Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville, Superman, or any of the characters.
Summary:
Friends become foes. Foes become friends. A boy becomes a man. A man that has always been a hero. (Featuring: Bruce Wayne)
SMALLVILLE: END
Lex Luthor
I walked steadily out of the elevator and through the hallway. The Marriot's business floor was professional looking. It would have to be, I smiled to myself, this floor alone holds the most powerful men of the coast. I walked past the secretary, who was talking animatedly with a handsome visitor.
"Mr. Luthor!" She noticed me at the last second. "Do you want me to inform them that you're here?"
I turned to her wearily. "I think I can manage that myself." I proceeded forward rolling my eyes at her. These Marriots can look as professional as they'd like, but their employees… well let's just say you can hold your own with a high school diploma.
I opened the double doors and quickly made my presence known. One of the useful business techniques my father taught me… and I never forgot it. I'd like to think that my father and I are nothing alike… but the fact is that there are more similarities than I'd like to admit. I learned so many things from him… yet I hate him just as much. I would not grow up to be my father. I refused to. My father may have been powerful and manipulative, but inside he was weak. He proved that to me. I had overtaken him… sent him to jail… minimized his power time and time again… until the tables had turned. Lex Luthor was at the top… and Lionel Luthor… the new Lionel… was just a shadow of his former self.
"Mr. Luthor." A black man in a professional suit acknowledged me. Mr. Lucius Fox, a representative of Wayne Enterprises. They had branches throughout the world, but Mr. Fox was the main spokesperson. He dealt with issues that concerned the company as a whole. Seven years ago, when I first moved to Smallville, I wouldn't have thought of him or the company he represented much. Truth of the matter is, my father completely stopped worrying about Wayne Enterprises upon the death of Thomas Wayne. Son, he'd tell me, when the King in chess is taken, the game is over. Well their King had been taken, and it seemed the game ended then… but lately, the company revived itself. It had soared back into the charts. Military. Charities. Computers. It was neck to neck with LuthorCorp.
"Sorry I'm late." I smiled knowingly at Mr. Fox, knowing full well he couldn't do anything. We'd had meetings before. I remember ten years ago… I walked into a room like this with Wayne Enterprises and many other military companies. My father and I were the most powerful men in the room. Fox didn't even own Wayne Enterprises. He was just a spokesperson. He knew if we wanted to, we could seize the company he worked for. But the thing was, why would we? Their company then was insignificant. True, we would own a monopoly over Gotham, but Gotham City was a mess. Still is. The fact was, it just wasn't worth it.
Mr. Fox studied me for a second and met my smile with one of his own. Completely fake. Well, at least mine was.
"We should get started then." Mr. Fox cleared his throat with an air of authority. I only nodded my head as I found a seat on one end of the long table. Men in different outfits and uniforms filed in and began to take their seats.
"I'm curious, gentlemen," I started it off. I had to be at the offensive from the beginning. Keep them off guard. "Why you would call such an urgent meeting?"
"Monopoly." An official looking military man spoke up. He was seated across Fox at the other end of the table. The seat at the other end remained vacant.
I chuckled. "I assume you're not talking about the game…" The smile fell from my lips to be replaced by a look of impatience. "I see you're not sitting at your usual place, Lucius." His face remained blank. "So it's obvious that Wayne Enterprises has a little feud going on inside. Not quite the alpha male you were before?"
"Not quite." Fox responded.
"Then enlighten me." I stared him in the eye. "And why exactly is any of Wayne Enterprises any of my business?"
"It's not." A voice interrupted from behind me. "But LuthorCorp is."
I spun around to meet a pair of icy blue eyes. Familiar ones. The handsome visitor, "Bruce Wayne."
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Lex Luthor
It didn't go smoothly from there. Basically, Bruce Wayne had inherited all of his parents' possessions when they died. It wouldn't have been an issue considering everyone thought Bruce Wayne had died four years ago. But he was back… and apparently still alive.
Many of the possessions his father had left him were stocks. A whole load of them dated back to the days of the Great Depression. And most of them were thought to be gone. Companies owed him millions of dollars including LuthorCorp. This man never needed to work another day of his life. But there he was. Taking control of Wayne Enterprises as CEO. You had to admire him. Unfortunately, I really didn't like him.
Another unfortunate detail was that he owned 29 of the company. In fact, I had used his piece of the company to override my father and take control. If he was coming back to take what was his, that would leave my father as the rightful owner of LuthorCorp and me at his mercy. Without his piece… Lionel Luthor would be the biggest shareholder in the company. This was bad. I had to act fast… but I was strangely calm. Nothing a few phone calls couldn't solve.
The meeting stretched on. It seemed like a few hours when in reality, it was less than one. I didn't care anymore. My father will have heard of the news before I leave the building. I sat in the leather chair, calculating… time to set up a new game, a game of chess. My father would be so proud.
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Clark Kent
I typed away at the computer screen. Looking at the time, I scolded myself silently. I was supposed to be home in fifteen minutes and I still had this article to finish.
