In those days, the planet of Xanthu was polluted, diseased, and overpopulated with surface residents living in total poverty. In summary, it was Mexico of the 21st century. However, upon arriving in the system, Brainiac 5 collected the most talented and supposedly hard-working Xanthus for his satellite station named Elysium. The station was composed of two rings, bridges between the two rings that resembled a star-like structure, and a middle command center. The station had its own artificial gravity, indoor farms, docking bays for shuttles, and the most advanced healthcare system in the galaxy. The station was 20 kilometers in diameter and had a stationary orbit to the planet. The rings had a force-field roof allowing sunlight to naturally flow in as well as a view of the stars at night while keeping in an atmosphere. The rings held Florida-like environments with mansions, golf courses, lake resorts, and other recreational activities.
From the surface, the station could be seen occasionally at night as a small shiny object. The surface dwellers eyed the station with curiosity and some resentment. One such surface dweller was Thom Kallor who was perpetually pissed off with a chip on his shoulder. He was light-skinned, bald, and had a good muscular build for mechanical work. He worked in one of Brainiac 5's factories that replicated more drones of himself. Thom lived in a dirty one-room apartment where his bed, the kitchen, and the toilet were all in close proximity to each other. He was on parole for various things requiring an ankle monitor. He wore a standardized uniform on his way to the factory.
Thom would wake up early, cross through the dirt roads, the children playing in the streets, and the impoverished housing on his way to the factory. He would stand in line every day for the chance to work since his employment was never guaranteed. Thom evaded random kids who tried to fleece him of currency and got in line. There, Brainiac 5 security drones monitored the lines.
"Extensive criminal history of dealing, multiple felonies, what's in the bag?" the drone asked him.
"Hair products mostly," Thom smirked, totally bald. "Hey, I'm just fucking with you," he said jokingly as he was apprehended and slammed to the ground. There, he was given a good beating whereby his wrist was broken. One of the drones then dumped his bag revealing no contraband.
"You are scheduled for a parole hearing today. Thank you," the drones informed him.
"No, thank you," Thom said sarcastically as he was released.
After getting checked out at the hospital, Thom arrived at the parole center and waited in line as if he were at the DMV on Earth, in America, in the 21st century. He finally had a chat with a Brainiac 5 drone acting as his parole officer.
"I believe there's been a misunderstanding," Thom said to Brainiac 5.
"I have had my eye on you for some time, Mr. Kallor. In one life, you pay your taxes, you have a social security number, you work for a respectable drone factory, and you help your landlady carry out her garbage. In your other life, you're a drug-dealing thug who thinks it's cool to have multiple tattoos. One of these lives has a future and the other does not," Brainiac 5 lectured.
"I was just making a joke," Thom said defensively.
"Tell me, Mr. Kallor, do I look like the kind of guy that appreciates jokes?" Brainiac 5 asked with an expressionless face.
"Negative," Thom rolled his eyes.
"Mr. Kallor, you exhibit youthful anti-social anti-authoritarian traits. I regret that I must extend your parole for another eight months," Brainiac 5 said with false sincerity.
"Well...shit," Thom muttered.
At the factory, Thom got harassed by his Xanthu boss, Carl, over his broken wrist and being late to his shift. In the command center of the factory, Brainiac 5 surveyed the entire factory floor while communicating with Xanthu leaders. "Your drones are taking Xanthu jobs, increasing the already existing poverty, and reducing consumer spending which hurts our profits," several CEOs complained.
"Profits will soon become irrelevant when I can provide greater exclusive services to your class for free," Brainiac 5 replied.
"And yet, you use a lottery system to heal poor people on Elysium," one CEO said skeptically.
"We must give the masses hope or else we will lose social stability," Brainiac 5 replied.
Every so often poor women and children would be put on transports to Elysium for medical treatment. This calmed the population down from resisting Brainiac 5's automated totalitarian state. However, when these transports went to Elysium, pirates would occasionally try to take advantage. In this case, two ships followed the Elysium shuttle with fake codes, hoping to dock with the station.
On the station, itself, Kara's black Supergirl uniform clashed violently with the white-painted mansions, green vegetation, and sunny day. Still, Kara managed to socialize with the rich types and their children by being genuinely pleasant. Her two children, Kon and Mara were on the station with her. At the HQ building, Kara went past the Brainiac 5 guards and noticed three ships heading to the station.
