PREVIOUSLY...
Is Superman’s Lover A Sexual Predator?
The Metropolis Star
By Dom ArigatoThe Star has received confirmation that Love Fortress Magazine, the most notorious of all porn magazines, will today publish an exclusive and very detailed interview with Claude Benoit, the first co-worker to allegedly have a sexual relationship with Superman’s lover, Lois Lane.
As well as giving intimate details about their sexual relationship, we’ve been informed that he claims Ms. Lane seduced him, a much more experienced reporter, in an attempt to sleep her way to the top of her profession and then had the nerve to accuse him of stealing her story, nearly destroying his reputation and forcing him into exile in France.
Love Fortress concludes its story with the speculation that Mr. Benoit’s claim that Lois Lane is not above sleeping her way to the top would also explain her near marriage to Metropolis’ most infamous criminal, Lex Luthor and calling on Superman to cut his ties with the woman.
* * * * * * * * *
AND NOW...
The Delilah Effect
Editorial
Dirt Digger
By Randy GoodeAfter many evil men have failed in their efforts, is the former paramour of Lex Luthor and a woman with a history of unsavory sexual relationships, Lois Lane, the one to finally destroy the spotless reputation of America’s number son, Superman?
If so, he won’t be the first powerful man in history to be felled by an unscrupulous woman.
This has been true since the beginning of time.
In Greek mythology, Pandora, the first woman to be created, was also the one to let all the evils into the world. Biblical references back up this concept with the story of how Adam would never have been banished from the Garden of Eden if not for his devious wife offering him an apple which some scholars believe is a metaphor for sex.
One of the most famous examples, however, of a woman destroying a hero is found in the Biblical story of Delilah who seduced Samson into revealing the secret of his strength - his uncut hair. In the middle of the night, she cut his hair, leaving him helpless when she opened the doors of the hovel she shared with her lover to his enemies.
Cleopatra also managed to exploit her feminine wiles to entice Marc Anthony to betray his own country in order to protect hers. If not for Caesar Augustus, the center of the world for hundreds of years to follow would have been Cairo instead of Rome.
King Arthur was betrayed by Guinevere and Henry VIII had Anne Boleyn to lead him astray - unscrupulous women who will forever be known for bringing down great men.
Even the movies recognize this theme. Would Anakin Skywalker have turned to the dark side if he hadn’t become obsessed with Queen Padme Amidala?
And so now Superman finds himself on the brink, about to have his moral authority ripped away by a fallen woman - for what type of example can Superman be to little children when he’s openly living in sin with a woman of questionable moral character, no matter how good she may be in bed?
* * * * * * * * *
In one hand, Clark held Shadow’s halter. In the other was a full bag of garbage. He hesitated momentarily inside the back door of the building before taking a deep breath and opening it. It sounded quiet. Maybe he could actually slip out this way to take Shadow for his morning walk.
He quickly stepped outside. As fast as humanly possible, he followed his nose to the large dumpster out back. He had was just about to toss the bag inside when he heard someone yell.
“He’s back here!”
All thoughts of trying to take Shadow out this way fled his mind. He’d let Shadow have a moment when he and Lois braved the crowds on the way to the jeep.
Clark quickly completed his task and rushed back into the building. Just as he got the door closed behind him, he heard the garbage bag he’d recently deposited in the trash being torn open.
Damn. He should have thought of that. For a moment, he was tempted to try to rescue his garbage, but the thought was abandoned almost as soon as it had formed. It was too late now to prevent them from finding out what type of toilet paper they used or what type of magazines they read or what they had eaten the previous evening.
Cringing, he took out his white cane and began tapping his way slowly back up the stairs, not certain how he was going to tell Lois about this latest development.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark didn’t know where she’d gone. She knew he would try to stop her. But she had to know. She had to see for herself what Claude had said about her. How had they even found him, anyway? He might have found them, she supposed. After all, she had no doubt that he’d been paid a large sum of money for his story.
If The Metropolis Star was right, she suspected the story he’d given them was nowhere near the truth. Still, she had to see it, to read it for herself. She had to know.
She had noted that Toby Raynes hadn’t been the one to write this morning’s story for the Star - which told her that whatever Love Fortress had printed was at least as bad as the story in the Star had indicated. Why else would Raynes have declined to write it? She was the reporter handling the Clark is Superman story, after all. And why else would the Star have given the story to that skumbag, Don Arigato?
