Chapter 25

The Memorial Service for Kent Nelson had been one of those bittersweet moments for those who knew him best. It had been necessary to put Kent's body to rest though, even though a couple of the members of the League knew that his spirit would not go on until a worthy successor had been found to the Doctor Faith legacy and they all hoped it would be soon.

Now, they shifted focus to one of their own, the mysterious incidents that centered around Red Tornado. Several members of the League moved in, with Batman, Black Canary, Superwoman, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Aquaman, John Stewart of the Green Lantern Corps, Green Arrow, The Martian Manhunter, and Red Tornado himself being among the group of League members that met.

"Given the information that we had at the time, my placement as the guardian of the team was the best option," Red Tornado said. "But, given recent events, I fear that my continued presence only endanger them."

"Do you know who is behind these attacks?" Power Girl asked.

Red Tornado processed all of the available information and came to a conclusion that was necessary.

"Well, as we know, the Mister Twister incident has the fingerprints of my creator TO Morrow," Red Tornado commented. "It is something that you must have picked up on. Ivo always intended to be better than Morrow. As for the two who were cited circling the cave, I'm afraid I have no further information regarding their motivation."

Red Tornado refused to engage in baseless speculation, which was something that could and would get him into trouble. The League members looked around at him and Batman was the one who spoke.

"We will place you in a safe house, close enough to where they were scouting to not think that we are onto them," Batman said. "But far enough as to not put the members of the team in danger."

"Don't you think it's possible that Superboy might just be overreacting?" Green Arrow asked.

"Superman's information is credible, and he's given me no reason to think he was lying," Batman said.

"I didn't say he was lying, but I am thinking that he made something out of nothing," Green Arrow said.

As it was most of the time when Harry was brought up, Superwoman zoned a little bit out of the conversation. Despite the fact, her lips curled into the frown, and Power Girl had been glaring at Green Arrow from across the table and she was not the only one.

"But, it is not nothing, as we learned," Red Tornado said. "He was correct to inform us of the security risk."

"But, we trust him, despite being a creation of Cadmus," Green Arrow said. "We still don't know what they might have put in his head."

"I have scanned his memories with his consent," J'onn commented with an even and measured look directed towards Green Arrow. "I have found no signs of deception or anything Cadmus might have planted. And before you ask, I have also checked out his former handler, Doctor Fairchild, and she was a pawn in their game. I fear that once Super...man had been transferred for his real programming, she would have been taken care of being a loose end."

Karen hated to say it, but she would have to agree with J'onn's assessment. Which is why she kept a close watch on Caitlin and made sure someone trusted trailed her at all times.

"Superman's given me no reason to think he's deceiving us," Batman said. "He would have had numerous opportunities to set up the others for a fall and make it look like an accident."

"Yeah, I guess," Green Arrow said. "But, who is going to fill in for Tornado? Because, you know we are a bit short-handed right now, given some of the events that have happened recently. And we aren't in the position to take new recruits for another couple of months."

"We'll figure out something," Wonder Woman said. "Some of us can rotate in as needed."

"The top priority is ensuring the cave is secure and free of any contamination," Batman told the League. "And then certain members of the team can rotate in and out as needed, until at least we can find someone more permanent."

Batman took a few seconds to pause to ensure that everyone had been on the same page.

"And I believe you had a report to give us," Batman said to Green Arrow.

"Yes," he commented a second later. "It involves Count Vertigo...and the situation over there has gotten a bit worse. We've not been able to nail the bastard just yet because of his diplomatic immunity, but we'll get him. I swear we'll get him on something."

Green Arrow launched onto his report. Unfortunately, they could not prove that Count Vertigo had been behind the latest attacks, even though Oliver knew in his gut that bastard had been. But, it was unfortunate that he could ooze out of trouble because of his position.

Megan hummed the theme song to her favorite show as she sorted through several items that she needed for school, bubbling with excitement. Harry hung up with her, in her room at the Penthouse. Megan was really happy that Harry extended the invitation and now that she had been here for a few days, she had no intention of going back to the cave.

