Chapter 7: You Are A Traitor, Kryptonian

Lexcorp Tower Penthouse Office

"Put Lex's head in our biceps, put Lex's head in our biceps, put Lex's head in our biceps!", chant a sizable crowd of steaming mad shareholders, attempting to break the door into thousands of pieces with office chairs and tables.

"God damnit, Lex! Do you even think about anything you do?", berates a furious Mercy, holding the office doors with all her strength. "I'm working on the best trajectory to fly us outta here to the upstate facility, just let me finish the details", Lex states, grinding his teeth with seething rage. "So cancelling the entire year's slate of shareholder meetings as well as banning most people from all our locations are finishing details? Does that 200 IQ help at all with thinking about something other than failing to kill some hot alien?!" "DID YOU JUST SAY THAT FOOL IS HOTTER THAN ME?!", Luthor replies vehemently. "He has more cake than a bakery and you know it!" "Lex Luthor of Earth, is now the predetermined time I may attack the Superman of Metropolis?", asks an unconcerned Brainiac. "You know with every bolt in your body now is NOT the time! Why aren't you holding down the door with Mercy?"

"I am programmed to lead and conquer, not to assist lower level organisms—" "Jesus, just hold the door down!" "My name is not Jesus, it is Brainiac of Krypton." Lex sighs a sigh of utter disappointment. "I"m gonna kill that thing, baby", Mercy shockingly states. "I'm gonna melt it and turn it into a coffee maker if it says a single word again." "How should I know this machine would malfunction like that and make a huge war rant?" "You literally predicted that at 3am this morning, along with the idea that people would love it, you EVIL GENIUS!", Mercy replies, now throwing her shoe at his head.

"Did either of you receive digital information via the Earth Internet that your building's lobby is on fire?", Brainiac nonchalantly asks. "Did you say 'on fire'?", Mercy asks, losing her grip on the door. "Time to call in the other doors", Lex laments, releasing metal sheets in front of the doors from the ceiling. "Also, c'mon. I pay you enough to get real Louis Vuitton. Step your shoe game up, girl." "You said the real ones are for the hotel nights, you stupid stupid—" "Yell at me later. Grab my back", he replies in a fully prepared War Suit, ready to fly the skies in his classic green and purple color scheme. "Brainiac, I command you to silence the crowd in a non-lethal manner." "You wear Krypton's armor, Lex Luthor. Where did you receive this great gift of privilege and honor?", stammers the automaton. "From a friend on the Fourth World, now do as I command!"

"Hey, hot shot, how're you gonna handle the fire? I'm getting texts and tweets like crazy, it's climbing towards us! It's a fast one, to top it off!" "That's where I come in with a laser blast and a nearby hydrant." He points to the ground randomly and water blasts in front of the Lexcorp Tower. "…lucky shot", Mercy begrudgingly admits while climbing on Lex's back.

"Calculating crowd size, force needed to maintain riot crowd, and time used during situation", Brainiac mutters matter-of-factly as Lex flies off.

Midtown Metropolis 5th Ave Alleyway

"So, Jimmy, I know this can be a bit frightening, seeing a big scary robot try to kill us", Clark calmly comforts. "A bit? Dude, we almost died there!", Olsen replied, sweat trickling down his forehead. "To be fair, I almost die a lot on the job. That's just how the world we report on works nowadays", Lois interjects. "She's got a solid point. These capes are making more headlines than most papers could dream of for a decade's worth of papers", Clark adds. "But more than anything, there are ways we can report on them safely. We can teach you those ways and make sure you get the long career you deserve, son." "How? By taking off your H&M suit and showing off your big red S?"

"Jimmy, I already told you back at Lexcorp, I'm not Superman." "So the space robot's lying? No human ever can build a fully functioning man-sized robot with its own brain that quick AND give it a working cannon arm! I don't like Lex one bit, but he didn't build it, so maybe it's right." "Damn, you're a smart kid", Lois mutters, crying tears of joy.

"See? Even Lois knows I'm right!" "Child, calm down. I'm proud at your reporter skills, that's it. I never said you were right." "Then take off your shirt." "What?! Only I get to ask him that, little man!" "Take off your shirt and show me you're not wearing the big red Superman S underneath it." "Jimmy, that's a bit extreme, don't you think?" "Do it, and I'll shut up forever about it." "He's not Superman, Jimmy. That's final", Lois barks.

Suddenly, a parade's worth of fire trucks and police cars zip past the alleyway. "Wait, where are they going?", Jimmy asks. "Lexcorp Tower, probably handling our metal friend there before Superman shows up." "You mean before you show up."

"Ya know what, fine. I'm Superman", Clark sighs, standing up straight. "I believe in truth and justice for everyone. I believe that people are good at their core, no matter the circumstances. I know that the world is a good place and it's our job to make sure that there's a world for kids like you. Me and Superman are the same in that sense, so that makes me Superman. Now, do you want Lois to bring you to the Planet or do you want to get another story in today with me?"

"N-no, I choose life", stammers Olsen. "Okay, then. I'll see ya tomorrow, and make sure you tell Perry I'll be there as soon as I can if you bump into him", Clark says, running off into the distance. Inside a dark, hidden corner of the alleyway, Clark rips his shirt to reveal his iconic symbol of hope, squats and leaps into action as Superman!

