Part Seven
Eric's replacements arrived the next morning. Three guys who barely spoke and told him simply that it was time for him to "head back."
Eric had gathered a few of his things leaving most of his clothing to be brought back later by the three men. He then headed toward Metropolis formulating his plan as he went.
The biggest question he had was the extent of his invulnerability. Was it enough to survive the explosion? Or was it just enough to survive and be left a vegetable? Did he even dare risk everything on a flip of the coin confrontation with the hopes that his speed, strength and invulnerability would allow him to stop Luthor from even answering any of those questions.
Arriving back at LuthorCorp Eric was escorted to his old room and told that Dr. Stephens would send for him later. Eric dropped his bag in the corner of the room and lay down on the bed trying to think of what to do. He was acutely aware of the ticking clock contained in this situation. It wouldn't take Stephens long to realize that Eric was fully powered once he started running tests. That meant that Eric had almost no time at all if he was going to control the situation because once Luthor knew what was up Eric would be left having to react to whatever moves Luthor initiated.
Eric became infuriated at that thought. He was always reacting instead of acting. All of his life he had been reacting to what other people did. What other people decided. First his father running his life and then later when he started liking Holly he'd been stuck having to react to her starting to date Brent. When he finally had the power to take what he wanted, to do what he wanted he'd had to react to his father's decision to call the police and send him away. He'd had to react to his parents' fear of what he now was. He'd never gotten to enjoy his life because he had always been trying to clean up the messes that other people created for him.
Now Luthor was deciding his life for him. Where he went, what he did. Whether he lived or died.
"Maybe I should just kill them all." Eric said aloud.
The thought both chilled and warmed him. He may have hurt people in the past, but he had never killed a living soul. But, he had the power to. No matter what Luthor could do or have done to him, Eric knew that if it came down to it he could probably kill him before whatever retaliation had been planned could be completed.
He had the power of life and death here and he was tired of being the pawn. Luthor had said once that Eric was a blank canvas on which he would create a masterpiece.
"Well, Mr. Luthor," Eric said quietly to himself "this masterpiece may finally be the one you can't afford."
******************************
A little while later Eric's door opened up and Brian stepped in.
"Time to see the doc, kid" Brian said gesturing for Eric to get off the bed and proceed him out the door.
"Don't you ever knock?" Eric said tersely.
Brian raised an eyebrow and simply stared at Eric for a moment before answering.
"Are we going to have problems, kid?"
Eric met the stare for a moment before a smile crossed his face.
"Nah, Brian. We're old friends. Everything is just peachy."
Eric swung his legs to the floor, hopped up and walked briskly out of the room starting to hum to himself.
After a moment of staring at Eric's back in puzzlement Brian followed.
**************************
As Eric entered the lab he saw Dr. Stephens sitting at a desk going over some papers.
"What's up, Doc?" Eric asked cheerfully as he walked up to Stephens.
Dr. Stephens looked up with a perplexed expression on his face as if he couldn't understand Eric's apparent good mood.
"Oh, Eric. Go ahead and lay down on the examining table. I need to get a blood sample."
Eric cleared some papers off of the corner of Stephens' desk and had a seat there instead.
"We'll get to that in a moment, Doc. You and I need to talk over a few things first."
Stephens stared at him in surprise and didn't answer at first. Brian started forward and interrupted before the doctor could formulate a coherent thought.
"Hey, kid, what the hell do you think you're doing? The doc said to get on the table."
"Brian, Brian, Brian," Eric said shaking his head "we're not going to have problems are we?"
Brian's face went red and he reached for Eric. Eric grabbed Brian's outstretched arm and twisted.
"Aaarrrggg" was all Brian could scream as he went to his knees.
Leaning forward still holding on to the arm, Eric grabbed a fist full of Brian's shirtfront and put his face close to his.
"Brian, do you remember that conversation you and I had not too long after I got here about obeying the rules without question? Well, I do."
Eric twisted suddenly and threw Brian into the lab wall. The plaster cracked and Brian dropped to the floor unconscious.
Eric knew he had just crossed the point of no return.
Turning back to Dr. Stephens Eric saw him frozen in place with a look of shock on his face. Speaking conversationally Eric addressed the doctor.
