Superman Returns: A New Vision

Summary: A/U. Superman returns from his 5 year trip to Krypton to find Lois has died and that new heroes have taken his place especially one who goes by Wonder Woman. How does he fit back into this new world?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I use in this story.

Authors note: This is my attempt at a Superman/Wonder Woman story set in the movieverse. I'll give a little background. When Superman left for Krypton he and, as you will see later, Batman were the only heroes in the world and he comes back to find everything has changed. It'll start along the lines of Superman Returns, i.e. Lex stealing the crystals from the Fortress. I'll mention now I throw in a little bit of Smallville, principally Chloe.

During Clark's 2 &1/2 year return trip to Krypton he dreamed on many things, mostly Lois, but also his mother. He remembers Lois' face when he, as Clark Kent, quit the Daily Planet to go on his journey of self discovery as he told everyone it was. She had looked more upset than he expected considering he had wiped her memory and she once again thought of him as good old Clark. Journey of self discovery, what a joke. He was running away from a world he had let down. When Zod was killing and conquering where was he? Forsaking his powers for her. He had been so selfish. Why didn't he listen to his father? He had defeated Zod, barely. He had re-imprisoned Zod, Ursa and Non in the Phantom Zone before he had left Earth and hopefully, short of another nuclear explosion cracking the zone, that is where they would remain forever. He would make sure of it. After all it was his duty as he was, to his knowledge, the last Kryptonian. Those 3 didn't count.

So here he was approaching Krypton seeking any survivors. Clark was desperate to know he was not alone. He had let Earth down. Ever since Zod's defeat the people looked at him with the same questions in their faces. Where was he? Where was he when my loved one died? Where was he when my home was destroyed? Earth no longer felt like home. His mother understood but even she had been disappointed in him. His mother was down right furious with him when he told her what he did to Lois' memory. Truthfully he was mad at himself. He had done it on the spur of the moment. He can still remember her crying, in pain, being torn apart by the burden of knowing the truth about him. He couldn't stand it so he did the only thing he could think of at that precise moment and took the memories away from her.

Of course that brings him to the true reason he left; Lois. It had been torture to work with her but not touch her. Damn his perfect memory. He could still remember how she felt to his touch, how she tasted, how she smelt. He is awoken from his dream by the ship alerting him they had arrived at their destination. His search of the ruins only proved one thing. Krypton was a graveyard and he is truly all alone in the universe. Worse the ruins were laced with Kryptonite. Barely conscious he instructed the ship to return to Earth. If he had been more alert he would have noticed a black, metallic mass reshape itself into a copy of his ship and begin to follow him.

2 & ½ years later.

Clark Kent aka Superman aka Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton and to his knowledge the soul survivor of his race stands at the grave of Lois Lane. The woman he loved is gone. After he had crashed back to Earth he read copies of the Daily Planet his mother had kept. He came to one dated a couple of months after he left. It was a special obituary edition for Lois. She had died in a car accident, literally weeks after he left. He had spent years dreaming about her during his trip to Krypton but now she was gone. It was just all so pointless. Lois taken in an accident. He couldn't seem to absorb it. He knew it had been a possibility that something could happen to her or to his mother or to any other of the people he once knew but nothing could have prepared him for the actuality of it happening or how much it would hurt.

He kneels down at the grave. "I'm sorry I left you Lois. I'm sorry I wasn't here to save you. I should have said goodbye but I couldn't face you. I felt like I had to go and if I had told you, you would have talked me out of it. I didn't find anything you know. It was a graveyard Lois, I am all that is left." Emotions are beginning to choke him "I love you Lois and I hope you can forgive me." Clark kisses the grave marker, tears streaming down his face. He places roses on her grave. He stands up and walks over to his mother who had accompanied him. He hugs her while he cries the tears of a man whose heart just broke.

