Disclaimer: The rights of Superman belong to DC comics and Warner Bros. I am making no financial gain from this story whatsoever.

Chapter 2
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Two months had passed since he first came to the city. He had not put on the suit yet in public because of wanting some space in time between his arrival and his alter-ego's reveal. He did feel that the time was very close, though, and that a couple of months were long enough. But he waited for the opportune moment to reveal himself. It needed to be a large event, something that shows the danger that was occurring and his ability to help out. He still tried to help out whenever something occurred nearby, and he felt pangs of guilt of not trying to help out immediately, but he felt patience was essential. He needed to be very visible, not rumours of some shadowy figure that would be written off as nutty conspiracy talk. Hence, Clark was going about his day with his suit under his... well, other suit, for the past week and a half. Little did he know the day had finally arrive.

Clark sat in the staff meeting that day. The format was Perry leading it and directing questions to the reporters mostly, and an occasional comment from a reporter about something they wished to bring up.

"Lex Luthor is giving a press conference on LexCorp's purchasing of Air Belgique et Nederlands and putting it under LexAir," said Perry. "Jeremy, you're going to cover that."

"I thought I was going to cover that," said Lois Lane. "I covered Luthor's last press conference."

"And managed to insult him," said Perry.

"Oh come on," said Lois. "Insult, really?"

"Well offend him, no less. I want a reporter more conducive to getting some info off him," said Perry. "No, you're covering the final voyage of the Queen Voyager ocean liner that's ending at Metropolis port tomorrow."

"Will Oliver Queen be there?" asked Lois.

"It does belong to Queen Industries, but that's for you to find out," said Perry. "Clark?"

"Yes, Mr. White?" said Clark.

"I need you to go and find out where you need to go for Second Bank of Metropolis requesting federal bailout money," said Perry. "No announcement has been made, but I want the Planet to report it first. Take Jimmy with you. I'll give you another article to write later on."

"Yes, Mr. White," said Clark.

The meeting went on with a few other comments, but Perry let them off soon enough.

"Come on Kent," said Jimmy. "Might's well get started right now."

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The search was initially fruitless. They couldn't find anybody who wanted to confirm on or off the record regarding the bailout request. They overheard a rumour that a rogue trader managed to squander half a billion dollars in one afternoon, far more than he was given authorisation for. The world around another bank was that the trades were so risky the bailout request only serve to infuriate the public. The other bank traders were only too excited to let it slip to a reporter, off the record, of something that made a competitor appear so incompetent.

Clark and Jimmy made their way to the headquarters of the Second Bank of Metropolis, and by the time they got there, they noticed a small crowd built up on the street across from it. As they exited their cab, they saw the crowd looking upwards. They followed the crowd's gaze and saw what they were looking at.

"Is that a man on the top of the building?" asked Jimmy.

"Yes," said Clark, who was already fiddling with his tie. "I forgot something in the cab, keep an eye out."

"Wha-?" said Jimmy, but Clark had already taken enough steps away.

This really wasn't what Clark was hoping for regarding a reveal, but he wasn't going to not help. He ran into a nearby alley and quickly unbuttoned his shirt, then working on removing the rest. He looked around, wondering where to put his work clothes, and just placed them, reluctantly behind a dumpster.

He then rose into the air, soaring quickly to above the building.

The moment he reached the part where he could see the individual, the person had jumped. He didn't wait to follow, mentally cursing his self-caused delay in the alley.

The red cape billowed fiercely as he pushed his speed to ridiculous levels, the wind roared in his ears, and he pushed himself to go faster and faster. He quickly reached the building's edge from where the man had jumped, and did a quick 90 degree angle turn downwards. At this point the man had fallen a quarter of the height of the building. He found himself speeding even faster now he was moving with the pull of gravity, but gravity's extra kick stopped after a second.

The man had reached the halfway height of the building. He knew he had to grab the man mid-air within the speed he was going; to attempt to suddenly stop the man in the air at this speed would more like tear off whatever limb he managed to grab.

