INVADERS FROM MARS
"And now for another exciting episode of the Adventures of Superman"
(based on events from season 5 episode, "Mr. Zero")
At the Daily Planet building, a grouchy Perry White calls for Clark Kent.
"Kent!" he bellows, "Get in here, now!"
"What is it, chief?" Clark asks.
"Don't call me chief!" Perry snaps, "The gemstone robbery crime ring that's taken Metropolis by storm! We need to find out more info about it! Inspector Henderson has taken a new detective under his wing. He's arrived from Middletown. Clark Kent, I'd like you to meet Detective John Jones."
Clark turns to see a tall, African-American man in a trench coat and hat standing next to him.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kent." Jones says, shaking his hand.
"The pleasure's all mine, detective." Clark says.
"You two are going to be working very closely together." Perry says.
"What about us, chief?" Lois Lane says, as she and Jimmy Olsen come bursting into his office.
"Great Caesar's Ghost, quit calling me chief!" Perry says, "Besides, you've got that story to cover on the new Lexcorp project."
"But sir, Mr. Luthor never takes too kindly to press." Lois says.
"I'm sure you can soften him up, Lois." Perry says.
"Yeah, Miss Lane," Jimmy says, "You do tend to know how to handle powerful men…p-professionally, of course."
"Ok," Lois says, "Well, at least we'll beat Clark to the scoop!"
Later, Clark and John Jones head to the nearby jewelry store.
"What are we doing here, detective?" Clark asks, as they sit outside in Clark's car. "There's no one even here yet."
"If my hunch is right, this is the next place those crooks are planning to rob!" John replies.
"Good thinking, detective." Clark says.
"Please sir, call me John." John says.
"Good thinking, John." Clark says.
Soon, a black car pulls up and four masked men get out brandishing guns.
"Now we make our move!" John says, as they get out of the car. Clark rushes off to a nearby alley to change.
Inside the building, the crooks aim their guns at the tellers.
"Alright, nobody move!" the first thug says.
"Hand us the money!" the second thug says.
"I've got something better to give you," comes a voice, as Superman appears. "A prison sentence!"
They fire their guns at Superman, and sure enough, the bullets bounce right off him. He destroys the guns with his heat vision. They make a break for it. Superman masterfully grabs one, but the other one gets away after knocking down a statue by the doorway onto a customer. Superman rushes over to save the civilian. Meanwhile, the criminal flees, thinking he has evaded the Man of Steel, only to be halted by a mysterious figure with green skin, red eyes and a blue cape.
"Halt!" the figure says.
"Out of my way, freak!" he shouts, firing his pistol. The thug is astonished to see the bullets pass right through him. The green stranger knocks him out with a single punch. The green figure transforms back into Detective John Jones. Superman comes out to join him.
"Good work, Detective Jones," Superman says, and leaning in he whispers, "I didn't realize you had a green thumb."
"Very good reporter you are, Mr. Kent," Jones says.
"H-How did you know?" Superman asks.
"Follow me," Jones says, as they walk to a nearby ally. As they enter, John Jones transforms into his green form, to Superman's astonishment, "My name is J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter."
"You're a Martian?" Superman asks.
"Yes, which means I am a telepath." J'onn says.
"But I don't understand!" Superman says, "I thought when Mr. Zero came to earth, he said all Martians were short. You look nothing like him."
"A simple explanation, Man of Steel," J'onn says, "We Martians are shapeshifters. This 'Mr. Zero' as he called himself, was really a renegade White Martian. White Martians and Green Martians have been at war for centuries. The whites disguised themselves into what the average humans imagined Martians to look like, telepathically wiped Zero's memory, and abandoned him to your planet. He was telepathically forced to make up lies about Martians, so that the whites could one day invade."
"Ehh, wrong, Martian!" a high-pitched, disembodied voice says.
The 2 superpowered aliens see before them a diminutive man in a purple suit and matching bowler hat.
"Who in blazes are you?" Superman asks.
