To Save the World with a Friend by my side
Chapter 1 – Across Time and Space
Author's Note: Hello, I am back with a new fic, this time cross-posted on AO3, under AvatarSkywalker78. So, Krypton is among my favourite shows ever, and I was shocked when it got cancelled, because it deserves so much better. The characters and the writing are brilliant. This story was in the works way back when S1 was airing, and I'm enjoying the opportunity of playing in the sandbox. In this story, Adam goes to save the timeline with the help of his best friend, Ashley Tanner.
Disclaimer: I don't own Krypton. If I did, it would've gotten more marketing. I only own my OC.
Kal-El, Kara.
My future grandchildren.
Our ending has yet to be written. But this is how we began.
Ours is a story of sacrifice and triumph.
How the House of El led a revolution against tyranny.
The story of your family isn't how we died.
But how we lived.
-X-
Earth, 21st of March 2018
"I don't see why you have to go alone on the first trip."
Adam gave her an unimpressed look.
"We've been over this. First off, we're not exactly sure where Seg-El is –
"You said you narrowed it down." Ashley pointed out. True, she and Adam had been through the plan before – although the word 'plan' was stretching it somewhat – but she still thought Adam going to an alien planet on his own was a terrible idea, even if it was only for a few hours. He did have a tendency to mouth off at people, and she didn't really want to get there and find out that he'd been arrested or beaten up. It would be embarrassing, for starters.
"And we don't really know what the situation is like on Krypton."
"And I doubt you could do much to change it if it is crap." She handed him the duffel bag with Superman's cape. He took it and grinned at her.
"It'll be fine. We'll find Kal-El's grandfather, deal with Brainiac, and save the timeline."
"You make it sound so simple." Adam shouldered the duffel bag and shrugged.
"You know what to do, Ash?"
"I know, Adam. Now go. And don't call me Ash."
Her friend gave her another grin, before he held up the Zeta-beam device, and vanished in a flash of blue. Now all she had to do was wait for the all-clear, which meant Seg had been found, and that the sunstone had been handed to him.
Ashley couldn't help but feel nervous. Not about the space or time travel as much – this wasn't the first time she had used the zeta beam, and she doubted it would be the last. Admittedly they hadn't time travelled a whole lot, because time travel was a tricky thing at the best of times, and not something to do lightly. But it was the whole idea of undertaking this task – to attempt to save the lives, the existence, of two of Earth's greatest heroes, possibly even of Earth itself. To try and stop Brainiac, of all creatures.
It had been her decision to help. The moment Adam had told her what he'd found out – what he was planning to do in response – she had immediately offered to come with him. She wasn't about to let her best friend deal with this threat alone, and who knew what Brainiac had planned for Krypton. But she had to believe they would find a way.
Stop a world destroying alien, save two worlds, try not to mess up the timeline. No pressure there then, she thought wryly.
It seemed to take ages for the device to beep but she was only left pacing ten minutes before it did so. She looked at it, and took a deep breath, before she activated it.
There was a flash of blue, and before she knew it, she'd been thrown to the floor of the Fortress of Solitude. Ashley swore, and she picked herself up off the ground. A truly amazing piece of technology, but not the smoothest of rides, and it did tend to practically chuck you to whatever location you'd chosen. She could hear Adam's voice nearby, and she walked down towards it.
"Thank God, it worked. Sunstone opened this place up."
"What are you doing here?" Another voice – Seg, she assumed – asked coldly. Ashley got a sinking feeling, and she rounded the corner to see Adam going up to the Kryptonian.
"Well, I was looking for you—"
WHAM!
He was sent flying by Seg's punch. Normally, seeing Adam get decked would have been amusing, except obviously the circumstances were rather more serious. It was obvious she had arrived several hours after her friend – far later than intended - and, judging by the Kryptonian's furious expression, something truly awful had happened in the meantime.
"Adam, what did you do?!" She knew she should've made the trip with him.
Both men whipped their heads up, Seg looking momentarily surprised. He had taken hold of Adam – whether he'd been planning to hit him again, she wasn't sure – but he let go as he straightened up and frowned at her.
"Who are you?" He demanded, sounding more emotional than he had a minute ago.
"My name's Ashley Tanner. I'm with this one," she nodded towards her fellow human, who had picked himself up and was now dusting himself off, "who still hasn't answered my question." She gave her friend a pointed look, and he held his hands up in surrender.
"Nothing, I swear!"
"You got my parents killed!" Seg retorted angrily, and Ashley whipped her head towards him.
"What?!"
"What are you talking about?"
"You gave me that sunstone." This was directed at Adam. "You told me to find this place, and I did. And now my parents are dead! They died to protect me! They died to protect whatever this is." He was worked up now, and he gestured helplessly at the surrounding fortress. Ashley couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Look, buddy, I didn't know, I swear." Adam looked shamefaced, and he didn't meet her eyes as she stepped up to join them.
"The question is, why weren't you with him? That was the plan, that you find Seg-El and find the fortress together, and then you let me know when that's done." Seg's parents shouldn't even have been involved, let alone killed. "What the hell happened?"
"He vanished." Seg answered, and she blinked in confusion.
"Vanished? What do you mean, vanished?"
"He…" he paused, seemed to compose himself – and Ashley felt a pang of sympathy for him, because he looked wretched – and started again. "He approached me, told me about my…my grandson, and about how someone is trying to make sure he's never born. Then he seemed to be in pain. Gave me the bloody sunstone and disappeared."
"Why?" She was about to ask, but then she caught sight of her friend's expression, and the realisation came to her.
Alanna and Sardath. Of course, they had seen what they were up to – though apparently, they had agreed with it seeing as Adam had returned – and with the added grudge of the two of them having stolen the Rannians' technology. Well, he always insisted they'd borrowed it, but stolen was more accurate, at least from the Rannians' point of view.
Ashley could understand them wanting more information, she supposed, but they had shitty timing.
"I'm sorry about your parents." Was all she could say, and the Kryptonian just scoffed.
