Jor-El walked down the hall of his lab, his shoulders slumped and leg limping from over exertion. His grey beard had grown thick over the past several months, as had the hair on his head. His brown eyes held heavy bags beneath them, and his black skin had paled from lack of sunlight.

He approached one of the four bedroom doors in the hall and took a moment to ready himself. The door next to it was the nursery where Kal-El had only spent a week sleeping. Behind him was his and Lara's room, and next to it the guest room whose last occupant was now his greatest enemy. Ahead of him was the room that had been renovated three months earlier for his niece, Kara.

Jor-El himself had never seen the monster that took Kara's family, but he knew of him. The Collector of Worlds, who had taken the city of Kandar in a single night. Kara rarely spoke of that night, but what she did say was horrifying. Skeletons of various races fused with metal and wires to serve as sentries, slaughtering anyone who showed any signs of resistance. A massive skull shaped ship looming over the city, before pulling it away from the planet like it was just a toy left in a sandbox.

After thinking back to what Kara had been through Jor-El pressed his hand to the scanner, opening the door to reveal his niece sitting on her bed with her head pressed to her knees and arms wrapped tight around them. Her short blond afro poked out above her arms, which still bore the scars of that horrible night.

"Kara," he said, his voice cracking from stress. "It's time."

The two walked back down the hall, to where Lara waited with Kal-El wrapped in a blanket bearing the sigil of the house El and held tight in her arms. She was a few inches taller than Kara and looked fairly similar to her, only with a thinner nose and broader jaw, and of course she was two decades older. She looked to Jor-El with sorrow before her eyes flickered to Kara and a small smile grew on her lips.

"Don't look so grim, dear," she said, hoping she sounded optimistic. She didn't. "Tomorrow is a new day, and everything will be okay."

"I don't want to go!" Kara yelled, holding back tears. "We can stay! I can help you!"

"Kara, you can't," Jor-El said softly. "He's almost here."

""Zod!? Who cares!? We can fight him together!"

"It's not Zod I'm scared of…"

"The Collector?" Kara asked in shock.

"No… Someone far worse. The reason The Collector came to Krypton in the first place. A being of pure evil he seeks to kill everything that lives."

"Who? What's his name!?"

"Names bring power, Kara. And he brings apocalypse."

Tears slid down Kara's cheeks as she said, "Please don't make me go alone."

"You won't be alone," said Lara. "You'll have Kal-El. It will be your responsibility to show him The Ark, and teach him right from wrong."

"But what about this monster? The one making us leave? What if he finds us again!?"

"We've already thought about that," said Jor-El. "We chose this world for a reason. Though technologically they are far inferior to us, they are almost identical to us in all but one way. Their biochemistry is programmed to react to all sunlight in an identical way, and they orbit a yellow sun."

"I don't understand."

"On that planet, you will be like a god. You will be powerful enough to stand up to The Collector, and any other threat that you face. Kara, you will be unstoppable."

"I don't want to lose another family…"

"I know."

Jor-El hugged Kara, and Lara placed an arm around her shoulder and together they began to cry. Their moment was cut short by a high pitched alarm cutting through the air, before quickly going silent.

"He's here!" Lara gasped.

"Damn it Zod," Jor-El cursed. "We just needed a few more minutes…"

"Uncle Jor?" Kara asked.

"Get to the pod, Kara. Lara, take Kal-El to his pod then launch the arc. I'll stall Zod."

"What are you going to do?" Lara asked.

"Whatever it takes."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I love you both, so much," Kara said.

"We love you too," said Lara with a smile that did little to hide her rising fear.

Kara and Lara ran towards the space pods while Jor-El quickly walked towards the lab's entrance. His hand landed on the pistol strapped to his side beneath his cloak, and he knew he would have to use it. It wasn't much compared to the plasma rifles the Kryptonian Military Guild used, but it would be enough to stall. That was all he could do.

Just as he reached the entrance the doors blew open and a black smoke filled the room, masking everything but sound. A chorus of bootsteps approached and Zod's voice said, "Make sure your rifles are set to stun, and sweep out. Remember, The Council them alive."

The smoke began to thin and a figure appeared, causing Jor-El to quickly raise the pistol and fire. The red laser hit his target in the head, and his body fell to the ground a second later. He turned as someone quickly approached from the side, their figure quickly appearing. He raised the pistol and fired again, hitting the soldier in her chest. She fell backwards with a yell before blacking out. Jor-El looked around for the next soldier, only to be shot perfectly through his shoulder, just barely missing an artery.

"Hello, Jor-El," Zod said smugly as he approached Jor-El, who could no longer raise his arm. He dressed in the same armor as his men with no distinction other than his rank on his shoulder, with his face obscured by his helmet.

"Dru-Zod," Jor-El said in the respectful tone he had used for so many years before remembering the situation. "How could you do this to me? Your best friend?"

"You went against The Council. You're a war criminal. You're lucky I convinced them to take you and Lara alive. Speaking of which, where is your wife?"

Jor-El laughed and pointed upwards, leading Zod's sight to the glass ceiling where they watched as three small ships quickly rose into the air. "Where you can never get them," Jor-El chuckled.

"You mad man! Do you have any idea what you've done!?" Zod growled, before punching Jor-El in the face, breaking his nose.

"Jor-El!" Lara cried before running to her husband's side.

"So, looks like Lara's still here. Who were in those pods, Jor?"

Jor-El looked up at Zod triumphantly and said, "Our last hope."

