THE WOMAN OF STEEL. PART II

November 24th, 1949

Metropolis, 09.45 A.M

Clara was walking through Columbus Park on her way to the district attorney's office, where she would wait for a policeman to give her some information about the Toyman's escape months earlier and the manhunt for the sinister mass murderer. Watching the carefree crowd, Clara thought with frustration that despite her constant use of her super-hearing, a bomb could go off at any moment and kill innocent people. Sometimes common criminals and psychos could rob her of more sleep than supervillains or the lingering threat of nuclear war, which seemed so far away and yet so ready to begin. She also thought of Luthor, deprived of his constitutional rights, presumed dead, locked up in Nebraska. Luthor's situation infuriated her, and accepting it seemed to Clara to be a betrayal of her beliefs...but the government had been clear. Luthor, as a spy and a colonel in a foreign army and because of the diplomatic risk involved, could be treated that way. To Clara's surprise, Bruce agreed that it was better for everybody that Luthor was locked up without public trial. It was unacceptable to her. But she couldn't take Luthor out of Nebraska and throw him into the State Prison without causing a political earthquake of consequences she herself was dizzy about.

Trotting along with her was Roberta, who was going to accompany Clara on her investigations that day and whom she was going to teach how to take notes on the interviews. The girl was enthusiastic and talked all the time.

"How does she do it?" the girl asked.

"Who? Who does what?"

"Superwoman! How does she do it? How does she keep up with everything? How does she figure it out? Yesterday she saved dozens or hundreds of refugees from being killed by rebels on a boat in Burma...a short time later she was over here catching a pickpocket...and then she rescued victims of an avalanche in the Andes. How does she do it?"

Oh Roberta, believe me, she doesn't really know it herself.

"Do you know her?" The girl insisted.

Clara hesitated.

"Uh... once or twice... no, not really."

"So, she never saved your life the way she saved Mr. Lane's?" The girl immediately realized that she had mentioned a name that made Clara uncomfortable and started a hasty apology, but Clara smiled at her. She was about to answer gently when, thanks to her super-senses, the reporter saw a speeding truck fail to stop in front of a mother and child who had jaywalked barely a hundred feet from them. I must act quickly…this is a job for Superwoman!

Clara was calm, now she could fully control her powers and at her maximum super-speed, no one could really see anything. Carefully she pushed Roberta, who landed gently on the ground, while in a fraction of a second, the reporter took off her glasses and all her clothes, unfolding her red cape and hiding the civilian clothes under a parked car. In another fraction of a second, she managed to put the mother and child on the sidewalk, barely an inch before they received the shock. Then the Maid of Might lifted the truck above her head to avoid a collision with other cars!

Roberta suddenly found herself on the ground, surrounded by running people and in the middle of a thunderous storm of screeching and honking. Clara was nowhere in sight. In the middle of the street, Superwoman, in her bright and majestic long red cape, was lifting a small truck above her head, while on the sidewalk a mother was hugging her son, crying, unable to understand how they had escaped being run over.

The cars braked, and some of them collided without undue force. Superwoman dismounted gently and carefully set the truck down on the street. The driver was stunned and almost trembling. Superwoman seemed to approach the mother and child as a crowd surrounded her, but then she hesitated, backed away, and took off, disappearing into the sky. Roberta looked up as a hand landed on her shoulder and found Clara Kent looking down at her in surprise.

"What a mess, honey! Did you see that? Where were you?"

What do you mean, where was I? Where were you! Miss Kent had disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere! A pang of doubt and nervousness ran through her body. She had always noticed the resemblance of Clara with Superwoman, especially the intense blue color of her eyes. But for the first time, it didn't seem so silly. No, it couldn't be.

"I didn't move! Something knocked me to the ground!" Roberta screamed.

Clara answered her with ease.

"I instinctively ran forward when I saw the commotion... journalist's reflexes. If you fell, it's because you ran that way too...by the way, you told me if Superwoman ever saved my life...yes, once, but almost no one knows about it, just Mr. Lane and a few other people. I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone."

Nearly four years earlier, February 1946

Metropolis

Clara looked warily at Louis as they sat in the back of the taxi while he lit his umpteenth cigarette.

"Major Lane, shouldn't you be out of town?"

"No, Miss Kent. What I must do is move. Keep moving. And don't point at myself too much. If I run away, Corben will become obsessed with me. I must stay at my post. My wife and daughter are on one of my father's properties outside of town, protected by the police. The rest doesn't matter. This won't last long; the police or Superwoman will catch Corben soon enough…I hope."

Clara snorted, hiding her irritation. It had been ten days since John Corben, the most bloodthirsty and brutal of Intergang bosses, had escaped while being transferred to another prison. Superwoman was unable to prevent it, misled by a false bomb threat. Only a serial murderer and crazy terrorist like the Toyman was more feared than Corben in the 1930s. John Corben was the most dangerous mobster in Metropolis, so much so that Carmine Polito and the Gotham bosses feared him and had no idea how to deal with the crime lord. Corben's gang was responsible for at least fifty murders a year between 1934 and 1940, when he was finally caught. Thanks in large part to Louis, who discovered his lair when his crime empire was reeling in Metropolis after the fall of the Gotham bosses achieved by the joint work of the Batman and Commissioner Gordon. It was Louis' series of articles on the fall and capture of Corben and the Intergang that won him the Pulitzer in 1941. Clara read them back in Alaska, when she was sometimes studying nursing in Anchorage and other times searching with Kelex for the glacier where the robot said they would find a Kryptonian ship. Clara didn't know then that she would end up working for that man.

