The Last Daughter of Krypton - IC

[ChasNicollette]

Rose and Pete

Rose nodded gently, though there was worrywart-ery to spare in her glinting, pellucid eyes. She fretted that Bruce's hard-edged tactics would spur the girl in the lab to further hysterics, real or feigned, and that the situation would get out of hand. But she was game to try. She was game to try.

Pete summed it up best when he, too, nodded and then replied: "'Even when I think you're whacked, I show up ready to rumble.'"

He cracked his knuckles with a fist in one palm, and steeled himself in case things went South in a godawful hurry.

Girl told Bruce to stay away from her, he pondered. She said that she'd said that before. Could be she's makin' crap up to keep us off-balance, could be Bruce was taking liberties with the girl on some previous occasion. Little as I know Bruce, I don't think he's capable of that sorta behaviour. Gotta trust he knows what he's doin', least for now. If he screws this up, I'm here, McCrimmon's here, we'll do our best to haul salvage.

Rose's fingertips found the glass pane of the door's tiny sliver of a window, and she called out to the girl as Bruce went skulking.

"Look," she murmured with a very real note of plaintiveness in her voice, "I realise that what's going on is scary. There's a very real tendency in mankind to act 'lawlessly' at the earliest apparent opportunity, to loot and to riot. (Two years ago when Smallville won Homecoming, somebody set about my mom's mailbox with a metal baseball bat. Just 'cause. Just 'cause.) But that makes it all the more important for those of us who don't easily forget our humanity to be all the braver. For those of us who remember to reject Man's Inhumanity to Man to stand up tall and to be good and to not let the 'lawless' win. Even if there's only a handful of us? Even if the only 'law' is a moral code carried in our hearts? We have to be brave."

...and then Bruce was talking.

Rose's ears were sharp, she could hear him.

Foregoing watching the goings-on with infrared, she leaned in close and put her ear to the door, and she listened.

"My name is Bruce. We aren't here to hurt you, we just want to talk." Bruce said calmly. His voice was different too. Instead of the typical happy-go-lucky Bruce, or the smart-headed Bruce, this was a different persona. A sympathetic one.

Rose frowned softly, as she stood there pressed to the door with one ear to its surface, and she secretly took glad relief from Pete's presence a few feet behind her. Because Bruce was different again. Another layer.

I know Doc Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are fictional characters, but Jekyll made himself an alternate identity on accident. I wonder if Bobby L. Stevenson was onto something? I wonder if... if someone could make themselves another person, another version of themselves, if someone could do that on purpose... and switch between them at will?

Bruce. I hope you're not a crazy person. Please don't be a crazy person.

There's too much crazy in this place already.

 

[Ithica]

Selena was a little surprised that no one came through the door she had just slammed. She was further surprised by the sound of a girl’s voice trying to comfort her from the other side. She let the girl talk to buy her some time to figure out how to deal with this new twist.

She continued to cry but sobbed less so she could listen to what the girl was saying. Selena was completely confused about why the girl was talking to her about the nature of humanity at a time like this. “What the hell is going on out there?” She thought to herself. “Unless this is all about stalling.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement from the other side of the darkened classroom. She jumped when he spoke and tried not to bolt.

Selena turned to Bruce and said quietly, “I just came in here to hide. I thought you were with the boys that were chasing me.”

 

[Superman1496]

The girl jumped, but didn't run. A look of almost shear panic in her eyes. Bruce just wanted to calm her down.

No, we aren't chasing you. We want to know what's going on in the school. And, what you're doing all the way over here in the chemistry lab, while chaos is running amuck everywhere else. Bruce told her. His voice was soft, and he didn't want the girl to think that he was going to get her in trouble, especially if this wasn't who Bruce was looking for.

Bruce walked slowly towards her. It's ok. You can trust us. Bruce said, holding out his hand, trying to calm the girl down.

