Issue # 19 – SECRETS AND LOVE
It began with a phone call. Three weeks after Superman's miraculous resurrection, Lois Lane received a call from Martha Kent, telling her that Clark had been found and was in a private medical facility 5 miles outside Tokyo.
When she saw Clark, Lois didn't know what to think. She saw him, lying in a bed with a small scar on his abdomen. She had been told that Clark had been stabbed and had drifted into a coma. It was only when he woke up after six long months that the staff at the facility were able to determine who he was.
The reality of course was something completely different. Following his resurrection, Clark had contacted the only man with the resources to help him maintain his secret…Bruce Wayne. So for three weeks, Bruce and Clark began setting up his return, creating false medical reports and giving him a bed at the facility, which happened to be owned by Wayne Enterprises.
The scar on his abdomen was created by Clark himself, using an intense but focussed blast of heat from his eyes to pierce through his tough skin, while inserting tiny amounts of kryptonite to prevent the wound from healing straight away. The staff at the facility were clueless, but when Bruce Wayne wanted something done, they didn't ask questions and assumed it was one of those eccentric billionaire experiments or something.
Finally, Clark had his mother ring Lois Lane and tell her the news. When Lois and Clark got on a plane bound for home, things seemed to be back to normal, but while Lois wouldn't admit it, she knew that something was happening between them…something had changed.
Metropolis, 4 months later…
Sirens rang out across the city as police responded to a silent alarm. Dozens of officers aimed their guns at the doors of the Metropolis Savings Bank, waiting as three armed men emerged, carrying sacks of money over their shoulders while holding deadly automatic rifles, complete with armour-piercing rounds.
Bullets flew back and forth as the police tried and failed to shoot through the protective gear of the bank robbers. The shoot-out continued as the robbers made their way to an armoured car, ready to make their escape.
The car was like a tank, and bullets bounced off it as the robbers made their escape, driving the car through the blockade of police vehicles and sped off towards the freeway. As the cops got in their cars and gave chase, inside the bank, another four criminals made their way upstairs to the roof as a helicopter approached to collect them.
The armoured car crashed through oncoming traffic as the police gave chase behind them. Inside, the driver noticed someone standing in the road ahead…Supergirl.
Knowing that they would be caught if they slowed down, the robbers kept going as the driver put his foot down hard on the accelerator and set the armoured car on a collision course with the young heroine.
Kara stood in the road and waited as the armoured car approached, grinning as it closer and closer. She waited for the right moment, just as the car was about to hit her. Letting loose with a fierce punch, Kara sent her fist downwards through the car, sending it flipping over her head through the air before stopping suddenly as Kara caught it in her hands and lowered it gently.
As the police arrived to take the criminals away, Kara's attention turned back towards the bank where she saw a group of men getting into a helicopter. She was about to fly after them and give chase when she heard something breaking through the sound barrier in the distance. Looking towards the sky, Supergirl smiled as she saw her cousin approaching the city at speed.
Superman flew through Metropolis at breakneck speed, moving between buildings effortlessly as his cape fluttered in the wind. His eyes locked onto the helicopter and he slowed down as he reached it, deciding how best to handle the situation as the pilot made daring moves to try to evade him.
Knowing that someone could get hurt if he allowed the erratic flight to continue, Superman decided on a course of action. He sped up again, the world slowing down around him. The rotor blades of the helicopter seemed to stand still as he flew between them and held out his hand, catching one of the blades as it approached him, stopping them from turning.
With the blades now stationary, the main hull of the helicopter began to spin, only to be stopped by Superman and held forcefully as the helicopter shorted out, draining all of the power. Superman held the large flying machine in his hands as he descended towards the ground slowly, touching down as police waited, aiming their guns inside the helicopter while the robbers inside surrendered.
Daily Planet:
"Good job on the robbery Kent…"
"Uh thanks Chief…"
"Don't call me Chief…and as for you Lois, where were you during all this? I didn't give you your job back just so you could be collect a paycheque and sit back on your ass…"
Things were back to normal at the Daily Planet. Lois and Clark were back reporting, Perry White was talking faster than his lips could move and Jimmy Olsen was taking pictures and making coffee.