Now Corben had escaped, and for ten days he had proclaimed his revenge and his desire to take control of what was left of the organized crime in Metropolis, of which only a few pockets of resistance remained after Superwoman's appearance four months earlier. In such ten days, he had murdered his former lawyer, two mobsters who were now bookies, and his former mistress; Superwoman had not arrived in time to prevent it. But she had prevented an explosion at the central police station, the murder of the judge in the Corben case (and captured three of the Mafia's hit men in the process), and the deaths that could have been caused by the package bomb Corben had sent to the Daily Planet. Clara was in the room next to the one where fifteen reporters, led by Perry Weiss, were opening a box that was supposed to be a gift from the King of Siam. With her super-hearing, she heard the bomb mechanism, and super-speeding she entered through the window as Superwoman, grabbed the box from them, and blew it up in the air. However, the glass in the room had exploded and Perry Weiss was in the hospital with some minor scratches. Louis had spent the night at his bedside.

"Captain McKlusky isn't pulling his weight, he's scared shitless, that corrupt son of a bitch," Louis bellowed.

"Major Lane! What a language! Great Scott! And be wise, get out of town."

(I need to get Corben as soon as possible and you must not put yourself in danger...please)

Louis chuckled at her as he tidied his moustache. Clara looked at him almost angrily from behind the lenses of her big horn-rimmed round eyeglasses.

"Miss Kent, business as usual. That's why we're going to the Hippodrome. We'll find dozens of people threatened by Corben there today, from corrupt lawyers and politicians to former employees of his... and me. It's a nice gathering. Let's talk to all of them, use all our ears and eyes, and write a nice article about how the most threatened people in Metropolis are living while a madman tries to rebuild his criminal empire and a super-powerful alien and the police are unable to catch him. We may be able to investigate or detect those who are positioning themselves in Corben's favor or laying low to weather the storm. This is how we found him in 40'."

(And I'll have to turn up my super hearing and telescopic vision to make sure you don't get killed in the process, my dear Louis).

"You don't think that Superwoman will be able to catch Corben, Major Lane?" Clara asked with a smile and a little hurt pride.

"The lady in the red cape is excellent at saving lives and averting disaster in the moment. And for humanitarian efforts. No one doubts that. But finding a criminal mind like Corben's... I don't know…I don't know if her superpowers will be of any use."

"Yesterday we almost got blown up. Well, you didn't. Luckily Superwoman was in the area."

Louis twisted his face.

"If I had come to the office by cab and not walking, I would have been caught in the explosion with all of you. Don't remind me. We're racking up too much debt with Superwoman too soon."

Louis and Clara arrived at the Hippodrome, where with her super-hearing she could hear many people commenting that Major Louis Lane was also on Corben's hit list. Clara also heard some gossip she found offensive about whether she was Louis' mistress, about her attractive physique despite her "horrendous eyeglasses", and about whether Louis' wife Pat was a very famous cheater. "People can be really mean," Clara thought grimly. But at first, she didn't hear anything suspicious. Louis was greeting everyone. Mostly all people tried to pretend to be normal, but immediately jumped to the topic of the moment - Corben. Louis introduced her to everyone as "Clara" or "Miss Kent" without making it clear that she was his assistant reporter.

"Don't tell them who you are and please don't get out your notepad. Talk to anyone you can and tell them about yesterday's bombing in the Planet. Try to look as if you are here to see the races and forget about Corben. Lie and say that you were in the room and that you saw Superwoman come in and take the bomb away."

"Okie Dokie," Clara sighed.

Louis ended up gambling with a couple of elegant old women with whom he shared political ties. Clara slipped away with the excuse that she had more people to talk to and that she would meet Louis after the horse race was over. With her super-hearing she had already picked up a lot of conversations to add to Louis' article and Superwoman was needed elsewhere. A red and blue blur flew over the Hippodrome, but the crowd was too focused on the race.

An hour later, Clara was waiting for Louis at the gate.

"I won $50. Is that a little or a lot?" Louis swaggered with some irony.

(You are supposed to be an Arkham College Gentleman from Park Avenue, Louis, not a fourth-rate rascal…)

"It's more than my week's pay, Major Lane," Clara answered bitterly.

Louis took her arm.

"Well, what have people been telling you?"

"Just nonsense and anecdotes."

"That's nice to add color to our article. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything interesting. Everyone is scared to death, and no one has a clue about Corben's plan or his backers."

Clara nodded as they got into another taxi.

(I'm wasting my time, I think I should be constantly patrolling the city, and I can't do that if I have to be with Louis trying to pry quackery out of retired mobsters, politicians and bookies).

They were back in the heart of Metropolis when her super-hearing picked up something that chilled her blood: "They're in that cab, Lane and a young bitch with glasses who must be from his newspaper or his girlfriend. Orders are to grab Lane with whoever he's with."

"Louis, we have to get out!"

"Why?"

"I recognized a car, a license plate!" Clara tried to make up a story as she got out of the taxi, "A car at the Hippodrome, some very suspicious people. Let's get out, please."

Louis reluctantly paid the taxi driver and also got out of the car. Clara looked to both sides to see if anyone else was getting out of a car and if she could hear any more suspicious conversation.

"This is absurd Clara, of course we are going to cross paths with other people coming back from the Hippodrome like us, and half of the Hippodrome crowd looked suspicious. I look "suspicious" myself."

Clara looked at the elegant building in front of them, the Menken Department Store.

