What the Hey You Can't Have Everything
Folc4evernaday | Rated: M | Chapter 6

Randy Goode stared at the large lead box that sat on his desk. "What is this?"

"Kryptonite. Don't you read the papers?" Mindy replied.

"He's going to suspect something if I have a chunk of Kryptonite just lying around."

"Randy, I want Superman taken care of by any means necessary. Those nosy reporters are getting too close to my company. My men are telling me that they've begun investigating Goode International. How is that supposed to make me feel? You promised you would get Superman out of Metropolis permanently…"

"You can't just wait until he gets pushed out of Metropolis? I mean everyone hates him…with this new story about him knocking up Lois Lane…I'm sure he won't last long."

"Your story is a fraud. You should do your homework better. Your little photographer faked the photo."

"What? No, she didn't. She said she saw them…"

"She's a liar. She did take a pretty steamy picture of Lois Lane…but she was with her husband. Get with the program. Scandal against Superman…not working. Superman needs to go. Kryptonite is the best way to get rid of him. While you're at it, you can take care of those pesky reporters as well."

Randy sulked, "You never let me have any fun."

"If you would like you can cut him up into little pieces after he's vulnerable enough and throw him into the river…" Mindy shrugged. "I know you like to do things messy."

Randy watched his sister leave and sighed grudgingly. She was right. He hated it when she was right. He had to take care of Superman and those reporters. He sent the Kryptonite over to Intergang's science lab to have it cut into bullets. He then called the representatives for both President Kasparov and General Navance and asked them to meet him in his office. Their deaths would be blamed on Superman, of course, because he was responsible for the peace treaties and both sides had been contacted under the impression that the meeting had been arranged by Superman. It was brilliant. Then when Superman's reputation was destroyed, he would put the Man of Steel out of his misery.

Jimmy Olsen stared at his screen entranced. He had finally done it. He had found the photograph that had been used to create the scandal against Superman. It was a photograph of Lois and Clark in an intimate embrace. The setting was the same. The position was the same. The only thing different was Clark had been replaced with an image of Superman.

Jimmy shook his head in disgust. What kind of person would do such a thing? He looked at the photograph thoughtfully. He could see the love in Lois' eyes as she looked at Clark. The passion in her eyes was evident. The desire and love in Clark's eyes was apparent as well. It was funny. This was the first time he had seen a picture of Clark without his glasses. He looked a lot like Superman, but not quite. Superman had a bigger forehead…maybe. He wasn't sure.

He looked up from his screen when he heard the conference room door open. Who was this Hank guy? Nobody had come out of the conference room yet, but someone had gone in.

Why was that new girl from research going into the conference room? And why did she shut the door behind her? He got up from his desk and headed towards the conference room to investigate.

"You." Lois recognized the woman immediately.

"Yes. So, you're not my idol," Samantha mocked.

"What do you want?" Clark asked as he stepped protectively in front of Lois. He was prepared to catch any bullets if the new intruder decided to fire.

"Isn't it obvious, Mr. Kent? I think you and Ms. Lane, here are getting a little too curious. I can't have you ruining my employment with Intergang. I've never seen so much money in my life. I'm not going to throw all of that away just because the photograph I happened to submit to Dirt Digger was a fake." Samantha eyed them coldly then turned to Hank Jackson, "I warned you what would happen to you if you squealed. Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? You think you can cross Intergang?" She cocked the trigger and aimed the gun at Hank. "You need a witness to back up his evidence. Say good night, Mr. Johnson."

Clark aimed a beam of heat vision on the handle of the gun she held. The heat began to spread throughout the metal. "OW!" The hot metal caused Samantha's had to contract involuntarily. The pistol discharged.

At that same moment, Jimmy Olsen opened the door, knocking Samantha down. Clark caught the bullet a few seconds before it made contact with Hank Jackson's arm. He quickly moved his arm away and ducked his head. He looked around the office and shrugged. "I guess she's a bad shot?"

Jimmy grabbed Samantha by the arm and took the gun from her. "What's going on here?"

"Let me go!" Samantha cried out.

"No way!" Jimmy said as he tightened the grip on her. "Lois? CK? Are you guys all right?"

Lois nodded, leaning into Clark's protective embrace. "We're fine, Jimmy."

Clark released Lois and approached Jimmy hesitantly. He grabbed a pen from his pocket and picked up the gun from the floor, placing it on the table. "Apparently, we're getting close."

"Yeah, I found the picture on the database. I've downloaded the information, and I've copied it to disk for evidence." Jimmy replied.

"Uh, exactly what picture did you find?" Lois asked nervously.

Jimmy smiled. "Don't worry. Everything's covered. I hid parts of the picture that were...inappropriate for …uh, the public to see…Anyway, nobody will be ogling…CK, you've got to tell me how you do it…Long hours at the Planet and you still have time to work out…" Jimmy explained.

