Post by Ultimate Silentking on Jul 1, 2013 21:27:43 GMT -5
Author's Note: This story has many references/spoilers to Ex Machnia issues 6-8. It is suggested to read those chapters before continuing unless you don't want to spoil yourself of another title.
Ultimate Man of Tomorrow #1
Written by Silentking
Edited by LiquidSword34
Beta Read by Adrini
Post-Tragedy Part 1
A man known to his co-workers as Clark Kent stands at Glenmorgan Square, where the mayor of Metropolis was almost killed. Worse, during a speech where Mitchell Hundred was trying to bring hope to the citizens after the terror brought to them by Pherson. Tears threaten to flow as Clark remembers what has been dubbed by the press as the Ides of March. So many killed with the mayor almost claimed not even a week later and Clark can’t help but think if he had just acted faster, been more aware, been more prepared, none of this would have happened.
For as Superman, the hero of Metropolis after the Great Machine stepped down and became mayor, he should have been able to make sure no tragedy like this ever happens again. The Brainiac event should have been the worst moment of Metropolitan history. Sure, the Ides of March had less casualties, but the psychological damage was far worse.
Clark turns away from the Square and heads towards the hospital where the mayor is located, in a coma that he might not come out of. He had spent every second, when not working at the Daily Planet or stopping to help those who needed it, trying to find Hundred’s attacker. But the archer had eluded him so far, which frustrates Clark to no end. He is Superman, possessing far more power than most people can possibly imagined. Why is catching a single criminal so damned difficult?
After walking for a couple of blocks, using his super senses to make sure that everything in Metropolis is fine, Clark reaches the hospital. He keeps on walking, but slows down considerably to look at the room where Hundred should be. Using his x-ray vision, Clark sees that everything in Hundred’s room is fine and his super hearing indicates that the man is still hanging onto life, but no signs of him snapping out of the coma any time soon.
Clark sighs as he moves toward the Daily Planet, where he works. It is a glorious building that proudly stands thirty stories tall with a giant globe perched on top. The only building that stands taller is LexCorp a few blocks down, and only by ten stories. Clark believes that the Daily Planet is the main symbol of Metropolis’s status as the City of Tomorrow, even though most argue that LexCorp, with its many revolutionary technologies, is the main symbol. There is just something about the building that fills him with hope and pride even on his darkest of days.
Today is Clark’s day off, but that doesn’t stop him from visiting his friends and co-workers. As soon as he opens the door, he is accidentally knocked down by the red-headed staff photographer, Jimmy Olsen. Clark could have easily anticipated and move out of Olsen’s way, but it would not fit Clark’s bumbling and clumsy nature. Jimmy gives out a hasty apology as he rushes to the elevator with a camera in one hand and a chocolate sprinkled doughnut in the other.
Clark smiles as he gets up from the ground and calmly walks over to Jimmy. Clark fixes his glasses as he waits for the elevator to reach the lobby floor. “Get any photos of anything exciting today, Jimmy?” Olsen simply shrugs as he takes a bite of his doughnut, not bothered that Clark is here despite it being his day off. There was nothing else to say and within a couple of seconds the elevator arrived. The two get on as a single man gets off.
“Same floor as always?” Jimmy asks with Clark's response being a single nod. Today was a slow day, which neither of them exactly mind, especially with the Ides of March still hanging on everyone’s head. Jimmy had been worrying for a long time that his older brother, a detective in the MPD, was going to be among the lost. While the young man, barely past his twenties, was lucky enough for his family to be okay, he knew that many were not so lucky.
The elevator, with a couple of minor stops of various employees coming and going, finally stops at their destination. The doors open to reveal an office full of people, but with very little activity. Not to be unexpected since the newspaper business was pretty much dying and there hadn't been anything exciting since Hundred got shot by an arrow. Clark moved around the office as Jimmy, who in his haste almost knocks down Clark again, rushes to the office of Daily Planet owner Perry White.
Clark stops by the office of Cat Grant, Daily Planet’s gossip columnist. She seems to be recovering well, although she hasn’t returned to her normal, semi-obnoxious self. Clark remembers how Cat and her son Adam were almost killed by Pherson’s controlled birds during the Ides of March event. If he had been a second slower as Superman, she would have scars on the outside that would match the ones on the inside. Clark moves on before Cat notices him, knowing from past experience that any attempts to make her feel better would be met with misplaced aggression.
