In Metropolis, the top floor offices of the Daily Planet were hard at work. In its prime, the newspaper producer was the number one source for all news. It had struggled during the late 90's and early 2000's, but once again found its footing by continuing to produce reliable newspaper headlines alongside online articles and social media outlets.

Lois Lane-Kent was hard at work, typing up a new article. Despite her journalistic integrity and well known statements, she was still prone to misspelling words, especially after Jimmy had pulled a prank on her by disabling the autocorrect feature on her keyboard. As the laser-focused journalist typed, she showed what she had written to her coworker as he passed by.

Lois: Jimmy, what do you think?

Jimmy: There's a 'y' in 'Wayne', Mrs. Lane.

Lois noticed her mistake and quickly fixed it. As she was typing, a new presence entered the office. The elevator dinged and a slightly hunched over man stepped out. He wore a wrinkled black suit and tie alongside his black hat and thick-rimmed glasses. Jimmy Olsen looked down for a moment before looking up. He paused, taken aback by who he saw.

Jimmy: Clark? Clark Kent?

The entire news room fell silent. You could here a pin drop. Hearing the name of her husband called out, Lois slowly swiveled around in her chair. She froze upon seeing the meek yet tall man in front of her.

Clark stood there, looking around at everyone who was now starring at him. He brought up his hand and offered a smile with a quivering lip.

Clark: Hello.

Lois slowly stood out of her seat. Clark locked eyes with her and approached. Lois slowly stepped away from her desk, her pace quickening as she approached the taller man. The two of them stopped right in front of each other.

Clark: Hi, Lois.

Lois looked at him. Her face tightened and she brought up her hand, slapping him across the face. Clark put his hand over his cheek. It didn't hurt, but he had to play along.

Lois: Ten years!

Clark: Lois, I-

He was cut off by Lois grabbing him and wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled herself into him, resting her head against the crook of his neck. She couldn't hold it in anymore. The raven haired reporter cried, overjoyed at seeing her lost husband again.

Clark stood there for a moment before closing his own arms. He held her in a hug and rocked her back and forth. Lois eventually settled down. She spoke quietly so only he would hear.

Lois: I thought you were dead.

Clark: It's alright. I'm here, now.

Everyone else in the news room began to beam. Some of the reporters who had been there a long time began to break down themselves. Perry White stepped out of his office to see why everyone had stopped working.

Perry: What's all the commotion about?

He froze upon seeing one of his old and most reliable journalists. The cigar in his mouth fell out as he approached him.

Perry: Well, I'll be damned. Clark Kent?

Clark: Yes, sir.

A wide smile spread across Perry's face as he shook the younger man's hand.

Perry: I thought that was you. Where have you been, son?!

Clark: Oh, just, seeing some exotic places. Exploring the world. You know, Egypt is, uh, well it's actually quite beautiful this time of year.

As he was talking, Clark picked up Perry's cigar from the floor and handed it back to him. Perry gratefully took it and looked at the couple in each other's arms.

Perry: Yes, I'm sure it is. Well, I'll just leave you two alone for a minute. Let you catch up for a moment. 

Perry winked at them as he turned around. He noticed everyone else starring.

Perry: What are you all standing around for? Get back to work, people!

Everyone sat back down in their seats and got back to working on what they had been doing. Clark looked at his boss and around at the others, smiling. He then looked back down at Lois. She was playing with his fingers. It was then that Clark noticed a golden band wrapped around her finger. He smiled upon seeing it.

Clark: You never took it off.

Lois: I could never bring myself to take it off. I still had hope. That's what a certain man showed both me and the world.

Clark looked at her, smiling. His face then changed to a more serious expression.

Clark: We need to talk.

The two made their way inside of a closed off office. Lois locked the door and shut the blinds. Seeing as everything was clear, Clark straightened his posture and took off his glasses. Lois began pacing the floor, going back to her concerned state.

Lois: Ten years, Clark. Ten years! I don't know where you've been, much less if you're even alive...

Clark: I know. I'm sorry.

Lois: ...You've had me going around, people asking questions. "Where's Clark? What happened to your husband? Did you divorce?" What am I suppose to say?

Clark: Honey, I'm sorry. I really am. It's just... Things got complicated.

Lois: Tell me. 

Clark sighed, leaning against a chair. Lois walked over to him, placing her hand over his.

Clark: I was held captive for a while. I felt so weak, so helpless. Eventually, some nice fellas came to rescue me. But through it all, I could only think of one thing.

He squeezed her hand gently, Lois looking up at him.

Clark: I thought of you, Lois. I wanted to know if you where alright. That you were still alive.

Lois: I haven't felt much alive since I lost you. But now that you're back...

She looked at him. The two were lost in each other's eyes. After a moment of pure stargazing, they both chuckled. Lois went back to the conversation.

Lois: These guys who saved you, who were they?

Clark: Odd, but in a unique way. One of them I could definitely make out. It was the Bat from Gotham.

Lois looked at him with a raised brow.

Lois: Batman came to rescue you?

Clark: Yeah. And there were others as well. There was this other guy. He was dressed in a red jacket and had an odd cap on his head. He was pretty fast from what I could tell.

