Thanks - as always - to Kathy!
Last time
"That is not how the law works, dear brother, and you know it." Zara continued to stare at Clark. "It is your choice, *milord*. Abdicate and I will rule in your stead or fight Ching – to the death. If you win, I will bow out graciously as the law requires. If you lose, the Council will recognize my rightful position as First Lady of Krypton."
"Do I have a choice?" Clark whispered to Trey.
Trey shook his head sadly. "Your choices are to fight Ching or abdicate, allowing Zara to take control as First Lady. I am sure you are aware of the potential consequences of that choice."
"So it's me or everyone?"
"I fear it may be both," Trey told him, refusing to look him in the eye. "If Lady Zara takes over, I fear for both of our peoples, but Ching has trained with the Drei since his youth."
"Can't we play basketball or something instead?" Clark asked with a sigh, resigned.
Trey looked puzzled. "What's basketball?"
*~*27*~*
Lois somehow managed to convince their parents to wait in Pittsdale after Clark and the others took off. She'd reluctantly agreed that it would be best if she wasn't in the meeting with Ching and Zara. Though they knew that she was Clark's wife, *Clark* wasn't going to be the one meeting with them – Superman would.
But she'd also overheard that Zara and Ching had taken over the Daily Planet building and were holding everyone hostage. She'd agreed that accompanying Clark might be a bad plan on several levels, but that didn't mean that she was going to sit idly by and wait to see what happened.
She was stopped by police cars a block away from the building. How was she going to make it all the way to the Daily Planet building? She sighed, growing concerned as Superman and Ching landed lightly in the middle of the street.
"We can take this somewhere else," she heard Clark say.
Ching shook his head, a Drei materializing in his hand. He began to twirl it. "The duel is right here, right now." He struck at Clark, knocking him off his feet.
A Drei suddenly appeared in front of Clark and he grasped it as he jumped to his feet.
Lois watched from a distance, both fearing for her husband and wondering what she could do to help. Trey, Nor, Zod and the rest of the Council were standing not too far from where she was, but she doubted the stern looking policeman would let her get close. "Lord Trey," she whispered, hopeful that he would hear her. He turned towards her.
He walked towards her, speaking in low tones that only she could hear when he was close enough. "Milady, you are not safe here."
"Neither are a lot of other people," she told him quietly. "But I need your help."
She whispered to him for a moment. He nodded and a few seconds later, they were airborne. They disappeared over the western horizon and returned several minutes later, a box under Lois' arm.
"Be careful, milady," Trey said quietly. "We have been told that one of Zara's men used his eyes to burn one of the humans to a crisp, I believe is the phrase. They will not hesitate to do the same to you. You have no legal standing under Kryptonian law at the moment so there may be no consequences to them as far as they are concerned. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
Lois' face was grim. "I'm saving my people, Lord Trey, just as you and Clark are trying to protect yours." She started to walk off but stopped, turning back to the other man. "You do whatever you can to help Clark. I'll take care of Zara. Stay away from the newsroom and keep Clark away."
Zod landed next to Trey. "How are you going to take care of Lady Zara?" Zod asked. "I believe you to be both brave and strong, milady, but not foolish. I fear both for your safety and the state of Lord Kal-El's mind if something were to happen to you."
"Just stay away from the building," she told them, marching off.
She peeked around the corner, cringing as she heard metal crunching in front of the Planet building. A car alarm blared. Seeing no one, she ran quickly to a short staircase nearly hidden by a dumpster and down to the door. She pulled her lock pick set out of her pocket and a minute later, she was inside.
She was in a basement storeroom and she carefully felt her way to the staircase. It wasn't an emergency only staircase, but no one ever used it. She could only hope the Kryptonians were the same way.
Silently, she headed up to the fifth floor where Lois presumed Zara and her people were holding Perry and the rest.
She opened the door just enough to peek out. At the end of a hall near the conference room, there wouldn't be anyone on the other side.
Seeing no one she ran quickly to the side door of conference room where members of the Daily Planet staff were being held.
"Lois!" Perry hissed quietly. "What in tarnation are you doin', darlin'?"
