Emil was finally able to rest his eyes, but he tossed and turned in his sleep. All throughout the night he had one nightmare after another. He couldn’t help but feel bad about what happened to his friend; his faithful lab tech. To make matters worse, he had nothing else but the uncomfortable floor to lie down on. The continuous punching of the thick walls echoed throughout the large captive area sent vibrations up to the ceiling that shook Emil’s body. Emil thought that the time and money that went into building this holding cell was well worth it. Not a single dent was made by this creature who Emil would be calling Doomsday in homage to T.J.’s experiment.
When he woke, he walked over by the security cameras and looked for one that was recording the outskirts of the building. He saw one, but couldn’t make out much detail. It appeared that a tree branch was now up against the camera. But, Emil didn’t need to see details of what was out there. He was trying to find a glimpse of the weather. He watched the tree branch that blocked the camera blow slowly in the wind, and just for a short second, he saw a spot of blue sky. Instantly he got up and headed for the doors.
The sunlight hit his eyes like a punch to the face, and he brought up an arm to block the strong rays. After his eyes adjusted to the daylight, he could make out a figure in the distance. From afar he heard it shouting, “Over here! Someone’s alive!” Emil followed the voice and saw a man fifty yards away pointing to him. This same man began to run over to him. When he was only a few feet away, the man asked, “Professor Hamilton, are you alright?” The man knew he couldn’t have been alright. Emil’s clothing was torn and showered with dirt. Cuts and bruises were all over his face and some that could be seen through the holes of his pants and sleeves.
Not even caring about his own physical state, Emil insisted, “Dr. Slate, you must not allow anyone to go down in the holding cell.”
“What is the matter? That area shouldn’t be damaged at all.” Dr. Slate looked at Emil intensively. He said, “Professor, you’re not keeping anything from me. Are you?”
“Dr. Slate, what is down there cannot be kept from anybody for much longer. We must annihilate it at once. There is no time for testing, no time for observing…”
The man’s eyes widened in curiosity and cut Emil short, “Get a hold of yourself Professor.” The man noticed other men coming closer to help out. Whispering he continued, “Look whatever it is, just remember it is under our control. Nothing can get out of there, not even this Superman.”
Emil couldn’t believe what he just heard. He didn’t realize just exactly what he signed up for and who he signed up to assist. Panicking, he said moments before the others got there, “Garrison, look, I’m speaking to you as a friend. Only those with high security clearance should go down there. I mean those on a need to know basis.”
The other men came over to help out and tend to Emil’s infirmities. They sat him down in the parking lot that was covered with branches and bricks to the facility. Dr. Slate again spoke to Emil, “Don’t you worry old friend. There are only a hand full of people who even know about this area down there. And less that have access to it.”
But Emil knew that Doomsday would soon become a spectacle. Just another lab rat. And if given the chance, it would escape. Then there would be nothing that could stop it. Emil wanted to be involved in all the decision making of what would happen to Doomsday. “I’m alright,” Emil said holding his right arm in pain. “Let’s get to work, Dr. Slate.”
One of the men said to Emil, “Sir, your arm is broken. You need to get to a hospital.”
“Emil, please go get looked at. I promise nothing will happen. We have to first do a massive cleanup. Then start to rebuild,” said Dr. Slate. “I can assure you that your little mouse will be perfectly fine.” Dr. Garrison Slate said this last sentence covertly so the other men wouldn’t know what he actually was referring to. Emil just nodded and allowed them to take him to the main land to get treated. Dr. Garrison Slate remained behind and looked at the ruins of his private laboratory. He took out his cell phone and made a call. “Yeah, this is Slate. I want you, Takamoto, Orr and Stone at S.T.A.R. ASAP…No, the other Stone, I want Silas…I’ll fill you in on the details when I get more information. I think our friend, Professor Hamilton, discovered something ground breaking.” He hung up and slid his phone back in his pocket and proceeded to cautiously enter what was left of S.T.A.R. Labs.
He found a tall copper pipe that he used as a walking stick to guide himself through the rubble. It took him about twenty minutes to make it down to the observation chamber which by any day before this would have taken him five minutes. With all the electrical power down, he had to resort to using regular old keys to open the door. He pushed the door open and was startled when he heard the grunting. His feet felt the vibration on the floor from this beast that was pounding on the walls. Dr. Slate slowly went over to the window and peered down. At first, he was in complete fear from the monstrosity that he saw. But he then knew that it was without a doubt trapped.
