While Ella Lane was making her entrance as an uninvited guest at Kal-El and Lois's wedding, a meeting was taking place. A sinister one.
It was taking place in an undisclosed location. General Sam Lane was there, along with Lionel Luthor, Thomas Wayne Jr. and a special guest...brought in to the fold by Lionel.
His name was Professor Milton Fine.
General Lane was less than pleased to be discussing any plans to retake this planet, with a Kryptonian-even though Lionel had explained in some half assed manner, that this particular one was not exactly like the others. Lionel, sensing Sam's distrust, asked Professor Fine to introduce himself.
"Good Afternoon. I am Professor Milton Fine and I teach history at Central Kansas A&M..."
"Cut the shit!" General Lane snapped. "Just tell us who you really are and what you can do for us?"
Thomas glanced over at Lionel, who shook his head slightly. If Dr. Fine was offended or even affected by General Lane's blunt rudeness, he did not show it.
"As you wish. General. I am the Brain Interactive Construct, though I am known to many as just 'Brainiac'. I can take many forms and I was constructed by the scientists, Jor-El and Dax-Ur. The latter perished in the explosion that destroyed Krypton."
"But you call yourself 'Dr. Fine' and you've been teaching at a college? When did you come to this planet?" General Lane asked tersely.
"Two weeks ago." Dr. Fine answered.
"Is that really important, General Lane?" Lionel asked casually. "I mean this Kryptonian has come to help us deal with our problem. One that my son and yourself have failed to do."
Thomas, sensing that General Lane was this close to choking Lionel, revealed his part in this.
"Dr. Fine has a different line of thought than the other Kryptonians, General Lane. And with the help of some advanced technology owned by Wayne Enterprises, the 'Kryptonian Problem', will be no more." he said.
"I'm supposed to trust another Kryptonian to rid this planet of his own kind? No offense but that didn't work out so well before. I mean I'm sorry for Davis Bloom but..." General Lane began.
Dr. Fine interrupted.
"General Lane, let me give you my reasons for wanting to help. I am actually here not only to help your people, but to help my own. And to punish."
General Lane looked from Dr. Fine over at Lionel.
"What does he mean?" he asked him.
"What he means, General, is that the Kryptonians that managed to escape Krypton unscathed, before it was destroyed, have formed a new civilization on another planet. And they want their people, and all technology that is being used here, back so they can begin anew." Lionel told him. General Lane looked from Lionel, over at Thomas.
"And you can help Dr. Fine here do that? Without Bruce Wayne's say so?"
Thomas refrained from sighing. It was as if people still did not believe he was who he had been proven to be! Whenever he made any decisions with regards to the family business that he had every right to, he was asked about Bruce. Well Bruce was half out of his mind and being coddled by clones of his parents. He wanted those goddamned clones and Jor-El, taken the hell off of this planet!
"General, Bruce is going to get the care he needs in an institution. He is unfit to be running his own life, much less Wayne Enterprises. I have signed off on allowing Dr. Fine the use of a piece of technology that will be instrumental in removing the Kryptonians from this planet." Thomas said, now looking to Dr. Fine.
"General," Dr. Fine said, "Wayne Enterprises has allowed me the use of their Gravitational Pull Satellite. In short, I will be able to lock on to every Kryptonian on this planet and pull them off of Earth and into a prison that Jor-El himself designed called The Phantom Zone."
"The Phantom Zone? You say this is a prison?" General Lane asked, not knowing quite what to think.
"You are a man that has to see to believe." Dr. Fine said and suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed and a screen lowered from the ceiling. Soon, they were all watching a documentary of sorts, of Jor-El discussing what went into building the Phantom Zone and how the whole process worked. General Lane's eyes widened as two 'criminals', men, stood before Jor-El, Zod and other Kryptonians that General Lane did not recognize.
The criminals were pronounced guilty and soon, something that resembled a large piece of glass, spiraled towards them, seemingly from space. It sucked the two men inside of it, displaying their shocked and enraged facial expressions as the 'glass' hurled off towards God knows where!
