Blonde hair in the moonlight. Fern wandered through the forest; listening to the birds singing their mating songs, boots crunching twigs, and the sounds of leaves in the wind. She thought of her father. A cruel man, sitting behind a desk, hands interlaced, mouth pressed against them deep in thought. She thought about today and the near future. What adventure may lay deep into the woods. Her life was about the change. A jet was landing in the clearing. The mark of a superhero team arriving. Fern smiled.
Faora held Damian by the throat, his body starting to grow weak. Jon Kent and the Trevor-Prince twins, Edward and Alexandria, faced them. Superboy's eyes were glowing red with rage when a girl's scream stole his attention.
"Lara!" Jon cried.
Faora knew the exact moment the three glanced toward the crater, she had to strike. She dropped Robin from her grip and before he hit the ground, she zoomed over and knocked the heroes on the back with three punches. Jon rolled around on the ground, rubbing his jaw. His brain was shaken up. When his vision cleared up, he saw a figure crawling out of the crater. It was the blonde.
"Fern?" he said.
She was rather distraught. "It's the rocket! Lara went inside for protection, but it closed and I can't open it."
Before Jon could rise, Faora was standing over him. She jammed her boot onto his throat and watched him squirm and struggle.
"My mercy has been too lenient," she declared. "But your fears betray you. Join me, and your power will know no bounds."
Jon felt the dirt in between his fingers. The cold, hard earth beneath him. He looked up at her and blew a gust of freeze breath into her face. As she brought her hands to her face and backed up in pain, Jon rolled away. Faora wiped away the stinging frost from her eyes and short black hair just in time to see the twins flying at her with a double punch. POW!
"On my lead," Alex insisted.
"What about my lead?" Edward protested.
"Shut up."
The ten year old twins took the fight to Faora. Quick punches and kicks in sync. Although they had a decent rhythm from sparring with their mother, their opponent blocked every attack. Meanwhile, Jon dashed down into the crater quick. The rocket was indeed closed, the glass window somewhat fogged up. Still, he could see right through the steel, seeing Lara slumped against the upright bed. Jon knocked on the surface.
"Lara! What's going on?!"
Even with his superhearing through the airtight casing designed for deep space, he could only hear her faintly. She was weak, soft spoken.
"It's not . . . real," she managed to croak out.
Jon had no idea what she meant. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."
As Jon began trying to dig his fingers into the metal, ripping it apart instead of smashing the whole rocket to bits, Faora had begun her counterattack. Quick strikes in between the barrage coming her way. A slap to the chin or a palm strike to the shoulder. She couldn't put her full force behind a punch, as the pullback time and the off balance stance were defenseless moments. Ed and Alex held their own, taking the hits and believing that every blocked attack was wearing the tall Kryptonian down like an ax to a tree.
When Jon ripped off a layer of steel from the rocket, he felt his lungs grow tight. It was lined with lead and underneath that, Kryptonite. He began coughing. He felt lightheaded. But still, he needed to get his sister to safety.
"Shield," Alex called out.
They circled around until they were lined up one behind the other. Edward ran at Faora. The reckless blonde boy waited until he was nearly in her face before stopping on his heel and spinning around. Alex sprinted at him. Using his clasped hands as a foothold, she launched herself high into the air. Faora reacted by kicked Ed in the behind and sending him flying into the trees. In the air, Alex had rolled up her hoodie sleeves, revealing her steel braces. She reared her arms back and struck her forearms together with a mighty CLANG!
Jon had to see what the noise was all about. He got away from the Kryptonite and jumped out of the crater. There, he saw the mark of the blast, a wide circle around Faora. Alex had been blown back towards the trees perimeter. She took the landing hard as she was out of breath. Her body was not yet used to the power of the bracelets. When the dust cleared, Faora was still standing. Her armor was dirty, her hair was tussled, her face was scratched. And she looked right at Jon.
"This can't be happening," he said to himself. "A nightmare. I'm dreaming. Something's . . . wrong."
He looked around with his super senses, time slowing in his mind. He was the son of Lois Lane. He could think and see the truth. Faora was walking towards him. Alex was helping Edward up from the ground. Fern was standing off to the side, her blonde hair covering one eye.
It's not real. Lara's words echoed in his head. It's not real. What's not real?
"You." Jon pointed at Fern. "Your hair. It didn't look like that before. It was different. You . . . locked my sister in the rocket. You just happened to be here? No. No way. Fern? Who are you?"
She bowed her head. And she started laughing. Loud. Arrogant. She cocked her head up and stared back at Jon. "Silly boy. That's what the "S" stands for, isn't it? Silly. Silly silly silly silly. Boy."
Fern ran a hand through her hair. In one move, she tossed off her wig. There she stood, elegantly posed in the moonlight, with her shaved head and black buzzed hair.
"I am. Luxiene Luthor."
