TOC Part 1 Three quarters of an hour later, she arrived at the Chow's loft, which seemed to serve as newspaper office, martial arts dojo, and family home, all at the same time. A woman stepped up to her. "Hi, I'm Lois Lane."
The woman bowed, silently.
"I'm here to see Chen Chow. I believe Clark Kent called to let him know I was coming."
The woman remained silent.
Lois decided to try one more time. "You are...?"
The woman nodded, then walked away.
Lois decided to look around to see if she could find someone a little more talkative. Across the room, an old man, presumably Chen's grandfather, was watching a pair of students as they practiced an elaborate flowing sequence of movements. Lois watched them, fascinated by the beauty of the kata. Soon they finished, bowed to the old man, and left. Lois started to look around again for someone who could help her, but the woman who had met her at the door was already returning with someone in tow.
"You must be Lois," he said, coming up to her. "I'm Chen."
"Hi."
"It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you."
As Lois wondered what to make of that, the old man walked by, using a cane for support. The woman left to bring him some tea.
"So," Chen said, leading Lois to desk, "I hear the Hooded Figure strikes again."
"Clark said you've heard of this guy."
"
When did he tell you that, Lois?"
Lois thought about this. "When did he tell me what?"
"
Never mind."
Lois was confused, but pushed it aside. "You've heard of this guy?" she asked Chen.
"He's hit four businesses in Chinatown in the last week." Chen checked something on his computer. "This is his first robbery outside of Chinatown. Same M.O.? Alone, big cash, no clues?"
"One clue," Lois said, proud that she and Clark had found the first lead on the case. She brought out the paper Clark had given her. "We're hoping you can tell us what it means."
"I don't know," he said, taking it. He got up and brought the paper over to the old man, who was being formally served by the woman. "Hey, Grandpa, do you recognize this?"
"It is the Shuwee-Wah. The Dragon's Heart. Power totems of the Yi Chi discipline. Two bracelets worn on the wrist. Taken from the Dao Monastery many years ago."
"Where are they now?" Lois asked.
"Only the one who took them knows," he replied. With a casual wave of his hand, he dismissed the woman who had been serving him.
Lois turned to Chen. "Could I get a list of all the businesses here in Chinatown that got robbed, the dates, the reports, whatever you have...?"
"I'll fax it to your office."
"Thanks." Lois turned back to the old man. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sir. I just wanted to say, I was watching you with your students. I've studied a little karate and tai chi. I'd be interested in maybe taking a class if --"
"Women are not allowed to take the master class."
Lois did her best to hide her furies.
"
Wow. I thought those things only existed in Greek mythology. Good luck hiding them."
Lois frowned, confused. The furies vanished, shrieking. Lois blinked, then walked angrily out the door.
She was still upset when she got to Clark's apartment. "What a day this has been. What a
rare mood I'm in."
"How are you, Lois?" Jonathan asked. "You look tense."
"We're investigating this story at the Metropolis Men's Club. When Clark and I get there, they won't let me in."
"
You know, Lois, when Jonathan said you looked tense, I don't think he meant that you should start talking about the past using the present form."
Martha and Jonathan looked around, startled. "Who said that?" Martha asked.
"Oh, that's Beta," Clark explained. "A guardian angel."
"If you say so, Dear." Martha looked back to Lois. "Why wouldn't they let you into the club?"
"Because I'm a woman." She turned to Clark. "Then, at your friend Chen's, I found out that I can't take a Yi Chi class because I'm a woman."
"How awful," Martha said.
"Yeah," Jonathan agreed. "Still, you can understand why it's like that..."
Everyone stared at him.
"
Jonathan, is that really what you meant to say? It doesn't seem like you."
"What? Oh, no, I didn't mean that I agreed. I was just saying that they're old-fashioned. Raised in a different time. They never learned any better."
"
Oh, that makes more sense."
"Yeah. Good thing you cleared that up, Dad."
"
Yes. By the way, you ladies weren't about to suggest some kind of ridiculous sitcom-like bet, where you switch jobs with the men to prove that you do a lot of work, were you?"
"Uhm... No, Beta," Martha said with a strange expression on her face. "Of course not. What would give you a strange idea like that?"
"
Just checking. Clark, Jonathan, you guys respect Lois and Martha and the work they do, right?"
"Of course!" Clark said immediately. "Lois is my partner, and she's the best reporter I've ever met!"
"I've been married to Martha for almost 35 years now. We've always shared the work on the farm. There's no one I'd trust more to do it, and no one I'd rather do it with!"
"
Glad to hear it."
Everyone stood around for a moment, happy that they'd come to an understanding, but unsure what to do. Thankfully, the phone rang. Clark went to answer it. Martha and Jonathan got back to unpacking. Lois gave them a hand.
A few minutes later, Clark hung up the phone and rejoined the others. "That was Jimmy. He got the fax from Chen and did a little digging. It turns out that all four of the Chinatown factories that were hit are subsidiaries of the same company. Son Kwon Industries."
"Did he give you an address?" Lois asked.
"Got it right here," he replied, waving a notepad.
"Then let's go, partner."
