Chapter 22:

Superwoman and the Blue Red Blur

Lois and Clark sped towards Metropolis Harbor. They located the ship 'The Montague Bay' and briefly staked it out. Soon the two limos pull up and the creeps enter the ship, walking up the boardwalk, guns drawn. Lois grabs pictures of the ship, it's name, it's crew, and the license plates of the limos.

"We need a distraction." Lois offers. Before Clark could protest, she speeds away. Shaking his head, he silently vaults atop the deck, and skulks around. Clark zips through the large freighter and uses his x-ray vision to locate the correct cargo.

He rips open a box filled with guns, and hauls out a few of the AA13 Assault Weapons. He snaps a picture of them, the delivery address on the crate, and one model number on a specific gun. A crewman catches him, and Clark decks him with a fraction of his power before he could sound an alarm. The crewman falls limply to the floor.

Lois strips to her teddy, and dives into the cold, clear water. She swims alongside the ship and climbs up the ladder, catching the crew by surprise. "Hi boys!" The drenched Lois flirts. "It's a beautiful night for a swim, isn't it?" Two of the goons smirk lustily and approach her, aiming their guns downward.

As soon as they're in range, Lois lashes out with a super powered kick, sweeping low against both goons' legs, knocking them flat. She gives each one a knee to the chest to keep them gasping for air. Lois kicks their guns off the deck and into the water. Now, the whole ship is alerted. Lois super spins to dry off, and continues on.

One guy fires a round at Lois from the highest deck near the Captain's Quarters. She quickly avoids the spray of bullets by zipping into hyper speed, and shows up behind the gunman. With a quick karate chop to the back of his neck, the gunman crumples to the creaking, wooden floor.

Clark runs into another crewman, and tosses him into a wall, knocking him out, but the action shakes the ship, alerting the rest of the thugs. Deciding to help Lois, Clark vaults up the stairs to the upper decks just in time to watch Lois physically throw a gunman through a nearby bulkhead.

"Nice!" Clark praises as Lois smiles brightly. "See, Smallville, having a superhero for a girlfriend definitely has its advantages." She flirts heavily. "Girlfriend, eh?" Clark echoes. "Oops! Did I say that out loud?" She reddens. A new spray of bullets from below and above them interrupted their moment of fun.

The two goon squads fire on them. All this gunplay attracts the Metropolis Coast Guard. Lois and Clark have to subdue all the criminals before they have a chance to attack the police. "I'll get topside!" Lois says excitedly, on a kryptonite infused adrenaline rush.

Clark dives off the upper level to the lower one, putting a huge dent in the ship's deck. He races towards the gunmen, deflecting bullets as he goes. One hits him in the shoulder, and he briefly feels it, but it doesn't pierce his dense alien skin. He doesn't expect Lois would fare any better.

Clark speeds into the middle of the pack, randomly tossing goons overboard, backwards onto the pier, and into bulkheads. In moments, his level is quiet and secure.

Lois is recklessly dashing along the upper deck, and tosses two creeps through cabin doors.

She comes across the final sniper, who has managed to grab a new AA13. He aims it at Clark, and fires before Lois could stop him. The intense blast of the AA13 impacts Clark, searing his clothes, and causes him to lose his footing, falling into the bay with a splash.

"Clark?" Lois yells, terrified that the new weapon had been too much for her intended beau. "You bastard! You killed my boyfriend!" She sidesteps a point blank blast from the AA13, grabs the weapon from the thug, and throws him off the top deck. It's unlikely that he would survive the fall. Lois had killed the criminal. She finally began to cry, as the adrenaline surge faded.

Clark had been stunned by the blast, recovering quickly. He jumps up out of the water, and saves the creep at the last second, catching the startled man before he hit the swell. "Where is she?" Clark demands, as the thug glances upward. Clark follows his gaze, and spies Lois on the top deck.

Clark climbs out of the water, and smacks the gunman in the forehead with the palm of his hand, knocking him out cold, and tosses him roughly onto the wooden pier. The police boat had been getting closer, though it seemed to be circling nearby waiting for backup.

Lois's heart beat faster and faster. It felt to her like the organ would explode from her chest. She gasped for air, taking in ragged breaths. Lois slumped over the rail, as the kryptonite wreaked havoc with her internal systems. "Clark?" She called out weakly, as her eyes began to shut.

