Join You in the Sun

The red pickup fell heavily to the ground when Clark released it, the entire thing bent in weird angles. He hoped the engine was still working. Lifting his eyes, he looked back at his mom's house and sighed; the house wasn't in much better shape, not after having that same red pickup falling through its roof. He wanted to punch Zod again.

Without saying anything, he went in, crossing the destroyed living room, where his mother was kneeling to pick something up: the family photo album.

"Got it!" she said, laughing, as she got up with a groan. "It's still in one piece."

Clark didn't really understand how she could be laughing because of a photo album when the house was like that; it must've showed in his face.

"It's only stuff, Clark," Martha said, tracing her finger down his chest, feeling the fabric of his skinsuit. "It can always be replaced."

"Yeah, but you can't be," he retorted. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded, smiling.

"Please, I've had worse running this farm. A cow tossed me over the fence once, remember?" she said, taking her hand to her neck, where Faora had grabbed her. "Now that I think about, this was the second cow to hit me, wasn't it?"

Clark's eyes widened at what his mom had said; she only laughed.

"Oh, Clark, stop worrying. You saved me." She looked at Smallville's center direction. "You saved everybody. Just like I knew you would."

"A few million dollars in damages, though."

"Like I said, it's only stuff."

"I'll fix the house once I finish this, ma, I promise," he said.

She just waved and sat down.

"What happened there, anyway?" Martha asked.

Clark sighed again.

"My biological father took something from Krypton before it was destroyed. Something called the Codex. It's the collective DNA from all Kryptonians, that they used to… birth people artificially, I guess," Clark answered. "Zod says it can actually bring our people back."

Martha looked at him, not understanding.

"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked.

He looked down for a second and shook his head.

"They are not interested in sharing this world."

"Oh!" Martha summarized the situation pretty well.

They were in silence for a few seconds, until that silence was broken by a weird beeping noise; he looked at his arm.

"Kelex?"

"Sir, you have a call" she answered, disassembling herself into millions of metal particles and reassembling again in her "drone form".

"A call… You work as a phone too?" he asked, surprised.

"I have redirected the phone calls from your cellphone to myself, as you aren't currently carrying it," Kelex answered, vibrating slightly every time the phone rang, he supposed. "It' from Miss Romanoff."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Accept the call, please."

"Clark, it's Natasha," Natasha's voice came from Kelex.

"Hey, Natasha, is everybody okay?"

"We're fine. We're back at the Helicarrier." She hesitated a second. "How is your mother? Is she okay?"

"I'm just fine, dear," answered Martha, smiling. "Thanks for asking."

"Oh! That's good to hear, ma'am," Natasha said, clearly not expecting his mother to be hearing the conversation. "Clark, it's a good thing you haven't left yet. I talked with your father on the ship, he told me how to defeat them. We are going to need the ship that you arrived in."

That got his attention.

Tony splashed his face with cold water and looked in the mirror; a tired, bruised and dirty man looked back. And he actually thought his reflection looked better than he was feeling, if he was honest with himself.

They had their asses kicked. There was no two ways about it. Nothing they had done, absolutely nothing, had worked. They simply weren't powerful enough; and wasn't that a blow to his ego? That Kryptonian woman, Faora, didn't fight them; she batted them around, like a cat did with a mouse.

And that scared the hell out of Tony.

To know that there were beings out there, in the universe, that were capable of doing something like this wasn't something he was dealing well with. He could understand now, clearly, how exactly beings like Odin, Thor and Loki came to be worshiped on Earth; when entities came down here, capable of doing what they did, it was really no wonder.

Kryptonians were even worse.

They could've really used Thor's might right now. Whatever he was doing, it should damn well be very important, because things were not looking good in the least. Luck was the entire reason none of them had been killed; luck and Clark.

At least they had one super powered being at their side; well, two, counting the Hulk, but even he was defeated. If Clark hadn't been there with them, he had no doubt in his mind everybody would already be dead. Good thing he was; and that he really was on their side. Because if he wasn't, well… Needless to say things would be over before they even started.

