(Author's Note: It's been some time since the last update, despite the fact that I wrote this chapter early in the year. The truth is that I was growing increasingly convinced that the story would never see completion. I've been getting more and more tired of writing; it no longer feels like a fun hobby but more like a part-time job. After almost abandoning it, I've decided to persevere and try and hammer out the last few chapters. There's a lot to tie up, but everyone is getting close to entering the endgames now anyway, so hopefully we can still get this done.)

Again returning to her own body, Lyla took a moment to readjust to her surroundings. It looked like she was still in the medical ward. Worryingly though, there was no sign of Pendar. He wouldn't just have left without her; had he been taken somewhere by the C.P.C?

"Pendar?" she asked apprehensively.

"Yeah?"

His voice was slightly muffled, but she was relieved to hear it all the same. It sounded like he was in another room.

"What are you doing?"

"Geez, do you want me to draw you a picture? I said I had to use the bathroom!"

"Oh yeah… sorry."

"It's alright," he said. "You've been acting kind of funny since I woke up. I guess that crash really shook you up, huh?"

"I guess so," said Lyla, smiling weakly. She always enjoyed Pendar's company, and he was a good friend, but she could never tell him what she was really feeling. He still thought of her as his childhood friend Faye. Clark was really lucky to have someone like Lana who he could confide in like that.

Looking at herself in a mirror sitting on a table next to one of the beds, she let the illusion drop for just a second. Her true face looked back at her; unlike Faye's brown hair, Lyla's was a light shade of purple. As the creature that attacked Clark and her had seen, Lyla had brown eyes instead of blue. She wondered what Clark would make of her real appearance; he had only ever seen the illusion. Of course, she could look like whatever he wanted, but she had more self-respect than that. What had J'onn meant when he had mentioned that she might be seeing more of Clark than she realised? Well, this was what was left of Clark's home planet. Maybe he was going to come back here, she thought dreamily. If she'd had the option of going to The Empireth homeworld, she probably would have taken it. Though even if she could leave Kandor, she doubted there was anything left but ruins there. Her heart beat slightly quicker as she dared to imagine Clark leaving Lana on Earth to come here, and the two of them growing closer…

Once again concealing her face, returning to the appearance of Faye, she fell back onto one of the beds and groaned. Jumping from body to body like that had worn her out. Remembering what it was like to be in Lana's mind, she shivered as she recalled wanting, even for just a moment, to take over Lana's life. She didn't know what she'd been thinking. If she was ever going to win Clark over, she wanted to do it fairly. She realised she hoped J'onn would stick around as well. Lenaria had been a poor choice for him to try and befriend. The two of them could never get along, but maybe Lyla and he could. She definitely felt a sense of kinship with him.

"So, you're the one…"

She leapt straight to her feet at the sound of the voice coming from the doorway. A handsome dark-haired man she didn't recognise was standing there, looking at her with both curiosity and loathing.

"Who are you?" she asked, backing away. He wasn't dressed like a member of the C.P.C, and she felt extremely uncomfortable. She tried to get a sense of the man's mind, but couldn't pick anything up. Almost as if it didn't have one.

"I am The Eradicator. The traitor Kimda has kept you concealed for some time, I know. You are the last of The Empireth on Kandor. It is my duty to eliminate all those who threaten The Kryptonian way of life," it said, eyes flashing red.

"I'm not an Empireth! And I've never threatened any Kryptonian," she said, retreating until she hit the wall on the other side of the room. There was only one way out, and this machine was blocking it. It advanced on her, reaching out to grab hold of her. She tried to duck away from his hand and sprint for the door, but he was too quick. Much too quick.

"Let her go!"

Pendar burst into the room, fury in his eyes. Lyla squirmed in The Eradicator's grip. Pendar had no idea what he was up against. They didn't stand a chance.

"He won't follow your commands," said a calm voice from the doorway. "But he will follow mine. Eradicator, let her go."

"Ah, there you are, traitor."

"I said LET HER GO!"

"My loyalty is to The Kryptonian race, not to you," said Eradicator. Pendar charged in trying to catch it off guard, and found himself flung across the room, crashing hard against the wall. Lyla shrieked and redoubled her efforts, but it was useless. Kimda's eyes were cautious, but Lyla still marvelled over his self-control. He knew what he was up against, and he should have been terrified. If he had lost control of something so powerful…"And now that I know your true intention, it is my duty to stop you at any cost. You plan to clone those leeches and have the city fall under their rule."

"I do plan on reviving their race, yes," said Kimda, eyeing Lyla almost apologetically. "Though I have absolutely no intention of allowing them to control the city. Rather, it is my plan for our people's to co-exist. I will not repeat the mistakes other races have made in the past, including my own. We welcomed The Empireth here and offered them a life of peace; instead we slaughtered them. There must be atonement."