"Sorry to disturb you, but we have some unauthorized ships coming inbound," Brainiac 5 informed her as she entered the HQ.
"Warn them," Kara said simply as got herself a cup of coffee.
"They're ignoring our hails," Brainiac 5 reported.
"Shoot them down...from the surface," Kara ordered.
Missile batteries on the surface, hidden from the population, fired on the two unauthorized ships. The missiles followed the two pirate ships and destroyed them before they could land. The authorized ship, that had been trailed, safely landed through the forcefield of the rings and onto the surface. Drones arrived on the scene to escort the poor people to the hospitals before they could interact and offend the sensibilities of the affluent residents. After they were treated, the drones quickly deported them off the station.
The next morning, Thom went to work and got mocked by various people he knew for being "employed." He met this quota despite his broken wrist but after loading up some drones for transport, the door got jammed. "Piece of shit," Thom muttered as he pushed the button several times with no result.
"Hey! You're holding the line up," Carl scolded him.
"The door is jammed, it fucking sucks," Thom excused.
"What the fuck did you do to my door?" Carl asked accusingly.
"I didn't do shit. I pushed the button and it didn't close all the way," Thom explained.
"Let me put my head between the doors," Carl said and did just that.
"That's really unsafe," Thom said apprehensively.
"Go in there," Carl ordered.
"Wait...what?" Thom thought he misheard.
"Look, if you don't go in there, I'll find someone who will and you're fired. That's the deal," Carl said and walked off.
"Fuck me," Thom realized.
Thom squeezed between the door and got inside to work out the obstruction. The door then immediately closed behind him. "Warning lethal radiation imminent," the chamber announced.
"Why would that be a thing?" Thom asked horrified.
Thom then got totally cooked by way too much radiation. The alarm bells went off with several workers trying to open the doors only for the boss to tell them off as that would leak radiation onto the factory floor. Eventually, Thom was extracted from the chamber by a robot and sent to the "break room" to recover. He was also given a bottle of water to walk it off.
On Elysium, a defiant Kara sat before Xanthu President Thatel and his cabinet in a circular office filled with green plants and vines everywhere which was typical for all buildings within the station. "At 1500 hours yesterday, you shot down two ships killing forty-six Xanthus. Your mandate was to deal with pirates and terrorists quietly," President Thatel scolded.
"I am aware of that which is why I had the ships shot down from the surface to give us all plausible deniability," Kara said smartly.
"You have been accused of 15 Xanthu rights violations," President Thatel accused.
"Is that all?" Kara asked surprised.
"You, obviously have deep psychological issues," President Thatel observed.
"Tell me, President Thatel, do you have any children? No? Is it because you're a homosexual, impotent, infertile, an asshole, all of the above?" Kara mocked.
"I'm not the one being reviewed here," President Thatel said defensively.
"I understand it's not the fashion here for me to think and act as I do," Kara said wide-eyed. "But let us be clear, when I first came here you were on the verge of being hunted down and killed by the disgruntled impoverished people below. I saved your ass by bringing you to this station, and, in return, you work for me, not the other way around. On Elysium, I control your gravity, air, water, and food, so I wouldn't fuck with me if I were you. Or, you can go back to the surface and see how that works out for you because it won't be PR and campaign promises that will save you."
"I've heard enough. Any further unauthorized actions and we will write you a strongly worded letter warning you again," President Thatel said sternly.
"I'm shaking," Kara mocked.
In the break room, Thom finally woke up feeling like shit. His skin was a shade tanner than usual. A drone was present to watch over him. "What the fuck happened?" Thom wondered.
"You were exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. You will experience catastrophic organ failure within five days. This medication is potent. It will relieve you of your symptoms until you die," the drone said and then gave him some pills.
Brainiac 5, in his typical black Brainiac suit, then approached Thom's boss. "Your unsafe action has led to the death of a worker and stopped production on the factory floor. Fail me again and you will die in the same way," he warned him. "There's nothing further we can do for him. Remove him."
"As you wish," Carl said timidly. Brainiac 5 then walked off to go back to his office.
Thom went back home barely able to walk. He collapsed a few times and eventually made his way to his shitty apartment. There, he threw up all over the place. After taking a pill, Thom went to talk with the pirates in their dance club. He met up with their leader, Spider. "Sup?" Spider asked, seeing Thom's condition.
"I need a favor," Thom said pathetically. "I need a ticket to Elysium within five days. Then, I'll come back to you. I'll do whatever you need. I'll fucking pay it back. I'll cradle your balls, swallow the gravy."
