This is the tale of Nightfall in the Alternate Universe depicted in “All the Daytime and the Nighttime.” Thanks to Dan Levine and Bryce Zabel, and of course, the pilot for parts of this. Thanks to sheilah and Sue S. for unblocking my thinking here and to Darth Michael for added encouragement.
The year of this story is 2003.
Previously:
“Great Shades of Elvis!” At his loud exclamation the bullpen went silent and everyone turned to the window.
A moment later, Superman flew Lois in through a high window and deposited her near her desk, helping her to be steady on her feet. Then he stood in what he was now considering to be his classic hero pose, feet spread and arms crossed across his chest.
Cat, along with several other women from the staff stared agog and moved to get closer to the couple. Cat said to the air, “I see it but I don’t believe it.”
“What? A man who flies?” Serena asked.
“No. Lois Lane, finally literally, swept off her feet. A man that perfect has to be
an alien. Believe me, I know.”
“I have no doubt you do,” Serena responded somewhat acerbically.
Lois said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Superman, I think, considering the fact that I named you, you owe me an interview.”
A susurration of “Superman” went around the room. Even Perry was quiet, staring at the couple.
“Is that the rule?,” Superman asked with apparent amusement, not at all visibly thrown by the prospect of an interview with Mad Dog Lane.
Perry was surprised at the confidence of this newcomer. ‘More fool he,’ he thought privately.
“Well, um, no. But... I'd appreciate it. Very much.” Lois dared to put her good hand on his forearm. A sigh from the women and a gasp from the men were audible even to Lois. Lois smiled and removed her hand.
Superman made a small exit bow and began to turn in order to fly out but Lois called after him, “Wait a minute. How do I find you?”
Superman responded to the group, “I'll be around,” and then he flew back out the top window, turning and closing it down to where it was before. Hovering for a moment and looking back through the window at the group of entranced faces, he then shot straight up. After a moment a sonic boom could be heard.
A slightly out of breath Jimmy had the last word for the day’s events, “Real smooth.”
Clark took a quick circle of the Earth to wear off his excess adrenalin and calm his nerves. He would give Lois the interview tomorrow. After this afternoon, he really didn’t feel up to it emotionally. Further, he felt like the metaphoric thin ice was beginning to crack beneath his boots. *+*+*+*+*+*+
Part 7. Test of Wills Early the next morning, Lois was at work at the Daily Planet. Her arm felt better, so she was attempting to type the interview with the Grandmother the day before for her records. Her left hand was working, but the right hand was working in the “hunt and peck” mode, which made the rhythm very awkward. Clark hadn’t come by to type up her story for her, so she was on her own. He hadn’t made it over to her apartment either last night.
However, the whole newspaper was flush with the success of the Superman exclusive story on the billboard drop. She had only gotten a shared byline on that story because Wally Wingfield had written the story and interviewed
her since she and Jimmy had witnessed the event.
It was a shared success, because Jimmy’s pictures were used prominently both above and below the fold and he had a quote to give Wally. “’I’m here to help’, the man said.” On page 3, Lois had dictated the saga of how she had come up with the name of ‘Superman.’ The succinct version was, “Well, he has an ‘S’ on his chest.”
Lois had an ear bud in one ear listening to her recorder and also had the police scanner on, estimating that was the best way to find Superman. Suddenly the police dispatcher transmitted, “Attention all units. Code FOUR - BLUE. Possible jumper, Broadbent Hotel, Sixth Street and Fourth Place. Crowd control and negotiation teams to the Emergency. Response requested.”
Lois stopped trying to type and started thinking, “What could draw Superman out?”
At that moment, Perry burst from his office. “ Lois!”, and saw that she was
already up and headed for the elevator.
“On it!”
Lois grabbed the first cab in line by the Daily Planet door and snapped to the driver, “Sixth Street and Fourth Place, Broadbent Hotel, stat.”
The cabbie shook his head at her tone and thought to himself, ‘Too many doctor dramas in her life.’ He simply said, “Right away, Miss,” and pulled out, tires squealing to satisfy her sense of urgency.
