Newcomb aimed his weapon, and a laser of Kryptonite green shot out and caught Superman in the chest... the laser robbed Superman of his powers and caused him to writhe in agony... fifteen hundred feet above the streets of Metropolis... Superman plummeted through the air.
Seconds went by. Lois could feel tears spring to her eyes. She was too far away from the edge of the balcony to see anything below, but the sudden screams of the people below told her what had happened.
Superman was dead.
In the darkened room, Lois Lane shot to her feet. "Are you people insane?"
The man she was facing shrank back from her obvious fury. He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off before he could even draw breath.
"A Kryptonite laser?? What were you thinking?"
"Well, uhm --"
"And you killed Superman? How is that supposed to help you?"
"You see --"
"And what did you do with Clark Kent? He's my partner, you know!"
"Yes, but --"
"And that haircut! I knew you were going to take some liberties, but what made you think I would ever --"
The men in front of Lois were cowering now, helpless before the power of her raw and unbridled fury. Then, suddenly, the one man who could save them from the consequences of their own folly stepped up to intervene.
"Lois, please. Calm down."
"Calm down, Clark?! You saw what they did! Don't tell me you approve!"
"Of course not, Lois," Clark responded calmly, "but I'm sure we can talk it over."
"Talk it over?? Clark, they killed Superman!"
"Lois, relax. It's just a TV show." He pointed to the now empty screen to remind her. "It hasn't even gone on the air yet. It can't until we give our approval. Just calm down, and we'll see what we can work out."
"Yes, certainly," the would-be producer of The Adventures of Superman cried desperately. "Everything is negotiable. If you don't like Ms. Hatcher's haircut, we can fix that... And we were planning to resolve that cliffhanger, you know. But, if you don't like it, we can work around it..."
Lois stood for a moment, still brimming with fury. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the anger abated. "All right," she said, as everyone in the room let out their collective breath, "I'll give you one more shot. But there are going to have to be some major changes. Where's the romance? Where's the style? Where's the technical consultant who should have told you Kryptonite lasers are impossible? For that matter, where is that hairdresser?"
Behind her, Clark sighed. It was going to be a long night...
