Superman - Son of Krypton

Chapter Eight - Two Sides of the Same Story

"Alien terrorizes train."

"Super human attack on military."

"Superman saves train."

"Superman now under government attack."

Clark had received mixed responses from the activities of the day before. He had thoroughly read all the articles, the good and the bad, in order to see what the people thought he was doing wrong. That way he could try his best to correct it. But then there was the attack by the military. Clark had no idea whether they were under orders to stop him or whether they just happened to be passing and misread the situation. He hoped it was the latter. The people of Metropolis would side with the government every time. They had made them feel safe for way longer than Clark ever would be able to.

Clark finished printing out his rough draft article on Glen Glenmorgan and headed into Perry White's office.

"Sir, I've-" Clark stopped mid-sentence, realizing that Mr. White was in the middle of a conversation with Lois Lane, who had turned around. They were both staring at Clark now. "I just wanted to inform you that I've finished the report on Glenmorgan."

Perry White reached over and snatched the stack of papers from Clark's hands, looking over them. His eyebrows raised. "Very impressive, Mr. Kent."

Clark tried not to gag in surprise as White handed the papers back and Lois nodded at him approvingly. That was the first compliment given to him by his boss.

"I was just telling Miss Lane here that I want her to write an article on the recent activities of a certain alien. But seeing that you have moved up into the halfway decent reporter group, I would like you both to compose an article. Tell the story however you like, but keep opinions out. This is going to be good."

Clark and Lois both nodded and hurried out of the office.

"Kent," said Lois after they were out of the office, "I want you to know that Mr. White has done this type of thing before. But no one's ever beat my report. So don't wear yourself out."

"What happened to working together on the next article?"

Lois shrugged, "I do what the boss says. All I'm saying is don't try too hard when it's already over."

"Sure," replied Clark, "as long as you're not too disappointed when you lose."

Lois laughed, "I really do like you, Clark. There's something about you. Something that no one else here has. I don't know what it is, but it's the reason you'll be one of the top reporters someday."

Clark smiled back. "So now I'm supposed to let you win this 'competition'?"

Lois shrugged and winked. "Maybe?" Then she walked off and started to talk to Cat Grant, who Clark could have sworn was staring at him a few seconds before.

Clark then returned to his own desk, drafting a new article on the evidence that Superman was there to help and how the train incident proved that. In the draft, Clark, behind the facts, urged people to see the good Superman was doing. Then the government, or military, or whoever was after him would hopefully lay off. Maybe Clark could get a little luck.

An hour later, instead of luck, Clark saw a warning flash up on his computer. He had been working diligently on this new story and had barely paused through the whole things. He had had a lot of time to get his thoughts straight, now he just needed to type them. And type them he had, until seeing the warning. A young boy had gotten stuck behind large stones and there was a team out trying to move the boulders and free the boy. It was being televised live on the screens above Clark and his co-workers.

Clark stood up and headed for the elevator.

"Where are you going?" asked Jimmy, looking over his shoulder.

"I gotta... do something," Clark pointed at the TV screen. "Sounds like something we need some pics of, doesn't it?"

Jimmy smiled and joined Clark going down the elevator. Once out of the building, they headed their separate ways. As soon as Jimmy was out of sight, Clark pulled off his button-down collared shirt and flew into the air.

--

Superman arrived on the scene, seeing the team huddled around the giant stones. The stones seemed out of place there, not natural, but despite that, Superman flew down to the ground.

"I can handle this," he announced to the team trying to move the boulder.

The team looked at his, immediately recognizing him as the superhuman man from the news. They hesitated, and Clark thought for a second that they wouldn't let him help. But they apparently decided that the boy was more important and stepped aside. Superman grabbed the front boulder and used his super strength to lift it above his head. He flew it a few yards away before setting in down beneath a big tree.

"Thank you," the boy said, and the reporters and policemen all nodded to him.

Superman let himself show a smile before lifting off and heading back towards the Daily Planet. As he was going though, he heard an explosion and his vision was filled with smoke. He coughed and waited for it to clear, hovering in mid-air. It took him a moment to realize that he had been hit by the full force of a rocket. Sure enough, a man in a suit was pointing an RPG at him. Superman's eyes widened and he flew away fast. He couldn't risk the man shooting that thing again, especially if he missed. The damage would be catastrophic. Someone wanted Superman dead, though, he knew that much. Whoever it was, they hadn't found out how to kill him, but something told Superman that they wouldn't stop at anything. Innocent people would get hurt if he didn't do anything. He had two options. Leave Earth or stop whoever wanted him dead.