As the cab pulled away, Lois contemplated the thinking of the city fathers in laying out a major city where numbered “streets” intersected numbered “places” at right angles. And those weren’t always at right angles at that.
Where First Street and First Place met, there was a plaza with a statue of the first mayor of Metropolis, The Right Honorable Winston Endicott, in it. The plaza was naturally called the First Square.
As Lois' cab pulled up outside the Broadbent Hotel, Lois slid across the seat,. exiting the backseat driver’s side using her good arm. Hastily paying the cabby. Lois sprinted to where a crowd had collected. They were all looking up the side of the modest five-story building.
Squinting against the sun, Lois saw that up on the rooftop the police negotiator was standing near the raised ledge that bordered the roof. Other police had established a command post nearby.
Up on the ledge, Jules listened to the negotiator saying “It's always darkest before the dawn, son.” How corny was that? Would that convince
anyone to not jump? At ease up on the ledge, Jules let go of the air conditioning unit he was holding on to and moved out further, preparing to do his deed for Luthor. And, oh yes, for the money. Playing the game, he said to the policeman, “Is that so?”
“Come down. We'll talk it through.”
Nonchalantly, Jules replied, “I dunno. I kind of like it up here. Fresh air. Great view.” ‘And a bonus of ragging on a cop,’ he thought.
“Well, can I get you somethin'?”
“Cappuccino?”
The negotiation said placatingly, “Whatever you want.”
Jules thought, ‘How about a zillion bucks?’ Instead, he said only, “Better make it decaf. Caffeine makes me jumpy.”
The cop repeated, “Whatever you want,” and turned to order the decaf and then hesitated. Was the guy toying with him and not serious at all? ‘Jumpy?’
‘Enough already.’ Jules job was to start the chain of events and the rest would follow. He decided he was ready. He took a bigger step away from the a/c unit and pretended to teeter on the edge of the parapet, windmilling his arms for dramatic effect for the crowd below. He smiled as he saw all the TV news vans and reporters below as well as the citizens probably getting ready to yell “Jump!” at him.
At that moment a red and blue streak flashed across the sky toward him. Jules noticed the crowd pointing up and the cameras swinging to pan the scene. He barely noticed the cop reaching for him. Suddenly the streak solidified into the new guy in town. Jules was about to meet him in person and sounded pleased even to his own ears as he said, “The S-Man.”
On the word, Superman reached him and helped him down from the ledge. “You don't really want to do this.”
Jules replied with a smile, “You're right. I've seen the error of my ways.
Superman thought he was being agreeable way too easily.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Across town in LexTower, Luthor was watching the Broadbent rescue from a video monitor that had been placed on the roof by the ever-reliable Nigel. His gaze turned to the adjacent monitor which showed Albert on the top of the Lexor Hotel, crouched down behind a terrified Monique, holding her by the ankle, perforce for her safety at the great height.
Next to Luthor, Asabi, his manservant, had the controls in his hand to an elaborate accurate timer with a large dramatic display.
Luthor spoke to Albert on his cell phone. “Ready.”
“Confirm.”
On the Lexor rooftop, Monique pleaded, “Albert, please be careful.”
The Albert replied suavely, “Don't worry. I've got you.”
Luthor spoke one word into the phone, “Execute.”
“Roger that,” came the reply and to her shock and surprise, Albert let go of Monique's ankle and used his walking stick to push her off the ledge. She tumbled over the ledge with a scream.
“Let’s see if the pavement beats an Uzi, Monique, “ Luthor said to the image on the screen.
On the first monitor, Superman took off and Asabi pushed the timer button.
A startled Lois saw Superman leave the Broadbent roof suddenly and head across town. She turned and saw the same cab that had brought her, the cabbie having stayed to watch the excitement. Lois hopped back into the cab and exclaimed, “Follow Superman!”
With another squeal of tires, the cabbie left.
The feed from the LNN news helicopter was following Monique’s fall as she plummeted to her doom from the Lexor Hotel. That was now showing on Luthor’s monitor.