"But, we're heading to school for the first time, actual Earth school, I mean!" Megan cheered when clutching laptop bag that she had acquired for the laptop she acquired. "It's going to be so exciting, well it looks kind of exciting on television."

"You can't believe everything you see on TV," Harry warned her.

"Well, no, but still, we, and Donna too, are going to Happy Harbor High this semester," Megan said with jubilation dancing in her voice.

Harry responded with a nod, but he smiled despite himself. Megan was so excited that he could not bare and bring her back down to Earth. The fact of the matter was, they had to attend this school to maintain apparences, despite Harry feeling that he might be more qualified to teach the classes then attend them. But, still, he was there for Megan and Donna, as they assimilated into a new environment.

"Aren't you excited?" Megan asked.

"A little bit, but it's obvious you're happy," Harry said. "I just hope it lives up to everything that you dreamed it to be."

"I know, I know," Megan commented. "But, I'm ready!"

Megan flipped through the clothes she purchased, not that she needed them due to her shapeshifting abilities. Still, it was the ritual of shopping more so than anything that got Megan excited, and it was part of the afterschool tradition to go clothes shopping. Although Donna seemed less than excited about the entire ordeal and there was a sense that Harry was humoring her by going along for the ride.

In the hallway, Karen appeared and poked her head in the door.

"Just a reminder, were heading off to the Kent Farm in about an hour," Karen said. "Martha wants to meet you and….Claire is going to be there."

Harry acted very casual at the thought of his mother being there. To be perfectly honest, it was one of those things where he had just held off hope that Claire would want anything to do with him. If Vlsitr did, that was great, but if she didn't, then Harry was not going to be too upset about the entire situation as well. That was just how things went in his opinion. And Claire did have her DNA stolen.

Still, he wanted to meet Martha Kent, who he had heard nothing but good things about from Karen and Lois. So that had been something to look forward to.

"So, she's going to be there?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Lois said as she poked in the hallway. "Martha would make sure that she did not flake out on this, and I'm going to make sure she doesn't either, even if I have to drag her there."

Harry smiled, feeling a bit of anxiety on Claire's behalf.

"But, she promised that she would show up," Lois said. "And barring a Doomsday level event…."

Lois paused and shook her head, maybe that was not the best choice of words all things considered. Much too soon, after all. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure she won't disappoint you," Harry said.

"It's nice that one of us has faith," Lois said.

"Well, you go mad if you don't," Harry said.

"So, you're going to dinner," Megan said. "That's nice….I'm sure that you'll have a great time, and it's a bonding experience, so I don't think that….I'm just going to hang around here."

Harry moved closer towards Megan and she was right in the position to look straight into his eyes.

"You know, you're invited too," Harry told her.

"Seriously?" Megan asked.

"Yes, seriously," Harry said.

Megan practically jumped up into the air in joy, squealing in delight to the amusement of both Karen and Lois. Harry knew that would make Megan's day, and despite the fact that she had several lonely nights in the cave, she put on a brave face. She might not like to admit that something was wrong, but Megan always was good at putting on a mask that Harry was able to see through.

Nearly an hour later, Karen, Lois, Megan, and Harry arrived in Smallville, looking at the Kent Farm. It always was so welcoming, Karen almost forgot that fact. They moved up the front driveway. Karen knocked on the door.

The door opened to reveal a kindly middle aged woman with auburn hair, who was still very attractive. Martha Kent, the adoptive mother of Claire, who broke out into a warm smile when she saw her.

"Mrs. Kent, thank you for inviting us other," Karen said graciously.

"Karen, you're always welcomed at the farm," Martha said. "And I told you before, it's Martha...and Lois, it's nice to see you as well."

"Oh, it's been way too long," Lois said. "Your house is still lovely."

"Yes, the house hadn't changed much," Martha said. "And...you must be Harry."

Martha swept Harry into a hug, a few seconds later, which he returned in good nature.

