Issue 7: "Justice"

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Adventures of Superman
Issue 7: "The Never-Ending Battle, Pt 2: Justice"
Written by DrDread
Cover by Roy Flinchum
Edited by David Charlton

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Part One: Restrained

It wasn’t too often when Perry White would address Superman directly. In fact, it was a very rare occurrence. Even in trouble, Perry won’t call for help. It has made it tough in the past to rescue Perry when he’s in danger, but that’s the type of man Perry White is. Therefore, it was a shock when Perry White asked, no, directed Superman to speak to this hotshot Nevada lawyer. Clark Kent can’t say no to Perry, Superman can’t say no to Perry; Heck, Lois Lane can’t say no to Perry.

Superman entered the Daily Planet conference room. He’d been here often as Clark Kent, but this was the first time being in the room as Superman. He had to make conscious effort not to fall into Clark Kent’s physical routine, lest anyone got suspicious. Across the room stood a stocky blond haired man, with thick, blond eyebrows.

“My name is Adrian Chase, and I’d like to take your case, Superman.” The blond haired man had presence, there was no denial there. He spoke with passion and conviction

“I was planning on defending myself, Mr. Chase. I was surprised when Perry White contacted me and strongly suggested I hear you out.”

“Yeah, Perry’s a great guy” chimed Chase. “During my studies in law at Metropolis University, I gave him an exclusive on how the Metropolis Bar Association was tied to organized crime. With the media attention that Perry created, a criminal investigation was quickly enacted.” Chase fiddled with his tie, still a strong and confident tone in his voice. “I believe the media, when used correctly, can be a great asset in fighting crime. I think you believe that too, considering the friend you have at the Planet.”

“The Planet has good people.” Superman replied. “Don’t misunderstand my appreciation for your willingness to help me out in this case, Mr. Chase, but aren’t you a prosecutor?”

“I am, but I was originally studying to be a defense counselor. After helping Perry with the bar exam scandal, and moving to another city, I decided to pursue prosecution. I’m not a two-bit charlatan trying to ride your coattails Superman. My reputation isn’t at stake, but I do have a bulletproof defense writt-”

Chase grimaced as he reached over to grab some papers he had left on the table. It was the wound he had suffered from the Royal Flush Gang’s attack. Chase was mostly healed from Jack’s laser wound, but the shoulder was still tender, and he had inadvertently hyper extended the injury again.

Superman gave Chase a concerned look.

“Just a little injury from my nighttime activities. Nothing serious” Chase replied to Superman unspoken question.

“Ah. What sport do you play?” Superman asked both politely and earnestly.

Chase returned a gaze that was like cold, sharp steel; it would cut through skin, muscle, bone and sinew. Superman couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it reminded him a lot of Bruce.

“Squash.”

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Shortly after, the two men arrived together for the pre-trail hearing. The hearing was held in a small conference room, with only Superman, Adrian Chase, the prosecutor, the judge and one bailiff present. The prosecutor was a well known metropolis hotshot named Alan Welles. The presiding judge was Maria Lupin, who had served justice within Metropolis for over three decades. The bailiff had an uncanny resemblance to all those actors who play bit parts in movies; they’re there, but you never really notice them.

‘Let’s begin this hearing, gentlemen,” announced the judge. She shuffled the papers on her desk, trying to find the pertinent information. “The prosecution is willing to let Superman go on his own recognizance, as long as he is willing to observe the conditions of a restraining order. Does your client agree to these terms, Mr. Chase?”

Chase stood up to address the judge. “We’ve reviewed the conditions in regards to staying away from Lexcorp property and employees. My client agrees to these terms.”

“Very well,” The judge replied. “In regards to the jury selection…” The judge continued as she shuffled the papers on her desk again, searching for another page.

‘Your honor,” Chase began as he once again stood. “I’d like to introduce a motion.”

The judge stopped shuffling the pages and gave a look of ire to the Las Vegas lawyer. “And what motion would that be, Mr. Chase?”

“Considering the charges are in respect to the destruction of a chemical plant in Zuruquai, I fail to recognize the jurisdiction of the United States law here. Chemo Inc is not even considered a US company anymore.”

It was the Metropolis prosecutor’s turn to stand up. “Your honor, I understand Mr. Chase only took this case this morning and may have not been fully briefed. The building was owned by Lexcorp, and rented by Chemo Inc. The land on which the building sat, was bought by Lexcorp and donated to the US government, as thus any activities on that land falls under US jurisdiction.”