Clark then takes another stop at the office of Lois Lane, the Daily Planet’s head journalist and a woman that Clark had fallen for since he first saw her. Clark pushes open the office door, but finds her to not be there. He thinks nothing of it since Lois is almost always out trying to find the next big hit when she isn’t in her office writing about the next big hit. It's a behavior pattern that Clark admires, but sometimes finds annoying as it almost always makes her unavailable. Sometimes, he wonders if Lois only became more adventurous when it became clear that Superman will always try everything in his power to save her. Admittedly, the first thing Superman did when the birds were plaguing the city was make sure that Lois was okay and out of harm’s way.
He sighs as he continues to check on the many other members of the Daily Planet staff. Clark happens to bump into Ron Troupe, the politics reporter for the Daily Planet. Clark pretends to trip and fall to the ground, prompting Ron to apologise and pick him up.
“Hey Clark, clumsy as always?” Ronald jokes.
“I think I’m getting better.” Clark responds as he accepts Ron’s help and uses a nearby wall to give the illusion of trying to regain his balance. “Anything new today?”
There’s rumors that Lex Luthor’s gonna try to run for mayor next term, but otherwise it’s just the usual.” Clark raises an eyebrow a little at the news that Lex might try to run for mayor. He hasn’t met his childhood friend since sophomore year, when Lex’s dad took away from the quite town of Smallville to learn the ropes of running a company in Metropolis. Clark Kent now only gets news from his old friend from newspapers and the gossip buzzing around in the staff room of the Daily Planet.
“That is certainly interesting news.”
There is no small amount of hesitation in Ronald’s last words. He was one of the last people that Superman managed to save during Pherson’s terrorist attack, and there are still scars on the man’s hands where the birds tried to get past them to pluck at the more vulnerable parts of the human body.
Ronald tries to hide the injuries and ignore that it happened in the first place. But Clark is easily able to notice both injury and denial. At least, with his super senses he can.
“How is Cat doing? I think I saw you walk by her office?”
“Uh, she appears to be holding up better today. Wasn’t shaking so much this week. Though I only took a quick glance. Didn’t want to be her next target to let her aggression out on.” Ron nods, understanding that Cat still needs time to relax before letting anyone approach her.
“Hey, you seen Lois around? She wasn’t at her desk today.” This gets a chuckle out of Clark’s co-worker.
“You know how she is. Can’t wait to get out there and-”
“And find the next big thing. Yeah, I thought that was the case. Well, I guess I should get going.”
“Yeah, I need to finish writing about Lex’s possible campaign for mayor. Nice talking to you, Clark.”
“You too, Ron.” Just as Ronald turns away, Clark is almost tackled by another co-worker. This time, by Steve Lombard, the sports journalist of the Daily Planet and resident ex-jock. He was one of the people fortunate enough to be somewhere safe during the attack, although he claims that there were times when he was certain that the birds were gonna get in and eat him alive. “Oof! Nice to see you, Steve.”
“Clark! What you doing in the office today? Isn’t it your day off?”
“You should know by now that I like to visit the office before going around the city during my day offs.” This gets a good hearty laugh out of Steve.
“Hey, I saw you talking to Ron. He told you about Lex planning to run for mayor?”
“Yes, though I am partially surprised that he didn’t do so sooner.”
“Probably thought he couldn’t win against the Great Machine. Man, I love that guy. I know that Superman is trying his best, but he can’t possibly beat that man when it comes to heroics.”
“Well, I am sure there is some truth there. Lois and I have a good idea that Superman was inspired by Great Machine to become a hero and choose Metropolis because the Hundred was active there.” Clark admits. He had to contain the fanboy within him when mentioning the Great Machine. There was a lot of truth to the theory after all.
Steve gives out another hearty laugh as he pats Clark’s back, almost making him tumble to the ground for about the third time today. “True, true. Anyway, got to get back to work. Also, Clark? Next time you get a day off, just find a girl and take her out somewhere nice. You aren’t missing anything important here by going away for one day after all.” Steve then jogs away as Clark visits everyone else.
He says hello and shakes hands with every co-worker he finds that isn’t too busy with work. The general friendliness and effort to get news out to the people despite tragedy that befallen is another reason why Clark thinks that the Daily Planet is the one true example of the City of Tomorrow. No matter what happens, almost everyone there will push on and do their jobs while not letting their personal problems drag them down.
Clark then looks at the final stop of the day before heading back onto the streets. Before knocking on the office of his Perry White, editor in chief, he pauses to make sure again that everything is alright in his fair city.
“Begin the project now.”
