Chapter 7
Wonder Woman did her best to maintain the appearance that she wasn’t worried, but it was all a façade. How could she not be worried when some madman was using her own golden lasso against her? She was about to be forced to answer questions she didn’t want to answer, and there was nothing she could do about it. As strong and powerful as she was, this feeling of helplessness was very new to her.
“I’ve discovered most of your secret identities on my own, but there is one that eludes me,” said Luthor. “Superman. I’ve long debated with myself whether or not he even has a secret identity, and now, finally, you will tell me the answer to that question that has plagued me for so long. So, my dear, tell me, does Superman have a secret identity?”
Wonder Woman could feel her lips trying to move to answer the question, so she bit her lip and struggled not to answer. She put everything she had into not answering. In fact, she was biting down so hard that a bit of blood began to trickle down to her chin. Her face had turned red, and sweat was running down her cheeks. But all of that effort was for nothing because even with all of her strength, she wasn’t strong enough to beat the powers of the golden lasso. “Yes,” she finally blurted out.
“Now, see, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” asked Lex. “What is Superman’s secret identity?”
The last question had been bad enough, but Wonder Woman really did not want to answer this question. It would make her a complete traitor to everything she stood for because Superman stood for those things, too. “I won’t tell you,” she replied, using every bit of strength she had in her not to out Superman’s greatest secret.
“You must,” said Lex. “I’m using the golden lasso on you, and that means you have to answer my questions, no matter what you feel like. Just think. What you are feeling now is what every person you’ve ever used this precious weapon has felt like. You probably never gave it a second thought when it was you wielding the golden lasso against others, but now that it is you under the lasso’s spell, you realize how terrible it feels to have a secret you’d never want anybody to know and be forced to tell it anyways. Now, tell me Superman’s secret identity.”
“Clark Kent,” she finally replied. She’d finally used up her last ounce of strength and could no longer resist answering whatever question’s Lex wanted her to answer.
“What?” Lex asked, perplexed by this answer.
“Clark Kent,” replied Wonder Woman. “He’s a reporter at the Daily Planet.” She didn’t want to give Lex more information than she already had, but the golden lasso had forced her to elaborate on her previous answer.
“I know exactly who he is,” Lex replied nastily. “Are you completely sure that Clark Kent is Superman? Clark Kent?”
“Yes,” she replied, though she was starting to hate herself a little bit for answering Lex’s questions.
Lex took a deep breath and a moment to collect his thoughts before moving on to his next question. “Your bracelets are invulnerable against any type of bullet known to man. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” Wonder Woman replied. “No bullet can penetrate my bracelets.”
“What is it that they are made of?” he asked.
“Feminum,” she replied. “A mineral called Feminum.”
“I’ve never heard of it before,” said Lex. “Where can I find it?”
“Why do you need it?” Wonder Woman asked, suddenly finding her strength again and resisting the urge to tell him the answer.
“That is of no concern to you,” said Lex. “Now, tell me where I can find it.”
“It can only be found on Paradise Island, my home,” said Wonder Woman. Her strength had once again diminished.
“And how can I get to Paradise Island?” asked Lex.
“It’s located in the Bermuda Triangle,” replied Wonder Woman.
“If I was to go there to get some of this Feminum for myself, would I run into any trouble?” asked Lex.
“Definitely,” replied Wonder Woman. “There will be an army of Amazon warriors there who would do anything to defend the island. An ordinary man like you wouldn’t stand a chance against them.”
“An army of wonder women,” said Lex. “It would probably be a lot harder to defeat them than it was to defeat you.”
“They’d pulverize you,” replied Wonder Woman.
“But if I had an army of my own,” Lex thought out loud. “An army of the most powerful villains-for-hire that the world has to offer. Bane. Sinestro. Captain Cold. The list just goes on and on. I’d be almost unstoppable myself.”
“Those people would never work for you,” said Wonder Woman. “They all like being top dog too much to work for somebody else.”
“I’d find a way to sweeten the deal for them,” Lex replied confidently. “They’re all greedy. Every one of them has dreams of more cash than they know what to do with, and I have plenty of that to go around. Now, is it true that I can make you forget everything that we just talked about?”
“Yes,” said Wonder Woman. “I will forget everything if you command me to do so.”
“In that case, I want you to forget everything that happened after you were captured,” said Lex.
*****
“A night in jail and a $200 fine just for stealing keys!” Lois yelled as she and Vicki walked out of the police station the next morning.
“Keys to the police station,” Vicki specified. “Consider yourself lucky.”
“Lucky!” Lois shouted. “Lucky! He kept me in an interrogation room for hours asking me about the stolen spaceship until he was satisfied that I didn’t steal it. After that was all over, I spent the night in jail. Maybe I should walk back in there and give Commissioner Gordon a big hug for being so nice to me! After all, he gave me a night in jail and a $200 fine! That’s every girl’s dream!”
“You might have had more jail time if I hadn’t begged Gordon to let you out this morning,” said Vicki. “Fortunately for you, the name Bruce Wayne has some pull in this town, and since people know I’m close to him, I can wriggle my way out of situations like this every so often.”