Thinking that his safety was secure, he went closer to the window and tapped on the glass trying to get its attention. Doomsday stopped pounding on the walls and turned to hear this new sound. It saw Dr. Slate about a hundred feet above looking down out the window. Doomsday then took a giant leap and jumped up to the height of Dr. Slate. Dr. Slate fearfully took a few steps back as he was eye to eye with it for just a second. On Doomsday’s second leap, it took a swipe at the glass window. His jagged knuckles made four long cuts deep in the glass. Dr. Slate thought that if this continued, this creature will be able to break through the glass and escape. He ran over to a red box that was on one of the walls. Inside the box was a lever with a tag that read ‘USE WITH CAUTION.’ Dr. Slate ripped off the tag and grasped the lever. As he pulled it down the room was illuminated with flashing yellow lights followed by the sounds of a cranking chain.
Dr. Slate watched as the ceiling in Doomsday’s chamber started to get lower and all four walls were moving inward. He turned on a t.v. monitor and hit a switch that was labeled ‘infrared.’ On the monitor he could make out a red silhouette of this creature. It also pictured the ceiling and the walls getting closer to it. He thought that the powered hydraulics should be able to crush this thing with little resistance. But then the scientist in him came out. He wanted to save and preserve it to study it later on if the right time came. Just seconds before this shrinking box crushed Doomsday, Dr. Slate raised the lever half way. The cranking noise stopped as well as the hydraulics, yet the yellow lights still continued to flash.
With the minimal amount of room that Doomsday had, he could no longer bring up his arms to punch at the walls. There was no room to move and no room to sit. Doomsday was stuck in the thickest casket ever made. Feeling a bit claustrophobic himself, Dr. Slate made his way out and back up to the parking lot of the lab.
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The afternoon following the aftermath of the tornado, the two worked across from each other. They were both busy on the phones and working on the computers. He went multiple times to the cafeteria to get some donuts and drinks for the both of them. He went up to her side of the desk with another cup of freshly squeezed orange juice for her. Without taking her eyes off her computer monitor, she said, “Just put in on my desk, Smallville. Can’t stop now, I’m on a roll.”
Watching her work so diligently, he asked, “Say, Lois, how ‘bout we take some time and help the people with the clean up?”
Lois stopped typing and looked up, “I hear what you’re saying, Smallville. It will put us behind the scenes of the story. We’ll get direct emotions of the victims and testimonies of eye witnesses.”
Confused, Clark said, “Well, Lois that’s not exactly what…”
“Smallville, you’re a genius. Let’s go.” Lois stood up and grabbed a notepad and a pen. Clark took the same from his desk as well as his shoulder bag that contained his cape and boots. His bag looked ordinary, but Emil had it specially designed. It was made out of a heavy thin material that would take a lot of effort to lift. He kept his suit underneath his clothing, and the Anti-Kryptonite suit back at the fortress. Clark looked oddly at Lois when he noticed she was just staring at him.
“Everything o.k., Lois?”
“Smallville, you’re forgetting my juice,” Lois said with a smile.
Shuffling everything he was already holding into one hand, he grabbed the juice and said, “Golly, I’m sorry Lois.”
He held the cup out for her to take, but she turned and said, “Thanks, Smallville. Now c’mon. Warfield wants this story by 5 o’clock.”
Clark followed Lois into the streets of Metropolis and headed down to the south end where the tornado hit the worst. Lois was going to take notes, get interviews and write a great story about the twister while Clark might stand by and hold her orange juice.
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They made it to the south end of town, and Lois’ note pad was half way filled. She had names and numbers along with brief statements from those who were affected by the storm. Clark did manage to ask some questions, and he also left unnoticed to help out the police with a car chase in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Lois looked out across the water and noticed news helicopters circling the island. She then called out to Clark who was helping someone change a flat tire to a limo. “Clark, are you about done?” she screamed over to him waving her notepad in the air as to get his attention.
“Just about done, Lois. I’ll be right there,” Clark said. He then turned back to the gentleman he had helped. “Well, I hope all this didn’t make you late for your meeting with the mayor.”
“Well, it’s not so much a meeting. He just wants to talk to those who are well off about donating some money to the city and help rebuild this part of town.” The man then looked at his Rolex and said to his driver that stood alongside the car, “Come on, Alfred. Let’s get going.” Alfred got behind the wheel, and the man said, “Well Clark, thanks again for all your help. It was sure nice meeting you.”
Clark shook his hand and said, “Same here, Bruce. Maybe we’ll run into each other again some time.”
Bruce got into the back seat and his car drove off. Clark then started to walk over to Lois. They both watched what looked like a rescue and cleanup crew that was going on at the island. “Golly, I hope everything’s alright over there.”
“Come on, Smallville. We gotta get out there or we’ll miss it.”
Confused he asked, “Miss what, Lois?”
“Our chance to get an exclusive interview with Garrison Slate. He’s bound to be over there.”
In the same confused manner he asked again, “I don’t follow, Lois. Who is this Slate person?”
“I forgot you just flew into town. You need to brush up on who’s who in Metropolis. Garrison Slate is the founder of S.T.A.R. Labs, the research center on the island.”
