J'onn was meditating. To calm himself. To clear his mind. To tune out the other's worry and unrest, over what had happened to Kal, what was going to happen to him, and what was going to happen next.

To clear his own mind of his own worry and unrest over what had happened to Kal, what was going to happen to him, and what was going to happen next.

It was probably the only reason he heard him. Sensed him, his essence, his energy, like a thumb print, everyone's unique. His first inclination was to connect to the rest of the Justice League, so they could all hear him and what he was about to say, but he refrained. It was difficult to connect to him under the present circumstances, without having to focus on holding others to the connection as well.

It was a dim, faint connection. Through the dark. Across a distance. Through a despair Kal could not adequately mask.

He had taken a chance. Contacting J'onn in this state. Allowing him access to his thoughts. His heart. And J'onn heard things, about General Zod and his plans, about the sins of the father, about the Phantom Zone.

He also heard things about Bruce that try as he might, he had heard inklings of before, not from Kal with his mental shields as they were, but from Bruce. Inklings of he and Kal abruptly coming together and just as abruptly coming apart. Of Kal's frozen loneliness, and despite no outward change, of Bruce's lingering then growing doubts. Then his resolve, to try. Next of their quick polarization, their intense orientation towards each other, that caused new and further doubts.

For entirely personal reasons, he was relieved it was not his people's planet Kal currently found himself on. Still, it was beautiful. It was awe inspiring. It was horrendously inhospitable, and yet that was where Kal was, Zod by best determination departed for the time being.

Despite the miraculousness of it all, he directed Kal return.

To come back.

But he stayed with him, and followed Kal's memory, to the first time he tried to take flight, looking up to the sky, digging his heels into warm summer dirt and then pushing up, combating fears saying this was not possible. Perhaps the alienness of his current surroundings inspired similar fears, as he talked himself through it now. That it was no different from that first time in Kansas.

He'd been fine then, he'd be fine now.

So he dug his heels into that charred stone, and despite his assurances to himself, it was different from that first time in Kansas. He flew straight up into sulfuric acid clouds, not water. Clouds that could corrode metal and burn skin. The temperature cooled, but the wind increased and then he was above it all, looking down on Venus in all her glory.

Then Kal set his sights on Earth.

J'onn withdrew from his thoughts, then called the Justice League to report to the Tower.

Superman would be arriving shortly.

J'onn was glad for the meditating he had managed to accomplish before the meeting, for everyone walked out more uneasy than they had walked in.

Three days. An unknown number of enemies. A disturbing proposition for peace. And everyone's identities were still on the line.

Kal was remarkably calm himself, all things considered. He informed the others his immediate plan was to travel to his dwelling in the Arctic. To research, see if he could find any information on the Phantom Zone his father had supposedly discovered.

The obvious countermeasures were proposed.

Kryptonite. Magic. Red light.

All would have been sufficient for a single Kryptonian combatant. Not for an army.

Theories were discussed.

"He could be bluffing. The only other Kryptonian we've seen is Ursa. I won't count on it being a bluff, but it is a possibility." Shayera commented, with Diana nodding her approval.

"If the Phantom Zone is a real thing, and they were really stuck there, maybe we can trap them back in there again. I mean, it's not the nicest thing ever, but they're not the nicest guys ever..." Wally speculated.

"It will take too long for any other Green Lanterns to arrive. And he's smart. He's staying under the radar, even in taking over a planet. The Green Lantern Corp aren't in the business of interfering in what to them are small scale matters. This is technically my jurisdiction. I can act on my own, but I do not topple governments, and to them, this is a just a change of government. Zod isn't decimating the population or destroying the planet." John offered, then added, albeit reluctantly. "At least, not yet."

J'onn had little else to offer, only that, after Kal revealed he did believe Zod had some way of immobilizing him, telepathically or empathically, confirming Diana's observation, "If the nature of that ability stems from being Kryptonian, which seems highly likely, perhaps you could attack him in the same manner. Enough to disable him by other means."

There was also shared frustration, that none of them had suspected who Zod was, even after their brief investigation of him after Kal's first incident with him. Bruce looked particularly displeased, but J'onn felt it as well. He had honed in on Zod's thoughts, and found nothing unusual.

Everything had checked out. Understandable in hindsight. Kryptonian's minds were difficult to pierce without their consent. It had never occurred to him they were dealing with another Kryptonian. Why he had not thought telepathic interference with Kal in the first place.

It did them little good now though.

They had three days, as everyone filed out, to uneasily return to their home cities, and the chaos that still needed tending to in the meantime.