Clark is almost startled as he hears the voice. It sounds muffled somehow and unfamiliar. After going through his near perfect memory on where the voice came from, he is surprised to realize that it came from LexCorp. Strange, but Clark decides that it was most likely nothing important. It was probably a new scientist in a hazmat suit or something like that. Lex can be ruthless in his employees, especially the more higher ups. It is practically public knowledge that if you are anything less than perfect, Luthor will fire you on the spot and replace you with someone just as good, or more often than not even more.
He shrugs it off, filing the incident in his mind as something to think about later, and knocks on the door. Within exactly a second, according to Clark’s count, Perry shouts out for him to come in. Opening the door, Clark knows that Perry would be expecting him. Clark always shows up to Mr. White’s office at the exact same time, give or take a couple of seconds, every day off to make sure that Perry doesn’t need him. Clark knows that the editor in chief admires his eagerness, but there’s always a hint of annoyance every now and then when Clark keeps coming in when it is supposed to be on his day off. The man rightfully believes that all of his hard working employees need time to rest every now and then.
“Good afternoon, Mr. White. Is there anything I can do while I am here?” Clark notices that Olsen was still in the room, looking at some pictures that he has on Perry’s desk.
“Yes, actually. A little boring, but it should help calm the city a bit.” Perry then guides Clark to the pictures that Jimmy is mulling over. “You remember the crackpot theories about how some of the animals in Metropolis have some side effects from Pherson’s control?
“Yeah. Let me guess, there is a new surge of supposed evidence that the theory is authentic?”
“You got it. We have here some pictures Jimmy took of various animals that Pherson had taken over since he resurfaced a couple of months ago. We are trying to decide which picture would best help the argument that those crazies are full of it without accidentally giving them some kind of firepower.”
“It’s no use, Mr. White,” Jimmy interrupts. “We need an actual crazy to figure out what those conspiracy theorists can use against us in these pictures. And Cat-”
“Too soon, Jimmy,” Clark intercepts as he goes to look at the pictures. As he picks one of them up, he freezes. His super hearing informs him that several mechanical objects suddenly activated all over the city. The sounds indicates that it is caused by movement from... a tank? And that whirring sound, it is similar to ones that wind up toys make while moving. Only it is too loud for it to be the usual kind that children play with. He can’t be sure since there is so many of the sudden sounds and they are so loud, but it seems like it is coming from a source that is over seven feet tall.
Determining that one of the odd sounds is just right outside, Clark pretends to accidentally drop the photo and uses a quick burst of his super breath to guide the photo towards the nearby window. Jimmy and Perry are too busy talking and arguing to notice or care, so Clark is able to walk to his desired destination.
As he glances out of the window, he drops the paper in. There are tanks and giant sized mechanical soldiers walking through the streets with wind up keys in their backs.”
“Mr. White. Jimmy. You might want to have a look out of this window right now.” Jimmy and Perry give Clark a peculiar look, but decide to take a look. They practically do a double take as soon as they see the enormous sized toys below.
“What is this, some kind of parade?” Jimmy asks. Clark then realizes, before one of the tanks even has time to turn its cannon toward the Daily Planet, that they are about to attack. He waits until the cannon moves enough for Perry and Jimmy to notice before shouting for them to get away and pushing them to the ground.
A few seconds later, the tank fires at a lower of the building. But the sudden noise and shaking of the building causes panic to spread throughout the office. Perry stands up, dusting himself off, while Jimmy helps Clark to his feet. Perry then runs to his office door and opens it for Jimmy and Clark to escape through. Mr. White then starts telling everyone to stay calm and to evacuate the floor in single order lines.
Another deafening blast threatens to send more terror through the hearts of the staff members. But Perry’s leading voice, along with light hearted threats from Cat and Steve, help to calm the crowd. Clark watches as everyone else, including Jimmy and Ron, try their hardest to help those that are hurt, trapped, or too scared to move. Once he is certain that everyone will be okay in the building without his help, Clark turns to Perry.
“Mr. White! Where is Lois?!”
“She was on her way to Glenmorgan Square after getting some coffee across the street! Don’t worry Clark, Superman will save her! Just find someplace to hide until the Man of Steel gets here! Dammit, I bet whoever caused this was waiting for Hundred to be out of picture.”
Clark can’t help but agree as he makes his way to a nearby janitor closet without anyone looking. These robots would surely be stopped in seconds if Hundred wasn’t shot by that arrow. Hell, it might be possible that the two are linked. Once inside, Clark rips open his suit, revealing a red S on a yellow shield underneath. Time for Superman to show these robotic terrorists why he is the hero of this city.