Clark looked over to the island then back at Lois. “Say, Lois, just how do you expect to make your way over there?”
Lois turned from Clark and looked around. She noticed a couple of boats down by the docs and that no one was around. She smiled and looked back at Clark, “You mean our way, and you’re going to row.”
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I couldn’t believe the wreckage the tornado had caused. It was the first time one had formed near the city in over fifty years. LuthorCorp was north of the Daily Planet, and like it, it was also not in the tornado’s path.
I made my way up the steps to City Hall and ran into the usual suspects in the mayor’s office. I happened to see Ted Kord chatting in the ear of Bruce Wayne. All the other high rollers were there to represent their cities along with their checkbooks as well. But, I didn’t want to give a single dime, not one red cent. I only went to show the others that I’m a top player; to show them that this is my town.
I cringed as he came through the door practically squeezing his waist over the threshold. His enormous body rolled over to his desk and sat his fat ass down. I could hear his wooden chair cracking from where I was standing in the back of the room. I couldn’t believe the people of Metropolis could elect someone with less concern of their dietary habits like this bastard.
The honorable Berkowitz had Inspector Henderson stand behind him as to keep this preliminary hearing in order. Henderson was the city’s top cop, and as I found out through my sources, he was completely incorruptible. He was Metropolis’ first police commissioner to rise to power from a rookie without a single blemish on his record. Henderson has his sights on Berkowitz’s job when his term was over, and I had to find the man who could prevent that ever from happening.
Mr. Big Mac himself was about to speak, “I want to thank you all for coming down here on short notice. I’m sure you’ve all had a chance to see the desperate need that this city is in. We are working with the federal agencies as well as the governor to help this city financially. However, as you all know, they work within a strict budget and have guidelines to follow and red tape to struggle with. Most of us have worked together in the past to help one another out, and of course as we approach another election year, I’d like to thank again Kord Industries, Wayne Enterprises and Luthor Enterprises for past campaign contributions.”
“No thanks required, Mayor Berkowitz,” said Wayne. “You were the right man for the job.”
“Thank you, Bruce. You are one of Gotham’s finest. It’s good to see you here,” said Berkowitz. “Well, before we talk business, I think we should have a short introduction. I see a few new faces in the crowd. Bruce, why don’t you start us off?”
I was forced to go through the torment of listening to all of them pat themselves on the back and say who they were, what washed up company they owned, and blah blah blah. It was all meaningless to me; their stocks were down and their investor’s portfolios were a joke.
Kord turned and looked at me when he finished his introduction. He said, “I guess it’s your turn.”
“Lex Luthor. I’m here to represent LuthorCorp. I’d like to be upfront and say that I don’t intend to give a dollar to help restore S.T.A.R. Labs. I consider them a competitor and say good riddance.”
“Luthor, you poisonous snake!” shouted Wayne.
“You gotta problem with that, pretty boy?” I asked.
The mayor jumped in to stop the arguing. “Look, all of you have to put your egos aside, for we have to work together. I will simply divide up the worst hit parts of the city and give each of you one major area to work with.”
Each of us came to a compromise and was issued the parts of the city we were supposed to help. As rich as the mayor was, he left it up to himself to give aid to S.T.A.R. Labs. I left City Hall and headed over to LuthorCorp to assess any damages due to the break in.
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Dr. Slate waited at the docs for the three people he asked to come to the island. After some time, he saw the ferry approach and greeted them as they got off. He didn’t waste a second to inform them about the creature that Emil had captured. Dr. Slate walked the three down to the holding cell and showed them the security tapes of the creature. They were all shocked and wanted to start testing right away. Out of all the excitement, Dr. Slate had to remind them that they had to practically crawl through rubble because the lab was destroyed.
They came to the conclusion that they had to move the creature in order to rebuild the lab from top to bottom. They all mentioned different temporary facilities but none provided the discrete privacy. The other S.T.A.R. Labs around the country would be too far to get to and cause too much talk. It was then that Dr. Slate revealed a secret. He informed the others that he had been interested in why his rival LuthorCorp had purchased property in Smallville. So, he had sent some people down there to observe what was going on. He had found out that there was a lot of excavating going on and that they had already filled in one of the sites. Dr. Slate informed the three that they could use the cryogenic department’s experimental liquid nitrogen to temporarily freeze the creature inside the casing that he is locked in. They can then put the creature on a truck and have it brought down to Smallville to be buried until they were ready to reopen the lab and start testing.
Not having any other better ideas, the four agreed that this would be the best and least costly way to conceal and cover up this presumed experiment that went tragically wrong. Dr. Slate explained that when the trailers arrived and departed to load and unload parts of the fallen structure of the laboratory to nearby landfills that his crew could inconspicuously get this creature on its own trailer and make its way to Smallville to be buried alive.
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