His eyes glistened as he kept watch of the falling body. He noticed the distance between them shortened and shortened, until the man was an arm's length away from him. He resisted the urge to pull the man by the legs, and moved even closer to him. Once he got close enough, he extended his arms and wrapped them around the man's waist. Rather than suddenly stopping midair, he flew downwards a bit more and then made an curved turn upwards. In a moment, they were flying parallel to the ground.

He flew one block away from the building as he slowed down, and then descended with the man to the ground.

The man was speechless, and simply stared at the ground, not believing what was occurring. He managed to look up and see the man wearing blue and red, but the man who had rescued him smiled and silently rose into the air and flew off.

It was at that moment, the man fainted and fell to the ground.

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"I swear to God Almighty," said Jimmy, his voice getting louder with each word said, "that man jumped off the building!"

"And how exactly did he survive?" asked reporter.

They were in the Daily Planet, and Jimmy was surrounded by reporters.

"There was this blur," said Jimmy. "And it reached him and... and... whisked him away."

"Whisked..." said Lois. "Whisked him away?"

"I dunno," said Jimmy, looking rather rattled by the whole situation. "Clark! Clark was with me! Come on, tell 'em!"

Everyone turned to Clark, who had just walked in with a cup of coffee in his hand, his other hand on his cellphone as he looked through something, and a doughnut between his teeth. He stopped suddenly at the attention, and everyone waited as he put down the coffee, took the doughnut out of his mouth, and then swallowed his bite.

"Erm..." he said, sheepishly. "I stepped back to look for something I left behind, and... missed the entire thing."

A loud groan came from someone in the room. They all turned back to Jimmy.

"I'm not the only one saying it!" he said, his voice now loud enough to be yelling. "There's a whole crowd of people in the street who saw what I saw."

"Jimmy, listen," said Perry. "If you said you saw a blur, then I believe you. But nobody got a picture of him. You, a photographer by nature, didn't get one."

"Let's write about their comments then," said Jimmy. "I'm sure they're willing to speak."

"Jimmy, Jimmy, this isn't the National Whisper," said Perry. "Something this big... if there's no definitive proof, the Daily Planet will not run it."

Jimmy looked like he was going to keep talking, but Perry put an arm around him and after yelling at the reporters there to go back to work, he pulled him away.

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Metropolis Harbour was filled with the people. It seemed like the interest behind the Queen Voyager created interest in people to want to come and see what the fuss is all about. Well, that and the public was always interested in events that attracted celebrities, politicians and news crews to it. With 2,100 passengers on board, the ocean liner gleamed proudly in the distance as it approached the city. The sun shone brilliantly, and there was nary a cloud in sight.

What was to happen today required investigations that lasted a year, and the only conclusion was sabotage. The who, why or how of the sabotage, though, was not explained.

Lois Lane sat in the middle row of seats, looking about for who had come. She had spotted Oliver Queen, but he was seated in the very front row. As she swivelled her head in different directions, she spotted Jimmy Olsen and... what's-his-name? walking by. She stood up and approached them swiftly.

"What on earth are you doing here?" she said. "This is my story."

"Sorry, Miss Lane," said Clark. "I'm not here covering the story. I'm covering a city councillor who's about to be charged with corruption and he's been avoiding the media. I heard he may be coming here and wanted to corner him."

"Listen, buddy," she said. "I don't know how they do it in Idaho, but if you want my advice, find him somewhere outside my story."

"I didn't ask your advice," said Clark, his tone not wavering from it's friendly beginning, as the words did. "I'm also not inclined to take the advice either. I won't get in your story's way. Otherwise, I'm staying."

He didn't wait for an answer and walked off.

"Look Clark," said Jimmy, pulling Clark's sleeve. Clark turned and stood there watching.

As the ship was close enough to see it in its splendour, yet far enough that it would be a while before anyone would reach it in assistance, the water around it began to appear to churn. Later on they realised it was due to a smaller explosion occurring in parts of the ship under water and from the distance they couldn't see too much.