Following the latest back-and-forth argument between Lois and Perry (which Perry called constructive briefings) Clark was ready to step in and calm things down but as usual, Lois stormed out, Perry sat back in his chair and Clark was left in the office, not having a clue what to say. Thankfully, Perry rectified this, though not in the most polite way.
"What are you doing Kent? Go out there, grab Miss High 'n' Mighty and get down to LexCorp. Lex Luthor is holding a press briefing in an hour and I want you both down there covering it."
"Uh right, on my way Mr. White…"
Clark knew better than to hang around and soon he was out the door and bringing Lois to the elevator. They waited in silence for the elevator doors to open, not even looking at each other as employees at the newspaper walked past them unnoticed.
When the doors opened and they stepped inside, Clark noticed a sly grin on Lois' face immediately as she pressed the button for the ground floor.
"What is it? I know that look…"
"Relax Smallville…there's nobody here but us…"
As soon as the elevator doors closed Lois was on him, pushing him against the elevator wall and kissing him passionately. As he felt her lips on his, Clark couldn't help but think back to their first kiss. It had been three months earlier and Clark has arrived back at the Daily Planet after his long absence. There was a party, Lois was drunk and she planted a kiss on him.
Lois wasn't quite sure herself how they had ended up together. She had really missed Clark and had searched endlessly for him after he disappeared. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but for Lois it was much more complicated. While she really cared for Clark, in the back of her mind and deep in her heart, the thought of Superman lingered and Lois wondered if she could ever completely forget about him and lose herself in her feelings for Clark.
As they kissed in the elevator, Lois felt Clark pulling away reluctantly.
"L…Lois we can't...what if the elevator stops and someone comes in?"
"Then they'll see quite a show…speaking of sight, you know I don't think I've ever seen you without your glasses, and let's face it, it's not easy to kiss someone when their specs are pressing against your head."
Lois laughed softly as she went to pull his glasses off only to find Clark pulling away again. It had been awkward between them from the beginning. After three months, they hadn't spent the night together once, Lois had never even seen Clark's apartment. The reason of course was that Clark Kent was Superman, but Lois didn't know that. She put it down to shyness due to his pretty humble upbringing in Kansas.
Lois got his glasses about halfway down his face when the elevator doors opened, but not before Lois caught a glimpse of something different about Clark. As soon as he pushed his glasses back up though, what she thought she saw seemed to disappear. It looked a bit like Superman to her, but then Lois had Superman on the brain ever since the day he rescued her on Air Force One so long ago, so she put it out of her head as just another one of her daydreams.
As the intrepid reporters left the Daily Planet and began to make their way over to LexCorp, Clark's ears picked up a sound from somewhere above. Looking up in the sky and focussing his vision, Clark noticed a small group of amateur skydivers descending from a plane. One of them was in trouble.
"Uh, Lois…I just remembered…I uh forgot my coat. Go on ahead without me, I'll catch up to you…"
"But you're already wearing your…"
Clark was already gone, rushing inside the Daily Planet building as Lois finished her sentence. "…coat."
Lois shrugged her shoulders, almost laughing at Clark's absent-mindedness as she continued on towards LexCorp. It was one of the things she loved about him. Lois lingered on that thought for a moment. Did she love Clark? She wasn't sure. If she did, she was afraid to admit it, or afraid to let Superman go.
Meanwhile, Clark entered an empty elevator, not even waiting for the doors to close fully as he pulled off his glasses, rose through a door in the ceiling and changed into Superman as he ascended through the elevator shaft, coming out through a small hatch in the roof and blasting off into the sky.
9,000 feet above, Rick Barry was scared. He had deployed his parachute but it had torn away and his emergency chute had failed. After 30 previous jumps, the charity jump for the children's fair in Centennial Park should have been just another jump, but now he was freefalling rapidly with no hope of survival.
When he reached 7,000 feet, Rick saw something coming up from the city below to meet him. He let himself breath a sigh of relief when he saw what it was. Superman flew up to Rick, and began matching his rate of descent, grabbing a hold of the grateful skydiver as he began to slow them both down gradually and by the time they had reached the city, they were pulling up, flying between buildings before touching down gently in Centennial Park to a cheering crowd.
