Hi! I'm here with yet another chapter. This one is longer, as promised. I hope you'll like this one. I still feel like shit, but... :D

By the way, this is the 30th chapter! We've come along a long way, and I want to thank you, my readers, for staying with me and supporting me along the way! You have no idea how much it means to me :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Superman. :C


Chapter 30 - Injustice League

„What do you mean you can't find out anything about him?" growled Lex Luthor at his employee whose name he did not bother to learn.

„T-There is nothing to know about him, except for the facts he said d-during the i-interview he gave to. . . to the Daily Planet, s-sir," answered the employee, Robert, the fear in his voice evident.

Lex took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down.

„Ah, yes, the Daily Planet interview. Who did he give the interview to?" asked Lex, his voice sounding calm and collected. Maybe too calm. It gave Robert the chills.

Robert opened his briefcase and pulled out an old issue of the Daily Planet, which title read SUPERMAN – THE NEWEST HERO. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW. IS HE FRIEND OR FOE?, and handed it to Lex.

Lex's eyes scanned the page when he noticed the name of the interviewer.

Clark Kent.

Why would Superman give an interview to a, basically, nobody? He was just an intern. Lex's eyes widened with realization.

Same height.

Same build.

Same hair.

Same eyes.

The only difference? A pair of glasses and a different hairstyle.

Lex smiled.

„You can go," said Lex to his employee.

Robert didn't need to be told twice, as he scurried away as fast as he could, closing the door behind him.

Lex sat down and opened a file on his computer. There, he located another file, with the name of one and only Kent, Clark J.

„I was wrong," he mumbled, „he is not a metahuman. He is an alien."

He grinned.

„I'll find some use for this information in the future," he said. „Mercy!"

A few seconds later, the door to his office opened and the assistant in question came into the room.

„Yes, sir?"

„Project: IL."

Mercy nodded in understanding. „Yes, sir."

After she left, Lex grinned, his cold green eyes shining.


„Clark, would you stop floating outside the Watchtower and come in?" asked Dinah, also known as Black Canary, trying to sound stern, but the amusement in her voice betrayed her.

Clark was currently floating in outer space next to the Watchtower, absorbing sunlight and generally blocking out the sounds that attacked him pretty much 24/7. He usually goes to his fortress for that, but since he can fly up to the Watchtower basically any time he wants.. plus, his first monitor duty starts today.

It's been a few days since the press conference, and coincidentally, it's been a few days since some of the League members decided to reveal their identities to him – and Clark, in turn, revealed his.

Clark rolled his eyes good naturedly at Dinah and flew over to the opening hatch of the tower.

Once he was inside, he made his way over to the monitoring room, or the deck, as some of the members called it, where Dinah already waited for him.

„Any particular reason on why did I have to come here right at this moment?" asked Clark, a teasing smile on his face. He knew the exact reason he had to be there.

Dinah rolled her eyes. „Your monitor duty starts in 10 minutes. You'll be replacing Wonder Woman. I believe you know what do to during the duty," she said.

She started to walk away, not before patting his shoulder. Clark then turned around and called out to her.

„Dinah!"

She turned around and looked at him. „Yeah?"

„Congratulations," he said, while pointing at the ring she was wearing on her left ring finger.

She smiled at him. „Thank you, Clark."

He smiled at her in response. He made his way over to Wonder Woman, who seemed to be observing him.

„Hello, Diana," said Clark with a smile.

She gave him a small smile in response. „Hello, Kal," she said. „I believe you know what to do now?"

Clark smiled and nodded. He sat down on the nearest chair.

Even after he told her his human name, she still insisted on calling him Kal, which he found amusing.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't notice Diana leave the deck.


After the monitor duty, which went well, Clark flew over to his fortress, where he started with his new project – Kelex, a Kryptonian A.I. built by his father when he was Clark's age. It was a robot butler of sorts. Clark figured that since he doesn't visit his fortress that often, he could at least have someone, or something, to take care of it while he is away.

Fallen angel, close your eeeeeyes, I won't let you faaaall toniiiiight," he hummed.

After about two hours, he decided to take a quick break and check the time. It was the date that got his eyes widened.

July 25th.

The summer sure passes very quickly, he thought.

Sarah's birthday is in 6 days. And yes, she is older than him by a few months. And yes, she teases him about it all the time. She calls him her bunny sometimes – a reference Clark doesn't get nor he wants to get.

