Superman: The Ark of Krypton

Chapter 31

By

Jason Richard

Lex Luthor took it as a matter of pride that he and his team of scientists reached the ship first. As the helicopters found places to land in the desert, however, he realized that the sand in that area had been disturbed; flatted as if by a large gust of wind...but only in the area immediately around the part of the ship that protruded from the sand.

Only one force in the world could do something like that, thought Luthor, noting with displeasure that he shouldn't be surprised that Superman got here before him.

The military arrived moments later, and Star labs arrived just as the first two groups finished setting up camps. They would inevitably have to negotiate between those two groups, but Lex was confident he could manipulate the proceedings in his favor.

Lex Luthor, as soon as possible, sent drones to examine the outside of the ship for any entrance. He found one, and though it had never been revealed to the public Lex Luthor's company had uncovered technology like this before, kept hidden away in secret labs. With what they learned from such devices it was only a matter of time before they got inside the ship.

Lex had his own tent, where a few guards kept him safe as he worked. He sometimes directed large operations at his own labs, but Luthor preferred to work on his most important projects alone. He stayed in that tent with his computers and a notepad, and looked over scans the drones gave him. After a while he finally got a device that should get the door open.

He held up the remote shaped device, admiring it, then contacted his assistant on a walkie talkie.

"Mercy," he said. "Call up the military and STAR Labs. It's time for our inevitable negotiations. Might as well do them when I have the perfect bargaining chip."

"Understood," said Mercy.

Lex Luthor then turned to leave.

Only to be startled by Rudy Jones standing there, in a stolen Lexcorp jumpsuit.

"Thanks for doing the legwork," said Rudy, before grabbing Luthor's face and making him fall unconscious. Rudy was about to walk outside, past the guards he had already drained and made unconscious, but then it hit him.

"Whoa!" he said, holding his head. "So this is what being a genius feels like huh?"

Thoughts swirled around in his head unlike any that he had thought before. Secrets of how technology worked, how a few hundred dollars in the right hands could ruin someone's reputation, all sorts of devious plans formed in his mind. It was a rush!

But then...his new intelligence and memories of Lex Luthor's life clashed with his own. Suddenly all the excuses he'd ever made for every single one of his failures no longer made him feel better. For every situation Rudy had gotten himself into, every poor decision he had made which drove people to kick him out of house he could no longer blame on others. Now filled with Lex Luthor's incredible mind and boundless ambition Rudy knew that his life could have turned out much differently if he'd been smarter, and yes...worked harder.

For Lex Luthor's beginnings were no less humble than his own, kicked out of his home as a young man. Unlike Rudy, however, Lex Luthor had been kicked out for committing crimes. He may have gotten away with them in the eyes of the law, but his parents knew the truth and disowned him. Like Rudy Lex Luthor had nothing, not a cent to his name, but while Rudy whined about his problems and fed off the work of others, Lex Luthor built a company from the ground up and became one of the richest men in the world.

Yes, Rudy now knew what it was like to be a genius like Luthor, but it was not entirely a pleasant experience.

…

While he did fly in the middle of that sideways ship's bridge in a red and blue suit, Clark Kent didn't feel like a superman in that moment. He had just witnessed two people, his birth parents, lose everything. Clark finally knew where he came from, and while he wasn't human, he had been sent to Earth for reasons that any human would understand. His parents just wanted a happy future for their son, even if they couldn't be a part of it.

"Thank you," said Superman, wiping a tear from his eyes. "Thank you for showing me."

"No thanks is necessary," said JLAI 13. "As your biological father's creation, this ship and I are your inheritance. That along with the suit you wear and the nanites in your human eyewear that hide your identity. I feel it appropriate to warn you that the forces you were worried about have arrived, ready to claim the Ark for their own. They have stood outside the ship for some time now.."

Superman sighed and said, "Yeah. I know. Just tell me one thing. The technology on this ship, if it fell into the wrong hands, what could it be used for?"

"This ship," said JLAI 13, "In addition to sustaining a population of kryptonians, has terraforming capabilities, allowing it to build a planetary ecosystem from scratch. Theoretically it could be weaponized, but your father Jor-El intended it to make a new Krypton for his people, and designed the ship for lifeless planets. Any attempt to terraform a life filled planet may kill an indigenous population, but it might not, and most changes to such a world would only be temporary."

"But the potential is there for a weapon?" said Superman. "And if I understand it, one could replace the ecosystem of an enemy planet with a friendly one, destroying the planet's inhabitants?"

"You surmise correctly." said the AI.

So that was where he stood. He didn't know if he would ever use this Ark to build a new Krypton as his birth father wished, but he did know one thing. This Ark, and the world it had landed on, were his to protect.

And at that moment, this meant negotiating with the military and scientists that stood outside the ship.

"Alright," said Superman. "I need to talk to everyone outside. Will you tell them what you told me?"

"Of course," said JLAI 13.

Superman nodded, then flew out of the room. He didn't get far, however, before he found something amiss. He was in the room with all the Kryptonian wildlife, only much of the wildlife in question was asleep. That in of itself wasn't a problem.

It was when Superman realized many of the pens above and below him were open. There were man size holes in the glass that weren't there before. As he flew, he knew something was up.

"Pardon me Kal-El," said JLAI 13. "You disappeared off my scanners for a second. It seems someone managed to tamper with my systems. I'm been blind in this room for a few minutes now. I'm sorry to report that you are not alone in there."

Superman didn't need to be told. He saw the person responsible fly down out of one of the pens in the roof. It was Rudy Jones, carrying an unconscious Lex Luthor over his shoulders. Clearly Rudy had absorbed Lex Luthor's mind and manipulated the ship's. Now he had absorbed power from the alien animals in the pens.

Superman put his guard up as Rudy noticed him.

Rudy just glared at him and said sarcastically, "Hey Superman. Look what I found. Aren't I the luckiest man alive?." It was clear that Rudy had absorbed the abilities of the kryptonian wildlife. What was also clear was that despite gaining that power Rudy was not a happy man.