There must not be a Superman
"You seem to have me at a disadvantage," Lex said, taking a seat in front of the monitor. "First things first, who am I addressing?"
"I am Dru-Zod." The figure floating in the middle of the monitor approached, covering almost the entire screen.
"Good. How do you know my name?"
"It was uttered many times by Kal-El, mostly in contempt. He projected your image in the floor to ceiling screens of the fortress, where he carved disgusting things with his vision."
"And what did you mean by "destroyer of Kal-El?"
"This is his fortress, designed for him and for those he granted entrance. You being here could only mean that he's dead or incapacitated. All of us here in the Phantom Zone are victims of the abuses of the House of El."
Lex took his LPad and began writing. "How many of you are there?"
"Five. We made the mistake of making an enemy out of Jor-El. I was in charge of Krypton's defenses, when he disabled to stage a coup against our ruling council. We barely repealed him, but he was clever enough to forge evidence against me. I was arrested and condemned here in his stead."
"What about the rest?"
The figures flickered as they floated in and out of view.
"Xa-Du, a physician accused of committing forbidden cryogenic experiments; Va-Kox, a scientist, blamed for creating the Force of Life, a deadly mutagenic; Jax-Ur, sentenced for destroying the kryptonian moon of Wegthor; and Faora, convicted for killing over 32 men." Zod pointed at them. "All those crimes were committed by Jor-El and we were blamed for it."
The shapes nodded, more than a few voiced their dislike for the El's.
"Jor-El could contact us in the Phantom Zone, without the council knowing, and, in exchange for information, he would keep our families out of the Zone."
Do you think he's buying it? The woman said in Kryptonian.
I'll have this dolt eating out of my hand Zod nodded. "She disobeyed and Jor-El dealt with his family."
Lex leaned forward. "He did? Can she speak my language?"
Reel him in Zod said to her. She nodded.
"I had a husband and three sons. I should be grateful that he spared them a planetary death, but they were my family. He was mine. They were mine." She turned around and sobbed.
"Oh, you poor dear," Luthor's voice filled with sorrow.
"You'll have to excuse her. It's been too long and she's still not over it." Faora floated away. "We are wraiths, Luthor, doomed…incorporeal, even amongst ourselves. We thought our chances at freedom died when Krypton exploded, but then Kal-El found us. We hoped he'd free us, but he was even crueler than his father. He tormented us; he mocked us and our imprisonment, delighting in our suffering." He nodded, gravely. "He is the son of our jailer, all right."
"Tell me more about him. Was he here often?"
"Yes. He'd be here at least once a month. More when he had trouble in your world. We say him battered and bruised, coming here to lick his wounds."
"He also came here with his friends, the one with the eagle and the stars…"
"Wonder Woman."
"The man in black, with pointy head and the underdressed child were also here."
"Has anyone else been here since he left?"
"No. A few unanswered calls in the monitors, but nothing else..."
"We saw you when you first attempted to breach the walls." Xa-Du interrupted, "We were cheering."
Be silent, you imbecile. I have him controlled Zod's voice was calm, but firm.
I'm sorry. Xa-Du said, retreating.
Zod turned back to Lex. "He speaks the truth: we hoped you'd break the barriers and gain entrance, but that time was not meant to be. "
"How were you aware? Is the monitor always on?"
Zod gave an almost imperceptible pause. "Yes. And the fortress systems logged the attempts." He pointed at a spot behind Lex. "One of the crystal panels in the floors below."
In the background, Lex could barely hear Faora's sobs
"We can give you firsthand accounts of Jor-El's cruelty…his crimes should have put him here long before he sired any offspring."
"That is terrible, Zod." Luthor nodded, sympathetic. "I always knew there was something wrong with Kal-El, but to know the rottenness started long before that?"
"Yes. The El's were known for their science, but few truly saw their ugly side: the greed, the corruption, the evil…" Zod looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Luthor, but we've suffered for too long. We can stay here for days, describing our suffering, but it all boils down to one thing."
"You want your freedom." Lex's aides finally got up to the Phantom Zone monitor and poured him a cup of coffee. Below them, the science teams were busy, cataloguing and accessing their assigned work areas.
