Triumph

[jon-el87]

Dedicated to the (lack of) memory of:
Byron Moore
Cassandra Carver
Derek Fox
Evan Gallagher
Henry Small
Javier Ramirez
Jeff Palmer
Jodi Melville
Jordan Cross
Kevin Grady
Kyla Willowbrook
Kyle Tippet
Lindsay Harrison
Lucas Luthor
Maddie Van Horn
Max (Dax-Ur’s kid)
Sarah Conroy
Scott Bowman
Seth Nelson
Tobias Rice
Wade Mahaney
William Clark
And the rest.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 1
Captain Maggie Sawyer leaned down over the body. Someone had killed Jack Kennedy during the night, in his home at the Edgecliff Condos. When Sawyer had arrived on the scene, she been lead in and shown the body of Kennedy on the floor. A middle-aged flabby man in a black suit and a crater on the left side of his head. Uniformed officers interviewed the neighbors, but no one had heard a shot. Sawyer figured the killer had probably used a silencer, but the walls in the building were thick, so even without a silencer it wouldn’t have been likely that the neighbors would’ve heard anything.
The body had been discovered by Evelyn Curry, Kennedy’s personal assistant, when she had arrived at 9am. Curry was a woman in her early 20’s, who wore a red dress and looked like a 30’s movie star. As Sawyer sat down to talk to the crying woman, in the kitchen, she was struck by Curry’s beauty, but didn’t let it distract her. Sawyer was here to find out who killed Jack Kennedy and that was what she was going to do.
“How long have you worked for Kennedy, Ms. Curry?” Sawyer asked her.
“Would’ve been a year next months.” Curry replied as she wiped away the last of her tears.
“What exactly did Kennedy do for a living?”
“He owned the Hilow Club.”
“Fancy place… Did he have any enemies you know about?”
“No, I can’t think of anyone who’d have anything against him. Mr. Kennedy always was a perfect gentleman. Who’d want to harm the sweet man?” Curry once more burst out into tears. Sawyer left her in the care of a uniformed police, wanting to give Curry a chance to recover before asking her anything more.
Sawyer headed out into the hallway outside of the condo, where she heard two people arguing and saw Sergeant Sam Casey talking to Lois Lane of the Daily Planet, who was trying to get past him. Casey was 26-years-old and good friend of Sawyer’s, who had recently been promoted and was still getting used to wearing civilian clothes while on duty. Sawyer rapidly approached them and sighed.
“Lane,” Sawyer said, “how many times must we go over this? No, you can’t have a look at the crime scene.”
“Do you have any suspects?” Lois asked, while trying to get past Casey again.
“There’ll be a press release in due time.”
“Does the murder have anything to do with Kennedy’s connections to Intergang?”
“What?!” Sawyer asked shocked, then wishing that she hadn’t revealed to Lois that Lois clearly knew more about Jack Kennedy than she did.
“Jack Kennedy was the protégé of Morgan Edge.”
“What do you know about Morgan Edge, Lane? He died eleven years ago. Barely anyone remembers him these days.”
“I know Edge was a surrogate father to many of the top figures in the city’s underworld. Apparently much more of a father than he was to Morgan, Jr…”
“Yes, I heard that Edge’s kid is your new boss. Tell me, Lane. How does it feel like to work for the son of one of the most notorious men in Metropolis history?” Lois didn’t reply to the question and Sawyer headed back into Kennedy’s condo, while Casey had uniformed officers lead Lois out of the building., when followed her into the condo. Sawyer went over to a bookcase, where she found a framed photo of a young Kennedy with Morgan Edge, Sr.
“What do you think, Captain?” Casey asked.
“That Morgan Edge casts one hell of a large shadow. Eleven years ago, I thought I had heard the last from Edge. Now I’m here, investigating the murder of one of his disciples.” Sawyer replied and ran her hands over her face.
“Don’t let it get to you.” Casey placed his hand on her shoulder. “It always takes time for the legacy of someone like Edge to die out entirely.”
“Especially when his son runs the biggest newspaper and TV stations in town.”
“You don’t think Edge’s son could be behind this? That he’s trying to reclaim his dad’s former empire?”
“Right now, I don’t think anything. It’d be suicide right now to point finger at a high-profile individual like Morgan Edge, without anything to back it up. Though, if Kennedy really was involved with Intergang, his death probably was a mob hit. Let’s just hope innocent people doesn’t get hurt in the crossfire, if a fully blown mob war breaks out.”

