The aftermath resulted in Harry, Chloe, Lena, Astra, Kara, and Alex walking by to check up on Kay. She had been resting after the ordeal with Brainiac to ensure that she did not have any relapses. She sat up in bed, staring up into space. Kay's expression brightened severely at her guests.
"I've run through the last line of tests with Astra," Lena said. "Everything checks out."
"Good," Kay said. "I want to know when it happened."
"I do as well," Astra said. "I just wish it hadn't happened. And I don't know how that I could have missed it."
"Well, he knows pretty much everything that you would look for," Kara suggested. "It would be his job to ensure that you would not notice. I wouldn't beat yourself up over it. It's not your fault."
And yet, Astra did. Along with the entire thing with the Omegahedron, she nearly put it it into the hands of Selena and later Brainiac. Selena had been taken care of. But then there was Brainiac, left out in the wind. They only dealt with his drone. The real menace was out there.
"I'm ready to go," Kay said. "And you know what, Harry?"
Kay just flashed him a smile and leaned towards him.
"Remember, what I said?" Harry asked.
"I know," Kay said.
Alex and Chloe just flashed amused grins and Kara patted her younger cousin on the shoulder in a sympathetic standard.
"Harry, doesn't have many standards when it rewards women," Chloe said.
"That's...that's a bad way to phrase it," Alex said. "But, seriously though, he does have three rules. They can't be happily married, they have to take care of themselves, and they have to be at least sixteen."
Kay qualified for all three in her opinion, with the last one being murky at best. However, Kay did have an argument arranged on the tip of her tongue.
"Technically speaking, I'm over sixteen," Kay said. "All that time I spent in the Phantom Zone."
"Yes, although you don't age," Astra said. "Physically at least."
Mentally had been another matter entirely. Mentally left some ravishes and Astra had been concerned about some of them. Hell, she had demons which she could not quite brush aside, at least for too long. Astra understood Kay's desire to be with Harry. She understood fully.
"It's less than seven months," Harry said.
Kay made a noise, as if to say she understood, she guessed. Harry did have some principles.
"It will be here before you know it, and it will be worth the wait," Chloe said. "Very much worth the wait."
"Fine," Kay said. "But, I will see you on my sixteenth birthday. And I will upwrap my favorite present."
"Fair enough," Harry told her with a chuckle. "And are you going to join Kara and I at the Fortress when you're better for training?"
Kay nodded, but she could not help and look a little smug. She had a pretty good grounding thanks to her time with Astra and Faora in the Phantom Zone. However, perhaps it would not hurt to brush up on a few things, in her opinion at least.
"Maybe there's something that I can teach you after all," Kay said.
"Well, we have to be open to the possibility," Harry said.
It had been a long time since Lara had a good look at the place, since she went with Kara to scout it prior to the end of Krypton. Still, she had to admit, the Kent Farmhouse always impressed her and looked like a place where she wanted her son to grow up and he grew up nicely.
"It's home."
"Yes," Lara said.
Lara thought it to be a nice quaint place where one might want to relax and get away from the frustrations of life. The two made their way up to the doorway, where Martha had been waiting. Lara moved over to wrap Martha up in a hug, which the other woman returned and then the two pulled away.
"Thank you for everything," Lara told her. "You and your husband both. And my condolences for your loss."
"Thank you," Martha said. "Why don't you cup in? I was just ready to make a cup of coffee. If you're interested."
After Harry moved over to greet his adoptive mother with a long kiss and hug, the two made their way inside. It had been a very long day to be perfectly honest. The three of them settled down over coffee and also donuts and just talked casually before Lara got to the point.
"After graduation," Harry said. "I will be heading to the Fortress for training."
"Fair enough," Martha said. "For how long?"
"It will not be long, well not from your perspective," Lara said. "It will be only a couple of months on the outside. The Omegahedron allowed us to boost the time dilation properties of the Fortress and give us more than enough time without disrupting Harry's life too much."
"Fair enough," Martha said.
"I'll be done with more than enough time before I head off to Met-U in the fall," Harry said.
