“Revenge?” asked Lois. “Sarah, you’re already in enough trouble. Don’t do something else you’ll regret.”
“Relax,” Sarah said as she drew her fingernail up the sole of Lois’ foot, causing it to twitch slightly. “You said yourself I’ve never hurt anybody before. I don’t plan on starting now.”
“Then how do you plan on getting revenge on Lex?” asked Lois.
“I plan on stealing millions of dollars from him,” replied Sarah. “Normally that would make me feel bad, but since he’s rich, I don’t feel bad. It also helps that he’s scum.”
“Lex Luthor is one of the most generous philanthropists in this country,” argued Lois. “LexCorp is also a very big company. I’m sure he didn’t directly fire your mother, and I’m sure he’ll right any wrongs he did to your family.”
“Maybe Luthor didn’t directly fire my mother, but it’s still his company,” explained Sarah. “I blame him completely, and he will pay. Believe me; I’ll make him pay.”
“What makes you even think you’ll be able to get close to Lex?” asked Lois.
“Next weekend, he’ll be attending some charity event,” Sarah explained. “I read about it in your newspaper. In addition to Luthor, there’ll be a lot of other prominent figures there. Politicians, movie stars, sports stars.”
“And?” asked Lois.
“And you’re going to help me rob the place,” Sarah answered. “The people who will be there are the type of people who are sure to be wearing expensive jewelry or have something else of value on them. You will steal whatever you can off of as many people as possible. I’ll use whatever you steal to finish paying off my mother’s bills, and I’ll use Luthor’s money for my escape.”
“And if I refuse?” asked Lois.
“You won’t,” said Sarah. “You’ll be wearing a pair of tickling boots. If you pull anything funny, I’ll turn them on.”
“What about Lex?” asked Lois.
“Leave him to me,” replied Sarah. “Oh, and Lois, be sure everything you steal ends up in my mother’s possession. I’ll be watching you even after the heist just to make sure you do what you’re told. Fail to listen, and I’ll turn the tickling boots on.”
Sarah then placed the tickling boots on Lois’ feet. Luckily, they just so happened to be a perfect fit. They looked just like a regular pair of boots, and they were actually quite comfortable as well. Furthermore, they were actually a very stylish pair of black boots. Nobody would even know the difference between the tickling boots and a real pair of boots if you put them side by side. Once both boots were on Lois’ feet, Sarah left the building, leaving Lois still tied up.
Almost immediately, Lois began to attempt wriggle her way out of the ropes, but that wasn’t working. Then, she rolled her chair up closer to her desk, knocked the receiver of her telephone over, and attempted to dial the numbers on the phone using her nose. It was difficult, and she ended up dialing a few wrong numbers the first two times she called, but she finally managed to get a hold of Clark.
*****
Within a half hour, Clark arrived at the Daily Planet. He’d considered using his super speed to get to Lois, but he decided against it since it would make Lois suspicious. Anyways, he figured she wasn’t in any immediate danger, and giving her some time to think about how she’d gotten herself into this mess might be a good thing. As the elevator doors finally opened to reveal Lois’ predicament, Clark couldn’t help but smirk a little bit.
“You don’t have to enjoy this so much,” Lois pouted as Clark began untying the ropes.
“How can I not enjoy this,” replied Clark as he snickered a little bit. “Serves you right for checking up on a lead without your partner.”
“I was told to come alone,” Lois defended herself.
“Since when do you ever do what you’re told?” Clark ribbed her.
“Shut up,” Lois scolded him, though she wasn’t really mad about the teasing. She knew she’d be doing the same thing if the roles were reversed.
*****
The next morning, Lois sat in Perry’s office, trying to pull one of the tickling boots off, but no matter how hard she pulled at the boot, her foot was stuck in it. Despite the fact that she knew from talking to Dr. Banks that the boots would be locked onto the feet of the person wearing them, she still felt the need to try to remove them herself anyways. Since that wasn’t working, Lois opened up her desk drawer and pulled a hammer out of it. She hit the boot a couple of times, but even a hammer wasn’t enough to force the boots off. Finally, just as Clark came running into the room, Lois gave up.
“Dr. Banks says the only way to get those boots off is for you to come in and see him,” said Clark. “I tried to press him for more information, but he’s very hesitant about revealing any secrets about his invention. He even said that while he’d be happy to remove the boots, Lois would have to agree to be blindfolded so that she wouldn’t see what he was doing to remove them.”
