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Chapter Text

The Daily Planet was bustling with activity. There was an army of rogue androids running amok throughout Metropolis. The patched-together automatons were attacking everyone and everything they laid their sensors on. The many journalists in the building were managing both phone calls and live updating their articles. The few teams sent out to report on the opening of the new and improved Luthorcorp office were caught in the chaos, attempting to make their way back to the office.

Against the wishes of Perry, Lois Lane was out on the streets. She stuck to the alleyways and side roads, watching the behavior of the androids, hoping to find something they could write about beyond the wanton destruction. Holding nothing but her phone, she recorded a small group of them, hoping to find an off switch or vulnerability that law enforcement could use.

An explosion nearby rocked the earth, sending Lois off balance. She shook her head. Keep going, Lois. Keep going.

She stood up straight, adjusting her trench coat and short dark hair. Suddenly, as she looked up, she watched one of the already beaten up androids go flying down the street, like it had been socked by a juiced-up Mike Tyson. She peeked out of the alley, surprised.

Down the road was a curious thing. A man, seemingly sun-burnt, fairly muscular, with short black hair and a strong chin. He wore something similar to that which other established heroes did – a bright blue base with a high collar, a flowing red and gold cape, golden pauldrons, gold belt on red trunks, red and gold boots, red fingerless gloves, and in the center of his chest, a gold shield with a red border and slash in the middle.

Lois’ brown eyes widened. A new hero. And a damn powerful one, to boot.

She opened her phone, and though the screen had been cracked by earlier debris, it was still functional. She began recording the new hero in action.

The new hero flew at the next closest android to him, ripping out its chassis. Other androids on the street looked back, finally noticing the man. They put priority on him and armed their shoddy laser cannons.

The hero then looked down the street at the remaining bots, before red beams shot from his eyes, melting them with ease. As the beams faded, that man scanned the streets for something. Lois assumed he was looking for anyone caught under debris, so she walked out of the alley, still recording.

The man noticed her fairly quickly and slowly floated down to the ground. “Are you alright, miss?” he said.

“Yeah, I’m good. Can’t say the same for them,” she said, motioning to the androids. She looked back up at him. She was about a head shorter than him, and she couldn’t help but be enthralled by his blue eyes.

“Good,” he said simply, before looking up to the sky.

“I’m with the Daily Planet. Would you mind answering a few questions for me?” Lois asked quickly.

“After all of these things are gone,” he said simply before shooting into the sky again, out of Lois’ sight.

She stared into the sky for a moment. “Uh huh,” she said to herself. She looked down at her phone, and stopped the recording. She attempted to send the video to Perry, but then as she opened her messages app, her screen suddenly went dark. “...Shit.”

Superman darted down each and every road, dismantling, melting, or otherwise putting out of commission every single one of the automatons. But he couldn’t get that reporter out of his head.

My first day on the job, and I meet a co-worker like this.

His other face, Clark Kent, had accepted a job offer from the Daily Planet a week ago. He had hoped to make it into the office before his allotted shift time, but as he was walking through Metropolis, the androids suddenly attacked.

He knew he would have to reveal himself soon. But he didn’t want to do it this soon.

And now he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

He was ripped from his thoughts by an impact from a barrage of bright lasers to the back. He grunted, stumbling forward, before flying into the sky. The sun interfered with the androids’ sensors, and they stopped shooting.

Then, he flew back down, limbs curled inward like he was diving into the pool. His cannonball maneuver crushed one of the androids immediately, and the others were crushed by debris from the impact.

He scanned for civilians again, both with normal and x-ray vision, and when he saw none were injured, he flew into the sky and searched the streets for any more of the androids.

There were none. All of them had been put out of commission.

He breathed a sigh of relief, smiling. He then returned to the street that reporter had been on.

She was gone. Likely back to the Daily Planet or her home by now.

He took another deep breath, and flew away, hoping to make it to the office in time.

As Lois walked in, she saw a massive commotion. People were walking in and out, talking, typing. She quickly made her way to her cubicle and plugged her phone into the charger on her desk.

“Come on, come on, come on…” She said impatiently.

“Miss Lane.”

She was startled by the deep voice, flinching slightly before shutting her eyes with a sigh. “Chief, I-”

“What were you thinking, going out there?!” Perry demanded.

“I got something good. Really good. Just…” she motioned vaguely to her phone. “Could you hold off on firing me until I show you?”

Perry was silent for a moment, before rolling his dark eyes. “Fine. But it had better be good, Lane.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Then, as she opened her laptop to check what her colleagues had published, she heard the door open again, then Perry’s voice.

“You’re late, Kent.”

Right. She had heard they’d be getting a new colleague.

“Sorry, Chief,” he said in a quiet tone. Lois glanced up at him. He was wearing a light blue vest and slacks over a light shirt and red tie. He had black hair, blue eyes, black glasses, and dark shoes. Just based on that, Lois thought, he’ll be fun to mess with. “I tried to get here on time, just…”

“Yeah, I get that,” Perry said. “But that kinda thing happens out here more often than you think. Here’s your cubicle,” Perry said, leading the new guy to the one across from Lois’. She glanced up at him as he got settled, unpacking his briefcase. She noticed that he kept sneaking glances at her, too. It didn’t seem perverted, though, moreso… curious. “Try not to be late again, Kent,” Perry added, before looking at Lois. “Lane, is your phone still dead?”

Lois glanced down at her phone and tapped the cracked screen. It lit up, and she was greeted with her wallpaper; a downloaded poster of P.I.X.I.E., a band she likes. “Nope. It’s alive.” She opened her phone and navigated to the photos app, where she checked the recording. It did save properly.

She showed Perry the video. The androids getting sent flying, the hero dismantling them, melting them… as the video went on, Perry seemed more and more surprised. Again, Lois noticed that the new guy seemed especially interested in the video, too, trying to peek over the short borders of their workspaces.

“New metahuman,” Perry muttered as the video ended with the hero flying away.

“And a damn fine hero, too,” Lois muttered.

Perry scratched his beard for a moment. “This is good.”

He was interrupted by another colleague of theirs walking over. Dark turtleneck and sweater, red-orange vest. Cat Grant. Lois rolled her eyes. She didn’t like her very much. “Chief, we’re getting a lot of calls. Claims of sightings of a new metahuman,” she said.

