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"My Body is a Cage": Lois Lane has become the mind-controlled thrall of Brainiac, and she remains trapped in her own brain, regretting her every action in service of destroying the planet Earth. With Brainiac distracted with the next stage o

Quote1 I believe in you, Clark Kent. I believe in Superman. Quote2
Lois Lane

Action Comics Annual (Volume 2) #3 is an issue of the series Action Comics Annual (Volume 2) with a cover date of October, 2014. It was published on August 6, 2014.

Synopsis for "My Body is a Cage"

Lois Lane has become the mind-controlled thrall of Brainiac, and she remains trapped in her own brain, regretting her every action in service of destroying the planet Earth. With Brainiac distracted with the next stage of his plan, Lois intends to break out of her prison and kill him before he kills everyone else. With his every act, she feels the deaths of innocents telepathically, and can do nothing to help them - even when her own father is injured.

Meanwhile, at the Fortress of Solitude, Batman has allied himself with several unlikely characters. Despite his own distrust, it is the end of the world, and the help of Lex Luthor, Harrow, Ghost Solder, and Dr. Shay Veritas is welcomed in forming a contingency plan, should Wonder Woman's counter-attack against Brainiac fail. Lex suggests that Brainiac is not interested in mass extermination, given that he has primarily been disabling military tech. Harrow counters that she discovered Brainiac's infiltration in Tower's systems dated back three years, suggesting that her organization's attempt to use Doomsday to kill Superman might actually have been engineered by Brainiac.

Lex asserts that the Brainiac plan was likely meant to get Superman away from Earth. Ghost Soldier warns, though, that Superman is more likely to come back, and risk death in the Kryptonite cloud surrounding the planet, if he thinks his people are in danger. And that means Doomsday is coming back too.

With horror, Batman radios back to Red Hood, warning he and his friends to get away from their location. Red Hood is confused, given that he was ordered to help by Wonder Woman. Soon, he spots Superman coming toward them, and is glad to see that he seems to be on their side. That is, until the Kryptonite cloud weakens him to the point that he can't hold back the Doomsday infection, and it spreads, endangering the lives of all those around him. Batman warns him to get away, and fortunately, he manages to regain control for the time being. Batman hopes that by getting rid of the cloud, they'll be able to give Superman a fighting chance to control the Doomsday virus and fight off Brainiac. The only person he knows of who might be able to help them get rid of the Kryptonite is Xa-Du - the first prisoner of the Phantom Zone. Unfortunately, Xa-Du is more interested in letting Doomsday raze the earth.

In Sao Paolo, Martian Manhunter struggles to hold the line for Wonder Woman, as several other cities have already fallen. Superman attempts to help, but the Doomsday virus sets the ground ablaze all around J'onn, triggering his fear of fire. Frustrated, J'onn punches Superman in the face, and it returns him to normal briefly. He explains that he has created a mental block between Clark and Doomsday. He knows it won't last, though, and warns that unless Superman leaves, things will get much worse. The message disheartens Superman, and Ghost Soldier appears to beg him to make an effort against Brainiac's forces. In order to convince him, he retrieves Baka, who encourages Superman to believe in himself, no matter what kind of monster is hiding inside. Doomsday's killing mist surrounds them both, and Baka transforms into the monster hidden within him. Together, he and Baka fight off Brainiac's ships, and Superman understands that at least they know who they are, even if they are monsters.

Together, they return to Metropolis, Superman feels the nanobots trying to render him unconscious just like the seven million citizens who are now sleeping all over the city. The killing mists destroy every nanobot, and soon Superman is confronting Lois Lane, through whom Brainiac speaks.

In her mind-prison, Lois is surprised to be joined by Clark Kent, and she realizes that Brainiac is trying to collect him too. She warns him to run, but he reminds that Brainiac got to both of them, but they're both still there, at least. He reminds her that he believes in her, just as he destroys all of the nanobots keeping her body under Brainiac's control. She collapses, and when he looks to her, he sees that she's been returned to normal, but he can't stay with her long, lest Doomsday kill her. Despite Brainiac's control dissipating, Lois retains her telepathic abilities, and sends Clark a message of support and hope before turning her attention to the wounded John Corben.

Back at the Fortress, Harrow manages to get Xa-Du's help in opening trillions of tiny portals to send the Kryptonite elsewhere. Unfortunately, this means that Xa-Du has enough strength to free himself.

Superman, meanwhile, regains control of his own body, and happily reunites with Wonder Woman and Krypto. Despite his feeling of victory, Lois warns from afar that Brainiac's invading ships were just a cover for something bigger.

Appearing in "My Body is a Cage"

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