We Are Luthors

   Lex Luthor had a severely overblown idea of his importance in the world.
   In high school, he'd begun shaving his head.  Lionel had always assumed—quite correctly—that it was Lex's vain attempt to distance himself from his peers.
   As Lex walked into his father's office, he tilted his head slightly upward in smug arrogance.
   "Hey, dad.  How goes the war?"
   Lionel almost sneered back at his son.  "Joviality is not one of your best qualities, son."
   Lex didn't take the hint.  "Oh, come on, dad.  Bruce Wayne nearly got killed last week, and I've got nearly enough capital to take out WayneTech's Metropolis branch—if he survives long enough to take it over anyway."
   Lex would simply not stop talking, much to Lionel's chagrin. He walked to the office's window, casually taking in the extraordinary view of the city.
   "The papers said that it might have been the mob, or maybe corporate warfare."
   Lex half-turned to his father and gave him a grin. "Apparently someone's doing our dirty work for us."
   Before Lionel could chastise Lex, the office door swung open.  A tall woman with barely-contained anger strode across the room, her forceful footsteps thudding into the carpeted floor.
   Lionel immediately switched into his "friendly businessman" mode, greeting her warmly.  "Ah, Valerie, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
   Valerie ignored the false kindness of Lionel's words, and she didn't care that his son was in the room.
"Lionel, I'm your lawyer, not your friend.  Don't pretend otherwise."
   Lionel leaned back and let his face go grim.  "Alright; what's the situation?"
   Valerie didn't even take another breath before shouting her answer.  "Lionel, WHAT were you thinking, walking into a PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL and practically handing them evidence against you?"
   Lionel tried to play innocent.  "Valerie, I'm not sure I know what—"
   She pulled a sound recorder out of her purse and hit the play button.
   Lionel's voice could be unmistakeably heard:
   "I don't know how you three survived, or what exactly you did to those men and that car, but I assure you that this is not over."
   Valerie didn't give Lionel time to respond. "Some kid reporter TAPED you threatening her this morning, and the school's security cameras have you on video walking into that classroom."
   Lionel frowned. "Luthorcorp runs the security for that building; that video should have never been let out!"
   "WayneTech took over the school's security yesterday, Lionel.  They were more than happy to release the video to the authorities," Valerie said.
   The room was silent for a moment.
   "What's the next step now?" Lionel asked.
   Valerie sighed in frustration, and rubbed her forehead.  "Now you lay low.  Fortunately, you didn't say anything directly incriminating, so we can get you out of this. But you're going to be under a lot of scrutiny, Lionel.  The police have been waiting for you to slip up like this for years, and every reporter that you don't already have under your thumb will be after you.  Don't do anything that could even possibly be seen as suspicious."
   Without another word, she walked out.
   Staring in shocked silence, Lex finally spoke. "Dad... you ordered that attack on Bruce?"
   Lionel glared back at his son.  "Yes."
   Lex wasn't sure what to think.  "But... but we're not killers... we're—"
   Lionel interrupted. "We're conquerors, Lex," he said as he stood up from his chair.
   Lex looked back and forth around the room, his mind racing. "But... I thought we were going to take down Wayne Enterprises, not kill Bruce.  We're not murderers..."
   Lionel took a slow step forward.  Then, suddenly, without warning, he backhand-slapped Lex across the face.
   Lex, shocked, fell back against the wall.
   Lionel stared down at his son, his voice ringing with a venomous disdain.  "You think you're somehow aiding me with your teenage brat club at school?  You think that getting a few spoiled children together will somehow help you topple Wayne Enterprises?  Let me explain something to you, Lex: Wayne Enterprises will not die so easily.  I have tried to bring them down in the past, but the Wayne family has a tendency to pull miracles out of thin air."
   Lionel looked deep into his son's eyes, making every word burn into Lex's mind.
   "We are Luthors, Lex.  We are conquerors; we are kings; we rule this city.  Bruce Wayne is a false god: a pretender to the throne of Metropolis.  If he will not relinquish his claim, then he must be removed."

