Serial Four, the amulet of Magog and Black Manta. These were the three things that had been revolving around in her head for the past few days. Lois was not sure what to make of any of them. Serial Four was the most elusive, despite them knowing the most about it. The amulet had been found off the coast of an ancient island once thought forgotten. Diana had taken it to Themiscyra in preparation for research that Bruce wanted to conduct on it. Black Manta, well that was something Arthur would need to handle. No, it was Serial Four that continued to bother her, and from the way Clark looked now, staring aimlessly at the television, she knew it bothered him as well.
"What's wrong, Clark?" She asked, she knew that being direct with Clark would get more information from him than beating around the bush.
"There was something off about the person I saved yesterday." Clark replied.
"The one who you saved from the robbers?" Lois asked.
"Yes." Clark replied.
"What makes you think there was something off about them?" Lois asked.
"I don't know how to explain it, Lo, but there was something definitely off about them." Clark stated.
"Well, talk me through it. What did they look like, what did they sound like?" Lois asked, she knew that unlike someone like Booster Gold, Clark actually paid attention to the people he saved, especially as people often spoke a lot more straight after being saved.
"They were of medium height, thin, with auburn hair, and green eyes. A woman, aged forty I'd say, maybe fifty. She spoke about something called a tachyon prototype, and how it was important to what was happening. I asked her where she worked and she said Mercury Labs. But I know Doctor McGee, and after that rogue speedster kidnapped her, she's stopped working on anything to do with the prototype and instead handed over the designs to Star Labs." Clark said, something in his voice making the hair on the back of Lois's arms stand up.
"Why would she hand something like that over to the competition? I know she and Harrison Wells are friends, but don't you think it's just a bit convenient that she gets kidnapped by a rogue speedster who was never found, and suddenly she's handing over something she'd spent a long time working on, to someone who'd benefit from it the most?" Lois asked.
"Are you suggesting that Wells organised for some speedster to come and kidnap McGee for the technology?" Clark queried. "I don't know it doesn't sound like Wells."
"Yes, not the Wells we know, but Clark, you, yourself have said that there's something off about Wells, how do we not know that this isn't the exact thing that's been off about him?" Lois asked.
"I suppose that could be something that makes sense." Clark conceded. "But that wasn't the thing that was off about the woman."
"Then what was?" Lois asked.
"It was the way she held herself, even though she'd been assailed by two of Mannheim's goons, she held herself strongly and without fear. Indeed, it seemed as though she was quite annoyed with me for coming to aid her. As if I had prevented her from doing something. And, there's another thing, when I arrived at the scene, there was ice on the ground." Clark stated.
"In the middle of summer?" Lois asked surprised.
"Yeah, which was why I wasn't sure what to make of the whole scene." Clark said.
"There was only one person who could produce ice even in the middle of summer, Clark, and she died. She died fighting Abaddon when she consumed too much of his heat. We buried Crystal Frost." Lois said, biting down the emotion, Crystal had been her friend before the ice had taken over.
Clark pulled her to him and she buried her head in his warmth. "I know Lo, I checked with Bruce, Crystal's tomb is firmly shut, and there's been no visitors in the past five years since she died. It's just that this ice thing got me thinking, we know for a fact that Lord has been experimenting on people, or rather he was, before the programme got shut down. What if this is what Serial Four is preparing for?"
Lois looked up. "What? Experimenting on humans to turn them into metas, for what use?"
"To control people, you know Lord, he wanted to control everything and everyone within existence. The President could benefit from having his own force to intimidate people into doing what he wants, especially as he has several bills being put before the Congress floor, all of which have drawn some form of criticism or another. It would make sense. After all they're going to know that we found the amulet not them, Gog won't be coming back, and so they're going to have to find a new way of dealing with me and with the league. Creating a whole lot of new metas for us to handle is the perfect distraction." Clark reasoned.
Lois nodded, she could see that, it made her more nervous though, not less. "Would they ever consider creating something that could destroy you? Gog is a God, or some other being, he isn't coming back we know that. But is there anything else that could destroy you?"
Clark seemed concerned by her query, or was it because she'd asked it so emphatically? He took a moment before replying. "I think that for that they'd need to know precisely what could kill me. And no one apart from the league know that Kryptonite can harm me. The league, you, my mum and dad and Jonathan. Not even Lex knows. So, I don't think they could."
Lois bit her lip. "Lord is smart enough to figure it out though. Didn't he come up with the designs for Metallo?" She still remembered when that monster had breathed onto the scene and the damage he'd done to Clark, before Ollie had come in and removed the monster from the world. Something she was secretly grateful for, even if Clark never liked talking about that and what he thought it had done to Ollie.
