Chapter 3: Not In Kansas Anymore
The twenty hour drive from Kansas to Metropolis would be very tedious for most people. But for Clark it felt like he was traveling again. Except this time he had his own ride and a set destination.
He could have flown and arrived in a second but he'd still have to go through security clearance just to enter the city. So in order to not look suspicious he decided to just drive.
The hard part was finding an affordable truck that could take him from point A to B. There were a couple break downs along the way but nothing he couldn't fix.
Sleep wasn't a big deal for him and losing some didn't really affect him. It was one of the pluses of traveling for him. However an almost full day drive was becoming very tedious.
Stopping for a refill of gas helped stretch his legs along with grabbing some sugar filled snacks. But once he was done with both it was back on the road.
He put on a playlist of his favorite songs both to sing along too and help his hearing problems. That's what he did for most of the drive, that and think.
He thought about his parents and the couple of months he stayed at home helping around the farm. He even thought about Krypto who Sadly had to stay behind. He thought about his life growing up and never expecting how he would end up where he is now.
That last thought was still strange to him. He would have never thought that he was going to live in a big city. Especially Metropolis, The City of Tomorrow or at least it was.
Metropolis was supposed to be the best city in the country. It was supposed to be the city of progress and opportunities when it was founded in the 17th century.
Throughout the eighteenth century the city established itself for many things like housing, construction and learning media.
The Daily Planet quickly became the most popular source for news and late into the same century the first bank was built.
It wasn't until the mid 19th century that the city was expanded when the Luthor's bought most of the land from the natives. With their wealth the city became bigger with more opportunities for work.
Eventually it grew to be more as technology was advancing and it started when a giant spinning golden globe was put on top of the Daily Planet.
With the population growing, transportation was becoming necessary. Some of the first subways were built, some of which would go through tunnels that were built around certain buildings.
Later that century in the 1880s the first automobile was introduced. The Luthor's, seeing quick profits from the invention, decided to make one of their own. With that The Luthor's founded Luthorcorp and built their own automobile. There's was faster and more durable at a cheaper cost too.
Luthorcorp quickly became one of the biggest companies for transportation and cutting-edge technology. Rival companies like Queen industries and the Wayne enterprise tried to grow revenue and almost came close when Alexander Luthor Sr. was running the company.
Metropolis was quickly becoming the most technologically advanced city in the world with Luthor's help in weaponry, transportation, medical science along with everyday living.
It really seemed to be the city of tomorrow. Sadly things seemed to fall apart just as fast as it seemed to get better. While everything was becoming bigger so was crime.
During the mid to late 20th century the crime rate went up. Burglaries muder drugs and even trafficking hit a all time high. It got too much for police to handle and eventually got to the point where one one wanted to join the force out of fear.
Judges and lawyers seemed to help criminals and a lot of the good ones who wouldn't seemed to die of natural causes or suicides. When criminals were arrested they would most likely be released the next day or next month.
It quickly spread like a plague in not only Metropolis but the rest of the country. Central city, Star city even Gotham crime was at an all time rise and not only was it just the cities too every state.
Growing up Clark would always hear the same thing on the news. It was always mugging and muder with hardly any justice.
To help with the country recommended safety protections like a buddy system especially when going out at night. The right to bear arms became a necessity.
Even the police were equipped with better gear. Their regular uniforms were replaced with body armor and pistols replaced with rifles.
Metropolis, the city filled with so much promise, became nothing more than a shadow of its former self. Even the globe on top of the Daily Planet hasn't spun in seventy years as if a metaphor to the city's current state.
But even with everything going on Clark was still very optimistic about living there. For the first time he truly felt excited for the future and hopefully it would be a good one.
As he drove he began to get closer to a sign that read "Welcome to Metropolis The City Of Tomorrow!"
As soon as he passed the sign he could see the city in the distance. Skyscrapers stood high in the sky looking over the coast. The whole city looked like how people from the fifties imagined a city of the future would look like just with no flying cars.
