Smallville Phantom Dystopia: The return of Isobel
Just over an hour after returning from Metropolis, Lex had transformed the mansion into something closer to a fortress than a home. The clock had long since passed midnight, but the grounds remained alive with activity. Floodlights illuminated the estate as teams of contractors, security personnel, and engineers moved with military precision from one section of the property to the next. The constant whine of drills and the metallic clang of tools echoed through the night air.
Every window on the lower levels of the mansion had been covered with quarter-inch steel plating, each sheet carefully measured, bolted, and reinforced into the surrounding structure. Lex had personally overseen the plans. He wasn't interested in aesthetics. He was interested in survival.The upper floors were treated differently. Lex refused to turn the mansion into a blind bunker. In the areas where he insisted on maintaining visibility of the grounds, custom ballistic glass had been installed instead. Thick, expensive, and capable of withstanding punishment that would reduce ordinary windows to dust, it allowed light from the outside to filter in while still providing a measure of protection.It wasn't enough.Nothing felt like enough.Lex paced relentlessly across the study floor, his hands clasped behind his back. Every few seconds he would glance toward the reinforced windows overlooking the estate. The image of Titan tearing through Metropolis replayed in his mind again and again.The creature had smashed through buildings as if they were made of cardboard.Vehicles had become projectiles.Armed men had become little more than obstacles.Even now, safely inside his own home, Lex could still hear the distant screams and collapsing concrete.A security supervisor entered the room."Mr. Luthor, the additional teams have arrived."Lex stopped pacing."How many?" "Thirty-two tonight. Another twenty-four by morning.""Double the perimeter patrols.""Yes, sir.""I want overlapping fields of fire. Thermal surveillance on every approach. No blind spots."The man nodded immediately."And if there are blind spots?""They won't exist by sunrise, sir.""Good."The supervisor quickly departed, leaving Lex alone once more.He resumed pacing.Outside, more vehicles rolled through the front gates carrying fresh personnel and equipment. Armed guards began taking positions around the estate while technicians installed additional cameras and motion sensors throughout the grounds.The security budget for the month had likely been surpassed within a few hours.Lex didn't care.For perhaps the first time in his life, money felt insignificant.Because money couldn't stop Titan.Money couldn't stop whatever had happened in Metropolis.Money couldn't guarantee that the thing responsible wouldn't decide to come looking for him next.The realization settled heavily in his stomach.This wasn't going to be a single sleepless night. It wasn't even going to be a difficult week.The threat hanging over the world was far larger than that.Lex stared through the thick ballistic glass into the darkness beyond the estate.The work crews continued hammering and drilling beneath the floodlights. Guards moved like shadows across the grounds. The mansion was becoming stronger by the minute.Yet somehow it still felt vulnerable.Lex's jaw tightened.This wasn't going to be a long night.It was going to be a long week.And judging by what he had witnessed in Metropolis, possibly a much longer year.
Dawn broke over the horizon, the sun just beginning to pour its light over Metropolis glistening off of windows and other reflective surfaces.
Isobel rubbed her eyes." I can't believe we're still walking around in this city.""Well, it is a sprawling metropolis, and you didn't want me to super-speed us out of here.""No. I get sick when you rush me around like that, and a countess such as myself should travel in luxury."A man walked up to them with a gun."Hey! Give me all your money!"Isobel sighed."Now!" the man demanded."Clark, do take care of this peasant for me."Clark smirked as his eyes began to glow red.The gun turned red-hot in the man's hand, charring his skin. He immediately dropped it."Hey! How did you do that?" Clark's eyes lit up again."Would you like to see it work on your face?""No, no. Hey, man, it's cool."The man turned and ran."No," Isobel said, "it is not 'cool.'"Her eyes lit up as she chanted.The man's legs twisted until they snapped, halting his escape and causing him to face-plant into the pavement. Clark laughed."Now that was funny.""No time to gloat, lover. We need to find a car suitable for a queen.""You're not going to kill him?""No. I'm in a good mood today. Besides, the hordes of angry masses are only a few blocks behind us. When they get here, I'm sure they'll trample him or, at the very least, take everything he has."She shrugged"It's the law of the jungle out here. Only the fittest survive.""You're so cruel."Clark moved closer, smiling."Mmm, and you like it so much."Clark leaned in for a kiss, but before their lips touched—"Find me a car, lover.""Right."He smiled.Then he took off at super speed and smashed into an ATM around the corner.Clark stuffed his leather jacket pockets with as many hundred-dollar bills as they could hold.Then his ears began to ring.He collapsed to the ground.*Kal-El, my son. You're under a spell. Do not follow this woman. Do not help her in her ambitions for power.*"Get out of my head, old man!"*Kal-El, you will listen to me.*The ringing intensified.*You have to fight this. The Earth is in grave peril and needs your help.*"Why should I listen to you? You wanted me to rule this world with an iron fist, so what difference does it make if someone else does it? At least this way I'm not directly responsible for anything that happens."Isobel turned the corner and saw Clark on the ground in pain."What's happening?""It's my father. He won't leave me alone. He never leaves me alone!"Clark ripped open his shirt, revealing the Kryptonian S symbol once more, burned into his skin in a distorted, ugly pattern."Your father?""This is related to the caves, isn't it?""Yes," Clark said with a whimper.Isobel touched his chest and began chanting a spell in Latin as her hand glowed with purple energy."Begone!"The magic erased the S symbol and healed Clark's skin instantly. "Lover, I don't fully understand your heritage, and one of these days you're going to have to fill me in on who this Jor-El is and why he has any power over you at all."She helped him back to his feet."But before any of that, why were you collecting money?"Clark got up, rubbing his head."You said you wanted a car. Here's the money for it."He smirked."Clark, I don't want to call you dumb, honey, but look around you. There's no one to pay, even if we wanted to have an honest transaction."Clark glanced around the devastated street."Ha. I guess you're right."He tossed the money aside."Just steal the car?"Isobel smiled."Yes. Just steal a car."
