Issue 1: Tower of Babel
Chapter 1
Lex Luthor scrunched his face in irritation and started to tap his foot in impatience. He checked his watch for what seemed like the third time over the course of the last twenty minutes. She was late. This was definitely not proving her case if what she said was true.
“Be patient, Mr. Luthor,” his escort said. “She’ll be here.” Lex held back a shiver at his voice. He could feel the mercenary’s eyes cut through the air beneath that skull facemask of his. It made him look like Death if it was garbed in green and armed to the teeth in guns and knives.
Lex sighed in aggravation as they stood before the still-inactive portal pad. “She better,” the bald businessman said, his deep voice seeping with frustration. “I had to jump through a lot of hoops to give you what you need.”
The masked mercenary crossed his arms and leaned against one of the consoles. “As I’m aware,” he said. “But she’ll be here. Just be patient.”
Lex couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. “I had a very important business meeting today, I’ll have you know,” he said, adjusting his tie a bit around his neck. “I was supposed to unveil my latest LexoSkel suit before you and your lackeys threw me into that van.”
“They’re not my lackeys,” the mercenary corrected. Now it was his turn to feel aggravated. “Sunset just told me to drag them along so we can bring you here safely.”
Lex cocked an eyebrow at that. A taunting smirk appeared on his face as he eyed the masked gunman. “Oh? So you’re a babysitter now?” He quipped. “And here I thought you were a highly trained soldier of fortune, mister…” His voice trailed off as he already forgot his kidnapper’s name.
“Grave Shot,” the mercenary finished with even more irritation in his voice. “And no, ‘babysitter’ is not in my job description, so don’t get any funny ideas. Sunset had to do this job herself. Snips and Snails would only get in the way.”
Lex scoffed at that. “I think they’d get in the way regardless,” he said before he let out a soft sigh of boredom. “As a matter of fact… if you were working for me, I’d make sure you wouldn’t be bogged down by such… incompetent henchmen.”
Grave had enough at that. In one swift motion, he took out one of his pistols, aiming it at the executive’s yammering hairless head. “For one of Metropolis’ most notorious Suits, you sure do like to talk a lot,” he said as his voice dropped an octave in a menacing fashion. His hand gripped the pistol tightly, aiming it square between Lex’s eyes. “Now, I suggest you shut it or I’ll put a bullet in that bald head of yours.”
Lex lifted his hands slowly and defensively. That smug smirk remained on his face, seemingly unfazed by Grave’s threat. He admired his tenacity. A glare like that was the stuff of nightmares. “Just trying to pass the time, Grave,” Luthor explained simply as he placed his hands back in his pockets. “No need to get trigger happy.”
Grave growled and lowered the handgun. He placed it back in its holster at his hips slowly, his menacing glare locked onto the sly snake of a businessman. “You’re lucky we need you alive, Baldy,” he said, his voice harsh and low. “I’d have iced you a long time ago if Sunset didn’t bring me on board for this job.”
Lex chuckled lowly in response. “I’m that notorious now, am I?” He asked sarcastically. “And here I thought my recent philanthropic acts earned me some respect in the public eye.”
It was Grave’s turn to chuckle now. “I’m afraid you’ve earned the ire of more than just Superman, Mr. Luthor,” he said as he crossed his arms again. “I don’t need a contract to know the kinds of people who are gunning for you, Baldy… and I’m not talking about the ones that are more powerful than a locomotive and wear spandex either.”
Lex adjusted his tie again, his eyes locked onto the portal once more. “I’m sure I’ve made a few more enemies aside from the Justice League, Grave,” he said before looking at the mercenary again with a slightly crazed look in his eyes. “It means I’m doing my job right.”
Grave raised his finger and began to make a retort before being interrupted by a thunderous BOOM and a flash of bright light from the pad beside them. The silhouette of a lone, cloaked woman emerged from the light. This caught the attention of the two men as the woman stepped off the pad. As the bright light from the Boom Tube faded, the woman pulled the hood of her long, purple coat back and revealed herself to the two.
Lex smirked as Sunset Shimmer had finally arrived. “Well, speak of the devil,” he said. He approached her in a confident and unwavering stride and leaned down in a bow at the shorter woman. “You must be Sunset Shimmer. A pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
Sunset glared at Lex and his smug demeanor. She remained silent as she reached into the bag clinging at her waist and handed him the remote device. The red-haired fiend then walked over to Grave Shot, who quickly tensed up and stood briskly at attention. Lex simply stood there, the remote in his hand before he begrudgingly put it in his suit pocket. Being that he was the most important person in this room, he expected to be treated with a little more respect than this.