[jon-el87]

Chapter 2
To enter the Hilow Club was like entering a different time. The club was stylized to look like a club from the 1920’s or 1930’s. Even the staff looked period appropriate. Lois walked past a poster for the club’s singer, Bea Carroll, a blonde bombshell. Lois had heard her sing once. Of course, Carroll was no David Coverdale, but then who was? Lois began to try to interview the waitstaff, but no one would talk to her. Finally, she looked over to the bar and saw the white-haired Moxie Mannheim sitting in the bar in a brown suit. Lois went over and sat down next to Moxie.
“So, how’s your son?” Lois asked to break the ice.
“Excuse me?” Moxie replied.
“Your son… You know, Bruno, the one currently at Stryker's Island.”
“Are you trying to be funny, young lady?” Moxie turned to her and looked enraged.
“Then what can you tell me about Jack Kennedy?”
“Jack…?! What about him?!” Moxie was ready to have Lois thrown out.
“Someone took him out last night. Would Intergang like to comment?”
Moxie got off his chair, his face turning red, he signaled two body guards to throw Lois out. They complied and dragged Lois out, kicking and screaming, and threw her down on the street outside. Inside the Hilow Club reached into his pocket and got out his heart medication. Lois had almost given him a heart attack. This had been the first he had heard of Jack Kennedy being killed. All Moxie knew was that whoever was behind it wasn’t going to live for much longer. Nor was Lois Lane.
Outside the Hilow Club Lois got back up and brushed the dirt off her skirt. She could tell that she had struck a nerve and wasn’t ready to quit right now. She headed to the back of the building, hoping to sneak in through the backdoor, but it was locked. There was a window a few feet from the door, but it was too high for her to look in through. She grabbed a garbage can and tried to balance on it, to peak in through the window. Unfortunately, Lois was wearing stilettos and soon found herself in the ground again. As she tried to get back up, she heard a man’s voice and looked up at it. It was a good-looking blonde guy, about her age, wearing a green leatherjacket over a yellow t-shirt and jeans. He bent over and reached out his hand to offer her help.
“Thanks,” Lois said and got up on her own, “but I don’t need any help.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” The man replied. “What exactly are you doing? I mean, I was just passing by, when I heard some noise from back here.”
“Nothing, I was just trying to… I mean, I was leaving, when I fell over a trash can.”
“I see. So, you’re not trying to be peeping in through that window?” The man pointed at the window.
“Of course, not. Don’t be ridiculous.” Lois began walking away, when the man suddenly began to follow her out to the street, where she hailed a cap.
“So, are you a cop or something?”
“Or something. Look I’m sure you’re a nice person, but I’m engaged.” Lois held up her engagement ring in front of the man.
“I’m not hitting on you.” The man paused. “Hey, haven’t I’ve seen you somewhere before?”
“Yeah, I’ve never heard that one before…” Lois smirked, before getting into the cab and instructing the driver to take her to the Daily Planet.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 3
Lois had almost forgotten about the mysterious man outside of the Hilow Club, when she entered her office at the Daily Planet and saw the man standing there and holding both hers and Clark’s nameplates.
“Lois Lane.” The man said. “I knew you looked familiar.”
“How did you get in here?” Lois asked, taking the nameplates and signaled to the man to get out.
“Never mind that. We met like ten years ago…”
“Of course, we did…” Lois began to push the man out of her office.
“Wait, I went to school with…” the man didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Lois slammed the door in his face. Lois went back to her desk, while she could hear the man knocking on the door. Lois finally reached for her phone and called security. She didn’t have time for some random nut. After less than a minute, security arrived at her office, but couldn’t find the man. It was like he had gone up in smoke. Lois could’ve sworn to have heard someone knock on her door, right before security arrived, but now there was no one there.
“It’s one of those days.” Lois told herself, as she sat down behind her desk and placed her hands behind her head. After nearly a half-hour, Lois got back up and left the building. Heading over to Frank to buy some coffee, when a black Mercedes sped past them. Out of the back window someone stuck a gun and began firing at her. Both she and Frank ducked for cover, but they couldn’t have imagined what would happen next. None of the bullets hit them, but then Frank looked at her, as the car drove down the street, and was shocked. One of the bullets, that nearly hit Lois right in the face, that stopped right before impact and was just floating in front of her face, before falling to the ground. She could see a man stand before her, with him arm stretched out to her, but she couldn’t see his face. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t make out his face. The sun wasn’t in her face, yet it was like there was some force preventing her from making out this man’s face.
The man lowered his arm. Suddenly Lois heard a whooshing sound and he was gone. She had been around the super powered enough to understand when someone was super speeding. She could hear some commotion down the street, where the car had taken off. She ran as fast as her stilettos allowed her. She stopped, where she could see the man she’d just seen floating in the air, moving his hands, while the car seemingly ripped itself apart and the car parts wrapped themselves around the three occupants – clearly the man possessed some magnetic manipulation. The three would-be assassins fell to the ground, while the man flew away, right before the police showed up on the scene.
Several people had taken out their camera phones. Lois tried to convince them to sell their photos to the Daily Planet, but before she paid for anything, she asked to see the photos. They were all useless, so she didn’t pay for them. All the cameras had picked up was a bad blurry image. You couldn’t even make out that it was a person. Lois was both astonished and annoyed. The story of the week had been standing right in front of her and it was one who you couldn’t identify or take a photo of.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 4
Her would-be assassins had to be cut out of the metal they were encased in. While the cops got someone on that, they drove Lois to the police station, where she was led into Captain Sawyer’s office, passing Danny Turpin on the way. Lois took a seat, as Sawyer came in an sat down behind her desk.
“Heard someone’s tried to kill you… again.” Sawyer remarked. “Who was it this time? Intergang? SKULL? MAZE?”
“Well, given that I had angered Moxie Mannheim less than an hour before, my guess would be the first.” Lois replied.
“Where did you meet the father of the head of Intergang?”
“At the Hilow Club.”
“I see,” Sawyer sighed, “how about you leave the detective work to the police?”
“Like you handled the business of Mr. Lyon, nine years ago?”
“Lois… that was a difficult matter, involving international politics. There’s nothing to indicate that whoever killed Jack Kennedy has diplomatic immunity.”
“Then why haven’t you’ve already arrested his killer?” Sawyer couldn’t believe her naiveté over police procedures.
“Because life isn’t a TV show, Lois. Actual police work takes time, you should know that by know. And who was that guy? The one who took care of your assassins?”
“No idea. Believe it or not, I couldn’t even get a good look at his face.”
“Nor did anyone else, apparently. Even they photos were terrible. Mind you, not as terrible as Olsen’s older brother’s first photo of Superman.” Sawyer felt incredibly childish referring to these grown people in tights by superhero names. Lois got up and walked over to the window in the office.
“So, am I stuck here or what?” Lois asked.
“No, I just wanted to ask some questions. Of course, with an angry mobster out to get you, you should probably have police protection.”
“Oh, I already have protection.” Lois briefly touched her signal watch.
“Yes, your friendship with the capes are well-documented. Looks like you’ve one more in that guy, who wrapped up the assassins…”
“Look, instead of calling him that, how about you call him…” Lois paused, trying to come up with a name. Then she saw a copy of the Daily Star on Sawyer’s desk with the headline: ‘Sharks Triumphs Over Gotham Wildcats!’ “Call him ‘Triumph’!”
“You can’t be serious.” Sawyer said, as Lois left her office and Sergeant Casey entered.
“Did you get anywhere?” Casey asked, after Lois was gone. Sawyer got up from behind her desk and poured herself some coffee.
“Not with Lois Lane. Can’t believe I thought she was cute, the first time we met… Then I learned that she called me ‘officer Stalin’.”
“Well, everyone seems better from a distance, Captain. We’ve all been there.”
“You and Will don’t seem to have many problems.” With those two dating and her not, she often felt like the third wheel, when hanging out with them.
“Oh, we have… You just haven’t been there to see it.”

