Smallville had been the epicenter of its second meteor shower in over fifteen years. A nice, tranquil peaceful day had been turned into utter and absolute chaos, as the meteors began to rain down from the sky. From a field, a young child, paralyzed with fear looked up. One of the largest meteors threatened to come down and squash him flat. The thought to run had never crossed this child's mind.
Suddenly, Alicia popped in, grabbed the child, and teleported him away.
"Mom!"
"Oh, Daniel, you're safe, thank you."
Alicia was glad. She had been popping in and out all day, saving children and being ran roughshod. Fortunately, the Talon had been spared from the majority of the attacks. Certainly, they felt the shakes, but no meteors had been struck into the place.
Lois, Chloe, Emily, and Lucy all ran point. Lois in particular paced back and forth. Chloe, catching Alicia's eye, darted over to talk to her.
"You really should sit down."
"Can't," Alicia said. "Even though I've teleported half of the town into here."
Emily wordlessly handed Alicia a cup of coffee and a donut, which she had been thankfully for. Alicia needed something, anything to recharge. She calmly sighed and looked back to who was not there.
"Harry and Kara were supposed to stop this, weren't they?" an anxious Alicia stated.
Chloe chewed nervously down upon her lip and responded with a nod. Yes, they were supposed to stop it. Place the crystals inside of the cave. Something must have gotten far.
"It's okay, it's okay. This is a safe place."
Lena stepped inside of the Talon, with a group of terrified people. From behind her, a couple of men carried some supplies, which Emily gave her a smile of gratitude.
"Figured you could use it," Lena said. "Because, things are getting worse. And I can't reach Harry anywhere."
"Me either," Chloe said. "It's almost as if this meteor shower was worse than the one fifteen years ago. How could this be even worse?"
"Someone tampered with the crystals," Lena said. "That's the only option. They wanted the meteor shower to come down. My satellites have picked up something huge coming through. It's not the meteors through."
"Great, what could it be?"
Lena really wished she could have answered Chloe's question. They had gone around the bend, being stonewalled time and time again. Oh she really hoped for some kind of answer, even though those answers were not coming right now. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Imra Ardeen sensed trouble a mile away. She noticed Kay, Alex, and Zatanna heading off to Selena. The majority of the meteors settled down onto the ground.
Suddenly, Imra caught Selena off guard with an attack. Selena shielded her mind and the two struggled on the astral plane with each other. Imra's mind pushed through to try and stop Selena.
Suddenly, within the meteors, their battle edged towards a large black ship which crashed among the meteors. Selena stopped for a minute. Suddenly, her smug demeanor faded. Her mouth, hanging open in terror, her eyes widened a fraction of an inch as she looked on the ship. She muttered "no" when gazing upon the wreckage before her.
"What's going on here?"
The ship opened up and two figures rose from the ship. A beautiful, but extremely dangerous woman rose up. A large, imposing black gentleman, who looked like he could rip a tank in half, also rose from the ship.
"What are...what's going on?" Alex asked.
"Oh no," Kay murmured in a small voice. "This is bad."
"How, well who are they?" Alex asked.
"They are the Disciples of Zod," Selena said. "And they want be dead."
Everyone stared at Selena and it took Alex only a few seconds to realize what Selena did.
"Did you stab them in the back?"
Selena moved away from the wreckage, but Zatanna, Imra, Kay, and Alex did not let her leave. In fact, Imra and Zatanna boxed her in on either side, preventing her from escaping. Their powers, namely the mental dagger which Imra put against the edge of her brain prevented Selena from getting too far.
"Fine," Selena said. "I leaked Zod's plans to the Council, not that it did do me much good. And then, I betrayed them in the Phantom Zone. The Council managed to strip my powers, but Krypton's destruction briefly broke open the Phantom Zone which allowed me time to escape. All I needed to do was pull a ship which drifted near into my place."
"My ship."
Selena felt some amount of smug satisfaction she put the daughter of her greatest enemy into the Phantom Zone, at least for a time.
"The point is, those two spell trouble, and were not part of my plans," Selena said. "Nam-Ek and Aethyr are their names and they are...well the ship is unholy and it spells doom for anyone who is Zod's enemy. Which I know that I am."
"We are looking for the son of Jor-El."
