Chapter 53 - Interlude 9

Releasing a breath, he pushed the weight up, his concentration such that he kept his arms from shaking. With one last effort, he rested the barbell on the machine and relaxed his core, feeling his entire body aching from the exercise.

Sitting up, Lex Luthor grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off of his face, having finally finished his bench press set. He took a full minute of rest, recovering his breath before sitting in a chair and grabbing a 90 kg dumbbell to start a new set of exercises.

It had been over two weeks since he had last trained, the constant troubles LexCorp was going through forcing him away from his personal gym but, now that he had a full day to recover, the bags were already gone from his eyes and he was getting back on track.

Luthor prided himself on his intellect, his drive, his aspirations, on rising above the masses. He also made sure to maintain his physique, to be above all others not only in mind but also in body.

Finally, he dropped the weight on the padded floor and started stretching, making sure to keep his flexibility as well as strength.

In truth, Luthor didn't need to work himself to the bone as he had, LexCorp had a literal army of media experts, analysts and spokesman that could deal with everything that had came up but, as soon as the first hints of information started being leaked to the press, he understood what was going to happen.

It wasn't like he didn't know exactly what information had been stolen by the Fog, he knew just how much damage the weapon could cause, but he also knew nothing would truly incriminate him, neither directly or indirectly.

Working desperately as he had, scouring his company of the corruption that had been 'revealed', seeming to sincerely do his best to make amends, it would be remembered when the time came.

He had plans after all, long term plans that, given enough time, would come to benefit from this minor setback.

Once, he'd have been able to simply pretend to do those things but, unfortunately, idiots were everywhere, there would always be stupid people who, perceiving a weakness, would attempt to take advantage of it. And it was not impossible they'd use such an opportunity to try and dethrone him from LexCorp, to denounce him if he made any mistakes.

So he'd had to personally deal with things, to exert himself, an inconvenience to be sure, but not exactly difficult.

Fortunately, the last of the leaks had been a few days ago, this new player, 'Forge', didn't have anything else that incriminated LexCorp and so, Luthor was able to relax. He would still have to do damage control for a few months, but he had time to himself for the moment.

Taking a quick shower, he read the reports on the monitor inside his bathroom and frowned.

As soon as he had started dealing with the leaks, he had prepared to block his sister's predictable attempt to take over the company. It was only expected she'd try —he'd have looked down on her if she didn't— and, contrary to the idiots, she was one of the only ones who actually had a chance to usurp him if he hadn't acted fast.

What he hadn't expected was for her to resign when her latest attempt hadn't worked.

For a second, he thought she had given up, but then he shook his head. That simply wasn't in a Luthor's nature. No, she had something else in mind, but what and, more importantly, would he let her?

Lena was almost as smart as him, but she cared a little too much about people, not really understanding that they AREN'T important, not as a whole. They all ran around as if they were 'the heroes of their own stories', but he hadn't heard a more stupid thing in his life. They were mediocre, unimportant.

No, what he and Lena had, the gift of genius they shared, it was what elevated them above the masses and it was rarer than a white tiger. Rarer than the powers that were starting to appear everywhere and, truly, infinitely more valuable.

Still, perhaps he should let her leave. It had been interesting having to contest with her inside LexCorp —at least in the beginning— but, while she'd never actually be able to surpass him, perhaps she could give him a challenge while outside instead of being suppressed in his shadow.

He did admit she was not making full use of her intellect here and, while he'd prefer to have her under his control, it would be interesting to let her leave for a small amount of time. It wasn't like he couldn't get her back whenever he wanted.

Stepping out of the bathroom, he pondered the situation while ignoring his usual business suit and putting on simpler clothes. He had a meeting with his associates later but, ever since that little abomination had been taught a lesson, it had been in hiding, leaving them without a magical powerhouse and stalling several of their projects.

Perhaps it was no longer sufficient to simply play along with Vandal's little plots? Luthor had been content to simply be a partner, to let them believe he was content with a 'meeting of equals' where some were more equal than others, but perhaps it was time to change that.

Regardless, right now, he had a few hours to work on a personal project. Luthor didn't exactly feel the need for a break, but he had been working tirelessly for the last weeks and, now that the leaks had stopped, it was expected he'd take a few days to 'recover'.

It had been a difficult decision but, in the end, he had decided that the sympathy gathered by appearing to work himself to exhaustion would serve him better. Being unaffected could make the population think he had not worked as hard despite ample proof to the contrary.

As stupid as the average human was, they were easily convinced by what they thought was true, by appearances instead of facts. Just take a look at the alien. He paraded around in a ridiculous costume, said a few trite words and people loved him for it.

Walking inside his workshop, Lex sat in front of his large, green and purple warsuit, at least four meters high and filled with a kryptonite generator; the entire armor was beautiful, efficient. Grabbing the gauntlet, he opened it and started to install the force field generator.