"I am a 5th dimensional imp known as Mr. Mxyzptlk," the imp proclaims.
"I've heard of your kind," J'onn says, "On Mars, we used to tell stories about when the ancient Martians were visited by extra-dimensional beings such as yourself."
"My 5-D magic changed your Martian friend to resemble my kind!" Mxy says.
"How do we get rid of you?" Superman asks.
"Uh, uh, uh, no giveaways!" Mxy says, "You'll have to figure that out on your own! See ya later, chumps!"
Later, at the Daily Planet building, Jimmy rushes into Perry White's office.
"Mr. White! Mr. White!" Jimmy shouts, "I got a major scoop for you!"
"Great Caesar's Ghost, Olsen!" Perry bellows, "You'll give me a heart attack! What's all the commotion?"
"Well sir, Superman just foiled a bank robbery accompanied by a green guy that witnesses describe as…a Martian!" Jimmy says.
"So now we have little green men running around foiling bank robberies?" Perry asks, "The people of Metropolis will never buy it!"
"Hardly little, chief," Jimmy says, "The witnesses describe him to be about 6ft 2! He could be friend of Superman!"
"Alright, see if you can get me pictures, Olsen!" Perry says.
Jimmy walks off. Lois turns to Clark, the two of them having just overheard the conversation.
"What do you think, Clark?" Lois asks, "Martians? He sounds nothing like that Mr. Zero we met a few years ago."
"I know, Lois," Clark says, "but maybe there's more than one kind of Martian."
"You're not seriously considering this is possibility, are you?" Lois asks.
"Lois, we live in a city protected by a flying Kryptonian," Clark says, "Anything's possible."
Suddenly, the phone rings at Clark's desk.
"Hello," Clark says as he picks it up, "Daily Planet, Clark Kent speaking."
"Mr. Kent, it's Detective Jones," J'onn says on the other end.
"Oh, what have you found out about our…little friend, detective?" Clark whispers.
"Well, according to Martian folklore, the most common way to send imps back from where they came from, is to trick them into saying their name backwards, twice in a row." J'onn says.
"Ok, sounds simple enough," Clark says, "This Mxy seems like a pushover."
Suddenly, Clark is outside the building in the Superman costume with J'onn J'onzz standing next to him.
"Pushover?!" Mxy shouts, "I'll show you a pushover!"
He poofs up a giant rocket launcher.
"Wait!" Superman says, "You don't want to do this!"
"Sure I do!" Mxy says, "Metropolis ain't seen nothin' yet!"
"You sure about that Mr. Kltpzyxm?" Superman asks.
"That's right, Klpzyxm," J'onn says, "There is a better way."
"Not Klpzyxm! Klpzyxm is not my name! It's Mxyz—aw nuts! You bozos haven't heard the last of me!" Mxy shouts as he poofs back to the 5th dimension.
"Nice work, J'onn!" Superman says, as he shakes his hand.
"Thank you, Kal-el!" J'onn said.
"And don't worry, J'onn," Superman says, "Your secret is safe with me! In case you need help, don't hesitate to reach out! We'd better get back to the Planet."
Later, back at the Daily Planet building, Clark, Lois, Jimmy, Perry and Detective John Jones are in Perry's office.
"Say, Lois, how did your Lexcorp story go?" Clark asks.
"Well, it took some convincing, but I managed to get a few words out of Lex," Lois says. "He has some top secret project he's revealing to the Metropolis science museum board of trustees next week."
"Should be quite the affair," Clark says.
"How about you, Kent?" Perry asks. "Was there any truth to these Martian rumors?"
"Well, chief, it appears that they were just that: rumors." Clark says.
"From what we can tell, it sounds like criminals who hadn't been previously exposed to Superman, were frightened enough to believe he was a Martian." John says.
"I think Metropolis have enough to deal with with a Kryptonian superhero," Clark says, "We could never handle a Martian as well." He turns to J'onn with a sly smile, as J'onn gives a reassuring nod.
THE END