"Pleasure to meet you….well you're technically my Grandmother, but you look much too young to be one," Harry said.

"Well, aren't you a charmer," Martha commented. "You can call me whatever you like, dear. Martha, if that's what you're comfortable with doing."

"Thanks, Martha," Harry said. "And this is my friend, Megan."

"It's nice for you to have us over," Megan said.

"Oh, there's always room for one more," Martha said with a warm smile directed towards their new guest. "And there's already a couple of people here."

Lois looked at the table, and hoped to see Claire, but she had been disappointed to find out she had not shown up. A dark-haired woman at the table broke out into a smile and rose up to her feet.

"Hello, Lois," she said.

"Rebecca Grayson, have you been staying out of trouble?" Lois asked.

"Oh, like you're one to talk about trouble," Rebecca commented with a casual smile directed towards Lois. "Karen, good to see you."

Harry just smiled and moved towards her.

"It's nice to meet you Rebecca," Harry said before he moved so the only so the two of them could hear them. "Again….my name is Harry Kent, and this is my friend Megan Morse."

"Pleased to meet both of you," Rebecca said with a knowing smile.

The other occupant of the table stood up, an attractive redhead wearing a fashionable green dress which fit her body nicely, but tastefully. Harry's attention drew ever so briefly to her legs, and she just smiled at him. He figured out who she was right away.

"I'm Lana...Lana Lang," she said. "I'm one of Claire's oldest friends...it's nice to meet you Harry."

Lana wrapped Harry up in a hug, greeting the son, for lack of a better term, of her friend. She took a few minutes to appreciate his biceps, and how firm they were. She tried not to get too caught up in him, pulling away with a bright smile on her face when looking him over.

"And nice to meet you too Megan."

"Wait, you're Lana Lang?" Megan asked. "The Lana Lang...the famous fashion designer?"

"Well, I don't know if I'd call myself famous," Lana said with a chuckle. "But, I do dabble in fashion here and there, yes."

Rebecca smiled and the two indulged themselves a bit of an animated conversation with fashion. She motioned for Harry to come to her, so she could have a private conversation with him.

"So, how are things going?" Rebecca asked. "I understand your team had some problems with security."

"Yes," Harry said. "There was someone after Red Tornado...and we're all out of the cave until they find out if anyone is monitoring it, or if it was just a coincidence those two androids were there."

Rebecca nodded in response. Martha moved around the kitchen, wrapping up dinner, and checking her watch.

"My daughter should be showing up soon," Martha said.

"She better," Lois murmured.

Everyone who heard that tone from Lois knew better than to argue.

"And Kara's finishing up her chores," Martha said and she turned to Harry with a smile. "Your other cousin...she's...well it's a long story, which I'm sure she'll tell you in detail...last time I saw her, she was out by the barn...she knows that you're stopping by for dinner...and Claire as well."

"You want me to go get her?" Harry asked.

"That would be nice of you," Martha said with a warm smile. "But, be careful, she's...she's been in quite the mood lately. She's still transitioning to Earth, and it didn't help that Claire...has been going through her own problems since she got here."

"I'll come with," Megan said.

The two headed out to the barn, ready to retrieve Kara, allowing the others to have a conversation.

"So, how long do you think before those two get together?" Rebecca asked Lana, who just smiled.

An attractive blonde girl dressed in a red tank top and jean shorts, with her hair tied back in a ponytail grumbled when she finished hauling firewood into the barn.

"This is not what I expected life on Earth to be," she muttered. "Then again, I expected Clara to be a baby when I got here...and now she's grown up and Superwoman and….I don't even know what my place is here."

Kara Zor-El, or Kara Kent as she had been named on Earth, found life on Earth to not be as glamorous or exciting as she intended. She had those great powers, underneath the yellow sun, but what was the point if they were being used for manual labor. Kara happily agreed to help out the woman that raised her cousin when she had been strapped into stasis. However, there was a part of Kara who felt that she was a prisoner, her goodwill being taken advantage of by doing countless chores.

