Chapter 10 - Jumper
Scene: Daily Planet newsroom.
"Ready Smallville? Heels up in five." Lois said excitedly, playfully tapping Clark on the shoulder. "By the time we get there, the story will be over." Clark complained. "Listen, Smallville, I love this whole eager beaver thing you've got going, but I'm heading to the little girls room. It would be difficult to garner an interview if I'm doing the potty dance."
With that Lois smiled and headed for the restroom. Clark chuckled. Lois, you are a piece of work! He silently praised. Within a few minutes, the newly energized reporter team was on the ground in front of Glandville Tower. The media had gathered to the right of the structure behind the yellow police tapelines. High above them helicopters swirled.
Lois and Clark pulled up in a gray MetroCab. Clark paid the driver, and Lois hustled towards the nearest policemen. "Dano, what have we got?" She questioned Detective Dan Turpin. "Classic jumper scenario. Martin Simons, depressed and bordering psychotic, says he's going to end it all. Keeps rambling on about some evil being bringing about the Apocalypse." Turpin replied.
Lois scribbled all that down and handed Turpin a piece of paper. "What's this?" He frowned. "Don't worry, Dano, it's not a bribe. It's a coupon for a dozen doughnuts at the local Doughnut Hole." Lois smirked. "You always know what to do to get things done." Turpin praised.
"I'm a professional." Lois gibed. "Kent." Turpin nodded at Clark. "Staying out of trouble?" Clark shook his head. "Never." He joked. "Smallville, please tell me that you brought a camera." Lois asked as she turned to him. "Camera? For what?" Clark was puzzled.
"Standard operating procedures, Clark." Lois said seriously. "APB!" He cast her a confused glance. "Always be prepared!" Lois playfully admonished him. "Oh." Clark said sheepishly. "I might have one…hold on." He said, further befuddling Lois.
Clark had decided to go up and talk to Simons. It was about time for the Blur to make an appearance anyway. Simons was fifteen stories up, edging along the rooftop ledge. "I'll get it!" Clark said to her before he zipped away. "Where is it?" Lois asked, but Clark was gone.
"Smallville?" She asked the empty air. "How did he get away so fast?" She muttered. Clark sped up to the rooftop, and was about to sneak up on Simons, when a slim shadow cut him off. "Hey Clark!" A female voice startled him. "Laura?" He asked. Laura Lake was in full Gold Wing mode, with her mask, cape, and leather get up.
"I got this one, Clark." Laura offered, momentarily taken in by his wide eyes. "Its broad daylight. Even you can't hide your identity as the Blur in bright sunlight." Clark nodded. "I know. I've been thinking about that. I'm tired of living in the shadows. I need to be me."
"Are you sure about that?" Laura questioned. She saw hesitation in his eyes. "If someone catches you on film, it's over. Your life as mild mannered Clark Kent, Daily Planet reporter will be effectively over. Lois would automatically become a target for any and all enemies of the Blur. As fast as you are, you can't guard Lois twenty four seven and help Metropolis."
"I know. It's something I have to do." Clark defended. "Trust me on this, Clark." Laura continued to press her point. "It's noble that you want to 'come out' so to speak, but how about this?"
Laura untied her black facemask and handed it to Clark. "Try it on." She urged.
"I don't really like masks, Laura." Clark whined. "Yeah, but think about it. No one has ever seen the Blur before. You can still keep your alter ego in check." She went on. "Here." Laura untied her cape and gave it to him as well. "Just give it a shot, that's all I ask." She insisted.
Clark reluctantly put on the mask and cape. "By the time we finish debating, Simons will be a big red splotch on the pavement." Laura commented. "Let's see." Clark turned towards her. "It needs something." She rubbed her thin chin. "I got it! Promise me that you'll wait here."
"Laura, we have to hurry." Clark complained. "Hurry is my middle name." She quipped. "Actually it's Anne." She joked and zipped away, returning in seconds with hair gel and mousse. "Laura, you didn't…" Clark grumbled. "Relax, Clark. I sped down to Bloominghales and grabbed a couple of free samples."
"Go on and slick back your hair, then mousse it in place." Laura directed. This gave Clark a whole new look, which was the goal. "I like it." She encouraged. "It's a little too Dracula meets the Phantom of the Opera, but I don't think anyone will recognize you from a distance. Go!"
"Thanks, Laura." Clark appreciated her efforts. He zipped close to the suicidal citizen. Clark made it a point to get within grabbing distance if his efforts to talk down Simons went awry. "Mr. Simons." Clark said, as he magically appeared at the distraught man's side.