"Uh, yeah..." Clark replied trying to avoid going into too much detail about his physique.

Lois and Clark both felt relief wash over them when Jimmy revealed the latest news. Even though the world saw Superman in revealing spandex every day that didn't mean Clark was comfortable with the world seeing him exposed like that. Clark was uncomfortable with anyone but his wife seeing him like that.

"You…conniving, self-righteous bitch! When I get through with you, you're great-grandchildren are going to need a lawyer!" Lois snapped angrily.

Samantha just smiled back smugly. "Guilty as charged. I thought you were meeting Superman and thought I'd catch it on film, but you disappointed me, Lois." Her last remark was met with a slap across the face. Samantha laughed. "Did I hit a nerve?"

"Get her out of here," Lois said as she shoved Samantha back against the wall. "…or she'll be leaving in a body cast…"

Jimmy struggled to keep a grip on her as he led her out of the conference room and headed towards the security desk.

Lois watched Jimmy lead Samantha away and shook her head in disgust. "What do we do now?" Clark picked up the phone and began to dial. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to set up a meeting with President Kasparov and General Navance. If this doesn't prove this is a smear campaign I don't know what will."

Randy Goode opened the lead-lined box in front of him and began loading his gun with the Kryptonite bullets. His meeting with the leaders of President Kasparov and General Navance had been canceled and now he had to move things a little more quickly than necessary. Mindy wanted Superman eliminated and disappointing her was not something he wanted to do. With Superman gone, he and Mindy would be able to take over Metropolis. Intergang would rise once more, and the people of Metropolis would be at their mercy.

General Navance and President Kasparov sat in the Metropolis Hotel's Penthouse awaiting the arrival of Superman.

"Where is he?" General Navance asked as he paced around the room. President Kasparov just shrugged.

The doors to the Penthouse opened revealing Jimmy Olsen with a file in his hands and Lois and Clark behind him. Clark nodded to the leaders, "General, Mr. President; my name is Clark Kent. This is my wife Lois Lane and this," he gestured to Jimmy, "is James Olsen. He is the Daily Planet's head researcher. We have information on this smear campaign that has been spreading throughout Metropolis the last few days."

Jimmy opened the folder and began showing the leaders the photographs. "Just keep in mind I had to block certain aspects of these photos for modesty reasons, but as you can see here the photo here of Lois and Superman was, in fact, a picture of Lois and CK. We have a sworn statement from the gentleman who actually worked on this picture. He was paid by Goode International."

"Goode? As in…?" General Navance began to piece the information together.

"Randy Goode," Lois confirmed.

"But why? Why would he do such a thing?" President Kasparov asked.

"Why don't you ask him?" Randy Goode asked as he entered the room holding a gun on the group as he closed the door behind him.

"What is the meaning of this? Put that gun away." President Kasparov demanded.

"I can't do that. If I put the gun away, then how am I going to kill Superman?" Randy replied.

The bodyguards of the two men approached Randy and reached for their weapons only to be shot down in cold-blood by Randy before Clark could even move in their direction. "Anyone else feel like being a hero?"

Clark glanced at Lois, who gave him a warning glare. He knew there was no way he could try anything right now. There were too many people in the room. He couldn't risk being exposed and putting Lois and the baby at risk. If this scandal had taught him anything it had proven just how valuable his private life was; both as Superman and as Clark Kent.

No one responded to Randy Goode's question and he smirked at them, "I didn't think so."

"Why? Why would you k-kill Superman?" General Navance asked in disbelief.

"Oh, that's simple. He is getting in the way of good business. With him, gone Intergang can take control of Metropolis and finally reclaim its position as the most notorious criminal organization in the world."

"You're insane," Lois said in disbelief.

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just smart enough to see what a nuisance Superman really is to our society. Either way, I get what I want because I'm the one holding the gun. Comprende?"

Clark moved protectively in front of Lois preparing himself to catch any bullets that might be fired.

"Please, Gentlemen, sit down. I know it gets harder to stand in your old age." Randy gestured at the chairs at the Conference Table. The leaders took their seats, keeping a watchful eye on Randy. "I wouldn't recommend getting up." He said as he hit a button on the remote control in his hand, "One move and boom! You'll find yourselves as charcoal briquettes... not the most pleasant future." Randy laughed.

He turned to Lois and Clark. "You know; I thought I would have been able to push Superman out with this scandal—then it turns out, there was no scandal. Too bad. Making Superman leave Metropolis like that would have been delicious. However, I couldn't do that because he never had an affair with you. Did he, Ms. Lane?"

