#luthor's cricket

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 16

Previous. Masterpost

“I think Ms. Mercy is going to have an aneurysm.” Phantom whispered to Lex as he draped himself across the back of the couch.

Lex suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the child. He was whispering as if scared that Mercy would hear him, she couldn't, he knows that, but the intimidating aura the blonde was manifesting was stifling. At least Phantom was safe due to being completely unperceivable to everyone and everything except to Lex and Gray Warden. Lucky brat.

“Lex.”

Lex suppressed a flinch at the tone that Mercy used.

“Yes Mercy?” Lex tried to go for a tone that did not convey his terror of what the Amazonian might do to him or admittance of what he knew he did wrong. Based on the look on her face and Phantom squeaking and diving behind the couch, he thinks he succeeded a bit too well. He quietly watched as she closed her eyes and whispered something in ancient Greek, and leveled her eyes back at his.

“Tell me exactly who you have contacted to look into this…. Situation.”

Lex internally sighed with relief, “I have requested Faust and Black Adam. I have Enchantress and Vandal Savage as a second option depending on what those two think.”

Mercy nodded slowly.

“Since this is spirit related-” Mercy pursed her lips, “In what mental state is Grundy in?”

Lex winced. “He went back to the Slaughter Swamp last I heard.”

Mercy hummed. “Black Adam might be able to get in touch with Gentleman Ghost or Wotan. They will most likely have more information.”

“I will ask him to pass on the information.” Lex sighed as he leaned back.

“When is this secret supernatural meeting anyway?” Mercy asked, her voice dripping with an unspoken warning.

“Next week, at 7pm.” Lex quickly said, mentally low-key panicking.

“Good, I will set up a room for us.” Mercy smiled, leaving no room for argument as she got up and left Lex's penthouse.

“Is she gone?” Phantom loudly whispered, still hiding behind the couch.

“Yes.” Lex responded, sinking further into the couch as he released the tension he held for the past hour.

Phantom popped his head through the back cushions and crawled through like a demented horror movie character.

“We should send her apology flowers.” He somberly stated.

Lex barked a laugh. “Apology flowers?”

“Ya! You know, purple hyacinth, some white orchids and pink carnations-” Phantom pondered for a second, “she is Greek right? Throw in a sprig of red aster, that should be a good apology bouquet.”

“I am fairly certain she would actually murder me if I gave her flowers of any kind.” Lex deadpanned.

“Well, I don't think a hallmark card will cut it.” Phantom sighed.

Next

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 19

Previous. Masterpost

“Hey Lex, can we go out for food tonight?”

“Why? No one can see you, and I think it would be obvious if food is… wait, does it vanish when you touch it, or does it float until you bite it?” Lex wondered.

“Can't you tell?” Phantom asked.

“Well, no. To me you look solid enough. But Mercy definitely could not see or hear you. In fact, by Gray's summoning, you shouldn't even be able to touch things.” Lex said, perplexed.

Phantom shrugged. “I mean, not to toot my own horn, but I am a pretty strong ghost. Maybe that's why?”

“How strong are you?” Lex asked.

“I prank the embodiment of Time, Dreams, Weather, Nature, and Winter.” Phantom proudly stated. He then smiled wickedly and cackled. “I also get away with it!”

Lex blinked at that and filed it away.

“So you are a feral opossum with a hatred of dry bread to everyone you meet.” Lex deadpanned.

“Only to those who think they are above everything.” Phantom smirked.

“So people 'like me' then?" Lex stated, raising an eyebrow.

“Exactly!”

Lex bit back another sigh. He had been sighing way too often lately.

He did however huff in amusement as another video of Brucie Wayne trying to jump into Oliver Queen's arms, causing them to topple over into a champagne tower, soaking them both.

“How about we take a walk, order some food, and bring it back here?” Lex slowly asked.

“Oh heck ya!” Phantom cheered. “I’m gonna get so many nuggets!”

Next

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 18

Previous. Masterpost

“Lex, come on! There is a difference between maliciously hindering and a strict guideline.” Phantom scolded.

