He could not remember much. Flashes hit him. Of… his father. His mother. Home. What was home? Images of what could have been and what could not have been continued to barrage his mind. Conflicting memories arose. It begged the question. Why?

Why was his mind doing this to him? It was hard to tell. Points echoed through his memories. Nothing exact. Names did not match faces. Nor places. Nor even the simple things, like objects. In a sense, it felt like he was drifting through the stars, with not a care in the world.

Something that few people were able to enjoy. The comfort of sleeping in a place you knew would be okay. Of being able to rest, without having to worry about something coming out to take that away.

But even then, there was a sense of uneasiness as he continued to drift. It bothered him, in these dark and quiet corners of his mind, that he could not remember anything. Anything personal at the very least. He knew his language. He knew the basics of himself. But he did not know his home. He did know remember his home.

At the same time, these concerns were pushed far away. He was…where was he again? What was going on? Why had he been drifting off, asleep? It was a question that had formed, but quickly managed to dissipate again. For one simple reason at least.

It was peaceful. In a sense of the word at the very least. Because while his mind was clearly not able to do him any favors, the least that he could hope for was that where he was, it was getting bet-


The dream that he had been in had shattered. He jerked awake from his slumber, desperately looking around. Warnings blared around him, echoing commands and other issues. The first thing that he had noticed though? What he was wearing. It… was different. A suit. It was armored, not to an intense degree but enough that it still offered him protection of sorts. It didn't feel heavy, but it still was protecting him from…something.

He was wearing a helmet. That was the next most obvious thing. A helmet that was letting him breathe, if there was any way to guess it. He looked around, trying to spot or figure out just what had happened. He was awake now. Flashes of memories came crashing back, fragmented beyond all belief. Before he could truly comprehend what was happening, the sound of metal screaming and tearing apart rang in his ears.

That begged the question. How was he on a ship? Had someone put him here? And if he was, where was it going? So many questions. His head was still hurting. Thankfully he hadn't hit it, and instead began to look around. The area around him looked too small to be a ship of any real design, if anything it resembled a coffin more than anything else. An escape pod? The warnings that had started blaring when he first woke up continued on. It was hectic, but through the various, if somewhat scrambled readings, he could figure out one thing that filled him with genuine horror.

He was crashing.

It should have been obvious. The slight tearing of metal was the most glaring clue, but the various beeping alarms in front of him also helped. That only got worse when a panel to his left was torn off, showing that yes, he was indeed crashing somewhere. He turned, eyes wide beneath his helmet. The outside of the pod he was in was burning up, and it was clear that said pod was in no state to fly, much less make a proper landing.

But he couldn't eject. Looking around, even though all the words all looked at least decipherable, he had no clue where he even was, or what was waiting for him on the surface. The only thing he could truly think to do was scream as he continued to plummet, bracing himself as the escape pod began to spiral out of control.

He looked around, still trying to find something, anything that could actually help him. Words continued to dance across, his eyes darting from phrase to phrase. One caught his attention almost immediately, and he didn't hesitate to press it.

'Thrusters.'

It had almost seemed like fate had decided to give him some form of mercy. The pod, ship? The vehicle he was in began to slow, the roar of the thrusters barely being heard over the sounds of the burning atmosphere around him. For a moment, he could only pray that things would work, or pan out. Another panel tore open, and he could see a beautiful night sky. A single moon was in said sky, with countless stars that he could barely make out. At least things had calmed for a moment…and then everything suddenly went black.

Or at least, murky. He wasn't falling anymore. No, instead….water was filling the pod? That was better than dying at any rate. As systems began to fail, he searched for the proper button to get out before he could drown. Thankfully now that he wasn't burning up, that was easier to handle.

Now all he could truly do was wait. Wait because right now, he had no clue where he was going, or what was going to happen when he hit the ground. Ground? What if he had landed somewhere else? What if something stopped him? There was so much to consider, with nothing that he could do to even help his odds.

So many questions. Concerns. The most glaring one had to do with his memories. Or at the very least, why his mind felt as fragmented as it did. What had caused the gaps to form, the blanks to pop up? It had scared him, and he wasn't sure just what to ex-

His thoughts were cut off, his body jolting rapidly as the pod made impact. If he hadn't been strapped into his seat, the sudden movement would have likely thrown him around. Cursing to himself, he looked around to see that while he had stopped falling, there was another issue on hand. Water was beginning to fill the pod.

