CHAPTER II
On the way to the restaurant, Lois asked me, "So, where are we going?" I told her which restaurant we were heading to. Her eyes widened, and she said, "That's really expensive! How'd you afford that?" "I have some money saved up from my old job," I said, "I figured I'd use it on a rainy day. But fortunately, I have a better reason to spend it. And that reason is sitting next to me." Lois said, "Aw, that's so sweet! What was your old job?" "I co-owned and operated my family's general store in Smallville. Being in that position pays well, considering it was a small town. Speaking of which..." I reached into the back seat, grabbing some bright orange roses. Lois took them, saying, "Wow! I love these!" "I thought you might," I said, "You know, orange roses signify amazement." "I think I can tell where you're going with this," said Lois with a smile. "I'm amazed by you," I said, "That's the long and short of it." "Thanks, Clark," said Lois. She paused, eventually saying, "So, what was Smallville like?" I laughed lightly, saying, "Exactly how it sounds. Small town, small population, small school, the whole setup. Most people are nice, everybody knows everybody for one reason or another, that kind of thing." "It sounds like it's great," said Lois. "It sure is," said Clark, "I lived there for eighteen years, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I met my best friend there, and he met his girlfriend, your cousin, there as well. Speaking of, do you know how they're doing? Relationship-wise, I mean." "Oh, they're great!" said Lois, "I have a feeling about those two." I nodded, smiling.
"So, how about you?" I asked, "What was it like, growing up in the big city?" Lois answered, "Well, my family moved here when I was two, and even then, my parents thought the city would be perfect for me." "Moved from where?" I asked. She said, "My family used to be in Smallville, too. My dad accepted a job in Metropolis. Again, I was only two, so, Metropolis is really all I've ever known. But anyway, I've always loved it. The bustle of the streets during rush hour has this...charm to it." "With cabbies cursing loudly and horns honking constantly?" I said skeptically. "There's more to it than that," said Lois. "Ah, maybe it's just because I grew up in Smallville," I said, "I wouldn't understand all the big-city stuff." "You'll get there," said Lois, smiling. I smiled too, in confidence and in happiness, as we pulled up to the front of the restaurant. There was a valet standing on the curb. I tossed him the car keys, saying, "Be gentle with her." The valet nodded, and I went around, opening the door for Lois. She carried the roses with her. I walked up to the front, saying to the maitre d', "Reservation for two, under Kent." He looked his list over, saying, "Ah, here it is. Right this way." "Thank you," I said, walking with him. He led me and Lois to a small, circular table. "Here you are," he said. "Thank you," I said again, pulling out Lois' chair for her. We sat facing each other.
A waiter walked up to us, asking, "What would you like to drink? Would you like to see the house wines?" "No, thank you," I said, laughing lightly, "I'll just have water, please." "And for you?" he asked Lois. "Same, thank you," said Lois, smiling. The waiter nodded, walking off. Lois and I picked up our menus, and Lois immediately said, "Some of these are kind of hard to pronounce." I laughed and said, "They sure are. But hey, you know, it's quality." "Well, at least I know not to order the escargot," said Lois. She stuck out her tongue. I laughed, saying, "It is a little conflicting, though. Some of these sound great!" "Sounding and tasting are two different things," said Lois, "Be careful." "Always," I said. A few minutes later, the waiter showed up again with our drinks, saying, "Are you ready to order?" I said, "Uh, I think I'll have the house special, please." The waiter nodded and turned to Lois. Lois said, "I'll have the house salad." The waiter nodded once again, saying, "When in doubt, order the house dishes. Very good choices." I nodded, and the waiter walked off again. "So, what is the house special?" asked Lois. "No idea," I said, "But the name of the actual food looked pretty awesome, so I may as well take a chance." "How much did it cost?" asked Lois. "Not too much," I said, "I brought a bunch of money with me. We're fine." Lois sighed with relief, saying, "Good." About half an hour later, our food came out, and was set down in front of us. As the waiter walked off, I said, "This looks delicious." "It sure does," said Lois. I looked down at the utensils in front of me.