"Doesn't matter, anyway."
"Why are you here, then?" Adam challenged him. Seg sighed.
"I don't know. I thought, maybe, that if I could finish my grandfather's work, my parents wouldn't have died for nothing." He scowled at them both "But what I do know for sure is because of you, my entire family's gone."
Ashley didn't have a response to that. Adam, however, wasn't fazed.
"You only think that you're the end of the line." He bent down, unzipped the duffel, and brought out the cape. Already, it had gotten shorter, and it was still going, still dissolving.
"This belongs to your grandson, Kal-El. Emphasis on the El."
Seg frowned at it.
"Why's it doing that?"
"It means that our time is running out. Once this cape is gone, your grandchildren will be wiped from existence." Ashley explained.
"Grandchildren?" Ah. Evidently Adam had only had time to mention Superman.
"You have a granddaughter, too. Kara. She's Kal's cousin." You also have a great-grandson, she thought, but the poor guy looked overwhelmed enough. It was best not to give him too much, and in any case that was a very long story.
"Seg, this isn't just about your grandkids." Adam continued. "This thing that's coming…it's not just gonna stop at Krypton. It is coming for everything."
"What are you talking about?" The Kryptonian did seem a little concerned now. Adam exhaled sharply.
"It moves from planet to planet conquering civilisations. It's known as the Collector of Worlds."
"But it's true name is Brainiac." Ashley said. "And he's one of the deadliest beings in the universe."
"Now, I'm sorry about your folks, Seg, I really am. But it seems your parents gave their lives because they knew this threat needed to be stopped. And they believed that you could stop it. Now, maybe you're up for it, maybe you're not. But the only question that matters is…" Adam pushed the cape towards Seg, "...are you willing to try?"
-X-
Seg was still looking at the cape a few minutes later, frowning at it, and every so often glancing at Adam, who had gone over to look at the statues. In all honesty, he still didn't look that convinced – and, okay, maybe she couldn't blame him. If Krypton had forbidden any mention of aliens or world-killers, having two of said aliens show up would be disconcerting, even without the whole time-travel spin on things, and talk of future descendants.
Ashley didn't really know the best way to break the silence. Asking him how he was would just be insensitive and tactless, because his parents had just died, of course he wouldn't be feeling alright. And he still seemed to be trying to comprehend what they had just told him.
In the end, the silence was broken by him.
"Does this really belong to my grandson?"
"Yes." She replied. "We needed something to act as a timer, and that seemed the easiest way."
"And…how did you two get it?"
"No idea." She answered honestly. "Adam is the one who went and got the cape."
Adam turned, grinned and tapped the side of his nose.
"A true mastermind never reveals his secrets."
"I know, that's why I asked you."
Seg laughed at Adam's crestfallen expression, small and tinged with sadness, but a laugh nonetheless, and Ashley joined in.
"I don't know why I still hang out with you." He said sullenly to her, though there was a slight twinkle in his eye as he ambled towards them.
"You love me really."
Seg was watching the two of them, seemingly less unimpressed by the two of them.
"Neither of you seem fazed by any of this." He remarked, "Do you often deal with world-killers?"
"Not really." She answered, before Adam could step in. He was a good person, really, but he did tend to bullshit in situations like this, and Ashley really didn't want to get off on the wrong foot any more with Seg. "But we've seen our fair share of trouble."
"But why you two?" Seg asked, confused. "You don't exactly seem prepared aside from these teleport devices."
"Because we're the only ones who know how to use the teleports. And they're called Zeta-Beams. I came up with that name myself." Adam said proudly, and Ashley resisted the urge to roll her eyes; Seg gave her a "are you kidding me with this guy?" look. "They can bring a person across time and space, but only one person."
"Or in this case, two." Ashley added.
"So… you guys are a team."
"Ash is my best friend. There's no one else I'd rather have by my side." Adam had gone serious, and Ashley couldn't help but smile slightly.
"You're a big softy." She said to him, and Adam made a face at that.
"I'll deny that." He warned.
"I have a witness." Ashley pointed at Seg, who nodded sagely. The fact that he was going along with it was, she thought, a good sign.
"Yeah, well…we're getting off track."
Ashley scoffed. Typical Adam, changing the subject like that…although they did have a serious situation on their hands.
"Why do you need my help?" Seg asked them, looking down at his grandson's cape again before frowning at them.
"Because we don't know Krypton, and you do. If we're going to have any chance of stopping this thing, we have to be prepared." Ashley explained.
"But what can I do? My parents died before they could tell me anything." A flash of sorrow crossed his face, and Ashley felt a pang of sympathy.
"Then we can figure it out." Adam said determinedly, and Ashley nodded in agreement.
"You…" Seg shook his head. "No, I'm sorry; I don't know what you expect of me. Whatever answers are here in this fortress – if any – I don't know how to access."
"Hence the 'we figure it out' part." Ashley said. Seeing that he was still unsure, she sighed.
"Look, we won't get anywhere standing around here talking. Why don't you give us a lift back to your city and we can figure things out from there?"
"Fine." His spirits seemed to have fallen again, and he walked past them without another word. Exchanging a look with Adam, the two Earthlings followed the last El.
As Seg strode on ahead, she and Adam hung back slightly, and she turned to her friend.
"You going to tell me what happened?"
"Sardath took me out before I could properly explain anything. I could feel them pulling me back, so I handed the sunstone to Seg." Guilt filled his expression. "I didn't intend for his parents to be killed, Ashley. I didn't know the sigil was forbidden, else I would've kept hold of it."
"I know." There was no way they could've known that – there was only so much research they could do. "What did Sardath say?"
"Had a go at me – well, at both of us – for stealing the technology, and reckoned we should send someone more qualified."
"We didn't steal it." Ashley protested, and it was true; technically no one had ever said they couldn't take the technology, even when there had started to be objections to the modifications Adam made.
"That's what I said." Adam fell silent for a few moments, lost in thought.