“Not just claims, there is one,” Perry said. “Miss Lane here just showed me a video she got of him in action.”

“He’s yet to show up again, though,” Lois added. “He said he’d answer questions after the androids are dispatched.”

“Which they are?” Cat asked.

“I would hope so. I’m not hearing any explosions and not seeing any stray lasers out there,” Lois said, before folding her arms and looking down. 

Cat did the same. “Where’d they even come from, anyway?”

Perry shook his head. “No one has any idea yet.”

“I’d guess it’s someone who doesn’t like Luthor very much,” Lois suggested, glancing up at the two of them. “They did kinda crash Luthorcorp’s opening party.”

Perry sighed, taking a tired drag of his cigar. “Either way, we need to post the story about that new hero fast.”

“We don’t even have a name for him yet,” Lois said.

“Then just say ‘new hero,’ dammit…” Perry said tiredly before walking away.

Just then, some more people walked in, covered in some debris and dust. The last team that had been at Luthorcorp. Lois looked up and smiled. “Hey, Jimmy.”

“Hey,” he said simply, dusting off his green pinstripe vest. “At least tell me your side was less eventful.”

“You know me, Jay-Oh. I don’t just sit back,” Lois said, spinning her chair around. “Got some footage of a new hero.”

“Yeah, I saw him on the way back,” Jimmy said, pointing at Lois. “Flying over our street. Primary colored buff guy, right?”

Lois rolled her eyes playfully at his description. “Yeah.” She then spun back to her desk, opening a new tab to draft up a story. “I talked with him a bit.”

“Seriously?” Jimmy said.

“Seriously.”

“How?”

“He took out a bunch of those bots running around and then checked if I was ok.”

“Huh.”

“D’You get any extra footage of him?”

“Nah, our camera broke. And I left my phone here.”

“Wow, Jimmy. You seriously need to remember to bring that thing.”

“I never think I need it…”

Lois started typing away as Jimmy walked away, likely to wash up and recuperate. She glanced up at her new co-worker across from her, who was just wrapping up his desk setup.

“Kent, was it?” she asked.

He perked up. “Clark. Kent, yeah,” he responded. “You?”

She smiled. “Lois Lane.”

“What was that?”

The question hit the gangsters hard. Their boss was not happy. Those androids were meant to destroy, not be destroyed. And yet, they were. By a “new hero,” no less. Their boss slapped down the latest Daily Planet article, printed out from his phone, with the hero’s red and gold shield plastered on the front page.

“Well?!”

One of the gangsters spoke up. “W-we tried, sir, but… w-we didn’t expect a-”

“A metahuman?”

“...y-yeah.”

Their boss pinched his nose bridge. His formal, dark suit didn’t exactly help his imposing stature. At least, compared to the others.

“How did we miss an entire metahuman in our operations?”

“We didn’t know he existed,” another more confident member responded. “This was his first appearance. It wouldn't be front-page mystery news if it wasn’t.”

“Well, now we know,” the boss responded. “Get back to work. Make them stronger. More durable. At least make sure he can’t melt them.”

“It would help if we had your engineers. And more resources.”

“Then you’ll have it.”

They all nodded and quickly got back to working on their machinery. They may not know their boss’s name, but they do know he has enough money to put them all away in a private camp for life.

They would not fail this time.

Chapter Text

Ring.

Ring.

Ring-

“Hello?” Clark answered.

“Hi, Clark! How was your first day?"

“Oh, hey, Ma. It was… eventful.”

Clark walked into his apartment as he talked on the phone. It was a modest place, not exactly a studio apartment but also not the tiniest one in the world. He’d spent the last week unpacking many new furnishings and old trinkets to make it his new home away from home. A TV, old trophies, a few posters, and of course, a family photo could all be found throughout the apartment.

As Clark wrapped up his explanation of the day, Ma hummed to herself. “Well, I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks, Ma,” Clark said, walking to the pantry.

“Well, I’ll leave ya to it, son. Pa’s callin’ me to help him with our new rabbits.”

“Ok, Ma. Thanks for calling.”

“Love you, Clark.”

“Love you too. Bye.” Clark lowered his arm and hung up the phone. He pocketed it and opened the pantry. Inside was a few different cereals, a box of small snack bags of chips, and some other ingredients for other recipes. Clark grabbed one of the potato chip bags and carefully opened it.

He kept thinking to himself. I should head back out. Do more good. Maybe…

It was then that he remembered he never found Lois as Superman after the android attack. He quickly put the bag away and got changed into his costume. He looked out the window. The sun is setting, but it’s not dark yet. He figured she’d probably be on her way out now. So, he discreetly flew out of the apartment before shooting to the Daily Planet.

Lois slowly walked out of the building, buttoning up her coat as she pushed out of the rotating door. She stepped out onto the sidewalk and glanced around. There were several trucks and repair crews taking care of the damage from the earlier attack. There had been so much more than Lois realized, and the repair sold that. She sighed and walked not even five feet before she felt a subtle wind behind her. She took a step forward, then glanced over her shoulder.

It was him. The hero who had helped repel the attack.

“Oh. Hey,” she said, surprised.

“I seem to recall you had questions for me?” the hero said.

Lois shook off the shock. “Yeah. I did. A lot, actually. You’re up for an interview now?”

“I don’t hear any explosions, do you?” he said, smirking.

Lois hesitated, finding herself enthralled again. But she shook it off again. “Right,” she said, smiling in kind. “Did you have somewhere in mind?”

He shrugged. “Wherever you want.”

“Uh huh,” she said. “Then take me to the roof,” she continued, motioning to the office.

This seemed to catch him off guard as he followed her motion to the tall building. “...Ah.”

“What, too scared?” she asked, smiling.

He hesitated, before chuckling. “Well, if you’re sure.” He swept her off her feet effortlessly and she yelped, surprised, before he flew up to the roof and set her down on her feet. “Is that alright?”

She stumbled a bit, then chuckled. “Fine by me.” She then took her backpack off and took out her laptop, setting up her audio recorder and a Daily Planet article page as she sat down on the concrete roof, crossing her legs. The flat terrain of the roof was interrupted only by the large brass globe on top of the building. “Are you comfortable… uh… floating, there?”