Giving up in trying to fix his horrible appearance, Tony turned and left the bathroom. He walked through the halls of the Helicarrier until he finally got to the room where the rest of the Avengers were; and they did not look better than he.

Clint was even more bruised than he was, probably hitting his face when the Quinjet went down; Bruce, even without any visible marks, was shaking, the aftereffects of his transformation hurting him from deep inside his body; Steve was better, with just a single cut in his cheek from some debris that flew around when Natasha fired that missile, and Tony would actually say he was good if it weren't for his haunted eyes; Natasha, at least, looked damn near perfect as she always did, even have fallen down from orbit.

"So…" he started, and everybody turned to him. "That was embarrassing."

"That's one word for it," Clint grunted, holding a pack of ice against his face.

"At least we won," said Natasha; everyone looked at her. "What? They retreated, didn't they?"

Steve sighed.

"Maybe we won the battle, but how many people died on our side?" he asked.

Natasha tilted her head as if agreeing; she looked at Bruce.

"You're okay there, Bruce?" she asked, seeing him shaking non-stop.

"Oh, I-I'm fine," he answered, his teeth clacking a bit. "I-It's the transformation… It feels like a…"

"Exposed nerve, right?" Tony completed.

"Like an exposed nerve," Bruce agreed with a grimace. "Every single muscle tears apart when I transform, my bones grow, my whole body changes… It's not confortable. And it's even worse when it happens involuntarily."

"And when you don't win," Tony guessed.

Bruce laughed without humor.

"That… that actually never happened before. Can't say the Big Guy is happy about it."

Everyone was in silence for a bit, trying to chew down the monumental fact that the Incredible Hulk had lost a fist fight; and thinking, of course, how exactly were they supposed to fight them when even the Big Guy couldn't.

"We need to prepare ourselves better for the second round," Steve announced.

Tony actually laughed.

"How? How exactly do you want us to prepare for this?" he asked, waving his hand around.

"Everybody has a weakness," Steve said, looking at him. "Even them. Natasha managed to knockout one of them, didn't she?"

"Actually, it had little to do with me," Natasha admitted, having thought about it. "The missile I hit her with didn't even scratch her. What did bring her down was the sensory overload."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"Clark broke her helmet. Earth's atmosphere doesn't agree with them very well."

"Is it poisonous to them? Clark seemed okay" asked Tony, curious.

"Quite the contrary, it makes them stronger," Natasha answered. "Much, much, stronger, too fast for them to get used to it. The atmosphere from their planet keeps their gifts controlled, weaker; when our atmosphere flushes that out, they can reach their full potential. Their senses get so much better that hearing anything, seeing anything, hurts them. That's why Faora passed out, because the sound of the missile exploding on her was too much for her to take. Not because it was strong enough to hurt her."

They were all in silence, considering this new information.

"That's it then," Steve said. "Their helmets. If we can break them, we can bring them down."

"Again, how?" Tony asked, exasperated. "Nothing in my suit could scratch the paint from Faora's armor. My repulsors, my tank-missile, my lasers… It took everything I threw at her as if I was attacking her with paper balls."

Steve sighed, looking at Tony.

"Tony, you are the most intelligent person I have ever met…"

Well, that was a surprising, but much deserved, compliment.

"Thank you!"

"But you are being stupid."

"Wait, what?"

Steve got up and stared at Tony; no, not Steve Rogers anymore: Captain America.

"Back in WWII, I lost count the number of times we faced an enemy that was better equipped, in greater numbers and better positioned; and yet, we managed to win every time. Why?"

"Because you were fighting Nazis and not god-like aliens?" Tony asked, sarcastically.

"No, because we knew how to fight smart. When gun against gun wouldn't take us anywhere. When to use our heads instead of bigger bombs." He looked around, and every person in the table actually sat straighter. "We don't have to defeat them, the plan Natasha explained to us will do that; we just have to slow them down. So maybe we can't break their armors, but we can make them as… uncomfortable to use as possible."

A light suddenly lit in Tony's mind.

"I think I have a few ideas," he said, considering his equipment. "And a few extra hands to help us."

