Rules of War
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 4
***
Bruce grimaced as he heard the sonic boom above. He stared up at the red streak as he held his hand to his side and looked around the abandoned alley.
“Cutting it close there, aren’t you, Master Wayne?” Alfred’s voice came over the radio.
“He’s faster than I thought,” Bruce remarked, pressing the button on his hands-free radio that was embedded inside the cowl of his uniform. He’d barely made it out of the area before Superman had shown up. After his confrontation last night, he didn’t want to risk another misunderstanding. Especially when he still had so many unanswered questions.
“Alfred, what do we have on an Inspector William Henderson?” Bruce asked, curiously.
“Decorated officer that’s moved up in ranks,” Alfred responded. “He’s actually a close friend of your source at Gotham P.D.”
“James Gordon?” Bruce asked, not waiting for Alfred to provide the name.
“I’m sending you what I’m able to find now,” Alfred responded and Bruce heard the tapping of the keyboard over the line.
“Thanks, Alfred,” Bruce said, walking toward the back of the alley and reaching his arm up to extend the grappling hook toward the roof of the towering building above him. He smiled to himself as he flew up through the air and made his way to the roof. Flying across buildings wasn’t as unusual in Metropolis as it had been in Gotham. Hopefully, he wouldn’t draw too much attention to himself.
***
“L-A-N-E,” Lois spat out irritably as she stared back at the disinterested officer that was doing the intake report on her harassment complaint. She threw an annoyed look at the officer as he yet again frowned at his computer. “What is so hard about this?”
“I’m looking…” the officer frowned as he tapped a few more keys.
“It can’t be this hard,” Jimmy gave the officer a pleading look. “I mean, with how many complaints that were already filed by Henderson.”
“I’m not seeing anything here,” the officer frowned.
“That can’t be right,” Lois shook her head adamantly. “There were at least a dozen reports.”
The officer pulled the screen around for her to see it and pointed at it, “See for yourself. Nothing.”
“What?!” Lois shouted, standing to her feet.
“Lois, calm down,” Jimmy jumped to his feet after her.
“Calm down?” Lois hissed out angrily. “Some sicko is ….” She stopped herself, taking a deep breath. There was nothing she could do here. If they didn’t have the reports on file then someone had to have done something to them. She glanced around the crowded precinct, suddenly feeling uneasy in the presence of all the officers that could be responsible for the sudden glitch. “Let’s go, Jimmy.”
“But don’t you want to file a report?” the officer asked confused.
“Why, so you can lose it again?” Lois scoffed irritably. “No thanks.”
***
Bill Henderson didn’t know who Superman was. That thought continued to roll through Clark Kent’s mind as he rode the rest of the way up the elevator, on his way to the newsroom. He wasn’t sure what had happened but something had happened to his friend. The elevator pinged, announcing his arrival onto the newsroom floor. The doors barely got all the way opened before he stepped out of the elevator, searching for Lois.
“Hey, I’m telling you it just showed up!” Ralph’s voice could be heard from his desk where Perry was standing over the new gossip columnist.
Curious, Clark approached, unsure what Ralph was referring to. “What just showed up?”
“The biggest scandal of the year!” Ralph boasted smugly, dumping out the contents of a large manila envelope on top of his desk.
“We still have to authenticate this before we can run with it,” Perry cautioned.
“I’ve seen a doctored photo before and this ain't it,” Ralph snorted, dismissing Perry's caution as he sunk down into his seat with a thud.
Clark glanced at the photos on the top stack of polaroids and tapes on Ralph's desk. Congressmen- conservative, family values and currently running for re-election - congressmen were passed out with what looked to be hookers hanging all over them. At first glance, it looked to be another group of politicians not living up to what they promised but there was something that felt off with the glossy image. “Can I see that?”
Ralph seemed hesitant but handed the photo over. Clark nodded his thanks and lowered his glasses to take a closer look. Every congressman was unconscious. On the table was a syringe next to a glass of whatever expensive liquor had been served. The congressman with the blonde on his lap had his right sleeve pulled up further than his left.
“Weren’t both Carter and Morris checked into the hospital a few nights ago?” Perry asked, peering over Clark’s shoulder to look at the photo more closely.
“Yeah, from partying too hard,” Ralph said with the wiggle of his eyebrows.