Suddenly Superman appeared and caught Monique in his arms. She promptly fainted from fear and relief.
Asabi pushed the stop button on the timer. The digital indicator blinked: 2.1191416 seconds.
Luthor was impressed and said thoughtfully, “Faster than a speeding bullet.”
Decisively he announced to a non-existing audience. “Well, we found out one thing. Now we find out another.” He turned to Asabi and commanded, “Make the call. Use one of the scrambled lines.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
An ambulance with the siren blaring away was pulling away just as Lois' cab came to a stop by the curb at the Lexor. Lois hopped out. Again the cab waited, idling. The cabbie hadn’t had this much excitement in a long time. Clusters of people are still gathered on the sidewalk. Occasionally someone pointed up and recounted what had happened to any new arrivals. Lois ran toward one such cluster.
“What happened?”
Clark answered from behind her. “Lois, it was incredible. Superman caught that woman in midair. She's okay. She just left in that ambulance a minute ago. You should have been here.”
Clark regarded Lois nervously. He hadn’t seen Lois as Clark since Superman had carried her into the Daily Planet. Had Lois recognized him? After all, they had shared an evening of passion until he had found out Admiral Lane was her father. And they had made out like teenagers in the Costmart parking lot after he picked her up from her parent’s house following her hospital stay.
He had been having a running debate with himself about telling her who Superman really was. But with Nightfall getting closer by the second, such things seemed somewhat irrelevant, he kept telling himself. His first priority now was to get people to trust him enough to allow him to try to defeat Nightfall.
Clark continued, “I have the story here, for the most part. We could get some crowd reaction and then you’d have enough for a story. Where did you just come from?”
“The jumper at the Broadbent Hotel. Superman was there, too.”
“Then we have both parts of the story. How’s your arm doing, Lois?”
“Well enough. I could use a little help typing, though. I was writing up the interview with the Grandmother at the billboard fall before I came. But what is the story here, other than simple rescues? Two rescues in what?”
“About two seconds, I think.”
“That seems awfully close to be a coincidence. Here, we’ll use my taxi to get back to the planet and write up the story.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Lex Luthor had divided feelings about the fact that Monique didn’t splatter on the pavement and had been safely transported to the hospital in deep trauma, he assumed. He had known of her aversion to heights and had intentionally exploited it, feeling that it brought realism to her frantic screams. Since Superman, his new rival for supremacy in Metropolis, had saved her, Luthor felt both pleased he had more data on his rival and had paid Monique back for her disdain to his plan.
Now Luthor stared at two views of the exterior of the Carlin building. It was an elderly building that really needed razing, he mused. He disdained openly rubbing his hands together in glee. He would find out more about his rival.
He checked his watch and nodded in satisfaction. He didn’t want to get suit-boy too much downtime. He said to Asabi, “Make the call. Use one of the scrambled lines.”
Asabi, as always, complied.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Lois and Clark walked into the Daily Planet bullpen.
“That was some cab ride. Do all Metropolis cabbies drive like that?” Clark asked Lois as they descended the ramp into the bullpen, Clark steadying Lois by holding her left elbow.
Lois turned and looked at Clark, “What? Cabbies don’t drive like maniacs in D.C.?”
Shrugging, Clark responded, “Mostly I drove myself. They have parking there, you know. Or I took the Metro in.”
He seated Lois in her chair, pulling it out for her like a true gentleman. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He sat in the guest chair, propped his elbow on her desk and held out his hand. “Give me the tape and I’ll type it up for you and send it over, then you can edit it. That will save you time.”
“You’re on, mister,” Lois said in relief and handed him her recorder after setting it back to the beginning. She placed it in his hand and then pushed his hand down to the desktop, thereby prolonging the contact. Slowly, tantalizingly removing her hand, she smiled at the sudden heat in his eyes. She felt Clark gently squeeze her hand, then release it.
Clark cleared his throat. “Time to get to work,” he said slowly and reluctantly.
