Outside Spiffany's, Metropolis
It's near enough 2 o'clock. Everyone's busy getting themselves ready outside the infamous jewellery store that had been built in the 1930s and was tragically burnt down in the 1980s, by unknown means. Now, it's been rebuilt to restore the former glory that it was so famous for and to give another good name to the city of Metropolis.
Amongst all the reporters, anchormen and women, cameramen and photographers, Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen have joined the mass, their voice recorders at the ready, Jimmy's camera locked and loaded.
"Thanks again for helping me out last night, Smallville. That was very selfless of you…and Ollie," Lois expresses her gratitude, even though Clark can tell by her body language and the sound of her voice that she was having some difficulty putting it across.
After Ollie had dropped her off back at the Talon, Lois had already found the place deserted, cursing herself for forgetting to accompany Chloe to the dress-fitting. After a lengthy apology over the phone with Chloe, who figured that she wouldn't be able to accompany her after all the drinks she'd downed at her engagement party last night, Lois hit the shower. After that, Lois dried herself off, slipped into something more presentable; a cream-coloured silk blouse, a beige pencil skirt to go with it and a pair of auburn high-heels, and headed off straight to the Daily Planet.
There, she was approached by the boss herself, Tess Mercer, and was informed that she, Clark and Jimmy were covering the reopening of Spiffany's scoop, which is where they are right this minute.
"It's no problem, Lois. I always take care of my closest friends when they're in need…Ollie too of course," he responds, looking away again to admire the effort the people had put into the decoration of the reopening of Spiffany's, remembering a time not long ago, before attending his father's funeral to be exact, when his mother was caressing both her engagement and her wedding rings, enlightening him on the fact that his father had bought them both from Spiffany's.
An expensive price to pay, but he bought them both for her out of sheer love. Mind you, he had to juggle between two jobs in order to afford them and it was practically killing him, but he'd told her that it was worth it. After his mother had told him, Clark couldn't deny it. His father's love for his mother was irrefutable.
Still staring at the flashy decoration, Clark returns to the present, can't help thinking that Spiffany's had definitely played an important role in his parents' lives and wonders if it might make a similar appearance in his. He can dream, can't he?
"-Smallville? Are you with us? Hey, earth to Smallville!" Lois' voice and the clicking of her fingers wakes him from his thinking, turning to face her and Jimmy, with a smile filled with perfect, white teeth on his face, "Sorry, I was just thinking for a moment and I guess I got a little carried away."
He sees the not-so-amused look on Lois' face with her hands firmly on her hips, worrying that her fingernails might be digging into her skin as she says, "Well, it's a good job I brought you back from Cloud 9 because they're about to start the ceremony." Lois then points to the stage and Clark turns to look in its direction, seeing Mayor Berkowitz approaching it, sporting an impressive suit that he knew he wouldn't be able to afford in his lifetime.
What perks his interest though, is the fact that his boyfriend, Ollie, and his boss, Tess, are also accompanying him to the stage as well. Something that Ollie had failed to mention to him back at Kent Farm. This must be what he meant when he said he had some business to attend to in Metropolis, but why couldn't he have just told me?
"What's Ollie and Tess doing up there with the Mayor?" Clark asks, earning another huff from Lois, "Is your brain still up on Cloud 9, Smallville? Ollie and Tess are the Mayor's Guests of Honour for helping restore this place. Didn't Ollie tell you?"
Clark, his eyes still focusing on Ollie, utters softly, "No, I guess he just forgot to mention it. He's been real busy lately with Just-err, work business. Come on, let's get a closer look." Clark says, saving himself from blurting out what Ollie really gets up to when he's not administering his family's company.
Lois looks back at Jimmy, who she can tell is too busy thinking about his and Chloe's engagement party last night than her conversation with Clark, and shakes her head, thinking to herself why she even bothers half the time.
As the trio take their places amongst the crowds of other reporters from rival papers and networks, they all watch the stage as the Mayor approaches the podium, holding onto its sides, a smile on his face that shows off his impressive, white teeth.
"Citizens of Metropolis, I, your Mayor, proudly welcome you all to the reopening of a store that had touched our hearts with its dazzling display of assorted jewellery, made from the finest diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other such precious gemstones, before it was inexplicably burnt down back in the '80s. For what felt like many years of careful planning and consideration, I finally made the deal to restore it to its former glory, along with the financial help of my two Guests of Honour, Ms. Tess Mercer of LuthorCorp, and Mr. Oliver Queen of Queen Industries, who both cooperated fully in its restoration. So, without further ado, I present to you the new-and-improved Spiffany's, protected with the latest in high-tech security, courtesy of both LuthorCorp and Queen Industries."
As the crowd, which also consists of Ronnie and his classmates, erupt into a round of applause as Mayor Berkowitz's given the golden scissors to cut the red ribbon and does so in a matter of seconds. The cheering continues, but what everybody doesn't know, including Clark and Ollie, is that a certain villain is about to use this advantage to strike any minute…now…
"S'cuse me sir, but I can take it from here," a figure in an all-black spandex bodysuit replies, their face covered by a head mask of the same colour and material as their bodysuit, but judging by the sound of their voice, Mayor Berkowitz can distinguish that it belonged to a man.
"Who the hell are you?" He asks, astonished that someone that stands out like a sore thumb has managed to get by his security without causing a ruckus.