Before he could explain what he meant, however, the intercom in the room buzzed.

"Our package has arrived," said Maria Hill. "Go greet Superman on the flight deck."

All of them got up to leave the room, only to turn back when they heard what Maria had called Clark.

"Superman?!" exclaimed Tony.

They could almost see Maria's cheeks turn pink.

"That's what the soldiers are calling him… Because of the 'S' and, well… Mainly because of the 'S'," she answered, turning the intercom off.

Everyone turned then, to Natasha.

"What?" she asked, raising a single eyebrow. "I had nothing to do with that."

Clark released his ship on the flight deck of the Helicarrier very carefully, just when Director Fury, Maria Hill and the Avengers appeared.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Fury, looking at the ship. "The ship you arrived in?"

"Yes," Clark answered, turning to him. "I don't know what Natasha told you, but this ship is powered by something called a "Phantom Drive"; it basically bends space. Zod's ship uses the same technology. So if we can make the two drives collide to one another…"

"A singularity will be created," completed Tony, eyes fixed on the ship; Steve looked a little lost, so he added: "A black hole."

"Yes," Clark agreed. "So if we open up this doorway then, theoretically, they should be pulled back into the Phantom Zone."

"So you want to use this thing as a bomb?" asked Maria Hill.

Clark nodded.

"Basically, yeah."

"We just have to figure it out how to take it all the way to space," said Clint, getting closer, eyeing the ship. "Speaking of it, why didn't you do this already? You were there."

Fair question; Clark looked at him.

"First, because I didn't know if Zod was really here to start a fight," he answered. "I couldn't very well just attack them."

Everybody there seemed to disagree with that statement, but nobody said anything.

"Second," Clark continued, "while I believed their ship was powered by a Phantom Drive, I wasn't sure of it yet. I just managed to confirm it after we went aboard Black Zero and Natasha used my command key so my A.I could enter their systems. If they hadn't one, this plan wouldn't work at all."

Tony raised his hand.

"You have an A.I?" he interrupted.

Clark, stopping to talk abruptly, turned to him.

"Remember what I asked to you on the party? That's not theoretical at all. But we can talk about it later." Tony's eyes seemed to glow with curiosity, but Clark looked back at Clint and continued. "Third, the Phantom Drive isn't online every time and it has to be for this to work. It's only on when they are using it and they are only using it on two occasions: when they need to travel somewhere far away and when they are using it to power something else, like a World Engine, in our case."

Fury looked at him.

"World Engine?" he asked.

Well, how to explain that one now? Clark considered his words.

"Zod plans to take over Earth," he said, deciding to be as direct as possible; everybody was looking at him, frozen. "Not only that, he plans to terraform it, to turn Earth into Krypton."

"How is he going to do that?" asked Bruce, eyes wide.

"Kryptonians had advanced technology," Clark explained. "One of these technologies is called a World Engine. It's essentially a big terraforming machine, that can change the topography and atmosphere from a planet. It was used to colonize other worlds," he said, looking at them almost ashamed for a second. "And in some cases, as a weapon of war. I think he intends to use it here."

His declaration left all of them speechless, capable of only looking at him.

"How does that thing works?" asked Fury after a few seconds.

"It works together with their ship," Clark described. "One in each extremity of the world, like two battering rams, increasing Earth's gravity and eventually taking over its atmosphere. When it reaches a certain point it will kill everything not from Krypton."

"Holy fuck…" said Clint, under his breath.

What Clint said seemed to be everybody's reaction to this news.

"And it's going to be our only chance at stopping them," Clark completed. "When he gives the order and the World Engine lands, that means the Phantom Drive will be online in the Black Zero."

There was a long silence as everybody digested this information. As they tried to come to terms with the fact that, if they failed, Earth wouldn't be conquered; it would be erased from the universe, alongside humanity.

"I don't know exactly where Zod will send the World Engine," Clark continued, "but I have a feeling that he will send Black Zero directly to New York."

"Why?" asked Steve, raising his head fast; he was from there, Clark remembered.

