New Earth: Superman and Lois

Chapter 8

"Hey, I saw the news, you okay?" Lois asked her fiance when he returned to their apartment.

"I need to call Kara." Clark said.

"What, why? I'm sure this is an issue that Superman can handle. One crazy lunatic." Lois said.

"Except this crazy lunatic was Metallo." Clark said, get her attention.

"Wait what?" Lois asked.

"That jumper was John Corben, who has already been turned into Metallo and he confirmed that it was by Cadmus. I thought that Kara beat them after she saved Jeremiah and took down Exodus. But I was wrong. They just went underground and we all let them essentially become reborn under all our noses." Clark said.

"Clark, that's not on just you. We all thought that Cadmus was dealt with. We had no way of knowing that they didn't all go down with the ship." Lois said.

"But we should've. Unlike Lex, Lillian Luthor's reputation is still intact. The world doesn't know that Lex takes after his mother in a lot of ways, namely insanity." Clark said.

"Thankfully Lena was immune." Lois said.

"I chalk that up to her only having her father's genetics." Clark said.

"I need to let Kara know so that she can warn Jeremiah in case they try to make a move against him." Clark said and Lois nodded in agreement.

"What happened? Why is Superman not dead?" Lillian Luthor asked Metallo when he returned to the Cadmus base.

"He was prepared for my attack. Apparently you were wrong about Supergirl being the only kryptonian your daughter helps, since it appears that she built him a suit to protect him from the kryptonite." Metallo said.

"I see. It appears that once again, I have underestimated Lena. Probably a habit I should break." Lillian said.

"There's more. He knew about Cadmus. More importantly, he guessed it was either you or your son that sent me to attack him." Metallo said.

"I see." Lillian said.

"How should we proceed?" Metallo asked.

"Things have gotten complicated. I was counting on Superman not knowing that we were the ones who turned you into this. The only reason we've been able to operate without him or Supergirl interfering is because they thought we'd gone underground. But now that they know we're back, they'll be relentless in searching for us." Lillian said.

"What do we do now?" Metallo asked.

"Well, first off, we should be grateful that while he was in our care, Jeremiah showed us how to avoid the DEO's detection, which should keep them from locating us for the time being. However, now the supers will be looking for us." Lillian said.

"Perhaps we can retreat to one of your son's bunkers for shelter and supplies." Metallo suggested.

"That would work except for the fact that Lex has them all rigged to only respond to Luthor DNA and I can't exactly abduct Lena now can I." Lillian said, since doing that would only lead Supergirl straight towards her, much to Lillian's disappointment, her stepdaughter was best friends with Supergirl and unlike Lex's former friendship with Superman, Lillian did not see that one falling apart. At least not anytime soon.

"Well why don't you try reaching out to Lex." Metallo asked.

"I can't. Not because I don't want to, but because right now, every government agency in the country is searching for him and is likely monitoring all calls Lena and I make or receive in order to see if he's in touch with either of us." Lillian said.

"Well mother, why don't you turn around." a new voice said and Lillian turned to see Lex standing in front of her.

"Lex. How did you?" Lillian asked.

"Do you really need to ask that mother? After all, I am Lex Luthor." Lex said.

"Yes, yes you are. And you're timing could not be better. How about I offer to let Cadmus harbour you and give you full access to all our resources and you provide us with all your resources that you still have access to." Lillian said.

"Done." Lex agreed and Lillian grinned.

"Let's get to work son." Lillian said.

"We never should've assumed that Cadmus was gone." Kara said as she listened to what Clark was telling her over the phone.

"Kara, we all had more important things on our minds. Besides, you stopped them once, you can stop them again and this time you'll have my help." Clark said.

"Thank you, but still. I need to let Jeremiah and Eliza know, have Alex put them in hiding until this is dealt with, I'm not risking putting either of them in danger again." Kara said and Clark nodded his agreement.

"You should see if Lena can get in touch with her mother, though I highly doubt that, since it's well known that unlike my friendship with Lex, Lena is one of your best friends after you two buried the hatchet, I doubt that will change any time soon." Clark said.

"Hopefully. Speaking of which, I need to go. We're dealing with something else important here in National City. Let me know if anything new happens with Cadmus." Kara said.

"Will do. You do the same." Clark said.

"No problem. See you in a few weeks." Kara said.

"Yeah, see you then." Clark said as he hung up.