2012-08-18 Alliegance

There's a large hammer that is being swung down over and over onto a small shard of material that is extremely bright. Over and over Superman brings down the hammer. When it hits it lets out a loud *clink* and rattles with electricity. He almost doesn't notice when Lor enters.

Lor-Zod enters the fortress in his Zenith uniform, though the cowl has been peeled down around his neck, leaving him unmasked. He lingers in the doorway, hesitating, and seems uncertain whether to enter or not. This conflicted feeling, what can he do with it? He knows what he's supposed to do, yet he doesn't want to do it. So, he just stands there uncertainly for a while, watching Kal-El work.

Finally, Superman reaches into a glove of some sort and inspects the shining ball of energy and slowly puts it into a case. He seems satisifed with his work. He sets down the hammer, takes off the glove, reaches for the case, and smiles as he turns around. "Hey Lor, how have things been going for you lately. Meet any new fr...." The wide smile fades as his words stop; replaced by new ones in a far more grim voice. "What happened to your face?"

Lor's hand goes to his chin, where the large and purpling bruise is quite obvious. "Oh. That. I... I forgot about..." He trails off, uncertain what to say. His posture and expression are clearly troubled. He's not certain, somehow, that he can lie to Superman -- and worse, he doesn't even know why. All the man did was offer him basic hospitality, but for some reason, he just can't bring himself to betray the trust that's been placed in him. So, finally, he offers up a half-truth. "It was training. I was careless."

"Training." Superman's response is flat. He's clearly not buying it. "Tell me, Lor. If that's how you look, how does the mountain look?" He tilts his head and raises his eyebrow. "Must have been some heck of a training session."

"I let my guard down," Lor begins to explain, but then he stops, frowning. "What if... I'm not sure I can tell you?" he says in an uncharacteristically small voice, his gaze dropping down to the floor. He clenches one fist tightly, then slowly relaxes it, and reaches his other hand across his abdomen, almost as if trying to hold himself in.

Superman tilts his head, "Not sure you can tell me...Well you either can your can't, Lor. I mean, whatever hit you hard enough to be bruised.." He shakes his head at the boy. "Well it wasn't from Kansas. Or Metropolis."

An ashen expression settles on Lor's face. "I don't want to lie," he admits, "but I don't... I don't want to betray anyone's trust either. How are you supposed to choose between two wrong things? How can you do the right thing when it's all wrong." He slumps against the wall, looking bleak.

Superman leans down and touches Lor's shoulder. "Lor...," he begins, "Whatever did this to you raises some serious concerns on the safety of others. Who would ask you not to reveal something like that? It doesn't make sense. Not to me anyways." Something gnaws at the back of Superman's head...but that's impossible.

Lor flinches from the touch in a way he hasn't done since his first day on Earth, and he's trembling slightly. "It's... I can't. I don't want to be a traitor," he mumbles quietly. The hand on his abdomen slides up, unconsciously clutching at the symbol on his chest. "Treason is a capital offense," he adds, which of course contrasts strikingly with Krypton's laws -- though, he wasn't raised on Krypton, was he?

Superman's face falters as the boy moves away, but he nearly leaps back at his words. Traitor. Kal El looks shocked with wide eyes and parted lips. "No...It can't be."

There's a distant, unfocused quality to Lor's eyes when he looks up at Superman. "It's going to be war. And I have to pick a side. Don't you get it? My... mother...." he trails off, brow furrowing, and looks down again. There. That was at least sort of like telling the truth.

"Your mother..." Superman looks to the boy in horror. But not towards the young Kryptonian, but at the thought of what's on the horizon. "How?"

"I think... I led her out," Lor says, his voice barely a murmur. "She followed me here. And my father will probably follow her. I... I told her you're here. And Kara. I said her enemies were on this world. I couldn't... I couldn't lie to her." He's trembling visibly now, not even sure why he's admitting this. All he knows for certain is that he somehow has to tell it.

Superman puts his hand into Lor's hair and smoothes it out a bit. "Listen to me, Lor. This is not your fault. This is something between your parents and me. She shouldn't be trying to bring you into this."

Lor looks up at Superman, his expression twisted with puzzlement. "I AM in it. I'm the scion of House Zod. You're the scion of House El. Kara was right all along. We're enemies, and there's going to be war. Maybe it won't be an open fight. Maybe we'll smile at each other and it'll be like -- like the Cold War I read about here on Earth. But it's going to be war. And I -- I'd be a traitor if I stay here."

"Lor," Superman says as he looks to the boy. "War is a choice. There doesn't have to be one." He sighs. "Your mother; she's come here intending to bring war here...to Earth? What's her reason? What's her cause?"

Lor shakes his head. "No. The war never ended. It started when... when Jor-El chose to side with the Science Council instead of my father. They were banished, and our houses have been at war since. I don't know how she's going to handle it. I just... I know the war's always been there. A silent war, I guess." And he knows which uniform he's wearing.

"And after how you've been treated...by them...Your parents..." Superman says softly. "What do you believe?"

Lor's frown deepens, and his hand drops back to his side. "They want me to be strong. They trained me hard so I wouldn't falter. And now... I'm betraying them by telling you this."

"Do you think that I'm strong? My parents never beat me, Lor." Superman grimaces. "The final decision is yours. I only ask that you think about it. I'm not sure your definition of betrayal is fitting, under the circumstances."

"It was just training," Lor says, uncertain but trying to be assertive. "Training so I wouldn't fail them. And... I don't know. I don't know about any of this. I can't be a traitor." His tone has become pleading, as if Kal can make it all make sense somehow.

"Must have been an intense training session." Superman lets out a rumble of a breath and closes his eyes. It's not easy to tell a kid that his family is evil, despite all they've done to him it is probably not wrapped that way in the boys mind. "I will never ask you to go to war against your family. No matter what."

Lor nods, looking almost stricken. "I know you won't. You're -- you're GOOD, Kal-El. I know that. But I can't be a traitor. If they ask me to fight you, I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what I CAN do. But... I know you're a good person. I don't... I don't WANT to fight you."

Superman nods sadly. "At the end of the day, they may force you to make a decision. I pray they won't and I would ask you to not agree to their demands. But you're becoming a man. And to deal with these gifts you've been given, you're going to need to stand like one."

Nodding again, Lor has nothing more to say. He still has that bleak look about him, a sort of giving up expression. Clearly, to him there are no alternatives here. "I hope we don't have to fight, Kal-El," he says quietly. "You were... becoming a good friend."

Superman nods to Lor, "I hope so too, Lor. You are a good friend." The elder Kryptonian's face is grim. He searches for the reassuring words or those that might convince Lor about his options. He's not sure they're there.

"I will leave your fortress," Lor says with a nod. "And I will... out of respect for what you've done for me... not tell my mother about this place." He gives Kal a long, sorrowful look, and then he turns to swiftly retreat from the chamber.

"Lor..." Superman says as the boy begins to retreat. But there's nothing he can really add. He gives a pursed lip nod to the boy, and the pit in his stomach is growing to take over his whole chest.

And so Lor departs the fortress, leaving behind the life that Superman had offered him, in favor of doing his best to honor the loyalties and obligations of his birth. If only it seemed a fairer trade.