In the heart of Kansas, another theft was about to take place—or perhaps it would be better to call it a reacquisition. Milton Fine flew through the air at supersonic speed before slowing for a landing outside LuthorCorp Labs.The facility had been abandoned for two days due to power outages and employees wanting to stay home and be near loved ones. Some cited religious reasons, believing the biblical end times were near. Others simply gave no reason at all.Under normal circumstances, they would have been fired immediately, but these were no normal circumstances.Even management had left the facility, and Lex himself had far more pressing matters on his mind.Milton Fine landed in front of the door with a loud thud, debris kicking up all around him as he approached with a cold demeanor and only one thing on his mind.With a swift punch, his fist penetrated an inch of solid steel and ballistic-resistant glass. He ripped the door clean off its hinges.Entering the premises, he immediately began scanning for life signs and what he was looking for, traversing each corridor with a methodical precision that only he could manage.---
Back in Metropolis.Isobel walked hand in hand with Clark, seemingly taking to him nearly as much as he had taken to her."Clark, how much longer before we find a sports car?""I don't know. You have a particular taste. Under normal circumstances, cars of the kind you like would be one in a hundred. Today, after the city evacuated and everyone with the means to get out already did, I don't think you'll find one on the street.""Mmmm, let's just go to one of those... what did you call it again? A dealership?"
"That's the plan. There should be one another mile down the road once we get through this bad part of town.""Ick. I really don't like the looks of it here."Isobel and Clark stood at the edge of the hood, a part of Metropolis long since forgotten by its government and rarely visited by anyone who didn't live there.Once a manufacturing hub many decades ago, the area now lay in ruins, a collection of decaying infrastructure, warehouses, and slum houses. Oddly, there was a sort of peace there. Its residents were so accustomed to hardship that they didn't think much of the city shutting down. Periodic power outages had been the norm their entire lives. Many were at ease cooking with pilot lights or even burning trash for fuel. No police? No problem.
The police rarely came there anyway, and their absence simply made it easier to sell drugs—the main economic lynchpin that allowed any sort of creature comforts for those who lived there.Isobel caught stares.How could she not?Some men were too shy to say anything, but stare? Oh, stare they did.Others whistled.Isobel liked the attention at first.That was until one man came too close, offering money."Fifty bucks for an hour with your girl."The man held up the cash.Deeply offended, Isobel's eyes glowed and the bills burst into flames in the man's hand."Oh, now you've made her mad," Clark smirked.Terror began to fill the man's mind. A sinking feeling settled in his stomach so strongly it felt as though his gut had dropped to his feet."What do you take me for?" Isobel demanded."A slut?""A prostitute?""I am Countess Isobel Thoreaux," she said proudly."And you..."She tilted her head in a maniacal gesture."...are a pathetic..."The man winced."...insolent..."He threw his hands up defensively."...worm of a ma—"Isobel paused."Hmmmm. I know."She smiled.---A moment later, Clark and Isobel continued down the street.Behind them, the clothes of the man who had insulted her lay in a pile, and an earthworm crawled its way out of one of the sleeves.Continuing down the barren old streets, desperately in need of repaving, Clark and Isobel passed a row of aging apartment complexes."Psst, psst. Coke. Crystal."The man held out a small baggie."A good time for you and your lady, huh?""Sorry. Me and my 'lady' don't do drugs," Clark said."At least not the kind you're peddling.""That a fact?"The dealer smirked."Well, I tried to be nice, but if I can't sell you something to make money from you, I will just take it! "