The whole city, even the sky looked oversaturated but still had a natural looking color too. It was a very beautiful city on the outside only to be ugly on the inside.
Clark came to a stop booth behind the gate where armed guards stood. A man shorter than he expected opened a small window and stuck his bald head out.
"What can I do for you?" He asked in a raspy tone.
"My name's Clark Kent and I'm moving here" Clark answered.
"Okay do you have your Metropolis Residencial ID along with your driver's license."
Clark handed him both while the man scanned both cards. It took only a few seconds for clearance.
"Okay" the man said, handing Clark back his belongings. "Just park over there and an officer will be with you shortly."
Clark let the fence rise before driving forward and stopping where he was told to wait.
Almost immediately a female officer with dark skin and a very attractive face waved her hand to follow. Once he stepped out of his vehicle she looked at him with blushing cheeks and a slight smile.
"Follow me please Mr. Kent" she told nicely but firmly too.
He did as she asked, going into a small room with a giant mirror. Clark looked at the mirror focusing his eyes until he could see behind the mirror. Thankfully no one was behind there so he wasn't being interrogated in a bad way.
"Mr. Kent!" Clark winced when he heard the loud voice of the officer call him causing his ears to hurt.
She seemed to notice his discomfort simply asking. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I just have sensitive hearing" he told her.
Clark looked at her name tag and it read L. Smith. They both sat down at a little square table across from one another.
"Before we begin I'm gonna need you to empty your pockets one at a time." She told him gently.
Clark did as she asked, pulling out his wallet along with his phone that his parents got him a few weeks ago.
"Do you have any firearms in your vehicle?"
"No I do not," Clark answered.
"Alright" she said looking at the tablet she was holding. "Let's begin, please state your full name," officer Smith told him.
"Clark Joseph Kent."
"What is your date of birth?"
"February 29th, 1995."
She looked back at her paper with slight disappointment when he answered as she realized his age.
"Your height and weight?"
"Six feet and two twenty one pounds.
Officer Smith looked at him smugly but Clark knew when it ment.
"It's mostly muscle," he explained.
She looked up and down at him while Clark just smiled shyly.
"I can see that," she told him.
She continued down the list of questions such as where he's staying and his job occupation eventually getting to the medical section.
"You mentioned you have hearing problems. Will that affect you negatively in any way?" She asked
Clark paused for a moment to think of the right thing to say.
"No it's nothing to major just comes and goes" he told her hoping she'd move on.
Offer Smith wrote something down then looked back up at him.
"Any other medical conditions?" She asked.
"No, I'm healthy as a horse."
"Okay" she replied. "Now I just need to make sure the facial description fits.
Smith went back to her pad looking at his face from his black hair to chiseled jawline. Eventually she stopped when she looked at his eyes.
"You eyes are really blue" she told him almost like she was in a trance. She quickly regained her posture going back to what she was doing before
"Alright" she said standing up. "Now all I need are your fingerprints. Then you just wait here until the mandatory search of your vehicle is being done".
Clark did what he was told, letting the officer take his prints a little hesitantly. He didn't realize how tight the security was.
Once he was done the officer left the room leaving Clark alone to his thoughts. He knew he didn't have a say while his truck was being searched. He fully understood it was for safety but still wouldn't be nice to have a choice.
It didn't take long, maybe a few minutes for the officer to come back confirming everything was good to go.
"Don't let the city eat you alive" she told him as he was beginning to leave. "And it might be a good idea to get some protection too."
"Thanks I keep that in mind" Clark said, getting in the truck and starting the engine.
Driving on the highway was an experience to say the least. It really was a highway which means it was high above the ground. It was important to avoid traffic to get to the other side of the city but Clark would be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit nervous.
He wasn't scared of heights but that was because whenever he was up in the air he had control. However the view was really nice. He could see what looked like an endless row of skyscrapers along with a great view of the ocean.
It wasn't until he got lower to the ground when the enjoyment was beginning to disappear. The east side was where Clark's apartment was which happened to be on the edge of the city where the giant waterfall was at the end of the city that went out into the ocean.