"How beautiful. I'm truly sorry this had to happen, Jor. Now please, come with me," Zod asked as he extended his hand.

Jor-El raised his left hand to meet Zod's, before shooting him in his gut. Zod stumbled backwards in pain and surprise, his armor having absorbed the blast but it did little to keep the air from being knocked out of him. He watched as Jor-El shot Lara in the side of her head, then placed the pistol under his own chin. He gave Zod one last look of pity, before pulling the trigger.

"Sir?" Non asked as he approached his leader. "Our orders?"

Zod sighed and said, "Destroy everything in here. Make sure Krypton remembers the house of El as traitors who sold our world to The God of Evil."

Kara cried as her pod breached the atmosphere, leaving behind Krypton and almost all traces of her life. Floating next to her was Kal-El's pod where he rested peacefully, unaware of what was happening. Seeing him made her stop crying as she took the time to brace herself for whatever happened next on the new world.

Behind them floated The Ark, which after a minute of inactivity fired a white light ahead of them that transformed into a circular portal. Kal-El's thrusters activated first, sending him through the portal with eases. Kara's thrusters activated once he was safely inside and began to push her towards it. For a moment, it seemed as though everything would go well.

Then a massive red portal appeared a short distance, letting loose a soundwave that pushed her pod out of its trajectory and shook Krypton to its core. Kara screamed as the pod spun through space and a computerized voice said, "Trajectory lost. Plotting new course."

The thrusters slowed the pod to a stop, allowing Kara to see dozens of disturbing ships surrounding Krypton. From these ships came an endless horde too small for Kara to see, but she knew could be no larger than a man. She saw their numbers were endless, and that there was no hope for Krypton. Once more, she began to cry.

The Ark activated once more and a portal appeared ahead, sparking the pod's thrusters to reactivate. She passed through undisturbed by the invasion forces, and The Ark followed shortly behind. She left behind Krypton forever, but the heartbreak and misery had only just begun.

April 18th, 1989

Newlyweds Jonathan and Martha Kent drove down the dusty Smallville road on a late Friday evening. The Sun had gone down completely, leaving behind only a pink horizon that was slowly being overtaken by darkness. It was almost a perfect night. Martha leaned closer to Jonathan and put her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.

Martha was a tall slender woman with light brown hair and deep brown eyes. She wore square framed glasses with pink tint that she told everyone was for style. In actuality she was incredibly nearsighted. She was only twenty six, but she felt like she was twice her age. She had always been more mature than all her friends and sisters.

Jonathan was short and stout with extremely short brown hair and brown eyes, much like his wife. Unlike her he had broad shoulders and a muscular build from years of working on his family years. He was thirty years old and already had a small patch of grey hair, that he knew would soon be spreading across his entire head.

"What the hell," Jonathan said in disbelief.

"What is it, love?" Martha asked as she opened her eyes and looked up to him.

"There!" he yelled, pointing ahead.

Martha looked out the windshield and watched along with Jonathan as something fell burning from the sky. Suddenly it changed course and began flying straight towards them, before sailing past their truck, ripping off the left side mirror in the process. A moment later there came the sound of an explosion as what they believed to be a meteor crashed into the cornfield.

"Was that what I think it was?" Martha asked.

"Depends," replied Jonathan. "Did you think it was a meteorite or a spaceship?"

"A meteor! I can't believe it crashed right in front of us! It could have killed us!"

"It wouldn't have killed us… ruined the mirror though."

"Let's turn around and go see it, you big lug."

"Alright, hang on."

Jonathan looked to make sure no one was driving behind them, and was satisfied to see a completely empty road. The roads usually were empty in Smallville. He turned the truck around and began to drive off towards the plume of smoke that marked the crash site.

The Kents got out of their truck and began to move through the cornfield eagerly, hoping to see a meteorite up close. Instead what they found was a crashed alien spaceship with a transparent canopy. Inside of it rested a small infant, undisturbed by the crash.

"Jonathan," Martha began. "Is it just me, or is that a alien fucking baby?"

"That is, in fact, an alien fucking baby," Jonathan said in disbelief.

Suddenly the holographic image of Jor-El appeared over the crashed pod, scaring both Kents and caused Jonathan to fall down backwards. He said, "Greetings. My name is Jor-El of the planet Krypton. If you're seeing this it means you've reached this pod before my niece, Kara. I cannot be here as… as I am dead, along with my wife Lara. Our entire planet was destroyed, my son Kal-El and niece Kara being the only survivors. I ask that you search for her, and protect my child until you find her. Kal-El will grow to do great things, with great power at his disposal. If raised right… he will be a guardian angel to your planet. I can only hope that whoever finds my son's pod is compassionate and will do the right thing."

The hologram flickered once then completely disappeared, leaving the couple alone in the dark corn. Martha broke the silence by saying, "Well… this is gonna be one hell of an adventure.

Jonathan looked to her and asked, "You want to keep that… thing?"

"Jonathan Matthias Kent, we are not going to abandon that child."

"I'm not saying we're going to abandon it… there's gotta be someone we can call. The government, maybe?"

"Jon, you know as well as I do that if we let the government know about this, the kid will never see the light of day again."

"Alright… alright. You get the hatch open, take the kid back to the truck. I'll get the winch and hook it up… somewhere. We'll take them both back to my farm, figure out something from there."

"Thank you, Jon."

"I love you, Martha. I'd do anything for you."

"I know. I love you too."