What was the point of having amazing powers if you had been stuck on a farm in the middle of nowhere? Not there was anything wrong with farm life, but Kara longed for freedom.

Two individuals appeared at the farm door. One of them had been a pretty girl with red hair, who had a sunny personality that Kara would appreciate more if she was not in such a sour mood. The other was a handsome young man with green eyes and dark hair, with chiseled features that Kara thought she could get lost exploring in for days. She shook her head to clear it.

"You're not the new farm hands are you?" Kara asked.

"No, I'm Harry, and this is Megan."

Kara almost dropped the firewood on the ground. So, this was Harry, her cousin's son, for lack of a better term. Although, cloning was a bit of a social taboo on Krypton, obviously different from their genetically engineered matching, obviously. Despite not being the farm hands, they helped Kara finish up her chores in no time.

"You must be Kara," Harry said.

"I am," she said. "And you're...him….aren't you?"

Kara figured out pretty quickly who he was, and it was hard not to feel some resentment at the fact that he had a wide open life.

"Yes," Harry said.

"It must be exciting to be on a farm, with chores and stuff," Megan said.

"Not particularly," Kara said in a sour voice.

Harry frowned, she seemed a bit cold and distant. Kara appeared to be going through some angsty teenage phase, and Harry had a good idea that she was taking Claire's recent distant attitude a lot harder than he did. Then again, from what Karen mentioned, Kara had to deal with shock of her cousin being a grown woman because the last time Kara saw Claire, she was a young child.

"Martha has dinner ready," Harry told her.

"Let me clean up and I'll be with you," Kara said.

Megan watched her leave and turned to Harry, who watched Kara leave.

"Some people find their place on Earth a lot easier than others," Megan said.

"Yes," Harry agreed.

'She is pretty cute,' Megan thought, unaware that Harry caught her thoughts.

Harry just smiled, agreeing with Megan.

Claire knew that she would be in serious trouble if she did not make it back to the Kent Farm in time for dinner. Unfortunately for her, luck had not been on her side. On her way back from the Watchtower, Claire dropped off her latest report. Only to find the news that something had been seen hovering over Kansas by several people.

There were aliens among the people of Earth, but there were also a few hoaxes by people looking to make a quick buck. Claire resolved to keep an open mind and she came face to face with a hovering platform. It made a loud humming sound which caused the hairs on the back of Claire's neck to stand down.

Three drones appeared in front of Claire, and she immediately took out one of the drones with a blast of heat vision. Another heat vision blast took out the second drone. The third drone slipped away from Claire, hovering about, blinking several times and it appeared to be scanning her body.

The Woman of Steel's eyes glowed, and Superwoman flew at the drone, only for it to flicker away. She punched the air, confused and bewildered what what she saw.

The platform opened up and upon a hover chair, a green skinned android floated in front of her. A field of energy surrounded the hover chair. The most interesting mark that he had was three dots on his chest, and glowing purple symbols upon his forehead.

"Greetings, Kryptonian," he said in monotone. "I am the BrainInteractive Construct. My mission is to preserve worlds before their inhabitants destroy them. I have found organic creatures to be lawless and chaotic, and much culture has been lost. I intend to preserve the best of the best, and then eliminate the rest, the obsolete."

Superwoman's attempt to breach the shield had caused her to bounce off onto it. A loud bang ricocheted off of the shield, from Superwoman falling back all the way down to Earth. Every nerve ending of her body exploded into white hot fire, and she struggled to get up, but just collapsed down on the ground.

"Observe," the android said.

The android's palm opened and released a glass bulb. It hovered over the farm town and shrunk the entire city. All it left behind was a large gaping hole where the city was.

Claire's eyes widened a second later, she saw the former farm city in front of her, miniaturized. If she strained enough, she could hear the terrified screams of the people who had been in the town.

"You put them in a bottle," Claire said.

"For all intents and purposes, I did," the android agreed. "They will get used to their new fate eventually."

