See? The muse likes chocoalte and fdk. It's a very good combination! The muse is a very happy little creature now and is granting mercy by not making you guys wait until Monday.
Here's part 9--hope you all like it.
From Part 8:
Mrs. Cox was beyond humiliated by the way Lex had just treated her. She shouldn’t have been surprised by his actions, though. She knew him—knew what he was capable of. She’d been foolish to believe that she’d never find herself on the receiving end of his anger. They’d mixed business with pleasure freely during the many years they had worked together. But never had he taken her so callously—so angrily—as he had just moments ago on his desk. Her cheeks burned with humiliation and anger at the memory.
The situation was quickly getting out of hand. Lex was becoming irrational. The billionaire’s smooth and calm exterior was deteriorating, leaving something scary in its place.
Mrs. Cox didn’t have time to stew over the changes that were taking place in her boss. Clark Kent and his Scooby Gang were closing in on Lex—in on *her.* She’d read the report and knew that Jimmy Olsen was out at that very moment, trying to track down the boy she’d hired to kill Jack. And Jack was still very much alive, causing his own brand of trouble. She’d have to do something about that.
Lex was a fool for wanting to marry that nosy reporter. Lois Lane would end up being his downfall, Mrs. Cox was sure of it, and when that time came, she worried that he would end up taking her with him.
************************
Part 9:
The sun was just starting to set, painting the sky a brilliant mix of yellow, red, and orange as Clark started in the direction of his apartment. As he flew, his eyes scanned Metropolis, always searching, never giving up hope that he’d see a glimpse of the woman who held his heart in her hands. Even knowing deep down that he wouldn’t find her, he couldn’t seem to stop his eyes from searching.
Clark had searched every part of Metropolis at least twice, and as the seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes turned into hours, his desperation grew. Lois was nowhere to be found.
Where had Luthor taken her?
He knew that Luthor could have her in any corner of the world by now, and it was that thought that terrified him the most. Even Superman could only look in so many places in so little time. Without knowing where to begin looking it would take him days, maybe even weeks to thoroughly search the globe.
But Luthor didn’t have that kind of time; the wedding was less than a week away. Surely he would have Lois back in Metropolis by the week’s end?
The thought calmed Clark a little. Luthor was determined to marry Lois in six days’ time. Clark was fairly confident that wherever Luthor had taken her, she wasn’t in immediate danger. He mentally kicked himself as it occurred to him that his visit to Lois earlier that day may have been what had caused Luthor to hide her away in some undisclosed location until the wedding.
That meant that he, Perry, Jimmy, and Jack had six days to find evidence against Luthor. They had to stop this wedding—there was no other option.
Six days.
He only had six days. The thought repeated itself over and over again in his mind, like a mantra that kept time to the air whooshing in his ears as he flew over the buildings of Metropolis.
Clark halted suddenly in mid air as his ears picked up the sound of screeching tires and terrified screams. The sound made his blood run cold. A few seconds was all it took for him to find the major car pile up below. Guilt ate at his conscience as he realized that had he not been so preoccupied with his own problems he might have been able to stop the accident from happening in the first place.
Pushing the guilt away for later consumption, Clark swooped down, determined to help in any way he could. His boots had just touched ground when a car suddenly caught on fire. The vehicle’s occupants started screaming in terror as the heat of the flames reached them.
Clark didn’t hesitate. Using his breath, he blew until the fire was completely out before tearing the door off of the sedan. Two adults and a small child immerged from the car, tears of relief flooding their faces, hair and clothes a bit singed, but otherwise okay.
“Thank you, Superman. My god, thank you!” the woman clung to her child as her eyes sought his. “Thank you, thank you, thank you…” her voice gave out as sobs of relief took over. She sunk to the ground, still clinging to her child.
