Chapter 18: The Fall of Lex Luthor

Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.

If Lex Luthor, genius billionaire philanthropist and industrialist, had one weakness that he would actually admit to – to himself, if not one else – it was that he had a hard time accepting that other people might also be smart. Not as smart as himself, of course, that would be ridiculous. But while most people were so stupid that it actually caused him physical pain to interact with them, he did admit (grudgingly) that there were some who might actually come close to his own intellectual level.

One of them, to his chagrin, seemed to be Superwoman.

Oh, how this woman vexed him. It wasn't just that she had effectively played him and it had taken him nearly a year to realize it. He had actually believed for quite some time that he might be able to lure her in with charm and a huge paycheck. She had given him a coy smile, told him she would keep it in mind, and he had bought it far longer than he would ever admit to anyone else, even under torture.

Well, it just went to show that even someone with his intellectual level was not quite as immune to womanly wiles as he would have liked to believe. It also showed that he had underestimated the woman. He had seen her flashy super powers, he had certainly noticed the fact that she was a very striking woman, and he had naively assumed that someone with such lavish physical gifts would be lacking on an intellectual level.

For a time he had considered that she was just the kind of woman that liked playing coy, nothing more to it than that, or simply not intelligent enough to recognize the opportunity he presented to her. But no, the Superwoman was smart and, more important even than that, she was an enemy. Well, he had considered that a possibility from the start, but he had allowed himself to hope that he would be able to turn her into an asset. Oh, what an asset she would have been. Not only was that no longer in the cards, though, it became apparent that she viewed him as an enemy, too, and she had not been idle about it, either.

Lexcorp, the company he had built from the ground up, was an entirely legitimate business. Surrounding it, though, were multiple smaller businesses, their ownerships hidden behind multiple layers of shell companies, false names, and strawmen. A large network of illegal activities supplemented the huge cash flow that was at the heart of the Luthor business and for years no one had ever managed to penetrate into it. Occasionally he would have to close down one of his shell companies, two or three times in the past he had been forced to have a strawman take the fall for something, but few people had ever even suspected that legitimate businessman Lex Luthor might be involved.

In the last year or so, though, someone had begun to systematically attack his network. Half a dozen shell companies had fallen victim to surprisingly well-prepared and competent tax inspections, and not just in the United States, either. Several flunkeys that had run illegal businesses for him for years had been arrested without warning. None of them knew that they were actually working for him, naturally, but they reported to others, who reported to still others, and at some point the chain would inevitably lead back to him.

To the casual observer nothing about this attack on his empire would scream "Superwoman", but he knew better. Hidden caches of documents and money were found by someone who was clearly able to see through walls. Security systems were deactivated by someone moving too fast to be seen. There was nothing there he could take to the police, nothing that would even begin to implicate Superwoman of doing anything illegal, but he knew. He just knew. She was trying to destroy him. Worse, she seemed to be succeeding, too.

Well, she might have had a head start on him, but he had not been idle the entire time, either. Sadly his research department had been unable to come up with anything substantial regarding Superwoman's background. They had come up with lots of theories, but each one was more ridiculous than the next. One theory had even said that Superwoman had a civilian identity somewhere, hiding out amongst the mere mortals. Ridiculous! No one with powers like her would ever deign to live among the rabble.

While those results had been disappointing, others had shown far more promise. Superwoman might be an alien, but she was similar enough to humans that she shed skin cells and occasionally left hairs behind, too. His people had managed to gather some samples of her DNA this way and put it through every analysis imaginable. Sadly her DNA was far too alien to create a clone of her (at least with the current level of technology, who knew what might be possible in a few years), but it had allowed him to vastly expand his understanding of her physiology and powers.

This, coupled with a report his hackers had liberated from S.T.A.R. lab computers, had finally enabled him to find the Superwoman's Achilles heel. And it had only taken two years of searching and roughly eighty million dollars to find the arrow that could pierce said heel.

