"I hear all the stories, you know. It's like no one believes he's a nice guy. But I do. I've seen it."
"I know," Superman replied silently. "But I look for the good in people. It's who I am. I believe that there is a good man inside Luthor. Somewhere."
"Yeah," I replied quietly.
"Allen," Superman said reservedly. "I don't judge anyone. I just…try to help."
Superman hits another one out of the park. Maybe…just maybe…he's not so bad. Maybe…Lex didn't like the Man of Steel because of his straightforwardness. Superman was honest—that much was true, and I had only known the man for mere minutes—and Lex…Lex liked his secrets.
"That's admirable," I said. "But…"
"But?"
"You're a hero, Superman. You…help people. I thought you could help me. At least…I hope you can."
"I hope so too," Superman said, a proud, yet modest smile creasing across his face. His spit-curl waved minimally in the faint afternoon wind. "So what's the trouble?"
"They say you have all these powers. Freeze breath, x-ray vision….the list goes on," I said plainly, a tone of sickness and fatigue creeping into my voice. "Can you…I dunno, this is gonna sound stupid."
A pause. A part of me felt an emptiness in calling him 'Superman'. Like…we were on this more-than personal level, and it felt so impersonal.
"Can you….read my mind?"
"Yes," he said flatly. I was almost let down by the robotic distance in Superman's voice. "In a way, if that's what you're getting at. I can see your brain activity. X-ray and microscopic vision."
I looked up to Superman narrowly and pursed my lips. His brow furled and his eyes narrowed. His jaw clenched as he drew in a breath.
After a pause, he spoke again. "Synapses are firing pretty rapidly, Allen. There's a lot on your mind."
"Yeah…yeah there is."
"Care to share?"
"Superman, do you…have like, I dunno. A real identity or something."
"Why don't you call me Kal for the time being, okay?"
"Okay," I said heavily. Already, I could feel my respiration slowing, some inexorable darkness inside me filling me with doubt and disgust. "Have you ever had something you've ever felt you had to conceal from the world?"
"Yes," Superman said. "Many things."
"Then you know how difficult it can be to keep secrets. Things that could destroy a man. Hold them in long enough and they start to destroy you…"
Superman looked past me; at the glimmering city beyond the opened windows of Lex's office. He turned back, the wind rushing through his hair and sweeping his cape around the angular sharpness of his form.
He looked back at me with a serious look. "Tell me, Allen. Did he ever give you anything like a ring or a sort of rock? Anything of that nature?"
"Yes," I said. "There was a ring…in a little, heavy, black box. I held on to it for…I don't know how long. A week? Maybe more."
"Did you ever open it?" Superman asked.
"No. He told me not to. Why?"
"The rock embedded into the ring is called Kryptonite. It's the…irradiated remains of my birth world, Krypton."
"What does that have to do with Luthor?"
"Kryptonite is highly radioactive," Superman said wearily. "It's also easily synthesized, though less potent in that case. Luthor synthesized some Kryptonite once and had it set into a ring."
"You sound surprised."
"I am. Luthor wore that ring…years ago, but it was…reclaimed recently."
"Lex wore a Kryptonite ring?" I repeated darkly.
"For about a year before it finally got to him. He lost his right hand to the radiation."
"Cancer?" I asked; the distant memory of Lex Luthor II creeping into my mind.
"Yes," Superman said, his brow furling in confusion. "I…thought you knew."
"No," I said, confounded. "Lex…never told me much of anything about his past. Except for some names."
"What names?"
"I don't remember all of them. Gretchen Kelley, Sydney Happersen, Dabney Donovan. And even then, those names didn't come from Luthor."
"Where did they come from?" Superman asked tersely.
"A…friend of mine. Tim Drake."
"I see," the Man of Steel said distantly.
"I don't get it. Why would Luthor hide this from me? I mean….was it really that important?"
After a lengthy pause, Superman sighed and started in.
"Legacy," he said quietly.
"What?"
"After Luthor lost his hand, he grew paranoid, unpredictable. Medical records showed serious chemical imbalances in the man's brain. He developed an acute case of psychosis…bipolar disorder, almost, until he finally ended it and engineered his return in a clone body—himself at a younger age. Soon after that, he finally snapped…and destroyed this city."
A pause. I slid my hands into my pockets and glanced dubiously at Superman, who stared longingly out at the city.
"The city I love," Superman whispered quietly.
"My God," I whispered hatefully, silently recriminating myself for not seeing it earlier. "He did all those things….every single one."
Slouching slightly, Superman bowed his head and stared at me balefully. "Then you know what you have to do."
"If…if you're asking me to go to the press with this…"
"It wouldn't matter now. I'm asking you to do what you think is right," Superman said intently. I sensed a bit of disappointment in his voice that I was reluctant to out Lex. "You're a human being and you have opinions. You're an educated human being. You have an interest in the outcome of events. Don't try to hide that, and don't let anyone try to destroy it. Be honest about what you think. Be honest about your desires and tell people who you are."
"You know I can't do this," I said wearily, almost tearfully. "Lex is like a father to me."
"I understand," Superman said. "But just so we're clear…he did all those things. He destroyed this city. He created monsters and set them loose on the world, and on me. He's destroyed lives with a flick of his wrist. All because he could."
Silence.
"Understood," I muttered.
Superman stared at me for a moment. "It isn't right, Allen. No one deserves to be treated like that. Where I come from, we believe in equal protection and justice. Luthor's outgunned them both, for too long now. No one deserves to be a pawn…no one has the right to be a lord."
Superman turned back and stared at me balefully. Behind him, the sun fell slowly into its afternoon inclination. Long narrow shadows fell across the city as the late autumn night bore closer.
"You have the power to end this, Allen."
In the distance, sirens blared. Superman glanced away and then back at me.
"Do as you will."
And the Man of Steel lifted into the night.
Next: Fall in place!