Truth be told, he had a rough idea about the gift he'd give Sarah on her birthday. He didn't want to go to the nearest shop and buy some jewelry or something. No. He wanted to give her something meaningful.

An idea struck him. He grinned.


„You're late, Kent," mumbled Perry the next morning when Clark fetched him his coffee. Most of the interns didn't have to do this, but Perry figured that since Kent usually had his work done hours before the end of his shift, he could always do a little more work. Coffee fetching included.

„Sorry, Mr. White. I.. uh.. overslept," he said while scratching the back of his neck.

Perry rolled his eyes. The kid is not a good liar, he thought.

„Let it not happen again. Now, get out of my office," said Perry. Clark scurried away, not before bumping into the door. Perry rolled his eyes again.

He then turned on the TV he had in his office and put on the news channel – there was footage of Superman helping with an Earthquake in China, aiding people and, according to some sources, holding tectonic plates together so that the earthquake wouldn't be as massive as it otherwise would've been.

The footage is apparently 20 minutes old. And Kent did smell of ash.

The kid has superspeed and yet he couldn't take at least a shower? thought Perry dryly. How can he even keep his identity a secret? I saw right through him the moment he gave me interview. How can Lois not see right through him?

Perry sighed. Lois is an excellent reporter, but sometimes, even she can't see what's right in front of her.

Kent is the story of the century. But why would he ruin the kid's life? He's just trying to do something good. He is the most powerful being in the world. He could rule them all. And yet, this 17-year old farm boy from Kansas chooses to do the right thing and help those in need, something Perry can't help but admire him for.

And while Kent tries to do the right thing, Perry at least owes him not to reveal him as the powerful alien hero. That's the least he could do.

Plus, the kid does have a knack for writing. And he can even spell – something which Lois, unfortunately, cannot do very well. He chuckled at that.

With that thought, Perry took a sip of his coffee.

„Reminder to myself: let Clark Kent do the coffee," he mumbled to himself, after taking another sip.


„You know, Clark, you could make a pretty good reporter one day," said Lois as she continued to write her article.

Clark looked up at her. „You think so?" he asked.

She looked at him, smiled gently, and nodded. „One day."

Clark smiled. „Thanks." He then proceeded to stand up and go for his usual coffee run.

„Oh, and by the way, there's only one P in rape."

She rolled her eyes at him. „Don't you have a coffee run to attend to, Smallville?"

He rolled his eyes at the nickname. „Yeah, yeah."

Suddenly, Clark's phone started to ring – Justin Bieber's Baby rang through the speakers. Clark's face, along with his ears, burned with embarassment, while Lois was laughing her ass off.

He look at the ID and noticed it was Sarah.

„Seriously, babe? You had to change my ringtone? What are you, twelve?" he asked her after he picked up.

Once Lois stopped laughing, she couldn't help but notice the affection in his voice. Sure, he mentioned a girlfriend back in Smallville, a girl named Sandra or Savannah or something along the lines.

„I mean, I know you don't like him very much, but please, for the love of everything that's saint, would it kill you to change it to.. I don't know.. Nicki Minaj at least? That would be more bearable. . . No, I don't think JB can be classified as the pillar of modern music, thank you very much. . . Would you please stop laughing? Yes, yes, I know. Okay. Yeah, everything's fine. The, ehm, team business is going fine."

Team business? thought Lois. She shrugged.

„Yeah, I'll be safe. Don't worry. Yeah, I'll see you soon. Bye," he hung up.

He still had that small smile on his lips.

„So, that was Savannah?" asked Lois after a few seconds.

Clark gave her a confused and dumbfunded look in response. She rolled her eyes.

„Your girlfriend, Smallville," she clarified.

His smile grew even wider. „Her name's Sarah, Lois. Seriously? Savannah? How did you even.. you know, I won't even ask. It's better this way."

Lois chuckled. „Tell me something about her, Smallville. You know how much I love to pry into my friends' personal lives."

„Friends, eh?"

She rolled her eyes again. „Yes, Clark, I consider you my friend, even though I'm like.. 10 years your senior. You're mature for your age. And pretty awesome, too. A bit of a dork you are, but that's nice."

„Lois, you're 24. I'm 17. You're 7 years older than me. Stop exaggerating."

„Smallville, don't make me roll my eyes again. Now, spill. Tell me about her."