The spandex-clad figure grabs the Mayor by the throat and effortlessly lifts him into the air, his feet dangling in mid-air, trying to pry himself from the man's grip, but finding that it was surprisingly impossible. "Just call me Multiplex, sir."
Multiplex then hurls him in the direction of his guards who are almost upon him, but are all knocked down like bowling pins. Afterwards three of his duploids split from his body and Multiplex orders them to stay and stand guard, making sure no-one gets past them until he's collected every single piece of jewellery from inside.
As the crowds of people scatter, either screaming 'bloody murder' or not wanting to get involved, Clark, Lois and Jimmy stay exactly where they are, Jimmy's camera flashing like there's no tomorrow. At least they're going to have some high-quality pictures to go with their article, which they know they'll have to write up for tomorrow's edition.
"Jimmy, get Lois out of here! I'm going to get help!" Clark commands, shouting over the noise of the commotion, pointing in the opposite direction of it and Lois whipping her head around at the mention of her name. "What? No! I'm not leaving now when there's a huge story to cover!" She cried, as the trio dodge the flying guards who are being thrown around by Multiplex's duplicates.
"You are when there's a high possibility that you might be killed! Now don't argue with me Lois, go with Jimmy and find some place safe! I'm going to get help!" He might've sounded harsh, but he's only looking out for two of his best friends, not forgiving himself if anything happened to them.
Lois can see what he's feeling in his eyes as she looks up to him, nodding in silent agreement to what he's implying, putting a hand on Jimmy's shoulder and gently drawing him away from the tumult that seems to be getting worse, thanks to Multiplex having duplicated more of himself to hold back the guards and the police that have now arrived on the scene.
Now that Lois and Jimmy are out of harm's way, Clark's eyes revert to where Ollie and Tess were standing just moments ago, finding that they're nowhere in sight. In an instant Clark immediately concentrates, utilizing his super-hearing to pinpoint Ollie's heartbeat. He hasn't told his lover of this yet, but for the past week or so, he's been learning to hone his super-hearing ability so that whenever he wanted to find Ollie fast, he'd be able to do so with the sound of his heartbeat.
It's still in working progress, mind you, but he's getting there. After what felt like forever, too long in Clark's mind, his ears finally picks up the calm, gentle beating of Ollie's heart and he quickly hurries in its direction, finding that his love's escorting Tess into the back of her black limousine and ordering her chauffeur to get her out of there as quickly as humanly possible.
When the vehicle's out of sight, Ollie turns around to find Clark approaching him from the spot he'd occupied when the ceremony was beginning, just a few moments ago. On his face, Ollie can see that Clark must've been terribly worried for him and his heart warms at that fact, but he knows that they can't fret over tiny things like that. Spiffany's is currently getting robbed by a super being of unknown proportion and his duplicates are causing havoc with the police and the Mayor's bodyguards.
They need to act now and stop it before it gets way out of hand.
"Clark, before you ask, I'm fine, but our main priority is to stop that guy before he gets away." Ollie informs before he turns away, heading toward his car he's parked in a nearby alley to get his 'Green Arrow' uniform from out of the secret compartment situated in the trunk.
"I think that's pretty obvious Ollie, but there's one small problem. I don't have a costume to hide behind. I never needed to wear one because whenever I use my powers, I'm either doing it in secret or in front of people who know of them, which isn't particularly many Ollie." He clutches his hips with both hands, letting out a frustrated sigh.
Ollie scans the small vicinity, making sure that there's no-one around to see, before he begins stripping himself of his clothing until he's standing in his boxers. As he climbs into his leather green uniform, he suggests, "Why don't you find something in that costume shop across the street. There's bound to be something there you could slip into, but nothing too revealing. I don't want you distracting me from the task at hand." He then hints with his eyebrows before zipping himself up, pulling the hood over his head and slips on his dark glasses, to hide his identity from all-seeing eyes.
While he's busy equipping himself with his weapons, his green-coloured quiver, and other such necessities, Clark knows that Ollie's right about the costume shop and immediately zips there in a matter of seconds, thankful that there's no-one there, in plain sight anyway.
Looking around he can see all kinds of costumes on display for all kinds of occasions, especially the holidays, but nothing yet that'll hide his identity and stop Ollie from drooling from the mouth. When all hope seems lost, Clark finally spots the costume that does all of the above.
Within seconds, he's garbed in the costume which consists of a dark-blue spandex bodysuit, along with dark-blue gloves and boots, and a yellow belt around his waist. Also etched on his shoulders is a dark-blue cape that drapes down to the back of his knees. Upon his chest, a black symbol of a bird with its wings outspread is etched within a circle of white. Garbed in his desired costume, Clark speeds back out and joins Ollie, who's now Green Arrow, taking cover behind a police cruiser that had been turned over on to its side. He's also armed with his bow and arrow at the ready.
Green Arrow glances upon the costumed Clark and can't help, but emit a soft wolf-whistle, seeing how the spandex clings to his body very nicely. "Wow Clark, that costume looks really good on you," he replies, his voice's deepened, different in order to mask it from his true identity. "Have you thought of a name for yourself or are we going to have to go with Clark."
Clark's mind runs through all the code-names he'd seen from all the comics he'd read and the superhero cartoons he'd watched as a kid, deciding on one that's better suited for his costume. "Yeah…you can call me Nightwing."