The Tickler ran over to a nearby window and looked outside. The bank was surrounded by police cars, and there were police officers swarming all over the parking lot. She then looked out another window, trying to think of an exit strategy. There didn’t seem to be anything she could do to escape.
“You might as well give up now,” she heard Lois say from behind her. “You’ll never escape from all those cops. I’ll also let you in on a little secret. I’m tight with Superman. If he gets here and see’s me in danger, you’re toast.”
“Shut up; shut up,” Sarah ordered as she pounded her fists onto her head as if to try to force a plan out of her brain.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Sarah, Lois, and the other hostages stared at it in silence. It rang three times without an answer. Finally, Sarah moved towards it and picked it up.
“Hello, this is Tyler Warren with the Metropolis Police Department,” said the voice coming from the phone. “You can call me Tyler. What’s your name?”
“Do you actually think I’m dumb enough to tell you my name?” asked The Tickler. “I’m a bank robber; you’re a cop. Do you think I don’t get the concept that you want to put me behind bars!”
“Sorry ma’am,” replied Tyler in a calm voice. “I didn’t mean to imply you’re dumb.”
“Yeah, well you’re ‘make friends with the criminal’ routine isn’t going to work,” replied The Tickler.
“I really want to help you,” said Tyler. “We have you surrounded. There’s nowhere for you to go. Look, we want what’s best for everyone. Your best shot at survival is to come out now, okay?”
“Fine,” said The Tickler. “Listen, I don’t want anybody to get hurt, either. I’m not a bad person. Let’s make this a little bit easier on everyone. I’ll release the hostages first. Then, you can come in here, and I’ll turn myself in.”
“That sounds like a good plan, ma’am.”
The Tickler hung up the phone and picked up her trench coat, which was still lying on the floor. As she put it on, she said, “You heard me, you’re all free to leave.”
The hostages didn’t have to be told twice. Only Lois, who was still tied to the chair, sat still. The rest of the hostages all hastily headed towards the door, practically knocking each other over in order to get out. It was just what The Tickler had been hoping for. Unnoticed by anybody else, she wriggled her way into the crowd and walked right out of the main exit just like the hostages. Once outside, she made sure nobody was looking and ran out of sight.
Just as the hostages were being released, Superman flew down from the air. Usually, he looked calm during even the most dangerous crisis, but this time, there was a noticeable look of uneasiness on his face. He was worried about Lois, and he was desperately scanning the crowd for any sign of her. He knew that Lois had been in that bank, but as he looked through the many unharmed hostages that had been released, he noticed that Lois wasn’t among them. He’d only allowed Lois to go into the bank to begin with because he didn’t think she’d be in any danger, but now, he was regretting that decision.
“Superman, you’re a little late this time.”
Superman turned around and noticed his friend Inspector Henderson. Henderson waved at Superman to signal him to follow him into the bank.
“I was busy putting out a fire in Gotham,” explained Superman. “I wish I could have been here earlier. Did you at least catch the bank robber? Also, is Lois Lane all right?”
“We got her to release her hostages, and she’s about to turn herself in to us,” explained Inspector Henderson. “I have no idea about Lois. Is she here?”
“She was undercover in the bank,” replied Superman. “If she didn’t exit with the hostages, I’m guessing The Tickler has another card up her sleeve.”
“You’re probably right,” Inspector Henderson said as he held his gun at the ready. “Good thing you let me know about Lois. I have the distinct feeling we just got played by The Tickler.”
Once they made it inside the bank, though, they saw that except for Lois, the room was empty. Lois was still tied to the chair and was still missing one of her shoes. She was thrashing around violently in the chair trying to escape, but she wasn’t having any luck. Furthermore, a handkerchief had been placed in her mouth to keep her from speaking.
“Lois, are you all right?” Superman asked as he pulled the handkerchief out of her mouth.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “The only problem is that ‘Barney Fife’ over there let The Tickler get away. I saw her leave with the hostages.”
“I’ll get you untied,” replied Superman as he ripped the ropes off of Lois.
*****
Later that day at the Daily Planet, Lois prepared her story on The Tickler. The title on the computer screen read “The Tickler Strikes Again,” but she hadn’t yet started writing the actual story. She was still a little bit flustered about the whole ordeal, though she’d played tough when questioned by Superman and Inspector Henderson. The truth was that the brief tickling she’d taken at the hands of The Tickler had had a unique effect on her. As a reporter, she’d been in plenty of jams before and had managed to keep her cool. Guns, knives, bombs – you name it – nothing had ever caused her to lose it. She’d been genuinely surprised that the tickling was such a torturous experience, and she wasn’t entirely sure what would have happened had The Tickler not been interrupted.
“Lois, I heard you had a tough day, so I thought I’d bring you a little treat.”
Lois turned around. It was Clark, and he was standing there with a bright smile on his face and a bag of doughnuts in his hand.
“It wasn’t such a bad day, but thanks,” Lois said as she grabbed the bag of doughnuts.
“You were taken hostage by a depraved bank robber,” replied Clark. “Don’t play it down. It was a big deal.”
“I don’t even know if I’d call her depraved,” replied Lois. “I keep thinking about what we know about her, and I don’t think she’s all that bad.”
“She robs banks for a living, Lois,” replied Clark.
“She doesn’t carry a gun or any other weapon that can permanently harm somebody. I know that from personal experience,” explained Lois.
“She didn’t carry a real gun this time. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t before or won’t use one in the future,” argued Clark.