"Because it's where I live," Clark answered with a bitter smile. "And I'm sure Zod will find it fitting to build his new home on top of what used to be mine."

Tony gave a little mirthless laugh.

"Now, where did we see that one before?" he asked, looking at his Avengers companions.

"If you have any evacuation protocols in the city," Clark continued, "now is the time to enforce them."

He looked at Maria Hill, as if asking; it was a fair assumption, he thought, since Loki's invasion.

"We do," she said, already picking up her communicator.

Suddenly, however, Fury walked to him, stopping very close, his one eyes staring at Clark's face.

"How do we know you are on our side?" he asked. Clark looked at him, shocked. "Why exactly should I believe that you don't want Zod's plan to succeed? You don't have a home anymore. Don't have a people. Are you telling me that you are going to throw all that away just so you can help us? Betray your own people to save Earth?"

Clark stared a long time at Fury, his eyes hard. In any other day he would've accepted this suspicion as natural; they were afraid, after all. But not on that day. On that day he had just found out he could've had his people back if he wanted to; he had turned that down because he couldn't be a part of the genocide of the human race. He had fought for his life against the Kryptonians in Smallville; and he had almost lost his mother.

"You want a simple way to know that I'm on your side?" he asked, towering over Fury in his anger, not Clark Kent anymore, but Kal-El, the head of the House of El. "You are all still alive. And I haven't crashed this flying bathtub on the ground yet."

Fury held his ground, still staring at him; he saw Maria's hand slide slowly to her gun, but she didn't take it.

"Earth is my home. It's where my family and friends are. And I will fight to my last breath to save it, and them, if I have to. Don't ever question my loyalty again."

Excusing himself to cool off from the discussions a little bit, Clark went to a room back in, alone. Kelex disintegrated itself from Clark's arm and reassembled in the form of a person; the metal particles started to emit light and, suddenly, a hologram of his father was in the room with him.

"Kal, you wanted to talk?" Jor-El asked.

Clark looked at his father, his expression serious.

"Why didn't you tell me about the Codex?" he asked.

"We wanted you to learn what meant to be human first…"

"No. Not this again," Clark interrupted, his patience at its limit. "You made me believe I was alone. That I was the only Kryptonian left. And now I learned, from a psychopath no less, that this wasn't true at all. That I could have brought my people back anytime I wanted. That you could have." He looked at his father without blinking. "Why haven't you? Why… Why did you send me here by myself?"

Jor-El held his stare.

"And what kind of people would I have created?" he inquired. "Like I told you before, I am product of Krypton's failures. So was your mother. We were doomed to repeat its mistakes. You aren't."

"Any kind of people would be better than no people at all."

"But would it?" Jor-El asked. "Take Zod, for example. A product of Krypton's failures just as we were. A man made, to the very last strand of his DNA, to be a soldier. And now, when he finally has the chance to bring his people back, what does he do? He could've already achieved that if he were willing to share this world. He could've searched for another viable planet. He could have negotiated asylum on this one."

Jor-El approached, his steps making no sounds.

"Instead of doing any of those things, Zod arrived as a conqueror. Not because this is the best alternative, not because this will maximize his chances of saving the kryptonian race, but because it's all he knows. He isn't a diplomat, an explorer or even a politician; he is a warrior. So he will act as one, no matter what happens, no matter what damage it may bring, not only to Kryptonians, but to all around." He looked in Clark's eyes. "Maybe I wouldn't cause so much damage, but the result would be the same. I would doom Krypton's sons and daughters to a path limited by what they made me. You won't do that."

Clark looked at his father's projection for a long time, then said:

"And yet, you told me that when you faced Zod, to protect me and mom, you defeated him. You, a scientist to the very last strand of your DNA, against the man created to be Krypton's best general: and you won. You fought against your very nature and managed to best him. Why couldn't you do it again?"

Now was Jor-El's turn to be in silence, his eyes far away.

"I had not considered this," he finally said, his voice low. "Maybe there was hope for some of us after all, even if it took a threat against my loved ones to release me." He turned to Clark. "But that is irrelevant now, Kal. I died. And no amount of regret will bring me back."

