Kal-El was barely conscious as he hit the ground. To be more specific, he was exactly conscious enough to feel himself touch down on the ground but unconscious enough that the landing felt more like putting his head down on a pillow than making a two feet deep dent in a concrete road. The Eradicator orb his mother created bounced on the ground next to him and went flying a few feet away.

"Superman!" He lifted his head as he heard the familiar shout of his wife.

The main street of Smallville was littered with chaos. Medics and military officers were scrambling to check each of the newly unpossessed humans and guide them to quarantine tents to check them over. Clark was grateful that it seemed their Kryptonian vulnerability lasted long enough for them to hit the ground.

Clark didn't argue as some military woman took the Eradicator away, although he was definitely going to talk to Sam about that at a later point.

His eyes focused in on Jonathon for a slight second, assuring himself that Jon was okay. Okay wasn't actually the word to use to describe Jonathon right now of course. The teen hadn't slept for more than an hour at a time for the past week.

He didn't want to look at Lois. At full strength, he could barely face the guilt of being the reason one of their sons was taken and in the hands of a villain they had just foiled. There wasn't going to be a celebration for this win.

She dropped to her knees next to him, checking him over as best as she could while keeping up the the reporter/hero facade, and he felt a rush of gratitude as she squeezed his shoulder for a split second and met his gaze with strength and determination.

"You okay, Superman?"

"No." He responded honestly.

"Yeah, I'm not either."

They both might be minutes away from breaking into pieces, but they would always be in it together.

Clark looked around. They needed to get out of this crowd. And preferably, to the farmhouse where they could regroup and Clark could pull together some semblance of strength. His planning was interrupted as a blast of wind hit him and Lois, the reporters hair whipping behind her from the force.

He turned in time to see a figure standing fifteen feet away. Tal-Rho.

Like a switch, the officers in the street went from medical response to emergency evacuation. People rushed from the scene and Clark could hear Sam Lane ordering for a Kryptonian defense plan from somewhere in the distance. Clark didn't quite mind that existence of that scenario as much anymore.

Tal-Rho strolled through the rubble, obviously scanning the area for the Eradicator. He thought Tal-Rho would start raging or destroying the square and he scrambled to think of how to defend the people here in his current state. His stomach dropped at the realization that he really would not be able to protect anyone here. He positioned himself as much as he could in front of Lois and the medical tents behind him where he knew Jonathon was.

However, the Kryptonian started to…laugh. He kicked a rock, sending it flying through a window. The shattering glass shattered the eery silence of the now deserted street.

"I've been wrong about you, Kal-El."

"This can just be over, Tal-"

"NO." Tal-Rho sped to Clark then threw him across the street with the effort of throwing a paper airplane. "You're pathetic." His sneer was twisted with the real, visible pain etched on his face. "All I wanted was a brother. But you've been corrupted by, by that women and these people. I thought I would give you an opportunity with one of your little half-breeds but you still didn't care, did you?"

"Just take me. I'll trade myself for him. I'll submit." Clark pleaded. "This is about you and me, no one else."

"Aren't you listening?" Tal-Rho searched Clark's face for something he couldn't find. He pressed his foot down on his chest, pressing just enough for Clark in pain. In all his years as Superman, Clark had not felt as much at someone's mercy as felt at this point. "I. Don't. Want. You."

"Let Jordan go." Lois' voice struck the air around her, ringing around the empty town square. "Keeping him will just bring you more problems at this point. From the military and from us."

Tal-Rho looked up slowly at her.

"If I didn't think I could bring you a thousand times more pain in due time, I would kill you right now." The black cloaked figure shook his head. "You can keep your humans for now, Kal-El. You won them fair and square. I suppose I'll just have to turn my attention elsewhere now."

With that the Kryptonian was gone.

"NO-" Clark didn't even leave the concrete before falling back to the hard ground with a cry.

Jordan paced his new prison. The walls were a burnt orange stone that curved in a half circle with blue beams acting like prison bars on the far side. If he strained his neck, he could see around the corner of the outside hallway into what looked like a giant, open cavern. Despite the natural light and fresh feeling air, the teen couldn't hear a thing from the outside world. Judging from the blue lasers, Jordan guessed the unnaturalness was due to some science he couldn't understand. Or any human could understand for that matter probably.

He hoped being moved here was a good sign.

If Edge had to move locations, that meant something wasn't going right? Right? And he wouldn't have put in all this effort to bring Jordan here if he was just going to kill him here instead of there. Probably…Maybe…

He winced as he twisted his ribs the wrong way. Light bruises littered his skin from his struggle with Larr, but they were fading with each hour.

The teen knew he needed some kind of plan. Some-

A boom echoed from somewhere in the cavern. It was the first noise in a while that cracked against Jordan's skull.

A man's very angry shouting soon followed it. Whatever noise canceling this place had, Jordan could only hear snippets of the conversation.

"I thought I had finally figured my brother…I discover his human family and their disappointedly pathetic farm.… I said, I KNOW I'll bring in his least disgraceful half breed if he needs some excuse to throw away.… Do you know how he responded? No HESITATION in destroying…"

Jordan froze, shifting uncomfortably at being called a half-breed. Had his parents managed to free all of the possessed humans, though? It sounded like it.

As the shouting continued in the background, Jordan walked numbly to the back of his cell and slide down against the rock wall until he was sitting on the ground. Reality seemed to crash down on him all it once.

