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Post by jonclark on Oct 1, 2019 16:47:44 GMT
Why not try the tactic that he used when the JLA was trapped in their headquarters by the Key? He could break the time barrier and travel into the past to before the barrier went up. He would become a phantom, because his past self is there, but all he has to do is wait in the countryside for a while until the "current" Superman goes into the past and he re-materializes. That was one of the first things he tried. One of the things the barrier is doing is reducing his powers by a certain amount. It wasn't enough for Superman to notice at first, but when he tried to time travel he realized he couldn't quite reach light speed. It also is why his senses let him follow the battle between Lex and Kristen, but not Jasma once she flew towards the Fortress. Think of it as a minor version of shifting the sun from yellow towards orange. His powers aren't halved but they are less than 100%.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Oct 1, 2019 19:52:32 GMT
He should check his assets. What kind of weapons or devices are available in Metropolis proper? I think the first place to look is Jimmy Olsen's collection of souvenirs. Something there might enable him to escape. Off the top of my head, he could use the magic lamp from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #42 and wish for Abdul the Genie to free him from the barrier. Abdul is evil, but relatively safe, as long as you do not say the word "kill" in his presence.
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Post by jonclark on Oct 2, 2019 7:39:07 GMT
I had similar ideas, but I'm leaning on the thought that not all of Jimmy's souvenirs are in his apartment. Some of the more dangerous ones might have been moved to the Fortress or be in storage somewhere. Based on what we've seen I'm figuring his collection eventually grew too large for him to keep everything in one place. Whether something useful is still easily accessible to Jimmy or Superman is something I'll think about.
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Post by jonclark on Oct 8, 2019 8:34:05 GMT
Nasthalia looked at the young girl standing beside the office door. If you ignored her green skin she could have been one of the little castoffs that lived in this place. But even in the wake of that alien invasion a few years back Nasthalia was pretty sure green skinned orphans were not a thing you found in Midvale.
It briefly crossed her mind that the kid might have a connection to Brainiac and/or her uncle. But the girl didn't seem to possess the type of intellect for that. She also ruled out it being a hero as the only one she could recall with green skin was that nitwit Beastling and as far as she remembered that freak could only turn into animals not other people.
"Sorry about the bad language. And maybe you can help me", Nasty said in her most charming voice, "I was trying to find an old friend who lived here. Her name was Linda. She got adopted by a couple named Danvers and we lost touch. The old ba… older woman who was here said I could look in these files. Want to help me look?"
"Sure", the green girl replied. She began looking through the cabinets. "I'm Megan, by the way"
"Natasha", Nasty offered, "but you can call me Nat."
Nasthalia decided to start he search again at A.
"So you knew this Linda back when she was here. Are you an orphan, too?", Megan asked
Nasty briefly weighed the fun of killing this brat against having an extra set of eyes and hands. The hands and eyes won, but just barely.
"Well, sort of", she replied, "My dad had a little accident shortly before I was born. My mother died a bit later as a result."
It wasn't a complete lie as her mother had killed her father after being sure she would inherit his wealth and then was put to death a few years later on a capital murder charge. Nasty hadn't thought of either of them in years. Maybe she'd pay a visit to her father's kin after this was all over.
"Sorry", the girl said, "didn't mean to bring up sad stuff. Hey, is this what you are looking for?"
The girl held out a file marked "Linda Lee".
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Post by jonclark on Oct 8, 2019 9:39:12 GMT
Kristen felt lousy. But lousy was better than she'd felt five minutes before. With a small effort she stood up from the sofa she'd been lying on since Booster had deposited her there. He sat in a chair nearby looking more serious than she ever remembered seeing him. His face brightened when she stood.
"These things will never beat Nth metal chairs", he said, "I'll never get used to seats that don't bounce back when you flop into them".
Kristen grinned despite the pain, "Sorry, but to me these antiques aren't as bad as those outdated mid-millennium things your era called furniture. One of my friends in the history section went on a 25th century trip and had one of those floating lounges. We near killed our selves the first time we tried getting friendly on it".
"But, now that you got my mind off my troubles, how about getting back to them. What's the word from Skeets? Is Jasma safe? And is Luthor still a threat?"