Clark laughed even if there wasn't anything funny to laugh at.

"No, it won't. It won't bring anyone back, will it? Aside from a few crazy murderers, I really am alone."

"But you are not alone, are you?" asked Jor-El. "You might not have our people with you, but you have people who you love. Your family. Your friends. Clark, "and he looked at his father when he used his human name" you are as much a son of Earth as you are from Krypton. Never forget that."

Clark looked at him for a long time, and then he nodded.

"I won't."

Jor-El smiled.

"Good, now, let's talk about more pressing matters, shall we?" Jor-El said. "Soon enough, if he already didn't, Zod will release the World Engine. As I told you, protocol dictates that at war, when faced with a planet suitable for terraforming and defended by its original inhabitants, the World Engine can be used as a weapon of combat. In those circumstances, the ship leading the attack will release the World Engine on one side of the planet and then slave itself to it on the opposite side, until the planet is completely terraformed."

His father looked at him with a serious expression.

"Son, you are the only one who can stop a World Engine," he said. "Earth's weapons won't work on it, or on Black Zero, while they connected; they will be too well defended and, of course, protected by the gravity field they'll be generating. So the future of Earth rests upon your shoulders."

Clark could only look at his father, not knowing what to say; Jor-El approached.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you can accomplish this, Kal," he said, stopping very close from him and smiling. "And whatever path you choose to follow after this, know that your mother and I will be alongside you every step of the way."

No, it couldn't be…

"Why does this feel like a goodbye?" he asked, his voice low.

"Because it is one, son. Zod will try to secure the Genesis Chamber in the ship I'm on. He will override the controls."

"Why didn't you tell me, I could've…"

"You can't stop him and the World Engine, son. It's one or the other."

Clark was frozen in place, without being able to say anything, his heart clenching in his chest.

"You don't need my 'ghost', son. You have my spirit. Goodbye."

And before he could answer, his father disappeared.

Zod looked around the Black Zero's bridge, seeing the preparations for the release of the World Engine. His men moved with certainty, knowing exactly what to do; they had been born for this, and trained by him to achieve their full potential, so there wasn't any doubt in his mind as to their effectiveness.

"Preparations complete, sir," said Faora.

He just nodded; the whole ship trembled when the World Engine separated itself from the Black Zero, like a smaller ship, beginning to fly away. He watched from the big window as the World Engine passed in front of the sun, beginning its descent to Earth.

"What just happened?" asked Fury, looking at the huge screen.

"The ship just split in two," answered Maria Hill. "Track One is heading East, Track Two is deploying towards the southern hemisphere."

"How fast is that bogey moving?"

"Approaching Mach 24 and accelerating," she said. "It looks like it's going to impact somewhere in the South Indian Ocean."

Nobody in the room spoke as they saw the images from the satellite.

"The rest of the ship is descending," Maria added, suddenly turning white.

"Put on the board, now!" Fury barked the order.

The monitor switched, showing the ship descending over New York.

"Clark, are you okay?" Natasha asked, getting in the room without him realizing it.

He turned, eyes still wide with shock; Natasha took one look at his expression to know something was wrong.

"Is Martha…?"

"Ma is fine," he answered, before she could complete the question. He looked down. "My father, however, isn't."

She raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Jor-El? What happened?"

They had met, Clark remembered now.

"Zod… Zod is going to try to take my ship; the ship I stole from you guys," he said. "He is most likely going to erase my father's A.I when he does that."

Natasha approached a bit.

"Is he already there? Can't you reach him in time?" she asked.

"I probably can," Clark admitted. "But if I do this, I won't be able to reach the World Engine in time."

She didn't say anything. Natasha only looked at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. If he knew anyone who could probably understand the nature of the choice he made, it would be a hardened agent; he was sure she had made some pretty difficult choices in her life.

"I am sorry, Clark," Natasha said, and he believed her.

He touched her hand and nodded in thanks; there wasn't much to say.

"We are discussing plans," she said, after a while. "We could use your input."

Clark nodded again.