Selena closed her eyes, feeling absolutely hopeless at the minute. Zatanna leaned towards her and whispered into her ear.
"You drained your magic," Zatanna said. "You don't have Isobel to siphon it off now, because she faded after she saved Kay. And if you want to live, you need to cooperate with us."
"Fine," Selena said. "But, since I have no powers, could you take the dagger away from my head?"
"You said it yourself,' Imra said. "You still have your cunning. I want to keep an eye on you."
Kay locked eyes with Alex, and it was very obvious they were both thinking along the same exact lines, as in the situation.
"We can't trust her. At all."
Alex patted Kay on the shoulder.
"I know, but she does have information on both the Disciples of Zod and the ship."
"I know one thing," Selena said. "The Omegahedron can stop them…."
"No," Kay said. "Absolutely not."
"It's a nonstarter for us," Alex said. "We know it will restore your power and while you make take care of the ship, you will turn around and take care of us. I still don't know what you did to Harry."
"Oh, I just tampered with the crystal and sent him and Kara Zor-El off to the Phantom Zone."
Alex narrowed her eyes. Kay's eyes lit up and she looked more than apt to burn Selena to a crisp, just on the sheer principle of the matter.
"We need you for now, but one wrong move, and Imra will make you drop," Alex said.
"Yes," Imra agreed.
"And if she doesn't, I will," Kay said. "You sent my family into that awful place. That's where you should be."
"Most of the prisoners in here want to kill us. My mother put them there, your father, hell my father put a few here. And some of them are just savage monsters who are looking for an excuse to kill."
"Kay escaped, Selena did too apparently," Harry told Kara. "There has to be a way."
Yeah, there has to be, Kara agreed. But it was not going to be easy. The loud thunderous roar in the distance underlined just how difficult of a problem this was going to be. Especially when the ground was shaking it. Harry closed his eyes, grabbed Kara's hand and on instinct jumped out of the way.
Thankfully, they were both in pretty good shape and were able to jump as high as they could onto a ledge. A hideous creature rose out of the ground, with many teeth and arms which threatened to stab them. Harry thankfully still had one of the mystic blades from the temple where he acquired the crystal of air. That came in handy.
Harry stabbed the creature's arms and gave it great pain.
"Good thing you pocketed that thing," Kara said. "Wish I had one."
"Here."
A second weapon pressed into Kara's hand. She smiled as the miniature ax Harry grabbed her. The Kryptonian woman swung the axe and smashed into the creatures arms. The arms splattered with an ink like blood and then slowly, but surely, the limbs grew back into place.
"Great, one of those things," Kara said.
"We're going to have to crush it," Harry said. "This way. There are some caves up ahead."
The sands kicked up in the Phantom Zone. Harry and Kara charged for the nearest place where they could get out of there, when suddenly the creature rolled up.
A blast from an energy cannon shot into the creature and ripped it in half. Kara and Harry stopped short and noticed a figure in a hood. The hood dropped to reveal a stunningly gorgeous woman with shoulder length dark hair and vibrant blue eyes.
"Faora?" Kara asked.
"Kara," Faora said. "Why were you here?"
"A witch tampered with one of the crystals of power," Kara said. "Harry, this is Faora. We attended school together, she was a few years ahead of me and a bit of a mentor. Until she ended up getting sent to the Phantom Zone because of her father."
"And her father is..."
"General Dru-Zod," Faora said. "Although, you are pretty adept for a human."
Faora looked him over, and Kara just grinned.
"Thought you didn't like men," Kara said.
"Well, it's not like I want to kill them," Faora said. "And it's good to open your mind up to new experiences. Even if they are of Earth."
"Well, I'm not human, not at all," Harry said. "My Kryptonian name is Kal-El. Son of Jor-El and Lara."
He said this in a whisper and Faora looked around nervously, as if this revelation would summon trouble.
"We should move. Zod's gathering forces, and you should not be here when he struck. He will take Jor-El on you for his slight."
"Will he now?" Harry asked.
"My father will not be one to pass up the opportunity for petty revenge," Faora confirmed. "This way. Keep your eyes open and your heads up."
Kara, Faora, and Harry passed deeper into the Phantom Zone, hopefully making it to the other end, as anxiety as it would be.
