By Betty Huang <quiettornado7491@gmail.com>
Rated PG-13
Submitted November 1999
Summary: Clark does battle with demons who possess people.
** This story has been rated PG-13 for violence. **
Author: Betty Huang. Comments can be sent to: quiettornado7491@gmail.com Web: http://homestead.juno.com./bhuang1/Huang.html Halloween Special Note: Upon Halloween's day 1999, I was inspired by a few teenage males and females to write this story. As I sat at the computer to do some writing and e-mails, one of the teens cussed at me. "Stupid lady's in there on the computer, won't open and give something to us. She could've grabbed something from the fridge." This story is a short story, not meant to hurt anyone's feelings. It is based on my Christian beliefs, and I don't celebrate Halloween. Having to hide from the trick or treaters gave me the inspiration for this story.
Lois and Clark, the New Adventures of Superman "Devil's Day"
***
It was a sunny day, but the ground was wet from a recent storm. As a dimensional portal opened up, Mr. Mxyzptlk the gnome tried to enter through the interdimensional portal. He did not succeed. But then he got an idea. "If I can't get through, I shall wreak my revenge on Superman." He opened a portal between dimension "X" and Metropolis. Soon, twenty different invisible creatures came through the portal and settled on a few human bodies. Except for one person who had also walked out of the portal, who did not need a human body to survive in this world. All the possessed humans bowed down to this creature which looked very human. The creatures started saying, "Hail to Lucifer, the mighty King. What is thy command of us, thy servants?"
"Go and create as many disasters as you can. Make all the humans hate each other, while I create more violence then I could've done when I was locked up in that dimension 'X' and thereby settle an old score with Superman, the symbol of all that is good."
Lucifer first went to Russia to cause the President to fight over little petty things with its neighboring country. Then he came back to Metropolis. Satan then saw Clark Kent kissing his wife near the Daily Planet building's entrance and decided to occupy Clark's body, because he had recognized the aura which surrounded Clark Kent as that of the Kryptonian, Superman.
Clark stopped kissing his wife as he felt something strange, and something staring at him. He looked around, but then he knew something wasn't right. Clark looked around and started to feel dirty.
Every other three hours, two more demons would come through the portal.
Two days later, there were reports of monsters near a rural area of Metropolis. Perry had sent a newsperson to the location to cover it, but the man never came back. Some of the monsters had heads like that of a lizard with claws around the mouth, and there were some who still looked like humans standing on the ground, but with one difference, they had glowing eyes. Most of the teenage humans which were taken over by the demons were destroying properties, swearing, and calling names despite their human appearance. They went further north from the group to destroy more property, to steal things, and also to hurt as many people as possible.
The next day, Lois was sitting at her desk listening to Star. Star had mentioned to Lois that she had sensed what was happening right now about three days ago. "Demons. There are no such things as demons."
"Lois, I tell you, the devil himself has come back." As Star was about to continue to her next sentence, Clark showed up. Star stopped in mid-sentence as she got up and backed away from Clark. "Stay away," she said crossly. She walked away and headed for the elevator, to go see one of her colleagues.
"What's with her?" Clark asked Lois.
"She's convinced that this thing that's been going on with the missing people has to do with demon possession."
"That's impossible."
"Yes." Lois then thought for a second. "Where were you last night?"
"Where was I? I never went anywhere. I woke up this morning at nine. Apparently, I overslept. I never left the house."
"Clark, I woke up at three in the morning and you were gone. I woke up again at seven to come to work and you still weren't home. Was there some sort of disaster?"
"No."
Clark started thinking.
That was when the news report showed up on TV. "We have the latest news on the crisis in the northern rural area of Metropolis." The newsman then showed a man walking across the street and then some shadowy figure descending on the man. One minute the man was human, the next minute the man turned into a lizard-like creature with claws. Then it showed a dimensional portal opening up and six more demons coming through. The cameraman managed to record the marching of the monsters with one flying monster before the cameramen were possessed and the camera fell to the floor, thus ending the live broadcast. Lois watched yet another cameraman's taping of the military personnel shooting darts at the monsters. All were hit except for one, as the dart bounced off the flying monster. That was when a suspicious look came over Lois's face. Something about that flying monster was familiar to her.
After the military had cleared the bodies away, six more demons came through the opened portal and took over the bodies of several military officers and a sergeant.
Perry watched the TV. He dared not to send any more reporters out, in fear of endangering more lives.
Later, as Clark was finishing up the small story he had started the previous night, about a small fire at a local chemical plant, he started massaging his temples as he remembered using his heat vision to heat up a chemical.
"Clark, are you okay?"
"Yes. Just a headache."
Lois was now really worried. Clark went to the washroom for a few seconds so he would not worry his wife. In the washroom, Clark tried to wake himself up, until he saw his arms changing form. He went to the nearest place he could sit down for a while, which was the broom closet.
