It turned out that the trouble caused by a night-long blizzard was far greater than anyone had imagined. When a violent explosion erupted in a room within one of the most important and grandest buildings in all of Metropolis, sending flames soaring into the sky, none of the police cars or ambulances could arrive on time because the snow had blocked every road.
Someone might ask, what about the snowplows? The snowplows were stuck even farther away than the police cars and ambulances. It would take them two hours to clear their way over.
Schiller walked forward along the corridor in confusion, utterly ignoring the billowing smoke rising from downstairs. He went down the spiral staircase and had just reached the floor with the reception room when he saw a red-haired figure staggering toward him.
Schiller watched Lex run to the corner of the hallway, throw open a window, stick his head outside, take several deep breaths of fresh air, and then cough violently.
When he straightened up and saw Schiller standing at the stairwell, he pointed toward the end of the stairs and said, "Bruce Wayne did all of this!"
Bruce slowly emerged from the smoke carrying a fire extinguisher. He wore a crude gas mask on his face, clearly one of the pieces of equipment Selene had brought back earlier. He tossed the extinguisher onto the floor and said, "This thing's expired. We need to think of another way."
Schiller slowly opened the umbrella in his hand. Lex and Bruce both watched him, unable to understand what he was doing, but once he raised it over his head, the space beneath the umbrella was completely free of smoke, as though it were immune to every poison.
Holding the umbrella, Schiller stood amid the smoke and looked at Lex,