“Maybe, she doesn’t want them off,” Perry suggested.
“What?” asked Lois. “I know I said before that I could take the tickling, but I was wrong. I am so sick of being tickled, you wouldn’t believe it! I don’t want to wear these things for one more minute.”
“Let’s think about this,” said Perry. “Lois still wearing the boots would be more helpful in an attempt to capture Sarah. If she sees that you’ve had them removed, she’ll know something’s not right, and she might run. I just finished talking to the police, and they agree.”
“I’m not worried about catching Sarah right now,” said Lois. “I’m worried about myself.”
“Sorry Lois, but I agree with Perry,” added Clark. “Also, what beneficial to the police is beneficial to us.”
“That’s right, Lois,” Perry added. “Just think; Sarah’s arrest during an attempt to nab Luthor would make a really good ending to your series of articles on The Tickler.”
“All you have to do is take a little more tickling,” added Clark.
“No way,” Lois objected. “Let her put tickling boots on one of you two. I’m not getting tickled again, not even for a story.”
“Don’t worry, Lois, I’ve got this really great idea that’s sure to work,” Clark piped in. “Just will yourself not to be ticklish.”
“Ha ha, very funny,” Lois said as she rolled her eyes.
“Let’s get serious here. The fact is that your work on these stories so far has been brilliant. If you give a strong ending to your series on The Tickler, it might even be worthy of a Kerth,” Perry coaxed her.
“Fine, but no more mind-over-matter jokes.” Lois’ eyes darted in Clark’s direction as if to warn him.
“No more jokes,” said Clark. “I promise.”
*****
Finally, the night of the charity event arrived, and Lois, Clark and Jimmy arrived at Shuster Hall, the location where the charity event was being held. Despite the threat of The Tickler, the event still had a large attendance. Popular movie and TV stars were there to auction off props from their films and shows, sports stars were appearing to auction off sports memorabilia, and Lex Luthor had promised to auction off some items from his own personal collection. Furthermore, many popular musical entertainers were set to perform live, and there were going to be opportunities for fans of the stars to get pictures taken with them. Yes, there was no doubt that millions of dollars would be raised at this event.
“I wonder when Sarah will make an appearance,” said Lois.
“We should probably leave you alone for a minute,” suggested Clark. “She’ll never approach you if we’re by your side the whole time.”
“I’ll go take a few pictures inside,” said Jimmy as he and Clark entered the building together.
Lois slowly walked back and forth outside the building a few times, trying to keep an eye out for Sarah, but she didn’t see anything. In fact, she didn’t even see the police. They’d certainly done a good job at concealing themselves from sight. Lois felt a little bad about setting a trap like this for Sarah, but Sarah had left her no choice. Instead of doing the right thing and turning herself in, Sarah had chosen to steal more money.
Finally, Sarah approached Lois. She wasn’t wearing her usual costume, probably in an effort to blend in. Instead, she was wearing an elegant black dress and carrying a tiny purse. She was also wearing a tag that said Sarah Craig, Metropolis Star. It was actually a fairly effective disguise, considering the building was swarming with reporters.
“Lois, I haven’t seen you since the Kerth Awards,” Sarah said, pretending like they were old friends until she got close to her.
At first, Lois didn’t immediately recognize her without her costume and thought that Sarah was in fact an old friend. She struggled to remember the face of the woman in front of her, and then, it hit her.
“Sarah?” she asked.
“That’s right, dear,” she replied. “I notice your still wearing the boots. Good choice. Nobody likes traitors.”
“Of course not,” Lois replied. She looked for the police to come to her aid, but apparently, Sarah’s disguise had worked.
“We’ll meet out here in an hour,” Sarah told her. “That’ll give you plenty of time to steal some nice things, and it’ll give me plenty of time to take care of Mr. Luthor.”
“Fine,” said Lois.
“Oh, and by the way Lois,” Sarah added. “I’m turning the tickling boots on now. I’ll increase the amount of tickling every so often, just to make sure you have incentive to get me a lot of expensive things.”
With that, Sarah left, and the tickling boots were on. At the moment, Lois could barely feel the tickling, but she knew from what Sarah had told her that it would get worse. Lois entered the building and looked for Clark, and when she spotted him, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him closer to her.
“Where are the police,” she whispered. “Sarah just talked to me. She’s going after Lex, and she turned on the tickling boots.”
