"Neither the news nor the military are telling me anything," said Lex, rubbing his forehead. He didn't like showing weakness to anyone, especially not Milton Fine, but this was an extraordinary situation. "I was hoping you might have some answers."

"It looks like London has disappeared as well," said Fine, sitting rigidly in the chair across from Lex. "Unfortunately for Britain, most of their Government was in the city at the time. Or fortunately, depending on your perspective. The President has left DC, given it's a high-probability target."

Fine and Lex were holed up in The Luthor mansion. Lex was lucky he hadn't been in Metropolis when it went missing. Most of his company had just vanished in an instant. He hadn't been able to get in touch with any employees there, and hadn't heard from his father either. Efforts to contact them were still ongoing. "That makes three cities altogether, and no reason to believe more won't follow," Fine added.

"It has to be the alien," said Lex. He leaned forward in his seat. Fine's measured calm was a surprise. True, keeping detached was important in his field, but surely there were limits. "It wasn't on board the station when we attacked. Now if it has the ability to completely conceal it's base with psychic powers, isn't it possible that the cities are still there? Maybe we just can't see or feel them anymore – it's our perceptions that are being affected."

"A fair enough line of reasoning. However, it does neglect the strange beam of light we've seen striking the cities."

"Just a trick, to make us think the cities have been… well…"

"Abducted?" asked Fine, sounding amused. "Even something the size of that space station couldn't hold an entire city, Mr Luthor. Unless of course it was shrunk down and placed inside a bottle."

Fine chuckled to show he was joking, though Lex wondered. He'd seen the bottle city of Kandor himself. Fine had told him it was found in the spaceship that landed the day of the second meteor shower. Lex had never learned what happened to the aliens that had emerged; could they be doing to the cities of Earth what they'd done to Kandor?

"That's an idea, don't you think?"

"Well, I'll tell you one thing. Your perceptions aren't being altered. That armour I gave you makes you completely immune to the alien's telepathic abilities. " said Fine. Lex's hand moved to his shirt involuntarily. He was still wearing the armour underneath. Since seeing those creatures on the alien's base, he had taken to wearing it at all times. It was remarkably un-cumbersome.

"Except, Fine, that the very reason you gave me that armour was because you weren't sure if it would work or not. If you were, you'd have used it yourself."

Fine raised an eyebrow.

"I was reasonably sure it would offer psychic shielding."

"Which might protect me from illusions, but it doesn't mean what I'm seeing is the truth, does it, 'Professor'? You're hiding things from me."

"Oh? You know these cities aren't the only ones I've lost track of? The bottle city of Kandor also seems to have gone missing. Not long after I revealed it to you, as a matter of fact."

"You managed to steal the ship from me without much trouble," said Lex, face blank. "If you think I have Kandor, feel free to steal it back."

The two men stared at each other unblinking. Fine seemed to be enjoying this more than he was.

"It wasn't an accusation, Mr Luthor," said Fine with a hint of amusement. "We're on the same team here. But we're getting nowhere by speculating. As soon as I have something to tell you, you'll hear from me."

"Look," said Lex, getting up to stop Fine leaving. "We're at war here. The military are poised and ready to strike… but they have no target."

"Don't worry, Mr Luthor," said Fine, patting him on the arm in a manner he found infuriatingly patronizing. "They're the military. I'm sure they'll find one."

888

Clark and Lana arrived at the zoo rather later than they'd planned, after Lana had dragged (well… maybe not dragged exactly) him back into bed. Lana was thrilled by the manner of creatures on display, unlike most of the other visitors, who had clearly been here many times before. Then again, Lana was just as amazed by the visitors as the animals – the different species of aliens had varied looks, with few resembling humans exactly. She was, however, careful not to show her amazement to them, in case she caused offence. Clark himself had to offer a smiling apology as he stared too long at someone with tentacles running along the sides of their face.

"Nell always used to tell me I had an overactive imagination," said Lana, in tones of one confiding that they might be a murderer. "But I never even came close to picturing there could be something like this out there somewhere."

"If you had, I'd have advised you to quit cheerleading a lot sooner and join Chloe and me on The Torch. She'd have loved that one," said Clark.

"I think this might have been a bit crazy even for the Chloe of old to buy into," said Lana, wrapping her arm around Clark's waist as they strolled around.

"I don't know," smiled Clark, thinking fondly of old times. He didn't need to come to Kandor to see his past, he knew. "She could be pretty spot-on, but when she first started out at Smallville High…"

"As her friend Clark, it's your duty to give me detailed examples so I can mock her later."

"Well, early on she checked some book out of the library on UFO's that basically said they were the work of the Anti-Christ. She obsessed about it for a week after, kept trying to get a story out of it."

"We should be glad she dropped that idea. Might have put a strain on your friendship if she thought you were an agent of Satan."

