Bright and early in the morning, Lois was in her cubicle typing away. She couldn’t have imagined enjoying being a journalist so much. She had now been at the Planet for almost a month; it was her interview with Superman that landed on the front page of the Daily Planet and gave her a weekly column. The headline read ‘Superman Unmasked.’ Lois had a copy of the front page framed and placed on her desk.
A coworker walked by and noticed Lois staring head over heels at the photo of Superman. “You know Lane, you keep lookin at him the way you do and people are gonna start thinkin you’re in love.”
“Oh, get outta here. We talked on a strictly professional level,” Lois said.
“Makes one wonder what he does when he’s not off saving the world.”
“Well I don’t know…come to think of it, you sure do look a lot like him Reeve. You gotta a cape hidden in your desk?”
“Very funny, Lane. Picture me, Chris Reeve, in red and blue tights.” The both of them laughed at the thought of him being this immortal being. “You almost made me forget why I came to the basement to partake of all this drudgery.”
“Hey, this is only temporary. Once I prove myself, I’ll have a nice corner office on the top floor with Warfield.”
“That’s what I came down here for. Warfield wants to see you in his office.”
Lois looked surprised. “Did he say what it’s about? Did he look mad?”
Stunned he said, “I don’t know! I’m not gonna ask the chief why he wants you. He just does.”
“Ok, ok. I’ll be right up.” Reeve was about to walk away when Lois asked, “Hey, how do you spell ‘catastrophic’?"
“You are the worst speller in the world Lane. I don’t know how you got this job.” Reeve said as he turned and left.
“With my good lucks and wonderful charm,” Lois yelled up to him.
Reeve was out of sight, but she heard him say, “You better get up there.”
She typed a period on her computer screen and grabbed a pad and a pen. She flew out of her chair and caught the elevator up to the top floor. Getting out of the elevator she quickly fixed her hair and asked the secretary how she looked. Receiving a positive remark, she knocked on Warfield’s office door.
“Yeah, who is it?” Lois heard from behind the door.
“It’s Lois, chief. Reeve said you wanted to see me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on in, Lane.” Lois opened the door and went in. She never did like seeing the backs of two very big leather chairs that partially blocked Warfield’s desk. If Warfield had been sitting at his desk, she wouldn’t have been able to see him. He was standing behind his desk looking out his window. “Lane, I hear you’re doing good work. That column of yours is really taking off.”
“Oh, I’m glad you like it chief. I…”
Warfield turned to face her. “Like it? I haven’t even read it. My editors tell me it’s good. That’s all I need to hear. Anyway, Lane, I want you to continue doing what you’re doing; however, I’m gonna give you a shot covering a story.”
Lois was excited to hear this news. She smiled and said, “That is great chief. I won’t let you down.”
Warfield continued, “Only thing is, Lane. You’re going to have a partner.”
“A partner? Chief, I don’t need a partner.”
Annoyed he said, “You’ve got one and that’s settled. I’m not having some young whipper-snapper out in the field all alone.”
“Ok, chief. I understand. But, please say it’s not Grant. You know I can’t stand her.” Lois pleaded.
Warfield was put off by her immature remark. “No, it’s not Grant. It’s Kent.”
Utterly confused she asked, “Who the hell is Kent? What floor does he work on?”
Warfield pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Kent, stand up. Meet your new partner, Lois Lane.”
Lois saw a tall man rise from one of the chairs. He was wearing a long tan trench coat and had on a pin stripe suit underneath. His hair looked uncombed, and his face was obscured by thick black rimmed glasses. As he went over to shake her hand, he tripped over the leg of the chair. He stood up and almost fell again. “Oh, I’m sorry Lois,” he said as he pushed his glasses closer to his face with his index finger. “I didn’t mean to make such a first impression.”
Lois gave Warfield a look of disbelief. Warfield stated, “Kent grew up on a farm here in Kansas, and he happens to be one of the fastest typists I’ve ever seen. Where’d you say you learned how to type like that, Kent?”