Given how much time Martha spent in Metropolis, she would still be in proximity to Harry. Which would be a good thing. She took a long sip of coffee.
"It seems like yesterday," Martha said. "We found Harry's ship in that field. If we didn't, I don't know what happened."
"Well, I knew you would be the right people," Lara said. "But, thankfully everything fell into place."
Martha nodded. They all understood the ship could be snatched up by the government, or by someone else. It could have lead to a different world, although she did not want to think about life without Harry in it. And Martha knew for a fact there were many women who agreed with her assessment.
"I have pictures," Martha said. "Of Harry when he was younger."
"Oh?" Lara asked. "May I see them?"
Harry smiled and left the two women to do what they needed to do. He had to meet with Chloe within a half of an hour, as she had an opportunity.
"Oh, I can't believe it. A summer internship at the Daily Planet. I didn't think this would happen."
Chloe looked absolutely giddy. Harry squeezed her shoulders to get her to calm down and she did, with several relaxing breaths. She looked at the impressive office building, which towered over them.
"Sorry, it's just been my dream," Chloe said. "After taking the Torch as far as I could go as a school newspaper. Hopefully I can find someone worthy to pass the Torch to."
Harry raised his eyebrow, but said nothing. Chloe just grinned and planted a brief kiss on Harry before she pulled away.
"Pun kind of intended."
He had been thinking about it as well. Leaving the Newspaper in the hands of someone who would ruin four years worth of good work did not settle Harry. But, Harry had an idea, as he always did.
"What about Kay?" Harry asked. "She's been helping out a bit here and there and she's expressed interest in getting into journalism."
Here, Chloe looked thoughtful and casually tapped the underside of her chin.
"Hmm, now that's an idea," Chloe remarked. "We can show her the ropes, and set her free."
The two of them walked into the Daily Planet building. They moved around, talking to the staff, and getting to know them. Naturally, the fact Harry had in through Lena, allowed him to give Chloe a leg up into the paper.
Two particular women caught Harry's interest and attention. One had been a gorgeous blonde woman dressed in a professional suit. Her piercing blue eyes showed she met business, but there was a sense of mischief to them. She dressed a bit conservative, but Harry sensed she was the type to be professional in her business life and let her hair down elsewhere. And the other, was an alluring Latina woman, with her hair tied back. The pair of glasses made her a bit more alluring She dressed a bit more casually, with the skirt slightly hugging her hips and doing little to hide the wide ass she had. Not that Harry checked her out too much on purpose.
"Catherine Grant," the blonde woman said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kent. Ms. Luthor came by the other day, and told us you would be coming. And I must say, I'm interested in seeing the man who has interested Lena Luthor. If you want, we can arrange an exclusive."
"Down, Cat," the Latina woman said. "Andrea Rojas, it is a pleasure to meet you, and you as well, Ms. Sullivan."
"I'm surprised,' Cat said. "You're not working here? Half of Ms. Sullivan's work, you've had a heavy hand in. And then I dove deeper and read some things you've written. Very impressive for a high school level."
Harry and Chloe had been impressed that a known reporter like Catherine Grant had read their paper, and Chloe was positively gushing at the thought of it.
"Well, another opportunity presented itself over the summer," Harry said. "But, Chloe is more than capable."
"Yes, that's a shame, but you got to follow your ambitions," Andrea said. "You would be welcomed into the Daily Planet office."
"If you ever wanted a job, I could personally go over each and every one of your stories," Cat told him. "In my office.'
Andrea shook her head. She did not have an office, but she would like to spend some time going over Harry's stories. Or just over Harry in general.
"Everywhere you go," Chloe murmured.
"Seriously, though, we could work together," Cat said. "I'd love to be underneath you. In a story."
Harry knew what she really meant. She checked her watch.
"Well, time for my coffee break," Cat told him.
"I'll show the newbie around," Andrea said.
"Do you want to join me?" Cat asked Harry. "Maybe I can convince you to take a position at the Planet?"