"Fortunately, I googled how all of this works," I said, successfully using the correct fork. Lois said, "I already know how." She quickly picked up the correct fork for her salad. "Show-off," I said, smiling. We managed to do everything right while eating our food, and when we finished, the waiter walked up again, saying, "Are you ready for the check?" "Yes," I said, nodding. The waiter handed me the check. I sighed with relief, saying, "Okay, I was right. I have enough to cover this." I paid and checked my watch. I nodded, saying, "All right, the movie starts in about thirty minutes. It's just around the corner. You want to go early, or what?" "Sure," said Lois. "We're a bit overdressed, though," I said. "Eh," said Lois, "The haters will just have to deal with it." I laughed, standing up. I held out my hand. Lois took it, standing. We walked out, getting the car keys and walking over to the car. Once again, I opened the door for her, getting in the driver's seat. It only took us a couple minutes to get to the theater, meaning we'd have plenty of time before the movie started. We got out of the car. Lois nearly started walking towards the theater, but I said, "Wait. Look up." She did, saying, "What about it?" "You can't see the stars," I said, walking up to her and holding her hand, "That's another reason I really like Smallville. All the stars came out at night." "Well, in the absence of stars, you have the city lights," said Lois, pointing to her left. We walked to the theater very slowly, looking out towards the city, the dazzling lights on the buildings and the numerous cars rushing down the streets illuminating the surroundings. We both smiled, savoring the moment.
After the movie, I dropped Lois off at her dorm building, saying, "Have a good night." I kissed the back of her hand. She said, "You too. Thanks for the roses." She suddenly kissed me lightly on the cheek. I was immediately dazed, staring at her. She said, "Tonight was great." "Y-yeah, it was," I said, still dumbfounded. Lois walked into her dorm building. As the door closed behind her, I waited for a few seconds before pumping my fists and shouting, "YES!" I jumped, grinning widely and shouting again, "HECK YEAH!" Suddenly, I saw a shirtless, sleepy guy poke his head out of his dorm window. He shouted, "WHAT THE *&$%, MAN?! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" "SORRY!" I shouted back, "MY FIRST DATE WENT AWESOME!" The guy seemed to understand, nodding and shouting, "GOOD ON YOU! JUST PLEASE BE HAPPY ABOUT IT SOMEWHERE ELSE!" I nodded, lowering my arms. Unbeknownst to me, Lois had listened in by opening her window a crack and waiting. She laughed lightly. Meanwhile, I got into Jimmy's car. I parked, getting out and walking to my dorm building. I looked upwards. With all the lights off on the campus except for streetlights, the stars were shining brightly. I smiled up at them, wondering which direction I came from. Regardless, I said, "I know you can't hear me, Jor-El, but...your kid did well today. I took a pretty girl out for dinner and a movie. I wonder if you had movies on Krypton. Some part of me doubts it. But, I think you get the gist." I walked to the entrance to my dorm building, opening the door and taking one last look at the stars before entering.
Meanwhile, Alexander was walking up to Luthor's office. He said to Mercy, "As lovely as ever, Mercy." Mercy said nothing whatsoever, simply continuing to work. "Of course," said Alexander under his breath. Alexander went into the office, where Luthor was on his phone. Alexander walked in to hear Luthor finish a sentence, "...shipment will be at your doorstep in no time." He saw Alexander entering, saying, "I'll have to talk to you later." He hung up, asking Alexander, "What is it this time?" "A bit of an update," said Alexander, "I already told you about the Metal 0 project." "Yeah," said Luthor. "Well, it turns out it went smoothly," said Alexander, "The subject, John, has been fully integrated with the parts that have changed him into a potential weapon. He is now nearly seventy percent metal." "So, what have you been doing?" asked Luthor. "I've been monitoring him," answered Alexander, "We managed to replace one of his eyes with a camera. I can see exactly what he sees, and he's none the wiser." "And you've found...what, exactly?" asked Luthor. "Nothing much," said Alexander, "But enough to figure out that he's not realized what exactly we did to him. Some of his behavior indicated that he's a little unsettled, but he hasn't figured anything out." "You must have been extremely precise," said Luthor, raising his eyebrows. "That we were," said Alexander, "We gave him everything. If he needs a spinal tap, done. If he needs his heart or lungs checked, covered. If he eats...he has to use the little boys' room." "So, he's just going to walk around, unaware of what he really is?" said Luthor, "That's your plan?" Alexander smirked.