Clark swallowed past the lump in his throat. The man stared at Superman, his face full of gratitude. “Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely before attending to his wife and child. Clark nodded once before moving on to the next person in need. Keeping his stoic mask firmly in place, Clark worked to save as many lives as he could. He had just pulled a young woman’s lifeless body from the wreckage of her car when he suddenly found himself surrounded by members of the press—people he’d formerly crossed paths with on a daily basis.
“Superman! Will you be attending Lois Lane’s wedding to Lex Luthor?”
“Since the news came out about your identity as Clark Kent, you’ve failed to give the world your side of the story. Care to tell the people of Metropolis why you’ve been lying to them for the past year?”
“How did you hide your identity from the employees of the Daily Planet? How did you manage to keep the information hidden from Lois Lane? Did she know all along?”
Clark backed away slowly as the questions came at him right on top of each other. As the press followed, he held up his hands, trying to ward them off. It was then that the blood on his hands caught his attention, the sight violently throwing him off balance. The memory of the woman’s lifeless eyes staring up at him as he’d pulled her from the twisted metal flashed through his mind.
“Superman…”
“Clark Kent…”
“…Lois Lane…Lex Luthor…”
Clark shook his head, trying to clear the image in his head. It refused to leave, though, instead flashing behind his eyes, getting brighter and brighter with every question that was thrown his way.
“…Superman…”
“…Clark Kent…”
“ENOUGH!” The mask dropped from his face as his loud voice pierced the air. A dozen sets of eyes stared at him in shock.
“You see the blood all over my hands?” he asked angrily while holding up his hands for all to see. “That blood belongs to the young woman lying over there on the ground. I had just pulled her from her car when I was interrupted.” Clark stared at them, his eyes hard, unforgiving. “Now, I have a job to do and your questioning is only putting innocent people in more danger than they need to be. I trust that you are all decent enough human beings to let me finish before you badger me anymore.” Clark didn’t wait for a response. He turned his back on the gaping reporters and continued to do what Superman did best: he saved as many people as he could.
*****
Two hours later, Clark entered his apartment, tired and weary to the bone.
So many people…
It had been a horrible pile-up, twelve cars in all. Now the only thing on Clark’s mind was taking a shower and going to bed. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days.
“We saw it on the news, Honey. Do you want to talk about it?”
Clark shook his head as he took a seat at the table with his parents. “No. I just…need some rest. The stress of the past few days is catching up to me.” Clark sighed before looking at his parents. “Lois is missing.”
“You didn’t find her this morning?” Martha asked.
“No, I did find her earlier today. Our conversation didn’t go very well, though,” he said, avoiding their eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to tell them—or anyone else—about Lois’s pregnancy. “When I went back to talk to her again, Luthor told me that she had needed to get away for a few days. I’ve searched all of Metropolis; there’s no sign of her anywhere.”
“You think Luthor has done something to her?”
“I think he’s taken her someplace where I can’t find her.”
“But their wedding is only six days away,” Jonathan pointed out.
“I know. I’m sure that she’ll be back in Metropolis by the end of the week. We have six days to bring that monster down,” Clark said.
Martha placed her hand over Clark’s. “Honey, you’ll find the evidence you need. I know you will.”
Clark sighed. “Luthor probably knows exactly what we’ve been up to. When I was with Lois earlier today, he had her under video surveillance. That got me thinking, so I checked the apartment for bugs. I found both video and audio surveillance devices. Perry and Jimmy’s places were bugged too.”
“Do they know yet?”
“Perry was home earlier today when I stopped by and found the bugs. I told him about Lois’s disappearance.” Clark sighed again, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “Jimmy wasn’t home, though. I think he’s been out looking for John Black.”
Clark got up from the table, suddenly feeling like a caged animal. He should be out there *doing* something. People were in danger—Lois was in danger. And Luthor was now one step ahead of them. He knew what they were planning, knew of all the places they were investigating.
“If only I’d realized that we were all being bugged sooner! I can’t believe that I didn’t notice anything,” Clark said, angry with himself for missing the bugs.
“It’s not your fault, Son.”
