A Palace of Victory
Lex Luthor has 3 Superman clones who serve him faithfully. The varied nature of each of their duties and the fact that they were quarter in completely unrelated sectors of Lex's mansion made it extremely unlikely any of them would ever meet. And if they did, Lex would simply dismiss the more vacant minded one as a mindless drone, a robot patterned after his defeated slave. This explanation would likely be enough for someone who did not dare question their master in the first place. If the one being dismissed learned the truth and dared challenge him, that clone would be 'reconditioned' and the entirety of his memory simply erased. These cloned had been grown from the memories and emotions scanned, extracted and mined from the original Superman. Who now lay in a medically induced coma in one of the more comfortable rooms in his mansion. This arrangement allowed Lex to imbue his new clones with virtually everything that made Superman who he was. The information he had gleaned from his current servants had allowed him to perfectly recreate the original event which had brought the actual Superman to his knees. This clone however had altered memories. Lex was eager to see the results of the alteration...and whether the altered memories would hold under the emotional stress of such an event. This man was according to his memories an arrogant alien who lived above the world. Hardly bothering himself with the lives and difficulties of the humans he protected. He only ever allowed himself to be called 'Superman' or by his true Kryptonian name: Kal-El. Indeed he not only basked in the adulation these human gave him, he demanded it. In fact most humans were genuinely grateful for his protection. Nikita was the only person he considered worthy of his time. An almost equal for his glory. Which was not surprising as she was known to be something other than human.
“Sir, please don't!” Superman cried out. “Why do you do this, she's innocent.”
“Because your iron flesh negates the possibility of physically hurting you. Which means the quickest way to bring you to your knees was to threaten the life of the only person on this planet you seem to care about.” Lex put the control down.
“This is more than a threat, this is torture! You claim to champion humanity. And yet you do this, just to hurt me?”
“Of course, I don't see why not.”
Nikita gave another cry of pain. “What are you even doing to her?”
“A kind of neural solvent. I'm injecting her with micro-liters of a substance that for her physiology might as well be sulfuric acid. Honestly I'm a little curious why you care so much. As lowly as we humans are compared to Kryptonians, her race aren't that much better. And yet you care for her. It's the only way seeing her in pain could cause you this much pain.”
“Lex, Mr. Luthor please, don't punish her for my mistakes! If I'm the one you want, punish me. Take me. Bring me to my knees. There must be something that can penetrate my 'iron flesh' as you call it. I'll freely submit, just leave her alone!”
Superman flew up to the third floor west wing of the Luthor mansion. It was precisely seven minutes after he had left. Nikita was safe in her compartments at the watchtower. He spotted 3 large floor to ceiling window and flew up to them. He mimed tapping on the center window. The window actually slid horizontally away. He touched down lightly about 12 feet away from Luthor and waited. Lex merely glanced down at the floor. Without hesitation Superman sank to one knee, still looking up at Lex.
“One thing you will learn quickly is that I will be quite florid in my deprecation of you Superman. There is nothing you will be able to say or do to change my mind. That is not to say I actually believe most of it. It is simply a small source fo joy for me, knowing you of all people cannot and will not speak up for yourself. You will never contradict me. I am a more remarkable human than most, basking in the humiliation of my greatest enemy. And you can believe I will take every opportunity to remind you of your...reduced status in life as my humble servant. With your surrender, you have become my slave. And I will I never let you forget that you CHOSE to be my slave. Tell me what you think that means.”
“It means your will is not to be questioned, but obeyed. It means I have no right to refuse a direct order from you and there is nothing I posses that is truly mine. It means anything you do to me, is done by the right of a master over his...” Superman struggled over the word. “...property.”
“Go on.” Lex said simply.
“It means you can speak to me and do to me as you life. You do not need a reason. And I must accept – as I will eventually accept – that without you I am nothing.”
“Quite so Superman.”
“May I ask...what happens to me outside these walls? Or am I not allowed to leave them?”
“A most reasonable question. You will continue protecting the people of this city. Save people from burning buildings, stop speeding cars and put bank robberies to an end as efficiently as you can. But you will leave your floating palace to lie in ruin. And you will never speak a word against me in public again.”
“Of course, Master.”
“I'm not sure I will ever get tired of hearing that word out of your mouth. But as a rather decorative reminder.” He tossed a silver collar into Superman's lap. “Put that on.” Superman fashioned the collar to his own neck. “You will wear that every second you are under my roof, which you will not leave without my permission. This is made out of simple tungsten steel as is more ceremonial than anything else. But I have at least one other, made out of Nth metal from a planet called Swan Moon. That is something even you will not be able to break, even if you tried.”
“Yes, master.”
“One more thing, then I'll have someone show you to your room. I'll call you 'Superman' most of the time. But I need something else to call you as kind of a warning. To tell you to be careful or shape up. I need your actual name.”
“Kal-El. I...I'm having trouble believing you don't know that.”
“You do not have a human name?” It was the ultimate test. If Superman responded with 'Eli' it was proof he remembered. If not, it was the final proof that he truly believed the narrative.
“I don't believe so sir.”
Lex Luthor's domination of Superman, mind, heart and body was finally complete.
Superman looked up to the balcony where Lex Luthor stood, looking out over his estate. The man might as well have been standing on his dais looking down at a gathering of commoners. Lex finally looked down at Superman specifically and suddenly a change came over the man's face.