"Well, I'm always up for a cup of coffee with a beautiful woman," Harry remarked.
Cat took him by the hand and lead him out of the elevator.
"She works quickly," Chloe said.
"Yes, she does," Andrea said. "Aren't you the least bit jealous that Cat Grant just dragged your boyfriend off….I'm assuming he's your boyfriend?"
"Not really, because Harry's with a couple dozen other women," Chloe said. "We have this collective thing going on."
Now, Andrea had been more intrigued, but this had been getting a bit more personal than she thought. The duo left to get the grand tour of the Daily Planet.
Graduation was finally here. Harry stepped off of the stage, after shaking hands with the principal, several teachers, and the Mayor of Metropolis. Lara and Martha watched with pride. Harry, Lana, Chloe, Alex, and Emily greeted him with a smile as he stepped closer towards him.
"Graduation," Emily said. "Long time coming. Even longer for you, wasn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Well, you've been sticking around," Chloe said. "Last year, you've just been passing the time, waiting for the rest of us to get our credits so we could all graduate together."
Not that Chloe minded such a thing. Far from it in fact. She appreciated it.
"We've come a long way, all of us," Alex said. "And now to the real adventure."
"I'm glad to be done with High School," Lana said breathlessly.
"I think we all are," Chloe remarked.
"Mom said we'll change our tune in about three months," Alex said. "But, we can handle it."
The first day of the rest of their lives. Harry might have finished sooner. He did take a few college-level courses already, although admittedly he had been busy for many other things. He moved over, where Lena greeted him with a kiss, which caused a few of Harry's female classmates to look at her with scorn.
But given how those were some of the girls who bullied Abby when she had her Acne problem, Harry honestly had very little time for any of them.
"I'll see you at Horizon soon, right?" Lena asked.
"Cat Grant gave me an interesting proposal the other day," Harry said. "Best to keep my options open. But, I've got training first."
"Mmm, I heard about Cat's...pursuit of you," Lena said. "Congratulations."
Lena knew she could match any offer that the Daily Planet could. Although, given her heavy investment in the paper, she could make Cat's career or break it, if she got out of line. Granted, keeping a skilled reporter, who pulled herself away from gossip mongering into legit journalism seemed bad for business.
Chloe, Alex, Emily, and Lana all walked behind Harry. The five of them intended to go off to a post-graduation celebration, where they could kick back.
Kara, Kay, and Eliza were behind Martha and Lara. Harry reached up and smiled at Kara. Kara beamed with pride, although she knew Harry could have reached this moment where he finished High school a long time ago.
"Am I really putting myself in a place where I'm going to have to wait for this longer?"
The realization hit Kay suddenly as she reached the Fortress. Kara joined them and put her hand on her cousin's shoulders.
"Maybe you can convince Harry to break his restriction," Kara said.
Oh, Harry's convictions had been what made Kay want him even more. It was quite the little paradox to be honest. The trio of Kryptonians stepped into the Fortress. While this training was mostly engineered for Harry, Kay and Kara could be involved and would be involved.
Lara, Raya, Faora, and Astra all stood there, ready to begin.
"Ready?" Astra asked.
"Yes, of course," Harry said. "I'm ready for anything."
"Hope you don't regret that, Kal," Faora told him teasingly. "Because, I remember saying that during my first day of training and Astra had me on my back. Repeatedly. And not in the fun way."
"It's not just the full usage of your powers and abilities," Raya remarked.
"Raya is right," Lara said. "There's much to learn. Especially with the threat of Brainiac out there."
The Fortress, even with the power boost, had not been able to locate Brainiac. A bad thing, but at least he was not able to breach the Fortress either, so they would call that one a win either way.
Also amidst the training, was Aethyr and Selena. They did have valuable knowledge, although they would need to be kept on a very short leash, for everyone's benefit.
"So, should we begin?" Kara asked.
Harry closed his eyes after a couple of long training sessions. Lara walked behind him and put a hand gently on his shoulder. Kay and Kara sat on either side, a bit sore from the going over Astra gave them.
