"Oh Jon, he's been gone for days" Martha moaned as she tried to get her motherly duty of cleaning the dinner dishes done.
"Now Martha, Clark can take care of himself" Jon reassured her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "He has his abilities under a control for the most part-"
"But that's it!" Martha interrupted. "What if he lost control of them in his anger. What we did to him was horrible. We kept that secret from him for so long!"
"What were we supposed to do Martha?" Jon asked her. Martha sighed deeply.
"I don't know" she said as she let herself fall into her husbands arms. "I just want my son back". Jon sighed as well. He just stood there and held his wife for a very long moment. Suddenly the sight of a young man descending from the skies caught his eye in the kitchen window. The boy looked exhausted "He's back." Jon mumbled.
"What?" Martha asked.
"He's back Martha" Jon declared louder. "Clark! He's back!"
Clark watched as his parents bolted out of their house towards him. Clark chuckled lightly as his mother bound on him and threw her arms around him.
"Hi mom" he remarked.
"Oh my god!" I was so worried about you" Martha began smothering her son in kisses.
"Mom…mom…MOM!" Clark managed to pry his mother off of him.
"Where were you?" Jon asked.
"It's hard to describe" Clark said.
"What did you find there?" Martha asked.
"A mission" Clark answered firmly.
8 years later
Metropolis. The city of tomorrow. With buildings that broke the clouds and more people than one could care to count, Clark felt that he was going to have a life here worth living here. Cars honked in the road as a pick-up drove into the parking garage of a high-rise apartment building. In the driver's seat, Clark quickly moved up several levels till he found an empty parking space. His father pulled himself out of the passenger side and began to help Clark lift some boxes off of the truck. Once they had their arms full, Clark led his father to the stairway and finally up to his new apartment.
"Where do you want 'em" Jon asked.
"Just anywhere put them anywhere Pop" Clark said. Jon nodded and dropped the boxes in the center of a rather large living room.
"How did you afford this place Clark?" Jon asked as he looked around.
"It really isn't as expensive as you think" Clark informed him as he placed his boxes with the ones his father had just put down. "I got it for a real good price."
"And how long are you going to be able to afford it?"
"Pa, don't worry" Clark remarked. "My job at the Daily Planet is going to pay well…very well." Clark knelt down and began to unpack the boxes, pulling lamps, picture frames, and other small decorative knick-knacks, placing them all in their respective places.
"Well Clark, if you ever need any money, or anything really, don't hesitate-"
"This is why I didn't want Ma coming" Clark said with a laugh. Clark stood up and looked down at his father, for he was several inches taller than him. "I'm going to be fine."
"Oh, so the big city reporter doesn't need his dad anymore huh?" Jon joked. Clark just laughed. "I know you can take care of yourself Clark, it's just gonna be different not having you around anymore."
"Dad, I haven't lived at the farm for 4 years" Clark said.
"Yeah, but you were still in Smallville, or while you were at college you were in the at least in state" Jon said.
"Yeah, I know what you mean" Clark responded as he looked his father in the eyes. He then shifted his eyes to the large window in the back of the room. "But this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up".
"When do you start your new job?" Jon asked.
"Tomorrow" Clark answered with an optimistic smile.
The very next day, Lois Lane, star reporter found herself running late to work. Her alarm clock hadn't gone off, and she had only woken up 20 minutes ago, but somehow managed to throw on a blouse and skirt that flattered her lovely body and was able to get her shoulder length brown hair to look perfect. As she sat in traffic, Lois found herself yelling over the phone to her new director.
"No, Perry, I'm fine, I'm just having a bad morning" Lois said. "I know, I'm trying to get there, but this traffic is insane". Lois quickly looked behind her and cut off another car to get a few more feet forward in the back up. The car honked wildly, but she didn't seem to pay much mind. "I'm sorry Perry…I know…ok, I'll see you when I get in"
Ten minutes later and Lois was not much closer to getting to work. She honked her horn several times.
"Move it you morons!" She exclaimed. She pressed her horn, but she didn't her it. Instead, she heard a massive explosion. Lois's eyes roamed around till she saw smoke rising over the buildings a block over. Lois cursed and began to move to the side to park her car. She was quickly able to find a free spot on the side of the road and threw a few quarters in the meter before setting off in as good of a sprint as she could towards the explosion. She knew she had a story on her hands when she heard police sirens approaching.