"This is priceless," Spider said amused. "Do you know how many idiots come in here and tell me the same bullshit?"
"Just...how many...people come in here asking to suck your duck?" Thom asked surprised.
"I get little sick kids coming in here asking for a ticket. Thom, if I were you, I'd get the fuck out of here," Spider refused.
Thom suddenly grabbed a knife off the table to stab him with. Spider's men immediately pulled out firearms at Thom's head. "After everything I did for you over three years, totally off-screen, you'll get me up there. Go ahead and shoot. I've got so much radiation in me, you're probably going to get fucked up, too."
"Wow, you're really dying," Spider realized.
"No shit," Thom confirmed.
"Okay, put the guns down," Spider agreed. All of his men reluctantly did so and Thom dropped his knife. "You say you will do anything?"
"The fuck you got in mind?" Thom wondered apprehensively.
Spider took Thom to his lab. He took out a flash-drive-looking object. "This is your ticket. One last job for me, you earn your way up. The drones are all linked together. It's a central intelligence called Brainiac Five. You hijack the main drone's CPU, it will give me access to everything he knows. Implant this into his robot brain, download his memory, and bring it back to me. You do this and I'll give you a trip, all expenses paid."
"Alright, I'll do it," Thom agreed.
"You look a bit weak, a bit fucked up. How about I give you an exo-suit by screwing metal all over your body," Spider offered.
"Nah...I'm good," Thom declined.
On Elysium, Kara and Brainiac 5 discussed their next move. "This planet is dying. There's a political sickness inside it, a tumor that needs to be removed. Can you kick the president and his cabinet off the wifi?" Kara asked seriously.
"Too easy," Brainiac 5 replied.
"Follow my vision, and you'll have this planet long after I am gone," Kara instructed.
"It is why we're in business together," Brainiac 5 assured her.
The next morning on the surface, Thom and his crew were ready for their mission by stocking up on weapons and ammunition. Thom's appearance had changed from tan to a noticeable copper brown. The main Brainiac 5 drone downloaded all of his files and then left the office for a transport ship back to Elysium. As Brainiac 5 departed to his shuttle, two armored cars approached. Brainiac 5 entered his shuttle with two combat drones escorting him. As he lifted off, Thom fired an explosive round that attached to the hull of the shuttle. Later in the flight, the explosive went off and disabled the shuttle. The shuttle lost altitude and glided its way to an open desert field where it crash-landed.
Thom and crew quickly arrived on the scene. The combat drones immediately engaged by throwing grenades and shooting. A grenade went underneath one of the armored cars and exploded, disabling it and injuring one Xanthu pirate. Thom tried to fire on the drone only for his gun to jam. The drone fired grenade shells from his rifle to keep the pirates at bay. The combat drone then fired on the pirates with automatic rifle fire. Thom took cover and fired his ordinary rifle at the drone. The bullets seemingly increased in mass in midair and blasted the drone to pieces on impact.
Thom and crew ripped the door open and confronted the main Brainiac 5 drone. He watched calmly as another combat drone revealed itself on the other side and engaged the pirates. The pirates fired on the drone with automatic fire to little effect. Finally, the drone was disarmed of his weapon. It resorted to physical attacks, beating the shit out of the pirates with punches. Thom engaged the drone one-on-one and held his own. The drone became slower with each contact between them, its feet started cracking the ground, and then Thom managed to pull its head off. Brainiac 5 watched the scene intrigued but did nothing to try to escape.
The hacker pirate opened Brainiac 5's head and went to work to get the information off the CPU. "You have no idea what you're doing," he said condescendingly to them.
The hacker pirate ignored him and began downloading Brainiac 5's information. At the same time, Supergirl sped toward their position at super-sonic speed. "We have incoming!" one pirate said alarmed.
"Shit, the data is corrupted. I can't read it," the hacker pirate said stunned.
"What does that mean?" Thom asked impatiently.
"We have to move. The Kryptonian is in the air," another pirate said freaked out.
"Run it again," Thom insisted.
"Fuck that, we're bailing," the hacker pirate refused.
"Get out of there!" Spider ordered via radio from his HQ.
