Sell you a Bridge chapter 222

April 20th 2016 Appalachian Mountains 7:00 PM EDT

Luthor  didn't seem amused by my commentary. In fact, Luthor didn't seem amused  at all. He looked actively pissed off. That probably should have been  scarier with him standing there in big strong armor, but honestly it  mostly just made me want to laugh. He gritted his teeth. "Who are you?" I  raised an eyebrow at that, because I'd expected better. This was Lex  fucking Luthor, he should be able to tell me my shoe size and favorite  flavor of chewing gum.

He seemed to sense my skepticism.  "You misunderstand. I'm not asking for your name or place of birth. I  know those things. I'm asking who you ARE. Why do you matter? In what  possible way can a literal nobody like you have caused me such an  ungodly amount of trouble in the short time you've been active. Even if  we count your little jaunt off world, you still shouldn't be someone who  can affect my plans, so explain to me, please, how an eighteen year old  street rat spawned by a half baked Gotham mobster is someone who should  present a problem for ME?"

He was glaring daggers at me,  like he wanted nothing so bad as to stroll up and choke me to death with  his bare hands. Which was probably on his mind, but honestly, I wasn't  worried. "Who are YOU? I mean really. You're what? Kind of smart. Balder  than most people? Super rich? You're just a sad old has been tilting at  windmills. You think you're Superman's arch enemy? You're not. You're  the pebble in his shoe. The fly in his soup. You're a bad penny that  just keeps turning up."

He looked ready to attack me, but  honestly I needed to get this off my chest. "Because you get that right?  Aside from your company name which, granted gets around, your entire  identity is wrapped up in another man. You're the worlds saddest  tsundere fanboy. And for what? Because he's better than you? Because  he's stronger than you can ever hope to be? Imagine defining your whole  life by sour grapes. Couldn't be me."

He fired a pulse of  energy at me and I stepped through darkness, vanishing before he even  finished raising his hand. He was seething. "How dare you! You're a  child! You don't see him for what he is, for the danger he poses. You  just see the big friendly alien who pulls cats from trees. You're all  sheep. None of you understand what a threat he is to our way of life."  He sneered. "But then who am I talking to. Do you even remember what it  means to be human, boy? Look at what you've turned yourself into."

That  cracked me up. "Jealous? Yeah, I got stronger. Cry me a river. As for  the rest of it, I may be young, but I'm not stupid. That's never been  what this is about. You think you have everyone fooled but we all see  why you do the things you do. You're Lex Luthor. In a normal world, a  human world, you would be a living legend. A man of tomorrow who would  usher in a golden age with your immense brain and studly chin and blah  blah blah. But you aren't any of that. You're nobody. Just a rich guy  with a whole bag of chips on his shoulder because they took away the  fame you should have had."

I grinned nastily at him.  "Because in the end, that's what it's always been about. With people  like them around, you aren't special. So you make categories, and keep  score, and claim that they don't count or can't be trusted, because you  need them to be liars or fakes. You need them to be flawed so you can  matter. Because to someone with your ego, your absurdly overinflated  sense of importance, getting in the way of your legacy is the worst sin  of all." My grin turned into a snarl. "Even worse than selling your own  planets children to aliens to be enslaved and experimented on."

He  didn't flinch, but his aura fluctuated. Just a bit. Not guilt, I didn't  think he was capable, but more like...regret. Like he'd made a bad call  and was a bit chagrined it hadn't worked out. But he didn't take back  his stance, just sneered at me even harder. "I don't need to hear  lectures on humanity from an abomination like you. In the end it doesn't  matter. You aren't leaving here alive. Or whatever facsimile of that  state you can still claim. Because I've studied you, watched you, and I  know exactly what I need to do to finish you off."

He  timed that pretty well, because the massive metal limb backhanding me  across the room made contact before I really processed what he was  saying. I sailed across his little underground bunker and slammed  facefirst into the wall. There was a crack, but it wasn't from me. My  particular skillset made impacts like that less than effective, and my  flexible body just gave under the force and then bounced back when I  dropped from the crater I left. Granted, the whole process hurt like a  bitch, but it didn't actually do me much harm.

I groaned,  standing up and brushing myself off. Then I turned to the massive metal  form with the glowing green rock in it's chest and grimaced. "Ah.  Metallo. Heard of you. Guess you got some upgrades." I should have  noticed him when I scanned the room with my aura sight, but I hadn't  which meant the bastard was shielded like the rest of the robots here. I  was pretty sure that was a recent thing, and it was far from the ONLY  recent thing. Metallo, to my understanding, used to be an android.  Mostly man shaped and normal sized. That...wasn't the case anymore.