Looking around, he found what he had hoped would be the button to open the pod up. Nothing happened. Cursing once more, he slammed his fist against the button once more. Then another time. And another. Nothing happened. Realizing that nothing was working, and the various systems and warnings were all slowly shutting down, dying a pitiful death, he reacted.

He slammed his fist up, hellbent on at least spending the last possible moments of his life fighting. He had not expected anything worthwhile to actually happen. In fact, it was almost sure that this was going to be the end, and nothing he was doing could change that.

However, nothing surprised him more than the fact that he was actually able to make a dent in the pod. That was a shock. He never could have imagined that. But the shock was soon replaced by hope, and he brought his fist back once more. Repeating the motion, he slammed against the pod with all that he could, denting it more and more until soon enough, the metal had given way.

It was not a perfect exit. The pod was meant to open and split apart to allow for an exit, but only half of it was able to shift. Not wanting to waste his chance, he practically leapt at the chance for safety, pushing himself forward and finding himself face to face with a body of water. His suit was able to provide him with breathing air at least, and with that hopeful avenue, he continued to swim up,

His suit had saved him for the most part. He found himself… somewhere? Buildings, made of stone and steel as far as he could tell, littered the skylines that he could see. Lighting up everything around him, giving him at least something of a view to make out.

Turning around, he noticed what looked like land that he could properly reach. He swam forward, mind wandering as he tried to make sense of everything. Water. He could handle water. That sounded…. Not like home. Familiar? The words failed him, or at least blanked out in his mind as he stumbled onto dry land. His breathing quickened, confusion and fear overriding sense. Now that he was on land, now that he wasn't crashing, it was all kicking in at once.

Where was he? What was happening? Why was he here? So many questions, so litt-

Light. His musings and fears were cut off once more, this time by the sound of something approaching. An… aircraft? It didn't look like a spaceship. Blades spinning rapidly, Methodical even. It was shining a light, and he had the feeling that he might have been the cause for its arrival.

Shakily standing up, he raised a hand to block out some of the light. Whoever they were had to be here for him, right? Fully raising his hand, he waved, hoping that it showed that he was peaceful. No marks on the vehicles, nothing that could help him identify who or what was approaching. His only plea was that they knew he meant no harm.

But as soon as that light flashed in front of his eyes, something snapped. His mind went to a place, one that every bit of his consciousness screamed at him to run away from. He couldn't explain it. Nor describe it. But something just told him to run and not look back at all.

Instincts took over, and he practically threw himself in the opposite direction of the light. His body was moving on its own accord, and all he wanted to do was get away from there, from whoever this was that was pointing at him.

A fence blocked his path. Chain link, simple in design, and if he was in any better state of mind he could have stopped and easily climbed it over. But he didn't stop. Be it desperation, sheer need for survival, or something else, he couldn't get his body to stop moving, and his body collided with the fence.

The fence gave away like it wasn't even there. He didn't face any resistance as he ran through, instead allowing him to continue his desperate sprint to get away from whoever was possibly chasing him. Chasing him? That might not have been the right word. Looking perhaps? He could hear that same noise, which meant that thing was still in the air. A second, more subdued boom was in the distance, but he dared not look back to see just what it was.

Instead he ran forward, only coming to a stop once the ground beneath his feet changed. No more was it rocks and dust, but concrete. Was it concrete? Marks, yellow in color, were going straight in one direction. Then a noise cut through the air, one different from the previous two that he had last heard. Turning to look up, he saw a pair of lights rapidly approaching him. Confusion and horror took control as he raised his arms to save himself, his mind still in shambles as he did so.

Like with the fence, something that he didn't expect happened, Metal crumbled against his hands. Steel screamed as it bent and shifted, with him only being pushed back a few feet. He could see a lone figure…a man? Staring back at him in shock.

If the man had questions, he could not answer. Someone else, aside from the driver, reached out to him. He, almost instinctively, pushed back. He could see another man being sent flying off to the side, clear horrified cries of other people around. He could have stayed. Tried to explain himself. He felt for the other people. He did. But right now one could not count on rational thoughts being used in a moment of confusion. Instead, he did what was working so far. He just ran. Looking around, he finally spoke, if only to himself.

"Go. I…I need to keep going." He quietly said, wincing at his own vocal cords. They sounded dry, but from disuse or damage he could not really gather. Looking around, he could see that there were areas that he could properly climb up, buildings that only seemed to get taller and taller. He continued running, ignoring just about everything around himself for the moment.

