Check the
TOC if you've missed the previous parts...
From part 3:Clark gave the editor some half-baked excuse about a vague family emergency, which he hoped Perry wouldn't be suspicious of or ask too many questions about.(I don't think you need anymore than that to be able to keep up.)
~.~.~.~.~
Part 4 It didn't take long before Lois heard about Clark's 'family emergency'. And it didn't take long for her to get really angry with him, either. He hadn't even bothered letting her know himself! That, combined with the heat and worrying over the future of Superman in Metropolis, well, it was just the last
straw(*)! Of course, it couldn't possibly be his fault that something had come up, but it meant she'd be stuck with lots of extra work, not to mention she needed her partner there for a whole slew of other reasons, besides work.
She wouldn't be caught dead saying it out loud, but right now, Lois desperately needed a friend to tell *her* they cared and that everything would be all right. She might be able to appear strong and combative at work, but once she'd find herself alone at home again, all the stress and the anxiety would catch up with her. That's when she'd need someone to be strong for her and the only person she could possibly think of ever letting herself be vulnerable with - other than Superman, probably - was Clark. As much as Lois tried to deny she liked him at all, she would be the first to admit that he was one of the good guys. Someone you could count on and trust. And feel safe with. But of course, just when she needed him, Clark *had* to go running back to Smallville. Well... Lois was going to personally give him a piece of her mind! How could he think of leaving her there alone when she needed him so badly? Men were so unreliable!
Lois managed to leave the Planet around 7:00 that evening. Considering half the people in the newsroom were missing in action, she guessed she was lucky to have made it out of there at all tonight. Her anger had cooled down several degrees by then, but she was still intent on paying Clark a visit. If anything, maybe she'd be able to convince him to let her know where Superman was. It was definitely worth a try... And if she could possibly manage to get a hug out of this, she would most certainly not complain, she thought, against her better judgment.
She headed off towards Clark's apartment, walking as rapidly as she dared considering just standing outside was sufficient to cause anyone to break into a sweat in a matter of minutes. Lois still preferred walking there as opposed to taking a cab. For one thing, it wasn't very far away and she always hated having to listen to cabbies chat about the weather - especially now that everyone thought Superman was guilty of causing a heat wave. The last thing she wanted to hear people talk about was the weather!
When Lois arrived at Clark's place, she noticed there were no lights on. For a minute she wondered if perhaps he was already gone? Perry had said that Clark was going to take a red eye flight out to Kansas. Maybe he had found a seat on an earlier one? Selfishly, she hoped he was still around and had simply gone out for a few minutes.
She went up the stairs leading to his front door and knocked. He probably wasn't there, but she thought she should at least find out for sure before she let herself in. In the event there was no answer, she would just get the spare key she knew Clark kept hidden under the big flowerpot on the side of the door.
Lois waited a few short seconds before putting her ear to the door. If Clark was in there, maybe she would hear him? But other than what sounded like a radio, she heard nothing. She knocked again and waited a few seconds more. Much to her surprise, upon turning the doorknob, she found that the door wasn't even locked. She opened it slowly.
"Clark?" she called out. "Clark, are you there?"
She listened for a second and thought she heard footsteps coming from inside. Her heart started racing... It was pitch dark in there and she didn't want to venture further inside in case whoever was there wasn't Clark. If only she could see what was going on! She wasn't scared of taking on a burglar or anyone else for that matter - she did know tae kwon do after all - but she wasn't too keen on fighting in the dark and risk breaking her neck tumbling down the stairs. Judging by the sound, whoever it was, was coming closer towards her. Lois held her breath and leaned in against the door, which caused the hinges to creak loudly. So much for her stealth advantage, she thought.
Suddenly a light came on.
"Lois?" Clark asked on seeing her standing halfway through his front door. "What are you doing here? And why can't you knock like normal people do?"
"Clark! You scared me half to death! Of course I knocked. Twice! And then I saw the door wasn't locked, so I opened it. Didn't you even hear me call out your name?"
"Oh... huh... Really?" He said, confused. "I was on my way to get some water in the kitchen and I heard a cracking sound coming from the door. I didn't hear anything else prior to that." Was he so lost in thought that even with super-hearing he couldn't hear Lois coming inside his apartment? That was a first for sure. "Well, don't just stand there," he continued, slightly frustrated, "you can come in, Lois, you're already halfway there anyway."
"Wow, what a way to make a girl feel welcome..." she remarked bitterly. "You're still not feeling well, are you, Clark?" she asked, closing the door behind her and making her way towards him.
"No, I'm not," he admitted.
"I've still got that migraine medication with me, if you like?" Lois said, pulling a small plastic bottle out of her briefcase and handing it to him.
"Lois... what are you doing here?" he asked again, not bothering to take the bottle he was being handed.
Seeing he wasn't going to take it, Lois put the medication back in her briefcase and said in a sour tone, "What? Can't I drop by and see my partner before he leaves for God knows how long? In fact, I'm more than a little hurt that you decided to skip town and didn't even bother to tell me yourself. I thought we were friends."
