Childhood Pals

Chapter 39: Dilemmas

"Yes."

Maxwell picked up the gun and took aim.

And fired.

~~~~~~~~

Kara grunted against his suit.

Kryptonite.

She had to get out. And fast.

Mon-El was in trouble.

"Now you can watch your friends die."

He aimed his arm towards the group on the battlefield. A small projectile-like device shot from it, opening it and the same mist-like virus diffused, and everyone on both sides began wheezing.

"Stop it! You're gonna kill them!"

"Sacrifices are required when saving the world."

His suit sparked as a bullet grazed his suit. She glanced at Lena. At the man standing behind her.

He had just tossed the gun to Lena as she fired again, the bullet bouncing off his suit.

"Go, Kara! We can handle this."

~~~~~~~~

Lena stared her brother down.

"Kindly restrain her for me, Miss Tessmacher."

She just smiled eerily at him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but I am loyal only to Miss Luthor."

Lex blinked. "You-"

Lena just raised an eyebrow.

"So you figured out how to allow an artificial consciousness control a physical human body."

Lex aimed his arm at her. "I've got one more canister, and it's all for you."

Suddenly, he blinked. The A.I.-possessed Eve had disappeared.

He grinned, as he attempted to activate it.

Lena smirked. "I disabled that arm of your Lexosuit. Other than the Kryptonite, and being able to naturally protect you, you can't use it to fire anything, or even use the jets."

Lex smiled. "Clever, sister, but did you anticipate this?" He lifted his hand.

~~~~~~~~

"Come on, come on . . . hurry up!" Winn hit the keyboard.

He had seen what happened to his friends and was in no hurry to become like them. After all, the Medusa virus, as Eve told him, was capable of destroying any anti-Kryptonian life.

Though he was also told that the giant canister at the top of the L-Corp building would be used to eradicate any non-human life on Earth.

He could not watch his friends die.

97% . . . 98% . . . 99% . . . 100%

Finally, he heaved a sigh of relief.

They had swapped out the virus for the cure.

Word had arrived that he had tested the cure on several aliens days ago, and they were isolated in wards.

This virus, fortunately, was not easily transmitted as the wards that isolated them was ordered to open their windows for this exact reason.

Then, the cure was airborne.

It had worked.

~~~~~~~~

"What? But how-"

"You underestimated me, brother. You and Mother both."

Lord grinned behind her. "She used the cure that she and Mrs. Danvers had worked on."

"Oh, and that last vial inside that deactivated arm? That's the only one I was able to render useless."

She shot the gun again. But it clicked.

Lex tore off the helmet. "I guess I won't need this anymore. The Kryptonian is distracted, anyway."

He rolled his shoulders as he stepped out of his suit. "But are you as good a fighter as you are smart, Lena Luthor?"

She shoved Maxwell Lord out of the way as Lex circled her. She wasn't foolish. She'd spent years studying her brother's movements.

He was waiting for her to strike.

She wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

So she circled the room as well, biding time. Her brother would leap first when he had grown tired of this. And he was an especially impatient man.

He charged for her, but Lena skilfully dodged to the side, using the movement that Alex and Kara had taught her.

Why had she chosen to do that?

He steadied himself, preparing for another attack.

He sent a fist for Lena's face, and the woman swiftly avoided all of his punches.

"You're a coward, Lena. You can only do any damage when you use your gadgets. And there are none here now. How are you going to keep up dodging?"

She moved to his right, but was met with a fist to the face.

She picked herself up, regaining her composure. Lex gave her his signature grin before he said, "You aren't giving up? Good. Mother can take her time with you later."

She watched him, calculating his movements, but that hesitation cost her.

The air was knocked out of her as Lex punched her in the stomach.

His attacks were getting slower, and he always used his hands.

It was a good thing that Lena was wearing pants, then.

"You wouldn't hurt your sister, right?"

"That's where you're wrong. I'll hurt anyone who disrupts my plan." He looked her over, "And that includes you."

She swept low, the clenched fist narrowly missing her, before she managed to get him off balance. But she tumbled too.

Not something she should do, then.

Lena moved swiftly and as she was charging at him, her making the first move catching Lex off guard. That second of delay allowed her to move in, using the techniques to knock Lex out.

When she turned, Lord was gone.

Her head turned back to her mother along with two other people she recognised - Mercy and Otis Graves.

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A/N: I know, I know, another cliffhanger. Don't worry, though, Lena's gonna be fine. Lillian, Otis and Mercy would not be able to lift a finger against her . . . anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And yeah, I wanted to write a Lena-centric chapter to balance out how some chapters are written for other characters who are not Kara or Mon-El. Though, I'm not very good at writing fight scenes . . . and, yes, Lena did install Hope in Eve before the events of this story as an experiment . . .