"I think I shall call it… Lexonite!" Luthor said, admiring the glowing green meteor rock sitting on his desk.

Seeing as Superwoman was obviously looking to catch him in some sort of criminal activity, Lex figured that he might as well give her the chance to do so. Maybe it was time to go back to the beginning. The battle suit that had been "stolen" by a "terrorist" during their first face to face meeting had long since been replaced by a more advanced model. Sadly the Pentagon had cancelled their order for the suits, too many cutbacks, but there were other interested parties. Parties that the United States government certainly did not want to see equipped with advanced weapons made in the USA.

A midnight meeting was arranged, very quietly, across channels that Luthor was reasonably certain had been compromised not too long ago. A remote warehouse was agreed upon as the meeting place, belonging to Luthor by way of three separate shell companies. An obscene amount of money was named as the asking price for a number of advanced battle suits that would allow anyone to take over a middle-sized, non-nuclear country without too much trouble.

As the night of the meeting arrived, Luthor set up three separate dinner dates, all of whom would be attended by lawyers conveying Mr. Luthor's most sincere regrets that he couldn't come himself, but something important had come up at the very last minute. Two different flights were booked in his name (first class, of course), neither of which he was planning to be on, and a nondescript car took someone who looked a lot like him to a casino with firm orders to gamble away quite a bit of money.

Luthor himself accompanied the shipload of battle suits to the distant warehouse, his secret weapon securely in his pocket. He killed some time working on the speech he intended to give when the death of Superwoman was announced publically. Something about how terrible it all was, how much good she had done for the world, all that. Maybe he would even open up a charity in her name. He could always use another venue to launder money, after all.

When the time of the meeting finally arrived and a very large truck came to a stop in front of the warehouse, Luthor remained in the background as his people came to an agreement with the suitably Arabic-looking customers. They began to load the crates full of battle suits into the truck and Luthor was growing a tiny bit impatient. Had he overestimated Superwoman's abilities after all? The warehouse wasn't even lead-lined, for Christ's sake.

When he was just about to write off the entire evening as a severe waste of time, something finally happened. Just as the truck was about to drive off with its precious and highly illegal cargo, red beams came out of the dark night sky and melted all of its tires down into sludge.

"About time," he muttered, checking his wristwatch. "Some people are so terrible inconsiderate."

A female shape dropped out of the sky and touched ground right next to the truck. Long blonde hair and red cape moving in the evening wind, the headlights of the truck illuminating the red and blue suit. Luthor was standing in deep shadow inside the warehouse, but her eyes found him without any problems.

"Getting sloppy, Luthor?" she said, casually brushing away the men who had stormed out to try and subdue her. All of them were knocked out in seconds. "Since when do you attend to your illegal dealings in person?"

She walked towards him and Luthor stepped out of the shadows, smiling. He had carefully selected his most expensive business suit for this meeting. It wouldn't do to look anything but his best, after all. Superwoman came to a step just a few feet away from him and he allowed himself to enjoy the view for a moment. She was even taller than he remembered from their one brief face to face meeting years ago, actually, and looked even curvier. Not that he was complaining, mind you. She was certainly a sight to behold.

"Is this the point where I am supposed to yell that you cannot prove anything and that you will never catch me, Superwoman?"

Her eyes narrowed, his nonchalance probably making her suspicious. He was well aware that she had the power to kill him where he stood before he would ever know that she had moved, but she would not do any such thing. She was constrained by morals and adherence to law and order. Sad, really, that someone with the powers of a goddess allowed herself to be so limited. You would never see him limiting himself thus, powers or no powers.

"What's your game?" she asked him, crossing her arms.

"No bantering then? Oh well!"

He withdrew his hand from his pocket, which his personal tailor had lined with lead just a few days ago. At about the same time he had had one of the world's best and most highly-prized jewelers take a rough piece of green crystal and work it into a fine piece of art. A beautiful, if somewhat gaudy ring, the green stone shining with an inner light.

