Prologue: City Of The Future

[ The Man Of Tomorrow! ]

Editorial

By: Lois Lane

If you go out into the busy streets of Metropolis and ask any person who they idolized, they will have one answer for you: Superman.

Nicknamed by the younger folks as the 'Man of Steel', the big blue hero flies over us every day and saves hundreds of lives with a big radiant smile on his dimpled face. It's as if he was a ball of sunshine that punches bad guys hard enough that they land in prison. (Too rough and tumble?)

For what exactly? That is exactly my query. (Query sounds old - C. Grant)

For three years now, this monolitic(add an h?) man, having been deemed a symbol of hope, has protected this great city with fervor and generosity.

The mayor had even suggested giving him the key to the city, but the superhero merely persuaded the mayor to focus on low-income housing in the eastern part of the city.

A political maneuver, many critics say, but I fear not his voice, for his message is the right one. (the mayor sucks - Kelly)

I believe in his care…

—

Try as I might, I could not remove the blush on my face as I read the first draft of Lois' article about me. Well, not me, Clark, but the other me.

Still, it would not behoove me if Lois learns that I read her paper without her consent. So I always keep one ear open for her. 

"Hey, Perry, is there a U in "continous"?" She inquires to our Chief Editor as she walks by his office.

"Yes, one." Perry doesn't even look up from his desk before he answers. "Jimmy! Where's the photo for that Degrasse scandal piece?"

"Right here, Mr. White!" Yells Jimmy, his blonde hair fluttering around his head as he dodges an incoming cart of envelopes. "Oh. Hey, Clark!"

I greet him back. "Hey, Jimmy!"

I sit back in my chair, careful not to break the metal frame eight times in the last two years. Mr. Perry always complains about having to replace my chair or how many screws have already dislodged and nearly hit the other reporters.

As I gaze past the busy workers of the Daily Planet as they mill about, ink in their hands, I could not help but admire the view of the Metropolis skyline.

The way they curved and bent to form an iron wall that could take on the attacks of the most powerful of men, powered not by electricity or cosmic energy but by the will of its denizens. Its people.

Although I adore and still wish I could live back in the farm, I knew this city needs me. It needed not a hero to save them from a calamity, but a symbol. Of hope, of peace, of freedom.

Besides, Pa Kent would knock on my head if he knew I left almost a hundred thousand people to themselves when I have the power to change their destiny.

A content sigh comes out of my mouth before a voice reaches my ears. One I hope would not call out to me, even if that aches my heart to do so.

"Come, Superman. I wish for a chat."

The voice of Lex Luthor resounded in my mind, half an urge to just hunker down and write another paragraph on my piece about a council member's corruption scandal.

But thoughts began to swirl within my mind, overtaking the other. What if he was in danger? What if he was going to put someone in danger? What if the danger is already here and he's just gloating?

Clicking my tongue, I stand from my seat and grab my blazer, putting it over my long-sleeved blue shirt as I walk past Miss Grant.

"Where are you going, boy scout?" Lois' voice causes me to falter, nearly tipping over the printer to my left.

"I, uh, I'm going on break?" I quickly note the time: 10:23 p.m; and give her a toothy smile.

She rolls her eyes on me. God, she's so pretty. "Look, don't forget the date, alright?"

My eyes widens, smiling away my slowly warming cheeks. "W-what? Our date?"

"Yes!" She snorts, furrowing her thick eyebrows as she gazes at me like I'm a complete dunce. "The U.N summit date? We have to be there tomorrow at 6 a.m. sharp!"

"Oh, okay. Work date… not date date." I heave a big breath, smiling at her abashedly before promising to be there.

As I turn back towards my earlier goal, I hear her mutter to herself. "Is that a new shirt?"

The compliment may have affected me more than I thought because I was out of that building in thirty seconds, fifteen more seconds quicker than my regular time.

I shake my head of her confident voice, and focus on my current job as my cape flutters in the wind. My form is as straight as the tree branch I used as a sword when I was a kid, traversing the Metropolitan skyline like blue and red blur.

My destination: LexCorp.

I wave at the office workers as I pass by their buildings, rattling their frail windows. I actually had some office manager complain about my flying, citing budgetary issues when I break their windows when I'm fighting someone.

I would pay, but newspaper reporters aren't exactly sitting in gold. Luckily or, I suppose, suspiciously, Lex proclaimed that he would pay for any damages incurred during one of my fights.