The Monday After

   Diana, Clark, and Lois met in the Star's office on Monday morning.
   They walked into the room, sat down, and looked at each other in awkward silence.  No one knew quite what to say.
   Lois spoke first.  "So, hey, I never got to... to thank you guys for what you did."
   Clark half-smiled at her, as if to say "you're welcome."
   Diana gave Lois a similar smile, with a polite nod.
   Clark spoke up, frowning a little. "Um, Lois..."
   She interrupted him. "Don't worry, Clark.  I won't spread your secrets."
   "Thanks," Clark replied with a slight sigh of relief.
   "No problem," Lois answered.  "You guys saved my life; I guess the least I can do is not tell everyone that you're secretly an amazon and an alien."
   Clark gave her a slightly unbelieving look.  "You seem rather... unsurprised."
   Lois shrugged.  "I think it runs in my family.  My cousin's a real conspiracy theorist; she used to tell me all the time about all the craziness in her town, and how she was convinced that it was because of weird paranormal stuff.  I always told her that she was just being paranoid, but, somehow, I think I always knew she was right.  When I saw you guys doing your 'hero thing,' it just sort of... made sense."
   Clark frowned.  "I don't think we were exactly 'heroes.'  The men in that car turned up dead."
   Diana was surprised at him. "Clark! They tried to kill us! They got their deserved end."
   "They're still human beings! They didn't need to die!" Clark responded.
   Lois interjected. "Clark, the police said that the men were shot, probably by whomever else was working with them.  It wasn't your fault."
   Clark didn't listen.  "I could have pulled them away; I could have kept them from being killed..."
   Diana and Lois stayed silent for a moment, realizing Clark's pain.  He was different than most; he was extremely compassionate, and mourned even the death of someone who had tried to do him harm.
   Lois tried to lighten the mood a bit.  "Well, the police found out that the men who attacked us had been loosely linked to Lionel Luthor in the past.  Bruce says that from what he's heard, the police have been spreading all over Luthorcorp like a plague.  Luthor can't afford to move forward with his plans for Metropolis now that his every minute move is being watched."
   "So how much more time do we have?" Clark asked.
   "Maybe another month or two," Lois replied.
   Clark nodded in acknowledgment.
   Lois finally couldn't stand avoiding the elephant in the room.
   "Clark, I'm sorry about Bruce. He—"
   "It's okay," Clark interjected.
   "No, it's not," Lois replied.  "He's just... not a very trusting person.  But he'll come around eventually.  I think."
   Footsteps were heard coming down the hallway.  Hard footsteps, like expensive shoes clacking against the tiled floor of the school.   A man stepped into the Star's doorway.  He wore a long black overcoat over his business suit.  A grudging smirk was set on his face, and his eyes burned with a disdain for the young occupants of the room.
   It was Lionel Luthor.
   Lois was a bit frightened.
   Diana shifted slightly in her seat, as if readying herself for him to attack.
   Clark stood up, his jaw firmly set and his muscles tensed. He stared Lionel down from across the room, as if to say "Don't even dare to try anything."
   Their reactions, of course, were unnecessary.  Lionel posed no physical threat to them on his own, and there was nothing that his employees could do to hurt them while they were still inside of a public school.  But Lionel had a way of inspiring fear in those who truly knew what a monster he was.
   "Ah; you must be Lois Lane," he said.  His words were polite, but his eyes made it clear that he was not pleased to meet her.  "I've heard a lot about you."
   He turned to the others.  "And Miss Prince, and Mister... Kent, is it?"
   Diana was silent, and Clark's only reply was his continuous angered stare.
   Lionel made sure to look them each briefly in the eye once more before speaking again.  When he spoke, his voice contained a quiet, graveled venom that betrayed his darker side. "I don't know how you three survived, or what exactly you did to those men and that car, but I assure you that this is not over."
   With that, he walked out.

I'm Always Here For You

   Clark stood in the loft of the Kent family's barn.  It had been two days since the incident at Bruce's penthouse, and Clark still wasn't sure what to think of it all.
   Before his move to Metropolis, the loft had been his personal refuge—his place of solitude.  Watching the sunset from the barn's large window was a ritual for him, and one that he'd missed now that he didn't spend much time in Smallville anymore.  Although he was back in his hometown, he felt somewhat disconnected from it.  As far as anyone in Smallville knew—other than the Kents, of course—he'd been living in Metropolis since the beginning of Summer.  He'd lost contact with Pete, and Chloe apparently couldn't handle being around him anymore.  He hadn't seen her since she'd first discovered his secret.
   Clark heard footsteps on the wooden stairway behind him.
   It was Chloe.
   She slowly walked over to Clark, not saying a word.  She looked nervous, as though she was afraid of falling down with every step she took.  She looked up into his eyes.  The quippy, sharp-witted young woman that Clark had grown up with had faded, and in her place was a vulnerable girl who barely knew what to think.