Harry, Kara, and Faora made their way into the Fortress.
"Oh, Kara, it's good to see you again."
"Hello, Raya," Kara said. "Harry, this is Raya, she's the personal assistant of the house of El, and Raya this is…"
"Kal-El," Raya said. "You have...it's an honor to meet you."
Raya had glared into her. The bred in nature to serve the house of El and being drawn into his green eyes, caused Raya to become all weak and flustered when she looked at him. Thankfully, someone cleared her throat.
"Kara, Kal, or would you prefer Harry?"
"Aunt Astra," Kara said.
"It's good to see you in principle, although given where you are, I wished I didn't," Astra said. "My daughter, she made it safely, didn't she?"
Astra wrapped up Kara in a hug and she nodded in response. Yes, Kay made it fine. Her eyes drifted to Harry briefly. She looked at him, as if studying him for a good long while. It appeared that sudden realization dawned upon Astra.
"But, you are less than fine," Astra said.
"Best I can tell," Harry said. "Selena tampered with the crystal of air. With the incoming meteor shower, I had little time to verify she didn't. A rare mistake."
"Yes, a rare mistake leads us into this place more often than not," Astra said.
Something told Harry that Astra spoke from experience.
"Faora mentioned about Zod, he's gathering followers," Kara said.
"Zod is planning to stage a coup in the Phantom Zone," Astra explained. "And now that the son of Jor-El is in the Phantom Zone, he would be the perfect vessel. After all, he vowed revenge a long time ago."
"Why? Why did he?"
Well that's a long story, Astra mused. She turned to Raya, who had been the best equipped to explain what was going on here.
"Jor-El refused to use controversial cloning techniques to bring Zod's deceased son and wife back to life? His deceased wife who he named his daughter Faora after."
"Yes," Faora said. "She did keep my father grounded. More than my mother did. Who encouraged his worst impulses, not that he needed much encouraging. War changes a person and it changed Zod."
"And you say Selena's on Earth," Astra said.
"Yes."
"That witch did not make many friends," Astra mused. "She sold out Zod to the Council, and managed to frame me for a botched attempt to steal the Omegahedron. Of course, I had to steal it for real. She ended up in the Phantom Zone only briefly, but she managed to get out before anyone sought vengeance on her."
"The Council sent you there, though."
"Alura had to do the deed," Astra said. "She wasn't happy, but the alternative would be you being sent here and I didn't allow her to make the choice. I told her to do it."
Well, Kara appreciated it in a way. She took a second to consider what would happen next. Astra paced back and forth.
"I sent the Omegahedron with Kay. I had no idea that Selena would be on Earth of all places."
"There has to be a way out of here," Harry said. "We have to get back to Earth and stop Selena."
"Most of Zod's followers are in here, other two disciples who were unaccounted for," Faora said. "And they are between this lab and the exit portal."
"Yes, Jor-El built in a backdoor, in case one of his bloodline would ever be trapped in the Phantom Zone," Raya said. "But, getting there will be an issue."
"Maybe," Harry said.
"Zod and his forces are before it, along with other hazards," Faora explained.
"Well, we're going to reclaim that place from them. I'm not going to bend the knee for Zod."
Faora just looked amused, while Raya and Astra looked impressed with his boldness.
"Looks as if you have a plan," Astra concluded.
Well, Harry did. And the five of them would have to work together to get this plan done.
The entire group arrived at the Arctic. The crystal had been giving off some strange energy. Kay and Imra walked forward, with Zatanna following. And Selena had been dragged beside them, by a magical chain and collar by Zatanna. Alex kept the arm cannon of her suit on her back, not that it was needed.
"It's almost as if you did not trust me," Selena said. "I wouldn't touch it directly if I were you, Kara In-Ze. Unless you want to join your cousins in the Phantom Zone."
"Tell us what to do."
"Just shift the runes to the right," Selena said. "And then reverse their position. The telepath is in my mind ,she can tell you if I'm leading to astray."
"She's not," Imra said. "Do it."
Zatanna did so, and the crystal settled. It dropped down and a magnificent fortress, made of ice appeared in the ground. It flashed to life and caused the women, even Selena, to look in awe.
Kay stepped inside of the Fortress, with the others remaining behind.
