Superman: The Ark of Krypton

By

Jason Richard

"Well?" said Granny Goodness. "You aren't just going to hover out there and stare at us are you?"

"I'm thinking," said Superman, scowling.

He could just make sure the ship was disabled and keep them out here, turn the vessel itself into a holding cell. He'd have to make sure he kept life support online and ferry them food and more air as needed. Brainiac could probably help them with the details and make certain they couldn't just repair the ship, remove critical components and such.

It was a plan; he just had to wait for a Brainiac probe to arrive.

…

Kara felt everything slipping away from her again. First the battle with the criminal Kryptonians, then Lex Luther taking Kal-El hostage, and now this. She clenched her fists, letting one phrase echo in her mind.

Not this time.

"Brainiac," said Kara. "Can you make the Ark watertight?"

Brainiac responded more slowly than she liked, but said, "Yes Kara."

"Alright then."

Kara once again took a deep breath flew around the ship, blowing up snow. She spotted the probe making an approach, an invisible thing with snow falling on it, and blew at it, knocking it away. She lost it again, but that was fine. She just needed time.

She flew under the arc, moving her hands incredibly fast to pull snow out of the way, and flew up, putting her hands to the massive ship. According to what she'd learned about her powers, she knew she had to be strong enough for this, but just like Kal-El had shown her, she made sure to be gentle enough not to damage the ship itself.

She lifted the massive ship, the whole thing creaking in protest as snow fell off of it, and then she flew with the ship above her and as fast as she dared, heading for the ocean.

"I see," said Brainiac. "Underwater its cloak will just leave a visible empty space in the water, rendering it useless."

"Exactly," said Kara.

Fortunately, the ship was designed for fast travel, even if those drives weren't functioning, so it didn't fall apart as Kara flew it to the ocean. She couldn't go full speed, but she could go fast enough. Within minutes they arrived, and she set the ship down as gently as possible, making huge waves as she did. As the ship started to sink, she used heat vision to make steam, in a wide area around the ship, just in case the probe reached them. However, no moisture coalesced into a probe shape, so it hadn't arrived just yet.

Finally, the ship became fully enveloped by the ocean, and after a minute hit the ocean floor. Now the probe couldn't just sneak up on them.

As if on cue Kara, floating above the ocean, saw the probe appear as an empty space in the water. As it approached at high speed, it uncloaked, undoubtedly transferring power from the cloak to the weapons.

And this time, it was a fight Kara was ready for.

It shot a few blasts at Kara, green energy, which she dodged easily. She quickly recognized it as Kryptonite radiation. A fitting choice. This would hurt her, but not damage the ship below. She kept dodging, noticing how different it was to move around in the ocean. The water shifted with more impact than the air. Every move she made sent floating debris spinning and washing away. She couldn't afford to move at full speed, as it could cause significant damage around her.

She was able to dodge the green blasts. The probe darted out of her range as she tried to line up a punch, but she kept it away from the arc.

One of the blasts hit her, and Kara let out a soundless underwater scream as she flew backward, hitting the deck of the arc and floating away. The probe approached, and Kara shook her head to clear the pain. It didn't help much, but she got back up anyway.

She shot heat vision and it dodged the red beams, water boiling around them. She tried ice breath, but it came out as some ice right in front of her face which drifted to the seafloor. Apparently Ice breath was useless underwater. She was starting to get frustrated again, but then had one more idea. Really, it should have occurred to her earlier. They were underwater.

She grabbed her cape and spun around, sending a blast of water towards the probe, which flew backwards. Kara then flew around it as it was dazed. She went in a circle, gaining speed. The probe shot a few blasts at her, but she dodged them all as she went around and around, and soon her speed made a giant vortex of water with the probe at the center.

With the probe's movements stifled she blasted heat vision. The probe flew up, but as it was still trapped in the vortex it could only fly that way. Kara's eyes followed the probe upwards until the heat vision connected, blasting the Colu device into a thousand pieces.

…

Out in space Granny Goodness kept talking to Superman, still distracting him. Lashina, sitting in the back, monitored the probe on earth. The Colu probe had been destroyed, but the Apokolips probe, the incredibly tiny one, had jumped out at the last moment. That small probe was perfect for avoiding detection and keeping Apokolips' meddlings on Earth from the eyes of New Genesis, but wouldn't have been able to breach the Arc's shields on its own. Now that those shields were down they didn't technically need the Colu probe anymore. If this probe was discovered, then New Genesis could interfere, but a chance to take the Arc from themselves was too important to pass up.

So while Superman was still distracted, Lashina sent their tiny probe to the arc.

…

Still floating underwater, Kara was exhilarated. She'd done it. For the first time, she'd been in a fight where she didn't get taken advantage of. She'd won. She felt great.

And yet, something gnawed at the back of her mind. That probe had seemed stronger than it should have been for something so small. The giant Colu ship had been impressive, but the weapons it sued, both the pseudo sun blast and the kryptonite blasts, would require something larger than a Colu probe.

Unless the probe had help.

Kara quickly activated her X-Ray vision and scanned the area. She didn't even know what she was looking for, but she paid close attention to the debris from the probe. She felt it necessary to be cautious, in case the enemy had one more trick up their sleeve.

And she saw it, the tiny little probe moving towards the arc. Kara immediately blasted it with her heat vision, and it was gone.

…

Superman heard this Granny Goodness prattle on about how they could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement when one of the other women got her attention. She looked concerned and then tapped a button on the ship's controls.

And with a bright flash of light, the ship disappeared.

Superman flew in space dumbfounded. Teleportation? Did they repair their ship? No. He'd been using X-Ray vision. There's no way they could have made repairs without him seeing. That meant that they could have escaped at any time and that this was all a distraction.

Superman flew back to Earth, horrified at what he might find.