While, after some tough thinking, I think I have a way to write this story so that the lawsuit carries the plot, and I can still write the story I want.
This is mostly the same story posted earlier. What has been changed is in all caps. Look closely, because they are hidden in other dialogue.
Please let me know if this is clear enough.
Also, there will be more talk about the role of the Judge and Mr. Stern in the next part
However, if you think it still doesn't work, please let me know.
Or if you have any other comments, of course.
Once again, I want you to be HONEST. (I appreciate that you were last time, even though it was hard.)
Finally, don't give me the silent treatment again. (I got no feedback for chapter two the last time.) I realize I havenn't given feedback to anyone until recently, and I don't give feedback to every part. I applogize. But I am posting this on the forum to get feedback. If you hate the story/part, say so.
Oh, and once again thanks goes to Desiree and Labrat.
So...................
The Search for the Daily Planet
Disclaimer: The characters don’t belong to me.
“I can’t believe this is the third time I’ve put that Griffen moron in prison. Doesn’t he ever learn? I mean you would think sending the Prankster to the slammer twice would be a message: Don’t mess with Lois Lane.” She grinned. She and Clark were sitting at their desks, finishing up at the Daily Planet after everything that had happened.
“Well Lois, some people just don’t seem to have the capacity to understand,” Clark shrugged. He neglected to mention how scared she had been in the last to battles with the Prankster. Scared that she would not beat him before she was killed. He knew that Lois would not want to think about her moments of weakness. In all honesty, he didn’t want to think about it, either. Clark hated it when villains threatened the woman he loved.
“Although I have to say, it is certainly odd that they were able to freeze Superman. I wonder how they were able to do that.”
“Some things are just beyond the realm of understanding, Lois”, Clark replied. He was also interested in how Griffen and his sidekick had managed to freeze him. However, he was uncomfortable discussing Superman with Lois. Especially considering… “Lois, what do you think about going to dinner tomorrow night?” They had been trying to find time to date for some time. Maybe, with the Prankster back in prison, she’d be willing to try.
“Oh, well I was really planning on doing my taxes. You know, a person has to get started on those early these days. There are so many forms to fill out. Those people are always thinking of a way to scam you. Plus, I think I might look into my insurance plan on my apartment. Griffen sure did a number on it. I wonder if I will be able to replace all my furniture. I really like my furniture, you know. It’s mine. But insurance plans can be tricky about stuff like that.” Lois did want to go out with Clark, she really did. But she was still nervous about it, and all that business with the Prankster, not to mention her interview with the President, hadn’t given her much time to think about it. Wouldn’t a date with Clark be better if she had more time to plan?
Clark nodded, realizing that she was becoming nervous again. He hoped she wasn’t having second thoughts about dating him again. “Well, I guess, maybe in a few days?” he asked hopefully
Just as Lois was about to answer, Perry interrupted them. “You guys, this is a terrific addition! We got the goods on the Prankster and the interview with the President!” He grinned and showed them the paper, with both articles on the front page. Lois brightened. “It is great, isn’t it?”
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However, the next morning it wasn’t so “great.” As each of the employees arrived at the Planet, they noticed the building was locked. It looked as if the entire building had been shut down. Not even the night watch men or the janitors who worked overnight were inside, finishing their shift. There was a sign on the door that said the Daily Planet was closed until further notice. Worst of all, Perry was absent.
“Clark, how can something like this go wrong so quickly? Yesterday everything was great with the Planet! Perry told us we had a terrific edition! And if there is a crisis, where is Perry? Perry would never leave us all alone in this situation. The Planet means everything to him! What are we going to do? How are we even going to find out what happened?” Just when Lois calmed down because the Prankster was no longer able to threaten her, something happened to the Planet, and probably Perry as well. What was she going to do?
“I don’t know, Lois”, Clark replied. He was worried about Perry, too.
Just then, Jimmy drove in. “What’s going on you guys?”
“The Planet’s locked up and has apparently been shut down. I guess no one bothered to tell the people who worked here.” Eduardo Gomez grumbled.
“Well, I say if the Planet doesn’t want me, then I don’t really care. It’s not like I actually had a job that mattered. It was just classifieds.” Skip Wallace commented. He knew he could get a job easily with his connections. The New Reich was building more everyday. He walked away. A few others followed, figuring they may as well get started on finding a new job.