[jon-el87]

Chapter 5
Moxie Mannheim was still sitting at the bar at the Hilow Club, when Mr. Darryl came in. Darryl was a thin man with grey hair and grey suit, a childhood friend of Moxie. He sat down next to Moxie and ordered a scotch. Onstage he could hear Bea Carroll rehearsing.
“The boys failed with the Lane contract.” Mr. Darryl said, which prompted Moxie to hit his hand on the bar. “Forget about Lane, my friend. Our main concern should be Jack’s killer, not some young lady. Besides, she’s friends with too many capes. Wanna take her out, you probably need to take them out first.”
“Oh, I’m getting to them, don’t you worry. Have we heard back from Nathaniel Tryon?”
“He’s accepted our offer. He’ll be in town next week. Though, if you ask me, he won’t be able to bring down the overgrown boy scout. Now what about Jack’s killer?”
Moxie got up from his chair, with his drink in his hand and looked over at Bea Carroll, raising his drink towards her.
“She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” Moxie said. Darryl looked over, as Bea got up on the piano. She looked like a hood ornament, but Darryl wasn’t going to tell Moxie that.
“Yeah, she’s a looker. Now, what about Jack’s killer?”
“Let the police handle it. When they’ve found the bastard, we’ll take care of him.”

[jon-el87]

