Dark Matters

Chapter 4

Lex Luthor, the most brilliant criminal mastermind in the world, suffered the indignity of feeding on gruel and stale toast for breakfast and wearing a hideous orange jumpsuit for the next fifty years…or until he was executed. The stale toast and gruel he could get used to. Darla cooked no better. But the rest prickled his pride.

As his confinement dragged on, Lex plotted escape and vowed that he'd kill Superboy at his first opportunity. The insidious thought chewed his brain twenty-four hours a day. The next time there'd be no hesitation, unlike that awful pang of conscience he'd developed in the mines when they were caved in with kryptonite. At least Superboy kept his word. He never told anyone that Lex allowed him to escape with Lana.

Lex decided he'd no longer use parlor tricks like the kryptonite bomb on the freighter, or the slapdash sound amplifier he concocted to disable Superboy's equilibrium. That last stunt, and his admitted lack of good judgment in teaming up with the bucket of bolts Metallo and vamp psychiatrist Odessa—got him sent here once again. He'd do away with those two once he was out.

"What the heck am I thinking? Superboy's gone! He's turned tail and abandoned earth. I'll never get to kill him!" He whined.

Lex rolled onto his back. "Oh no…" He chuckled. "He'll be back, he's probably off on some other planet battling aliens. He loves this cesspool too much to abandon them. One thing I know is the punk's not a coward. But when he does show his pretty-boy face again, I'll be prepared."

Lex folded his arms behind his head. A chill hit his exposed dome. His premature baldness was his personal kryptonite, and the prison refused to let him wear toupees. They rarely allowed him anything tangible in the dank cell. Perhaps he'd scared them when he bragged one morning – "Give me a spork and a piece of string and I'll be out of here so fast your hair will curl."

He rubbed his chin with a derisive, wide grin. He loved to put people on edge, and keep them in fear of his awesomeness.

There was one bright spot, though he'd never admit it in a million years. Lex made peace with Darla and they were a couple again. Lex buried his face in his pillow. It disgusted him to get that prick in his heart whenever he thought of her. He would not be swayed to use the word…love.

Dear darling Darla, so beautiful and confused; yet ultimately faithful to every one of his maniacal whims. When she shot him in the bunker, his secret admiration soared. He had broken her goodwill, and now she was beyond her blind feelings for him. If he offended her she let him have it six ways to Sunday. Darla was never the silent partner by any means, but now she demanded that her opinions be heard. All she'd ever wanted was a little respect.

"All right, my little buttercup. You'll get it. But first you'll have to get me out of this hellhole." He muttered.

Lex laughed. Darla could never pull that off without him pulling her strings. She'd botch the escape and probably wind up getting him executed sooner than expected – which according to his last count – was in less than two months. Lex sighed and jumped up. The call to breakfast sounded and he always had a guard escort him to the cafeteria. He stared out the window. After a torrential storm last night, another dazzling, orange day in Florida threatened his mood. The thought made him sick. His genius would be better served elsewhere, like the city of Metropolis. One day, he figured, he would own that city.

~Oo~

Patting down her platinum bun, a petite, curvy woman strutted through the cell-block with a briefcase in her hand. She barely made it past the security check and thought for sure they'd find the green rock tucked so carefully within the lining of her purse. She ignored the catcalls and whistles from the other prisoners and carefully followed the guard to the end of the corridor. Forcing out tears, she whipped a silk handkerchief from the pocket of her pinstriped dress suit and blew her nose loudly.

"Poor uncle John! If I had only known he was locked up in here I would've come sooner. I was away on business for six months."

The guard stared at her amused. "Gee, where was the business, lady? Mars? Don't you know he's a convicted killer and thief?"

The woman raised her head up proudly and adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses. "Hearsay! My uncle is a victim of circumstance! And as his lawyer I am going to prove it."

The guard shrugged impatiently. He pushed open the heavy cell door, designed extra thick for this particular prisoner. "The kook attempted to defend himself and took a whole courtroom and Superboy hostage. It still didn't work! Have fun trying to get more than three words out of him. He's hooked up to the artificial heart and respirator like a robot. The guy can barely blink these days. He needs that green stuff."

"Which you so cruelly deny him! That was not a fair trial. He was forced to defend himself, and Stupidboy didn't even have a real lawyer, he used his girlfriend!"

The guard ushered her inside. "You must be as crazy as he is. He gets a hold of that stuff we'll all be in trouble. Even Superboy breaks a sweat fighting him off. It's deadly to him."

"Okay, Mr. Guard, whatever your name is, I need to have some private time with uncle John, do ya mind?" She waved him out.

"Sure, have fun talking to a vegetable." The guard laughed and slammed the door.

