Chapter Two: Damage control

Lex Luthor paced around his lounge back at the Mansion. He was holding a large ice pack to his right eye, it being blackened, cut and bruised. He was talking on the phone in his other hand. "We need to find that clone," he yelled into the receiver. "Send out all the search parties you need! Do whatever you need to do! Just find me that missing science fair project!" He hung up the phone and sat down at his desk.

He turned on his laptop and signed on, typing in the password of the day: Supernatural. LuthorCorp. funds and stocks came up, but he minimized those. He slammed his hand on the desk in frustration. Just then his phone rang. He grabbed it. "What!" he barked.

"Mr. Luthor," a calm voice said. "This is, well, you can call me Alfred. I am calling on behalf of my employer, Mr. Bruce Wayne. He will be visiting your small town and wishes to meet with you tonight."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else," Lex apologized.

"Well yes, okay. Please, do you have a place in mind where the two of you could talk."

Lex raised an eyebrow. "There's a really good coffee shop called the Talon. We could meet there. It's in the main part of the town."

"Oh, splendid," Alfred cheered. "I shall report it to Master Bruce. Say around six o'clock?"

"Yeah," Lex agreed. "Six would be fine."

"Thank you then. Buh-Bye now."

Lex hung up the phone. Dinner with Bruce Wayne huh? Fellow billionaire. This should be interesting. He put the ice pack down on his desk and went to get himself a glass of scotch on the rocks. He poured it, took a sip, then held it up to his bruise, letting the ice do its job. Just then his chief guard walked in. "Hey boss, you better come and see this."

Lex put down the drink and walked briskly towards the guard. He followed him into the guards' lounge where the tv was on and blaring. Lex looked at it. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"This just in ladies and gentlemen," the reporter said. "Metropolis United, one of the largest banks in the world was robbed at its headquarters today just minutes ago. The culprit is nowhere in sight. All detectives have to go on is the video camera of the person caught on tape. The person reportedly moved too fast to catch any significant sight of him..." the reporter trailed off.

"I think we found our missing clone," the bodyguard said.

Lex watched the television set, flabbergasted. "Yeah, but how would he know to rob a bank?" The bodyguard shrugged. "Get me Dr. Truman on the phone," Lex ordered.

"Are you telling me that you enhanced his thinking patterns without my authority?" Lex asked angrily.

Dr. Truman nodded. "Yes sir I did. He obviously learned the importance of money and where it came from and took it the only one he knew how."

"Have you gone to the police yet?"

"No, but I really think we should," Dr. Truman said.

"No," Lex declared. "No. My people can cover this up, but you better not screw it up again." He hung up the phone, ending the conversation.

Clark Kent was back in his hometown. He was at the Talon, his favorite hangout place, and was drinking coffee with his best friend, Chloe Sullivan.

"So what d'you think your father meant?" Chloe asked, concerned. She took a sip of her coffee then put it down. She sat back in the chair and relaxed.

"I don't know but it can't be good. I'm just gonna have to face it," Clark admitted. "He said I'd be receiving help, so there can't be too much to worry about can there?"

"I don't know, but you might want to keep on the lookout for danger."

"I know," Clark said.

Just then Lana Lang walked up and joined their conversation. "Hey," she said. She sat down next to them and took a sip of her own cup of coffee. "Whatcha guys talking about?" she asked.

"N-nothing," Clark and Chloe said simultaneously.

"Cool," Lana said. "Guess what!" Clark and Chloe shrugged. "I just got off the phone with Lex. Him and Bruce Wayne are coming here tonight at six."

"Sounds like a billionaire bash to me," Chloe retorted. "Surprised Gates wasn't invited," she mumbled afterwards.

Ignoring her, Clark turned to Lana. "So what're they coming for?"

"Dunno," Lana admitted. "Probably to drink coffee, you know, discuss business arrangements. He is in town for two weeks."

"Yeah, I heard that," Clark said, rolling his eyes as he turned back to his coffee and Chloe. He hated the way people acted around billionaires. He himself was hoping to meeting the man that owned the greatest city in the world, but it would be fairly awkward with Lex around. He knew that Lana was expecting him to be there, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be himself.

A loud crash broke Clark from his thoughts. He turned and saw a teenage looking boy standing by the counter, having just knocked over a plate of scones. He had short brown hair, spiked back. He wore a red and blue sweatshirt and a pair of baggy jeans. He began to pick up the plate of scones.

Lana stood up. "I better go help him, excuse me," she said, leaving. Clark followed as did Chloe. They all bent down to help him.

"Thanks," he said. When they had finished, he brushed the crumbs off of his sweatshirt. He turned to leave, but Clark grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey," he said, "are you new in town?"

The kid turned around and nodded. "Yeah. Just passing through though."

"If you want, I could show you around," Clark offered.

The kid eyed Clark suspiciously. "What's in it for you?"

Clark shrugged. "Nothing really. Just thought I'd help out a tourist. We do get a lot of them here since the meteor shower and I thought I might be a gracious host for Smallville for you."

The kid bobbed his head and smiled. He stuck out his hand, "Name's Jett. Jett Barry."

Clark shook his hand. "Hey Jett. This is Lana and this is Chloe." They both said hello. "So where do you wanna go first?" Clark asked, walking out of the Talon with Jett, his arm around him as if they were best buds.

Jett didn't know what it was, but there was something he liked about Clark. Something different. A vibe of good about him. "Where's the best place to get some grub? I'm starving."

"We just left it buddy," Clark said. "But let's head on over to my place, I think I've got some leftover pizza in the fridge."

"Sounds good," Jett said. The two got into Clark's blue pickup truck and headed to the Kent Farm.