Out On The Town: Chapter 21

"Aren't we interfering with police business by patrolling the streets of Metropolis?" Clark asked Lois, as they finished getting dressed. "Not really, Clark. Like Perry said, this town is a cesspool. The police are outmatched, outnumbered, and outgunned by the criminal element."

"They'd be more than happy to get the help, I'm sure. The citizens of Metropolis would appreciate being able to walk the streets safely at night." She concluded, adding a final fix to her lengthy chestnut brown hair for the evening.

"What if more people see us?" Clark hesitated as Lois packed a camera and notepad into her purse. "That's the idea, Smallville." Lois said as she zipped up her purse and attached it to a belt above her slim hips. "The red and blue blur needs street cred, and results for the cops."

"MPD won't fuss as much if we keep bringing in the criminal populous, or at least shining a light on every dark corner of the city's underbelly." Lois continued. "Most MPD squads will be sent out from HQ to quell the domestic disturbances, drunk and disorderly, and wild party calls."

"We want the big name, high impact crimes, like armed robbery, assault with deadly force, ag bats, attempted murder, and the occasional cat up the tree calls for the human interest angle to a story." She grinned thinly. "That's where the real game is." Clark whistled.

"It sounds like someone's been doing her homework." He praised. "Hey, you know me, Clark. I can't stay idle for long." The overzealous reporter was still on a kryptonite infused rush. Lois had barely slept in the last few days. Clark wondered when she'd finally come down, so to speak.

This high level of hyperactivity couldn't be maintained for long by a normal human. Clark and Kara had already planned to bring Lois to Dr. Hamilton. The question was how to get her to cooperate. Kara's blue kryptonite ring solution seemed to him to be the best way to go.

Once Lois put it on, she'd be more or less human and powerless. Clark could forcibly drag her to Hamilton's office if need be. He pictured Lois kicking and screaming all the way in. Lois had known about Clark's secret for a while now. She'd seemed okay with it so far, he mused.

Clark was still testing her. He wondered if once Lois got back to normal, she'd still feel the same. It didn't work with Lana Lang, who seemed jealous of Clark's abilities at times. Lana had attempted and failed to turn herself into a superhero.

"Where do we start?" Clark asked as Lois finalized her route with Chloe's borrowed GPS unit. "All of the major action is near the Ace of Clubs, that meat market bar, slash restaurant, in downtown Metropolis. As we know from experience with Luthor, Rowland, and Mosuban, big money breeds big crime." She replied as Clark opened the farmhouse door for her.

"Isn't it expensive to get into the club?" Clark pondered. "Hello! We don't need to pay to get in!" Lois reminded him as they started for her car. The plan was to park at the Daily Planet and canvass it from there. This made it look like the crime-fighters were just normal average citizens.
"That's not fair, Lois!" Clark remarked. "Everyone else has to pay to get in." Lois put her hands up in resignation. "Fine! We'll pay the cover charge. If we come up with a story, we can charge it to the paper as working expense." Clark was forced to compromise with her. "Okay! Backing off!" he said, opening the car door for her.

"Here's another thing." Clark began as Lois patiently listened. "If we spin around the town saving people, someone's going to recognize us, meaning Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Me, I'm not as worried about, because no one knows me from Adam. You, on the other hand, have a picture next to your articles in the paper." Lois considered his point.

"You're right, Smallville." Lois's eyes sparkled mischievously. "We need, at least I need, a disguise. Something that allows freedom of movement, yet is something I would never wear in public as Lois. I've got it! We'll make a quick stop at Parkdale Mall."

They pulled up in the parking lot of the mall a bit later. Lois guided Clark inside, and they cruised at more or less normal human walking speed until Lois found what she was looking for. "Here we go, Smallville." Lois snickered as she hastily wrote something down on a piece of paper, handing it to him. "These are my proportions, knock your socks off!" Lois smiled as Clark reddened.

"Thirty Eight, Twenty Five, Thirty Six. Uh…Lois…you're not that large." He hesitated. "Aww! Thanks, Clark, and I thought that you hadn't noticed. Actually I included some padding to throw any witnesses off the track when describing me. Now scoot!" She slapped him across the buttocks.

"Are you sure about this?" Clark hedged, adding another shade of red to his face. "Yup! It's the only thing that I could come up with on short notice." Lois was clearly enjoying this. Clark reluctantly entered Jacqueline's Adult Lingerie Boutique, and began shopping around. Lois nearly doubled over with laughter as a pleasant and sexy young worker came up to him. "Can I help you?" She cooed.

