Superman - Son of Krypton

Chapter Seven - A Tad of Triumph, A Train of Trouble

The next day at work was a boring one, Clark had been sitting at his desk for hours, scrolling through and listening to articles and TED Talks from Glen Glenmorgan. After getting past all the junk and hate about Superman, Clark had realized that Glenmorgan was a very intelligent man. Some of his opinions on things were definitely off, but this guy knew what he was doing. His business was a smashing success. Jimmy Olsen was still depressed about not getting a photo of Superman, Lois Lane actually seemed stressed out about not hearing anything from Superman, and Clark could swear Cat Grant was stealing glances at him. Clark was enjoying not having to worry about all that Superman stuff, and it was a good day. Until Perry White intruded. That pretty much killed the day of anyone who walked in his office.

"James Olsen," the boss called from his office. "Here, now!"

Jimmy looked over at Clark, who smiled, sorry for him. Perry White calling you into his office without any prior notice was nothing to get excited about. The opposite, actually. Perry White closed the door when Jimmy entered, signalling that the conversation was private and no one dare disturb him, or worse, intrude. So, naturally, Clark used his superhuman hearing to listen into the conversation.

"Do you have them?" White was asking.

"No, sir, I-" Jimmy tried to respond.

"Do you understand how important these photos are?"

"Yes, sir, but he-"

"So why don't you have them?" White asked, as though James had not been trying to tell him that very thing the whole time.

"Superman is nowhere to be found, sir," Jimmy spurted out. "I've been trying for the past-"

"You can't find Superman?" It was like Perry White just enjoyed interrupted people.

"I've been trying to find him, I'm looking at the news constantly for a sign..."

"We are the news!" White exclaimed. "And I will not have you looking at other news sources to find information for our own. If you want to find Superman, just look up into the sky!"

"It's not that easy, sir," replied Jimmy, who was shrinking down.

"And you think I got here today by taking the easy road?" demanded White.

"I think you got here today by yelling at people," Jimmy murmured.

Clark held back laughter. He was liking Jimmy more and more. Saying that was a bold move, though.

But Perry White just smiled, "So you think you're funny now, do you? Well let's see if you're smiling tonight, when you fail to meet your deadline for Superman photos and get fired. How about that?"

Jimmy turned and walked out the office, showing Clark his newly paled face. Clark was about to get up and say something to him, but something caught his eye. Clark looked and saw footage of a train going more than 300 mph, a speed that a train shouldn't get up to. While everyone stared at the fast moving train, Clark looked up the details on his computer of the track it was on. A couple miles up was a turn. The train wouldn't make the turn going that fast, and would likely crash into whatever was a few miles ahead of the turn. Nothing could stop that train before it hit the turning track, not even the driver. But Clark could. He did some more typing on his computer and discovered that the train would run straight into a neighborhood. It would kill everyone in it's wake. How could Clark just stand by and watch that happen. He had no other choice.

"Hey, Jimmy?" Clark called, tearing Jimmy focus away from the television screen.

"Yeah?" he responded, still pale.

Clark quickly wrote something down on a piece of paper. The location of the turning rail. He gave it to Jimmy and walked into the elevator, saying, "Go there, now. Don't forget your camera."

Even if Clark failed, Jimmy would still have a job. So it wouldn't be a complete failure, right?

--

Superman flew alongside the train. It was going even faster now. He hadn't thought about having to catch up with it. But he was flying, and a little while later he was past the train. The turn wasn't far away from the train, so Superman wasted no time in turning and preparing himself. He put his arms out in front of him right as the train hit, and he pushed back against the train. The force of the train dragged Clark back, and he dug his feet in the ground and continued to push. It took some time, but soon Superman noticed that the train was going the opposite direction. It was working. A crowd was starting to gather, and Superman continued to push in back, further and further away. Soon, the train had lost it's speed and Superman let go. It didn't move. The crowd cheered and Clark smiled. It had worked, and he had gotten the reaction he hadn't dared hope for. His moment of triumph was short-lived, however, because not two seconds later, the sound of gunshots filled his ears. Clark looked down slowly to see his chest being sprayed with bullets. He flew higher into the air and looked back. It was about a dozen men in military uniforms, all aiming at Superman. Clark was fine, of course - he was bulletproof, but his shirt had bullet holes in it - it was ruined. And why was the military shooting at Superman, anyway? Clark needed answers, but he wasn't going to find them in a fight, so he flew away, watching the soldiers lower their guns as he flew out of sight.