Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found
HereWhere we left off in Part 61 …“What my partner is trying to say is that the three of us weren’t needed at the photo op of Superman picking up his ship,” Lois interjected.
“Partner?” the Chief repeated.
Lois stared at her boss with a sour expression. They weren’t going to have
this conversation in the middle of the bullpen, especially since she hadn’t spoken with Clark about the status or non-status of their dating relationship yet.
On their return flight to Metropolis, Jimmy and Clark had sat together as Clark helped the photographer with his story and follow-up.
Perry nodded. “Kent, stop giving up your byline on stories, or she’ll never be
your date to the Kerth Awards.”
“I’ll keep that under consideration, Chief,” Clark replied.
“Hardy-har-har,” Lois scoffed.
Perry turned towards Jimmy as the younger man winced at the brightness of the spotlight.
“Chief?” Jimmy gulped.
“You got arrested?”
Jimmy nodded.
“You got arrested for defending your rights, not only as a member of the fourth estate but also for the freedom of speech?” Perry slapped him on the back. “And to think, I wasn’t going to take a chance on you.”
“Sir?” Jimmy sputtered in confusion, glancing between Lois and Clark for clarification.
“In other words,” Lois said, feeling generous enough to translate. “You did well.”
“Oh,” he replied with relief. “Thank you, Chief.”
“Yes, sirree. I’m going to expect a lot more from you, son,” Perry said.
Panic filled Jimmy’s expression as ‘what have I done?’ flashed across his face.
“And, Kent, thank you,” Perry said, clearly in a rare pass-out-the-praise mood. “For helping Olsen here out with his story.”
“You took a chance on me, when you hired me, sir. I thought I should pass on the favor.”
“Too bad this signal watch didn’t work,” Jimmy grumbled, glancing at his arm.
“Don’t give up on it, Jimmy. We were in Kansas, Superman was in Metropolis,” Clark reassured him to Lois’s dismay.
“Clark?” Lois said, catching his eye. “Conference room, now.”
“Hey, CK, you never told me, why did everyone in Smallville think you and Lois were married?” Jimmy asked and the bullpen suddenly became quiet enough to hear the signal watch tick.
Part 62 (62a)
Perry leaned forward and gave Lois a questioning look as if he didn’t already know the answer to that question.
Clark flushed as he pointed at Jimmy. “Long, funny story that…”
“He was undercover as my estranged husband, so everyone in town wouldn’t know he was related to the Kents. He slept on the couch,” Lois explained. “Clark?” She jerked her head towards the conference room again.
The sounds in the newsroom returned to normal as the gossip was clearly averted.
“Or a very short, very dry tale,” Clark mumbled.
“Uh-huh,” Perry said, digesting that tasty morsel.
Lois knew this was going to rear its ugly head again. She didn’t know where or when, but she knew it would.
“Kent, the Environmental Impact Committee is holding up the opening of the new LexCorp’s Nuclear Power Plant. See what you can find out about what’s causing the delay.”
Clark nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t you think we both should investigate the Committee, Perry?” Lois said, her hands on her hips.
“Press conference at City Hall,” Perry reminded her.
“Right,” she said with as much enthusiasm she could muster, which wasn’t much. “Clark, the conference room.”
This time he followed. She shut the door behind him. “What’s going on, Clark? First, you tell me that Superman was in Smallville, and now you’re telling Jimmy he wasn’t. Which is it?”
“He
was there, Lois. He asked that his involvement not be mentioned to the public at large,” he replied.
“Did he say why?” she demanded.
Clark swallowed and glanced away. “He didn’t want it to sound like he misled you in any way or that you…” He cleared his throat. “— had any errors in your initial description of the scene.”
“Is that so?” Lois said, but her voice had softened.
Superman didn’t want to embarrass her professionally, even inadvertently. He wanted her to appear at her best. She hated to fault him for this. She would talk to Superman later, the next time she had him alone. She wished she had asked all the questions she had to ask him when he had flown her to Smallville, but once she was in his arms, speech failed her. She didn’t know why he made her react to him so. Since they were true soul mates, shouldn’t she be able to talk to him as an equal? Yes, she used to be able to. Maybe that was it. She hadn’t seen Superman, one on one, in so long that to be suddenly in his arms, all those old feelings had rushed back, and she had forgotten how to act around him. Thankfully, she had relaxed enough to have some of her questions answered on the return trip.
“So, we’re still partners?” Clark asked, sitting down on the corner of the conference table.