"Alanna…she was there too." He said softly, and she grimaced slightly – Alanna was still a raw nerve for Adam. "She spoke up for us."
"She what?"
"Yeah, I know, but she did. She reckoned that we should at least be given the chance to try, so Sardath sent me back."
Ashley suspected Adam was leaving a lot out, but she didn't push him. To say that Adam's relationship with Alanna had gone sour was an understatement – Ashley remembered the arguments, which had become more frequent, and the Rannians had started to resent the Earthlings being there at all. Adam had been utterly heartbroken when Alanna ended things and had never really recovered from it. Ashley had once considered Alanna a friend, but that soured as well once she sided with Adam.
Why Alanna would then defend them was a mystery, but she sensed that Adam wasn't willing to talk more about it than he had to, so she changed the subject.
"Do you think he'll help?"
"The fate of the universe is at stake. He has to."
"Come off it, Adam, you'll have to scale that down. His parents have just died – do we really want to place the fate of everything on his shoulders?"
"I'm not saying we have to throw him right in it." Adam protested. "But we don't have the luxury of time – Brainiac is on his way, and we're the only ones standing in his way."
"God help us."
"Hey!" Seg had stopped and was now giving them an annoyed look. "Are you guys coming or not?"
"Sorry." She said. Seg just sighed and turned on his heel again. The two Earthlings hurried to catch up with the Kryptonian as he opened the doors.
"Bloody hell." Was her first exclamation upon seeing Krypton and the vast expanse of ice and rock that stretched out for miles, and the wind whipping at her face and hair. It was also absolutely freezing – she'd known Krypton was mainly ice, but this was bleaker than she'd expected.
"I told you it was bad!" Adam shouted over the wind.
"That's a bloody understatement!"
"Come on!" Seg yelled at them. "You don't want to be caught out here, trust me."
"Right!" They followed Seg into the skimmer, and Ashley turned to Adam.
"I call shotgun, by the way."
"Hey, that's not fair."
-X-
Aside from a brief argument over who sat in the front seat, the trip back to Kandor was mainly quiet. Ashley had evidently decided not to push Seg too much overall regarding the "world-killer coming to Krypton" thing, and – seeing Seg's grim expression – Adam agreed with this course of action.
So far, this trip was not going at all how he had expected or planned. He had hoped that Superman's grandfather – an El – would be more helpful, but on the other hand he hadn't counted on Seg's parents' getting killed. Not that Adam had known that would happen, but he was starting to wish he'd kept hold of the damn sunstone. Or given it to Ashley. Or something.
Perhaps he should've realised that sooner or later the Rannians would catch up with them – especially with them deciding to save Krypton, at least for the next couple hundred years – but he'd been so caught up in their plan that he just hadn't considered it. Because of that, two people were dead, because of him.
But there wasn't much he could do about it now, and he pushed down the guilt to focus on the more urgent matter. Somehow, he and Ashley were going to have to persuade Seg to help them. Despite his reservations about her coming with – he had been reluctant to let his best friend place herself in danger for his sake – he'd also known that facing Brainiac would be difficult enough. Also, he'd had to admit to himself that she was as stubborn as he was, and that she wasn't going to let him swan off to try and solve everything on his own.
She also had a lot of empathy for people, which would be a very useful thing -Ashley had had a point regarding how much they ought to put on Seg for the time being, but if he could at least convince him of the danger to Kandor…
"Holy shit! Adam, look at that!"
"What?" He leaned forward and looked at where his friend was pointing. "Oh, wow."
Ahead of them, Kandor City rose up from the ground, surrounded by a dome. Tall, elegant spires caught the light of Krypton's red sun, and he could see more Skimmers flying between them It took Adam's breath away – he and Ashley had been to several planets before now, but that never took away from the wonder of seeing a new place. When he'd taken the Zeta-Beam here the first time, he'd ended up within the city, meaning he couldn't see the buildings in any detail and in any case had been too focused on finding Seg to consider exploring.
Said Kryptonian seemed less impressed and frowned slightly at the two of them, as though he thought they were weird.
"I've never seen anyone been excited to see Kandor before."
"That's because they're used to the sights, man." Adam pointed out. "Neither of us have seen anything like this."
"Really?"
"Our planet has a breathable atmosphere." Ashley put in helpfully. "So we don't need domes." She still seemed awed by the approaching citadel, and Adam smiled slightly.
"It's pretty impressive. And we've been to other planets before, you know."
From Seg's expression, it was clear he did think they were both weird, and he shook his head slightly.
"You've been to other planets, and you're impressed by this?" He gestured to the city, and to the surrounding wasteland.
"Because this is a new planet."
"Believe me, it's much worse than it looks. Wait til you see the Rankless district, then tell me if it's impressive."
"The Rankless district?" Adam asked.
"Kandor has a class system, divided into Ranked and Rankless. My family…" his voice wavered slightly, but the Kryptonian continued on. "My family used to be Ranked, but my grandfather was executed for treason by Daron-Vex, and we were stripped of our family name."
That was why the sigil was forbidden, then, Adam thought, another wave of guilt washing over him. Ashley seemed to guess what he was thinking, because she turned to him.
"You didn't know." She said in an undertone. "Adam, you didn't know. Neither of us did."
"Doesn't make it easier." He said. Ashley grimaced, and patted his arm in sympathy.
The skimmer touched down near the outskirts of the city, and the trio hopped out and headed into the depths of Kandor. Kandor's lower levels were nothing like Adam expected – granted, he'd never actually seen Kryptonian architecture before – but now there was less urgency he could pay attention to the surroundings.
Which, to put it bluntly, was bleak. There was a whole variety of people going about their business, bustling to and fro and paying no heed to the newcomers, and a range of different smells permeated the air, but there was also a sense of gloom, and looking in some of the Kryptonians eyes showed a deep weariness and resignation there. There seemed to be no proper houses, and everyone's clothes were scruffy. Seg had had a point.