“She did?” asked Clark.
He scanned the room, but he didn’t see Sarah or Lex. That meant she must have already gotten a hold of him.
“It’s already getting worse, Clark, and I have a full hour of this to go!” Lois was hopping from foot to foot in frustration over the tickling.
“I’ll look for the police, Lois,” said Clark. “I’ll be back as soon as I find them.”
He ran for the exit, and once he was out of sight, he spun into his Superman costume. Clark wasn’t exactly sure why he was in such a rush to help out Lex Luthor, but he wouldn’t have felt right about not saving him no matter how much he didn’t like Lex personally. Meanwhile, Lois continued jumping around the room in agony.
“Lois Lane,” a female voice said from behind her. “Oh my gosh, I’ve always loved your work. It’s so great to finally meet you.”
Of all the times to meet a fan, this was the worst possible moment. Lois turned around, still hopping from foot to foot as she moved, and smiled at the woman. It was a pretty young woman with blonde, curly hair and blue eyes. She was holding her hand out to shake Lois’ hand.
“Hehehehe,” Lois giggled as she shook the woman’s hand. She couldn’t manage to speak through the laughter.
The woman had a puzzled look on her face. As she looked down at her watch, she said, “It’s a little early to be so tipsy, isn’t it?”
Lois had a weird grin on her face as she tried her best to hold in the laughter.
“Oh well, when you’re a great reporter, I guess it’s fine to have a little fun every now and then,” the woman added. “My name is Vicki Vale. I’m a photojournalist from Gotham. You may recognize me from my work on Batman.”
Lois hadn’t stopped jumping from foot to foot throughout the entire exchange. Finally, she took a deep breath, held it for a minute, and managed to stand still for a moment.
“Yes, yes, I’ve seen your work,” replied Lois, finally able to get a few words out of her mouth.
“Well, the pictures I’ve gotten of him so far are a little blurry, but you never know, I might get lucky some day,” Vicki continued.
Lois couldn’t hold in the laughter any more. She burst out laughing loudly.
Vicki frowned. “Well, the nerve of some people. You may be Lois Lane, one of the most successful women in the career of journalism, but that doesn’t give you the right to laugh in my face. What, do you think you’re better than me or something?”
“Of course not,” Lois replied, struggling not to laugh again, but it was no good. She laughed even louder this time.
“Unbelievable. You used to be my idol until I found out how stuck up you are,” said Vicki in a furious tone. “I may not be as good of a journalist as you, but I’d never laugh in somebody else’s face.”
With that, she threw her drink in Lois’ face and stormed off. Lois couldn’t be bothered to care, though. She was still too busy laughing from the tickling boots.
*****
Meanwhile, as Lex was sitting tied to a chair, Sarah injected him with the drug violently. As he winced in pain, a smile came across her face.
“So, Mr. Luthor, are you going to cooperate?” she asked devilishly.
“You have no idea who you are dealing with,” he replied angrily, struggling to break free from the ropes. “I’ll rip you from limb to limb when I get out of this!”
“That’s only if you get out of this,” Sarah said as she tickled Lex’s ribs with her fingers. “And you won’t. Trust me.”
“What do you plan on doing to me?” asked Lex.
“I plan on torturing you,” Sarah replied in a cold tone.
She took her feather duster-gun out of her purse, turned it on, and placed it on his feet. Lex maintained a stiff face throughout the first minute.
“Oh, you’re going to be another one of those who try to play like this isn’t bothering you,” said Sarah. “That act won’t work. I helped designed that drug, and it will cause tickling to be torture to anybody.”
A solitary drip of sweat came down Lex’s face. He still managed to maintain his composure for the most part, though. Then, two minutes later, his face was turning purple from holding in the laughter. Sarah was thoroughly enjoying herself. Finally, Lex cracked and began laughing.
“Had enough?” asked Sarah.
Just then, Superman burst through the door, and Sarah stopped tickling Lex abrubtly. This time, she was trapped, and she knew it.
“Superman,” Sarah said in defeat.
Behind Superman, several police officers and Lex’s trusted ally Nigel rushed into the room. One of them grabbed Sarah and handcuffed her. Anohter began untying Lex. As one of them began giving Sarah her Miranda rights, Lex whispered something in Nigel’s ear. While most everyone else in the room didn’t hear his words, Superman was able to make them out.
“I may have some use for The Tickler,” he said.
To be continued...