"Recognize this?" he asked, holding his hand out to her as if he expected her to kiss it. Superwoman's eyes widened and she took a step back.

"I am calling it Lexonite," he said in a conversational tone, stepping forward at the same time. "Somewhat egotistical, maybe, but it has a nice ring to it, don't you think? It's a fascinating material, nowhere to be found on Earth's table of elements. Who knows what marvelous properties it might have?"

Superwoman didn't speak, but the way she stumbled back from him told him all he needed to know. He was certainly going to enjoy this.

"Well, I know one of the properties it has," he continued, shortening the distance between them even further. "Did you know that humans – and apparently human-like aliens, too – tend to leave behind hairs and DNA wherever they go? It wasn't easy to find some of yours, but with enough time and money, everything can be accomplished. And it was delightful to see how your cells reacted to the radiation of the Lexonite. The way they shriveled and died..."

Superwoman stumbled, her back hitting the wall of the warehouse, and Luthor relished the look on her face. The mighty goddess actually looked afraid of him, the mere mortal. Well, there was nothing "mere" about him, but still. This had all the trappings of a Greek tragedy. How delightful.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice more whisper than anything else.

"Why?" he replied, now standing so close to her that he could almost feel the heat radiating off her skin. "It's really quite simple, Superwoman! You have proven yourself an obstacle. I had so hoped that you would turn out to be an asset instead, but I guess one can't have everything."

He leaned in, his cheek almost touching hers, to whisper in her ear. "Maybe you could have been even more than an asset, Superwoman. Too bad."

He took her unresisting hand in his and slipped the Lexonite ring off his finger and onto hers. "It seems that this will be the only ring of mine to ever grace that mighty hand."

He pressed a kiss to her fingers, then let go of her hand and watched in satisfaction as she slowly slid to the ground, her face contorted in pain.

"You know, you should feel honored," he said, standing over her. "I have killed so many people, but it has been years since I did it with my own hands. I had almost forgotten how... satisfying it felt. Maybe I should take a more active hand in the future, too."

"Don't you... care at all... about the people you... killed?" she asked, coughing.

"Oh, I do care," he said. "I am not a psychopath, Superwoman. But you must understand, this is my world! I make the rules! And people who don't follow my rules will be removed, it's that simple. I won't have an alien with delusions of godhood stand in my way."

He checked his watch. "Now, be so kind as to get on with dying. I have other appointments and I have an entire department of scientists eager to begin cutting up your corpse, Superwoman. Who knows, maybe they'll be able to clone me a Superwoman of my own. One more... accommodating than you, my dear!"

"I'm afraid you will miss your appointments," a new voice growled.

Luthor started, looking around. There was a shadow separating from the walls, a man dressed all in black and with a mask covering his face.

"And who exactly do you think you are?" Luthor asked, doing his best to hide the fact that his heart was beating rapidly. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I think you have far more time than you think," Superwoman suddenly said behind him, no trace of pain in her voice. Luthor whirled around again, aghast to see her back on her feet.

"What...? How...?"

She had taken the ring off her finger and was flipping it up into the air like a coin. "Lexonite, Lex? Really? You thought some kind of magic space stone would poison me?"

Luthor couldn't believe it. The tests had been conclusive! The radiation of the Lexonite should have poisoned her. Yet here she was, looking entirely unhurt. This couldn't be happening!

"Lex Luthor," yet another voice said. More people had suddenly appeared in the warehouse. The newcomers wore police uniforms. "You are under arrest for attempted arms sales to a restricted country, attempted murder, and I have been told the IRS is preparing an entire host of charges against you as well. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say…"

He started for the door, knowing how futile it would be, only to come to a stop as another shape appeared there. A dark-haired woman wearing something that looked like a cross between an ancient Greek soldier's uniform and a swim suit. He recognized her, of course. She was almost as recognizable as Superwoman, after all.