He never really felt worried about his father being Superman when he and Jon found out. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that a lot of people would probably love to do a lot of horrible things to Superman's family if his father's secrete identity ever got out. That was pretty obvious. His parents made a huge point of the secret. He and Jon have joked about it a couple times even, laughing about saying "Hey guys, we're not only the two new, weird kids. We're also aliens. Want to get milkshakes?". That'd be great.

That joke was probably not funny now. It had actually probably stopped being funny when possessed Kyle and Larr attacked the farmhouse now that he thought about it, though.

But all that still felt far away from the family itself. And from his father who always showed up within seconds of him or Jon hitting the ELT button. His parents were probably going insane right now. He had only heard second hand about the blow out of Jon's creep van exploration and he was shook by it.

…

As much as he did not want Jon there, he really use Jon there with him. Jon was probably making plans to bust up this place right now with John Iron's crazy ass hammer, Jordan snorted to himself. His brother was infuriatingly good.

Another shout echoes around the mountain and Jordan rests his head back on the stone, trying to ignore the muffled noise to keep calm.

Trying to think of "what would Superman do right now" felt stupid considering his similarities to his father's power level were laughable. Like, comparing a nightlight to the sun laughable at this point. Although, he at least got one good hit on Larr. Her face had been honestly surprised when he got that first laser beam hit on her.

Before she totally demolished him.

The teen also had zero faith Morgan Edge was actually keeping him here for family bonding considering that "half breed" comment. He was way too human for the Kryptonian. (And way too Kryptonian for a lot of humans echoed in the back of his mind.) This wasn't a great feeling considering Edge had currently been terrorizing Smallville by making humans into Kryptonians. Being possessed wasn't a big point on his bucket list.

He didn't want to not be…himself…the next time he saw his family.

Jordan took a breathe and counted to five before releasing it.

one. two. three. four. five.

He was so angry at his parents for such a long time. Jordan could honestly still feel that anger too, boiling underneath his skin. That day his dad told him and Jon that he was Superman was the worst it had ever been. The teen had been hurt about the lying. And he had been so…jealous of Jon being so naturally good at everything that his dad automatically assuming Jon was the one with the powers was just the tipping point of all that anxiety and rage.

He might not have reacted so well after all of that.

Then they had the chance to bond in Smallville for the first time in what felt like an insanely long time. It finally felt like it was starting to change all that. Considering his usual luck, now being held captive by a revengeful, crazy dude actually wasn't that surprising.

Jordan blinked as he realized that the deep, angry conversation had hushed to nothing.

Tal-Rho was used to his spirits rising when he entered his fortress. It was where he was able to shed the Morgan Edge identity and the frustration of playing human. It was where he became stronger.

It was the one place that connected him to his roots.

Today was not an occasion where the desert structure provided any comfort to him.

Larr was waiting for him as he landed, her arms crossed as she stood in the center of the main structure.

"I thought I had finally figured my brother when I discover his human family and their disappointedly pathetic farmhouse in that equally disappointing town." He immediately shouted as he touched down. "To the point I said, I KNOW I'll bring in his least disgraceful half breed if he needs some excuse to throw away that other, human life. Do you know how he responded? No HESITATION in destroying everything I had built for us, for our people, for all of Krypton-"

His father's form flickered to life, the same blank yet unhappy expression on his face as usual, and Tal-Rho immediately froze.

"What of the Kryptonians?" The hologram asked monotone.

Tal-Rho looked down.

"They are no more. Kal-El was able to revive mother in a host and use her to reverse engineer the process for a cure."

"And what of the Eradicator?" Zeta-Rho asked, still with no emotion.

"I was…not able to retrieve it. The military forces in Smallville are outfitted with Kryptonite and I thought it not wise to allow to risk for capture."

A heavy silence filled the room as Zeta-Rho seemed to compute something in his mind. Tal-Rho stood absolutely still, almost as if he was worried any movement in the room might turn Zeta-Rho's favor.

"This is…not your fault, my son." The disfigured hologram said each word slowly. "This news is highly disappointing, but not unfathomable considering Kal-El's forces. You were not strong enough. I should have predicted your failure." Tal-Rho flinched. "In consideration of the Eradicator, you were even foresightful to not challenge a foe you might not have to numbers to win against anymore."

"I apologize for my weakness, father, I-"

"SON, I was not finished." Zeta-Rho's voice boomed around the room. "You are right in wanting the destroy Kal-El. It is the thing I have been compelling you to do from the very beginning. However, there is no reason for these…emotions…to cloud your sight. We have everything we need here."

"The boy." Tal-Rho nodded. "I agree. Kal-El was on his knees begging me for his return not an hour ago. We must switch plans. Are you prepared for his…training, father?"

"The red kryptonite is prepared. Red Kryptonite in its raw form on Earth has the natural ability to alter Kryptonian's brain functions. I have used this ability on you to strengthen your endurance and resolve. Though I had to alter the kryptonite significantly to achieve our desired results for Kal-El's son, it is now complete. Along with its typical power boost, the kryptonite beam should be able to now sever his current emotional ties and imprint upon him loyalty only to you. You can then manipulate him as you please to our side."

Tal-Rho lifted his head, a new determination in his posture.

"I take condolence that we will be in possession of more natural Kryptonian blood." He stated, Larr nodding in agreement behind him. "It will be necessary with our depleted strength. With time we may even be able to purify his DNA of the human contamination once we retrieve Eradicator."

"Let us begin, then." Zeta-Rho's eyes flash.