| Unnatural Alliances | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 7 | |
| |
| Air date | November 17, 2007 |
| Written by | Brandon Vietti |
| Directed by | James Tucker |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Who Am I? |
Next Message in a Bottle |
Summary[]
When Terra-Man, a villain from the future, arrives in the 31st century to hunt down a child, the Legion quickly acts to save the boy and keep him clear of Imperiex's obvious plot. However, after Imperiex proves to be the boy's protector, the Legion must uncover why.
Characters[]
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
Other Characters:
- Granny Goodness (flashback only)
- K3NT (Mentioned)
- Robot Caretaker
- Robot Dog
Locations:
- Apokolips (flashback only)
- Abel's World
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis[]
On a desert planet, an older woman is working a farmstead when men on rocket cycles approach her, all dressed in Old West garb. Their leader, Terra-Man demands that she turn over a boy named Abel. The woman denies knowing any Abel but Terra-Man doesn’t believe her and prepares to gun her down. The Legion arrives and takes on the intruders, who are revealed as robots. Terra-Man traps Kell-El then gets in the house and finds the small boy, but Kell-El breaks free and gets the boy to safety. When Terra-Man gets outside, Star Boy uses his gravity powers to bury them under an avalanche.
The Legionnaires determine that the woman was killed during the fight, while Abel attaches himself to Kell-El, his rescuer. They depart in their cruiser, unaware that Terra-Man and his men have escaped. While Brainiac 5 and Duo Damsel analyze the metal samples from Terra-Man’s equipment, Kell-El reluctantly looks in on Abel, who is playing with his action figures. Brainiac 5 determines that the metal is self-regenerating and from the 41st century, Imperiex and Kell-El’s time. They’re brought up short when a horde of destructo-bots surround the cruiser and Imperiex arrives to demand that they turn Abel over to him. The Legion refuses and takes the cruiser through the line of robots, while Kell-El gives his Legion flight ring to Abel for protection. He and Star Boy then leave the ship to fight off the destructo-bots, unaware that Terra-Man and his posse have blown their way through the hull. The bounty hunter fights his way past the remaining Legionnaires, grabs Abel, and escapes out into space.
Kell-El and Star Boy go after Terra-Man who reveals that he isn’t working for Imperiex. Imperiex arrives and attacks Terra-Man, grabbing Abel and flying away. Star Boy uses his powers to trap Terra-Man and the other robots inside of a planetoid, while Kell-El goes after Imperiex. The conqueror reveals that Abel will grow up to develop a way to interface technology and flesh, leading to his creation in the far future. Kell-El figures out that Terra-Man is on the same mission that he was sent back to perform: eliminate Imperiex as a threat, by any means necessary. However, Kell-El refuses to kill Abel and the conqueror taunts him for having become soft due to the Legion’s influence. Imperiex departs, after ordering his remaining destructo-bots to destroy Kell-El. Star Boy arrives and helps destroy them, and they head back to the cruiser where the others are repairing the damage caused by Terra-Man’s planted explosive. Kell-El is worried that he’s going soft but Duo Damsel notes that he is simply learning compassion and becoming a true hero.
Terra-Man and his posse finally break free of the planetoid and Kell-El confronts them. The bounty hunter reveals that he was also created by K3NT and sent back in time to complete Kell-El’s mission if he couldn’t do so. Now Terra-Man plans to track down Imperiex and Kell-El agrees to help them and fulfill his purpose.
Imperiex takes Abel to an asteroid and they make camp for the night. When Abel asks for a bedtime story, Imperiex tells him of how in the future, a mere slave rose up and defeated his masters. The salve then had his body augmented with technology and became more and more powerful until he was capable of conquering whole galaxies and slaughtering millions. He then tells Abel to go to sleep.
Terra-Man steps on the knocked down Superman X
Terra-Man leads Kell-El to the asteroid and sends his robot henchmen in, but Kell-El destroys them and reveals he only allied with Terra-Man to find Imperiex. Now Kell-El offers an alliance with Imperiex to protect Abel, even though it will allow Imperiex to be created in the future. Terra-Man attacks both of them and knocks down Kell-El stepping on his chest.
Abel throws himself in Terra-Man’s path and as the bounty hunter prepares to kill him, Imperiex launches an assault that knocks the robot down. Kell-El joins forces with the conqueror and they combine their powers to destroy Terra-Man. Imperiex then turns on Kell-El but the Legion arrive to stop him. Satisfied that the Legion will protect the boy, Imperiex teleports away. Later, the Legion find a new guardian for Abel and Kell-El bids him farewell.