He smiled pleasantly. “Of course.”

She cocked her head slightly and smiled. She then looked down at the laptop and pressed the record button. “All set?”

“Sure am.”

She looked up. “So, you are a new hero. Clearly a metahuman. The android attack from earlier today has shown us Metropolis citizens that you are clearly powerful.” She tilted her head. “Just to simplify things from here on, did you have a name for us to call you?”

He glanced up, thinking for a moment. “Superman.”

“...Superman?” Lois questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” he said simply, like it was obvious.

She shrugged. “Alright. Superman. For transparency’s sake, I think it would be great for us to know your origins, or your powers, or better yet, both.”

“Well, let’s see…” he rubbed his chin with his right hand. “To start with, I am an alien.”

That got her attention. “Alien? But you look so…”

“Human?”

“…Yeah.”

“Well… I will admit, my people looked very, very similar to humans.”

“You say that like they’re not around anymore.”

Superman paused, then frowned a bit.

“…Oh my god,” Lois said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s alright, miss. I was a baby when our planet was destroyed.”

Holy shit, she thought to herself. “What…” she trailed off, before she cleared her throat. “Do you know what caused it?”

“No.”

A silence emerged after this. It lasted for an uncomfortable amount of time as both parties thought about the weight of that statement.

“Well, I would assume you were raised as a human, then. You wouldn’t call yourself Super-man if you didn’t consider yourself somewhat human,” she finally said.

“Yes. But for the safety of my family, I won’t disclose where I was raised.”

Lois nodded. Fair enough. Not many heroes do that, anyway.

“Alright. So, for the record, to confirm, you are an alien, raised as a baby on Earth, because your home planet was… destroyed, somehow,” she summarized.

“That’s correct,” he said.

“A cynic might say that, with such a tragic backstory, you would be here to lord over us. Be a god to us, even.”

Superman shook his head, appalled by that suggestion. “Oh, no, no, no. I’m only here to help people.”

“Huh. Alright. So, I guess that’s why you took out those androids earlier.”

“I saw a commotion, so I had to stop it before people got hurt.”

She nodded again and glanced at the city skyline. The sun was getting lower, but there was still light. She then looked back at him. “Now, as for my second question. The full extent of your power, did we see all of that today? Flight, laser vision, super strength, super speed?”

“Well, I don’t see why you need to know that…” he said, tilting his head.

“Just for transparency. A good amount of other heroes, past and present, elected not to share, so feel free to refuse the question.”

Superman thought to himself for a moment, folding his arms. “Well… I think if I am to serve the people of Earth, I should tell everyone my powers.”

Lois nodded. “That’s good to hear. So, as stated, we already know you have flight, super strength, super speed, and laser slash heat vision. Anything else?”

“Well, there’s… super breath.”

“…Super breath. What is that?”

“Uh, when I blow, it’s like wind. I can control it to be so cold it freezes things solid.”

“Wow. Alright. Can you do the same thing with your laser eyes?”

“Yes, I can adjust their power.”

“Ok. Anything else?”

“...X-Ray vision.”

Lois paused, staring at him. He seemed to catch on to what she was thinking quickly. She thought she caught a hint of a blush on his face. “Oh, I-I don’t use it for… that, good gosh.”

Lois chuckled. “Good. And I assume you can control when that’s active, like the others?”

“That’s correct, miss. But I can’t see through lead, I've noticed.”

“And is that all?”

“That I’m aware of at the moment, yes.”

Lois raised an eyebrow. “At the moment? Could you elaborate on that?”

“Well, I didn’t discover all my powers at once,” he said simply. “For all I know, I could have an extra power waiting to sprout.”

“Uh huh.” Lois raised a hand and lifted a finger, starting to count. “So, for the record, your powers include flight, laser vision, ice breath, x-ray vision, super strength, super speed, and the potential for any further powers to sprout in the future.”

“That is correct, Miss L-” he said, cutting himself off and clearing his throat.

She tilted her head, her expression confused. “What was that?”

“Nothing. Nothing,” he said. “Just… uh… frog in my throat.”

“...Well, that was all the questions I had for now,” Lois said, moving the cursor to stop the recording. “Unless there’s any other information you think we need to accommodate your… ‘serving the people of Earth,’ or whatever.”

He thought to himself for a moment. “Nothing comes to mind.”

“Alright, well, thank you for the interview, Superman.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Need a lift down?”

She stopped recording and put her laptop back in her bag. “That would be appreciated.” She strung the bag over her shoulder. “Carry me off yonder rooftop, sir knight.”

Superman chuckled and picked her up again, carefully carrying her down to street-level. He set her down on her feet again. “Well, I’ll be off.”

“Thanks again for the interview. This will be great stuff for tomorrow’s paper,” she said, looking at the street as she adjusted her coat again. 

“Anytime,” Superman said. “But I really do have to go.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, maybe we’ll… even…” She trailed off as she looked up, noticing he had vanished from sight. The only sign he only left now was the trail of stray rocks following his wind. She frowned, disappointed. “Well, that’s just rude.”

Clark silently touched down in his apartment, taking deep breath after deep breath. He didn’t expect his first interview as Superman to go like… that. He thought for a second that maybe he gave too much information. Why would people need to know he’s an alien?

Then he calmed down. It’s good to be honest. Better to be upfront about that sort of thing. He stood up straight and took one last deep breath, before changing back into Clark Kent.

He sat down on the couch, holding the bag of chips from earlier as he turned on the TV. It was defaulted to a news station, and as expected, it was covering Superman’s first showing. Unfortunately, it was very much a conservative channel.

“-ther day, another new metahuman hero. This time in Metropolis. According to the Daily Planet, he helped put down an android uprising earlier this morning. We do not know his name. Hell, we don’t even know why he’s doing this. If you ask me, all these ‘heroes’ are trying to take over the world, not save us.”

Clark sighed and changed the channel to something more familiar. As the brighter colors and more action-focused animation played, he continued snacking and eventually found himself asleep on the couch.

Dear God, why did I do that… Lois thought to herself, listening to the interview again. “Stupid…” she muttered out loud.