Superman zooms out of a hidden hole that Clark had made long ago, and heads towards the nearest tank that he can see. He is surprised to find that he can’t see the inside of the tank with his x-ray vision as he zooms to the left f the missiles and armor piercing bullets aimed at him. In fact, he can’t really see anything on the inside of any of these mechanical menaces. They must be lined with lead, suggesting that the people who designed them also had Superman in mind. The weapons are certainly stronger than anything that the military would normally have.
Superman slows in front of the cannon of one of his chosen target and immediately grabs it. With immense strength, he rips it clean off. With the amount of effort it takes, Superman is more certain these tanks and robots were designed to tackle him while aiming to hurt him. That should have been far easier to rip off. In any case, Superman flies into the tank and is surprised to find it is empty. Somehow, the tank was guiding itself, or perhaps remotely. Superman doesn’t have long to think about it as he hears a radio command to have the tank self-destruct as he enters.
He flies out at speeds faster than the human eye can register and grabs the remains of the tank, throwing it a good mile or two into the air where it explodes harmlessly. Not even falling debris is a threat as the explosion is so strong that nothing remains. That would certainly give Superman a bruise if he didn’t react fast enough.
“One down. Too many to go.” The Man of Tomorrow then dodged to the left as a different tank tried to blow him out of the ground, instead obliterating a nearby toy soldier. Superman then casually grabs the part of the tank where missile exits and twists into a shape of pretzel. He then rips the arms off of a nearby soldier as the tank blew itself up.
After a couple of minutes, Superman stops all of the robots in the area of Metropolis where the Daily Planet is. While Superman checks to see which area is in need of help, he is horrified to realize that one of the buildings in the most danger is the Metropolis hospital. Not just that, but it appears to be that the tanks are aiming at the room where Hundred is.
Superman flies at the highest speed he has gone yet, only to be forced to slow down as his microscopic and telescopic vision inform him that he is about to do more damage than necessary getting to the hospital. Through clenched teeth, he tries to find the best speed to the hospital before the tank fires and without destroying the windows or causing cars to tip over due to landing at too high a speed.
But he is struck with horror that he won’t be fast enough. The tank has already fired. The missile is about to hit the building and take many more lives with it. No! No more lives will be harmed today, and this city won’t suffer any more damage. Not as long as Superman is around.
With a slight push in speed that causes mirrors to threaten to shatter, Superman takes drastic action. He grabs the missile and attempts to push it out of the way. Unfortunately, the impact causes it to explode anyway. The hospital is safe, but Superman ends up taking the full brunt of the attack, causing him to fall to the floor. As his body threatens to give up, Superman can’t help but wonder who designed weapons so powerful, and how they were able to do so.
A single man wearing a blue vest with white shirt underneath, a red tie, white shorts, and a giant creepy, ever smiling doll-like mask laughs at the carnage that his creations are spreading throughout the city on several monitors. He presses a button to bring up an analysis on the fight between his giant toys and the so called Superman. It soon becomes apparent that not only is Superman far more powerful than he has shown himself to be in the past, he is actually still holding back. Though it appears that there is definite limit to his durability. But he can’t rule out the possibility that he is just going through shock over how powerful his toys are. After all, Superman has mainly dealt with common criminals. Nothing spectacular since the Brainiac invasion.
“Toy Man! You got the data you need?”
Toy Man turns his chair around to meet face to face with a giant, hulking machine. But this one is not one of his designs. In fact, it is not even a true robot. There are still pieces of the thing’s past life as a human within after all. But Toy Man is certain that he will soon remove the necessity for the remaining organs, thus turning the powerful monstrosity from a cyborg into a full on, tireless, and hopefully unstoppable robot.
“Almost. Don’t worry, Metalllo. You will get a chance to go head to head with the Man of Steel. I just need to get him to use his other powers like his super breath or heat vision.”
“Why can’t I just go out now? Your machines look like they are about to tear him apart now.”
“We still don’t know the limits of anything on this man. In fact, I am gonna have to upgrade you to be ten times more powerful than the data that we fully gather to be on the safe side. Also, don’t just assume that he is done for right now. A couple of years ago, he could only hop over very tall buildings. Now he can fly at speeds that I have never seen before? I am sure his ability to take damage has also increased.”
Metallo grumbles as it walks away.
“Don’t worry, my friend. You will get the chance to take on the Man of Steel. Very soon, since we have to get you ready before Hundred wakes from his coma.” Metallo just responds with an unnecessary and rude gesture of his hand as Toy Man continues to watch as Superman tries to stand and tanks and soldiers aim their weapons at him. Depending on what happens next, he may have to send in the planes next. Maybe even battleships from hidden areas within the rivers and lakes of Metropolis. No matter what happens today, Toy Man can’t help but admit to himself that this is the most exciting day of his life. And one of the worst days in Metropolitan history.