"Louis, please go into the Menken Store and take a walk inside. I'm going to call a contact at the police station to check the license plate, I have it written down. Please listen to me. Feminine intuition. Wait for me on the top floor."

"Since when do you have a contact at any police station? Are they really going to check the license plate? You've got half an hour, or I'm going back to the newsroom. Femenine intuition is all well and good, but you can't be afraid of everyone you see in these streets."

(Sorry Louis, I can't waste any more time).

Clara took off running as Louis snorted behind her back and ran into the first alley she could find; all phone booths were occupied. There she tore off her jacket and shirt as her red cape emerged, her glasses and hat flew off. Clara left everything in a hurry on the step of a fire escape and began to fly at super speed over the cars and crowds of the avenues in Metropolis. She couldn't find the voice she'd heard before.

(Great Scot! The next time I should got out of the car without explaining myself to Louis, I've lost a few precious minutes)

For half an hour she flew all over the city, trying to tune her super-hearing as much as possible. But she had to interrupt her quest to arrest a thief, stop a street fight and hand over a heroin dealer to the police, but no sign of those who were following Louis.

(I've got to get back to Louis, they're looking for him. If I stay with him, sooner or later those following him will be seen or heard...)

Superwoman went through the subway to rescue a pregnant woman who was giving birth and carefully carried her to the hospital, where she was greeted with a round of applause. A minute later, she was standing in front of Louis on the last floor of the Menken Department Store.

"Well, my dear, what about your famous license plate?" Louis looked at her sympathetically.

"Uh...oh...it was Blanche Hudson's", Clara said the first name that came to her mind.

"Blanche Hudson and her sister Jane Hudson? What are those two cockatoos doing here? Poor things. I hadn't seen them at the hippodrome. The suspicious men you saw were probably their chauffeur and their assistant." Louis began to laugh out loud, while Clara raised her eyebrows

(If only you really knew, Louis...).

"By the way, Clara, did something happen to you? You have stained your jacket... uh, and your skirt."

Clara looked at her clothes. It was true, when she changed into Superwoman, her clothes had gotten a little muddy.

"Oh, I fell down while running here."

Louis shook his head. "There's no need to run. You must take care of your appearance in this City and in this job. Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore. I'll walk you home, you can rest this afternoon. I will only escort you to the gate. Give me your notes from the Hippodrome and I'll get the article out this afternoon with both of our signatures. You can't walk down the street like that. Besides, it must have been a good fall."

"Just a slip."

Louis grabbed her arm. Clara still didn't know or admit that she was in love with Louis, but she blushed. They walked in silence for several blocks, looking for a taxi again, while Louis smoked thoughtfully, and she used her super-hearing searching for suspicious conversations.

"Let's cut through here, these alleys are pretty clean now and we'll get to 102nd faster. We'll get a taxi there."

They had only walked a few steps when they heard the click of two guns.

"Shh... quiet, quiet, both of you…now walk forward quietly. On the right is another alley, turn there."

(No! How did they follow us without me hearing them or noticing them?)

"Clara, please stay calm, everything is going to be fine," Louis said in a very serious voice.

"Stay quiet", One of the men insisted in a threatening tone.

They walked and turned into the other alley, where they were ordered to turn around. The two men were wearing trench coats and hats. They looked like normal men, two among the hundreds of thousands in the city. Louis put his hands in the air and stood gently in front of Clara, covering her with his back.

"I have money, lots of it. We can talk about this, please let her go. Or let's tie her up and leave her here, it will take hours to find her", Louis said in an almost desperate tone.

The two men pointing at them did not open their mouths and looked at them with an undefinable expression.

(What to do? What should I do? I can't become Superwoman in front of them, it's almost impossible for me to do it without revealing my identity to Louis...and to those criminals...I need to catch Corben, maybe they'll lead us to him. Please God don't let them separate me from Louis or start shooting, then I'll have no choice but to act immediately).

Louis insisted on the possible payment without the men answering him, while Clara continued to hide behind her boss with her hands raised, sighing and hesitating whether to let herself be taken prisoner until they were taken to Corben…or to act as the Woman of Steel.

A third man appeared and spoke authoritatively.

"We have a car in the parking lot of the old Cabaret Tanzburg, it's in an alley at the next intersection."

One of the two men pointing at them spoke calmly.

"Put your hands down and walk in front of us. The three of us will walk within an inch of you. We'll walk down the street as quietly as if we didn't know each other. If you run, you're dead, we'll shoot you and the crowd."

Louis nodded.

"It's better to do as they say, Clara, they must be Corben's men. Don't worry, they won't hurt you, you have nothing to do with this story. If they didn't shoot at us, it's because Corben wants something from me. I will negotiate, and I'll pay for your release, trust me," Louis insisted with a false security that touched Clara.

(I'd rather wait. Poor Louis, you'll be used as bait...but I think it's our only way to get to Corben's hideout and for me to capture him...)

They obeyed silently and left the alley, crossing the street to another alley that led to a small square of buildings, some in ruins and some under construction, that had been part of the old Harlem. Next to a car with darkened windows, a young man with a machine gun was waiting for them. They were blindfolded and led inside.

"This is a good sign, Clara, if they wanted to kill us, they wouldn't mind blindfolding us," Louis said.

"Quiet back there... and no tricks or we shoot. We'd rather die here than go to jail, and we'd better take some cops with us," one of the hit men threatened.

