Johnathan and Martha Kent were no strangers to objects falling out of the sky. In a world of heroes and villains, massive city spanning quirk battles were almost expected.That is not to say however, that they were unsurprised when a massive fireball slammed into the field they were driving past. Johnathan began pulling over, as Martha lept from the car while it was still moving. Neither had particularly noticeable or combat oriented quirks. While in Johnathan's presence, all plants grew faster and healthier, while Martha had marginally enhanced endurance. She could work perhaps five hours longer a day than a quirkless but otherwise healthy man. As a result, theirs was among the only family farms in Kansas still able to stay in business against the massive corporate farms that had moved in. "Hold up Martha, it could be dangerous!" Johnathan called out.

"If it is, then at least I'll get to die of something other than boredom!"

Johnathan sighed and shook his head. "I swear to God, that woman is going to be the death of me," he muttered as he trudged after his wife of three years. Martha had by now reached the fallen object but rather than investigating further, as Johnathan had expected, she simply stood still and stared at it. Johnathan began moving faster at this sight, thinking there may well have been something very wrong if his usually adventurous spouse had been stunned into inaction. He drew up beside her and was stunned himself at the scene before them. A white and red object, in roughly the shape of a massive egg, perhaps two meters tall and one wide. "What in the Goddamn—" He was cut off by a shrieking hiss as the front of the pod opened, leaves of metal blossoming like a tremendous lotus. On instinct Johnathan moved between the egg and Martha, but as the steam cleared, he saw there was no need. There was no threat at all. Just a baby swaddled in red and blue.

FOURTEEN YEARS LATER

"WOOOOOOOOOOO!" Clark sprinted up the half mile Kent driveway slightly slower than sound, and quickly accelerating. Entire fields of snow blew away from him as his speed further increased until he was little more than a brown and blue blur to any observer. In 2.8 seconds he was at the farmhouse, his sudden stop creating a pressure field strong enough to make the entire building shudder. Ordinarily he would stroll up at a walk, admire the fields. Today was different. First semester was over, and he had done it. The UA Academy in Japan had accepted his foreign exchange application, and would fly him to Tokyo toward the end of the Summer. A waste of fuel to be sure, as he could fly there in a fraction of the time, but laws were laws. Johnathan came out to meet him, grinning broadly. "So I'm guessing they decided to let you in?"

"How could you tell?" Clark asked innocently.

"Probably the house shaking."

Clark glanced around sheepishly before nodding. "Fair enough."

"Well, come on inside, I'm not standing out here all evening."

Following his dad inside, Clark found the house brightly lit, an apple pie cooling on the counter. He had barely made it over the threshold when Martha came bounding down the stairs, before throwing her arms around him in a hug that would've crushed a couple ribs for anyone else. She didn't say anything though. It was only now that Clark noticed both his parents were strangely solemn the entire time. Johnathan took hold of Martha's shoulder. "It's time Martha. He needs to know."

Yes. Yes you're right," Martha said as she released him.

"Come on," he said to Clark, before going out the back door, both Clark and Martha following him toward the barn. When they entered, Johnathan picked up a chain connected to the floor and began pulling. Clark stepped forward and took it from him, lifting open a hidden cellar door with one arm. Inside was a two meter tall white and red egg.

"What is this Pa? What's going on?"

"We found you in this after it fell out of the sky. Fourteen years ago. We were sure the government was going to show up at our doorstep, but no one ever came."

Clark stood motionless and silent for almost five minutes, wondering whether this was a joke or not.

"You're kidding right?"

Johnathan stared at him, barely comprehending what Clark had just said. "Not even slightly. A friend of mine at KU is a professor in metallurgy, and I had him take a look. So far as he can tell, the only identifiable element it contains is carbon. Nothing else even appears on the periodic table which, in essence, means that it's not from Earth. YOU are not from Earth."

Martha, silent throughout, chose now to cut in. "I know this may be... a shock, to say the least, but you are still our son."

Clark floated down next to the pod, and reached out to touch it. As he made contact a low growling hum began emitting from it as blue lights came on. "Recognized: Kal-El. Reconfiguring." Metal flowed like water, the egg began flattening and elongating, engines and a cockpit formed, and wings sprung out before curving forward. When all was said and done, it was the size of a small car.

"Okay yeah, you're serious. I'm a damn alien."

Johnathan snorted before replying, "Really? I hadn't realized."

Clark got a look in his eye Johnathan had long ago learned to be wary of, as he turned his gaze back to the ship. "So of course you know what I'm going to do now."

"You're not taking the space ship for a joyride Clark."

"I am absolutely going to take the space ship for a joyride Pa."

And before Johnathan could even respond he was already in it and taking off.