Lois fell to the metal floor of the uppermost deck, the pounding of her own heart echoing through her mind. Everything went black. Clark pulled himself up onto shore, still dazed, but determined to reach Lois. The energy blast of the AA13 had taken a toll on him, as he stripped some pieces of melted cloth from his body. Once oriented, he gazed up, and didn't see Lois.

HK Mosuban pounded a meaty fist onto his SUV's dashboard. "Who could have done such a thing?" He asked loudly. His driver paled. They'd been following the progress of the delivery from a spot near the Metropolis Bay wharf. His rented warehouse, Number 51, was still dark and empty.

"I have no idea, Mosuban!" Rex Rowland said, via a cell phone, from another vehicle in the area. "The crew claims that they only saw two people, a woman and a man. The raiders seemed to come out of nowhere, in their words. The shipment will be confiscated by the Port Authority."

"I will not pay for undelivered merchandise, Mosuban." Rowland said angrily. "Neither will Lex, I assure you." The Middle Eastern business mogul grumbled. "Nor would I expect you to." Mosuban smiled evilly. He made the gesture of a throat being slit to his driver and another passenger. They gulped, understanding their leader's instructions. Rex and Lex were to be killed.

Clark doubled over briefly, before righting himself and heading back onboard the ship. In his condition, he probably couldn't move many of the cases of weapons. In the cargo bay, he decided to take a quick count on his way to the upper deck. "One hundred and fifty?" he muttered aloud.

"Where are the other thirty cases?" He mumbled into the darkened cargo bay. He was certain that Mosuban and Rowland had agreed on one hundred and eighty. Clark stumbled up the stairs at about half his normal speed. He searched deck by deck for Lois to no avail.

Back in the SUV, Mosuban received a phone call. "Yes?" He snarled. "We have a hostage." A disguised voice said. Mosuban was furious. "What do I want with a hostage? You fool, we've lost the entire shipment to the Americans! Kill him!" The voice coughed. "It's a she, and I don't work for you. Yet, I have something else you might want. Let's say thirty cases worth."

"Really?" Mosuban was skeptical. "Why would I believe you?" The disguised voice was deliberate and controlled. "It's not a question of you believing me. A fact is a fact. I have what you want, and if you don't want it, I'm sure I can find someone else who'll buy them."

"Do you know who you're playing with?" Mosuban snapped. "I'm not playing, Mosuban. This is no game. I want some financial consideration. The hostage is merely a bonus." The voice said calmly. "I'm nearby, but I won't tell you where until we have an accord."

"How many do you have?" Mosuban forced a calm into his voice, rechecking the caller's story. "Thirty cases." He replied. "And who is the woman?" Mosuban questioned. "I have no idea. She's cute, and has certain value where I come from." That told Mosuban a lot.

"I don't care about the girl." Mosuban began. "I will offer you one point four million for the remaining merchandise." The voice laughed. "Do not be insulting. I can get twice that in any gang's American black market like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles."

"Very well. Two point four million dollars, American." Mosuban offered. "That's a little better, Mosuban. I will give you half back now, for one million. The balance will be paid when I am safely back in my country." The voice continued. "Do we have an accord?"

"We have an accord." Mosuban said as he pulled up a schematic on his GPS of the local area. "Where are you?" He added. "We are near the ship." The voice chuckled. "No. Not now, not here." He stated boldly. "I will contact you tomorrow at 10 AM local. Have my money ready." He clicked off the phone. "How was that, Mr. Luthor?" A dark skinned middle-aged man asked.

"Very good, Captain Ngawa." Lex replied, as he recounted all of the weapons cases that they'd stolen from the ship. The Port Authority was already boarding The Montague Bay, as Clark searched for Lois. He was almost back to full strength, but she was nowhere in sight.

Clark zipped through the whole ship once more, but hadn't found her. He hoped that she hadn't fallen overboard, and somehow became unconscious. She still had her superior abilities to fall back on, but they weren't always useful, he recalled from personal experience.

Clark gambled on calling her cell phone. He listened for the particular ring. It wasn't on board the ship, that much was certain. He let it ring, focusing on it's unique frequency. The phone was across the harbor. He bolted off the ship, zooming past the Port Authority Police.

The Feds would take care of the illicit weapons. His concern was to find Lois. Clark also noted that he hadn't seen Rowland or Mosuban anywhere. They'd likely escaped, infuriating him even more. Clark sped towards the familiar ring tone. It was coming from a large tugboat.

