The Adventures of Superman: Defeat in the Multi-universe Lex’s Whore Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“You can’t print this, Perry!” Lois almost shouted as she rose from her seat. On the editor’s desk was a copy of the front page that would go out tomorrow. The headline read, “Fallen and Can’t Get Up?”
“Why the hell not Lois?” Perry White said irritably. “It’s going to be all over the news tonight and tomorrow. We’d be fools to not run the story now.”
A dark cloud of anger covered the female reporter’s face. The story told of Superman’s embarrassing fall in the First Bank of Metropolis that let the robbers get away. The picture under the headline had a picture from the bank footage where Superman was on his back and failing to get up.
“Superman has saved this city and world so many times that I have lost count and we are going to stab him in the back with this trash?” Lois said through clenched teeth.
Perry raised an eyebrow as he stared at his star reporter. “Our job is deliver the news and this is news, Lois. It’s not our job to take sides or to lose our objectivity. Our job is to sell newspapers and this will sell them. I know that you and Superman are close, but you need to pull yourself together and be the great reporter that you are.”
Lois opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out as she abruptly realized that her boss was right. Always hating to be wrong, she tossed her head before storming out of Perry’s office. Most of the staff took one look at her and carefully avoided her stormy gaze. She made it to her desk and slammed her fist on the expensive wood.
“Are you alright, Lois?” A timid voice said from behind.
Before she could turn and face Clark Kent another voice chimed in.
“Oh poor Lois is upset because of my story on Superman that is on tomorrow’s front page.”
Lois glared at the sight of Cat Grant. Clark raised his eyebrow from behind his thick framed glasses as he looked at both women expecting them to claw at each other. The reporter took a deep breath and smiled a bit too sweetly at the attractive woman.
“Great catch, Cat,” She said with a hint of steel in her voice.
Cat smiled back just as sweetly. “We all get lucky every once in awhile Lois. Although we can’t all be as talented as you in getting the hottest story.”
Clark opened his mouth to say something, but as the frosty gaze of both women passed over him, he swallowed and took a sip of his coffee. His face contorted as he dropped his cup and spit out the hot liquid on the floor.
Her rage melted away as she jumped up and rushed to her fellow reporter. “What’s wrong Clark?”
The timid reporter kept hacking as both women held him on each arm. The work in the press room stopped as people gathered to see what was going on. It took several minutes before Clark could get his breath back.
“I’m alright,” He said breathlessly as his face turned crimson. Lois held tight to his arm as they led him to her desk and made him sit down. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as the hacking had caused him to start crying.
Lois looked down at the broken coffee cup and gasped. Between the dark liquid was a melting turd. Who would do such a thing? Her previous anger was gone and replaced with a new reason to rage.
Clark paled when he saw what was sitting in his coffee cup. He jumped up to his feet and rushed out of the room. Lois saw that Cat looked just as pale and ruled her out for the rotten practical joke. “Tell Perry what happened,” She instructed. “I’ll go after Clark.”
Pushing her way through the assembled crowd, she made her way to the staircase and started her way up. She had worked with Clark for a long time and knew that he would be up on the roof.
As she finally made it up the stairs, she opened the door to the roof and found Clark standing looking over the city. “Are you alright?”
Her closest friend and fiance turned around and nodded as he took off his glasses. “Something strange is going on here.”
Lois nodded in agreement. First the fall yesterday and now this. Someone was targeting Superman and knew enough about him to target Clark Kent as well. “I don’t think it was anyone here at The Daily Planet.”
Clark shook his head. “No one could get passed my senses to spike my coffee like that. I don’t know who we are dealing with, but it needs to stop.”
“I’ll go over the security footage and see if there is any clue on who is responsible.”
“Good idea, I think I better visit Dr. Charles. She might be able to shed some light on this situation.”
Lois watched as Clark used his superspeed to change into Superman. She gasped as his blur vanished and he stood there with his dress slacks around his ankles. Losing his balance, he fell off the roof and started to plummet to the street below.
Even though there was no way to catch him, she still rushed to the roof with her hand extended out. His dress slacks were caught on the edge of the roof and were ripped to shreds by the fall. Lois watched helplessly as Superman slammed into the street below causing a series of car accidents as they tried to avoid hitting him.
