En Route to Singapore ...

[lexcorpunlimited]

Lex Luthor and Superman soar across the Pacific. Even taking a Boom Tube to international waters, the flight will still take more than an hour. He knows the Kryptonian is curious to see him put the armor through its paces, which is probably the only reason he's taking what is, for him the slow way.

But he has to concede ... he likes flying. It's become a sort of refuge. He forgets about his responsibilities, his agendas. For a moment, at least.

"I have a dozen odd-business ventures and partnerships in Singapore," he says, casually. "More than a number of place suitable to use as a base to look for a quantum-powered teenager. Have you spent much time there?"

He actually finds he wants to know the answer to that question. He can't imagine Superman just visiting someplace. He can't imagine battling Titano and then stopping to try the dim sum.

Comments

[metropolismarvel]

Superman does a backflip in the air like a huge show offy jerk. Why?

Flying is awesome that's why.

"A few times!" Superman says, picturing a classic Luthor Lair under some subway with busts of famous east Asian dictators and collected philosophy of madmen he's turned into a mathematical formula for crime. Ah, nostalgia. "Spent some time here undercover after an earthquake, Will Magnus was worried it was artificially created. Found this great dim sum place, I wonder if it's still open..."

[lexcorpunlimited]

'Artificial earthquake in China ..." muses Luthor. 'That was Sivana, wasn't it. If I recall, the worst thing about that plan was that it was a decoy for a jewel heist. The man puts the mad back in mad scientist."

As they near Chinese airspace, Lex activates a signal that will render them invisible to detection. He took a few legal precautions before they left, in case of emergency, but on the whole, he'd rather the Chinese government not know that they're here to speak to a metahuman that the government's interested in apprehending.

"If you wish, I can have my Singapore office assistant check on your dim sum restaurant. She always knows these things off the top of her head, anyway."

[metropolismarvel]

"In all fairness, he could use the jewels as a focus for some contraption that let him raid other realities." Superman pauses. "To steal more jewels. How can a guy that developed a mathematical formula that lets him walk through walls be so short sighted?"

Look who you're talking to.

"You asking me to dinner, Luthor?" Superman laughs, because of course he has an anti-Chinese government ray. "Half the fun is finding places on your own, but it wouldn't be a bad place to start. They know one of my aliases here." Clark isn't HAPPY about giving one up, but walking around in costume is BEGGING to have the Great Ten or, worse, Dr. Omen's band of crazy gene-thieves to start trouble.

Not that he minds most of those new Justice League of China kids, their hearts seem in the right place. It's Omen that worries him. "I think it was called...Lucky Lou's. It's the one with the big stuffed dog in the front. I think he was being ironic."

[mars_my_destination]

"I have long ago given up trying to understand that which makes a man turn his genius towards such mundane crimes as bank robbery," a deep voice said, as J'onn faded into view next to the two.

"I apologize for my delay. An emergency prevented me from arriving sooner."

Such was ever the life of the super-hero, especially when you were a detective in your private life. He was certain the museum theft was significant... if only he could be certain of why. But little good could come of anything called the Idol Head of Diablo...

[lexcorpunlimited]

"J'onzz, excellent," says Lex, without sarcasm. It's unusual, but at least he pronounces J'onn's name correctly. "I'm glad you could join us."

[metropolismarvel]

"J'onn!" Superman shakes the Martian's hand, grinning and clapping his back a little. There'd probably be a hug involved if the situation wasn't serious. "Great to see you! What's the situation here?" Because of course J'onn got here early to scout out.

[mars_my_destination]

"It is good to see you as well, Kal-El," J'onn replied.

"Precious little, I am afraid. The occasional rumor of a most remarkable and powerful young woman, but one who rarely allows herself to be seen for long.

There was... occasionally the hint of something more, a greater presence, but I did not wish to violate any minds further to discover what it might be."

He shook his head. "Of all of Stormwatch, I remember Jenny Quantum most clearly. A powerful child, innocent in her way. But one which frightened many people with the promise of what adolescence would bring. If time has resettled her...

She may possibly be the most powerful super-human on the planet."

[lexcorpunlimited]

"She's 17 with the power of a god," says Luthor, levelly, and glances at Superman. He clenches his jaw a bit, and wonders what Superman was like as a teenager.

"Superman, you've inferred you were raised on Earth by humans before. How on Earth did adolescence not leave craters in the landscape. Most teenagers leave a trail of chaos and destruction behind them without superpowers."