Booster groaned, "Are you sure you don't want to talk a bit more about your college boyfriend?". After a second. "Good news first. Skeets managed to occupy Luthor long enough to cloak Greta from his sensors. It won't last long but we have a few hours before he can track her location and Skeets pegged her with a holo-projector that kept Luthor from locating her while she is unconscious. I slipped something to mask your Kryptonian genes on your wrist as well. Bad news is Skeets had to flee after getting pegged by one of Luthor's blasters. He headed for Superman since following me would have led the Bald Wonder here."
Kristen looked at Booster, "What aren't you telling me? Normally you'd be crowing about how this could be spun into some sales pitch like a hair gel based on you defeating Lex's baldness. Between your serious patter and your hang dog looks, something is off."
"Ok. Answer a few questions for me, history babe. And answer them as Kristen Wells, citizen of 2850, not Kristen Kent whose been here for a few years.", Booster started.
"Booster, you know my memory is still a bit addled about specifics from my time."
"Humor me. Who was the mother of Superman II?", Booster asked.
"Superman the Second was Jordan Kent, son of Superman and Lois Lane … right?", Kristen replied hesitantly
"Ok, that seems right. When did Supergirl die?", Booster continued.
"She died in the Crisis, Booster. I don't even have to think about that one.", Kristen stated a bit testily.
"OK. Which governor issued the last death-row pardon under the US penal system?", Booster asked
"Enough with the trivial pursuit, Booster. It was Governor Danvers of Florida in 2013.", Kristen exploded, "Now what the hell is this all about and what do these questions have to do with …"
"One more, Kristen. But, I think you see my point already. What is the last record of Lex Luthor?", Booster asked pointedly.
"It can't … I don't... Luthor left Earth with Superman sometime after 2050. It marked the 25th anniversary of LuthorCorp's first trans-light commercial flight. Or I think that was what I read.", Kristen said hesitantly.
"See, I remember the Luthor exhibit in the Space Museum. One of the exhibits was the cybernetic arm that was all that remained after Luthor clashed with the Supermen in 2032. Lex died an unrepentant villain", Booster explained.
"I told you my memory was jumbled, Booster", Kristen said.
"No, it's not your memory. It's both of our histories. That is why I came here today", Booster declared.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Oct 11, 2019 11:25:32 GMT
This a fascinating tie-in between the Time War story and this story. Also, possibly an opportunity to resolve some questions about the future of Earth-1.
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Post by jonclark on Oct 12, 2019 9:13:30 GMT
Zikela, Borgonia
"Gentlemen, I'm hoping that you will be able to authenticate the find. My country could really benefit from both the prestige and the increased tourism.", said the queen hopefully, "Not that I'm in any way trying to pressure you to make any untrue claims."
"Your majesty, it is a pleasure to see you again after all these years", replied the Lewis Lang, "And trust me no one is more fascinated by this possibility than Professor Olsen and myself"
"Indeed. Proof that a group of African tribesmen settled here in South America over 1500 years ago would turn what we know of Pre-Columbian history on it's head", agreed Mark Olsen.
"Yes, but that is only true if this isn't some kind of hoax." Professor Lang added, "Not that I'm implying you or your government would do so, Queen Lucy, but there are people out there that will do anything for a buck or 15 minutes of fame."
"That is why I invited you both. Not only do you have reputations in the field for both skill and integrity, but you also have the type of connections to attract other notable archeologists if this is what it seems to be. You also both aren't going to let me look foolish if this discovery is a fake.", said the blonde monarch.
The queen led to the two men into a small room. In the muddle of the room on a table sat a collection of items.
"These are about a dozen of the items found at the site that was unearthed by the quake", she said.
Lang and Olsen approached the table. As Professor Lang reached for one of the items a massive explosion occurred.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Oct 12, 2019 12:05:12 GMT
YEA!!! We are finally meeting the original Supergirl again. I wonder if she still has the costume?
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Post by jonclark on Oct 18, 2019 6:34:58 GMT
In Pittsdale, Ellen Lane was awakened from an afternoon nap by a knock on the door. She assumed it was the mailman making his daily delivery. Maybe a postcard from Lucy showing another exotic location or another envelope of Planet clippings from Lois to add to her scrapbook. She smiled as she thought of how successful her daughters had turned out. Lucy, despite losing her way a few years back, was now a head stewardess or as Lucy insisted a senior Flight attendant though Ellen had no idea what the difference was. And Lois was a household presence across the country as both an award winning journalist and a rising TV reporter. It seemed only yesterday both girls had been running through the fields here on the farm.