"Ok, Doc. Now let's get a question and answer session started. Tell me everything you know about the things you planted in my head."
"Wha, what do you mean?" Stephens stammered.
Eric sighed and tilted his head as he looked at the doctor. He then suddenly brought his fist down on top of the desk and broke it in two.
"The implants, doc. What monitors and controls them? Or maybe you would prefer a more personal demonstration?"
"Luthor!" Stephens almost screamed "he keeps the detonator on him. The tracking device is here in the lab, but he keeps the detonator with him at all times."
"All times?" Eric asked.
"Yes, it's just a small remote. He keeps it in his pocket. "
"Where is he now?"
"In his office. I just talked to him."
Stephens was shaking now. Almost in hysterics.
"And his office would be..?" Eric prompted.
"51st floor. Corner facing the Daily Planet building." Stephens quickly replied shrinking away from Eric.
"Thanks, doc." Eric said almost casually tapping him on the head and knocking him unconscious.
Eric turned and quickly made for the stairwell. He made the climb in under two seconds and barely slowed down as he entered the corridor of the 51st floor. He headed in the direction Stephens had told him and soon found the door marked "Lionel Luthor."
This was it, Eric thought. He was about to beard the Lion in his own den.
He engaged his speed yet again in opening the door to the outer office and was past the receptionist and into Lionel's office before she could even notice that a breeze had disturbed the papers on her desk.
Lionel looked up in surprise when Eric suddenly appeared in front of his desk.
"Eric, what the hell is going on here? Why are you here?"
"Lionel," Eric said, "we have to talk."
Lionel leaned back in his chair and stared sternly at Eric.
"I fail to see what about."
"That's because you're reacting to me now, Lionel. I'm calling the shots."
"You're calling the shots?" Lionel asked acting as though he was talking to a slow child.
Eric's temper immediately reached a boiling point.
"Yeah, me. And I think I'll just take that little detonator you have in your pocket before you do something stupid that will make me rip a few of your fingers off if I have to take it from you."
Lionel simply stared in amazement at Eric before he suddenly began to chuckle.
"Really Eric." Lionel said. "You must think I'm incredibly stupid."
"What do you mean?" Eric asked beginning to have an uneasy feeling.
"Do you actually think that I, the person who gave you your power of super speed, would be ignorant of exactly what you could do with it? That I would just keep the trigger to the explosive on my person so you could grab it on a whim and then do with me as you pleased?"
Lionel was laughing out loud at this point and reached into his pocket pulling out a small device that resembled a cell phone.
"I'll tell you what, Eric. I'll give you a sporting chance. Obviously, we can no longer work together. You don't trust me and I certainly now don't trust you so we're going to have to come to some sort of accord."
"This," Lionel said, holding out the device in his hand, "is 'one' of the triggering devices for the explosive in your head."
"You could grab it from my hand before I could even consider pulling my hand back. Of course, the problem with that" Lionel continued as he leaned back in his seat "is that I just now triggered a signal to the security office to monitor me by close circuit television." Lionel nodded toward a small camera in the corner before continuing.
"They have a 'second' device which they will trigger if you grab this one or if you harm me in any way."
The sinking feeling Eric had started to feel was in full force now. He had gambled and he had lost. There was no way he could grab Lionel's remote and find the security office in time to take theirs' before they triggered it.
"The sporting chance I offer" Lionel continued, "is that this device has a limited range. I'll give you a sixty-second head start before I trigger it. If you can get out of the building and out of the area in that amount of time all you have to do is never come near me or mine again. The time starts now."
Despite Lionel's attempt to unnerve Eric he disappeared virtually the instant Lionel said "now." Lionel began counting out loud. Unfortunately for Eric, Lionel's nature was to cheat at everything he did. He pushed the button at ten rather than at sixty. He told himself that it really didn't matter because he had lied about the range of the signal. The device was hooked up to a satellite and could have reached the receiver in Eric's head anywhere on the planet. He was simply sparing Eric the torture of having to wait.
Putting the device down on his desk he touched a button on his intercom to signal his secretary.
"Ms. Fields, please call Mr. Morris and ask him to join me in my office and tell him to bring up some plastic drop cloths from maintenance as well."