Ten minutes later, Lois was wondering what was taking Clark so long, since they had to go to the lab about a dead body that someone had found. "Jimmy, can you go find Clark?"
Jimmy went by the broom closet and heard a distinct moan. But when he opened the broom closet, he saw CK getting up off the ground.
"CK! Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Jimmy. Just a bit of indigestion," Clark said, trying to think of an excuse. As he recovered from another episode of trying to regain control, and fighting the monster's effort in trying to take control of him.
Jimmy started whispering to Clark, "CK. You're Superman. How can you get indigestion?"
"I'm fine, Jimmy. Let's just keep this quiet." Clark kept trying to convince himself that there were no such things as demons.
"Sure, CK. If you insist. But Lois should know."
"Lois don't need to know."
But the following day, Clark and Lois were examining a corpse that the officials had found.
"And guess what, whatever this creature or thing is it eats human flesh," the official explained as he showed the hollow inside. As both Clark and Lois became extremely grossed out, he continued. "From the looks of the chemical it left behind, this thing, whatever it is, it is not solid. More like static electricity. I'm sending another sample of this thing to STAR Labs. They have better equipment for this kind of experiment."
That evening, Lois was gathering some clothes to be sent out to wash. She noticed a dart which fell out of one of Clark's clothes. Then she thought about the portal that she had seen on TV. She only knew of one person who could break through the portals, and that was Mr. Mxyzptlk.
Lois turned around at the sound of a hiss. That was when a monster came upon her, pushing her down on the floor. Lois saw the huge sucking tongue inching closer to her neck. That was when Star showed up behind the monster with a medallion and strapped it around the creature's neck. Immediately, the monster tried to tear it off but to no avail. Lois got up off the floor and away from the creature, but then she saw that it had began to change shape, back to Superman.
"Thank goodness, Superman. I got the medallion here on time. I thought that monster might be you," Star exclaimed.
"What's going on, Lois? The last thing I remember…" He stopped his sentence as he remembered waking up and looking at his hands, as they changed form.
"I suggest you keep that medallion on, Superman." Star commented before Lois had a chance to say a word.
Lois proceeded to explain about what she found and how the monster tried to prey on her. After Lois explained, Star began to explain her plan to close the portal before more demons came through it.
"I'll be right back," she said.
But after Star had left to get the staff from the other room, Superman started using a different tone of voice, as he was back to his Clark's identity in the super suit.
"Clark, it's okay. You couldn't help yourself," Lois insisted.
"So far, Superman, I can't get near the portal to close it. If I could get close enough to it I can close it with this." Star showed them a staff.
That evening, Superman took Star close to the portal. There were twenty creatures by the gate, and 100 other monsters scouring the neighborhood for human prey. Star waved her staff in the portal and chanted a few words from Merlin's book of sorcery.
As the gate closed, one monster jumped over Superman's shield and took off Superman's medallion from behind him, then threw himself into the portal. The medallion went flying high into the air and into the alley nearby. Immediately the reaction was obvious, Superman became the monster that was still in him. Once the sun came out, Superman was back to his old self, which left Superman the only person able to keep Star safe from all the other creatures who were looking at Star as if she was their turkey dinner on a Thanksgiving day.
Later, Superman changed back to his Clark clothes and got ready to go inside for the day's work, to confront Perry who was inquiring about his whereabouts. He immediately felt the changes coming and the all-too-familiar ache in his stomach. He fought the demon's apparent effort to control him. He leaned on the post before rushing back out the door.
Upstairs in the newsroom, Lois walked over to her desk with a cup of coffee in one hand. She took a sip before Jimmy told her that Perry wanted to see her in the conference room, where he was talking to Star. Lois walked into the room.
"Where is Clark?" asked Perry.
"He's coming," Lois replied, as she herself wonders why her husband hadn't arrived yet.
"Lois, I was just talking to Perry about the chapter that I read in this book. It was stored in the attic of my old home. Apparently my mother's friend is related to Merlin. She gave my mom the book for safe keeping," Star explained.
Jimmy walked in. "Lois, CK is on the phone for you."
"Excuse me while I go get this one," Lois apologised. She picked up the phone. "Clark, where are you?"
"Next door to the Daily Planet. I'm at the phone booth. Lois, I don't think I can go inside without the medallion. Every time I try to go inside a building, I can feel this creature taking over. I think it's the sun that's keeping me from changing."
"Why don't you just stay out there and take care of what needs to be taken care of and I'll take care of things from this end. I'll ask Star if she knows anything about the medallion," Lois suggested.
"Sure, hon." They hung up the phone as Clark went to change back to Superman.
Lois immediately turned to Perry and told him that Clark couldn't make it to work. "He had errands." Lois turned her face after she had talked to Perry. She faced Star and asked her a question; Star started answering her question before Lois got a chance to ask it.