Lois casually watched from a bench in the mall. After a few minutes, Clark returned with his purchase, discreetly wrapped, and brushed the sweat from his brow. A sweaty Clark Kent was always a bad sign. They walked out to the car and Lois opened up her 'costume's' box. "Perfect." She praised. Clark had picked out a royal blue teddy with bright red lace trim.

"Voila!" Lois smiled. "Meet the new red and blue blur. Did you bring the cape that you got as a souvenir from the Warrior Angel movie?" Clark nodded, unraveling the red cape and handing it to her. "Now for a quick change. Don't peek!" Lois teased as Clark covered his eyes.

Lois used her super speed to switch into the new clothes. In moments, Lois had donned the lingerie and fidgeted. "It is a bit loose." She commented. "How about a nice red sash to go with it?" Clark had opened his eyes and flushed. "Aha!" Lois spied a bright red decorative ribbon that had been tied to a promotional sign. She zipped over, pulled it off and tied it around her thin waist.

Don't fret, Smallville! I'll return it when we're done." Lois explained before Clark could protest. "One more thing…" She spotted a magic store near the end of the mall's parkway. She quickly zipped over, and bought a cheesy Mardi Gras type of mask, and tied it around her head.

"There we are." Lois was quite pleased with herself, though the store clerk was perplexed. "All that's left is the cape. Tie me up, Clark!" She exaggerated her voice purposely to tease him. Clark tied on the cape around Lois's throat, letting it flow freely. "What do you think?" Lois was half serious.
"Well Lois, no one will be looking at your face!" Clark flirted, as Lois smiled brightly.

"Let's roll!" Lois said as she slipped a nice black dress over her outfit. A brightly colored teddy would attract too much unwarranted attention. "We're going to be a team, Smallville!"

Lois began as she finished the short drive into the Daily Planet parking lot. "We'll root out the bad guys, snap some photos, and bust the perps by handing them over to the Metropolis Police Department."

"It sounds simple enough." Clark replied warily. They parked the car, and Lois tossed on her light gray trench coat. Clark had donned a nice white shirt, blue tie, and dress pants, otherwise they'd stand out at the ritzy Ace of Clubs lounge. "The game is afoot!" Lois quipped as they flagged a cab.

After paying the cover charges at the swanky club, Lois and Clark grabbed a seat in a dimly lit corner across from the fancy oak wood horseshoe shaped bar. "Now what?" Clark pressed. "Now's the boring part. We have to stake out the place by sitting on our duffs, until something happens."

Lois responded as Clark nodded absently. A couple of hours later, nothing at all suspicious had happened. It looked like the night of the blur would be shot down in flames. Lois and Clark swapped a number of personal stories about each other. To anyone else, they appeared to be a normal young couple on a date.

Finally after 10 PM, as luck would have it, H K Mosuban walked into the bar with a small, armed entourage. "Bingo!" Lois gestured in Mosuban's direction as Clark followed her gaze. "What if he doesn't do anything wrong?" He asked pragmatically.

"Don't be so negative, Smallville." Lois countered. "He's a crook, of course he'll do something wrong." Clark sighed and relaxed. At least he was keeping Lois occupied and out of trouble for the moment. Mosuban was talking on his cell phone.

Clark was reluctant to overhear the business mogul's private conversation. The entourage, meanwhile, took up posts at four different angles from Mosuban. "See that Clark? They're moving into position!" Lois said excitedly as she sipped an overpriced imported beer.

"They're security guards, Lois, that's what they do." Clark reminded her. "Whatever, Smallville! Mosuban's waiting for someone, mark my words." Sure enough, a few minutes later, Rex Rowland and his miniature entourage showed up. "Here it is, Clark! Game on!" Lois took another lengthy sip of the beer. Clark wondered if Lois might very well be right.

He'd seen Lex operate in much the same manner. Now the alien superhero was intrigued. Rex and Mosuban shook hands and sat at a table near the bar in full view of each other's security detail. Clark's curiosity got the best of him, and he began to eavesdrop:

"That's right, Mr. Mosuban. The shipment arrives tonight." Rowland confirmed. "One hundred and eighty cases, that's correct." Clark faced Lois, making sure that the crime bosses and security guards couldn't read his lips. "There's a shipment of something coming in tonight." He spoke quietly to her. "What? How could you know that?" Lois 's eyes widened.

Clark pointed to his ears. "Superior hearing." Lois smirked. "Really? Remind me never to talk about you behind your back." She quipped. "Nice!" Clark frowned, taking her gibe in stride. "Well, what is it, Clark? Drugs? Guns? Stolen artifacts?" She asked excitedly.
"Ssh!" Clark hushed her. "I might miss something." He went back to focusing on the crime lords' conversation. "Yeah, it's the latest model from Kajikistan." Rowland was explaining. "The AA13 will revolutionize the way we fight wars in the future." Mosuban listened, glancing around the room nervously.