Simons wavered as Clark startled him, but he still managed to walk along the rooftop edge. "How did you get up here?" Simons asked. He was pale and frightened but otherwise seemed in good health. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that you needn't jump. Things can always get better. You need to have hope, and give it a chance." Clark began his psychological banter.
Laura meanwhile, had called Kara on her cell phone, as she hid in the shadows behind a large air conditioner unit. "K Girl. We need your help. How about some aerial assistance?" Laura explained the situation to the young Kryptonian beauty.
Back on the ground, Lois waited impatiently for Clark to return. How can we function as a team, if half of the players aren't in the game? She groused silently. The crowd had stopped milling about, and began to point and gesture excitedly towards the rooftop.
Lois followed their gaze, and spotted the caped shadow edging nearer to Simons. "The Blur!" Lois announced happily, as her heart raced. "Bravo!" She shouted. The rest of the crowd picked up on Lois's observation. They yelled and cheered. "It's the Blur!"
"Clark, where the hell are you?" Lois complained aloud as she pushed closer towards the yellow police tapeline. Turpin and the rest of the attending policemen had their hands full holding back the crowd and keeping order. Four helicopters buzzed the rooftop.
A blue and gold streak suddenly flew in between the helicopters, causing a disturbance in the local airflow. Two of the choppers backed off, hoping to soften the instability. The turbulence continued for a long while, as the streak zipped back and forth around the Glandville Tower.
Mysteriously, two of the cameramen fell back into a helicopter's fuselage. Two others reported that their cameras' batteries had overheated. Two more reported melted camera lenses. That left them with only their photographic cell phones to snag pictures of the Blur.
Clark continued his rooftop rescue. "Mr. Simons, what is so bad that you would want to end your life?" The scared citizen gawked openly at him. "Why do you care?" He asked, and to Clark seemed to be thoroughly in his right mind. "I care about every Metropolis citizen." Clark replied, remembering to keep his caped back towards the distressed helicopters.
"You can't do it alone." Simons sounded rational to Clark. Something wasn't right here, he mused. "Can't do what alone, Mr. Simons?" The man stood his ground firmly. "You can't save Metropolis from it. You can't save anyone from it."
"Save them from what?" Clark encouraged. "The end of all things." Simons responded. Now Clark wasn't so sure about him. "Who could end all things?" He pressed the would-be jumper. "The evil one. The devil. Satan." Simons rambled. "I'm not particularly religious, Mr. Simons, help me to understand." Clark kept the bothered man talking.
Clark thought that this was taking too long. He considered just grabbing Simons now and setting him down in the alley out of the way of prying eyes. The only problem with that plan was that Simons would likely just try it again, or kill himself another way.
No, Clark had to get to the bottom of this. He needed to know with certainty that Simons wasn't truly a psychotic bent on his own destruction. He silently wished that he could contact Chloe at Watchtower, and get a psychological profile on Simons. That would have to wait.
"Mr. Simons, tell me who's after you, tell me why you think that someone evil is out to destroy us all. I can stop virtually anyone from doing harm." Clark hoped that he could back up his boast. "You can?" Simons suddenly calmed down. "Yes, I can." He replied confidently.
There it was, a glimmer of hope for Simons and Metropolis. "Are you powerful enough to defeat Satan?" Simons asked in a relaxed tone. "I'll certainly give it my best effort." Clark said sincerely. Clark doubted that any such being existed…unless Simons was referring to Mobus. That powerful being from another realm was more than a match for Clark.
Could Mobus have returned, making good on his threat? Clark silently hoped not. This time, Clark would be more prepared, and he had Kara and Laura as backup. Simons was essentially correct, maybe he couldn't just do everything alone. Oliver Queen had taught him that.
"I promise that I will face any threat to Metropolis and its citizens." Clark reassured Simons. "Now lets get down off this ledge and relax." Simons was hesitant, but made a very brief step towards Clark. The crowd below cheered, but the building seemed to shift.
Simons lost his balance…but Clark's reactions were quicker. He held Simons strongly but carefully by the wrist. "He's here! See! He's here!" Simons sounded panicky. "There's no one here." Clark insisted. "It was just…an earthquake tremor."
Clark yanked Simons onto the flat top of the building, and ushered him towards the rooftop entrance that led back down into the offices. Clark didn't think that an earthquake fault line ran beneath Metropolis, or that the building shook purely by accident at that exact moment.
Someone was here, but whom? He wondered silently. Some meteor freaks possessed substantially powerful abilities, as he recalled, but were they facing a new type of threat?