   "So you're back?..."
   Clark felt his heart sink a little at her words.
   "No, not really... I'm just here for right now."
   Chloe tried feigning casual conversation for a moment, throwing him one of her huge smiles. "So... where do you live in Metropolis? Is it nice?" Her voice cracked a bit as she spoke, betraying her emotions.
   Clark politely ignored her obvious emotional signals. "Actually... I still live here.  I just spend most of my time in Metropolis, then run back here to sleep."
   Chloe gave him one of her confused looks as a thousand thoughts rushed through her mind.
   What? He's been living here the whole time?
   How did he fool the school's registration into thinking he lived in Metropolis?
   How could I not have known?
   "You've... been here?  The whole time?  Why didn't you tell me?"
   Clark stepped back a bit, looking embarassedly at the floor.  "Chloe, when you found out about me... when you ran away, I thought that you didn't want to see me again.  That's... part of why I decided to leave."
   Chloe's eyes went wider with understanding and guilt.  "Clark, I... I was just a little overwhelmed.  I needed some time to deal with what you showed me, but I wasn't..."
   Chloe stopped for a moment, squeezing her eyes shut and sending tears streaming down her cheeks.  She looked back up at him, her wet eyes glistening. "You're my best friend; I don't care what planet you're from."
   Still overcome with tears, she smiled brightly, and jovially shrugged.  "I'll always love you."
   Clark was surprised and touched.  He embraced his friend, holding her in his arms.  "I'm so sorry, Chloe; I should have told you before."
   Chloe's sense of humor was still surviving her tears. "Hey, it's not like I'd be winning any awards for 'best friend ever.'"
   She leaned back out of the hug.  "So... what else—besides my horrific reaction—made you want to leave Smallville?"
   Clark's eyes drifted off into the distance as he delved into thought.  He turned back toward the sunset.
   "I think that I have my powers for a reason."
   "...Because you're an alien?" Chloe jokingly responded.
   Clark turned back to her and gave her the "you know that's not what I meant" look. "I mean that I have a destiny.  I can use my powers to help people.  But I need to get out into the world to learn how."
   Chloe was starting to understand.
   "And staying in Smallville isn't exactly conducive to your 'super-hero training,' huh?"
   Clark nodded.  "That's actually one of the reasons that I've decided to be a journalist.  I figure that if I'm a member of the press, I can learn about disasters as they happen.  Maybe I can stop some of them."
   Chloe smiled proudly.  "And when you're not out saving people, you can use your amazing powers of journalistic eloquence to educate the people as to these dangers."
   Clark smiled back.  "Yeah.  I thought you might like that."
   "Well... I know you're busy out there learning to save the world, but don't forget that you've still got some people here in Smallville who'd like to see you from time to time."
   Clark beamed at her. "Thanks."
   Chloe noticed Clark's unusually happy reaction and paused for a moment. Suddenly, she realized Clark's internal dilemma.
   "Clark... you're not alone.  No matter where you are, or what two-ton vehicle you're punching in the face, don't forget that I'm always here for you."
   Clark couldn't help himself from smiling.  He breathed a sigh of relief, and took her words in.
   I'm not alone.
   "Thanks, Chloe. You sure the whole 'alien' thing doesn't bother you?"
Chloe almost laughed, and her comical cynicism shone through.  "Clark, honestly, compared to most people, aliens are a step up."