Chapter 6
Lois had made it back to the Daily Planet. However, before she could make it into her office, she was intercepted by Morgan Edge, the owner of Galaxy Communications, whose assets now included the paper. Edge was a thin, brown-haired man in his late 30’s and wearing a business suit. Edge had been born Morris Edelstein and had won his first TV station in a poker game. When Edelstein had risen to the top, he had changed his name to “Morgan Edge”, so no one would be able to use the fact that he was the illegitimate child of a mobster against him. Lois had only had passing interactions with him. Thought he was a bit of a capitalist stereotype, but hardly a master criminal. Of course, with the recent murder of Jack Kennedy, the protégé of Edge’s father, Lois briefly considered that Edge could be behind it.
“Lane,” Morgan Edge said, “where’s Kent?”
“He’s covering that conference in Germany.” Lois replied.
“Darn,” Edge lit a cigarette, “I needed to talk to him about something. When will he be back?”
“In three days. Is it something important?”
“Business is always important, Lane. I wanna talk to Kent about taking over as anchorman for WGBS News.”
“Um…Clark’s not really a TV person.” Lois shivered at the thought of millions of people turning on their TV every evening and seeing Clark Kent, a man with a striking resemblance to a certain other man.
“Nonsense just look at Cat Grant. She works here and she’s the host for Good Morning Metropolis! No reason one can’t do the other.”
“Wrong Cat Grant, Mr. Edge.” Lois objected. “There’s two Catherine Grants: one on TV and one here at the Planet. You’ve mixed them up into one.”
“Well,” Edge was visibly a bit humiliated, “never mind that. Anyway, when Kent comes back, I wanna talk to him. Ms. Conway…?” Edge turned to his young assistant, standing next to him. “Who were we going to talk to next, about transferring to TV?”
“Lola Barnett, Mr. Edge.” Laura Conway replied. She and Edge headed off over to the office of Lola Barnett, the Planet’s gossip columnist. A woman who Lois had never been able to tell apart from Cat Grant – the one at the Daily Planet – until one of them opened their mouth. Lois shrugged it off and went into her office. She sat down behind her computer and pulled up everything she had on the late Jack Kennedy – no relation to JFK. Kennedy had started out as a common pickpocket on the streets of Suicide Slums. An orphan, he had been taken under the wing of Morgan Edge – the elder. Under the guidance of Edge, Sr., Kennedy had evolved into a full-fledged mobster. Of course, the police could never pin anything on him – no doubt a few cops were on the payroll.
After the death of Edge, Sr., Kennedy set up the Hilow Club, which Lois had no doubt was a front for organized crime. Not that she’d been able to prove it and the Planet wouldn’t print the story, unless she had solid evidence. Jack Kennedy had been on top of the world, until last night, when someone had put a bullet in his head. Lois knew that she had to get back into the Hilow Club. There could be some clues there. Both to whom wacked Jack Kennedy and something that could finally bring down the house of cards that was Intergang.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 7
Lois knew that she couldn’t just head back to the Hilow Club as herself, not after she pissed off Moxie Mannheim. Luckily, she knew that she could disguise herself with a blond wig and by wearing make-up – a rather simple trick for a woman to disguise herself. No one even looked at her, when Lois entered the club in a red sleeveless dress. She seated herself down at a table in the corner. No one would be able to observe her from the dark corner, but she could observe everyone in the brighter areas of the club. Bea Carroll came onstage in a green dress and started singing old songs from the 30’s and 40’s. “Why couldn’t they play Whitesnake?” Lois thought to herself, as she scanned the room for suspects. Anyone in there could be Jack Kennedy’s killer. A member of Intergang or both.