The judge nodded. “Thank you Mr. Welles.” She turned to Adrian Chase. “Is there anything else Mr. Chase?”
“In fact, there is.” Chase replied with a humorless smile.

Welles stood and once again addresses the courtroom. “Your honor, I know what the defense is about to introduce, but I need to review any new evidence.”

The judge took a moment. “Very well. We’ll have a four hour recess.”

As the court adjourned for recess, Alan Welles furtively approached Adrian Chase. “Adrian, hold a minute.” The prosecutor requested in a hushed tone. “Listen, I shouldn’t be saying this, but I don’t think you should follow this defense strategy. You risk opening a can of worms and ruining your reputation.”

Adrian’s facial features seemed to soften. “Alan, I had always appreciated your input and opinion, but I can’t take it this time. Besides, we both know the charges are just trumped up from someone cashing in a political favor. This defense is the only way to stop continuous litigation against Superman.”

“Well, you’ve proven me wrong before at the Bar exam,” Admitted Welles “I hope for your sake you can do it again.”

Chase nodded in an appreciative manner.

Alan Welles voice changed in tone and reference. “I was devastated when I heard what happened to Ana, and I’m truly sorry for not contacting you.” Alan Welles confided, his face mirroring the deep regret of his words.

Chase nodded again, trying to hide the eternal pain that haunts him. He wasn’t successful.

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A few minutes later, Chase and Superman found themselves back in the conference room of the Daily Planet. They had been discussing strategy, when Superman gave a sudden grimace.

“What’s wrong” Asked Chase.

Superman stood up and looked around. “One second, Adrian. Jimmy Olsen’s signal watch is ringing. He might be in trouble.” Chase instantly realized Superman wasn’t looking at the walls, he was looking beyond the walls. “I see him. Jimmy and Lois Lane are tied up in an old warehouse by the port. There are two armed men guarding them.”

“This could be a trap to force you to break the restraining order.” Adrian Chase interjected.

“It is a trap.” Superman confirmed with a tense voice. “Luthor owns every building in that part of the docks.”

“You can’t go in there to rescue your friends, Superman. I might be able to throw out the charge of destruction of property, but I can’t help if you break a restraining order. In fact, if you break the restraining order, it will hurt our case. Can the police deal with it?”

“It’s too risky.” Superman answered firmly. “The thugs are well barricaded, and have some heavy weapons. The situation could turn explosive.”

Adrian Chase nodded. “Let me help. I can recruit a contact that could help diffuse this situation.”

Superman shook his head. “Don’t bother. I’ve already recruited someone to help with this. I need you to focus on my defense. I’ll be back before the recess is over.”

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Part Two: Prisoner

Clark Kent’s attempt to climb the chain link fence looked half-hazard and clumsy. He had managed to rip both his pants and jacket on the barb wire. He landed loudly of the pavement, cloddishly creeping towards the old warehouse. When he reached the outside wall, he planted himself against the wall. He took a quick look around, and followed the wall towards the small side door. He knelt at the door handle and fished out some simple tools from his pocket. Clark soon learned that jimmying a lock was much harder than what they show on television; those darned tumblers were, well, tumbling back into place. Clark was starting to feel frustrated; he couldn’t stay here all night trying to pick a lock. Just then, a lead pipe knocked the man from Smallville to the ground.

Clark made those noises you expect someone to make when they come to. He was tied securely to a chair by a yellow rope, between Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. Lois was tied and gagged; looking thoroughly enraged, but unharmed. It was a large room within the decrepit warehouse. There was one guard, nonchalantly noticing Clark’s awakening. He was a husky blond haired man, sporting a blue t-shirt.”

“Well, well. If it ain’t Mister Kent.” The thug said as he chuckled. “We was looking for you, but we heard you was on vacation. Guess you weren’t too far away.”

“Uh, yeah. Not so far away to try and help my friends.” Clark replied, in a slightly nervous quake in his voice. His eyes were quickly scanning the vacant room. “Who exactly is ‘us’?”

“Me and Karl. My name is Ivan. Remember our names, ‘cuz we’re about to get real famous.” Ivan replied in a cocky fashion.

“Oh? And why would that be?” Clark asked with great interest, while his eyes locked onto an interesting feature on the ceiling.