Ms. Sullivan would be here shortly and he had to be adequately prepared.
************************ Later that night Lionel walked tiredly into his bedroom. He hadn't lived in his suburban mansion on the outskirts of Metropolis since shortly after the death of his wife. Business and the various conquests it offered had always been his passion, but after Lillian's passing it had become the sole driving force in his life. He had eventually converted the top two floors of LuthorCorp into a lavish condominium so he need never be far from a deal that was being made or a conquest that was taking place.
On nights like tonight it also allowed him to find much needed refuge without having to fight the Metropolis traffic. Lionel was tired. The events of the past few days had exhausted him more than any other in recent memory. He had known that the game he was now playing had higher stakes than any he had ever played before. When he caught himself contemplating the murder of two 16-year old kids that had become quite clear. The entire Chloe Sullivan debacle alone was going to have repercussions that would extend God alone knew how far.
Lionel shook his head as he changed into his sleeping clothes. He had thought he was being so coy to have the plastic placed on the floor of his office to protect the carpet from the mess. He knew now just as he knew then that the cold bloodedness of the act was motivated to disassociate him from what he was having to do and re-enforce to himself that he was a cold blooded businessman who was prepared to win this game at any cost. Even the cost of two teenagers' lives. The plastic had saved his carpet, but the walls still bore evidence of the day's deeds as did the chill Lionel now felt in his soul. He had better gain ultimate power, he told himself, because after today he knew that when his actions caught up with him he didn't want to be defenseless.
He had truly hated having to dispose of Eric because he had been a valuable commodity, but the trouble with keeping a dangerous animal around was that it would sometimes turn on its master. Eric had shown signs of becoming as independent as Chloe Sullivan had been and as with Ms. Sullivan, Lionel couldn't risk that independence. As much potential as Eric had, Lionel was not going to risk everything on someone whose loyalty he wasn't sure about. At least, he thought to himself that was one loose end he had been able to tie up.
Lionel's private musings were suddenly interrupted by a voice from out of the shadows.
"I'm curious," Eric said, "did you think you would be dressed in silk pajamas when your mistakes finally caught up with you?"
The End
To be continued in "Shadows."
Eric's replacements arrived the next morning. Three guys who barely spoke and told him simply that it was time for him to "head back."
Eric had gathered a few of his things leaving most of his clothing to be brought back later by the three men. He then headed toward Metropolis formulating his plan as he went.
The biggest question he had was the extent of his invulnerability. Was it enough to survive the explosion? Or was it just enough to survive and be left a vegetable? Did he even dare risk everything on a flip of the coin confrontation with the hopes that his speed, strength and invulnerability would allow him to stop Luthor from even answering any of those questions.
Arriving back at LuthorCorp Eric was escorted to his old room and told that Dr. Stephens would send for him later. Eric dropped his bag in the corner of the room and lay down on the bed trying to think of what to do. He was acutely aware of the ticking clock contained in this situation. It wouldn't take Stephens long to realize that Eric was fully powered once he started running tests. That meant that Eric had almost no time at all if he was going to control the situation because once Luthor knew what was up Eric would be left having to react to whatever moves Luthor initiated.
Eric became infuriated at that thought. He was always reacting instead of acting. All of his life he had been reacting to what other people did. What other people decided. First his father running his life and then later when he started liking Holly he'd been stuck having to react to her starting to date Brent. When he finally had the power to take what he wanted, to do what he wanted he'd had to react to his father's decision to call the police and send him away. He'd had to react to his parents' fear of what he now was. He'd never gotten to enjoy his life because he had always been trying to clean up the messes that other people created for him.
Now Luthor was deciding his life for him. Where he went, what he did. Whether he lived or died.
"Maybe I should just kill them all." Eric said aloud.
The thought both chilled and warmed him. He may have hurt people in the past, but he had never killed a living soul. But, he had the power to. No matter what Luthor could do or have done to him, Eric knew that if it came down to it he could probably kill him before whatever retaliation had been planned could be completed.
He had the power of life and death here and he was tired of being the pawn. Luthor had said once that Eric was a blank canvas on which he would create a masterpiece.
"Well, Mr. Luthor," Eric said quietly to himself "this masterpiece may finally be the one you can't afford."
