Present Day
A fire burned in downtown Metropolis, and Superman was not pleased. It was the tenth in a series of similar blazes that had occurred in the past week. He'd been searching for the arsonists for two nearly sleepless days and nights, always a step behind, and the Man of Steel was finding himself exhausted.
"This was no accident!" a fireman yelled to his lieutenant over the roar of hungry flames, the hiss of water exploding from high-pressure hoses, and all the background noises of the city. "Superman! Over here!" another firefighter called out to him.
"What's the story, lieutenant?"
"It's a former LexCorp Industries warehouse, believe it or not. We're just trying to contain it now, keep it from spreading while it burns itself out."
"Let me handle that."
In an instant, a red and blue blur was all that could be seen as Superman sliced through the air, weaving in and out from window to window extinguishing the blaze. "Any idea who might have set it?" he asked the lieutenant upon his descent from the building.
"We're at our wit's end here," he replied with a shrug.
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For October, it was still quite warm in the city of Metropolis. A band played, badly, on the patio of the Mélange Cafe. The tables were packed, mostly with businesspeople, and on such a clear night, the tiniest of stars were visible far beyond the brighter ones.
In the pitch-black moon shadows cast by the looming skyscrapers of the city, a face lurked in the shadows, his instincts straight violence, as he gazed through the crowd. In stark contrast to his towering stature, his uneven, black hair hung in thin, small loose strands, framing the contours of his forehead. His black, leather attire was stained in various places with smears of blood.
A stray page of newspaper ripped under his booted foot. He noticed the headline: "LEXCORP SCIENTIST CONTINUES TO ELUDE FBI: JOINS STAR LABS by Lois Lane and Clark Kent." The accompanying picture and the headline itself vaguely troubled him, but he didn't know why. When he tried to snatch the memory threads to connect them, they dissolved like streams of vapor in his clouded mind.
He took his time, stealthily observing the two. Surrounded by other restaurant-goers, the radiant couple, regulars at the exclusive hotspot, were too deeply engrossed in their conversation- and each other- to notice the large frame, circling them in careful study.
"So what else did Dr. Klein have to say about this Braden guy?" Lois had to suppress a shudder as she continued. "Any truth to the rumors of this thermal weapon he's supposed to have been working on?"
"Not much. He said he'd fax over anything else he finds about the weapon and Braden."
"What time does your parents' flight arrive?"
"They said they'd be in by five tomorrow."
"Ugh- why couldn't *their* flight have arrived over the weekend, instead of having my folks?"
"Come on, honey. The past few days having Sam and Ellen stay with us haven't been so bad."
"Define 'bad'," Lois grimaced. "And as if we weren't all having enough fun together, why did Lucy have to arrive a day early? I mean, yeah- it's sweet that she wanted to come in to help us celebrate, and god knows she's never-" Lois was soundly cut off by a deep kiss, slow and lingering as Clark gently laced his fingers with his wife's own. He couldn't pull his eyes away from her as they stood to leave. Dressed in a simple black skirt, and a cream blouse, he couldn't imagine anyone more stunning. "Have I told you how amazing you look in that skirt," he smiled, tugging on her hand to pull her closer as they began the walk home.
"Once or twice...or every five minutes," Lois grinned. "I lost count. Have I told you how much I'm looking forward to our anniversary?"
"Once or twice," Clark echoed, brushing a soft kiss across her forehead. "Or every five minutes...I lost count."
The night was charged with electricity. As thunder began to roll, lightning flashed across the sky, throwing streaks of energy into the atmosphere. Before midnight, the heavens finally opened up to pour upon the city. The rain fell hard and cold, and late-night revelers ran for cover from the pounding, stinging drops.
"That's him?" the dark-haired stranger asked himself aloud, an incredulous tone lacing his words. "The great Man of Steel is...Rayne had better be right on this."
The first-degree maniac moved in silence as he weaved in and out of the crowd, already having heard enough from the two. Star Labs. He'd been shadowing these two for that one piece of information- Star Labs. It made sense, really. Tucked away in the reserves of his mind, the discovery of the weapon's location made sense to him, and yet Leviathan didn't know why.
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Deep within the underground maze of what once was LexCorp's secluded testing labs, shuffling his feet in impatience, Dr. Rayne Evans let out a deep sigh. Rayne was not a man known for his restraint, nor his patience for that matter, and he was quickly tiring of waiting for his parcel to be delivered. The CD-ROM disc contained every bit of technology LexCorp had in the experimental stage of Project Evolution, including all the schematics and technical specifications. And the weapon...without it, their project would never be anywhere but in the experimental stages.
Somewhere in the distance, his enhanced senses picked up on a movement behind him. As he spun around, the nearby stack of metal trays whipped into the air, flying end over end towards the source of its movement. The figure standing behind him swatted the trays from the air as easily as he beckoned them to come, sending the objects clattering across the floor.
"Haven't I told you not to sneak up on me," he chastised the man approaching him.
"Sorry, Doc."
"Rayne," he quickly corrected. "Just Rayne. Why bother with falsities?"
In keeping with his young counterpart's dark outfit, Rayne crossed the room in his professional best, yet any virtue or honor associated with the doctor's typical attire was long lost on him. A few broad strides brought the men face to face, Leviathan easily tossing over the bag he'd been carrying.
"The thermal probe blaster," Rayne observed, the smile not going unnoticed across his already pleased features. "Where's the disc?"
With lightning fast speed, Leviathan pulled the bag he'd been carrying from under his jacket, swiftly tossing it to Rayne. "I torched the last of the warehouses too."
Leaving Leviathan to his fun, Rayne returned his attention to the bag, lifting the metal device from within. With a wickedly pleased smile, the man's gaze met that of his young disciple's. "Shouldn't be long before we're finally graced with his presence."
"How are you so sure that this Kent guy is really him? I mean, just seeing him with that wife of his..." his mind flashed back to the sight of the happy couple, stealing kisses from across their restaurant table, "...it's sickening. And you're telling me that-"
"I'm telling you," his hand made a swift motion as he emphasized each of his words, "that I've had access to every single one of Lex Luthor's ongoing files on Superman, right up to his unfortunate demise. He knew. He knew, and it tore away at him every day that he'd been just as blindsided by the simplicity of his disguise as the rest of these blithering fools."
"Fair enough. But why not just kill him? We have the kryptonite...we have leverage...why bother with all of this 'probe' stuff?"
Rayne pondered his words for a moment, finally lifting his eyes to face Leviathan with a smile of admiration. "Why kill what you can control? He's one of us," he contended, "and he will be rehabilitated to finally join us. To lead us," he emphasized, those three words quickly becoming a mantra for their cause.
"Hmmm...just think..." Leviathan grinned in restless anticipation, "the Chosen Three...finally summoned together...to bring this world tumbling down..."