"Yes." Zod said, "We understand your concerns, and frankly, we share them. After all, here we are prisoners inside your hated enemy's quarters. Who can vouch for our character?" Zod's voice was full of understanding. "He had plans, big plans, for all of us. Once he figured out how to control us via kryptonite armbands and belts, he would use us to ravish your world. We refused, and since we had no more family for him to use as leverage, we just glared at each other through the vastness of space."
Again, he pointed somewhere behind Luthor. "Check the crystal databanks. I'm sure they say terrible things about us, but take into consideration who wrote them. He had to make it convincing, in order to keep us here. Kal-El blindly or knowingly, followed Jor-El's mandates."
"We're prepared to deal in good faith, Luthor. I will tell you secrets of the fortress, knowledge the kryptonians never dared to put in the crystals, which will make you powerful beyond your wildest dreams. You'll be free to verify everything, of course, and once we've gained your trust, will you consider it enough to let us be free? All we ask is for a star chart and we'll find our place in the stars, far away from your planet. You have my word."
Lex nodded. "My dear Zod, I always negotiate in good faith."
Zod seemed encouraged by this. "In good faith, I will offer you this: we heard you found the kryptonite vault."
"The door was partially open. Darnedest thing."
"Here's what the colors do: red gives us mutations and we revert to normal after 24 hours; green's radiation can kill us, blue is like green kryptonite on our imperfect duplicates; black makes us apathetic…the pink one, we think it was created as a prank…the jewel one kills plant life and the gold makes us a thousand times more powerful. It is very important that you do not expose us to that one."
He took more notes.
"The door was open because Kal-El was working hard on making himself immune to the effects of kryptonite. You'll find his research in the crystal outcropping inside his laboratory, three levels down. His kryptonite-proof suit has the following characteristics…"
Hours passed until an aide approached Lex. "Sir, if I may…they need you in Site One for the Metropolis teleconference."
Lex looked up. "I must have lost track of time." He switched off his LPad. "Zod, you've given me a wealth of material to work with, all in good faith. I have to be honest and say the talks for your release may take some time. I am a powerful man, but even I can't fight City Hall. I have to bring this to my government…hell, to the U.N." His tone of voice became conspiratorial. "But between you and me, I think I can make them see things your way. It'll take me a few days to set things up, but I'll keep you informed."
"Thank you, Luthor. You're a credit to your race."
"In the meantime, can I get you anything to make you more comfortable?"
"There's nothing you can do to help us in this incorporeal world."
"Maybe a TV? There are some pretty good entertainment channels."
"Yes, thank you, Luthor. That would be great."
"I'll see it gets done."
Lex walked out of the fortress and made a beeline for the communications hub in Site One.
"Teleconference to Metropolis."
"Yes, sir."
The screen lit up and, after a few seconds, revealed Pearl's face.
"Good night, Mr. Luthor. How's the weather.""
"Never changes, Pearl. What's the word on R&D? Did they fix the snag in the Chariot?"
"Yes. It was an error in the weight conversion ratio. Lomax says we can have a test within a week."
"Mergers called with the W.E. project?"
"They're keeping B. busy. Now that Lucius is in the hospital, he's had no choice but to be at all those meetings and hearings. We may be able to tie him there for another two weeks. He's not happy about it."
"Good. Keep him on his toes and drown them with minutia. How's the S-Server? We've reached memory capacity?"
"No. We were close, but it actualized itself. Memory doubled almost overnight and we're getting very strange noise on the line."
"Isolate it and send me the data. Get LexComm to Line up anyone with the highest storage needs and sign them up. Get the IRS, DMV, and traffic control…hell, reach out to foreign governments and companies. We offer storage for anything, from fan fiction to telenovelas; the higher definition, the better. I don't care if we slash our prices to the ground: I need that mind busy as hell."
"Yes, sir."
"I need my Null chambers here. I can't hear myself think here and research about to get critical. Ship it as soon as possible."
"Got it, Mr. Luthor. What else?"
"One last thing, Pearl, and I want you to treat it with the utmost care."
"Utmost care?"