 

[Ithica]

Selena remembered her teacher telling her that people’s expectations of her and what they needed could be used against them. Let them see her as just a 5’5 teenage girl and based on their expectations she may be able to get away with more. But that would only work for so long. If she could figure out what her enemy wanted she could use it against them.

The guy standing in front of her had said that his group was here to find out what was going on. This raised questions like where are the teachers but more importantly, why had he taken it on himself to solve this mystery. Selena came to the conclusion that he wanted to be the hero and maybe he needed a damsel in distress.

Selena took a step towards Bruce and cautiously took his hand. She pretended to trip and pulled herself closer to him to emphasize how much smaller she was than him. She took her other hand, placed it on his chest, and looked up into his eyes and asked, “Who are you?”

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose and Pete

Rose hesitated, and drew away from the door once again, flicking her visual alignment a little bit down-spectrum so she could get, at least from heat signatures, a better idea of what was going on in there.

Instead of two distinct signatures, she saw just one, Bruce and the as-yet-unidentified young woman practically melded together, and instantly she felt like she'd violated some sort of privacy...

She blinked sharply, sharply, but there was... something else. An "Odd Thomas" kind of intuition pranged her hard in the right side of her brain and her eye twitched visibly. She couldn't look away. As much as she wanted to look away, to give Bruce time to talk her down, or to give them time to... to do things other than talk...

...she got the distinct, inexplicable impression that if she looked away she might miss something terrible.

Would the something terrible come from the girl? Would it come from Bruce?

Odd Thomas' intuition didn't say. Intuition never did.

But she dared not take her eyes away, dared not step away from the door...

Pete frowned at her, his brow furrowing over the band-aid across his nose.

"What, what," he insisted softly, "ya hear somethin'?"

Rose didn't turn, didn't look at him, and she replied in a hush: "They're... earning each other's trust."

Something about the way Rose said this twisted a knife in Pete's gut.

He'd seen the way Chloe would look at Bruce. Already, first impressions, puppy-love at first sight. And he'd thought Bruce'd be a stand-up enough guy to do right by Chloe. Lord knows enough boys'd given her the run-around over the years.

It's like she had always been looking for someone, this perfect guy, this ideal Adonis, but she couldn't find him anywhere on this planet.

Pete had long ago (mostly) realised that whomever this mythic fella was, Pete himself weren't hardly measuring up. And that was (mostly) okay with him. But he didn't want heartbreak to happen to her again, not ever again. He'd seen it enough.

"Don't hate the player," he growled faintly, oh, so faintly. "Hate the game."

Rose nodded, quietly, uncomfortably, but she didn't look away from the door.

 

[AmenRa]

Kryptonian History 101: The House of El

In the beginning there was also the end.

For over one hundred years, factions on the planet Krypton had been at war. Without rest or respite they fought, dealing implements of battle and plagues of hate amongst themselves. There was no pretty war, but the ugliest of all wars was civil war. And it was into this violence and tumult that was born a legend.

Finally, after what seemed to have been a never-ending affray, three leaders came together in a valley. There was only one way into this valley, and there was only one way out. These three represented the majority of the great clans of the world that made up Krypton's civilization.

The valley was surrounded by their people, who looked on as the three talked. They looked on as the three spoke of peace. They watched as promises were made, vows taken, and embraces given. And they cheered as the three emerged from the valley hand-in-hand to start a new civilization.

The three had left behind monuments in the valley. They would serve as reminders that in this place peace was made, and from this place peace would always come.

One of the monuments was a shield. Within the shield was encased the "S" like figure of a serpent. It was a symbol of the harnessing of the animalistic and primordial warrior spirit of their past. It was a reminder that they should always keep their war-like ways restrained for the greater good of their world. It became known as the symbol for "hope", and in time was part of their language.

It's creator also adopted this symbol as his family crest, the sign of what would become a long lineage of a noble house of explorers, scientists, statesmen, and diplomats.

The symbol's creator was named Sor-El.

He had found the ending of war and pain from Krypton. He had found the begining of the House of El.