Luthor had never trusted the alien or the 'Justice League' to not turn against humanity, but he had always been confident of his contingencies, never feeling the need for such equipment. Yet.

Now? Klarion's actions had taken him by surprise, the beings he invited onto the planet were previously unknown to him and believing that the 'heroes' could not fail was sheer foolishness.

Luthor was still confident he could overcome anything, but being caught by surprise was not an enjoyable sensation and the warsuit could give him a necessary buffer in such cases.

No, he was above such lies —well, to himself that is—

The truth was that he couldn't think of a morning he woke up without the thought of strangling that self-righteous bastard, or punching him in the face. Yes, Superman fooled everyone, everyone except him.

He wouldn't use the warsuit, not unless the alien fully revealed himself, but he loved the thought that he could. Yes, it would mean descending to his level, but it would also give him such incredible satisfaction and, well, he was a businessman, he could recognize a fair trade.

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Artemis took off her green suit, stashing everything inside the duffel bag before disassembling her bow, safely putting it in its case and wrapping it in clothes to hide. She was soaked, having washed everything of the grime that had accumulated, her hair stuck to her back.

She still needed a bath, but at least she couldn't smell the trash anymore.

She really wanted to be a hero, to leave her father's legacy behind… No, to bury it away, burn the damn thing to the ground and show Sportsmanster exactly how much he mattered to her (not at all).

But, God, it certainly wasn't easy.

Finally, she put the duffel bag over her shoulder, wincing as it hit her bruised muscles and looked up. Fuck, this was gonna suck.

Her back was killing her, the bruise covered her side, most of her back and, while she hadn't broken any bones, that had been more thanks to luck than skill — she hadn't exactly had time to look before jumping out of the window to escape the grenade.

Thankfully, she hit an overflowing dumpster and, while that had been absolutely disgusting, the trash had also saved her life.

Fuck, Gotham had always been a terrible city, but this past month was just insane. Batman had been incredibly busy with those white assholes that kept popping up and killing each other which left a void every two-bit mook was willing to fill.

Artemis had been doing her best to help out but, with the Bat too busy to instill the fear of the dark on the criminals, every insane asshole was popping out of their hidey-holes.

She hadn't met the Bat in-person yet —she knew better than to get involved at his level— but she had met Robin once; the little smartass was younger than her and actually tried to berate her for helping out. As if she wasn't enough.

Looking up, she stared at the fire escape stairs at the side of her building, the metal stairs that descended to the ground level had long since been stolen and the first opening was two meters beyond her reach. For a few moments, she looked around the alleyway for another way, but yeah, there wasn't any.

She REALLY didn't want to use the front entrance and have to explain things to her Mom.

Taking distance, she dashed, her back screaming. Jumping up, she stepped on the wall twice before pushing up, her hands barely managing to grab onto the opening. Eventually, she managed to drag herself up and gasped, taking a second to adjust to the pain.

Finally, she managed to climb the stairs to her bedroom window and, throwing the bag on top of her bed, squeezed inside with a quiet grunt.

"Someone looks worse for wear," said a soft, sing-song voice from the dark corner of her room.

Rolling towards the bed, Artemis grabbed the dagger under it and got into a ready stance, ignoring the complaints from her back.

"Chill, little sister, I'm not here to fight," Jade said, stepping out of the shadows and sat down on her desk chair. "Besides, you wouldn't want to wake up Mom, would you?"

Taking a second to stare at her villainous sister, Artemis noticed she actually didn't look much better, with bags under her eyes and a cast over one arm, probably got into a fight with a hero or something. Her eyes quickly flickered to Jade's waist, seeing the grinning cat mask hanging from her belt.

Jade gave her time, the usual smirk never leaving her face as she just, sat there, trying to appear non-threatening.

"I see you're still going by Cheshire," Artemis said, glaring. With a sigh, she finally relaxed, got up from her crouching position and sat on the bed, slowly. "You didn't show up when Mom got out of jail."

"Sorry Sis, couldn't exactly take PTO in the middle of a job," she said, her voice taking that same singsong tone she used when being a smartass. "Besides, HE was with me, I doubt Mom would've enjoyed the reunion."

"You're working with Sportsmaster!" Artemis hissed, making sure to keep her voice down.

"Not by choice," Jade said flatly, her voice normal for once in the conversation. "And not anymore. Although that brings its own problems."

For a second, Artemis continued to glare at her, but she couldn't keep it up and sighed. Dropping the dagger on top of the bed, she sighed again and scratched at her tired eyes. Ignoring her intruding sister, she slowly took off her shirt, making sure to not strain herself.

