Chapter 18 – No Superman Yet? No Problem
It’s been about three weeks since Matthias started living in Metropolis to study. He had created several plans to continue his personal mission in Metropolis, from finding Superman, to observing Lex Luthor and his mega corporation.
His first mission was to find Superman; he starts by looking for Clark Kent, who’s actually an alumnus of Metropolis University, which made it easier for Matthias to continue tracking him, as he now knows he’s already been working in his canon workplace: The Daily Planet.
Clark Kent works at the Daily Planet, a famous and respected American newspaper located in the hearts of Metropolis. The Daily Planet building's distinguishing feature is the enormous globe that sits on top of the building.
It turns out that it’s only been two months since Clark Kent works at the Daily Planet as a newbie reporter hired by someone named Perry White, and works with Jimmy Olsen, who is the photographer, and Lois Lane, who is Clark Kent’s senior as a reporter and also a journalist.
Now that Matthias found Clark Kent, his next step is to track his activity as the ‘Superman’.
But, there’s currently one problem right now...
“There’s no Superman...”
Though Clark Kent is here, somehow ‘Superman’ hasn’t been born yet, or rather, Superman has not yet debuted to the world.
“I don’t know the beginning of Superman’s first appearance, and I don’t know what event will eventually make him known to the world as ‘Superman’.”
But Matthias was not without a clue; Superman, or rather a ‘soon-to-be’, has actually been silently protecting the people of Metropolis.
Matthias has been using his boosted intellect to scour the surroundings of Metropolis by hacking local news site, local television, local newspapers, and so on.
The result? He found clues of Superman’s activity.
‘February 9th, 20**
Large fire burns house, savior in a cape rescued trapped family.’
‘March 12th, 20**
Market District kidnapping thwarted by a red-scarfed man.’
‘June 25th, 20**
Major criminal activities collapsing, new vigilante born in Metropolis?’
‘June 26th, 20**
Mystery protector of Metropolis, who is it?’
---- And so on and so on...
Newspapers containing information related to his search of Superman were compiled and researched; most of these news are reported under Lois Lane, and the world has yet to notice Superman’s existence.
Matthias had hoped that Superman had already debuted, but since he hasn’t yet, Matthias needs to realign his plans.
“As long as I can keep track of Clark Kent, his crime fighting alter-ego as Superman will eventually reveal himself to the world. For now, let’s recon the LexCorp and Luthor himself.”
No time to waste anymore, Matthias began his preparations to infiltrate LexCorp. This time, he has the perfect opportunity.
~
“Hey Matthias, you ever tried these new dishes they have on the menu?” Robert, Matthias’ new friend, asked him while they were walking around the campus.
“The egg salad one? No...” Matthias replied in an uninterested way, which piqued Robert’s interest.
“... Hey, something wrong? You seem distracted.”
“Nah, it’s nothing you should worry about. I’m just thinking of something.”
“Ooooh, don’t tell me... you missed Annie, rite?” Robert said with his usual smug face.
“We always meet every day, why would I miss her?” Matthias’ said with a face straighter than a newly bought ruler.
“Tsk! You’re no fun to tease...” Said Robert.
While the two of them were joking around, Annie arrived and joined the group.
“Hey boys, what did I miss?” Asked Annie.
“Oh, nothing much, we were talking about how Matthias missed you” Robert said with a wink.
“Don’t listen to her, Annie, he’s just jealous of how handsome I am.”
“And here I thought I’m the playboy...”
Annie just giggled as she listened to her two new friends.
The trio walked towards the university cafe for lunch and chatted on.
“Hey, have you heard that NASA and LexCorp was about to launch their first commercial spaceflight project?” Robert started a topic as they eat.
“Yeah, some local news have been reporting this for some time now.” Matthias continues.
“Ah, I heard they also let someone from the Daily Planet to enter the rocket ship and report the situation inside.” Annie follows up with excitement.
The ‘someone from Daily Planet’ Annie talked about was none other than Lois Lane. Matthias already knows this piece of news thanks to his personal information-network.
“I believe the launch will happen the day after tomorrow. I can’t wait to watch the launch live!” Robert excitedly stated.
“I’m excited to see that too!” Annie was the same.
“Yeah, me too.” And so was Matthias, except for a different reason altogether.
‘I’m excited for the launch so that I can infiltrate LexCorp and spy on Luthor’s activity...’
...
Inside Matthias' safehouse; Matthias has been using his boosted intelligence and crafting skills to create numerous listening bugs that connects to his personal computer.
The listening bugs he created where the shape of a circle, and the size were as small as the tip of his index finger; about the size of a small ant.
Not only the bugs, Matthias has also been upgrading his tools and gears.
His mask has been upgraded:
- The inner frames were corrected to match perfectly with his face to protect from collisions to the head, and it's a lot tougher to break than it was previously; normal bullets will never penetrate the mask.
- The eyes were now given 'Photolenses', which are reinforced eye guards that protects from dazzling light bursts. They also allow him to see into the infrared and ultraviolet ranges, as well as enabling vision in low-light conditions.
- Additionally, there's also a built in range-finder and targeter1similar to the Arkham Series 'Detective Mode' which will help filter out certain visions to search for particular items.
His outfits are next:
- The Coat were given several additional plating at certain places to increase protection, especially from firearm attacks.
- The Kevlar suit is now a full body suit, now both the torso and the waist down are protected. The joints were now upgraded so that it won't decrease movement when in a fight.
- The trousers has no upgrade since the suit already protects the crotch, legs, and feet.
Lastly, his gears:
- His grappling tool was given an upgrade on it's pulling mechanics; now it pulls faster, and shoots much farther, making building to building escape quicker.
- The utility belt, new crafted gear, it is designed to store small black smoke grenades and flash bangs, as well as several multi-tools.
- The bokken shaped sword, now made collapsible; the "blade" part can be shortened for easy concealment.
"I'm not looking for a fight, but it won't hurt being fully prepared."
The armors and weapons weren't necessary for his infiltration to LexCorp, all Matthias need was to stealthily install the listening bugs and hack their surveillance cams, but if a fight were to happen, he's well prepared to go all out.
"If Lex Luthor is as evil as he is in the usual comic depiction, I will have no choice but to stop him from making more ruckus, but if maybe he's just misguided or perhaps more logical, maybe I can do something to convince him to join the Wayne Enterprises. His intellect is something I need should a planet size threat appear on Earth.
He's been working tirelessly at night, creating and planning for his infiltration mission into LexCorp.
Now it's waiting time for the launch of the commercial spaceflight project, and Matthias can resume.
LexCorp will have a ghost invading within...