Ashley asked a bit more about the Ranked, and Seg explained a little about the houses – including the man responsible for the deaths of his family, Daron-Vex, whose daughter he had Binded with.
"So, this guy you're so eager to see, Darren." Adam began, an idea forming in his head.
"Daron."
"He's the magistrate."
"He's the city's chief magistrate."
Sensing an opportunity, Adam pressed forward.
"Chief magistrate, huh? You know, a guy like that probably has a lot of valuable information at his fingertips…"
"Strange, just don't." Seg said, stopping to glare at him.
"I'm just saying, if you were curious, you could probably use this guy, get access to the city's deep space sensors, which I promise you will show a big, ugly, organic life form headed this way. If you want to honour what your parents died for—"
Adam quickly realised he'd said the wrong thing, because Seg's glare became even fiercer.
"Don't you dare talk about my parents. I know exactly how I'm going to honour them. I just need to get up there, and not get arrested the moment I do."
"If you're thinking about revenge…"
"Adam." Ashley warned, stepping in, looking equally unimpressed with him.
"All I'm saying is at least look into what I'm saying first, and if I'm wrong, fair enough. Get your revenge on. But if I'm right, work with me, and when we're done putting foot to alien ass, we will help you murk this son of bitch ourselves."
"Sounds like a plan." His friend agreed. People abusing their power always pissed Ashley off. Adam looked at the Kryptonian.
"Do we have a deal?"
There was silence for a minute as Seg considered, and then the glare lessened.
"You know, you two really stand out wearing these clothes." He said, taking in the two of them. "Go find Kem at the tavern, tell him I sent you. He'll hook you up with a change of clothes."
With a nudge and a half-grin, the Kryptonian continued on his way to…wherever the hell the magistrates were, leaving the two Earthlings standing there. Ashley looked pensive for a minute before suddenly turning and whacking his arm.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You really are bloody tactless at times, you know that?"
"I was just trying to persuade him."
"By bringing up his parents. Jesus Christ, Adam, he's not going to listen to us at all if you keep saying things like that."
"I'm sorry, I misjudged." Adam was aware that he didn't always think things through, and he knew he'd erred just now. Ashley just rolled her eyes.
"You're an idiot." There was no bite to her words, and she gave him a quizzical look. "Where's this tavern, then?"
"It's not far." He had to think for a moment, before setting off. "You know that's the second time he's insulted my fashion sense."
"That's because you're wearing a scruffy jacket and a stupid hat."
"Says the woman wearing a David Bowie t-shirt." He dodged as she tried to whack him again, and Ashley stuck her tongue out at him.
"Very mature."
"Shut up. Are we going to find this place or not?"
"This way."
They reached the tavern a few minutes later, having wound their way through the mass of people. They were, in fact, starting to get odd looks, so the Kryptonian had probably had a point about them standing out. Kem's tavern didn't look that different from other taverns he had seen in his time, filled with people chatting and laughing – and in some cases arguing. A few looked half-cut already and were staggering either to or from the bar.
"Charming." Ashley remarked dryly. "How many do you reckon you'll fight this time?"
"Once. Once I got into a bar fight, which, for the record, had nothing to do with me."
"You still decided to make snarky comments instead of trying to de-escalate the situation. Or, you know, get yourself out. I had to drag you out of there swearing and cursing."
"And that was just you." He joked.
"Ha, ha." A man with wild brown hair was serving drinks, and finally noticed them. "Ah, that must be Kem."
"I think so. I remember seeing him chatting with Seg." He went over to the Kryptonian.
"Hey, are you Kem?"
"The very same. Who wants to know?" He seemed wary and edged slightly to his left. Probably to where the blasters were.
"I'm Adam Strange, and this is Ashley Tanner." He said. "We were sent here by Seg, he said you could provide us with a change of clothes."
"Seg sent you?" Kem looked mildly sceptical, but at least seemed less tense, and he gave them a once-over? "Well, I can certainly see why."
"Oh, come on, man." Adam protested, while Ashley just burst out laughing. "Do you guys have to insult my clothes every time I talk to you?"
"What else do you expect, dressed like that?"
"They'd pass where we come from." Ashley eventually managed to say, once her laughter subsided.
"I didn't know people from other city-states were coming here." Kem was frowning slightly at them now. Adam stifled a sigh – apparently that was another issue to deal with, inter-city rivalry.
"Yeah, well, that's cos we're not from any another city. We're from another planet."
Kem blinked.
"You're what?"
"From another planet. We're aliens, from Earth, in the next galaxy over. We're here to save your world as well as the rest of the universe from another alien who destroys worlds."
The bar owner just stared at them.
"Right, yeah, and…how much have you had to drink already?"
"None." Ashley said, an amused tone to her voice. "You can ask Seg yourself. Look, I appreciate this is probably one of the weirdest things you've heard today, but we're telling the truth. We're here to help Krypton and stop Seg from doing something stupid."
"Best of luck with that." Kem said dryly, still looking as though he thought they were crazy, but sighing and turning away.
"Wait here. I'll get you both some clothes. For Rao's sake, stay here and don't get into trouble."
"As if we would." Adam said. Kem raised his eyebrows in disbelief but didn't comment. He went off, and Ashley snorted.
"You know, I don't think he believed us."
"You think?" Adam peered over the bar. "I get the feeling this'll be harder than we thought."
"Be fair, how would you react if two people in weird clothing came up claiming they were aliens?" Ashley leant against the bar. "I mean, even on Earth, you'd still be highly sceptical. Try and imagine being on a world where any talk of that is forbidden."
"You'd think they were drunk or crazy." Adam conceded the point. Man, this was going to be a lot harder than he thought.
Kem came back a few minutes later, a bundle of clothes in his arms.
"Here you go." He said, handing the items to Adam. "There's a room over there where you guys can change."
"Thanks." Adam went to where the bartender had indicated, Ashley following.
The room – like the rest of the Rankless district – was bleak and grim. Adam put the clothes on the nearby table.
