465/Ghostriders in the Sky

Ghostriders in the Sky
Date of Scene:	17 May 2017
Location:	LexCorp Tower, Metropolis
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Lex Luthor, Yulee Jefferson

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Lex Luthor has posed:
LexCorp Tower

The Office of LexCorp President and CEO, Lex Luthor, is almost always overflowing with ideas. The Man of Metropolis, as he sometimes likes to refer to himself, is standing at the oversized window behind his also oversized desk. If one were to look at the furniture and the size of this office they may get the feeling that someone has inadequacy issues. However, it is a very well known fact that Lex Luthor does not have any issues in the ego department. He's quite happy with the man that he is and the man that he's going to be for mankind.

Hands clasped behind his back, his green stoned class ring showing, Lex Luthor looks out over the city that he calls home. The city that he calls: His. He doesn't look at the clock or even seem to be aware that he's got a meeting coming up soon. Either that or he actually does know his schedule with ease. He's just choosing to stand ominously at the window that allows him to look out over all that he feels belongs to him.

Not a Superman in sight and Lex Luthor smiles.

Yulee Jefferson has posed:
Yulee Harrison Jefferson, Esquire, had just been elected to the office of District Attorney of Metropolis. He was an old warhorse already, with not many years left in his legal career, but he was a tough old bastard, despite being a little man without hair and a paunch. An oddly fitting suit and a brown briefcase that he insisted on using as opposed to the black briefcases of corporate lawyers, or even the svelte satchel packs of the modern lawyer, did not present an image of power. It was things like this that Yulee relied on, for the true test of a man, and not himself. Those that regarded him with scorn were among the guilty, to be slashed aside with the sword of Christ. For the Second Coming was not a man divine from the skies, such as Superman, or a man such as Lex Luthor, pulling a crown of thorns down from a man of vested worldly authority.

Christ came in the struggle of the average man, and this Yulee knew. Yulee was, all things concerned, an atheist, but he knew that this fine country, the United States of America, was based on Christian morals, those that denied it be damned. And damned they were, to the prisons and on the front page of the smear papers.

Yulee Jefferson walked into Lex Luthor's office with a kick-shoed shuffle, carrying his briefcase with him, even though it was packed with assorted miscellanea that he didn't need. The briefcase with just a test of Lex Luthor's character. He looks to Lex's back, judging him as a man of stature and good looks and power, just the sort of man that was the most vital to be tested with the weight of the scales, measured in deed by the mason's tool, and examined under the magnifying glass of the inspector. His gaze swept across the office, noticing the large furniture. A lesser man would've sighed and showed his displeasure, his pity for the man he was meeting, that he was still chasing his childhood. But Yulee merely put on a plastic, a deliberately plastic, smile, marching into the middle of Lex's office and snapping to turn at him with his heel in his duck-footed stance.

"Mr. Luthor! It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person! All these years I've been reading the papers about you, and they never wrote you as a man that enjoyed a nice view!"

Lex Luthor has posed:
Lex Luthor continued to stand at his window. Even through the entirety of the statement that has been made by Mr. Jefferson. He doesn't even seem to flinch. He knows everything that goes on beneath the roof of LexCorp Tower and there's not a move made inside of it that he's not ready for. Whether that has to do with superior intellect, security or rapt paranoia has yet to be seen. Regardless, though, Lex Luthor must be comfortable with what he's found on the new District Attorney because he continues to keep his back to him. He's not worried about any guns or knives or even with putting on a good impression. He doesn't have to. He's Lex Luthor.

"I don't." Lex Luthor states with as much factual objectiveness in his tone as the newspapers that print stories about him would write it. In fact, he almost sounds as if he's been insulted with the way he just stakes that claim through the heart without a second thought. "I do, however, choose to keep watch over my city. The people, my people, down there don't know what darkness lies just above these clouds." Lex Luthor tilts his head up just a bit, looking up into the sky. "I do. And it's my honor to make sure that they never have to." Lex's mind must be somewhere else because it takes him a moment longer than it should before he finally turns around to greet the District Attorney with a nod and a hand extended for a firm shaking.

"District Attorney Jefferson." Lex Luthor carves out his own plastic grin as he speaks to him directly now. "Please. Have a seat." Lex Luthor motions to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Your reputation speaks for itself as does your taste." Lex Luthor gives a slight nod towards the briefcase. "Let's talk about how we're going to save our city from itself."