"Kara In-Ze?"
"Hello, Jor-El," Kay said.
"I expected my son," he said. "I don't understand. The meteors should have stopped. While only a small amount of them ended up crashing into Earth, it was…"
The others followed into the Fortress, with Selena still on her chain.
"I sent your son into the Phantom Zone."
A crystal cage appeared around Selena and the crystals almost stabbed into her neck. Suddenly, Lara's program came online and she was not happy at Selena's confession.
"You will burn for this, witch," Lara dangerously said.
"Lara, we do not have time for your emotions to get the better of you."
"I wish to make amends," Selena breathed. "Zod and Brainiac are the bigger threats."
Imra nodded, although Brainiac had been the news to them.
"Zod is in the Phantom Zone," Jor-El said. "They are in Kansas and heading to Kal-El's adoptive home."
"I can track them," Selena said. "Let me go."
"Aunt Lara, do it," Kay told her. "Do it, we do need her help."
"Fine," Lara said.
The crystals retracted from Selena and she dropped to the ground. Alex picked her up by the shoulder and stared her straight in the eye. Selena shook madly as Alex held her.
"There's only one use for a witch like you. Bait. To set a trap."
Outside of the Kent Farmhouse, Lena, joined by Tess and Lex, appeared outside.
"He'll find a way out," Martha said. "He has to."
"Well, I share your confidence, Mrs. Kent," Lex said. "If there's anything about Harry that I can say, he finds his way out of these situations. Thankfully for the rest of us."
"Thanks for checking up on me," Martha said. "I saw the meteors hit outside from the window. Again. Never thought I'd see the day where there would be one meteor showers, but not two."
"And thankfully, we're still standing," Lex said. "Guess my father was right."
"Had to happen eventually," Lena said.
"If you need any help at the Talon, I can come with you," Martha said. "Need something to get my mind off of this…."
"Ms. Dinsmore would appreciate all of the hands," Lena said. "She can..."
"Look up in the sky!" Tess yelled.
Two figures, a man and a woman, dropped down from the heavens, right in front of the Kent Farmhouse. This staggered Martha.
"Greetings, my name is Nam-Ek, and this is Aethyr," the large black man stated. "We have tracked the son of Jor-El here. And we will not stop until we see him."
"His assistance will be valued for the salvation of Krypton," he said.
"Get out of here," Lex muttered to them. "Run. I'll stall them."
Nam-Ek grabbed Lex by the throat before he said two words. Lex had been lifted up off of the ground.
"So, little man? Did you really think you could disguise your intentions? We can hear even the faintest of whispers thanks to the abilities granted to us by this yellow sun.
Aethyr moved to grab Lena, Martha, and Tess. Tess reached for a concealed weapon, but the powerful woman grabbed her hand.
"What an intriguing little toy," she said dismissively. "Nothing is going to stop me…"
Suddenly, a figure dropped from the sky. Nam-Ek dropped Lex, and suddenly, a brief cloud of green smoke appeared. A blonde woman teleported them out of the way.
Kara In-Ze punted Nam-Ek in the face and sent her flying into the barn. Aethyr dropped her attention from the three women just long enough for a brunette and another blonde to pull them out of harm's way.
Nam-Ek rose from the barn.
"Astra's daughter. She will be a prize for us. And the perfect specimen to help lay the groundwork for the rebirth of Krypton."
Kay pulled a face at the implications of that. Aethyr blew right at her and sent super breath at Kay. Kay launched herself up to the ground and invited Aethyr to join her in the sky.
The two fought each other hand to hand in mid-air, with Nam-Ek shooting up to join them. Kay used Nam-Ek's momentum against him and sent the two slamming together.
As Faora, Astra, and Raya advised, the Phantom Zone's trail to Jor-El's backdoor had been swarming from Zod's followers.
"Non," Astra murmured in disgust. "Can't you believe my parents thought he was an acceptable match for me."
Non's eyes widened. He rushed towards them in recognition. Faora caught his arm and slammed him down to the ground. Non grunted.
"You should be use to being groveling on the ground before your superior," Faora said.
"More on the way!" Harry said.