Lois had thought about this on the drive from Smallville to Lawrence to try to convince the judge to drop the charges against Jimmy, which he did anyway without even consulting Jimmy’s character witnesses. Apparently, this judge knew Sheriff Max Harris well. The judge even went so far as to warn the sheriff that if he brought another case before him with such weak evidence or because someone had said something to bruise the sheriff’s ego, the judge would hold the sheriff in contempt for wasting
his time and the taxpayer’s money on his personal vendettas.
There was hope for the justice system after all.
Then Lois thought about her and Clark all the way to the airport. Jimmy rattled on nonstop about his events of the day before – about being trapped in the backseat of the sheriff’s car and his treatment, which was typical – once he arrived at the jail: fingerprinting, photographs, etc. Jimmy wondered what Perry would do to him, not only for getting himself arrested on his very first out-of-town assignment, but also the added expense of his rental car being impounded.
Lois had thought what she should do about Clark, while the guys talked to the rental car people. While the charges against Jimmy had been dropped, those against his rental car had not. Clark had been able to talk them down to Jimmy paying the rental agency the cost of the fine, extra fuel charges, plus fifty dollars for the convenience of not having to have Jimmy go retrieve his rental car out of the impound lot.
At the airport, Lois had continued to think about whether she could work with Clark, despite his lies, and what their dating status should be. Clark had had no problems volunteering to help Jimmy with his false FBI and/or Bureau 39 stealing evidence story on the flight back to Metropolis, leaving Lois, once again, alone with her thoughts.
Martha had suggested to Clark that he give Lois space, and he was giving it to her in spades.
Since arriving back at the Planet, she had thought about what Superman had said about Clark’s past, about how perhaps it wasn’t all lies, but that her point of view had been skewed differently than Clark’s, so she couldn’t see the truth. Superman had once told her that he didn’t see borders. She had thought he had meant literally from the sky, but maybe he meant ‘at all’. Did this mean, that Clark’s past in Italy appeared the same to Superman as if he had been reared in Smallville, Kansas? With that underlying false front, Clark really
was Clark Kent, orphan, foster child, and usually honest and law-abiding man, who loved her, and was trying to make it in the world the best way he could? Just everything else was lies.
Lois turned the question back on him. “Do you want to stop being partners?”
“No, of course not,” Clark replied. She could sense his fear that he had suggested this with his words or actions.
“Well, then, there you go.”
Clark nodded but the perplexed expression didn’t fall from his face. “I may kick myself for asking this, but
why?”
Why?
Why? Of all the questions he could ask, he would choose that one.
“Clark, you currently have some major problems going on in your personal life,” she said, hoping her vague references wouldn’t let him know she had listened in on his private conversation with the Kents.
Luckily, Clark humbly accepted this description with a nod.
“Moreover, as those problems are of a personal nature, I doubt they will spill into our professional one,” Lois said, leaning towards him. “But if I hear of you going behind my back, or lying to me, regarding one of
our stories, I will not hesitate to terminate our professional relationship. Got it?”
Clark cleared his throat. “And our personal one?”
This relationship had actually taken up most of her deliberations about Clark. She liked Clark. Although she was attracted to him and would like to see where their relationship might go, she could not in good conscience do this without him being more honest, if not completely honest, with her. She had been hurt too many times in the past. In addition, she wished he had chosen another name that didn’t bring back the agony she had felt upon finding that small grave up on the hill.
“We went on one official, and one non-official, date and we had brunch last Sunday. I would like us to remain friends,” she said, watching, as her words seemed to absorb into him like an acid and caused him pain. She was tempted to reach out and reassure him, but his actions had caused, and were continuing to cause, her pain.
Clark stood up and turned toward the closed conference room door. “I have a story I need to investigate.”
“Wait!” she called to him, caving. His pain seemed to double hers, in a way she had never felt before.
He turned his questioning gaze to hers and waited as she gathered her thoughts.
So many phrases passed through her head.
Some of them were blaming: “What did you expect, lying to me? That I’d just calmly accept it and ask for more?”
Some of them were reassuring: “I like you, Clark. I would like nothing more than to continue where we left off last Sunday” or “I’d like to take you somewhere and make mad passionate love to you”… “But I can’t until you’re ready to be honest with me.”
Instead, she tried a new path that would give him some hope without reassuring him that she returned his love. “I’m not saying that friends are all we’ll ever be, Clark. That, for now, we need to step back to that description of our relationship, while we try and rebuild that trust bridge.” In addition, give her time to find out the truth about his past.
Some of the anguish on his face faded. “So, not ‘never’, just ‘not now’?”