Jimmy Interjected: “They think they can kill Superman. You guys are delirious if you think just two guys can kill Superman.” The blond haired thug gave the Planet’s boy photographer a cold sneer, while cracking his knuckles.

Lois gave a muffled noise, adding support to Jimmy’s opinion.

“Uh, ah, Jimmy might have a point.” Clark spoke with an even more nervous tone. “Those lead shooters aren’t going to hurt Superman.”

Ivan turned to look to Clark, while putting one hand on the pistol tucked in his beltline. “Nah, these little guys are for you three. Or the cops, in case they show up.” Ivan moved his hand from the gun into his pocket, and pulled out a green stone. “This is for Superman. Yup. This is the real thing. Kriptonine! We got the whole place littered with these little guys!”

It took Clark an almost superhuman effort not to laugh. If it was indeed kryptonite, Clark would’ve felt it outside the warehouse. These guys were being setup, and they were completely oblivious. The clueless thug was actually holding an innocent piece of polished green jade. Ivan nodded to himself in an utterly arrogant fashion, as he safely placed the “kryptonine” back into his pocket.

Clark cleared this throat. “So, uh, I see you’ve, um, seen a lot of ‘action’.” The Daily Planet reporter said. He had noticed the broken nose, cauliflower ear and disjointed jaw line before setting his sight skyward. “Are you fulfilled doing this work?”

“Huh?” Ivan took a second to realize what Kent was referring to. “Oh yeah, I’ve seen it all. Some skank called the Huntress, in Vegas, knocked my jaw outta line. Batman gave me a light concussion, and now I got a busted lip thanks ta Miss Lane there.”

“Are you saying,” Jimmy asked with a perplexed look on his face “you collect superhuman injuries?”

Ivan looked somewhat surprised, as he scratched the back of his shaved head. “I hadn’t thought of it as a collection, but yeah I guess it is.”

“What the hell is this? The Buena Vista frigging social club?” Yelled Karl from the doorway. “Ivan, you were supposed to relieve me of guard duty. Supes should arrive any second now.”

“Aw, geeze, sorry Karl. Got wrapped up with these guys.”

“You always screw things up Ivan!” Karl admonished, as he walked within a foot of Ivan. “Don’t you remember? Superman can read minds. If you told them about our ‘secret weapon’, we’re scr… What the hell is Kent looking at?”

Ivan shrugged. “You know them writer types. He’s probably thinking of a good story to write.”

“Huh” Snorted Karl. He squinted looking carefully at Clark Kent’s face. “Looks like you might’ve hit Kent too hard. His eyes’ve turned bloodshot.”

Just then, a thunderous crash erupted as a large support beam fell from the ceiling, landing neatly on the two thugs, knocking them unconscious. It had taken some time for the low level heat vision (invisible to the naked eye), to warp and break the metal bolts securing it to the walls. Ivan might not have gained the fame he sought by killing Superman, but at least he has a dislocated shoulder to add to his ‘collection’; that is, if anyone believes Superman was actually involved in this ‘building malfunction’.

Clark Kent stood up as the ropes fell off him. He brushed himself off as he walked to Lois and untied her.

“Okay Smallville, how did you get out of the ropes?” Lois asked with confusion.

“These guys were obviously never boy scouts Lois. They never learned to tie a good knot.” Clark replied in a deadpan voice.

“Right,” said Lois “boy scout. So where’s Superman?”

“Superman couldn’t be here. I volunteered to try and help, but I kind of goofed up.” Clark said, in his most disarming fashion. “Those guys should’ve paid more attention as to why this rickety old building is condemned.”

“So we were saved by dumb luck?” Jimmy Olsen asked.

“I wouldn’t consider it dumb luck.” Clark replied, as he tightened his tie. “I’d say it was pretty good luck.”

“Nuts!” exclaimed Lois. “Superman’s hearing is about to restart in twenty minutes.” She walked to the far wall, to collect her purse.

“You and Jimmy go, I’ll wait for the cops to arrive.” Clark said as he was untying Jimmy.

“Alright, Clark.” Lois spoke with a little concern in her voice. “But if those guys begin to stir, I want you to fly.” She grabbed her cellphone out of her handbag, and speed dialed Metro Taxi.

“You can count on that Lois.”