******************************
A little while later Eric's door opened up and Brian stepped in.
"Time to see the doc, kid" Brian said gesturing for Eric to get off the bed and proceed him out the door.
"Don't you ever knock?" Eric said tersely.
Brian raised an eyebrow and simply stared at Eric for a moment before answering.
"Are we going to have problems, kid?"
Eric met the stare for a moment before a smile crossed his face.
"Nah, Brian. We're old friends. Everything is just peachy."
Eric swung his legs to the floor, hopped up and walked briskly out of the room starting to hum to himself.
After a moment of staring at Eric's back in puzzlement Brian followed.
**************************
As Eric entered the lab he saw Dr. Stephens sitting at a desk going over some papers.
"What's up, Doc?" Eric asked cheerfully as he walked up to Stephens.
Dr. Stephens looked up with a perplexed expression on his face as if he couldn't understand Eric's apparent good mood.
"Oh, Eric. Go ahead and lay down on the examining table. I need to get a blood sample."
Eric cleared some papers off of the corner of Stephens' desk and had a seat there instead.
"We'll get to that in a moment, Doc. You and I need to talk over a few things first."
Stephens stared at him in surprise and didn't answer at first. Brian started forward and interrupted before the doctor could formulate a coherent thought.
"Hey, kid, what the hell do you think you're doing? The doc said to get on the table."
"Brian, Brian, Brian," Eric said shaking his head "we're not going to have problems are we?"
Brian's face went red and he reached for Eric. Eric grabbed Brian's outstretched arm and twisted.
"Aaarrrggg" was all Brian could scream as he went to his knees.
Leaning forward still holding on to the arm, Eric grabbed a fist full of Brian's shirtfront and put his face close to his.
"Brian, do you remember that conversation you and I had not too long after I got here about obeying the rules without question? Well, I do."
Eric twisted suddenly and threw Brian into the lab wall. The plaster cracked and Brian dropped to the floor unconscious.
Eric knew he had just crossed the point of no return.
Turning back to Dr. Stephens Eric saw him frozen in place with a look of shock on his face. Speaking conversationally Eric addressed the doctor.
"Ok, Doc. Now let's get a question and answer session started. Tell me everything you know about the things you planted in my head."
"Wha, what do you mean?" Stephens stammered.
Eric sighed and tilted his head as he looked at the doctor. He then suddenly brought his fist down on top of the desk and broke it in two.
"The implants, doc. What monitors and controls them? Or maybe you would prefer a more personal demonstration?"
"Luthor!" Stephens almost screamed "he keeps the detonator on him. The tracking device is here in the lab, but he keeps the detonator with him at all times."
"All times?" Eric asked.
"Yes, it's just a small remote. He keeps it in his pocket. "
"Where is he now?"
"In his office. I just talked to him."
Stephens was shaking now. Almost in hysterics.
"And his office would be..?" Eric prompted.
"51st floor. Corner facing the Daily Planet building." Stephens quickly replied shrinking away from Eric.
"Thanks, doc." Eric said almost casually tapping him on the head and knocking him unconscious.
Eric turned and quickly made for the stairwell. He made the climb in under two seconds and barely slowed down as he entered the corridor of the 51st floor. He headed in the direction Stephens had told him and soon found the door marked "Lionel Luthor."
This was it, Eric thought. He was about to beard the Lion in his own den.
He engaged his speed yet again in opening the door to the outer office and was past the receptionist and into Lionel's office before she could even notice that a breeze had disturbed the papers on her desk.
Lionel looked up in surprise when Eric suddenly appeared in front of his desk.
"Eric, what the hell is going on here? Why are you here?"
"Lionel," Eric said, "we have to talk."
Lionel leaned back in his chair and stared sternly at Eric.
"I fail to see what about."
"That's because you're reacting to me now, Lionel. I'm calling the shots."
"You're calling the shots?" Lionel asked acting as though he was talking to a slow child.
Eric's temper immediately reached a boiling point.
"Yeah, me. And I think I'll just take that little detonator you have in your pocket before you do something stupid that will make me rip a few of your fingers off if I have to take it from you."
Lionel simply stared in amazement at Eric before he suddenly began to chuckle.
"Really Eric." Lionel said. "You must think I'm incredibly stupid."