Soon Lois found herself 100 yards from a shootout. Three armed men with odd-looking guns were walking back and forth in front of a bank, which now had a large hole in the side of it. Police had blocked off a section of the street and were keeping people as far back as they could. Lois walked against the people running from the scene till she could hear the yells of the men through their mask.
"Yeah, real good idea Frankie" one of them yelled sarcastically. "Lets rob a bank during rush hour! The cops won't be able to come stop us!"
"Hey, you seemed to like the idea last night!" another of them yelled back.
"Shut up! Both of you!" The third screamed. "It doesn't matter anyway, we have these things" he said motioning with his gun. "If we're going down, we are going to take some of these pigs with us." The man began opening fire; shooting large energy bursts towards the cops.
"These things are awesome!" one of the other robbers said. He began firing as well. One of the shots strayed though and began zooming towards Lois. The woman let out a loud scream, as it was about to hit her. However, she didn't die. Instead, she felt as if someone had grabbed her, then felt wind blowing her. Lois opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of a man, a flying man.
"Hello" Clark said, his dark blue eyes looked into hers as he carried her through the sky. "Hmm, what luck, my first damsel in distress is a pretty one." Clark quickly descended onto the rooftop of one of Metropolis's shorter buildings. "I think you'll be safe here."
"What?" Lois said absentmindedly. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Clark chuckled. And flew off. A small boom from Clark's instant acceleration brought Lois back to reality. "Where…crap" She remarked when she noticed that she had lost her story.
The criminals were now on the move, firing blasts back at the police every now and then. The leader of them however stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes fell upon a most impressive sight. Above the road, Clark floated, a red cape billowing in a small wind behind him. Clark was wearing a dark blue suit with the symbol that had he had found on the red blanket in the ship on his chest. The crest was red with a yellow background. On his feet were long red boots. On his sides, just above his hips, were two red patches. People were stopped dead in their tracks looking at him.
"Who the hell is that?" One of them asked in aw.
"Stop now and give yourselves over to the police peacefully" Clark told them.
"Shoot him!" The leader cried after coming back to his senses. All three men opened fire at Clark, blasting for several moments straight. However, Clark just took them without flinching and began to approach them. The leader took several steps back as Clark came near. They continued to fire, even as Clark came with in an arms reach of the first of them. Clark grabbed one of the thug's guns and bent it in half, then tossed it away.
"I don't want to repeat myself" Clark said. The third thug turned a dial on the machine and it became a flamethrower.
"Lets see if you can take this you freak!" the robber cried as he pulled the trigger. A large flame ignited from the barrel of the gun. He moved it back and forth over Clark and the area around him. However, a moment later two thing beams of red energy shot through the flames and struck the gun. The criminal could only hold it a moment later before it was too hot to carry any longer. As the flames died out Clark rushed forward and grabbed the thug by his shirt. The first was trying to make a break for it, and Clark quickly tossed the one in his hand at the runner, knocking both men out as they rolled on the ground. The leader of the thugs continued to fire at Clark till he apparently ran out of ammo.
"Piece of crap!" the criminal exclaimed. He threw the gun to the ground and pulled a small pistol out of his belt. He fired several shots at Clark though, however every single one of them bounced off Clark's chest. The criminal threw the gun to the ground and began to cower back in fear. Clark moved forward in a blur and grabbed him on the cuff of his shirt and lifted him up with one hand.
"You should have come peacefully" Clark said. He tossed the thug over a car. The robber had the air knocked out of him as he landed on the road. He rolled around for a moment on his back as he tried to get a lung full of air. Suddenly Clark lifted the car between him and the criminal over his head, causing the criminal to cower in fear. The criminal nodded as he looked up at this truly terrifying sight.
Lois, still fuming about how she had lost her ability to have a first hand report to one of the biggest stories of the year, drove into the Daily Planet parking garage and up to the second floor where she always parked. However, today, as she neared it, she saw that someone had parked in her favorite spot. A red sedan was where her white Lexus should be, and this was the icing on the cake for her.
Lois walked into the newsroom and made her way for her desk. However, when she got there, she saw that a new desk had been placed against hers. Someone new had been hired. She didn't bother herself with this now though, she knew Perry would want to see her right away. She threw her purse and belongings down on her desk and quickly made her way to her editor's office. When she entered, she saw a man sitting in the chair across from Perry.