General Lane grinned! The lights came back on and Lionel raised a brow.
"I see you are pleased, General." Lionel noted wryly.
"As punch! The idea of Jor-El and Kal-El being trapped in that damned thing pleases me enormously! But..." General Lane trailed off.
"You're thinking of your grandson?" Thomas asked.
"Yes." General Lane admitted. "Lois has reunited with the boy. If he's pulled into that thing..."
"He will be. He is a full Kryptonian. There will be no help for that." Dr. Fine admitted. "But he will be the first one released."
General Lane shook his head.
"That's not going to do. I need assurances that he stays here with my daughter."
"General..." LIonel began but Sam eyed him.
"Why don't we cut the polite BS, okay, since you're sleeping with my ex wife."
"Fine." Lionel said blithely. "Since you've slept with my daughter-in-law."
Brainiac could've cared less about this rather lowbrow change in conversation.
"The device created will pull all Kryptonians into the Phantom Zone. The child will not escape that fate." he reiterated.
"Then you don't use it." General Lane said, now standing up. "And until you can think of
a way to spare my grandson, then we find another way to take this planet back."
"There is no other way, General!" Thomas said, his voice filled with exasperation. "This is about the greater good here! Now what Dr. Fine has said, is that once your grandson is pulled into this...prison of sorts, he will be released on his home planet. His NEW home planet. Maybe Lois can apply for some kind of visa or something for her son, if she wants him to live here on Earth. But I don't think we should go down that road. The point of this is to rid ourselves of ALL Kryptonians. Even one,with what they could do, could wreck future havoc on society."
The room was quiet. Lionel Luthor gave General Lane a brief, sympathetic glance. It was not easy having one's child hate you. And yes, Lois Lane would hate her father, once his part in the loss of her son was revealed. Lex hated his guts, though that was different. Lex was just spoiled and ungrateful. Lionel thought he had been a halfway decent father, for the most part. Sort of.
"General," Lionel said, "I sent Ella to the White House. At this moment she is doing our dirty work. She will be telling Lois what is about to happen."
Sam Lane began to massage his temples. Unfortunately, Thomas Wayne was right. The greater good had to be thought of here. And it wasn't like the boy would be alone. He would be with Kal-El and his grandparents. Lois could begin anew.
Somehow, in the back of his mind, Sam knew Lois would never see it that way. And for the first time in a very long time, he was pinning his hopes and dreams on the woman that had betrayed him-Ella.
"Do it." General Lane said curtly before leaving the room. Lionel followed after him and Dr. Fine turned to Thomas.
"I thought it best to not reveal what you forgot to address, Mr. Wayne."
"Which was? I don't remember forgetting anything." Thomas said casually.
"Hmmm. That would be the part about all Kryptonian technology, being sent to the Phantom Zone as well. Your cloned parents would have to leave."
"Yes, well," Thomas said blithely, "I hardly knew them."
"Or wanted to?" Dr. Fine offered. "Your brother will be distraught."
"Which will be unfortunate." was Thomas's answer before he left the room. It was clear to Dr. Fine that Thomas Wayne was as eager to rid this planet of the Thomas and Martha Wayne clones, as he was the Kryptonians. Maybe more so.
Kal-El did not know why, but he could not shake the feeling, as he watched Ella Lane walk towards them, that he was going to lose Lois.
Lois moved up the aisle towards her.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" she asked. Lucy moved so that she was by her sister's side.
Ella gave her oldest daughter the once over.
"Lois, are you actually going to get married in a bathrobe?"
Kal-El now stepped forward.
"You can blame me for that, Ella. I'm afraid I was overzealous. All I want is to be married to your daughter. I didn't want to wait."
"For her to get dressed?" Ella asked blithely. Her eyes left his and she looked over at Baby K, who was standing up and holding on to the edge of the play pen. He recognized her and the idea of it melted her heart. The only reason she even bothered with Lionel Luthor, was so that she could have the occasional dinner with Lex and Lana...and see her grandson.
Ella dragged her eyes off of the baby. The more she stared at him, the harder this would be.