Clara could see through her x-ray vision where the car was taking them. They crossed the financial district and Hells Kitchen, then took another strange turn, and crossed into Brooklyn, driving almost to the edge of the city to what appeared to be a new and closed warehouse. They were taken to the basement where the blindfold was removed. Next to them were some chains and shackles on the wall and floor.

(So this is the White Worm's lair...let's hope Corben shows up soon).

Louis protested again while they were chained to the wall. "I can sign a check for $20,000 right now, which you can cash this afternoon. It's all my savings, all of it. Between the four of you, that's half of what you make in a year. Release her, re-bandage and re-gag her and drop her anywhere in Brooklyn. Clara stay calm…"

(Oh, Louis my dear...)

"Calm down Louis, Superwoman will save us," Clara tried to sound innocent.

"Shut up both of you, you're going to wait for Mr. Corben... Mr. Lane, you should propose him your offer for the girl's life. Maybe he'll take it. Negotiate. You know Mr. Corben is a businessman."

The rest of the thugs burst out laughing.

(Seems Mr. Corben is coming, that's good news...I have to figure out a way, once he shows up, for Superwoman to take care of all these crooks without anyone figuring out that she's really me).

"I'm so sorry, Clara, I'm really sorry...I'm sorry you're involved in this because of me. I won't have the life to make it up to you."

"Louis...I'm somewhat fine...we were both in the war, we've seen worse things for sure. This is not your fault...they're criminals. But I don't think they're going to get out of this without punishment!" Clara tried to calm Louis down.

About half an hour passed, while the gangsters played cards or listened to the radio, Louis and Clara stood silently chained to the wall. Sometimes Louis threw jokes or encouragement at Clara, who was mostly impatient.

Soon they heard the sounds of a car, people, and footsteps. The thugs grabbed their guns, but dropped them and squared up as a strong, gray-haired blond man in his fifties appeared down the stairs, flanked by four other henchmen.

"Welcome Mr. Corben!"

John Corben greeted his thugs with a nod, then turned to Louis with an indefinable smile.

"Well... Mr. Lane... You've rediscovered my safe haven."

"Actually, I was kindly invited," Louis said glibly.

Corben gave a fake laugh and punched Louis in the stomach.

"Louis!" Clara shouted sincerely.

(What shall I do? Shall I become Superwoman right now? Everyone will know my secret identity...I can't do it...but maybe this is the only chance. I should not wait any longer)

"Well, well...and this little bird?" Corben went over to Clara and looked at her mockingly.

"That's Lane's little whore, she's been with him all morning," one of the rogues replied.

"Well, well, Mr. Lane... how unoriginal... in love with your secretary. She is taller than you, that's cute."

Clara looked at him defiantly.

"Corben...You must not have much access to immediate funds...I'm offering you an immediate $20,000 from the bank for the girl's life. Let her go. 20,000 is two weeks' operation for you and what's left of your band. You have me. My life is completely at your discretion. This woman has just started working at paper... she has nothing to do with this," Louis was nearly begging.

Corben ignored him and turned away. He addressed his men.

"We're going, all of us, to Hoboken, two separate cars. Release Mr. Lane and put him in my car. Polti, you stay here. Mescher will take care of this woman. When he's finished with her, put up a sign on her body that says, "We salute the press," and leave the body in the harbor like we did with Warren."

"No! For God's sake, Corben! $20,000!" As they untied him, Louis scrambled up and punched one of the captors, knocking him down with one punch, but the others cut him down with the butt of their guns.

"We're leaving, let's go, goodbye Polti, don't stay to see what Mescher does to the girl, don't be a pervert," Corben was laughing.

"Clara, be brave! It's going to be okay! They're just trying to scare us! We'd be dead by now if they really wanted to!" Louis' voice sounded more and more diffuse as they took him away. Clara was excited and concentrated on following Louis' voice.

(Now these scoundrels will see who Clara Kent really is).

She was left alone with Polti and waited a few minutes for him to turn his back. She felt confident, almost excited, and eager to teach those criminals a lesson. She was also emotional about how Louis had tried to save her life, but well...he didn't know she was the Maid of Might.

(Now this is a job for Superwoman!)

Clara Kent shook her head and her glasses fell to the floor as she shot a laser beam with her soft blue eyes at the only lamp in the basement, which exploded. Polti barely understood what was happening in the darkness. It took only a second for Clara Kent to break her chains, rip off her shirt and jacket, and reveal her blue tights and the red and gold crest of the House of El as she unfurled her cape in the shadows. In another second, Polti was punched in the jaw. For Superwoman seemed a light blow, but Polti spat out three teeth. An irresistible force dragged him to the second floor of the warehouse, where Superwoman bent Polti's gun and used it to tie him up. The man was knocked unconscious, unable to understand where the blows had come from.

Superwoman went to a phone and called police headquarters, identifying herself as Superwoman, describing the location of the warehouse, and reporting that she would soon have Corben in her hands. Just before taking off into the firmament, a rickety car appeared at the warehouse gate, driven by an extraordinarily fat, repulsive-looking young bald man. Superwoman approached him.

"Mr. Mescher?"

The man tried to restart the car, but Superwoman pulled him violently out of the car and threw him into the air, only to grab his collar again just before he crashed to the ground.

"I've been told you're a monster, I'm sure the police are looking for you, so I'll leave you with your friend Polti."

Superwoman tied the man up with a bent iron bar and threw him next to the unconscious Polti.

"Now... let's get Corben and save Louis! Up, up and away!"

Superwoman took to the skies at full speed, following the route to Hoboken, which meant crossing Metropolis. She picked up Corben and Louis' voice as she flew over the Brooklyn Bridge. Louis sounded safe.