“You really have no idea who I am do you?”
In response Superman flew, almost glided to hover just beneath the floor of the balcony. He looked up at Lex, his eyes sincerely pleading. “I swear to you, I don't understand what is going on here. I understand you think of me as a monster. For all I know....I am one. But if that is so, I implore you, do not make anyone else suffer for MY sins. Whatever I did to earn the hatred I see in your eyes right now, take your revenge upon me alone!”
“I must admit some surprise that Earth's great protector would try to bargain with me rather than try to fight.”
Superman looked longingly at Nikita. “Sir, I don't fully understand this myself. No I am telling you the truth. I have NO reason to lie. I'm not sure I have it in me to lie outright. Nikita is the most innocent, compassionate and beautiful soul I have ever had the honor of knowing.” Suddenly Superman dropped to both knees, stretched his arms toward Lex, palms wide. “Sir, I am yours. I make myself your prisoner and your slave. All I ask is that you don't punish anyone else for my failures...most especially her.” Lex watched Superman impassively. This was actually getting boring. How could seeing Superman surrender himself and plead for the life of another actually get boring? Superman bowed his head low. “Sir, I implore you, do not let this happen again. Enforce your will upon me alone. I submit to your will for all time. I'll do whatever you ask, I swear it on my life. All I ask is that you...no I BEG of you: Let her go.”
“If you explain why you humiliate yourself so completely for her sake.” Superman bowed his head still further but gave no answer. “If you tell me this, and answer me truthfully, your request will be granted and I will finally release her. Explain your desperation and your passionate entreaties. Why DO you value the simple creature so?”
“She is precious to me. She and I have been friends for years. I would know that even if Hank and Jeremiah hadn't confirmed it for me themselves. I feel it in my heart. Losing her would_ ” He closed his eyes. “If you let her fall into that pool of death I will give up pretending to be a hero and would at least TRY to kill you.”
“And if I let you free her and take her home?” Lex prompted.
Superman looked up with a faintly hopeful smile. “If you let her live, if you will not only let her live but let her GO___You can do whatever you want to me__in payment of that debt.”
“Take her home.” Lex Luthor said simply. “Fly her home, wherever that is for her. Then return here to me and I will give you further instructions.” Superman lifted Nikita away from what he had rightly called the pit of death. He laid her gently against the wall to check her breathing. Satisfied she could indeed make a full recovery, Superman bowed his head in gratitude to Lex Luthor and flew away, carrying Nikita in his arms. Seven minutes later, Superman returned to once again hover only a few feet away from Lex Luthor.
“What will happen now?” Superman asked his patron.
“I have yet to decide if you will be quartered in a room as my guest or sleep in one of my isolation cells as my prisoner. But you ARE my slave.”
“I believe I understand...Master.”
“ 'Master Luthor' or 'Master Lex'. And for good measure, drop to one knee and bow your head before your true and glorious superior.”
“I understand and obey, Master Luthor.” Superman sank slowly to his right knee and touched his head to his left.
Lex's unease about the monotony of this victory was fading quickly. Because at last something different was happening. For the first time, Lex could sense anger coming off the man. “Would you take your decision back if you could?”
“You tricked me Luthor...Nikita is dead.”
Lex tried to cover his genuine surprise with a look of annoyance. “How the hell can that be?”
“Her body failed why I still had her in my arms! Her people live an average of 120 years and she was barely 82 years old. Which means you never had the real Nikita captive in the first place!”
“I did once, in point of fact.” Lex said simply. “I had the real Nikita here, suspended over what was for her people a vat of boiling tar. Superman surrendered himself to me in exchange for her freedom and her life. But that was more than two years ago now.”
“I'm not real either am I?”
“You are real, of course you are real. Perhaps you mean that you are not the original Superman. And I must confirm your conclusion. The real Superman is lying in a medically induced coma in the thrice-over sub-basement of an otherwise abandoned LexCorp facility. And with that revelation, you have permanently out-lived your usefulness to me.” Lex confessed his surprise. This had never happened before. In three years and 47 'new lives' That the individual he held over them was a replica of the real Nikita had never been discovered by any of his hostages. Then again, he did not keep the Nikita clone more than a few weeks beyond the initial surrender, which played out differently with each iteration. Lex admitted to himself that he truly enjoyed, delighted in forcing Superman's surrender again and again. New experiences were found in every attempt. The last recreation had brought an almost literal jaw-dropping revelation: That Superman truly loved Nikita. It was the only time so far that he had refused to release the Xavallen girl upon Superman's surrender. This time he had kept Nikita with him and used her as leverage any time Superman openly defied him. Quiet resistance would be dealt with using the Nth metal collar he had invented. It was a clean and efficient inducer of pain. But the greater acts of outright resistance and insolence, required more memorable correction. It was not unusual for 'Eli' to begin to disobey his masters orders. When this happened he would be escorted by guards armed with Kryptonite rifles to a room as wide as three football fields and ran the length of the mansion. It was flooded with red sunlight. Which meant within the walls of this particular cell, Superman was vulnerable as any human. Subject to thirst, hunger, pain, sickness and even death. Lex would punish him with at least three of these things until the former hero once again humbled himself before his Master and swore unyielding submission to his will. It had been more than a week before Superman had flung himself on his knees swearing his absolute and permanent submission. Lex had not relented until Eli swore himself as Lex's abject slave.