“I’ll be over there.” He nodded toward his desk and computer. He dropped his voice more and said, “Just call if you need anything.”
“I will. For sure. But it is not like that is far away.”
Fortunately for trying to look like an ordinary human, Clark could only type as fast as the recorder played. Nonetheless, it didn’t take him that long to type it up and send it over to Lois. Out of the corner of his eye he had caught her watching him type, a soft smile on her face. He swiveled in his chair to watch Lois open it on her computer, when the sound of sirens began to reach the office from the street below. ‘What now?’
The TVs on the walls cut to Linda Montoya, a newscaster for a local independent TV station, standing by a "Do Not Cross" police line. Emergency vehicles with flashing lights and noise surrounded her.
“Linda Montoya here reporting. If you've just joined us, the original report of a bomb planted in the lobby of the Carlin Building has now been confirmed. Currently, the Bomb Squad is awaiting the arrival of what they term a 'containment blister' as well as a team of deactivation specialists. Once the blister is in place, they'll attempt to neutralize the threat. Meanwhile, the building has been evacuated and we're being told to move back. So, for now, this is Linda Montoya...”
Clark walked over to Lois’s desk, leaned over and said softly into her ear, “Sorry, my help on the story will have to wait. I’ve got to go to my other team. This may be part of something we are working on.”
Lois replied equally softly, “I’ll manage. Go!”
Clark nodded his thanks and then caught Perry’s eye across the bullpen as he emerged from his office. Perry looked at him, then called out loudly, “Kent, go cover this for us!”
“On it, Chief.” Clark then said to Lois, “See you. The stairwell is faster than the elevator.” He then ran into the stairwell door, but went up instead of down. Lois swiveled in her chair to watch the story unfold.
It wasn’t long before Linda Montoya paused in her running commentary on police activity as a growing uproar rose from the crowd. She reported excitedly,
“He's here! Our new hero Superman is here and may be about to enter the building.” On camera, she said to her cameraman, “Can we get a shot of that?”
The camera panned and zoomed in on Superman landing behind the bomb squad. He took a moment to confer with the bomb squad commander and with a bit of arm waving and pointing, evidently convinced him to let him go into the building. He swiftly climbed the steps and disappeared inside.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Luthor was waiting eagerly in his war room, the monitors still showing two exteriors of the Carlin building. Luthor was seeing the same thing. “There he is,” he breathed to himself, “right on cue.” With a satisfied and anticipatory grin, he nodded to Asabi who picked up a radio-controlled detonator and pushed the button.
As a loud boom was heard on the TV monitors, flame shot out of the windows and dust rolled out. The dust slowly settled and the TVs showed the destroyed Carlin Building. Luthor and Asabi waited as the dust settled. Then, Superman emerged, obviously fine except for his tattered cape. He looked a bit frustrated as he brushed the dust off the arms of his Suit.
Asabi was awed. “Invulnerable,” he exclaimed. It was significant that he spoke aloud at all.
Luthor was more reflective. “A Man of Steel,” he summarized, beginning to rethink some of his plans.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Lois Lane was late to the action at the Carlin Building. She hated being late to the action, but she had had to wait to see if Superman made it out of the building alive. She had sat in her chair at the Daily Planet, mesmerized as he walked calmly out through the dust and grit. She guessed she had a proprietary feeling about Superman because, after all, she had named him. He was the most perfect picture of a human being she had ever seen, except for maybe Clark. Well, clearly Superman wasn’t a human being, but he certainly looked like one.
Did he have all the parts of a man? ‘Don’t go there Lane’, she warned herself.
Before her, she could see investigators, wearing light blue jackets with their organizations emblazoned on the back, combing the rubble. There was a still lot of dust and smoke in the air. Ambulance teams tended to the wounded onlookers, but none of the injuries seem serious. She bent to pick up something from beneath a fallen brick. It was a shred of red cloth. Could it be? She examined the material closely, then carefully wrapped it in a tissue and pocketed it.
Seeing one of the FBI agents with his back to her, she walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, hoping to find out more about the explosion. The agent turned around and smiled at her, “Hi Lois.”