Lyla's knees felt weak, and for a moment she could almost forget she was at The Eradicator's mercy. What was Kimda talking about? Reviving The Empireth?

"The only thing their kind should be offered is extinction. Perhaps this one has altered your mind, Sergeant. Or perhaps the madness that infects you is all your own. Either way, you require a live specimen to carry out your plan."

"The citizens of Kandor are under my protection," said Kimda, voice steady, still eerily calm. "If you intend on harming the girl, you will do so over my corpse."

"So be it, traitor."

Everything after that happened much too fast for Lyla to keep up with. One moment she was held firm by The Eradicator, the next she had been freed and was on the other side of the room. She felt disoriented as if she had just switched bodies again, but she was still in her own. In front of her was J'onn, who, with his eyes glowing red, looked both demonic and heroic at the same time. In the back of her mind, she was thinking about Kimda though. He knew. Somehow he knew what she really was. And he planned to use her to… what? To help clone more Empireth?

The Eradicator stared at J'onn emotionlessly. It raised it's hand, holding the palm up and Lyla watched as a bright glow surfaced there. J'onn's body tensed, but before the two launched attacks that would probably kill everyone in the room, a female Lyla did not recognise charged in – at a guess, it was probably Raya. Certainly she was not dressed like anyone from the C.P.C. The place was getting crowded.

"J'onn, we can't do this here!" Raya shouted. As a powerful blast shot from The Eradicator's hand, Lyla ducked down behind J'onn, hoping against hope that he might be able to shield her. Kimda and Raya both recoiled, but before the blast hit a dazzling white light engulfed them all.

Lyla had no time to wonder what had happened; all she knew was that the familiar surroundings of the C.P.C ward had faded away. She felt the cold keenly before her eyes registered where they had wound up. They were inside a palace made out of ice. Lyla recognised it from when she'd been here with Lana; the crystals here were native to Krypton, but this structure didn't look like anything on Kandor outside of what she'd seen in the Kryptonian Museum of History. This was Clark's Fortress.

She was on Earth, and in her own body. That was a problem – she knew no Kandorian could survive outside the city for long because of something called the 'Exposure Sickness' that Kimda had mentioned. Though neither she nor Kimda were too worried about that right now.

The Eradicator had been brought here with them.

Clark knew there was no time to waste, regardless of how fast he was. As Lenaria left Lois, he was certain she was about to continue her assault. Holding Chloe tightly he ran through the camp at super-speed, desperately considering his options. He had to get her to a hospital, but he couldn't just abandon the camp. People were dead and dying, and Lana was still unaccounted for. Although it sickened him to leave Pete's body behind, his friend was gone.

You never should have come back, Pete. I'm sorry.

Around him, soldiers were screaming. Some of the higher ranking officers – those that had survived the initial assault anyway – were trying to regroup and launch a counter-attack. Except Clark didn't think they stood a chance. Even with his abilities, he had no idea what was causing the explosions. Lenaria had a hand in it, certainly, but he also knew she was some way from here. It wasn't something she was doing with heat vision, or even her pyrokenesis ability.

Still trying to locate Lana with his super hearing, he managed to find a couple of medics who were treating the wounded. He didn't like leaving Chloe in the camp, but she needed immediate attention. He made clear her connection to General Lane to them, in case they decided non-military personnel were low priority.

"Get in the car, Lana! We have to go!"

Clark turned at the sound of Lex's voice, for a moment expecting him to be standing right next to him. He wasn't of course; he realised Lex and Lana were making a quick retreat from the camp. It looked like Lex had saved her, he thought grimly. Well, all that mattered was that she was safe. Pete wasn't. Chloe wasn't out of the woods. And he hadn't even really come to terms with his father's death yet. In many ways, he thought he never would.

Right now though, more people were in danger. Not one more of them was going to die if he had a say in it. Not one.

With Lana gone, he focused his hearing on trying to find anything that might indicate the source of the problem. He almost had to stop. The screams of soldiers who had lost limbs or been badly burned were almost too much for him to listen to.

"You need to get out of here, sir!" screamed one solider who ran past him. Clark barely even noticed. He was listening to General Lane, who was barking orders at one of the soldiers.

"What the hell are you grinning at, soldier? There's nothing to be smiling about. Men are dead, my daughter is missing, and…"

Acting instinctively, not entirely sure what was bothering him so much yet, Clark ran towards the sound of The General's voice. Not that he was still hearing that voice; once he'd entered into superspeed mode, The General's sentence had stopped completely. His mouth still hung open when Clark arrived on the scene. Other soldiers were grouping round General Lane, but one appeared separate from the rest. He looked to be heading towards the group, and a horrible twisted grin was locked on his face. Maybe his mind had been broken by the horrific scene unfolding around him, but Clark didn't think so.