"Where is this girl?" Lex asked Ngawa. "I am holding her in the engine room of my boat in the bay." The ship's Captain replied. "You don't know who she is?" Lex had his suspicions. "No sir, she was unconscious when we brought her aboard. She's valuable in my country." Ngawa repeated.
"She's probably an American citizen, Ngawa!" Lex growled. "We don't want any trouble with customs if we decide to ship the weapons out of this country. I can stem the Port Authority's interest with a certain dollar amount, but kidnapping an American is out of the question."

"As you wish, Lex Luthor." Ngawa agreed. "We can simply toss her back into the bay, after dumping some whiskey down her throat. The police will assume that she got drunk and fell overboard." Lex dismissed him with a wave. "Do whatever you want. I don't need to know about it."

Clark followed the ring tone onto the tugboat and zipped down into the engine room. He tore open the steel door, and spied Lois lying on the floor. She'd been tied up and gagged. Obviously she'd lost her powers somehow, he imagined.

"Lois? Honey? Are you okay?" He asked hopefully, ripping the ropes and rags off of her. Clark picked her up and listened. Her heartbeat was very slow, and her breathing was ragged. He stepped back out of the engine room and was met by two angry looking sailors.

"I'm not in the mood." Clark shouted, in a rare bout of anger. He sped in between them, with Lois in his arms, knocking them off the stairs and onto the deck. Captain Ngawa was just arriving from the warehouse office that he and Lex had been sharing. "By the gods!" He exclaimed.

Clark vaulted high into the air, soared above the dock, and landed on a steel building's rooftop. He zipped as lightly as he could along the roof's peak. At the back of the building, Clark leapt over the parking lot, and into the center of a grassy, tree-lined parkway on the street beyond.

He noticed that Lois had stopped breathing. "No!" He yelled. "Lois! Come back to me!" Clark held her nose and breathed into her mouth, pounding lightly on her chest, performing CPR. "One, two, three…" Clark pushed down on Lois's chest. She gasped and coughed back to life.

He hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Hey now, Smallville…" She croaked. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time." She joked, coughing some more. Clark smiled with relief. "Did we get the bad guys?" Lois asked, her voice just above a whisper. "Yes, most of them." He replied.

Back on the dock, Captain Ngawa gawked as he watched Clark's shadow recede into the distance. "I'll be damned! Oh well, problem solved." He spat, and never mentioned what had happened to Lex.

Lois, what happened up there?" Clark asked, partially angry, and partially concerned about Lois's condition. "I've no idea, Smallville. I just passed out. The next thing I knew I was waking up in your arms, not that I'm complaining." She cooed.

"I think you overdosed on the kryptonite power surge." Clark analyzed. "Lois, you basically had a heart attack. You'd stopped breathing. I had to perform CPR." She carefully sat up. "Thanks, and here I thought that you were just getting fresh with me." She quipped.

"Lois, this isn't funny." Clark ruined her romantic mood. "I warned you that humans weren't meant to possess kryptonite super powers. The human heart can't take it for long." Lois sighed tiredly, as she considered his words. "I just wanted to help, you know, get the scoop." She defended.

"You can help." Clark began. "Think about it. How can you help me if you're dead?" He asked logically. "Great. Did we at least get the story?" Lois asked in a depressed tone.

"Yes, I've got the camera hidden near the dock. It's a good thing, too. That AA13 would've fried it."

"You have looked better." Lois teased as Clark helped her to her feet. "Said the woman in a soggy, filthy teddy." He returned the barb. "No problem, I'll just spin dry." Lois tried to turn, but succeeded only in making herself dizzy. "It looks like I have an energy shortage." She joked.

"The power outage could be caused by your body's rejection of the kryptonite speeders." Clark reasoned, suddenly remembering that he had their blue k rings in his torn and burned pocket. He was fortunate not to have lost them in all the excitement.

"Did the police ever come? We got all the bad guys?" Lois was all business again. "Will you take it easy, Lo'. You practically, no, you actually died a moment ago." Clark argued. "Don't be such a drama queen, Clark. I'm fine. Okay, let's grab the camera and get some shots of the Port Authority closing down the ship." He shook his head, but secretly admired Lois's persistence.

"Fine. I'll drive." He joked, scooping Lois up in his arms and zipping back to The Montague Bay. "We didn't get Mosuban and Rowland?" She asked with disappointment. "No. At least we stopped most of the shipment from getting through." Clark responded, as he set her down behind an aisle of unopened wooden crates across from the cargo ship, and admired the leggy beauty's form.