When Jimmy had come by when they’d arrived for work this morning and handed them the papers, he hadn’t even been able to look her in the eye. She’d known it was bad before she even read the headlines. Since Clark couldn’t see, she knew he’d wanted her to read the articles to him. But after reading the first paragraph of the article in The Star, she hadn’t been able to continue. She couldn’t bear the embarrassment.
He’d tried to comfort her, but right then, she hadn’t been ready for comfort. Since she’d read those first words, there had been only one thing she needed - to see what Claude had actually said.
That was why she once again found herself wearing a red wig and sunglasses and driving one of the Daily Planet cars. She pulled the car to a stop and turned off the ignition in front of a corner store. She took a deep breath before stepping out. If someone recognized her, the next story to hit the headlines would undoubtedly be of Lois Lane spotted buying a skin flick.
Maybe she should have sent Jimmy. But she couldn’t bear the thought of Jimmy reading details of her sexual relationship with Claude - especially with what appeared to be Claude’s imaginative retelling of the relationship. Not that Jimmy wouldn’t see it anyway. For all she knew, he had a subscription to Love Fortress. But if he did read it, she didn’t want to know.
She surreptitiously scanned the store as she walked over to the magazine rack. She’d never been in this store before and so hopefully no one would realize who she was. Arriving at the rack, she picked up the nearest magazine and pretended to flip through it while her eyes, hidden beneath the sunglasses, searched the magazines in the back row of the stand.
She located Love Fortress Magazine fairly quickly. Although she could not see the front cover, she could see the date. Suspecting it was the right one, she moved quickly, pulling out the magazine. She paled when she saw the picture on the front. It was she - looking every inch the Super Strumpet. It must have been taken at Lenny Stoke’s Club when she’d gone undercover as a trashy groupie.
Not the best picture. She suspected that was because it was a blow up from her in the background of a larger picture. Someone must have been taking pictures of Lenny Stoke’s performance that night and she had been one of the people in the background - or maybe not background exactly since she had put on quite a performance for Stoke that night.
Still, it was clearly her.
She quickly slipped the magazine beneath the one she was holding and walked over to the counter. She didn’t look at the teller as he rang in her purchases without comment. Still, she felt terribly exposed until she was finally driving away from the store, her heart pounding hard.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark found himself getting angrier than he thought he’d ever been in his life as his fingers moved over the Braille letters in front of him once again. When Lois had been unable to read today’s articles to him, he’d found them on the internet and printed them off on the new Braille printer. It seemed better than asking someone like Jimmy to read them to him.
He’d already read the articles more than once, but for some reason couldn’t stop from reading them again.
How dare they? He was fair game. But Lois... What had Lois ever done to them?
He quickly tried to hide his anger when he heard the door to the conference room open.
“You okay, son?” Perry asked stepping into the room and closing the door.
“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry, Chief. I suppose you need the room for the morning meeting.” He started rising to his feet when Perry’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“I did an informal meeting today,” Perry said, causing Clark to realize that he must have been sitting here longer than he thought. “Where’s Lois?”
“I don’t know. She took off as soon as she read the articles.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Clark shook his head.
“Well, when Lois gets back, why don’t you two take off? Take her somewhere private. Recharge your batteries.”
Again Clark shook his head. “She’d never agree. If she even admits she’s upset, she’ll still want to stay here, to see if we can break the story about the Mayson Drake murder attempt today. We’re hoping to hear from Henderson about how his sting operation went.
“Besides,” Clark continued, “where would we go? We go to our apartment and people are trying to get pictures through the curtains. If we went somewhere else, even if we managed to lose the paparazzi that would undoubtedly try to follow us, someone is bound to recognize us and call the paparazzi.”
“When Elvis and Priscilla...” Perry’s voice trailed off. “No. No Elvis stories today.”
Clark’s eyebrows rose. If Perry wasn’t telling Elvis stories, it must be bad.
“Can I make a suggestion?” Perry said instead.
“Please.”
“Figure out a way to do something nice for her today. Make sure she knows how much you love her - regardless of what others might say.”
“But, Perry, shouldn’t I be trying to convince her to distance herself from me? After all, it’s her connection to me that’s putting her in this position.”
“Don’t ever let her hear you say that,” Perry growled. “Not now. Her heart has undoubtedly been broken by all this. What she needs from you now is your unconditional love and support - not you pulling away. If she can’t deal with all of this, she’ll let you know. Unless that happens, you be her number one champion, son.”