There was another fence in his path. Not wanting to run right through this one, he did his best to jump up, if only to not draw more attention to himself than his previous encounters had already managed to do so. However, as luck would have it, even this wouldn't be normal.

Instead of making a simple jump, he instead began to float. Slowly, but surely he was actually floating up. He cursed, trying his best to at the very least catch himself. Nothing seemed to work as he began to spin around in the air. He could hear murmurs and gasps beneath him as he continued to float, with nothing to truly ground him.

Even his sense of direction was off now. He continued to float, now finding himself moving up and in another way, the only saving grace being that in his own now frenzied movements, he could spot a building that was rapidly approaching. Well, more like he was rapidly approaching it. Seeing a piece of it jutting out, barely getting close to him, he reached out and held on for dear life.

The piece of concrete…stone? Something. Whatever. It had cracked. Cracked was better than broken at least, and as such he rapidly pulled himself forward, landing haphazardly on the rooftop. Letting out a groan, he brought himself up, looking around.

He was surrounded by concrete buildings and loud noises that almost felt overwhelming to him. It hurt. He was hurt. Wait, was he hurt? Had he come out of all this unscathed? So many questions, and the overwhelming feeling of dread finally kicked off, and hit him.

Air. He needed air. Not just what the suit could properly give him. Everything was too much. In a moment of desperation, he tore off his helmet, throwing it to the side as he finally could breathe. Sure the helmet was okay for keeping him alive underwater, but it was almost too much. Turning around and finally collapsing, he desperately gulped up air as his body shook.

The first choked sob that escaped his lips was quiet, barely audible to even himself. The others that followed? Not so quiet. In fact, he could without a doubt confirm that it hurt to do this. But what else could he do? He was stranded somewhere, with no idea what was going on, and with a fragmented memory to boot. If that didn't indicate how bad things were getting, he had no clue what could.

Only one thing came to mind. His name. Was it his name? It was a name at the very least. Something that gave him a semblance of hope in all that had gone wrong. Magnus. Maybe it was his name, maybe it wasn't. At least it was something to work with.

For a moment, Magnus had no clue what to do. Or what was going to happen to him. He was somewhere, with nothing to help spark his memories. Surrounded by people that he did not recognize. And, more than likely based on that last interaction he had, potentially hurt someone.

It had all come crashing down around him. As he knelt there on the rooftop, he spent… who knows how long just trying to see if anything stood out in his memory. Nothing once more. It all seemed almost hopeless. At least until he heard the clearing of a throat. Looking up, he could only blink in confusion at the sight before him.

It was a…man. Tall, almost imposing in figure. He wore a suit that was blue in color, with a strange symbol on his chest. A red cape adorned his back, fluttering in the wind. He held an aura, one that was clear and evident: power. It should have been a sight that inspired fear, or awe. But one look at the stranger's face, and all doubts, all aspects of fear vanished. Instead, there was a sense of kindness, a look of understanding and compassion. And from the looks of things, the stranger looked like everyone else that he had encountered so far. Magnus could only look up, seeing the stranger looking back at him.

"Who…" For a moment, Magnus paused as his voice cracked. His voice was hoarse and weary still, even after all this time awake. Or at least whatever could be counted for disuse. How long had he gone without talking? Just another question to the countless that had already plagued his mind. "Who are you? He asked, the words in his mouth oddly foreign, but familiar. He could only look up at the stranger still, who smiled at him.

"Let's just say I'm a friend. I can tell you're scared. My name is Kal-El, and I'm here to help."


AN: Hello! This is a story that I had on the backburner for quite a while now. Figured I'd keep the opening chapter simple enough, and hopefully based on the response to this one, I can keep going from here on out. It's not much, but it's a start at the very least. I'm curious to see what you readers have to say to this. The only thing I can confirm at this point is that the world I'm basing this fic in is going to be something comparable to an amalgamation of the various different stories that take place in DC. Picking and choosing the ones that work for me, if only because I haven't caught up with the current canon and I figured I could try something neat.

Rest assured; it might feel confusing. But all your questions will be answered soon enough. Or at least I hope they will! Until next time though, take care!

Edit 1: So I basically came back to this chapter to fix the name. I left it in because I figured I could play it off as a well-intended mistake, but a friend pointed out that it was still an issue regardless and he was right. So there it is! In any case, the name is the only real change, just leaving this here as a heads up.