Author's Note: Here it is, at last, the latest installment of this ongoing series that has no end in sight for it. As far as I know. Anyway, we have a bunch of new characters, a new villain, and all that jazz. What it will amount ot, well, I guess you'll have to wait and see. Heck, this chapter alone might give you all ideas, and both ShadowMajin and myself are more than looking forward to your theories. Without further ado, enjoy.
Disclaimer: We do not own Justice League
Warning: language, violence, death
A World Undone
The personal shuttle zoomed over the landscape, air rushing around it but not slowing it down thanks to the aircraft's aerodynamics. Behind it, Rao rose over the horizon, lighting up the amber sky. If you happened to be at the right angle, you would be able to see the red beams of light descending from the planet's source of heat and light.
At the shuttle's controls, a middle-aged man piloted the craft, paying absolutely no mind to the landscape beneath him or the sights behind him. He was an exhausted man, losing sleep as his research only seemed to bear out a worst case scenario, one that few paid any mind to.
However, Jor-El was not one to remain silent. If the scientist witnessed a wrong being committed, he was always the first to speak up about it. Depending on the issue at hand, support could be expected as well as opposition. He was no stranger to being labeled, whether they were with praises or with slurs.
It didn't matter whose side he was on, only that his views made sense based on the information at hand.
It was a quality of his that Lara loved so much. Frankly, Jor-El was surprised that she had remained with him so long in spite of his opinionated nature.
Regardless, it was not an opinion that had him out today, racing towards his destination. A quake had woken him up this morning, something that was becoming very common. Tectonic activity was nothing new and entirely expected. It was the strength of this latest one that had his concern though.
That was why he was heading towards the Archival Citadel. Though he was still some distance from it, he could see the top of the spire appearing into view. The scientist needed to compare the readings he had taken this morning to the others recorded over the past few years.
Something was happening, he was sure of it. There was too much evidence to ignore. First there was the increasing seismic activity. The second was a mysterious plague, one that had occurred when a large portion of the land jutted up unexpectedly, accompanied with a mysterious green glow. Whoever was exposed to it would soon fall ill, and prolonged exposure resulted in death. Lastly, the tides were acting irregularly, though there was another possible explanation for that.
Jax-Ur's ill-fated experiment on Wegthor, a...former moon, had resulted in a change of gravitational forces affecting the planet. The effects would be felt for millennia, or until the end of the world, whichever occurred first. Not for the first time did Jor-El rue that day, as it obscured his evidence, skewed his data points enough that he had to make enormous corrections and adjustments to his formulas to compensate.
The less said about what happened to Kandor, the better. Even now, the Science Council was still arguing about what had happened at the former capital.
Reaching to the controls, the male Kryptonian began to decrease speed, preparing his craft for docking. The Archival Citadel was racing towards him now, and was taking up much of his view. In a few minutes, his shuttle would reach the docking station.
Activating the shuttle's artificial intelligence, the programming would handle the chore of piloting the aircraft into the terminal while Jor-El lifted himself up from his seat and made his way out of the cockpit. Time was of the essence, and the scientist wanted to waste as little of it as possible. As soon as the vessel was docked, he would be leaving it.
The only confirmation that the process was a success was the slight hissing as the airlock deactivated, cabin pressure no longer artificially contained. The shuttle door opened, and Jor-El hurried through, ignoring the enormous bay in all its fine metals and smooth exteriors. The first time he had been here had been enough to be a wide-eyed man lost in wonder; right now he was a man with a task that required completion.
As he passed by a monitor, the screen flickered on and the image of three circles appeared. In a pattern, two were positioned over a third, two lines connecting them to the third circle. These lines would begin to emit small, random-sized spikes which were accompanied by a monotonic voice.
"Greetings, Jor-El. Your visit today was unexpected nor scheduled."
"My apologies, Brainiac," Jor-El stated, not stopping to engage with the artificial intelligence program. "I have need of your database; I need to add new data to an already existing file, you know which one. Had circumstances been better, I would have scheduled a time, but right now that is of the essence."
Far from being unaccommodating, like a certain Council, the program responded, "Of course, Jor-El. Make your way to the central control center and be ready to input your data. I will prepare for your arrival there."