“I am telling you, boy, there needs to be a set of repercussions for property damage!” Lex growled, glaring at the papers strewn across the large meeting room table.

“I am not arguing against that, but paying Heroes, then immediately getting them to spend that entire paycheck, plus garnishments if needed, to pay for all damages, regardless if they or the villain of the day do the damage, is Pointless!”

“Then how else are they to keep everything from being destroyed!?” Lex bellowed

“Like you are one to talk, how much property damage have you caused? ‘Cause by the VideoFeed compilations, you should be living in a shack in Gotham’s dockyards by your wording!”

“The majority of that was either Superman throwing me through those walls, or him dodging my attempts at self defense!”

Phantom snorted and snarked. “SeLf DeFenSe. Wow, real adult of you Lexy.”

Lex's face went completely red with both anger and embarrassment. Phantom wasn't wrong, even his excuse seemed woefully childish to his ears. At the same time though, Lex wouldn't have to try to prove that the alien wasn't as good as everyone thought he was if he just showed his true nature.

Phantom broke his thoughts with a small sigh.

“Lex, shut away your nihilism for a couple of minutes, and see it in this perspective.” Phantom waited until Lex calmed down and gave him a nod.

“Facts: Superman stated that his planet has been destroyed, there is proof of this. His knowledge of human society points that he has lived here for a while, he has made references that he was a child when he came over. Point is, he grew up human…. As human as a child with powers can be, and there are proof that they are just as normal as regular kids, we saw that with my questions and research on the Baby Boom incident. We are seeing a rise of meta humans, we could argue on if Superman would have been the first one openly using his powers. By all of his actions, he is just genuinely a good person. Not everyone is bad with bad intentions, or bad with good intentions, or the reverse.

For all we know, Superman grew up as a ‘Good Ole country boy’ from, I don't know, Kansas?, with ‘‘family values’’.” Phantom matched the quotations with his hands. “You are acting as if he is the wicked witch from Oz."

Lex snorted humorously at that.

“Either way, I don't think he is what you are projecting onto him.” Phantom concluded.

“Projecting? It is human nature to use power dangerously!” Lex argued.

“But he isn't human.” Phantom pointed out.

“He grew up human, we are selfish creatures, and that could have rubbed off on him.”

“Ah, the nature vs nurture debate.” Phantom sighed. "That he is just some master manipulator that rivals the Wizard of Oz himself, regardless of if it's an inherent species trait, or it was a learned trait by us humans."

Lex glared at the child before sighing as well. “Maybe we should put this down for a moment. We are not getting anywhere.”

Phantom pursed his lips before agreeing. “Ya, ok. Want to watch a VideoFeed of Brucie Wayne fall compilations?”

“Why not.” Lex huffed, suppressing a small smile.

Next

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 25

Previous. Masterpost

Both Lex and Phantom watched as Mercy processed Phantom's retelling of his life for the second time in as many hours.

“So, all of that, and you could have turned back alive from the start?” Mercy asked incredulously.

“Not really? I had to weaken the binding for the ‘see no ghost, hear no ghost’ bit.”

“What about the touching objects binding?” Lex asked. “You threw my toaster on the second day.”

“Was it really yours if it never left the box?” Phantom deflected.

“Phantom.” Lex groaned.

The young man huffed in protest. “That was the weakest binding since only a few ghosts can move physical objects. Whispers and ghost orbs are more common.”

“Good to know Mr. Warden did his due diligence.” Mercy blithely stated.

“He really did, any other ghost would be in a pickle.” Phantom agreed, ignoring her tone.

“And the summoning chose you?” Mercy asked.

“Pffft. NAH. It really was just a pspsspst ‘Hey free candy here’ through an open portal.” Phantom laughed.

“And you just WENT?” She exclaimed.

Lex did not hide his chuckle at her blatant offense that a supposedly powerful ghost got kidnapped, windowless van with ‘free candy and puppies’ painted on the side style.

Phantom chuckling along with Lex for a different reason, “Well, ya. It's not like anything could actually happen to me. Already dead and pretty much one of the top dogs of the afterlife!”

Both Lex and Mercy stared at the young man.