"Did Daddy call you?" Lois asked. Lucy glanced over at Moira, was was sitting in a pew holding the Chloe cup.
"No. Lionel heard about all that was going on. I couldn't let my daughter get married and not be here."
"Even if I don't want you here?" Lois asked sarcastically.
"Lois, please, I need to talk to you. And Lucy...and your Aunt Moira, out in the hallway."
"All three?" Kal-El asked suspiciously.
Jor-El now stood up from a pew. He patted Lara's hand soothingly as he moved towards the group.
"Ella, it is good to see you again. Lois, I think you should allow your mother to stay. I also think you should hear her out."
Ella could not help but note the irony, of Jor-El's unwittingly helping her to save Lois and destroy himself at the same time. She turned to her ex.
"Thank you, Jor-El." Ella said before turning back to Lois. Lois decided to just hear her mother out! And no, she did not especially want to get married in a robe!
"Fine. We can go back to my dressing room." Lois agreed. Ella nodded then looked from Lucy to Moira.
"I'll probably need help from BOTH of you. And don't forget Chloe." Ella chirped in a positive sounding tone of voice. Moira stood up, clutching Chloe's cup and gave Zod a glance, before following her sister and nieces out of the room. The door to the red room closed after they left.
Once in the hallway, Ella stopped walking. She pulled out her phone and looked at the time.
"What's going on, Mom? Why are you looking at your phone?" Lois asked, now convinced that her mother was not here as a well wisher.
Ella put her phone away and faced her family.
"We don't have much time. In exactly one minute, an intergalactic prison is going to pull all Kryptonians off of this planet. Including your son, Lois. Once they are gone, everything should return to normal." Ella said, now looking over at Moira and the cup she was holding.
"My God!" Moira whispered. She hurried over to a table and set the cup down! Lois stared at the cup then at her mother.
"Do I even have time to ask you what the hell you are talking about?!"
But Lucy shook her head.
"Zod told me about that place once. It's called 'The Phantom Zone'. You're saying that every Kryptonian is going to be pulled into it? How?" Lucy demanded to know.
"There are Kryptonians that escaped the destruction of Krypton, that have been working on this." Ella explained. Lucy pulled Lois away from their mother!
"Lois, go with them! Zod told me that Jor-El invented some failsafe thing so that anyone that is a member of the House of El, can get out!" Lucy hissed. Lois nodded then turned to hurry back into the Red Room! Ella began to run after her but Lucy stopped her!
"Why is she going back in there?! Lucy, what did you tell her?"
"I told her that she should go with her son and the man she loves." Lucy told her mother. Ella's response was to slap her youngest daughter! Moira got in between them!
"Stop it, Ella! What's done is done. And I don't know that if I was Lois, I would do any differently either." Moira said firmly.
Meanwhile, Lois threw open the doors to the Red Room and hurried up to Kal-El!
"Mom came here to warn me that some space prison is coming here to take you all away! Even Baby K!" Lois sniffed. Every Kryptonian in the room, either left the Red Room and the White House, with the hope of escaping their fate. Other Kryptonians that were holding White House employees hostage, got word of what was happening, abandoned their posts and flew off!
Jor-El walked out of the Red Room and up to Ella.
"HOW?! HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? I INVENTED THAT PRISON!"
Ella just stared blankly at him.
"Apparently, there are Kryptonians that are smarter than yourself, Jor-El."
It was when Ella said that, that Jor-El knew who was responsible. He went back into the Red Room.
"Brainiac survived the destruction. He is the only one with the capabilities to make something like this happen!" Jor-El snapped.
Zor-El walked over to the window to stand with Zod. Zod was the first to see it. The Phantom Zone spiraling towards them at a rapid speed in it's quest to claim them.
"IT'S COMING!" Zod screamed. Zod's screaming is when Lois truly felt terror settle inside of her. Kal-El grabbed Lois and began to carry her out of the Red Room!
"KAL-EL, NO! I'M COMING WITH YOU!"
Kal-El set her outside of the room, next to Lucy.
