Returning to her own body was always a disorienting experience for Lyla, and this time was worse, as she'd never been away for so long before. Although most of her mind had been transferred to Lana, her body would still continue to move and act as though she were still there – not that she remembered any of it. All she remembered was a trip to another world, one full of mystery, full of potential, without borders of glass reining the people in. Somehow Kandor felt even smaller now.

"… hasn't come to pick us up anyway. Damn, I'm not looking forward to seeing him."

"Huh? What?" asked Lyla, startled. She was back in the medical ward in the C.P.C building, and not much had changed in her absence. Except that Pendar was awake. He'd woken up, and she'd been right here by his side, but she hadn't seen any of it.

"You haven't been listening to a word I've been saying, have you?" Pendar asked, eyeing her with a look of irritation.

"Oh, sorry," said Lyla, wrapping her arms around his neck. Carefully, so as not to hurt him. "It's just, I'm glad you're okay."

"Yes, well, that's only for the moment," said Pendar, looking awkward in her embrace. "Once your father gets a hold of me, I'm going to wish I never woke up."

Finally letting him go, Lyla smiled at him. They both might not be facing criminal charges, but her father was going to be furious that they had stolen his motorcycle. Still, it wasn't her father that scared her right now. It was Lenaria she was thinking of. Was what Clark said true? That Lenaria had tried to destroy the city? There had been a moment some time ago when the whole city had shook, and for just a second it had seemed like everything was going to collapse around her. Her father had been quick to reassure her, and nothing else had happened since then. Thinking of it as a natural disaster was one thing; thinking that one person had the power to destroy them was another altogether. And it had been one of her own people…

"I'm sure, under the circumstances, he will be content simply to see that you are both alright."

"Sergeant Kimda," gasped Lyla, hoping she didn't look as afraid as she felt. He couldn't know anything, of course – if he'd been here before he would have found her acting more or less normally – but she would have to be careful. She wouldn't remember any conversation they might have had, and she didn't want him getting suspicious. There was something about the way he looked at her she didn't like. He also looked very tired.

"You've been given the all-clear, Pendar. Both of you are free to leave. I'll be sure to have a word with your father about the matter, Faye. He and I are old friends. I'm sure I can convince him not to bring charges against either of you. Though I will point out that you should put more thought into your actions. You might both have been killed. Why, if anything had happened to you…" said Kimda, looking directly at Lyla here. Although he sounded pleasant – kind, even – there was something almost… possessive about the way he spoke that last line.

"Sergeant Kimda," said a male officer, appearing at the door and standing to attention.

"What is it now?" asked Kimda, never taking his eyes from Lyla.

"There's a man here to see you, sir. He says his name is J'onn J'onnz."

"If you'll excuse me," said Kimda. "Someone will be along to escort you both home shortly. There are a few troublemakers in the city right now, and we wouldn't want you getting into anymore difficulty."

Remembering Clark's instructions to J'onn back at the farm, Lyla wondered why he had come here first. And he must have done; she knew the Martian was fast, but not that fast. Clark had asked him to go to somewhere called Metropolis first. Perhaps Jor-El had insisted on it for some reason. And hadn't she heard that someone called Raya had been sent here on a mission? She wondered what was going on. Was the city in some kind of danger?

Acting on impulse, she jumped into the officer's mind as Kimda took him out into the corridor. She had to be careful, as she couldn't risk him sensing her presence in his mind. Yet she very much wanted to hear this conversation. As she began looking through the officer's eyes she saw herself taking Pendar's hand. He was saying something to her, but she had no idea what it was. She did, however, appear to be blushing.

"I want you to delay him as long as possible," said Kimda, stretching his hand past the officer's ear and placing it against the wall, blocking her view. "I need time to get The Eradicator here."

"Uh, sir," said the soldier, shifting uncomfortably. "Isn't it true that J'onn used to work for Jor-El?"

"Use your head, officer," said Kimda coldly. "It wasn't long ago that Brainiac was spotted in the city. He could be using a disguise. Whoever he is, we need to bring him in for interrogation. And since I don't relish the prospect of my men getting killed, I plan to use our most powerful resource."

"With respect sir, you allowed Raya to enter easily enough…"

"You have your orders."

Lyla had no idea what she was in the middle of here, but she had heard of The Eradicator. And now Kimda was planning on using it against J'onn? She had to warn him.

888

Lex was concerned as he eyed the creature carefully, but not yet afraid. If she'd come simply to kill him, he would already be dead. Most likely she wanted back the technology he'd stolen from her, and as long as they had something to bargain with, the advantage would lie with a Luthor. He took a seat behind his desk, gesturing for Lenaria to sit opposite him. Lenaria ignored this, however, instead hovering next to the fireplace. Lex didn't understand why she'd lit the fire in the first place; it was already uncomfortably warm in here.

"The term god doesn't necessarily mean much," said Lex, pouring himself a drink. "Many men from history have considered themselves such, and most of them are long in their graves. You call yourself a god; there are others who would call you an Empireth."

