Ants Beyond the Throne

The shield dissolved into ghostly blue motes of energy and scattered through the air.

Chu Men's hand closed around Luthor's throat again.

Starved of oxygen, Luthor's eyes bulged, and veins rose one after another at his temples.

Chu Men tilted his head but did not immediately snap that fragile neck.

His ears twitched.

Outside the Iceberg Lounge, sounds from miles around surged into his mind.

The roar of helicopter rotors slicing through the rain.

The dull grind of heavy armored treads crushing asphalt.

The mechanical clicks of high-frequency energy weapons chambering rounds.

And hundreds of steady heartbeats, each belonging to someone with rigorous military training.

A flicker of red crossed Chu Men's eyes.

His gaze pierced walls, bulletproof glass, and the curtain of rain, taking in everything outside.

The entire neighborhood had been sealed off.

Three blocks away, high-strength alloy barricades had been raised.

Dozens of black heavy armored vehicles stood bumper to bumper, surrounding the Iceberg Lounge.

Above them hovered six custom LexCorp attack helicopters.

Harsh searchlight beams swept back and forth through the dark, rainy night.

More than twenty snipers lay prone on the rooftops of nearby buildings.

Specialized rounds charged with concentrated energy sat in their chambers.

What truly caught Chu Men's interest were the dozens of people standing beside the armored vehicles.

Unusual energy circuits ran through their bodies.

Under Chu Men's penetrating gaze, half of one person's body was made entirely of liquid metal;

another's skin was covered in dense, barbed bone;

and a third floated a foot and a half above the ground, surrounded by visibly swirling currents of air.

Superhuman mercenaries.

LexCorp's private trump card, bought with money.

Chu Men withdrew his gaze, undisguised boredom in his eyes.

A heap of scrap metal and a few defective genetic mutants.

Bang.

The conference room door swung open.

Lark strode into the room.

"Master." Lark reached the long table and glanced down at Luthor, who hung in midair with his eyes rolling back. Her voice was flat. "An army has arrived outside. Their equipment exceeds the military's current standard issue..."

"I know."

The utterly dull night had suddenly acquired a little entertainment, delivered straight to his door.

He pulled Luthor closer and stared into his bloodshot eyes.

"This is what makes you so confident?" Chu Men asked casually. "A few junk helicopters, a few tin cans, and a handful of genetic freaks?"

Luthor opened his mouth, but only a few bloody bubbles mixed with saliva came out.

His hands fell limp. Severe oxygen deprivation had left him barely conscious.

But the miniature terminal on his wrist kept flashing frantically, signaling that the tactical teams outside were in position.

"Where's the fun in commanding from inside your shell? Let me take you out for a look."

Holding Luthor by the throat, Chu Men blurred across the room.

Boom!

The floor-to-ceiling window offered no resistance to Chu Men.

Countless shards of glass sprayed out into the night along with the rain and howling wind.

Wind rushed into the room, sucking papers, leather chairs, and a fruit platter out the window.

Lark braced herself and looked outside.

Chu Men hovered three hundred feet above the Iceberg Lounge.

The wind tugged at the loose hem of his clothes as he held Luthor by the throat and looked down.

Calls from the forces mobilizing below filled the entire neighborhood.

Every searchlight turned at once. Dozens of beams converged on Chu Men, bathing him in harsh light.

Below, hundreds of dark gun barrels rose, along with the mounted Gatlings on six attack helicopters and the superhuman mercenaries' energy weapons.

Infrared targeting dots speckled Chu Men's body.

One superhuman hovering in midair raised both hands, lightning leaping wildly across his palms.

A cold, synthesized voice boomed from a helicopter's loudspeaker, drowning out the rain.

"Release Mr. Luthor. You are locked on at full power. Repeat: release Mr. Luthor, or we will use lethal force."

The wind revived Luthor enough to regain a sliver of awareness.

He struggled to open his eyes.

The searchlights made him squint. Following their beams, he made out the force arrayed below.

This was the private army he had poured his heart into building, the power that let him challenge superhumans, politicians, and the military alike.

A hoarse gasp escaped Luthor's throat.

At full firepower, those weapons could level the neighborhood down to its foundations.

He refused to believe Chu Men could withstand the concentrated fire of an entire army. The negotiating table had been overturned, but the advantage on this battlefield was back in his hands.

Chu Men looked at the army braced for battle below, then at the smile creeping across Luthor's face.

He laughed.

Self-important clever men like Luthor never gave up until they hit a wall. They always put their faith in the rules they wrote and the weapons they built.

Chu Men lifted Luthor in front of him with one hand.

"Baldy, you came prepared."

"Let's see if your toys are worth breaking."

Crimson light churned in Chu Men's eyes.