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce held the girls hand as she tripped towards him. Something about her struck Bruce funny. She placed her hand on his chest. Instantly, Bruce began his act.

My name is Bruce Wayne. I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. Why are you in the chem lab by yourself, at a time like this? Bruce asked. He noticed a full back-pack on the floor. Was she stealing something?

She stood right in front of Bruce, closer then he would expect from a stranger. He gave a smile, but inside, he hid his suspiscions.

Who are you? Bruce asked, looking deep into her eyes, trying to see an alterior motive or hidden ambition.

 

[Ithica]

The warmth in Selena's eyes was replaced with recognition and then confusion when she heard his name. There was hardly a citizen of Gotham that hadn't heard of the Wayne family. That had to be too big of a coincidence and why would he be all the way out in the middle of no where instead of in some snotty prep school. "I already told you why I was here." She said and took a step back no longer wishing to be alone with him with so many unknown variables.

Selena turned walked over to her back pack, she slung it over her shoulders and said, "I could ask you the same questions, Bruce. You have no reason to be here at a time like this. Thank you for finding me, but I have no reason to trust you. Your story really doesn't make any sense, especially since your friend outside the door said that the school was evacuating. The teachers are trying to do a head count so I think we should all just go join them.

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce was right. She began to grab her bag, and leave.

You're right, we should go to the teachers. Bruce said, his voice changed back to the more serious Bruce, and the sympathy dissapeared. He knew that Rose had lied. But, if they went to teachers, the chances of her getting away with whatever was in her bag was slimmer.

Bruce opened the door for the woman to exit. Rose's face made Bruce feel like she didn't trust him, or thought something. And Pete's face had a small hint of anger.

We need to go find the teachers, like you said Rose. Bruce said.

 

[Ravenloft]

"I have seen young 'Master' Bruce, myself, he seems too preoccupied to be much of a threat to us, but still, I have extended an invitation to him to come here... Which, as of yet, he has not accepted." Lex said flatly.

"Your will be done." Lex said, mere shades away from being a mocking tone. He fully intended to do as Lionel suggested though, more to find out what his fathers real interest in the caves were, than as a buisness venture.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose and Pete

Well, yes, Rose had prevaricated somewhat. Equivocated, one might say.

She hadn't actually seen the teachers evacuating folks. She hadn't actually seen the headcount. But she'd learned from countless juvenile fire-alarm pranks at Smallville Middle School that standard operating procedure in the case of an emergency was to get everyone outside and wait for the fire trucks.

She assumed that they'd be doing this, because it was what they were supposed to be doing. She hoped they'd be doing this. But no, she'd not actually seen it happening. So as far as that went, yes, she'd spoken an untruth.

Her face, her eyes, like the mind in the brain behind that face, behind those eyes, were enough of a mix of emotions that she could hardly make head or tail of herself. Bruce seemed like an inherently good guy, she knew that intuitively. But her eyes and ears were sharp as razors and she'd seen him heard him act so many different ways it was impossible to be sure what he'd do next.

The girl was... very pretty. High society pretty. Brunette, with eyes of smoke and auburn and emerald. (Exactly the kind of eyes Rose had imagined on Kyle moments before, and this took Rose aback for an instant or two.)

Rose could hardly blame Bruce for wanting to get cozy with her, if that's what he'd been doing. But Rose looked at her with eyes that now saw light instead of heat and realised that Rose McCrimmon, as usual, had no idea what would happen next.

She didn't know the girl. She barely knew Bruce. She felt horrible for judging them, simply horrible, but she didn't know what end was up and this put her into one Hell of a quandary.

With naught else to do, she led the way back towards the front of the school, her wet braid swinging slightly against her back as she moved. She walked, keeping an eye out for any fire exits by which they might depart more quickly.

Her ears were razor sharp...

She kept hearing a tiny feathersoft clinking noise; it hadn't been there a minute ago, and something about it made the skin on the back of her neck crawl. It sounded like... like men were having a toast at a bar and knocking their steins together... but it sounded as if from a long long long way away.

