Chapter 11
In the center of downtown Metropolis rose the majestic Lexicon building. On the twentieth floor, stood Lex, in his spacious office decorated in modern décor with stainless steel accents on the dark wood furniture. Splashy contemporary art hung on the walls. Lex stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and contemplated, not the beautiful view of the city below, but the reply he'd received.
He hadn't expected a reply so soon. It must be fate, a sign that he was meant to accomplish his goals of defeating Superman, and ruling Metropolis, . . . then the country, and one day . . . the world.
Planning and timing were everything and Lex was carefully planning his response. No important information could be given away. Lex simply wished to make the message sender more curious, while in return, gaining information.
If Lex was going to enlist the aid of this person in killing Superman, then he needed to know everything he could about them. More importantly though, what would the sender want from Lex? How powerful is he? Could he really destroy Superman? Lastly and perhaps most important of all, how to destroy the message sender? Once Lex benefited from their help, he must eliminate them.
The wall-mounted television in Lex's office announced breaking news in Metropolis. A fire on the docks was being reported by a local channel. The newscaster stated the local fire department had put out the fire and the Metropolis police had apprehended the arsonist with the help of two Daily Planet employees, not Superman.
The absence of Superman surprised Lex. Very curious, he thought. No Superman? But it was a small incident. Superman didn't always show up for such minor things. It was possible he was elsewhere dealing with a bigger problem.
Still, the absence of Superman did arouse Lex's interest and it wouldn't hurt to find out what was happening in the rest of the world. But first things first, at the moment Lex needed to send a response to his recent message.
He sat at his computer and typed. An hour and many revisions later, Lex was finally satisfied. With the response prepared and ready to send, Lex turned his attention to world news and surfed the internet for recent reports of Superman. Surprisingly, the Man of Steel had not shown up anywhere in the world today. Granted, there hadn't been any major catastrophes, but still it did seem a little unusual to Lex. It wasn't like Superman to be completely absent for a day.
The thought did cross Lex's mind that perhaps Superman had already met the message sender. "Hm," pondered Lex out loud, "could Superman already be destroyed?"
"Unlikely," he quickly told himself. He knew better than anyone, not to get his hopes up. Even if Superman had tangled with the message sender, the Man of Steel had an inconvenient way of coming back when you least expected.
Lex decided to wait until tomorrow before sending his response. Better be sure Superman was alive. Superman's death would change Lex's response. Leaning back in his chair, Lex formed a steeple with his hands, and a smile played upon his lips as he imagined the death of Superman.
A few moments later, an optimistic Lex rose and walked to the office windows. And this time he enjoyed the view.
Smiling he said, "If Superman proves to be out of the way, so to speak, then I have only the son to take care of."