Superman part 2 Rough Justice from Metropolis, 2012.
"Actually, this meeting is mostly for the Batman's benefit." Jon refocused the discussion. "I tracked him down in Gotham City and to my surprise, he was tracking me." The Martian Manhunter said with some irritation in his voice. "You know his true identity?" Oliver caught on quickly. "Yes, and he knows mine." Jon grumbled. "He saw me in my original form."
"Wow! What did he say?" Lois was back in reporter mode again. "He stated that he had suspicions that Earth had been visited by aliens before, and didn't seem the least bit surprised." Jon informed them. "That's good, I suppose." Kara commented, having zipped back into the VFW hall with a golden brown purse slung over her left shoulder. "That may help to make us more acceptable, Kal."
"True." Clark agreed. "It sounds like we shouldn't underestimate this Batman." Jon nodded. "That is one of the Batman's greatest strengths, he is nearly always underestimated." Oliver flashed a look of concern. "So, you and the Batman are in what, checkmate? He knows you and you know him?" The Green Arrow commented. "Uh, Oliver, you might use a different comparison other than checkmate." Tess complained.
"Oh yeah, sorry." Oliver said sheepishly. "Arrow is essentially correct." Jon added. "The Batman and I have an uneasy agreement. He will not reveal me to the world, and I will not divulge his true identity." Lois screwed up her mouth. "So, how are we going to do this, meaning conduct this meeting? Who gets to be a superhero, and who gets to be his or her alter ego?"
"That is a valid question, Lois." Jon began. "I believe that Oliver and I agreed to let the individuals make their own decisions. We all assume that the Batman will be arriving in full costume." Clark folded his massive arms thoughtfully. "Oliver and Chloe are already known to many." Superman stated. "The rest of us, outside of Kara, are still far less known to the general public."
"Clark and I will be our nosy reporter selves." Lois pointed out. "Linda Lee Danvers will act as our assistant. Kara, make sure that you look like you're taking notes." She directed. "I will assume my Detective Jon Jones persona, since The Batman already knows me." The Martian Manhunter confirmed. "I'll observe the Batman and his friends to judge their reactions." Clark considered.
"Is anyone else that we don't know planning to attend?" Lois asked warily, smelling that there was more to the story. "Yes, possibly." Jon responded abruptly. "While you two were hanging out at the honeymoon hotel, some things have changed." Oliver informed them.
"Geez! We were only gone for four days!" Lois complained. "Imagine if we'd taken the full two weeks off! I bet that the whole world would have blown up, or been sucked into the center of a black hole!" The room was suddenly drenched in silence. "I'm kidding!" Lois qualified.
"Anyway, I must explain about the Lantern Corp." Jon continued in all seriousness. "Lantern Corp? I've never heard of them." Clark echoed. "Most species haven't" Jon began. Kara butted in. "Bart and I observed a Green Lantern operative in Western New Mexico." The excited Supergirl continued.
Lois scowled. "Damn! I forgot my reporter's notebook. Honey, can you zip back to Smallville and get my notebook off the kitchen counter?"
Clark was about to do so before Kara motioned for him to wait for the rest of the story. "You want a pen and paper? How retro of you, Lois." Oliver playfully needled. "Dude, Clark and I work for a major newspaper. How retro can you get?" Lois returned the barb.
"Hey, I'll take a good notebook and pen over a clumsy laptop any day." Lois quipped. "That's my cousin!" Chloe laughed good-naturedly. "Lois, did you want to borrow my Raspberry?" Tess offered playfully. "Team? We're getting off the subject." Jon gently chastised them.
"Okay, well, this Green Lantern literally draws his power from a ten inch Green Lantern?" Oliver scoffed. "Yet, you tell me that I'm too retro." Lois snapped, unable to resist the comeback. "Jon, care to jump in on this?" Kara put in. "Certainly." Jon continued. "Kal El, the Lantern Corp is a sort of intergalactic police force. Your father, Jor El and I worked with them many times."
"They are rarely seen as far as Earth from their home world of Oe." The Martian informed them. "So, something extraordinary must have occurred?" Oliver grilled. "An alien police force? I'm not sure if I like where this is going." Lois contributed. "I mean, where were they when we were fighting off Doomsday and Zod and his cronies?" Jon nodded. "That is a valid point."
