"Up in the sky,look!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superwoman!"
Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! This amazing stranger from the planet Krypton! The Woman of Steel: Superwoman! Possessing remarkable physical strength, Superwoman fights a never ending battle for truth and justice! Disguised as a mild mannered newspaper reporter, Clara Kent!
"So long, folks! I'll never forget your kindness and accomodation!" The handsome, well dressed blonde man heartily said with a gentlemanly smile. You'd think from his tone and attitude alone that he was a grateful guest checking out after receiving top treatment from a five star hotel. That is, if he hadn't been wearing a bandanna over his mouth, and had been pointing a Colt .45 six shooter at the employees of the bank he had just finished robbing. As the customers and tellers lay shuddering on the cold tile floor, their hands covering their heads, the sophisticated thief snatched up the two modestly sized bags that contained the stolen loot in his free hand, before turing to the frightened bank denizens, saying in a friendly but warning voice "Oh, you might want to wait for five minutes before hitting the alarm, if you know what's good for you." He then opened the bank's door and sprinted out to his car.
The Headlines in The Daily Planet the next day read " "GENTLEMAN" JOHN CORBEN STRIKES AT METROPOLIS NATIONAL BANK; ESCAPES POLICE'S GRASP".
"Flash! Ruthless bank robber "Gentleman" John Corben has robbed another bank in the Metropolis area!" The motor mouthed radio announcer spoke into his microphone, at the same time, rapidly reading from the report paper in his hand without missing a beat. "All Metropolis banks are to be on high alert against the threat of theft until this charismatic gangster is apprehended! Remember, you could be next!"
In his temporary living quarters, a decent sized logging cabin, hidden deep away in the darkness of the surrounding trees and other vegetation, bank robber and gangster John Corben reclined upon his comfortable, cushioned white cotton couch, listening to the warning message on the radio as he casually counted his ill-gotten gain. "Heh! Thanks for the update, Pops! I'll stay low for a while, then." Corben chuckled to himself with a flawless white grin. Paying this stolen money to other tight-lipped members of the underworld sure got him an awful lot of nice things, comfortable furniture, a radio to listen to Police reports and the latest scores from the tracks, and a refrigerator filled with lots of delicious food, he could get used to this! However, as he took another long, thankful drag off of a cigarette, he couldn't help but wonder when it would be safe to travel back to Metropolis, and see if Professor Vale had made any headway with the "Metalo Project". His eyes glazed over as he could see the burning city, the crumbling buildings, acrid smoke filling the air, which his cigarette seemed to mimic.
That's right, it was only a matter of time...
The phones in many of the Daily Planet offices were ringing off the hook with tips and leads to Corben's wherabouts, many of them false reports. Needless to say, many of the of the reporters were going through lots of their favorite brand of cigarette.
In his hot and cramped office, Chief Editor Perry White furiously puffed on his cigar while running his meaty hands through his moist, thinning hair. Finally, with a frustrated grunt, he sat up and growled "That's it! I can't take that confounded racket anymore!" He reached across his desk and pushed down the lever of his intercom, saying in a gritty tone "Tess, send in Kent and Lane."
"Right away, Mr. White." Perry's secretary, Tess, responded.
Clara, dressed in a baby blue jacket and skirt and a green tie walked into the office, followed by Louis, wearing his usual dark blue sportcoat and slacks, with a red necktie.
"Sit down." Perry briskly ordered, quickly pointing to the two hard wooden chairs opposite him.
"What's up, Chief? Want us to quiet things down for you?" Louis said smugly.
Clara rolled her eyes out of his line of sight.
Perry just sneered. "Lane, don't get smart with me. I want you two to investigate Corben's wherabouts. Try to find out where he's hiding, then turn the cops loose on him."
"Fine, Chief." Louis said, rising from his seat and heading for the door. "Come on, Clarybelle, you heard the man, we've got work to do." Louis resignedly remarked.
Once out in the hallway, Clara, a dark blue Turban wrap on her head, and Louis, his light grey fedora on his, walked towards the Planet's elevator.
"So, Louis, where are we off to today?" Clara gleefully asked, teasing her partner.
"I don't know where you're headed, Clarybelle, but I'm going downtown to the Throwdown Tavern to have a word with an informant who may have an idea where our prettyboy hood is hiding out." Louis snobbishly replied.
"Well, I'm going with you." Clara matter-of-factly stated.
"Oh, no you're not, Clara, that's no place for a lady. Why don't you go cover that flower show at The Metropolis Garden Club?" Louis said in a condescending voice, while thinking [Besides, this story's all mine!] before speed walking over to the mechanical box and pressing the button for the ground floor.