Lois stepped closer, drawn in by the love for her in his eyes. “Yes.”
“I can live with that,” Clark said, staring deeper into her eyes.
She shouldn’t have stepped closer to him. She shouldn’t have gotten so close they could touch. She shouldn’t have gotten so close that she needed to tilt her head back to continue looking at him. Her body screamed at her to kiss him.
A smile slipped onto his lips. “How about ‘now’?” he whispered with a teasing glint to his eyes.
‘Yes’ came automatically to her lips that she had to snap her mouth closed and swallow the word, so it wouldn’t escape. “Don’t go there, Chuck,” she warned, her voice rough as she turned away.
“I’m never going to give up on you, my little cherry blossom,” he murmured before turning to exit the conference room.
She exhaled and leaned against the table to steady herself, amazed that she had held firm until the end. “You better not,” she grumbled, not sure if she was referring to his reassurances, his new awful endearment, or both.
Perhaps Lois had even been talking to herself.
*************
Hot in the City (62b)
*************
A month had passed since the last time Lois had willingly kissed Clark. Who was he kidding? Since the last time she had kissed him
at all.
Clark missed those kisses with every fiber of his being, but he knew he only had himself to blame. He had lied to her,
and hadn’t yet found the courage to tell her the truth. Well, tell her
again, now that he could back it up with proof. He was glad that had backed down from telling her on their flight to, or return flight from, Smallville. He decided that it wasn’t best to use Superman in this way. It wasn’t fair to Lois. If he wanted Lois to love his Clark side, he couldn’t let his Superman side reveal the secret.
Clark had also come up with another strategy for telling Lois. He called it the “trickle theory”. If he slowly started to reveal himself and his secrets to Lois, perhaps when he got to the biggy – that he was born on another planet – she wouldn’t be so much in shock.
Step One: Earn Back Lois’s Trust. This was the stage currently miring him.
Once he had completed that, at least somewhat, then he would move on to
Step Two: Tell Her The Details About His Life.
Well, tell her about his Clark side’s life. He had already done some of that when they had hung out while she was recovering from her bullet wound. He had told her about his travels. He still needed to tell her about the foster families, the good and the bad, and his experiences at college. Clearly, he would have to be vague about the locale of where these events took place, because if he mentioned he was from Kansas again, he would be back at square one.
He knew that, at some point, he would have to tell her about Lana, about their up and down relationship, and the fact that she never accepted him fully for who he was. Of course, he couldn’t call Lana “Lana”, now that she had met the “Lana” from this dimension. Hopefully, Lois would understand why he couldn’t tell her his ex-fiancée’s name.
With any luck, in Step Two, Lois would consent to start dating again. If so, and after they had dated a while, Clark could move on to
Step Three: Let Down His Guard. If not, he would have to consider moving onto this stage as friends and, frankly, that terrified him.
Step three was all about doing things for her using his abilities. He planned to do such things as: heat up her cold coffee and warm her with his heat vision, catch things that dropped before they hit the floor, bring her foods from the country of origin instead of the local take-out place, find lost items, such as her car keys, lift and move things she couldn’t, help her rearrange her furniture, and cool her off with his breath.
Of course, in Metropolis and nowhere else, it was currently running in the high nineties, and threatening triple digits, and this in November. He had already used a little cooling breath in the office yesterday to bring the temperatures back into the eighties. He hadn’t gotten to this step in his plan yet, but Jimmy had practically tripped over his tongue when Cat had sauntered into the bullpen wearing only a skimpy yellow bikini with a sheer scarf as a skirt. Clark was one of the few remaining holdouts still wearing a suit and tie. It would be too difficult to hide his uniform underneath a pair of shorts and a sleeveless muscle shirt.
Clark wouldn’t do anything overtly super during this step, but enough to make Lois pause and wonder. She had a sharp mind and constantly made major jumps of logic, which turned out to be accurate. There was a reason behind her rule that she was always right. A part of him hoped she would have put enough things together, so that when he told her the truth, it would finally be believable. It still rankled that Lois hadn’t believed him when he told her he was Superman at the Kents’ farm. Clark knew he should be happy that his secret wasn’t obvious, but this one time he wasn’t. True, he had been injured at the time, and Superman was supposed to be invulnerable, but still… it hurt.
After Clark had started using his powers around Lois on a daily basis for a while, he would move on to
Step Four: Tell Her The Truth. Not the whole truth, of course. He doubted Lois would ever fully understand his history without knowing that he was from another dimension. Being that he was from another planet should be enough of a revelation for now.