Clark shot her an exasperated glance, the likes of which Lois had never seen on him. Ok, maybe she'd gone a little bit too far... She reminded herself that it wasn't his fault he had to leave and tried to calm down a bit. Clark was obviously not feeling well, she thought, because he would never have reacted that way normally. In fact, whatever this family thing was, it had him so preoccupied he hadn't heard a single thing even though she'd made plenty of noise before actually coming inside.
"Ah... I'm sorry," Lois apologized, breaking the awkward silence, "I didn't mean it that way. This whole thing with the heat and Superman... it's really stressing me out. I just needed to see a friendly face, I guess. But... you look like you need a friend even more than I do."
If there had ever been a time when Clark wished Lois knew his secret, it was now. It would have been so easy to talk to her, then. He so badly needed to be able to share his pain and frustrations with someone. But that wasn't going to happen tonight... And he didn't have the heart or even the strength to go through the whole 'I am Superman' speech right now either. He knew too well how Lois would take this sort of news - she'd be angry with him, she'd probably yell and want to hit him or something. It was likely she'd storm out of there in a fit of rage, actually! He much preferred having her here and in a good mood even if that meant he would need to keep everything bottled up inside, as usual.
"Yeah, I could definitely use a friend right about now," he said finally, with a sad smile. "You have any idea where I can find one?" he continued, in a futile attempt at humor.
"Right here, you lunkhead." she said teasingly. Lois took the last few steps towards him and gave Clark an amicable hug. She smiled as she realized she'd managed to get that hug, just as she'd hoped.
"Thanks," Clark whispered, taking in the warmth from her body and the sweet smell of her hair.
"Thing will get better, you'll see," she told him, trying very hard to believe it herself.
Just then, they heard a special news report on the radio. "We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news," an announcer with a deep baritone voice said. "We have just learned that a high speed Metro train has lost its brakes. Passengers in the main terminal are being evacuated, but there are over three hundred people at risk on the train. We now join our special correspondent...."
Lois let go of Clark immediately. "I guess I better get over there," she told him, shrugging. "You feel well enough to tag along?"
"You go ahead," he replied, "I'll... ah... they could use Superman's help over there. I'll make sure he knows about this."
"But, Clark... he can't. The injunction... If he shows up there tonight, they're likely to have his head!"
"Lois, a *train* has lost its brakes. We both know there's nothing anyone else can do to stop that. If Superman doesn't help, who knows how many people will die. We can't let that happen!"
"No, of course we can't, you're right," she conceded. "Well you better hurry and get him, then!" and with that they made their way out of the apartment, each going in a different direction.
~.~.~.~.~
Clark ran into the alley behind his apartment, then spun into the Suit and took off to the sky. "I'm sorry," he whispered once he got high enough so he got a good glimpse of the city. He was fairly certain that this rescue would cause the temperature to rise again and he really felt bad about causing the citizens of Metropolis to suffer this way. He hoped they would understand...
Superman flew towards the main train terminal at top speed. Once he reached there, he stood on the tracks, arms stretched out in front of him and waited for the train to arrive, hoping he'd be strong enough to stop its course. The train hit him head-on. Its engine had been cut off in an attempt at slowing it down but the speed at which it was currently traveling still caused Superman to recoil several feet back. Twice he tried flying towards the front of the train and pushing forward into the locomotive with all his might, his hands creating deep indentations in the metal. Finally, the train came to a grinding halt.
He quickly x-rayed the locomotive and the cars it was pulling to check for injured railroad employees or passengers, but saw no one in need of immediate medical attention. Completely avoiding contact with people - especially the press - Superman flew off the scene of the accident as soon as he could manage it. He landed in the alley behind the Clinton street apartment again, spun back into his Clark persona and went home.
When he got inside his apartment, Clark slumped onto the sofa, exhausted and as heavy-hearted as he'd ever been in his life. He'd blatantly violated the terms of the injunction and he knew perfectly well what this meant: Superman was in trouble. Deep.
But what else could Clark have done, under the circumstances? People would have died if he hadn't shown up there tonight! There was no way he could just turn off his super hearing, silence his heart, his conscience, and simply stop being Superman. Standing still and ignoring calls for help when he was the only one who *could* help was something he just could not do. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he'd done that. He had all these amazing powers, gifts that he could use to save lives and to do some good for the world that had welcomed him with open arms. Going back to being 'just Clark' and hiding for fear of his secret being revealed, that wasn't an option anymore. He was Superman, he had sworn to be there for the people of Metropolis and the world; pretending that it wasn't the case was just plain impossible.
He would simply have to suffer the consequences of his actions, no matter how unpleasant that was bound to be. This, at least, he knew he could live with. Oh, he knew it wouldn't be easy; he'd given his word and yet he had turned around and done exactly what he'd been asked not to do. As inconceivable as this was for a man who stood for truth and justice, Superman had broken his promise, even worse, he'd broken the law! But, on the other hand, stopping that train... Clark knew it was the right thing to do. And 'doing the right thing' was something Superman stood for as well.