It wasn't the safest part of the city but at the same time it wasn't the worst either. But it was starting to look like a dump.
Trash was littered on the ground and graffiti was spread on buildings. Some homeless where there on the sidewalks while others were tripping high on drugs.
He could tell by the way they were acting and the horrible smell. Even from his truck he could smell them. One of the downsides of his powers were his enhanced senses and really good smelling happened to be one of them.
He could smell their bodies starting to die with the smell of rotting flesh that surrounded them . The street even smelled bad and he could even feel the germs touch his skin making him feel dirty.
Clark just looked around sad with remorse as everything seemed bad to him. Lower parts of the buildings had bars on their windows to prevent burglaries. Cameras were on the side of buildings that looked old and dingy
That was just this section he hoped other parts of the city weren't like this but his first expressions weren't the best.
Clark stopped at his new apartment building parking on the side of the road. The building itself definitely needed remodeling. It stood tall around three stories and started to show its age.
Clark hopped out and began walking to the front door till something caught his ears.
"JACKSON STOP NOW!"
Clark turned his head towards the noise seeing a kid around eight or nine heading across the street not noticing a van driving through the green light.
The van got closer to him as he began to cross. Some people began to notice while a couple ran to stop him but it was too late.
The vehicle got closer and closer now only a few inches from the child. The woman who yelled for the boy to stop began to run faster but she was too far away as were some other people who began to leap towards the kid.
None were close enough to do anything as the van got closer as the boy froze when he noticed the van a touch from him.
Fortunately the van stopped along with everything else. Time was completely frozen with nothing moving. Not even flickering lights turned on and off while falling water droplets completely stopped as everything was completely frozen.
Everything except Clark who began to run across the street moving as if he would normally. He got closer wrapping one arm around the kid's torso and his other to keep the boy's neck as to not give him whiplash.
He placed him gently on the sidewalk before standing up and running back to his truck. He hoped he'd moved fast enough so security cameras around didn't catch him.
When he got back to his truck he got back in the same position he was in before all the excitement happened. Finally feeling confident that everything was alright he stopped moving and relaxed his muscles.
Time began moving normally as the van passed the spot where the kid stood before skidding to a stop. The driver got out quickly looking panicked.
All while the kid laid there with a shocked look in his face. His mom picked him up and took him into a big embrace.
"When I tell you to stop, you stop" she told him with tearful eyes.
Clark smiled as he looked at the family and he felt very delighted helping them. He looked away and walked into the brick colored building and stopped at the counter.
An overweight man stood behind it with a comb over his head.
"Yes," he said to Clark with a deep voice.
"I'm Clark Kent…" Clark said, caught off guard by the man's voice. "Umm…you have an apartment for me"
"Can I see some valid ID along with your Metropolis Residencial card?"
Clark handed him both items to which the man scanned at his computer.
Man they really like their security. Clark thought to himself waiting for his second check up.
The large man turned around with both of Clark's ID cards on one hand and a set of keys in the other.
"Here you go room Apartments 3D" he said, handing the items to Clark.
Clark took them, thanking the man who went by the name skimpy. Clark unloaded the boxes from the truck onto the cramped elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.
At his stop he quickly moved the boxes out the elevator in front of the door with 3D on it. He turned the key into the nob, unlocking it and opening the door to his single room apartment.
To his surprise it was bigger in person. It was all one space except for the bathroom it worked. It had a small kitchen with an oven, stove and microwave all made by Luthorcorp except the small round table.
The bed was in the corner of the room by the window next to a small closet. In the center of the room was a brown couch that faced an empty wall.
But the best part was the view from the window. Clark could see the ocean along with the sky; he even had a view of Gotham across the bay.
All this for the low price of fifty bucks a month it truly was too good to be true. He took a moment to take in the sight and let the fact that he made it sink in.
He made it to Metropolis and got his own place. He was feeling both excited, joyful but also scared. Because if today proved anything he wasn't in Kansas Anymore.
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