Kara circled the crash site and eyed the hacker pirate. He fired two machinegun pistols at her. The bullets, when they did hit, simply bounced off her. She fired heat vision at him, blasting him to pieces. The pirates attempted to escape in their one remaining armored car. Kara fired on the car roof flipping it over in a dust explosion. Kara then landed on the ground as Thom crawled out of his car. Kara was on him in a flash before he could fire his rifle. She disarmed him, took hold of his arm, and then punched him to the gut. Kara suddenly hunched over, nearly falling on top of Thom.
Thom got out of Kara's grip, took his rifle, and fired at her. As before, the bullets increased dramatically in mass in midair right before hitting Kara. This time, Kara winced slightly as the bullets affected her. Kara took a knee as the bullets felt like rubber bullets to a human. Thom then ran into the urban area to hide among the population. Kara quickly recovered and continued her pursuit. She scanned the area but couldn't find Thom.
"Well...shit," she said disappointed.
On Elysium, Kara took command of the station and the planet. "I want a no-fly zone over the planet. No one leaves," she ordered. She then turned to Brainiac 5. "Did they recover anything?"
"Nothing," he replied.
"They couldn't have worked alone. I want to find the asshole who ordered the strike," Kara said adamantly.
"You had some trouble with one of the pirates?" Brainiac 5 sensed.
"It was so weird," Kara recollected. She showed a bullet to Brainiac 5. "When I felt it in my hand, it weighed a kilogram. Now, it's back to normal."
"I'll have drones looking for him," Brainiac 5 said.
Upon spotting a possible sight, Kara ripped through a house door and found a woman and her sickly child. She scanned the house and noticed bloody bandages in the trashcan. As Frey held her child tight to her, Kara softened a bit. "Sorry, I know a guy that can fix your door," she said sheepishly. "My daughter looks to be the same age as yours. I'm looking for a guy that was in this house not too long ago."
Frey said nothing to her. "Alright, keep your daughter's eyes closed. I don't want her to see it when I scorch your head off," Kara threatened as her eyes glowed red.
"No one else was here," Frey lied.
"I don't believe you," Kara shook her head.
"He...left," Frey said finally.
"What's up with the kid?" Kara asked as she scanned her and noticed all sorts of cancer in her body.
"She's sick," Frey replied.
"That would be an understatement. I'm taking you both with me to the station," Kara said and then allowed several drones to enter the house and take them away into a shuttle.
Thom entered Spider's lair empty-handed looking dark brown now. "What do you got for me?" Spider asked.
"I got nothing, man," Thom admitted. "Everyone is dead, you owe me."
"There's a no-fly zone. No one is going up there," Spider told him off.
"Till when?" Thom asked.
"No one fucking knows," Spider said obviously.
"I have to get up there. I'm fucked if I don't go up there," Thom said upset.
While in the shuttle, Kara noticed that Thom had been spotted in the city. Kara landed the shuttle and confronted Thom. "Stop right there!" Thom shouted to Kara as he held a grenade. "You're going to do exactly as I say or I blow my fucking head off!"
"A weird flex," Kara noted.
"What I am is extremely valuable. I can make things heavier, denser, more mass. You take me up to the station, heal me, and you can experiment on me and shit," Thom offered.
"Alright," Kara agreed.
"Don't try anything tricky," Thom warned, still holding the grenade.
"Come on," Kara gestured as she went back inside the shuttle. Thom then noticed the woman and little girl that had sheltered him were in the shuttle as well. "So, you detonate the grenade, you kill yourself and these two."
The shuttle went into space and headed toward Elysium. As they entered the main ring, Thom and Kara had a chat while he still held onto his grenade. "You know, I've been increasing the mass on Matilda and she hasn't shown any discomfort at all," Thom brought up.
Kara eyed the girl and then back to Thom. "Shit," she realized. Kara quickly went for the grenade, cupping it. Thom set it off creating a massive explosion that destroyed most of the shuttle. The debris from the shuttle hit a mansion as it landed inside the ring. Frey and Maltida had been two drones disguised as them.
Thom and Kara fought inside the ruined shuttle slamming each other against the walls. Kara finally punched Thom to the floor knocking him out. Kara's wounds immediately healed. The grenade had increased in mass the entire time and upon detonation was much more powerful.
Soon thereafter, Kara placed Thom on a medical table and strapped him down. His skin was now a very dark brown, even black. "So, you can increase the mass and density of objects. I could see how that could be useful to the Vindicator Corps," Kara considered.
