Superman in Action FanFic #20

Survivor

It took me two hours to get out of LexCorp. I have never felt the need more to just run and jump out a window in front of everyone, and if it wouldn't have been for the severe amount of backlash that it would've caused, I would have done it! Luthor's hand extended out towards the screen and the data flow that had once been there disappeared and a visual of 3 circles attached together by two lines running between them appeared in it's place. The image gave off a soft yellow glow, and soon it began to speak. "Lex Luthor, are you within communication distance?"

He chuckled a bit at the sound, "Yes, Brainiac. I'm here."

" Why have you contacted me? My memory serves to tell me that our next communication was to be three days from now."

"Things have changed slightly. We have a couple of visitors and they are interested in talking with you."

"What is their function?"

"They are news reporters from one of our oldest functioning newspapers."

"These reporters serve as data collectors? Is that an efficient system?"

"Depending on the reporter, rather efficient." He looks back at Lois with a spark in his eye.

"What inquires might my data be best served to answer?"

"Where do you come from?" Lois juts out first.

"I am from the doomed world of Krypton." Everyone's jaws nearly hit the floor. It doesn't take much in the way of acting to actually look shocked myself. Brainiac's candor about such a matter makes me wonder how the people will take it. However, Luthor's face never changes. It remains smiling and rather pleased about itself. He's found something from Superman's homeworld and plans to use it to his full advantage.

"Then you've come to the right place!" Lois says with some skepticism in her voice.

"For what purpose?"

"Because we've got one of your kinsman here on Earth."

"No one of Krypton survived it's destruction."

"Then you're not up to date. Superman survived."

"My records do not compute anyone by that name. No House of Man exists."

"His name is Kal-El." She says suppressing a fit of laughter.

"The son of Jor-El lives? Lex Luthor, why have you not informed me of this?"

"I was planning on leaving it as a surprise, Brainiac. Still, the cat's out of the bag now?"

"I see no need to carry a feline in some cloth or plastic carrying receptacle. As for surprises, such pleasantries are unnecessary for me. While I am aware of such practices, the act is lost upon me."

"I will try and remember that for next time. My apologies, Brainiac."

"No need for those either, Lex Luthor. Such things are best left for those whom feel offense."

The conversation with Brainiac continued on for another hour before Brainiac decided to end the transmission due to something out in space catching his attention. He said that they would again talk as he appeared in our orbit within a few days time. What I learned was that since he jettisoned himself from Krypton, he managed to travel to other worlds and learn of their cultures. He's tried to find the world of the exiled Kryptonians, the Daxamites, and establish himself as a part of their culture. He called it a chance for reunification, a rebirth of Krypton. However, he was never able to track them over the vastness of space. Since then he's been looking for a place that he might erect a monument of Krypton and all its knowledge. Something disturbs me about all this ; if my Rocket was the only working one, then how did Brainiac escape? Which makes me wonder if he's hiding something? His comment that none from Krypton survived is in direct conflict with what I've been told. My father said that Brainiac was well aware that he'd strapped the propulsion system onto the birthing matrix right before he launched it. I could've assumed that he believed that the rocket could've never made it away from Krypton in time. There's a possibility that his programming was damaged in his own escape attempt, or just years of aimless wandering. That still leaves me with the how he got off the planet?

Another question that puzzles me greatly is why he believed that the Daxamites would accept him so openly. They were in a religious Kryptonian Civil War for all intents and purposes. It wasn't until the continent of Daxam decided that they would forever be Daxamites that any real distinction between the peoples could've been made. When they saw the battle going badly for them thanks to the Eradicator's influence, they took off to a distant planet to follow their own system of beliefs. Valor would guide them, I think my father put it. In any event, this doesn't sound like a group of people that would be altogether thrilled about any chance to be reminded of their bloody history, or the people that made sure that they were to always be afflicted by lead. So why make the attempt? None of this rings quite true. So many questions, zero answers to any of it.

I take off towards the Fortress as fast as my speed will carry me. I fly so high above that I'm likely not to affect any buildings or aircraft from my moving so quickly. In no time I can see the crystalline tops of the Fortress. The repair work from the Bizarro fight couldn't be noticed by anyone. Even as I scan it with my senses, it's invisible. I wish I could say the same for some of the things that I'd learned from my father. So much of Krypton might be accessible, but I'll never know it. He chose to keep that bit of information away from me so that I wouldn't seek it out. He feared that the idea of it would lead me to releasing the dangerous criminals of the Phantom Zone. When last I returned here, a month after I placed Bizarro in stasis, the damage was still being repaired. I had tried to work out my feelings on the matter of father keeping these things away, but there was an underlying anger that I couldn't help but feel. He tried to explain to me why he hadn't mentioned this before that point, and I understood his view. "My son, I would not have kept this from you so long if I knew it would cause this much of a rift. You must understand, such a temptation to meet those of your own kind is so strong within some that they let their hearts overrule their heads."