Lois' eyes now went big.

Lois: The Flash? You were rescued by Batman and the Flash?

Clark: Who's the Flash?

Lois: Only the news' latest heart throb hero. He's a red blur from Central City. He's fast, probably as fast as you. He showed up around the same time as the city's meta-humans.

Clark: Meta-humans?

Lois shook her head.

Lois: Boy, you really have a lot to catch up on.

Clark shrugged.

Clark: I need to return to them. I wanted to check on you first, see how things are doing. I may need to borrow some reading material, see what all's happened the last dec-

He was cut off by Lois quickly pressing her lips against his. Clark was taken aback at first but soon leaned into the kiss. The reunited husband and wife soon separated. Lois gave an apologetic grin.

Lois: Sorry, I just wanted to do that after so long.

Clark: It's alright.

Just then, as they were talking, the room began to darken. A shadow fell over the building. Both looked outside to see what was happening. They saw the shadow spread over Metropolis, covering the city. 

Looking up, the two saw something that horrified them. A large, circular ship was hovering over the city. It had the appearance of a giant skull. Long cables and tendrils flowed from beneath it, almost giving it the appearance of a decapitated head. Brainiac had arrived.

Clark glared up at the giant spaceship. Suddenly, the speakers on the outside of the ship turned on. Its captain spoke. He had a deep, melancholy voice. He sounded simultaneously like an intrigued scientist and a malicious ruler.

Brainiac: Greetings, citizens of Metropolis. It has come to my attention that you, of all cities, have been the first in Earth's long history to encounter a specialized being of unique quality. You will be pleased to know that you have been selected as the first Earth city to be added to my collection. Please, do not resist. Your pitiful toys are no match for the might of Brainiac.

Lois looked up with a gaping jaw. She tried to motion to her husband.

Lois: You should get out there.

She turned around only to see that Clark was gone. She then heard a whooshing sound fly past her window and turned around. On the ground, people in the streets looked up. They were filled with fear from the hovering spaceship above them. However, some pointed to something new flying up to it. Something blue and with a red, flowing cape.

(Start at 0:30)

Boy: Look, it's Superman!

Old Man: Superman?

Woman: Superman!

Superman flew towards the giant, skull-like ship. As he approached it, a large compartment opened up near the bottom. A blue, transparent beam fired out towards the city. It hit the top of the Daily Planet. The building's iconic gold sphere was covered in a blue haze before disappearing. Its evaporated into a set of small particles that floated up and into the ship.

Superman saw what Brainiac's ship was doing and flew towards the large beam. He noticed the beam was coming down in large waves of energy. Placing himself directly underneath it, the man of steel began to fly up. As each wave of energy came down, Clark punched it back with incredible strength.

Brainiac looked on one of the screens attached to his throne. He noticed Superman beneath him, trying to combat the extraction beam.

Brainiac: How quaint, the Kryptonian returns. So, it would appear that he has a kinship with the human population. Fascinating. Increase power to 78%. 

Superman continued to try and combat the beam. Suddenly, he felt the force of it become stronger. He was pushed back, unable to fight against the powered beam.

Seeing as how he couldn't combat the beam, Clark decided to try and take on the ship itself. Charging towards the front, he prepared the crash through the metal skull. He was suddenly pushed back by the ship's energy shield.

Clark fell back through the air, but caught himself. He shook his head and decided to tackle the ship from behind. Flying behind the vessel, he decided to grab one of its large tendrils.

Brainiac looked at his screen. He noticed the man of steel attempting to grab onto one of the metal coils and pull it. The green skinned alien looked at his visual display with interest. From his chair, he was able to telepathically tell the ship precisely what he wanted it to do.

As Superman continued to try and grab one of the cables, two more crept up behind him. By the time he noticed them, they had latched on and grabbed both of his arms. Clark fought against the strong metal coils. They bent and stretched under his might.

However, by the time he broke out, he was too late. Clark was forced to watch in horror as the entire city of Metropolis was engulfed in a pale blue light before being sucked up into the skull ship. With his enhanced vision, Clark was able to get one last look at his wife, the one person he wished to see after being isolated for so long, before she too was sucked up, separated from him once again.

From his throne, Brainiac grinned upon seeing the digital display of the shrunken down city now being added to his collection. He waved his hand, sending it off to his vaults, like a king ordering his servants to stash away a valuable find.

Looking back at the display screen situated next to him, Brainiac grinned seeing the Kryptonian float there, hovering above the crater left behind. The man of steel turned and looked directly at the ship. An angry, bitter scowl adorned his face. Brainiac simply continued grinning, unfazed by the superpowered being's position.

Brainiac: If you wish to see your loved ones again, I suggest you join them. The last son of Krypton would make a fine addition to my collection.

Clark clenched his fists, glaring at the ship. Then, he did something Brainiac did not expect. Superman turned around and flew away. 

Brainiac sat puzzled. He shrugged, deciding not to give chase. He had other, more pressing matters to attend to. Besides, it was inevitable that the son of Jor El would show himself again once more.

Superman soared through the skies, flying away while holding back tears. He knew what he had to do. He knew who he had to find.