Three Rules
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 15
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The whisper of the wind flowing through the streets caught Lex off guard. He peered out of the corner of the building he stood behind, watching as the man he had sought a great battle with seemed to be nothing but a shell of himself, staring back at him.
"Who is Superman?"
Those words were like a delicious symphony ringing in his ears as he gleefully stood inches away from his hated enemy, seeking the rightfully sought vengeance with every breath while at the same time wanting to savor the moment. Here he was, staring at the source of his troubled future as if the fates had delivered him the greatest triumph with the delicious irony of Superman being rendered helpless at his hands.
It was too good to be true.
A slow smile slid across Lex Luthor's face as he positioned himself against the cold brick building behind him, plotting his next move with careful precision. The red cape flew across the broad shoulders of the fallen hero and the chiseled muscles laid beneath his torn suit with a large gash across the front of the emblem that had been plastered across Metropolis and flown to draw out the hero.
"Who is ….Superman?" Lex repeated the words in a slow drawn out question, piercing his enemy with his stare. "Why, you don't remember me, do you?"
His enemy stared at him for a moment, trying to piece something that was just out of his reach. "I…"
Lex reached out a hand and patted him on the shoulder. "Not to worry." A grin crossed his face. "I'm sure it will come back to you."
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PHENOMENA IN SPACE!The headline for the Metro Gazette read.
SUPERMAN SAVES EARTH FROM DESTRUCTION! MIRACLE SAVE!The headline for the Daily Planet read.
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A flash of white light went off in the left-hand side of the room, capturing the image of the President of the United States as he addressed the nation. "The fear of what the world would face without Superman's intervention crippled this nation. Nevertheless, we are a grateful nation as we prepare to recover from this shocking phenomenon and thank him for his infamous save…"
"Mr. President, has there been any word from Superman since his save last night?"
"At this time, all communication with Superman has been radio silence since impact."
"Are you at all concerned, Mr. President?"
"Of course not, he's Superman after all."
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"Of course not, he's Superman after all."
The LNN logo rolled across the screen and Lois looked away from the screen. The news coverage had played on repeat with the president's speech and the footage of Superman's last communication. The gut-wrenching pound of space rock before the deafening silence took over the footage had been played over and over again.
No change to the story.
No new revelations.
It was all the same.
No one knew where Superman was.
No one knew anything.
<< "The world is ending and I can't even find the words to write the story. How ironic is that."
"We don't know that."
"Yes, we do...I love you." >>"Superman is still nowhere to be seen as the nation grapples with the aftermath of the chaos from Nightfall. We are in shock tonight as over the last few days …"
Lois jerked her arm, clicking angrily on the power button to turn the television off.
"Enough of this!" Lois let out a heavy sigh, reaching her hands up to stroke her forehead. She looked around the living room wearily. She had been pouring over news outlets updates for the last several hours, looking for any sign of a clue that Clark had returned. No unknown objects and no unknown persons had been reported. She had reached out to hospitals, police and every source she could think of but still had not heard a word on where Clark could be.
The longer she waited the more apprehensive she became.
Martha and Jonathan had reached out to Rachel Harris to see if anything suspicious had been seen in Smallville, but still no word back.
She had called in the story on the Nightfall rescue to Perry earlier who was piecing it together with comments from EPRAD and people Jimmy had talked to around Metropolis. The emotional ups and downs she'd felt over the last week should be considered an Olympic sport. Revelations and daunting fear of the unknown had her on edge as she struggled to make sense out of the reality she had been faced with.
Clark was missing. Superman was missing. After the number of feats, she had seen him overcome it unnerved her to think this asteroid could have been anything more than a blip on his radar. He had stopped bullets in his hands, flown a space shuttle into orbit and stopped fire with a simple whistle of his breath.
Why was this time different?
She stepped outside onto the balcony, looking up into the night sky as she wrapped her arms around herself. There was still no sign of him. It had been hours since the news media had picked up the coverage of his rescue.