"Hey!" Clara began to object as she trotted after him in her cumbersome heels, but it was too late, the door had already closed. Clara then let out a short sniff of indifference, before heading to the nearby stock room, while declaring to herself "The flower show, huh? Well, I'm no shrinking violet!" before looking both ways, removing her glasses, undoing the tight bun behind her head and shaking her hair down, then quickly ducked into the room. Mere seconds later, the door crept open and Superwoman, her powerful muscles and alluring curves quite evident in her tight blue costume, snuck out of the room, cautiously looking this way and that, after she was certain no one was around, Superwoman quietly shut the stock room door and regally strode over to a nearby window, carefully pushed it open, then lept out, quickly gaining altitude as she soared towards the downtown area.
The Throwdown Tavern was a faded red brick building on the shady side of town, it had a large black scorch mark on it's right side from a previous fire. It's identity was proclaimed by almost illegible purple letters on a large white wooden sign hanging by a pole and a chain that had been chipped and stained over the years from various people throwing things at it. Superwoman landed gracefully on the right toe of her dark red boot before walking up to the dirt stained white front door, and, with a light shove, pushed it completely in, with the crackle of splintering wood, and the tinkling of falling metal!
"What the..?!" The dumbfounded bartender, a heavyset man with white hair and a thick, apelike, brow, exclaimed before his breath caught in his throat. The beer glass he was in the process of cleaning fell from his grubby hands and shattered at his feet, his mouth hung open, his eyes bulging out with fear.
The other men in the bar had frozen in place in what they had been doing. The drinkers staring wide eyed, beer still pouring from the glass and out of their mouths, men playing pool stuck in the position of standing and waiting, or about to sink an eight ball into the right front pocket, looks of fright and disbelief on all their faces.
Finally, one patron managed to choke through paralyzed lips "I..It's S..Superwoman!!"
The Woman of Steel stood in the doorway, A confident smirk on her face, her hands firmly planted on her hips. Looking around the bar, she recognized a few of the patrons as notorious underworld figures. Racketeers, enforcers, hitmen, shady characters all around. Quite a few people that she had put away.
Needless to say, the crooks were not happy to see her. One man, a medium sized, well dressed goon with slicked back hair immediately grabbed a large wooden baseball bat from under the table he was sitting at, and charged Superwoman with a crazed shout, cocking the bat back and swinging it hard agaist the heroine's ribs! Superwoman didn't even flinch, however, as the blunt cudgel was instantly reduced to thousands of toothpicks in a second with a loud snap upon contact with her! The gangster just looked down at the handle, which was all that remained of the now useless weapon, with a petrified look of amazement on his face.
A tall, large and quite ugly fiend with a bald head, beady eyes, and a drooping Fu Manchu moustache lumbered towards her, a switchblade glinting in his hand, and a near toothless grin on his hideous mug. "You shouldn'a come here, goily! Now I'll hafta muss ya up!" He threatened.
Superwoman's smirk didn't fade, however, as she grabbed the thug's knife in a flash, and squished the dangerous blade as if it were modeling clay! She then grabbed the frightened thug by the collar of his fancy designer suit and lifted him high above her head, despite his immense weight, as if he were a feather pillow! The man's expression appeared as if he were dizzy as he looked downwards at the costumed crusader, who smiled in an intimidating manner as she gave the speechless criminal a knowing nod of the head.
A hood with a thin crewcut and biceps that looked as big as grapefruits through his fancy sportcoat lept up from his table and ran towards the Woman of Steel, his fist drawn back. Superwoman stayed put, her smirk doing the same as the man drove his thick knuckles onto the caped wonder's jaw... the sound of bones snapping like fresh celery followed as the man removed his fist and cradled it in his free hand, his injured hand terribly misshapen as he let out a high-pitched howl of agony. Superwoman didn't miss a beat, she dropped the switchblade out of her right hand, clenched her fist and swung upwards, upercutting the malcontent, several teeth and strands of blood emitting from his mouth as he was propelled through the air, crashing through the table he had gotten up from.
"Lefty!" an unsavory, rail-thin man at the pool table exclaimed. He then snarled as he swung aside his jacket and pulled a semi-automatic pistol out of his waistband and aimed it directly at the Woman of Steel. It was at this time that the bartender decided to take cover behind the safety of his bar. The skinny goon squeezed off seven lightening fast shots with a loud popping noise and the slightly darkened room lit up with the muzzle flash. However, to the horror of the mobster, the bullets just bounced right off the heroine's ample bosom, her two large breasts slightly shuddering with each impact, the ammo, flattened by the heroine's invunerable skin, came to rest on the filthy sawdust covered floor.
Superwoman simply continued smiling at the man who had just tried to kill her, as she raised her right eyebrow and asked in a slightly annoyed voice, "Are you finished?"
The gangster struggled to nod his head, sweat pouring down his emanciated looking face.