Was that a joke? Maybe.

"She seems to have settled in Singapore," he says. "Seems to be playing a game of cat and mouse with the Chinese authorities. Nothing major. Annoying them with small but spectacular acts of rebellion. She appears on the mainland and does things like turn a fleet of tanks to glass, or empty a prison. Then she disappears again, reappearing in Singapore, where she seems to feel safe. The Chinese military won't pursue her, there."

[metropolismarvel]

Clark frowns a bit, remembering a lonely red haired boy and a hideous machine.

"My folks made me clean up after myself. Built character." Clark's dry tone matches Lex's, as he crosses his arms. "I'm amazed the Ten or that new Justice League of China haven't been called in if she's been attacking military targets. Could I get a little more information on this Jenny? You two seem to have more on her capabilities. Transmutation, at least."

Superman also raises an eyebrow at J'onn's proclamation but, hell, he's claimed that before. Usually a few hours before the League beat whatever strongest meta on the planet was rampaging.

"And what do we know ABOUT her? Why is she lashing out at her own government? Do we know if she's contacted other super-powered rebels? I heard a rumor of a Chinese Freedom Fighter team, she might try to spring them." Superman does not seems terribly torn up at the prospect, at least as far as body language goes.

[lexcorpunlimited]

"Singapore is technically an independent city state," says Lex. "So there are complex diplomatic issues. The Singapore government doesn't so much condone her as ignore her, and China's trying not to draw attention to her."

Lex shakes his head.

"As I understand it, she can manipulate reality on a quantum level. But she was raised by political activists and global anarchists, and seemingly has no respect for borders."

It's not lost on him that they're technically flying in foreign airspace without permission.

"No deaths, so far, though. I think, in her mind, she's playing pranks."

[mars_my_destination]

"It is more complex than that, Luthor," J'onn said. "Her powers are shaped by modern understanding of science. As this expands... so too will her abilities change and grow."

A memory came unbidden, cutting through the haze, dark and cold and cynical. And what happens, someone leather-clad had asked arguing that Jenny was too powerful to be left alive, when she's fifteen and gets her heart broken by some boy?

And H'ronmeer help him, some part of him had agreed with those concerns.

He pushed those thoughts down. Whatever personality had been constructed for him, he was not that person.

[lexcorpunlimited]

Luthor ponders what J'onn is saying, and nods.

"The Spirit of the 21st Century," he says. "That's what they call her. Some of my contacts infer that's meant to be literal."

[metropolismarvel]

"What, like how Uncle Sam's the spirit of America?" Superman asks, looking a bit worried J'onn's brief moment of pain. He won't point it out in front of Luthor, but he makes a note to have a private word with the Martian.

"Maybe he could help her out with dealing with the nature of her powers." Clark offers, a bit optimistic. "If she thinks she's helping, that might be a place to start at least. Goodness knows I had a period where I was pretty...direct in helping people. Jenny deserves a chance to mature, at least."

[mars_my_destination]

"It may be a similar process," J'onn agreed. "The metaphysics of this world are a bit beyond me, at times. But it was Stormwatch's assessment that such a title was meant to be taken literally. There had, by their reckoning, been many such "Jenny's.'"

[lexcorpunlimited]

"I've heard about a Jenny Sparks," says Lex. "They tell me she died to save the world. At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of the 21st Century."

Lex shakes his head.

"I didn't used to believe in those sorts of metaphysics," he says. "Aliens, sure. That's just science. Superpowers? Not really a mystery. But this sort of thing ..."

he trails off for a second, lost in thought.

"I met the incarnation of death, once," he says, dead serious, pardon the expression. "She manifested as a horribly perky young woman from a '90s goth club. This was before our time was stolen, before our memories were messed with. When our memories came back, that one hit me like an irate Kryptonian."

His lips curl into a mischievous smile.

"That's one of the things that lead my research down the paths I went down. Personifications of abstract concepts. Recurring motifs ... like strange visitors from doomed planets, over and over again. It wasn't just John Cumberland, you know. There's tell of another 'Superman' in ancient Israel. The story says he died in Atlantis, defending the world."

He mulls his words closely, before he speaks them. They've thought he was insane, before. It doesn't make it easy to speak freely.

"So what if it's not magic, per se," what if there's a mechanism ... what if this is some sort of planetary defense system?"

[metropolismarvel]

Luthor IS crazy, though not in the drooling Joker sort of way. More in the "I've built a planet called Lexor, Superman! IT HATES YOU." way.

