As Isabel reached the Tower, she caught sight of the gaping hole, where Con-El crashed into hurriedly and heard the frantic Luthorcorp officials running around to hunt for the intruder. She closed her eyes for a moment, summoning Brainiac to download any blueprints of the building.
Within seconds, Brainiac reported, "There is a high probability of the New Kryptonian being trapped in the private floor 33.1. Only Luthor operatives with ID cards are allowed entry. According to estimates, I can unlock it within physical distance of 1 feet and 8 minutes."
She frowned, and questioned, "Brainiac, I don't think it needs to be unlocked with Con-El's help."
The cold metallic voice replied, "Negative. Luthor had devised a red-sun radiation security system in the building. According to my calculations, that adolescent Kryptonian will be subdued soon." "I guess I need to be extra careful then."
"I suggest you to abandon this rescue plan. I am not sure of the probability of success."
"Brainiac, Con-El and La-Ra are my responsibility. Besides, I don't mind giving Luthor a piece of my mind." She flew to the open window the 33th floor and slipped in.
Just as Brainiac predicted, the inside of the building shone with red radiation, zapping her of her speed and strength immediately. She glanced at the empty office she was in, hearing the heavily armed guards sprinting in the corridor behind the door. She knew she needed to get to the lift in the centre of the building; the only way to that, however, was through the dozens of guards parading around outside.
Brainiac noted, "I have deactivated the surveillance for the building, but for the humans outside, I am of no help." She needed a diversion, a big one.
Suddenly, Brainiac reported, "Batman is within 10 feet of the premise. Do you wish to contact him?" Isabel bit her lip; she really didn't want to involve Terry into this, but this was her only choice.
Within seconds, she hacked into his channel and spoke in his earpiece, "Terry, I need you to create a diversion and rescue Kon-El. I am trying to get to the 33.1 labs, but there are too many guards outside. The red sun radiation isn't helping either."
There was a quick reply, "Sure, Isabel, but promise me, don't confront Luthor without me. You are too vulnerable now."
She smiled and agreed, "I won't. Thank you." Then there was a loud explosion just a couple of levels below her. Batman threw explosive batarangs at the tower and gave her a quick nod. She could hear people shouting, "What's going on? Why is the Bat attacking us? They need us downstairs!"
She shifted to the door, listening intently to the commotion outside. Once the coast was clear, she opened the door and sprinted for the lift down the hallway. She pressed the lift button immediately. The lift began to rise from 29th floor to 33th floor; as the door opened, Brainiac quickly warned, "Someone's in there."
She leapt away from the door, waiting for the guard to exit. As he left, she delivered a quick blow to his neck, knocking him out immediately. His gun dropped to the floor; Brainiac suggested, "It might be beneficial for you to take it. Without your Kryptonian abilities, human weapons are going to be useful." She shook her head; she was going to face the murderer of her mother and so many innocent people without assistance of weapons.
She stepped into lift and commanded Brainiac, "Hack into the lift and bring me to 33.1." The lift doors shut and the lights went off for a split second. Then the lift shuddered and started to rise slowly. Her heartbeat was strangely steady; she was ready to face Luthor after all these years. Brainiac informed her that this floor didn't have surveillance so she was on her own.
The doors creaked open, and by instinct, she hid in the blind spot of the lift, listening for anyone around the lift. The lab was quiet; in fact, it was too quiet. The floor was pitch black, apart from the lights in the lift and the red radiation lights. The ominously red radiation shone on her face as she crept out of the door as quietly as possible.
"Welcome back, child," Luthor's voice echoed in the empty lab. Her blood turned cold as she could see the large silhouette of the billionaire edging closer; she growled, "Where is La-Ra?"
He chuckled darkly as he continued to move towards her, musing, "You mean the alien corpse we disposed days ago?" She could see his lined face and impressive physique for a human his age; he had a slight limp that she never knew he had.
She nearly couldn't recognise him as the same tyrant who butchered millions of people out of cold blood. He seemed a lot frailer; she moved back a little, unsure of what to do. She had expected to fight the man who killed her mother, not a dying old man.
The bald man noticed the alarmed look on her face and said, "Surprised to see me so old? Not everyone is as lucky as your alien father. You have grown a lot yourself. I see you no longer wear your mask or sing as Selene; I have to say that it was a pity because I did enjoy listening to you sing."
She scowled at him and said curtly, "Luthor, I am not here for chit-chat. I am here to take La-Ra."
Luthor grinned wickedly and replied, "Sure, let's do business. That alien is dead..."
"Don't lie to me. I know you. You're way too cruel and curious to kill him off that quickly."
The bald man raised his arms in fake surrender, confessing, "You caught me. He is alive. Barely."
She commanded, "Release him."
