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watchtower_rebirth2016-12-28 10:22 am
lexcorpunlimited) wrote in watchtower_rebirth2016-12-28 10:22 am
Entry tags:
LexCorp Tower
Lex stares out the window at the Metropolis skyline, running the battle with the Amazo units again through his mind. In another lifetime, he would have felt immensely satisfied with the results, but he's at a different place right now, and his current plans don't involve antagonizing the Kryptonians unless it's necessary.
With the defeat of the Amazos, his armor had reverted to its true form ... damaged, but salvageable. Clearly, its mastery over Firestorm's powers isn't total. Indeed, while their power levels were commensurate with the original heroes, its ability to utilize those abilities was sub par.
"But that design," he thinks to himself. "They've changed. This is no longer solely Ivo's work."
His muscles tense as he thinks. The news of Supergirl's injury spread quickly, and Superman and the Justice League retreated to deal with the situation, leaving him to pick up the pieces. Never mind that it was effectively his work that defeated two of them. No, that would be giving the "supervillain" too much credit. Bah.
But he hadn't meant for Supergirl to be injured. That Storm Door was designed for him to remain safe in the satellite while the Kryptonian squashed himself against it. Lex can't help but realize that if he had been in Supergirl's place, he'd be dead. So was there a design flaw? Stormwatch technology was hard to come by, but he had managed to duplicate it entirely. Was Superman that much more powerful than John Cumberland was? He'd accounted for that. That leaves the Amazo itself. Somehow, it's new arrangement had interfered with the field, with both being destroyed. It wasn't a matter strictly of power. It was some X factor about the android itself. Something he didn't know.
He thinks about Supergirl, and is almost saddened at the thought.
"I didn't mean to hurt her," he says aloud, barely audible. No matter, though. He knows they'll come for him soon. If only to bluster and threaten.
With the defeat of the Amazos, his armor had reverted to its true form ... damaged, but salvageable. Clearly, its mastery over Firestorm's powers isn't total. Indeed, while their power levels were commensurate with the original heroes, its ability to utilize those abilities was sub par.
"But that design," he thinks to himself. "They've changed. This is no longer solely Ivo's work."
His muscles tense as he thinks. The news of Supergirl's injury spread quickly, and Superman and the Justice League retreated to deal with the situation, leaving him to pick up the pieces. Never mind that it was effectively his work that defeated two of them. No, that would be giving the "supervillain" too much credit. Bah.
But he hadn't meant for Supergirl to be injured. That Storm Door was designed for him to remain safe in the satellite while the Kryptonian squashed himself against it. Lex can't help but realize that if he had been in Supergirl's place, he'd be dead. So was there a design flaw? Stormwatch technology was hard to come by, but he had managed to duplicate it entirely. Was Superman that much more powerful than John Cumberland was? He'd accounted for that. That leaves the Amazo itself. Somehow, it's new arrangement had interfered with the field, with both being destroyed. It wasn't a matter strictly of power. It was some X factor about the android itself. Something he didn't know.
He thinks about Supergirl, and is almost saddened at the thought.
"I didn't mean to hurt her," he says aloud, barely audible. No matter, though. He knows they'll come for him soon. If only to bluster and threaten.
no subject
Superman's waiting, arms crossed.
He is not actually walking THROUGH the window which may be a good sign.
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"Superman," he acknowledges, without really looking at him. "You know, I had that window entrance installed just for you. Of course, I've also given my receptionist standing instructions to see you in immediately if you ever went through proper channels when you visit."
He turns to face the Man of Steel, trying to read his face.
"How is Supergirl?"
no subject
"Alive." Superman says, clearly holding back emotion as he hovers in. It may occur to you that he could have been listening for a while before making his presence known. "Blue Beetle stabilized her quickly, fortunately."
The Kryptonian doesn't bother touching the ground, hovering a few inches above it. "It occurs to me." After a long moment, "If you'd used that thing for its original purpose, you'd be dead."
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"No," he says at last. "No, I've reviewed the data beamed back from the satellite destruction. I've made extensive study of Ivo's work, and I've made extensive study of ... well ... you. Under the conditions that satellite was designed for, the satellite's occupant should have been unscathed. It worked before, and I've run the data repeatedly."
Luthor hasn't really looked Superman in the eye this whole time, which is unlike him. He seems ... distraught? Does that even happen?
"It was the Amazo. It was what was different. I don't know if you had a chance to do a microscopic scan, but its transitions were working differently, more .... fluidly."
Luthor's face becomes a storm cloud, brooding and ominous.
"Reality has changed," says Luthor. "That's what it said. 'Reality has changed, and we have changed with it.'"
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"Reality has changed, Luthor. This isn't the first time, you just...weren't along for the ride for once." There's a flash of something in the alien's eyes before Superman returns to cold professionalism. "The League is still charting the full effects of the latest incident. I got some readings, but the machine was doing something to resist my deepest scans. Maybe messing around with Atom tech."
"Had magic, too, which was new. Usually had to fake that. The 'we' bothers me."
no subject
He almost laughs at that, and shakes his head.
"I swear, Ivo puts the mad in mad scientist."
"But yes," says Lex, rolling the subject back around to what he knows is pressing on the Kryptonian's mind. "The Storm Doors. That was technology originated by an organization called Stormwatch. Very covert, but I discovered them doing some research into a superhuman called The High."
He glances at Superman to see if the name registers, although he knows it won't.
"A while back, I acquired something called a 'Planetary Guide.' They're sort of travel guides to the world's secrets and bizarre corners. They were published independently throughout most of the 20th century. Extraordinarily rare and sought-after. The 1938 edition that I purchased set me back more than three million dollars."
Lex turns and walks toward a counter with a pitcher of ice water. He pours himself a glass, and offers one to his guest, before sitting down at his desk.
