Chapter 6
“My golden lasso is missing!” yelled Wonder Woman. “Somebody must have taken it during the battle!”
She ran over to the men that they had just beaten in battle and searched them, but none of them had it on them. Frustrated, she turned around and pointed at the Flash.
“Maybe he took it!” she yelled. She then approached him and put her fist near his face. “You led us here to some sort of trap, didn’t you?”
“After the woman I loved was kidnapped, are you really accusing me of being the bad guy?” the Flash replied, holding his own fist up to Wonder Woman’s face.
“You have super speed,” Wonder Woman replied. “It would explain why someone would be able to steal my golden lasso without me even noticing.”
Superman stepped between them, doing his best to diffuse the fight. “Now, wait just a minute,” he said. “The Flash helped us regain Green Lantern’s ring. That means he’s on our side. I highly doubt that he would double-cross us.”
“But his girlfriend’s life is in danger!” said Wonder Woman. “Maybe he was blackmailed into stabbing us in the back.”
“He’s a hero, though,” Superman reasoned. “I don’t think even a threat against Iris would cause him to betray everything he’s fought for ever since he became the Flash.”
“You say that now, but if somebody threatened the love of your life, you’d do exactly what they told you to do,” said Wonder Woman.
“Not even a threat against the love of my life would be enough to turn me into a traitor,” said Superman.
“I don’t think we were set up by the Flash,” Batman interjected. “Where we went wrong was barging in here without a plan. Had we come prepared, we may have been victorious. Our lack of preparedness allowed our enemy to take advantage of us during the chaos. It’s as simple as that.”
“And it was his fault we came in here without a plan!” Wonder Woman yelled, pointing at Green Lantern.
She then walked over to him and pushed him to the ground. Green Lantern bounced back to his feet and used his ring to create a giant club, which he then used to knock Wonder Woman to the ground. He went to hit her again, but this time, she caught the club in her hands. At this point, he and Wonder Woman just stared at each other, as if each one was waiting for the other to make a move. Then, Superman grabbed a hold of Wonder Woman, Batman grabbed Green Lantern, and the Flash swooped in and grabbed the club.
“What is wrong with the two of you?” asked Batman. “We’re superheroes. We’re not supposed to do things like this.”
“We may be superheroes, but you’re just an ordinary guy in a bat costume! You don’t even have any powers, so don’t even think about telling us what to do,” said Green Lantern.
“You don’t have any powers, either,” said Wonder Woman. “Without that ring, you’re nothing. We proved that when we had to save you from the bad guys after you decided to kick the door down and rush in here.”
“Stop it! Just stop it!” yelled Superman. “Fighting amongst each other will get us nowhere. The only way we’re going to save Iris and get the golden lasso back is to work together.”
“You’re right,” said Wonder Woman, suddenly sounding calmer. “I apologize for losing my head for a minute there.”
“I’m sorry, too,” said Green Lantern. “I guess we’re all so used to working alone that working together might take some practice.”
*****
At Lex Luthor’s mansion, Lex sat back peacefully in his chair as he smoked a cigar as Nigel brought in a tray of food on his table. Then, as if appearing out of nowhere, a man appeared beside the two of them and dropped Wonder Woman’s golden lasso in Lex’s lap.
“Your plan worked,” he said.
“And what plan was that, sir?” asked Nigel. “The ring or the super speed?”
“Neither, said Lex. “You see, Nigel, no matter how many scientist’s worked on unlocking the power’s of Green Lantern’s ring, it just wouldn’t work for me. Not even Barry Allen could figure it out.”
“I see, sir,” Nigel replied.
“And Barry Allen claimed he couldn’t recreate the formula that gave him his powers,” added Lex.
“And you believed him?” Nigel asked.
“Very much,” said Lex. “I doubt he would be so difficult when his girlfriend was in danger. So, I decided to return him, knowing full well that the other superheroes would find him and that he’d lead them back to the laboratory.”
“But why would you do that, sir?” asked Nigel. “Wouldn’t the men working there be sure to be defeated by the superheroes?”
“Yes,” said Lex. “They can’t identify me, though, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to lure Wonder Woman into a trap so that I could steal her golden lasso. And now I have it!” he held the golden lasso up in the air triumphantly.
“I see,” said Nigel. “So, by releasing the Flash and giving up the ring, you still won?”
“Indeed,” said Lex. “And Wonder Woman is the loser! You see, the golden lasso allows whoever possesses it to force their victims to tell the truth.”