"There's a lot of black."
"Ah, be fair, there's not only black. There's some dark blue as well." She said, rifling through the clothes and picking up a dark blue top and a black leather – well, not leather since they didn't have cows on Krypton, but it would do as a description – jacket type thing. "We should hurry up before Seg gets back."
"So long as he hasn't done anything stupid."
"I'm more worried about you doing something stupid. Anyway, he wouldn't have sent us off to Kem if he thought he wouldn't be coming back."
"I suppose." Ah, there was a partition dividing the room, so he could change. He picked up a bunch of clothes and went behind it. "See you in a minute."
"Idiot."
-X-
He'd thought the clothes were alright, but he could tell Kem was struggling to keep from laughing when they both walked out.
"Wow, you look…you look."
"Hey." Adam protested. "You got these for us."
"Certainly a better look than your…Earth clothes." Kem still seemed very sceptical about the whole "we're from Earth" thing, but didn't make any further comments.
"I'd still prefer it if you kept hold of them, if you don't mind, Kem." Ashley said, and the bartender nodded.
"That's fine. I'd always ask before selling them anyway."
"Thanks, Kem." Ashley said dryly. She'd opted to keep her necklace on, the silver sun glinting slightly in the fluorescent lighting of the bar. Kem, he noticed, glanced at it in curiosity.
"That looks similar to Rao's symbol." He remarked.
"It's a sun symbol." Ashley explained. "I assume by that statements that Rao's your sun god."
"Our only God, as far as the higher ups are concerned." Kem said to them in an undertone and Adam grimaced. The fact that Kandor was a Theocracy he suspected would complicate things even more.
"Got any tips on how not to get arrested for heresy?" He asked, only half joking.
"I'd suggest leaving the whole thing alone, if I were you." Kem had gone serious. Okay, this really would complicate things – another possibility of things going wrong, just what they needed.
Adam needed a freaking drink.
"So, do you serve Earthlings or not?" He asked the bartender, who snorted.
"I serve anyone who pays, Strange."
"Ah." Currency. Damn, he hadn't thought of that. Ashley was looking faintly amused, so he'd get no help there.
"Are you sure Seg is gonna pay for those clothes?" Kem asked, having clearly guessed what had given Adam pause.
"Absolutely. And, you know, I'm offended. He was very clear, change of clothes, no expense spared."
"Right." Kem drawled
"He also said something to, uh, quench our thirst. Extremely clear about that one."
"Did he?"
"Do you serve food here as well?" Ashley cut in, and it was Adam's turn to snort.
"Of course that's your first thought."
"Hey, if we're gonna be here for a while, I'd like to know where we can eat."
"Seg's paying for that as well, I take it?" Kem said dryly.
"Sure." Ashley went along with it, unfazed as ever. She had long grown used to Adam's bullshitting, and normally went along with it – this time had the added incentive of free food, which was always a priority.
Something slammed down on the bar between them - a tablet – followed by Seg suddenly appearing out of nowhere, dressed like…
Well, he wasn't quite sure, but it looked stuffy and formal and absolutely did not suit the Kryptonian at all. Adam shared a look with Ashley, both struggling not to burst out laughing.
"Dude, what the hell are you wearing?" He went with instead, not entirely keeping the laughter from his voice.
"Unbelievable." His friend added. "You two insult our fashion and then you show up wearing that thing."
"Whatever." Seg tugged at his collar, and Kem frowned.
"Well, this looks positively intriguing, and I am dying to hear all about it, but can we just have a- a little word in private first?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Yeah." Kem looked at the two Earthlings. "It's not about you."
"Course not." Ashley said easily, moving away and tugging Adam's arm. They both went further along the bar as the two Kryptonians started talking his hushed voices. She heaved a sigh.
"This is going well."
"You were right, though, Seg did come back." Adam pointed out. He had been worried he would go ahead and do something stupid.
"I suppose so, but he doesn't look happy." She grimaced. "Well, of course he bloody isn't, but you know what I mean."
"I do." She meant that likely Seg would give them an ultimatum. "Do you think the deal is still on?"
"That depends. "She gave him a look. "We might not find anything. The question is whether we'll still uphold our end."
"You mean helping to take out Daron-Vex."
"He sounds like a nasty piece of work." Ashley pointed out. They'd both seen corruption on other planets, but this politician working with a theocracy really did seem insidious.
"That's all very well, but what then? You think they'll us just walk away after we've killed their Chief Magistrate?"
"We have the Zeta-Beams."
"Currently not working."
"Get them fixed then. Maybe improve them to carry more than one person. Or maybe add something so we don't get thrown halfway across the ground every time we go somewhere."
"You're suggesting fleeing the planet with Superman's grandfather." And he was meant to be the one with the outlandish plans.
"Either that or convince him to bide his time."
"And become a rebel." Not what they had come here for, but then again on the off chance they really had got it wrong – a very slim chance because they'd both checked – could they really just leave? Knowing Ashley, he suspected not – she couldn't stand seeing injustice of any kind no matter what planet they were on.
"I could see you as a rebel." Ashley said, green eyes twinkling with amusement.
"I hope you're not being personal."
"Never."
Both Kryptonians had finished talking and were looking at them, and Adam sighed.
"I think we're wanted."
"At least they're not looking at us like we're crazy. Well," she amended, "Seg doesn't. I think Kem's still deciding."
"So long as I still get free drinks." He said, as they both ambled back over. Adam peered at the tablet, which glowed blue and showed various symbols, which he assumed was Kryptonian.
"You know, I like Candy Crush as much as the next guy but this is—"
"Shut up and listen, Earth-man." Seg interrupted. "I took your advice earlier, so now I'm a member of the Science Guild. They gave me that and unlimited access to their data banks."
"See, I told you—"Adam began, but Seg held up his hand.
"I'm not finished. The two of you said you could find proof to back up your claims about Brainiac. Here's your chance. But I'm not going to let you string me along forever. You have two hours. If you don't come up with anything by then, I'm going to finish what I went up there to do."