Suddenly she noticed Morgan Edge entering the club with a few friends and seating themselves at a table near her. Lois got up and walked to the other side of the club. She didn’t want Edge to blow her cover. Especially as she wasn’t entirely certain that he couldn’t have been involved in the killing of Kennedy. As she was standing there, trying to keep her head down, she felt the cold touch of a gun at her back.
“Okay, Ms. Lane.” The man with the gun said. “Let’s go for a little walk.” The large man walked close to her, still pointing the gun at her, while they walked through the club and out through the backdoor. As they made it through the door, Lois seized the opportunity and elbowed him in the face, trying to make a run for it. The man screamed after her, as he chased her further and further into the alley behind the Hilow Club. Then Lois hit a wall at the end of the alley, there was no place left for her to run. Her signal watch was in her purse, which she had dropped while she elbowed the man. The large man caught up and pointed the gun at her. He was too far away, for her to be able to put up a fight. As he took aim, Lois closed her eyes, as her life flashed before her eyes. Then she heard a shot, but it didn’t hit her. She opened her eyes and saw the large man lying on the ground, with his hand on his arm. Somehow, he had been hit by a bullet. The large man got back up and once more tried to aim the gun and Lois, but it flew out of his hand. It floated in the air and turned towards the large man, who raised his hands. Then the gun slammed into his head, knocking him out.
As the large man fell over, Lois could see another man standing behind him, several feet away. She couldn’t make out his face. It was too dark in the alley. She heard police sirens approaching, which prompted the mysterious figure of a man to fly away at great speed, after the large man’s gun seemingly imploded. There was no doubt to Lois, that this was the same man, who had saved her outside of the Daily Planet.
The police arrived on the scene. A few minutes later, Sergeant Casey arrived to take her statement, but informed her that there wasn’t enough evidence to search the club. Certainly, Lois had been approached by a killer in the club, but where was the evidence that the large man had already been there and was associated with the club and hadn’t followed her there?
“Sorry, Lane.” Casey said. “There just isn’t enough evidence to get a warrant to search the club. What exactly happened here?” Casey looked at the imploded gun. “Did Superman show up and save you?”
“No,” Lois replied, “it was someone else. Probably the same guy from the morning.”
“That ‘Triumph’ guy you talked about with Captain Sawyer?”
“Probably…” The conversation was interrupted by a uniformed officer calling Casey over to her and the two talked. Lois was too far away, to hear what they were talking about, then Casey returned to Lois.
“You may wanna step inside.” Casey said to her and they walked back into the club, where EMTs were carrying someone out on a stretcher and covered by a sheet. They stopped when Casey and Lois approached, and Casey pulled back the sheet.
“Guess this is good news for you… Moxie Mannheim is dead.” Casey said.
“Did someone kill him?” Lois asked, when Casey pulled the sheet back over Mannheim’s head.
“No, heart attack, by the looks of things. The singer, Ms. Carroll, was with him when it happened. She says he collapsed and she called for an ambulance. If you excuse me, I have to take her statement.” Casey begged Lois goodbye and went over to Bea Carroll. Lois went outside and hailed a cab. There was nothing left for her to do here.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 8
Lois had the cabbie drive her home. She went up to the third floor of 2318 Main Street and came to the hallway to her apartment, where she noticed that a man was waiting outside the door. The man she had encountered outside the Hilow Club, during her first visit of the day, then at her office at the Planet. He turned to her, when she approached, he tried to say “hello”, but Lois signaled to him to not say a word. She opened the door and they both entered the apartment. Lois made herself some coffee and sat down on her couch, looking at the strange man she just let into her home.
“I suppose you want me to thank you, for saving my life, twice.” Lois told him.
“Excuse me?” The man replied.
“Oh, come on. First, we meet outside the Hilow Club, then you magically appear at my office, before me, even though you would’ve left it after me. Not long after, a mysterious man saves my life. A feat he repeated tonight. Then you show up at my apartment. Do I look like the most galactically stupid woman who ever lived?”
“Okay, sorry about that.” The man replied and had a seat.
“So, what’s your name?” The man looked confused at Lois.
“It’s Will… Will MacIntyre. We’ve met, remember?”
“I’ve never laid eyes on you before today…”
“Will MacIntyre. I went to school with your cousin, our senior year… Well, for the few weeks I attended Smallville High, before we moved away again.”
“Sorry, don’t remember you. So, that’s how you gained your abilities…? From the meteor rocks?”
“What? No, I think I was born with them. Started to manifest, when I entered puberty. Years before I ever set foot in that town.” Will paused. “You mean you really don’t remember me?”
“Nope.”
“Will MacIntyre. I helped out at the Torch.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t there for long. And as I recall it, a lot of people tended to just show up on occasion, get their assignments and left. I don’t think Chloe had any idea how many students were involved with the school paper, even though she spent most of her time there. I guess the others just weren’t as obsessed with it.”
“I got into fights, a lot. That you’ve got to remember. Heck, you even stepped in to help me once.”
“Sorry, still not remembering you.”
“I helped Clark take down…” Will stopped himself, before he could finish the sentence.
“You helped Clark take down what?”
“Nothing forget it.”
“Do you know… about Clark.”
“Ah, so he’s told you. I take it he never told you about me or how I helped him take down Seth Nelson… the second time.”
“Sorry, you’ve never come up. What were you really doing at the Hilow Club, when we met?”