“Oh, at Smallville High, Mr. Warfield. Home of the Crows.” Clark said proudly.
“Home of the Crows?” Lois complained. “Chief, you can’t be serious?”
Warfield dismissed her remark, “Ah, he’ll be fine. Take him down to the third floor and sit across from him at your new desk.”
Again surprised, Lois asked, “You mean I’m out of the basement?”
“Don’t make me change my mind, Lane.” Warfield didn’t like to make many people happy.
Grabbing Clark’s hand she said, “Oh no, chief. Won’t do that.” She looked at Clark and said, “Well come on Smallville, let’s get you unpacked and settled in.”
Clark was lead out of Warfield’s office by Lois. His hand still being pulled by Lois, he turned around and said, “See ya around Mr. Warfield, uh, I mean chief.”
Warfield was left alone in his office, and he sat back at his desk. He picked up the phone and dialed. He waited a short second and said, “Hey, White, Warfield here. Listen, I don’t know who you owed a favor to, but you better be right about this Kent you told me I should hire.” Whatever White’s reply was didn’t require Warfield to say much more. Warfield hung up the phone and went back to selling newspapers.
______________________________________________________________________
The meteorologist made a forecast of a possible tornado. He didn’t think that it had enough strength to be an F-3 and that it would not reach New Troy Island. The meteorologist was wrong-on both counts.
All throughout the private island people were boarding up windows and filling sand bag after sand bag. Others were stocking up on food and water hoping to ride out this beast of a storm. Everyone was able to catch the last few ferries back to the main land. However, there were only two who remained. They had spent days in their lab and weren’t able to see the local weather report.
Emil and T.J. were hard at work using some of the few pieces of Kryptonite that Clark allowed them to have. For all Clark knew was that these were all the fragments of Kryptonite left on Earth, and he wasn’t about to hand all of his only known weakness over to anybody. Clark took most of the Kryptonite to the only place he knew no one else could get to.
“Oh my, did you hear that T.J.? It sounded like the wind.”
“Professor, I highly doubt we could hear the wind seeing how we’re in the center of a building that is made from reinforced steel and concrete.”
“Yes, but either way, it’s getting late. I wouldn’t want to get caught in some storm. We’ve been working around the clock for almost 48 hours. Who knows what is going on back in civilization? For all we know, Armageddon or doomsday could be taking place.”
T.J. laughed. “I seriously can’t calculate the odds of the end of the world occurring as we work in the lab. But you just gave me a good name for my testing that you permitted me to do with my own sample of Kryptonite.”
Emil seemed very intrigued. “Oh do tell, young T.J. What is it that you have been concocting over there on your own time?”
T.J. placed the forceps down and removed his safety goggles and his elbow length black rubber gloves. “At first, I didn’t know what I had just stumbled across. It was a mix up in a few calculations, but when I examined this giant mistake out under the microscope I realized I had something special.” T.J. handed Emil a piece of paper that had recordings of an ECG.
“I was wondering why the on call nurse was asking you when you would be done with her electrocardiograph.” Emil continued to study the findings. “So, whose heart attack were you recording in this trial?”
T.J. looked at Emil for a moment without speaking. It wasn’t until Emil looked up at T.J. when he said, “Not whose, but its.”
Astounded Emil said, “You mean to tell me this is the heart rate of…”
T.J. didn’t let him finish. “That’s right! This is the ECG of one of the mice.”
Emil snatched the recording back and studied it yet again. “This is impossible! Is the mouse dead?”
“Dead? The mouse is bigger, stronger, faster.” T.J.’s smile went away. “But the only problem is that unlike the other super mice this one is ten times more aggressive and it appeared to develop some sort of body armor.”
“Well, T.J. then there’s just no question. We have to euthanize this mouse immediately.”
T.J. shook his head, “I’ve tried professor. I’ve used needles, gas and even old fashion rat poison. There’s just no killing this thing.”
Emil said, “Well if we can’t kill it then I think you just created something that has the capacity to kill us.”