"I'll be there in a second," he said, still a little dazed. "I just have to make a phone call first."

Natasha nodded in response and turned, leaving him alone again. As he asked, Kelex made the call; he stood there in the middle of the room, waiting for someone to pick up, until someone finally did.

"Look, asshole, for the 100th time, I don't want to buy any of your shit!"

"Jessica?" he asked, as her scream echoed in the room.

She was in silence for a second.

"Clark! You little fucker, I told you to keep me updated!"

"Actually, I was the one who said I would keep you updated, which is why I'm calling."

"Whatever… Look, what the hell is happening? I just saw the news, there was a huge fighting in some small city, was that you?"

"Yeah, that was me. And the Avengers."

"Holy shit, then it's happening…"

"That's why I called, listen… Zod is not interested in peace. He will release a weapon called World Engine. It essentially terraforms the planet, it turns into something close to Krypton."

He could hear her breathing, but for once she didn't say anything.

"The machine works alongside the ship, so each half will go to a side of the planet. I don't know exactly where the World Engine will go, but I can bet that the ship will be just over…"

"Here… Jesus Christ, I can see it."

He was too late.

"Jessica, take your sister and run as far as you can away from that ship. Do you hear me? Do not get close from that thing!"

"I'm not a moron, Clark. And Trish is already here. I'm on her studio."

"Oh… Well, that's good. Look, I gotta go, but remember what I said. I'm going to try to fix this mess."

"Wait! Don't hang up. I want to know the plan."

Against his good sense, he did as she asked.

"Bring the Phantom Drive online," Zod ordered.

As he did it, the Phantom Drive began to glow blue; a blue beam left the ship, linking it to the World Engine on the opposite side of the globe.

Jax-Ur looked at him.

"We are now slaved to the World Engine," he announced.

Zod looked back, without blinking.

"Initiate it."

He could see the World Engine powering up on the monitors, the cloud of black smoke rising from it; and then it blasted the ground, the blue beam opening the ocean waters to hit the Earth.

In New York, humans and vehicles rose in the air as the World Engine pushed the beam to them; and then were slammed back as Black Zero pushed it back. Earth trembled.

"It began," Fury affirmed, seeing the images in New York with an impassive expression.

On the inside, however, Fury was anything but impassive, as people were being raised in the air and then slammed back, cars were being flattened as the blue beam slammed the ground with force; and each time it hit, the area affected was bigger.

Every agent in the control room stopped what they were doing, incapable of not looking at was happening, eyes glued to the screen.

Tony Stark approached, looking at the big monitor.

"It's like he said," Stark mentioned. "It's some kind of gravity weapon. It's working in tandem with their ship. Somehow they're increasing the Earth's mass, clouding the atmosphere with particulates…Yep, we're being terraformed alright," he declared, taking his hands to his face.

It was a good thing they had already taken Pepper out of New York, Fury thought, otherwise he was sure Stark would fly there right now.

"What's that?" asked one of the agents, her face pale, her fear probably so great right now that she had stopped what she was doing to ask that; Fury wondered if she hadn't family in the city.

"Planetary engineering modifying the Earth's atmosphere and topography..." explained Banner, eyes also glued to the screen.

"They are turning Earth into Krypton," a voice announced from the back of the room.

Everyone turned to look at Clark, getting in the room with his red cape swaying; every eye there full of fear, looking at him as if expecting some kind of comfort.

"And what happen to us?" asked the agent, looking even younger than she was.

"Based on these readings… There won't be an 'us'," said Banner, eyes still on the screen.

Tony finally turned to them, walking through the control room, passing in the middle of the agents.

"What I don't get is 'why'," he said, suddenly, looking at Clark. "What are they planning to win with this thing, except to kill us all? I mean, they don't have enough Kryptonians to have a viable population. You are, by all accounts, already an extinct species."

It was a good question; did they plan simply to destroy them all?

"That won't be a problem," said Clark, as everyone looked at him waiting for an answer. "Kryptonians use artificial population control. They have these chambers, called Genesis Chambers, where babies are birthed to fulfill a destined role in the society. Once they have a planet, all they gotta do is populate it back again."