“They're unconscious,” Clark pointed out, tapping his hand on the photo. “From the looks of it, these guys were completely out of it.”
“But who knows when they actually passed out?” Ralph scoffed.
“Ralph, you’re new here so I’m going to let that one slide,” Perry drawled, placing a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “This is the Daily Planet. We don’t print anything without concrete evidence. Irrefutable hard facts. You got it?”
“But Perry…”
“Chief, ” Perry corrected.
Clark turned to the tapes on Ralph's desk, “Where did all these come from?”
“A source,” Perry responded with a grunt.
Clark looked at Ralph who sighed, “I don’t know. It showed up this afternoon. No return address.”
“So, someone drops this big scandal in the Daily Planet’s lap but doesn’t want any credit.” Perry shook his head, “This whole thing stinks.”
“Maybe they work there and don’t want to lose their job?” Ralph offered up.
“Maybe,” Perry drawled tapping his index finger on his chin, “but until we know for sure we’re not printing one drop of ink on this.”
“What if someone else gets a lead on this?” Ralph asked.
“What if this is a frame job and because we didn’t investigate, we opened the Planet up to a liability suit?” Perry countered. “The answer is no.” He pointed to the photos and videos on Ralph’s desk. “Look into it and keep me updated on what you find out.”
“Got it,” Ralph grumbled letting out a sigh of defeat.
Perry turned his attention to Clark, motioning for Clark to follow him to Perry’s office. “Lois mentioned you had a lead you were following up on?”
Clark nodded, searching the newsroom for his wife in hopes she would be able to save him from digging himself in a hole with his editor. He frowned when he saw Lois’ desk empty but responded to Perry's question the best way he knew how. “Uh, yeah, I heard about another sighting of this shadow.”
Perry groaned, “Not you too.”
“Me too?” Clark asked, not following what his editor was referring to.
“Ever since that raid at the Metropolis P.D. Jimmy’s been going on and on about this mysterious shadow showing up everywhere.” Perry explained, running a hand through his thinning hair, “It’s someone’s idea of an elaborate prank.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Chief,” Clark said, shaking his head. “According to Superman the witnesses that saw this shadow were also tied up by the time he arrived on the scene.”
Perry’s face grew contemplative and a concerned expression crossed his face, “Has Superman actually seen this shadow?”
“No,” Clark admitted with a shrug, “but there was enough evidence to suggest someone had been there.”
“Uh-huh,” Perry shook his head, “Well, until you do know something stick to the stories we can actually print.” Clark thought about arguing his point with Perry once more but from the look on his editor’s face, he thought that might be poking the bear too much. Perry cleared his throat and asked, “How did the interview with Bruce Wayne go?”
“I’m not sure it can be classified as an interview if the subject is asking more questions than answering them,” Clark sighed, shaking his head. At Perry’s look, he amended, “It got cut short. We’ll need to reschedule.”
Perry frowned, shaking his head, “While I’ve got you here, there’s someone I want you to meet. A new political analyst from DC.” He opened the door to his office and ushered Clark inside.
A tall African American man with square rimmed glasses stood to his feet as Perry entered the office. Perry gestured between the two men and introduced them, “Clark Kent, this is Ron Troupe.”
Clark’s eyebrows rose in recognition, recalling the name as one of the freelance reporters that had covered the presidential race last year. “Pleased to meet you.” He extended his hand to shake Ron’s. “I’ve read your work on the collusion scandal you followed last year with the Taylor administration. You were one of the few journalists actually covering both sides of the campaign.”
“For a long time, I was the
only one covering both sides,” Ron’s eyes twinkled as he looked back at Clark, “Good to meet you, Clark.” He looked toward Perry, “From what Mr. White tells me you and Ms. Lane will be working with me on the Vice President’s funeral piece?”
Clark gave Perry a surprised expression but quickly recovered, recalling the story he’d picked up on the wire when he’d been tending to rescues earlier. Perry cleared his throat and cut in, “Given how connected both you and Lois are I figured you two could help show Ron the ropes and make him feel right at home. This piece is both a city beat and political so you all can bring something to the table.”
“And you’ve told Lois this already?” Clark asked, knowing the answer already was ‘no.’