“As far as we know, she never has carried a gun during any of her past heists. I doubt she’ll change her M.O. in the future,” replied Lois. “That tells me she’s not looking to hurt anybody.”
“I don’t know, Lois,” replied Clark.
“Another thing – Jimmy said she was very apologetic after his encounter with her,’ Lois continued. “For goodness sakes, she even told Jimmy he should put some ice on his eye.”
“After she punched him,” Clark reminded Lois.
“She didn’t want to punch him,” argued Lois. “She had to do something to escape, though.”
“Fine, maybe she’s not all that bad,” Clark gave in. “She’s not all that good, either, though.”
“Agreed,” replied Lois.
“Now that that’s settled, what are doughnuts without coffee?” asked Clark as he stood up. “I’ll go get us a couple of cups.”
As he started off to pour some coffee, he bumped into Cat Grant. Cat was wearing a low-cut top showing a lot of cleavage and a particularly short mini skirt. Had it been any other woman, Clark probably would have been surprised, but since it was Cat Grant, he barely even noticed the trashy outfit. Rather than staring at her in awe, he just kept going after politely saying, “Sorry. Excuse me.”
“Lois, you poor little dear. I heard you got tickle tortured for the code to the bank vault,” said Cat in a tone that conveyed fake sympathy. “Were you about to break before the police arrived?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Lois lied. “I’m not even ticklish.”
In the background, Clark was returning with the two cups of coffee. As he listened in on Lois’ conversation with Cat, he grinned. A playful thought entered his mind, and when he noticed Cat looking in his direction, he sat the two cups of coffee down and put a finger up to his mouth as he tiptoed in their direction.
“But she injected you with that drug, didn’t she? It didn’t heighten your senses just a teeny-weeny bit?” asked Cat as she wriggled her fingers at Lois.
“Not even a little bit,” replied Lois.
At this point, Clark was standing directly behind Lois, and his hands were hovering over her sides. As soon as the words “not even a little bit” left Lois’ mouth, he dug his fingers into Lois’ sides and began tickling. Lois shot straight up out of her chair like a rocket, tilted her backwards, and began guffawing.
“I knew you were ticklish,” said Clark as he stopped tickling.
“Oh, I am not, Clark,” grumbled Lois as she turned around and began wildly tickling Clark back.
Lois pushed Clark into the corner, held him against the wall, and continued tickling him all over. In retaliation, Clark began tickling Lois again. Meanwhile, Cat just stood there watching on with a lonely frown on her face, and a crowd of reporters began to gather as Lois and Clark continued the tickling.
Finally, a stern voice said, “Are you finished yet?”
Lois and Clark, now both quite disheveled, looked around and realized it was Perry. For the first time, they also noticed the crowd that had gathered around them. The happy grins on both of their faces faded into embarrassed frowns.
“Sorry, Perry, I guess we got a little carried away,” said Clark.
“Is that new story on The Tickler ready yet?” asked Perry.
“No,” replied Lois.
“Then I suggest the two of you get busy on it.” Then, he turned and faced the rest of his staff. “And the rest of you get busy on your stories.”
Everybody immediately rushed back to work, except for Lois and Clark, who both stood there catching their breath. Meanwhile, Cat slinked over to Clark, grabbed him by the tie, and pulled him over towards herself.
“Is it my turn?” she asked as she put her arms in the air and stretched her body seductively.
“I think it’s best to get back to work, now. You heard Perry,” said Clark.
Cat frowned and walked away. “Some women have all the fun,” she said as she gave Lois a poke to the ribs on her way past her, causing her to jump.
*****
Sarah Carter arrived home late that night. She was no longer wearing her costume. Instead, she wore the outfit she’d worn every day as a lab assistant, a white lab coat and black pants. She was carrying a bag full of groceries. When she opened the door, she was greeted by a woman in her sixties with gray hair.
“Hi, Mom,” Sarah said in a sad tone.
“Is there something wrong, dear?” her mother asked.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I can’t afford to help you with your bills this week. Dr. Banks assured me I’d be paid twice as much next week, though,” said Sarah.
“That Dr. Banks is such a nice man,” said Sarah’s mother. “He was so generous to fight to get you that raise to begin with.”
“He sure was,” lied Sarah. “Look, I’ll cook dinner, and then, I’m going to need a nap. It was a long day at work today.”
“That’s fine dear,” replied her mother. “I hope you’re not wearing yourself out on my account.”
“Mom, I promised you I’d take care of you, and I’m going to do it,” said Sarah. “If that means working a little harder, then that’s what it means.”
“You’re a good daughter,” she replied. “Your sisters certainly haven’t been as helpful since I had my surgery and got laid off from work. In fact, I haven’t even heard from Laura in a month. She’s been dodging my phone calls. You’ve always been the only daughter I could ever really depend on.”
“And you’ll always be able to depend on me, Mom.”
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Sarah noticed a newspaper with a story about The Tickler on the front page. She picked up the paper and looked at it. It was titled, “The Tickler Robs Third Bank” by Lois Lane and Clark Kent. There was a sketch artist’s version of The Tickler next to the story, but that wasn’t the picture that caught Sarah’s eye. The picture that interested her was the tiny picture of the reporters who’d written the story next to the article. Sarah squinted her eyes and studied Lois’ picture as hard as she could. Then, it hit her. That woman she’d tickled at the bank wasn’t the manger of the bank. It was Lois Lane, reporter for the Daily Planet!
To be continued...