Clark nodded, touched by Perry’s obviously heartfelt advice. He was right. He’d promised Lois not to push her away again. To try to do it now... really would just be adding insult to injury.
“Thanks, Perry. I appreciate it.”
“Oh, well, no problem,” Perry said, sounding uncomfortable. “Anyway, you take as long as you need in here to get your thoughts together.”
With those final words, Perry rose to his feet and walked out of the conference room, leaving Clark with a thing or two to consider.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois turned the car off but didn’t get out of the vehicle. After purchasing the magazine, she’d stopped by MGH to replace the tape recording the activity in Bill Church Sr.’s room. But her mind had never left the magazine she’d just purchased.
She glanced around the Daily Planet parking lot. She was alone. Taking a moment to steady her nerves, she reached over and picked up the paper bag containing her purchases. Pulling out the first magazine, her eyebrows rose.
Wedding Styles.
Was the universe trying to tell her something?
She bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes. Not likely. After all, she was starting to wonder if Clark would be better off without her. If this whole thing didn’t blow over, the paparazzi would eventually ferret out every detail of Clark’s past - and discover that he really was the all American Boy Scout. She, however, was not nearly as spotless - starting with her broken family and going downhill from there. How could she ever live up to the title ‘Wife of Superman?’
She forced that thought aside to pull out the second magazine. She studied the picture on the front for a moment more. In addition to her picture was a smaller inserted picture of Claude. His hair was shorter than it had been when he’d worked in Metropolis, but there was no denying that he was still as sexy looking as ever. It took her a moment to work up her nerve before opening the magazine. Finding the appropriate page, she began reading.
* * * * * * * * *
Maisie Tanner looked up from the cup of coffee she was pouring when the little bell that hung above the door to her diner rung. Spotting the two men, one with salt and pepper hair and the other with a camera around his neck enter the restaurant, she rushed over.
“I’m sorry. We’re closed for business,” Maisie announced, pointing at the ‘Closed’ sign hanging on the door.
The older of the two men looked around. “What about those people?”
Maisie’s gaze followed his to the nearly full restaurant, obviously in full swing. All locals. “They’re friends, helping me with inventory today so I’m feeding them their breakfast first.”
She turned her attention back to the strangers. “So please...” She stepped up to the door and opened it. “We’ll be closed for the rest of the week, too.”
After looking around the restaurant once more they took her hint and left the premises.
A small grin formed on Maisie’s lips as the door closed behind the third group of reporters she’d tossed out so far this morning - ever since she’d heard about the horrible stories that had been printed in today’s papers.
Applause behind her caused her to turn around and take a small bow before going to fetch a fresh pot of coffee.
* * * * * * * * *
Was this her desk? She glanced around, just to be sure.
Lois had been so distracted by what she’d read in Love Fortress that she hadn’t noticed what was sitting on her desk when she entered the newsroom. In fact, she hadn’t noticed it until she set her attache case down and was pushing it under her desk with her foot.
Two dozen red roses in a vase were situated in the middle of her desk.
She ignored Shadow who, upon spotting her entrance, immediately bounded over. At least she knew Clark was still in the building.
Uncertain, she took the card from the roses. Her hand shook slightly as she opened it. She knew who she wanted them to be from. But she also knew not to expect it. After all, they could be from anyone. Claude Benoit immediately sprang to mind. It would be just like that sick, twisted mind of his to sell intimate details of their sexual relationship to the most popular porn magazine on the market and then turn around and send her roses.
She pulled the card from the envelope. It was blank. Confused, she turned it over in her hands before she suddenly felt something. Pin pricks in the card.
A slow smile made its way across her face and she felt herself relax.
Braille.
“Hi,” Clark said, causing her to look up from the card.
“Hey,” she responded, taking his tie and tugging him closer for a quick kiss.
“Do I smell flowers?” Clark asked.
“You do. Two dozen red roses by the looks of it.”
“Secret admirer?”
She felt a moment of uncertainty. “I hope not.”
“So you’re hoping they’re from a not so secret admirer, then?”
“That’s exactly what I’m hoping.”
“Well, why don’t you read the card and find out?”
She started to relax again. The flowers were obviously from him. “Well, I opened the card, but I can’t seem to read it.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t know the language.”
“Uhh... Well, maybe I can be of some service. I know a lot of languages.” He held out his hand.