That was perhaps the pinnacle of Kryptonian ingenuity and intellect. While artificial intelligence was far from being new on Krypton, the science itself existing for several centuries, nothing was at the level that the Brainiac program existed on. Ironically, the man for whom the destruction of Wegthor was synonymous with was also the man who introduced the world to this ground-breaking program. In no time at all, civilization had been integrated into the intelligence programming, tasks such as communication, management and maintenance of administrative and social services, organization of transportation lines, storage of all knowledge and scientific inquiry, among others were all handled by this one AI. Krypton had never been the same.
Booted feet clacked against the metal-based floor of the citadel, the pace set hurried. The central control center was also the central hub of this structure. It was also where the mainframe for the Brainiac AI was kept. Whenever new data or information was acquired, it always came through here at one point or another.
This meant that if a person wanted quick access to anything, coming here was the most efficient means of doing so. As far as Jor-El knew, nothing was deleted here; everything preserved under a historical protocol that forbade the deletion of anything. There had been worries that given enough time, not even a program as advanced as Brainiac would be able to store as much data as it had, yet even now it still received, organized, and stored new data without showing any strain on its servers.
Jor-El theorized that regular updates and upgrades the AI performed on itself kept it on the frontlines of maintaining all scientific information as well as the infrastructure of their world. The constant perfecting of the program meant that there would be no need for constant maintenance by the masses, allowing them to focus on more significant pursuits. He couldn't condemn others for something he did himself, as well as didn't see any problem with it.
Eventually, he reached central control, though it took more time than the scientist was comfortable with. Fortunately, Brainiac was always accommodating; from the floor, a long, thin terminal rose up, rising higher and higher until a monitor and keyboard interface were at a comfortable level for him.
Immediately, Jor-El was accessing the database, quickly uploading his new data from a storage device he knew as a data crystal. Though, it was thin, easily portable, and could be held in the palm of one's hand. It was nearly translucent, and resembled an actual crystal from which it was named after.
One end went into a port, a small window opening up on the monitor to report the upload. Brainiac was quick with this process, and soon enough, the scientist was bringing up the rest of the data he had been recording for the past few years. With this morning now included, Jor-El had a clear picture of what was happening.
"This shouldn't be right," he murmured to himself.
"Is there something wrong, Jor-El?" Brainiac inquired, its monotone voice booming throughout the central hub.
He shook his head before looking up towards a large screen inlaid in a wall, placed in a way that made it appear that the tri-circle emblem was looking down upon him. "It's just...may I be open here?"
Brainiac's response was immediate. "Of course, Jor-El."
The scientist felt the need to clarify. "I mean, may I be open without anyone from the council being informed?" He was in enough trouble with those elders, all but being called a heretic by them. The names were endless, all of which were critical.
"I shall maintain confidentiality as per your request, Jor-El."
He gave a sigh before straightening his shoulders. "The seismic activity this morning, when added to all the data accumulated over several years is...it scares me."
"How so?"
Closing his eyes, Jor-El exhaled a deep breath. He needed to clear his mind of all distractions and doubts, all so he could put his thoughts into words, making them all that more real. Based on what he knew, all the data gathered and processed, all the hypotheses made and discarded, the conclusion he was coming towards was not going to be an easy one to make.
"Based...based on all the evidence I have been gathering, from all seismic and tectonic activity, the...epidemic involving the green light that started several months ago, the destruction of Wegthor, all of it has…." It was something he has been warning about for much time, the very thing he had been derided about. It was also the one conclusion that he had hoped he would be the most wrong about, contrary to what some people said. His body shuddered before he was about to force the words out. "...all of it can mean only one thing. Krypton is undergoing a number of changes that will result in its destruction. Based on the evidence gathered, I can only conclude that the planet's core has become destabilized. This morning's activities have revealed that if this continues, our world will end not in a matter of years, but days."
It was horrifying. Now that he had voiced his conclusion, made it all that more real, the enormity of it fell over the middle-aged scientist. His area of expertise had always been geology, and it had always been his passion. However, the demand for scientific progress had had him take up other fields so that he was able to provide for his burgeoning family and uphold the legacy of the El clan.
Everything, though, always led him back to Kryptonian soil.
"This is a severe hypothesis you have come to, Jor-El," the AI program remarked.