Speaking of, I halt my flight as I hover over the top floor of the tower, looming over the muscular form of Lex Luthor.

The man who was wont for nothing, but still yearns for everything.

"Good evening, Lex." I say, crossing my arms. You never know what kind of gadgetry he has concocted, so it's best to be on guard.

"Ah, the big blue boy scout." He greets me in his normal alliterative mood as he turns his rather high-ceilinged chair. "Do you care for a drink?"

"I don't drink on the job, Lex." I reply instantaneously. "What do you want?"

"What's the hurry? Have to catch a falling children's bus." He mocked.

For a moment, I would have thought that he stooped so low, so I tuned my ear for such an accident, but, thankfully, found none.

As if he could read my thoughts, Lex chuckled. "Don't worry. I don't kill kids. Speaking of kids. I need a favor."

He stands from his seat, tapping the glass window that separates him and I. The smirk on his face used to irk me when I was a bit younger, but when I learned what he had gone through in his childhood. I just… pity him.

"Don't look at me like that, you mongrel!" He roared, banging his fist against the glass. Anger plastered onto his face, knowing full well he can not do anything to my feelings.

Suddenly, his face morphed back into a gentle smile, a hint of mad brilliance hidden beneath his eyes of lies and deceit. "Now, I would like for you to do me a favor."

"What favor?" My genuine curiosity is visible in my face. I had once thought that Lex would never ask me for a favor, or even look at my form with nothing but utter contempt.

"A… would-be protege of mine had gone missing. Multiple assailants have broken into his father's estate in Gotham," He said the city's name with contempt, much like he would say mine." And killed all of his bodyguards, save for one. Unfortunately, GCPD are incompetent, corrupt, imbeciles. Which… have their uses, but not on this one."

"So… you want me to find your protégé?" That was a weird request, not for the obvious reason. But because he requested it. "What's so special about him?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Now gloating over me. This guy. "Further reason for me to request this is in the form of an envelope delivered to the receptionist of LexCorp at the same hour of his kidnapping."

With a snap of his finger, an envelope fell into my hands. I looked up and saw a drone that quickly went invisible.

Neat. I still could see it with my other vision, but it's still neat.

The envelope has a broken stamp in the form of a black owl head, a sleek and metallic design. Reminds me of old steampunk books I used to read to Ma Kent.

Inside was a note whose smell alone left a sour note on my tongue. "Poison?"

"An airborne variant of nightshade. Figured it out the second my receptionist fell down, caught my attention at least." He said.

I read the inscription on the note: The Court of Owls sends its regards.

"Court of owls?" I read aloud, prompting Luthor to, unfortunately, monologue.

"A shadow organization hidden deep beneath the skeletons of our founding fathers. From what I've gathered with my channels… They have only one goal. As to what? For that even I have no answer." He seemed giddy when he recounted what he knew. "Now, I believe you have an appointment in Gotham. Chop-chop."

"Why me, Lex? You could have sent any mercenary or even Marcy, so why lower your ego and ask me?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Because this Court of Owls almost killed my receptionist," He tone laced with venom. "What greater return gift than to send the Man of Steel?!"

•••

Following my bizarre encounter with Lex, I have to fly back to Kansas and inform Ma Kent that I'll have to pass on Bingo night. I could have texted her, but given that it has been a nightly tradition, it would have been rude.

Plus, I doubt she could text me back to confirm she received it.

On the way to Gotham, I have to take multiple detours. A few pet rescues, a fire blow-out, and one very persistent bank robber who wouldn't take please for an answer, so I flick him in the temple before he can fire his weapon.

It was after midnight before I could see the skyline of Gotham proper, a deep smog enveloping the dark city.

To be perfectly honest, I really like Gotham. It has grown on me over the years. Sometimes I would cross over and deal with a few crimes. 

Even when I was picking a city to continue my reporting career, I had Gotham on my top 10. If not for the fact that Metropolis was a bigger city and, hence, had a lot of chances of bigger crimes happening, then I might have been this city's hero.

Maybe it was destiny that has me working for the Daily Planet, for if I had been here, I would not meet my friends, Jimmy and Lois.

Plus, Gotham has their own hero. I think. I don't really know if he's real.

A sudden colossal explosion severs my musings. Quickly zipping through the skies to see that it originates from the western end of the city, right beside the coast

I cross my arms, using it to wade through the air and zip through the air with greater force, creating an after boom.

The wind whizz past my cheeks as I arrive headfirst into the explosion, my eyes unaccustomed to the extreme heat immediately recovers allowing me to see the remnants of the destruction.

