1936/Monday Monday (So good to me)

Monday Monday (So good to me)
Date of Scene:	02 June 2020
Location:	Bullpen - Daily Planet Building
Synopsis:	The best plans of mice and supermen often meet with an alien invasion.
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Lois Lane, Clark Kent

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
It was just your average day at the Daily Planet. This, of course, could be just about anything, from a boring political update to an alien invasion.

Today, fortunately, it's on the more boring side of the spectrum. Trouble Intern Terry O'Neil is walking down the bullpen towards lois, arms filled with reams of paper from the archives. One arm, the left one, is bandaged from - as he told Lois - because a metallic robot bit him in the sewers.

That checks out.

"Got those old articles you were looking for, Miss Lane. You were right, they haven't been digitized yet..."

With his Titans piece still in progress due to the need to get a certain Dark And Gloomy Titan to open up for the coup de resistance, he was currently busied up with helping with the digitization of some of the old archives that time had forgotten. It was as boring as it sounded. Especially since the OCR program they were using was terrible and had a tendency to create some very creative gibberish from the scanned headlines...

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois still has some questions about the whole sewer incident and robot bite. I mean it seriously does not surprise her in the least that one of her interns aspiring to be a cub reporter would have ended up bitten by a robot in the sewers, but it is interesting.

"Eventually we will catch up... through the tireless efforts of interns in the digital media department. Thankfully in the meantime Terry we have tireless interns in the bullpen like you to search the archives and help them out." yeah she sounds amused, sipping her coffee that an aspiring tireless intern got her earlier as she types on a laptop at her desk.

"Oh did they manage to get a better OCR program setup or is it still like a college hazing incident?"

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark has been out of the office all morning trying to get an interview with Senator Kelly, to no great success there. His name doesn't carry quite the same clout as Lois Lane and the Planet isn't the news paper rag it use to be since going digital. Nobody reads the news anymore, so the saying goes. People get their information from facebook articles rather than news paper stands...

Stepping in wearing a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, Clark has his Off the Rack jacket laid over his left arm which has a pair of coffees held in a biodegradable carrier. He too is headed towards Lois' desk, setting one of the two coffees down over the divide seperating Lois' desk from the others. "Terry, Lois." His is also set down so he as to hang his jacket on the corner of the divide. "No go with Senator Kelly's people. Couldn't even get through to his secretary to try and schedule a meeting. Might have to wait to the primary debates.." Which is definitely not going to sit well with Perry.

The thing is, Clark knows a lot more about Terry than he's letting on. He's not a hypocrite or anything, only thing seperating him from Superman is the glasses he's wearing, and he's been known to cover a Superman story or two. So Terry covering the Titans with a Terry being at Titans Towers in costume?

How big a leap of logic /is/ that?

"Oh, shoot.. Sorry Terry. Here take mine." Holding out the second cup to the young intern with a big grin. "How are you healing?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh nono it's okay!" Terry waves the offered cup with a smile, "I've had three cups already, if I have one more I might accidentally become airborne." This is not outside of the realm of possibility with Terry. He has been airborne before, just usually not under his own volition.

"I'm afraid so," he replies to Lois, setting the files down, "I want to know who programmed the spell-checker. There was this article about the Gotham commissioner that almost came across like a limerick," he smirks.

"Any chance you might be able to ambush Kelly? You could always pay off his chauffair and drive him around for a political version of carpool karaoke," he grins.

Lois Lane has posed:
Name and Clout

Lois does have more than Clark probably ever will, even if that is by Clark's own design realy. Well also a testament to Lois's skill.

She smiles up at Clark when he steps in with a fresh coffee, which she knows will be just to her liking. The smile is loving, even if the words have a playful jab "When did you start interning for me Smallville?"

Okay the jab is said fondly too but she can't resist the verbal sass.

Clark though brings things back around to Terry and his arm though now for a moment. She squints at the arm for a long moment "I still need the full story of the robot in the sewers O'Neil." but doesn't press to hard yet instead pivoting. "Well I think the secret service a current Senator and vice presidential candidate that says such inflamatory things may make it hard to kidnap him Terry. Also the criminal statutes being violated." it is said matter of factly.

"I could probably get his Campaign manager to commit to a Planet Interview Clark.... Luthor will be the pain in the ass in the end not Kelly."

Clark Kent has posed:
"While I appreciate your uh... enthusiasm..." Clark clears his throat, adjusting his glasses awkwardly at Terry's suggession, he is ultimately thankful that Lois steps in to shoot the idea down. "Yeah, we couldn't print anything that the Senator said under deress anyways. Not without risking legal action against ourselves AND the Planet." But he seems to appreciate, or at least expect, that Terry was mostly joking, right?

"Robots in the sewers?" Looking between Lois and Terry with a raised brow, "I'd heard there were alligators, but..." There's one of them Clark-jokes. A lot like Dad jokes, but his son doesn't appear for another few issues during the invasion, so we don't mention him yet.

Lois' loving grin is matched, her jab at him has his cheeks reddening, "Oh come on, Lois.. we've got to take care of the work horse around here, right? How else do we keep our jobs."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
It's usually Terry that brings the first coffee offering in the day- mostly because Raven has graciously allowed him to purchase her very exclusive, so hipster-she-hadn't-even-heard-of-it-before-you-hadn't-heard-of-it brand of coffee which was so dark, it made her soul seem light by comparison. But, unfortunately, a slight backlog in the orders meant that it would be a few days before the next bag was ready for pickup. Until then, they had to deal with whatever Intern Gary had decided to brew. Most of the time it was acceptable.