"I would've thought by now that you'd have known I'd think this through before acting on impulse."

"I do, Kal-El, and I wish there were more than just an apology I could offer you. However, that is all I have to give."

"You can tell me who's in there."

"That list is bitterly long, but I will tell you of at least 5 individuals you would not want to be released upon this planet. Jax-Ur and Mala; this pairing were a contributing factor to Krypton's destruction. Jax-Ur was a brilliant military and scientific mind, but he let one poison the other. He thought the Kryptonian High Council to be outdated and a rather destructive force for Krypton. He created a device that gave a payload of a liquid explosive. Anything that got even the merest drop of this vile fluid was reduced first to a fiery mass before violently detonating. The council sent a great deal of its military forces to deal with the renegade once word leaked out of Jax-Ur's camp. They ran afoul of Mala, whom was every bit Jax-Ur's equal. The struggle ensued long and it made sure that the device had time to be primed by it's creator. However, none of Jax-Ur's forces, or even Mala herself could withstand the amount of soldiers marching upon their house. The invading forces managed to break through into the lab and the firefight ensued. Both sides strewn laser fire at one another until the inevitable came to pass; a single blast hit the control panel for the missile that was meant to deliver the device. So when it did finally fire it instead was aimed for one of Krypton's moons. The people stood around as they heard the shattering of crystal and the rumble of the engine firing off. It took it only a short time to reach the surface and make it appear to be a miniature second sun, the fire darkened and red cracks formed along the lines of the satellite before it exploded into millions of fragments. No one on Krypton forgot that day, as the planet shifted its orbit drastically for the first time in our recorded history."

"I don't know what to say..."

"There is not much to be said for such a heinous act of wanton destruction. Calculations were made by every able-bodied scientist. Brainiac was key in checking the data and the conclusion was made that the shift would cause us no further problems. We would stabilize with minor orbit shifts, but we would remain safe so long as our other moon was intact."

"Little did they know that it wouldn't last long."

"Which brings me to General Dru-Zod, mind you he preferred being called General Zod."

"General Zod? Wasn't a clone of his family line part of Black Zero?"

"It was indeed. The House of Zod was nearly destroyed because of the incident. Many of its family members fought long and tediously to restore the house to its fine standing. Dru-Zod ruined that name soon before Krypton's destruction. He was intent to take up the work of Jax-Ur and remove the High Council, then he would place himself in charge of Krypton. He saw a new age coming. There were too many aliens that knew where we were, and they were coming in droves at one point or another to pray to Rao. The Eradicator's message reached to so many. Zod believed that it was time to this hiding and to go and build new ships filled with armies and explore the galaxy. Make it known that the Kryptonian people were not cowards. He listened to some of my newer research suggesting that the planetary shift was also being caused by a supernova that would destroy us all, and he wanted me to be a part of that. I refused of course, my action was still peaceful, even though it was overlooked. He tried to persuade me again and again to join his cause, he and his two assistants; Ursa and Non. Ursa hated all men, with the exception of Zod. Non was a violent, unthinking brute. Almost like Bizarro, but unchanged by the metamorphic state of cloning. Ursa joined the General's cause because she believed in it, then she fell for him. Non was taken in by Zod because he saw great potential there within him. An engine of destruction that would bend to his will."

"You were able to stop that?"

"Zod's armies were not up to the task of facing the armies of the High Council. Much like Jax-Ur, the were stopped after a lengthy battle, but without the cost of a celestial body. Once there, they brought me in as prosecutor for the High Council. I remember it all quite well."

Krypton - The Chamber of the High Council

"This is no fantasy; no careless product of wild imagination. No, my good friends. These indictments that I have brought you today, specific charges listed herein against these individuals, their acts of treason, their ultimate aim of sedition. These are matters of undeniable fact. I ask you now to pronounce judgment on those accused. On this, this mindless aberration, whose only means of expression are wanton violence and destruction. On the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind have threatened even the children of the planet Krypton. Finally, General Zod; once trusted by this Council, charged with maintaining the defense of the planet Krypton itself. Chief architect of this intended revolution, and author of this insidious plot, to establish a "New Order" amongst us; with himself as absolute ruler! You have heard the evidence. The decision of the Council will now be heard."

"Guilty."