Nobody could've mistaken the next explosion, which ripped a yellow fire into the air. Screams were heard instantaneously, which covered the gasps that others let out. Some made a run for it. Most others stood there, petrified, staring at the ocean liner. A few were attempting to dial emergency numbers.

The ship seemed to lose it's balance pretty quickly, which was surprising had it been an accidental disaster. The ship began to tilt. A couple of helicopters hovered above it. Nobody seemed to know what to do immediately. The horrifying sight of passengers who happened to be on deck jumping off the ship could be seen.

Perhaps someone saw him first. Perhaps that person pointed at the sky and yelled it out. Nobody knew. However, what was known was that one by one, every eye pointed at the ship was shifted towards something visible in the sky. They stared in wonder, or was it horror?, at the sight of something... someone? soaring in the air towards the ship.

"Is that..." said someone loudly, "a person?!"

Nobody thought of an answer confirming or denying it.

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Clark ran the opposite direction the moment the smaller explosions occurred, having heard the rumble from that far away. He didn't have time to undress himself, and rip open his shirt as he ran towards anywhere that would give him a moment of not being seen. He ripped out his shirt and coat, he ripped out his trousers, and kicked off his shoes. He then flew into the air.

He flew towards the ship, seeing it tilt in far too quickly a speed for him not to be suspicious. He dived downwards and into the water. He floated in the water and saw a huge gash on one side of the hull. He didn't have time nor expertise to start looking for clues.

He swam towards the gash, and tried to come up with ways to cover it. Nothing came to mind. It was far too huge and too much water being sucked into the ship for him to think of something. He swam to the intact part of that side of the hull, and pushed hard at the ship.

His muscles strained, and he pushed harder. Slowly, he could feel the ship being pushed upright. Holding the ship as such, he looked around him, seeing the bearings of where the ship was.

He saw that there were shallow parts of the water nearer to the city coast. He flew out of the water, and then flew to the stern of the ship and pushed. The ship moved, but not fast enough for his comfort. People would be injured, drowning. He couldn't make them wait. The ship began to tilt sideways again.

He dived back to below the water, and tried to push and lift the ship simultaneously, in a 45 degree angle. The ship resisted his force. He heaved harder, pushing with more force. Still the ship resisted.

He swam some distance behind the ship, and then stopped for a second. He composed himself, making his body still as let himself concentrate. He then swam towards the ship with as much speed as he could and felt his muscles tighten as he pushed himself until he collided with the ship. With a loud groan heard above water, the ship began to move towards the shallow end. He pushed and he pushed and he pushed.

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The people observing all of this didn't know what was happening at first. They watched as the flying object dove into the water. They gasped in shock as they saw the ship right itself back to the normal position, from it's previous tilt.

Then there was a few minutes of nothing happening. They then saw the ship move towards them, and stared paralysed as the ship continued to move. In fact, some could've sworn they saw the part of the hull of the ship lifted above the water as it approached them.

With a shudder, the ship suddenly stopped at a point. The ship was stopped by the shallow waters, it was obvious, because now more of the hull was visible by everyone.

They watched as a man in a wet blue and red costume, with a wet cape, continue to fly as he went to many parts of the ship. He, they could now tell it was a he, first flew back to the waters to carry the individuals who had jumped from the deck and carried them back to the harbor. He then soared to the ship and flew out with person after person, and went right back in without any hesitation or delay. This went on for minutes after minutes, and the emergency crew finally stopped by. They, also, didn't know what to do apart from assisting the individuals carried there.

A couple of hours passed, as this continued. And most people did not dare leave the harbor, almost as if had they left, nobody would believe what they had seen.

A time came when this flying man stopped flying anymore. He stood there, observing the ship from the harbor, as if he could sense the presence of people from just looking at a ship. The man shook his head, as if deciding upon a conclusion. He then looked around him, and saw a whole crowd of people stood still, staring at him. The police, the paramedics, the politicians, the public... all of them to a man, woman and child, simply stared at him without comment or action.

The man nodded at nobody in particular. And after raising one arm, he ascended towards the sky and flew off.