"No, you are not! I will look after our son until we can be together again. And Lois, we WILL be together again! Now go and find something to hide under-NOW!" he yelled, pushing her away and running back into the Red Room. He closed the doors and hurried over to their son, who sensed that something was happening. He stretched his arms upward, waiting for Kal-El to pick him up.
That was when the powerful traction of the Phantom Zone locked in and Kal-El and his son were swept into it's force, along with all other Kryptonians on the planet. Zod screamed the whole time he was being taken away. Moira, who was under the table that she had set the Chloe Cup on top of, covered her ears to drown out his screams. Wherever Davis was, he was being swept into it as well.
And what of her grandson? The boy that Davis's ex wife, Cat, had given birth to then gave away for adoption? What were the child's adoptive parents thinking as their child was being sucked out of their arms?
Lucy held on to a sobbing Lois under another table, as the White House shook and rattled as if it were being sucked into a tornado or hurricane. Suddenly, Lois pulled away from Lucy and crawled out from under the table!
"LOIS!" Lucy screamed. Ella was actually not under anything and was hanging on to dear life to a door!
"LOIS, NO! DON'T DO THIS! DON'T!" Ella screeched. But Lois ignored them both and managed to get to the door and push against it! Just as the last few Kryptonians were about to be sucked into the portal, Lois jumped on to the back of an unknown one, and disappeared.
The portal suddenly closed and vanished. Chloe reappeared, lying on the table that the cup had been on! She was gasping for breath! Moira crawled out from underneath the table and hugged her daughter!
"Oh my God, Chloe! Chloe! Oh my God!" Moira began to sob, holding on to her daughter for dear life. Lucy slowly came out of her hiding spot and walked to the Red Room. Ella followed, as if in a trance.
The room looked as if some supernatural force had hit it. Biz El was gone too, Lucy noted. She was briefly saddened by this, before she turned to face her mother.
"Lois will be back. They will all be..."
Ella backhanded Lucy so hard, that she went spiraling towards one of the last chairs standing!
"What the hell did you tell your sister? She is GONE! Your father, Thomas Wayne and Lionel along with some super computerized Kryptonian, will make sure of it! We will never see Lois again or her son, EVER!"
Lucy slowly uprighted herself. She didn't bother to touch her cheek.
"You wouldn't have cared if Baby K never came back, would you? You or Daddy. And I'm not telling you a damned thing about what I said to Lois. Let's just say that the joke is on all of you."
Moira and Chloe slowly entered the Red Room. Chloe could hear a little of what Ella and Lucy were saying. Moira wasn't paying much attention. She wanted Chloe to be seen by a doctor.
"What are you talking about?" Ella asked hoarsely.
"Meaning if a super computerized Kryptonian helped you plan this whole thing, then this 'computer' had to know EXPLICITLY how the Phantom Zone works."
Chloe moved away from her mother and walked over to them.
"Was that what pulled everyone out of here? Who came up with that genius idea?"
"What is it, Chloe? What do you know?" Ella asked.
"Kal-El told me about that place. Jor-El created it."
"I know that much!" Ella snapped, now starting to panic. If this had all been for naught...
"And anyone that is a family member within the House of El, can get out of it, Aunt Ella! We've been given a reprieve, not freedom." Chloe said before turning and walking out of the room. She brushed past Lex and Lana. Lana hurried into the room and rushed over to the play pen!
"ALEX!" Lana cried. Lex moved to wrap his arms around her from behind. Lucy smirked at her mother.
"Lois is coming back. And she'll hate you even more for what you tried to pull. God knows what kind of a mood Kal-El will be in." Lucy said slyly, as she too left the room. Ella turned away as the tears streamed down her face. Moira grabbed her arm!
"Keep your strength, sister dear. Chloe is right. We have been given a reprieve. One that will use for the wiser."
Ella turned back to Moira, half glancing at Lana and Lex over in the corner.
"Lois thinks that Sam and I tried to put her baby in some kind of space jail! She will never forgive us! And how are we going to get Lois and the baby back here but not the rest of them?" Ella asked, sniffing.