Above Lexcorp Tower

"Seems like the shareholders really aren't big fans of Brainiac", Superman thinks to himself, witnessing the fire rage on despite Lex's previous fix. "But it's nothing a quick round of super breath can't handle!" He nosedives into the roof, makes a timely left turn, and breathes a light layer of ice melting into water across every floor of the midtown mega hub. "How many people are down here, officer?", he bellows inside the lobby towards a nearby cop. "Superman! Thank the gods you made it; Stuart says there's at least fifty just inside the staircase trying to get out of the lower levels." "What about upstairs? There's a whole lot of floors for one building." "Who knows how many? There's maybe twenty guys doing their best to save any and everyone that's still up there." "Tell them help's on the way!", he chuckles, leaving a red and blue blur behind.

"God bless that man", the cop mutters to herself.

"Hey, folks, who here is injured and/or can't walk?", Superman shouts, hoping everyone heard him in a staircase. "Superman! I haven't seen you since that fiasco on the pier", replies a firefighter, carrying an elderly shareholder. "My guys are saying three hundred are on these five floors alone, let alone the entire building." "Okay, go get those folks. I'll bring these fine people out to the plaza", he replies, grabbing the crowd gently.

"I sense him; the Kyrptonian", Brainiac mutters with disgust. "He is here. He must be destroyed as the traitor he is." The mechanical menace slams through the floor, determined to follow his programming.

"How many more people are on the top floors?", kindly asks Superman, landing on the sidewalk of Lexcorp. "Maybe twenty more, including our guys. Ya got enough steam to save some more suits?", replies an EMT. "If I could save four hundred people in four minutes, I can grab a few more kindhearted folks. There's enough ambulances for them, right?" "Of course there is. Now go get 'em, champ!" The Man of Tomorrow zips off to the top of Lexcorp Tower for his supposed last round of rescues.

As he enters the penthouse floor, a cold chill encapsulates the area. "You are a traitor, Kyrptonian", Brainiac replies from a hidden location. "You were willing to kill our people for apes half as intelligent as our infants." "Who are you, and to what capacity do you serve Krypton?" "I will do any and all actions deemed necessary at the time of action to protect Krypton's legacy and people, regardless of whoever stands in my programmed desires. I wear the house emblems of the families that created me in some form. I am proud of my heritage, and will not defy the highest laws of Krypton." "Is protecting innocent lives and inspiring living beings like us to be the best versions of themselves against the laws of a dead planet?" "No. Engaging in mortal combat with our own military officers is, especially nearly killing them." "I did not kill them, and they survive in the depths of space unknown to me. Understand that, and help me save these innocent people of Earth. They don't deserve pain. No one does."

"Yet you want to kill off your species for conducting proper invasion protocols. They do not deserve to fight and gift land to traitors. I have the humans you seek to save, two in each of my hands. Surrender yourself to me, as per the traitorous arrest bylaws of the Krypton Grand Council, and I will protect your humans from harm." "They are not MY humans. They are individuals, they live their own lives. I just want these kind folks to have another morning with their families and smile another day. Please, strange creature, bring them to the authorities." "Do you fail to surrender yourself to me?" "I just want them to survive." "You do fail to surrender. I will not protect them for you, and they will die in the fire", the machine confirms.

Suddenly, a gray streak with red spots head-butts directly into Superman's torso, rocketing him through Lex's office doors and window, out into the open air of Midtown Metropolis. Proving Brainiac is anything but a liar, he extends his arms to reveal the four hostages and throws them from the forty story height into the hard, unforgiving concrete sidewalk. Superman, floating ten blocks away as he tries to regain his balance, hears the piercing screams of four innocent souls begging for life.

As the hostages thrust past the 39th floor, Superman rushes to only eight blocks away from Lexcorp Tower. Once they pass the 38th floor, he is six blocks away. As they approach floor 37, he is now four away. The hostages descend faster to the 30th floor as Superman is two blocks away. Fearing they'll only accelerate at a deadly rate, he nose dives to the sidewalk below and matches their falling speed once he's above them. Floor 25 whizzes by without a notice, and Superman begins his ascent up Lexcorp Tower's righthand side. As floor 20 approaches, the Man of Tomorrow readies his arms for the catch of their lives.

On floor 18, Superman catches the four hostages in a safe position, gently gliding down towards the nearest ambulance. "It appears that the Superman of Metropolis has not lost any strength since the traitorous act. He is still an active threat to Earth and its assimilation into the Grand Empire of Krypton", Brainiac contemplates aloud, slowly floating down towards Clark.

"Superman of Metropolis, you are indeed a Kryptonian of great strength, but you are too assimilated with these humans. It is useless to delay the inevitable, traitor", he berates Clark, pushing him onto the ground like a schoolyard bully. "I will discover your house of origin, and I will finish the directive Zod had begun", Brainiac informs, stepping on Clark's chest with assertive force. "You will not taint and erase our planet's legacy so swiftly, traitor. Before I do, there are Earthlings that must be accounted for", he synthesizes before flying off towards Upstate New York.

END OF CHAPTER 7