"Yes. I need you to schedule me a meeting with the vice president and secretary Simmons. I have a situation here that needs their expert opinions. Get it as soon as possible."
"Will do, sir."
"You're a dear, Pearl."
"Good morning, Zod. I just came up here to tell you I initiated talks, on behalf of your people, with my government. As soon as I hear anything, I'll let you know."
"Thank you, Luthor. We value your efforts."
"Did you enjoy LBO?" He pointed at the TV. "Depending on the schedule, there's something for everyone"
"It was…entertaining, all right."
"Good, good. Listen, while we wait for the call from my government, I'll be working with my science teams." Lex said.
"Luthor, we've seen you work on good faith, so we are willing to tell you more."
"Really?" Luthor enthused, "mighty nice of you. Sure, I would like to know more about the Phantom Zone."
"You may ask."
"Is everything there incorporeal? You have been floating there since you were sent there?"
"Yes. We are as we were the day the projector transported us. We don't need to eat or sleep, and we don't age."
"Remarkable. How big is the zone?"
"Immense. We spent thousands of days roaming it, trying to find its confines, but found none."
"You said that if I beamed something there, it would be as immaterial as you are."
"Yes. Nothing remains solid in this place."
"So there's no chance of a base or a space station in there?"
"No. There are no buildings here, no resources, and no materials."
"What about devices, transmissions? I mean, if there is a two-way Phantom Zone projector, something must work there."
"We haven't been able to test that. Jor-El never sent anything but his enemies."
"Hum…I like the possibilities of the place. Once you fellows are back in our universe, would you mind if I used it? My people could find a lot of uses for an immense, immaterial zone."
"You're welcome to it. Once we leave it, we'll never look back."
"I'll get my people to analyze the zone right away."
Zod waved to the side and Faora floated into view.
Are we ready to start?
Zod nodded. "Luthor, Jax-Ur needs me. Our time here can't get us physically, but it tests your mental fortitude. Jax-Ur is in a bad mental state and I need to calm him down. If you need anything, talk to Faora."
"Godspeed, Zod. May you help your friend feels better."
The cargo plane from LexCorp arrived earlier, and dozens of workers assembled the Null chamber inside Lex's quarters. When you had an enemy that could see and hear anything, you needed a place where your privacy was guaranteed. The Null chamber was designed to thwart eavesdropping kryptonians, and it was built with special materials that cancelled sound, systems that interfered with electrical currents and, for those prying eyes, lead-lined walls and floor.
Whenever he wasn't in the Fortress, Lex spent his time in there. Mostly, he tinkered with the Phantom Zone Projector.
"Zod?"
"Luthor, any news?"
"I just got word from my government. They will propose your situation on the next Congress meeting. I will redact a brief for the House of Senators and the delegates of the United Nations, addressing your plight and the mistreatments you suffered under Jor and Kal-El."
"And when will they meet?"
"They may meet by the end of the month. I'm trying to speed things up." Zod remained silent. "But I did get a big concession: I arranged for the liberation of one of you."
"One?" Elation and resentment were palpable. "One is a start." Zod said, gravely.
"I just want you to understand one thing: the one released would be under my custody, to remain confined to special quarters in Site One. No powers, at least not at the beginning, but there would be access to the facilities, some entertainment...food, clothes, a shower…"
"Yes…that would be good. Do we get to choose…?"
"Faora," Lex said, with an ingratiating smile, "would you accept the invitation of my government, to be a guest until the situation is resolved?"
The fool opens the door to us. Zod turned to Faora. Go! Humor him, satisfy him if you must. Once his back is turned, release us and we'll burn him to cinders.
"I'll be real again?" Faora said, haltingly. "Able to walk, feel, breathe?"
"That and much more." Lex beamed.
Faora nodded. "I accept."
The dial read 0% when her head finally materialized on her shoulders. Quickly, the guards retreated, with the Phantom Zone projector, the green kryptonite case and exited the Null chamber. She opened her eyes.
"I'm sorry for the delay in the materialization. The projector's batteries must be running out. We almost lost you"
Her eyes were glassy and she looked very confused.
"Three minutes it took, but you're now all here. I'm sorry for mask, but we wouldn't want you to pick an airborne virus, especially in your weakened condition." He put on a surgical mask. "How are you feeling, Faora?"
