THE DAILY PLANET: 10/09/2013

Six months after the invasion by extraterrestrial beings known as Kryptonians, Metropolis is slowly starting to recover its former glory. Much of the credit goes to billionaire Alexander Luthor who has invested millions in infrastructure and has become a much acclaimed public figure. Meanwhile the alien being known as Superman continues to work with the law to bring order to the city as crime rates have substantially increased in the aftermath of the invasion…..

CHAPTER 1

For the twentieth time this month, Clark was having nightmares.

It always happened when he dosed off. The same face returning again and again to torment him in his dreams, the face which had looked at him with hatred before he had killed him.

Zod

"You think you are better, more trustworthy than us, traitor? Do not you ever wish to rule upon those puny beings? Do you deny that, beneath all that pretense of altruism, you envision yourself upon a throne from which you rule all those inferiors?

"You are a disgrace, Kal-El, a disgrace….."

Clark woke up to the maniacal laughter the disembodied head threw. He was aware that he had thrashed wildly in his dreams, the smashed cabinet beside his bed bearing evidence to that. "You are a perversion, Zod. Dishonoring our race, thinking you are above everybody. My father would have never wanted me..wanted any of our kind to live at the expense of another," Clark whispered.

He was not sure if he whispered that to Zod, or to himself.

(-)

Clark ran at his top human speed, barely making to his cubicle before facing Lois. She was early today, even for her, Clark noted with disappointment. He had hoped to arrive earlier at the office today, and escape the patronizing lectures Lois overly enjoyed dishing out to him about the supposed virtues of punctuality. She should talk, he noted grudgingly. At least she did not have to stop five times on her way to office to help bystanders or stop would-be-muggers.

To his surprise, he found Lois looking at him with concerned eyes. "You alright, Smallville? Look terrible today, you do."

"I'm alright, Lois, honestly do you think anything would bother me now with all things working smo….." Clark stopped his attempt at a brave smile when he saw Lois frowning. Somehow she always knew when something happened to him, and try as he might, he could not hide it from her. She could sense lies from him even better than he could with the help of his enhanced auditory functions and all that. "It's him. Again."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Clark, you did what had to be done. Think how many more lives, innocent lives, would have been wasted had you not done that. You have to stop blaming yourself," She smiled brightly, "And anyway, Perry put us on the big fish today. Bruce Wayne, remember? He is arriving today."

Clark groaned. He hated these billionaire types. Luthor was already taking advantage of every press conference to remind how Superman was descended from the very race that had destroyed half of Metropolis. He did not need another rich philanthropist to remind him of that.

"…..So you will be covering him after he steps out of his hotel room. Smallville, did you hear out?" Lois raised her voice.

"Umm, what?" Clark exclaimed. He was not sure he heard her right.

Lois sighed, "I was saying you will be taking his interview."

Clark's jaw dropped. The brilliant, ambitious Lois Lane, two times Pulitzer award winner and in contention for a third, passing up the life time opportunity to interview the Gotham rich boy to him was too much for him to handle.

"You bet," Clark smirked, recovering himself.

(-)

Bruce Wayne decided that he did hate Metropolis.

Even with much of it in ruins, it was still a glorious city. Its skyscrapers outshone whatever few Gotham had. The streets were clean, with no dark alleys, at least non which he could see as his limousine sped along the road. No punks with guns either, he noted grimly. Metropolis was everything Bruce had wanted Gotham to be, with the latter being nowhere near to what he wished. A long sigh escaped his lips as he contemplated how his vigilantism has apparently done nothing to improve Gotham's exteriors.

As soon as he had stepped out of the limousine, reporters flocked around him. While Lucius Fox, stepping out of another car closely following Bruce's limousine, and his own chauffeur tried to keep reporters at bay, Bruce himself walked fluidly to the reception. It needed a slight cough from him to get the red-haired receptionist to pay attention to him, however from then on it took little more to attract her attention as the receptionist exhaled with excitement while beholding the famous Bruce Wayne. And for good measure, he winked at her, so that by the time he was at the escalator, the red head was all but melting in her seat, with a dreamy look on her face.

(-)

"And how much more will he keep us waiting, Lois?" inquired Clark, perhaps for the seventeenth time.

"I do not know, for Christ's sake. Why don't you buckle down a little bit. It might as well be the story of your life, seeing how Wayne has broken the ice with Metropolis corporations and you of all people from the Planet are going to review him," Lois snapped. She hated playing second fiddle, and Clark knew that she was letting the opportunity pass by only to take his thoughts away from the dead man's.. well Kryptonian's haunting.

"Honestly, I do not like Wayne much. It is nothing personal, seeing we never met. But from what I heard, he is the typical rich trash we know the aristocracy is comprised of," Lois supplied. "Orphaned at an early age, travelling around the whole world before reaching, he is now busy playboying and squabbling his parents' fortunes. He is reckless, arrogant, spoiled and.." she suddenly inhaled deeply, looking up at the stairs, "utterly gorgeous!"

Clark followed her gaze, and saw Bruce Wayne descending the stairs. He was dressed in a black business suit, with his short hair slightly gelled and his blue eyes radiating confidence which Clark could sense even from that distance. Clark had to admit, with a pang of jealousy that had absolutely nothing to do with the wide eyed stare from Lois, that Wayne indeed was handsome.

His fears about the billionaire being a Kryptonian hater was soon allayed however, as he found Wayne to be a most polite man, who was answering his every question with smiles and authority, both equal part. At the end he was quite satisfied, albeit slightly annoyed at the furtive glances Lois shot at Wayne, who also seemed pleased enough to return them.

(-)

Bruce did not know how much more he would have to wait for the thugs to show off.

The Bat-Computer had picked up an anonymous tip a week ago about some dealings by a shadowy organization only known as the Intergang. Hence his visit to Metropolis, under the guise of holding business talks with LexCorp. And by the looks of it, he was in for a third consecutive night's disappointment as thugs still were not in sight.

He almost began dozing off, uncharacteristically, when a faint beacon of light appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. As it brightened, he realized it was a tow truck. An almost involuntary growl came from his throat, out of disappointment. It was almost to be discarded as a mere distraction when it hit him hard.

A tow truck. With nothing in the cargo. In an equally empty warehouse.

He silently slithered down from the roof of the warehouse and took his stance behind the cab, crouching low. Within two minutes he had followed the two men who had come in the truck to the interiors of the warehouse. Third time's the charm, Bruce noted with a smirk.

(-)

Clark's patrol went fine for more the last two nights. No criminals or superpowered villains were apparently keen to give up on their sleep time and go rounds with the Man of Steel it seemed. He almost contemplated calling it a night when alarms went off at the west corner of the city. Clark groaned as soon as he saw the source of trouble: a LexCorp warehouse.

Breaking in there in a matter of seconds, he found heaps of dazed men, apparently beaten to unconsciousness. He allowed his X-ray vision to follow the trail of bodies and found a man holding another by the neck against the wall.

"Batman," Clark growled.