“That’s why I’m going to call this test ‘Doomsday.’ For if in the wrong hands this will be the end of us all.”
The hours continued to go on as Emil and T.J. researched for a way to reverse this cataclysmic metamorphosis. During which T.J. mentioned that he now knows what the person felt like when he realized he created the atomic bomb. But outside, the wind got stronger and the rain fell harder. Branches were lying throughout the streets. Cars were turned on their side and boats were blown up on the shore by massive waves.
Emil and T.J. still hadn’t known the damage the weather had been doing until all the power was shut off in the facility. T.J. used the assistance of the wall to walk across the lab to find the flashlight. He stumbled a bit on his way but located the flashlight by the fire extinguisher that was on the wall. Just when he shone the light onto Emil’s face they both heard an extreme crash above their heads. A heavy sound of wind now engulfed the facility along with the downpour of rain.
T.J. yelled over to Emil, “We have to get out of here.” T.J. pointed the flashlight up and noticed the roof was gone. “Professor, can you make it over to me?” T.J. didn’t know that his words weren’t making it over to Emil. Using the flashlight T.J. walked back over to Emil. Half way there the lab wall gave out. Bricks fell and brought up dust in the air that was blown everywhere by the gusts of wind. Again, T.J. yelled, “Professor, are you alright. Can you hear me?”
T.J. got closer to Emil and noticed that he was trapped under some steel beams. Without any luck, T.J. failed to free Emil. T.J. was out of breath and his strength had been depleted. He heard another crash and looked behind him. It was another wall and part of the ceiling that had just been devoured by the storm. There was only one way he and the professor were going to make it out alive. T.J. knew that he had no other choice. It was too late and too dark to look around for any of Emil’s testing formulas. He shone the light on the table that he had been working on to find the test tube. In it, in liquid form, was ‘Doomsday.’
He brought the light back to Emil’s face, and he saw Emil mouth the words ‘no, don’t do it.’ Emil had been watching T.J. stare at the tube for a few seconds. He considered dying there alongside Emil, but more bricks fell from above and anchored its weight onto the pile of rubble that kept Emil prisoner. T.J. then heard Emil make a loud cry in agony. Without another thought T.J. grabbed the test tube and downed it like a shot of Jack Daniels.
T.J.’s hands went up to his throat as though he was choking. The pain pushed him to his knees, and he was able to get out a loud scream. The flashlight was tossed on the floor, and it shone perfectly on T.J. From Emil’s point of view, he was able to witness the physical change that was happening to his faithful lab tech.
Emil saw the heels of T.J.’s shoes split down the seams from his feet that doubled in size. As T.J. was hunched over, Emil watched in horror as T.J.’s back was intensively growing and ripping his shirt. Sections of his vertebra could now be seen piercing through his skin that had turned grey. Sharp edged bones started to poke through from his elbows and knees. Within minutes, T.J. tripled in size. The same sharp white bones were sprinkled with his own blood as they pierced from within him. They now covered most of his grey exterior.
T.J. was able to make it to his feet, yet he was still going through these changes. With one hand, he lifted the steel beams that were crushing Emil. He pushed back all the rocks and debris, and got Emil to his feet. Emil asked, “T.J., are you in there.”
T.J. responded, “Don’t have much time. Not able to think straight.” These simple words were a struggle for him to get out. He looked at Emil and noticed intense fear that he must be going through.
“It’s going to be o.k. T.J. Just follow me.” Emil picked up the flashlight and started to lead the way. When they reached what was left of the hallway, Emil turned back to T.J. He had already gotten bigger and was now unrecognizable. Emil continued to take the lead; however, Emil was not trying to leave the facility. Emil knew something about this facility that T.J. didn’t know. Emil knew that S.T.A.R. Labs in Metropolis was not a mere research facility, but it was a catch-all facility. It was a lab to study, test and capture the unknown. What better way to keep something hostage then on an island.