Opening the drawer, she pulled out a muscle relaxant ointment, opening it up and slowly starting spreading it on her side. Looking at her, Jade sighed herself and got up.

"Here, let me."

"Why are you even here, Jade? You left, why come back now."

"I heard about your little outings," Jade said, managing to pry the ointment from her fingers and push her face first on the bed. "Couldn't I be worried about my cute baby sister?"

Artemis didn't answer; she knew that was a lie anyway. Instead, she let her sister spread the salve on her bruise, feeling her fingers gently tracing her back. It didn't make things better, but she couldn't help enjoying it.

"Dad's in jail," Jade finally broke the silence, her voice normal.

"Where?" she couldn't help asking. "And how do we make him stay there?"

"Oh, there's no chance he's leaving anytime soon," Jade finished applying the salve. "India is keeping him under very tight lock and nobody seems interested in helping him out."

"Is he like Mom?"

"No, but his employers aren't free to act right now and his substitute isn't exactly motivated to help him out," Jade shrugged, letting Artemis get up. "Really, I think they're considering just… silencing him completely instead of breaking him out, easier that way."

She sighed, already feeling the ointment working on her bruise. Pushing herself to a sitting position, she crossed her legs on top of the bed and looked at her sister, a hundred conflicted emotions running through her mind.

She wanted to hit her, scream at her, hug her… Ugh. "You really should see Mom, she's worried about you."

Jade avoided her eyes, turning to look out of the window and towards the city. "Sorry, little sister, not gonna happen," getting up, she walked towards the window, her wounded arm held against her chest. "It was nice seeing you."

Grabbing the dagger, Artemis threw it, hitting the lock keeping the window lifted with its handle and causing the frame to slam shut before Jade could slip out. "No, you don't just get to leave."

Jade snorted in amusement, looking at the knife bouncing off the floor. "Well, well, well, aren't we feeling catty today?"

"Shut up, Jade, you can't just show up here like nothing ever happened and then leave, who does that?!" she hissed again.

From inside the house, they heard their Mom dropping something in her room and froze, both of them glancing at the door for a few seconds before relaxing again, Jade releasing a sigh as she stared at the window.

"Fuck, you really are here just to check on us," Artemis realized, her voice a little stunned.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Jade snorted. "I told you, I heard about your little outings."

"No, I've been in trouble before and you didn't come," the blond shook her head, eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"

Jade turned around, leaning her back against the window while crossing her arms in front of her chest, the cast making it a little difficult. Smiling, she answered in a dismissive tone. "Let's just say I have been reminded of the kind of work I choose to take. Don't mistake me, I love it, but it was never exactly safe."

"So, you're just going to leave… again?" Artemis looked at her sister with disbelieving eyes, wishing she had thrown the dagger at her hand, not the window. "How dare you!"

"You should be used to how our family works, little mouse," Jade shrugged. "I thought Father made sure of it."

"No."

"What?"

Wincing again at the pain, Artemis pushed herself up, barely contained rage in her glare. "No, you're not just walking away, not again."

"Heh, and what're you gonna do? Follow me?" Jade smirked, the very thought seeming to amuse her.

"If I need to."

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Dexter rested on top of the table, his body nearly unmoving, and posture straight. With attentive eyes, he observed the two legged, making sure they weren't going to hurt his own.

Koriand'r was his, one of the two new he had adopted and he'd make sure she was fine, no matter what. They were silly creatures, yes, but he couldn't help admitting they made his life better, just like the previous one had.

"Oh, great, the attack cat is here," Robin said, his voice calm, slow and even.

Humans were such unsophisticated creatures, always squealing, whining, crackling and, most of the time, sounding like they always had a hairball in their throats, their voices changing from one second to the next. Fortunately, he had taught those ones better, to at least try and be as sophisticated as cats.

Yes, there was a time for hissing and even yowling, but it wasn't always.

Narrowing his eyes at the Robin, he lifted a paw and made sure to show his claws, warning the boy to behave.

Dexter had learned to trust the Titans, at least a little bit, but that was after he had taught them fear. They would not dare hurt what belonged to him lest they experience his fangs and claws again.

Still, he considered pouncing anyway, his tail swirling from one side to the other as his sensitive whiskers twitched in his face. Yes, they had been taught fear, but it was always best to remind them from time to time.

"Oh, no, no, no, I'm not doing this."

Before Dexter could fully decide, the Robin threw something to the ground and tried to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Dexter could still see him clumsily running away, but he decided the boy was suitably scared.

Sensing his mood, his two legged friend floated down, gathering him in her hands and touching her nose to his. Closing his eyes in pleasure, he let her. It was important to keep his girl happy and he was, after all, a good kitty.

Still, there was only so much he could bear and he started squirming, unwilling to actually hurt Koriand'r to break free. Reacting promptly, she released him on top of the counter and gave him a quick scratch between the ears.