She shook her head and continued transcribing and editing her interview on the Daily Planet website. Eventually, she came upon a certain point of the interview.

“That is correct, Miss L- ahem.”

She still found it odd. She thought she was somewhat known, having written several well-performing articles in the past. Why would he cut himself off if he knew her name?

…Unless he knew her personally…

She paused. “Hmm.” She opened her phone and looked at the recording she got again. She paused on a frame focused on his face. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Strong chin.

She grimaced. He seemed familiar, now that she actually looked at him. But where…?

She jumped as her phone started buzzing. “Jesus–” she said, rubbing her face a bit. She looked at her phone. Jimmy was calling. She picked up the phone and answered. “Yo.”

“Hey, Lois. Where are you?”

“Huh?” She asked, brow furrowed.

“…It’s movie night.” Jimmy paused. “Don’t tell me. You’re working late. Again.”

“Yeah. Our new hero found me when I left and gave me an interview.”

“Seriously?” Jimmy asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I’m transcribing it right now.”

“So, what? What do we know?”

“The guy’s name is Superman. Apparently he’s an alien, and he’s insanely strong. Way stronger than he demonstrated today.”

Jimmy said nothing for a moment. “…Well, let’s hope he’s not a conqueror.”

“I don’t think he is. He seems… nice. Genuine.”

“So you’re not coming out tonight.”

“Nah. You guys go ahead.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow, Lois.” Then Jimmy hung up.

Lois pulled the phone away from her ear, looking back at the frame of the video.

She couldn’t shake that gut feeling. But, this interview needed to be published. So, she wrote it in and continued forth.

That is correct, Miss Lane.

Chapter Text

Clark walked down the street in his uniform. As he did, he glanced around. He noticed that people were reading the latest Daily Planet paper, much more than usual, and that the front page story was talking about Superman. Talking about him.

He stopped at a kiosk and purchased one of the papers. The photo was a blurry frame of him in flight, evidently taken by a bystander during the attack. In bold, impact font, the headline read:

SUPERMAN

Metropolis’ New Hero

By Lois Lane

Clark couldn’t help but feel proud of himself. He smiled, skimming the article before folding up the paper and carrying it the rest of the walk to work.

When he walked in, the office was certainly busy, but not nearly as busy as when he walked in the day before. The sounds of typing, talking, and footsteps were oddly comforting. He made his way to his cubicle. Lois was already there, on the phone with someone, wearing the same outfit as yesterday – same white shirt, same tie, same breeches and boots – only minus the coat.

“I don’t know, we don’t have enough information,” she told them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” She didn’t wait for a response, and hung up the phone with an annoyed sigh. She glanced up at Clark. “People, right?”

“Hm?” he hummed, confused.

“You know. They can be… a lot.”

“…Oh, yeah.” He paused, then smiled politely. “Front page. Good work.”

“Oh,” she said, making a waving motion with her hand. “It was nothing. Just good journalism.”

“No, really, this is impressive writing,” he added. “Do you get the front page often?”

“Oh-ho, no. Usually it’s Cat or Andy,” she responded, motioning with her head in Cat’s direction.

“Really?” Clark said, raising a brow. “Hm. Well, congrats either way.” He set down the paper and opened his laptop.

Lois smiled, and squinted her eyes a bit at him while he was distracted. Clark opened the Daily Planet site, then glanced up, noticing she was scrutinizing his appearance. He awkwardly blushed. “…Can I help you?”

She blinked twice, realizing she’d been caught, before shaking her head with an awkward smile. “Sorry. I just… can’t shake the feeling that I’ve met Superman’s other face.”

“Oh?”

She shook her head again. “It’s nothing. Just… a gut feeling.”

However, she didn’t tell him that now he was suspect number one.

“I see,” he said, returning to work.

A few hours passed, with the Daily Planet’s activity running uninterrupted, before Perry walked in. “Alright, people. Luthorcorp’s been repaired. Let’s get a crew down there for the opening and hope we don’t have another android attack.”

Clark glanced up, wondering if he should volunteer. But before he could decide, Lois stood up. “I’ll go, Chief.”

Perry nodded. “Jimmy, you’re on camera duty.”

“On it,” he responded, standing up and adjusting his vest a bit before convening with Lois.

“Anyone else?” Perry asked, glancing around.

“I-I can go,” Clark said, slowly standing up.

Perry took a drag from his cigar. “You’re comfortable with transcribing things?”

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“Alright. You three can go. Bill’s driving.”

Jimmy smiled, putting his hands in his pockets.

“When’s the opening?” Lois asked.

“In about an hour and a half,” Perry said, glancing at his phone. “You three should head out now, though.”

Lois nodded. “Alright, let’s go.”

Jimmy followed closely behind Lois, and Clark quickly grabbed his laptop and took it with him, following a couple paces behind Jimmy.

He glanced back at Clark. “What’s your name again?”

“Uh, Clark. Clark Kent.”

“Jimmy Olsen.”

“Camera extraordinaire,” Lois added, glancing at him. “Oh yeah, and don’t tell, but I think he might be a metahuman.”

“Oh, yeah?” Clark said, giving a half-amused smile.

“Yep. Half the girls in the office are smit-ten.”

“Lois…” Jimmy said, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, I’m calling it like I see it,” she responded with a wide smile.

The three of them exited the building and walked to a reporter’s van parked just outside, engine still running. The windows rolled down. “Hey, Jim!” the driver, Bill, called out.

“Hey, Bill,” Jimmy said tiredly as he climbed into the van.

“Oh, new guy?” Bill said, glancing at Clark.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah. I’m doing, uh, transcription,” Clark responded.

“Be careful around these two. They’re real magnets for trouble.”

“Half the time I look for it, Bill, you know that,” Lois said, smiling as she sat down in the front, buckling her seatbelt. Clark crammed himself into the backseat next to Jimmy, who was looking in the trunk for the camera, which he quickly found and made sure was secure.

“Alright, folks, off to Luthorcorp.”

After a few minutes of silence, Clark glanced at Jimmy. “So, uh… see anything good on TV lately?” he asked awkwardly.

“Beyond Lois’ video of Superman? No. You?”

“Caught the latest episode of a series I like last night, so I’d say so.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Clark nodded. “It’s an anime I’ve watched since I was a kid.”

