Superman: The Ark of Krypton

Chapter 87

by

Jason Richard

Lois Lane sat at her desk typing, working on the prison breakout story. She was completely in the zone, and nothing could distract her from her work. Well, almost nothing. She was an investigator, and well adept at digging up secrets, so when someone deliberately avoided eye contact, of course she saw it, and would discover whatever it was that person didn't want to talk about.

"Jimmy Olsen," said Lois, not even looking. "I see you skulking over there, and I know you took pictures today for someone else's story. Come here."

Jimmy, flustered, tried to will himself to keep walking, but Lois's piercing gaze would not be avoided, and he found himself walking over to her as told.

"Okay," said Jimmy nervously. "I know you would have found out anyway, so here...just...try not to freak out."

Lois took the picture from Jimmy and looked at it. She frowned. This couldn't be right. This had to be a joke or something.

"Whose story?" she asked.

"Jeffrey Anderson's," said Jimmy. That was the Daily Planet's military reporter, so that fit. Lois fumed, as the picture, timestamped for that very day, could only mean one thing.

As it was a picture of General Sam Lane shaking hands with Lex Luthor.

…

"Alright Lois," said General Lane over the phone. "Calm down…"

"No I will not calm down!" she practically screamed into the phone. "What are you thinking? Arranging a pardon for Lex Luthor? LEX LUTHOR!?"

As he sat in his office General Lane had to hold the phone away from his ear his daughter was so loud. Once the ringing in his ears stopped the brought the phone back.

"Look, Lois," he said. "Superman announced that there's an interdimensional prison filled with being exactly like him, and even he admits he wouldn't be able to hold all of them off if they managed to escape. We need the technology Lex Luthor has obtained."

"No," said Lois. "No! He's not interested in protecting the planet. He's only looking out for himself. He's after power. Don't you get it? If he uses that technology it could put him...Lex Luthor...in control of that alien army. Is that what you want?"

"He's a slimeball," said General Lane. "I know that. But we need him. I'll just have to keep a close eye on him. I can handle..."

"NO ONE CAN HANDLE HIM! THAT'S EXACTLY MY POINT! YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE!" and she hung up, Leaving a very frustrated General Lane. He was not pleased by this turn of events. She hadn't yelled at him that loudly since she was a teenager, and he didn't really need the flashback.

…

Lex Luthor hadn't expected to get a call from General Lane, but he wasn't surprised. The more he thought about it, as he left his secret bunker and flew back to Metropolis, the more it seemed inevitable. Only Lex Luthor could discover the technology that could face such powerful foes. Only Lex Luthor knew where to look.

He took a cab back to Lexcorp tower, strolled into the elevator, and sauntered into his old office where Mercy Graves waited next to his desk.

"Welcome back sir," said Mercy proudly.

"Thank you my dear," said Lex, taking a deep breath. "It's good to be back."

...

Edward Lytener hid in an old Lexcorp lab that hadn't been used in a while. Technically the building was condemned, and it showed. There were cracks all over the wall and everything was covered in dust, but it still served Lytener's purposes just fine.

He typed into the controls on his arm, watching as another hard light hologram took shape. It had to be perfect for what he intended. He wouldn't take his revenge on Lois Lane by just barging in and harming her. No, that wasn't his style. He would just ruin her life the way she ruined his. He figured he could handle Superman should the alien show up, but that wasn't the only purpose of this technology.

As shown when his latest hard light hologram finally solidified. He had gotten the idea when he saw the news about Lex Luthor coming back, as he knew exactly what Lois would think about it. He knew what it would look like when this hologram acted. For, of course, the hologram was a perfect likeness for Lois Lane.

So perfect Lytener couldn't help but smile smugly at his work.