Chapter 134: Patriotic Earthling

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(General P.O.V)

Cameras went off as the Secretary General of the UN, cleared his throat. He looked down at the gathered press. Himself flanked by multiple world leaders.

"I would like to formally thank all of you for joining us today." He stated, his heavily accented English blaring out of the speaker. He had a rough voice.

"The world we live in is, contrary to popular belief, not in our conscious control. It is our home. The cradle of humanity. However, that does not explicitly mean we have all the answers. Or we have solved any of the numerous mysteries and real life anomalies that happen worldwide on a daily basis. We have all heard the news about Pluto's demise. I am here to address that issue. For starters, NASA has purported on the destruction of the dwarf planet and this has been confirmed by specialists across the globe."

Secretary General, Tseng Dangun looked up from his speech to let that sink in.

"It is sad and terrifying. The fact that something so impactful can happen within the solar system, our very own backyard and we come to learn it 5 hours later. However earth as a whole, despite race, background or inclination is an enduring planet. We should use this chance to re evaluate a lot of the systems in place. To unify more. Use this cost as a guiding light to move forward in one stride. This especially rings true for nations with civil unrest like Bialya's continued efforts to merge with Qurac based on questionable historical records. Join us and usher in a new dawn. The UN is further aiming to open up more avenues of co-operation between the earth and our sister planet Mars by way of an Earth-Mars communication satellite, in the case of another planetary ending event."

General Tseng, looked into the cameras without flinching.

"For long, we have battled against racial and cultural diversity, extreme nationalism, gender inequality, Metahuman and alien relations and sexuality. Through all this, it can be inferred that humanity as a whole is a very complex, petty, highly emotional and opinionated race. We need to change that, if we hope to survive what this new world is slowly turning into. We need to adapt, something we were very good at in the past and emerge stronger as one unified whole to combat these new threats."

The screen changed to a logo of the Galaxy Broadcasting System abbreviated to GBS. The camera panned out to reveal, the pundit and a guest seated on two sides of a small table, facing each other. The host of the show was none other than G Gordon Godfrey, someone know for defaming his guests and critical outlook when discussing sensitive issues. This unfortunately made him very popular despite the man's venomous tongue.

G. Gordon Godfrey took a long, loud and distracting sip of his cup of coffee, before placing the mug on the table between him and Lex Luthor. The latter sat comfortably on his seat with an amiable smile on his face. For those who knew him however, they would see a sharp glint in his eyes that spoke volumes about his patience.

"No one has come out to openly take credit for the destruction of Pluto."

G. Gordon Godfrey said as a way to start the conversation. He had already introduced Luthor to the audience. Not that Luthor needed any introduction seeing as he was one of if not the richest man in the world. His only true competition being the mammoth that was Wayne enterprises.

"That is true. The authorities are still carrying out their investigations on who might have been responsible."

Luthor answered smoothly. His voice was clear and loud enough.

"Of course, of course. And…would I be right to assume that the interplanetary space probe that captured the dastardly images of the dwarf planet's twilight hours, aptly named Vista 002, was manufactured by Lexcorp through a government contract?"

G Gordon questioned innocently.

"Yes." Luthor answered after a brief second of hesitation. A wide smile spread out across G Gordon's face.

"Well, that is interesting Mr. Luthor. Very interesting indeed."

The host stated while giving Luthor a suspicious look. The man in question frowned.

"I believe I don't follow. What are you trying to say G Gordon?"

Lex knew he had fallen into Gordon's trap. The Apokaliptian new god was not playing by the script. However, Luthor was an old hand at this. So he remained calm, despite G Gordon Godfrey's intention to ruin his reputation.

"Me? I'm not trying to say anything. The facts speak for themselves Mr. Luthor." The host sneered. "How many times has Lexcorp products, I'm talking top of the line technology, weapons from government contracts and devices meant to help been used for nefarious ends? Superman has gone up against suits of armors, Kryptonian infused rifles, energy guns, power draining devices and other peculiar equipment with strange effects. Do you know what all these things have in common?"

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G Gordon Godfrey directed the question to the audience.

"They all had a Lexcorp Logo." G Gordon Godfrey declared in mock surprise, as if he couldn't believe his own words. Then he turned to Luthor who was still silently observing, trying to work out the New God's intentions. The man was a wildcard but Lex knew that everyone had a tell.