"There's not a lot to tell- April got wind of some underground activities going on- not underground shady, just literally underground. There's a group of mutants that get together and do skateboarding tricks down there, where they can be left alone in peace. And there, suddenly, Killer Croc appears out of the sewers... and then these robots come out and they start /netting/ some of the mutants and dragging them away. People fought back, I got in to try and pull a lizard guy from getting dragged away, and one of the robots decided my arm was what's for dinner tonight."

He shrugs, "You know, the usual stuff. I will /gladly/ take that over having to deal with Lex Loser, though." side-glance to Lois, "I don't think April ever did interview him after you sent her the warning. Probably for the best."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois points her tablet stylus right at Terry when he finishes his story. "Not much too it. Terry... your usual is ridiculous I'll have you know that. If I wasn't me it would probably be bordering right on the surreal or fantastical." she justs shakes her head for a long moment there.

"So back that truck up. Why didn't you write any of this up or did your cousin get the scoop. Also was Killer Croc working with the Robots or were they after the villain a well... was this in New York or Gotham... did the Lizard guy get away .. did they fight of the robots.. are people missing.. mutants or otherwise right now still?"

Yes this is what it is like to work for a reporter who values details.

Clark Kent has posed:
Clark saw that reaction from Lois coming. Heck fire, he almost warns Terry, but at some point the intern has to get the bore eyes and face the boars horns, so he stands comfortably back from the interaction sipping his coffee like Kermit the Frog. Definitely none of his business. Clark knows when to give details and when to not give /any/ details or /hints/ or /clues/ or suggest that there's any or all of those things anywhere at all.

Nope.

Fortress of Solitude until the dust settles.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, it was April's scoop, she got it all on video, I was just coming along to check out the place. Besides, in all the confusion very few facts could be ascertained, as everybody fled the scene as soon as the nets were cut. The robots centered on Killer Croc first and then others... but at the end of the day there was Killer Croc, free and /completely enraged/, so everybody collectively decided at once that they were not going to stick around to see what happened next."

Terry gestures, "I figured that getting my arm bitten was enough and that I'd pass on the full-body cast." He pauses, "Except it's Killer Croc, so I would have probably come back in a very small jar. Fortunately, nobody was captured that we could see, the mutants turned on the robots pretty efficiently. But, it was April's scoop, so I let her have it."

He glances at Clark, sipping his coffee. He is looking /right/ at Clark, and not a single iota of recognition dawns on him. "It's not kosher to snipe scoops in the O'Neil clan. She might tell Harley and Harl might send me another inappropriate gift to give to Gar." Nope, absolutely not even an inkling.

Lois Lane has posed:
"Well that is Mr. O'niel why I asked if it was your cousins scoop. I hadn't seen any headlines or alerts about Robots Attacking Mutants in the New York Sewers though so I figured it might have not been filed." she considers and sips her coffee. "Okay Grasshopper, here is a tip about not being scooped. You need to actually publish and file.... it ceases to be a scoop as soon as someone else comes out with Mutants and Robot wars in the sewers. April should know this."

"I wonder what Killer Croc is doing in the New York Sewers so far from Gotham.... I didn't think he ever left Gotham."

Clark Kent has posed:
"Well..." Clark's attention doesn't snap to Terry, but he does glance over in his direction at the mention of Gar. If he's going to just pile on the evidence, the reporter that is the Last Son of Krypton is definitely going to read between the lines, okay? "I should leave you to it. I still need to make a few calls and see about organizing a statment from Lexs campaign on Robert Kelly's entry into the race. I'm sure he'll have flattering things to say about Mr. Stark too." A few quick sips and his coffee is dropped into the trash.

"Lois, don't be too rough on the kid, hm? Remember when I-..." Remembering back to the absolute heck she gave him.. "-Actually, forget I said anything. Terry, you better learn to dodge bullets, because Lois has good aim with her barbs." Taking up his jacket to dangle over his shoulder by a curled finger.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry laughs, "Yeah, I learned that on my first week on the job." He had, after all, spent some time in recovery from a gunshot wound. "But I understand, Sensei- Ape did tell me I was coming along on conditions of it being her scoop. I want to be a man of my word!" he beams, "And I think enough time has passed since Superman's return that I can get that Titans article ready for this weekend. Nothing should happen to push it back."

OH, sweet summer child.

He glances at Clark, "Ungh, Luthor. How do you ever deal with that man and not projectile vomit? He is so smarmy and self-important, I swear he must have marble statues of himself everywhere in his bedroom." Contrary to appearances, there is absolutely no recognition in Terry's eyes, or even suspicion.

Because, you see Terry actually has a theory that Clark is, actually, Green Lantern.

"I should get to digitizing these... you'll have to tell me how that meeting with Harley went, by the way- you promised you'd tell me!"

Lois Lane has posed:
"Just because our first lunch break involved a mugger and nearly being shot while you fainted Smallville." yes Lois has a pretty solid idea what really happened back then. Still the story is legend around here. "If Terry can't learn to dodge or stay out of gunfire I can always give him a shove I suppose."

The question about the Titanss story catches her attention, especially the way he frames it. "True... I think the furor has died down from Superman coming back enough that you can probably get the Titans Reunited story some play this weekend Terry." hey she isn't psychic either.

"I could and someday may write a book on how awful Lex Luthor is." pause "Still you should get back to it Terry.... " she looks thoughtful before turning back to her laptop/tablet combo thing to get back to work.

Clark Kent has posed:
"He's not /that/ bad." Clark says of Luthor, summoning every ounce of his considerable willpower to get the words out of his mouth. Jacket dangling over his shoulder, he smirks back at the pair and heads for his desk only a few down from Lois' to start making calls to Lex's campaign offices here in Metropolis. A desk ripe with personal effects, his mother and father, graduation photos from high school and college. Totally a Kansas boy, born and breed.

Brightest day
Darkest night,

He is a Kansas boy.