The Trials of Superman: Chapter 1
"It is said that the Nemean Lion would take women as hostages in order to lure heroes into the jaws of death."
Sten listened to ticking sound of his pocket watch as backstage staff stood behind the curtains with him. The knowledge of time was unimportant, the events had already been set in motion. But, for Sten, there were just a few moments of peace to relish before everything started to unfold.
The pocket watch ticked like the gnashing of teeth until a shadow appeared in front of Sten and he closed the pocket watch in response. "Mr Euros." The smartly dressed man with glasses said calmly. Sten nodded and got up, he adjusted his tie and took to the stage.
"Ladies and Gentleman, Mr. Sten Euros will be making his speech now." The spokesman took a bow and left. Sten took his place. The audience clapped. Among the audience were scientists, socialites, reporters and Clark Kent. Clark stood with his fellow reporters from the daily planet. Lois Lane and James Oslen. The Stage was set for full coverage of one of the most influential men in Metropolis. "Good Evening, Metropolis." Sten began his speech with professional care. "Tonight, I can safely tell you that all of the moderate and high level criminals of Metropolis have been successfully transported to Euros Prison. The world's first space prison." A round of applause began for Sten, so he waited like a gargoyle until silence filled the room. "We have already started making plans for transporting special case criminals from all over America to Euros Prison. However, this does not mean that we are completely safe. Zod, the general from Krypton, remains to be subdued and may one day seek to cause more havoc and he is not the only one." A large monitor fell behind Sten, the audience held it's breath in anticipation as the clockwork menace flickered to life. Images appeared on the screen, the first one was a large flock of mutated humans that seemed to be mixed with birds. They bore sharp talons and their entire bodies were covered in feathers that seemed to shine. The next picture took it's place, this one was gray. But it showed an image of what looked to be a parasite. The next and final picture was blurred, it showed what looked like a robot the size of a giant man of twelve feet with multiple limbs, which were being used to fire the missiles that caused the pictures blur. Sten nodded and the monitor blackened before disappearing the same way that it had appeared.
"Those images you saw were just a fraction of what we must now face and the reasoning behind the large upgrades to the police force and science labs. The first picture you saw was, regrettably, a human creation. Star labs has created a monster of unnatural proportions. In an attempt to make super humans like superman. They merged the DNA of an already genetically altered breed of bird called the 'bronze eagle' with a green beret and medal of honour man called Jack Harper. The result was a feral beast that was unstable at a cellular level. It should have died moments after it killed everyone working in the lab that day, however, for some unknown reason, it split; effectively cloning itself. At first there was one. Now there are hundreds, tomorrow there may be thousands."
Some of the audience gasped, others grumbled as they bit theirs lips or fumbled with lighters and pens. "The second image is of a parasite that seems to come from a meteorite. It is deadly and highly infectious, we know no cure for this parasite. The only thing we can say for sure is that it lives in water supplies and has been spread across this side of the country by cattle. We did not show images of what this parasite does to humans, because this meeting is being broadcasted. A safety pamphlet will be issued on this parasite tomorrow morning in all newspapers as requested by myself and the mayor of Metropolis. The final image shown earlier was of a highly advanced piece of war-like battle technology and is the danger that we know the littlest about. It appeared in Kansas farmland and has been rampaging on it's way here ever since." Sten finished and waited for the right question to lead his way into the plan. The question came from Lois Lane. "How can we expect the police force to combat forces of science and nature that are this destructive?"
"We can't." Said Sten. "The police are the most equipped they've ever been. Yet they can only protect the citizens of Metropolis. For this threat, we must rely on Superman. But-" Sten quickly stared down any reporters before he continued. "But he can no longer be the one-man vigilante that he has been in the past. Make no mistake, Superman is this city's guardian angel. But he has caused collateral damage on countless occasions. Nobody has been indirectly harmed by Superman, but property has always been damaged. An affordable loss, if these were the old days, but these are not the old days. Times have changed, a new threat looms into the fray, what connects these three dangers are that they are all moving towards Metropolis. Superman does not have the tact to handle such an overwhelming trio of enemies all at once and we cannot allow the usual collateral damage to become a hazard towards human life. So Superman will either stand with us as we face this new danger together or he will stand against us as a fallen angel that we can no longer leave to handle our fates. You have twenty-four hours to comply, Superman."
Sten finished speaking and eased his gaze a little. The entire audience exploded with questions that they had all been bursting to ask and Sten did his best to answer some before leaving. After which, the rest of the question were handled by the starting spokesman. But Clark, Lois and Jimmy had left.
The trio of reporters left the building and took to the streets. Jimmy hailed a cab and left Clark and Lois on their own. "Mysterious, 5 foot 9 Caucasian in his late fifties with a muscular build and grey hair." Lois said out loud, as if expecting this to be a good starting point of a conversation. "Was seeing him in the flesh anything like how you expected him to be?" Clark asked this. Seemingly aware of what his partner was talking about. "Regardless of what I was expecting, that man really does know how to reveal the right amount of information." An hour later Lois entered the subway and Clark was finally left alone.
Sten sat back in his chair with a glass of chilled whiskey in his hand. He faced an open window and was prepared to wait hours for the arrival of Superman. But Superman showed up in minutes. "Waiting for someone?" Superman asked.
"Waiting for you. So I thank you for not keeping an old man waiting." Superman entered the office without Sten's approval. But he didn't seem to mind. "Are those trio of dangers you showed earlier really as bad as you made them out to be?" Superman asked, half interrogating Sten and half intimidating him. "No Superman." Said Sten. "They are far worse. For starters, there are many more. This information comes from a reliable source, a backer of Euros Technologies."
"Who." Growled Superman.
"If I told you that and all of the dangers heading our way right now, you'd fly out to try to stop them all and ended up getting people hurt. If you want to help Metropolis, you need to take a step back and handle this with delicacy. A single one of these threats can wipe out this city and we are facing numerous threats. So, do you understand why this city needs you to work with it?" Sten asked this question and expected Superman to try and stare him down but he instead nodded. "I have no problem working with the police force and, if need be, you. But I will not work for you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way Superman. Now, if you accuse me. I'm off to bed, your early arrival has saved me a lot of time and intend to use that time to have a peaceful sleep. Perhaps my last." Sten stood up after he said this and turned to leave, but Superman stopped him. "One more question. Why is Metropolis being targeted?"
Sten stood silently for a moment before he answered with a sigh. "Because of you Superman, every single threat, be it biotic, synthetic or pathogenic has a high enough level of intelligence to understand the food chain and that you're at the top. If you die, I'm told that these monsters will tear each other and metropolis apart for total domination." Before he left, Sten decided to tell one more thing of noteworthiness. "It would be a good idea if you reacquaint yourself with the chief of police tomorrow. He will lead you to the person helming this operation and she will be the person who you will be receiving directions from. As for me." Sten paused and then took a slight bow, knowing that shaking Superman's hand would probably not be the smartest of ideas. "You will never see me again, this is where I bow out and leave the stage. Men of action will be taking the spotlight." Superman left, almost as soon as Sten had finished talking. Sten was left alone, so he sat back down at his desk and opened a drawer. Carefully putting a single hand inside, he took out an old photograph of Martha Kent.
