"Mom!" Clark held out his arm as he was strangled.
After catching the quick lob, he thrusted the black kryptonite into Kal's scarred chest, causing a bright blue beam to emit from his body. Energy erupted between the two sides of the same coin, throwing Clark back into the cave wall with a loud crack.
The young Kryptonian shook his head, quickly recovering from the separation. Kal was nowhere to be seen as he swept his eyes across the room. His sigh of relief hitched when the fallen image of his mother crossed his sight. A sudden flash of white halted his beginning steps toward her as he found himself in a stark white landscape.
"You have disrupted your destiny enough, Kal-El," The booming voice of Jor-El filled Clark's ears, "I have no choice but to hold you from those you have grown overly attached to until they fade from this world."
With widening eyes, Clark began to understand what his biological father was saying. He shouted with defiance only to discover that no sound escaped his mouth. He ran through the white void to no avail.
"This is for both this world's and your own good, my son," Jor-El spoke, "You shall remain in this space, absorbing this system's star's energy while honing your mind. When you are released, you will fulfill your mission to gather the three crystals and you will finally access the secrets of the known galaxies."
The void trembled slightly as a golden pillar of crystal appeared in front of Clark. He wondered what it was before he suddenly felt energized. Testing Jor-El's information, the trapped man slowly backed away from the pillar, but he found that it seemed to follow him as he moved, or he wasn't actually moving at all. Hard to tell when he couldn't see and feel anything surrounding him.
To try something different, Clark ran up to the crystal and threw a haymaker. His fist didn't even seem to touch the structure as it was forcibly stopped when millimeters away. Punches, kicks, pushes…nothing worked to even touch the thing. Images of his friends and family flew through his mind as he tried to wail on the object.
Lana, Chloe, Pete…each name accompanied by an angry punch.
His mom crumpled on the cave floor…a kick.
His father lying unconscious in the hospital, likely never to wake…
"AHHHHH!" A red glow accompanied his silent scream as twin beams of heat escaped Clarks eyes, vaporizing his tears but not even damaging the golden crystal. They seemed to be absorbed and added to the energy emitted.
Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months, to years, to decades.
Red pulsed throughout the space when his heat vision was used but the void remained the same.
Never growing tired due to the crystal, Clark kept to his desperate rampage, his memory and body never degrading.
/
The sun beat down on her as she exited the small plane and stepped onto the blazing tarmac, though she was unsurprisingly unbothered. Blonde hair cut to her chin with little black wings poking from it, the short shapely woman was escorted to the three waiting black trucks nearby.
A portly gentleman stood beside on of the cars and opened a door to the back seat.
"Welcome to Kansas! Glad you have made the trip safely, Miss Ryukyu," He said with a genuine smile and a small bow of his head, "My name is Wilson and I'll be your guide for the duration of your stay during the Hero Exchange. All that's on the schedule today is your address to the Organization at the League's Kansas Division."
"Nice meeting you, Mr. Wilson," The number nine hero of Japan replied in perfect English and bowed at the waist, "and please just call me Ryukyu."
Wilson nodded and directed the hero into the truck, himself hopping into the passenger seat after Ryukyu entered.
"How was the flight?" The man asked as the trucks left the airstrip.
"It was fine," Ryukyu replied as she took in the sight of cornfields when they turned onto a long stretch of road surrounded by them, "although it felt a bit confining."
Wilson released a small chuckle, "I bet I'd feel the same if I could turn into a dragon." He continued, "Could you have flown the whole way from Japan?"
The dragon woman laughed, "S-sorry," she apologized with a small grin, "I wish I could in one go but it would take me at least a week at full speed with multiple stops.''
/
An unknown amount of time has passed in Clark's mind. Time had no meaning in this empty space. He felt as if he had just entered the place. His wailing halted as the crystal in front of him started to dissipate and the influx of solar energy he was absorbing slowed until fully disappearing along with the pillar.
The young man looked around to see thin black cracks webbing throughout the stark landscape. Pieces began to fade into an inky darkness.
"What's happening?!" Clark exclaimed and teared up with a strained smile when he could hear his own voice.
"My son…-alfunctio-…-nforeseen circumstances…-iniac and Zo-…," Jor-El's voice kept cutting out, "overshot completion…changed world…-epare yourself…crystals must be rec-…your return…"
"Jor-El!" Clark yelled as the darkness converged onto him, his ears picking up one last message.
"Good luck."
/
Ryuko massaged her temples as Wilson entered the driver's seat.
"You did very well Miss Ryukyu," he started, "The League was impressed and not hesitant at all with accepting you into their ranks."
Ryuko nodded her head without responding, lost in her thoughts. The address was quite simple. Just a quick ceremony that announced her temporary integration into the league per the agreement between America and Japan that states that one hero from the top ten of each country will temporarily be a part of the other's organization to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the work done. Another major aspect of the trip was to scope out a young aspiring hero among high school graduates for an exchange between the top hero colleges of each country.
An American will attend U.A. for their entire college education while a student from Japan will enroll in Wayne's Institute for Marvelous Heroes (W.I.M.H). This decision was deemed necessary to further good relations between the nations, though no one except the top brass knew the details as to why it had to be done.
Ryuko was shaken from her thoughts as Wilson pulled in to a gated community. Perfectly trimmed grass surrounded a cul-de-sac of one level houses with a small front yard but when looking closely under the fleeting light of the sun, Ryuko could see a gate at the back, indicating a backyard.
After thanking Wilson for opening her door and politely refusing him to carry her bags, she said her goodbyes before walking into her temporary home. Removing her shoes and winged headband at the entry way, the woman lowered her luggage to do a cursory inspection of the dwelling. It wasn't anything remarkable. An open, medium sized kitchen next to a large living room with two couches and a fireplace greeted her ahead of the entry, leading into a small hallway past it that had an open mud room to one side and three doors on the other, two of which were next to each other, the third being a sliding glass door leading out to a back patio.
Ryuko opened the first, discovering the master bedroom with an attached bathroom and the second door revealed a smaller guest bedroom with its own bathroom. Deciding to explore the outside the next day, the dragon retrieved her bags and unpacked them in the master bedroom. She then made a quick dinner from the lightly stocked kitchen and was about to get ready for bed when the earth started to rumble.
Quickly redonning her red qipao and headband, Ryuko ran out to the large backyard in which a sinkhole was appearing. The earth stopped trembling after a few moments when a soft, golden glow emitted from the depths of the hole. Though wary, the dragon part of her was mesmerized, which caused her to slowly approach the hole where the light was slowly fading.
She stopped her advance as a hand emerged from the hole and grabbed the edge of the hole. Another quickly followed and as she put up her guard, she was struck speechless at the sight in front of her.
A young man with rippling muscles pulled himself out of the ground and stood up to an impressive height. Though focusing on the faint golden glow emitting from the black-haired man, Ryuko couldn't help but notice the cloth less state of him. Before her thoughts spiraled, the person in front of her started laughing between sobs. The man looked around him and didn't seem to notice her as tears flowed down his face, but the smile faltered as he seemed to remember something.
Ryuko finally snapped out of her reprieve and slowly walked toward him.
"Excuse m-," The man suddenly whipped his head to look at her and his striking blue eyes stopped her in her tracks.
"W-what year is it?" His voice quivered.
Ryuko frowned at the odd question but decided to oblige.
"It's 2150."