“Well good for you,” Lois said sarcastically.
“I just hope Bruce doesn’t mind buying those new police cars and paying for the police station to be remodeled,” added Vicki.
Lois stopped in her tracks. “Wait a minute. So the only reason Commissioner Gordon let me out of jail was because you told him Bruce Wayne would –“
“Buy him new police cars and pay for the police station to be remodeled,” Vicki finished Lois’ sentence.
“Do you think he would mind paying my $200 fine?” Lois asked.
Vicki rolled her eyes, shook her head, and said, “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Fine, so maybe that’s asking for just a little bit too much,” Lois admitted. “So, did you get anywhere in tracking down the real thief while I was locked away.”
“I got somewhere, but not far,” replied Vicki.
“So, what did you find out?” asked Lois.
Vicki just stared at her for a second.
“What?” asked Lois.
“I’m just trying to figure out if I can trust you this time,” replied Vicki. “After all, you haven’t always been so nice to me when it came to business.”
“I’m not going to pull any of those old tricks after you helped get me out of jail,” said Lois. “What do you think I am? A monster?”
“Not a monster,” replied Vicki. “But some of us did throw around the nickname Mad Dog Lane every now and then. And I doubt the fact that we work for two different newspapers will make things any easier.”
“You’re a photographer, and I’m an investigative reporter,” replied Lois. “You can get a picture of the recovered spaceship for your boss once we find it, and I can write the story for my newspaper. Working together will be a win-win situation. Besides, my partner is battling a terrible cold. I could use the help.”
“I guess we can work together if you swear I won’t regret it,” said Vicki.
“I swear,” replied Lois. She then held out her hand, and Vicki shook it.
“I talked to the police,” said Vicki. “Surveillance footage shows the two of us and the spaceship in the room one second. The next second a blurry figure appears in the room. No matter what they did to enhance the video footage, nobody could make out exactly what it was. After that, both the spaceship and the figure are gone.”
“Who could move at a speed like that?” Lois asked.
“Your pal Superman for one,” said Vicki. “Maybe Lex Luthor really had stolen his spaceship.”
“Lex wouldn’t do something like that, and Superman would never resort to stealing, even if he was just stealing back his own property,” Lois argued. “Superman would have been upfront about it. That’s the way he is. Besides, he’s not the only fast man in the world. The Flash, for example.”
“But the Flash isn’t an alien,” Vicki replied.
“Fair enough,” said Lois. But are we sure that the Flash and Superman are the only ones with the gift of super speed?”
“Do you think there might be other Kryptonians out there?” asked Vicki.
“Maybe,” said Lois. “A super fast man who steals a spaceship seems like a Kryptonian to me. Or maybe some type of alien from another planet. Did you find anything else out about him.”
“Just one thing,” replied Vicki. “The police said they found a card to a cookie shop on the floor. It wasn’t mine, and if it wasn’t yours, that means it must have belonged to him.”
“It definitely wasn’t mine,” said Lois. “If we’re lucky, he works at the cookie shop. If we’re unlucky, he was just a customer. An employee might know something about him, though.”
“Either way, it’s the only lead we have,” said Vicki.
“What was the name of the shop?” asked Lois.
“Appropriately enough, the name of the shop is Out of This World,” said Vicki.
*****
Wonder Woman felt a splash of water hit her face and woke up and opened her eyes. She couldn’t explain why she was asleep. The last thing she could remember was that she’d gone off to rescue Iris, and then… there really wasn’t anything after that. She stood up and looked around the room. Iris was there, safe in the arms of the Flash. Also there were Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern.
“What’s going on?” asked Wonder Woman.
“We were hoping you could answer that question,” said Superman. “When you didn’t return with Iris, we got worried and came after you. When we got here, Iris was tied to a chair, and you were passed out on the ground.”
“Thankfully, she was fine, but she couldn’t tell us anything about who kidnapped her or where she’s been,” said Flash. “The last thing she remembers is before she was kidnapped.”
“And that means both of you are experiencing some sort of memory loss,” said Batman.
“My golden lasso,” said Wonder Woman. “You can use it to make people forget things. Whoever stole it must have used it against the two of us before setting us free.”
*****
Meanwhile, Lois and Vicki arrived in front of the Out of This World cookie shop. For a name like that, the shop had a rather ordinary looking exterior - plain brown walls and an old, worn out sign that said ‘Out of This World.’ However, the smell of freshly baked cookies coming from the shop was probably enough to attract any customers who passed by.
Lois and Vicki walked inside to find an empty room. No customers, no employees – completely empty. There was a tray of freshly baked cookies lying on the front desk, though, which clearly indicated that somebody had probably been in the shop recently. Lois pointed to the cookies to indicate that point to Vicki, who nodded her head to show a sign of understanding.
“Is anyone there?” Lois called out. “My friend and I want to buy some cookies!”
There was no answer.
“What do we do now?” asked Vicki.
“And you’ve been in the news business for how long?” asked Lois. “No answer means we’re free to snoop around.”