(Thank God, I got them, Corben and his gang! A couple of machine guns won't stop me!)

Meanwhile, not knowing who was flying over them, Corben was talking amusedly to Louis Lane, who was tied up next to him with bruises from blows he had received along the way.

"This town is no longer for me...I'm using terror to get a little more money out of a few people whose heads are within my reach. I already have five or six hundred thousand dollars. I want to hold on a little longer, get to a million, and punish this city a little. I'm not going to start another crime empire. With the million and a few deaths, I'll escape to some tropical place. Of course, you are dead... totally dead. You'll have to pay me back for the years I was locked up and the Pulitzer Prize you won at my expense. But not yet. I want you to write me the communiqués that I will send to the press, and narrate my day by day, a diary of your captivity for as long as it lasts, I will send it to your newspaper. I will make you immortal and I will also make myself immortal too. If you help me, I promise not to look for your wife and daughter to kill them, nor to kill you father and mother, whom I know where they live on Park Avenue. I will give you a quick easy death. If you don't do what I ask, I will kill your whole family and torture you. I mean it, that's why I didn't want to take payment for your little girlfriend. You must understand I'm capable of everything. Tomorrow you will see in the press what Mescher did to her. It will be quite original. As for that strange flying creature, Superwoman... she couldn't find me in 10 days... she won't be able to do it now. I just need another week."

(No way, Corben!)

As soon as Corben had finished speaking, a woman's fist smashed through the roof of the car and then ripped it off. The driver began to zigzag in panic as Superwoman used her super-speed to pull Louis out of the car and lay him on the sidewalk. The Woman of Steel then lunged back toward the car, hoisting it onto her shoulders. The other cars slammed on their brakes in chaos. Superwoman shook the now roofless car and Corben and his three henchmen fell to the pavement. Some tried to grab their weapons, but Superwoman ripped it from their hands and crushed the guns into crumpled, useless metal.

"Mr. Corben, I presume," Superwoman shouted as she punched and held the gangster down. He muttered horrible curses.

Superwoman heard the second car, in which Corben's other henchmen were trying to turn around and head in the opposite direction. She lunged herself in front of the car at super-speed. The car crashed into Superwoman, injuring its occupants while she didn't move a single inch. Within seconds, the other henchmen were handcuffed and semi-conscious along with Corben and the others. People had gotten out of the cars and were cheering for Superwoman. Some cops were making their way in as they arrested the gangsters. Superwoman ran to Louis, who had managed to get to his feet. He was bruised and beaten.

"Mr. Lane, are you okay? I'm taking you to the hospital right now!"

"Clara Kent!" Louis shouted bitterly.

(oh, please...let him not find out).

"Clara Kent! They've got Clara Kent! They're going to kill her! We must find her!" Louis yelled back.

Superwoman smiled in relief.

"Clara Kent is fine, Mr. Lane, I rescued her before I rescued you. She's perfectly well. I left her at Menken's Store waiting for you on the top floor. She's worried, but in perfect condition. But I think I need to get you to the hospital first, Mr. Lane."

"Thank God, God bless you, Superwoman! No, please, I must go to Menken's Department Store," Louis pleaded.

Superwoman saw his glassy eyes and felt almost crushed.

"Don't worry, I'll take you there!" Before the police could approach to question Superwoman and Louis, Superwoman had already left for the firmament, carrying Louis in her arms.

Clara told the story to Roberta in her own way. She left out that she was Superwoman, and she left out how Louis elatedly took her in his arms when he saw her safe at Menken's Department Store while she burst into tears with emotion. Louis stopped her, saying that they had both been in the war and that they should keep their manners. Both decided to hide the fact that Clara had been in danger and had been rescued by Superwoman. Corben's capture was front-page news across the country. And fortunately for the Daily Planet, Jimmy was on a bus headed to Brooklyn on the bridge when Superwoman lifted Corben's car over her head and snapped a photo for posterity, earning him a permanent job at the paper. A guilt-ridden Louis spent an entire week gifting flowers, books, and silk scarves to a delighted Clara. But she was telling Roberta only the essentials of the story.

"So you were with Major Lane when John Corben captured him and Superwoman saved your life!" Roberta exclaimed.

"Yes…but please don't tell anyone!" Clara winked at the young girl, who found the wink strange and almost a confession that went beyond the story she had heard.

"And John Corben died in prison in early 1948... almost two years ago," Roberta added.

Clara nodded, but without much conviction. No, Corben faked his death with a strange drug provided by Luthor. Corben's lawyer was able to delay the autopsy while the robbery of the gangster's body was faked. In reality, Corben regained consciousness, and Luthor turned him into Metallo, Luthor's most terrible idea against Superwoman to date...and the kryptonite in Metallo's armor ended up killing Corben, with Superwoman unable to do anything about it. Corben died twice. But this outcome was known to only a few people. That was a different story, and one that Clara was not going to tell Roberta.

Central Siberia Plateau

November 24th, 23:00 PM

It was already dark in Siberia. An autumn night, swept by cold and wind. What came from space was not seen as a narrow glimpse. It was not seen at all. The extremely fast, black, round object made of an unknown metal passed through the sky at full speed, but its force field created a distortion in the electromagnetic waves that made it impossible to detect by radar…even though the object was almost a mile in diameter. The circular object knew exactly which course to follow. It came to rest at an altitude of two thousand feet above a remote spot on the central plateau of Siberia. Below the object stretched a sparse forest frozen in shadows. The object emitted a green beam that was seen many miles away by some hunters who did their best to forget such sight. The green beam melted the ice and snow into vapor, charred and disintegrated all vegetation, and turned more than a thousand feet of permafrost into a storm of burning mud.