"There are people in there!" Claire yelled. "Living breathing…."

"Merely specimens that I must preserve for further study," the android said. "This was just a demonstration. Normally, I take only the biggest and most prominent cities of any planet, before I eliminate the rest."

"You mean that you blow the world's up after you steal their major cities?" Superwoman asked.

"Affirmative" the android agreed. "There is no point in retaining nonessential data, therefore it must be purged."

Superwoman's fist shook a second later, the intent to stick it through this android, Brainiac as she began to call him, became obvious. The Woman of Steel zipped underneath the chair and made another move to breach the underside of it. The ricochet affect caused her to knock back.

"A surviving Kryptonian is a rarity," Brainiac said. "Therefore, you will be preserved with the rest."

He encased Superwoman in a bright light and every nerve ending in her body exploded, when she shrank and he been kept in a stasis field.

Brainiac retired briefly to his ship, the platform rising up and moving to its next destination. In the meantime, the android would place this Superwoman with the rest of the Kryptonians he had collected.

Lois paced back and forth. Dinner was supposed to start twenty minutes ago, which meant that Claire was extremely late. One could see Lois about ready to blow her gasket.

"Sit down and calm down," Karen advised her.

"Oh, I'm calm….I'm calm as I'll ever be!" Lois yelled. "I can't believe after all of that, she would skip out on dinner...and for no good reason. I'm going to give her a piece of my mind and maybe even something else, I swear to…."

Rebecca's phone rang which cut off Lois in midstream. She answered it immediately.

"Rebecca?"

"Yes, Babs, what is it?" she asked.

"You really should get a look at this," the voice on the other end of the phone commented.

Lois's cell phone lit up with a text from Mary Jane and it read "turn on the television."

"Martha, do you think I can turn on the television?" Lois asked.

Martha nodded, she had a sixth sense that both of these phone calls had something to do with the reason that her daughter was late. Lois flipped the television screen on and the image of Cat Grant flashed on the screen for the entire world to see.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are being invaded by a visitor from outer space," Cat Grant narrated. "Several television stations around the world were interrupted just twenty minutes ago by this video, which we will replay one more time for those of you just joining us."

"Good evening, people of Earth, or morning, depending on where your proximity to the sun is," the android said. "My name is the BrainInteractive Construct. I have been created with the purpose to preserve worlds. I will be taking several of your cities to protect the people inside from their extinction. And then, once I have acquired the needed data and Earth is obsolete, I will eradicate what remained."

Brainiac reached behind him and showed off a collection. Several cities flashed up about the screen.

"And one of your protectors has already been brought here as a tribute to your planet," Brainiac said. "Even though, she will be placed in a tribute of another planet, for she is the Last Daughter of Krypton."

Everyone, both in the Kent Farmhouse kitchen and all around the world, viewed in horror, when Superwoman was lowered into the bottle. Kara's eyes widened when she noticed the city in the bottle.

"That's Kandor!" Kara yelped in surprise.

"Come again?" Lois asked.

"The Lost City of Kandor, it was...well it was Krypton's capital for a long time," Kara explained. "Their citizens vanished just one cycle before the end of Krypton."

Harry and Karen were already out the door. They noticed where Brainiac was and it was not that far from here. Perhaps they could liberate both Superwoman, the bottled city of Kandor, and stop Brainiac, with any luck.

The entire world watched watched in eyes. One who watched closely was Lex Luthor, who frowned. Superwoman being trapped so easily raised an eyebrow. Lex prepared several contingency plans in the off chance that there would be problem, some kind of alien invasion.

For a second, Lex's eyes rested on a picture of a dark haired, green eyed woman on the desk. Regretful, but necessary, a constant reminder of what Lex needed to do to protect the world from what was to come.

"Mr. Luthor, here are the files that you wanted on Rhelasia, both North and South."

Lex, having been fixated on the alien invasion, had been so distracted he barely noticed his secretary drop the files that had been important to him two hours ago on his desk.

"Thank you Miss Tessmacher."

