. When they were done, they went home. Alicyne came, too.

***

"Do you really have to go?" asked Lois.

"I'm afraid so. How would you explain a 13-year-old girl that's living with you? Especially when you've only known each other for about 4 years. Anyway, Lois and Clark need me. I need them, too. I'll see you in 15 years. Well, I'll be born in 2 years… but you know what I mean. So I'll see you then." With that, Alicyne opened the porthole and left.

Lois started to cry. "I didn't want her to go! She hardly even said goodbye!"

"I know, but we'll see her again," said Clark. "At least we know we'll have a daughter," Clark said with a smile.

"I guess you're right," said Lois.

THE END

(kid.txt)