Clark smiled before gently puling Lana to a stop.

"Seriously, Lana, do you have any regrets about knowing the truth?" he asked her.

"No," she said quickly. "I'd be lying if I said I thought it was going to be easy. I'm kind of in new territory here. But our differences won't separate us, Clark, not now. So how about you? Any regrets?"

Clark exhaled comically.

"Weeell…" he began, cutting off as Lana's elbow connected with his arm. "Careful, Miss Lang. I'm all mortal and fragile here, remember?"

As if another reminder of that fact were needed, a sudden sound like an explosion was heard overhead. Clark pulled Lana close to him protectively, knowing even as he did his body wasn't going to be able to shield her from anything here. Looking up, they could see a trail of fire travelling across the sky. For a horrible second Clark thought it was a meteor, before realising it's path was all wrong for that. As it hurtled over them, he finally got a look at what it was: a motorcycle. He'd seen plenty of those here, though not like this. A couple of passengers were holding on grimly for dear life, one male and one female. The male, riding in front, was trying to land, but clearly had no control. If they could get a little lower they could jump off…

"Wait here," Clark instructed Lana. He had no powers and no way to help them, but he couldn't just stand idly by. As fast as he could, he ran after them, keeping track of the blazing trail in the sky.

"Not a chance," said Lana, hurrying after him.

888

The Phantom Zone was a wasteland. Most of it seemed to consist only of rocks and an empty white plain. To the north was a series of interconnected caves that might offer shelter, though who knew what manner of creatures might lie within? Lying flat, Lenaria slithered across the ground like a snake, weaving her way around the rocks. They offered her little cover, but they were all she had. For no reason would she move further into the open.

She would kill Kent for this! She would make him howl!

Of course, standing in the way was the fact that no-one had ever escaped from here, at least not without some help from the outside. If only her husband Edward were still alive. He might have only been a human, but he had proved himself useful time and time again. He would have found a way. But she was alone now; Edward was dead, along with all her other knights. The red dress she was wearing now was his favourite, she remembered. Since she hadn't thought to pack a change, she might be wearing it for some time. As she made her way to her destination, tears in her eyes, she sought comfort in her husband's memories, trying desperately to make some of his courage her own. Every shadow made her heart pound with fear!

Unconscious on the ground in front of her was General Zod, still inhabiting Preus' body. Parts of his skin had been burned badly, and blood wept from several cuts on his head.

"Wake up!" she hissed, spittle flying from her mouth. "You must wake up! Your servant will not abandon you here. You must take me with you when he releases you!"

Zod did not respond to her efforts, and she did not dare make any more noise. Most criminals sent to The Phantom Zone had their bodies destroyed – only their spirits remained in this place. She would do nothing to attract their attention. Jor-El had not mentioned it as part of her sentence, but she realised she was lucky to have her body at least. Attempting to destroy Kandor was a crime that placed her on a level with Jax-Ur, and his sentence had been one of the most severe. Whether some small mercy on his part or simply because Clark had thrown her in here before he had the chance, she had been very lucky indeed. She could not have borne becoming a phantom.

Placing her hands on Zod's forehead, she tried to calm herself enough to concentrate. Although The Kryptonian abilities she had stolen from Clark would not work here, she thought some of her other powers might. Although fear kept pulsing through her thoughts, she finally managed to activate her healing ability, watching with some relief as Zod's wounds began to fade. Her own hands were still bleeding after being cut on The Fortress crystals. That could be dealt with later, however; for now there was the matter of persuading Zod to help her. He would not be pleased with her given that she had helped send him here. Still, Zod had no strength here. If he could not be made to see reason, she would leave him no choice. She shuddered as she considered what Zod might do to her when they escaped, however. He would need her to keep his body intact – Preus' body could not survive long outside Kandor - but he would unquestionably want to punish her.

She flinched involuntarily as Zod's eyes flickered open.

"I-I k-know you are angry," she blubbered. "But you have to l-listen to m-me…"

Zod's eyes moved sharply to the right. Lenaria turned as a shadow fell over her. She screamed as she looked at one of the phantoms, backing away slowly, and ready to run at the first sign of movement. Once she might have relied on her shield power to protect her, but when Batman had shattered it, she had apparently lost it for good.

"We have a way to escape," she told it, licking her lips nervously. She could not be sure it could understand her, or be reasoned with even if it could. "We could take you with us, if…"

The phantom moved forwards, and that was enough for her. Raising her hand, she sent a blast of energy towards the creature. Her hand was shaking so badly it missed by a good margin.

"Foolish creature," said Zod, sitting up. She realised what she'd done with some horror. The blast would have given away their position. Unholy screaming seemed to fill the air from all directions. Lenaria began to run.

The phantoms descended.