“Huh. Wouldn’t have pegged you for the anime type.”

“Yeah, a friend introduced me to it in high school. It’s, uh, it’s fun.”

“Alright, folks, get professional,” Lois said as the van pulled to a halt. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the van, looking up at the office.

It was a huge building, even compared to the Daily Planet. The black monolith towered over the neighboring buildings, the Luthorcorp logo emboldened on the center of a ring balcony at the top.

Lois sighed. “Billionaires,” she muttered, grabbing a microphone.. She walked towards the crowd as Jimmy grabbed the bulky camera out from the van.

“Need help with that?” Clark offered, carrying his laptop in one arm.

“I’m fine,” Jimmy responded, lifting the camera onto his shoulder. “I’ve been doing this for a couple years now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The two of them trailed behind Lois, talking as they got closer to the front of the small crowd. When they did, Clark looked up. There was a temporary podium positioned in the middle of the staircase leading up to the entrance of the darkly colored office, and a red ribbon tied around a couple columns behind the podium. Snapping out of his trance, Clark opened his laptop and created a text file.

“Alright, Jimmy. Start rolling,” Lois said, making a motion with her free hand. He did so, and after a moment, made a thumb’s up.

“We are live from the Luthorcorp opening ceremony. This is Lois Lane. We are about half an hour away from the official ceremony, but the Daily Planet has exclusive coverage of the pre-show, as it were.”

As Lois spoke, Clark typed fairly quickly on his laptop. She glanced over once in between sentences, thinking his speed was something to be admired before continuing.

“Yesterday, this ceremony was interrupted by the attack, but Lex Luthor made a statement late last night that the opening would not be delayed further.”

“Indeed, it won’t.”

Lex was seated in his limousine, watching the news coverage from a small screen to the side. The car came with all the standard amenities, of course, but he had engineered it to be more than just a standard limo.

“Viktor.”

The automated voice of the computer warmed up. “Yes, sir?”

“Refill,” Lex said simply, placing his wine glass on a certain panel.

“Certainly,” Viktor said. A short dispenser formed above the glass and refilled Lex’s drink; sunset rose cocktail, a family recipe.

“Thank you,” Lex said, picking it up. He twirled the glass around for a moment. “…Viktor, show me last night’s headline again.”

The screen cut away from the tan reporter interviewing someone in the crowd to the scanned article. “Would you like me to read this to you?” the AI said.

“No, thank you. I can read it myself.”

Lex was… anxious. It was a surprising feeling to come upon. He was never anxious about anything. None of his experiments, none of his dates, none of his presentations. But that hero. There was something about him that put Lex on edge. He tapped his finger on his knee a few times, staring at the photo of the hero.

No, not a hero. An alien.

That was probably what made him uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to extraterrestrial life. Hell, barely any known hero on Earth was an alien, beyond the few non-human Green Lanterns that patrolled the planet.

“Are you alright, sir?” the driver asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Lex said curtly. The driver didn’t say anything more in response. He took a sip of his drink. Still just as bitterly sweet as he liked it. He sighed, glancing out the window.

His new office was glorious. A testament to humanity’s drive for higher success. Even despite the gang’s horrible attempt at androids, it stood tall.

That was another thing that Lex didn’t like. The gang. A bunch of weak-minded meatheads, with no names and little resources. So why would he work with them? Well, that’s obvious. Discretion. But he still didn’t enjoy the facts of the situation.

Lois noticed the black limo pulling up to the sidewalk and slowing down. “Looks like the pre-show is over, folks. The man of the house has arrived.” She motioned to the limo and Jimmy quickly turned to record the billionaire. Clark glanced over his shoulder, stopping his typing for a moment.

The driver got out and opened Lex’s door. Several members of the crowd cheered him on as he stepped out of his limo, holding an empty wine glass. He waved to the crowd, smiling smugly as he marched to the podium. He handed the glass to a cheering member of the crowd, before slowly climbing the stairs and standing straight behind the podium.

Clark had seen Lex on the news for years. Billionaire, entrepreneur, STEM-focused. Prideful in his own creations and company, prideful in himself. His bald head was his choice; Lex had told many news stations that he didn’t need to prove himself by styling it. He was oddly charismatic, too, as evidenced by his fans in the crowd. Clark glanced down at the transcription, waiting for Lex to begin speaking.

“Please, please. Thank you,” he started. “I thank you all for coming out today. In your shoes, others might have thought it too dangerous. But you have proven them wrong.”

Clark took a step forward to listen better, standing next to Lois.

“Now, this office is not just a building. It is an example of what humans can do if we put our minds to it, whether metahuman or not. Which is why…” he motioned to a Luthorcorp employee in the crowd, who pressed a few buttons on a remote. “…I have our latest innovation here.”

Lois raised an eyebrow, glancing at Clark, who shared the look of intrigue. After a brief moment, the building rose a full 7 feet. This revealed a warehouse worth of high-quality androids, plated in dark metal, all hunched over, seemingly disabled. 

“I know it may be too soon, considering the attack, but we didn’t make these overnight,” Lex continued, motioning. “They are the product of years of engineering, coding, and ethical arguments. These automatons will be affordable maids and butlers for you all. I introduce to the world, Luthorbots!”

The crowd erupted in applause, impressed by what they’re seeing. All except for a select few, the Daily Planet crew included. Lois narrowed her eyes in suspicion, Clark seemed confused as he typed, and Jimmy had his usual unreadable neutral expression, still recording.

Lex clapped twice, and the bots were activated. They straightened up, green lights across their bodies lighting up, including emoticon faces, before half of them stepped forward and out of the extendable basement, stopping just behind the ribbon. “These bots specialize in housecare. They take care of the tedium so you can focus on your own projects, your businesses, your families. Laundry, dishes. All for the low price of $2,500 per bot, five year warranty included.”

Clark cocked his head for a moment, and Lois glanced between the two men. The country-raised reporter and the billionaire tech giant. The difference was jarring.

Unfortunately, the moment was cut short by a tremor in the ground. The crowd all fell to the ground, shouting in surprise. Lex groaned. “Fantastic. Another interruption. Let’s wrap it up, shall we?” he said, grabbing the scissors and snipping the ribbon. The bots all marched back into the warehouse and the building shrunk back into its foundation.