“But what I am really worried about is where Perry is. He should be here! Doesn’t anyone care about where Perry is?” Lois was quite upset that some people were more upset about their jobs than Perry. And some didn’t even seem to care at all!
“Hey, Lois I’m worried about Perry, too”, Clark replied.
“Me too,” Jimmy added.
“It is kind of odd that Perry isn’t here yet,” Tim Myerson said thoughtfully.
The Daily Planet employees that had not left continued to ponder the situation. Clark was starting to wonder if he should make an excuse and change into Superman. Then he could fly around to try to find Perry. But would he know where to look? And besides, he really didn’t want leave Lois. She obviously needed comfort right now. He lightly placed his hand on her shoulder and she smiled at him.
Just then, the one person that should have some answers appeared. Perry drove his car in. Lois sighed in relief. Then she scowled. “Perry where were you? How could you make us worry for nothing? What happened to the Daily Planet?”
“Perry!” Clark cried. “We were…worried about you.” His voice trailed off as he noticed the look on Perry’s face. Clark didn’t think he had ever seen Perry look so lost, not even when the Daily Planet was bombed or Lois was temporarily suspended.
Perry sighed. “I don’t know how to tell you all this. I…uh…got a call from Franklin Stern this morning and…..” Perry’s voice broke. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand and cleared his throat. “Well, he said someone is suing the Daily Planet. Uh…someone with a lot of money.”
Lois was a little confused. This wasn’t good news, but it was certainly something the Planet could handle! And why was it making Perry this upset? Usually when people attacked the Planet that way he said “if they want to play hard ball, they’ve come to the right guy.” Obviously the lawsuit wasn’t going to be strong, anyway. The Daily Planet always checked its sources! Perry wouldn’t let anyone turn a story without “cold hard facts”! She paused, thinking about the one time she remembered the Planet was threatened by a lawsuit. A lawsuit that was brought on because of a story that she wrote.
“I…uh think that we should all go down to the courthouse. Mr. Stern,” he grumbled the name. “He will be there too. For some reason, that’s where he wants to talk to us.” Perry shook his head sadly. What was he going to do?
Lois sighed. “Come on Clark, let’s go together.” They both climbed into her jeep. “I wonder what this is about. There has to be more to it than just a simple lawsuit to get Perry this upset. And we still don’t know why the whole building is shut down.”
As the remaining Daily Planet employees arrived, they were quickly ushered into an empty room. Mr Stern looked at them grimly. “I am sure you are all now aware, that the Daily Planet is being sued by the Spin Mini – Mart chain for $300,000,000. HERE'S THE OFFICAL NOTICE." HE SHOWED THEM THE DOCUMENT. Everyone in the room except Perry gasped.. Perry had said it was a lot of money but…
“Because of the seriousness of this lawsuit, Judge Jamerson has encouraged me to discontinue the Daily Planet until this case is over.”
“But wait a minute!” Lois exclaimed. “We’ve never even written that much about the Spin Mini – Mart! What do they even have to be upset with the Daily Planet for? And doesn’t the Planet have lawyers to handle things like this? Why is everyone making such a big deal out of nothing?”
“Ms. Lane,” Mr. Stern said grimly, “I will thank you to use proper conduct when you are addressing your employer. Furthermore, you might want to look at the newspapers former articles. There is probably something negative about Spin. The Planet does have lawyers, yes, but with such a big lawsuit, they are not willing to risk anyone until this is over. You are dismissed until further notice.” Mr. Stern left the room.
“That”, Perry sighed, “is what I couldn’t bring myself to tell you this morning. Apparently as of this morning, we are all unemployed. Mr. Stern has taken the Judge’s encouragement and the Planet lawyers’ consultation. ”, Perry snarled. “He has decided that his reputation is more important than our jobs, to get to the truth behind this garbage! Lois, I know we haven’t written anything negative about that mini mart! Certainly nothing that would warrant this kind of lawsuit.”
“Perry, I’m not an expert on law, but isn’t this improper conduct for a lawsuit? I mean, shouldn’t we have received a notice or something from the court or the mini – mall?” Clark said, trying to make sense out of this crazy turn of events.