In the Clouds

   Clark stood in the clouds, alone in pensive thought.
   Diana floated up from below, slowly resting in the air next to him.  Clark barely seemed to notice her presence, keeping his eyes staring blankly forward.
   Diana raised her right eyebrow slightly.  "You don't seem surprised that I can fly."
   Clark responded without turning.  "I figured you might be able to.  You tripped in the hall yesterday, but didn't fall over.  It reminded me of how I used to catch myself when I first got my flight power."
She smirked at that.
   Diana's face went serious. "What's wrong, Clark?"
   Clark hesitated before replying.  "I... I can hear everything.  From up here, I can hear every living soul in the city.  I can hear their heartbeats, their laughter, and their screams. Every day, I hear them crying out for help.  But no matter what I do, they always end up hating me when they find out what I am."
   Diana tried to reassure him.  "Clark, don't let Bruce bother you.  He doesn't understand."
   "No, Diana, he understands perfectly," Clark quickly replied.  "He's right; I'm not human."
   Diana half-smiled.  "Neither am I, technically.  Does it matter?"
   Clark turned to her.  "Diana, we're floating in the clouds."
   Her smile faded slowly as his simple words sunk in.  Here, a mile above the city, they were literally on an inhuman plane of existence.
   "Clark, you're missing the point.  We're who and what we are for a reason."
   Clark was suddenly reminded of his Kryptonian mother's words:
   "You can be a great leader; use your power to inspire others..."
   "Always remember who you are, and where you come from..."
   Clark shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and cleansed himself of doubt.
   Diana smiled at him, putting her hand affectionately on his arm. "And even if they won't accept us, we still have each other."

* * *

   Back at Bruce's tower, Lois was furious.
   "Bruce!  How could you say that to him?!"
   "Lois, you saw what he did! He's dangerous!"
   "Yeah, I saw what he did.  If he and Diana hadn't been so 'dangerous,' I would've died. You probably would have, too.  Bruce, you at least owe them something for that."
   "What do you know about these two people?  You've not even known them for a week!"
   "And in that week, they've saved my life."
   "They have too much power to be trusted."
   "Bruce, the only person with a trust problem here is you!"
   The room went silent for a moment.
   Lois began speaking again, more calmly. "Bruce, I love you; you know that.  But Clark is the most genuine person I've ever met in my entire life.  I think that if there's anyone on the planet that we can trust, it's him."

Chloe

Four Months Ago

   "What secrets lie within the mind of young Clark Kent?"

   Clark snapped out of his daydreaming trance and looked down to see Chloe Sullivan giving him a look of simultaneous amusement and intrigue.  Before Clark could answer her rhetorical question, Chloe looked down the hall in the direction Clark had been staring, quickly spotting Lana Lang, Smallville High's cheerleader captain.  A wide grin spread across Chloe's face, and Clark readied himself for the inevitable verbal jab.
   "Lana Lang. Of course. Y'know, I bet if you just stare at her for a while longer, she's bound to fall madly in love with you."
   Clark rolled his eyes.  Though she'd been teasing him, Clark knew that she was right. Chloe's sense of humor, while highly sarcastic, had real genuineness of heart behind it.  Generally only those who were very close to her understood this.  Fortunately, Clark was one of those people.
   Returning Chloe's sarcasm, Clark cocked an eyebrow at her and replied, "thanks for the advice."
   Pete Ross walked up behind the two of them.  "Hey guys; what's up?"
   Chloe flashed her trademark mischievous smile. "Clark's staring at Lana from afar."
   Pete looked at Clark. "Again?  You know, Clark, you're never gonna get with her if you just sit on your butt all day."
   Clark rolled his eyes again. "So I hear."
   The halls of Smallville High were abuzz with activity.  It was the last day of the spring semester, and all the students were excited about the onset of Summer.
   A tall boy wearing a letterman jacket walked up to the group.  He had a sideways grin on his face, and his eyes were set on Chloe.  Stopping a few inches inside her personal space, he looked down at her and simply said "hey," grinning like a moron.
   Chloe returned his gaze, her right eyebrow cocked in a "what on earth could you possibly think you're going to get from me?" expression.
   "Yes, Sean?" she replied.
   Sean was completely oblivious to her demeanor—or he just didn't care.  "You wanna go with me to the Remy Zero concert tonight?"
   Chloe's eyes narrowed.  "Sean, why on earth would you ask me?  You could ask any one of those other air-headed cheer-losers over there"—she signaled with her eyes to the cheerleaders down the hall—"so why me?  You know I'm one of the few women in this school smart enough to refuse you."
   Sean was undeterred, and still grinning. "Maybe I just can't resist a challenge."
   Chloe's face went serious. "I can."
   She walked away.
   Pete and Clark made eye contact with Sean, gave him the "hey, that's Chloe" shrug, then followed her.
   "Man, Chloe, where's a girl like you get that edge?" Pete asked.
   Shooting a proud smile over her shoulder, Chloe responded, "my dad says it runs in the family."
   The three teens walked into the Smallville Torch's office.  Chloe, being mature beyond her fifteen years of age, had been awarded the position of Editor of the school paper—a position she relished.  As soon as she stepped through the door, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.  She was never as comfortable as when she was free to buzz about the office, researching and writing.
   Clark watched Chloe delve into her work and smiled a little.  Though she looked like a normal teenage girl, she acted like a slightly high-strung adult.
   "So, Miss Sullivan, what's going to be in the school year's final issue of the Smallville Torch?" Pete jovially asked.
   Chloe happily handed him a copy of the paper. "See for yourself; straight from the printers this morning."
   Pete skipped to the editorial section.  "'Smallville High Endures Worst Year Ever'? Geez, Chloe, don'tcha think that's kind of a downer for the beginning of Summer?"
   Chloe responded quickly. "This year, we've had one principal, two teachers, and six students killed, all under mysterious circumstances.  People should be aware of what's going on."
   Pete rolled his eyes in a friendly tease. "'Mysterious circumstances', 'mysterious circumstances'... lemme know when you decide to come back down to Earth.  I'll see you guys later."
   After Pete walked out, Chloe sighed and gave her "whatever" eyebrow raise at the doorway.
   Not many people gave Chloe's conspiracy theories much credit.  Between that and her generally flippant demeanor, she managed to drive most people away.  As far as Clark knew, he and Pete were her only two real friends.
   Clark tried to comfort her after Pete's jocund dismissal.  "Hey, you wanna go get some coffee?  And then maybe we can go to the annual Summer festival afterward?"
   Chloe brightened up.  "Sure!  Oh, but I need to go run this letter to the post office; can I meet you there?"
   "Yeah, sure.  I'll see you there."
   Clark and Chloe both had amazingly bright, genuine smiles.  If an observer had been standing in the room, they would have been metaphorically blinded.

