Note: Thanks for reviewing. I apologize for the long wait, but since school started again this week, things have sort of been hectic. Also, I edited the titles of the chapters. They're much more interesting now, instead of numbers. :) If you noticed, I squished chapter 4 and 5 together because they were both too short individually. Anyway, this chap doesn't have much clana, but clana will be back in a couple of chaps. Hope you still like it. :)
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Metropolis: Information Boulevard
8:42 A.M.
Monday, June 14th
A blur of red and blue came to an abrupt stop in the alleyway between Joe's Sandwiches and Minnie's Marvelous Nails. A young man in his early twenties put up a hand to straighten his dark brownish hair. The naivety of his clothes and innocent face suggested that he wasn't a city kid, but a small town bred kid. The way he moved was slow and laidback-like, unlike the many workers of the city. They were always rushing and running for a reason or another.
Clark Kent tried his best to tidy up his red t-shirt and blue denim jeans. It was simple attire for a simple job. Clark had noticed that once the excitement of actually having a real steady job wore off, working for the Daily Planet as Lois Lane's coffee boy wasn't all that it was hyped up to be.
Creak. Clark identified that sound as the cue for his departure from the dirty alley. Every morning Clark ran into Metropolis—yes, literally ran—he would sometimes meet up with the chef of Joe's Sandwiches taking out the garbage. And every time, the chef would start off the conversation with, "Causing trouble, are you boy?" The last time it had happened, Clark had barely managed to escape a flying banana peel heading for his face.
Clark ran out of the alley at normal speed and slowed down to a walk just in front of a newsstand filled with all sorts of magazines and papers that divulged juicy secrets and hard cold facts. The Inquisitor, Metro Teens, the Daily Planet, and Metropolis Times were just a few on the shelves. There was a man waving a copy of today's Daily Planet. Clark was about to step past the man when he noticed the headline on the front page. Innocent Flames or Illicit Flames? By Lois Lane. The subtitle continued with, The Real Cause of the Fire at Gateway Docks.
Clark stood there gaping like a teenage boy whose girlfriend just flashed him. Heaps of thoughts were flying and scrambling through his head, but the one thing that kept coming back to him was, how could she?
The Daily Planet
"How could I?" Lois Lane muttered to herself as Lucy Loins handed her a copy of Monday's edition of the Daily Planet. On the front page was her award winning article; at least, that was how Perry White had put it.
I didn't even write the damn thing. It's Clark's award winning article; not mine, Lois thought bitterly, feeling a twinge of guilt. It seemed like such a good plan last Friday evening. All she had to do was look over the article, get the facts right, and hope that Clark had done his research. It seemed detailed enough and furthermore it made sense. The tip that Jimmy had received about some drug dealing down at the docks, Lex Luthor owning the docks, and the remainder of green meteor rocks mentioned in the police report all fitted together. It had only taken Lois a moment to put two and two together before she had it drawn out in front of her. Lex Luthor was behind some elaborate, multi-million dollar drug scam involving meteor rocks. The question was, what kind of drug scam and why?
LexCorp: Lex Luthor's Study
"What do you mean you don't know?" Lex Luthor hissed angrily in his phone. A moment later, he threw the cordless phone at his wall, smashing it to pieces. He picked up today's Daily Planet newspaper and threw it next to the pieces.
How could it have gotten out? There were no papers saying I owned Gateway Docks. It was only on my private database for Lexcorp.
Lex sighed in frustrated and drained the remainder of the brandy that had been sitting on his desk for the past hour.
Ever since Lionel Luthor had died, Lex had taken over LuthorCorp and changed it to LexCorp. He had built an empire that his father would have been proud of. Not that he was ever likely to admit it.
A lot of things had changed in this young billionaire's life. For one thing, he no longer had his father's shadow over him, constantly watching him and playing mind games. Lionel had died in jail. To this day, Lex still had no clue if his death was planned or just a gift from the heavens.
The Lex Luthor sitting in the black leather chair was not the Lex Luthor that had befriended the practically penniless Clark Kent. He was a changed man. A man that was becoming more like his father with every passing business deal he made and every plant, animal, or man he killed while expanding his company.
Beep. A tiny beep emitted from another phone sitting on his desk. That's right, Lex Luthor didn't have one phone; he had two.
"What now, Sandy?" Lex's tone came out irritated and annoyed.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Sir, but a Dr. David Cobwell wants to speak to you; he's downstairs," Lex's secretary said.
"Well, send him up then," Lex snapped. With a click, he disconnected the line and leaned back in his chair, waiting for his former employee to arrive. David Cobwell had been another life that he had nearly squashed on his escapade to world domination. Lex pulled out a silver briefcase from a hidden compartment underneath his desk. He had been expecting Mr. Cobwell to return for his payoff.