Clark used his super breath to blow Lois dry, and she slipped back into her black dress and trench coat, looking more like a Daily Planet reporter. She pulled the press badge out of one pocket and attached it to a lapel. Clark patched up his clothes the best he could to make himself look presentable. He took over the photo shoot, as Lois dug out her steno pad and pen.

"Darn it all! We'd have had 'em if I didn't suddenly go horizontal!" Lois criticized herself. "Don't worry about it. I don't think Mosuban and Rowland were anywhere near here when the buy was to go down. They had all of their flunkies take the risk." Clark informed her.

"You said most of the cargo was found?" Lois picked up on a part of Clark's story. "Yes. Fifty cases of the guns were already missing when we boarded her." He replied with disdain. "Really? That sucks! That means two things: Someone double-crossed Mosuban and Rowland, and the AA13's are still out there." Lois and Cark exchanged glances. "Lex!" They chorused.

Clark snapped some shots of the Port Authority walking the handcuffed perps down the gangplank. He also caught a few pictures of a fork truck backing a pallet full of weapons cases down the cargo ramp. The MPD showed up just then, and backed them away from the crime scene.

"Excuse me." Lois flagged a policeman down. "What happened here tonight? Would you care to comment?" The policeman shook his head. "All I can say is that the Feds put a gag order on us." Clark grabbed a shot of the dock in general as Lois grumbled: "So much for any details."

Dan Turpin walked up behind them. "Clark? Lois? How's it going?" She waved at the newly promoted detective. "Hey Dan! Any idea what went down here tonight?" Lois pressed. "We're not supposed to blab anything about an ongoing investigation." He replied. Clark pleaded with his eyes. "You've got nothing for us, Dan?" The detective glanced around worriedly.

"Word is that two gunrunners were busted. At least their minions were. You didn't hear anything from me, but the Feds are pissed. They had planned a two-year investigation on the perps. Now, there's little hope of knowing who's behind it." Both Lois and Clark reddened.
"Thanks, Dan." Lois said pleasantly. "Oops!" She glanced at Clark sheepishly. "Yeah, oops!" He agreed with a scowl. The detective crossed the ubiquitous yellow crime scene tape and headed for the cargo ship. "Look at the bright side, Smallville. We stopped the guns from moving on, and saved a number of policemen's lives. You saw the hardware these guys were sporting."

"I can't argue with that." Clark gave in. "Good. We're in this together, partner, right?" Lois asked. "Speaking of which…" He fished around in his pocket for the blue k ring. "Didn't I hear something about a super powered girlfriend a while ago?" He flirted. "Or was that just the kryptonite buzz talking?" Lois reddened, though she was impressed that Clark faced the issue.

Lois swallowed her pride and answered. "No, that's what I said…and I meant it." She looked longingly into his eyes. Clark immediately kissed her passionately, and slipped the blue k ring on her finger. The lip lock lasted for a good long while, until Lois finally gave up, and separated from him.

"Wow! That's quite a kiss, Smallville. I'm impressed. In fact, maybe I'll have to stop calling you Smallville, and call you my plus one!" She rambled, taken in by the passion of the moment. "You'll have to spruce up a bit, if you're going to be my arm candy. Got that, flannel king?" Lois teased, though she closed in for a second lip lock session.

Clark hadn't come up with a witty comment, before he was lost in the second kiss. Lois's memories jumbled together, making her thoughts spin out of control. He smiled brightly as Lois wiped the lipstick off his face. "That's my lip gloss shade, not yours." She quipped.

"What's with the ring, Clark? In Kansas that doesn't mean we're married or something, does it?" Lois admired the custom made jewelry. "It's pretty. That's not a sapphire, is it?" Clark shook his head. "It's a sort of commitment ring." He lied unconvincingly. "If you want to, you know, start a relationship."

"Really?" Lois hugged him. "You know all the girls will be jealous." Clark cast her a puzzled glance. "What girls?" He wondered. "Duh, Clark! My cousin Chloe, Tess, Lana Loo, if she ever shows up in Smallville again, not to mention my new…uh…coworker, Catherine Grant."

"I don't know if I'm ready to use the 'R' word, though." Lois sighed. "Are you refusing?" Clark asked warily. "No. Not at all, it's just kind of a shock, you know. Awww! Come here."
Lois kissed him a third time. "I'm not exactly an expert on relationships." She admitted after another lip lock.

"After my track record, Clark, cupid had to hang up his bow and arrow, and take up golf." He chuckled, but seemed out of sorts, like the close contact with Lois had messed something up. "How do you feel?" He asked her, worriedly.