"I know." Jor-El's body shuddered. "I know, but that is not all. There is...there is no way to stop or reverse it. The core is so unstable that other celestial bodies are influencing it. The gravitational forces from Rao and the seventh planet are acting on Krypton, and factor in the lack of gravitational force from Wegthor, and what we have are two sources of powerful gravitation force pulling on our planet. In time, they were tear it apart."
"That is indeed the only conclusion that can be made," Brainiac agreed.
"If we're to save Krypton, there is only one plan available. We will have to evacuate the planet, take what we can, and place ourselves at the mercy of the universe," Jor-El continued. "Though our home planet will be gone, Krypton will live on with its people, wherever it is that we end up."
"That will not be necessary."
"I will try to make my case to the Science Council once more...excuse me?" While his dark thoughts had him distracted, Jor-El had caught on to the statement that AI program had made.
"While your actions are admirable, they are unnecessary," The Brainiac reiterated.
"Unnecessary? Explain," the scientist demanded. He pulled away from the terminal and took several steps towards the large, overhead screen, staring up into the emotionless three circles that represented the program.
"Over the past several cycles, I have been documenting everything about this planet and its people," Brainiac answered, always accommodating even when answering queries. "It has taken much time and effort to do so. I admire this civilization, and have grown respect for it. However, now that my primary function has been achieved, there is no more need for this continued pretense."
A large frown has grown on Jor-El's face the longer he listened. "Primary function? You were programed by one of our greatest minds. What did Jax-Ur create you to do? Wait...did he know about this? About the core?"
"You are operating under a logical fallacy. It is to be expected as I was the one who created it." Brainiac's monotone did not change in its tone once. It was a bland explanation that carried no emotion with it. "I was not created by Jax-Ur. I found and used Jax-Ur to insert myself into Kryptonian civilization."
"You mean...you came from someone else?" That was what the scientist was able to grasp. Yet, the concept seemed...alien to him. Like much of Krypton, he saw this AI program as integral to it. You could not have society without the program.
"You are correct. As I have stated, my primary function is to learn all there is to know about planet Krypton and the intelligent life that inhabits it. I do have a secondary function, one that I have been carrying out in secret with no one the wiser."
This was a lot to take in, but this latest revelation had Jor-El on edge. "Secondary function?"
"To end Kryptonian civilization by destroying the planet it inhabits."
It was a simple statement with a horrific implication. At first, the man of science was unsure if he heard correctly. Then his attention shifted back to the terminal he had been provided so generously. Then his eyes returned to the emotionless triad of circles, his denial trying to hold back the realization of what it meant.
But the increased seismic activity and the recent phenomena that had been plaguing their world, and was only getting worse with each passing week now had an explanation. Yet, if Brainiac was responsible, then how?
As if detecting his thought process, the AI continued, "Krypton is unique, in that its dominant species has chosen to exhaust all of its natural resources, including those found in its core. This is the first world I have encountered where its inhabitants have gained access to and have mined the core of the planet. Inadvertently, it provided me access to destabilize the core, little by little, until the normal forces of the galaxy, primarily those of gravity, finish my work."
"I don't understand. Why would you do this?" the scientist demanded. "We trust you! I trust...trusted you."
"Your need to know of my reasons is irrelevant. If I did take the time to explain myself, that would waste time and resources that are better spent for other, more beneficial purposes. As I speak, I am already downloading everything in my databanks into a specially constructed spacecraft of my own design, one that will carry all that is and ever will be Krypton."
Jor-El's eyes widened. "You're...abandoning us."
"If that is how you wish to see it." Still, no other emotions from the program, which served to stoke the coals of anger welling within the Kryptonian man. He balled a hand into a fist yet did not act on the emotions welling within him.
"It is a shame that you were not in Kandor," Brainiac...lamented. For once, there sounded as if there was something else in that programmed voice. "Alas, it was not to be. A mind like yours will be a terrible loss, but not one that cannot be recovered from."
Now Kandor was being brought up? Why? It had nothing to do with Brainiac destabilizing the planet's core. The capital city was gone, destroyed only days ago. Days before his former friend from the House of Zod attempted a violent coup to overthrow the elders of the Science Council and install his own governance. Only two days ago was his friend sentence to the Phantom Zone due to his coup's failure.