The woman gulped and approached the cot. John Corben, aka 'Metallo' looked as if he'd been dead for a week. She pinched her nose. He smelled it too. She cautiously pulled out her compact and thrust it under his nose.

"So help me If I made this trip for nothing, I'll…" The mirror fogged and Corben's bloodshot eyes wavered until he was staring her up and down.

The woman smiled brightly. "Terrific. I know what you're thinking, John, honey. What's Lex's girl Darla doing in here?" She leisurely removed the Kryptonite from her purse and watched his eyes light up brighter than the green glow. She waggled it over his face.

"We're gonna help each other out, aren't we? Uhh, raise a finger for yes!"

He lifted his index finger as high as he could.

"And ya better not pull any tricks, because I'm your last chance for this stuff, you kryptonite junkie! Tit for tat. This piece won't give ya full strength, but it's enough to get ya out of here." Darla bent low over him and cracked her gum in his ear. "I betchya want revenge. Ya know Superboy is missing, right? He might not even be on the planet."

Metallo nodded and Darla dropped the kryptonite rock into the mechanism on the center of his chest. His whole body shuddered and metal clashed and rotated. His joints and muscles cracked. The pallor of his skin darkened to a healthy tan and he immediately rose up and tore the EKG pads and leads off his body. He grinned.

"I could kiss ya, Blondie! Sure, I want revenge on Superboy, but I learned something in my last two altercations with him."

Darla snickered. "What? That he always beats you?"

He glared at her. "Stifle the sarcasm, toots. Ya think Luthor's doin' any better bein' on death row? At least they're allowing me to die on my own. I'm talking about how Superboy ain't nothing without his red-headed sidekick."

"You mean Lana Lang? Please, Corben, Lex has been there, done that. It never works."

"The name's Metallo!" He jumped off the cot and shoved it across the jail cell. It slammed into the wall, loosening bricks. Darla yelped and rushed to the exit. Metallo stood in the center of the cell, stretched his arms wide and laughed.

"I'm no pansy when it comes to my revenge. Superboy will pay dearly when I call him out for a fight and then dump her lifeless body at his red boots. There'll be nothing he could do. He may wanna kill me, but his principles won't allow it. I got him pegged."

Darla hung back and raised a hand to her neck, remembering how he brutally murdered the doctor and scientist who'd saved his life. Lex Luthor may have been a criminal psychopath, but Darla oddly felt safe with him. Metallo was vicious and cold-blooded, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. She hoped she made the right decision letting him free. She waltzed up to him.

"Just a minute, Metallo. You owe me something now! You're gonna help me break Lex out, he's two floors down."

"Aww, so you want a reunion after he kicked ya on yer keister and tried to blow up the world! Mutts like you always come back for more."

Darla held back her fiery temper. "That's none of your business! Lex is a genius with a troubled childhood. It's not his fault. He thought his sister had died. He lost faith in everything."

Metallo laughed. "Don't give me that crap. He only puts faith in his own brain. The guy blew up his own parents! I didn't have it easy either, my father was a jailbird and my mother sang for her supper, but I still choose to do what I do. There's always a choice. You know what I wanna do right now?" He licked his lips and lurched forward.

The robotic noise echoing from his limbs sent shivers through Darla. She held out her hands. "STOP! If you don't want to run on half power for the rest of your life, then you will help me! You think I can't handle you, tough guy?"

"I'd like to see you try." He sneered.

Darla whipped a pistol out of her briefcase and aimed it at his forehead. Metallo stumbled back surprised."Woah, woah! Watch where you aim that thing!"

"All it takes, you bucket of bolts, is one bullet right between the eyes, there's no metal up there…right? I'd be surprised if there were any brains either!"

Darla's spunk attracted and surprised him. He wiped his mouth and spit on his hand, then slicked back his salt-and-pepper hair. "Look, blondie, there's no need for violence, we all gotta give a little and get a little, ya know. Maybe if you come on over here I'll give…"

Darla's eyes blazed and she stomped her heel. "I'm not playing games anymore! If you think I won't pull this trigger, you got another thing coming, Iron man! I'm not the silly dog everyone paints me to be. That Darla is dead!" She cocked the hammer and a sneer darkened her face.

Metallo sighed and wagged his hand. "All right doll, I'll do what ya want. But after we blow this joint, I work alone."

Darla shoved the pistol into her purse. "That's what I thought, now you…urkk!"

Metallo gripped her neck and dragged her close. "And you better get me more Kryptonite, ya understand? No double-cross! I've had enough of that."

Darla struggled to breathe. His meaty, cold fingers tickled her throat and he pressed in harder for every second she hesitated.

"Yeah! Yeah! I'll get it! Just get Lex out!"