I should back up. My name is Clark Kent and I'm from Smallville. That's about fifty miles south from Metropolis University… where I am now. I go to college there, majoring in Journalism. There's really nothing special about me… oh yeah… I forgot, I'm an alien. Strange how I can casually joke about it on paper, but to other people… that's another story. No, I don't look like ET. I've never met an alien that did. I mean… they could be out there and I've just never met one. I can't bring people back to life by touching them… but I do have my fair share of jaw dropping abilities.
Looking around the library, I noticed that no one was at the computers but me. Other students probably use their own laptops, but not me. Smiling to myself, I typed faster. Faster and faster until my fingers weren't even a blur on the keyboard. I never thought of doing this in High School. I'm sure I could've had a lot more free time if I did. And voila! Article typed up and ten minutes to spare.
I got up and left the library, dodging people entering for a late night cram. I ran into a dorm room almost getting impaled by a biker to finally approach the mailboxes. It didn't take me long to find it. I had been here so many times in my three years here.
I scanned through the stacks of different mailboxes until I found it. Chloe Sullivan. Hope she was happy with my article.
"Clark, you're late," my mom told me over the phone when I got home.
"Yeah, I know, mom." I apologized. "It was only five minutes though… and I had this paper due… and the campus was crowded…"
"I guess there's nothing we can do about it now." Martha sighed. "Alright. He's coming. We'll be there in ten minutes. Remember to be gone by then."
I smiled. "I will." Dad had been having some major heart problems for about three months and came into the hospital for regular check-ups. Mom and I had been pulling some weight off his shoulders as far as farm work was concerned. He didn't need to make it worse for himself. But my dad would be stubborn. He would tell us not to get involved and it was his weight to pull… another reason why we didn't tell him.
I sped around the farm, repairing this and that. Small things. I left the work unfinished and only completed new ones my dad didn't know about. It wasn't a big thing. I was fast. Covering my tracks took more time than actually doing the chores. As I was running through a field from the fencing I had mostly finished, I heard something.
It was far off, but I could hear it: the hum of a car's engine. I examined the familiar sound.
No mistake about it. It was my mom's car. I looked over. A normal person couldn't see or hear it, but I wasn't exactly normal. Squinting, trees rushed for my vision, and my X-Ray kicked in. It wasn't just the trees anymore… I was looking past them, past the forest and into the road on the other side of it. There it was. I could see them.
Smiling again, in spite of myself, I disappeared from the field… out of the farm… and away from Smallville in a blur.
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Bruce Wayne
"Are you sure about this, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked me in the limo. "Wayne Enterprises needs you now more than ever."
"Wayne Enterprises was doing just fine in the years that I'd been gone, Alfred." I reasoned. "It will survive without Bruce Wayne… and besides… it's not like I'll be taking a permanent vacation."
"This trip to Smallville does pose some questions." Alfred observed.
"I'm aware of that, Alfred." I explained. "But my journey around the world hasn't ended yet. I know it seems like it is, with me returning to Gotham and seizing control of my father's company… but Smallville is the final stop."
"Why Smallville?" Alfred asked confused. "Why now?"
"Smallville is the home of the… 'meteor freaks'… I have to know why this happens here… how it happens… and if I can use it."
"A meteor freak, sir?" Alfred chuckled. "Times have surely changed. "
"As to the 'why now' part… well…" I paused, thinking back. "Smallville then was never really in the map… sure, it had been hit by a meteor shower, but… we all thought it was a one time thing. To go through it again… it's too much of a coincidence. Then these 'freaks' have been coming along causing havoc wherever they go."
"And you're here to find out why and how, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked once more. I could feel his gaze scanning me from the mirror as I looked out the window. The first chapter was unfolding, and the battle was yet to be fought.
"I guess there's really no talking you out of this, Master Bruce," Alfred decided after a few minutes silence. We had just passed a sign that read Welcome to Smallville!
I looked outwards at the fields and farms that was Smallville. Smallville was never meant to be a city. It was too traditional without the smell of car exhaust and pollution. It was a world that I had wished Gotham was so long ago. It was a town where everyone knew everyone, but still maintained its own mysteries. A blue and red blur sped past.
"Stop the car!" I ordered unnecessarily. Alfred had already begun to stop. I got out of the car before it did and looked in the direction from where we came; the direction in which the blur had gone to.
"Where do you suppose he was headed off in such a hurry?" Alfred piped up. The joke was an uncertain one. I knew him too well. I knew he was a little troubled. Not many things moved like that… especially on the ground.
"Forget about it, Alfred." I said, knowing full well we could do nothing at this point. I turned to him, "Probably the light playing tricks on us." I added. His reaction was immediate. He did not believe me… nor did I mean for him to do so. We both knew strange things were bound to happen. We just didn't expect them to happen so soon. No matter… this is what I came here for. Before I begin my war on crime… I must prove my worth and skill not to the people, but to myself… and to do that, I must solve the mystery that has remained secret since I was a child.
This was going to get interesting.
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A/N: Second chapter in the making. I'm making this up as I go along. If all goes according to schedule it should be up by next week. I know it's written weirdly: in first person, but that's usually for my benefit. Only things I can actually finish are first person POV stories. Enjoy.