"Perry, sorry I'm late, I've had-"
"Lois, don't worry about it" Perry said cheerfully. "I know what happened". He nodded towards the television in the corner. On it, Lois could see video of the mysterious hero who had stopped the robbers. One of the clips was of him saving Lois just before she was killed.
"Oh" Lois said.
"You're looking at the biggest news of the year Lois" Perry said.
"You think Perry?" Lois said as she took the seat next to the man. He gave her a pleasant smile and a cheerful eye from behind his glasses. Lois noted that even in his suit he looked rather large.
"Oh, I know it for sure" Perry said. "This guy is a big, BIG deal". Suddenly a young man entered the office carrying a large print out of several photos.
"I've got those pictures Chief" the young boy remarked as he walked across the office and handed them to Perry.
"Ah, good, thanks Jimmy" Perry said as he nabbed the photos from Jimmy's hands. "…great…uh huh…" Suddenly he threw a picture down of the hero holding a car over his head. "That's our front page Lois." Lois picked the photo up and looked at it.
"Nice 'S' " She commented.
"Excuse me?" the young man remarked.
"The 'S' on his chest" Lois said pointing to it as she showed him the photo. "I like it."
"Oh" the man answered. "Hello by the way, I'm Clark Kent." Clark extended his hand and Lois shook it.
"Lois Lane" she replied.
"What was his name Lois?" Perry said.
"What?" Lois asked.
"Well, everyone is going to be wondering what his name is" Perry said. "And we have the only person who really got close enough to ask…you did ask…right?" Perry leaned over as he waited for the answer.
"Uh…no…no I didn't, sorry" Lois said.
"You were in his arms and you didn't ask his name?!" Perry exclaimed. "Ugh…what are we gonna do…"
"How about we come up with the name?" Jimmy asked. Perry looked up at him.
"And what are we gonna call him?"
"How about…I don't know…he has an 'S' on his chest, so how about…Superman" Jimmy answered. Perry looked at him for a moment with a dead stare.
"Kid…you have to be…" Perry paused for a moment as he seemed to search for a word. Jimmy got ready for an earful. "a god damned genius!"
"Huh?!" Jimmy exclaimed.
"Lois, what do you think of 'Superman'?"
"It's not bad, has a certain ring to it" Lois told him.
"And you, Kent, what do you think about it?" Perry asked turning to Clark. Clark seemed to throw it around in his head.
"I like it" Clark said. "I like it a lot."
"So it's settled" Perry remarked. "Lois, get to work on the story, now!" Lois stood up and was about to leave when she remembered something.
"Perry, I can't, I have that piece on Lex Luthor in two hours" Lois said.
"No prob" Perry responded. He turned to Clark. "Kent, your taking the Lex interview."
"But I've been trying to get an interview with Lex Luthor for months!" Lois exclaimed.
"Exactly. We can't loose this, and I want you to write my Superman story Lois" Perry said. "Don't worry, there will be other opportunities." Lois scoffed and slammed the door as she exited. "Don't mind her Kent, she can get huffy some times. You up to the interview?"
"Who is Lex Luthor?" Clark asked.
"Jeez, you guys really don't get much news out in Smallville, do you?" Perry joked. "Lex Luthor is the most powerful person in the city."
Two hours later, Clark found himself riding the elevator up to the top floor of Lexcorp.'s corporate headquarters. Annoying soft music played over the speakers. As he reached his stop, he exited the elevator into a massive lobby. A young female secretary sat in front of two large wooden doors. She was filing her nails as Clark approached. He removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair.
"Hi" Clark said with a confident smile. "I'm here to interview Lex Luthor. I'm from the Daily Planet."
"Name?" the secretary asked.
"Clark Kent"
"I'm sorry, you don't have an appointment. My record shows that a…Lois Lane will be performing the interview" the secretary said. "Make an appointment and come back again sometime later."
"No, you don't understand" Clark said. "Miss Lane could not make it, they sent me instead."
"I'm sorry sir, but you don't have an appointment." The secretary repeated.
"Look, can I just talk to Lex Luthor, I was sent by the Daily Planet" Clark tried to explain.
"Sir, I will call security"
"You don't have to do that" Clark said. "I'm just here talk to Lex Luth-"
"I'm Lex Luthor" a sultry, female voice said. Clark looked over to the large wooden doors and saw an incredibly attractive blonde not much older than him standing in there. "How can I help you?"