   Clark walked down main street towards the coffee shop, still smiling goofily for no apparent reason other than he thought that it had been a good day so far.  A screech and a squeal snapped him from his lazy happiness, and he looked up to see a school bus zooming down the street, waving back and forth in an obvious lack of control.  From the panicked look Clark saw on the driver's face, he guessed that the brakes were out.
   Clark was a blur, sprinting towards the front of the bus.  Leaning forward, with one leg bent and the other set backwards for support, he put his hands forward to catch the speeding metal monstrosity.
   The bus hit him with a thud, a crash, and a shower of sparks.  It pushed Clark back, scooting him down the paved street for another thirty feet.  Carefully cushioning the front of the bus with his arms and using his flight power to adjust the amount of friction he put on the ground, Clark slowed the bus safely.  By the time he was done, however, the front of the bus had almost bent around him.
   Taking a quick glance upward, he saw that he hadn't been seen by the driver.  Keeping low so as to avoid the bus windows, he scanned the street for any onlookers that might have seen his feat of strength.  Miraculously, the open shops on the street weren't able to see Clark crouched in front of the bus from that angle, and the streets were unusually clear of pedestrians.  Of course, he thought.  The Summer festival; everyone's there.  This bus was probably on its way there right now.
   But just as Clark was getting ready to speed away from the inevitable onlookers, he noticed that there was, in fact, one person on the street.  From the angle at which she stood, she had probably seen the whole incident.
   It was Chloe.
   Clark spent the next few hours explaining everything to her.  He—reluctantly—showed her his powers: his speed, his strength, and his flight.  He showed her the ship in the storm cellar, and described what he had learned from the golden box: that he was an alien; that he was from a planet called "Krypton;" that he wasn't who she thought he was.  He apologized a dozen times over for all the lies he'd told her over the years, but didn't ask for her forgiveness.  In truth, he didn't feel that he deserved it.
   Chloe was strangely silent, barely speaking the entire time.  She didn't truly respond or react to anything Clark said.  She seemed numb to his words, as though she'd been punched in the stomach and was still too deep in shock to realize that she was hurt.
   After Clark had explained all he knew that he could, they stood together on the front driveway of the Kent farm.  The wind blew through the fields, rustling every tree branch and blade of grass.  The world around Clark and Chloe swirled with noise, but the silence between them was pungent. 
   Finally, Chloe looked Clark in the eyes, and opened her mouth to speak.
   "Clark, I—"
   She couldn't help herself. She fell into tears, her face terribly stricken with sadness.
   "Why didn't you..."
   Frustrated anger set in.
   "Who are you?! What happened to Clark?!  My friend?!"
   Clark tried to reassure her. "Chloe, it's me! I'm the same guy you always knew before!"
   Chloe shook her head in tears, and backed away from him.  She turned away from the farm and ran.  It was a two-mile walk back to town, and she knew it.  She didn't care.
   Clark didn't know what to do.
   Clark's parents had accepted him, even after knowing everything.  But Chloe hadn't.  Though he'd never told her so, Chloe was perhaps Clark's dearest friend.  She was his dearest friend, and now she had run away in fear of him.  For the first time in his entire life, Clark Kent felt truly alone.