“And who do you wish to use it on?” asked Nigel.
“Wonder Woman herself,” replied Lex.
The mysterious man who’d brought Lex the magic lasso had been standing there in silence up to this point, but he finally spoke. “Now that I’ve held up my end of the bargain, where is it?”
“Where is what?” Lex played dumb.
“I think he means his spaceship,” Nigel suggested.
“Oh, that’s right, you’re spaceship,” said Lex. “Oh dear. Where is it? What did I do with that thing?” He clearly enjoyed toying with the man.
“You gave it to Lois Lane,” said Nigel.
“Ah, yes, the Daily Planet’s finest reporter,” said Lex.
“What?” the man asked. “You gave my spaceship away to the press? You promised you wouldn’t do that, you lying, backstabbing…”
“Now, now, now, control your temper,” said Lex. “She has no idea it’s a real spaceship. She thinks it’s a movie prop.”
“Actually, sir,” Nigel interrupted as he picked up the Gotham Gazette. “It appears that the spaceship somehow made it into the newspaper. They think it belongs to Superman.”
Lex let out a delighted chuckle. “I must admit, I didn’t see this coming when she asked to borrow it. I guess this complicates things for you. Better go pick it up yourself before the whole world finds out about you.”
With that, the man snatched the newspaper from Lex’s hand. Before Lex and Nigel could say another word, he was gone.
*****
Within a matter of seconds, the man appeared in the room where the spaceship was being held at the S.T.A.R. Labs facility in Gotham. He was too quick for Lois and Vicki, who were still there contemplating how to steal it when suddenly, the spaceship just seemingly disappeared and an alarm went off.
“Why is the alarm going off?” asked Vicki. “Did you touch the Spaceship?”
“Of course not,” Lois said as she turned her head to look at the spaceship. “Wait a minute! The spaceship! It’s gone!”
“It can’t be gone,” said Vicki, despite the fact that she could see with her own eyes that it was now missing.
Suddenly, about a dozen security guards stormed into the room and shouted for the two of them to get down on the ground and put their hands over their heads. Both Lois and Vicki complied.
*****
After the police had arrived, both Lois and Vicki were taken to the police station despite the fact that they both insisted that they hadn’t done anything. Despite the fact that the spaceship was missing and they were still there, the police didn’t believe that they had nothing to do with it, and they were separated into two different interrogation rooms.
“Lois Lane, reporter for the Daily Planet,” said Commissioner Gordon. “So we meet again. Wanna explain to me why you claimed you were Vicki Vale’s assistant?”
“I lost a bet to her,” Lois lied. “I agreed to be her assistant for the day.”
“And what were the two of you there to do?” he asked.
“To take pictures of the spaceship.”
“Did you go there to steal it?” asked Commissioner Gordon.
“No,” replied Lois.
Commissioner Gordon began flipping through the pages of a file in his hands. “Well, Miss Lane, I see you have quite the police record.”
“Don’t you have better psychos to interrogate than me?” asked Lois. “The Joker? The Penguin? The Riddler?”
“All behind bars,” said Commissioner Gordon. “But for some reason, you’re still running around free. You do a lot of breaking and entering. You’ve stolen evidence from a crime scene. One time, you were arrested for reckless driving. One time you even impersonated a police officer.”
“That was all for stories I was working on,” said Lois. “It’s not like I’m some kind of criminal. You could ask my partner, Clark. He’ll back me up that I’m a good person.”
“Well, Clark wasn’t there when you and Vicki stole that spaceship,” replied Commissioner Gordon. “Or was he your accomplice?”
“Of course not,” Lois replied. “He’s as honest as they come.”
“Where exactly was he today?” asked Commissioner Gordon.
“He was in his hotel room sick,” said Lois.
“Really?” he asked. “Are you sure? Because when I sent a few officers down to check on him, he wasn’t there at all.”
“What?” asked Lois.
“That’s right, so unless Kent has an alibi, I might have to arrest him, too,” said Commissioner Gordon.
“You can’t arrest me,” replied Lois. “You don’t have any proof that I stole that spaceship.”
“But I did find keys to the police station that went missing right after you interviewed me,” said Commissioner Gordon. “You’re not in Metropolis anymore. We know how to handle criminals here in Gotham.”
“Is Vicki being arrested, too,” asked Lois.
“Of course not,” replied Commissioner Gordon. “She’s not the one who stole my keys.”
