Contributions to society

chapter 2: god, that's good burger (part 2 of 3)

But once Lex grew tired of watching his beautiful creation, he turned back to Lenny.
"I will be back in one month," he said. "When I return, I should have a way for you to reach these Elseworlds, and I expect you to utilize my technology in full. Do you understand?" he asked, and Lenny had the good sense to nod rapidly.
Just as promised, one month later, Lenny had introduced his company to all of the other known Earths across all the other known universes and it didn't take long for the Universe Food joints to become just as popular there as they had on Earth 38, where it had all began. There was a Universe Food on nearly every block in National City, Metropolis, Gotham, and every other major city in the USA and there were now officially hundreds spanning all of their counterparts. Earth 1 quickly became a breeding ground for the chain and acclaimed superheroes like the Flash and Green Arrow could easily be caught devouring the meat pies of the famous industry, all of the rest of their team eating right along with them.
"The Anniversary Burger is easily my favorite," Barry grinned as he ate his fifth in a row.
"It's got nothing on the Fire Burger!" Oliver replied, and for good measure, he doused his in hot sauce, earning horrified looks from everyone else. But even though the two could not agree upon which burger was better, they and all their friends could agree on how it tasted: "God, that's good!"
Back in Gotham, Batman had taken quite a liking to the US BBQ Burger, a fact that Alfred and Robin liked to tease him on.
"I never pegged you for a fast-food person, Master Wayne," Alfred noted as Batman finished his fifth burger.
"Yeah, if you aren't careful, you won't even fit into the Bat Cave anymore!" Robin agreed cheekily. Although Batman was nowhere near fat, he certainly had gained a few pounds from all the Universe Food menu items.
"If you aren't careful, nor will you," Batman replied with a growl and his Robin had the good grace to look a bit embarrassed. And all across the universe, other aliens were buying up the burgers as fast as possible.
"That's more like it!" Lex muttered when Lenny gave him the news.
"We're well on our way to becoming the first decillionaires in the universe!" he cried enthusiastically.
"I don't care about the money," Lex replied with a scoff. He had been born from money and had spent his whole life reveling in it. A billion dollars was nothing to him now. Especially not while he was in prison for life without parole or bail. Sure, the cash was nice, and it did keep everything in fine working order, but this stopped being about business about four years ago. After he dared to acquire Big Belly and spread his influence to the stars, it became about pleasure and pride. He didn't care if his company started giving out burgers and meat pies for free!
What mattered to him now was seeing his legacy fill the heavens and stretch across the cosmos. And what he enjoyed most of all was reveling in the knowledge that, every few seconds or so, another one of his enemies was burned or crushed to death. He had the infinite pleasure of knowing that he got to kill Supergirl over and over and over again, and nothing made him feel more alive!!!
But while Lex sat alone in his cell, laughing manically to himself, and while Lenny continued to run the machinery of the slaughter house, everyone else across all the known universes continued to eat. And eat. And eat. And eat.
"So, no progress at all?" Alex demanded as she absentmindedly ate another Universe Food meat pies. This one had all sorts of sauce and gravy under the crust and it was probably the best thing Alex had ever eaten.
"We're trying our best," Lena replied with a tired expression. She had been one of the last ones to find out about Kara's disappearance, but when she had, her reaction had been even more volatile and extreme than Alex's. After she finished freaking out, she then put all of L-Corp's resources into overdrive trying to find the missing girl. She had no such luck, but she never stopped trying, not even once. Instead, even after she nearly ran her company bankrupt, she continued to search far and wide for the missing Danvers sister.
Five years later, and she was still grieving the loss of her beloved friend just as hard as Alex was, but she managed to regain her composure long enough to get L-Corp back up and running smoothly again. She had also entered a partnership with Universe Food, both of them sending each other money and resources whenever the other needed it. At the moment, it was thanks to Lena that everyone in the room was eating Universe Food. She'd been the one to place the order and she'd received a nice discount on the meal. As much as Lena adored Universe Food, eating nearly a burger a day, today, she could barely bring herself to even look at it. Not when there was renewed hope that Kara could be found!
Alex thought she had found a connection between the disappearance of Kara and the four other aliens despite the five-year gap between the disappearances. It was her hope, now, that they if they could somehow find one of the five missing aliens, they would be able to track the other four down as well. Although the theory seemed insane, both she and Lena were willing to grasp at straws if it would generate any hope that Kara could be found. Lena didn't plan on making the same mistake as before and panicking so much that she nearly ran her company into the ground, but she would gladly allocate a large chunk of L-Corp's budget if it meant helping find and save Kara. Anything for the woman she loved!
"So what's your plan?" the Luthor asked eagerly, food untouched. Nearby, Winn and James were both eyeing it eagerly.