Martha hugs her son, trying to comfort him. Her beloved son who fell out of the sky. He may not be human but his heart breaks all the same. She knew he would take this hard. He often talked about Lois, she knew he had given up his powers for her. If that isn't love then nothing is. It takes several minutes but eventually his tears stop. Martha pulls out a tissue for him. Clark hadn't bothered with his glasses, it seemed unlikely anyone would recognise him and besides there is no-one here. The grave did have flowers on them, probably put there a few days ago. That would have been Sunday. Martha still visited Jonathan's grave every Sunday. She still missed him and knew Clark would probably miss Lois for a long time to come. She knew it terrified him that he might be alone for the rest of his life but he was still young. Hopefully in time he could find someone else to share his life with.

Clark takes the tissue from his mother and wipes the tears.

"Clark are you alright?" she asks him.

"I will be" he says not knowing truthfully if he will. Hopefully in time he can get on with his life. Clark looks around at the skyline of Metropolis. He had flown himself and his mother here. She never did like flying with him but she had insisted on coming along. He had missed this city but he had been gone a long time. "Lets go home" he tells his mother. They then walk until they find a secluded spot and Clark picks up his mother and they fly back to Smallville.

It is around lunchtime before they get back. After lunch Clark spends some time repairing things around the house. Something to keep his mind occupied and try to not to think of how much Lois' death is hurting him. The next morning he decides to go back and read the remainder of the papers his mother kept. Again something else to try and distract himself. There is just the usual; politics, war, crime. Then about 2 & 1/2 years after he left stories started to appear of a woman performing heroic deeds. She got nicknamed Wonder Woman.

Clark starts to read through the papers at superspeed. There was surprisingly little on her. She had never given an interview like he had so all he had to go on was what was in the papers. Most of it seemed like wild speculation but they were a few consistent things. She could fly, she was very strong and fast, perhaps as strong and fast as he was. Could she be Kryptonian? Clark didn't want to get his hopes up especially after travelling to Krypton and finding nothing. They were a few pictures of her. Clark couldn't deny she was very beautiful with long, dark curly hair. Her red, blue and gold outfit was interesting to say the least. It certainly showed off her figure. Clark could see why there was so much interest in her in the papers.

Martha had watched Clark musing through the papers she had kept when he suddenly started shifting through them at superspeed. Out of curiosity she walks up to where he was sitting on the couch. "Clark?" she inquires at what so interests him suddenly.

Clark turns round "Mom, what do you know about this Wonder Woman?"

"Nothing besides what's in the papers or on the news. Why?"

"She flies and possess super human strength and speed"

"You think she may be like you?" Martha queries.

"I don't know. I mean it's possible I suppose but I had sort of given up hope after what I found at Krypton"

"Are you going to try and find her?"

"I'm not sure. There's still the issue of what I am going to do now that I'm back"

"You're not going to be Superman anymore?"

"I'm not sure the world needs me anymore"

Oh good grief. Of all the stupid things Martha had heard in her life that one took the biscuit. She goes over and puts the tv on. The screen fills up with images of wars, terrorists attacks and natural disasters. "Clark look at that" she tells him.

Clark turns and stares at the screen taking it all in. Had the world really gotten that bad in his absence?

"Clark even with this Wonder Woman the world is still a mess. It, we still need you." his mother tells him.

Perhaps she's right he muses. "What about my other life?" if he decides to still have one.

"Like your father and I told you when you were growing up. You can do anything you want to. After all the world always needs good reporters"

Back to reporting? Could he do that now that Lois was gone? He hadn't known he would meet her the first time he chose to become a reporter. He did it because it was the best place to discover where he was needed. That truth still held. Perhaps he could phone Perry and ask. There was no harm in asking yet still he wasn't sure. "Mom I'm not sure about that. I mean how can I go back to that after Lois"

Martha sits down next to her son "Clark you've been interested in reporting since you were a teenager." Martha then chuckles.

"Mom?" Clark asks slightly puzzled at her laughter.

"Oh I'm just remembering all the trouble you and Chloe use to get into when you were teenagers." Martha can still remember the two of them investigating stories for the school newspaper and the resulting chaos they would get themselves into.

"Slight correction mom. Chloe got into trouble. I got her out of trouble"

"Of course. How silly of me." Martha says.

