155 CHAPTER 153
[Lex Luthor's POV]
Lex strolled through his opulent bar, scrutinizing each bottle with a critical eye. Everything had proceeded flawlessly, without a hint of a hitch. He felt that a special drink was in order to pre-celebrate his diabolical success.
Mercy reclined on the other side of the bar, her gaze fixed on him as she rested against the counter. "Come on, Lex," she coaxed, her voice dripping with intrigue. "I know you had something to do with the president's demise. I'm just curious about how you executed it and managed to erase every trace of evidence."
Lex's lips curled into a sly smile as he reached for a bottle, carefully inspecting its label. "Try to guess, my dear Mercy." He taunted.
"I can't," she pouted. "Ever since you gained the ability to implant thoughts and manipulate minds to do your bidding, I've been kept in the dark about certain matters."
"I may have been keeping a few secrets lately, but the thrill of revealing them in due time is part of the fun," Lex replied cryptically. "As for the president, I had a special pawn take care of him."
"A special pawn? Superman?" Mercy asked, her curiosity piqued.
Lex chuckled softly. "Yes, I simply planted the idea of assassinating the president, making him believe it was an act of his own free will. I laced that thought with both anger and sadness, emotions that would drive him to take action to soothe his troubled mind."
"In that case," Mercy pondered, "one of those emotions must have been triggered, and being that you programmed the thought, it activated the command. Making him a perfect puppet, and you the brilliant puppeteer."
"Something like that," Lex confirmed.
He signaled his butler, who promptly approached the bar. "How may I assist you, Master Luthor?" the butler inquired with a respectful bow.
"Fetch me a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino from the wine cellar," Lex commanded, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. "It's the perfect wine to complement this presidential feeling I have right now." A smug smile creeped across his lips as he turned his gaze towards Mercy.
"Of course, Master Luthor," the butler replied before making his way to fulfill the request.
"I heard they discovered that a section of the security footage from the presidential office was mysteriously missing," Mercy added, her eyes fixed on Lex, knowing her boss was definitely the mastermind behind it all.
Lex moved around the counter, taking a seat next to her with a mischievous grin. "I have eyes and ears everywhere. I simply issued a command to a discreet agent in the White House surveillance room to erase the footage the moment the president's demise was confirmed. He left no trace, but not before sending me a copy of Superman plunging his fist through the previous president's chest."
"As requested Master Luthor, here's the wine." His butler returned with a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, he opened it and poured a drink for both Lex and mercy.
"Cheers to my impending presidency and my complete control over these oblivious fools," Lex declared, raising his glass. Mercy clinked her glass with his as they both savored the drink. "I already control both the men and women in Congress, and nothing stands in my way of becoming the next president," Lex boasted, his laughter taking on a sinister edge.
"What about Gorilla Grodd? The last time I saw him in one of your labs he was left in an unconscious state and things strapped to bis head, almost as if they were extracting his psychic prowess." Mercy asked as she took a sip of wine from her glass.
"It is exactly as you said, my dear Mercy. Grodd was a loose end who could be used to bring my plans to a halt before it came to fruition." He took a sip from his drink as he continued. "I had to tie up that loose end by keeping him where he would be under twenty four hours surveillance, in a vegetative state of course." He put an end to that topic as they both took the last sip of wine from their glasses.
His butler refilled their glasses as Lex continued to outline his plans to seize control of the Justice League Watchtower, in order to expand his psychic dominion over the world, unopposed. But he did so without going into Indepth detail or telling how he was going to go about it.
…
[Jason Todd's POV]
"Come on, kid, let's get moving," Leo and I were set to rendezvous with the other Outlaws at a building not far from our target, Black Mask.
Upon reaching the rooftop, it appeared empty—just the two of us. "Looks like we're early for the party," I remarked.
"No, kid, we're right on time," Leo countered, pointing to another building. I expected some dramatic entrance, but nothing happened. "Great, not only are we early, you're getting delusional," I grumbled.
"Take another look, kid." Suddenly, a metallic clunk echoed on the rooftop, and I saw Deathstroke gracefully descend, his grapple gun effortlessly in hand. He landed with a roll and stood tall.
"You're shorter than I imagined," he quipped, scanning me from my mask to my boots.
"I could say the same about you, stone-faced," I replied, confronting the formidable mercenary who'd given heroes headaches for years. Now I found myself on the same side rather than fighting against him, how ironic.
"What's up, boys?" We all turned as another voice sounded behind us, though it was just Deathstroke and me now; Leo was casually perched on the rooftop's edge.
"Dude, where'd you come from?" I asked Deadshot, taken aback.
"From the door that leads to the roof, of course. I don't always have to ninja my way around," Deadshot replied, his presence almost as elusive as the legends, the Man Who Never Miss.
"I see the gang's all here," Deadshot noted, glancing around. "So, what's the plan to take down this guy? I hear the boss wants us to put on quite a show."
"We're still missing one," Deathstroke said, checking his weaponry as he prepared to move out. "No way, Ace is joining us too?" I asked, surprised.
"Of course he is," Deathstroke affirmed. "He's just running late. If he doesn't show up in a minute, we'll proceed without him."
"We should wait for him; he's a valuable asset." I insisted, mainly because I wanted the chance to finally meet him.
"Don't worry; I have a feeling he's already here," Leo chimed in.
"Really?" I asked, intrigued.
"Don't go ratting me out so quickly, Captain Cold," Ace's voice came from above, and we watched him slowly descend to our level.
"Quite the crew of masked individuals we have," Ace remarked, observing the scene. "You're one to talk," Deadshot sarcastically retorted. Being surrounded by villains and working with them was something I thought impossible. If my younger self could see me now, he'd be disappointed. But what does he know anyway?
"Listen up," Deathstroke commanded, drawing our attention. "Red Hood and Captain Cold will cover the ground floor and work their way up. Ace and I will take the middle section and head to the top. Deadshot, you stay here and cover the roof. Shoot down any incoming helicopters; Kill the pilot if you have to."
"Roger that," Deadshot acknowledged, setting up his sniper gear.
"Everyone else, move out," Deathstroke ordered, and we dispersed to our assigned positions.
Deathstroke leaped off the rooftop, expertly shooting his grapple gun to the adjacent building and zipping through the air to crash into the middle floors through the now broken window.
"Jump," Ace instructed Leo and I. I exchanged puzzled glances with Leo who just said, "you heard the man, jump kid." He said as we backed up a few steps then leaped off the rooftop. In mid-air, our decent got slowed and we landed gracefully on the ground, rolling to absorb the impact.
I looked up to see Ace floating in sky, no doubt it was him. He gave a casual salute before flying into the building from a floor above Deathstroke's initial entry, while Leo and I were left to tackle the ground floor.
I doubt it would be a long night. Although I was initially against criminal activities until I became Red Hood, now I could finally let loose and rid this city of scums like Black Mask and his crew.