Meanwhile, the Daily Planet trio were looking around, trying to find the source of the tremors. Another tremor shook the ground, more intense. Whatever it was, it was getting closer.

They all looked up and saw the head of what looked like a Godzilla-like creature, dark scales and all. A kaiju of some kind, that much they figured. It roared at the sky, and the crowd screamed in fear, scattering in all sorts of directions.

Jimmy stumbled back, almost dropping the camera before regaining himself and making a mad dash to the van. Lois followed shortly behind, before glancing back and skidding to a halt. “Jimmy!” She shouted.

He tossed the camera in the van. “What?!” he shouted in a rush.

“Where’s Clark?!”

Chapter Text

Clark slinked into the nearest alley. “Ok, ok, ok…” he said to himself, calming himself down. “You can do this. You can do this.”

He unbuttoned his vest, then removed his shirt. Underneath was the base of his costume. He did still need to get back to his apartment to get the extra armor, but otherwise, he was ready.

He peeked out, taking his glasses off, before dashing through the air to his apartment and putting on his pauldrons and the extra cloth around the collar, covering the cape’s connection to the shield. It took only a second, but to him, it felt like an eternity.

He flew out of the window, and started flying so fast a sonic boom sounded out.

The boom reverberated throughout Metropolis, and Lois looked up. It only took a few seconds for Superman to show up.

“Jimmy!” She shouted.

“What now?”

“Get the camera. Superman’s here.”

“He’s-” Jimmy cut himself off, stumbling to get the back of the van open again and grab the camera. He quickly set it up again, and started broadcasting.

“Hey!” Superman shouted. The kaiju took a step, and roared in his face. Superman shut his eyes, shielding himself from its spittle. “Ugh. Mind your manners.” He then started flying circles around the beast, before flying straight at its stomach, fist forward.

The kaiju stumbled back. Superman looked down, and saw several people were in its path. His eyes widened and he dashed down to the ground, grabbing as many people as he could. He managed to save them all, setting them on the same roof. “Everybody ok?” he asked. They all were shaking, but nodded. The youngest, who looked to be six years old or so, waved at the hero. He waved back, before flying back to the beast.

“Ugh, I can’t get a clear angle…” Jimmy said.

“Then we’ll get you one,” Lois said, opening the driver’s seat. Bill was nowhere to be seen. She rolled her eyes, and hopped in the seat. “Let’s go, Jay-Oh!”

Jimmy hopped in the passenger’s seat, then aimed the camera out the window. He gave a thumb’s up, and she floored the gas.

Superman motioned for the kaiju to attack, and the beast obliged. It wildly threw its left arm at him, and he deftly avoided the attack, before shooting a quick laser burst. The creature’s arm instinctively curled back, howling in pain. He winced.

“Sorry,” he muttered, before the kaiju threw its other arm at him. He grabbed its claws, then punched the girthy limb back before uppercutting the creature. He again dashed to ground level, saving everyone before the beast landed on the ground. When he set down the last civilian, the beast landed, causing a loud boom that shattered all the glass of the surrounding buildings.

Lois and Jimmy covered their heads. A stray shard of glass cut Lois’ hand, and she winced, but they were otherwise unharmed. She looked at Jimmy. “Did you get all that?”

He nodded. “Yep.”

Superman got a bit closer, then looked over the creature with x-ray vision. Inside was multiple organic pieces, meat, muscles, and a skeleton. But he did notice that there was a metal chip in the creature’s skull, and many other metallic pieces across its internal tracts.

Before he could get close enough to determine what the chip was, though, the creature woke up and grabbed him. He made a sound of surprise, and the creature got back up on its feet. It roared in his face again, spittle flying across his face and onto the ground below.

Lois started looking around, before dashing to the nearest building.

Jimmy made a double take, and called out. “Lois, what are you doing?”

“I have to help him somehow, right?” She responded, grabbing onto a windowsill a floor above ground level before starting to climb. Jimmy threw his free hand in the air, frustrated, but not questioning further. He focused back on Superman.

He was writhing around under the kaiju’s grip, trying to get free without hurting it too badly. He thrashed his shoulders around and managed to free his right hand, which he used to punch the first of the kaiju’s fingers off of him. He then got his other arm free and tore the next one clean off the creature. It roared in pain, releasing its grip, and he sighed, disappointed with himself. He glanced down, and noticed that it was more oil than blood. He furrowed his brow and dropped the robotic digit to the ground.

Lois looked around the roof for something she could use, before seeing a broken utility pole that once connected to the street below. She looked back down, and saw the metallic finger.

“That’s it!” she said to herself, before cupping her hands in front of her mouth. “Superman!”

He dodged another swipe from the kaiju before looking over.

She pointed at the pole. “Lure it here!”

His eyes widened, then he looked back at the beast. It finally landed one of the swipes, and he got sent crashing to the ground. He coughed a couple times, before standing up like it was nothing. “Huh.” He then flew back up. “Is that all?” he said firmly.

The creature swiped at him yet again, and he avoided it, making sure to move towards the pole. This repeated a few times, before he saw that it was about to hit the pole and he swept Lois off her feet. She yelped in surprise, but settled into his comfortable bridal carry.

The utility pole sent a shock into the kaiju’s system, and after a moment, it fell back to the ground. Superman touched down on the ground next to Jimmy, still holding Lois, and watched the beast carefully. X-ray vision told him the creature had flatlined.

The civilians on the roof all cheered for him, and the same six-year-old kid waved to him again. Superman smiled at them. This is what he wanted to do.

“Hey, uh, Supes.”

Lois’ voice shook him from his focus, and then he promptly realized he was still holding her. “Oh, uh… sorry, miss,” he said, setting her on her feet. She chuckled.

“It’s fine.”

“Are you two alright?” Superman asked, glancing between the two of them.

“Of course, it was my idea,” Lois said, proudly putting her hands on her hips and closing her eyes.

“Uh… yeah, I’m fine,” Jimmy said, before glancing at Lois. “You’re not alright.”