By 8:30 PM that evening, news of the latest Superman rescue was all over Metropolis. Public demonstrations had mushroomed all around the city. Crowds of people, worried about this causing new temperature rises and furious as the hero for ignoring the injunction, were amassing around many key municipal buildings; City Hall, the courthouse and most police precincts were surrounded by protesters, thirsty for justice. Angry citizens with their fists in the air were shouting for the Mayor to take action. Several held up signs asking for Superman to leave the city.
The Mayor of Metropolis reacted within a half hour by holding a press conference. He started off by requesting that people please remain calm. They may be outraged, and it was understandable, but anger and violence was not the answer. Rioting would obviously not be tolerated and an order had been given to the police to disperse the crowds and bring in anyone who did not comply.
"I absolutely hate to have to do this," the Mayor told the press and the citizens gathered in front of City Hall to hear his allocution, "but under the circumstances, I have no other choice. Superman, first I'd like to personally thank you for everything you've ever done for the people of Metropolis. This of course includes rescuing over 300 people on the Metro train tonight. However, because you've chosen to disrespect the court order and in doing so, have shown disrespect for the very things you have claimed to stand for and because of the current situation, I need to ask you to leave the city. It saddens me that things have come to this, but we see no other alternatives at this time. Superman, wherever you are, I beg you to please leave Metropolis at once."
~.~.~.~.~
Clark spent the next few hours staring blankly into space, having not moved an inch from the sofa he'd sat in when he first got inside the apartment. He'd heard the press conference and had been crushed as he realized that people had started cheering as the Mayor made his argument asking for Superman to go away. They were cheering! After everything he'd done for them, they were rejoicing at the idea that he would leave in disgrace. He couldn't believe that these were the same people who once idolized Superman to such a degree they almost worshiped the very ground he walked on. For the first time in his life, Clark wondered if there was any good left in the world.
The phone rang several times, but he never answered. He had a good idea who it was that would be calling him, but he didn't have the heart to talk to his parents. He knew they would try to encourage him to fight this, but he just didn't have it in him to battle it out anymore. And fight what, anyway? It seemed obvious that every time he did anything 'super', the temperature went up. But if *he* wasn't causing that, who was? Who had the power to do this and how? And more importantly, how could he possibly figure out what was going on while he was being locked up somewhere? He couldn't prove anything, especially if he was being prevented from investigating things! His hands were tied behind his back. Besides, he didn't especially want to stay somewhere he wasn't welcome anymore. Superman would leave tonight, just as he'd been asked.
By midnight Clark had written his very last Superman exclusive. He thought at first that Superman should make a public appearance of some kind, but then he'd realized that given the state of things, this would definitely not encourage people to stay calm. So he settled for Superman's farewell and most sincere apologies to be printed in the Daily Planet instead. Clark saved the article on a disk, then he typed his resignation letter. Since Superman had to go, then Clark would pack up his things and move, leaving behind his job, his friends and a great big piece of his heart. He'd swing by the newsroom, send off the article to the editor, leave his notice on Perry's desk and then grab his personal things before leaving for good.
The only thing left after that would be saying goodbye to Lois. That's the one thing he was looking forward to the least. How do you say goodbye to the woman you love?
~.~.~.~.~
Meanwhile, a celebration was underway at the Wizard's hideout...
"To the success of phase three," the Weather Wizard said, lifting up a glass of champagne.
"To our success," Livewire echoed with a smile, on the other end of the videoconference, before taking a sip from her glass.
"Where are our other colleagues, my dear?" the Wizard asked as he noticed she was the only one showing up on screen.
"Ah... Yes, I meant to tell you... They've left," she explained. "I told you that Metallo refused to take orders from you any longer. Well, he's convinced the other two that you have no right ordering them around. Kalibak's gone back to his own Dimension or where ever it is that he's from anyway... And Toyman, I don't know, he said something about space rats. See if I care!"
Livewire hoped the Wizard would take the bait. Metallo hadn't convinced anyone of anything... she had. Why should they listen to the Weather Wizard, she'd told them, what right did *he* have to position himself as their leader? He wasn't one of them, he was from Central City, he didn't even share their goal of destroying the Man of Steel. Of course they'd all agreed with her. Men were so predictable! And in a lucky twist of fate, they'd even left Metropolis, deciding that causing Superman to leave the city wasn't a good enough revenge and that they should endeavor to find him and make him pay for all his sins. How absolutely perfect this was, she thought.
"Never mind them, then. Let's you and I enjoy the fruits of our labor. We're free to create havoc and mayhem to our heart's content. Nobody can stop us now. Metropolis is ours for the taking." He burst into a wicked laugh as he daydreamed about all the riches and the power he would acquire.
Unbeknownst to the Wizard, Livewire was busy planning a 'phase four'... That's when she would usurp his self-appointed crown and proclaim herself supreme ruler of Metropolis. She deserved it, after all. She was the one who had done all the dirty work. All the Wizard had ever done was wave his little wand and bark orders at everyone else. He didn't deserve the rewards. The others didn't either! All they'd done was complain. None of *them* deserved anything. Definitely not.
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To be continued(* changed from original version... because of brain fades!)
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