By now, the police and paramedics had reached the rooftop, clambering up the stairway from the building's interior.
They opened the door, just as Clark reached it. He had to move fast. "Mr. Simons, go with these men and get some help, I'll be around." He directed, just as the first policeman crossed the doorway threshold, Clark zipped away with split second timing.
They carefully took Simons into custody, and gave him a sedative. Clark rejoined Laura near the back of the rooftop. "You didn't shake the building did you?" He inquired. "No. I felt it, but sped around the area and didn't see anyone out of the ordinary." She informed him.
"There's more going on here then we can see, Laura." Clark said with disdain. "I don't think Simons was a wacko at all. Someone scared him into attempting suicide, and I will get to the bottom of this." He added with determination.
"One more thing, Laura." Clark began, handing her some money. "Can you pick up one of those disposable cameras?" She cast him a puzzled glance and complied, zipping away. Laura returned promptly with a camera she'd bought in the office building's gift shop.
Kara had been watching from just above them, and flew in from behind a taller building. "Hey cuz!" The alien teen smiled brightly. "Thanks for that assist up there." Clark pointed to the still circling helicopters. The three superheroes remained hidden from view beneath an old rusty awning.
Kara snapped a few shots of Clark from above and behind. The photos would only show the black cape, and slicked back hair of the Blur. Kara shifted frequently to add some movement to the shots, and Laura breathed on the lens to fog it up. "Thanks you guys." Clark smirked.
Clark returned Laura's mask and cape to her, which she donned immediately. After filling Kara in on the disturbing events of the day, the young superheroes parted ways. The crowd below was starting to disburse. The rescue teams began to leave the scene as well.
Lois stood alone and furious next to Dan Turpin who was directing the removal of the police tapelines. Clark fluffed his hair back up, and casually strolled over beside Lois. He stood behind her silently for a few moments. "Pretty exciting, huh?" He grinned, camera in hand.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Lois snapped coldly without turning towards him. "Lois, I know what you're going to say…" Clark had expected this type of reaction from her. "I seriously doubt that, Clark. I just had to part with a coupon for my favorite Bear Claw Latte to get another tidbit of information from Turpin. You missed everything!"
"I thought we were supposed to be a team…" Lois whirled to confront him. "What's wrong with your hair?" Clark stared at her blankly. "It was windy." He said lamely. "Anyway…" Lois was about to launch into a new rant.
"Before you send me back to the copier room, you might want to take a look at these." Clark waved the disposable camera at her. Lois was speechless at first. "Please tell me that you grabbed a picture of the Blur." Clark nodded. "Yeah, and then some." He said proudly.
"According to what I overheard the police discussing, Simons had never been in trouble with the law. He'd never gotten so much as a parking ticket."
Clark relayed a truthful statement, which made him feel better about lying to Lois. "So he just snapped?" Lois was skeptical.
"I'm not convinced that Simons was crazy and suicidal at all." Clark continued as Lois smirked. "What orifice did you pull that one out of, Smallville?" She asked cynically. "Something or someone frightened Simons so much that he wanted to take his own life." Clark replied sternly, also the truth, he noted.
"Really?" Lois narrowed her eyes. "Was it depression, drugs, alcohol abuse, broken marriage, loss of a fortune in the stock market?" She ticked off suicide reasons on her fingers. "We don't know any of that right now." Clark conceded. "We need to get back to the Planet and do some research before the government or someone else puts a hold on his file."
"Government?" Lois's eyes widened. "Are you sure that you haven't been listening to the left wing nut balls on the radio? I mean are we talking black helicopters and all?" Clark shook his head. "I don't know. Call it gut instinct. We still have these to process." He boldly handed her the camera. "Gut instinct, eh Smallville? That's good enough for me." Lois said taking his arm.
They walked back to the main street and hailed a cab. "Well done, Smallville. We'll make a top notch reporter of you yet." Lois praised as Clark held the door for her.
"Lois, did you happen to notice a slight earthquake when the Blur grabbed Simons off the ledge?" Clark inquired, in a total change of subject. "Earthquake, in the middle of Kansas? Not likely, Clark. I didn't really feel anything at all. Unless you're referring to me feeling the Earth move under my feet when I finally spotted the Blur." She flirted. "Nice." Clark scowled.
He continued to frown, which played into Lois's hands. How can I be jealous of myself? He wondered incredulously. The truth was that Lois had confirmed his suspicions. That tremor he felt would have to be caused by someone within the building, but who, or what?