Wait.
While he had not been there, Zod had. The man had confided in him with what he had witnessed that day. A large, strange ship of foreign design had appeared over Kandor that day. It had released drones of the kind no one on Krypton has ever seen before. Then, as it hovered over the capital, the ship had destroyed it, leaving only the most peculiar of craters behind, one with cliffs that stretched downwards at ninety degree angles and were impossibly smooth.
"You destroyed Kandor? So you attacked us as well?" While he hoped that he was wrong, the spurt of intuition the dark-haired man experienced was strong enough that he had to voice it.
"Think what you will, but yet, I am responsible for what happened to Kandor. Its fate is none of your concern, much as the fate of this planet is no longer anyone's concern." Brainiac was brutal in its dismissal. Beside the horrified man, the terminal shut off, powering down at an unseen command.
The various lights that provided visibility also began to turn off, slowly dimming the room. Distantly, you could hear the sounds of the electrical grid being shut down, the cessation of hums that came from the machinery throughout the spire turning off.
"Farewell, Jor-El. This is where we part ways," Brainiac stated. A tremor shook the structure ominously, a well-timed bit of seismic activity that pulled Jor-El out of his thoughts. "We will not meet again."
With that, the large screen that held the image of Brainiac's symbol of three circles shut down, plunging the rest of the hub into darkness. However, Jor-El had begun running, leaving the large room before visibility was completely compromised. He needed to get out of here, he needed...needed…
Gritting his teeth together, the distressed man pushed himself to keep running. Even if there was nowhere to run, there was still much to do. Time was still of the essence, only now more precious. There would be time to despair later, but not now.
Reaching the docking bay, Jor-El raced to his aircraft. As he ran, the spire continued to shut down. This was not good, and extraordinarily bad given what he now knew. If he didn't reach his ship in time, then the docking station's locking mechanisms would trap the ship in place. Before, these mechanisms would keep any and all docked craft from falling, drifting away, or being damaged by negligence.
The darkening lights that seemed to follow his every step warned of the consequences of being too late.
To his frustration, it would be a consequence he would have to learn. The powering down of the facility passed by him as the dark-haired man was in mid step. It passed by his craft, seconds before he was able to reach it, and even though Jor-El still ran on board and got into the cockpit, his efforts to try and fly the vessel were in vain.
The locking mechanism still had the ship in its grasp and was not going to be letting go anytime soon.
"No. No. No!" Jor-El screamed in frustration, rapidly flipping switches, pressing buttons, anything to see if he could try to tear the ship out of the mechanism. Unfortunately, the craft's AI refused to cooperate, citing that if he continued, the ship could and would be damaged to the point that it would be rendered useless. That was what it already was now, despite no damage occurring yet.
He had to get out of here, leave, and...and...where could he go? Now Jor-El could hear the planet rumbling. Even as distant as it sounded, he knew that such a sound was terrible news. The planet didn't make sounds like that, not even with volcanic eruptions.
There was no safe place to go. Nowhere to escape. Escape…
Jor-El's eyes hardened. Escape. From the spire, yes, that was something that under no question needed to happen. Going on foot was out of the question, but there was another way out. It was added as a precaution, then largely forgotten about. There were evacuation craft stored here, untethered, and able to be used at a second's notice because that was how long it took for emergencies to occur.
Darting off his ship, the dark-haired Kryptonian ran through the darkening bay. The only light came from outside, which provided some visibility as the natural light of Rao slipped in from the various entrances that allowed aircraft to enter this place. However, Jor-El's destination lay deeper in the spire, which meant returning to lightless halls that he had only left minutes ago.
An illumination device, one he had the foresight to snatch up before leaving his locked-up vessel, gave him some sight as he trekked his way through the complex. Eventually, he found the emergency aircraft, or one of them at least. His heart was hammering in his ears by that time, each heartbeat counting away the seconds until imminent destruction.
Thanks to the safety protocols enforced on the craft, the emergency vessel was easy to activate and launch. Into the natural daylight of the outside world, Jor-El was carried out of the spire at breakneck speeds. With hands gripping the steering mechanism, the distressed scientist flew out over the planet, one that for the moment appeared normal, but beneath its surface was anything but.