"Wow…thank you Superman, I thought skydiving was a rush but flying…that's awesome…"
"Well statistically speaking, flying is the safest way to travel, but I'm not sure that jumping out of a plane is the best way to go about it. Next time, make sure you recheck everything before you decide to jump again, and remember, it might be a rush, but you still can't be too careful."
"No problem Superman, and thanks again."
Rick watched as Superman took off into the air, admiring the world's greatest hero as he flew off into the distance, his cape flowing behind him.
"Damn, I gotta learn how to fly…"
LexCorp:
Lois Lane sat with her friends in the press, waiting for Lex Luthor to take the stage. As the lights began to dim for the presentation, Lois spotted Clark making his way through a crowed of annoyed reporters before sitting down next to Lois.
"Get your coat?"
"It was uh…already on me…"
"Glad you noticed…"
Lois jabbed him playfully before turning to concentrate on the stage as Lex Luthor walked out, brimming with confidence. The screen behind him showed an impressive display of graphics, showing a 3d image of planet Earth, highlighting specific areas on the planet's surface.
"Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming. Then years ago, what I am about to show you would have been nothing more than a fantasy. But today, that dream becomes reality. For the last few years, I have been working with many nations around the world and to bring the concept of a worldwide energy grid to life. Rather than rebuilding the entire infrastructure of grids around the world, which would be too costly and almost impossible, each individual grid will connect through LexCorp relay stations, which in turn will connect to the central hub, right here in Metropolis…this very building in fact."
"Uh, Tom Wilson, New York Post…when exactly do you hope to have this grid online?"
"Currently, we are the final stages of construction at our Chinese facility and the grid will become operational in about six months. However, the energy core is already in place, in fact this building is now being powered through the kryptonite core, 100 feet below our very feet."
"Jack Thompson, Gotham Times…did you say kryptonite? That stuff is lethal to Superman, and you're going to be pumping it across the globe…you could kill him."
Clark was wondering about this himself. If the LexCorp building was being powered by kryptonite, then why wasn't he feeling the effects? He listened carefully, waiting for Luthor's response, checking his heart rate for signs of deception.
"You miss understand, the kryptonite core is heavily shielded and lined with lead. If Superman were to stand next to the core he wouldn't feel it. The kryptonite produces the energy, which is converted into ordinary electricity. The only kryptonite energy that will exist will be in the core, before it is transformed using state-of-the-art technology. The grid is no more dangerous to Superman than a car battery."
"Lois Lane, Daily Planet…it's been nearly 5 months now since Superman came back, yet you've refused to even apologise to him for killing him in the first place."
"Look Miss Lane, we all regret what happened to Superman but he knew what would happen. He knew what had to be done to stop that monster and like the hero he is, he sacrificed himself to save us all. If Superman feels hard done by, then I will be happy to speak with him…personally."
"Well what about the reports that, not only did you deliberately kill Doomsday, but that your company was behind both the creation of Metallo and Bizarro, as well as bringing General Zod to Earth?"
"I have no time for tabloid trash and speculation Miss Lane…but as for Zod, he was from the same world as Superman right? Perhaps I'm not the one you should be asking…"
The implied remark that Superman was responsible for Zod's rampage got the room buzzing as Lex was bombarded with questions. Clark knew the truth though. Luthor wasn't working alone. Somewhere in space, Brainiac was waiting, orchestrating things from a distance. What Clark didn't know was that Luthor and Brainiac had parted ways, and now the alien intelligence was formulating a plan to attack Earth and destroy Kal-El once and for all.
After ten minutes, the room was finally calm as Lex Luthor continued with his presentation, this time highlighting a new monitoring system that would help control the grid and keep it running smoothly.
"As you can see from these images, we have been working with NASA to place a dozen LexCorp satellites around the globe to track and monitor the grid, allowing us to foresee and prevent any problems far quicker and far more effectively than using ground stations alone…"
"Clark Kent, Daily Planet…We've heard reports that these monitoring satellites are actually strategic space-based weapons, much like the ones you were apparently working with the military to develop before the contract fell through…care to elaborate?"
