Chapter 8: The First Crack
Superman's expression remained unreadable, but Alexander knew better. Doubt. That was the first step—make a god question himself, and suddenly, he wasn't so invincible anymore.
Clark took a slow breath, his eyes narrowing. "I don't know what you're planning, but it won't work."
Alexander smirked. "That's the beauty of it—you don't have to believe in my plans for them to succeed."
Selina chuckled beside him, lazily tracing a finger across the desk. "He hates this. The whole… political angle. He's used to problems he can punch."
Superman's gaze flicked to her. "And you're just… what? Going along with this?"
Selina rolled her eyes. "Oh, Clark. You still don't get it, do you?" She walked toward Alexander and slipped into his lap with practiced ease, draping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm not going along with anything. I'm part of it."
Alexander's fingers traced along Selina's thigh absentmindedly as he kept his focus on Superman. "She's not my hostage, if that's what you're thinking. She's my wife. My partner. And unlike you, Clark, I don't keep secrets from the people I love."
Superman's jaw tightened.
Good.
Clark Kent had spent his entire life balancing two personas. The hero and the man. The alien and the human. The greatest weakness of a man who stood above the world was the simple fact that he still wanted to belong to it. He cared about rules. About morals.
Alexander? He didn't.
"Why don't we stop pretending?" Alexander set his drink down and leaned forward. "You're not here because I'm a criminal. You're here because I'm an unknown. Luthor, Joker, Brainiac… they're predictable. But me?" He smirked. "I'm something different."
Superman didn't deny it.
"I build, Clark," Alexander continued. "While you spend every day cleaning up after a world that never truly fixes itself, I create infrastructure. Order. I'm not a threat to this city. I'm its future."
Superman exhaled. "You don't get to decide the future of Metropolis."
Alexander tilted his head. "Neither do you."
A silence stretched between them.
Then, the building trembled.
Superman's head snapped up instantly. Alexander, of course, already knew what it was—Lex Luthor.
Right on cue.
An explosion rocked the city a few blocks away. Through the glass windows of the penthouse, a plume of smoke and fire rose into the air, followed by the unmistakable mechanical whir of LexCorp's latest war machine.
Superman's eyes glowed red.
Alexander chuckled. "Go on, Clark. Do what you do best. Clean up the mess."
Superman lingered for just a second longer, studying him, as if trying to unravel the game being played. Then, with a burst of speed, he was gone.
Selina sighed dramatically. "You really know how to get under his skin."
Alexander smiled, watching as Superman disappeared into the distance.
"He's the first," he murmured. "But he won't be the last."
Selina shifted in his lap, brushing a hand through his hair. "And what's the next step, oh mighty king-to-be?"
Alexander exhaled slowly. "We're going to own Metropolis. Not as criminals. Not as warlords. But as the ones who built it."
Selina smirked. "And Superman?"
Alexander's eyes darkened.
"By the time we're done, he'll have two choices—serve us, or fall."
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End of Chapter 8