Maybe, someday, he would get up the nerve to get to
Step Five: Tell Her The Whole Truth. He might be able to get her to believe that he had come here to this dimension to start over. He had no idea how he could ever explain about the Lois who had made him into Superman, or why he hadn’t rescued the Lois from his dimension. How would she ever accept his love as genuine if he told her that he had fallen in love with the ‘her’ from another dimension first? No. Those secrets weren’t ones he would be able to share with her anytime in the near, or far, future.
Lois stood up from her desk, threw the strap of her briefcase over her shoulder, and walked up to his desk. “Come on, Smallville. We’ve got that press conference at City Hall. Maybe the mayor’s found out what’s up with this heat,” she said, but sounded doubtful.
Smallville. It was her newest pet nickname; a reminder to him that she didn’t know who he was and because of that, she didn’t want to call him ‘Clark’. Personally, Clark wished she would return to Chuck.
***
Lex Luthor stormed past Mrs. Cox and Nigel St. John and into his office.
“Mr. Luthor?” Mrs. Cox said, following him. “Is there something the matter?”
“Kent! Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. He’s been a thorn in my side much too long. I had all the reporters in the palm of my hand at that press conference. They gasped in horror that their hero might be the cause of the heat wave in Metropolis, and do you know what that man did?” Lex threw his morning copy of the Daily Planet into the trash.
“Sir?” Nigel inquired, shutting the door behind him.
“He laughed. It wasn’t just a chuckle, either. It was a scoffing, belly laugh. He even said, when the whole room turned towards him in shock, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ As if my entire plan to ruin Superman, which I’ve been working on for months, was a joke!” Lex said, plopping himself down into his desk chair. “Do you think it’s easy to remember to turn up the heat every time that flying menace saves the day in a major way? I’m head of a major corporation, on the boards of numerous philanthropic organizations, most of which bear the Luthor name, and I’m the leader of industry and innovation. With my patronage, I push the boundaries of science and man. Not to forget that I’m the third richest man in the world. I may not be able to fly, but I’m a god! I
do have other matters that require my attention. Now, with that one laugh, Kent has turned my plan to solve the city’s power problems, with as little government oversight as possible, into a joke.”
“There, there, Lex,” Mrs. Cox cooed, rubbing his shoulders.
“Sir, if I may add,” Nigel said. “We still have that scientist on our side and the data. Once Ms. Lane and other reporters study the facts, as we have laid out, they will see that Superman
is the reason for the heat.”
“True,” Lex said, calming down. He reached over and snapped open his cigar case, pulling out a Havana and trimming the end.
Mrs. Cox leaned towards him with her lighter lit, and her bosom stretching to be released from her blouse. He smiled, taking an extra puff of his cigar to admire the view. What a nice view it was.
Lex took a few more puffs of his cigar, allowing the tobacco to relax him as he thought. “I detest Kent. I’ve tried to brush him aside as some insignificant pest, but I find he counters and confounds me at every turn. He despises me and everything that LexCorp stands for. He never believed that Ms. Lane’s injury was an accident. He’s constantly coming between us. If I could find a way to bring down not only Superman but his biggest male cheerleader as well, my life would be complete.” He noticed that Mrs. Cox was still standing stiffly beside him. He reached over and caressed her derrière.
“Lex, you told me that Lois Lane means nothing to you,” Mrs. Cox said through clinched teeth.
“And she does,” Lex agreed. “She is merely a means to an end, darling.” His hand moved over Mrs. Cox’s end once more. He could use some tension release. His eyes lifted to see Nigel still standing on the other side of his desk.
Later then, he decided, giving Mrs. Cox a slight slap with his hand, before refocusing on his right-hand man. “Nigel, any luck in finding that rock that Ms. Lane wrote about? The one that purportedly could kill Superman?”
“Still searching, sir. Apparently, the people of Smallville are a bit skittish after dealing with one fake group of government officials after another. Neither the Kents, nor the Irigs, are speaking to anyone about the incident. The sheriff involved Max Harris, who was running for re-election unopposed, has apparently lost to a write-in candidate by the name of Hank Jessup, a local family man, who has been working recently as a guard at the state prison in Wichita. A re-count is currently being run, at the former sheriff’s request, but it’s doubtful it will be overturned,” explained Nigel. He shifted feet. “Mr. Jessup, sir, was the man who killed Trask for shooting at Clark Kent.”