There was silence.

"Did you…?" Natasha began to ask.

"I was the first natural birth in centuries," he answered, before she could finish her question.

"Good, your parents had fun making you, can we go back to what matters?" asked Clint, impatient. "How do we stop them from killing us all and making 'New Krypton'?"

Zod watched the liquid geo monitor as it finally indicated the location of the old scout ship, the one that had the Genesis Chamber.

"Faora," he called, seeing her turning to him, "take command."

"Yes, sir."

"I need to secure the Genesis Chamber, "he continued, "and pay my respects to an old friend."

Jessica and Trish were glued to the big window of the studio's building, watching with mouths agape the enormous ship floating on top of the buildings, a big blue beam smashing the ground so strongly that everything shook.

They couldn't move; their eyes went up and down, accompanying the people, cars and everything else being raised to the air and then tossed back down, the violence of the hits flattening the cars like pancakes.

None of them wanted to even imagine what was happening to the people being hit by that thing.

Every time the blue beam hit the ground, the area it impacted seemed to grow bigger. Soon, the first buildings around it began to topple down, disintegrating due to the force; their eyes simply followed as the buildings fell, hitting others building on the way down, to finally crash down against the streets.

What the fuck would Clark do to "fix this mess", as he said it?

Zod looked around at the frozen wasteland he had landed on, the wind howling. The scout ship was there, but he didn't look at it; no, first, he had to do something.

Gazing at the yellow sun, as if challenging it, Zod, raised his hand and retracted his helmet, taking a long breath of Earth's atmosphere, feeling the air getting inside him, purging Krypton's atmosphere from his body.

It was a weakness from his part that had cost them a battle; he needed to rectify that.

Almost immediately, he felt his senses grow to impossible levels, the wind growing so loud that his head hurt; his eyes seeing new colors and actually passing through his armor and skin, until he could see his hand's bones; his nose could suddenly smell everything and an overabundance of aromas burned his nose, even in that frozen place, where nothing was supposed to smell; his skin felt the cold air so clearly that he could actually feel the small ice crystals on the wind.

Closing his eyes, Zod forced every last of his warrior discipline to focus on just the essentials, making his mind ignore the extra. To a normal Kryptonian, that would be impossible, but he was raised to be the best soldier of Krypton.

And the best soldier in Krypton couldn't afford weaknesses.

When he opened his eyes again, there was only serenity; his senses were mastered.

Turning around, Zod walked to the scout ship, the doors opening to greet him. He walked the empty halls until he was at the Genesis Chamber; grabbing his command key, he inserted it into the ship.

"Command key accepted," the computer said. "Genesis Chamber coming online, sir."

He smiled, until there was a voice behind him; a voice he knew very well.

"Stop this, Zod," said Jor-El. "While there is still time."

Zod turned, seeing the ghost from his old friend; and against his own will, he felt happy at the sight.

"Haven't given up lecturing me, have you?" he answered. "Even in death."

Jor-El's hologram approached.

"I will not let you use the Codex like this."

"You don't have the power to stop me," Zod retorted. "The command key I have entered is revoking your authority. This ship is now under my control."

"Our people can coexist!" Jor-El claimed.

Zod shook his head; how very like his son.

"So we can suffer through years of pain trying to adapt, like your son has?" he asked, walking to Jor-El.

"You are talking about genocide!"

"Yes, and I'm arguing its merits with a ghost," Zod said, turning his back at his old friend's hologram. "Ship, have you managed to quarantine this invasive intelligence?"

"I have."

"Then prepare to terminate it, I'm tired of this debate."

Jor-El followed him.

"We are both ghosts, Zod. Can't you see that? The Krypton you are clinging onto is gone!"

"Then I'll bring it back," he said. "Earth should be honored to be the place chosen for a New Krypton."

"I can see that appealing to your sense of honor is useless," Jor-El said, and Zod bristled, "so I'll give you a practical reason then: Earth is one of the Nine Realms overseen by the Asgardians. They will not forgive this."