"For a while, at least," he responded, "With all the precautions I've told you about, he'll have some difficulty. But eventually, he'll discover that the fake heart in his chest isn't what keeps him running, it's the chunk of irradiated metal right next to that fake heart." "You know, you talked about all those medical procedures," said Luthor, "What if he needs an MRI?" "The materials we used aren't magnetic," Alexander, "Well, at least not the metal. I don't know if kryptonite is magnetic yet." "And if it is?" asked Luthor. "Then he'll know something's up," said Alexander, "But again, it's what I want. If he freaks, he'll attract attention, preferably Superman's. And if that happens, he'll be in for something much worse than anything before." "So, is that it for now?" asked Luthor. "Yes," answered Alexander, "Bye." Alexander walked out, smiling. Meanwhile, at the Fortress, Kelex was doing absolutely nothing, standing in power save mode directly in the middle of the Fortress. Suddenly, he felt a signal hit him. "Wait a minute," he said, "I know that radiation signature." He rolled over to the computers, quickly sending them the signal. Within seconds, the computers had a definite match. Kelex cursed in Kryptonian, calling my phone. I picked up, saying, "How'd you reach me? And anyway, it's the middle of the night." "You'll want to see this," said Kelex. I sighed, saying, "Fine." I hung up, not even bothering to get into the Superman costume.
I flew sleepily to the Fortress, landing a few feet from the entrance. "KELEX, I'M HERE!" I shouted hoarsely. The doors flew open, and Kelex rolled up to me, saying, "Come in, quickly." "Whoa, Kelex, what's the problem?" I asked as Kelex began tugging on my arm. "Just come on!" said Kelex. I walked in, and Kelex said, "I was in power save mode not too long ago. I received a signal all of a sudden. Look what and where it's coming from." I looked, seeing the monitors display kryptonite and a small green blip in Metropolis. "There's more?" I asked. "Apparently," said Kelex, "Some of Brainiac's must have been taken and used to irradiate some other material." I stared at the green blip, a feeling of terror slowly washing over me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: To the guy who decided it was worth his time to leave bashing reviews containing (thus far, anyway) six F-bombs in total in response to my purposeful ignorance of a certain writing rule: I don't start a new paragraph with each line of dialogue out of convenience and a bit of an addiction to structure. I will not change this in these stories, even though I am already aware of this writing rule. For other stories in which I won't have a desire for so much structure, you will see me follow this rule. Also, if you wanted me to even listen to you whatsoever, you would at least make an actual account and have the common courtesy to PM me with your grievances. And finally, I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of the story enough to keep reading. Or maybe you're just that persistent and butthurt. In the latter case, you are welcome to become my first official hater. The position won't be paid of course, but I'm SURE you'll find great personal fulfillment through leaving vulgar reviews on my stories.
P.S.: All three of your deplorable reviews have been deleted, and any other reviews you post will be deleted as soon as I see them if you continue the same vulgar trend. Thank you.
P.P.S.: I don't like you. Like, at all. You are a major irritant. But your spamming won't work. Give it the freak up.
P.P.P.S.: Oh yeah, also, I was homeschooled, and I'm starting college next week at the age of fifteen. I already knew about this writing rule (my good friend Shadacia Reneelia alerted me), but again, I'm choosing not to follow it. It's not about being a "rebel", as if something like this would even be worth rebelling against. It's about an introvert with a major addiction to length consistency.