Dread filled her as she ran as fast as she could from the roof to the stairs. Leaping through the door of the top floor, she rushed to the elevator and tapped her foot impatiently as it took her to the first floor.
She could not believe what she just witnessed. How could Superman lose his powers like that. Her eyes tightened as she felt tears forming. If anything happened to her love, she didn’t know what she would do.
Finally she made it to the street level and pushed her way through the gathering crowd to reach her beloved. Superman lay on the bottom of a small crater that his fall had created. Police sirens grew closer and closer as the news of his fall had spread.
She wanted to jump down and reach her hero before anyone could touch him. She could see his chest rising and falling and was relieved to see him alive. Now she was worried that some of his Clark Kent clothes were still on him and that his secret identity was compromised.
Before she could act, Superman slowly rose to his feet and looked up at her with a reassuring smile. She watched him rise up in the air with a little hesitation on his part. His powers seemed to be back in full force and with a gust of wind, he was gone.
Ignoring the shouts of questions from reporters and people alike, she made her way back to The Daily Planet. She knew Perry would want her to cover this breaking news, but her mind were on other matters. Lois would assist Superman in any way to find out who was out to get him.
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Txyzplc giggled as he watched Superman leave the scene of his stumble in such a hurry. He sat on empty air high above the city watching the hero’s fall through a magic looking glass. He had never had such fun messing with such a powerful man! No wonder his uncle came here to torment the mighty Superman.
Tracking him down was quite simple since his alien biology was unique enough that his magic could pinpoint his location. He had followed him all morning and waited for the right moment to strike. The look of the buffoon’s face when he drank that turd laced coffee was worth the trip to this dimension. And making his powers vanish during his transformation was just too good to pass up.
The magical imp smiled to himself as he vanished from his perch for a new destination. These jokes on Superman were amusing, but he wanted much more from the hero. Stories of his heroics reached even his dimension and the power he had to affect the powerful being gave him a high like none other.
Oh, he could have easily taken down the hero with his powers, but the kryptonian was very familiar with his kind because of his uncle’s antics. To take down Superman, he needed to keep hidden until the Man of Steel was so caught up in his web that there was no more fight left in the studly hero.
The impressive symbol of Lexcorp looked down at the magnificent city like an angel watching over the populous. Txy turned himself invisible as he floated into the personal office of Lex Luthor.
The business tycoon was watching the new coverage of Superman’s embarrassing fall with glee on his face. Luthor’s beautiful assistant stood nearby as her boss laughed.
“It looks like ole Superman’s powers aren’t too reliable these days,” Lex chortled. “Now if we can find out the reason, then we can use it to destroy the blasted alien once and for all!”
Txy popped into view as he floated in the air with his legs crossed. “You want to destroy Superman? I can help!”
Luthor swore as he jumped from his chair and pulled a gun from his jacket. He eyed the imp with distrust as his gun and Mercy’s trained on him. “Who the hell are you?”
His eyes narrowed as a look of recognition crossed his face. “You are from the 5th dimension, yes?”
Txy was impressed that the villain was able to recognize him. Clearly his uncle had contacted him in the past. He nodded with a smile on his face. “That’s right, Lexy!”
Luthor’s face had a brief cloud of anger before his face became expressionless again. “You are the cause of Superman’s loss of powers.” He said as his brilliant mind put the events of the last two days together.
“Such a smart human you are!” Txy cooed as he clapped his hands. “I know you want to destroy Superman, so I brought you a gift!” A small necklace appeared in his hands that was made of gold and had a small pink pendant hanging from the chain.
He floated over to Luthor and hand it to him. The villain cautiously took it and examined it closely. “What is this?”
“Wear this around Superman and he will fall madly in love with you!” Tyx said in between chuckles. This would mess with the big blue boyscout in ways that his uncle never dreamed of. “Think of what games you can play with Superman eating out of your hand!”
Luthor’s eyes widened as he thought of the possibilities. No doubt he would take the bait and it would be a very nice distraction to keep his presence hidden. It would amuse him to see Superman struggling with the feelings of love for his greatest nemesis.
“What do you want in return?” The villain said suspiciously.
Txy winked as he vanished in a cloud of smoke. “Just remember that you owe me a favor!” His words echoed as he left Lex Luthor to plot.