"Krypton's history is fascinating," Lara said. "What we know of it. Unfortunately, so much of it has been lost from time. Some undesirable elements of our history were erased, which may have doomed our planet. History is a combination of tragedies and triumphs. It lead to us isolating ourselves from the rest of the universe. Fearful of what might come."
"And then there was Brainiac,' Kara prompted.
"Yes, and there was Brainiac," Lara said. 'The BrainInteractive Construct was built as a defense system, because Krypton's Council feared attacks. Brainiac had been integrated more and more within our lives. To the point where the Council became overly dependable on him. Which lead to more problems."
Lara showed images of a group of hooded individuals.
"There was Black Zero, a group of anarchists who claimed to want to liberate Krypton from the oppressive establishment. What points they may have started with had been lost with the savage destruction. General Zod lead a successful campaign against them, but to great personal tragedy. At the loss of his wife and his son."
Lara just frowned. It had been sad. Zod, before the madness, had been one of the most skilled military leaders they knew. Although, with much of Krypton's history lost, there was not much who could be verified.
"His real crimes were not crimes of war, but genetic crimes. He had been trying to bring his son back. When Jor-El refused, Zod sought alternative means. While they never found his project, basic studies done towards the end of Krypton's existence showed that Zod's son would have turned into a grotesque monstricity. It was based off of very crude science. An abandoned project before Brainiac."
Crude images flashed through the Fortress. What they saw was stomach turning to say the very least.
"The World Killers. They were supposed to be the ultimate weapons to protect Krypton in case of invasion. But they were judged to be too dangerous. They might go to extreme measures to protect Krypton, including slaughtering the people."
"Which is when they went to Brainiac," Kara said.
"And once Zod corrupted Brainiac, the fate of the entire planet had been sealed."
Selena's ears perked up suddenly at the World Killers. It showed just how much the Council lacked imagination. Their fears might be founded at times but given they went to Brainiac and became grossly dependant on them, Krypton would still exist if not for the Worldkillers.
"May I add something regarding the Worldkillers?" Selena asked.
"Yes, you may," Lara responded.
"A coven of my supporters migrated to the colony of Argo City. They wished to complete the Worldkiller project."
"Were they successful?" Kay asked.
"Well, I was exiled before I had news of their success or failure," Selena said. "And it's much to do about nothing. Argo City was destroyed along with the rest of Krypton. Perhaps if they had been commissioned sooner, there might have been a chance Krypton still was alive."
Selena had been adamant about this, and had been thinking about it more as of late. Dropping the Worldkillers in favor of Brainiac was a completely bad idea for a number of reasons.
"They wouldn't have done any good to Krypton," Astra chimed in.
"Perhaps," Selena said. "Maybe it's best they died with them as well. Of course, if Brainiac has the knowledge of all of Krypton, perhaps he has the knowledge to create Worldkillers."
Selena did have a few regrets, although she paid for them with her servitude to Kal-El. Granted, that was not without its benefits, and that thought brought a smile to her face.
"And we are getting off track," Lara said. "The civil war involving Astra and Zod was one of the last great conflicts of Krypton and lead to Krypton's two great generals exiled into the Phantom Zone."
"There is a certain science to using your powers," Raya said.
"And you must be reflexive regarding using them," Astra remarked. "Namely, you will need to be able to maneuver yourself through tight spaces, at the same time while you dodge your attacks. And that's not just your flight either."
The training program appeared. A crude construction of several rings appeared, floating in mid-air before them. IT looked like something from a video game. Harry shook his head and decided to play ball. He flew through the rings and admittedly, they were the most jaunty thing he ever had to deal with.
Why would someone even think about putting one of the stupid things under water, anyway? The zapping sound with Harry missing rings caused him great pause. They moved to the left and to the right. Harry veered through them, until he missed one ring too many.
"And again," Faora said.
Oh, Harry did it again and he flew through the rings. He had to think at super speed just to make it through the rings. He veered from one side to the other. He got closer and closer to the edge.