“Like I said, I was just walking by, when I heard you fall from the trash cans. Then I followed you, when I recognized your face. Not for any creepy reason, I’m in a committed relationship, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t one of the people I’ve put behind bars over the last decade.”
“So, you’re a superhero?”
“Do I look like I’m running around in tights, Lois?”
“Generally, what you wear doesn’t make you a hero.”
“Agreed. Almost got a suit back in 2006.”
“What happened in 2006?”
“I got word of a secret project called ’33,1’. Some people were experimenting on people with abilities. So, I got in touch with Oliver Queen in Star City, you know the Green Arrow, and he and a few other guys joined me to take it down.”
“Hang on,” Lois interrupted, “you mean to tell me that you were part of Ollie’s team, back in the day. Then why have I never heard of you? Where were you, when they took down the Ridge Facility?”
“In Gateway City, taking down another one. Besides, I was weirded out by the whole thing. Stopping people from experimenting on people is one thing, but then Queen started making suits for everyone, like we were a bunch of comic book superheroes. The whole thing just seemed weird to me. Nor was I too crazy about going public with my abilities. Heck, in 2006, I wasn’t opened about other things, so going public about being a metahuman wasn’t something on my mind. After we have put an end to 33,1., I went back to my normal life and told Queen to lose my number and to forget about me.”
“I see. But, still, you’d think they would’ve mentioned you at some point…”
“Like I said, I told Queen to forget about me… I’m not proud of the way I went about it. Mind control. I used one of my abilities to erase all memories of me from the minds of the other guys.”
“That’s not right.” Lois said disapprovingly.
“Yeah, like I said, I’m not proud of it.”
“So, what were you doing at the Hilow Club tonight?”
“Investigating…”
“Did you get anywhere?”
“No, did you?”
“Nope.” Lois got up from the couch. “Well, as long as you’re here, we might as well help each other. Find Jack Kennedy’s killer and, if we’re lucky, strike a blow to Intergang.”
“Where do you wanna start?”
“The Hilow Club, but we have to go somewhere else first.” Lois smiled at Will.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 9
Over the last few years, Lois had become accustomed to being carried through the Metropolis sky, but that had always been with Clark. Now she was relying on a man she just met, who claimed to have met her a decade ago – she still wasn’t sure she believed him about that – then claimed to have used mind control on Oliver, Bart, Victor and AC, to make them forget about him. Could she trust that he wouldn’t do the same to her? Mental powers always made her nervous. After all, if someone can control you, is there a line that they won’t cross?
Will put them down on the balcony of the penthouse of Queen Tower. Lois tapped in the code, to deactivate the security system and they went into Oliver Queen’s Metropolis residence. She pressed a bottom and monitors were extended from the ceiling.
“So, why did we have to come here?” Will asked.
“I need to double check a few things. Never been comfortable having all information at the Daily Planet. Some information is better kept in the Watchtower system. You’d know that, if you’d stuck around.” Lois replied judgmentally.
“Look, I said, I’m not proud of what I did. After we’re done with this, I’ll totally apologize to Oliver, AC, Victor and Bart…” Will could’ve explained to Lois that all four had consented to the memory wipe, but how would he have proved that they had gone along with it willingly?
“Bart’s dead…”
“Oh… then who is that red-wearing speedster on the Justice League?”
“The Flash… it’s a long and complicated story.” Lois smiled. “Got it.”
“Got what?”
“Boss Moxie died tonight. The woman who was with him was Bea Carroll,” Lois showed Will a photo of Bea on the monitor, ”who just happened to have been the mistress of Jack Kennedy.”
“Moxie died of a heart attack…” Will protested.
“How do you know that?”
“I… have my sources. It’s better if you don’t know.”
“I see… Well, we don’t know for sure that it was a heart attack. Won’t know until the coroner’s report. All I know is that Ms. Bea Carroll can be linked to the deaths of two members of Intergang, in under 24 hours. I say that makes her a person of interest.”
“So, should we go and talk to her?”
“Hang on, there is something we need to do first.” Lois pressed another hidden button and opened the hidden chamber to Oliver’s gear. She went in and retrieved one of Oliver’s spare suits, which she handed Will.
“Here,” Lois said, “put this on. You’re about the same size.”
“Are you serious?” Will asked.
“Look, if we’re gonna work together and you don’t want your identity exposed, you’re gonna need a disguise. Unless you’ve got one of your own…?”
“Queen made me one, back in the day, I burned it.”
“Then put this on.” Will reluctantly changed into the Green Arrow suit. Lois handed him a pair of sunglasses, but he declined.
“I won’t be able to see with those things on. Besides, the hood is enough, I don’t need a mask.”
“Yeah, I noticed the first time you saved me… How did you do that?”
“I’m able to generate a magnetic field, it allows me to control metal… It also allows me to interfere with synapses in your brain and electronic devices. Making it impossible for you to register my appearance or take a picture.”
“What exactly are your abilities?”
“Besides the magnetism, flight and mind control? Speed, invulnerability and strength.”
“How invulnerable?”
“Somewhere between bulletproof to I don’t wanna find out.”
“And what do you have against costumes? You look great.”
“Look these days, objecting to wearing a suit may sound silly, with all the people running around in them. But, back then it came across as childish… Besides, like I said, I’m not a superhero. I didn’t feel like I could be one back then.”
“How so?”
“Ever see those Warrior Angel movies or any other superhero movies?”
“A few.”
“You may have noticed that certain characteristics link them together: pretty much all of them are white, heterosexual men… Whoever heard of a gay superhero?”
“I can think of a few… both real and fictional.”
“Well, I sure never saw any, when I was a kid. Barely saw any women or ones that were ethnic minorities either, for that matter.”
“Well, then maybe it’s time for a change…” Lois pulled the hood over Will’s head.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 10