"And now putting two and two together, one might start to wonder with the recent destruction of Pluto, if Lexcorp, the creator of the Probe that captured the incident…is as totally blameless as they appear to be. It's only so many wrecked buildings, destroyed houses and lost lives that the 'someone stole our equipment and used it for bad motives' excuse can explain away. The destruction of a whole planet however…well that is a different cake all together."

G Gordon Godfrey's grin was positively saccharine at this point. He was enjoying it. And Lex was now understanding why the man had it out for him.

"You see Lex, can I call you Lex? Anyway Lex, you can hide the truth under the corporate umbrella all you want but sooner or later, like a sapling…it finds a way to move towards the light."

And with that, Lex understood what point The New God was trying to drive home.

He thought that the Light had somehow destroyed the Planet without informing G Gordon who was in a way, Darkseid's liason to the earth. And that had led to the delicate issue that would make any more machinations against the earth by Apokolips even harder. The earth to Mars cooperation. G Gordon Godfrey was not thrilled about the earth's new found spirit for unity. A unified world made it hard to divide and conquer. A unified world allowed for choices to be made on a significant and necessary basis rather than a power hungry or greedy one.

Luthor's quick thinking allowed him to weigh the pros and cons of the two roads he had been presented with. He could take the road of cooperation, stoking the hearts of people by denying anything and instead laying blame on an unseen and unknown enemy then supporting Secretary General Tseng and the UN's new found backbone and logical thinking on cooperation between Earth an Mars. The alternative was he could take G Gordon Godfrey's extended olive branch and use the same excuse, the same pike to drive humanity apart. He was one of the most influential men on the planet. Simply calling to attention that aliens, martians to be precise might have been responsible would stop the potential marshalling. Humanity would fall back to the mindset of us vs them that the Justice League had been trying to combat by their efforts, this would further snowball into a real issue given the fact that Batman, one of the two normal human superheroes had resigned from the group.

Luthor was at a crossroads. One option would potentially see a united earth, better relations with mars but at the expense of The Light's alliance with Darkseid and the other would see a splintered earth, and a magnified racist mentality towards anything perceived as different but a stronger alliance with Apokalips. Lex didn't need to wonder what Vandal would have chosen. Given his pretty strong ties with Apokalips, it was very obvious.

So, Luthor smiled back at G Gordon Godfrey.

"Well, G Gordon, your observant take and particularly apathetic understanding on the socio-political predicaments facing the earth has always been refreshing. I like someone who's blunt. Someone who is not afraid to speak up and challenge the norms. So I will pay you the same courtesy and be as blunt as possible."

Lex told the well groomed man who had a small smirk on his face.

"By all means, Mr.Luthor. Speak freely."

G Gordon Godfrey stated giving Lex the field.

The bald headed man interlocked his fingers together and his easy smile turned sharp.

"One might call your statements distinctly anti-earth, G Gordon."

G Gordon's smirk slid off his face. However Lex wasn't done.

"This is a critical juncture in humanity's history. A point in time where one small tilt in the balancing scale can take us backwards by many steps or spring us forward and usher in a true bastion and hope for future generations. Instead of focusing on that however, I find it suspect on how you're determined to defame Lexcorp, knowing fully well that that would sour relations with NASA and by extension the government as well."

"My intentions were to call to question Lexcorp's top brass, Lex. Not to personally offend you. The public needs answers and I am an agent of truth."

G Gordon shot back and Lex knew he had him. However he couldn't destroy him too thoroughly, G Gordon and in addition, Apokalips still had their uses.

"And that is why humanity will forever stagnate with your kind of thinking. It's not about offending me G Gordon. It's about your priorities. You sit there and focus on what has already happened instead of inquiring on the way forward. The perpetrators responsible for the destruction of Pluto might never be found. Does that mean you will forever be stuck in the past. I have done things I am not proud of but right here and now, especially after General Tseng Dangun's speech, I find myself in a position of power. The power of having a voice."

Lex looked at the camera directly.

"I know there is fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of those different from ourselves, but I urge you to remain open minded and know…you do not face that fear alone. Whatever come may, humanity will prevail and come out stronger at the end of it. So give it a chance. Give unity, a chance. I support the UN's future efforts in the Earth-Mars communication satellite. And from now on, I am not just a full blooded American…I am a patriotic Earthling."

And sooner or later, Luthor would be at the head of it all.

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