"Good." Superwoman said approvingly, flashing her beautiful white teeth like a model in a billboard ad. She then furrowed her brow and frowned, her demeanor becoming quite serious as she raised her voice to cover the entire room. "All right, boys, now that I've got your attention, listen up. A friend of mine is going to be here in a few minutes. He's about six foot two, dark hair, blue suit, grey fedora hat. He wants to ask some questions about John Corben, and you're going to tell him what he wants to know. Otherwise, I'll be back -- and I won't be so gentle next time!" She threatened, her voice becoming angrier sounding with each word, before uncerimoniously dropping the overweight enforcer, with a shuddering of the floorboards, and walking out into the daylight , jumping skywards.
About five minutes later, just as Superwoman said, Louis' car pulled up outside the bar and he exited. The first thing he noticed was the smashed-in front door. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, must've been a fight" He reflected aloud, as he approached the building.
Suddenly, the goon with his hair slicked back, now an unkempt mess atop his head came running out of the bar's splintered entryway, his arms thrust straight out, screaming "I'll tell you!! I'll tell you where he is! I'll tell you anything! Just please, don't hurt me!!" as he latched onto Louis' lapels, tugging at them with a frightened look in his eyes as he slowly sank to the ground.
Louis pulled back instictively, his demeanor changed from that of shock to that of sly satisfaction in a matter of moments. [The old Lane Intimidation Factor..works every time] he thought over-confidently to himself, as his eyes drifted down to the frightened criminal, and he smiled in a friendly fashion, before saying "There, there, buddy. I'm not going to hurt you. Now why don't you tell me all about it?" in a condescending voice.
Superwoman used her X-ray vision to look into the Planet's hallway from the air. There was no one currently occupying it. There were only reporters, editors, and the like, working dilligently in their offices. Superwoman then flew up to the still open window, and climbed through, still keeping a careful eye out. Once in the hallway, she made straight for the nearby stock room and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Seconds later, Clara emerged in her white shirt, baby blue jacket and skirt, glasses, hairbun and dark blue turban wrap. She adjusted her spectacles, held her head held up with a feeling of accomplishment. [Well, that takes care of getting the information, now to join Louis in tracking Corben down!] she thought to herself, before heading for the elevator, and pressing the button for the ground floor.
Once outside, and after noting that no one was watching, then tightening the wrap on her head, Clara thought [Okay, here goes..] before hitching up her long hemmed skirt, revealing the dark blue leggings and the red boot tops of her Superwoman costume, and sped off close to the speed of light down the sidewalk, becoming a light blue blur that caused a strong gust of wind, pushing passing commuters and tourists off their feet, even pushing cars into each other, causing minor damages. The city's inhabitants which had witnessed the event, were left utterly speechless.
Once at the block where the bar resided, Clara dug her heels into the pavement, peeling it straight off the ground, with a light screeching sound. Clara looked down at the smoking, melted stumps that were once the high heels of her shoes, before shrugging her shoulders and sneaking off towards the bar.
Upon reaching the Tavern, Clara could see that Louis was huddled next to the gangster outside near the door, whispering back and forth. Neither of their eyes were on her, so she was in the clear. Clara could make out what they were saying quite clearly with her super hearing. "*Think he won't see me approaching the cabin?*" Louis asked.
"*Nah, Nah, The cabin's deep in the woods, if you sneak up on 'im, you can catch 'im.*" The gangster clandestinely responded.
Clara then cut her eyes over to Louis' fancy red Chevorlet, and smiled as she gingerly walked towards it.
"You Are Leaving Metropolis, Hope You Enjoyed Your Stay!" The bright red letters on the dark purple sign happily proclaimed by the side of the road as Louis sped past it on his way out of the city.
"Don't worry, I'll be back!" Louis boldly answered the sign, as if it had been speaking to him directly. "And I'll be bringing back a great scoop with me!"
Louis manuvered his car close to where the road and the forest met, he stopped, cut off the engine, got out of the car, and stood outside, looking in all directions at the tall strong oak trees that stood like stalward sentinals as he entered the lush, bountiful forest, before taking a silver compass out of his pocket, and staring at the wobbling needle that was pointing magnetic North. "I don't suppose you could tell me where I can find a gangster's cabin hideout?" He rhetorically asked it.
"No, but I can!" A giddy and familiar southern-tinged voice spoke up suddenly.
Louis spun around in surprise to see Clara stepping out of the backseat of his car with a big smile on her face!
"Clara! What are you doing in my car?!!" Louis exclaimed with anger.
"Well, I couldn't just let you tackle this story all by yourself! Besides, you'll need somebody to help tie up Mr. Corben. So, I beat you to your car and hid in the back on the floorboards before you left the office." Clara explained in a sugary sweet voice.
"My, my, Clarybelle, you must be a very fast runner, considering that I took the elevator.." Louis said angrily, his hands balling up into tight fists at his sides.