Clark shook his head. "Doomsday, Zod, and the Kandorians were my problem." He added. "That's why we handled it here." Jon glanced thoughtfully at Clark. "Kal El is essentially correct. The Lantern Corp would have considered the Kandorian incursion largely a local matter. The Corp is primarily concerned with galactic peace. They monitor disputes, and solve them through the proper channels."
"Jor El and I helped them collect intergalactic criminals, and brought them back to their home worlds, or to Oe if the offense was grave enough." The Martian elaborated. "General Zod actually made the Lantern Corps most wanted list a few times just prior to the destruction of Krypton. I could only imagine that Darkseid's recent aggression against Earth and other peaceful planets has attracted their attention."
Oliver was fascinated, but wary. "I don't care for this intergalactic police force." He remarked scornfully. "I mean, who decided that they were in charge, and how would we know if we violated any of their rules?" Jon nodded. "I understand your criticism. As I stated earlier, the Lantern Corp considers humans to be a violent, prehistoric race by the current standards of the galaxy."
"That makes sense. Think about it, Earth has only explored space within the last fifty years or so." Clark continued. "The Lantern Corp and the rest of the known galaxy probably look on us as we look upon the dinosaurs, primarily concerned with feeding ourselves and killing each other."
"That's a depressing analysis, Clark." Lois commented. "Yes, but it seems true." Chloe remarked. "We just found out about ten years ago that life existed elsewhere in the galaxy." She playfully gestured at Clark and Kara." Jon switched to his Detective John Jones persona and checked the time on a common human wristwatch. "We'd better get ready. The others will be arriving soon."
"Jon, are we going to outreach to the Lantern Corp?" Oliver put the question to the group as well. "I think that would be best, yes." The Martian now in human form confirmed. "It is too late for that today." He announced as a small object came zipping past them and stuck to a wall behind an old mahogany wood bar. "Did you see that?" Kara observed. "Yes." Jon said. "I believe that the Batman has arrived."
"I got this." Bart offered, and slipped into his red hoodie and black eye mask and sped off. He suddenly appeared behind a dark, shadowy figure crouched across the parking lot in an old oak tree. "Yo! Bat Dude, you're welcome to join us. You didn't need to send in a camera mike."
Batman scowled as he swirled his cape over his shoulders. "I'm sure that Oliver will let you keep a copy of the meeting. Can't you just walk in through the front door?" Impulse argued.
"It's standard detective procedure." Batman growled in a synthesized voice. "Never go into a situation blind, or without a plan, a backup plan, and a backup to the backup plan." Bart threw up his arms in resignation. "Whatever. We're just getting started." Bart said as he zipped away, freaking Bruce out.
Batman spoke to his wristwatch. "Just go in. They know we're here." He ordered sourly. A slim girl in a black bat costume complete with a cape, rolled a sleek black and gold motorcycle out of the nearby foliage and into the parking lot and secured it next to Kara's new sports car.
She pressed a button on an electronic key which hung from her thick, gold belt. A silver shell of corrugated aluminum encased the motorcycle from back to front, making it look like a giant armadillo. "Nightwing, come on down, they're expecting us." Batgirl directed as she tapped a Bat Tooth communicator device that she'd hidden within one ear of her bat mask.
Silently, a young man with long black hair, wearing a light blue and black outfit glided down into the parking lot. He'd had a large black and blue hang-gliding type of personal kite attached to his broad back. He landed expertly near the secured gate that led into the building. The corrugated wings of the kite folded accordion-like into a sky blue backpack. He brushed back his hair and folded his arms.
Dick Grayson adjusted the black mask that covered his eyes and forehead. "So much for the element of surprise." He complained to Barbara Gordon. The young batgirl shrugged. "It was worth a try." She said as she watched batman slip into the parking lot, and stand at its center facing the access road.
By now, Lois, Chloe, Clark, Tess, and Oliver were standing in the double doorway that opened inwards toward the VFW Hall lobby. The disguised Jon, Kara, and Bart were working their way towards the hall lectern. "Are you sure that you don't want me to film this?" Lois begged Clark. "No. Sorry Lois. We're here strictly to observe, not snag the big story." He was in eager young journalist mode.
"That sucks!" Lois complained. Bruce Wayne pressed a button on his gold belt, and a sleek black sports car that looked to be a cross between an American Corvette, and an Italian Lamborghini, squealed its tires and sped down the access road into the parking lot and screeched to a stop merely inches from Batman's knees. "The brakes need a little work." He growled just loud enough for Batgirl and Nightwing to hear.