"THEN THEY'LL KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!" Zod screamed, his fury rising to the limit.

Jor-El was not bothered by it.

"You don't have an army yet," he continued. "Fight them and you'll lose"

Zod stared a long time at his old friend, his eyes burning in rage; then he smiled.

"Tell me, you have Jor-El's memories, his conscience. Can you experience his pain?" Zod asked. "After I terraform this planet, I will harvest the Codex from your son's corpse. And then… How do the Asgardians call it? Ragnarok?"

Zod looked deeply into Jor-El's eyes.

"Your son will be their Doomsday!"

This brought a reaction to his face.

"This is madness, Zod!" he yelled, eyes wide. "The Council forbade this for a reason!"

"Because they are cowards. Because they are weak. And this weakness brought us to ruin. "Zod shook his head. "No more. After Earth, I will conquer Asgard. And then the rest of the Nine Realms. And then I will rebuild Krypton's Empire with a Second Era of Expansion!"

Jor-El could only look, shocked, his eyes conveying his horror at Zod's plans.

"Your sensors felt it too, didn't they?" Zod asked, suddenly. "What lies on Earth? We found our way here because of an Infinity Stone... That one isn't here anymore, but it wasn't the only one, was it?"

Jor-El didn't answer; instead, he approached, almost touching Zod.

"My son is ten times the man you once were. And he will stop you. I can promise you that."

Zod gave one last look at his old friend; and terminated his A.I.

Clark, the Avengers, Fury and Maria Hill were on the flight deck, making preparations for the attack, the Helicarrier already on course to New York.

"Do not approach Black Zero while it's linked to the World Engine," Clark said, watching them preparing themselves, picking up weapons and armor. "The gravitational field will put you in the ground."

"That means no distance attacks either, right?" asked Natasha.

"Kelex?" asked Clark.

His disintegrated and reformed in drone shape.

"Holy shit! What's that?" asked Tony, stopping what he was doing to look at Kelex. "What's it made from?"

"That's Kelex and she is made from liquid geo," Clark answered, trying to continue to speak but being interrupted again.

"Liquid geo?" Tony asked.

"It's not actually liquid, it's a bunch of metal particles that can be assembled in any form with a magnetic field."

"But…"

"Jesus Christ, if your dick gets any harder you'll break your armor! Forget the robot, focus on the plan!"

There was a sudden silence as everyone turned to look at Kelex.

"Who was that?" asked Tony, looking at Clark and pointing at Kelex.

"No one! A friend! Forget about it, let's focus on the plan," Clark answered, quickly. "So, Kelex, what about distance attacks?"

"The gravitational field will make a hit impossible" the robot answered.

"And nukes?" asked Fury and everybody turned to him. "I have to know!"

"Nuclear warheads will face the same problem. And it's unlikely Black Zero or the World Engine will be destroyed by one. They have too many defenses."

"So no nukes!" said Tony, pointing at Fury. "Tell your buddies at the Council that."

"That's why I asked," answered Fury, and Clark actually believed him.

Clark turned to the Avengers.

"I'll have to stop the World Engine over the Indian Ocean before you can approach. Once I do that, hit the ship with the Phantom Drive."

They all nodded; except Natasha, that approached him.

"If that thing is turning Earth's atmosphere into Krypton's, you'll be weaker around it," she said, her voice low, looking seriously at him.

Clark nodded.

"I know. But I'm not about to let that stop me from trying."

And he turned to get some distance so he could fly; before he could, however, the Avengers approached.

"What you're doing, "began Captain America," is very brave. Thank you."

He touched his shoulder and then everyone there did the same, looking at him with respect, with something close to admiration; Natasha, Tony, Steve, Bruce, Clint, even Fury nodded to him, as Maria wished him good luck. Clark thanked them and wished good luck to them too, knowing very well anyone could die in this mission.

Clark walked a few meters and looked back at them, the words his father had told him playing in his mind.

You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.

Closing his eyes, Clark kneeled on the ground, his fist touching the Helicarrier; and then he exploded to the sky, passing through the clouds, going all the way up to the sun.