| Gotham City - September 26
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Joseph stirred from his mother's bed, where he had slept the night before. He willed his suit to change into a black tee and jeans, then made his way to the door.
The last ti soone had knocked, it had been Sal Maroni's goons—then operating under Anton Karoselle—who had disrespected his mother.
This ti was different.
This ti, it was his father.
Joseph already knew who waited on the other side. Yesterday, when he'd grabbed Lex Luthor by the throat, he had slipped a subdermal tracker beneath his skin.
Sure enough, standing in the hallway was Lex himself, dressed in a dark coat and fedora, with rcy Graves close behind.
Does he know?
Conflicting emotions warred within Joseph, but curiosity outweighed the rest. He would hear the man out. Lex was going to prison soon, and there was nothing he could do to threaten him anyway.
Joseph cracked the door. "Hello?"
"Joseph," Luthor said without preamble, "let's finish our discussion from yesterday."
He knows.
Joseph sighed and opened the door fully. Lex and rcy stepped inside. Joseph shut it behind them and turned, staying rooted near the entrance.
Lex made himself comfortable on the couch in front of the TV. rcy remained at his side, silent and alert.
"Nice décor, Joey," Lex said, glancing around. "Surprisingly decent for such a shabby apartnt."
"Don't call Joey," Joseph said flatly. "Only family and friends can call that."
"You know as well as I do that we're—"
"Family? Don't make laugh. Say what you ca to say, and get out, Luthor."
Lex paused, then continued with calculated calm.
"You must be wondering how I know who you are," Luthor said. "I monitored you from the start—the sole survivor of the original trials. The first nanites, paired with AI, were unstable and attacked their hosts, so we shifted to manual control, which reduced fatalities.
"You were vital. The AI still sent back data as it adapted to your body—until your car accident three years ago. The signal vanished. With no activity, we ended surveillance.
"Then your na resurfaced with BellCoin. Brilliant idea. I would've loved to collaborate and implent it widely, but you declined. Later, when Silver Swan briefly controlled you, she interacted with another nanite system. That's when I knew it was you. And when you disappeared, so did Nova. Simple math."
His eyes glead. Joseph stayed silent, processing.
"As for your other powers?" Lex shrugged. "Likely alien. I didn't know you were my son until yesterday, when Savage revealed he assassinated Hope—who had lived as Mary Bell. He feared family would sway from the Light."
Joseph's jaw tightened. "And you never investigated? Never looked into the lives destroyed by your tests?"
"Dr. Benson handled selection. I only approved—"
"Save it," Joseph snapped. rcy's arm twitched toward cannon form, but Joseph's glare froze her.
"I know you authorized it," he said coldly. "Then used Benson as a scapegoat and had Maroni kill him. Do you know what those nanites did to ? Nightmares so vivid I thought I'd die in my sleep. Why? What was so important you experinted on innocents—on children?"
"Evolution," Lex said simply. "Humanity must evolve to survive what's coming."
Joseph's eyes narrowed. "And what exactly is coming?"
"You should know. You've been captured by Gordanians and Thanagarians. Earth is vulnerable. Alien invasions. Cosmic threats. Civilizations with technology that makes ours look primitive. I intend to prepare humanity. That's why I joined the Light."
For a mont, Joseph was silent. Lex's logic was… compelling.
He thought of Wesley Dodds' warning: Armageddon was coming. He'd dismissed it as the rambling of a senile old man. But now, it felt like prophecy. Dodds had urged him to prepare with his Dream—and then Nova returned.
Joseph understood the need to prepare Earth. But not by sacrificing the very people they were ant to protect.
"So you built an army like Silver Swan," Joseph said icily. "Did you order her to kill Starfire too? Or was that soone else?"
"That was Queen Bee," Lex admitted. "But Swan's success proved progress. Your suffering was… an unfortunate byproduct."
"According to who?"
Lex's smile was razor-thin. "According to soone who knows individual lives matter less than species survival."
Joseph rose slowly into the air, forcing Lex to look up. rcy's cannon was fully ford, though useless.
"You trafficked humans. Experinted on innocents. Turned people into weapons. And crowned yourself savior."
"Yes," Lex said, unflinching. "I would have succeeded. I could've presented enhanced soldiers to the U.N.—Earth's defense against extinction. Arica would've led the charge. Instead, I face prison, scapegoated by the Light while they profit from my work."
Joseph understood the logic. But this wasn't morality. This wasn't a trolley problem—it was preditated cruelty, lives gambled away for a hypothetical threat. The League had faced every crisis without sacrificing innocents.
And Joseph could've been one of the dead. He rembered his mother's fear when the "vaccine" was exposed. She would've been shattered—like every other grieving family. And this was just one sche Joseph knew of. Who knew how many more there were?
He walked past rcy to the window, staring at the street below.
"Did you co here just to justify yourself? To tell my suffering was worth it?" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novelFirｅ
"No. I ca to reclaim you."
Lex leaned forward, voice low. "My father, Lionel Luthor, was a drunk who beat his family. One day, I cut his brake cables. I swore I'd never be powerless again. I built LexCorp to ensure that.
"I avoided children—not out of apathy, but because I give everything to my work or nothing at all. Any child of mine would've grown up without .
"But if I'd known about you? I'd have accepted you. Raised you. Pushed you further, faster. You've already followed my path. Bell Studios rivals Goode World in under a year. BellCoin is revolutionary. Perfect SATs. Chicago's cri rate plumted under Nova. You even reprogramd the nanite AI to assist you. You are exceptional."
Ignoring the fact that Lex knew that he still had the AI, the words pierced deeper than Joseph expected. Recognition. Pride. Things he had longed to hear. Yet from this man, they curdled into sothing bitter. His heart tugged, but his mind resisted.
"We share the sa goals," Luthor pressed. "Protect humanity. Crush the Light. Take LexCorp. Beco my successor."
Joseph lifted his gaze skyward, thoughts clashing. After a long silence, he spoke.
His answer was simple. Final.
"No."
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