She frowned, and wondered what it meant. She hadn't a clue. She didn't know enough.

She glanced back over her shoulder at Bruce and the girl and she frowned.

It was like one of Kyle's shadows had gotten lodged in the pit of her stomach, cold and beleaguering and dark. She liked this not at all. But what could she do?

All she had was intuition. She didn't know enough.

Pete walked along behind, rubbing the back of his neck where Principal Jamison had grabbed it. He kept his sour mood in check, kept it locked in a safe in his deepest darkest hindbrain.

Because he'd suddenly made a connection. Principal Jamison had been hard as tungsten, through and through, not a single human feeling left in him, when he'd gone all postal like that. And that's how Bruce was acting right now, had been acting since this whole thing started... at least he'd been acting that way when Pete had come across him.

Epidemic.

What if Bruce had caught it, too?

Pete didn't relish the thought of getting his face smashed in for the second time that afternoon. But he relished the thought even less of his newly declared bud getting away with mistreating people.

So he walked, and he watched. He watched Bruce like a hawk.

 

[Ithica]

Selena felt comfortable wearing the backpack. She had thought about leaving it but had decided what could be less suspicious than a backpack in a high school. That would be like being suspicious of jeans in a Gap. Still, after running all her actions in her head everything that she had done left a trail. However, whether that trail led to her or not, Selena felt like there was a spotlight on her.

Everyone was so quiet and something felt wrong like she should be looking for the nearest window. When she had walked out the Chem. lab door, she had recognized the red head. Not wanting to stay back with Bruce she caught up with the young woman. “So, you guys are trying to figure out what is going on? What happened to the principal and the teachers? I mean, I saw you in the crowd downstairs; there were no teachers at all. All the teachers disappear in the middle of a school day is odd and when the parents find that out they are going to want to crucify someone.”

 

[AmenRa]

"I have seen young 'Master' Bruce, myself, he seems too preoccupied to be much of a threat to us, but still, I have extended an invitation to him to come here... Which, as of yet, he has not accepted." Lex said flatly.

"Your will be done." Lex said, mere shades away from being a mocking tone. He fully intended to do as Lionel suggested though, more to find out what his fathers real interest in the caves were, than as a buisness venture.

"Excellant," Lionel said, "Goodbye, Son."

He cradled his office phone and stared off into space for a moment.

He wondered if John Smith had met Lex yet.

That should be interesting.

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce kept his eyes on the brunette and her backpack. Usually, in fire alarm cases, you're supposed to drop everything and get out. But this girl seemed to have too much riding on this. And she looked uncomfortable too.

Something told Bruce that she was up to something.

Pete kept his eye on Bruce as well. Bruce didn't know why, but didn't really care. He didn't let on that he knew Pete's actions, but he wasn't going to stop himself from doing something, just because Pete didn't like him. Teachers couldn't be trusted for some reason, Princepal Jamison was proof of that.

Bruce felt it upon himself to get things back together. Or at least try.

Bruce left Pete to himself, not speaking with him, trying to get him to realize what was going on. Instead, he kept his eyes on what he figured was a much bigger problem, the woman walking next to Rose in front of him.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Kara had finally returned to her own bedroom after spending some time alone out in the loft. For a few hours she had simply looked up to the stars through her telescope... wondering. Yet for all her searching she came up with nothing. Kara wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for... perhaps some shining star or something.

Turning the lights off, Kara crawled into her bed and pulled the covers up, resting them comfortably under her arms. With a sigh she shut her eyes and fell asleep.

"Kara?" Martha asked, coming downstairs early the next morning and finding her daughter sitting on the couch, a blanket wrapped tightly around her. Kara turned her head over her shoulders and looked up at her mother.

"What are you doing up so early?" Martha asked, coming to sit down next to her.

"I couldn't sleep." she admitted.

"Is everything alright?" Martha then asked. Kara simply shook her head.