"I believe so, yes." Clark conceded.
Before Lois could reply, her phone rang, she answered. "Hello?"
"Lois Lane, if you want to know more about Serial Four, and The President's involvement, come to the pier in thirty minutes, and bring your camera. I have documents you will want to take photos of." Said the voice on the other end before hanging up.
Lois put the phone down and turned to Clark. "I think I've just found a lead for the Serial Four investigation."
"Who?" Clark asked eyebrow raised.
"I don't know who, but they got my number and asked me to come with Jimmy, they said they'd have documents that I'd definitely want to look at." Lois said fighting to keep excitement from boiling up.
Clark looked unconvinced. "I'm not sure Lo, it seems awfully convenient don't you think? Someone calls about Serial Four just as we're talking about it?"
"Clark, the same thing happened when we exposed Lionel Luthor, and you remember that don't you?" Lois said, reminding her husband of one of their greatest journalistic moments.
Clark sighed. "I know. At least let me come with you." Lois was about to speak when Clark tensed, the expression on his face one he always got when something serious was happening. He turned back to her, expression apologetic. "Someone's getting chased in the centre."
"Go, go." Lois said ushering him on. Clark gave her a quick kiss.
"Be safe."
"You too."
Then he was gone in a red and blue blur. Lois was still for a moment and then she picked up her phone. "Jimmy, get your camera, we've got a lead." She hung up, grabbed her bag and her keys and stepped out, locked the house and then got into her car. She picked Jimmy up, and as usual he remained quiet, they got to the pier, and they waited in their car for a moment, then she got out when she saw a figure approach them.
"Lois Lane?" The man, it was definitely a man asked.
"Yes. Who are you?" She asked.
"That's not important." The man replied.
"So, what do I call you?" Lois asked. She knew Perry he would never print something without a name for their own records.
"I don't care what you call me. I have information that will help you with your investigation into President Matthews." The man stated.
"How did you know about the investigation?" Lois asked.
"Someone at your paper is a rat, they're leaking information to Matthews and his cabinet. They are coming for you and the Daily Planet, Missus Kent. They will not stop until you are silenced." The man said. He handed her the papers. She read through them, her heart sinking. "Take pictures of them for proof." Lois gestured to Jimmy and he came forward snapping as many shots as he could of the different pages. When he was done, he stopped and stepped back. "President Matthews has been swindling money from the tax payers for years, he has more off shore accounts than just the ones that you found for Serial Four. He has been biding his time waiting for the right moment."
"The right moment for what? What has he been preparing for?" Lois asked, she had a feeling it was not Gog, though whether this man knew about Gog was another matter.
"He's been preparing for the day when Superman would turn bad. There has been a lot of speculation and a lot of other talk amongst people like Matthews on the Hill, about the threat that Superman poses, and why he must be dealt with. And yes, he has saved everyone more than once, but the consequences of that are things that he does not have to face. The politicians do, and so they are the ones plotting his downfall." The man said.
"Downfall?" Lois asked, a sinking sensation forming. "Downfall, how?"
Here the man didn't speak for a beat. "There is a method by which Superman can die. There are plans and plans of deciding his fate. There is a mythical beast from ancient times who they think could destroy Superman, something named Gog, but that has gone now. And then there is something else, a beast from Krypton, Superman's home planet. A beast so terrifying that even the most powerful of Kryptonians feared it. That beast is coming, Missus Kent, and it is coming quickly."
Lois felt a chill run through her. "How do you know all of this? Are you a cabinet minister?" the question felt silly, but right now with how she was feeling it made sense to her.
The figure laughed. "No, I just know how these people think. I work for the President. I know more about him and about you and your husband than anyone else alive."
"How?" Lois asked, suddenly very nervous.
A green light appeared suddenly, where it came from she was not sure, but it was there, blinking before her. "Because it is my job, my sworn duty. I knew what needed to be done and I did it. You see you and your husband and the President aren't all that different."
"What?" Lois exclaimed, outrage removing her fear.
"You all believe in making the world better, to fit your image. You've never questioned whether the world was the way it was despite people like you, not because of people like you. You don't care about the collateral damage, and you don't care about the people who get hurt. And that, that stops now." The man said.
"Jimmy, let's go." Lois said. She was about to turn around when there was a gunshot. She turned then and saw Jimmy's crumpled form.
"I don't think you can go anywhere, Missus Kent. You see my boss wants to speak to you." The man said.
"What boss?" Lois demanded, fear and rage battling one another now.
"You'll see." The man replied as the green light got stronger, so strong in fact she was sinking to her knees. And the world was disappearing from view.