If Lex had known about the matter earlier, he would have supplied money to the incumbent’s campaign. This world had far too many vigilantes. He held up his hand. “What do I care of small town Kansan politics, Nigel?”
“Sorry, sir. Background information. It seems that we might not be the only interested party in the Kryptonite, sir. According to the local busybody, a waitress at the diner, swarms of people have come to Smallville since the incident, searching for Superman memorabilia, more artifacts – like that ship, and Kryptonite. Maisie, this waitress, insisted that when Superman came to pick up the ship, it had been his first time to Smallville. The Irigs and the Kents have both purchased large dogs to chase off souvenir hunters and trespassers from their properties.”
“Find out whom the other interested parties are, and whether they were successful in their endeavors,” Lex instructed.
“Yes, sir. I must warn you that this waitress also informed our man that she had heard that a lucrative trade in these rocks has developed. The locals are selling ordinary rocks as Kryptonite to the foolish visitors,” Nigel said, bowing his head slightly.
“The rock the Irigs found was a meteorite, and it was examined by an accredited laboratory, which is how this Trask fellow and Bureau 39 must have heard of it. Find the initial report and look for a rock that matches the lab reports findings,” Lex said. “Once we have a sample, we’ll run our own independent tests.”
“Yes, sir,” Nigel said, backing towards the office door.
“These Kents of Smallville, are they any relation to Ms. Lane’s mysterious partner?” inquired Lex.
Nigel cleared his throat. “Possibly, sir. Apparently, he’s a distant relative of this farmer Jonathan Kent and has been coming out to Smallville from time to time, for at least the past ten years, to help out on the Kents’ farm. Even more so since Mr. Kent’s accident, which left the farmer paralyzed from the waist down. According to our source, this waitress, Mr. Kent had told Clark to have a low profile in town, so the locals knew him as a drifter by the name of Jerome. This busybody told our man, in strictest confidence, that she thought Clark might be the illegitimate son of farmer Kent, since his wife was unable to have children.”
Lex tapped his fingers on his desk in annoyance. “So, in other words, we have the word of this local gossip that Clark Kent is, who he has always said he was, the son of Kansan farmers.”
Nigel lowered his head. “Yes, sir.”
Lex slammed his hand down on his desk. “Proof, Nigel! I want proof of his identity. Clearly, Ms. Lane believes this tale,” he said, pointing out his large office window towards the Daily Planet building. “Because she still is allowing him to be her partner.” He stood up and leaned forward, pressing his fists into his desk. “I need anything and everything about this man, so that I may ruin him.”
“If I may say so, sir,” Nigel replied. “Wouldn’t it be more convenient for Mr. Kent to have an accident?”
Lex sat back down. “Yes, Nigel, it would be more
convenient, but he has risen above the level of pest; therefore, I want to crush Kent, and to do so I need all the facts, all the dirt, all the scandal involving this man, so that I can take away everything that is most dear to him before I kill him.”
***
Judge Angela Diggs nodded towards Superman. “Good afternoon, Mr. Superman.”
Lois watched as Superman, always the gentleman, stood up to address the judge. “Just ‘Superman’, Your Honor,” he replied.
“That’s your full name?” the judge asked.
“That’s what people call me,” Superman answered.
Lois’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t answered the question. Did Superman have another name?
“Fine,” the judge said, turning to the stenographer, while taking some notes. “Make it one word.” When she finished jotting her notes, she returned her attention to Superman. “I… um… I understand that you’ve refused counsel.”
“I’d like to speak for myself, Your Honor,” Superman said.
A wry smile came to Lois’s lips. She bet he couldn’t find an honest lawyer in town or a smarmy one he wanted to work with.
“Superman, I have to tell you, right up front, I’m a big fan of yours. A lot of the lowlifes you catch, end up here,” the judge said.
Yes! Lois exchanged a grin with Perry, who was sitting next to her in the gallery. Superman had gotten a sympathetic judge.
“What you’re doing in my courtroom is unfortunate and, between you and me…”
“Objection, Your Honor,” said Patricia Cheng, the City Attorney to Superman’s left, as she stood up.
“You can’t object, Patricia,” Judge Diggs corrected the attorney. “— because this isn’t a trial.”
The City Attorney sat back down with a huff and a sour expression on her face.
“Superman, do you know why the City Attorney dragged you in here?” Judge Diggs continued.
“The theory is that my powers may be causing the city’s peculiar heat wave,” Superman said.
“What do you think?” the judge asked.
“I don’t think it’s true. In fact, I know it’s untrue,” Superman replied. “I’m being used as a scapegoat, merely because I am different from everyone else.”