“I know, Dad. I just need to keep my guard up. Luthor is capable of anything. We all need to remember that.” Clark started pacing. “It’s weird, but he didn’t bug any of our phones. I probably would have heard the feed over the line if he had.” Clark stopped pacing as his attention was drawn to the front door. Lowering his glasses, he looked through the door to see what was causing the noise he’d heard.
“Jimmy’s here.” A knock on the door followed his words. Clark crossed the room before opening the door. “Hey, Jimmy, come on in,” he said, ushering his friend inside. “How did things go today?”
“Not well. I finally tracked down John Black.”
“Well, isn’t that good news?” Clark asked, confused by the weariness he saw in Jimmy’s eyes.
“I found him in his apartment. John Black was murdered, shot twice in the head.”
*****
“I’m here to see Lex Luthor,” Clark told the receptionist in the lobby of Lex Towers the next morning. The blaring ringing of his phone had awakened him not more than thirty minutes ago. Mrs. Cox had called to tell him that Lex Luthor wanted to meet with him “at his earliest convenience,” to talk about Lois.
Clark hadn’t needed to hear another word. He’d gotten dressed and was out the door in only minutes, not even telling his parents that he was leaving. He hadn’t wanted to wake them.
“And you are?” The pretty blonde woman asked from behind the lobby counter.
“Clark Kent. Mr. Luthor is expecting me.”
After a quick phone call, the receptionist turned back to Clark. “Mr. Luthor’s personal assistant will be down shortly to escort you. Please, have a seat while you wait,” she told him politely, pointing to the waiting area.
Clark shot her a quick smile before taking a seat. His thoughts immediately went to Lois, wondering where she was, what she was doing, if she was okay…
Not knowing was killing him.
“Mr. Kent, please follow me.”
Mrs. Cox’s voice startled Clark out of his thoughts a few moments later and he quickly rose from his seat and followed her down the hall. His thoughts turned to Luthor as the doors to the elevator slid shut.
What was so important that Luthor had to speak with him so urgently? Dread twisted in his gut at the thought that Lois might be in trouble. Was something wrong with her pregnancy? But why in the world would Luthor come to *him?*
Something about this felt wrong to Clark. What was Luthor up to?
“Right this way.” Mrs. Cox’s voice pierced the silence. He followed her through a maze of hallways, doors, and another decent in an elevator before finally finding himself face-to-face with Lex Luthor.
“That will be all, Mrs. Cox,” Lex told his personal assistant. He turned his gaze on Clark a moment later.
“What do you want, Luthor?” Clark demanded as soon as Mrs. Cox left the two men alone in the wine cellar.
“What? No Superman suit? Why, Mr. Kent, you disappoint me,” Lex said, his tone of voice conversational.
Clark gritted his teeth in anger. He would not play Luthor’s ridiculous games. “You said you had something important to tell me about Lois?” he asked, his voice betraying his impatience.
“Ah, yes. My fiancee is quite an incredible woman, as I’m sure you know, Superman.”
“My name is *Clark Kent.*”
“Yes, I’m sure you’d like the world to believe that.” Lex took a drink from his wine glass. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? Would you like a glass, Mr. Kent?”
Clark tried his best not to roll his eyes. “No, what I would like is for you to get on with it.”
“Very well, then. As I was saying, my fiancee is quite an incredible woman—headstrong, independent, and stubborn. I shall take great pleasure in taming her spirit. I look forward to the challenge. And it was quite the challenge to get her to accept my marriage proposal. I’ll have you know that she put up quite a fight.”
Clark felt his heart turn to ice at hearing Luthor’s words. What had this mad man done to Lois? “If you hurt her…” he threatened, his eyes staring daggers at Luthor.
“Now, let’s not be too hasty, Mr. Kent,” Lex taunted. “I didn’t threaten to harm her. No, I simply told her that by marrying me, no harm would come to you.”