*****
Back at Lex Luthor’s mansion, Nigel poured Lex a cup of coffee as Lex sat at his desk with the golden lasso in his hands. Lex was as intrigued by it as a child would be to a new toy. In fact, he hadn’t laid the golden lasso down once since it had been given to him earlier that day.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how exactly do you plan on getting Wonder Woman here, sir?” asked Nigel.
“Simple,” replied Lex. “I still have Iris West, and I don’t have any use for her now. I’ll simply lure the superheroes into another trap by using her as bait.”
“But, you against five superheroes, sir?” asked Nigel. “Forgive me for saying so, but won’t you be outmatched?”
“I’ll only face Wonder Woman. As for the others, I’ll create four disasters for them to handle at the same time I allow Iris to call the Flash” explained Lex. “No matter how much they want to work together on this, they won’t allow the rest of the world to crumble while they deal with their own problems.”
“But how can you guarantee Wonder Woman will be the one to come?” asked Nigel. “Wouldn’t the Flash insist on coming to save Iris himself?”
“She’ll want her golden lasso back badly,” said Lex. “I doubt she’ll allow the Flash to come in her place.”
*****
Later, Lex had Iris call Barry, and she gave him instructions to where she was being held captive. Almost immediately after the phone call, Superman’s super hearing began to go wild with various disasters happening all around the globe. Wanting to utilize the whole team, he told the others of the locations of the disasters, and they split them among each other.
Another escape at Arkham Asylum was in the process, and it was to be handled by Batman since he had experience with those villains. A bomb threat in Coast City seemed easy enough for Green Lantern to handle. A huge fire blazed across Central City, and due to his super speed, it seemed easiest to allow the Flash to handle it. In South America, a mine had collapsed, trapping many workers. It seemed like a perfect job for Superman.
Unsurprisingly, the Flash had tried to suggest going after Iris himself, but as Lex had suspected, Wonder Woman insisted on going to regain her golden lasso. The other superheroes reasoned to him that he would be more useful in putting out a fire than Wonder Woman anyways, and he eventually agreed despite not being overly enthusiastic about it.
*****
Wonder Woman used her invisible jet to fly to the location Iris had described in her phone call. She’d been taken all the way to Metropolis, far off from her home city of Central City, where she had been kidnapped.
On the outside, the location where she was being held captive looked just like an ordinary abandoned warehouse, but on the inside, it was a different story. In the center of the room, Iris dangled from the ceiling above a vat of acid. The center of the room was surrounded by a pit of water filled with sharks, which in turn was surrounded by a ring of fire.
It would have been a difficult job for the ordinary person, but for Wonder Woman, it seemed like a piece of cake. That is, until a strange gas filled the room, and Wonder Woman found herself knocked out.
Later, Wonder Woman awoke and drowsily looked around the room. She was still at the same place, but one thing had changed. Iris was no longer dangling above the vat of acid. It was now Wonder Woman who was dangling there, and she was tied up by her own golden lasso.
Suddenly, Lex, using a mask to disguise his appearance entered the room. he stopped at the ring of fire and began clapping wildly.
“Bravo, Wonder Woman!” he yelled. “You played the part of hero perfectly. Now, let’s see how you play the part of damsel in distress. Not something you’re very used to, is it?”
Wonder Woman squirmed to try to free herself, but there wasn’t any point. Not even she could escape the golden lasso, and even if she was able to escape, she’d fall into the vat of acid.
“You wouldn’t be so smug if I was free to fight you!” yelled Wonder Woman.
“Perhaps not,” Lex agreed. “But unlike you, brawn is not my strong suit. The way I win is by using my brain. For example, you may be stronger than me, but I would never find myself hanging on for dear life above a vat of acid.”
“You’ll be a lot worse off when I get down from here!” yelled Wonder Woman.
“Oh, really?” asked Lex.
Lex grabbed a small device out of his pants pocket and pushed a button. Suddenly, Wonder Woman felt a jolt of electricity run through her body, and she let out a scream.
“Is the big, strong Amazon woman in pain?” mocked Lex. “For as long as you are up there and I am down here, I am the master, and you are simply my puppet. That may be a bit of a role reversal, but too bad.”
“I’m nobody’s puppet,” said Wonder Woman, but Lex simply pressed the button again, causing her to once again scream in pain.
“What is it exactly that you want from me?” asked Wonder Woman.
“I want you to sing for me,” said Lex. “I want you to tell me all of your secrets.”
To be continued...
