1
Kitty Kowalski's eyes shot open to a thunderous, deafening sound. Her room was collapsing, she was sure of it. Frozen in terror, she peered up at the ceiling until the noise subsided, then let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
After the initial shock, she took a moment to look at her whereabouts. She was laying on a bed―no, a cot―and an unsightly one at that. The walls were very industrial looking, stained with streaks of rust and sulfur. The room itself was quite small, just large enough to accommodate the cot, cleaning supplies, and a water heater.
Kitty sat on the side of the bed, a sudden pain rushing to her head. It was a deep throbbing pain, clearly resulting from some sort of bump. She stood up and walked to the doorway, opening the deteriorated door.
She found herself in a narrow hallway, mimicking the same industrial feel as the previous room. Making her way toward the end, she passed several rooms before ending up in a large circular lobby. Along one side of the room was a long row of computer consoles, depicting images from various security cameras. On the screens appeared to be a subway station, loaded with a bustling crowd of people.
So caught up in her observation, she was startled when a chair turned and Lex Luthor faced her.
"Good morning, Kitty."
Confused, Kitty looked around the room once more. "Where are we?"
"The subways of Metropolis," Lex replied, "I would have thought the trains roaring by clued you in on that."
"How did we―the island…"
"You passed out from heat exhaustion. Soon after, we were on a Canadian fishing boat headed for Maine."
Kitty glanced at the monitors before asking, "What are we doing here, Lex? Don't you have a cell to break out of or something?"
"This place…" Luthor replied, "…this place is our safe haven. Do you have a suggestion on where we could go? We're not exactly the Waltons anymore."
"Alright, well we're not staying down here forever. What's your long-term plan?"
Lex eyed her thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "I wouldn't face this problem if you hadn't dumped my crystals out of the helicopter."
An uncomfortable silence filled the room and lingered before Lex continued.
"We're going to get them back," Lex stated.
Kitty laughed. "Lex, those crystals are long gone from here. You'll never―"
"The space shuttle Liberty will be making a voyage to the International Space Station in two days. It is my intention to hijack the mission and use the shuttle to land on my super continent and retrieve the crystals."
"You're joking," Kitty said dubiously.
"Oh, but I'm not. Those crystals are our only chance at finishing the plan that we started last week. The only difference is that this time, it will work."
Kitty smirked. "It's a brilliant plan, no doubt. But Sup―"
"SUPERMAN―will not be of any concern to us," Lex finished quickly. "The word is that there's an abundant supply of our hero's Achilles' heel in the Kansas town of Smallville."
"Kansas?" Kitty asked, amused.
"Apparently there was a meteor shower some years ago that delivered a fresh supply," Lex explained, "Superman will be helpless because this time, Lois Lane won't be there to come to his rescue."
"You're crazy, Lex."
"Eccentric!" Lex corrected her. "Yoga instructorsare crazy."
"Well it all sounds wonderful. I'm so glad you've got it all figured out," Kitty said, "But I'm not helping you this time."
"Oh, I think you will. The truth is, Kitty, that you have nowhere else to go."
Kitty gave Lex an incredulous look before saying, "I don't have to put up with this."
Turning to leave, Lex called, "I don't think you want to go out there. Your face is plastered next to mine on every newsstand in the city."
Kitty turned on Lex and balled her fists before the Pomeranian scurried out of the hallway and into the room.
Lex looked down at the dog. "You don't know how tempted I was," he taunted, "But I was short of an axe."
Kitty gathered the dog into her arms before storming back to her room.