She took one step forward and promptly fell to the ground.
"You have to move your feet." Lex said as he helped her up. "There is no more gliding."
She babbled incoherently for a few moments, even after Lex helped her to a sitting position. "Calm down and remember that you speak with your mouth, not with your mind."
Faora looked at him. "Everything is red."
"That would be the red sun lamps, can't be helped."
Her eyes watered. "No, everything is red! I have seen gray for so long…" Her hand brushed the texture of the floor, then her face, her hands… "This is…so…so amazing…this air…this warmth…"
Lex helped her up. "And this is only the beginning." He gave her a surgical mask and she put it on.
He walked her around the room and led her to the bed and sat next to her. Lex knew he was safe. There were red sun lamps all over the ceiling, behind inch-thick glass partitions. The furniture was bolted to the floor and even the bedding was tucked to one side of the bed. The bathroom had a sliding door, with the ceiling barely an inch above the threshold. The doors did not open from the inside and they could be made transparent by the flick of a switch. And standing on guard were the toughest roughnecks Wilson could spare.
"I hope you're comfortable."
She put her hand on Luthor's neck and rubbed his shoulder. "I am, thanks, Luthor."
He shook his head. "Ah, Faora, we may look like kryptonians, but our nerve clusters are in very different places."
She withdrew her hand. "What?
"You're looking for a nerve cluster that humans simply don't have." He smirked. "I mean, him, he would be a writhing mass of spasms and aches for a good forty seconds. Me?" He flexed his arm, for show. You just fixed my shoulder pain
Faora's eyes flared. His pronunciation was a little off, but it sounded like a native Argonian.
"Let's not get confused, here: I know General Zod is trying to trick me to into releasing him and his cronies so they can take over the world. Military men tend to think that way. Look, I'm serious about my offer. You can be free of the Zone and even work with us in our little projects. If everything goes according to plan, I'll let you live –after I've used the gold K on you. Makes us a thousand times more powerful…Zod should never, ever play poker."
"You didn't talk to your government? What about the general, the secretary?"
"Actors. I have lots of money, a very sharp executive secretary and hundreds of key words for almost every scenario. My organization moves on the go and plans change without a moment's notice."
"I'm kryptonian, same as everyone in the zone. How can you talk about betraying them and not betraying me?"
"It's very simple: you hate them too. You don't want them out of that zone more than I do. All of them may come out with their powers intact and you may fight them, but at some point their numbers will overwhelm you. No, you want those kryptonians dead and, believe me, I can relate."
"You want me dead?"
"My word, no. I hated spitcurl and I'm damned sure I'm not releasing them." Luthor said, pointing towards the fortress. "You and I, we can reach an understanding."
Faora nodded. "What do you want?"
"I want you to help me build a device that will purge the Zone free of them. We have a few ideas, but the thoughts of a resident can help steer our efforts."
"You know we can see outside of the zone, right?"
"I do, otherwise you couldn't have known as much as Zod knew." He pointed at the walls. "But this is my Null chamber and nothing gets in or out. And even if they are here, our voices are covered by the noise-cancelling systems, our thoughts by the psy-dampeners and our lips covered by the surgical masks. Don't forget that I've lived the past decade outwitting the most dangerous superhumans on this planet."
"And if I don't help you?"
"Well, there are a few solutions to that scenario. I project you back to the zone and turn the projector into an art-deco lamp." Luthor stood up and walked to the door. "Or we work with a little system. You tell me the truth, you help me out, and you win concessions. You are straight with me and may even win your freedom. You lie to me, you get a strike. Three and you're back into the Phantom Zone. You attack me or my men and you get a bullet to the back of the head."
May Rao defecate all over you and your family
"Suit yourself." He buzzed the guards. "I'm going to let you get reacquainted with an old friend."
Faora looked at him, quizzically.
"Hunger."
He stepped out of the room and closed the door.
Lex spent the following day checking the Fortress's reports and felt something he had not felt in a long time: overwhelmed.