Clark frowns at her tone of voice. He never got into trouble. Did he? Well perhaps he did but Chloe still had him beat by a mile. Chloe. Goodness he hadn't thought about his friend for years. He hadn't seen her since he returned from his training at the Fortress and told her about his plan to go to Metropolis and become a hero. In fact it was Chloe who helped him think up the glasses and the bumbling routine that became his Clark Kent disguise. He wonders where she is now. Knowing her, probably in trouble.

After a few days staying with his mother Clark finally decided to phone Perry. Frankly he was bored. Not that he didn't love his mother or the farm but he just has a lot of pent up energy and he needs an outlet. Besides his mother was right. He had loved reporting since he was a teenager. As for going back to being Superman...well he would need to think about that for a bit longer.

Meanwhile Lex Luthor is studying the crystals he has stolen from Superman's Fortress. It had taken him years to achieve this but it was worth it. With these he can build a new continent and with the technology he now possess no-one can stop him, not even this Wonder Woman that dominates the press. Lex didn't know exactly what she was but in a few weeks it would no longer matter. In a few weeks none of this world's so called heroes would be able to stop him. Even Superman if he was still here would not be able to stop him. He held a crystal up to the light and stared as the light refracting through it into a rainbow of colour. It pleased him to know that Superman would help him bring about much needed change to the world.

A couple of days later Clark stands outside the Daily Planet building. He was surprised when Perry offered him a job when he phoned him . After all for 5 years he had no employment record. He takes a deep breath, walks in and gets stuck in the revolving doors. Blasted doors, he hadn't missed them. It wasn't even an act. Those doors hated him, always had. Clark is sorely tempted to smash them into a million pieces. Once he gets through he makes his way over to the elevator suitcases in hand. He actually counts the floors on the way up. He still has some doubt he can do this knowing he will never see Lois again. He reaches the right floor and walks out. He looks around the bullpen and sees one face he knows, Jimmy. Clark walks over and accidentally bumps into Jimmy's desk knocking his camera off. He catches it with his left hand.

Jimmy was working on getting his photos' ready for the paper before Perry fired him as he often threatened to do when someone knocked his camera off. "Great, be more careful…" Jimmy turns round as he says it and then sees who had bumped into his desk. "Mr Clark! I mean Kent, Mr Kent!" Jimmy jumps up and hugs him. He had always considered Clark a friend and he wondered why no-one saw what a great guy he was.

Clark was glad to see his friend. Jimmy was always the only one who took any interest in him when he was just plain old Clark "Hey Jimmy"

Jimmy breaks the hug "You're back"

"Yep"

"How was your trip?"

"Oh good, saw a lot of interesting stuff"

"You'll have to tell me about it sometime. I suppose you heard about Ms Lane" That still saddened Jimmy even after all this time.

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't attend the funeral" Clark's face visibly saddens as he speaks.

Jimmy notices it. He always had thought Clark had a soft spot for Lois. "It was lovely, we had a nice day for it" Jimmy tells Clark.

Clark just nods in response.

"Olsen! Where are my pictures!?" It's Perry.

"Coming Chief. Hey look who's back?" Jimmy says while pointing at Clark.

"Kent?"

Clark looks at Perry "Mr White. Thank you for giving me my job back"

"Don't thank me. Thank Norm Palmer for dying." Truthfully Perry had been surprised to hear from Kent after all this time. He was a decent reporter. Hell he was a good reporter, he could be great if he had a little more drive. Perry would ease him back in after all the world needs more good reporters and he certainly isn't letting one of his rivals get Kent.

Clark looks sadly at Jimmy at the mention of Norm Palmer dying.

"It was his time." Jimmy tries to explain. "Let me sort this out" he says in reference to the pictures Perry wants. "Then I'll help you get set up" Jimmy tells Clark.

"Sure"

Jimmy goes off. Clark looks around and sees a closet to put his suitcases in. He opens the door and puts them down. He opens the top one. It holds his Superman costume. He fingers it, still deciding whether he should put it back on or not. Oh well he can decide later. He needs to get an apartment and get back in the swing of things first. He closes the case and leaves the closet. On the tv monitors they are showing a broadcast on a new method of shuttle launching. He had read about that somewhere. The theory was sound enough.

