Kell knows he's different from the original supes, and the rest of the Legion. He's from the future, raised in a harsh environment, and above all is a clone. But, he does have something in common with the original, besides their DNA… they both are rather fond of kick-ass female reporters. (for 1000Greensun's challenge, oneshot)

hopefully 1000Greensun likes this. I wrote it for her, featuring her OC "Louise Laine," who is a parallel for Superman's "Lois Lane". Read and enjoy!
5 pages long in WORD

Note: I owneth not the Superhero Legion known as the Legion of Superheroes.

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Romance Blossoms

Kell-El and Kal-El were, in reality, nothing alike. Clark Kent, 21st century man who passed as a human most of the time, though he was from a different planet called Krypton, was very open, excitable, and wise.

Kell, a 41st century resident, and leader of one of the largest human rebel forces in the galaxy, even though he was not human himself but rather a clone, was stark, pushy, on-guard, and constantly serious. Some days, all that the two seemed to share was a DNA sequence and the 'S' they wore on their chests.

But of course, time would prove them all wrong. It seems that, despite their differences in likes, attitude, origins, and temperament, they seemed to share one obvious thing…

The same love preferences of kick-ass female reporters.

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It started about three months after he arrived in the 31st century. The United Planets had sent them a request for a set of bodyguards for the upcoming talks on planet Tribbol. There had been some speculation that Imperiex was going to show up and, as he was always searching for Imperiex, Kell couldn't help but sign up for the mission.

On the ride over in the cruiser, he and several others were reading up on the mission. They had their assignments; Tinya was naturally going to stay close to the representatives, along with Timber Wolf (who offered to help her out.) Kell-El's place was with Lightning Lad and Shrinking Violet, guarding the entrance, and his counterpart Supes was joining Brainy and Saturn Girl to monitor the whole affair via flight, Saturn girl's telepathic abilities, and Brainy monitoring the communications from the ship.

Superman—the 'original' superman—grew suddenly nostalgic when he realized that the press would be there. As they landed on Tribbol, he peeked out the window and saw a familiar symbol of the Daily Planet, an old news corporation. "I didn't even know they had the Daily Planet any more."

The group went silent, then Saturn Girl jumped. "Oh, that's right. You used to work—I mean, you still work at the Daily Planet, don't you?" she asked.

"One of the best reporters," Brainy answered for her. He was a walking encyclopedia, so they assumed what the coluan said was correct.

Lightning Lad elbowed Supes in the ribs jokingly. "Oh yeah, I remember reading about that in school! Didn't you have the hots for some Lola girl?"

"Lois." Clark corrected without thinking. Realizing he'd just admitted to it, he blushed lightly. "can you blame me? She was beautiful, and she had such a fighting spirit."

"Aww," Lighting Lad continued to poke fun as they stood up and exited the cruiser. "You seem so much softer when you talk about her. Maybe you should take Kell-El to see her. He could use some softening-up."

Kell frowned deeply. Or, at least, deeper than usual; he frowned pretty much all the time. Following them down the ramp, he snapped, "Right. I don't exactly have time for love, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like her anyway. He and I aren't very much the same, remember?" he asked.

"That's true. You know, if you didn't look the same, I'd be surprised that you were his clone," Lightning Lad quipped.

Superman, however, let out a chuckle. "You know, Kell, Love isn't something that you choose to do. It just happens."

"Right."

"I'm serious," he pressed, giving him a look. "One of these days, you are going to be in the middle of something and you'll spot her, and that'll be it."

Kell gave him a look back. "Right." He repeated, rolling his eyes and continuing down the path to the crowded scene at the United Planet's congregation place. "I'll tell you something, Clark. I'm not exactly the type to fawn over a girl. Pigs will fly before I give into love at first—"

He really shouldn't have been talking. With those words, he pretty much backed himself into a corner, and set himself up for major teasing from both Supes and Lighting Lad. Before he could say the final word of his statement, his green eyes strayed to the nearby gaggle of reporters.

News in the 31st century was quite different than in the 21st century. Since news was available at a moments notice, due to the augmentation of electronic use, many news companies struggled to stay on top. It was very dog-eat-dog business as the top news crews struggled to get an 'in', a scoop that no one had. It was natural that the journalists were acting slightly barbaric, pushing to get to the front.

It was one person, however, who caught his eye. Among the many aliens, a human woman stood, content with her place. She had a defiant look on her face, which was expected. The news crews needed writers who could pull out a brilliant story in a snap; posting it on the news mainstream quickly was the way to grab readers. But there was something different about her, a special determined spark in her emerald eyes, or her sophisticated earlobe-length black hair that framed her angelic face…

"…sight." He finished his earlier statement, sounding strangely quiet.

Superman saw the look on Kell's face, and turned to see what he was looking at, and smirked. He looked up, saying in a light voice, "Oh look, a flying swine."

This brought him out of his stare, and something rare happened; he blushed. "Cut it out, would you? You don't know what you're talking about."