"You think you're very well informed, don't you Lex?" smiled Lenaria, staring deeply into the flames. "I was very disappointed by your comments to the press, urging caution over trusting me."

"So… what?" asked Lex, making an effort to remain calm. This was a situation where he did not hold all the cards. "You'd rather I was your PR manager?"

Lenaria tilted her head to one side, placing a hand on her hip, looking at him now. Behind her, Lex's security fanned out and surrounded her; Lex could see Mikhail had fetched them. The youth looked at him, puzzled. Lenaria's face remained a picture of serenity.

"Where is Professor Fine?" Mikhail asked. Lex noticed the youth was nursing a cut to his cheek. He also noticed Lenaria's composure slip, and she licked her lips nervously.

"Fine was here!?"

"We've been working together," said Lex, watching his security carefully. It seemed like they recognised Lenaria too, and were awaiting his instruction. At the slightest nod of the head, they would have attempted to apprehend her. While Lex knew she had some measure of telepathic abilities, he had to hope she couldn't actually read his thoughts. If she could, she would be seeing herself strapped to a table in a lab, with her body cut open so they could get a good look at what she was made of.

"Oh, you poor boy. You're being manipulated at every turn. You know the creature Brainiac I have spoken of? He and Milton Fine are one and the same."

Lex froze, remembering something Lana had told him not so long ago. Milton Fine isn't a man at all, she'd told him. He's an artificial intelligence. At the time, he'd dismissed her out of hand. Oh, he'd known she'd believed it, but he'd thought it merely some bullsht story his father had fed to her. Now though… well, he had no reason to believe Lenaria either, but Fine had somehow resisted Mikhail's control… and taken them both down before either of them could react, even though they'd been on opposite sides of the room…

He wondered if Lenaria was immune to Mikhail's ability as well. He thought she probably was, but couldn't help but imagine the possibilities if she wasn't.

"And he's not the only person keeping things from you, Lex," said Lenaria. "Call off your dogs – there's no reason for us to fight. I wish only to offer you enlightenment. Let me tell you about Clark Kent."

888

While Lenaria had hid her base in a desert, Clark was surprised as Brainiac tracked his ship to Mexico City, one of the most populated cities on Earth. Brainiac thought it would likely be the next target, but that the ship would still need a little time to recover enough power to enable it to capture the city.

"No reason why it should fear detection," said Brainiac, after he and Clark had sped to the city. "No human could see it. That said, the ship will be aware that one of it's constructs is no longer under it's control. Our arrival will not have gone unprepared for."

"Do you know exactly where it is?" asked Clark. Right now there were in the centre of the city, at the Plaza de la Constitución. Not likely they would find the ship here, unless it was already in the process of shrinking the city.

"Out near the ruins of the Templo Mayor," said Fine. "But I would advise devising a strategy before we make our move. With all due respect, you cannot expect simply to charge in and overpower your opponents."

"I don't intend to. I may not be as smart as they are, but I might be able to surprise them yet."

"Well, I hope your plan is a good one, Kal-El. The ship and I are the same. It knows the way I think, and it'll have a counter for any strategy I come up with. You are correct; you at least, may have a chance to surprise it."

"What do the Brainiacs want with the cities anyway?" asked Clark. "Back at the Fortress, you used them to force me to release Zod. With Zod out of the picture…"

"Zod originally had a goal to capture cities from across the universe and bring them under his rule. With Zod gone, the Brainiacs will take his place and attempt to fulfill his vision."

Nodding, Clark absently ran his hand across his chest, feeling the armour underneath his shirt. It wouldn't do him any good against Brainiac, but he felt secure wearing it anyway. Not just because it protected him from Lenaria's abilities; he also felt it protected him from having to make a moral decision. When Lenaria had been wounded, he'd told her he wouldn't kill her because he couldn't show contempt for life. And yet Lenaria kept slipping from his grasp. No matter what he tried he couldn't stop her for good, and every time he failed someone suffered as a result. Lana had told him how Lenaria had tried to force her to kill either Chloe or Pete, and it made his blood boil.

Yet so long as he had the armour, he didn't have to worry about it. He could subdue Lenaria and return her to The Phantom Zone. Sheer circumstance had allowed her to escape last time; no-one would be letting her out again. Of course, he couldn't do it alone. Both he and Lenaria held something that could stop the other, since she knew what Kryptonite could do to him. The armour couldn't protect him from that.

"So what exactly do you propose, Kal-El?" asked Brainiac. His tone suggested he did not have high hopes for whatever he might think of.

"There's one thing the other Brainiacs won't have included in their calculations," said Clark, quickly telling Brainiac what he wanted him to do. Brainiac nodded.

"I see… you are correct. We wouldn't be counting on that. However, there may be something we haven't included in our own calculations."

"What's that?"

"The ship is beginning to power up. We may just have a problem."