There is too much material and, truthfully, too few scientists. He flipped through page after page of preliminary descriptions on weapons, armors, materials and technology. Most of my people are 100% loyal, and yet I'm spending millions in keeping them silent –and my own reputation helps contain leaks. To fully take advantage of this, I'm going to need three…five times more scientists...and that's being conservative and that won't make a dent on research time, which is going to take years…maybe decades, and one of them will talk. I'm ready if things leak, but I'll need to get them airtight if someone blows this story open. Time make sure things are still in motion.
He spent the rest of the day composing and sending hundreds of emails to an equal number of employees and trusted agents.
He was too busy to check on Zod the next day –he sent some underling to humor him-, but he went to see Faora.
"How are you feeling today?"
She sat up, defiant, but Lex could see her lips were parched. Go suck Rao's balls
"All right." He said, his mouth still covered by the mask. "But remember: I know how long it takes to break a kryptonian. My team is just one phone call away."
He left.
One more day passed and Faora buzzed the guards.
"Feeling cooperative now?"
She nodded.
"Good." He called the guards and they opened the door to deliver a metal case. "Of course, there'll be a few guarantees: you'll wear this belt at all times."
"What's in it?"
"Kryptonite-laced C4, with one of several detonators keyed to my heartbeat. And a few more gadgets you really don't want to find out what they do."
She lifted her shirt, baring her midriff and Lex fastened the belt. It closed with a satisfying click.
"Don't try to take it off or it will detonate. Second, you'll have access to the lab and the facilities, but touch something you're not supposed to or steal anything and its back to the zone."
"Understood."
"And three…this is very important… get more than 20 feet away from me and you explode. Is that clear?"
"Yes."
"Good. Shower and change. I'll return when you're more presentable."
"But I hunger…"
"Feed my curiosity and I'll feed you."
When he returned, there was a scent of soap floating in the air. Her hair was damp and it hung in spikes. With the appropriate amount of make-up, she wouldn't be out of place in one of his company dinners. He noticed that her lips were no longer parched, –must have drunk her fill in the shower- but she was still looking weakened.
"Luthor."
"Faora. Are you ready to earn your first meal?"
"Yes."
"Good. It's being prepared. First, no takeover goes as smoothly as this one. Even if I tricked the lock into thinking its master was home, there must have been some defenses. What did I miss?"
Faora broke into a piercing laugh. "Oh, you poor, deluded gnat. You really think you conquered this? You think you conquered him?"
Lex felt the color drain from his face. "What are you talking about?"
"We've been working on the fortress for years."
"How?"
"We are incorporeal," she pointed at her head, "but our minds…oh, the never stop working. We combine our minds to override everything, from the Fortress's systems to Kal-El himself. Oh, we could barely hold him for two, three seconds before he shut us out and he was on top of things, updating the systems, patching code errors and plugging breaches; he fended off our attacks on his mind by summoning that mighty will of his. But then you called him away…"
"Go on."
Faora crossed her arms over her chest.
"Keep talking."
"Feed me and I'll continue."
"I can…"
"You can try, and I may break like he did, but you want to know right now. One plate."
Keeping his temper in check, Lex complied. His personal cook prepared a standard plate: eggs, sausages, orange juice and coffee, with a side of toast. Faora ate them all, feeling every bite a banquet.
"I remember that day perfectly." She said between mouthfuls. "He was here; working on another remedy for kryptonite poisoning when he got the priority call. A perfect opportunity: he flew into your trap and we sprang into action." She made a maddening pause when she sipped orange juice.
"Mmm…delectable." She licked her lips. "Kal-El was not distracted by the station falling; he was being the victim of a massive telepathic attack, coming from the minds of Krypton's most depraved criminals. He could have broken out of your trap in two seconds. Two! We held his mind for five, letting your pathetic kryptonite and red sun trap drain him."
Looking at Lex's distraught face, Faora felt emboldened and pressed on. "We knew you wouldn't kill him. We wanted to see him suffer, to be humiliated, to be in the greatest pain he could possibly fathom. We saw you break him and we rejoiced. And when sliced parts of his brain, we had the perfect pawn to liberate us. We only had to wait for him to be at a decent power level."
"You were behind his escape attempt?" his voice dripped with rage.
