Chapter 1: A new Day
"Happy birthday Conner! WHOOOHHHH!" his parents yelled as he half mindlessly walked in the kitchen for breakfast
"Thanks guys, but would it have killed you to be a little more quiet this early in the morning?" he joked
"Nonsense son, you're finally the big ONE EIGHT! This is cause for raucous celebration!" Richard excitedly yelled as he messed with Conner's hair
"Alright dad enough." he playfully smacked his dad's hand away
"Here you go son, from your mom and I...obviously." his dad smiled as he handed Conner a decent sized box wrapped in red wrapping paper.
Conner unwrapped it,"Ahh guys this is great!" he pulled out a black and red jacket
"You have NO idea how much haggling I had to do to get them to knock it down to a decent price!" his dad said with a proud grin
Conner laughed,"Oh yeah I bet that worked out just fine. Thanks a lot this is awesome."
"I think there's something in the pockets...do you hear that?" Lois said with a sneaky smile while looking at her husband.
"Oh yeah what in the world? Some wise guy must've put something in the pockets." he played along
Conner looked at his parent's quizzically while searching the pockets. His expression lit up when he felt something metal,"NO WAYY!" he pulled out a set of car key's and looked at them in disbelief
"Now I know what you're thinking, yes those are really for you." his dad said, confirming that this was indeed, really happening,"I got it fixed up and everything for ya."
"Can I dr...?"
"As soon as you get your license son." Richard said.
"Fair enough dad. Thank you guys so much, this is the best birthday ever!" he hugged his mom and dad,"Oh I gotta go." he said upon seeing the clock,"See you later." he headed out and started riding his bike to school. It seemed like the sun was shining brighter than usual, he was already starting to get worn out.
"Hey Conner. Happy birthday!" a familiar voice excitedly yelled as Connor pulled up near the entrance of Smallville Senior High
"Thanks Rebecca!" Conner yelled back with a shy smile. Rebecca Lang always had a way of putting him in a good mood.
"Ughh you know I don't like when people call me by my full name."
"Well I think it's pretty, so deal with it." Conner said with a jokingly stern tone
"Ughh fine! So how does it feel to finally be a young man? It seems like just yesterday you were starting high school!" she pretended to cry
"Pshtt, yea don't remind me, I feel like my youth is just flying by. Well so far it's pretty sweet, my dad gave me his old car!"
Rebecca gasped in amazement,"Get out, are you serious!?"
Conner beamed with pure pride and joy,"Yes ma'am. As soon as I get my license, it's alll minnee!" he exclaimed in an exaggerated southern accent
"Well maybe you can take me out for a spin sometime." she tempted
"Uhhh...suree..." Conner tried to hide his blushing complexion and shy smile
"Look out Connie!" a random voice yelled
Out of nowhere, a random flying football caught Conner's attention. He reached out and grasped it out of the air with one hand and looked around when he realized what he had done.
"Nice catch dude, how did you do that?" She stared in amazement at the squished ball in his hand
Her question caught Conner off guard,"I...don't know. I guess I just got lucky. He threw the ball back just before the bell rung,"C'mon let's go inside." He rushed along, trying to shrug off the situation
LutherCorp:
Landon Luthor walks into a room filled with board members.
"Okay Landon we're all here, now what's going on?" one of them asked
"Nice to see you too Mr. Hayes, that's a nice suit by the way, is it Italian?" Landon asked in his usual nonchalant attitude
"Cut to the chase Landon."
Landon laughed,"A little impatient are we? Very well. Gentlemen...let's get started!" he threw a rolled up piece of posterboard on the table.
"What the heck is this?" another board member asked with impatience
Landon grinned,"The future!"
"What do you mean? The future of what?"
"Mr. Dixon, have you always been an incompetent moron? Sorry that was mean, I apologize. Gentlemen and...gentlemen..I present to you, the future of LuthorCorp! Allow me to paint you a picture: My father believed that humanity had a hidden potential that it didn't care to tap into...the potential to be better, greater, stronger, and so on and so forth. He believed that if we were going to reach new evolutionary levels, it was up to us and us alone. He believed that the Luthor family had the power and knowledge to guide them, inspire them if you will. Then along comes Superman; an outsider who ends up on the wrong planet. Lo and behold, humanity starts looking to HIM for guidance. They actually believed that if were going to become better as a species, that it would be by following the example of someone that was different than them, pathetic isn't it? Anyway, it worked...for a while, but my father knew better than to blindly follow him. I mean after all, the guy had the power to annihilate us all, why should he be praised as a hero? He proved that even someone as powerful as Superman could be destroyed, turning the focus back where it belongs: Mankind itself! Why try to find a better man, when we can BE the better men? Am I right?"
There was a long silence accompanied by every man in the room exchanging confused looks
"Oh c'mon, give me something here!" Landon grew impatient
"What are you proposing sir?"
Landon was silent for a few seconds,"Gentlemen it's rather simple! The era of allowing superheroes to protect and inspire us are over. The era of mankind taking a quantum step forward however, have just begun!"