“What?” Phantom asked, tilting his head like a confused puppy.

Next

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 17

Previous. Masterpost

“So, who all are you getting to take a look at our fantastic partnership?” Phantom said as he intentionally stretched across the couch, placing his arms across Lex's lap and laptop.

“Stop that-” Lex huffed as he swatted at Phantom. “Black Adam is a champion of magic, and has some beef with our champion of magic, who depending on where you know him, goes by Captain Marvel, or Shazam-”

“Ya'lls heroes change names like shirts sometimes” Phantom grumbled.

“Yes, stop interrupting.” Lex swatted at him again. “Enchantress is a sorceress that I can call upon every now and again. Vandal Savage is an immortal man who has studied dark arts and rituals. The ones Mercy asked might actually be more useful to our endeavor, but they are known to be difficult to contact.”

“So…. Gentleman Ghost, is that like a gimmick or is he really a ghost?” Phantom asked.

Lex sighed. “I do not know, I have never personally met him.”

“Huh, what about Zatanna? I have seen her name pop up a lot when reading about the Justice League Dark.”

“They are an offshoot of the Justice League, and they are not one of my fans, nor I theirs.” Lex grumbled.

“Well, I guess that's what you get for picking fights with one of theirs.” Phantom teased.

Lex internally groaned. “Either way, all I can do is send out requests to meet and wait for their responses.”

“Yeah…. Wanna work on the ‘How to be a Hero’ policy?”

“We are not naming it that.”

Phantom just smirked at him.

Next

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 15

Previous. Masterpost

“Can we get Dinosaur nuggets?!” Phantom gasped as Lex scrolled through the grocery delivery app.

“Why would you want over processed chicken paste?” Lex asked.

“Cause dino nuggies.” Phantom huffed in the way only exasperated kids can.

“Just…. Why?” Lex said, perplexed at the teen acting like a 5 year old.

Phantom looked at him dead in the eyes.

“Dino. Nuggies.”

“OH good lord, fine!” Lex relented, clicking the icon.

He put his head into his hands, completely done with this child. He was unsure what the turbulence of emotions this kid has caused him to have over the past few days, but he couldn't say with full conviction that he wanted it to end.

. . . .

“PHANTOM, HOW DID YOU SET PASTA ON FIRE?!” Lex screamed as he grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and doused the pot that had towering flames.

Phantom, who was laying in defeat on the floor, ignored the man, the fire, and the foam, in favor of lamenting the gruesome end of his Mac and Cheese.

. . . .

Mercy glared at her employer, glared at the mess that was the kitchenette, and back at the man that was still covered in the splashback of the fire extinguisher.

“You have three seconds to explain as to why and how you managed to start a fire by making pasta.” She growled.

. . . .

Mercy understood why her mother named her as such. Even as a newborn babe, she was a fierce fighter. She was named ‘Mercy’ so that she would always remember that mercy was an option. She did not feel like entertaining that option at the moment. Afterall, her employer, usually a smart pragmatic man, one who confided to her his plans, had an immense lapse in using his common sense. Not only did he fail to ask her, an Amazonian, about magic, he also failed to tell her that he bound a spirit to him. A child's spirit.

To make it even more concerning, the summoning would have had to have been very excellently worded to hide the ghosts magical signature, or the ghost is much more powerful than she is.

Unfortunately, looking at the security footage that Lex had before the summoning shorted it out, it was most likely the latter.

She was going to kill this man.

Next

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 14

Previous. Masterpost

“So nice to sit down with you again Lex, last time was just cut so short!” Lois said with false cheer.

“Such things happen all the time here in Metropolis, it really shouldn't be as exciting as people think it is.” Lex groused.

“Speaking of, are you planning something exciting soon?” Lois asked snidely.

“I do have one plan, yes.” Lex smirked.

“Do tell, Mr. Luthor!” Clark spoke up, keeping his partner from antagonizing the billionaire more.

“I have decided to increase the budget for my aeronautics division to assist NASA in sending more exploration and research missions.” Lex stated.