“Clark!” She was surprised, but she didn’t know why. He had told her he had to come here. Somehow he looked different with the official jacket on. Shaking her head to clear it, she asked, “So what was this all about?” She gestured to indicate the whole building and the rubble by their feet.
“So far, we don’t have many answers. Henderson and the MPD are over by that van.” Clark gestured to a bomb squad van parked at the curb. “They have some of the components on that folding table.”
Lois and Clark walked over and caught the end of the police expert talking to Henderson. “... somewhere within a two-mile radius, but that's all we ...”
Henderson saw them and gestured them over and began a summary.
“The explosion was radio-controlled, activated from an unknown point of origin within a two-mile radius of this site. Also, there were video cameras installed in the lobby that were
not part of the building's security system, or any other
system that the management company knew about. We think the two are connected.”
Lois instantly saw the meaning of it. “You're saying someone waited for
Superman to appear, watched him enter the building, and
then detonated the explosives?”
“Currently, that’s our best theory.”
Lois turned to Clark and noticed the stricken expression on his face as another ambulance pulled away, sirens wailing.
Henderson said, “We’ll have more when the building is safer to enter after this stuff is cleaned away. I’ve got to go do something else. Have fun, kids.”
Lois shook her head in disbelief. “I can't believe it. A bomb purposely detonated. Why? It's horrible. All those people injured.”
Then Lois sighed. “That poor man.”
Clark looked around. “What man?”
“Superman. He comes here to help us... Can you imagine how he feels?”
“I think so.”
“It doesn't make sense. Who'd want to kill Superman?”
“I’m wondering the same thing. As far as I can tell, he’s here to save people, both from natural disasters and, maybe, from themselves.”
Clark said the last so darkly, Lois turned to look at him.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Back at the FBI after Lois took a cab back to the Daily Planet, Clark picked up his phone and punched in the lab’s extension number. “Hi Jennifer, this is Agent Kent. Any progress on the background stuff on Monique Kahn and Jules Johnson?”
“Sorry Clark, not much yet,” came the reply.
“Well, how about employment records?”
“Still working on that. Jules does have a record, though. Monique seems to be a ghost.”
“Well, as soon as you get anything, please send them up as soon as you do.” That fact was a bit surprising, knowing the resources of the FBI.
“Will do.”
He hung up and the phone promptly rang. It was Dr. Newman at Metropolis Hospital.
“Hello Dr. Newman. Thanks for returning my call. Yes ... uh huh... really? That's
unusual isn't it? I see. Okay. Thanks very much. No, that won't be necessary.”
Clark hung up, pondered for a moment and dialed Lois at the Daily Planet. The phone rang three times and Jimmy answered. “Lois Lane’s desk.”
“Hi Jimmy. It’s Clark. Is Lois back yet?”
“Hi CK. No, not yet. Hold on, the elevator is opening. Yep, it’s her.”
Clark could visualize Jimmy pulling the receiver away from his mouth as the next line came faintly, “Lois, it’s Clark for you,” and holding out the instrument to her.
Lois came on breathlessly. “Clark? It’s Lois.”
Clark smiled into the phone just at the sound of her voice. “I just got a call from Dr. Newman from Metropolis Hospital.”
”Is that the same Dr. Newman who did the psychiatric evaluations on the attempted suicides?”
“Yep.”
“So, what have we got?”
“They've both been released, Jules Johnson immediately. They don't
think he ever meant to jump. Monique Kahn, on the other hand, was hysterical. Turns out she's afraid of heights.”
Clark was just enjoying the sound of her voice. Oh, he had it bad.
“Well, that’s intriguing. She's afraid of heights and she jumps off a thirty-story building?”
“Doesn't sound right, does it?”
“What else?”
“That's all.”
“It's not much. Where are you?”
Clark leaned closer to the mouthpiece, even though he was alone in his office.
“The usual other place. Do you think you can get the Planet search engine to see what it has on Jules and Monique?” As an afterthought, he added, “And who owns or owned the Carlin Building.”