“Yes, I know what you mean, Clark. Apparently Mr. Stern received the notice last night after everyone left. I guess that’s why the Planet was all locked up and no one was there this morning. As for why he didn’t let us see it this morning, I don’t know. He told me he wanted to shut the newspaper down quickly. I’ve been on the phone with Stern since 5:00 AM, trying to convince him to let us fight this. I don’t understand why everyone is taking this crazy lawsuit so seriously, either. I mean, it is a lot of money, but…I definitely think Mr. Stern sold out on us though. He knew all those problems we had the last time the Daily Planet was destroyed!"
Lois and Clark looked at each other, remembering when Lex Luthor had bombed the Daily Planet. It was a terrible time, thinking the Planet no longer existed. Still at least this time there was no self – made millionaire villain attempting to take Lois’s hand in marriage. Furthermore, this time they weren’t fighting. Still, realizing they had no computers, no stories to chase, no Perry hounding them to finish by deadline, no paper to print; in short no jobs, they could see what Perry was talking about.
Jimmy sighed. “Well, seeing that the Planet is apparently going to be out for a while, maybe I should find another job temporarily. I’m not going to walk out on you, Chief, but my money already pretty tight. I don’t want to end up at the YMCA again.”
“I’ve got some money saved up, so I’ll probably be okay for a little while. I just wish I knew how long this was going to last”, Clark sighed as well. The last time the Daily Planet was out of commission had certainly put a dent in his sayings, but Clark believed in being prepared.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Alice just got over all that money I blew because of Harlan’s so – called “business venture”, even though I did get the money back. Now, I guess I’m going to lose my salary, too. And…and…and…the Daily Planet.” As he said the last sentence, he turned around.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Tim commented. I have two kids in college right now. How am I supposed to pay for their tuition without a job?”
“I just wish I could convince Mr. Stern to stand by the Daily Planet. I tried everything I could think of this morning. I feel like I’ve let you guys down. I mean everyone still here,” Perry paused and looked significantly at his employees that had not left, “does the job to the best of their ability. We all know nothing has been printed in the Daily Planet that would warrant a lawsuit. Still, I feel like I let you down.”
Lois looked at him. “Perry, if you tried everything you could, then you didn’t let us down. And you know what, Clark? She turned to face him. “We do know nothing has been printed that would warrant a lawsuit. There’s something going on here. I bet we could find out what it is! MAYBE THE JUDGE AND MR. STERN ARE EVEN IN ON IT."
“Well, I’m all for that, Lois. I just wish you had the Planet resources to back you up. But,” Perry added “You’ve got me.” Perry looked a little better.
“Of course I agree we could find out Lois. You’ve always got me.” Clark looked at Lois intensely for a few seconds.
“I’m in, too,” Jimmy added. But, I don’t know how much time I’m going to have. I still have to look for a temporary job.
“I’m not an investigative reporter, but I’ll help however I can” said Jake Anderson who worked in the sports section. Most of the others nodded in agreement. If nothing else, they may get their jobs back.
“Okay, I think the first thing we need to do is find out what these so – called negative comments about the mini – mart are supposed to be. Since we don’t have the Planet Archives anymore, we can use the library”, said Perry. Lois, Clark, you have the most contact in this city. Why don’t you see if anyone has any idea what happened? We can meet at the library later today. At least no one will have to worry about paying for their facilities.”
Lois and Clark nodded and walked to the jeep. Without noticing it, they both grabbed the other’s hand, drawing comfort from each other. “Let’s do this. Let’s search for the Daily Planet. Let’s find out where this lawsuit is coming from and why it exists. Let’s bring the Daily Planet back.” Lois was finding her determination again, her will to never give up. “Bobby Bigmouth?” Lois asked.
“Definitely,” Clark replied. “No! Wait! He told us he would be out of state for a couple of months, remember?”
Lois sighed. “That’s right. How are we supposed to solve this mess with our best informant out of commission? At least we don’t have to worry about feeding him, considering we don’t have salaries. Well, who else can we contact?”
“What about that Dave guy we met a few months ago at the Ace O’ Clubs? His information was accurate.”