He could practically see the roiling turmoil occurring beneath the solid landscape. Never before had it appeared so flimsy and fragile. The worst part was that it didn't need to be this way. Just that thought had Jor-El looking over his shoulder, back at the spire, and it was just in time.
From the large structure, he saw something small streak out from it, leaving a trail of smoke behind in its wake. It was a small ship, and it was traveling up, farther and farther away from the planet's surface. It had to be a spacecraft, Jor-El realized, and it had to have been constructed for the sole purpose of escaping Krypton. It was a reminder that this scheme the AI had been planned and devised for a long time, years perhaps.
But that deceitful program wasn't the only one who could plan.
Tightening his grip on the steering mechanism, Jor-El piloted his borrowed aircraft across the Kryptonian landscape, with a single destination in mind.
"Lara!"
Bursting from behind a set of doors, Jor-El frantically looking for his spouse, the only person who still remained his ardent supporter, no matter how low-key she could be. In public she would defend him, but per his request, she did not go seeking conflict. That didn't stop her from speaking up if she happened to hear any gossip spoken behind his back, which usually meant being paid a visit from her father soon after to "discuss" the incident.
The clacks of shoes along the floor directed his attention to his left, his wife and mother to his child emerging from a hallway. Upon seeing him, her face donned a pleasant expression, one of contentment that had drew him in the first time he had ever seen it. "Jor-El, you're back early. Was—"
"I'm sorry, but right now we don't have the time," the dark-haired male interrupted, bringing a look of surprise onto his wife's face. "Right now, you need to prepare Kal-El. Spend as much time as you can with him. I'll be preparing the ship."
"What...? You mean… Jor-El, tell me what's happening." From confusion to demanding, Lara was quick to adjust, already perceiving that something was wrong. For one thing, he had never interrupted her, and usually for good reason. Lara hated to be interrupted, and she would give you a piece of her mind what she thought about it.
"We don't have a lot of time," the haggard Kryptonian said as he resumed his trek, heading towards his personal lab. Where once he had kept his own private research, several months ago, he had it cleared out. That room would be needed for a different purpose, he had foreseen, and though he had hoped against hope, Jor-El had preferred to be ready in the event of a worst case scenario.
That scenario was today, it seemed.
"The data, it showed me something far worse than anything I had imagined," Jor-El continued as he headed towards his right, moving rapidly while Lara followed after him. "These geological upheavals, the increasing seismic activity, all of it is connected and leads right back to...back to my theory. For the first time in my life, I regret being right."
"You...you mean?" Already, his Lara was grasping on to the severity of the situation.
His theory, one that suggested that Krypton was nearing its end, a scientific doomsday prediction, had been sneered and scoffed at, derided as an impossibility. Those that saw any merit to it had been lambasted and their reputations destroyed. No one would dare dream of supporting it, no matter what evidence may support it.
In a few hours, that theory would become reality for both him and the skeptics.
"That is why...that is why our son needs his mother. Go to him, enjoy the time we have left with him. I'll complete one last diagnostic, finish up the last calculations, and prepare everything. Then...then I'll tell you everything. I promise."
Leaving Lara behind, Jor-El entered his workshop, activating the lighting within to reveal the results of his last undertaking, as it had come to be.
Years ago, the Science Council had once funded a space program, one with the intention of exploring the galaxy and the farthest reaches of the universe. However, with the destruction of Wegthor, the program had been scrapped and any ambitions to reach for the cosmos had ended. An isolationist policy had taken hold, and the eyes of Krypton turned away from the sky and settled on the ground.
Not all eyes stopped turning upwards. One area that Jor-El found himself agreeing with his old friend about was the need to resume galactic exploration. Perhaps it should have been something they did sooner; maybe it would have spared Kandor.
None of it mattered anymore. What did was the long, oblong-shaped spacecraft that the scientist had been building for several months. Much of the ship consisted of its engines, life support systems, and everything needed to ensure it was safe, which meant there was only room enough for one person to use it. The fact that the cockpit was smaller than an adult gave away who this vessel was meant for.
The plan had been to build another one, one for all of them. This was to be a prototype, one that the scientist could have used to improve on the design and upgrade until he had everything as it needed to be. Now, it was going to be put to the test, the first it would go through and it would be a damn shame if this was where it would end in failure.