To Be Continued...
Ultimate Man of Tomorrow #1
Written by Silentking
Edited by LiquidSword34
Beta Read by Adrini
Post-Tragedy Part 1
A man known to his co-workers as Clark Kent stands at Glenmorgan Square, where the mayor of Metropolis was almost killed. Worse, during a speech where Mitchell Hundred was trying to bring hope to the citizens after the terror brought to them by Pherson. Tears threaten to flow as Clark remembers what has been dubbed by the press as the Ides of March. So many killed with the mayor almost claimed not even a week later and Clark can’t help but think if he had just acted faster, been more aware, been more prepared, none of this would have happened.
For as Superman, the hero of Metropolis after the Great Machine stepped down and became mayor, he should have been able to make sure no tragedy like this ever happens again. The Brainiac event should have been the worst moment of Metropolitan history. Sure, the Ides of March had less casualties, but the psychological damage was far worse.
Clark turns away from the Square and heads towards the hospital where the mayor is located, in a coma that he might not come out of. He had spent every second, when not working at the Daily Planet or stopping to help those who needed it, trying to find Hundred’s attacker. But the archer had eluded him so far, which frustrates Clark to no end. He is Superman, possessing far more power than most people can possibly imagined. Why is catching a single criminal so damned difficult?
After walking for a couple of blocks, using his super senses to make sure that everything in Metropolis is fine, Clark reaches the hospital. He keeps on walking, but slows down considerably to look at the room where Hundred should be. Using his x-ray vision, Clark sees that everything in Hundred’s room is fine and his super hearing indicates that the man is still hanging onto life, but no signs of him snapping out of the coma any time soon.
Clark sighs as he moves toward the Daily Planet, where he works. It is a glorious building that proudly stands thirty stories tall with a giant globe perched on top. The only building that stands taller is LexCorp a few blocks down, and only by ten stories. Clark believes that the Daily Planet is the main symbol of Metropolis’s status as the City of Tomorrow, even though most argue that LexCorp, with its many revolutionary technologies, is the main symbol. There is just something about the building that fills him with hope and pride even on his darkest of days.
Today is Clark’s day off, but that doesn’t stop him from visiting his friends and co-workers. As soon as he opens the door, he is accidentally knocked down by the red-headed staff photographer, Jimmy Olsen. Clark could have easily anticipated and move out of Olsen’s way, but it would not fit Clark’s bumbling and clumsy nature. Jimmy gives out a hasty apology as he rushes to the elevator with a camera in one hand and a chocolate sprinkled doughnut in the other.
Clark smiles as he gets up from the ground and calmly walks over to Jimmy. Clark fixes his glasses as he waits for the elevator to reach the lobby floor. “Get any photos of anything exciting today, Jimmy?” Olsen simply shrugs as he takes a bite of his doughnut, not bothered that Clark is here despite it being his day off. There was nothing else to say and within a couple of seconds the elevator arrived. The two get on as a single man gets off.
“Same floor as always?” Jimmy asks with Clark's response being a single nod. Today was a slow day, which neither of them exactly mind, especially with the Ides of March still hanging on everyone’s head. Jimmy had been worrying for a long time that his older brother, a detective in the MPD, was going to be among the lost. While the young man, barely past his twenties, was lucky enough for his family to be okay, he knew that many were not so lucky.
The elevator, with a couple of minor stops of various employees coming and going, finally stops at their destination. The doors open to reveal an office full of people, but with very little activity. Not to be unexpected since the newspaper business was pretty much dying and there hadn't been anything exciting since Hundred got shot by an arrow. Clark moved around the office as Jimmy, who in his haste almost knocks down Clark again, rushes to the office of Daily Planet owner Perry White.
Clark stops by the office of Cat Grant, Daily Planet’s gossip columnist. She seems to be recovering well, although she hasn’t returned to her normal, semi-obnoxious self. Clark remembers how Cat and her son Adam were almost killed by Pherson’s controlled birds during the Ides of March event. If he had been a second slower as Superman, she would have scars on the outside that would match the ones on the inside. Clark moves on before Cat notices him, knowing from past experience that any attempts to make her feel better would be met with misplaced aggression.
Clark then takes another stop at the office of Lois Lane, the Daily Planet’s head journalist and a woman that Clark had fallen for since he first saw her. Clark pushes open the office door, but finds her to not be there. He thinks nothing of it since Lois is almost always out trying to find the next big hit when she isn’t in her office writing about the next big hit. It's a behavior pattern that Clark admires, but sometimes finds annoying as it almost always makes her unavailable. Sometimes, he wonders if Lois only became more adventurous when it became clear that Superman will always try everything in his power to save her. Admittedly, the first thing Superman did when the birds were plaguing the city was make sure that Lois was okay and out of harm’s way.