"One of the stories in the Guide was about a superhuman named The High. There was very little but anecdotal evidence of his existence, but the Guide's author seems to have met him. He had a power set very similar to what you ... I mean, what the other Superman exhibited when he first appeared. Super strong, invulnerable, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He spent most of his time fighting Nazi spies and slumlords."
Lex takes a sip, and can't help but think about the other Superman. He can't quite understand why it's painful to talk about him. He pushes the thought from his head.
"My research tells me he disappeared shortly thereafter. Evidently, he found a mountaintop and spent a few decades pondering what to do with his powers. He decided he wanted to save the world. For real, not just fighting crime and the like. It turns out, he was actually a strange visitor form an alternate universe, shot here from a dying alien world by his scientist parents. Sound familiar?"
Lex takes another sip of water, watching the Kryptonian's face for his reaction.
"He was discovered by a farming family in Kansas, who raised him with the name John Cumberland. They were Communists, like a lot of farmers back then. Not militantly so, but they saw Capitalism as a threat to their way of life. Maybe they were right. Anyway, Cumberland decided to use his powers, which had grown to about your current levels over decades, to eradicate poverty, corruption, governments themselves. He was going to end famine and want. All very noble, in a naive sort of way."
Another sip of water.
"Stormwatch, which had some nebulous mandate on protecting the world from alien threats, foiled his plans, and killed the superpowered associates he plotted with. The organization was divided, it seems, and it lead to insurrection and mutiny, but ultimately, The High was so enraged by the act that the post-mutiny commander -- a metahuman named Jenny Sparks who actually knew and sympathized with him -- was forced to throw on the Storm Door in order to protect their satellite and the more than 100 operatives onboard."
Lex folds his hands on his desk, and lowers his head a bit as he speaks.
"The High was obliterated when he smashed against the force field, but the 100 Stormwatch operatives were safe. I sought out the technology as soon as I learned it existed."
no subject
Probably a big city sized battleship shaped like his face.So Superman listens, frowning a bit at the similarities. Its like someone's deconstructing his life; not entirely out of Superman's experience with alternate earths, but always a bit unpleasant.
The 'lets REALLY fix the planet' motivation reminds him of the coldly cynical Manchester Black and his thuggish Elite. They thought they should rule instead of protect too.
"And you say this happened here? Not on an alternate earth that merged with the timeline?" Superman asks, after a long moment.
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"I don't even know how to answer that question, anymore," he says, after some consideration. "It's as though I can't trust my own memories. I no longer know what was on this Earth or another. I know Stormwatch was real, though, as was Cumberland. Not to sound like a college sophomore philosophy major, but does it matter anymore what timeline they were from? They existed. This would have all been before the turn of the century, anyway, so before our 'lost history,' or whatever it was that was done to the planet."
Lex rises and walks to a shelf in his office. The 'Planetary Guide' is guarded in a glass case.
"Have you ever seen a three-million dollar book before Superman?" asks Lex, sounding, phrasing it somewhat less combatively than he might have in the past. He opens the case, removes the book, and opens it to the relevant article about The High.
"I'm told the author of these books is still alive," he says, conversationally. "But yes, it seems you're not the only strange visitor from an alternate dimension this planet has seen."
no subject
And more positively, his encounter with the Swamp Thing, which led him to accept that like it or not, he WAS the Superman of this world. As much as he'd like to bring back the dead...
"The details can be important in situations like this, Lex. It could be a hint of an invasion-maybe Ultraman's crew's finally learned subtly." Superman theorizes, taking a long look at the book. Stormwatch, weren't those the people who messed with J'onn's head? "Either way, it sounds like a path worth investigating if we want to get to the bottom of this. At the very least, the Amazo robots'll be interested in an 'alternate justice league' to crib more powers off of."
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He's edging into slightly manic, "working a problem" mode.
"How many times," he asks, rhetorically, "How many times has a Superman analog from another dimension appeared. And not just recently. Has this happened before?"
He stops, laughs a bit, and crooks his neck.
"It's a question that keeps me up," he says, slightly more relaxed. "So yes, I agree. Other Leagues would be of interest to the Amazos. But we really need to find out where they're from, and what their motive was. They seemed ... satisfied ... with the conflict. They definitely were there to pick a fight, at least until one of them was destroyed."
And then he remembers, shakes his head and pushes past it.
"Has anyone found Ivo, yet?"
no subject
After all, one of the harrowing things he learned in his extraplanar adventures was that as many forms as Superman took, Lex Luthor always remained horrifically...consistent. Luthor is always Luthor.
"The League's looking. I'm going to get back on the trail myself, soon, though I do want to know more about this...Stormwatch group that thinks they know me so well. Cumberland, I guess."
no subject
Lex isn't one for being benched, but he restrains himself from rising to the bait. He can easily enough investigate on his own.
"The Martian might know more about Stormwatch," says Lex. "I think this mystery meta out of Shanghai, Jenny Quantum, has some affiliation with them. Or maybe you can track down the author of the Planetary Guides."
Lex pours himself another glass of water.
"And if anything come up in my own investigations," he says, politely, "I'll be more than happy to share."
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"Shanghai seems like a place to start, if you're interested."
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"That satellite cost the GDP of some small countries," he says, and then shrugs. "Of course, we can both imagine scenarios where you'd want to kill me."
The smile seems a little more genuine now, if still enigmatic.
"Shanghai it is."
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He chuckles a bit. Ugh, China, hopefully the Great Ten won't be on their asses. Still, common ground is a start. Superman offers a hand, to seal the deal.
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He takes a second to have his team ready his suit.
"So," he says. "I can fly that far, but much slower than you can. Or we can take the jet. I try not to use the Boom Tube in territories in which the U.S. has sensitive relations. It causes ... awkwardness ..."