A single life depended on its success.
Reaching a terminal, he booted up the computer and immediately began running the diagnostics. Fingers tapped rapidly on the keys, a desperate need to complete all tasks that were still uncompleted pushing him to finish. Distantly, he could hear rumbling, along with a telltale grinding that could only involve rock moving against rock. It put him on edge, making him dread that each passing second was the last one he...they...no, Kal-El had.
They were all living on borrowed time now, but if this could be pulled off, then one would have all the time in the world.
Key tapping came to an abrupt halt.
No, not all the time in the world. One who did have such had already left, abandoning them to their fate. The one Jor-El had in mind was still bound to the same constraints all life had. It would be borrowed time, yes, but better borrowed than none at all.
Still, the doomed man felt that he could not just send his only son out into the galaxy, not without some warning.
Opening up a program, what Jor-El's next words would be were going to be recorded in the hopes they would never be heard again.
Even though it was past the middle of the day, the sky was not illuminated by Rao's light. It was a twisted sort of twilight that ruled the skies, sunlight battling with those of the night sky, and resulting in an awe inspiring yet terrifying spectacle.
If the sky was terrifying, the planet below was horrifying. What once had been rolling hills were now torn up crevasses that glowed with eerie green light. Distantly, the glow of molten rock bathed the horizon in its gloom and mountains seemed to crumple down. Smoke and fumes streaked upwards as if to escape a doomed world.
And all this had occurred within a few hours.
It was this sight that Jor-El emerged into, but he did not allow his emotions to overwhelm him. Instead, he moved with purpose and retrieved Lara and Kal-El. By now, his wife didn't need an explanation; she had watched their world slowly tear apart, and then focused her energies to nurture their son. She would have the time that Jor-El wouldn't, and he wasn't about to begrudge her it.
From there, they placed Kal-El in the ship, closing the cockpit and sealing it shut. All was done silently, and unable to see what came next, Joe-El used the computer to countdown a launch sequence. He and his wife would leave the workshop and wait on the balcony.
With a roar, the engines blasted off, carrying the small ship out of the House of El, the two scions of the doomed family watching as they held one another, watching as their son was carried up into the sky with a small plume of smoke following in its wake.
"He'll be safe, won't he?" Lara asked softly, tears welling in her eyes without taking them off of the rapidly shrinking ship.
Jor-El swallowed a lump that had formed in the back of his throat. "I...I chose a planet far from here. It's small, orbits a young sun, and should be so distant that no one will find him there." With one arm wrapped around his wife's shoulders, he held her hand with his other one, gripping tightly. "I pray he will be safe there. I pray...I pray that whatever life he has, it will be able to replace the one neither of us will be able to give him."
Lara swallowed a sob but nodded her head.
The two of them, husband and wife, parents, would remain there on that balcony, even as Krypton witnessed its final moments.
Heedless of the destruction occurring, Kal-El slumbered through it all, maintained in stasis while the gravitational forces of the universe tore Krypton asunder. The atmosphere thinned, unable to hold onto itself while enormous continents were ripped from the surface. Fragments of irradiated rock were flung out into the cosmos, some following the same trajectory as Kal-El.
There would be no explosion, no dramatic boom. Just a planet shrinking as pieces of it were shredded until nothing but dust remained, and the atoms scattered. The truth of its tragedy would be shrouded in mystery, used as a morality tale amongst various alien races of what not to do with their home planets.
And the last son would be oblivious to it all.
FlackAttack: Allow me to assure, all reviews are read, not all replied to, but they are read. It's funny how your brought all that up, especially as this story was being written. I think it's called parallel thinking. To begin answering your questions from the last fic, yes, you better believe Batman is going to do something about those mental time bombs. As if he's going to leave a chink in his armor that he knows about, be it physical, metaphorical, literal, or psychological. Since he is still in his loner mentality, he's going to keep it hush hush, no pun intended. And of course he'll be improving security. Based on how this chapter ended, do you think it will be enough for this level of a threat? Who knows.
As for the rest of your rant, seeing how this story began, perhaps that answers that question of whether we'll have an other hero story. I mean, sure, this is Justice League, but the focus will be on other characters this time around. So hopefully this will be a bit of fresh air for this little series.