"A way was figured out as to how to rid this planet of Kryptonians, Ella. Surely we can figure out some way to just get Lois and her son back. Come on. From the sound of Chloe's voice, we have very little time left until we are invaded again." Moira cautioned.
Meanwhile, Lucy caught up to Chloe!
"Hey! Look, I know what happened to you sucked..."
Chloe stopped walking and turned to face her cousin.
"I'd slap you but Aunt Ella hit you hard enough for the both of us. Twice. How could you sic some Kal-El clone on me, just so he could shrink me? How? We're family!"
"Something you forgot! When Lois gets back here, we have to try and find a way to work things out."
"Lois isn't coming back here. Neither is Kal-El. I will do everything I can to make sure of that."
"And your brother? You're going to make sure that he doesn't come back either? Your mother will be heart broken." Lucy said.
Chloe didn't answer that. Instead she turned and walked off. Her destination would be to wherever Uncle Sam was. She would help this planet defend itself from ever being ruled, or heartbroken, ever again.
SIX MONTHS LATER-
The Phantom Zone was an interesting place. Or at least that was what Lois intended to say if she ever returned to Earth, her job and what was left of her family-which at this point consisted of Lucy.
She put her parents and the aunt she never really knew, out of her mind. What she did think about was how lucky it was, that Jor-El had a fail safe plan in case someone from the House of El, or Friends of the House of El, accidentally got trapped here.
The place itself looked like a horrible desert. Then again, Lois considered most deserts to be horrible. But Jor-El had a hotel of sorts, built. How there was running water or electricity in this climate, was beyond her breadth of understanding. But that Kryptonian technology was something else!
The hotel itself had a cheesy name. It was called 'Chez El' and there were people here all of the time, who's job it was to make sure that the actual criminals, did not squat here. The decor itself was a bit dated but it was better than sleeping out in the elements.
Kal-El did not see things the way Lois saw them. He was angry, ticked off and anxious to return to Earth. They all were.
And that was why Brainiac was delaying their 'trials'. He communicated with them, via a big screen within the hotel, listing their crimes and how they needed to forget Earth and return to the planet the Kryptonians were now making as successful a planet as Krypton was-Crixon.
Jor-El informed Kal-El that Brainiac knew about the escape portal, that only their blood line could activate to escape this place. But Zor-El and himself, had decided that until they could get a sense of what trap could possibly be waiting for them on Earth, it was best not to activate it. Brainiac would be expecting them to do so.
Zod knew nothing of the portal. He also was not allowed in the hotel. He was off on his own. Lor-Zod was allowed to sleep in a janitorial closet. And that was only because he was related to Lois.
But there was a secret that no one but Lois knew. One could place a call from the Phantom Zone to Earth! Lois had called Lucy on behalf of Biz El, who was staying in the hotel and near tears everyday for wont of missing Lucy.
Jor-El insisted that the Thomas and Martha Wayne clones stay there as well. Kal-El didn't especially like it, but he figured they had bigger problems. And one of them was his son-Yar-El. He did not want his son growing up in the Phantom Zone! And he was impatient to get on with their plans to retake Earth.
He did not want to live on Crixon under Brainiac's rule. Brainiac and whomever else now made up the Kryptonian power structure of the planet.
And he did not want to marry Lois in the Phantom Zone.
It was morning and the blue sun that dominated the prison, streamed in through their hotel room window. A soft purring caught Kal-El's attention, as did Lois's movements. She leaned her bare body across him to reach for something on his nightstand. Kal-El took that opportunity to hungrily kiss her breasts, as they brushed across his lips teasingly. Lois smiled and picked up the item, which was her phone. Kal-El noticed this and sat up.
"What are you doing?" he asked curiously. Lois realized that she had slipped up. Why hadn't she put that phone away last night after letting Biz talk to Lucy again?
"I was just looking at some old apps on my phone." Lois lied.
"It vibrated. I heard it. Why would it be working here?" Kal-El asked, now suspicious.