"Dude knows how to make an entrance." Oliver commented. "I'm jealous!" Lois bit her lip. "Where does he get those wonderful toys?" She quipped. Oliver and Chloe stepped out of the doorway and cautiously approached Batgirl and Nightwing. Batman pressed another button, and the same type of accordion-like covering enveloped the Batmobile. The only difference was that this one was painted jet black.
"Um…welcome to our meeting." Chloe cleared her throat and shook Batgirl's gloved hand. Oliver followed through with the same greeting for Nightwing.
Bruce left the car near the center of the lot, but there was still enough clearance for other vehicles to park near it or drive around it. The Batman sharply turned on his heel and stalked towards the others.
"Oliver Queen, and this is my wife, Chloe Sullivan-Queen." He said as he offered a hand to Batman. " , Mrs. Queen." Bruce growled, but never shook anyone's hand.
"Why are we here today?" Batman grumbled as Batgirl and Nightwing followed in step behind him. "This way." Oliver said curtly, ignoring Bruce's query as he led the costumed crime-fighters through the lobby and into the VFW Lecture Hall. Bruce Wayne was a bit shorter than either Clark or Oliver, but had a stocky build, or his Bat suit had been padded heavily to disguise his true size.
Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon were about Kara and Lois's size but both had slightly more muscular frames. Batman's head whipped from side to side checking out every corner of the VFW Hall as Oliver led them down the makeshift aisles toward the front of the stage. Jon was already behind the podium, leafing through his list of information. Kara briefly glanced at the new arrivals through her Linda Lee Danvers disguised glasses.
Oliver directed the caped crusaders to Clark, Lois, Tess, and Bart. "Batman, is it?" Clark asked as he narrowed his eyes and pretended to adjust his fake glasses. Immediately, Clark used his x-ray vision to determine the Batman and his assistants' identities. He offered no comment of course. Bruce Wayne, that figures, and makes perfect sense, he thought. He certainly had the resources to create the Batman.
Clark extended a hand. "I'm…" Batman surprisingly shook it. "Clark Kent, I know, I've read about all of you." Bruce growled into his voice synthesizer and continued on. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet reporter, Tess Mercer, recently deposed CEO of Luthorcorp, and now representative of Queen Industries." Batman repeated and glanced at Bart. "You, I don't know, but I wondered how come you moved so quickly."
"As far as I know, I was born this way." Bart defended. "I see." Barbara commented as she stood in between Nightwing and Clark. "You've done your homework, Batman." Chloe praised from a few seats away. "Standard operating procedure." Bruce mumbled as he continued to stare at Clark.
"Mr. Kent, you've been at the center of most of the unusual criminal cases around Metropolis and Smallville." Bruce sounded like he was ready to interrogate Clark. "So are you, Miss Lane." Dick Grayson said, but it came out wrong, like he was accusing Lois of a crime.
"We do have a habit of getting involved." Clark said sourly. "It's part of our jobs." Lois defended. "Yes, that would be the perfect cover." Barbara definitely sounded accusatory. "The perfect cover for what?" Lois bristled. "You tell me, Miss Lane." Batman snapped.
"Anyway, the reason we're here today is to decide on how best to proceed in the future." Oliver began, cutting off any further interrogation from the caped crusaders. Batman, Batgirl, and Nightwing reluctantly took seats near Clark, Lois, and Bart. Kara had wandered back into the aisles and began to pass seats behind the others. "And you are?" Bruce snarled when she was close enough.
"Linda Lee Danvers." Kara lied convincingly. "I work with Mr. Kent and Miss Lane-Kent." Bruce picked up on the Lane Kent angle. "Congratulations, Miss Lane and Mr. Kent." Batgirl said politely.
"So you're newlyweds." Dick sounded much more cheerful as he spoke. "Doesn't the Daily Planet frown on that?" Bruce threw in the dig. "We have an understanding with Perry White, our Chief Editor." Lois snapped. "I see." Batman rubbed his square jaw. That makes perfect sense, he mused. Lane and Kent would have to have some pull with the editorial board to keep their jobs. They must have something on them. By now, Kara had taken her seat, and Dick shot her another glance, but said nothing.
Kara played her part to perfection, assuming the alter ego of a mousy, bookworm-like reporter's assistant. No one was the wiser. The alien beauty had long been trying to fit into her Earth persona. Now, she felt more comfortable in the role, and felt more human than ever.
Next up: Superman part 3 in Beyond Smallville: "Edge of Darkness"