Then the time ran out before Harry completed the course. It was back to the beginning of the ring maze and Harry closed his eyes. The three beeps signified the beginning of the maze and Harry zoomed as fast as he could.
"I hate this training session," Faora said. "It's even worse if you fly through them instead of running through them, I see."
"Standard training," Astra said. "Although, it's a bit more crude than I would have liked. "
That put it mildly. The two Kryptonians watched. It most certainly would have had a flying element to it, if they did ever go to a planet with a yellow sun. And Astra did push for it, very constantly. Although, she had been shut down, time and time again.
Kara and Kay watched Harry in amusement, navigating the rings. He managed to make it to the end, where he had to deal with three miniature tornados which he needed to freeze with his super breath. Harry levitated above the ground, casually putting out the tornados. Along with the drones as well.
"Don't worry, you'll have your turn next," Faora told the two women.
"Oh, joy," Kara dryly responded. "Can't wait to go through the rings from hell."
Harry made it through another stage. Unlike a video game, there were no save points, so Harry kept getting booted back to the very beginning of the training simulator. Yet, through perseverance and many fails, and many many of those infernal rings, Harry just managed to complete the training simulation.
Kara and Kay had left during this, to get some sleep, and returned at the tail end to see Harry's triumphant finish.
"Eighteen hours, fourteen minutes," Astra said at the end.
"There's a hot meal waiting for you at the end of this," Faora said. "And thankfully, the simulator did not crash at the end, and boot you back to the beginning."
"It can do that, can't it?" Harry asked.
"There's a few bugs which have not been worked out," Raya chimed in.
She had been gone for a bit, and Harry caught her eye. She just flashed a smile.
"It's a surprise for when your training is done," Raya said.
"Kara, you're on."
"Wish me luck," Kara said.
Astra watched her niece head into the training simulation. One would think that by watching Harry do the entire thing, several times, one could figure out all of the ins and outs of the maze. But, as with everything else, it was never that easy. There were always complications involved.
To be fair, the number of rings were a bit extreme, especially having ten minutes worth of the blasted things on the later levels.
In the middle part of August, Harry, Kara and Kay emerged from the Fortress. They knew training had been beneficial, although the trio of Kryptonians knew they would not want to see another flying ring for as long as they lived. They made their way to the Kent Farmhouse.
Lois, Lana, Lucy, Emily, Chloe, and Alex had been all there to greet them the moment they arrived at the Kent Farmhouse.
"Wow, it's been a few months already," Chloe said.
"Longer for us," Harry said.
"Well, welcome back," Lois told him with a smile. "Things are a lot less interesting with you around. Although, you know, with your magic, you could have whipped up a clone to keep us company."
"A, that would be a really bad idea," Alex said. "And B, would you really want a cheap duplicate of Harry?"
"Mmmm, point well taken," Lois said.
Tables had been set up outside of the farmhouse, where the entire group moved around. Eliza and Martha had been there, and Tess showed up to join them as well.
"Looks like you were busy the last couple of months," Tess said. "So, was Lena. She hasn't told me what she was working on. And in fact, she isn't here yet."
"Well, I'm sure she'll show up," Harry said.
Harry sat down for a meal. He had a lot to think about.
"So, how was it?" Lucy asked. "It's not like boot camp, is it?"
"Well, no," Harry said.
"The General threatened me with Boot Camp a couple times when I was younger," Lois remarked. "Can't say it would have been much worse than Freshman lit though."
"Didn't you have to take that class twice?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah," Lois said. "Apparently, the teacher didn't believe I have dyslexia, and told me I was just being lazy. Needless to say, I spent a lot of my time in detention. Won't repeat what I said here. Not nice for virgin ears."
She patted Lucy on the head, who smiled.
"Can't be any worse than some of the things I called my Violin instructor," Lucy said.
Okay, so Lucy was not as innocent. Fair enough. Alex, Chloe, and Harry moved over to talk to each other.
"So, how are you?" Alex asked.
"I never want to see another ring in my life," Harry said.