Catching the soldier at a run, he charged away from General Lane and the soldiers. From their perspective, he would have simply been there one moment and gone the next. Highly suspicious, but at least they wouldn't have seen him, and they were still alive.

888

From his vantage point uphill, Joshua shivered with excitement. He was drooling over the grass, but he hadn't noticed. This was his moment. His only regret was that the explosions weren't bigger. Bigger would have been good. Bigger would have been sweet. He crawled a little closer. There was no need to fear being caught; Lenaria had fixed it so no-one would see or hear him. The only reason to fear getting too close was that he might get caught in one of the KA-BOOOOOMS.

He giggled, but it cut short. It had been quiet down there for too long. By his count, there were still three KA-BOOOOMS left. Had something gone wrong? Had he done something wrong when he turned the soldiers into walking explosives? He shivered again, and not with excitement this time. Besides his own disappointment, there was also Lenaria to consider. She might not like that at all. He wondered what would happen if he used his gift on her. The thought of a Goddess exploding made him feel strangely aroused.

To his left, two figures blurred into view. He rolled over, panicked beyond belief, thinking that Lenaria must have read his thoughts, his THOUGHTS, and now she was here, she was pssed, she was…

She wasn't here. That was a great relief, at least until he saw one of the bombs pinned under some guy.

"Hey! HEY" he screamed, getting to his feet, waving his arms frantically. The guy didn't acknowledge Joshua at all. A chill crept up Joshua's spine. No-one could SEE or HEAR him. He span round and was beginning to run when he got a very personal experience of a KA-BOOOOOM that blew him right out of his shoes.

888

No matter how many times Lex assured Lana she was safe in The Luthor Mansion, she didn't believe it. This was the last place she wanted to be right now. Lex had given her a drink to settle her nerves; she'd drunk it apprehensively, secretly fearing it could be drugged or something. Lex had smiled reassuringly at her, as if reading her thoughts, and told her how sorry he was about Chloe and Pete.

"I know we didn't exactly get along," Lex said. "But the truth is I admired both of them very much. Chloe in particular, I suppose. They didn't deserve an end like that. Lana, if you have any idea what happened, you should tell me."

"I don't, Lex," said Lana, wiping tears as Lex handed her a tissue. "I don't have any idea."

"I'm just glad Clark wasn't there," said Lex. He tried to gauge her reaction carefully, she knew, but she was too upset about Pete and Chloe for her face to betray anything about Clark. Still, she had to learn exactly how much Lex knew. If he knew Clark's secret, then she could shortly be losing Clark as well. It was him she wished were here now. Oh God, she had to try and get a hold of him before he got back to the camp.

"I'll try and call him," said Lana breathlessly. "I need to tell him what's happened before he sees it for himself."

"I'll give you some time alone," said Lex. "I'll have a room prepared for you; please just make yourself at home. I know how hard this must be for you Lana, but I'm here for you. Anything you need, you only have to ask."

Lana nodded dully. Inside, she felt completely, irrevocably broken. Pete and Chloe were dead. Nell was still missing along with the rest of Metropolis. Clark had run off to try and save the world, and hadn't been heard from since. And even if he came back, they still had Lenaria and maybe now issues with Lex to deal with. She tried his phone, but there was no answer. She felt very alone, and very, very scared.

Lex came and went. He appeared to be very busy; all Lana really picked up was that he was planning some trip somewhere, but he assured her he wasn't going anywhere while she needed him.

"I know I'm no Clark, but until he gets back, you can trust me to look after you," said Lex. Although she wasn't entirely sure she could trust Lex's motives when it came to Clark, she realised she did believe he would look after her. After all, he had taken a bullet for her right here in the mansion, and tried to shield her from one of the explosions at the military camp.

"Lex," said Lana, raising her eyes from the floor to meet his. "When we spoke on the phone, you said you knew something about what was going on. What was it you came to tell me?"

Lex gave her a weary smile, taking her hand in his. When he did, she realised something was missing; the engagement ring from her finger. She had taken it off at the camp so that Lex wouldn't see it, and now it was lost. Still, it was just a ring. Pete and Chloe were irreplaceable. It seemed impossible to think that she would never get to hear their voices again; never see Chloe's beautiful smile or be able to share a joke with Pete.

"It can wait until morning, Lana," said Lex quietly. "You've had a very difficult day. The best thing you can do now is to get some rest. I'll show you to your room."

Lana didn't see how she could possibly sleep until she knew Clark was safe and well, but actually she DID feel tired. It looked like Lex had given her something after all, to help her sleep. Before she knew it, she was tucked up in bed, sleeping peacefully, dreaming of Clark taking her to the skies.