"No. Merlin had only managed to make one. But this morning I did find the amulet that was taken from Superman."
"How did you find it?"
"Well, I knew that the creature couldn't withstand light, red light that is. I took this with me for protection." Star showed Lois the wand. "I went with my gut feeling, and it led me right to the amulet."
"Can I borrow it?"
"Sure. Are you planning on giving it back to Superman?"
"Yes."
"Now, Lois, seeing that you have contact with Superman, I need to tell you about something."
"What is it? You found out how we can get rid of the demons?"
"Yes. But it requires some sacrifices."
"What sacrifices?"
"Well, 'sacrifice' isn't the right word for it. I read in Merlin's book of magic that we can use a special chant that will bring all the demons into one person's body." Just then, Star saw her mother's friend walk in with her eighteen-year-old daughter. Star saw Jimmy opening the conference door for the two ladies.
"Hi, my name is Tammy Merlin Brokesen. And this is my daughter, Christi Merlin Brokesen. I see Star has been filling you in on our family background."
"Yes, I did, just a little."
"To make a long story short, our family's only half human, that's why those creatures couldn't possess us. If they tried, they would self-destruct. Well, our great-grandfather was what the executives at a big company would call the Vice-President. Our great-grandfather Merlin is what the Star Trek film calls the creature 'Q'."
"As in one of those irritating space creatures which is always a menace to Picard." Christi added in her distaste of the show, wishing she could snap her finger and make the whole crew of the Star Trek show disappear. But she had to abide by regulations.
"Yes."
"Why can't you just snap your fingers and drive the creatures away?"
"Because we're more human now. Our powers have left us, too many generations marrying humans. We do have my daughter here, she can help. Her father was a pure 'Q'."
"Yes, I can." As Christi showed the crowd her glowing hand, everyone was shocked. "All we need to do is get the creatures all in one spot. If we send one back at a time, that will take me longer."
The mother cut in, "We need Superman to bear the burden of all these creature inside him. He's the only one that can take the stress. During the sixth century, my grandfather tried having a human helper. Nevertheless, the human died of complications."
"But how, he's already gotten one?" asked Lois.
"That is because he let his guard down. That's how he got Lucifer."
"Lucifer?"
Perry White explained, "Lucifer is a fallen angel, Lois. He supposedly wanted to be a God and thus he was thrown out of heaven down to earth, where he roamed till this very day. Some say that he used to be the ruler over the dinosaurs. When he was thrown out of heaven, all the dinosaurs were judged by God and killed along with their ruler. That's why he was called the great serpent in the Bible."
"Is that why the others couldn't get in?"
"Yes." Tammy paused to collect her thoughts, "I believe at one time the Kryptonians and the leelites were allies, also. Until recent events, when the Kryptonians denied the existence of a God and a Great Serpent. When Krypton exploded, the leelites were put in a prison called dimension 'X'. Three days ago, while I was getting dressed for the dinner I had planned with my husband, he told me that Mr. Mxyzptlk had escaped."
"How do you know this?"
The daughter replied, "My grandfather's magic mirror. That's how we knew to come to Metropolis. We pinpointed the portal's front and back end. We move a lot because I'm still young and my powers are still out of control. But my mom's teaching me how to control them."
"Yes, I had that problem when I was her age."
"Excuse me, I think I'll go and try to find Superman."
"Sure. But make sure he knows the risk involved."
"What risk? Star never told me about any risk."
"Well, let's just say that he might or might not turn out to be normal."
"What do you mean?"
"What my mom's trying to say is that he might become a complete vegetable."
Perry however added in a little hope, after seeing the look on Lois' face. "That is a big 'if'. Hey, we're talking about Superman."
"True."
So Lois went outside the building and into an alley. "Clark, Clark!" she called. But there was no response until she said out loud "Superman! I need to talk to you." There was the sound of a swoosh, and Superman was there in front of Lois in a flash of a second.
"What's up, hon? I've been busy on the north side."
Lois began to explain. Then she commented, "I can't let you go through with it. It's too risky."
"I have to, Lois, if this is the only way to get rid of those monstrous creatures." Superman rubbed his temple as the demon in him retaliated while Lois put the medallion on him as he was holding her in his arms.
After thirty minutes, Lois saw Clark walk in and take off his jacket to put on the back of his chair. Lois became concerned because Star was sitting just a few feet away from Clark's table. Star saw the medallion around Clark's neck. She became suspicious. Clark sat down at his desk and then put the amulet under his shirt. Lois saw Star close her eyes and began what seemed to her to be trying to read Clark's mind. Lois rushed to distract Star. But it was too late. Star concealed her realization that Clark was Superman and began to talk to Lois. She had also got some information on HG Wells' visits.