The Fortress of Solitude

"The verdict was passed down from each of the members of the High Council. They all sitting there staring at the accused with no expression visible. Zod stared back at them watching the pronouncements be made. His anger flared deeply, yet he contained it. Ursa stood in shock, hatred, and fear. She knew where the final word of guilty would come from, and if I passed judgment upon them they would be banished to the Phantom Zone forever. Non's understanding of the events was practically non-existent. He stood there watching everyone with curiosity. He could not fathom what was happening, and nor did he particularly look to care. There was a moment of silence, then all attention went towards me. In my own silence I moved around the room doing what I felt I must. Never verbally saying my verdict. It was Zod that spoke. "

Krypton - The Chamber of the High Council

'The vote must be unanimous, Jor-El. It is now therefore your decision. You alone will condemn us, if you wish, and you alone will be held responsible by me. Join us. You have been known to disagree with the Council before. Yours could become an important voice in the new order, second only to my own! I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El, take it! Join us! You will bow down before me, Jor-El. I swear it, no matter that it takes an eternity! You will bow down before me! BOTH YOU AND THEN ONE DAY YOUR HEIRS!"

The Fortress of Solitude

"I sentenced them all, and they fought hard against the oncoming vortex of the artificial rip into the other realm. And it is because of such as these criminals that I wish you never to go into there. If it is that they find a way out, the you have the means to put them back, but know that sentencing anyone to the Phantom Zone does not come lightly, for it is a far worse punishment than death. For my own conscience however, I never took a life. My wish is that it actually cleared me of feeling the guilt. I curse the day that I discovered the Phantom Zone."

"You discovered it? I thought it was used for ages past?"

"The death penalty or imprisonment in crystalline chambers. The Phantom Zone when discovered offered a way to store the criminals with little chance of escape." Father's words resonated through me. He told me that he did so many experiments to see what sort of conditions that the Zone presented. Time didn't pass in there. There was no sense of it, which means none of the prisoners ever aged. However, they could kill one another, which from his point of view made him feel regretful that it was the only release from their prison in limbo.

As I go through the entrance I start to feel a bit strange. It feels like someone's put a piece of Kryptonite in here. I land on the ground and the holograms don't come on. The crystals still light the place rather well. I'm not sure what's going on here, but I'm getting the feeling I should check on Bizarro. The moment I start to cross the floor I hear a voice fill the cavern. "Hello, Clarkie..." I turn on a dime and there standing before me is Conduit. He pulls off his face mask and there's the face of Kenny Braverman, my one time friend. The man that tried to kill me when I first became Superman. His face is a grimace and his eyes burn with hatred. "What's the matter, Superman? You don't have a hug for an old friend?!" He sends a searing charge of Kryptonite energy towards me. I move out of the way before the beam hits, but it was close. I feel my power fluctuating a bit, luckily I'm not so weak yet that I can't fight back.

"How did you know to come here?"

"Interview with Lois Lane? Getting here was easy, then I could feel the technology and was drawn to it."

"Feel the technology?"

"Yeah! FEEL IT!" He whips a cable from his gauntlet and starts to try and flail me alive. I hit it with a beam of Heat Vision to cut it off. It's a part of him, so I know it'll hurt enough to make the difference. He reacts as I hope he would and winces enough to drop him to his knees. I keep my distance anyway, just in case this is a trick of some sort.

"What happened to you Kenny? What made you like this?"

"You, you damned alien! I was infected with something in my blood stream that was like a leukemia caused by radiation poisoning. K-Metal poisoning! The stuff your little ship dragged behind it when you dropped into our world."

"That wasn't my fault! I was sent here to survive because my world was doomed!"

"So your parents ended up dooming me instead! They traded your life for mine! You see these cables, Kent? I GREW 'EM! for years I had to hide them because people wouldn't understand! I couldn't get it! Why was this happening to me? Clark Kent never had anything like that happen to him! Never first place Kent! Dad said that you were born under a lucky star while I came from a bad omen! Turns out that the bad omen was you, lucky little star! You held me back from the very beginning and then the biggest irony of all, you unknowingly grew up beating me at everything! Never got approved of by my own father, never got approval from any of the people that were around us, nothing but pity they felt and never did a thing about! You brought this legacy on me, and it's cost me everything... EVERYTHING! I was drawn here like a moth to a flame, why? Because it was the one place I could have it out with you! Maybe find some way to stabilize whatever it was that your ship gave me so it doesn't keep killing me!"

"My ship didn't do this to you Kenny, I swear to it!"