Sounds like Lex Luthor is already attempting to push his agenda on the new guy.

Yulee Jefferson has posed:
At Lex's response, there's a slight hardening of Yulee's teeth inside his mouth, and not in anger or displeasure. Merely satisfaction, at a proper barb placed in such a way. Alexander Luthor certainly enjoys the view. We are all slaves to our names, even a man named Sue. Yulee ought to know, he became a lawyer.

Yulee reaches out and shakes Luthor's hand with a neutral strength grip, firm, as he makes hard eye contact with Luthor, his mouth dangerously close to a grin as he give's Lex's hand a single, nearly effeminate pump up and down, his palm bone dry. He's not the least bit intimidated, despite the strength of his grip. There's a faint hint of a muscle tinge of a man who practiced pugilism, before he allows Lex to release and he moves about to sit. Yulee is a man that plays his cards close to his chest.

Setting his briefcase downbeside the chair, he places his palms down on his knees, refusing to do the businessman's cross, instead comfortable with both feet on the ground. "Let's, good sir. I can see we're both men of the people, and we've both had plenty of time to study each other." Yulee's smile remains frozen in place, now almost a ghastly look, as if Yulee Jefferson was in fact a ventriloquist's dummy made out of human flesh, with someone else forcing him to talk. "You're Metropolis' greatest philanthropist, and you are privvy to knowledge that I don't have the clearance to righteously possess." His smile suddenly takes on a humanity at the term 'righteously possess', as his face softens into a predatory look.

"Tell me, what do you think of the big issue that's sneaking around underneath the stove?" He looks at Lex closely. They both know who Yulee is talking about.

Lex Luthor has posed:
"Metropolis has many secrets, District Attorney Jefferson. I know all of them." Lex makes sure to use both this man's title and to gloat in the same statement. It's almost like there's time for some verbal chess to be played during this conversation. And he's just moved a Black Knight. "I'm afraid, though, that you've got me at something of a disadvantage. You'll have to be just a tad less coy." Lex Luthor's putting himself on the back foot here. It's almost like he's going to make Jefferson say it. Either because he can't or because he refuses. Either way, the ball has been dropped in Jefferson's court now.

Lex takes his time sitting down. He allows Jefferson to get nice and settled before he even pulls out his chair. When he sits, though, he sits slowly and deliberately as if any movement of the chair would make him seem weak and predictable. His elbows go to the top of the desk, which is remarkably empty of papers or anything that would normally be on a CEO's desk. In the next moment, his hands are rising to clasp together in front of his face. He makes sure that his eyes can be seen, though, as he stares across the expansive desk and into the eyes of the possible ally.

The way Lex is sitting and the way his face is half-hidden behind his hands makes it almost seem as though he's grinning or that he's hiding something. It's an interesting placement of body language that should make him pretty difficult to read.

Yulee Jefferson has posed:
Yulee's eyes squint shut at Luthor's bold play, the implied threat to his family. "Very well, Mr. Luthor. A southern man of distinction knows a kind bit of northern hospitality when he sees it." He lifts his right leg off the ground and places his ankle on his left knee, his brown slacks hiking up his ankle and revealing a black sock emerging from his brown loafer. "I mean, of course, Superman. Your motions in the backrooms of this little town indicate that you don't like any manner of alien, including Superman." Superman doesn't make implied threats like Luthor does, but they both have their manner of being offensive to people without a giant tower or a bullet proof retina. "In fact, I don't think I was your preferred candidate, just because of my tenure as Assistant District Attorney of Extranormal Affairs."

Yulee clears his throat, looking down to Lex's hands. "I want you to know, that Metropolis' relationship is one of necessity. We have more problems than just the occasional three alarm fire that Superman stops before someone dies. We have Intergang, you know, and those weapons they're using certainly aren't LexCorp hardware. Even if I'm sure you'd positively kill to know how they work. That's how we know that Superman has acquaintances, don't we?"

Yulee's eyes move back upwards to Lex's eyes, his face deadly serious, evaluating in almost need, but not a show of necessity. "I need to know where you stand, Lex. If we're about to get nailed in the eye by an intergalactic screwball, I want to know that you're not to go tugging on any capes."