Perry patted Clark on the shoulder, “Well, not exactly,” Clark shook his head, knowing full well where his editor was headed.
“Not exactly what?” Lois’ voice came from the doorway where she was standing with Jimmy. The distressed look on her face caught his attention and Clark moved to her side as she stepped inside the office. Lois looked at Perry, “Perry?” Lois prompted.
“Lois, Jimmy, this is Ron Troupe,” Perry introduced the new reporter to her, “The Planet’s newest political analyst.”
“James Olsen,” Jimmy introduced himself, extending his hand to shake Ron’s. Ron nodded, shaking Jimmy’s hand and then turning back toward Lois.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Troupe,” Lois glanced between Perry and Ron, “Impeccable timing to start at the Planet given the Vice President’s murder.”
“Yes, well I didn’t plan it but what better way to learn than from the best?” Ron smiled back at her, “I look forward to working with both you and Mr. Kent on this one.”
“Well, I…” Lois looked back at Perry in surprise, “How many stories are we juggling now?”
“Three,” Perry supplied with an innocent grin.
“Four,” Clark corrected with a frown.
“Four?” Lois asked, looking back at Clark with a raised eyebrow. Before he could elaborate on the number of stories one of the interns tapped on Perry’s open door.
“Chief, you better come take a look at this!”
***
“Anything?” came Zymack’s voice as Bill Henderson fiddled with the wires inside the fuse box. Nothing seemed to be working in his attempts to get the power running through the fuses.
Bill let out a disgusted snort, “Nothing.”
“There’s got to be something around here we can use to juice this bad boy up,” Zymack said, looking around the room they were standing in.
“No, there’s nothing to juice it with. I don’t think we’re not on the power grid.” Bill looked toward the brick debris around the elevator. “The only way we’re getting out of here is to climb out.”
***
The twig below Johnny Denetto’s foot crackled as he moved through the dry grass-covered field, looking back at his map through the light of the lantern in his hands. “Are you sure this is the place?”
“Positive,” the soil engineer said with his hand pointed ahead. “Bureau 39 had this entire area combed through but our team found some unusual radiation in the soil here in Schuster’s field.”
“Radiation of the meteorite kind?” Denetto asked with a glint in his eye.
“You better believe it,” came the soil engineer’s response.
***
Jimmy stared at the monitor watching in shock as hundreds of names ran across the screen. Two-hundred and twelve. That was the latest count of congressmen that had resigned in the last hour. Photos and video footage of the congressmen that ran their campaigns on family values surfaced along with many alleged victims claiming assault, misconduct, and numerous other allegations against over two-hundred congressmen. It seemed unreal. Surely the congressmen would try to fight the allegations, right? Resigning seemed like an extreme reaction to some of the charges but it wasn’t.
Name after name scrolled across the list and the number changed from two-hundred and twelve to two-hundred and thirteen. It didn’t make sense yet here it was unfolding time and time again with the newsroom full of journalists scrambling everywhere in order to cover all the resignations.
Something more had to be at work here, but what it was he couldn’t be sure. Jimmy finally pulled his attention away from the screen and turned to the conference room where Lois and Clark were behind closed doors with Perry’s newest hire, Ron Troupe.
“Jimmy?” Perry called him over to him and Jimmy nodded, turning to his editor.
“What’s up, Chief?” Jimmy asked, forcing himself not to look at the monitors any longer.
“I want you to run a data search and let’s put together a report of all the congressmen that have resigned and compare that with everything we have from the election polls from last year.” Perry said, tapping his hand on his chin. “Just for good measure let’s keep a running tally on what the reasons for resignation were for each one too.”
Jimmy nodded, hearing the hidden meaning behind his editor’s instructions. Perry knew something was up as well. “You got it, Chief.”
***
Lois shook her head as she looked at the list in her hands. Clark opened the conference room door for her and Ron to exit. “How in the world does someone orchestrate this massive of a political scandal?” Lois wondered aloud. Clark placed a supportive hand on her shoulder as they walked through the newsroom and her attention moved toward the list in her hand once more. It wasn’t isolated to just the congressmen at this party that had taken place a few nights ago. The synchronized methods of photos, videos, eye-witness accounts, and supposed victims coming forward at exactly the same time were astounding and set off every red flag as her journalistic instincts screamed scandal.