Grave Shot remained perfectly still, his back straight as Sunset approached him. If there was one thing he came to know these past few years since she hired him, it was to follow her orders by the letter. She may have been small, but she definitely meant business. When a young adult girl like her has the power to turn anyone who stands in her way into toads, you let the fact that she’s really a pony from a magical fairy tale land slide. The fine folks at that Cadmus facility learned that the hard way. Luckily for Grave, he was a fast learner when he helped her escape. Since then, Grave has become a valuable ally for Sunset, especially when it came to getting Snips and Snails back in line. Being with those two bumbling idiots when they went after Lex, the silent mercenary sympathized with her. He didn’t express such views openly, however. As long as he got the job done, that was all that mattered. She would make sure to deal with them.
Sunset appeared to look Grave over for a bit before clearing her throat to speak. The short woman looked him dead in the eyes of his skull mask as she spoke. “A fine job retrieving the target, mercenary,” she said. “Now, leave us. You are dismissed. I shall give you your next orders when I am through.”
Grave nodded and said nothing else. He turned on his heel and left the two in the teleporter chamber, the door sliding closed as he left. The only two left in the room were Sunset and Luthor.
“You must have a lot of power to have someone like him wrapped around your little finger,” Lex quipped, adjusting his tie as he approached Sunset. “Though I suggest you tighten your grip on his leash. People like him tend to go off the rails when they’re that trigger happy.”
“Grave Shot is a needed ally for my plans, Mr. Luthor,” the red-haired woman stated. “I suggest you respect his talents.”
Lex merely chuckled and smirked smugly. “I meant no offense, Ms. Shimmer,” he said. “Anyway, I assume there was a reason why you had your… fine men retrieve me on such short notice? I hope the provisions I have given you are… adequate.”
“You’ve done well in funding our cause, Mr. Luthor,” Sunset answered. “However, now is the time we must move to our next phase.”
“Next phase?” Lex echoed. He cocked an eyebrow in intrigue, a sign that told her to continue.
Sunset nodded and started to make her way through the door. She waved nonchalantly for him to follow. He obliged and remained silent, letting the girl continue their discussion.
“With the Element of Magic in my possession, I will require more of your resources,” she began as they went down the darkened hallway. “I trust this will not be too much trouble?”
Lex shook his head and smirked. “No, it will not,” he replied smugly. “If you need a research team to analyze the… erm, ‘Element’, I can send some of my top scientists to you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Sunset said. “Our next phase will require some… rule-breaking. Grave Shot is hardly a team player and… well, I’m sure you’ve already met Snips and Snails.”
“Indeed I have,” Lex commented with a hint of disgust in his voice. “I can have my lawyers release Parasite from Stryker’s Island as soon as possible.”
It was Sunset’s turn to cock an eyebrow now. She stopped as they reached a balcony overlooking the facility’s main grounds. She spun around and looked at Luthor with a slightly displeased look in her eyes. “I take it Parasite failed in acquiring the device?”
Lex raised his hands nonchalantly and merely chuckled with a knowing smile on his face. “A minor setback, my dear,” he reassured. “Nothing you need to worry yourself about.”
Sunset clenched her fist in anger. She grit her teeth as her eyes began to glow an intense white while her fist was slowly engulfed in a menacing red aura. Lex simply stood there, unnerved as her anger rose… then fell. Her eyes returned to their regular teal hue. She glared at him, seething through gritted teeth before easing her posture a bit.
“It better be,” Sunset said, her voice filled with bubbling rage. “Otherwise, it’ll be more than a minor setback for you. I’ll make sure of it.”
Lex’s face contorted to a slightly menacing grin as he watched her huff off and leave him. Since meeting her and Grave Shot nearly two years ago, he had agreed to secretly fund and support her group in exchange for their services. After all, they made a good first impression. Any enemy of Superman’s was a friend to him. And the promise of unimaginable wealth and power from worlds beyond was simply too good to ignore for the CEO. The only problem he had was that Sunset was extremely secretive about her plans, only requesting what she needed without much of a reason. Being the man that he was, he gave her what she needed with no questions asked. The Boom Tube in this case came from his longtime friend and rival Vandal Savage. He made a mental note to thank Mr. Savage for the favor. The two may have been rivals, but it paid to know someone with connections to Apokolips and access to the planet’s Boom Tube technology.
Lex Luthor had been called many things in his lifetime. He may be corrupt, egotistical, insane, and a downright evil bastard to the public, but he certainly wasn’t stupid. He knew Sunset had something big in mind… and he would make sure that he got to it first.