The man bent down to meet her eyes and muttered slowly, "What would you give me in return?"
She glared at him and growled, "I will spare you your life?"
He smirked at her, remarking amusedly, "You won't harm an old man, will you? Your father wouldn't."
She snarled, "I am NOT my father."
The villain agreed and said, "You're damaged. By your mother's death. By your friend's and brother's deaths. You know more about loss than anyone at such a young age."
She stared coldly into his eyes. He continued, "As you can tell, I am dying. I can feel the life escaping my body every day." He fumbled for something in his trouser pocket and pressed a button. The red radiation in the room was turned off.
She frowned at him, questioning, "What are you doing? Is this a trap?" She could feel her strength slowly returning to her body.
He gazed down at her like a hawk and explained, "I have searched for ways to sustain my life; I have even captured Count Dracula's heir, but I realised that when my human blood mixes with the vampire virus, I develop a deadly allergy to sunlight. When your little friend bumped into my scientist's submarine, I had the idea of infusing the strong alien gene with mine to bless myself with the long lifespan of your kind. However, my human cells wouldn't merge with the alien cells. They were too different from human DNA. However, you are a human and Kryptonian hybrid. Your DNA would be perfect for me."
Luthor knelt down in front of the girl and clasped her hand, begging, "You're my only hope to survival."
"What makes you think I will let you do this? I can just wait for Batman to come here and arrest you, saving La-Ra."
His eyes glinted maliciously and he said softly, "Because I have something that you crave most. When experimenting with the Dracula blood, I developed the serum to resurrect humans."
He clicked his fingers and the lights in the lab were turned on. There were 3 cell beds with live specimens inside. Isabel's heart started to pound painfully against her chest as she walked towards the floating bodies in the liquid-filled cubicles.
She passed by the first one, and saw a boy with jet black hair in his early twenties. His face was rather bony and pale, like he hadn't eaten for ages. Luthor noted, "That's Vladimir Dracula, heir to the Dracula Clan. It was difficult to capture him. He had thousands of loyal servants willing to put their lives on the line for him. It wasn't till I threatened to kill his father during his hibernation that he agreed to come here. Little does he know that I lied about my promise not to assassinate his father."
Isabel stared with pity at the boy, knowing that he would experience great emotional pain once he was conscious. She moved towards the next one and saw a brown-haired boy with an emblem of the New Krypton burnt on his arm. She knew that was La-Ra.
As she moved to the last one, my hands began to tremble nervously. Her eyes moved slowly to the last specimen of an adult woman with straight black hair like her own. Isabel's eyes widened as she saw an alive and peacefully sleeping Lois Lane in the glass case.
Luthor smiled proudly, "Looks the same when she left you, doesn't she?"
Isabel's knees gave way and she knelt down on the cold ground. Her finger instinctively stroked her mother's wedding ring around her neck. "Mo..ther..." she muttered to herself in shock.
Luthor cleared his throat and looked down at the trembling girl, urging, "So, what's your verdict? If it's no, I can easily destroy this specimen with a push of a button." She could hear Brainiac telling her that Terry had been trying to contact her, but she didn't care at all.
Isabel pushed herself up from the ground determinedly and looked straight into the menacingly green eyes of the wrinkly old man. "I'll do it."
Luthor grinned widely at her, handing her a syringe. "It is laced with green Kryptonite so it can pierce through your skin."
She took it in her hands and hesitated, warning, "You'd better not use this blood to clone me."
"Child, that sample size is only enough for my blood serum, which is the most important thing. Do you really think I will risk my life for a clone of you?"
She took a quick glance at the calm face of her resting mother and jammed the needle in her artery, ignoring the stinging pain the Kryptonite is causing her. The bright red liquid began to fill the syringe; she was starting to pant from the Kryptonite embedded under her skin.
Once the blood filled the whole syringe, Luthor wrenched the syringe from her hands. She fell to the ground clutching her arm; the pain was dulling quickly to her relief. Luthor sprinted to the dialysis machine and placed the blood sample into the tube. His fingers trembled eagerly as he attached the other tube to his veins; he slumped into the chair and pushed the button to start the infusion on her blood into his body.
Isabel took a deep breath and used Brainiac to release all the three prisoners. The liquid inside the three glass cases started to drain; within minutes, they opened and Isabel carried each of them carefully out and laid them on the ground.
Suddenly, Luthor started to grunt in pain as the serum started to enter his system. He started to sweat profusely and claw at the chair. Isabel knew that she needed to take the three unconscious people away from him as soon as possible; she informed Terry of her whereabouts and used her heat vision to make an opening in the thick wall.
Finally, the lead-laced wall of the building melted to show the pitch black night of Metropolis. Isabel took a quick look at the unconscious Luthor slumped on the dialysis machine and carried the three bodies into the night.