Kara and Harry armed themselves. A combination of Phantom wraiths and full-bodied prisoners rushed into the picture. Kara jumped up and used her axe to clear the line. Harry jumped up from behind them.
Astra took one of the largest prisoners down onto the ground. Another one reached behind her. Astra grabbed his arm and flipped him down to the ground. The loud sounds of bones popping cracked behind them.
Raya used a makeshift energy cannon, built from spare parts in the lab, to back off the prisoners in the Phantom Zone. One of them tumbled to the ground, hard. Another crash echoed through the entire Phantom Zone.
Suddenly, the fighting stalled just in time. Harry deflected one final Phantom with the mystical blade.
"The son of Jor-El. He lives. And stands before me."
A Phantom appeared. Harry knew it instantly.
"General Zod, I presume."
"You presume correctly," Zod said. "You are here to reclaim your family's outpost. I thought that my servant would prepare a vessel for Earth. I had no idea that one would be hand delivered before me."
Harry motioned for Zod to come at him. Zod's hands outstretched, with Harry dodging the attack. The blade had been avoided by Zod. He had been a bit more adept.
Everyone's eyes had been on Harry, which would only give Kara, Raya, Faora, and Astra a chance to secure the gateway.
Kay flipped into the air, wrapped her arms around Nam-Ek's head and hurled him like a speed ball. Nam-Ek gracefully landed onto the ground. His attention briefly directed away from the fight to catch sight of a familiar face.
"Selena. It's funny I see you traitor. Weak, powerless, without any means to defend yourself."
"I still have the greatest weapon of all," Selena said. "Knowledge. The Omegahedron is here on Earth and can absorb its full power. If you only let me get to it."
"I don't believe you would willingly assist me," Nam-ek said.
Still the greed of such a powerful object, caught Nam-Ek's attention quite well. Well enough that he did not see the human sneaking up on him. Alex jumped into the air and slapped one of the Kryptonite shields onto him. He took at least two steps before dropping down onto his knees.
The shield which normally had blocked out Kryptonite, had been reverse-engineered by Lena, with Harry's consent, to absorb Kryptonite. Normally it would be a small problem, with the amount of freshly deposited meteor rocks on the ground, Nam-Ek's veins pulsed with gross green energy.
Lena stepped into the area, with a remote control device.
"It will stop short at being completely lethal, although you would be surprised with how much pain you would suffer," Lena remarked.
Off in the sky, the other disciple zipped off, not wanting a similar fate to her companion. Kay raced after her, in hot pursuit.
"You will pay when Zod rises…"
"You're going to share what you know about the ship," Lena said. "Maybe you can breathe if you do."
"You don't know what you are dealing with," Nam-Ek gasped. "The ship, it has a power beyond the recognition of humans."
'We have an issue,' Imra projected to Alex and Lena. 'The ship vanished before we could secure it.'
Well, that could be a problem. One of two things happened, either someone took the ship or the ship left on it's own accord. Neither appeared to Lena at all.
Zod took control of one of his soldiers, who willingly gave his body for Zod. The more physical battle took place. Harry dodged the majority of Zod's attacks and got him into position.
Suddenly, Zod whipped out a crystal and stabbed Harry with it. For a brief second, mind-shattering pain coursed through Harry's body. Zod's mind exerted itself into Harry, as the crystal tried to swap minds with Harry.
Harry refused to succumb to Zod's mind swap that easy. The two had a tug of war over Harry's body. Harry closed his eyes and screamed out in agony the further he pushed himself against Zod's mind. Zod pushed and pushed and pushed, and Harry pushed back.
"General. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
With the biggest magical mind blast ever, Harry slammed Zod completely out of his mind. The body which Zod had inhabited decayed from the impact. Harry held the crystal in the palm of his hand.
Zod flew over and took over Non's body. Until Astra stabbed Non in the back before Zod could get him in.
"Raya and Kara almost have the shields back up and running," Faora said. "It's time to get these unwanted guests out of here."
Zod rose up, furious and almost spitting mad with anger. The Phantom floated around aimlessly until Harry blasted Zod's phantom as far away from the situation as possible.
All of them had been teleported out, and left Raya, Faora, Astra, Kara, and Harry all of alone. Kara looked at Harry.
"I thought for a minute…"
"He underestimated me greatly," Harry said. "Next time, he won't be so careless."