"Ah, Mr. Kent…always jumping the gun…I was hoping it would be a surprise but as usual, you journalists have gotten there first. You are half right Mr. Kent, the designs of these satellites are based on an early conception for space-based weapons, however these satellites have a different purpose. While the monitoring system is operational, we are hoping that in the future, we will be able to use the satellites to send a kind of pulse across the planet, that will not only close up holes in the ozone layer, but can also be used to slow the rate of global warming, maybe even reverse the effects. The technology is years from being complete but, if successful, our destiny will be in our own hands…"
Luthor of course was lying through his teeth. While he had devoted a limited number of resources to the global warming project, that was mostly just to keep up appearances. The reality was, the satellites did contain weapons, which he hoped would be effective against Brainiac should the alien intelligence carry out his threat. His motives weren't entirely unselfish though, as Luthor also planned to use the weapons on those who resisted him once the final stage of his own plans were complete.
Centennial Park, 4 hours later:
As the sun set over the city, and the lights flickered to life, Lois and Clark walked along the stone path, hand in hand, watching as children ran across the grass to towards the bumper cars, roller coaster and other amusements that had been set up earlier in the day. As they walked under the trees, they felt a soft breeze blow past them and Lois looked upwards immediately, something that Clark couldn't help but notice.
"Lois…you thought it was him didn't you?"
"What…who?"
"Superman."
"Clark, I…"
"It's alright Lois, you don't have to say anything…"
Lois was confused. Before Superman had died, she had told him she loved him. Almost a year later, she was in a relationship with Clark, but Superman was still out there. Lois didn't know how to feel, she cared for them both for different reasons and she knew that it wasn't fair on Clark to keep him waiting, to string him along until she was sure what she wanted. Time and again, Lois wished that it wasn't so complicated.
Lois…I'm Superman. He had said it to himself over and over again in his mind. He had wanted to tell her, he almost did a couple of times, but something was always holding him back. He had wanted Lois to fall for Clark Kent, and now that they were in a relationship, it seemed the perfect time to tell her…but he couldn't.
Clark needed to be sure that Lois' heart was his and not the costume underneath. He needed to know that she wanted him for who he was, not the things he could do. So he would wait. He would wait until Lois was sure…until he was sure himself, and someday he would tell her…Lois, I'm Superman. His thoughts were interrupted by Lois who was dragging him towards the various rides at the fair.
"Come on Smallville, let's go ride the roller coaster…"
"You know I get motion sickness Lois…"
"Right…Ferris Wheel…?"
"Uh, I'm not too fond of heights either."
Lois shrugged her shoulders and looked around at the various carnival games, finding one she liked and dragging Clark towards it.
"Come on Clark, let's win me a prize…how much?"
"Three balls for $5…get the ball in the hole and pick your prize," the attendant replied as Lois handed him the money and collected her three balls to throw. The first throw was close, hitting the edge of the hole but bouncing back.
The second throw was dead on, going right in the centre…but it seemed to get stuck in the whole and fall back out. Seeing this, Lois got angry and began accusing the attendant of being a cheat and fixing the game so it was impossible to win.
Meanwhile, Clark was studying the last ball and the hole, focussing his vision to check the size of both. Ensuring that nobody was looking, Clark ignited his heat vision and began burning around the edges of the hole, enlarging it before blowing on it to cool it and make sure that the edges remained smooth, before tilting his glasses back up.
"Lois, maybe it was just a freak thing, we have one throw left, let me try…"
Aiming carefully, Clark threw the ball, putting a grin on Lois' face as the ball went right through the centre of the hole. As Clark took a large stuffed elephant toy from the top shelf as his prize, giving it to Lois, the attendant was left stunned, trying to figure out how the ball had gotten through the hole.
Lois and Clark walked around the park, carrying a large pink elephant and enjoying the evening when Clark heard a rumbling noise...a sound that he would have heard if it had come from ten miles away and not from right next to him…Lois' predictable stomach was telling her it needed it's junk food fix. Looking around, she found what she was looking for and nudged Clark, smiling.
"Uh…hotdog?"
"Hotdog…you got it Mr. Kent…well what are you waiting for? It's not nice to keep your date hungry."