“Obviously this is a power play of some sort.” Ron Troupe said as they walked back to their desks. “Who is behind this seems to be the big question.”
“This was thought out. Methodically planned and setup so everything would be timed at exactly the same time.” Clark said, shaking his head with a grimace on his face.
Lois glanced back at the list in her hand, “Speaker of the house has resigned.”
“Yeah, and once we hit over a hundred congressmen resigning the public’s right to vote for their representative became a null point. The replacements have to be appointed.” Ron pointed out. “Whoever is behind this knew exactly what they were doing. They want certain people in those seats.”
“But that would mean they have control over whoever is naming the replacements.” Clark reasoned aloud as they walked toward Lois’ desk.
“No one knows who that is though,” Ron explained, pointing to the monitor with the LNN Anchor continuing the same mantra she had for the last hour. “No one knows who is in charge.” As they approached Lois’ desk he stopped and asked, “You expecting a package?”
Lois turned her attention to the courier standing by her desk with a white envelope in his hand and a clipboard tucked under his arm. “Lois Lane?”
“Who wants to know?” Lois asked suspiciously, eying the unmarked envelope in the courier’s hands. Recalling the mysterious rose and accompanying letter filled with menacing threats.
Clark caught her uneasy expression and quickly cut in, “Who is it from?”
The courier looked at his clipboard and read off the name, “Bruce Wayne.”
“The billionaire?” Ron asked, looking back at Lois for confirmation.
“We’re doing a story on him,” Lois explained, letting out a sigh of relief as she nodded to Clark who took the clipboard to sign for her. Not another creepy gift. Just something from their latest assignment. She let out a sigh of relief and watched the courier hand Clark the envelope before leaving.
“Reclusive billionaire playboy?” Ron chuckled, shaking his head. “I do not envy that assignment for a second.” He pointed toward the elevator. “I’ve got to check in with the upstairs and make sure all my I’s are dotted and T’s crossed. We’ll catch up later.”
Lois waved goodbye and then turned to Clark, “He seems nice enough. Knowledgeable and well rounded.”
“Yeah, we’ll definitely need someone with his experience to help crack this scandal going on in Washington, that’s for sure.” Clark let out a heavy sigh as he ripped open the envelope, “Maybe Bruce Wayne has finally decided to answer some questions instead of skirting around them?”
Lois cracked a smiled and peered over his shoulder, “What is it?”
Clark held up two tickets and handed them to her before pulling out a white cardstock embellished with a
‘W’ monogram. He rolled his eyes as he began to read aloud, “My apologies for running out on our previously scheduled interview this afternoon. Please accept these tickets to the Russian Ballet for this weekend’s evening show as compensation for my rudeness. Lucius and I would love to pick up where we left things during the intermission.” A bite came out of Clark’s tone as he read the last line, “Bruce.”
Lois made a face, scrunching her nose up, “The Russian ballet?”
Perry approached with a broad grin on his face, pointing to the tickets in Clark’s hand, “Mr. Fox just called. I assume you two will be attending the ballet this weekend with Mr. Wayne?”
Lois forced a smile, “Can’t wait.”
“Great!” Perry cheered, turning his attention to the newsroom behind him. “I’ll let Mr. Fox know. I hear it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this show.”
Lois and Clark both forced smiles on their faces and she waited for Perry to walk off then turned to Clark, “Have I mentioned how much I hate ballets, operas, and anything that requires people singing in languages I don’t know?”
Clark chuckled, running his hand across her face, “Once or twice.”
Lois relented for a moment and smiled back at him, “At least it was just from Bruce Wayne and not another creepy gift from our mysterious sender.”
“Honey,” Clark moved his hand to her shoulder. “It’s been two weeks since…”
“Not exactly,” Lois said, pointing to her trash can that was next to her desk. Inside it was the rose she’d subsequently tossed earlier.
“What do you mean not exactly?” Clark asked her with a concerned expression.
She sighed, pulling away from him and opening the drawer to her desk where she had stashed the note from earlier. When she hadn’t been able to file the complaint with the Metropolis P.D. earlier she’d dumped it in her drawer for until she found Henderson and could sort through the mess of where her complaints had gone.
