☆ ~~~ ☆ THE NEXT DAY☆ ~~~ ☆
~~~
NEWS STATION
~~~
"And we're live in ..."
A loud man behind the camera yelled.
Holding up large flash cards and manning a TV moving prompter filled with paragraphs about the news next segment.
A well dressed woman sat behind a large tellivition desk her blue blaster neatly buttered up down the middle.
"Three ..."
The woman powdered her nose a little, shuffling the stakes of prop paper around her into little rectangle piles.
"Two ..."
Dusted off the hair from her shoulders.
Facing forwards and breathing steadily.
"And one"
The woman began to speak.
"And we're back live on air ... I'm Florence Smith reporting to you from Bright News
With recent information that the due the Edge corporations new development project clasping.
With its mines having fallen in a reported 'sub tectonic earthquake'.
(*the excuse that Edge's publicise gave to new outlets & to the government as there was no way to prove whether or not they were lying*)
That had happened early morning, yesterday,
it is said that there will be over a hundred SmallVille citizens set to be put out of work"
The weather man took over the broadcast for a couple of moment's allowing for the connection between Morgan Edge's office and the news station to be set up and checked for errors.
The cameras pointed back to the unnamed woman.
"We have Morgan Edge on a live video call here today in the studio, to answer some of the agonising questions, workers and families may have in the fall out of yesterday's tragedy"
"Morgan?" The woman squinted at the display behind the camera displaying Morgan Edge's face.
There was a pause for a second before Morgan spoke up.
"... Yes?"
His face was plastered on most of SmallVille's residences television's as they tooned into the news.
The news anchor cleared her throat and went on to say.
"So what can we expect over the next couple of days?"
A few seconds passed by.
"Well my company plans on clearing out the site, and rumble making it safe for the general public living in the surrounding area" Morgan replied
"And what of your workers?" The woman prompted.
Morgan nodded along to the slightly delayed feedback from the news station's taking in the woman's words.
Thinking to himself all the while.
'Now not only will Mr cushing be in debt to me but also the rest of SmallVille'
'I guess the unexpected can account for itself'
"Well I plan on hiring more workers to help with the clean up effort, and the mine workers that were put out of work, will be insured with a full four months pay, while they find work elsewhere after the clear upis finished" Morgan replied flawlessly.
"And unfortunately Morgan that's all the time we have ...Thank you."
"It was a pleasure to ease people worries"
~~~
Morgan's live feed cut off leaving only a Microsoft computer aesthetic background in its place.
~~~
The woman looked back into the camera
"And there you have it folks a perfect response and solution from Morgan Edge, who has plans of making sure your family's are well, despite the unforeseen job crisis"
She smiled a wide tooth grin at the camera waiting.
From off the side of the camera the same guy that counted her in.
Turned off the monitor displaying her scripted lines and waved for the camera guy to roll the adverts.
"And we're no longer on air"
He said.
The woman wiped the smile and her pink lipstick from her face walking off stage.
'Edge is such a good man for doing all that for his employes'
She thought as the sound of her heels clicked behind her.
~~~
MORGAN
EDGE
~~~
Morgan sat back in his desk chair.
He had only just been let out of the D.O.D.'s custody.
After they couldn't hold him for any more questions.
As Morgan had expected, they didn't have anything to charge him with.
His offices were in shambles, his head workers scrambling all over trying to get the company's insurance on the phone for more than a couple minutes at a time.
To get their insurance pay out he would need to actually fulfill his promises to his workers.
Now would he actually do that?
No.
Maybe one or two months of pay at the most.
But four?
Now that was just too much for them to ask for.
Now did they actually ask for that much?
No but Morgan wanted to sweep his mess under the rug.
And what better way to do that than just to throw the promise of money at people.
Leaning back in his chair Morgan faced the glass walls of his office.
An open floor plan for the office his contractor had said.
Made the whole place feel more spacious, he said.
But now looking out at all the rush of people around him.
So far yet so near.
How he had alway seen himself so close to humanity yet so drawn back from it, due to his own biology.