Lex Luthor has posed:
Lex Luthor's hands are dropped from his face in a slow and deliberate manner. His grin is revealed. It's slight and just on the other side of victory but it's there. However, his eyes are as unmoving and as unreadable as the language of Kryptonians to the average toddler. Lex Luthor can read Kryptonian. Perhaps, even more terrifying, he can write it. Still, though, Lex Luthor is not about to allow this man to come into his office and make side-ccusations without a bit of pushback. Just a bit.

"Let me be clear." Lex heard a politician say that once. It seemed to work well enough. It has been adopted for his own needs. "My political agenda is merely one of voyeurism. I have nothing against you or the position that you hold. Whomever, within reason, the people of my city deem worthy to represent them has my complete and full support. While I may be Lex Luthor, the True Man of Tomorrow, I am but a humble servant to the people of this city. Metropolis is my home and I will do everything in my power to protect it." Perhaps another thinly veiled threat is given at this moment. "From anyone."

Lex allows that statement a moment to breathe before he actually seems to relax and moves into his next volley of words. "My stance on those not of this Earth is the same as it is for those of this Earth. If we hold our own people, our own race -- mankind to the ideals of truth and justice then I say that those seeking refuge on our planet do the same. No one should be above the law, District Attorney Jefferson. That includes everyone from me to the interlopers that have decided to claim our home as theirs." Lex's words are flowing as if these are words that come naturally to him. They do. "Superman, as the public has declared him to be, is someone that we should be keeping a watchful eye on. Not because he is inherently bad but because of what he represents. Let me say this, he does a lot of good for a lot of people. But we don't know who or what he really is. We don't know him. We see him, we look up to him but that only means he looks down on us. And one day he will be too tired. Too tired to save us. Too tired to protect us. Too tired to do... anything. And what will become of mankind then? What will we do when our 'savior' has decided we are no longer worth saving?" Lex doesn't answer that question because it is clearly of the rhetorical nature. "My position isn't as Anti-Superman as the public would like you to believe. My position is more... Why Superman?"

Lex doesn't even dare mention the name Intergang of dignify those words with a glimmer of a response. He knows things. He can do things. He refuses to say things.

Yulee Jefferson has posed:
    Yulee watches Lex carefully, his eyes moving from contact to Lex Luthor's crown as he speaks, using a police trick to take on the perspective stance of a convict being lectured. He's seen it plenty, and he knows how to do it, with the implied threat of a smash to the top of Lex's skull, as preposterous as it would be in this situation, or any situation including Yulee Jefferson. It is merely the language of simian to simian. Superman, look at his chin when he talks. Something about flying.

"Then I hope you will secure our future, as a race, when people like Superman retire to Boca Raton and play shuffleboard for the rest of their life. I hear the Caribbean lobster is fantastic." Yulee uncrosses his legs and picks up his briefcase, standing. "Just don't do anything that Martin Luther wouldn't do, Mr. Luthor. He would be an excellent role model in your affairs. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have to figure out some way to track down Superman. I need to give him the same speech about you." He tips his upper body forward.

"Good day, Mr. Luthor. I hope your civic commitment schedule opens up enough one day to attend a sermon or two. Men like us only need wisdom from the Maker, wherever he she or it is floating around in the sky, peering at us with bemusement." He gives Luthor a faint smile. "I recommend a Calvinist preacher. He would love to chat with you, sir." Yulee turns about and strolls out of the office, swinging his briefcase with a little bit of calculated arrogance.

Lex Luthor has posed:
Lex doesn't rise. Not this time. He doesn't need to because he's quite sure that the District Attorney can see himself out. He does, though, relax back into his comfortable chair to make sure that he seems as unworried and nonplussed about the conversation that has been had in just a few moments. Even though they were both at war with their words it seems like more was said with their body language than with their actual speech. It's like that sometimes when two people understand things about each other.

"Everyone needs something to believe in, District Attorney Jefferson." Lex Luthor is not about to call him anything else but that. Just to show that he's in the same place he was when Jefferson got here. "I look forward to giving the people of Metropolis exactly that."

Finally, Lex Luthor's iron clad grin sneaks onto his face. He can't help it. His thoughts of the people of Metropolis shouting and chanting his name has overtaken his mind. He even puffs his chest out a bit in his comfortable chair as he allows the District Attorney to leave on that high note.

Wait, did Lex Luthor just call himself a god?