Mistrust

(Note: I am posting this at 2:30am, so my proofreading skills are not quite what they should be. Sorry.  :P  Also, I've also gone back to an earlier chapter and written in the fact that Diana is almost always wearing boots.  She likes boots.)

   "What did you see happen?"
   "I saw a bullet hit my living room window, and ran downstairs to catch up with my friends."
   "And when you got down there, what happened?"
   "I heard gunshots, and saw the others running back inside the building.  We found a safe place to hide and waited for the authorities to arrive."
   "Do you have any idea why these men would've been after you?"
   "No."
   "You're sure about that?"
   "Yes."
   The others gave the police the same story: that they'd run back inside when the gunmen started shooting, and somehow managed to avoid being shot.  None of them had any idea how the car had been crunched, or why the two men were shot dead in their seats.
   Eventually, the police left Bruce's tower, taking the window with the bullet in it. Fortunately, Bruce had several spares, as he was slightly paranoid about windows being broken.  Alfred, being a one-man housekeeping crew, was more than able to change a common household bulletproof window pane.  When he was finished, the Star journalists and Bruce sat back down in the living room.  Alfred shut the blinds, but that didn't help Lois's mood.  "Bruce, are you sure it's safe to be up here?  I mean, they shot right at you while you were sitting here!"
   Bruce kept his tone calm—as calm as Bruce ever got, anyway.  "That window is completely bulletproof.  Unless they fire a missile at us, we'll be safe."
   Lois looked worriedly at the window, then at Bruce. "...can they fire a missile at us?"
   "No."
   Lois realized that Bruce was somewhat annoyed at her questions, and noticed that he wasn't even making eye contact with her—he was staring across the table at Clark, his eyes slightly squinted in a suspicious manner.
   Clark, looking annoyed and angry at Bruce's silent assault, finally responded. "Yes, Bruce?"
Bruce leaned in slightly, his tone being somewhat gravelly as he spat out the words.  "You want to tell me how you punched a two-ton car like it was a tin can?"
   Clark sighed and lowered his head.  He wasn't sure how to explain it all, and he slowly gathered his thoughts.
   The girls weren't bothered in the slightest by what Clark had done.  They were both in a slight state of wonderment, but they didn't share Bruce's suspicion at all.
   Lois just accepted the fact that Clark had done it, and—while she was certainly curious—it didn't matter to her how he'd done it.  Despite her reporter's instinct, she trusted Clark, no matter how apparently indestructible his fists were.  For once in her life, she was simply able to accept something at face value: that Clark was some kind of herculean hero, and that she was forever grateful to him.
Diana had always suspected that something was different about Clark—as though they shared a certain kindred state of being.  She was surprised when Clark had punched the car, but not shocked.  She was excited to hear his explanation.
   As Clark began speaking, the girls leaned in, wide-eyed.  For once, Alfred wasn't busy cleaning the house in the background; he stood near the kitchen, intently watching and listening.  Bruce didn't shift in the slightest, keeping his unblinking stare centered on Clark.
   "I'm... not human."
   Lois was actually surprised.  Diana was intrigued.  Bruce simply said "obviously."
   "I'm from... another planet.  I don't know very much about it, but something went wrong on that world, and my parents sent me here in a spaceship when I was a baby."
   Lois's mouth was hanging open, with her left eyebrow raised in an "are you serious?" expression.
   Bruce was unconvinced and highly sarcastic.  "So, what, you're an interplanetary Moses?  Right."
   Clark was annoyed.  "Bruce, I don't know what other proof you need.  I got into a fistfight with a car and won.  I'm not of this world."