"Yes."
"But I held him for months before the attempt and he was frequently at 40% of his powers. What took you so long?"
"Ask your people if they've found a large glass bottle in the rubbish centers under the fortress-it's not glass, not really. It's some polymer invented by Brainiac. It held the bottle city of Kandor, the jewel of Krypton. It's a smoking ruin now, and it was taken away by the fortress' cleaning robots, back when they were working. Tell your men to check their feet…there's probably traces of tiny Kandorians smeared on them."
She grinned. "We did you a favor, really. Kal-El had a lot of fanatics in Kandor and they had a little club called the Superman Emergency Squad. They tried to escape the Krypton-like conditions of the bottle, gain powers under the yellow sun and rescue him. We couldn't have that, so we fought them. We short circuited the tiny atmosphere facilities and we kept sabotaging until the air was too rarefied; we overloaded their energy buildings, made their weapons packs explode…men burned and it was glorious…." She closed her eyes for a moment. "A few managed to escape and we used the defenses of the fortress to fend them off."
"It was a costly war," she drained the coffee in one gulp. "They fried most of the Fortress's defenses and they smashed all the robots…it was the height of surrealism watching a robot Superman being cut in half by a tiny heat vision beam and then see a tiny robot swarm swoop in, fix the exterior good as new and store it on the second level. I think the repair bots collapsed fixing the last robot and they were swept away by the sweeping drones. Of those, one or two remain, but even if we cracked their systems, they'd be useless."
"Why?"
"They just sweep the main floor and we're…heh, we are three levels up. Stupid Kal-El."
She shrugged. "The Fortress was all but useless, and all we could do was focus again on Kal-El…"
Lex smiled. "But after your first attempt, I overhauled the security systems. Between the Zettabytes of information, the low power levels, guards and the redundancies that can be repaired in seconds, this deluded gnat has crushed all your efforts."
Faora blinked a few times and looked around, erratically. Lex fixed his tie and cuffs.
"Well, I see that the anesthetic is working. Don't worry. It'll be over soon."
"But I thought…I was going to help you…build the device for the Phantom Zone…"
"Oh, I can do that on my own. Like I said, I had several plans in motion when I saw there were about fifteen kryptonians in the Phantom Zone: the revenge angle, the romantic gambit, the carrot and the stick, Spanish Prisoner, Good Lex/Bad Tyler…and I dropped them when circumstances rendered them irrelevant."
"I found a way to delay the transition from the Zone to our world. I couldn't risk if you had powers, even for two seconds. It took about three minutes for you to fully reappear and by that time, you were drained."
"My men found the rubbish bins where the robots and Kandor were stored, around the time you materialized. We have time, we're going to work on the Fortress to repair the systems and we will unlock every secret there is to know. As you can imagine, the Zone-Kill beam is top priority, because I don't want a bunch of meddlesome ghosts trying to undo my good works."
"Then…why…spring…me?"
Lex's smile vanished. "Because you morons fried the surveillance systems and all the recordings were destroyed. I just wanted to hear from the horse's mouth what happened. Now that I know, you have outlived your usefulness. Well, not quite."
"..no…"
"Yes. There have been complaints about the vests used by our female demographic. 'Unflattering figure', can you believe it? Fashion over function, but then again, I'm nothing if not customer-oriented. And luck would have it, here's a kryptonian female with a nice figure."
She started to drift away when they brought in the steel box.
She opened her eyes once, twice and then opened them no more.
It was a few days later when Lex Luthor finally returned to Metropolis. He personally saw Faora being placed in a new facility, with even tougher security measures. In his office, he had stacks of reports from his R&D teams to review: the Zone-killer beam was coming along nicely and the first projections of fortress-related technology were encouraging. Meetings scheduled with CEO's, governors, presidents…his Antarctic holiday left him with piles of work that threatened to overwhelm him.
Suddenly, he heard a dull thud. He swiveled his chair around, to face the panoramic window, with the view of Metropolis he absolutely loved.
He saw something adhered to the outside of the window. It was a yellow oval with a black shape all over it.
A message in red letters read,
GOTHAM TOWERS
MIDNIGHT
COME ALONE