"Suuurrrreee he doesn't," Lightning Lad said rolling his eyes. He hooked his arm around Kell's shoulder, turning the clone's attention back to the press. "That there is Louise Laine, the feistiest and sharpest woman working for the Daily Planet. Reminds me of someone, doesn't she?" he asked Superman, who smiled.

"It appears that we share more than just DNA," he commented. He clapped the clone on the shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Just… try to keep your head in the game. We're here to guard the United Planets, remember?"

Superman took off into the air before Kell could argue. He wanted to shout after him, 'I know that! You really think I'd forget our mission over some chick?' but he knew if he did, he'd look like a total. Fool. So he settled for grinding his teeth. What did they think he was, some love struck fool who forgot his whole purpose in life as soon as a pretty face walked by?

"Sir, could you answer the question on the likelihood of an attack on the United Planets today?" a narrow recording voice similar to a 21st century microphone was shoved in his face before he could continue his thought. He turned to snap at whoever was invading his space, but whatever he'd been about to say fell from his mind when he found himself cornered by the reporter, Louise.

"Uh, um, ah," Kell stammered, his eyes growing big. He fought not to stare, or to say anything stupid.

The woman sighed, pulling the microphone back and waving a hand in his face. "Yo, eyes up here, buddy." She pointed to her face. Kell blushed at what she was insinuating; he had not been looking at her body that way! Had he?

She repeated the question, and Kell had to fight back a blush. He seemed to have more control over it this time. "I'm sorry, that's, uh, classified information."

"Can you at least speculate what may happen at today's talks?"

"Like I said," Kell said, slightly firmer. "That's classified."

The woman huffed, putting her free hand on her hip. Her lip stuck out in thought, and she tried again. "All right. Getting off the classified topics," she consulted her electronic notepad, "There's been rumor of the villain Imperiex roaming the universe, preparing to strike soon. Can you name his next target?"

"Uh, duh, that would be the United Planet's talks toda—" Kell stopped in mid sentence and cursed. How did she do that?

Louise smirked, pulling her microphone away. So her educated guess had been right, huh? "Well, thank you for that information," she said, sounding slightly boastful. "While we're on the topic, is there any commentary you'd like to add?"

Kell sighed. "Just… watch your back, I guess." He mumbled, feeling the heat rise into his cheeks again.

Louise blinked, holding the recording device closer to him. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said—" Kell began, but there was an explosion overhead. "Never mind. Get to cover." He ordered, taking off into the air.

Uncharacteristically, Louise did as she was told. Normally, seeing a scoop like the current attack was big news and she'd be pushing through the crowds to see it with her own eyes, first-hand. This time though, she followed the strange green-eyed superman's advice, slipping into the nearby shelter. She soon found her boss among the hoard of people, and he turned to her.

"Ah. Louise. I'm glad you're here—I was half worried that you were off gallivanting after the fight outside."

"I can see it fine from here," she admitted, peering out a nearby window in time to see Lightning Lad get struck by a huge energy blast and thrown backwards. "Besides, I was told to."

"And since when do you take someone's orders?" her boss asked, surprised.

"Well, since that Superman was nice enough to give me the information I wanted…" she trailed off, playing the interview for her boss. Once the recording was done, she smirked. "I figured I owed him one."

"You—you—got Superman X to talk."

"Kinda looks that way, doesn't it?" she asked sweetly. "I told you I'm the best."

"No one on our squad ever gets either of the supermen to talk!"

"Like I said. I'm the best." She jumped slightly as another explosion rocked the building, and looked out the nearby window. Somehow it had survived the shockwave. "You know, I could start covering the Legion more often," she offered, her eyes catching the fight again. "It does have it's…" she eyed Superman X's sleek form as he blasted a robot with his hand-pentagon weapons. "…perks."

"I'll assign you as soon as I can," her boss said, equally as happy.

Her boss disappeared into the crowd, seeking out his other reporters to order them to get back to work. Louise took out her portable camera, snapping a picture of Kell-El's battle with it. She smiled at the device. "Who knows? This could change everything," she said to herself as she began typing up her new story on the attack of the united planets on her electronic notepad. "And getting that superman X to talk will be quite a challenge."

"Quite a challenge indeed."

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A/N:

And that was the beginning of a huge, strange, competitive romance between a stubborn rock and a witty female reporter. They lived out their lives playing the hero to the damsel-in-distress role in their relationship, love ever increasing. Eventually, Imperiex keeled over and died so that Louise and Kell could be together, and have little babies, and they lived happily ever after.

No, seriously folks.

sorry... had to do that. Actually, despite myself, I enjoyed writing this. I'm not usually one for OCs, but I have to admit that 1000GreenSun's Louise has a lot of potential. And Kell needs some love, don't he? :I still don't know if I kept Louise in character, though:

Anyway, besides being a fun piece to write, this was also an entry to Greensun's writing contest. I hope I win. :D
Hope you enjoyed reading!