Kal-El stared at her, then slowly got out of bed. Lois turned off the phone and put it in a drawer quickly. Kal-El walked around to her side of the bed and reached down to pull her up by the hand.
"Let's get ready for breakfast. Together. In the shower." he said casually as she got to her feet.
"Uh...why don't you shower first and then I..." but Lois was cut off as Kal-El turned her so that she was facing their bathroom door. He put a hand on the small of her back and marched her towards the shared shower he was proposing. But Lois gritted her teeth. Kal-El had this truly infuriating way of getting her to tell him whatever he wanted to know through seduction! And she didn't want Kal-El going off on his own and finding out that her phone worked in the Phantom Zone. And that was because no one else's did! Why this was the case, Lois did not know.
Meanwhile, down in the hotel dining room, Kara rolled her eyes at Biz El, who was sniffing back tears. The Martha Wayne clone cut his sausages into three pieces.
"Try eat something, Biz, alright? We will not be here forever."
"Yes, Mother." Biz sniffed. Yes, Bizaaro had propagated the Cloned Wayne's as his parents! He figured Jor-El and Lara would never care for him like they did Kal-El. But Bruce Wayne's parents were clones just like he was. It was only right that they be his parents too.
"Oh God!" Kara muttered, but Alura looked at her.
"Young lady, when we get out of here, we are going to discuss your marriage prospects."
"She has none." Biz said, wiping his mouth delicately. Thomas Wayne, who had been sipping juice, looked over at Biz.
"Biz, we need to talk about your future as well."
"My future is to marry Lucy Lane! If we can ever get off of this damned planet!" Biz complained.
"Honey, don't curse." Martha scolded. Biz said he was sorry and Kara scraped her chair back! She couldn't take eating with these clones and she couldn't take Zod and her parents always talking about putting her with that loser Lor-Zod! Where was he anyway? Still asleep in that janitor's closet?
She knew damned well why Kal-El and Lois weren't at the breakfast table yet! They were probably up in their room conceiving another child! Kara decided not to think such mean thoughts and headed towards the kitchen. She would check and see if baby Yar-El's special breakfast had been fixed yet.
Kara was not far off on the Kal-El and Lois front.
Kal-El slowly reached over and turned off the shower, while his bulbous penetration continued to thump steadily within Lois's welcoming flesh. Lois had closed her eyes and allowed him his will. She told him about her phone, the one Bruce had given her while they were dating and how she could call out of the Phantom Zone.
Her whole body felt as if a hundred butterflies or more, were caught within her. Her hands were ensnared within Kal-El's wet hair and her legs were locked around his waist. As her head began to clear, she realized what she had done. Lois draped herself in a fluffy hotel towel, while Kal-El walked back into their room, opened up her nightstand drawer and brought the phone out of it. He then walked back into the bathroom and handed it to her.
"I want you to call Bruce Wayne." he said quietly.
Lois just stared up at him for a moment before answering.
"I think you should wait. Jor-El has a plan."
"So do I. I want to marry you and make our son legitimate before I turn gray. Lois, talk to him. Find out if you can discover if there are any traps waiting for us if we return to Earth." Kal-El said.
Lois looked down and Kal-El reached for her shoulders.
"Do not tell me you have grown to like it here?"
"No! Of course not!"
"Lois, I know you. I know what it is you want and need. You want Yar-El and myself AND you want to work things out with your family. My father's plan is to wait Brainiac , out until whenever. I am not made like that. I don't want to wait. Please...call him." Kal-El requested again.
Lois nodded and Kal-El encased her face within his hands, as he kissed her forehead, then walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Lois winced suddenly and pulled the toilet cover seat down to sit on. Something was burning her. Something on her thigh. She hit Bruce's phone number as she decided to look at what was hurting her.
"No!" Lois whispered in shock as she sat down and inspected the source of her irritation.
The mark of the House of El was there. Again.
"Lois?" she heard Bruce ask. She started to hang up but quickly realized that maybe this was a sign that Kal-El was right. They couldn't afford to waste anymore time in this place.
"Hey Bruce! Long time, no hear!"
THE END