The green beam struck a metal platform buried in the ground, which, upon contact with the lightning and release from hundreds of feet of permafrost pressure, began to vibrate and unfurl metal clamps over a three hundred feet high that could withstand the green lightning. Soon the beam had created a crater two miles in diameter and nearly two thousand feet deep around the metal platform. The object descended and landed on the metal platform. It then shot a red beam upward, which turned into a sort of dome of scarlet light several miles in diameter. Everything under the dome was obliterated, incinerated. The dome flickered and seemed to vanish. But any man, animal or machine that would try to get within ten miles of the crater where the object rested would have been cremated instantly. The process took barely an hour. The isolation, the silence, and the terror of the hunters and the natives caused the Soviet government to take too long to learn of this strange visitor.

***

At the same time in Metropolis, Clara and Roberta were spending the morning at the District Attorney's headquarters, waiting for Lieutenant Novak, with whom Clara had made an appointment. Clara persuaded one of the D.A.'s lawyers, whom she had once interviewed, to show Roberta around the building while she slipped out to fly somewhere else where she was needed as Superwoman. Around 11 a.m., they finally crossed paths with Lieutenant Novak, who was trying to disguise the meeting as a chance encounter.

Lieutenant Novak looked at Roberta with suspicion as the girl took out her notebook, but Clara, with the sweetest expression she was capable of with her blue eyes, tried to soften the policeman.

"Lieutenant Novak, this is my assistant Miss Lee. Please, she is my eyes, ears and hands right now."

"Well, nice to meet you," the policeman tried to play dumb.

After a few superficial comments about the police station, D.A. Morgan Edge, and even the weather, Clara began to question the officer.

"And what's the main clue in the Toyman's case?"

"There isn't one, in fact. He sends the letters from public mailboxes, with his old address. We know he's somewhere in New York State. He's been to seven different places in the city and the state. If he hasn't struck yet, it's not because he's afraid of Superwoman, it's because he has no structure to return to violence. Who's going to provide him with shelter and raw materials for mechanical devices and explosives? We would know by now. When the Toyman was active in the 1930s, he simply bought the dynamite from the Mafia, made the nitroglycerine himself, and had access to several workshops...He acted alone, which is absolutely unbelievable, but that's how it was. Now he no longer has access to any of that without us knowing."

"But it's clear that someone is harboring him, don't you think?"

"We agree."

"So... Where is Dr. Quinzel?"

The policeman lowered his voice so that even Roberta could barely hear him.

"We have no idea. It is imperative that we find her. It's a plausible theory that she helped him. It's difficult to trace her, this woman had no possessions except for an apartment she left months ago. She had very few friends, no one knows of her whereabouts, not even her relatives... but she stopped showing any signs of life five weeks before the Toyman escaped…"

"I know all that...but her name is still not in the press."

"Miss Kent, I know you don't like District Attorney Edge, but with us, with the police, you've always been very nice. Please, we want to keep Dr. Quinzel's name out of the press for now. Be a good girl."

"Sooner or later, other journalists will discover her disappearance…"

"Dr. Quinzel did not disappear. She just ran away. There was no violence in her house, she had no savings, she probably had them in cash. She could be anywhere...but we have no motive for a criminal spree. Dr. Quinzel was an eccentric woman, but why would she want to help a horrible criminal escape? Especially one as repulsive on every level as the Toyman. I'm inclined to think she had nothing to do with it."

"I was told she had a fascination with crime."

"Dr. Quinzel was Arthur Fleck's nurse in Gotham when she was in med school, and John Corben's doctor here. And she really liked talking to dangerous criminals and understanding them...but it was a scientific interest. Let's just say Dr. Quinzel had some strange theories...Maybe she disappeared for political reasons."

Clara's heart skipped a beat when she heard those two names, the Joker and the leader of Intergang who later became Metallo...and she felt guilty because she was relieved that they were both dead.

"Do you really think she was a communist?"

"No, not at all. Not a single connection nor interest in the Communist Party...no, but she had strange ideas about crime and medical treatments that suggest an extremist position. The truth is that her former bosses defined her sometimes as an anarchist and sometimes as a fascist. She came from a Jewish family, so she was certainly not a Nazi, and I repeat, she had no connection with the Communists. She was simply fascinated by violence and did not like our "system"."

"But she was Corben's doctor, and Corben escaped."

"But Corben escaped because of a tip that he was being transferred to another prison. In those days there were dozens of informants among the inmates and the police...and Corben had his structure and his support network outside the prison...the Toyman has nothing."

"So?"

"Our theory is... and this is the exclusive and what you can leak: Someone from the past is helping him. From a low-level employee of his to an explosives dealer. Maybe people who somehow worked with the Toyman during his killing spree in '33 and are now being blackmailed by him. We have a huge list the Toyman's former employees, people who were threatened or had some sort of relationship with his company, explosives dealers… We watch and follow almost all of them, and still nothing, but someone like this is the one giving him shelter. And this won't last long. We'll catch him. Probably before he attacks again."

Clara continued to listen to the policeman, shaking her head, what a complicated case! She said goodbye to Lieutenant Novak and left the district attorney's building together with her apprentice.

"Roberta, what would you like to eat?"