No pressure then, Adam thought wryly, Ashley's expression showing that she was thinking the exact same thing. He could only hope they managed to find something. Else he wasn't sure what they'd do.
"We'll need a translator." He said, infusing his voice with confidence he didn't fully have.
"And food." Ashley added, attempting to lighten the mood. He exchanged a look with his fellow Earthling.
They would find Brainiac on the scanners. They had to.
-X-
Two days ago, Seg's parents had been alive and well, and their main concern had been day to day survival.
Now his parents were dead, murdered by Jayna-Zod, he was expected to become part of House Vex, and he had to deal with two aliens with their claims of a creature who wanted to destroy Krypton and wipe out his descendants. The same kind of claims that got his grandfather executed. And they apparently thought he was the one best equipped to help them.
As he stood watching Kem make his way through the data, both Earthlings hovering anxiously nearby, he took the opportunity to observe the two of them properly.
If anyone had asked Seg what he thought aliens would look they, Adam and Ashley would be nothing like. They could pass for Kryptonians themselves. No weird hair colours, no outlandish skin tones or markings. Hell, even their accents weren't dissimilar – Adam could easily have hailed from Kryptonopolis, whilst Ashley sounded like a fellow Kandorian. The new clothes completed the image and to anyone not in the know, they wouldn't suspect anything.
His Grandpa would've loved this, would've jumped at the opportunity to talk to actual aliens. Seg wished he could muster up the same enthusiasm.
They seemed good people, and he didn't think they were lying – at the very least, they believed there was a threat, and yet the possibility that there might not be one didn't seem to calm them. They were concerned for his welfare, probably more so now that he had outright stated his intention to kill Daron-Vex if they didn't find anything, even though they had only known him a few hours. And they both regretted getting his parents killed, although they probably hadn't known his houses' emblem was forbidden.
Why have they come? They had both said it was because they were the only ones who could use the time travel devices, but there had to be more to it than that. To undertake something like this, to try and save two worlds – and if they were right about this creature, far more than two worlds – was a lot to take on for two people. To save them from a world devouring beast, even more so. The two were friends, a team, and despite the anxiousness radiating off them they seemed to be trying to lighten the mood and making jokes, talking with Kem. But their task was weighing on them, he could tell, and Seg couldn't help but feel concerned for them.
The Earthlings' light-heartedness evaporated the moment Kem looked up and shook he's head.
"Nothing on the satellite array, nothing on the deep space sensors. It's not just Kandor City either, this is connected the guild's planet-wide network. There's nothing out there."
"No, that can't be right, it's a mistake." Adam protested.
"Check again. We know he's out there, we made sure of it before we came." Ashley insisted.
Not hard enough, Seg though grimly. He straightened up and scowled at the three of them."
"Well, that's it then." He turned to go.
"Seg…" Kem began.
"Seg, hey, come on."
"Seg, please."
"Just wait!" Kem dashed in front of him. "Give us a second, okay?" He asked the Earthlings, before turning back to Seg.
"Seg, please, think about what you are doing. Forget these two, let's just you and I sit down and talk about this."
"Kem, all I've done is think about this and I'm done talking."
"Seg, if you do this, you are throwing away everything."
"There's nothing left to throw away!" He snapped, anger and despair growing.
"Seg!" Ashley got up, looking panicked. "Wait, we said we'd help!"
"No!" He shouted suddenly, because he couldn't have that. "None of you are helping, do you hear me?! I'm not having anyone else get killed on my behalf!" And he stalked out of the bar before anyone else could protest.
As he made his way up through the city, towards the Magistrates Guild, towards his family's murderer, he tried to calm his thoughts. He hadn't meant to snap, but Adam and Ashley had come here because they thought he could help them. Yes, they had offered to help get rid of Daron-Vex, but he couldn't, he couldn't drag two strangers into this mess. Better that they went home or found someone else to help save Krypton, if indeed it really did need saving. Kem would help them out, he knew. They'd come here to save worlds, not to get embroiled in the murky world of politics, or to assassinate corrupt leaders.
He was a few corridors away from his target, and he lowered his dagger slightly, steeling himself for the job he had to do, when he heard Nyssa's voice from behind him.
"You're a quick learner. You've hardly been up here, and you already look sure of yourself."
Before Seg could reply to that, Nyssa had stepped up to him, looking apologetic, or at least as apologetic as a Vex could look. She was holding a black urn in her hands.
"About my father, he's…always had a flair for the dramatic, but…"
"You said your father only thinks that he chose me." He said, cutting her off, recalling her words from earlier. "If this really was your choice, Nyssa, maybe you can tell me why."
"First, I want to show you something." She handed him the urn she was holding. He took it…and blinked in surprise at the emblem on it.
"It's my parents ashes." He murmured, before looking at her in shock. "You could be arrested for this."
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Everyone deserves a chance to say good-bye to the ones they love. No matter the circumstances."
"Nyssa…" for a moment, Seg couldn't find the words. "...Thank you."
"You're welcome." She walked off and Seg looked back down at the urn, a lump forming in his throat and all thoughts of revenge driven from his mind.
His parents had died for his sake, to protect him, and to protect Val and his fortress. And he had been prepared to throw that all away in order to avenge them. Kem had been right, the Earthlings as well. What would it have achieved? The House of El would have been wiped out – there was his son, of course, but technically he was a Vex, and would be raised as such.
Seg supposed he should head back to the bar, because they'd all be worried about him. Instead, he found himself walking to another place in the District – his parents house. He fought down the anger when he saw the mess, still there from when the Sagitari had broken in. Easing himself onto the step, he held the urn carefully in his hands. It was far more than he expected, and more kindness than he'd expected from Nyssa-Vex.
Lost in thought, he didn't notice the two approaching until they were in front of him, and Seg looked up in surprise.
"Rhom, Ona. I'm…I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you."