Lois smirked. "I don't know, baby, you're doing the feeling!" She joshed, making Clark redden. "Tired and worn out, I guess." Lois continued after a moment. "It's like the past few days were a blur, and I've been on a drunken bender like the old days on the base." Clark considered that. Could Lois's kryptonite infection be subsiding?

Perhaps the blue k ring had produced the desired effect of inhibiting Lois's meteor rock exposure, he mused. There was only one way to be sure, he'd have to get Dr. Hamilton to check Lois out. For now, Clark continued to test her. "Lois, what do you recall about this evening?"

"It's not over, yet." She quipped. "It seems a bit hazy. We were on a date at the Ace of Clubs, we saw Mosuban and Rowland cut a deal, and we were here on a stake out of a cargo ship." Clark rubbed his square jaw. Did the blue k ring affect Lois's short-term memory? He wondered silently.

"How many drinks did I have before we left the club?" Lois asked. "A few." Clark answered, being deliberately vague. "Maybe my alcohol tolerance is low." She guessed. "That's a good thing, right?" Clark nodded. Lois's memory was definitely muddled up, he surmised.

Before they could discuss it further, Dan Turpin returned. "Okay you two love birds, while you've been making out on the dock beneath the moonlight, I've been working. I have a few more paragraphs for you, Lane, Kent." The pleasant but rough detective informed them.

"The buy was of stolen, illegal weapons." Turpin began as Lois hurriedly took notes. "We haven't found any major amounts of drugs, but according to some of the henchmen's bizarre accounts, I think they've been sampling their own merchandise."

"There were strange reports of flying girls, invisible attackers, a guy being shot and killed, then coming back to life. I think that they smoked or snorted their own dope." Turpin commented. Clark watched Lois for any signs of recognition, but saw none.

She continued to scribble notes on her reporter's steno pad. "Do we know for a fact who the big wheels were?" Lois probed, sounding like an experienced journalist. "I've got one name I can give you, that's all the Feds will part with for the media." Turpin responded.

"Captain Ngawa, out of Nigeria." Turpin continued. "This guy's a real sweetheart. He'll smuggle anything if the price is right, drugs, weapons, slaves, artifacts, and such. We know he was piloting The Montague Bay. Odds are he took it on the lam when we showed up."

"Okay. Thanks Dan." Lois said politely, completing her notes. "I guess that's about it, Clark. I assume you got some good shots for the cover story." Clark flipped on the digital camera, and ran through the melee photos with her. "Great, we're all set." Lois concluded.

Clark was still puzzled by Lois's lack of discussion about her super abilities. "What is riding up…?" Lois asked as she fidgeted. "Uh…would you excuse me for a minute, Clark?" She turned away from him and glanced down the front of her dress.

"Oh my god!" Lois gasped. Clark held back a snicker. "Is there a problem, Lois?" She cleared her throat. "No, I'm just a bit overdressed for the stake out. Shall we go?" Clark nodded and gazed at the dock scene, holding back any laughter.

An old friend renews acquaintances with Lois and Clark.

"Where's the car?" Lois asked, as Clark held her hand and guided her up the stairs from the pier. "Um…you don't remember?" He continued to test her. It appeared to him that the blue k ring had an unexpected side effect, short-term memory loss for humans.

"No. Please tell me that you're sober, and you know where it is." Lois put her arm around his back as they reached level ground. "Yes. It's parked next to the Daily Planet. We decided to cab it over here from the Ace of Clubs." He lied convincingly to her. This time it made his stomach hurt.
"We'll have to hoof it to the main thoroughfare." Lois remarked. "About this ring…I accept your proposal…to be my plus one." She smiled brightly. Clark put his arm around her slim shoulders. He had mixed feelings about continuing his bed of lies to Lois, or blurting out the truth.

This paradox would haunt Clark for many days to come. For now, he decided to live in the moment and kissed Lois tenderly. They walked a few blocks toward Stanton Street, where a few stray cabs might cruise by. The squealing of tires nearby attracted Clark's attention.

Within seconds, everything changed. Two black SUVs, and another dark sedan surrounded them. Naturally, they were out of the police department's scope of vision. Stanton Street was dark, desolate, and hidden behind a row of warehouses. They were trapped. Clark stepped in front of Lois.

She quickly punched in 911 to her cell phone…it was too late. The clicking of guns was heard from each window of the vehicles. "Miss Lane, I suggest you put that phone away." A gruff, familiar voice said. "Derringer!" Lois hissed. "I'm flattered." The thug responded. "Don't move."