“I tried to take this down to the Metropolis P.D. after I got another gift this afternoon,” Lois explained, handing the note to him. “Turns out there is no record of any of the complaints we made about this. I have no idea what Bill Henderson has done or where the records are, but I wasn’t going to leave this with some half-wit that couldn’t type his way out of a paper bag either.”
“When did you get this?” Clark asked, frowning as he read the threatening note.
“It wasn’t here when we left to interview Bruce Wayne but it was here when I got back,” Lois said with a sigh as Clark placed an arm around her shoulders. “We need to find Bill and….”
“I don’t think that’s going to do anything,” Clark said with a defeated expression.
“Why not?” Lois asked, looking up at him.
“Because I don't know that Bill Henderson is exactly himself lately,” Clark explained with a cautious tone. His forehead creased with concern as he continued to explain, “He had no recognition of Superman or any mention of anything he should know when he was on the scene of that hostage situation earlier.”
“What?” Lois looked at him in surprise.
“He looks just like him. Sounds just like him even, but ....” Clark trailed off, shaking his head, “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“What?” Lois asked cautiously.
“I don’t know.” Clark shook his head, “Something just doesn’t feel right. He seemed….different. Like a completely different person.” A sudden moment of awareness crossed Clark’s face and he whispered, “He’s a different person.”
“A different person?” Lois frowned, not following. “If he’s not Bill then who is he?”
“I don’t know,” Clark frowned, “but I think I know where to start.”
***
The creak of the metal against metal rang through the room as the team of officers worked together to pry the elevator doors open. The metal against metal sound screeched in their ears before someone finally yelled out, “Stop!”
Mike Rogers, the SWAT leader turned to see Detective Zymack holding the crowbar that had successfully bent elevator door partially open. He motioned to the officers behind him to stop. “We got another foot to go!”
***
Gretchen Kelly patted the unconscious face of Vice President Morgan Johnson. She checked that the binds were still secure and then turned her attention to the next prisoner. A sinister smile washed across her face as she hovered over Will Gardner, the President of the United States. His eyes fluttered open and she grinned back at him as she struggled against his binds.
“We can’t have you making too much of a fuss, Mr. President,” she whispered, pulling out a syringe from the drawer with a long needle. His eyes widened as she injected the needle into his neck, paralyzing his vocal cords for another twelve hours.
***
“My cloning research?” Professor Emil Hamilton fidgeted nervously with his glasses as Lois and Clark walked with him to his laboratory at STAR Labs.
Clark cleared his throat, “The research you did that resulted in the resurrection and successful cloning of Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Bonnie and Clyde might be the key to a lead we’re following, Professor.”
“I’m not even sure if I can help you, Mr. Kent,” Professor Hamilton explained as he scanned his badge against the digital card reader on his door. The door slid open and they stepped inside. “Most of my research was stolen around the same time STAR Labs had that break-in.”
“When Johnny Corbin was taken from STAR Labs’ custody?” Lois asked, answering the question she knew Clark would ask next. “So, anyone could have it.”
“Anyone might have it but not just anyone could use it.” Professor Hamilton corrected. “It took many years of failures to get where I was a few months ago. If the person with the research does know something about gene manipulation but not enough about biology the clones they are able to create will be….less than satisfactory.”
“What does that mean?” Lois asked.
“Memories could be lost. Lifespan could be non-existent. The clones would not last long.” Professor Hamilton explained.
“Maybe they’d have trouble remembering someone they knew very well?” Clark ventured.
“It’s possible,” Professor Hamilton acknowledged.
***
Johnny Denetto stood over the small hill with the rolled up map in one hand and the high-tech radiation detector he had stolen from STAR Labs. The detector was blinking red as a loud, insistent beeping went off. Denetto looked to the soil engineer and pointed to the ground. “Get the shovels.”
***
The television flickered on the screen and Bill Church Jr. looked up at the image of President William Garner-His President Garner-as he stood at the podium and addressed the press. “Ladies and Gentlemen, our nation has come under attack in a ruthless and calculated way.” A scowl crossed Garner’s face as he addressed the press in the briefing room. “I lost a dear friend last night. This nation and this white house mourn our Vice President. It angers me that I cannot mourn.” His eyes flickered and then he cleared his throat. “Chaos has taken over this nation as criminals roam the streets and innocent people are put at risk every day.”
