Contributions to society

chapter 6

"Panic is a bad color on you, Mr. Thorul, I can fix this," Lex replied calmly, reclining in his cell. He had already known about how his secret had gotten out. It was blasting on every last channel on every last TV in this rotten, god-forsaken prison. It was all anyone ever talked about anymore. Every article, every tweet, every post, every show, every podcast, every radio, every broadcast, all it was was the scandal of Universe Food. Lex had already known that his enterprise had been sniffed out as the evil slaughterhouse it was. So by the time Lenny managed to get ahold of him to call, badly freaking out, Lex was already five steps ahead.
"We won't be able to save the company," he began.
"What?" Lenny sounded horrified and devastated all at once. Partly, he was worried that he would lose all of his investments and earnings. And partly, he was worried because this had been a 10-year-long endeavor, after all. Losing anything after 10 years was always disappointing. He hadn't worked this hard for this long just to see it all fall through now, especially so quickly and easily. One little slip and the entire company was crashing down like a building set for demolition. So part of his fear came from frustration and outrage at the very idea of losing Universe Food now.
And also, he was scared. If the company fell, where would that leave him? Even if he somehow managed to escape the blame and prison sentences sure to follow, what would he do? Where would he go? He could scrounge out his earning now and set them aside for a comfortable living later, but what would he do once his precious empire was crushed into the dirt? Would he even survive the oncoming onslaught of media attention that would be sure to hit him full force now that the secret was out? He didn't want to die or go to jail, but those seemed to be his only options now. How could Lex just so calmly accept the fate of Universe Food?
But despite Lenny's begging, Lex ignored him in favor of his own plans.
"The company will crumble," he continued calmly. "But that is of no importance to me anymore. Instead, I want Lena."
"You- what?" Lenny cut off his panicked rant in genuine surprise.
"I want Lena," Lex replied, still as calm as ever. "You and I both know she will be able to trace this all back to me and if she succeeds, we are both dead. If you want any chance of escaping this mess alive and living a peaceful life undercover, then we need to take her out. Once she is gone, I can handle everything else. I can give you the life you want, you just need to follow my instructions to the letter. Do you understand? To. The. Letter!"
Lex continued to drill it into Lenny's head that obedience was more important now than ever. If Lenny really did want any hope of having a happy ending after this nightmare was over, then he would have to listen and do everything Lex asked from here on out. To do anything less would be to send them both to the grave. Lenny was thoroughly convinced and agreed at once to do whatever Lex asked.
"What's your plan?" he whimpered and, on the other line, Lex gave a very terrifying smile. He might've lost this battle, but he would NOT lose the war. The real fun was about to begin!
It was shortly after that phone call that Lex set his plan in motion to kidnap Lena. Telling Lenny to ignore all threats he received from outside forces, he had the man turn his attention away from the company and towards Lena. Lex managed to force some money though to pay for Lena's kidnapping, arranging it such that some of Lenny's more loyal mooks (half of which were robots designed by Lex himself to run the company since he didn't trust humans) set a trap for Lena. They led Lena to one of the older Universe Food locations. Once she was inside, the robots attacked her and quickly brought her to the slaughterhouse where the nightmare had begun over 10 years ago.
"Hey, sis!" Lex greeted through the phone when Lena came around. She was tied to a chair in Lenny's office in the slaughterhouse.
"Lex!" she snarled, going from terrified to outraged the moment she heard his voice. The phone was in front of her on a table, out of her reach.
"The one and only!" Lex sounded smug.
"You did this to me, didn't you?!" Lena continued to snarl.
"It took you this long to figure it out?" Lex teased sadistically. "And here I thought you were the smart one!" he added with a cruel laugh.
"If you think killing me now will solve anything, you're wrong!" Lena replied, tugging violently at her restraints. "All you're doing is setting yourself up for failure! Even if you kill me now, the DEO will notice that I'm gone and they'll trace it back to you anyway!"
"Oh, sister, sister, sister! Dear sister, you didn't really think I was going to kill you, did you?" Lex pretended to be disappointed in Lena. "I thought you knew me better than that! We're still family, after all."
"You are NOT my family!" Lena spat back bravely, still struggling to escape.
"Our last names, our histories, our parents, the rest of society, and your own infernal little DNA scanner would beg to differ," Lex replied calmly. "But enough of that stupid little ancestry stuff. I did not bring you here to exchange pleasantries with you."
"You don't say?" Lena continued to fight back.
"I simply came here to keep you out of the way while I finish my work," Lex talked over her.
"Your business?" Lena sounded disgusted. "Don't you know that your empire is crumbling and that there is nothing you can do to save it?"
"Oh I know that!" Lex sounded so dismissive that Lena could almost see him literally waving her off. "I didn't mean that. I don't care what happens to the company now. I never had much stock in it anyway. All I ever wanted, Lena, was blood. And I intend to get it. As much as I can, for as long as I can. Even if this legacy should crumble, it will not go down easily, and I will make every last moment last!"
"You're sick," Lena choked on her own anger.
"Is that the best you've got?" Lex asked back smugly. "And here I thought you were the smart one!"
For nearly four months, Lena remained in captivity, locked away in Lex's slaughterhouse. In order to keep his own cover, however, Lex never left prison in order to visit her personally, even though he wanted to. Instead, he sent Lenny in to look after her, keeping him under the very strict orders that if he ever did anything to harm Lena in any way, the poor alien clones in the slaughterhouse would have it better than he would. Naturally, this terrified Lenny into submission and even though he liked to tease Lena about how helpless she was, he never once even dared to mistreat her, just in case Lex ever found out.
Lena, meanwhile, could only sit there in the darkness and hope that her friends would figure it out and come rescue her. Or at least shut down this sick, twisted operation. Lena had seen Lex's nightmarish machinery at work and it had been the most disturbing, upsetting and mentally scarring thing she'd ever seen. She would never be able to get those images of Kara being burned and crushed and cut up alive out of her head. It had been hard to stomach and even harder to watch. She knew it would be impossible to forget. Now, she didn't care what happened to anyone or anything, all she wanted was for Universe Food to be shut down, permanently.