Bea Carroll was sitting in her dressing room. She had cried for over an hour. Mascara had run down her face. Suddenly, she heard someone knocking on the door. She hesitated to open. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone still there, beside her. Bea finally opened the door and saw Lois and “Green Arrow” standing there.
“Good evening, Ms. Carroll.” Lois told her. “We’d like to ask you some questions about Moxie Mannheim and Jack Kennedy…” The two entered the dressing room and closed the door behind them.
“Jack…?” Bea answered and went over to her liquor cabinet and poured herself a drink. “He’s dead. What about him?”
“You were his mistress…”
“He had more than his share…”
“Where were you at the time of death?”
“You mean in the middle of the night? I was at home, in bed.” Bea pointed at the ‘Green Arrow’. “Look, you really need him to be here?”
“People have tried to kill me twice today, so yes.”
“With Moxie dead, any contract about you is bound to have been dissolved.”
“What do you know about Moxie’s activities?”
“Nothing, I’m just a singer…” Bea objected and finished off her drink.
“What can you tell us about Moxie’s death?”
“He… had a heart attack…” Bea began coughing and dropped her glass, which shattered against the floor. She began to spasm, while both Lois and the ‘Green Arrow’ rushed up to help her, but it was too late. Within a few minutes, she was dead. Poisoned by something in her drink. Will pulled off his hood.
“We better call the police…” Lois told him.
“Call Sergeant Sam Casey. He can help us.” Will declared. About ten minutes later, Sergeant Casey arrived at the scene and examined the body. Will had pulled his hood back up and stood back in the distance while Lois talked to Casey. Clearly Casey was Will’s source within the MPD, but for some reason Will didn’t want Casey to see his face.
“You think she was poisoned?!” Casey asked.
“It’s the only way I can explain it. Pity really, I thought she may have been the one who killed Jack Kennedy… and Moxie Mannheim, assuming his death wasn’t natural causes.” Lois answered
“So, you came here to confront her with…”
“Oliver Queen…yes.”
“I see…” Casey smiled and turned his back to them. “Will, take that ridiculous hood off.” Will instantly took off the hood.
“How did you know?” Lois asked.
“One, Queen hasn’t worn that suit in over two years. Two, I became suspicious the second I learned you’d been helped by someone with the power of magnetism. Three, Will could wear a garbage bad and I’d still be able to tell that it’s him.” Casey answered.
“So, you know about Will’s…”
“Abilities… Yeah, I’ve known ever since we had a fight, where he accidently unleashed EMP in our apartment. Almost took out three city blocks.”
“Sam, I…” Will said.
“Save it, Will.” Casey looked over at Lois. “Could you leave us alone for a few minutes, Lois?” The two began arguing, while Lois walked out through the backdoor and waited in the alley. She began hearing the clicking sound of heels approaching and saw Evelyn Curry emerge from the shadows in a long coat.
“Can I help you?” Evelyn asked.
“No, I’m just waiting for someone.” Lois answered.
“Are you a friend of Bea?”
“No, I’m a reporter.” Lois paused. “Look, if you’re looking for her, I’ve got some bad news. Bea’s been killed.”
“Bea’s dead?” Tears began running down Evelyn’s cheeks and she turned away from Lois, who put her hand on Evelyn’s back to comfort her. “Is there anyone else here?” Evelyn asked.
“Well, there’s a police officer in Bea’s dressing room. Would you like to talk to him?”
“No.” Evelyn turned around and pulled a gun out of her coat, which she pointed at Lois. “And neither will you.” Lois raised her hands.
“I take it you killed her… and Jack Kennedy… and Moxie Mannheim?”
“Oh, I would never harm Moxie. He’d always been like a father to me. A lot better than the real bastard.”
“So, Moxie’s death was natural causes.”
“Of course, it was. Now Bea and Jack, on the other hand… They both deserved it.”
“Bea said Jack had many mistresses. I take it you were one of them…?”
“Jack was two-timing me with her. Excuse me if I wasn’t going to put up with it.”
“You didn’t have to kill them for that.”
“See, that’s the problem. Everyone is too forgiving these days. Moxie always told me that people only learn, after you’ve left a few bodies. Now, move.” Evelyn waved with the gun for Lois to walk further into the dark alley.
“You won’t get away with this, you know….” Lois said.
“Please,” Evelyn laughed, “The club is quite soundproof. By the time you’re found, I’ll be long gone and there won’t be anyone who’d be able to put me at the scene. You shouldn’t have come out here. Any last words.”
“Yeah,” a male voice was heard from behind them, “put the gun down.” Evelyn turned around. There stood Will in the Green Arrow suit. Evelyn quickly raised the gun and fired three shots, all just bounced off Will. Evelyn quickly stepped back and grabbed Lois, holding the gun against her neck, while using her as a human shield.
“Stand back!” Evelyn yelled. Will raised his hand and magnetically pulled the gun from Evelyn’s hand. Evelyn pushed Lois over and tried to make a run for it, but she bumped into Sergeant Casey.
“Evelyn Curry,” Casey told her, “you’re under arrest for the murders of Jack Kennedy and Beatrice Carroll and for the attempted murder of Lois Lane.” Sergeant Casey placed Evelyn in Curry, while he read to her the Miranda rights, before taking her to and placing her in the back of his car. With Evelyn safely contained, Casey went over to Will and Lois.
“Are you alright?” Casey asked Lois.
“Fine. This is an average Tuesday for me.” Lois replied, while Casey looked over at Will.
“You may wanna get out of here, before other cops show up.” Casey told Will, who flew away in the Green Arrow suit.
“I thought it was Bea Carroll…” Lois said.
“Well, you should always look deeper.” Casey replied.
“You’re one to talk… Six months ago, you arrested me under suspicion for murder.”
“We can all make mistakes. And you were holding the murder weapon. Who picks up a bloody knife, next to a corpse?”
“What about…” Lois nodded to the sky.
“He and I’ll talk about it. In the end, if he wants to run around in a silly outfit, it’s his decision.” Casey declared, as two squad cars pulled up to take Evelyn into custody and Lois to the station, to get her statement.