Clark laughed as he began walking over to the hotdog stand while Lois sat down on a park bench, waiting impatiently as always. As Clark waited for the hotdogs, he picked up the sound of screaming from across the park. Looking over, he noticed sparks, fire…something was wrong around the Ferris Wheel.
Clark looked back towards Lois, noticing that she was already on the move towards the scene, sniffing out a story. Clark moved behind the hotdog stand and re-emerged wearing his familiar blue suit, with a red cape and boots.
Acting swiftly, Superman flew to the scene, spotting a fire raging, threatening to consume the roller coaster. The first thing he did, was take a deep breath, putting out the fire before flying up to the cars, lifting them one by one from the top of the coaster as the grateful passengers on the ride, breathed a sigh of relief.
The cause of the fire was the Ferris Wheel. The generators had overloaded, causing an explosion and now the wheel had come loose from its supports and was rolling across the park towards the lake, carrying a dozen frightened children.
Springing into action immediately, Superman flew across the park, catching up to, and passing the big wheel. Grabbing a hold of it and lifting it over his head, slowing and stopping its momentum before setting it down and spinning it through his hands gradually, letting the children get off the malfunctioned ride.
Back at the roller coaster, Lois was investigating the cause of the generator's malfunction. She didn't see the support beams collapse and by the time she looked up to see the coaster falling down on top of her, it was too late to get out of the way and she covered her head with her hands, trying to protect herself.
The coaster never fell on top of her though. As she looked up, she saw Superman holding onto it, letting her get out from underneath before he set it down gently. They looked at each other for a moment, neither one saying a word before Superman smiled briefly, then flew away into the night sky, having made sure that everyone was safe.
It wasn't long before Lois spotted Clark, holding two hotdogs in his hands as he ran to catch up with her.
"Where were you?"
"I uh…I went to get help, but then I saw Superman and I knew everything would be fine so I uh, went back to get the food…"
"You went back for the food?"
"Well yeah, your stomach rumbles like an earthquake and I didn't wanna risk it toppling buildings by not getting its food."
"Funny…" Lois replied sarcastically, before kissing Clark and grabbing both hotdogs.
"Come on, I think there's a bigger story here than just a generator malfunction, let's see what kind of operation these guys are running here."
"Lois, why is it that everywhere you go, trouble seems to follow?"
"It's a gift." Lois answered before taking a big bite of one of the hotdogs.
Suicide Slums, 3 hours later:
Kara Zor-El flew in though the window in her familiar Supergirl outfit, spotting as her cousin Clark, who was preparing to leave for the night and go protect the world as Superman. Clark had lived in the same place since he had moved to Metropolis and despite Suicide Slums reputation for being a rough place; the rent was low, making it a perfect choice. When Superman showed up in Metropolis, it all changed, and while the Slums still wasn't the safest place in the city, it was nowhere near as bad as it used to be, making it the perfect place for Clark to stay, at least until he found a better place.
"What are you doing Kal-El?"
"I'm going out…I have a job to do…"
"Not tonight you're not…you've hardly slept in weeks. We might be superior beings but even we need to sleep sometimes."
"We're not superior Kara…and besides, the world needs to be kept safe."
"The world can do without Superman for one night. The world will be protected…Supergirl is on the scene remember? If anything major happens I'll call you but other than that, you need a good long sleep…now how did your date go?"
"It was good. We went out, had some fun…I stopped a roller coaster from falling on her head…the usual."
"You could tell her you know…who you really are."
"Maybe…but not yet…not yet."
LexCorp:
Lex Luthor sat in his office, shutting down his computer for the night as he prepared to go home. It had been a busy day for Lex, the final stages of his plan were beginning to take shape and if all went well, he would have everything he ever wanted within a year. He smiled to himself at that thought, only to be interrupted as the door to his office opened and Mercy Graves, his bodyguard and most trusted employee entered the room.
"What is it Mercy?"
"Satellite tracking has picked up a deep space signal heading towards Earth. It matches the frequency range that you wanted them to look for."
"And?"
"They've estimated that whatever the signal is coming from, will be here in two days…what is the signal sir, what does it mean?"
"It means…"
Lex stopped, looking up at Mercy before rising from his chair and looking out the window towards the stars above.
"…Brainiac is coming."