"I don't know. I was sleeping last night and then... I felt something. I woke up and I just felt... afraid." she admitted. Kara wasn't quite sure how to put her feelings into words. The experience that had disturbed her sleep last night was unlike anything she had ever gone through before. Well... perhaps not. There was that one moment back when she was away when Kara heard this terrible ringing in her ears, as if someone had just started wailing on a bell. But just as suddenly as it started it had stopped, leaving here there to wonder. Kara left that little bit out of her retelling of events. She would need to find out about it on her own.

In any case, Kara couldn't go back to bed after that, and so she came downstairs and stayed on the couch, wrapped up in her blanket. Martha looked concerned for her daughter, but she wasn't sure what to say.

"I'm sure it's nothing, honey." Martha said, rubbing her hand against her daughters back, massaging it softly. Kara nodded her head, wrapping the blanket around her even tighter. Maybe... maybe she was just being paranoid.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose and Pete

"Yeah, I guess we're sort of volunteering our services," Rose nodded quietly, biting her lip and flicking water out of that lonely forelock as she walked. "(The dog and the hippie are out waiting in the van.) I dunno what the deal was; I guess all the teachers were in a meeting or something with Mr. Kwan. I think if anyone gets, uh, crucified, it's gonna be Principal Jamison. He was... I saw him going beserk in the cafeteria. I guess he hurt the janitor, and he hurt Pete, and he hurt a lunch-lady, and there was a huge mess and lots of people were crying..."

She smiled thinly, nipped her gaze over to Selena, met Selena's chiaroscuro eyes.

"He kicked his own butt, though," she suggested, surprisingly blithely. "Must have slipped, or something. There was water everywhere."

How easily it comes, she reflected with a moment of chagrin. Exchanging half of the truth for self-preservation. But it's not like I'm alone in speaking in that dialect. Half-truth is the vernacular language of Smallville.

She shoved her hands in her pockets, found there more water than she expected, and removed her hands again. She couldn't wait to dry off.

"But it looked like the teachers were getting their ducks in a row," she mentioned, "at long, eventual last. They're definitely going to be wanting all of us outside."

Clink, clink, clink. Slightly louder now. Ever-so-slightly louder. But it still seemed... muffled, somehow.

What was that?

Pete's voice was quiet, as he moved up beside Bruce, as he walked in pace with Mister Gotham Real Estate.

His voice was even, was quiet, like the sky after a storm. Like a sleeping giant reluctant to awaken.

"You all here, Bruce?" he asked, directly, wrestling with his initial impressions of Bruce-- stand-up guy, stones of brass, heart o' gold --with this version 2.0 sorta Bruce-- cunning, snappish, heart o' tungsten --and hoping and praying that the initial stuff won out. But Bruce was acting way, way too similarly to the authority figure that had just handed Pete his butt, and he couldn't take any chances.

So help him God, Pete couldn't take any chances.

"'Cause if y'ain't all here," he continued, tones methodical, gaze straight ahead, "if there's a part of you that's... somewhere else? You should probably lemme know."

 

[AmenRa]

Ooc: Post Deleted For Continuity Purposes.

 

[Ithica]

Selena was shocked when Rose explained about what happened with the principal. She continued walking until she had processed what all that information meant. Selena stopped walking, started laughing, and gave them all a look like she just found herself in the midst of crazy people.

"Let me get this straight. All the teachers are gone at a critical moment and everything goes straight to hell. You find the principal loosing it in the cafeteria. But you leave that alone to aimlessly wandering the school to 'figure out what's going on'.

I'm grateful for the escort, safety in numbers and all that, so I have two helpful phrases for you. One... shit flows down from the top. Crazy principal equals crazy school. If the principal hadn't gone crazy and the teachers were where they were supposed to be, then it wouldn't have mattered what the jocks did. Two...what you are looking for is always in the last place you look. It's in the last place because you don't keep looking. I don't mean to be critical of your detective work but I wouldn't quit my day job if I were any of you."