"Going somewhere, Mr. Luthor?" Wonder Woman asked, smiling at him.

"Apparently not," he huffed.

Once Lex Luthor had been loaded into the police car and driven away, "Superwoman" turned to look at her two friends and smiled. "You owe me big for this one, Kara! That weasel will never know how close I came to simply taking his head off when he kissed my hand."

An answering smile appeared on the face of "Wonder Woman", even as she reached up and slipped off the black wig she had been wearing, freeing her blonde locks.

"You did great, Diana. And I freely admit that you fill out my suit a lot better than I do your armor!"

Diana took off the blonde wig she had been wearing in return. She had initially balked at the idea of switching costumes with her best friend, believing that Luthor would spot the difference immediately. Kara was, after all, shorter than she was (if not by much) and had a different facial shape, too. A blonde wig and blue contact lenses alone would not really disguise that. Kara had been right, though, in saying that Luthor would only see the suit and the hair, not bothering to look any closer.

"He did spend more time looking at my chest than my face," Diana shrugged, fluffing out her hair.

"For all his intelligence," Batman interjected, "Luthor still fell into the trap of seeing only what he wanted to see."

"Boobs?" Kara asked, giggling.

Batman grimaced. "Not even remotely what I meant."

Kara nodded, still smiling, but then grew somber. "Do you think we have enough to actually get him behind bars? You know he'll have the best lawyers money can buy, not to mention enough money to bribe even a saint."

"The case is solid," Batman replied. "The information we have supplied the FBI and IRS on his illegal activities with will suffice to put him in prison for life, never mind his verbal confession from a few minutes ago that the officers have on film. And seeing as he owns his own private airplane, no judge will allow bail." A smile crossed his face. "Also, Luthor will find that the passwords for all his bank accounts have been mysteriously scrambled. He will find it hard to dislodge the money needed for bribes."

"I hope you are right," Kara simply said, her eyes still following the police car in the distance. "That man has been slippery all his life."

"I will keep an eye on the proceedings," he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Luthor will not escape justice, I promise."

Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out the lead-lined case where he had stashed Luthor's ring. A perfectly harmless duplicate would end up in the police evidence locker, firmly establishing that there was no such thing as a glowing green xeno-mineral that was harmful to Superwoman.

"You should take this," he said, holding it out to Kara.

"No, you keep it," she told him instead. "There need to be safeguards in place. No one is incorruptible. I will sleep easier knowing that the means to stop me, should it ever be necessary, are in the hands of someone I can trust with my life."

Batman nodded, though his eyes did stray to Diana for a moment. "Oh, don't worry, Bruce," she said. "Kara stashed a piece of Kryptonite on Themyscira years ago. Just in case."

The three friends stood together for a moment, just enjoying the moment. Then Diana went and hugged Kara, pulling her into her side.

"You do realize, though, that you have now officially run out of excuses, right? Clark will hear about Luthor's arrest in tonight's news and hold you to your word."

Kara groaned, slumping. "You just had to remind me, didn't you?"

End Chapter 18

Author's Note: Remember that in this universe of mine Kara has managed to keep the existence of Kryptonite hidden from the world at large. And while she has mentioned the name of her home planet publically, it was only in one interview and never since. So when Lex Luthor finds some glowing green xeno-mineral that he believes will be able to hurt Superwoman, of course he's going to name it after himself. He wouldn't be Lex otherwise.

I originally planned to have a longer arc involving Lex' transition from business tycoon to imprisoned super villain, but couldn't come up with anything exciting to write about that. So It's done now, I wanted it over with before the public debut of Superboy, but without making the take-down look too easy. I'm not one hundred percent happy with it, to be honest. Just remember that Luthor, as he was portrayed in the post-Crisis comics, was an utter misogynistic pig, so no matter how often he tells himself that he won't underestimate SuperWOMAN, he'll still do it. The idea that a woman could outsmart and play him is simply inconceivable to him.