He
knew it to be untrue? How did he know? Lois wondered.
“How do you know it’s untrue, Superman?” Judge Diggs asked, earning more of Lois’s respect.
“While it’s true that sun’s rays give me energy, Your Honor, my body doesn’t draw more of the sun’s energy towards me, but uses the available sunlight to repower my abilities. If I did draw heat from the sun, the area immediately surrounding my body, especially above me, would be hotter than around anyone else. It isn’t,” Superman contended. “But if the people of Metropolis are worried about me using my super powers, I’d like to put their fears to rest.”
Lois shifted in her seat. She had always found Superman to be quite hot, quite hot indeed.
“All right. I’m going to grant this injunction, pending further scientific study,” Judge Diggs announced, writing down her findings. “Superman, you are hereby ordered to cease and desist any super activity until further notified. Do you wish to contest?”
“I’m just as anxious as anyone else to discover the source of this heat,” Superman said.
Lois knew he could do it. He had done it immediately after Lex had shot her; he could do so again.
“No super activities of any kind, flying, the visual thing, nada, comprende?” the judge asked.
“I’ll do my best,” Superman answered. “I would also like the criminals of Metropolis to know that this doesn’t mean they’ll be able to get away with anything they please. I’ve been reassured by MPD and Emergency Services that they are more than capable of handling most crises during this time.”
Ms. Cheng stood up. “Most crises? Are you saying, Superman, that should the need arrive that you would violate this injunction and use your super powers to ‘save the day’?”
“Are you saying that I should let people die because it’s a little hot outside?” Superman replied with a questioning expression. “I’m sorry, that is not in my nature.” He turned sharply, looking behind him and towards the door. “Everyone stay here and stand back. There’s a man in the hall with a gun.”
Lois turned with everyone else to see, but the courtroom doors were closed, and she couldn’t she hear anything outside the room. Of course, it didn’t help that the gallery was full of gasping in shock reporters.
Really, people, this is Metropolis!The City Attorney threw her hand towards Superman, as he headed to the exit. “See! Not one minute has passed since you issued the cease and desist order, and he’s already used his…” She wiggled her hand, clearly not knowing which abilities Superman used.
Lois rolled her eyes. “Super hearing and x-ray vision,” she mumbled only loud enough for Perry to hear. Her boss set a cautioning hand on her shoulder.
“… powers!” finished Ms. Cheng.
Superman stopped at the courtroom door and crossed his arms. He turned back and faced the City Attorney with an intense expression. “I cannot turn off my hearing or my sight, any more than you can. They are a part of who I am. I
can refrain from flying, using my heat vision, and lifting space shuttles above my head, as those are more of a decision on my part. Do you wish me not to use my invulnerability to place myself between that gunman and the guard, whose gun he stole…” He glanced over his shoulder through a side wall of the gallery. “Or between him and that class of children touring the courthouse, down the hall? Are you then going to tell the guard’s family, or those children’s families, that it was your fault for insisting that I stand idly by while their love ones died? You might be able to brush that aside without guilt but I, madam, cannot.”
“You tell them, Superman,” Lois murmured. She felt Perry’s hand tighten on her shoulder with yet another warning.
Quick as a flap of a hummingbird’s wing, Superman opened the door and disappeared into the hall. The entire gallery rushed to the exit to see. Lois gave up trying to fight the crowds and jumped up on a bench to be above the fray. The doors reopened allowing her to see Superman in the hall, holding a gun in one hand and pressing the alleged criminal against the wall with the other.
“Thank you, Superman! I don’t know what you did, but thank you!” The guard gushed in appreciation as two other guards grabbed the perp’s arms, allowing the hero to let go. “Thank God you were here.”
Lois leaned forward, as she heard applause, in time to see a class of children start to cheer. She sighed into a grin of relief and righteous indignation, picturing the headline to the article she planned on writing:
Superman Saves the Day After City Orders Him Not To! There would be a word or two in it about discrimination in the City Attorney’s office as well.
“Did you see that?” Ms. Cheng said to Judge Diggs as she pointed at Superman. “He violated the injunction. I’m guessing ‘super speed’ is one of those abilities over which you have power, Superman.”
“Are you crazy?” Lois ranted. “He
saved everybody!”
“The law is the law,” Judge Diggs said, stepping into the hall and facing Superman. “You break it, you go to jail. Superman, you’re under arrest.”
***End of Part 62*** Part 63 /fans self/ Say, is anyone else hot? /tugs nervously at collar/.
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