"Your word means nothing, Clark. You lied to everyone all your life. You were an alien, then you grew up and told people that your life was spent here growing up amongst holograms, the internet and constant training on how to use your powers properly. What happens when someone finally figures out that you're full of it? Huh? How will they deal with the fact that Superman lied? You gonna tell 'em it was for the protection of your loved ones? Sure, that's what they told McCarthy's group too. Sure they'll accept that, up to the point when they really start to pick your act apart. Mr. Truth, Justice, and the American Way. You really are modern America, aren't you? Truth is subjective! You tell the bare minimum and say that if you look at with your eyes crossed, half closed and peripherally then everyone can see where you're coming from. Then, instead of trying to cure all the ills of the world, you turn to crimefighting. You give this big spiel about how you can't do that because the world doesn't need someone to look to every time things go badly, you don't want to be that depended on. Sure you don't, this way you can make them beg for it. Turn a deaf ear to those that really need the help and take it to those that have enough power to handle the problems at hand already. That's justice for ya, eh? Superman pulls your cat out of a tree and saves a purse from a mugger, but if you're starving and shot up in a country where war is raging on, you're nowhere to be seen. Congrats, you're a liar and a fraud." He slowly raises the hand he's been steadying himself with and fired an emerald bolt towards me. The blast connects and sends me into a wall that shatters like a diamond. It hurts a great deal, and I feel weaker for it. No red sun trick to get me out of this jam. He makes it to his feet and soon has several sets of cables flying towards me. I move to avoid them, but it's only a matter of time before he's going to catch up with me.

"Kenny, I never lied about wanting to help people. Yes, I did tell them that I was raised here, but it was to protect people like you and even Smallville for that matter. If someone knew where I was from and wanted to harm me, they'd go directly there. Here, it'll be a miracle if they ever find this place. I'm saving lives right now and at the moment I want to save yours, even if you're wanting to end mine! Which brings up the question of why you waited all this time to enact some revenge plot? I've been all over the news, you're a fugitive after that stunt in Metropolis, why now?" He keeps sending wave after wave of blasts and cables trying to coil around me. I'm staying away from too much of the technology around here because I don't want to destroy it beyond repair. The questions agitated him a little. I have a knack for that, apparently it's that reporter side of me. I keep firing bursts of Heat Vision trying to cut a few of the cables. It seems to hurt him, but I'm afraid to cut too many because it may kill him. That's the problem with fighting these types, you have to find the gauge as to how much punishment they can take. If I barely touch a human I could cripple them for life, but if I were to throw a full punch there would be nothing but a fine mist left. I pull back and singe a few of the cables instead of making full cuts, may as well not find out how much more of those he can take being removed. However, he takes advantage and brings two together with a flick of his wrist. They strike me like dual whips and the charge of Kryptonite hits me.

"You wanna know why I waited? I spent time in hiding to call the heat off of me. I went to places like Nicaragua and the Middle East building up a black ops team. Then I start getting this voice telling me that I need to finish up with you before I go through with my master plan. Ya see, Clarkie, I want Luthor's head on a pike! I want it set up right next to yours and my dad's skull! I want to have them as a reminder that Conduit isn't a man you should cross and I took down the most powerful men on this planet to do it!"

"A voice inside your head? You're hearing voices?" I struggle to get the words out. My energy is being sapped out of me quickly. I spin as fast as my weakened speed will carry me slamming him into the crystals. I grab the cables and as my hands get burned I tie them up tightly in knots. I do it as quick as I can and he starts to fight to free himself. "How long have you been hearing them Kenny?"

"It's one voice! ONE!" He starts to breakdown a bit into fits of tears. "It's telling me to subdue you, then to succumb to it. It's telling me that my life has been spared to this point for one purpose and one only. I never heard it before now and it's getting worse! I feel myself slipping away! I don't know what it is, but I know it has something to do with what I'm turning into. It's all your fault Kent! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! " He strains against his own cables until they rip apart. He screams in pain as they fall to the ground, now he takes to the sky and starts to attack me again. As I take to the air to make it a little harder to hit me I notice all the refraction damage the walls and equipment have taken. I wonder if he blasted the automated defense systems put in place? It's possible they couldn't have held in him check. In the middle of this Brainiac situation, I've got to deal with this too. This isn't my day. "STOP FLYING, DAMN YOU! TAKE WHAT YOU'VE GOT COMING TO YOU!"

"Not happening Kenny. Now, if you're willing to stop for a moment while we talk this out then perhaps I can help you. Maybe find some way to stop what's going on and get the voice out."

"Lies! YOU'RE LYING! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU ALIEN BAS..." He seizes in midair and he drops like a stone. It shatters the floor as he makes impact. I go to him quickly, trying to see what's come of him. As I try to scan him I notice all the nano-technology in his body surging around. I pull my hand back before they infect me as well, doing a bit of a scan on myself to make sure that they're not already inside. I look back towards my fallen friend and he starts to move. His hand reaches out and picks up the face mask he discarded and places it on his head. I hear the metal start to morph into something, the body starts to cover itself with other metal; it's creating a skin over the cables. As it finishes he turns around to look at me and an stern, otherworldly face stares at me with blank eyes.

I move from the figure, "Kenny? Conduit?"

"Negative, Kal-El. The one you new as Conduit is being purged from my systems as we speak. You may call me Brainiac."