Clark hesitated, looking at his parents.
"Oh, don't worry about us," Martha assured him. "We can take care of ourselves. Besides, I've got some errands to run."
"Errands?"
"Yes. I wanted to get some groceries so I could make dinner for tonight. I'd like to do some shopping, too, while we're in the city. We could use some new sheets, and I'll probably get a few other things, too."
"Thanks, Mom, but I already got groceries. You didn't think I'd have you and Dad come here and not stock up, did you? As for dinner, I'll be cooking tomorrow, but I thought for tonight it would just be easier on everyone if we ordered in. Lois and I are working on this story, and you and Dad had a long flight today. So, if you want to get some things for yourself, that's fine, but don't think you have to run errands or do housework or anything while you're staying at my place. Consider yourselves on vacation, okay?"
Martha smiled, proud of how her son had grown. "Okay."
That settled, Lois and Clark left the apartment. Getting into Lois's Jeep, they made their way to Son Kwon headquarters, a large industrial complex just outside the city. The guard at the door to the main building, however, refused to let them in. They tried to talk their way past him, but it soon became obvious that if they wanted to get inside the building, they were going to have to go through other channels.
They had just gotten back to the Jeep, however, when someone ran past them. Someone who was clothed entirely in black, except for two intricately carved bracelets. Someone who was carrying a couple of full bags. "Look!" Lois shouted to Clark. "It's --" She cut herself off. Clark wasn't there. Then, from the other direction, she heard tires squealing. A limo had just come racing around the corner. She wondered who was inside. Another movement caught her eye. Superman had just landed in front of the Hooded Figure.
"Drop the money and come with me," he ordered.
The Figure dropped the bags. Superman reached over to grab an arm, but his hand was knocked aside. He tried a second time, but again his hand was deflected. He stood back, confused.
"
Excuse me. Mr. Hooded Figure? Can you really do that?"
The Figure looked around, confused.
"
That's Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive... The guy could juggle ten-ton trucks, if he wanted. Are you sure you should be able to just knock his hands away like that?"
The Figure looked down, pointedly. The bracelets were glowing. The Figure nodded.
"
Oh, okay. You've got magic. Just making sure. You can get back to fighting now."
The Figure nodded again.
Superman rushed forwards. The Figure jumped over him. Superman spun around, then rushed forwards again. The Figure grabbed his arms, twisted, and threw him across the parking lot into a crate. Lois rushed over.
"Superman, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. A little mad, but I'll get over it as soon as this guy is in..." He trailed off. While they'd been speaking, the Figure had thrown some dust into the air. As it had settled, the Figure and the bags of money had vanished. "... jail," Superman finished, stunned. He shook himself, then searched for clues. There was nothing. Superman flew off, determined to do better the next time. The limo drove away, unnoticed.
Turning back to her Jeep, Lois remembered that Clark was still missing. She looked around, but didn't see him. "Clark?" she called.
"Over here, Lois," he said, coming around the corner of the building.
"Where were you?" she asked when he got closer.
"When I realized that we weren't going to get past that guard, I decided to check and see if there was another entrance we might use."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to say it with the guard right there."
She nodded. He had a point. With that in mind, she waited until they had gotten back into the Jeep before she asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Not really. There are a few other doors, but they seem to be just as closely watched."
"Oh well. It was a good thought. So, back to the office?"
"Yeah. Might as well. We should look into So Kwon Industries. Maybe we can turn up another lead or find a way into that building."
A little more than half an hour later, they had returned to the planet.
"
Wow. Lois's Jeep can drive into outer space?"
"Well, I decided to, uhm..."
"... Go a few miles out of the way, to avoid traffic. Lois has a way with alternate routes."
"
Uh-huh."
Lois shrugged and parked in the Planet's garage. Up in the newsroom, they found Perry and filled him in on the progress of their investigation. It wasn't much, but they figured that with his life savings at stake, he'd want to know every detail. Then they started sifting through whatever they could find on Son Kwon Industries. It seemed they'd been implicated in the activities of some smugglers who were bringing in families of illegal immigrants from China. The smugglers had been caught by Superman, but the police had been unable to prove the link to Son Kwon. It was interesting, but not especially helpful in regards to the current case.
Suddenly, Lois looked up. "I got it! It's been nagging at me all night, and I just realized why! The Hooded Figure's moves were exactly like the ones I saw Chen's grandfather teaching those students. They were Yi Chi moves!"
"
Really, Lois? You could tell that? As far as I could tell, the Figure blocked a couple of grabs at super speed, then used a fairly generic judo throw. That was enough for you to place the specific martial arts discipline?"
"Well, uhm... Hey! I just remembered! Chen's grandfather said that the bracelets were from the Yi Chi discipline. You said those power totem things were specific to a single discipline, right? And that the disciplines that used power totems were fairly obscure. Seeing as how we're so far from China, what are the odds that there are two Yi Chi masters here? I don't think it's Chen's grandfather, but I'll bet it's someone he knows!"
"
Better. Thank you."
"You're right, Lois! That's brilliant! It's getting late now, but we should go back and see them tomorrow."
Part 3 Comments for all 4 parts
