Morden Man — Roleplayer Guild

LexCorp Building, Metropolis

The lift to Lex’s office shut behind Clark and Jimmy and they wandered towards the waiting billionaire with sheepish smiles. Once they were within a few feet he bounded towards them and shook their hands. Jimmy’s first, Lex’s eyes barely acknowledging him as he did it, and then Clark’s with a heightened sense of significance. Through the smile there was a glimmer of the predator that lay under the skin.

"Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen, I presume? You’re late."

"Apologies. The traffic on the way over was a little worse than we anticipated. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Luthor. I’ve admired your work with the Justice League for many years so I was ecstatic when I heard we’d be getting a chance to sit down with you this afternoon."

There was a hint of suspicion in Lex’s eyes.

"Do I detect a hint of an accent?"

"Yes, well, I grew up i-"

Luthor pulled Clark closer to him.

"Don’t tell me. Between the broad shoulders and the “aw, shucks” mannerisms you have Southern written all over you. Am I close?"

An approving nod from Clark indicated to Luthor that his observation was on the mark. Clark had thought his accent had all but disappeared since he’d arrived in Metropolis but it seemed that Luthor was on to it. It was a wonder he hadn’t heard it in Superman’s voice too. Though perhaps he was too blinded by the fact the Man of Steel had been the only person to ever say no to him in his life to notice. Either way, Clark was thankful.

"Okla-… No, you don’t strike me as an Oklahoman."

Clark smiled playfully.

"I would hope not."

Lex’s eyes narrowed as he eyed Clark up and down for a second. The brilliant mind behind them went into overdrive as he attempted to assess every detail about the Daily Planet reporter stood before him. After a few seconds Lex nodded assuredly and spoke Clark’s state of origin without an ounce of uncertainty to his voice.

"Kansas."

Clark nodded.

"Very good. You might have a future as a PI if this whole multi-billionaire business doesn’t work out for you. I can’t imagine it pays as well."

Lex looked in Jimmy’s direction.

"What about you?"

Olsen hesitated to answer, his disdain for Lex worn recognizably on his face, but beneath the glaze of Clark’s piercing blue eyes he relented. The disdain slid away and an insincere smile appeared on Jimmy Olsen’s face. He gestured out of the window of Lex’s office towards the Daily Planet building.

"Metropolis born and raised."

Lex smiled.

"Ah, a fellow native son of the Big Apricot. Perhaps the impulse that lead me to book this interview with the Daily Planet is the same that lead you into its employ. We Metropolitans are a loyal bunch, are we not? And there is no greater an institution in all of Metropolis than the Daily Planet. Except for LexCorp, of course."

Clark reached into the inside pocket of his suit and pulled out a notepad and a pen. He was one of the few reporters left at the Daily Planet that eschewed the use of tablets and laptops in favour of the written hand. There was something about the sensation of writing with your own hand. No screen or keyboard could ever quite capture it. A pen and a notepad made him feel more engrossed in his work. He pointed towards some chairs at the centre of the room with a smile.

"What say we get started?"

Lex nodded.

"I’m ready when you are, Mr. Kent."

Luthor and Kent spoke for the best part of twenty-five minutes, touching on the Justice League, the Mutant Registration Act and Lex’s support for it, and the philanthropic work LexCorp had been engaged in across the African subcontinent. That last point in particular had elicited a few dirty looks for Clark from Jimmy but it had to be done. As he’d said to Olsen outside, he wanted to make sure he was on Lex’s good side and if that meant buttering him up, as stomach-churning as it might have been, he was going to do exactly that. It would all be worth it when Clark finally took him down.

"That brings us to the big reveal. The whole city is abuzz with news that LexCorp is on the brink of a discovery that is going to define the next century, Lex. Is there any truth to that? And if so, could you share with us what that discovery is? I know our readers would love to hear about it."

Lex’s wry smile reappeared on his face.

"I am so loathe to disappoint the people of Metropolis."

He stood up from his seat and walked towards the wall of his office. One of his hands pressed against a stone panel on the wall and a flash of light illuminated his hand as it verified his palm print. The stone panel slid away and Lex reached inside and withdrew a box no larger than a baseball from inside. The stone panel slid shut and he returned to his seat and he brandished the box in Clark and Jimmy’s direction.

"Obviously I cannot go into the specifics of what’s been going on here in the past few weeks, but I can show you this much."

Lex flicked open the box to reveal a piece of green rock. Jimmy lowered the camera for his eye and stared at the shard with an intrigued frown.

"What is it?"

"A slither of meteor rock that fell to Earth some three decades ago and has confounded every scientist that has got his hands on it since. Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Hank Pym. You name them. They’ve all tried to engineer a power source from this thing and failed. I believe I have found a way to extract clean energy from it that will put an end to climate change and help us tackle global warming."

Beside Jimmy, Clark’s face had gone pallid and his limbs numb. There was something about the rock that seemed to have weakened him, every second since the box had opened felt like a lifetime, and he could barely sit upright in his seat. He tried to steel himself a little but the nausea in the pit of his stomach made it hard for him to even think. Olsen looked over to his colleague with concern as a groan left Clark’s lips.

"Are you okay? You look a little sickly, Clark."

Through the cold sweats, Clark struggled to shake his head.

"It’s… It’s fine… I just feel a little…"

Suddenly Clark’s body was as a dead weight and he slid from his seat and onto the ground in front of him. Olsen leapt to his aid and tried to prop Clark up against the seat but struggled with his weight. Lex closed the box, cantered over and lifted the Kansan up against the seat with ease. There was a strength to Luthor that was hidden beneath that suit. Though he didn’t look the part and it wasn’t often spoken about, he had turned his body into as finely tuned a machine as his brain. He reached for a glass on the table beside them and handed it to Clark with a smile.

"Here, Kent, drink this, would you? I can’t have you vomiting on the rug. I could have bought the Metropolis Meteors with the money I spent on this thing."

With the box closed, the colour slowly started to seep back into his face. He took a gulp from the glass Lex had handed him and screwed his face up a little as he tasted its contents. 

"Is this... champagne?"

Lex shrugged.

"This is a celebration of sorts, isn't it? It seems to have done its job too from the looks of it. You’re no long translucent at least."

Clark smiled queasily as he gazed over the little box that now rested on Lex’s seat. With one hand he wiped away the cold sweat that had collected on his forehead. Jimmy was staring down at Kent, his shirt drenched through with sweat and his eye still slightly blackened, and couldn’t help but feel sorry for him a little. Clark’s weak smile seemed to put his worries at ease. Luthor extended his forearm to Clark and pulled Kent up to his feet with a grin. 

"Now what say we finish this thing? Thor gets a little restless if I don’t point him in the direction of an adversary to pound into the ground with that hammer of his and I do believe it’s been a good… six hours since he’s done so."
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