"Miss Kent...What do you think? Who is hiding the Toyman?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure how good the police list is. I have a hunch about Dr. Quinzel, feminine intuition. I think I'm going to investigate this woman and take a good look at the names that come up in Louis' notes. Maybe there's something in there that the cops missed."

"Can I help you with that?"

"Only after school! I just realized you've been here with me during school hours!"

"But I'm way ahead on my exams!"

"Roberta!"

North of Bahama Key

A large, rickety old fishing yacht with a yellow awning was moored to a buoy off the coast. Only two people were moving around the boat. Bruce Wayne, in an open shirt and sunglasses, posed like the forty-year-old multi-millionaire he also was, pretending to concentrate on fishing. Just another wealthy American spending his idle days fishing and drinking rum at the drop of a hat. No one could tell by looking at him that he had been fighting crime as Batman for what seemed like ages, since 1939, years before Clara Kent decided it was time to don the red cape and the world christened her as Superwoman. Next to him, dressed in a simple white summer suit, a dapper Englishman in his late sixties, Bruce's trusted butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in fact the closest thing he had to a father.

"Well, we've been here for three days, Mr. Wayne, I think you need to start thinking about the possibility that he's not coming," Alfred said.

"I agreed with Arturo that we would wait for him here for five days. On this very spot."

"We keep making strange friends, Mr. Wayne."

"I thought you liked Miss Kent, Alfred."

"Of course, she's an excellent woman, but I'm afraid she hasn't advised you to retire."

"She can't handle everything...like this...the Man from the Sea hates her intensely, just because she's from Krypton."

"I know that very well, otherwise I would not have come…"

The Englishman fanned himself and took a sip of soda while Bruce took a swig from the bottle of rum.

"Have you received the translation of the missing Bulgarian sorcerer's conversation yet?"

"No, Kelex, Clara's robot, is slow…but I'll have it this week."

The sun was beginning to set when they both heard a splash and a thud as if someone had jumped into the stern. Bruce and Alfred ran over to find a tall, strong young man with brown skin, slanted but green eyes, a long beard and brown hair, dressed in an orange metallic scale armor and carrying a trident of a strange, very shiny metal. The man smiled at them and was already sitting in a chair, drinking from a bottle of champagne, the neck of which he had torn off. Behind him, the sun dipped below the ocean.

"Greetings, Bat-Man, I've never seen you in your famous uniform...and this must be your Uncle Alfred you told me about."

Aquaman greeted them with a somewhat sly nod as Bruce and Alfred shook his hand.

"Sorry for the delay, it wasn't a short trip and I've had some interruptions...I'm hungry and thirsty, thank you for bringing me champagne. Do you have any lamb or weal for dinner?" Arturo Curry spoke good English despite his hard, metallic accent, "I hope the Kryptonian doesn't show up today."

"No, she won't, but I bring a series of very important messages that affect all of us, including her", Bruce answered gravely.

Arthur Curry snorted in disgust but looked sympathetically at Bruce.

Sentinel Hill

On one of the cliffs of Sentinell Hill, a nearly tearful Mr. Sebastian, wearing his hat so tightly that it almost blocked his view, and Winslow Schott, who had finally received a purple trench coat sent in Mr. Sebastian's name from a Providence tailor, were watching the behavior of some mechanical devices marching slowly a few yards away from them.

Schott, also known as The Toyman, operated the devices with a simple five-button control. As the devices approached the cliff one by one, the Toyman would press a specific button and they would explode, but without excessive force. A little soldier, a walking teddy bear, a Superwoman... and finally a hedgehog. But the hedgehog didn't really explode; as soon as the Toyman pressed the button, its spikes turned into a dozen sharp bullets that could pierce anyone in front of it.

The Toyman laughed uproariously.

"Have you seen this, Sebastian? They are much smaller and quieter than the ones we used last time, much better...and wait until they are actually filled with dynamite or nitroglycerine... It will be spectacular. Oh... and the balloons... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Superwoman's balloons...that will be the most fun...they will understand what a big lie everything is, that no one can escape pain and justice issued by destiny."

Sebastian's teeth chattered.

"No balloons Winslow...balloons can be caught by a child...they can be caught by an innocent person. You said these inventions would only go to a dozen people who had really hurt you and destroyed other lives...but no innocents...no bombs in restaurants or stores this time. I won't allow you to do anything like that!"

Winslow nonchalantly swung a cane at Sebastian's leg, which he knew was weaker, almost knocking him to the stone. Sebastian burst into sobs.

"Don't you understand, Sebastian, that no one is innocent? We cannot deceive people. We must be an instrument to show them the Truth. Dr. Quinzel will explain it to you when she comes... She will tell you about them…she will enlighten you. Meeting them changes everything. Yes, she will tell you about them, how magnificent they are, how they can expand our consciousness and soothe our pain, how we can travel with them far away. And how teaching a city of lies a painful lesson will show them that we are not bound hand and foot."

"I'm not going!" Sebastian shouted.

The Toyman swung another cane at him.

Tuesday, November 29, 1949

Daily Planet Building

Clara Kent was typing her latest article at super-speed as she flipped through Louis' notes on the Toyman. She had decided to start with several names of people still living in Metropolis, such as the one who had been Winslow Schott's secretary for years, Sylvia Zelag. Louis' notes said that she had been very reluctant to talk about her former boss and his crimes... and well, that was the place to start.