"We just wanted to stop by and pay our respects." Rhom said, looking sympathetically at him. "Your mum and dad, they were always willing to look after Ona when I worked nights. Never asked for anything in return. I hope you know how much they meant to us."
"I…" Again he was lost for words, "Thank you. Thank you both." He sent a small smile Ona's way, and she shyly smiled back. They both walked away and Seg fought off tears as he looked back down at the urn again.
He wouldn't throw his life away. He couldn't. Not without betraying everything his parents – his family – stood for.
Seg knew he really ought to get back to the bar. But…his mind drifted towards the fortress. There would be answers there, he knew it, and it would have to be done alone. He would go back to Kem and Adam and Ashley once he made a trip to the fortress.
It wasn't hard to get access to a Skimmer, now that he was Ranked, and soon enough he was making his third trip towards his grandfather's fortress. Parking the vehicle, he hopped out and hurried into the chamber.
Everything was as he'd left it. Adam's duffel bag still where he'd dropped it, and his grandson's cape still hanging up, still dissolving. A timer, Ashley had said. He went over to the small screen and wiped the snow off it, reading the inscription.
"The blood of House El will forever bind us." He stood for a moment. "The blood of House El."
Ah. Retrieving the small dagger from his sleeve, he held up his right palm and drew the dagger slowly across it, gritting his teeth. He squeezed his fist and watched as the blood dripped down.
The reaction was immediate, the symbols lighting up, and then a familiar, impossible voice spoke up.
"Hello, Seg."
He whirled around and stared at his grandfather. Unable to believe his eyes. He ran up, planning to hug him…and went straight through him.
He turned and saw his grandfather staring sadly at him.
"Grandpa, you..you're not…"
"I'm afraid not, Seg. I'm a projection, a copy of Val-El. I share his thoughts and memories but - in essence - I'm a computer program."
Seg digested this.
"You knew they were coming for you." He realised.
"I suspected it, but I knew I had a responsibility to you, Seg. To guide you, to educate you when the time came."
"Well, Grandpa, there's a chance that time has arrived." He said.
"Then we'd better get started." Val frowned. "Is that the symbol of House Vex?"
"Yeah…about that." And Seg explained everything, from his saving his father's life, him becoming part of House Vex and binding with Nyssa, the sunstone and his parents' death, to the two Earthlings, and their claims of a world-killer coming to destroy Krypton, in order to wipe out his grandchildren, who were the heroes of Earth.
"I know of Earth." Val said. "It's in the next sector over. I'm surprised they developed time travel so soon."
"I get the feeling the technology isn't theirs." Seg admitted, because he'd noticed the slightly uncomfortable look Ashley had worn when her best friend had been talking about the Zeta-Beams. "Daron-Vex said that you had also seen the World-Killer."
"I did." He explained. "As for your grandchildren, it does not surprise me that they went onto great things when you look at our history." Val indicated the various statues.
"Hatu-El, whose discoveries led to the invention of the electromagnet. Im-El, who helped advance atomic energy. And Tharb-El, who discovered a cure for the Green Death, which nearly drove our planet to extinction. All members of the Science Guild." He turned to Seg with a twinkle in his eye. "Seg, it would take millennia for me to list the achievements of our house. The important thing to remember is that their greatness lives on in you."
"The blood of House El." Seg supplied.
"Yes. You are the torchbearer for our legacy now. You must keep that flame alive, pass it on to the next generation. If you believe in yourself, the way I always have, your accomplishments will stand alongside all those who came before you, and forever inspire those that follow."
"Then tell me about Brainiac. Help me find a way to stop him."
Val sighed.
"There's not much to tell. Once the council moved to silence me, I continued my work here. I created the most incredible technology that allowed me to enter the interdimensional realm which lay beyond the normal space-time continuum. I called it the Phantom Zone."
Seg tried his very best not to laugh, but evidently he failed to keep all the amusement from his face because his grandpa gave him a very unimpressed look.
"You have a better name?"
"Uh, no, no. It's..it's a cool name. Catchy."
"It was only a prototype, and I knew it was dangerous. I used it to travel throughout space, where I found entire galaxies swarming with intelligent life. And they were all under threat from a barbarous creature moving unchecked throughout the universe, devouring these civilizations one-by-one. I hurried back, somehow made it out of the Phantom Zone, and tried to warn the council. But then…well, you know how that ended."
With death and with everything taken from them. Seg's mind was reeling from this – the fact that there really was a world-killer out there, definite proof because his grandfather had seen it. Had tried to warn them. The Earthlings, he realised with growing guilt, hadn't been exaggerating the threat at all.
"I should've believed them." He murmured, and Val frowned.
"I don't think the humans will hold it against you, Seg. I'll be the first to admit that such a claim is near impossible to believe for those who have not seen it, or who don't want to see it."
"It's not over yet, Grandpa." He said, determination settling in him. "We're going to finish what you started, I promise. And if this thing really is coming for Krypton…it'll get more than it bargained for."
"I like the sound of that." Val said, eyes twinkling. "But you'd better do something about this house of Vex situation first."
-X-
"This was a bloody terrible idea, Adam!" For the second time in less than a day Ashley had to yell to make herself heard above the roaring icy wind. At least this time, they had protective clothing, but it wasn't the best and it was still freezing.
It had seemed a good idea, at first. Kem had chosen to believe them, and he'd arranged them to tag along with a salvage crew at the expense of Adam's watch and Detroit Tigers hat – much to his dismay – after they found out about a meteor storm that had hit a few days ago. With still no sign of Seg – and Ashley found that telling herself that surely there'd be more uproar if the Chief Magistrate had been assassinated was not helping in the least – they had to find proof of Brainiac.
Which was why they were currently in the outlands. But so far they'd found nothing.
"We've been at this for hours!" Kem yelled at Adam.
"What?!"
Another problem was that it was a struggle to hear each other, and Ashley was getting increasingly worried about visibility.
"I'm sorry guys, but I think we need to call it!" The Kryptonian said.