He sighs as he continues to check on the many other members of the Daily Planet staff. Clark happens to bump into Ron Troupe, the politics reporter for the Daily Planet. Clark pretends to trip and fall to the ground, prompting Ron to apologise and pick him up.
“Hey Clark, clumsy as always?” Ronald jokes.
“I think I’m getting better.” Clark responds as he accepts Ron’s help and uses a nearby wall to give the illusion of trying to regain his balance. “Anything new today?”
There’s rumors that Lex Luthor’s gonna try to run for mayor next term, but otherwise it’s just the usual.” Clark raises an eyebrow a little at the news that Lex might try to run for mayor. He hasn’t met his childhood friend since sophomore year, when Lex’s dad took away from the quite town of Smallville to learn the ropes of running a company in Metropolis. Clark Kent now only gets news from his old friend from newspapers and the gossip buzzing around in the staff room of the Daily Planet.
“That is certainly interesting news.”
There is no small amount of hesitation in Ronald’s last words. He was one of the last people that Superman managed to save during Pherson’s terrorist attack, and there are still scars on the man’s hands where the birds tried to get past them to pluck at the more vulnerable parts of the human body.
Ronald tries to hide the injuries and ignore that it happened in the first place. But Clark is easily able to notice both injury and denial. At least, with his super senses he can.
“How is Cat doing? I think I saw you walk by her office?”
“Uh, she appears to be holding up better today. Wasn’t shaking so much this week. Though I only took a quick glance. Didn’t want to be her next target to let her aggression out on.” Ron nods, understanding that Cat still needs time to relax before letting anyone approach her.
“Hey, you seen Lois around? She wasn’t at her desk today.” This gets a chuckle out of Clark’s co-worker.
“You know how she is. Can’t wait to get out there and-”
“And find the next big thing. Yeah, I thought that was the case. Well, I guess I should get going.”
“Yeah, I need to finish writing about Lex’s possible campaign for mayor. Nice talking to you, Clark.”
“You too, Ron.” Just as Ronald turns away, Clark is almost tackled by another co-worker. This time, by Steve Lombard, the sports journalist of the Daily Planet and resident ex-jock. He was one of the people fortunate enough to be somewhere safe during the attack, although he claims that there were times when he was certain that the birds were gonna get in and eat him alive. “Oof! Nice to see you, Steve.”
“Clark! What you doing in the office today? Isn’t it your day off?”
“You should know by now that I like to visit the office before going around the city during my day offs.” This gets a good hearty laugh out of Steve.
“Hey, I saw you talking to Ron. He told you about Lex planning to run for mayor?”
“Yes, though I am partially surprised that he didn’t do so sooner.”
“Probably thought he couldn’t win against the Great Machine. Man, I love that guy. I know that Superman is trying his best, but he can’t possibly beat that man when it comes to heroics.”
“Well, I am sure there is some truth there. Lois and I have a good idea that Superman was inspired by Great Machine to become a hero and choose Metropolis because the Hundred was active there.” Clark admits. He had to contain the fanboy within him when mentioning the Great Machine. There was a lot of truth to the theory after all.
Steve gives out another hearty laugh as he pats Clark’s back, almost making him tumble to the ground for about the third time today. “True, true. Anyway, got to get back to work. Also, Clark? Next time you get a day off, just find a girl and take her out somewhere nice. You aren’t missing anything important here by going away for one day after all.” Steve then jogs away as Clark visits everyone else.
He says hello and shakes hands with every co-worker he finds that isn’t too busy with work. The general friendliness and effort to get news out to the people despite tragedy that befallen is another reason why Clark thinks that the Daily Planet is the one true example of the City of Tomorrow. No matter what happens, almost everyone there will push on and do their jobs while not letting their personal problems drag them down.
Clark then looks at the final stop of the day before heading back onto the streets. Before knocking on the office of his Perry White, editor in chief, he pauses to make sure again that everything is alright in his fair city.
“Begin the project now.”
Clark is almost startled as he hears the voice. It sounds muffled somehow and unfamiliar. After going through his near perfect memory on where the voice came from, he is surprised to realize that it came from LexCorp. Strange, but Clark decides that it was most likely nothing important. It was probably a new scientist in a hazmat suit or something like that. Lex can be ruthless in his employees, especially the more higher ups. It is practically public knowledge that if you are anything less than perfect, Luthor will fire you on the spot and replace you with someone just as good, or more often than not even more.