"What?" Clark was caught once again between risking Lois's life, and using his abilities in front of her. "Meet Tom Tommy Gun Derringer…" Lois began sarcastically. "Member of the Grambino Crime Family." Clark frowned. Would this night never end? He silently fumed.

"Actually Miss Lane, I've since severed my ties to the prominent local Family." Derringer continued. "Uh…Miss Lane…freeze! Hands please!" Lois raised her arms cell in hand. "Okay, relax Tommy Gun. I'm a statue." Lois had quickly hidden their digital camera in an uncomfortable place beneath her teddy. The mafia hit man hadn't noticed her slight of hand.

"You remember my buddies, Nickie the Knife Rosenfeld, Mattie No Nose Falconari, and Benny the Blade O'Brien?" Two thugs waved from the SUV's back seat. "Charmed, I'm sure." Lois grumbled. Clark made a quick twitch, but the gangster's eyes caught the movement.

"I wouldn't, Blue Eyes." Tommy warned Clark. "No heroics! Lane, if your boyfriend so much as moves a muscle, I'll splatter his brains all over your nice clean dress." Lois stepped in front of Clark. "Tommy, if you kill him, you'll have to kill me, too!" She snapped. "Lois!" Clark shouted.

"Ordinarily that's not a problem." Tommy sneered. "However my new boss wants to keep it friendly. He didn't say whether we had to bring you in to visit in one piece, just that we ought not kill you. How about that loyalty, boys?" Tommy mocked. "You just don't see that kind of devotion nowadays, especially not from a dame." The other goons chorused: "Awww!"

"What happened to your old boss?" Lois grilled. The gangsters laughed. "Fat Charlie? He took a midnight swim, and forgot to come back home." Tommy chuckled loudly. Lois gulped. "Yeah, well if you're planning cement shoes for me, I only wear Prada. They don't have a style in granite."
The gangsters laughed at Lois's joke.

"Get in, sweetie. We can't just sit out here and chitchat all evening. After all, we're blocking the street. We wouldn't want to get a ticket or anything."

"You too, cupcake." Tommy ordered Clark. The young superhero was fuming, resisting the urge to smash all of the jolly mobster's faces in. He knew better. Now that he'd given Lois the blue k ring, she was not only powerless, but also vulnerable.
The mobsters' orders weren't to kill them at the moment, which meant that someone in their organization wanted to talk, and get some information. Lois and Clark piled into the second SUV, driven by Nickie the Knife. Benny the Blade trained a large, long barreled revolver on them.

"So, what made you boys decide to switch your loyalties?" Lois continued to interrogate the mobsters. "Better pay, better benefits, and flexible hours." Nickie quipped as Benny snickered. "Word is that there's a new player in town. He has respectable businesses as well as, shall we say, our best interests at heart." Benny added, smiling grimly.

The dark vehicles drove for a brief time along the wharf, eventually stopping beside a dimly lit warehouse with foreign identification. Clark read it silently: 'Tropocall Imports & Exports' noting the intentional misspelling of Tropical. "Out, you two lovebirds." Tommy ordered.

"Boys, you stay here. I'll bring our paychecks out after I meet with the boss." Tommy directed, keeping his AK47 pointed at Lois and Clark. "The boss wants a little quality time with Lane here. What's your name, Blue Eyes?" He asked as they edged closer to the warehouse office.

"Clark Kent." He answered rigidly, aware of any upcoming opportunity to rescue Lois before things became even worse. "You're still expendable, so no funny stuff." Tommy commented as he led them to a standard rusty old office entrance door. "Open it, Lane."

Lois complied, and Tommy shoved them both through it. Of course, Clark allowed the mobster to push him for effect. "Up the stairs to your right." The hit man instructed. Lois climbed up the old metal staircase, with Clark trailing close behind. Tommy stayed below, AK47 in hand.

"Get in there!" He barked. Lois opened the door and gasped. Sitting behind the old weathered desk was…Lex Luthor! Clark's eyes widened at the sight of his old nemesis and former friend. "Lois? Clark? It's been a long time." Lex was actually surprised to some degree.

"Not long enough!" Lois hissed. Below, Tommy headed for a smaller office near the back of the partially filled warehouse. "Moxie? You got our checks?" Tommy banged on the door. "Don't worry, Derringer, you'll get what's coming to you." An unfamiliar male voice said.