   Although Bruce wanted to be skeptical, he could see that, at the very least, Clark believed what he was saying.  He redirected his anger at Diana.
   "And what are you?  Some kind of amazon warrior?"
   Diana couldn't help but smile a little.  "Yes, actually."
   Lois's eyes went wide. Holy crap! I was right!
   Bruce gave Diana a very serious "WHAT?" face.
   Diana continued. "I'm from an island in the Aegean Sea; my people are indeed the Amazons."
   Bruce decided to humor her.  "So what are you doing here?"
   Diana, unlike Clark, didn't hesitate before declaring her heritage.  "I am Princess Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Queen Hippolyta, and Ambassador of Truth to the world of man."
   Lois was slightly confused. "Wait, hang on, Ambassador of Truth?"
   Diana smiled. "Yes. My charge is to one day become the ambassador to this world; an example to its people.  I've been... gifted with certain abilities, like Clark"—she shot an uncomfortably affectionate smile Clark's way—"and one of those gifts is the ability to seek out truth.  In this world full of deception, I can use that ability to protect others."
   Lois was still giving her a quizzical look. "...how?"
   Diana pulled a long, golden rope from her purse.  It shone like metal, but bent as easily as silken cord.  It was looped at the end.
   "This is the Lasso of Truth.  Under its influence, no man, woman, or god can lie."
   She reached across the table, holding out her hand towards Lois.  Unsure of exactly what was going on, Lois reached her hand back across the table.  Diana gently took Lois's hand, and wrapped the lasso's loop about her wrist.
   She spoke with authority, and a twinkle in her eye. "Lois, how do you feel about Bruce?" The lasso began to glow with a golden-yellow light, and Lois's body went slightly limp under its influence.
   "I... I love him."
   Bruce's eyes went a bit wider with surprise, but he quickly relaxed.  She'd never said that she loved him before, and hearing her say it had a calming effect on him.  Bruce wanted to say that he loved her as well, but his immense pride would never allow for it.
   Clark, seeing Bruce's awkward predicament, tried to change the subject.  "So who were those guys?  Luthor's men?"
   Suddenly remembering that he had a human weapon of mass destruction in his home, Bruce flipped back into aggressor mode.  "Why do you care?! You took the impact of a car; I doubt bullets can harm you!"
   Clark leaned back, his face going grim. He kept his tone calm.  "No, they don't."
   Bruce started yelling. "So what are you even doing here?! What do you care about this city, or anyone in it?! None of this even concerns you! YOU'RE NOT HUMAN!!"
   Although Bruce's opinion held little meaning for Clark, his heart ached.  This was the second time that he had been rejected because of his true nature, despite his most noble efforts.
   Clark slowly stood up.  He walked to the sliding glass door that led to the penthouse's balcony, opened it, and stepped outside.  He slightly turned his head back, as if to say one last thing over his shoulder, but changed his mind.  He looked toward the night sky and floated upwards, away and out of sight.
   Lois looked like she might faint out of awe.
   Diana shot Bruce a look that would have made a lesser man shrink in his seat. "Why are you attacking him?!  I'm not any more human than he is!"
   "You didn't make solid steel bend around your fist like cardboard," Bruce replied.
   Diana stood up, looking down at Bruce with disdain.
   "I could have."
   She walked to the balcony, stopped when she got outside, and turned back towards Bruce.  She, like Clark, lifted off the ground, but stopped in mid-air, hovering just outside the door frame.  Her shimmering lasso hung from her belt, and her silver bracelets shone with the moonlight. With both of her booted feet tipped toward to the ground, she resembled a graceful dancer in flight.  Her eyes, however, burned with the fire of a warrior.  She glared at Bruce for a few seconds longer, as though to send a final silent reproach.  And with that, she flew away.