Smiling, she placed the card in his hand.
“To the most wonderful woman I know,” Clark said, running his finger across the card.
“Does it say who it’s from?”
“Well, it’s signed, ‘Love... Jimmy.’”
“What!”
“Oh, wait. I got that name wrong.”
“Damn good thing.”
“It’s not Jimmy. Jimmy is just the name that was used to buy the flowers.”
“Probably a good thing - unless... the purchaser wants the world to know that he’s buying flowers. So... don’t leave me in suspense. Who are they from?”
“Well, the card’s signed, ‘Love Clark.’ Do you know another Clark?”
Lois laughed. “No.”
“Oh, good. ‘Cause for a moment there I was worried I had competition.”
“Trust me when I say you don’t. but...”
“But...”
She sighed before taking his arm and tugging him towards the conference room.
“Come on, Shadow,” she said when the dog, who was curled up next to her desk looked up, a hurt expression in his eyes, to watch them go. Shadow quickly jumped up and followed, content once again.
She tapped Clark’s ear as they got settled and he informed her that they really were alone. Still, she paced the room for a minute before deciding where to start.
“I bought a copy of Love Fortress Magazine,” she said. “I had to know what Claude said for myself.”
“I wondered if that might be where you’d gone,” Clark said with resignation. “Did you read the article?”
“Yes.”
“How bad is it?”
“Bad. And it got me thinking... X-rays were found emanating from Crookes tubes, experimental discharge tubes invented around 1875, by scientists investigating the cathode rays, that is energetic electron beams, that were first created in the tubes.
“Damn. What I meant was... If this whole thing doesn’t go away, eventually they will have every detail of our lives. Will have talked to every person we’ve ever known. Turned over every rock and uncovered everything we thought was buried forever. If that happens... Clark, what are they going to find out about you?”
“Not much, why?”
“That’s just it. You’re squeaky clean. I’m... not.”
“What’s your point?”
“I’m a liability to you.”
“No, Lois,” he quickly rose to his feet, crossing the room almost as well as a person who could see, finding her quickly. He took her in his arms, pulling her close. He ignored her attempts to brush him off. “Lois, you’re not a liability. I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks. Ever since I became Superman, you have been an integral part of him. You’re a big part of the reason I initially created him. You’re the one who convinced me that whatever I could do was enough when I was ready to hang up the suit. You’re the one who, even before you knew the truth, gave me the strength to do what I did.
“You’re not a liability to Superman,” he repeated. “You’re his biggest asset.”
Tears came to her eyes as her arms finally slipped around his waist and she buried her face further into his shoulder.
“In fact... I’ve been thinking. I want the whole world to know exactly how crucial you are to me. And... well, I guess I’m thinking that maybe you were right yesterday.”
“I was right? About what?”
“Getting married.”
Lois closed her eyes.
“Let’s just do it,” Clark continued. “Let’s just go down to City Hall and get married.”
She sighed. “I’m just... Well, I know you think I’m an asset, but...”
“You are, Lois. I don’t care what the world thinks. Superman needs Lois Lane.”
She pulled back, her hand coming up to stroke his face. “Superman has Lois Lane. But... can we take a couple days to think about it? I’m not saying no. I just... I guess getting married just to make the day not quite so sucky seems... I bit of an overreaction.”
Clark smiled. “That’s not why I want to marry you.”
“Then why?”
“Why do you think? Because you’ve got a great body.”
“Clark,” she said warningly, although the smile had returned to her voice.
“Okay, okay. So... no wedding today. But... I’m warning you right now that I intend to ask again.”
She smiled. “I’m counting on it. After all, one of these days we’re bound to both want to get married.”
“At the same time, you mean?”
Lois nodded against him.
“Well then, I’m just going to have to keep asking until I finally get you on a good day.”
She chuckled softly, even as she released him. “So have you heard from Henderson yet about their sting operation last night?”
“Not yet. But it was the next thing on my to-do list.”
* * * * * * * * *
Leo Nunk and his photographer stepped through the doors to the small, family run grocery store in Smallville, Kansas. Pop’s Grocery Store. Could he have chosen a name more appropriate to this backwater town?
“We’re closed,” said an older gentleman, wiping his hands as he came out from the back. What hair he had left was combed across the top of his head and his beer belly was poorly hidden beneath his white butcher’s coat. Probably ‘Pop’ himself.
“But your sign says you’re open,” Nunk objected.