It made Morgan think back to why he even built his company from the ground up in the first place.
It had been the war, one of the World's first big one's with nuclear weapons and radioactive poisoning, that had been his primary motivator.
Or its effects anyways.
He could remember being a scared and frightened child with no powers.
The sun having not yet warmed his cell's.
Running and running.
Away for those that feared him.
The bombs going of around his feet.
The urge to flee and hide
Morgan couldn't have been more than twelve himself at the time.
'No mother.'
'No father.'
'No family.'
'No friends.'
'No-one.'
'And nothing.'
Except the day that he had met his grandfather.
In the sands red depths of his desert fortress.
When he was sixteen.
Naive and still hoping for the prospect of good grace between himself and humanity.
He had truly not even known what he was.
Just the fact that he was fundamentally different from who he had been surrounded by his entire life.
Although his grandfather was -
Long dead.
He was still there for him at last.
But to truly have his grandfather by his side as he had hoped Clark would have been.
All he had to do was restore his lost planet.
Krypton.
And his grandfather would be able to be there for him in more than a 2-D hologram like state.
Morgan would be able to interact with him in a way he wouldn't have been able to before.
'Maybe ... he could even hug him.'
'If only he'd allowed it.'
Morgan wasn't even able to talk to the man apart from bi-monthly meetings that they held on the first of every second month.
A taping on the glass door awoke Morgan from his musing.
Looking up from his desk a man with an assholeish Bluetooth earpiece was standing at his door frantically waving him over.
Morgan got up and flashed a smile.
'God ... it's going to be a bad day'
And Morgan didn't even have his trusted twin dogs by his side.
His publicist told him it made him look intimidating and controlled.
Something he didn't need in front of his employees right now.
Morgan wanted to appear just as frazzled as they were.
To cover that he had no part in the mine's closure.
~~~
JONATHAN KENT
&
SARAH CUSHING
HIGHSCHOOL
~~~
It was lunch.
Sarah walked through the quickly dispersing hallways of SmallVille high.
She spotted a fimmiler head of golden hair by the lockers to her left.
Sarah pulling up the straps of her backpack rushed over, yelling a little on her way.
"Hey Jonathan -"
Her sentence was interrupted by a way to jolly Jonathan finishing her sentence for her with an outstretched hand, waving.
"- feeling better?"
Jonathan took his eyes off of her as he went and rooted though his locker once more.
Sarah's face took on a questioning look.
"I think I should be the one to say that"
Jonathan ignored her statement.
Sarah sighed and spoke up louder.
Not letting the noise from the students passing by interrupted her words.
"Ya but with the way you ..."
Jonathan knowing Sarah wasn't one to let things go easily filled in the gaps of what had happened.
"Ran?"
Jonathan thought quickly back on Finley and Edge.
'God ... that revelation was harsh but thankfully better than the thought of my ... What? Boyfriend, no I haven't asked ... Was going to ask? ... My something being an actual murderer now he's just some predator like a lion or shark ... Ya let's go with that'
"Ya"
Jonathan grabbed the binder that he was looking for in his locker and shut it with a metallic bang.
Flicking through it quickly to see the dog ears pages bookmaking desires and illnesses that could have symptoms of feeling the urge to eat people to gain a sense of fulfillment.
Jonathan had went to the library to print his research off before school had started.
"Don't worry about it I have always been a little squeamish when it can to blood and stuff"
Sarah shook her head.
"I should have trigger warning the hole conversation or something"
The hallway by now was empty and activity was the only noise that could be heard throughout the school's cafeteria, along with the occasional teacher pet that hung around after the bell had been sounded.
"It's fine"
Jonathan insisted.
Though in reality Jonathan was racking his brain trying to get 'that look' that his father had shot the night prior, out of his head.
Like he couldn't have helped.
Like he had no idea what was happening to Jordan.
Like he and, his dad were so distant in biology that they might well be foreign to one another.
Thankfully Sarah decided to drop the subject.
"What about Lucy?"