Lex had to only wait a few moments later when the door to his office opened and in came a tall skinny pale man. There were dark red circles around his eyes, possibly indicating that he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a while. But, Lex Luthor knew better; he knew it was the side effects of the new drug he was designing.
"Hello Dr. Cobwell," Lex said, pleasantly enough to arouse suspicion in the young, blonde scientist. David Cobwell had once been a respectable, thirty-three year old scientist. He even had a wife; until she had died in a mysterious fire. After that, David Cobwell had buried himself in his work and developed a nasty habit of getting drunk before four in the afternoon. After losing all his credibility as a chemist and losing his house, Lex Luthor had hired him. The billionaire's motive for his hiring was for him to create a drug that he could sell legally to the police force of Metropolis and possibly Edge City. The drug was supposed to enhance a person's strength, stamina, and speed at a safe slow rate. It would provide more power to take out everyday criminals without the hassle of using guns. After a minimum of two hours, the drug would fade and the drug taker would lose all powers of the drug. It seemed safe and useful enough, which had caused Dr. Cobwell to take it; not to mention that he needed the pay and housing opportunities LexCorp would provide him.
The only flaw with the plan was how to make such a drug that was safe and effective. Dr. Cobwell had asked Lex Luthor himself how that was humanly possible and he had replied with two words: "Meteor rocks."
Thus, began the endearing and arduous work of creating such a drug. After a few trials, Dr. Cobwell and his team had managed to harness the power of the meteor rocks. They had needed someone to test it and David Cobwell had risen up to the occasion.
"Where's my money?" Dr. Cobwell spat out, almost incoherently.
"Patience now, Doctor. We wouldn't want you losing your temper and sucking the blood out of me, would we?" Lex laughed a cold hearted laugh that brought chills down the spine of Dr. Cobwell. "Because rest assured, if that does happen, you will not be getting a cent of what is in this case."
Dr. Cobwell's green, yellowish eyes narrowed almost evilly. Another effect of the drug: the eyes. Instead of having two hours effect like LexCorp had hoped, they had been permanent on David Cobwell. "Look, Mr. Luthor─"
"Please, call me Lex."
"Alright, Lex, there must be at least a million dollars in that case─"
"Let, me guess," Lex interrupted again, causing the nostrils on the reptile face of Dr. Cobwell to flare with anger. "You want more? Well, don't worry, there's another million in there with no strings attached. I only ask that you keep this whole escapade to yourself and to leave Metropolis."
"Actually," Dr. Cobwell began, "I want you to find a cure—for this." He gestured to himself. Scales covered most of his body that were hidden by the long trench coat that looked too long and hot for such warm weather. "I'll take only half of the original sum and a cure. And I'll keep quiet and move if that's what you want. I just don't want to live like this anymore."
Lex Luthor leaned forward in his seat and sighed. The tips of his fingers were touching and his elbows leaned on his glass desk. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. A search for the cure would take more than what is in that briefcase."
"But you did this to me!" Dr. Cobwell had enough of Lex Luthor's games. He could feel his temper boiling and a surge to suck all the blood out of Luthor's cold body. He needed something to take his anger out on. He needed new blood.
"On the contrary, you chose to do that to yourself. Section two of our contract," Lex explained, not feeling a hint of remorse for the man standing in front of him.
Cobwell slammed his fist on the desk, causing it to break in little pieces. If any of them had cut Lex, he didn't show it. Lex stood up and reached for his cell phone in his shirt pocket.
"Security, I need some help in my office," Lex said into his phone calmly. "Perhaps you could bring some bandages?"
The joke about the bandages didn't lighten the atmosphere. "I need a cure! Damn you, Luthor!"
David Cobwell was shaking with anger and it took all of his restraint not to tear the man in front of him to pieces. Lex Luthor was his only hope of getting a cure.
Security swarmed in with guns pointing at Cobwell. They were electric shock guns.
"Now, Dr. Cobwell, I've had my say, and I think it best if you just take the money and leave," Lex tried again, not showing any signs of fear.
"Fine, maybe I will take the money." Cobwell's eyes glinted with malevolence. He slowly bent down to pick up the silver case lying on top of shattered glass. He walked towards the door and Lex nodded his head at his security to let him pass.
Just as Cobwell was about to pass through the door, he turned to Lex and said, "And, I don't think you need to worry about me losing my temper and sucking the blood of you, Lex. I have other means of getting blood. Oh, and don't think I'll keep this quiet. There was no contract or anything, right?" With a blur, David Cobwell disappeared.