“As of this moment we have only one-hundred and twenty-five seats occupied in the House and twenty-six seats in the Senate.” A frown crossed Garner’s face as he continued, “We cannot as a nation hold law and order in such conditions. I, as your elected President of the United States, am invoking martial law.” A hush fell over the room and Garner continued, “I will be naming the replacements for each vacated seat and once our Congress and Senate are fully restored we will have a vote on the replacement for Vice President’s newly vacated position.”
The president stepped away from the podium and Bill Church turned to Rollie Vale who was hard at work at his computer. “Smooth sailing from here, boys!” He tapped Rollie on the shoulder, “Are we ready for phase two?”
“I’m almost done.” Rollie Vale grinned back up at him.
***
After finishing up their interview with Professor Hamilton, Lois and Clark headed through the narrow hallways of STAR Labs, deep in conversation as they passed through the various checkpoints. Clones. Someone had taken Professor Hamilton’s research on clones and could very well be working on cloning anyone she and Clark knew. The friends and co-workers they interacted with every day could be nothing but stale carbon copies of those people she’d come to know, trust and confide in. A sense of dread washed over her as Lois looked over at Clark, seeing the troubled expression on his face. “So, we have a theory, but no way to prove it.”
“A theory is better than nothing,” Clark let out a deep sigh as he flashed his press pass to the security guard at the last checkpoint. The guard nodded to both of them and pressed the button to open the doors, leading outside STAR Labs.
“So, has anyone else seemed...different?” Lois asked, unsure how to ask the question weighing on her mind.
“Jimmy and Perry seemed fine.” Clark said with a shrug as he listed off everyone, “The only person I’ve come across that seemed different was Bill.”
“I wonder how many others are out there?” Lois whispered uneasily as she looked around the crowded street they were on.
“Others?” Clark frowned looking at her with a perplexed expression.
“You really think if someone figured out how to clone anyone they would stop at a detective?” Lois said, taking a step toward Clark as they reached the crosswalk. He leaned over to press the button on the crosswalk. “If they could do that to Bill they could do that to anyone.”
“Lois, we don’t even know for sure that someone has done anything to Bill,” Clark reminded her, placing a hand on her cheek.
“Don’t we?” Lois looked up at him uneasily.
A loud screeching noise from around the corner reached her ears and before she could react she felt her body slammed against her husband’s chest before a burst of wind ruffled through her hair. The sound of screeching tires and glass shattering everywhere rang through her ears as she peeled her eyes open to assess what had just happened.
“What?” she finally breathed out, looking up at Clark who was hovering over her from where she was flattened against the sidewalk.
His gaze shifted to the corner where they’d been standing a few minutes ago and he turned back to her, “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she stammered out, reaching her hand up to cup his face and reassure him she was indeed all right, although understandably shaken up. Clark sat back and stood to his feet, turning his attention to the street they had been standing a few seconds ago. The sound of sirens approaching rang in the air and the flash of red and blue could be seen from several feet away. She sat up, taking Clark’s hand as he helped her to her feet.
“Looks like help’s on its way at least,” he pointed to the officers that were approaching on foot. The squad cars were parked a few feet away behind where the truck and collided with the street lantern. Clark frowned as he looked around, “All the lights on this block seemed to have gone out at exactly the same time.” He pointed to the traffic lights that were dark and the darkened windows of the office building next to the parking garage.
“That sounds familiar,” Lois breathed, looking around the entire street that had darkened windows, indicating the power inside each building was out inside as well.
“I think it’s probably best if we fly back,” Clark said, pointing to the traffic jam that had already begun to form at the intersection where the truck that had nearly collided with them a few moments before and several other cars behind it.
Lois grimaced seeing the jam-packed intersection and wondered momentarily how bad the congestion would get and when she’d be able to rescue her Jeep from STAR Labs’ parking garage. She followed Clark into the alley behind STAR Labs and a few seconds later they were in the air, headed back to the Planet.
***
“What is it?” Denetto asked his soil engineer as he hovered over the red glowing rock they had uncovered in Schuster’s field. “Is it Kryptonite?”
The soil engineer carefully lifted the rock up with his glove covered hand and held it up to his face, “We’ll have to run some tests and find out, Mr. Denetto.”
TBC...
Comments Go Here