Emil brought T.J. into a spacious underground holding cell. The holding cell was constructed from Kevlar and built into the base of the island. Emil had T.J. wait in the middle of the room while he slipped out one of the doors. Emil made it to the observatory deck and went over to a switch board. He turned a key and pushed a button. Watching high up from the concealed observatory window, Emil saw two big heavy doors on opposite ends of the cell slide down from the ceiling capturing T.J. inside. Losing his patience and feeling trapped, T.J. charged at one of the walls. He started to yell and grunt at the undamaged wall that he collided into. Again and again, T.J. used his body as a human battering ram. As big as he was, as mighty as he was, he was just no match for this industrial strength and state of the art penitentiary complex. His vocabulary decreased a great deal. He no longer communicated as a graduate from M.I.T., but he spoke in chopped sentences as that of a three year old.
Safe underground, Emil continued to witness the physical changes that happened to what was once T.J. and who now became his own creation. He was now a walking Doomsday.
______________________________________________________________________
I awoke to the sound of a squeaky wheel. I sat up to find the source of the noise. A guard stood alongside my open hotel room door as someone from room service rolled a cart up alongside my bed. The gentleman in the penguin suit lifted up the top cover to a silver serving dish and presented my breakfast. He then asked me if I would require anything else, and I told him that would be all.
I picked up my fork to start with my poached egg when Mercy came running into my room. “Lex, we have a situation.”
I was beginning to hate it when my security staff tells me about ‘situations.’ I just started to eat my egg and asked, “What did that fool, Otis, do now?”
“Nothing.” she paused for a moment, “yet anyways.” “The problems back in Metropolis. “S.T.A.R. Labs has been hit bad by a tornado. The mayor is asking for help from all the fortune 500 companies in and around the city to assist with the financial aid of the clean up. It’s not just the research facility but all the homes as well.”
“Well, I guess I’m glad they denied me purchasing stock from them after all.” I laughed and noticed Mercy wasn’t that happy. “Is that all?” I asked.
“Our cell phones haven’t been getting service all the time out here, but I just listened to my messages. Molina has been trying to reach us.” I could tell Mercy didn’t want to have to finish her sentence. “Apparently, LuthorCorp had another break in.”
I threw the serving tray out of my way and stood up. I got right in Mercy’s face and yelled, “Did he say what was taken?”
“Molina said something about project element…”
I could feel my face getting red, and before I had the chance to shout out an obscenity, Mercy continued. “Molina did say that for a split second the video surveillance tapes showed Frederick. He said Frederick just appeared out of nowhere. That he was on his knees one second, and then he was gone after there was a flash of light.”
I ran over to the hotel room phone and proceeded to dial. Into the phone, I said, “Molina, Mercy just filled me in. No, don’t say a word. I won’t get into it over this unsecured line. But, I want you to send Frangella down here this time to take over while I am gone. You’ve been here before, so fill him in on the situation. Tell him to come to the Luthorton, I mean the Sullivan Hotel and then to find a man whose last name is Otis. I will leave a full detailed report for him with the desk clerk at the hotel.
It’s time you, Fu and I head over to Gotham City and check on our friend Pamela. I’ll be in Metropolis by this afternoon.”
I hung up the phone, showered and got dressed. I put on my power suit which was all white from top to bottom. From neck tie to dress shoes. People knew that I meant business when I wore this suit. “Mercy, let’s go,” I said as I headed for the door.
She said jokingly, “To the Luthor mobile.”
I looked back at her. “What did you say?”
“Uh, nothing Lex. Your car’s out front.”
I lead the way without looking back at her, and I strongly said, “Now is not the time for jokes, Mercy.” She didn’t reply. I left the report for Frangella with the desk clerk and headed off to the airport.
I couldn’t help but realize that the last time I left from here I had lost Lindsay. It seems every time that I leave this dreadful town I get bad news. I understand that the first time I left, I left cancer free; however, it was under these same circumstances when my father disconnected with me. My hatred for Smallville is ever accumulating.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