Lois just stared at him in shock. This man was seriously unhinged. He had created this scandal for the sole purpose of getting rid of Superman. She and Clark had been ridiculed and shunned. Even with all the adversity, they had faced, not once had the thought of leaving Metropolis ever occurred. Where would Randy get such an idea?

"It's not too late, Randy. You don't have to do this," Clark tried to plead with him.

"Oh, yes, I do. I want to kill people and ruin lives. That's what I do."

"What about all those charities you helped out with - are you saying all of that was a facade?" Clark asked. He was desperate to try to touch at least a part of the humanistic side of Randy and make him rethink his actions.

"I was trying to win the International Peace Prize. I had to do good things. Do you think I did that because I liked it? NO!" Randy raised the gun and aimed it at Lois. "You know for a while, I actually thought you WERE having an affair with Superman. I mean with all the publicity when he first came to town…you were always there, Ms. Lane. But my sister did quite a bit of research. It was quite surprising, Ms. Lane, to find out that you weren't the one that had the most interviews with Superman. It was actually your husband who had had that honor." A sinister look came over his eyes as the gun swayed back and forth between Lois and Clark.

"CK? Really?" Jimmy was surprised to discover this tidbit of information.

"Yes. You two must be best friends, huh, Mr. Kent? I mean, he's always there to save your wife whenever she's in danger, and he always is giving you these exclusives."

"Randy put the gun down," Clark pleaded. "You don't want to do this."

"Don't I?" Randy's eyes glazed over. A look of pure evil could be seen behind his eyes. He aimed the gun at Clark and fired.

"Clark!" Lois screamed. Blood. Clark was bleeding. There was blood coming out of his shoulder. Only one thing could make him bleed.

Clark looked at his shoulder in shock. "K-Kryptonite?"

"Of course. How else did you think I was going to kill Superman?" Randy asked. "Haven't you been paying attention?"

Lois leaned down to check on Clark, but he pushed her away. Whispering, he said, "No. The radiation…the baby."

"Baby?" Jimmy whispered to himself. He watched as Lois tended to Clark. She was pregnant. His friends were going to have a baby. Imagining Lois as a mother was hard, but not unreasonable.

"But Clark, you're bleeding…" Lois pleaded through her tears.

Jimmy was brought back to the present. Yes, his friends were going to be parents, but neither of them would be able to enjoy that if they didn't get out of here.

"All right, Mr. Kent. Call your friend Superman—" Randy pointed the barrel of the gun directly in Clark's face.

"Go to hell..." Clark spat angrily, staring back at with a steely gaze.

"Oh, really?" Randy pulled out the remains of the Kryptonite out of a small lead box from his jacket pocket and struck Clark across the face with it. "Call him! Your friendship is not worth your life, Mr. Kent!"

"Leave him alone!" Jimmy stepped up standing between Clark and Randy Goode. Clark lay on the floor motionless. Jimmy noticed Lois slowly creeping towards Clark. He hoped they would be okay. Clark had been concerned about the radiation from the Kryptonite. Was it harmful to the baby? There was so much unknown about the substance. The only thing he knew for sure was that it was harmful to Superman.

"Oh, someone's trying to be a hero?" Randy smashed Jimmy with the Kryptonite as well, knocking him out cold next to Clark.

Lois covered her mouth in horror as she watched Jimmy fall down next to her. She checked his breathing and sighed with relief. He was still breathing. She winced in pain as she knelt over him and knew that the baby was indeed affected by close proximity to Kryptonite. It was somewhere nearby, and she wasn't sure where. She edged away from Jimmy carefully, keeping a watchful eye on her surroundings as she did so.

The General and President stared on in horror. Both were horrified at the sight before them. Randy Goode had seemed so trustworthy and wholesome. They had been duped by his lies. The man obviously cared nothing for the safety of the world or their countries.

General Navance felt a bitter bile rise in his throat. He had been so cruel to Superman; quick to judge something he knew nothing about. Where was Superman now? Would he even come to their rescue?

President Kasparov watched the scene numbly. His original judgment of Superman had been correct. He was a good man, now that good man was having his life, his friends…everything he stood for …ridiculed by the world. He empathized with the missing hero. He had fought for truth and justice the entire time he had been here. Now his friend was fighting for him…

Randy grabbed Lois by the arm and pointed the barrel at her temple. "Scream, Ms. Lane. Scream 'Help Superman!' You've done it a thousand times before."

Lois stared at Clark's body slumped over on the floor. The blood was still coming out. His forehead was cut, and the Kryptonite bullet remained in his shoulder. An ominous green could be seen glowing through the dark blood that was seeping from his shoulder. Blood covered his glasses and was dripping into his hair.

"I said scream!" the barrel of the gun was pressed against her temple even harder.

"Help, Superman…" Lois squeaked out.