Lois wasn’t sure why, but she felt a susurration of pleasure at the thought he was calling her from his FBI office. She wondered what it looked like and where it was. Well, other than in the FBI building in Metropolis. “Sure.” Her voice softened as she leaned closer to the mouthpiece. “Don’t you have sources?”
“Yeah, we do. And can you believe, they came up dry.” That wasn’t totally true, but he wondered what Jimmy could find out.
“I’ll get Jimmy on it. When will you be back here?”
“Soon. But I have some personal errands to do.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Later that afternoon, back at his apartment with a torn cape and a now dirty suit, Clark realized he’s going to need more suits sooner than he expected. On a chance Rita was there working on new suits, he called the farmhouse and was happy to find her there. Worried about how to explain to her exactly what happened, he was relieved to find out the whole story had been on the Wichita news station. Smallville got that station on the cable, so no explanations were really necessary. Other than his interactions with Lois, the whole day had been a rather frustrating and depressing one.
“Rita, it's not coming out. The stain from the bomb. Or should I say stains.”
“Clark, is it a dirt stain, or an oil-based stain?”
“I don't know, Sis. It's a
bomb stain.”
“You're sure you're all right? The explosion on television looked really big. Although, I’m not the expert, Pete is.”
Clark said dismissively as he rubbed harder. “I’m fine. Now if I can only get ...”
Rita interrupted, “The important thing is: blot, don't rub.”
Clark looked at his handiwork. “You’re right. It’s worse.”
“I can get more fabric, Clark. The important thing is you. Are you sure the explosion was meant for you?”
“Yeah. It was remotely detonated after I was in the building.”
“What,” Rita exclaimed, totally shocked. “Why would somebody do that?”
“I don’t know. To see how invulnerable I am? I guess not everyone welcomes a hero trying to save them.” Clark continued on the thought, “There was something
about those suicide attempts. Two people jumping from buildings on a direct line of sight across the city at
exactly the same time? Is that really possible without someone planning it?”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
A somber Clark walked into the Daily Planet in the late afternoon and again sat in Lois’ guest chair.
“Hey, you,” she said softly in greeting. She tapped a pile of papers on her desk. “Here’s Jimmy’s results.”
Eagerly, Clark pulled them around to read them. “Employment records of the jumpers?” Clark looked at the printout and then met Lois’ eyes.
“Both worked for LexCorp!”
“Them and about a million other people in Metropolis. So, unfortunately it isn’t a solid connection.”
Clark’s face took on a determined expression. “I’ve got to go out again. Tell Jimmy what a great job he did, O.K. The info certainly isn’t anything we can use legally, but maybe there is something else we can do.”
“Easy come, easy go,” she smiled gently. “You don’t stay long.”
“Believe me, I’d like to stay longer. But the timing here is important.”
“Oh, by the way, Jimmy thinks he has a way to notify Superman in case of trouble or danger.”
“What, other than yell ‘Help, Superman?’” Clark smiled at her, teasing.
“Yeah, other than that.”
*+*+*+*+*+*+
Clark Kent, the farmboy from central Kansas, was mad and he decided he needed to put a stop to these tests, period.
Superman stood steady as a rock on top of the railing of the balcony outside Lex Luthor’s office and silently watched him work at his desk. Then, he moved so his shadow fell into the room. Surely Luthor didn’t get many visitors from this direction.
Luthor noticed the shadow and turned, pushing the button to open the sliding doors. He gestured grandly as if he were a king granting and audience, “Come in, Superman.”
As he entered, Luthor exclaimed apparently enthusiastically, “An astonishing debut, Superman.”
Calling on his FBI training, Clark stepped confidently into the plush quarters, striding without hesitation to confront Luthor. ‘Remember, Luthor is just another perp, but with a fancy lair,” he reminded himself.
Superman had a look of fierce determination in his eyes no one had ever seen before. In a strong, authoritative voice, he challenged, “You want to know how strong I am, Luthor?”