He shrugs it off, filing the incident in his mind as something to think about later, and knocks on the door. Within exactly a second, according to Clark’s count, Perry shouts out for him to come in. Opening the door, Clark knows that Perry would be expecting him. Clark always shows up to Mr. White’s office at the exact same time, give or take a couple of seconds, every day off to make sure that Perry doesn’t need him. Clark knows that the editor in chief admires his eagerness, but there’s always a hint of annoyance every now and then when Clark keeps coming in when it is supposed to be on his day off. The man rightfully believes that all of his hard working employees need time to rest every now and then.
“Good afternoon, Mr. White. Is there anything I can do while I am here?” Clark notices that Olsen was still in the room, looking at some pictures that he has on Perry’s desk.
“Yes, actually. A little boring, but it should help calm the city a bit.” Perry then guides Clark to the pictures that Jimmy is mulling over. “You remember the crackpot theories about how some of the animals in Metropolis have some side effects from Pherson’s control?
“Yeah. Let me guess, there is a new surge of supposed evidence that the theory is authentic?”
“You got it. We have here some pictures Jimmy took of various animals that Pherson had taken over since he resurfaced a couple of months ago. We are trying to decide which picture would best help the argument that those crazies are full of it without accidentally giving them some kind of firepower.”
“It’s no use, Mr. White,” Jimmy interrupts. “We need an actual crazy to figure out what those conspiracy theorists can use against us in these pictures. And Cat-”
“Too soon, Jimmy,” Clark intercepts as he goes to look at the pictures. As he picks one of them up, he freezes. His super hearing informs him that several mechanical objects suddenly activated all over the city. The sounds indicates that it is caused by movement from... a tank? And that whirring sound, it is similar to ones that wind up toys make while moving. Only it is too loud for it to be the usual kind that children play with. He can’t be sure since there is so many of the sudden sounds and they are so loud, but it seems like it is coming from a source that is over seven feet tall.
Determining that one of the odd sounds is just right outside, Clark pretends to accidentally drop the photo and uses a quick burst of his super breath to guide the photo towards the nearby window. Jimmy and Perry are too busy talking and arguing to notice or care, so Clark is able to walk to his desired destination.
As he glances out of the window, he drops the paper in. There are tanks and giant sized mechanical soldiers walking through the streets with wind up keys in their backs.”
“Mr. White. Jimmy. You might want to have a look out of this window right now.” Jimmy and Perry give Clark a peculiar look, but decide to take a look. They practically do a double take as soon as they see the enormous sized toys below.
“What is this, some kind of parade?” Jimmy asks. Clark then realizes, before one of the tanks even has time to turn its cannon toward the Daily Planet, that they are about to attack. He waits until the cannon moves enough for Perry and Jimmy to notice before shouting for them to get away and pushing them to the ground.
A few seconds later, the tank fires at a lower of the building. But the sudden noise and shaking of the building causes panic to spread throughout the office. Perry stands up, dusting himself off, while Jimmy helps Clark to his feet. Perry then runs to his office door and opens it for Jimmy and Clark to escape through. Mr. White then starts telling everyone to stay calm and to evacuate the floor in single order lines.
Another deafening blast threatens to send more terror through the hearts of the staff members. But Perry’s leading voice, along with light hearted threats from Cat and Steve, help to calm the crowd. Clark watches as everyone else, including Jimmy and Ron, try their hardest to help those that are hurt, trapped, or too scared to move. Once he is certain that everyone will be okay in the building without his help, Clark turns to Perry.
“Mr. White! Where is Lois?!”
“She was on her way to Glenmorgan Square after getting some coffee across the street! Don’t worry Clark, Superman will save her! Just find someplace to hide until the Man of Steel gets here! Dammit, I bet whoever caused this was waiting for Hundred to be out of picture.”
Clark can’t help but agree as he makes his way to a nearby janitor closet without anyone looking. These robots would surely be stopped in seconds if Hundred wasn’t shot by that arrow. Hell, it might be possible that the two are linked. Once inside, Clark rips open his suit, revealing a red S on a yellow shield underneath. Time for Superman to show these robotic terrorists why he is the hero of this city.
Superman zooms out of a hidden hole that Clark had made long ago, and heads towards the nearest tank that he can see. He is surprised to find that he can’t see the inside of the tank with his x-ray vision as he zooms to the left f the missiles and armor piercing bullets aimed at him. In fact, he can’t really see anything on the inside of any of these mechanical menaces. They must be lined with lead, suggesting that the people who designed them also had Superman in mind. The weapons are certainly stronger than anything that the military would normally have.