Lex was not the only one who had been watching intently. His bodyguard Mercy, a worthwhile investment in his opinion, watched the screen, almost waiting for any of Lex's orders.

"This Brainiac may be an intriguing wrinkle in things," Lex said. "I am curious to find out what drew him to our humble little quarter of the universe in the first place."

Lex could only guess, but he detested making theories because they did not hold up in reality.

"It's moving towards Metropolis," Lex said. "It would be an ideal target...but he's not going to take my city that easily."

Lex cleared his throat and Mercy raised her eyebrow, waiting for Lex to say his orders.

"Implement Plan Alpha-9."

Mercy responded with a very crisp nod and disappeared into the next room to do her boss's bidding.

High in the sky, Superman and Power Girl arrived to go for the main ship. The Kryptonians had a feeling that it was not going to be easy to go into the platform. The citizens high above them cheered and some of them whistled when the two Kryptonians moved in to save the day.

Harry blocked out the roar of the crowd and focused on drones. He really hated the fact his heat vision had not developed just yet. Karen had no problems, strafing in a circle and blasting all of the drones before they closed in him him. Harry picked up one of the flaming drone parts and super charged it before launching it like a fastball at the drones.

"So, how long do you think before we'll attract the big fish?" Harry asked.

"Won't be too long," Karen said. "Call it a hunch."

The hunch was right as Brainiac, in all of his glory, swooped out of the bottom of the ship. He shot cables at Superman and Power Girl who wisely scattered. Harry deflected those attacks back and a loud crack echoed through the air. Brainiac pulled back and the force field erupted outwards, knocking the two Kryptonians down to the ground.

Brainiac dropped down in front of them and surveyed them with a scan.

"You are obsolete, with the other Kryptonian in my custody," Brainiac said. "Therefore, you will be eli…."

M'gann popped out of the ground and stuck her hand through the forcefield and through Brainiac's back to misdirect his attention. She scrambled the circuits just enough to force Brainiac to abort his attempts to vaporize Karen and Harry and return to the ship.

"Perfect timing," Harry said.

"Well, I figured that you could use a hand," she said. "Teammates look out for each other, right?"

Harry nodded with a smile. Brainiac retreated back into his ship and his ship retreated out of their reach before cloaking in the distance. However, Harry figured that it's target would be the same, it was heading straight for Metropolis.

"We need to find a way to get onto that ship," Karen said.

"That's only half of the problem," Harry said. "Getting Superwoman out of the ship, and from Kandor...that's a problem…."

"Too bad you can't shrink yourself to sneak into the bottle," Megan said.

"Megan, you're a genius!" Harry cheered.

Megan flushed and looked pretty pleased with herself at Harry's statement. Karen snapped her fingers as an idea popped into her head.

"Pym Particles would be the answer," Karen said.

"Didn't Pym die?" Megan asked before she realized and snapped her fingers. "Oh, Hello Megan, Pym might be dead...but his former lab assistant is alive and well."

"Let's go," Karen said.

They had to hope Janet Van Dyne, Pym's former lab assistant, would be willing to help them, or the Pym Particles were not moved elsewhere. Because that would sink their plan.

Kara paced back and forth, both worried and frustrated. Lana reappeared, carrying a bag. A small smile crossed over the redhead's face when looking at the younger girl.

"I swear you can live Lois lessons," Lana said.

Kara just smiled, although it was an extremely pained one to be honest.

"What's in the bag?" Kara asked.

"Something that your cousin would kill me for giving you," Lana said. "But, I know you're going to go out there...despite the risk, if Harry and Karen don't save her soon. So, it's best that you look the part...and it also will help you channel your solar radiation for your powers better."

Kara snatched the bag from Lana and opened it up. She grinned when taking a good look at the contents.

"I love you, Lana," Kara said.

"Just be careful out there," Lana warned Kara.

"I've been training my powers for almost a year," Kara said. "I'm ready as I'll ever be."

Lana sure hoped so, for everyone's sake, Kara's especially.