The man shrugged. “Freezer just shut down. No idea when we’ll be able to open again.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois leaned back in the conference room chair as Clark typed a familiar number into the phone. She watched in silence as he asked for Henderson and then studied him as he waited to be put through to the Inspector.
He loved her with such a pure love. No one had ever made her feel so safe and yet had such power to excite her at the same time. How was it she had taken so long to notice him? He was smart, loyal, loving and sexy as hell.
Marriage. She’d never had much faith in the institution. But... marriage to Clark? That might be a different thing entirely. That he saw this as a lifetime venture was without question. He had Martha and Jonathan’s example to base his world view on, after all. What she had was Sam and Ellen Lane. Still, his comment the other day about looking into the future and seeing him... That was true. She could no longer see a future without him by her side.
Still, was she really what he needed in his life? Today’s papers certainly didn’t think so. He’d made a pretty persuasive argument for himself, however.
There were other concerns, too. Children for instance. He had said he wasn’t certain he could even have children, but she knew Clark. He would be a wonderful father. And he would want children. Was it fair to marry him when she really wasn’t sure how she felt about the subject? Still...
“Hi, Bill,” Clark said, dragging Lois out of her thoughts.
Lois quickly pushed the button for the speaker phone.
“Hello, Clark. And by the slight echo I’m hearing, am I to assume that Lois is also there?”
“Hi, Henderson,” Lois said.
“Listen,” Clark said, “the reason we called is...”
“I know why you called,” Henderson interrupted. “And like I said yesterday... no comment.”
Lois’ eyebrows crinkled in confusion. That wasn’t what he’d said yesterday.
“Do I take that to mean that you don’t have any news for us today?” Clark asked.
“It means exactly what you think it means... No comment.”
Clark’s hand felt around on the table in front of him. Figuring he was, for some reason, looking for something, she whispered, “What?”
He made a gesture as if he was holding a pen. As she quickly located pen and a piece of paper for him, he spoke again.
“Come on, Henderson. Give us something. We’ve got to give our editor something today.”
The pen in his hand, he blindly scratched a brief message and pushed it across the table in her direction.
“Listen, I’m really too busy for this,” Henderson said.
Lois looked down at the chicken scratch in front of her. Messy, but still legible. ‘Someone else is there.’
“Anything we might be interested in?” Clark asked.
“Always the reporter, huh, Kent? No. In fact, I’m planning to take the afternoon off. So unless you plan on running a story about what police officers do in their spare time...” His voice trailed off.
“You, Henderson? I thought you were chained to your desk.”
“Yeah, well. Thought an afternoon off might do me some good. Help recharge the batteries.”
“Plan to go somewhere special?”
“No. Probably will just go down and walk around Centennial Park. Think I heard something about some musical group performing near the fountain at two this afternoon. Might take it in.”
“Seems I’ve heard something about that, too. Well, enjoy your time off.”
“I will.”
With that, the line went dead. Clark hung up the phone. “So what do you say? Feel like taking a walk in Centennial Park this afternoon. Say... about two o’clock?”
Lois smiled and was about to respond when Jimmy stuck his head in the door. “Lois, call for you on line two.”
“Thanks, Jimmy,” Lois said, rising to her feet. “Think I might as well take this at my desk.” She bent down, giving Shadow a little bit of attention before walking to the door.
* * * * * * * * *
“But you can’t just throw us out.”
Nunk’s attention was directed towards the counter of the small motel when he stepped inside the lobby and heard the raised voice of his colleague, Mike McKee of Channel Six in Metropolis.
“Sorry, bud. When you’ve got bugs, you’ve got bugs,” the man behind the counter informed McKee.
Spotting his own luggage in the large pile sitting in the center of the room, he joined McKee at the counter.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Fumigating,” the man behind the counter said. “Everyone’s out.”
“Where can we find another motel in Smallville?” Nunk asked.
“Another motel? You’re kidding right? It’s called Smallville for a reason. Mrs. Banks has a bed and breakfast, if you’re looking for another place to stay.”
“How do we get there?”
“Oh, wait. She’s visiting her daughter in Kansas City this week. Guess you’re out of luck.”
* * * * * * * * *
“Lois Lane,” Lois said into the phone.
“Hi, Lois. It’s...”
“Martha,” Lois completed for her. “Are you looking for Clark because if you are...” As Lois spoke, she began rising to her feet.
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
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