Clark’s face paled at his words. Luthor believed that he was Superman, and it was widely known that nothing on earth could hurt Superman, at least as far as the public knew. Could Luthor have found out about kryptonite? Was he the person behind the false bank alarm and Clark’s brief exposure to the poisonous rock? “You obviously believe that I’m Superman, Luthor. If that’s the case, then what makes you think you have the power to hurt me?”
“Power is a wonderful thing. I pride myself on being the most powerful man in Metropolis, and I expect that to extend to the world as well. But I have this little problem, *Superman.* You keep getting in the way of my plans!” Lex said angrily, moving toward the nearby wall. “However, that is one problem that I’ll have to worry about no longer.” Lex grinned wickedly as he pulled on a lever.
Clark stared at Luthor in amusement as a cage of metal bars was lowered from the ceiling, trapping him inside. This was insane. Did Luthor really believe that this would work?
“If you believe that I’m Superman, then you know that bars won’t hold me,” Clark said, no sooner getting the words out before he felt the first spasm of pain. As his hands encircled the bars, he heard a mechanical noise and watched as the silver metal disappeared to reveal the glow of green underneath. He cried out in pain as the metal scorched his skin. There was no mistaking what it was. Only one thing could glow such a sickly green.
Kryptonite.
“Oh? I think they will,” Lex said as Clark fell to the floor in a heap. “Superman, it pains me to see you this way. This is truly a sad day. Here, let me help,” he said before switching a dial on the device in his hand.
Clark stared at Lex in confusion from the floor of his prison as the green glow of the bars dimmed and the pain lessened considerably.
“Money will put the best scientists in your pocket. They created a very unique way for me to control the intensity of the kryptonite. So be a good boy and I’ll be merciful, otherwise, suffer the consequences.” Lex turned the dial on the device and the green glow became brighter once again.
Clark cried out as the pain became unbearable. “You won’t…get away with this,” he told Lex through gritted teeth.
“Of course I will, Superman. I’m Lex Luthor! I always get what I want and now with you completely under my control, Lois will not dare back out on our wedding. You are my insurance.” Lex laughed wickedly as he walked toward the stairs of the wine cellar. “Oops, wouldn’t do any good to have you die too soon, now would it?” Lex asked with an evil grin, his fingers once again going to the device that would lesson the kryptonite’s intensity. “Goodbye, Superman. See you soon!”
Clark watched as he left the cellar, leaving him with nothing but his thoughts. The pain was considerably less than it had been a few moments ago, but it was still there nonetheless. Clark fought the nausea as he gripped his head in his hands. His head felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it.
He had to find a way out of there. He could *not* let Lois marry that monster! Clark struggled to his feet, gasping for breath at the exertion. He’d no sooner stood up before the weakness from the exposure overtook him. He fell back to the floor with a hard thud. Stars clouded his vision, and Clark welcomed the darkness that came next as he drifted into oblivion.
*****
Jack sat semi-hidden at a corner table in a classy and swank restaurant. Video recorder in hand, he kept it aimed at the middle-aged man and the pretty young woman seated two tables over. He’d been following around Simon Truesdale, former board member for the Daily Planet, for the better part of two days, hoping to catch the man doing something—anything—that he could use as leverage.
Now as he sat recording the man sharing dinner with a woman too young to be his wife—although saying that the two were sharing spit would be more accurate—Jack knew he’d finally struck gold.
Another half hour went by before the young blond woman got up and left the restaurant. After waiting a few moments to see if she would come back, Jack got up and sauntered over to Mr. Truesdale’s table. “That was one fine looking woman. I bet she’s much younger than your wife. Probably ten times prettier too.” Jack said, his voice conversational. When Mr. Truesdale looked like he was about to say something, Jack held up his hand, effectively halting the man’s words. “Hey, no need to explain. I get the whole middle-aged man needing to boost his ego spiel. I do, really. But will your *wife* understand?”
“Who are you and what do you want?”