Selena didn't really care if her little monologue bothered Bruce. She didn't like the way he was looking at her and the other two didn't seem anymore at ease around him either. She didn't want to hurt Rose because she seemed like a sweet girl. She winked at Pete and then patted Rose on the back and smiled at her. "I think someone is leading you astray, dear."

 

[Superman1496]

Bruce heard a noise, that was faint, and at first, Bruce thought he was imagining things. But then he heard it again.

Clinking. A muffled clinking. It was faint, but it was rythmatic.

Don't worry Pete, I'm here. I guess I've just been acting a little differently because of the situation. But it's ok. Don't worry man. Bruce told Pete, in a calm soothing voice.

The same Bruce that Pete had met in the caves, and in front of the school that morning.

Bruce walked up closer to Rose and Selena. He wasn't going to get anywhere with Selena if he was a hard-ass with her. He had to put on his "alter ego" as Pete would refer to it later.

Well, The reason that left everything the way it was, is because Chloe snapped the teachers back into reality. Bruce said, his usual bubbly voice. If bubbly was the right word.

He remembered Chloe. He hadn't seen her since the teachers lounge. He hoped that she would be ok. He didn't doubt her, she was on hell of a resourceful girl, but he still worried. He found it odd, because he didn't worry about anyone really, save Alfred.

So, who where you hiding from in the chem lab? Bruce asked. As he got closer, he heard the clinking get a little bit louder, but still muffled.

 

[Superman1496]

Alfred

Well, if it's not too much to ask, my tire seems to have gone sour on me. Alfred asked as he got out of the Mercedez to greet the two samaritans.

He recognized the them, but couldn't remember exactly from where. I happen to be heading to Metropolis, and don't have the required tools to fix my own car. Alfred said, chuckling to himself. Master Bruce would have a field day with this: Alfred not being prepared for a long journey ahead.

He thought of Master Bruce, hoping that he was ok. He probably was, for he was very resourceful, and it was only for a night. But he still had a knacking feeling in the back of his mind.

 

[Ravenloft]

In short order, Lex had set about Luthorcorps first charity endeavor in Smallville, that of restoring and maintaining the Kawatche Caves. No more than three hours after Lionels phone call, did the first 'experts' show up at the caves. Followed by Lex himself.

 

[ChasNicollette]

[I saw the same cat walk by twice. That means They must have changed something in the code of The Matrix.]

 

[ChasNicollette]

Rose and Pete

This girl was...

Rose didn't know her name, but the girl had apparently, at least, seen Rose in passing.

This girl was very very good at giving dressings-down. She pretty much disassembled Rose's sense of righteous resolve, reduced it to so many Lego blocks and quantum foam.

Rose wanted to rant at her, wanted to bunch her hands into fists and stomp her foot in temper-tantrumy fury...

'But I took down the bad guy!' she wanted to scream. 'I put ice under his feet and chucked a Brandon Boyd Light Grenade into his chest and he disgorged his malignant spirit and-and-and Mister Jenkins told me to go earn my merit badges!'

She didn't say this, though, as her resolve was depleted. She blushed as red as her hair and she hung her head as she walked and she felt plenty stupid.

She didn't even need to go thermal anymore to evapourate the water on her skin and in her clothes; she could just dry off from the heat of her blush.

Oh, God, she whimpered inwardly. What was I thinking?

Bruce's words were encouraging, but they didn't solve the entire problem.

Rose managed to recover a bit of her dignity, her blush receded somewhat, but she still felt like something of a complete nitwit.

She wasn't so smart, was Rose. Not really. She couldn't figure out languages, she muddled through on Science, she could barely carry pi to ten places...

She wasn't a very good reporter. She sighed, and rubbed her face with one hand.

Bruce's question about the boys who'd been chasing the girl was more on the nose, and Rose was again grateful for his presence and repentant that she'd doubted him.

You're not bad at this stuff, Bobby Stevenson, she decided. Better instincts for it than I do, in any case.