Tammy then came to Lois at her desk, "Well, it's almost dark. Lois, where is Superman? We have to get ready before it gets too dark. I need to teach him how this works."
"I'll go get him." Clark replied. Soon, Superman came in through the window.
Tammy and Christi both introduced themselves to Superman. As Christi shook hands with Superman, she had a weird sense that he was worrying about something and that he had something to hide.
Two hours later, Tammy managed to get Superman seated and relaxed. Christi manage to get the first demon, Lucifer, out of Superman. Tammy was instructing Superman on the techniques to clear the mind because the demonic creatures could read anyone's minds. Cindi came up behind Superman and laid her hands on each of Superman's shoulders. But then Christi started getting pictures in her head about Clark's life, aka Superman. After finding everything she needed, she banished Lucifer back into Dimension "X". She let go and started trying to process all the information she had found out.
Later, at the showdown, Superman fought the demons off, trying to get them to leave. But then like a magnet, he let down his guard, and all the creature entered his body during those few split seconds. Superman collapsed into a kneeling position on the pavement, and Christi came up behind him and laid one glowing hand on him.
All of the hellish creatures exited into a glowing bubble and then were destroyed. Once the bubble was destroyed, Superman fought to stay conscious. But he soon collapsed under the pressure of what seemed to be a very heavy burden for a man who was able to move planets and meteors. Lois rushed over, crying, "Superman!" She tried to see if there was any sign of life, turning him over and feeling for a pulse. "He's alive."
A few hours later, in Dr. Klein's office and after his examination, the doctor told Christi, Tammy, and Lois, "Cerebral activity is at a minimum. His physical condition is fine. I have to tell you Lois; I can't help you out on this one. Unless you want to wait until he recovers from this."
"How long?"
"Three days to about a week." That was when Dr. Klein noticed that all the security Cameras had shut down as the phone rang.
"Is everything okay in there?"
"Sure. Why?"
"Well, all the cameras all of a sudden are shutting down. The strangest thing is… it's only happening in your office." Dr. Klein and the security guards signed off. Lois looked at Christi, as if she had something to do with it. As the lab started to empty out, Christi locked the door after Star came in.
"Lois, Dr. Klein. I know both of you know that Superman is Clark's alter ego. But what you don't know is that I have one too." As Christi's body glowed in a bright light, as the light faded, there stood before them was Wunder Star. Dr. Klein was definitely in deep shock. He had found out that Clark was Superman when he had succeeded in getting Clark back to health from that OD of Kryptonite drip he had received from Diana Stride. But this was way too much for Dr. Klein's nerves. He sat down on a chair in shock.
"Can you help Clark?"
"I can try. I haven't done this in a long time." Christi said doubtfully. "I haven't used this power of mine since my recent husband went into a coma." Christi laid one glowing hand on Clark's head and the other one on his chest where, she believed Superman's power to rejuvenate himself lay.
By the time Clark opened his eyes, Tammy Merlin Brokesen and Christi Merlin Brokesen were gone, but the door was still locked.
After looking around, Clark, still in his Superman suit, figured out that he was in Dr. Klein's office. He stood up and saw that Dr. Klein was still in a daze.
"Is he okay?"
"Yes." Then he realized that Lois was also in a state of shock. "What's wrong, Lois?"
"Christi is Wunder Star."
"Wunder who?" asked Clark as he had never heard the name. He got back into his normal clothing without doing his spin. After he got changed, he walked out of the lab a little exhausted, with one arm around Lois for support. Lois explained about Wunder Star all the way to their car and how she trusted them with her secrets.
Later, Lois hated to have to wake Clark but they were home. There was no chance of her carrying her giant sleeping baby and the little baby Joey at the same time. "Clark, wake up. We're home." Clark got up and out of the car to head for the house, as Lois took Joey out of his little booster seat. Lois then started to explain the whole situation to Clark, and she also explained how many people had seen Wunder Star in many cities from Metropolis to Gotham, where Wunder Star had healed their wounds. Even Batman himself had once said that Wunder Star had rescued him when the Penguin had tried to bury him alive. Then Lois told Clark about Aquaman's attempt to help his fellow sea creatures from a disaster when Wunder Star showed up to help out.
"And did you know that the government is talking about starting up a Justice League?" Clark asked.
"No, I didn't know that."
"And guess what, the government is even talking about paying for the help."
"Do you think that is something you can do?"
"I don't know. I'm kind of stuck in Metropolis. I feel at home here. I don't know if I'm willing to move to D.C. with Joey."
"Yes, I know. And he's starting to show signs of his superpowers. D.C. would be too much for his little ears."
"I know exactly how that feels." Clark tugged at his ears. "Sometimes these pick up more than I wanted to hear." He held open the second door to their town home for Lois.
THE END.