"You are a miserable, bitch, is that the best you can do?" He leaned down and pointed the barrel at her abdomen. "Say goodbye to any child that ever was."

In the corner of the room, Jimmy Olsen's cell phone had fallen out of his pocket and lay on the ground face down. The phone had dialed a number… Perry White's.

Perry White sat at his desk editing the copy for the evening edition when his phone rang.

"White here," he said gruffly into the phone. There was no reply. He could hear voices in the background, though.

A woman was crying in the background. A man was yelling. He heard the man's next words loud and clear, though.

"Scream, Ms. Lane. Scream 'Help Superman!'"

Perry White put the line on hold and switched over to the second line; dialing the all too familiar numbers of Inspector Henderson's office. He could switch to a different line to make phone calls to the police while staying connected to Jimmy's phone. Lois was obviously in trouble. He needed to get help, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be a good idea to call Superman in on this one. If someone wanted Lois to call for Superman it usually meant bad news for the Man of Steel.

Bill Henderson sat impatiently at his phone tapping on his desk. Clark Kent had called him that morning telling him to keep a look out because they were planning on exposing Randy Goode as a criminal to the leaders of Latislan and Podansk. After the close call, they had experienced with Goode's photographer Kent hadn't wanted to take any chances. Henderson had placed two bodyguards from the Metropolis Police Department Dignitary Protection unit with the President and General to ensure everyone's safety, but he hadn't heard anything all afternoon and had a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right.

As he was getting up to leave his phone rang. He leaped for the phone and answered it on pins and needles, hoping it was Lane or Kent calling to tell him everything was okay. "Henderson here."

"Henderson? This is Perry White. I think Lois and Clark are in trouble. I just got the strangest call…"

Clark slowly began to regain consciousness. He looked around the room as he suppressed a groan. His entire right side felt like it was on fire. The Kryptonite was burning him from the inside. Every muscle he tried to move was non-responsive. Everything hurt.

He glanced across the room to where Randy Goode stood in front of Lois with the barrel of his gun pointed at her abdomen.

'No.'

'The baby.'

He fought back tears as he struggled to move. The pain was unbearable, but he had to stop Randy Goode.

"Say goodbye to any child that ever was."

"NO!" Clark gave everything he had as he leaped forward, knocking Goode off balance. He held onto the adrenaline coursing through him as he wrestled Goode to the ground, struggling to gain control of his weapon.

He could feel the coursing pain of the poisonous meteorite stabbing at his insides as he fought Goode. This mad man would not win. He refused to let him. Even in his weakened state, he put up a valiant fight against Goode.

For the sake of his wife and child, he had to fight Goode off. If he didn't ...

He threw another punch, diverting Goode as he swung at him once more. He did his best to ignore the pain he felt at each movement. Clark continued to throw punches at Goode, struggling to free the gun from Goode's grip but was unable to take control of the weapon. Every time, he felt the grip on the gun begin to loosen Goode would throw another punch.

Clark was afraid he was fighting a losing battle that neither of them would win. His body was growing weaker and weaker as he fought, but he refused to give up. If that Kryptonite were to come in contact with his and Lois' unborn child, there was no telling what would happen. He had to keep this maniac at bay and away from Lois and their child. There was no telling what would happen if he didn't.

Lois stared at the two in horror. She didn't know what to do. She looked around the room for something she could use against Goode. She caught sight of the lead box that he had held the Kryptonite in. She shuddered at the mere thought of the meteorite. It was as dangerous to her as it was to her husband now. The life of her child had to come first at all costs. She cautiously looked around the room for the missing rock. If she could get that rock put away maybe Clark could start to heal a little and give him an upper hand.

She spotted the rock over by Jimmy and headed to him cautiously. She reached over Jimmy's slumped body and picked up the rock. Immediately, she felt a searing pain flow through her. She dropped it into the box and closed the lid, frantic for the pain to go away. The worst agony stopped, but a slight pain in her abdomen lingered on. She looked down at Jimmy and saw why. He had slivers of Kryptonite in his forehead. She moved away from him, desperate to get away from the poisonous rock.

She heard a loud noise from across the room and looked up. Randy Goode stood with the gun pointed straight at Clark. Clark was breathing heavily, staring down the barrel of the gun. "It's been fun, Mr. Kent. Say goodnight. Or do you want to scream for your friend, Superman?" at Clark's glare Randy shrugged. "No? You're a true friend, Mr. Kent. I'll give you that." He cocked the trigger and aimed…

Bill Henderson and his SWAT team made their way through the lobby of the Metropolis Hotel, looking for signs of disturbance. After showing his badge to the manager and describing the situation, they isolated the Penthouse from the rest of the staff and guests and headed upstairs.

TBC...