"Hello Kal-El, it has been 5,113 Earth days since this vessel was last active."

"What did you call me?"

"Kal-El, it is the name your parents gave you."

"And who are you?"

"I am Kelex, the onboard AI of this vessel."

The ship had reached the low stratosphere at this point, and was flying south at a speed beyond even what Clark could manage.

"Where are you taking me?"

"I have detected a Kryptonian vessel's tracker at this planets southernmost point, likely an old scout ship. It's archives, if functional, will spare me the difficulty of explaining who you are, and where you come from. There may also be useful fabrication equipment onboard."

Clark was silent for a moment before asking, "Fabrication equipment?"

Kelex responded without any tone, but somehow sounded exasperated anyway. "Physiological scans reveal a massive increase in all systems. Estimating the forces you may undergo and exert daily, you will need something substantially more durable than what you are currently wearing."

Clark considered this as they passed over what appeared to be a rainforest, which quickly gave way to grasslands and then to ocean.

"We are approaching the signal. Prepare for landing."

Clark was unsure of what Kelex meant by that, as she took the ship down so readily he wouldn't have been able to tell they were descending if he weren't looking.

"We have a problem Kal-El. The ship is there, but scans indicate it is buried."

Clark thought about this briefly before asking, "Is there anything but ice between us and the signal?"

"No, it is completely homogenous."

"Then we don't have a problem at all. Don't worry about it."

"Whatever you say..."

The ship touched down and opened. Despite him wearing little but a leather jacket and jeans, the cold didn't bother Clark at all. Behind him, a blob of metal flowed off of the ship before forming into an orb, and floating behind him. "Kelex? What's that?"

"I used the ship's nanobots to make a form for myself."

"Which way to the signal?"

Rather than respond, Kelex simply began moving toward a glacier about the size of the Kent farmhouse.

"Okay then, guess I'm just following you."

When they arrived at the base of the glacier Kelex stopped. "Whatever you're planning to do, do it quickly. My systems can survive perhaps twenty more minutes of this temperature."

"Calm down. Depending on how deep it is, we'll be in the ship before that."

Twin strands of red light sprang from Clark's eyes, before flaring up into a single torrential column. Waves of heat seared away the ice, and they began moving down.

"A rather unexpected ability."

"Found it by accident. Coyote went after one of our chickens when I was twelve, incinerated the thing while I was chasing it."

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Can see through most substances, lead being the exception. Can fly, but not as fast as the ship. Only other things that comes to mind are my strength and durability."

"Durability?"

"Last time I felt any kind of physical pain I was crashing into the ground at Mach one. Lost control while I was flying."

"I see. This lines up fairly well with initial scans."

As she said this, Clark ceased fire and walked up to the end of the tunnel, where a massive cavern was now visible. Inside was the scout ship, bigger than anything he had expected. "Holy shit."

There was a large hatch visible on the ship's side, that opened when Clark approached. Kelex followed him inside and her orb form merged with a nearby console. The ship began to come online, but entropy had obviously set in, as lights flickered and rather than the humming Clark expected he heard a grumbling wheeze that slowly smoothed out.

"It's a work in progress, but the self-repair functions and critical systems are effectively undamaged. It will take perhaps a week for this ship to be fully restored."

The entire structure began shaking as the ventral engines fired, and the scout ship began moving up through half a mile of ice.

"Effectively?"

"Don't worry about it."

The wall to Clark's left chose this moment to buckle and let several gallons of a mix of rust, carbon and oil pour out.

"Too much. Don't worry about it too much. It's a two hundred year old ship."

Clark looked at the console sharply at this. "So right now the only things keeping this ship from being permanently trapped under Antarctica are engines that haven't been used or maintained at all for two damn centuries?"

"...Possibly."

"Wonderful," Clark said. "Is there anything I can do to help get us up there?"

"No need. We've already reached the surface. The stabilizers are just so corroded it still feels about the same."

The shaking stopped quickly as Kelex set them down on the nearest stable ground.

"I ran a system scan while you were whining about the ship. It has the fabrication gear we need. I also hacked into several systems pertaining to yourself and have already begun manufacturing clothing you need such as your uniform for this UA. Any further items you need, I can begin as soon as you design them."

Clark thought on this for a moment before a symbol above the door they entered through caught his eye.

"Kelex, what is that?"

"That symbol is a Kryptonian hieroglyph that roughly translates to hope in human language. It was the sigil used by all scout and colony ships. For this reason it was also adopted by the House of El."

"Wait, didn't you say my birth name was-"

"Kal-El. Yes, it is your family's crest."

Ideas Clark had come up with for his costume floated to the front of his mind, with a couple small changes.

"Where's that fabricator at?"