Thom suddenly tore off his restraints and the medical table collapsed under its weight. "Including my own," he told her and then threw her across the room where she slammed against the wall. Thom was on Kara immediately with strong punches she actually felt. Kara felt weighed down with each hit. Thom took hold of Kara and slammed her down against the floor breaking it open on impact. Thom then threw Kara across the room.
Drones entered the facility and fired on Thom. Increasing his own density, Thom charged the drones as they fired on him and tore them apart. He took a fallen drone's rifle and then ran off down the hall looking for a med-bed. Kara went after Thom and blasted him with heat vision down the halls. Thom took cover and fired back at her with his rifle, increasing the mass and density of the bullets dramatically as they were fired. Kara was blasted to the floor but was not overly affected.
Thom closed a door behind him and ran off. Kara forced the doors open and continued pursuit. Kara quickly caught up with Thom on a bridge overlooking Elysium's power plants. "You, little fucker. I ought to take your head off," Kara said annoyed.
The two fought evenly on the bridge in hand-to-hand combat. Kara slammed Thom up against a generator and tossed him around a few times. "You, really think you can fight a Kryptonian? I'm just getting started," Kara taunted.
Thom and Kara wrestled for control until Thom took her to the floor. As they did, the bridge, itself, began to creek and bend from their added mass. Kara eventually broke Thom's hold and got to her feet. "Come on now. Get back on your feet. I want to see what you can do," Kara challenged. "You want more, don't you? Envy never gets you anywhere. You, think I've committed some grave injustice by building this station and rationing medical resources? Well, where would you be if I hadn't come at all?"
"I wouldn't be dying of radiation poisoning working in your factory," Thom spat.
"Cuz it's all about you. What about all the other workers that have jobs because of me? What about all the sick people I've healed? I'm the hero of this story, asshole. You, risked my station just to save your own skin. That makes you the villain," Kara pointed out.
"You're benefiting more from this than us. You give us piss wages and dangle the chance of medical treatment in our faces to motivate us while you extract all of our planetary resources and labor. That makes you the villain," Thom accused.
"So what if I'm benefiting more than you? We're both benefiting from my presence here. Could I earn more brownie points with the Almighty if I did more? Sure, but I'm already a fucking saint to this planet, this galaxy. I don't need to be damn perfect for you," Kara told him off and then kicked Thom off the bridge.
Tom held onto the bridge railing for dear life as Kara merely looked on. In desperation, Thom increased the weight of the bridge to the point that it collapsed. The two fell to the surface level in a heap. Kara was on Thom in a flash punching him down. Thom took severe damage as Kara kicked his ass. "You could increase my mass to that of a planet and it wouldn't even phase me," Kara taunted.
"What about a star?" Thom asked her.
Kara then noticed the station, itself, was started to rapidly fall toward the planet. "The fuck are you doing?" she asked alarmed.
"Increasing the station's mass to the point where it hits the planet," Thom said obviously.
Kara noticed the station starting to buckle as its weight became too much. "There are sick people on this station. You'll kill them as well."
"I've come to bargain," Thom said resolved.
Kara smiled. "What do you want?"
"Heal me and provide jobs, medical care, and everything that is on Elysium to the surface below. Make all Xanthus citizens," Thom demanded.
"In return, you will join my Vindicator Corps and do my bidding across the galaxy. You will train to expand your abilities and become a real superhero," Kara countered.
"Fine," Thom agreed.
Kara walked up to Thom and shook his hand in agreement. "Mass of a star, huh?" Kara doubted. "Starboy, it is."
Kara returned the station to a stable orbit and repairs had to be made all over the station as a result of her fight with Thom. Medical beds were placed on a fleet of shuttles to the people on the surface for the first time. Working conditions at the factories also improved. Kara evicted the Xanthus rich folks from the Elysium station and then took the station to Earth as a new vacation home for herself and her Vindicator Corps members as a new orbiting HQ. Conditions on Xanthus gradually improved as Brainiac 5 exponentially increased his numbers on the planet, but more importantly, Kara got her recruit.
Author's Notes: I had a hard time accepting Matt Damon as an Avatar white savior and the bad guys being stereotypical rich assholes. Almost like the issue of universal health care was reduced to a simplistic cliche. I did enjoy Jodie Foster's accent so there's that. A bit of a mind-fuck for Sharlto Copley to go from white savior hero of District 9 to total tool here. Thom is typically featured as a white dude but was made black, for reasons, in a comic reboot. To mock this obvious race-swapping pandering, Thom's skin color changes as he gains and controls his powers.