The next day, Vel-Zar was hovering in space, absorbing the light from the sun for some energy as he kept an eye on the British Isles.

"Hi!"

Another Kryptonian, this one female, flew next to him.

"Well hello," Vel-Zar replied. "You need an energy jab too?"

"Yeah. I heard you caused a huge explosion in the Sahara?"

"That would be me destroying a giant killer robot. My name's…"

"Vel-Zar; you're the Black Knight. Kal told me about you. He's my cousin."

"Great Rao, I'm famous," he quipped. "What's your name?"

"Kara Zor-El… or Supergirl, depending on who you ask."

"Delighted… What's that ship in the distance?"

Kara smiled. "That's the Watchtower, the Justice League's headquarters. We monitor the planet from there."

"Sounds handy. Any new information on that robot?"

"It's Kryptonian… but who sent it?" Kara paused. "Hmmm… not sure… can't be from Kandor, it's shrunken and bottled up."

"There's a Kryptonian city still around?!"

"Yeah; it's at my cousin's. He wants to un-shrink it but he doesn't know how."

Vel-Zar smiled. "If he finds out, he'd be best off relocating it to a planet orbiting a red star."

"Yeah… can't have our kind ruining Earth for everyone."

"True… we're still people, and some people are corrupt."

"Very true!" Another man, a human clad in green, arrived on the scene. "Green Lantern. You must be Vel-Zar."

"Yes, that's right."

"Kal-El wants to introduce you to the team. I see you've met Kara."

"Sure, I'll meet the rest," said Vel-Zar. "The Watchtower, I take it?"

"Yup."

The three flew to the Watchtower, landing in one of its airlocks. Soon, they reached a large room, full of monitors and consoles.

"This is the Crow's Nest," said Kara. "We're able to watch Earth from here."

"Hey guys," said Kal-El, turning from a large screen.

"Hey Supes," said the Green Lantern, "how's Lois?"

"I'm in the doghouse," Superman confessed. "Hey, I can't help that some things are more important than the laundry, like… oh, I don't know… Lex Luthor trying to blow up Gotham?"

"Oof… tough break, mate," said Vel-Zar.

"Why would Luthor wanna blow up Gotham City?" Kara asked.

"He's teamed up with the Joker," said a cowled man. "Can't say why. Joker never made much sense."

"That's Batman," said Kara.

"He sounds cranky."

"He's always cranky," Superman drawled.

Batman just growled.

"So, how long have you been on Earth?"

Vel-Zar smiled. "Jor-El knew Krypton was doomed, so he sent an exploratory vessel out to search for a habitable world. It was full of Kryptonians, myself among them. I was a baby at the time. The shields wore out by the time the ship entered the atmosphere, and mine was the only stasis pod that didn't malfunction on the trip. Everyone else died, so they were jettisoned into space."

"Oh no…" Kara whispered.

"The ship landed in the English countryside, and I was adopted and raised by the Thornes. They named me Victor."

"Kinda like my story," said Kal-El, "only with a whole ship instead of one pod."

"That ship is now my headquarters. I'm sure it can fly again, given the right repairs."

"Possibly."

"When I grew up, my powers were discovered by the British government. For five years, I was the Ministry of Defense's pet project; a secret weapon used against Britain's enemies. My codename was Black Knight. After I was honorably discharged, the name stuck, and I became somewhat of a National superhero."

"Discharged?"

"Whether they like it or not, British law states that a soldier is only obligated to serve for four years at a time. I served for eight."

"So you must know how to hold your own, then," said Hal.

"Quite," Vel-Zar said with a wink. "Whoever goes up against me or the United Kingdom will be in for quite a shock."