"Rescuing you," she whispered back.
"You do know these yahoos have powers like Superman, right? One of them burned Ralph to a crisp," he told her softly as she worked on the ropes that bound him to the chair. "They threatened to do the same to anyone else who stepped out of line. I don't know what we can do against them, but they're arrogant SOBs. Didn't even leave anyone to guard us. They're too interested in Superman and the other guy duking it out." They all winced as another car alarm started sounding.
Lois nodded as she finished untying Perry and together they worked on the rest of the staff. As they untied a couple of others, they quietly started helping their fellow workers and she pulled Perry slightly aside. "Superman told me how to defeat them," she whispered in his ear. "He didn't want anyone to know because it can hurt him as well, but these are extenuating circumstances."
Perry nodded as he rubbed his wrists. "That's understandable. Where's Clark?"
"He's out on the street. He'll have the story for you later." She picked the case up and headed for the door. "Stay here but be ready with those ropes when I need you."
Perry nodded. "Lois, darlin', be careful," he called after her in a whisper.
She nodded before opening the door. There were no sentries, which she thought was odd, despite what Perry had said about their arrogance. Instead, she could see Zara floating near the big outer windows watching the battle on the street below. She was flanked by about ten men in the same black suit that Ching and Zod had worn.
"Hey! Zara!" Lois called loudly. She could practically see Perry cringe. "Can't fight your own battles, can ya?"
The other woman turned in mid-air, floating down towards Lois. "And you think you can defeat me?"
"I have something for you," Lois said boldly, waiting for Zara to get a bit closer. She held the case in front of her.
Zara landed about four feet in front of Lois, standing on Lois' desk.
Lois flipped the clasps and opened the case. "Just a little piece of home for you," she said as Zara fell to a heap on the ground.
Instantly, the ten guards were headed towards Lois who held her ground. They joined Zara, writhing in pain on the floor.
Lois yelled over her shoulder. "Bring those ropes out here and tie these guys up, would ya?"
Perry and the others were out there in seconds. Lois left the case open, far enough away that none of them could get to it, but close enough that it would continue to affect them. She headed towards the window to see what was going on down on the street.
They could hear the sounds of metal crunching all the way from the fifth floor.
"What's going on, Lois?" Perry asked her quietly as Superman landed on one of the police cars that had surrounded the area. The policemen had tried to stop the combatants, but their bullets had bounced harmlessly away. "Superman showed up with some of those other guys, had a conference in my office, but I couldn’t hear what was going on. Sarah, from research, and that guy out there fighting Superman had showed up here a couple hours ago and took us all hostage."
She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Sarah is Kryptonian," she explained. "And Krypto-chick is Superman's birth wife. Apparently, not everyone died when the planet exploded but he didn't know that. She wanted him to go back with her to rule or something, but he wasn't convinced she was on the up and up." She pointed out the window to the small group standing on a nearby corner. "Those are other Kryptonians, members of the ruling Council. The one wearing body armor that looks like tire treads is Lord Nor, next in line for the throne if Zara and Kal-El – Superman – dissolve their marriage because Superman plans to stay here. He's her little brother. Clark and I saw the evidence that Zara and Ching are the bad guys here, not Lord Nor like they claimed."
They watched as Superman knocked Ching into an abandoned city bus.
"Can he defeat this guy?" Perry asked her.
Lois shook her head. "I don't know. They said he didn't have the killer instinct that most Drei masters have. Dreis are those things they're using to fight with."
They watched as Ching began spinning his drei in a figure eight. He stared at Superman as he approached cautiously, his cape in tatters.
The Drei and the symbol on Ching's chest both began to glow. Lois blanched. "No doubts, no fears, no heart, no mercy," she whispered as a yellow flash left Ching's Drei and hit Superman square in the chest.
Superman flew backwards, a good thirty feet before hitting the building across the street from the Planet.
Ching walked towards him, Drei pointed at Superman's chest as he stood over the fallen hero. They could hear the war yell from the newsroom.
But before Ching could strike the final blow, something shocked them all.
A crack reverberated through the cement canyons and then his head exploded.
*****
TBC
