Superman: The Ark of Krypton
Chapter 81
by
Jason Richard
Finally Superman could see it, the planet Earth, far away in front of him as he flew through space. It was about time. With the brainiac probe tucked under his arm he pushed himself to the limit, until he could feel the Earth's sun giving him its energy.
Minutes later he was surrounded by flames as he flew down into the atmosphere. Seconds later he was flying over Metropolis to his apartment. A few people saw him fly overhead and breathed sighs of relief, but Superman didn't want to talk to them as Superman.
He needed to get information as Clark Kent. After a quick call to Ma and Pa Kent to let them know he was safe, he went to the Daily Planet.
…
"Kent!" cried White the moment he saw him walk into the office. "Where have you been?!
"Abroad," said Clark, putting down a flash drive on the desk. "Managed to get footage of Superman's fight with Lobo."
Perry White gaped at him and said, "How did you manage that?"
"Satellite footage," said Clark. "I called in a favor."
Though he didn't mention that the favor was from his favorite AI, Braniac, who did manage to get satellite footage of the battle. Clark was beginning to realize just how much he depended on that artificial lifeform.
"Listen," said Clark. "I've been completely concentrated on what I was doing for the past few hours. What's this big news everyone's been buzzing about?"
"I'll tell you," said Lois Lane, sauntering into the office with a huge smile on her face. "I may have finally busted Lexcorp for good."
"What do you mean?" asked Clark.
"Managed to get audio of Edward Lytener talking with Lex Luthor himself," said Lois.
"Isn't he your Lexcorp whistleblower," asked Clark, astonished.
"That's what I thought," said Lois. "But I guess he was just playing me. Turns out he designed technology that gave Lexcorp an edge over Superman, and that's probably what the aliens took from his mind."
"You didn't put that in a story did you?" asked Clark.
"What do you think?" asked Lois. "The story went out today...where are you going?"
But Clark didn't' answer. He had to find Lytener, and he had to do it fast.
…
Superman would have talked with Edward Lytener immediately, but he was already being escorted in a police car for shooting an unarmed Lexcorp scientist. He couldn't just break Lytener out, so he'd have to wait to talk to him. Unfortunately that wait took far longer than Superman would have liked.
And unfortunately before Superman could even decide how to tell people about all of Lytener's actions word of the scientist's actions at Lexcorp had spread quickly online, and the backlash wasn't pretty. Now in addition to being called a traitor for giving Lexcorp anti Superman weapons, he was being called a murderer. The scientist technically wasn't dead at the moment, but in recovery at the hospital, but that didn't stop the accusation from flying nonetheless.
And it was with a mood of intense dread that Lytener waited in the police station jail cell. He paced back and forth, waiting for the inevitable jail transfer. If only Superman were here. He'd explain things. He would…
Would what? Lytener was no fool. Superman may have been able to explain what happened with the red sun lasers and how Lytener had been trying to undo everything he'd done, Lytener had shot a man. It had been an accident, but that man was either in the hospital or worse. Even Superman couldn't protect him from that. He was going to jail. Edward Lytener was certain of it.
And the only conclusion he could come to for all of this was this. If only Lois Lane hadn't of published that article. Why...why had Lois done this to him?