"Where is he hiding?" General Lane asked rhetorically as he looked for activity on the satellite feed.

Captain Luthor answered, "If Clark is trying to fight back, he probably went to the most deserted place he could find, Antarctica or the Gobi Desert."

"I hope he wins, but I think we're going to see battle," said Sam, sounding truly torn.

Luthor thought back to that day, to the last conversation he'd ever had with his Sam.

"I was always afraid of this day," the general said. "I should have left him in lockup."

"He had almost everyone fooled. Probably Lois most of all."

"My daughter looks like a cynic on the surface, but she has always been an an optimist, too full of hope for her own good."

Speaking of Lois, his cell went off and her name and number flashed across the screen. "Excuse me a minute, sir. It's Lois. I have to take this."

He stepped outside the tent into the blinding light. "Lois, what's wrong, baby? Is Natalie, okay?"

"It's Superman. I know why he's acting this way."

"You do?" he asked uncertainly.

"You know Morgan Edge?"

"Well, not personally, but of course, who hasn't heard of him?"

"Turns out he's Superman's brother, well, half brother anyway."

There were more of them? Well, of course, there were. He'd seen the other Kryptonians in Superman-like suits. "I bet they've been planning this attack for years."

"I think Edge has actually, but there's more, he's taking regular people and possessing them with dead Kryptonians like some kind of cheap budget, science-fiction, horror movie: The Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

"That's ridiculous. How do you even know this?"

"I'm an investigative reporter," she said with irritation, "it's what I do. I found the files and even the machine that does it. That's what happened to Superman. He refused to join up with them, and they turned him."

"You can't know that. He probably did it of his own free will."

"I'm telling you he's not him anymore just like I thought. Superman started me on this investigation before all hell broke loose. I saw him up close today when he was patrolling the streets. He said his name was General Zod."

He would have a discussion about what she was doing outside the bunker later, but he asked, "How can you be sure he hasn't always been this way? He could be lying to you about being someone else, a trick to get the military to hesitate. You can't know."

"I know," she said quietly.

Two little words that could have meant anything, but he heard it for what it was. She knew it wasn't him because she loved him with the kind of love that could look into another person's soul. "I see," he said coldly. "When were you going to tell me you two were in love?"

"It's not like that. We weren't plotting to run away together or anything. We didn't even tell each other."

"No, you both are too noble for that, right, the type to suffer in silence?" Wounded, he said, "I thought we had a good marriage."

"We did. We do. It's just recent events have made me see something in you that I didn't see before."

"I'm the same person I've always been."

"You are, and that's what scares me. How could I have been so blind to the hate you've had in your heart for my best friend?"

"He's not human. We're not like them. Can't you see that? It's what separates us from them, our humanity."

"What I see is that I've married a stranger."

If anyone had been brain-washed, it was her. He didn't have time for this. "Goodbye, Lois."

"Please, Alex, he isn't responsible for his actions. People will get hurt if you have a military confrontation. We have to help him, not attack him. Wait, until I get there. I will talk to him myself. I can get through to him, to the real him."

He hung up on her and returned inside. Did she really think he could divert military operations for her whims? As a general's daughter, she should have known better. He didn't know if there was another Kryptonian inside of Superman, and quite frankly, he didn't care. The mission remained the same, annihilate the threat.

General Lane asked, "What did she want?"

"A status report for the paper. I told her she'd be the first to hear the news when we prove successful."

He shook his head. "She never did understand that some secrets are kept in the public's best interest." And General Lane ignored her calls as they talked battle strategy.

The invader showed up and a battle ensued. They were army strong. The problem was they weren't Kryptonian strong. Superman with his invulnerability was impervious to all their weaponry and just by looking at them with heat vision, he sliced through his brothers and sisters in arms like butter. He watched his father-in-law die in front of him.

Emotional turmoil appeared in Superman's eyes when he stopped in front of him, a moment of recognition that made him turn his beams away. It was indeed like he was warring inside himself.

He could have killed him too, but he left him there surrounded by his fallen comrades. A gift to Lois? A moment of clarity? Regardless, he swore he would have his revenge for this day and for stealing his wife.

sss

"Ella Lane," Jonathan said to Jordan excitedly. "There's an Ella Lane registered at Met U."

They had snooped in their mom's home office and had used one of her contacts. His theory was that she would want to be in Metropolis if she'd made it here and she would use an alias. And it seemed his theory was proving true. Jordan may have inherited their dad's powers, but he had inherited his mom's super sleuth skills.

"There are a lot of Lanes in the world," Jordan pointed out.

"Yeah, but our grandmother's name as well? And get this. She's studying robotics. It all fits."

"Sounds like a stretch to me."

"Only one way to find out for sure. We need a RideShare."