Where was he?
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General Zeitlin peered over the printouts that inched out of the machine, tracking the trajectory of the Nightfall asteroid. He tapped his chin with a stern grunt, furrowing his brow as he followed the peaks until they all but disappeared.
The asteroid that had looming into the Earth's orbit was well out of the stratosphere. He stared at the last signal of Superman's heartbeat on the screen before the mechanical devices built to help him breathe had burned up. It was a blip of life that had been erased from his reach despite every attempt to seek out the fallen hero.
They had searched high and low but been unable to track any sign of Superman.
Where could he have gone?
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The cars on the street sped by, and a hand reached out to wave at them as they raced by. A long wipe of his hand against his face brushed the long locks from his face. Jack motioned to his younger brother Denny, glancing at the line beginning to form. His jaw clenched, outlining his youthful features among the dirt that covered his face. It was too cold to venture to the harbor for a decent wash-up before the church opened the line for the soup kitchen.
Scruffy and worn-down occupants of the local street began to make their way to the line of volunteers that had set up the serving line. Though he didn't like to rub elbows too often with Metropolis' homeless, he wanted to take advantage of any free meal he could. Especially when the wind turned the way it had over the last few nights.
"Jack?"
Denny clasped his hand, and Jack tugged him with him as they pushed their way into the line. A woman at the end of the table handed him a foil-wrapped sandwich that still felt warm to the touch. Jack handed the sandwich to his brother and reached out for another to take for himself.
"Hey, no pushing!"
Jack peered over his shoulder and spotted an older man in a dark hoodie and well-trimmed nails push his way forward, "Out of my way."
"Great," Denny grumbled with an awkward shrug, inching toward Jack as the other patrons were shoved forward as the intruder moved through the line.
"He's new," one of the older men near the back shrugged with a nervous laughter.
"Apparently," Jack muttered under his breath as he guided Denny down the line.
Denny shook his head and whispered to Jack, "He doesn't look homeless."
"Shh…"
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Slop.
It was the only way to describe the scraps that had been dished out to him. His exquisite tongue had tasted the most delicate dishes yet was resorted to the slop of streetwalkers and drunks that could barely hold a conversation. Lex held the lukewarm bowl as he passed it across to the dark-haired man in front of him.
"Here, eat up, and then we'll be on our way."
Lex looked around, keeping his face tucked tightly in his jacket as he watched the crowded room grow increasingly cramped. So this was what his life had become. A man with more power than he knew what to do with and the third richest man in the world, now nothing but remnants of their former selves.
He had to start over, and he would. But first, he had to take control of Superman before he recovered and remembered who he was.
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Denny peered over his shoulder, watching as the dark-haired man moved in the corner with another man who wore a trench coat that appeared to be two sizes too large for him. There was something about him that didn't sit right. He knew Jack wanted him to mind his business, but he just couldn't. There was something about the man that struck him as suspicious. He felt his heart hammer in his chest each time he saw him.
"Quit staring," Jack whispered in Denny's ear, tugging him away as he stood up, pulling him from their table.
"But…"
"Come on, it's none of our business."
Denny watched as the two men headed toward the exit, keeping their faces hidden from view with dark scarves and high collars. Whoever they were, they were up to no good.
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Lois tapped her hand on the doorframe, offering a subtle knock as she looked across the open room. An elderly man swaggered back and forth over the pool table as he readied his shot with the pool stick. Lois waved her hand across her face, scanning the room for her source. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the familiar silhouette at the end of the bar.
"Lois Lane," he nodded with a smile as she took her seat next to him. "Long time…"
"You still working the docks, Bibbo?" Lois asked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
"You know me, doll. Always workin’.” He let out a chuckle.
"You mentioned you saw something on the pier?" Lois asked, getting down to business.
Bibbo pointed to the long line of warehouses along the bay, jabbing his finger as he illustrated for Lois, "Came out of nowhere with a red and blue explosion just before nightfall."