Ellen answered the door to find a man about her own age standing there in military uniform. He looked vaguely familiar.
"Is this Samuel Lane's house, ma'am?", the soldier asked.
Ellen had just begun to respond when she saw a brief flash and everything went black.
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Post by jonclark on Mar 31, 2020 7:24:26 GMT
Superman landed beside Lois and Jimmy.
"Why are you here?", Jimmy asked quickly, "I only used the watch after we got reports you were spotted out near the city limits."
"And we got some calls that Luthor was spotted battling Superwoman.", Lois chimed in, "I was sure that meant you were elsewhere until Jimmy told me where you'd been spotted only about a mile eastward."
Superman sighed, "Luthor has set up some kind of field around the city that is keeping me inside Metropolis. So far I haven't found a successful way to bypass it. I saw Superwoman's battle but couldn't get there. I was trying to find a new approach when i heard your signal."
Jimmy noted a few beads of sweat on Superman's brow. Not a good sign.
"Probably not a coincidence that we have gotten a number of strange reports from across the country, then. Gotham and New York have both stopped TV and radio transmissions.. Oscar Asherman on GBS at Noon reported snow in Orlando, Dallas, and San Francisco. And Pete Ross called Clark's desk phone and told me Smallville is in flames.", Lois said.
"Smallville?", Superman said hesitantly, "Is that why you signaled, Jim?"
"No, I was worried when I heard you were still here and not in any of the other trouble spots. Lois and I actually were calling you to see if you were OK. Until you mentioned the force field I didn't see any local danger that would have kept you here.", Olsen responded.
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Post by lawrenceliberty on Mar 31, 2020 15:52:24 GMT
I''m really enjoying this one. Any chance future Superman Librarian Futureman might show up to explore why Superman's marriage to Kristin doesn't show up in their archives?
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Post by johnreiter902 on Mar 31, 2020 20:17:58 GMT
This is wonderful. I wish the updates were longer, but I'm just so glad to see this back.
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Post by jonclark on Mar 31, 2020 21:41:00 GMT
I''m really enjoying this one. Any chance future Superman Librarian Futureman might show up to explore why Superman's marriage to Kristin doesn't show up in their archives? Not directly. But based on what I'm planning what we've seen previously about Superman's future with Laurel Kent and people like Futureman will be explained.
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Post by jonclark on Apr 18, 2020 9:23:09 GMT
Jasma flew directly to the Fortress. She didn't stop to visit the polar bears or walruses. In fact, she didn't even take notice of any she passed. Unlike Little Red Riding Hood she was keeping on the path and avoiding the Wolf.
Unfortunately, the Wolf had taken a page from the story and had beaten her to her destination. Charles Matthew Draper, also known as the Master Jailer, had been given these coordinates and told to find a way through Superman's impressive defenses. Having made a name designing traps and security devices for use against super powered criminals, the former prison designer found the idea of using those skills to break into a hero's base an interesting challenge. The fact that the hero in question was the same person who had blinded Lana Lang to Draper's true affection made it even more irresistible.
Jasma was surprised to find the door open when she arrived. She used her far-away sight to look for any of the Daddy-robots. None of them were coming out to greet her. And then suddenly they were.
"Attention, intruder. Your unauthorized presence has been reported to Superman. Vacate the area or surrender. You have been warned.", came her father's voice from each of the robots.
Jasma remembered that her Daddy had told her before that the robots might make her go to sleep, but they couldn't hurt her very bad. Daddy made them to make bad guys stop hurting people, but the robots like Daddy and mommy never hurt people. Besides the robots weren't as strong as her parents (even Kent wasn't that strong). She'd just treat this like a big game of tag until Mommy or Daddy showed up.
She had been successfully dodging the robots for a few minutes when she heard a loud ping. A man in a grey costume had fired something that looked like a giant ball at her. For a second, she almost smiled as simply avoiding the robots was getting boring. She turned quickly to let the ball pass her. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as it struck the robot that was reaching for her foot. She was caught off guard when the ball shaped object bounced off the robot and struck her.
Suddenly she found herself inside the ball. She could not move.
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Post by lawrenceliberty on Apr 18, 2020 16:33:30 GMT
Nice use of the Master Jailer.
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