“Come again?” she said, dropping her smile and opening one eye to glare at him. Jimmy pointed down, and then she glanced down at her hand. It was bleeding. “Oh, right,” she muttered, lifting it up.

Suddenly, Superman flew away. Just as Jimmy was about to comment on how abrupt it was, he returned, holding some gauze, tape, and cotton. “Hold still,” he said.

“Oh,” Lois said, surprised, but she obliged. She held out her hand and Superman got to work. He set the cotton down, then quickly wrapped the wounded hand in gauze. His speed was dizzying, a red and flesh colored blurry ring. He suddenly slowed down, applying the tape to the gauze.

“That should hold for now,” Superman said. “I’m not a doctor, but I know a bit about that.”

Lois stared at the craftsmanship of the bandage. “Well… I… uh,” she said, at a loss for words. She caught Jimmy smiling out of the corner of her eye and glared at him. “Thank you, Superman.”

“Of course,” he said, before looking up.

“Wait, before you go…”

He looked back at Lois, an eyebrow raised.

“Could you find another reporter that was with us? Clark Kent, he’s… about your height, probably, wears a blue vest, red tie…” She described, before noticing the brief panicked look in his eyes. It faded just as quickly as she had noticed it, so she just smiled.

“I’ll… ahem. I’ll find him, miss.”

“Thanks. Bring him to the Daily Planet, when you find him, alright?”

“Of course.” He nodded, then flew into the sky.

Lois stared at him before he vanished from sight. “Huh.”

“What was that?” Jimmy asked.

“Nothing, just… thinking.”

Chapter Text

The van pulled up in front of the Daily Planet, a bit battered but running smoothly. Lois quickly got out of the driver’s seat and looked at the entrance door. She saw Clark, adjusting his vest, looking up at the building.

She ran up from behind and leapt onto his back, wrapping her arms around him. “There you are, you big idiot!”

He stumbled forward. “Woah, hey, hey, be careful-”

“Where did you even go?” Lois asked.

“Uh… I just…”

“Lois, get off of him,” Jimmy said in a deadpan voice. She sighed and let go of him, dusting herself off.

“Fine. But you owe me an explanation later, Kent.”

The trio walked into the building and returned to their usual floor. Perry was on the phone with someone, but upon noticing their arrival, quickly hung up.

“That was a huge risk, you two,” he said sternly to Lois and Jimmy. “Approaching that thing with nothing to defend yourselves with, let alone actively approaching hazards…”

“It’s gone, isn’t it?” Lois retorted. Perry rubbed his forehead, annoyed.

“Sometimes I feel that you may have miscalculated in choosing journalism as your career.”

She sighed and sat in her cubicle, opening her laptop. Jimmy murmured an apology before returning to his desk, too, still holding the camera. Perry made a tired sigh and returned to his own office. Clark sat down a few seconds after Perry left.

“…Are you, uh… alright?” he asked, motioning to the bandage. Lois glanced at it, and gave a half-smile.

“Shard of glass got me during the kaiju attack. And our new hero patched it up. Really well, too.” She stared at it for a moment. “I don’t believe that he doesn’t have some medical training.”

“Hm.” Clark paused. “Well, uh-”

“And there’s something else,” Lois interrupted, leaning back in her chair, folding her arms. “The kaiju was at least partially robotic. Superman tore a finger off it, but it was mostly tech and oil, not flesh and blood.”

“Huh. Whoever made that must’ve…” Clark started, trailing off.

“There’s a trend happening, I can see it. The android attack yesterday, those new Luthorcorp bots at the opening ceremony, and the mecha-kaiju attack today…” Lois said, typing furiously on her laptop. “All connected by one thing…”

“Artificial life,” Lois and Clark said at once, before locking eyes. He blushed, and she smiled. “Yeah.” She then blinked twice, looking back at her notes. “I’ll need to get everything together soon…”

Lex slammed his fist on the desk. “What were you thinking?!” He shouted.

“I-it wasn’t my call, I swear!” the puny gangster said, quivering in fear.

Lex took a breath, recollecting himself. “Then who. Did it?”

The others were quiet. All silent, not willing to rat out the culprit. Lex sighed.

“Perhaps you didn’t understand when I said our operations needed to be discreet.”

“Oh, we understood,” a robotic voice boomed. Lex looked to the source of the voice.

In the rafters of the safehouse, there was a humanoid figure, crouched down. Lex immediately noticed the metallic sheen of his limbs and a green glowing light in his chest. He stood up straight and took a step forward, flipping forward before landing with a precision that rivalled even the Luthorbots.

“But you’re too cautious, Luthor,” he said, stepping forward into the light. The sight before the CEO was shocking, even to him. A human face, half-melted into metal. “I sent out our little pet.”

“I presume you’re Mr. Corben. A pleasure,” Lex said, his voice dripping with monotone sarcasm.

“Metallo, now. Another gang ambushed me a month ago. Our engineers managed to rebuild me, and yours gave me the durability upgrade I needed.”

“And what of the glow in your sternum?”

“Some sort of exotic mineral. We don’t know what it is, but it’s strong. Strong enough to power my dead body. My people found it.” Metallo rolled his shoulders. “But that’s not the point. The point is, why be subtle anymore? Especially with Superman running around.”

Lex considered the new variable in Metallo. “…Listen to my orders. I will consider your side,” Lex settled on saying.

“Better than nothin’,” Metallo responded, before nodding at the others. The gang took a moment before following their leader out of the safehouse.

“One more thing,” Lex called out. Metallo stopped, looking over his shoulder with his human eye.

“I will want to study that mineral within you.”

Metallo paused, then laughed a bit. “Fair trade, I suppose.” He then left the safehouse, leaving Lex to his own thoughts.

Clark walked into his apartment again, running a hand through his hair. He leaned against the door, closing it, before he set down his bag on the couch and went to make some dinner – a simple pasta.

Halfway through gathering the ingredients, he heard a firm pounding on the door. He glanced up, confused. He wasn’t expecting anyone.

The pounding continued. Clark braced himself for anything, clenching a fist as he looked through the door with his x-ray vision.

It was Lois, holding a bulletin board that was twice her size in one arm, as she lifted her fist to pound on the door again. He was shocked, so he quickly walked over, adjusted himself, and slowly opened the door.

“Lois?” he said, confused.