"What do you mean?" Eric asked beginning to have an uneasy feeling.
"Do you actually think that I, the person who gave you your power of super speed, would be ignorant of exactly what you could do with it? That I would just keep the trigger to the explosive on my person so you could grab it on a whim and then do with me as you pleased?"
Lionel was laughing out loud at this point and reached into his pocket pulling out a small device that resembled a cell phone.
"I'll tell you what, Eric. I'll give you a sporting chance. Obviously, we can no longer work together. You don't trust me and I certainly now don't trust you so we're going to have to come to some sort of accord."
"This," Lionel said, holding out the device in his hand, "is 'one' of the triggering devices for the explosive in your head."
"You could grab it from my hand before I could even consider pulling my hand back. Of course, the problem with that" Lionel continued as he leaned back in his seat "is that I just now triggered a signal to the security office to monitor me by close circuit television." Lionel nodded toward a small camera in the corner before continuing.
"They have a 'second' device which they will trigger if you grab this one or if you harm me in any way."
The sinking feeling Eric had started to feel was in full force now. He had gambled and he had lost. There was no way he could grab Lionel's remote and find the security office in time to take theirs' before they triggered it.
"The sporting chance I offer" Lionel continued, "is that this device has a limited range. I'll give you a sixty-second head start before I trigger it. If you can get out of the building and out of the area in that amount of time all you have to do is never come near me or mine again. The time starts now."
Despite Lionel's attempt to unnerve Eric he disappeared virtually the instant Lionel said "now." Lionel began counting out loud. Unfortunately for Eric, Lionel's nature was to cheat at everything he did. He pushed the button at ten rather than at sixty. He told himself that it really didn't matter because he had lied about the range of the signal. The device was hooked up to a satellite and could have reached the receiver in Eric's head anywhere on the planet. He was simply sparing Eric the torture of having to wait.
Putting the device down on his desk he touched a button on his intercom to signal his secretary.
"Ms. Fields, please call Mr. Morris and ask him to join me in my office and tell him to bring up some plastic drop cloths from maintenance as well."
Ms. Sullivan would be here shortly and he had to be adequately prepared.
************************ Later that night Lionel walked tiredly into his bedroom. He hadn't lived in his suburban mansion on the outskirts of Metropolis since shortly after the death of his wife. Business and the various conquests it offered had always been his passion, but after Lillian's passing it had become the sole driving force in his life. He had eventually converted the top two floors of LuthorCorp into a lavish condominium so he need never be far from a deal that was being made or a conquest that was taking place.
On nights like tonight it also allowed him to find much needed refuge without having to fight the Metropolis traffic. Lionel was tired. The events of the past few days had exhausted him more than any other in recent memory. He had known that the game he was now playing had higher stakes than any he had ever played before. When he caught himself contemplating the murder of two 16-year old kids that had become quite clear. The entire Chloe Sullivan debacle alone was going to have repercussions that would extend God alone knew how far.
Lionel shook his head as he changed into his sleeping clothes. He had thought he was being so coy to have the plastic placed on the floor of his office to protect the carpet from the mess. He knew now just as he knew then that the cold bloodedness of the act was motivated to disassociate him from what he was having to do and re-enforce to himself that he was a cold blooded businessman who was prepared to win this game at any cost. Even the cost of two teenagers' lives. The plastic had saved his carpet, but the walls still bore evidence of the day's deeds as did the chill Lionel now felt in his soul. He had better gain ultimate power, he told himself, because after today he knew that when his actions caught up with him he didn't want to be defenseless.
He had truly hated having to dispose of Eric because he had been a valuable commodity, but the trouble with keeping a dangerous animal around was that it would sometimes turn on its master. Eric had shown signs of becoming as independent as Chloe Sullivan had been and as with Ms. Sullivan, Lionel couldn't risk that independence. As much potential as Eric had, Lionel was not going to risk everything on someone whose loyalty he wasn't sure about. At least, he thought to himself that was one loose end he had been able to tie up.
Lionel's private musings were suddenly interrupted by a voice from out of the shadows.
"I'm curious," Eric said, "did you think you would be dressed in silk pajamas when your mistakes finally caught up with you?"
The End
To be continued in "Shadows."