Plus, his voice was drowning out that eerie clinking noise and that had seriously been getting on her nerves.

Pete breathed a little sigh of relief. Kept it to himself, but he breathed it all the same.

Bruce had recovered his soul, or at least that's what it looked like. Pete supposed that he could understand stress making a person glitch out more than a little.

(Chloe had cussed a little bit earlier because Professor Kawatche DaVinci had ticked her off. This one time, Pete had been freaking out over a writing project and had spoken in glaring sentence fragments for half a day straight.)

Maybe the madness is finally done, he wondered. Maybe the teacher's'll be so messed up by all this that they'll just call do-over and decide this day never happened. Would that be askin' for too much?

 

[AmenRa]

The Imprisonment of Zod

There was silence in the Council Chamber. Inside such a grand place, even the silence echoed. The Great Dome, now closed, pinpointed a small, bright beam upon the floor in its center. Even so, the very vastness of the Chamber threatened to swallow the light.

Standing within the circle of light, retained there by circling strands of Fourth Dimensional Matter, stood General Zod. He stood proud, for even in defeat his arrogance and his pretence kept his head held high.

His jawline, however, was held tightly clenched. For standing outside his restraining field, someone was speaking. And they were speaking about him. About his fate.

"And it is without any remorse, or pity, or mercy in mind that Zod attacked our outposted colonies and killed, mind you, not just the soldiers who were stationed there for defense, but their wives and young ones as well!" Zor-El's voice rose in crescendo as he spoke and echoed throughout the Chamber.

"And," he continued, "it should be noted by your honors that these people, these soldiers who did indeed give their lives for Krypton were HIS OWN!"

Zod's jaw clenched tighter, if that was possible, and his hands rolled into fists. Zor-El had stopped, facing the criminal. Out of the shadows behind Zor-El stepped a taller, more muscularly built humanoid with a sloping green-tinted head and a flowing cape. This one's eyes glowed red.

"These atrocities of which I speak are only the end of the list of the crime of murder that Zod has committed against Krypton," Zor-El began again. "You have been read the charges of treason, sedition, and sabotage of the Brain InterActive Construct and the very threat of Krypton's annihilation.

"I know ask you, Great Council, to pass judgement on the accused," Zor-El finished, then looked Zod in the eye.

Both knew what was coming.

Somewhere, from far off in the distance of the Chamber, seven disembodied voices answered the same.

"Guilty."

And there was silence. And Zor-El reached out his hand and opened his palm, and Zod saw in it a crystal that had the symbol of the House of El on it. Zor-El touched the crystal, and the Great Dome opened.

And through the opened dome, Zod looked up into the night sky of Krypton, awash in all of the stars and the beautiful serenity of blue and white given off by the world. He saw a twinkle, at first maybe a star, but then it grew larger into a pane of crystal shard that twisted and turned as it came down upon him.

He looked at Zor-El and his face twisted into a grimace of rage.

"You have been found guilty," Zor-El spoke, "and as is punishment for your crimes you are hereby banished into the Phantom Zone where you will roam its wastes forever!"

The gateway to the Zone came closer. And Zod spoke back to his imprisoner through clenched teeth and with a voice of raspy hell, "You will bow down before me, Zor-El! You, and then one day, your heirs!"

And in a brief instant of brilliant light, Zod was no more.

At least, not in this dimension.

 

[Ithica]

Selena repressed a smile when Bruce finally asked her who had been chasing her. She had been trying to keep them all off balance by turning the questions around on them and getting them to doubt themselves. She took it as a good sign that they were almost back to the main hallway and they were only just starting to ask questions about why she was in the lab.

"Three or four jocks chased me. I think I may have pushed one or stomped a few toes while I was in the mob downstairs. They took offense. I got away when the sprinklers came on. I'm new here so I'm not sure but, the jocks, do they always act like that. Picking on others kids seems to be the norm for every school, but the streaking and beating themselves up doesn't seem normal."