“And what brought this on? Was it that little trip rumored to be you at the museum yesterday?” Lois asked, eyes gleaming.

“As I have heard, there was no proof that it was I that was there. Granted, that would not stop gossip mongers from spreading such drivel for the sake of imagined clout.” Lex pointedly said, challenging Lane.

Clark laughed. “Our pal Jimmy was really insistent that it was you he saw. He also mentioned how something caused both of his cameras to get washed out or over exposed when trying to take photos of some of the exhibits. Something weird was happening at least.”

Lex chuckled. Strange indeed.

“Well, stranger things have happened here in our grand city. Afterall, Superman got mind controlled yet again, for the, what, fourth time this year? Honestly, it is only June.”

Lex internally preened when he saw both reporters shift uncomfortably in their chairs. He was about to continue his scathing review when he felt a breath of cold air blow down the back of his shirt collar.

Damn that child.

Lex sighed.

“But that is for a topic to bring up to people who can actually change the Justice League's policies when such matters happen. To bring us back to the original question. No, that is not related to the increased budget. I simply have gained a new associate who is confident they could ‘Make a difference’ in that field.”

Lois and Clark shared a confused look.

“And who is this ‘associate’ Mr. Luthor?” Clark asked.

“That will be revealed in a different interview Mr. Clark. This interview was to complete the previous one that got interrupted.” Lex said.

“I think that is all we really needed Lex, we were mostly done with the previous interview anyway.” Lois said while standing up from her chair.

“So this was just to address some ridiculous rumor? Lane, are you taking pointers from Ms. Vale?” Lex snarked.

Lois's face turned red. “In No Way-”

“Of course not Mr. Luthor, we just heard from a reliable colleague and wanted to verify before making a statement upon it.” Clark soothed as he quickly stood and stared herding the now enraged reporter out of the room. “As always we will send in our article for your approval. Have a nice day!”

Phantom popped into view as soon as the reporters left. “That guy is polite.”

“He is the only one I respect to have a cool head at the Daily Planet. I am more amazed that Ms. Lane has yet to be assassinated, or any of his coworkers to be honest.”

“How many tries were from you?”

Lex snorted. “No comment.”

Next

[idontcaboose]

Luthor's Cricket part 13

Previous. Masterpost

“Cooooooommmme ooooonnnnn Leeex-” Phantom whined as he followed Lex out the door.

“No, you are not joining the interview.” Lex sighed.

Phantom pouted. “But how am I supposed to be your little shoulder angel if I am not there?”

“And how are you supposed to watch the NASA launch in 4k in a conference room with only a cheap projector?” Lex asked ‘innocently’.

“I was literally summ- wait, NASA launch?” Phantom froze, side-eying the older man.

“Why, yes.” Lex smirked. “The shuttle launch to repair some damaged plates on the Watchtower. Afterall, they can't just use the Green Lanterns as delivery trucks, and their little teleporters are not big enough for such a job.” Lex shrugged.

“It is being televised?” Phantom asked in a whisper.

Lex would have chuckled at the obvious interest from the boy, if it were not for the just as obvious weariness. It was like he expected Lex to laugh and tell him it was a joke. That there was no launch, and Lex was just telling him that to get him out of his way. Granted he was, but he wasn't going to outright lie to the kids face about it.

“Yes” Lex affirmed. “I have it set up in the living room for you. It will start to air not long before my interview.”

“You just want me out of your non-existent hair.”

Lex sighed. “Yes, but I hope my bribe is acceptable.”

Phantom stared at Lex. From disbelief, offense, hope, before finally settling on a heatless glare.

He pointed at Lex. “Fine. BUT, I reserve the right to criticize the released article and walk you through the questions and answers.”

“Very well.” Lex mockingly groused with a small smirk.

“AND, I want popcorn, mountain dew, pizza from some fast food joint, and-”

Lex interrupted the boy's demands. “Make a list and I will have it delivered.”

Phantom stared at Lex, and Lex would kill to know what the teen was thinking in that moment, huffed and quickly turned and walked straight through the solid front door of the apartment.

Lex sighed once again. Maybe he should express order some parenting books?

Next