“I’m the guy who *really* loved his job at the Daily Planet before it was sold to Luthor—before it was destroyed.” Jack sat down, taking the seat the man’s date had just vacated. “I learned a lot working there. My observation skills are much better after working for a major newspaper.” Jack paused, watching as the man sitting in front of him started to squirm. “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re driving a Ferrari these days. I wonder…how much does a sweet ride like that cost nowadays?”
“Look kid, I don’t have time for this. I have a meeting that I need to attend.” Mr. Truesdale got up from the table, clearly upset.
“By all means, you should go. I wouldn’t want you to be late. I’ll just pay a visit to your wife and show her this tape while you take care of your business,” Jack stated as he rose from the table. He started to walk away, but Mr. Truesdale grabbed a hold of his arm.
“What are you talking about? What tape?”
“Oh! Sorry, my bad. I guess I didn’t mention the video camera I have with me, did I?” Jack asked as he held up the device in question. “Not to worry, though. I got it all on tape. I’m sure you’ll want to watch it over and over again. You and your girlfriend were getting pretty cozy.” Jack grinned at the man, making his meaning clear. “I’m surprised the windows in this place aren’t fogged up. I’m not so sure that your wife will appreciate it like you and I would, though.”
The former Daily Planet board member sat back down at the table, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “What is it that you want? My wife can’t see that tape. I’m sure we can work something out. Is it money that you want?”
Jack took a seat at the table again before looking the man in the eyes. “No, Mr. Truesdale, I don’t want money. What I want is the truth. And if you want this videotape to disappear, then you’d better start talking. Why did you and the other board members of the Daily Planet vote unanimously to sell the paper to Lex Luthor?”
Mr. Truesdale sighed. “Mr. Luthor gave us an offer none of us were able to refuse.”
“What kind of offer?” Jack asked, encouraging the man to continue.
“A considerable amount of cash—an inducement, if you will. Look, I really have nothing more to tell you. Are you going to give me that tape now?”
“Sure, I’ll give the tape to you right after you confess to the authorities that Luthor paid you off.”
“Are you nuts? My wife would kill me if she found out that I was involved in something so…”
“Shady? Illegal? Corrupt?” Jack supplied upon the man’s silence.
“Yes,” Mr. Truesdale admitted a moment later.
“Well, I’m sure you’d rather your wife know that her husband is a corrupt and greedy businessman than a philandering louse.”
Mr. Truesdale sighed once again before nodding in agreement.
“Well all right then, let’s get this over with,” Jack said as he stood up from the table, gesturing for the older man to follow him out of the restaurant. Once they exited the building, Jack couldn’t help but grin to himself. He felt like patting himself on the back for a job well done. He knew that Mr. Truesdale’s confession alone wouldn’t be enough to clear his name, but it was a start.
And for added insurance, Jack had recorded their entire conversation, getting the man’s confession on tape. The tiny cassette sat in his pocket, and even knowing that it was safely tucked away, Jack was compelled to pat the pocket of his jeans just to make sure that it was still hidden inside.
As Mr. Truesdale followed him into the parking lot outside the restaurant, Jack felt like whistling. He could have been walking on a cloud for the way he was feeling.
“I’m guessing we’re taking your car? I’m sure you don’t want to ride the bus.” Jack almost snorted out loud at the thought.
“My car is right over there,” Mr. Truesdale said, pointing to the brand new shiny silver Ferrari that sat in the parking lot. The sun had just set, casting the parking lot into shadows. Jack was tired and hungry, having been following the philanderer around all day. He couldn’t wait to get back to Clark’s apartment and tell them all the good news.
The ordeal was almost over; he could feel it. They were so close to nailing Luthor. Soon Jack’s name would be cleared, and the monster would be put behind bars where he belonged. And this coming Saturday would dawn a bright new day—a day that would bring the promise of a bright future for all of them—a day where there would be no union between Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.
Jack followed Mr. Truesdale over to the shiny car before getting into the passenger seat. Never once did it occur to him that they were being followed.
TBC...
