NOVEL NEXT Chapter 53.1 – 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 out 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, but he also made sure to maintain his physique, to be above 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 gonna happen.
It wasn’t like he didn’t know exactly what information had been stolen by the Fog, he knew just how much damage they could cause, but he also knew nothing would truly incriminate him, not directly or indirectly.
Working desperately as he had, scouring his company of the corruption that had been ‘revealed’, sincerely doing his best to make amends, it would be remembered when the time came.
He had plans after all, long term plans that, with enough time, could even benefit from this if he wanted.
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, attempted to take advantage of it and it was not impossible they’d use such an opportunity to try and dethrone him from LexCorp, do denounce 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 ‘Forge’ didn’t have anything else that incriminated LexCorp and so, Luthor was able to relax. He still had to do damage control for a few months, but he had time to himself.
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 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 do it if he hadn’t acted fast.
What he hadn’t expected was for her to resign when it hadn’t worked.
For a second, he thought she had given up, but then he shook his head, that simply wasn’t in their nature. No, she had something else in her 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 run around as if they’re ‘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.
Getting out of the bathroom, he pondered the situation while ignoring his usual business suit and putting on simpler clothes. Later, he had a meeting with his associates 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 in 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 good words and people loved him for it.
Walking inside his workshop, he sat in front of the 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 and the ‘Justice League’ to not turn against humanity, but he had always been confident of his contingencies, never feeling the need for such equipment.
Now? Klarion’s actions had taken him by surprise, the beings he invited into 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 the 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.