"Well, that pretty much shoots the fact of any of us ever getting legally married in the ass," Chloe said. "Guess we're going to have to common law it."
"That's not what I meant," Harry said.
He explained, with help from Kay and Kara, the training simulation that he went through. In mostly detail, which caused Chloe and Alex to look at him.
"Well, if you ever go against an evil criminal who creates giant mazes of rings, you're prepared," Chloe said.
"Whoever did something like that would be one of history's greatest monsters," Kay said.
They got something to eat and Harry decided to check up to see how Chloe was doing.
"Everything okay at the Planet?" Harry asked. "Cat's not riding you too hard?"
"Not as hard as she's rode you," Chloe said. "If you ever stop by, I would watch out for Andrea. She's liable to rip off your clothes and slam you on the nearest desk if you're not careful."
"Not exactly a bad thing," Alex said. "She's smoking hot."
"Oh, well that's half the battle, then," Kara said.
"I wrote some more practice articles during the downtime at the Fortress," Kay said. "I tried to do what you told me. Do you think that you could go over them with me?"
"Sure thing," Chloe told her. "But, you're well on your way. The Torch is in good hands this fall."
"Thanks, I'll do my best," Kay said.
Lena stepped out of the car and walked up to Harry.
"Tonight, do you think you can stop by Horizon?" Lena asked. "I've got something for you."
"Oh?" Harry asked. "Is this what Raya kept leaving for periods of time to work on?"
"It might be," Lena said. "Sit back, relax, and enjoy the time with your friends."
Lena moved over and said something to Tess, who nodded. Likely family business, and Harry tried not to listen.
"So, training was sure something, wasn't it?" Alex asked him. "Other than the rings. Which was something."
"I learned a lot, although there's still more to learn by doing," Harry said. "I'm just glad to have gotten it out of the way before it comes a problem. Perhaps later I can show you some of the new stuff I've learned."
"Trust me I'll be up for that," Alex said. "I'm sure I'm not the only one."
It was only a few months for the Collective, but it had been even longer for Harry. Still, it would have been much too long.
"Harry, what do you think?" Emily asked.
She unveiled a nice portrait of Harry. Beautifully painted, and it showed him in the best light possible.
"Amazing," Harry said.
"I don't know, it came off a bit jaunty in places," Emily said.
"Emily, it looks perfect," Lana said.
"An artist is her own worst critic," Lucy mused. "Although, if you really wanted a challenge, you should paint him in the nude. Although, I'm sure you can do that by memory."
Harry though the picture was good. Emily had been working hard on it. And it looked amazing. Of course, it was easy for an artist to find flaws in their own work.
It had been a good night, with friends. Although, Harry had been very interested to see what Lena had in store for him.
"So, I hope you like it," Lena said. "It's state of the art and it's damage proof for the most part. It's better than messing up your street clothes."
Harry stepped out for Raya and Lara. He wore a nice super suit. A combination of dark blues and reds. Nice lines emphasized parts of the suit which stuck out.
"I can't take full credit for the design," Lena said. "Ms. Dinsmore and Ms. Lang, they made several sketches of you in various suits, and I may have borrowed their sketchbook for inspiration. Although, it was just as a base. It took months of testing."
Lena pressed a button to cause lasers to lock onto Harry and start firing. They hit the suit and bounced off of them. They barely tickled.
"We should run a few more tests," Raya said.
"No rings needed," Lena said.
The sharp blade came out from one side, to cut at Harry's suit. The small cut appeared in the suit, but healed itself before it could piece the skin. Another blade sliced at Harry's suit and did not even nick it.
"There might be a few things missing," Raya said.
"We'll figure it out," Lena said. "It's not one hundred percent field ready, but about eighty-five percent. We need to get you out of the suit and test the material some more before putting you back into it."
The two women invited Harry out of the room.
"Let's help you out of that suit," Lena said. "You know, to show you how to get it off."
Well, Harry was pretty certain he could figure out how to get the suit off. But, he obliged Lena and Raya as the two women peeled the suit off of him.