As she finished the article, she sighed. There were more and more plane crashes. She had dodged half a dozen in a month. Just that morning, she had miraculously prevented a DC-6 full of passengers from crashing in Dallas; it had been very close to disaster. The plane had lost control and altitude, and she was just in time to stop it from crashing into a hangar where old planes were parked. Superwoman was able to lift the plane over the hangar and then set it down safely on the landing strip after it lost power. No one was killed or injured, but if she had arrived a few seconds later... it was terrible to think about. The more popular the planes became... the more often she would have to act to avoid accidents. But that was the way it was… It was a job for Superwoman!

Mrs. Blakenship, her secretary, opened the door and interrupted her thoughts.

"Miss Kent, Mr. Weiss would like to see you in his office."

How unusual for Perry to call me to his office...he usually comes in, yells something from the other end or sends an errand.

Curious, Clara hurried to the office of the paper's editor-in-chief and chairman of the board. Perry was expected to hold these positions until he chose to retire, or until the "little man" he claimed resided in his chest, symbolizing his passion for journalism, decided to step down—a scenario that appeared to be in the distant future. She knocked and went in. Perry was pacing as usual with his Cuban cigar, suspenders, and no jacket.

"Dear Clara, how are you?"

"Everything's fine, Mr. Weiss."

"Cat told me you're working on the Toyman story."

"I am, boss."

"How is it going?"

"Oh, It's not an easy story. The police are just stumbling around and well... It's all references to his past terrible crimes... but I have some lines of inquiry."

"It's a nasty case indeed," Perry spoke absentmindedly.

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Weiss?"

Perry still paced and shrugged.

"Leda Luthor! She's attacking the government, the press, everyone...she's convinced there's a conspiracy against her father's memory, that we were lied to about the experiment that created that damn Doomsday monster..."

"Something I've heard," Clara felt a pang in her heart, thinking of Luthor's illegal prison in Nebraska...she could never forget it.

"Ms. Luthor called me on the phone... She says we're the only ones who put the spotlight on the Rand Corporation before the monster's appearance and Luthor's death. She offered to let us interview her, she says she will soon have evidence proving her father's innocence and the government's involvement. You broke this story about the Rand Corporation last year...What do you think about Miss Luthor's story?"

Clara felt tremendous sadness and fear. She knew the whole truth. How far the government had gone with their experiments, how Luthor had used them to his advantage, how Luthor had spied for the USSR, how he had created Doomsday to kill her...and how the government had buried it all, arrested Luthor and faked his death. She knew everything. Leda Luthor probably knew nothing...and she was defending her father's cause. How to deal with that? Clara gathered her courage and answered with hidden discomfort.

"I think it's a story that's going nowhere... It's obvious that the government gave him access to the technology he was experimenting with...that's already public knowledge. It's probably true that he stole it... But why would the government conduct such dangerous experiments near Metropolis, putting millions of lives at risk? Luthor was wrong...he did something horrible."

"Governments lie...and they are duplicitous, Clara. It's not just dictatorial ones that lie or do barbaric things... We know that."

I know, Perry, please don't do this to me.

Perry continued.

"What if the government... or an uncontrolled unit of the government... deliberately experimented on the monster to test an alien attack on a civilian population and to test Superwoman? It's an atrocity for sure...it would only be true 1 in 10,000 times... But we should keep an eye on it, if only to rule it out. Why not interview Leda Luthor? Maybe she has something interesting to say, or that we can investigate and shed light on... It seemed pretty unacceptable to me that an alien monster was killing fellow citizens. It was probably Luthor's thing. Between you and me, he was a megalomaniac and oblivious, but hey... even the devil has a right to defend himself, don't you think?"

Clara felt like crying and telling Perry the whole truth, but instead she pulled herself together and adjusted her glasses, answering that she would work on the story. She would meet Leda Luthor the following week.

"Thank you, Clara. We need to get this out of the way, she came to us first. Imagine if we refused to even look at the story and then it came out in another paper... We'd look like buffoons, or worse, schmucks with a hidden agenda."

"Totally true, boss."

"Excellent, dear, you're the best."

Perry politely dismissed her by pointing the Cuban cigar at the door and Clara hurried away. On her way, she passed Alina Baristova-Baker, the editor-in-chief of World magazine, who looked at her with her feline green eyes and put on her usual falsetto voice with a faux-French accent.

"My dearest eyes of heaven! You always escape me! There are so few of us girls in the newsroom, and we've never had a drink! Everyone has told me what a wonderful woman you are and what a great person to work with...I know you're not interested in what we do at World, but you must let me take you out to a fancy dinner…"

"I'm sorry Alina, I've been swamped with work..."

"Next week on Wednesday, I'll pick you up at gunpoint, Cherie!"

Clara nodded reluctantly and fled back to her office, distressed because she knew the truth about Luthor's fate. A truth she could not reveal. She had to confront Luthor's daughter, who was defending a crazy story that shielded her father from any responsibility, and counter it with another false story that proved Luthor's guilt but concealed that the billionaire scientist was still alive and imprisoned, the true extent of the government's experiments, and the role of the USSR. She tried to calm herself. In the distance she heard the sobs of an old woman being evicted from her rented apartment. Clara felt a strong sense of indignation. She had always tried to avoid getting involved in situations like this that would put her against the law, and she didn't know how Superwoman could help...but perhaps her mere presence could prevent the eviction. She could not remain impassive. With determination, she opened her shirt to reveal her blue tights and the red and gold crest of the House of El.

Alina was in Perry Weiss' office and could see a familiar red and blue blur flying by behind him through the window. "Look, our Jeanette d'Arc is passing by! We see her very often; she must be here somewhere," she said sharply.

"Oh, I guess she just passes by everywhere," Perry replied indifferently.