Lois went behind the front desk and started to look around. Meanwhile, Vicki went over to a door in the corner of the room and checked to see if it was unlocked. Fortunately, it was unlocked. As she opened the door, she peeked inside.
“Lois!” she called. “You have got to see this!”
Lois stopped what she was doing and immediately ran to the door. Inside the room, she saw the missing spaceship.
“Vicki, go call the police to tell them where they can find their missing spaceship,” said Lois. “I’ll stand guard here to make sure nobody comes back.”
“Are we sure we want the police to find this thing, though,” asked Vicki. “After all, you said it was a fake.”
“I’m not so sure it is anymore,” said Lois. “A man as fast as Superman went through the trouble to steal it. If that doesn’t scream lost alien spaceship, I don’t know what does.”
“You’re right,” said Vicki, as she ran into the other room to look for a payphone.
Lois walked around the spaceship and inspected it. For a real spaceship, it sure looked an awful lot like what you’d see in the movies.
“Just who do you belong to?” Lois asked to herself. “Another Kryptonian like Superman? A friend or a foe? And why exactly did Lex Luthor have you in his possession?”
*****
Later, Vicki slowly walked around the spaceship, taking pictures of it from every angle. The police had arrived minutes earlier, and the spaceship was about to be taken away back to S.T.A.R. Labs for scientific research purposes. After being stolen earlier, security was going to be increased more than ever, and even the press would be banned from seeing it, meaning that this would be Vicki’s last chance to get a shot of the mysterious spacecraft.
Meanwhile, Lois was talking to as many police officers as possible to get the inside scoop for the Daily Planet. As Commissioner Gordon arrived on the scene, she ran up to him and held a tape recorder up to his mouth.
“Commissioner Gordon, one of the detectives told me that this place is owned by a man named Michael Horn. What are you doing to track him down?”
“What a blabbermouth,” replied Commissioner Gordon. “Lane, haven’t you gotten into enough trouble in Gotham already?”
“I’ve also managed to recover the missing spaceship,” answered Lois.
“No comment at this time,” said Commissioner Gordon as he pushed Lois to the side so that he could speak to his police officers. “All right, let’s get that thing packed up and shipped off to S.T.A.R. Labs. We’re done here.”
As the police left with the spaceship, Lois and Vicki remained outside of the cookie shop.
“So, I guess we’re done here,” said Vicki.
“You might be now that you have your pictures, but I’m not,” replied Lois. “My story would have a much neater ending if I can find Michael Horn.”
“If you’re still in, then I’m still in,” answered Vicki. “So, what’s our next step in hunting down our man from outer space?”
“He might always come back here now that all of the hubbub is over,” said Lois. “I propose a stakeout.”
“Good idea,” said Vicki. “I’ll head back to my apartment to pack a few supplies and meet you back here in an hour.”
“Fine,” said Lois. “I think I’ll check in on my partner to see if he’s feeling any better. We could use the extra help if he’s up for a stakeout.”
*****
Clark arrived back at his hotel room and began to change out of his Superman costume and get into a pair of pajamas. True, Wonder Woman’s golden lasso was missing, and he wanted to be out trying to get it back, but it was getting late. He was afraid that Lois might be stopping by soon to check on him soon, and he didn’t want her to find an empty room.
Almost as soon as he had changed, he heard a knock at the door, and his x-ray vision confirmed it was Lois. He then picked up his glasses, put them on his face, and opened the door.
“Lois?” he said, putting on his best act to sound tired and sick.
“You poor thing,” she replied. “You look awful. Are you feeling worse?”
“Yes,” Clark lied. “Any leads on the Batman story?”
“No,” she replied. “I haven’t exactly been working on that one lately. I’ve found an even bigger story.”
“Bigger than Batman?” asked Clark.
“Yep,” said Lois.
“What could be bigger than Batman?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t want to get into all the tiny little details seeing as how you’re sick, but it involves Lex Luthor, a spaceship, and a man as fast as Superman. Oh, and by the way, I spent the night in jail.”
“What!” Clark shouted, clearly surprised.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she replied as she began to walk towards the door. “Vicki Vale took care of it for me. By the way, we’re working together on the story, and we’ll be doing a stakeout tonight.”
“Vicki Vale, the woman who had you honeyed and feathered?” asked Clark.
“Yeah, but we’re friends now,” said Lois. “OK, bye.” She then closed the door and left.
Clark stood there trying to take in everything Lois had just told him for a moment, debating whether or not he should follow her. In the end, he decided not to. After all, he had a big job to take care of. He needed to help find whoever stole Wonder Woman’s golden lasso and to stop them from doing whatever they planned on doing next.
*****
Later, Lois arrived at the Out of This World cookie shop to find Vicki sitting in the back of a limousine parked behind some bushes. She walked over to it, opened the door, and got inside.
“Not the best vehicle for a stakeout, Vicki. This won’t look suspicious at all,” Lois said sarcastically.
“It was the best I could do on short notice,” she replied. “Bruce is away on business, but his butler let me borrow the limo.”
“Shhh,” Lois quieted her.
“What?” whispered Vicki.
“A man just arrived at the shop. He went in through the back door,” Lois replied.
To be continued...