By now Jimmy is back "Oh yeah that. Space travel within the cost of the normal man they claim"

Clark continues to watch it. "Who did Perry send?"

"Chloe" Jimmy says with some pride in his voice.

"Chloe?" Clark asks.

"Oh right you haven't met her. She started not too long after you left. She's great. In fact she's Lois' cousin. She's a lot like her in some ways. Hey look there she is" Jimmy points to the tv monitor.

Clark looks and his jaw drops. It's Chloe. His friend Chloe. Oh god he wants to hit himself. Of course she had mentioned she had a cousin called Lois. God is he stupid. He never put the two things together. He studies her. She's matured beautifully and he's glad to say she kept her blond hair. She's giving the PR lady a grilling. He can't help but smile. Still the same old Chloe.

"Want to go and get a drink?" Jimmy asks him.

Clark looked at Jimmy. Why not? Alcohol didn't really affect him but it would be nice to spend some time with Jimmy. "Sure, that would be swell" Clark says as he pushes his glasses up his nose.

Meanwhile in the mission control for this launch which had been set up in Metropolis the liaison from the government is overseeing the shuttle launch. Diana Prince found it a rather tedious undertaking but she had chosen this identity and for some reason her boss had assigned her to it so she was stuck with it. It had taken a little work to set up her secret identity but Diana had been guided to some people who could help her by Hermes himself and they had been a great help in helping set up a fake background for herself.

Diana, Princess of the Amazons or Wonder Woman as the press called her had been in Man's world for 3 years now but she had only been known to the public for about 2 & 1/2. Her people sent out someone about once every half century to see what was going on in the world but did nothing to try and change it for the better. For years she had read up everything her people had collected on the outside world. Her fascination with knowing about it causing a few disagreements with her mother but Diana couldn't help it. She found it all so fascinating and had dreamed for years of being able to visit it. It wasn't that she didn't love her home because she did but at times she simply found it too confining. She had been gifted by the gods themselves, for what? To live out her life on Themyscira? Diana had always felt that couldn't be right, that she was meant to do something greater.

Then one day the Gods decreed that a tournament be held to pick a champion to enter the outside world and to attempt to inspire and lead people away from the path of destruction and war. Apparently something had happened recently that had made the world an even more dangerous and violent place. Ares' influence was spreading and eventually this would lead to even Themyscira itself being threatened if mankind did not change course. Diana's mother had refused point blank to let her enter the tournament so Diana did it anyway. She just felt she had to. She couldn't explain why she felt that way, she just did. She won the tournament and her mother relented and let her leave.

The world had changed a lot compared to the last time an Amazon had visited. It became clear quite quickly to Diana upon her arrival in the United States as this particular nation was called that mankind had advanced substantially with their technology but the same old hates remained she also quickly discovered. She thought the best place to find out what was really going on in the world and where she would be needed was to get a job in the government someplace. That way she could be at the centre of events she concluded.

The press now calls her a hero. She can still remember the day she was first seen being Wonder Woman. She had come across an accident involving several cars. The leaking fuel was on fire. If she hadn't acted men, women and children would have died so she helped them all to safety. She had to admit it felt wonderful helping people like that. They thanked her even the men when they weren't staring at her. She would like to meet a man who wasn't overawed by her presence just once. In her day job she had men for friends. Most were pleasant and some were funny but her disguise worked so well they didn't really want to go beyond friendship. She had surprised herself by how different she could make herself look with a pair of glasses and by putting her hair up.

Anyway Diana helped whenever she could always hoping to inspire people to better themselves. She would return home as often as she could and update her mother on her progress which she felt was slow but steady. The world had been a terrible mess when she first arrived but she could definitely see signs of progress now. She had even met other heroes in other cities who were trying to help like she did. The thought occurred to her occasionally that they could perhaps do more if they could work together somehow but she hadn't been able to think of a way to do that. She prayed to the Gods for some help on that but she still didn't have a workable idea yet. Anyway her musings are interrupted when suddenly everything in the control room goes dark.

Lex has thrown the crystal chip in the water back at what is now his mansion and is waiting to see if his theory on the crystals is correct. He stands back as a rumbling begins.