"It's weapons!" Clark hissed angrily. "We've got them!" Lois grinned broadly. "Maybe!" Clark corrected. "Don't forget that they could be legitimate arms dealers." Lois snorted derisively. "Sure they are, and my Uncle Jack is really Miss America." Clark cast her a puzzled glance.

"Don't ask." She muttered. "Wasn't planning on it." He retorted playfully. "Here's the plan." Lois lowered her voice conspiratorially. "We'll follow them with our hyper speed and find out where the weapons are located. What kind are they?" She asked as Clark shrugged.

"Something called an AA13." He responded as Lois paled. "No! No freaking way!" She exclaimed, barely keeping her voice down. "What?" Clark asked worriedly. "The AA13 is based on an allegedly secret new weapon, created by our own wonderful government, called the AA12."

"The AA12 was in development a couple of years ago. It's at least ten times more powerful than an AK47 or Uzi. We're talking about a gun that can easily annihilate a standard car, turning it into a molten mess." Lois was horrified. "Clark, a one hundred and fifteen pound woman can fire it, with very little recoil. It's state of the art warfare technology."

Clark's mood darkened as he narrowed his eyes. "Enough weapons like that could upset the entire balance of power anywhere in the world. Mosuban and Rowland, and probably Lex as well, are selling this stuff to the highest bidder, I'd bet." Lois voiced the obvious: "We have to stop them."

Clark nodded. "But how, legally?" Lois grimaced. "Legally might not be possible, Smallville. Maybe we should tell Ollie? Did you catch anything else, aerial ears?" She teased. Clark refocused on the grim discussion. "Yes. The shipment…is at a cargo ship…The Montague Bay…in Metropolis harbor." Clark confirmed. "If we could catch them in the act, we can call the authorities."

Lois stared at him blankly. "It would be a bloodbath, Clark. Do you really think that the MPD has enough firepower to discourage Mosuban and Rowland?" Clark sighed, she's right. "What about the Feds?" Lois shook her head. "They're big government, remember? By the time that they cut through the red tape, the buy would've been made, and Mosuban and Rowland would be gone."

"We're going to have to take them out." Lois said with conviction. "This sounds like a job for superwoman!" Clark gasped. "Lois, we can't just kill them!" She grinned darkly. "Not kill them, Clark, simply stop them with a good amount of force."

"With our combined strength and speed, we ought to be able to locate the guns, and send them to the bottom of Metropolis Bay." Lois reasoned. "The Feds can scavenge for them after the fact, on their own time scale."

"It sounds easy enough." Clark began to give in. "Superwoman? Isn't that a bit over the top?" He teased her. "Deal with it, Smallville." Lois's eyes sparkled with delight. "Might I remind you that I'm the one wearing the teddy that's crawling up my…?"

"Another drink, Miss? Sir?" The charming, yet snooty, waiter asked them, interrupting the planning session. After he left, the banter continued. "You picked out the store to shop from." Clark playfully accused. "True." Lois admitted.

"Maybe I need a new outfit. Something less revealing, but more functional." She quipped. "Can we focus on the criminals, please?" Clark complained. "We don't know if you're bulletproof, I am, though lately I've wondered. Ever since we left Arizona I haven't felt up to one hundred percent power." Lois nodded. "We'll just have to move fast and avoid any stray ordinance."

Mosuban and Rowland shook hands and got up from the table. "Here we go!" Lois hissed as she hastily gulped down her beer. Clark finished his drink, just for show, because alcohol never really affected him. He admitted to himself that he was tired, though. That wasn't good at all.

Clark watched the security teams file out of the club alongside their bosses. He hated to admit it, but being out with Lois, and getting into this cloak and dagger stuff, made him happy. Maybe this whole blue and red blur thing would work out after all, he considered.

Clark paid the check and followed Lois out of the club and into the elevator. Mosuban, Rowland, and the guards were just a bit ahead of them. They had already made it downstairs and into the building lobby. "Ooh! This elevator's too slow." Lois complained. "We'd better not lose them!"

Finally, the doors opened and they watched from the concierge desk as the two crime lords led their teams in opposite directions. "They said 'midnight for the delivery.'" Clark repeated. "We should get there before them to run the sting." Lois contributed.

Clark heard two limousines leave the underground parking garage and a black SUV followed them at a slight distance. "Ready for a run?" Clark asked. "Not in these heels, Smallville!" Lois smirked as she removed her shoes. "Let's go!" The two superheroes dashed out into the night.