"Anything else?" Lois asked, following the direction of his rapid arm movements.
"Nah, it was gone as soon as it appeared." Bibbo shrugged, "Crazy, huh?"
"Maybe."
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Jimmy Olsen tapped his hand on the doorframe of the editor's office. It was all he could do to hold it together, pointing to the folder in his hand. "Hey, Chief, got a sec?"
Perry swiped a hand across his face, letting his index finger linger across his chin. "Maybe," He looked down at the file in front of him, shaking his head. "Any updates on EPRAD?"
Jimmy shook his head, "Still dodging everyone's calls, Chief?"
"Superman still missing?" Perry mumbled the question aloud, knowing the answer already.
"No one's seen anything," Jimmy answered, glancing at the full cup of coffee that sat on Perry's desk untouched. He had been holed up in his office for most of the day, barely leaving for more than a holler for updates or running copy down to press.
"Of course not," Perry grumbled. "And our fearless leaders remain absolutely silent." He let out a gruff snort, "I don't suppose any of my fearless journalists have uncovered any leads on why EPRAD and every agency has nothing to say about Superman's absence after such a world-shattering rescue?"
"Ralph and Cat are still chasing down some leads. Lois and Clark are working on it as well." Jimmy responded, tapping the file in his hand. "I haven't heard anything yet, but I'm sure something will turn up."
"What have you got there?"
"Piece Lois sent over on Superman's rescue," Jimmy handed the folder to him.
Perry motioned for the door to be closed, flipping through the file in his hands. "We ready to run a story without all the answers and no way to corroborate the facts presented to us?"
"It's not like we can call up Superman to validate anything," Jimmy explained, closing the door behind him.
"How convenient," Perry muttered with raised eyebrows.
"So, you want to hold off on running the story?" Jimmy asked.
"Until we have all the facts." Perry continued, jabbing his hand at the papers in front of him. He reached his arms back and leaned back in his chair, taking a long sigh before he firmly responded. "I think it's time we took matters into our own hands." He pointed to the door, "Get your coat."
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The headlights shone across the roadway as Perry White drove down the long alleyway leading to Hobb's Bay. Jimmy held his flashlight as he peered out the window, looking for a sign of his fallen hero.
Perry pointed to the crowd that stood on the sidewalk, "I covered some of the worst scenes you could imagine in Beirut before the Marines showed up in '82, but it was never as bad as this."
"Lots of leads coming in, claiming to have seen something over here."
"Well, maybe if we can find someone that has seen Superman we can get some answers. EPRAD certainly isn't giving us anything." Perry let out a low chuckle, "You know, in '82 we were sure no one would ever see or hear from us again. Bob Kerns and I got caught in a free-fire zone. Shot our tires out…."
"You really think they're hiding something?" Jimmy asked.
"You live as long as me, son, and you learn never to trust silence." Perry shook his head. "They're too quiet."
"Hey!" Jimmy pointed to a waving light up ahead. "What's that?"
"I don't know," Perry peered ahead as he slowed to a stop, spotting the moving lights on the street. As he slowed down closer and closer, he recognized the holder of the light. Noting the large pit, she stood in the middle of. "Lois?"
"Perry?" Lois held a hand over her eyes, looking back at him in surprise.
"Darlin', what are you doing here?" Perry asked, putting the car in park and stepping out to meet her on the pit's edge.
He spotted a torn sign on the ground that read, 'The End is Near.'
Jimmy followed behind Perry, walking up to Lois, standing in the middle of a crater-sized pit. "What is this?"
"I can't be sure, but it looks like a landing." Lois pointed to the space she stood in, shining a light across the crater's center.
"Like a meteor or something?" Jimmy wondered aloud.
"Or something." Lois held up the ripped remnants of Superman's emblem.
There it was. The proof of Superman's return was here.
"So, where is he?" Jimmy asked.
"That's the sixty-four-billion-dollar question," Perry murmured, looking across the darkened streets of Hobb's Bay.
TBC...
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