He  towered over me. Easily ten feet tall. The green glow of his limbs  wasn't all funneled from his chest, it was obvious there were several  generators in him using the kryptonite, one in the chest, one in each  arm and each leg. One in the head. Every single one of them clad in  reinforced metal that I could see at a glance wasn't steel. His tech was  more advanced than I'd have expected to. I glanced drolly at Lex.  "We've been reverse engineering some of The Reach's tech I see. Do they  know you're copying their test answers?"

The absolute  smugness radiating from his laughter was annoying. "Oh please. This was  only ever a matter of convenience. They knew it just as we did. We  have...another benefactor. A better one. The Reach were using us as we  used them, and once we've finished evicting them from the planet we'll  chase them out into the stars and use them as the trophy to prove our  power. The human race will spread to the edges of the universe, and I'll  be at it's head. Not Superman. Me. Because I am so much more than you  could ever know. But while we're on the subject, I do appreciate the  help with the scarabs. We knew the Green Lanterns would step in  eventually when things turned hostile but you saved us some time."

Eyeing  Metallo I could see some of where his confidence cam from, but not this  much. "Yeah don't mention it. Though I have to ask, since the scarabs  couldn't take me down what makes you think that this tin can will  manage? He's like, barely Reach tech. What makes you so sure he can  finish the job?" Because he sounded sure. Completely positive in fact,  which I wasn't nervous about given my new upgrades but I was...reticent  of. He had to have a reason for thinking he could take me. Lex Luthor  was cocky and smug and many other things worthy of being mocked, but he  wasn't stupid.

It was his turn to grin nastily. "I told  you. I've studied you. Metallo isn't just science. I had my old friend  Klarion make some improvements before you spirited him away. I've been  working on countermeasures to you since that battle at The Reach base.  Mapping your energy signatures, learning your abilities. The specter  detectors? Mine. The aura shielding? Mine. Did you notice you couldn't  phase through his hand? Or did you not even try? Because I assure you,  it wouldn't have worked."

Ok, that was mildly concerning.  "Well by all means, I know how much people like love to gloat, so  please, fill me in on the details of your evil plan? I assume since  you're telling me this that it's too late and I've already fallen into  your trap or something cliche like that?" I mentally thanked past me for  investing in that armor. It seemed like if I'd come in here without it I  might have been screwed. I had to admit though, I was impressed. Lex  managing to counter my abilities was interesting enough to warrant a  modicum of actual respect. But just a bit.

Respect that  pretty much evaporated when he laughed wickedly and actual decided to  explain his plan like a cartoon bad guy. Like sure, it was tradition,  but I'd expected better from someone of his supposed intellect. "Well I  suppose I could indulge. You've been such a pest to me it's only fair  you share in my frustration. Mr. Corbin over here has been augmented  with science and magic both. Several spatial anchoring enchantments,  gravity nullifiers, inertial dampeners, and several other features I'll  leave as a surprise. But most importantly is his shell."

He  walked over to run an armored hand over the perfectly still Metallo,  who either couldn't feel it or didn't have a consciousness to care with,  because it was a creepy thing to do and he had no reaction. Lex gave a  soft knock on the metal. "A glorious material harvested from the alien  world of Thanagar. Nth Metal, they call it. It has magic nullifying and  force dampening properties, and combined with the enchantments makes Mr.  Corbin the ideal opponent for you. You may be capable of teleporting  but your tricks won't allow you to put a scratch on my masterpiece."

I  assumed he had some trick to keep me from running too, or maybe he  noted that I wouldn't leave my people behind, but either way he'd  clearly tailored this little setup to me personally. Not just Metallo  either, I was betting there was some of that Nth Metal in his own suit  too. "What about you? You don't seem to have any kryptonite generators.  You think your potmetal jogging suit is good enough to hang with someone  like me? No wonder you think you're a match for Superman. Delusions of  granduer table for one."

Lex made a gesture and the armor  began to glow, humming to life as backup power systems kicked in. "Oh I  assure you. My grandeur is quite real, and I'll be happy to demonstrate  it. But funny you should mention Superman. Because I made this little  outfit as a surprise for him. I suppose testing it on a little monster  like you is fitting though. He gets so protective of children. Perhaps  when I tell him your blood is all over it he'll even shed a tear.  Regardless. I assure you you've never seen armor like this."

I  cracked my neck as I got ready for the coming fight, but I couldn't  resist shooting back a grin of my own. Lex seemed a unsettled by the  expression. he'd been expecting fear, uncertainty, some pleading maybe.  But confidence. I tried to keep the smugness out of my voice as I  replied. "Oh Lex. Buddy. Pal. I'm going to give you a few minutes at the  end of this fight for a pop quiz. After I finish caving in your shitty  robot's shitty metal skill I'll ask you this again, so pay attention." I  triggered my torc, letting the liquid black metal flow over my whole  body. "Can you spot the irony in this situation?"