"You know what the first rule of archaeology is?!" Adam yelled back, crouching down and peering at something. From where Ashley was standing she couldn't see what he was looking at – probably more bloody ice and rock.
"I have no idea!"
"And neither do I! I dropped out the first year of college!" Despite everything, Ashley snorted at that – typical Adam. "But I think it's something like 'never stop searching!'"
"That's a wonderful story, but we need to go or else we're gonna die!"
"Adam, Kem's right, we can't stay out here much longer!" She added.
"Hold on, I've found something!"
Curious, Ashley and Kem went over, to see Adam looking at a bunch of…
"Oh yeah, we call those rocks!" Kem said.
"Not just any rocks! Look, Ashley, would you say they were scorch marks?!"
She crouched down beside him and looked to where he was pointing.
"Yeah! Kem, the markings, they're scorch marks! Something crashed here, and recently!"
"How do you two recognise that?!"
"We've seen similar!" Adam said. "On other planets, we've—" he cut himself off as he peered through the snowstorm.
"There! Ashley, do you see?!"
"I see it!" She went over to where the scorch marks led to the strange grey object Adam had spotted, her friend and the Kryptonian following. The two Earthlings approached, and Ashley swore as she got a better look at it, a chill running through her that had nothing to do with the blizzard.
"Shit!" This was echoed by Adam as he gingerly picked the thing up, brushing snow off it.
"What is that?" Kem asked.
"Bad news." She answered, exchanging a look with Adam before turning to the bartender. "It's also proof. We need to get back to Kandor right now."
"Shouldn't take long!" She could tell the bartender had questions, but he was aware of the urgency of the situation.
The trio made their way back through the blizzard, and eventually got back to the salvage ship and its crew, who signalled them.
"By Rao, you lot cut it fine." One of them remarked as they all clambered into the ship. "Don't you know how bad these blizzards get?"
"We're well aware, thank you." Kem pointed out before either Earthling could utter a rude remark, the bartender giving Ashley a sharp look.
"You find what you were looking for?" Another Kryptonian asked them.
"Yeah." Adam said, and didn't elaborate. The guy snorted, but the crew got the hint, and didn't ask any more questions as the pilot started up the engines, and the ship made its way back to Kandor City.
Ashley couldn't help but keep looking at the object, knowing the implications, knowing that it meant their timeframe was shorter than they'd expected. God, this was bad. She'd not expected her and Adam's mission to be easy, but nor had she expected this. Adam was silent too, his confident façade gone as anxiousness took over.
At the very least, it was proof, even if it meant things had gotten a lot more complicated. Bloody time travel. A tricky thing at the best of times, and evidently they should've gotten here earlier.
The salvage ship touched down, and she and Adam wasted no time in getting off, giving brief thanks to the crew as they did so, Kem hurrying after them.
"Guys, wait—"
"We can't!" Ashley whirled around, forcing Kem to stop in his tracks. "Kem, we can't explain right now, but this is really bad. You need to go and find Seg. We'll be in the bar, but please hurry."
"Okay." Kem nodded, looking grave, before turning down one of the paths. Ashley looked at Adam.
"What the hell are we gonna do?" He asked. A novelty, since he nearly always had a plan.
"Honestly…I don't know." She sighed. "First thing, we explain to Seg and Kem. Then we plan afterwards. See if the Fortress has anything we can use to fight Brainiac."
"Do you think it will?"
"I do." The city was nearly empty, and Ashley had no idea of the time. Either night or early morning. Kem's bar was empty, and they went into his room, Adam placing the object down on the table. "Come on, we know his grandfather knew about Brainiac, therefore he must've had some way of finding that out. Seg will probably be more willing to help now that we have proof, and now he's in the Science Guild…"
"He's in a position to help." Adam was looking less grim, but only marginally. "So long as he hasn't gotten himself imprisoned or killed."
"I'm sure he hasn't." Ashley said. She could only hope that was true.
-X-
Having essentially told Daron-Vex to get stuffed – and the Voice of Rao accepting his stance, which was surprising – Seg finally made his way back towards the Rankless District. He didn't get far before he was accosted by Kem.
"Seg. Oh man, am I glad to see you."
"I'm fine. Just lost track of time."
"That's an understatement, given the last time we saw you was yesterday." Kem said pointedly. "And evidently you didn't go to take your revenge." Kem frowned. "Would've been nice if you'd let us know, Seg. We all thought you'd gone and done something stupid."
"I'm sorry." He said. "Are Adam and Ashley okay?"
"Sort of."
Unease crept up Seg's spine.
"What do you mean, sort of?" He demanded. Oh Rao, they hadn't tried to get into the upper district to stop him, had they?
"They both fine, but…look, I'll start at the beginning. We continued looking at the data and it turned out we should've been looking under metrological phenomena. We found out there was a meteor storm and we went out into the Outlands to investigate…"
"You did what?"
"I know, but we found…well, it's best I take you to them. They're both kind of freaked out, and they want to speak to you basically right now."
This did absolutely nothing to ease Seg's worry, and he followed Kem into the bar, where he saw the two aliens standing nearby, their gaze directed at some sort of grey object. Ashley glanced up, and relief flashed through her eyes before the worry returned.
"This had better be something real, Earthlings, because I'm getting real tired of being…" He trailed off when he got a better look at the thing. "What is that?"
Adam, his tension and fear evident, didn't take his eyes off it.
"Not sure what you'd call it. Brainiac sends them out to any planet he deems worthy of conquest, as a forward scout."
"He…" Seg took that in, realising what it meant." Ashley looked at him, a grim expression on her face.
"Yes, we know. Turns out we're a bit too late coming to Krypton. Brainiac isn't on his way, Seg…he's already here."
End of Chapter One
So, this story will have about ten chapters – this is liable to change, of course, but in any case, it won't have many more than that. This is also going to be a series.
Next chapter – Ashley deals with the sudden escalation of things, and the trio race to find Brainiac's sentry before he causes havoc.