[jon-el87]

Chapter 11
The next morning Bruno Mannheim was given an unexpected visit at Stryker’s Island by Mr. Darryl. They met in the visitor’s area and had a seat opposite each other.
“I’m sorry about your father, Bruno.” Darryl said.
“Thank you.” Bruno replied.
“I realize this is a difficult time for you, but we need to attend certain matters that your father left unresolved. First there’s the Lane matter…”
“Drop it. She’s irrelevant.”
“What about the contract with Mr. Tryon.”
“Keep it. The overgrown boy scout is causing too much problems.”
“Then there’s the matter of Evelyn. Your father left some instruction for what we’d do with Jack’s killer, but then it turned out to be her.”
“Leave Evie alone. Jack always was an idiot. I’m surprised it took one of his mistresses this long to put a gun to him. Besides, Evie is family. Her only mistake is taking matters in her own hands. If she had gone to dad, he probably would’ve handled it. After all,” Bruno got up and prepared to leave, “she was the daughter he never had. Goodbye, Darryl.”

[jon-el87]

Chapter 12
Two days later, Clark Kent returned to Metropolis and was met by his fiancée at the Metropolis Airport. She gave him a hug and kissed him.
“Welcome back.” Lois told him as they walked towards their car.
“Heard you’ve had an interesting few days, Lois.” Clark remarked.
“Yeah, about that… do you remember meeting a Will MacIntyre during your senior year?” A long silence was followed the question, as Clark tried to remember who it was she talked about. “He may have gone by Billy.” Lois added.
“Oh, yeah, him. Helped me with this guy, Seth Nelson. Sorry, sometimes it’s difficult to remember everyone you’ve met. Especially when it was so brief.”
“You mean there are others who you’ve encountered, that I’ve never heard about…?” Lois and Clark got into their car and began driving home.
“I guess… a few.”
“Such as…?”
“You really want me to list them all?”
“Well, if some of them show up at our apartment, it’d be nice. Especially if they know your secret.”
“Some of them I have no idea what happened to. I just lost touch with them. Some people have disappeared. One girl named Lindsay Harrison, I don’t think was actually a real person, when I met her. More of a recreation of a dead girl.”
“Who’s Lindsay Harrison?”
“Long story short: Kara wasn’t the first ‘Kara from Krypton’ that I encountered.”
“Was she like Karen Starr?”
“I’m not sure about what she was. Then there’s Jodi Melville, of course, she doesn’t know my secret.”
“What happened to her?”
“Her digestive system had been mutated by Kryptonite. Thankfully, some doctors managed to stabilize her. Last I heard she was a reporter in St. Louis…” The conversation continued throughout their journey home and for many more hours. Clark had never considered how many people who he had met over the years, only to forget about them shortly thereafter. Sometimes you forget about people you’re not constantly interacting with. Clark regretted this and told himself that as soon as he’d have the chance, he would check up what happened to some of the old people from his days in Smallville.

[jon-el87]

Epilogue
A week later, Will MacIntyre was standing on the edge of the Daily Planet roof, when he heard a voice behind him say: “You do realize you look ridiculous in that outfit?”. Despite his hesitation all those years ago, Will had finally decided to put on a suit. A green leather suit, with yellow at the shoulders and yellow wristbands. Will turned around and there stood Clark in his Superman suit, that was covered in burns.
“Are you okay?” Will asked.
“Oh, I’m fine. Just had a run-in with this guy named Nathaniel Tryon. Called himself ‘Neutron’, but I managed to stop him and turn him over to the police.”
“Glad to hear that… Clark…” Will smiled at him.
“So, you know who I am…”
“Yeah, of course, I remembered you with brown hair. Took me quite a while to recognize the Man of Steel as Clark Kent. Please tell me that you remember who I am…”
“Well, Lois helped me a bit with that… She also helped Oliver, AC and Victor.”
“Yeah, that’s something I’m not exactly proud about. Guess I have to apologize to them.”
“I would like to tell you off about that, but that would just turn me into a Major League hypocrite. Though, if possible, you should probably restore their memories of you.”
“I’ll get right on it.” Clark suddenly turned his head away from Will.
“What is it…?”
“Police sirens. Sounds like someone needs our help.” Clark began to float away towards the sound. “Are you coming, Triumph?” Clark added with a smile. Will took off and flew after Clark toward the sound of police sirens. Suddenly it hit Will, that he had entered a bigger world. He could be a hero. The hero he had lacked as a child.
The End

[jon-el87]

Creator Credits
Bea Carroll first appeared in Action Comics #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Bruno Mannheim first appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #139 and was created by Jack Kirby.
Evelyn Curry first appeared in Action Comics #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Intergang first appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 and was created by Jack Kirby.
Jack Kennedy first appeared in Superman #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Laura Conway first appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #138 and was created by Jack Kirby.
Lois Lane first appeared in Action Comics #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Maggie Sawyer first appeared in Superman #4 (1987) and was created by John Byrne.
Morgan Edge first appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 and was created by Jack Kirby.
Moxie Mannheim first appeared in Guardians of Metropolis #1 and was created by Karl Kesel and Kieron Dwyer.
Mr. Darryl first appeared in the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode “Top Copy” and was created by John McNamara.
Sergeant Casey first appeared in Superman #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Triumph first appeared in Justice League America #91 and was created by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, Howard Porter and Christopher Priest.