"You have no idea.." Clara remarked, her eyes looking humbly to the ground.
With a heavy sigh, most of Louis' indignation left him and he bowed his head, looking up at Clara now with a sense of mere annoyance. "Alright, alright. You can come with me. Only stay out of my way. Remember, MY name is going on the byline of this story!" Louis emphasized, pointing to himself.
"No problem, buddy." Clara said, smiling innocently.
Louis raised his head and continued in a serious voice. "Now, what's this I hear you say about being able to find Corben's cabin?"
"Well, it's over there, to your left, behind the two thick bushes!" Clara said helpfully whilst pointing, the grin still across her face.
Louis looked in the direction Clara had indicated, seeing nothing but a small obstruction in the distance. He turned to Clara with a blank expression "I can't see a darn thing, Clara."
"Do you have any binoculars with you?" Clara asked.
"Yes. What difference would that make?" Louis countered, in an irritated tone.
"Just try looking in that direction with them." Clara instructed.
Louis didn't say a word, he reached inside his passenger side window and opened the glove compartment, he took out the binoculars and did as Clara said. Clara smirked to herself as Louis straightened his slumping posture in surprise, his eyes bulging out from behind the lenses. Sure enough, he could make out several logs stacked upon each other, forming the corner of a wall. "CLARA! You were right! I see it!" Louis exclaimed, whipping the binoculars from his eyes, turning to Clara with an overjoyed grin "How the Sam Hill can you see that far?! It's got to be over a mile away!" He happily exclaimed.
"Well, these specs come in handier than you might think!" Clara explained with a superior grin, tapping the right side of her glasses' frames.
"Clarybelle, If I wasn't so busy, I'd kiss you right on the lips!" Louis said overjoyed as he made his way towards the cabin.
[Careful, Louis. I might hold you to that.] Clara thought with a blush.
The early July humidity beat down on the two eager reporters as they continued to trek across the large field of tall, unkempt, green grass and even taller trees of varying heights and thickness. Louis and Clara had both taken off their jackets, which they had each slung over their shoulders. Louis had also removed his grey fedora, using it to fan his perspiring face and chocolate brown hair. Clara, on the other hand, hadn't needed to remove hers, as this temperature wasn't affecting her Kryptonian body at all, but the charade had to be kept up.
"*Whew!*" Louis exhaled, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. "This just HAD to happen during the dead of Summer.." He groaned.
"Louis, I'm thirsty. When can we get some refreshments?" Clara pretended to whine.
"When we get back to the city, Clarybelle! Now, hush up!" Louis scolded.
Just then, a low growling sound emitted from behind Louis, he rolled his eyes and said derisively to Clara "Let me guess, you're also hungry."
Clara stopped dead in her tracks with a shocked expression on her face. "Uh, Louis.. That wasn't my stomach.." she fearfully informed him.
Again, the low, growling noise, this time it was much closer. Clara and Louis cautiously turned around, only to see an extremely large, gowling, and drooling brown grizzly bear standing on it's hind legs behind them! The two reporters stood petrified as the lumbering beast sniffed the air about them. "*Don't move, Clara.. Stay absolutely still..*" Louis whispered in an uncertain voice.
However, the bear's tiny eyes widened, and suddenly, it let out a loud, angry roar. exposing a jaw full of sharp, dangerous teeth. Then without warning, the bear dropped to all fours again, and lumbered towards Louis, fangs bared! Louis let out a yelp of horror, before dropping his jacket and hat and running off, the wild beast in hot persuit!
Clara's hands went up to her mouth in horror, before furrowing her brows and exclaming to herself "This looks like a job for Superwoman!" She then ducked behind the nearest tree, blessing it's thickness, and threw off her turban wrap and glasses, undid her hairbun and quickly shook her hair down, ripped open her shirt to reveal the famliar red "S" symbol atop her large, jutting breasts, pulled down her skirt and kicked off her shoes, and stood revealed as Superwoman! Superwoman then lept into the air until she was hovering about 30 feet above. Superwoman looked about ten degrees north and saw Louis cowering against a tree, the bear inching towards him, licking it's lips hungrily, Louis' eyes wide with fear, his body shuddering.
"Louis!" Superwoman said concernedly, before dropping from the sky head first in a dive-bomb motion, directly towards the bear, her long black hair and red cape fluttering wildly behind her. When she was almost near it, Superwoman streched her arms out ahead of her, she then wrapped her arms around the bear's enormous, furry frame, clasping her fists together in front of the beast's chest, pinning it's short front paws firmly at it's sides! The bear shot up on it's feet, shaking it's body violently trying to shake this small but strong intruder off. Superwoman simply smiled in response, she had battled broncos this wild back in Kansas, and she had broken them in no time! "Sorry about the BEAR-hug, but you asked for it!" the Woman of Steel half-heartedly apologized to the carnivorous monster.