Quickly searching the top of Luthor’s desk, Superman zeroed in on a section of fossils imbedded in granite displayed on a wire stand. Picking the rock up, he tossed the large piece in one hand like it was a Styrofoam cup, then took his other hand and crushed it to dust. He sprinkled the dust liberally on Luthor’s desk and rug.
He saw Luthor swallow convulsively and continued in a challenging voice, “You want to know how fast I am?”
In the blink of an eye, Superman was across the room and in Luthor's face. To Luthor it looked like he was standing in front of the desk, disappeared and then reappeared nearly nose-to-nose.
Superman prowled with the grace of a panther to the wall and pulled a Damascene steel sword from its mounting and turned and faced Luthor. “You want to know how vulnerable I am?”
Dramatically, he grabbed the blade, not the hilt, with no damage to his hands and plunged the sword into his own chest. The metal crumbled into dust. “The answer is I’m not. I’m invulnerable to bombs, bullets and outer space.”
Turning back to the weapon display, he saw a Colt Single Action Army “Peacemaker” 45 caliber handgun. No doubt it was displayed because of its historic value. Surprisingly, it was in its case loaded in all six chambers.
Superman took it out and brandished it toward Luthor, resisting the temptation to spin it by the trigger like the gunslingers of yore, but instead spun the cylinder with a single motion, mimicking the action of a game of Russian roulette. After all, this discussion was about games, right?
Luthor was attempting to look unfazed, but there was a hint of terror around his eyes. His voice didn’t betray him, though, and he said calmly, “Does that conclude your demonstration?”
“No, not yet. Its time for you to feel vulnerable.” He shot Luthor straight in the heart.
Panic tore across Luthor’s features. Superman suddenly materialized right in front of him, bullet between his thumb and index finger. He reached forward, grabbed Luthor’s hand and dropped the bullet into it.
Luthor tried not to scream as he hastily dumped the extremely hot bullet on the rug.
Superman said with grave authority, “THE TESTS STOP NOW.” Turning his back on Luthor, cape swirling, he turned to go.
Behind him, rubbing his hand Luthor tried to sound casual as he said, “Well, that would be nice. But what if they don't? What exactly are you going to do?”
Superman turned back, pointing at Luthor, “
Make it happen.”
Luthor held out his hands, placating, “Me? I admit nothing. However, let's assume that these tests continue. You can't be every place at once, Superman. As long as you stay in Metropolis, innocent people will die. Are you willing to accept that responsibility? If I were you, I'd think about it.”
Calmly, Superman crossed his arms over his chest in what was becoming his iconic pose and continued in a smooth voice. “People were dying by accident, by villainy and some by their own hand before I showed up and they will continue to do so. What I can do is to get the rates of accidents and villainy,” he narrowed his eyes at Luthor, “down so more people live full and hopefully productive lives. How they live is their choice. What I intend to do is to keep
some people from trying to shorten them with increased violence and pandering to bad habits.”
Relaxing his pose a bit and trying to sound reasonable, “None of us know what natural disaster will fall next.” Superman paused to note Luthor’s startled reaction. Did he know about Nightfall? “And I intend to help save what I can as best I can. With all your resources, you could help do that too.”
Another eye twitch showed on Luthor’s face. Superman continued, "Like any other citizen of the planet, I must obey the law. I am not above it. You, it seems, believe you are. Either above it or in intentional violation of it."
Luthor tried to protest, “I hold a certain position in this city, this state, and, dare I say it, this country.”
Superman agreed with a nod of his head, “Yes, you do. And there is nothing that would please me more than to see you dethroned and behind bars, like any common criminal. That day will come.”
Turning to leave again, Superman got the last word, “Think of this Luthor, you have to live on this planet too. If it goes down, you go down.” On that word, he exited and hopped up on the railing again. “And if you ever want to find me, all you have to do is look
up.”
With that, he slowly lifted off the railing and moved out several feet and just hovered there. Then in an eye blink he was gone and a sonic boom filled the air.
*+*+*+*+*+*+
tbc in part 8, “The Interview”
Artemis