But he isn't stupid and Superman listens seriously, his super senses only pulsing a little because this is an awfully long time to be in one place without a sudden ambush.

Also of COURSE he looks up ancient Superman parallels. Probably for practice.

"But the Quantiums are as much agents of change as they are protection, if I'm correct." Superman points out, "Which might help PEOPLE, but the planet doesn't always think in those terms. I remember one time some rogue elementals tried to wipe the species out for...whatever reason. I'm not really sure why a rock would care about....anyway, it's not a BAD idea. Could you go into more detail?"

[mars_my_destination]

"Mister Miracle and I once encountered something similar. A being who appeared to be as L'Zoril, the Martian God of Dreams... but Miracle described a gaunt and pale figure with dark hair."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It is not unthinkable. Many cultures have tales of an Earth spirit, such as Gaea. And we ourselves know of living planets, like Mogo or Yggardis."

[lexcorpunlimited]

"Indeed," says Luthor. "It's a mad world. Worlds. The hardest thing I've ever had to admit was realizing that I've just learned enough to grasp how little I know about how the universe works. Incarnations of Death and Dream, New Gods, elementals, superheroes, Supermen ... the human incarnation of a century ...

He trails off for a second, lost in thought.

"I know this," he says, after a moment. "If there's a defense system, there's a designer. And if someone -- be they human, alien or god -- designed a defense system that gets exponentially more power with each century, the more powerful the greater human understanding of science grows, that means someone predicted a commensurate threat."

The Penthouse Apartment and Laboratory of Lexcorp Singapore

[lexcorpunlimited]

Amazingly, the trio made it across the Pacific without being attacked. Which probably means it'll be worse any minute now.

Lex's Singapore digs are tasteful, a little less ornate than his Metropolis office. Everything is sleek and streamlined. A team has come and gone to ready his personalized computer system. The only one of which remains his Lex's Singapore-based personal assistant, Yi Ling Tseng. She is a prim young woman in her late 20s, dressed in smart-but fashionable business attire.

She has seen to it that the accommodations are stocked for Lex's use, and for the use of his guests, and has already begun running a computer search for information to locate Jenny Quantum.

And somehow, mere minutes before the trio arrived, there was a delivery of a full complement of dim sum trays from Lucky Lou's ...

Re: The Penthouse Apartment and Laboratory of Lexcorp Singapore

[metropolismarvel]

And Luthor says he's creepy.

Still, Clark appreciates the snack. Superman takes in a whiff, grinning.

"I think you have a point on the exponential thing, Luthor." Superman admits, after a long moment, "Though I don't see how that helps us immediately, it does mean that protecting the Quantum line might be more of a priority than we think. If you've realized this, other minds may have as well. Which means they'll want to take advantage..."

Re: The Penthouse Apartment and Laboratory of Lexcorp Singapore

[mars_my_destination]

"Then I would pity those other minds," J'onn said. "But the consequences or costs of such a conflict could be... extreme."

Re: The Penthouse Apartment and Laboratory of Lexcorp Singapore

[lexcorpunlimited]

Lex exits his suit and begins to fill a plate with dim sum offerings. He's actually rather nimble with chop sticks, and has a good working knowledge of the cuisine, although he tends to eat in his offices, unless it's a business dinner. He hesitates over the chicken feet, glancing up at Yi Ling, who replies to unasked question in Cantonese, "I vouch for the chicken feet from this restaurant. Others ... not so much."

Lex turns on the computer console, and begins correlating data regarding Jenny Quantum. He wants to find her sooner rather than later.

"You're right, J'onzz," says Lex. "But look what the world's just been through. Time lost. History and memories altered. Storm-tossed refugees from alternate universes. Some of us have recovered our memories more thoroughly than others, and we're still off-balance. I know a thing about cackling mad supervillains, and if I wanted to take over the world, what could I accomplish with the literal Spirit of the Century?"

He realizes that sounds a bit like he's been planning just that, but he shrugs it off and doesn't apologize. He knows what he's done in the past.

"And not just supervillains. We're talking governments, too. Corporations. the list of entities that would want to control someone like that are endless."

[planetaryguide]

Almost as though in reply to Lex's assertion, an alarm goes off on the computer.

"She's been spotted downtown," shouts Luthor, but then horror washes over his face.

"Superman ... J'onzz ... We need to get downtown. Now."

He takes a deep breath.

"It appears she's under attack."