Well, Kara hated to admit Harry had a point right here, but he did have one. She did not relax the grip on Harry's hand as if to make sure he was all there. Harry leaned in and gave her a reassuring kiss.
Kara smiled. She had been satisfied.
"That's a good attitude to have with him," Astra said approvingly. "We have work to do."
"The gateway will take some time to prepare," Raya said. "Especially given Zod attempted to tamper with it to get it working, and caused some damage."
"But, it can be fixed," Kara assured them.
The five settled into a lab off to the side of the backdoor. They had plenty of work to do. Within the next day or so, they would be out of the Phantom Zone. That much was for certain.
"I'm sorry to keep you here a little bit longer," Raya said. "I will make it up to you."
"Yes, I'm sure you will," Harry said.
Raya looked flushed. Unfortunately, she had work to do before engaging in any pleasure. If Kal-El, Harry, wanted her to serve him in that way, then so be it.
Kay caught up Aethyr and the two crash landed into the field. The Kryptonite began to effect Aethyr. Kay, who had been given a shield by Kara and Harry, had no such problems. She jumped into the air high and slammed the Disciple of Zod down onto the ground. Aethyr pulled herself up, until Kay wrapped her up arm and neck up in a hold which rendered her helpless.
"You can thank my mother for teaching me that one."
Astra collapsed in a heap, heavily breathing. Alex and Imra arrived.
"Selena's run off,"Alex informed Kay.
"Of course she has," Kay remarked. "What about Nam-Ek?"
"Despite being poisoned, he isn't talking," Alex said. "And Imra has not been able to get much out of his mind."
"Kryptonian minds are a challenge to read without consent," Imra said. "And despite the fact Lena had her finger on an explosive leash, Nam-Ek was not ready to give consent."
"Perhaps his partner will be more compliant."
Alex slapped a collar on Aethyr, which suited her. Because, when Harry got back, Alex would gladly present her to him as a new Kryptonian sex pet to enjoy.
"You saw what happened to Nam-Ek," Alex said. "Talk now."
"Brainiac's gone," she said. "Only General Zod knows his plan."
"Who is Brainiac?"
"The BrainInteractive Construct, the computer of Krypton, it monitored the entire planet," the Kryptonian woman explained. "General Zod gave it a new purpose. Brainiac serves Zod. Exactly what Brainiac plans, I do not know. But, given its objective is to serve Zod, I suspect its plan is to bring the General to Earth with a new body."
Alex looked around for anything which could point her in the right directly. Unfortunately though, they had ran out of ideas. They would have to take the collared Aethyr to the Fortress. Nam-Ek on the other end, would be sent off to the Phantom Zone.
Despite the Phantoms being cast out, Harry did not want to be here for any longer than he had to be.
"You look tense."
Astra stepped out of the picture and looked Harry in the eye.
"I have no idea what I'm coming back to," Harry said.
"You are someone who considers all of the angles, but when something happens that you can't control, it bothers you," Astra wisely told him. "Well, you should be happy to know that the gateway will be up and operational within the next...twelve hours or so? Give or take."
"Right," Harry informed her. "You look a bit tense as well."
"I sent a dangerous magical object to the place where the one person who I didn't want to have it was," Astra said. And put my daughter in danger."
"You couldn't have known."
"Yes," Astra agreed. "I couldn't have. But today, you beat Zod. Now he's going to be out for it personally until his wraith is destroyed. You've been a powerful enemy today."
"Story of my life," Harry said.
The two sat there in silence. Faora, Kara, and Raya were off. Harry noticed that Astra wanted to say something to him, but she kept biting her tongue and holding it back.
"We're all heading up, not just the two of us, but all of us. You're coming with."
"Yes," Astra said. "I knew you wouldn't go without us. And it would be fruitless to argue. Some things never change."
Astra leaned in and caught Harry with a kiss on the lips. Harry returned the kiss, with the Kryptonian woman's mouth pressed down onto him. Astra's hands reached underneath Harry's shirt and slowly pulled it off. She pulled away with a smile.
"I've missed this."
Before, Harry could respond or inquire what she meant, Astra kissed him hard yet again. Given how their hands roamed without any shame, things were going to heat up pretty soon.