Metal shrapnels big enough to pierce through a man's body splattered everywhere, wails and screams of terror echoed around the smoke-filled site.

Expanding my diaphragm while puffing my cheeks, I blow away the smoke and remnants of the fire, thereby revealing the extent of the damage.

The ground zero of the explosion now has a large indentation where water from the sea continuously pumps out of the bedrock. But my sight catches a figure in black, smoke billowing out of his form.

I zipped down, gently landing next to him like my Pa used to teach me. Noticing the cowl on his head being half broken, revealing parts of his nose and upper left jaw; I cradled him with great care and flew upwards, away from the smoke and ash.

Blood dripped from his form as a metal shard piercing his armor as I landed near the road where I halted an incoming ambulance.

As the dumbfounded EMTs gaze towards me, I motion for them to come closer. "He has a fractured rib and second-degree burns in his arms and legs. Probably a head injury too, I'm afraid to remove-"

"No!" The man rolls away from my grasp, his heartbeat frantically trying to keep him alive. He heaves his burnt chest as he glared at me.

I smile. "Hello! Would you like to-"

"Why are… you here?" He asks through gritted teeth, his tone making me nervous.

Before I could respond, smoke billowed forth around his form, startling the EMTs. My gaze trained towards his limping body as he dexterously limbered towards the other end of the port.

I tell the EMTs of the other victims inside the port and follow the man, hovering inches away from the ground.

He knows I'm following him, but still limped towards a… is that a tank?

"Whoa." I mutter reflexively, earning his glare.

"Why… are you here?" Again with the question.

"I saw the explosion. Shouldn't you be in a hospital?" I ask, but it might as well be rhetorical for him. His heart beat slower by the second as if he could control it. His muscles tensed at the right places before every step.

I gaze at the tank and at his form, then comprehension besets me as my eyes widen. Jimmy will freak out.

"Are you… Batman?" I ask in a hopeful tone.

He hums.

Jimmy will totally freak out. It has been his conspiracy theory that Batman is real and that he operated during the night. Bringing forth justice to the city of Gotham.

The hero this city does not deserve, but what it-

"Are you done staring? I have a kid to save." He says, taking a seat in his tank.

"Uh, perchance, is the kid… Edmund Serana?"

Batman's heart flutters for a brief moment, but his exterior demeanor changes not. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, someone asked me to." I reply, knowing full well he'll know the truth.

And he does. "Lex Luthor. I see. You really are… hmmm."

He stops himself from saying more, but I suppose he will say that I have a soft spot. He would be right. 

I clear my throat and give him my brightest smile. "Since we're both here and you're clearly injured, do you mind if we team-up?"

"I don't team up." He says, pushing a button that disengages the chutes connected to the tank before groaning under his breath. Soft enough that only I could hear it. He looks at me. "But for the sake of Edmund, we'll have to."

"Alright, then." I fly closer, grasping the tougher hems of the dark tank and lift it off the ground. "Hold on to something."

"What are you doing?" He asks, buckling up as I fly high above the clouds.

"Getting your tank out of a ditch." I reply. That much is obvious. "How do you have a personal tank and still be considered a myth?"

"Because I don't wear blue tights under red underwear." He says, earning a frown from me.

I guess he's still wary of me. "Hey, my mother sewed this costume."

We fly over the city of Gotham under the cover of the clouds, while Batman speaks with someone named Alfred. And, according to his words, Alfred likes me very much.

Now that I stayed within the city for longer than five minutes, my hearing can hear the hundreds of crimes and cries for help. If I didn't stop myself and tune it out, then I'm afraid I would've made a scene in the city.

Thankfully, Batman abates my worries when he tells me of his plans.

"I'm going back to my base. While I'm there, I want you to scour the whole city with your X-ray vision. Look specifically for these five warehouses." He gives me a tablet with a map of the city and a modified radio. "If you see any large underground area, or anything suspicious about your targets, use the radio and inform me."

"Got it. Wait, how do you know I have X-ray vision?" His revelatory words startle me.

"What do you think happens when you fight aliens, big monsters, and robots for three years?" He replies, making a lot of sense. I guess that's why he's Batman.

"Now, drop me off somewhere low." He orders gravely.

After dropping him off a lonely highway road a few miles away from Gotham proper, Batman nods at me and drives away.

A smile escapes my face as I gaze at the items in my hand. "Man, Jimmy is really gonna freak out!"