“Hey, Smallville,” she said, pushing past him and into his apartment. He panicked.

“Uh- wha- how did you find me?” he asked first.

“That beaten-up truck of yours isn’t exactly subtle,” she responded, looking around the apartment. “…Nice place.” 

“Uh… thanks…?” Clark said, still unbelievably confused. “What are you… doing here?”

“I said I’d look at everything soon, right? Well, here it is,” she said, lifting the bulletin board a bit for emphasis.

“And why not bring it to your place?”

“My home is a mess, Clark. I wasn’t gonna add this to the clutter. I figured a small-town farmer would be a bit more… put together than I am.” She glanced around again, before approaching an empty wall over a counter. “Good to see I was right.”

Lois set down the bulletin board on the counter and Clark walked over, looking it over. It had an image of the androids, a frame of the Luthorbots, the kaiju, a few headlines, an image of Lex himself, and other sticky notes, all linked by red string wrapped around pins.

“Wow. You’re… fast,” Clark remarked.

“I put my mind to something, I get it done,” Lois responded with a smile, before stepping back and putting a hand on her hip. She sighed. “Three recent incidents, all involving artificial life. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Clark looked closer at the clue board. Lois had already linked the kaiju to the android attack. However, he noticed something. The attack and the Luthorbots weren’t. Clark stepped even closer.

“…What?” Lois asked.

“Did you bring the… string? And a pin?”

“Uh, duh.”

“Could you bring me some, please?”

“Sure,” Lois said, stepping out of the apartment. Clark took a breath, then found a sticky note and quickly wrote down what he was thinking. When Lois returned, he was putting the note on top of the attack, and drew some arrows.

“What are you thinking?” Lois asked, holding out the pin and string. Clark took it and pinned the android attack, wrapping the string around it, before connecting it to the Luthorbots.

“Look closely at these,” Clark said, pointing at the Luthorbots. Lois leaned in. “They have an LED screen for a face, curved plating, lights along their sides and limbs for visibility.”

“Yeah?”

“Now look at these,” he continued, pointing at the attacking androids. “It looks like they share some design similarities. Lights, LED face, even if they are turned off. Their plating-”

“It’s damaged, but still curved,” Lois finished, eyes widened. “Yeah, you’re right. I was so focused on the big picture, I didn’t…” she started, trailing off. “You don’t mind if I keep this here, do you?”

“Oh, uh, I don’t mind.”

“Great,” she said, smiling.

“Did you show Jimmy yet?”

“No, not yet. He thinks I work too much.”

The two stood in silence for a moment, before Clark shook his head slightly and returned to the counter with the ingredients for his dinner. “Did you want to eat while you were here? Have a drink?”

Lois thought for a second, before shrugging. “Might as well.” She walked to the fridge and opened it. “What do you got?”

“Water, milk, some orange pop,” Clark said, setting a pot down on the stove behind her.

“Hmph. Lightweight,” Lois teased.

“Ha, ha. I don’t drink,” Clark responded. “And I don’t usually expect visitors, so…”

“Uh huh. How long have you lived in Metropolis?” Lois asked, grabbing a can of orange Fanta.

“A couple weeks now. Why?”

“Just curious.”

She cracked open the can and took a sip as Clark continued setting up dinner. She walked around, taking in the many accessories along the walls and on the shelves. She stopped in front of a trophy, and leaned in to read it.

Clark Kent: #1 in Track & Field

Smallville High School

Class of ‘15

Lois hummed to herself. “You did track in high school?”

“Yeah,” Clark said, stirring the pasta. “Pa’s idea.”

She shrugged. “Guess that explains why we didn’t see you after the attack started. You must’ve been bookin’ it.”

He smiled. “Guess so.”

Lois sat in silence as Clark finished preparing the pasta, glancing around the apartment now and then. Clark finally finished preparing the meal, dished it up, and set both plates on the table.

“Food’s ready,” he said.

“Thanks.”

The two sat down, and began to eat in an awkward silence. Occasionally, one of them would take a breath in like they were about to speak, before breathing out, deciding not to.

Finally, Lois broke the silence. “This is good stuff.”

“Thank you,” Clark said.

Another beat of silence, before she broke the silence again. “So, what do you usually do for fun nowadays?”

“Oh, uh… well, I watch anime, I go on jogs around the city… sometimes I research random topics I’m interested in.”

“Huh. Alright.” Lois took another bite, before smiling to herself. She swallowed and gave a sly look. “Not saving people?”

Clark paused, swallowing his food as his eyes darted to the side briefly. “Uh… what- what makes you say that?”

“Eh, I just think it’s… convenient that Superman shows up, what, two weeks after you move in? The same day you start working at the Planet, even?”

Clark hesitated. “Well, that… certainly is a coincidence, isn’t it…?”

“Oh yeah, and you seemed pret-ty interested in my meeting the guy.”

The two said nothing for a minute.

“If I jumped out the window right now, what would happen?” Lois suddenly asked, looking at said window.

Clark panicked. “No, don’t- don’t do that! Please!”

Lois took one more bite of pasta and stood up. “Why not?” she asked, mouth still half full. She then sauntered to the window, sitting on the windowsill, facing him.

“No, please,” Clark begged.

She swallowed her bite. “Oh, somebody, save me!” Lois dramatically said with a smile, throwing her arms to the side as she fell back out of the window.

“No-” Clark said, before groaning and dashing out to catch her. He caught her a good five feet off the ground, levitating. He closed his eyes, taking a breath in, lips thinning. Lois just sighed with a smile.

“I knew it.”

“Don’t tell the Planet.”

“Um, duh.”

The two remained in a surprisingly comfortable silence as Clark carried her back into his apartment. She hopped out of his arms, landing on the hardwood floor. 

“…So, Superman. I want to know somethin’.”

“Don’t… call me that when I’m out of costume,” Clark asked softly as he carefully climbed into the apartment and shut the window.

“Ok,” Lois said. “Clark, where did you learn to make such good food?”

“Both my parents, actually. They took turns cooking, and I just… joined them in that cycle one day,” he said, smiling fondly. “The pasta’s my Pa’s recipe.”

“I’d like to meet them one day.”

“…Yeah. Yeah, same.”