Jonathan assumed Sarah was talking about his ex, Jonathan had only mentioned her a couple of time before so it had made sense that Sarah.
Didn't remember her name.
Jonathan had almost forgotten all about his past girlfriend, now that he thought about it.
It didn't hurt at all when she decided to break up with him.
"My ex?"
Sarah nodded.
"Not her name"
Sarah grimaced.
There's nothing more cringe than thinking you're so sure about something when you're wrong.
"But nice try. What about her?"
'In fact I think I felt kind of relieved when she broke up with me ... I think I already knew that there was something else I needed find, to be apart of my life'
'What something? ... I don't think I've fully grasped it yet.'
But Jonathan knew it smelled like copper and old books.
"Oh ... nothing"
She had hoped that Jonathan would give her more information on the Jordans 'off behaviour' from the hospital.
But she guessed now she would just have to wait for Jonathan to open up on his own.
'God I was so ready to give the 'be who you are speech' but he's deflecting ... How can I change the subject?'
"Are you going on the trip with Jordan?"
"Ya why wouldn't I be?" Jonathan said, looking at Sarah expectantly.
Jonathan was tired of people doubting his abilities.
He knew he could play.
He'd done so a thousand times.
But it didn't make him feel like he could play at times.
When no one would at least pretend that they thought he could play.
Hadn't he proved himself enough.
He had made the most plays and home runs before he had moved to SmallVille.
It was like this place was bad luck when it came to him on the field.
"Oh no reason I just wanted to ask"
Truthfully the only reason that Sarah had thought of the football trip in the first place was, because of the fact that Jordan had been so excited about it, and then his anxiety over whether or not Jonathan would be picked to go.
Sarah hadn't really seen him play before, even when waiting for Jordan practice to be over so they could go home together after school.
Jonathan would just be on the bench.
Twiddling his thumbs.
Had he even showed up to the last practice?
"You on the cheer squad right? Your coming"
Jonathan walked leading Sarah out of the main school doors.
"No, I dropped out. But they insisted on keeping me as reserve"
Sarah smiles sarcastically following Jonathan.
"So?"
Jonathan's voice cracked slightly, the tone turning upward.
"Voice crack? Oh I'm not coming"
Sarah waved her hands about in a negative motion.
Jonathan just looked down, embarrassed slightly.
"It be fun"
Turning towards Sarah so they were facing a couple of feet apart.
"No it wouldn't trust me I've been to many of those things and it's not fun to lose and have to lick your wounds back a hotel room rather than in your own bed"
"What makes you think we're going to lose?"
"Last time the school played in Metropolis we lost twenty to nine" Sarah stressed.
Then went on to say.
"So I'd say thats that's a pretty good indicator of SmallVille and the talent it has to offer"
Jonathan thought back to the last time he had been on the opposing side of a football game against a group of nobody football players from a remote town.
That's why he had recognised a few faces of the team.
He'd played them before.
And man did he beat them.
It hadn't been too easy though.
Which was great now that he was on the team.
"Well last time SmallVille lost against Metropolis I was on the team"
"So I guess you're going to have to carry us to playoffs"
Sarah stopped walking.
Then thought.
'Weren't the Jonathan past team, really competitive'
And went on to say.
"I mean it must be hard having to play against your old team"
Jonathan shook her words off his shoulder.
"You have no idea"
"Your right I don't I've lived here all my life"
"Sarah ... Jonathan"
They both turned to look towards the football field, their names calling their attention.
Jordan was held up by his legs on the shoulders of two other football team's members.
Whose names were irrelevant.
Sarah without taking her eyes of the sight in front of her said.
"That's my boyfriend"
Jonathan's voice could be heard at the same time as Sarah's.
"That's thats my brother"
As Sarah rushed over to the pitch, with Jonathan walking behind her at a lethargic pace.
Aware of the fact that Jordan would be fine and probably wouldn't break his neck if he fell from that height.
'I guess Jordan's feeling better'
Unlike Sarah who was completely unaware of her boyfriend's superhuman true nature.
~~~
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