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Part Three: Arguments

Chase wore his quiet intensity well. It had served him many times in dealing with criminals on the stand, but would it help with his defense?

“Doctor Faulkner, could you tell the court the discoveries that you and S.T.A.R. Labs have recently made regarding Superman’s DNA?”

Doctor Kitty Faulkner took a solid breath before speaking. “Well, Superman’s genetic material isn’t DNA. It actually has twelve strands, instead of a human’s two strands. It’s extremely complex.”

“The point being that it is decidedly not human though.” Chase clarified.

Alan Welles shook his head, and addressed the Judge. “Your honor, I fail to see the relevancy of Superman’s genes in this court. He might not be human, but he still knowingly broke the law.”

The judge nodded in agreement, turned to Chase and gave him his cue.

“Ah, now we’re getting into the crux of these proceedings.” Chase had a very confident tone and solid pacing in his argument. “Human laws were written for humans by humans. They were inspired by religious and moral beliefs we all shared and agreed on. Superman, by his own testimony, and backed by his genetic code, comes from a distant planet called Krypton. A planet with a host of different religious and moral beliefs. Superman comes from a completely alien tradition of ethics and morality. Superman owns no property, has no bank account or money trail, nor does he have any material possessions apart from what he carries with him now. This is a key point. The admission given by Superman earlier today at police headquarters, give an interesting insight to his motives. Superman, could you tell the court why you destroyed the Chemo building?”

Superman stood. Since this was a hearing, he didn’t have to go through the process of entering the booth. “The building had been a continuous source of harm and agony, both physical and emotional for too long. The accident caused the building to become a chemical cesspool of toxins which would’ve killed more people and destroyed local vegetations and animal life.”

Adrian quickly followed with another question. “So you felt compelled ethically to remove this danger.”

“Absolutely. No question.” Superman stated adamantly.

“Would Kryptonian law dictate that the danger be removed?”

As Superman was going to answer, Allan Welles quickly rose to his feet. “Your Honor, I object. Superman is hardly an expert in Kryptonian law.”

Adrian Chase answered in a rather nonchalant fashion. “True, Superman never went to a Kryptonian law school, but I would consider him the living expert in Kryptonian ethics.”

Adrian passed a look at Allan Welles, who returned a slight shrug and a small smile.

Adrian continued his offensive defense. “Superman may defend us and help our law enforcements agencies across the world, but we must realize that justice as he sees it is an absolute, unmitigated by the concerns of legality, but by what is most right. He isn’t human, and his perceptions and judgment calls come from a very different perspective. We try to judge a being who very well may have no understanding of personal property, or that he did wrong by saving innocent lives. Maybe Superman is the being who should be judging us instead, for putting the interests of a damaged building ahead of the lives and livelihood of a nation.”

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Epilogue

Adrian Chase and Superman walked out of the Metropolis courthouse together. Chase was the first to speak.

“It was an honor working with you Superman, but I have a flight to catch back to Las Vegas.” He extended his hand outwards.

Superman gave him a hearty handshake. “Thank you, Adrian. You were a great help.”

Chase gave Superman a curious look. “Superman, I’m dying to know something. Where did you go during the recess?”

Superman replied with an innocent look. “I tried my hand at ‘squash’.”

For the first time in a long while, a genuine smile crept over Adrian Chase’s face. “I can’t imagine anyone being able to keep up with you. If you’re ever in Vegas, give me a call. I have some friends who would very much like to meet you.”

“It’s a deal.” Superman answered as the two men waved goodbye.

Chase jumped in a cab, and Superman was about to defy gravity, when he heard a familiar voice calling behind him. Lois Lane was running as fast as those pumps would let her.

“Superman, can I ask you a few questions?”

Superman beamed, he always enjoyed his interviews with Lois. “For you Lois, always.”

Lois regained her professional composure grabbing a pen and pad. "Superman, why did Lex bother charging you in criminal court, when he could feasibly have won in civil court?"

"This was a message." Superman replied "Justice is one of the tenets I hold closest to my core being. Lex wanted to show me that he's willing to use those people and things I hold dearest against me."

"But you won, you beat Lex." Lois said, with a hint of joy in her voice.

"I don't think I beat Luthor today, Lois. The court of law no longer recognizes me as being human. If someone were able to kill me, it wouldn't be considered murder. Ultimately, this plays in favor of Luthor final scheme."

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To be concluded!

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