So, he told her. How they met. When they started dating. What he loves about her. How smart she is. How beautiful she is. How selfless she is. How strong she is. How wonderful she is. And Lois' smile was getting wider and wider with each sentence.

„Smallville," she stopped his ranting, „you know I'm not a shipper, I believe the term is, but. . . you're definitely in love," she said, her smile still pretty wide – she was pretty sure her grin matched his.

„Yeah, I guess. I wanted to tell her I love her a few times before, but it just.. it wasn't the right time."

She rolled her eyes. „Seriously, Kent, my eyes are suffering because of you – so many rolls already. There's never a right time. Jonathan told me he loved me after a steamy sex in my apartment."

„I didn't need to know that," she heard him mumble.

„Yes, you did. I needed to prove my point. We used to be friends with benefits. Now, we're in a stable relationship, because I realized that I loved him, too. There's never a right or a wrong time to tell the person you love that you really do love them. Got it?"

„Yes, ma'am," said Clark with a mock salute.

„Now, show me her picture," she looked at his expression, „and I know you have one, you dork, and then go on with your coffee run you were supposed to have," she checked her watch, „15 minutes ago."

This time, it was Clark who rolled his eyes. He took out his phone and scrolled through the gallery, before stopping on his favorite picture – it was of him and Sarah, she smiled at the camera while he was kissing her cheek.

He handed the phone to Lois.

„I'll be here in a few," he said.

After he left to do the run, Lois checked the photo closely. The girl (Sarah, Lois scolded herself) was very beautiful – silvery blue eyes, wavy, light brown hair, full lips, and a beautiful smile.

Even from the picture, she could see that the girl completely adored Clark, even if she wasn't looking at him. She also saw the strength in her. But the look in her eyes.. something told her the girl had been through a lot.

She just didn't know how right she was.


Clark heard people literally buzzing in the office.

„What's going on, Steve?" he asked.

The Sports reporter looked at him. „Some new supervillain group is fighting the Justice League in Gotham. It's. . . unbelievable."

Clark went over to the TV and his eyes widened at what he saw. Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Black Canary were fighting a group of what could be only described as supervillains. There were at least six of them. Even with Diana's help, the League was outnumbered.

Clark looked around – no one was paying him any attention. He stealthily (as much as he could) slipped away from the crowd watching the TVs and disappeared into the staircase. He didn't notice Perry White watching him with an approving expression on his face.


On the roof, Clark ripped open his shirt, revealing the crest of the House of El underneath. Once his suit started to materialize, he ditched his glasses.

With him now fully clothed in his suit, he took off into the air, flying into the direction of Gotham City, leaving a sonic boom in his wake.


„Where's Superman when you need him?" growled Batman as he missed yet another, what would surely be, a deadly hit from Bane.

It seemed Bane was even stronger than before – word on the street says that there's a new version of the Venom drug, making the user twice as strong.

„You called?"

Batman looked up to see Superman hovering in the air, obviously trying to assess the battle and where his assistence is needed.

„Yeah, I kind of hoped you'd hear that. Bane is yours," said Batman. Superman rolled his eyes good naturedly and gently landed on the pavement in front of Bane.

„Hello. You're Bane, correct?" asked Clark politely.

„They call you the Man of Steel. I can bend steel," Bane growled.

Clark looked Bane up and down. He was at least 7 feet tall, with a weird black and white mask on his face. At the back of the mask, a red tube was feeding him what looked like some kind of drug. With his vision powers, he was able to identify the drug as Venom.

„Good for you," said Clark eventually. „Batman, who are the others?"

„Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy and Killer Croc. I believe you are familiar with Croc?" said Batman.

Truth be told, Clark was familiar with all of them. He read about them in the League's database.

Cheetah, also known as Barbara Ann Minerva, an enemy of Wonder Woman, half cursed/half blessed with the powers of the cheetah – a mortal enemy of man.

Solomon Grundy, a zombie, classified as metahuman, near invulnerability and superhuman strength.

Poison Ivy, also known as Doctor Pamela Lillian Isley, former botanist, capable of controlling all plants, as well as pheromones, making her a very dangerous metahuman.

And, at last, Killer Croc, who Clark already met and fought twice. In his own home. Superhuman strength, near invulnerability.

„Yes, I am," said Clark.

Clark actually forgot about Bane for a second, but when he felt the air shift around him a little, he looked just in time to see Bane's incoming fist aiming at his face. He caught the fist without any trouble.