Superman slows in front of the cannon of one of his chosen target and immediately grabs it. With immense strength, he rips it clean off. With the amount of effort it takes, Superman is more certain these tanks and robots were designed to tackle him while aiming to hurt him. That should have been far easier to rip off. In any case, Superman flies into the tank and is surprised to find it is empty. Somehow, the tank was guiding itself, or perhaps remotely. Superman doesn’t have long to think about it as he hears a radio command to have the tank self-destruct as he enters.
He flies out at speeds faster than the human eye can register and grabs the remains of the tank, throwing it a good mile or two into the air where it explodes harmlessly. Not even falling debris is a threat as the explosion is so strong that nothing remains. That would certainly give Superman a bruise if he didn’t react fast enough.
“One down. Too many to go.” The Man of Tomorrow then dodged to the left as a different tank tried to blow him out of the ground, instead obliterating a nearby toy soldier. Superman then casually grabs the part of the tank where missile exits and twists into a shape of pretzel. He then rips the arms off of a nearby soldier as the tank blew itself up.
After a couple of minutes, Superman stops all of the robots in the area of Metropolis where the Daily Planet is. While Superman checks to see which area is in need of help, he is horrified to realize that one of the buildings in the most danger is the Metropolis hospital. Not just that, but it appears to be that the tanks are aiming at the room where Hundred is.
Superman flies at the highest speed he has gone yet, only to be forced to slow down as his microscopic and telescopic vision inform him that he is about to do more damage than necessary getting to the hospital. Through clenched teeth, he tries to find the best speed to the hospital before the tank fires and without destroying the windows or causing cars to tip over due to landing at too high a speed.
But he is struck with horror that he won’t be fast enough. The tank has already fired. The missile is about to hit the building and take many more lives with it. No! No more lives will be harmed today, and this city won’t suffer any more damage. Not as long as Superman is around.
With a slight push in speed that causes mirrors to threaten to shatter, Superman takes drastic action. He grabs the missile and attempts to push it out of the way. Unfortunately, the impact causes it to explode anyway. The hospital is safe, but Superman ends up taking the full brunt of the attack, causing him to fall to the floor. As his body threatens to give up, Superman can’t help but wonder who designed weapons so powerful, and how they were able to do so.
A single man wearing a blue vest with white shirt underneath, a red tie, white shorts, and a giant creepy, ever smiling doll-like mask laughs at the carnage that his creations are spreading throughout the city on several monitors. He presses a button to bring up an analysis on the fight between his giant toys and the so called Superman. It soon becomes apparent that not only is Superman far more powerful than he has shown himself to be in the past, he is actually still holding back. Though it appears that there is definite limit to his durability. But he can’t rule out the possibility that he is just going through shock over how powerful his toys are. After all, Superman has mainly dealt with common criminals. Nothing spectacular since the Brainiac invasion.
“Toy Man! You got the data you need?”
Toy Man turns his chair around to meet face to face with a giant, hulking machine. But this one is not one of his designs. In fact, it is not even a true robot. There are still pieces of the thing’s past life as a human within after all. But Toy Man is certain that he will soon remove the necessity for the remaining organs, thus turning the powerful monstrosity from a cyborg into a full on, tireless, and hopefully unstoppable robot.
“Almost. Don’t worry, Metalllo. You will get a chance to go head to head with the Man of Steel. I just need to get him to use his other powers like his super breath or heat vision.”
“Why can’t I just go out now? Your machines look like they are about to tear him apart now.”
“We still don’t know the limits of anything on this man. In fact, I am gonna have to upgrade you to be ten times more powerful than the data that we fully gather to be on the safe side. Also, don’t just assume that he is done for right now. A couple of years ago, he could only hop over very tall buildings. Now he can fly at speeds that I have never seen before? I am sure his ability to take damage has also increased.”
Metallo grumbles as it walks away.
“Don’t worry, my friend. You will get the chance to take on the Man of Steel. Very soon, since we have to get you ready before Hundred wakes from his coma.” Metallo just responds with an unnecessary and rude gesture of his hand as Toy Man continues to watch as Superman tries to stand and tanks and soldiers aim their weapons at him. Depending on what happens next, he may have to send in the planes next. Maybe even battleships from hidden areas within the rivers and lakes of Metropolis. No matter what happens today, Toy Man can’t help but admit to himself that this is the most exciting day of his life. And one of the worst days in Metropolitan history.
To Be Continued...