Hmmm, perhaps he should start bringing her flying rats as well. He reserved most of them for Kara because he knew she needed his gifts more, requiring more of his attention to stay happy, but Kori too deserved some after all.

Stretching his back, he licked his fur, readjusting his coat from where she had grabbed him before considering his next step. The two leggeds were behaving themselves, but he still wanted to make sure.

Jumping on the chair, he made his way towards one of Kara's crystals on the wall, leaping towards the perfectly sized protrusion and feeling the heat radiating on his paws.

Curling into a ball, he lay down and continued to watch the two legged, his eyes narrowing every time one of them approached Kori.

Eventually, the noise grew too much, the tension too high. He didn't really like it, but he knew his two legged could take care of herself for a time, being far superior to the others in the room.

So, he jumped down, leaving the room and going to find a quieter place, somewhere he could have privacy and peace. Every door promptly opened when he approached —as they should— and he quickly made his way into one of the bedrooms, the one which smelled slightly like Kara.

He explored the place a little, but there wasn't anything interesting so he left, continuing to walk unopposed through the facility, jumping on top of a shelf, he wiggled his butt, his eyes judging the distance for a few seconds.

Then he leaped. His body sailed through the air until he managed to settle inside a ventilation shaft. A few meters away from him, a red light flashed and a cylinder detached from the wall, briefly aiming at him.

Dexter simply batted the barrel aside and it knew better than to threaten him again, flashing blue and retreating back where it came from. Licking his paw once, he continued moving, looking through the facility while every lock opened automatically as he approached.

Hearing a noise, he paused, his ears flickering towards the central room. Finding an opening, he jumped down and hurried towards the main room, leaping on top of the sofa and greeting Kara with a soft, perfectly educated 'meow'.

Leaning down, Kara touched her nose to his, then couldn't help herself and grabbed him, squeezing him against her cheek.

This, this was why she needed more attention than Koriand'r, she wasn't as well trained.

Finally, she released him on the floor and he spoke again, he was hungry… and thirsty, watching over Koriand'r had been a chore.

"Fine, come on then," she said, starting to walk towards the warm room.

She had tried to feed him in the common room once, it had been with good intentions, he recognized that, but he really hadn't liked that. It made him feel vulnerable to eat where anyone could see.

Walking in front of her, he opened the doors for her and led her down the stairs, making sure to pause and wait for her to catch up if she took too long. She was far less clumsy than most other humans —as expected of his two legged— but she still needed his help.

Finally, they arrived at the warm place, his red pillow resting against the flowing wall. Kara grabbed his food bag and got a handful out; Dexter promptly jumped up and ate a few, while she deposited a metal box on the shelf close to his bed.

With another protest, he had Kara open a sink for him, letting clean water run down until he drank his fill, her hand running through the coat of his fur in a pleasant manner.

In the end, he drank a little too much and choked for a few seconds, his eyes avoiding Kara's as he pretended to be perfectly fine even while gagging.

"You coming up?" Kara asked.

Dexter considered it, but he had explored enough, he was tired of human noises. Plus, Kara had brought yet another two legged he didn't know, he knew she trusted this new one, and both Kara and Koriand'r were together now, so he wasn't entirely worried.

Instead, he leaped towards his place on the shelf, feeling the pleasant heat from the wall, curling into his pillow; he just looked at her, his head lifted.

"Fine, we'll leave in an hour or two, you can rest until then."

Dexter just lowered his head, his eyes keeping watch over her as she walked up, at least until the doors closed behind her and he was left alone, the only noise coming from the quiet hum of the flowing wall.

He was prepared to take a nap, but something was bothering him. Lifting his head, he huffed and stared at the box. It was in the wrong place. For a few seconds, he just glared at it, but he eventually got up, sniffing at the metal.

Like everything else Kara had built, the box scanned him and then the room. Seeing as there wasn't any kryptonian in the area, the lines of code Kara put in nearly everything she built activated, the light shining blue and giving the cat access.

Wary, Dexter flinched back, his whiskers twitching, then he punched the box, his paw hitting it once, twice, three times in quick succession. Satisfied, he sat beside the box and sniffed it again, but he could only smell Kara and her Cousin on it.

Well, it was bothering him so, down it went. Putting a paw against the back of the box, he pushed it a little, then a little more. Glancing at the door, he didn't see Kara coming back, so he pushed again.

The metal box fell, hitting the floor with a racket, the lid popping open and a small, golden marble went flying through the room, rolling under Kara's desk to bounce against the wall.

Dexter's eyes flashed, claws digging into the shelf and butt wiggling as he watched the golden peddle bounce around. Quiet as only one of his superior kind could, he pounced.

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Thanks to Eric Faust for helping out with the chapter.

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