Bane then tried to use his other fist to struck him. This time, Clark didn't stop him. Bane's arm broke on impact with Clark's nose.

„Man of Steel is a misnomer," said Clark as Bane growled in pain. With that, Clark flicked his finger at Bane's forehead, effectively knocking him out.

„I'll take it from here," said Batman. Clark nodded.

Clark then looked around, and noticed that the fight seemed to be on their side. Wonder Woman was handling Cheetah wihout any troubles, but it was Vic and Dinah Clark was worried about. Dinah was fighting Killer Croc, and seemed to have the upper hand, but Clark knew that in any moment, that could change. Luckily, Dinah knew when and how to use her Canary Cry, so he decided he shouldn't worry that much.

Clark then looked at Vic, who was fighting Grundy and Poison Ivy at once.

„Hey, C. You need a hand?" asked Clark as he punched Grundy in the face, sending him flying a good couple of feet.

„Hey, big blue. I can handle Ivy – I'm immune to her manipulating mumbo-jumbo. You can take Grundy if you want to," said Vic.

Clark nodded and walked over to Grundy, who gingerly stood up.

„Blue man hurt Grundy! Grundy not like blue man! Blue man die!" he yelled, and took another swing at Clark.

Clark decided to let his fist hit him, and was very surprised when he actually felt the hit. Though it didn't hurt much, almost not at all, he still felt it. And Grundy still hurt his hand.

„I felt it.. but how?" he asked himself.

Grundy is a creature of magic," said Batman through the comm.

„Magic, like. . . Zatanna?"

Yes. I've suspected you may be. . . vulnerable to magic. Or, at least, as vulnerable as a normal human being. That doesn't seem to be the case. From my observation of the hit, it seems you are vulnerable to it, but not to human extent."

„Thanks for clearing that up," said Clark, who only got a grunt in response to his thanks.

Clark sighed and assaulted Grundy with a few well-placed hits into his chest, stomach and face. When Grundy fell on the ground, Clark ripped a lamppost from the ground and proceeded to wrap it around Grundy, essentialy tying him up.

Cyborg then brought an unconscious Poison Ivy in his arms.

Clark looked over at Wonder Woman, who, besides the cuts on her arms and legs, seemed to be fine. She looked angry, though.

„She got away," she grumbled.

No wonder she's angry, Clark thought.

„A team-up? That's a first," pointed out Vic.

„I know. Bane said something about an.. Injustice League."

Clark's eyes widened a little. „Guys. . . where's Dinah?"

„I'm right here," Clark turned around and saw Dinah pulling an unconscious Killer Croc by the leg, his ears bleeding.

Clark flew over to her and picked Croc up like a rag doll. Dinah shot him a grateful smile.

„Thanks, Clark."

Clark smiled in return. „No problem."

He then put Croc's body down next to Poison Ivy.

„Croc looks exactly what I'd imagine would look like Grundy's and Ivy's lovechild," remarked Cyborg.

Clark looked at him. „So that's what's going on in that tin-head of yours."

Cyborg mumbled something about Clark being a fake friend, something which got Clark to chuckle.

„There is no way these people would be smart enough to have the idea of a team-up," remarked Batman.

The rest of the heroes looked at him.

„Are you suggesting that someone is behind this?" asked Dinah, pointing out the obvious.

Batman nodded.

„I do. Someone is pulling the strings. We have to find out who and why. Kent, you should go back to the Planet, they'll be looking for you."

„You sure you don't want me to wait with you for the police?" asked Clark.

The only person Clark didn't know the identity of from the League was Batman. He wanted Batman to trust him, so he promised himself he wouldn't check his identity with his x-ray vision.

„No, we're good. You may go, Kal," said Diana.

Clark nodded and took off into the sky, leaving a sonic boom in his trail.

„I have a feeling that one day, he'll be the greatest of us all," said Diana quietly.

„Maybe. He has the potential to be. He just can't screw up along the way," said Batman.

Dinah rolled her eyes. „Everyone makes mistakes, Bruce. Even you do."

„I know. But I'm not Superman. Superman can't afford to make any mistakes. I make a mistake, it goes unnoticed. Superman makes a mistake, people will get scared."

„That's what we're here for, Bats," added Cyborg. „To help him reach his potential."


Alright, next chapter - Sarah's birthday! I know exactly what Clark is going to give her, but I want you to guess what it is - so, what do you think he should/will give her? :)

Until the next chapter, which will probably be up in a few days, see ya! :)