Corrupted: Superman 2.0 (Kon-El) Issue Three

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Delphic

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Edited By Delphic

Continued from:

Corrupted: Superman 2.0 (Kon-El) part two

Sins of the Past (Part One)

The surface of the moon, 2065

Silence, sometimes it’s all one needs to be able to make sense of their thoughts, and that was what Connor had sought out in the face of all that had recently come to his attention. Several hours ago, Connor had retreated from Earth’s atmosphere, and sought solace on the surface of the moon. It was the first time he had ever been all the way up here, because even when he first emerged from the tubes and joined the titans, the heroes of earth had left the moon behind long before. Connor was walking now amongst the rubble of what had once been the Justice League’s Watchtower. There had been a great battle ages ago, and it left the Justice League without a place to call home.

As Connor walked amongst the rubble, he couldn’t help, but feel a strange sense of kinship with it. Though it was nothing but a ruin, it still was a part of the past, and Connor had started to feel that perhaps he too was just another old relic in a new world. Perhaps the world had left him behind, and was it really the right thing to do to fight against the powers that be and carry out some damn fool crusade against those who sought to use that which created him? New worlds and new ways of life were built on the death of customs which make up the foundation of new worlds, and new ways of life. It was just the way things in life went. Out with the old and in with the new.

He came across a large metal block that seemed sturdy enough, so he decided to have a seat, but as he did he looked out at the giant blue marble before him. Earth was truly beautiful up here. From the surface of the moon it was hard to imagine that something that looked so serene, peaceful, and alone in the giant black void of space was actually a place full of turmoil and strife. From here though, Connor, even with super-hearing, couldn’t even hear a peep.

The quiet gave him a chance to think about everything that had transpired in the past couple of days. He had left Smallville and traveled to Metropolis to help the world government in putting a stop to rebel cloning efforts, and at the same time he discovered that the world he had left behind had changed. Kal-El, the man he had looked up to his entire life, had murdered people who had once been their friends, and possibly even more. Diana, the woman who had convinced him to return, had been keeping secrets from him, and just how much was being kept secret he couldn’t possibly know. A new kind of costumed vigilante had emerged in the form of a sort of guerrilla militia, and they had kidnapped Kal and Diana’s child.

Connor had confronted Kal and Diana about their wrong doings only to be sneered at. A few days ago when he had saved Metropolis from an attack he had been praised by the populace, but now at every turn Hawkmen and SHADE agents would appear and tell him to leave constantly hindering every attempt at investigation. He had scanned all of Metropolis with X-ray vision and the like, but his efforts had turned up nothing. He wasn’t even allowed into the crime scene where the initial cloning lab had been found. He wasn’t allowed to look at the reports, and he wasn’t allowed to question any witnesses. Diana was impossible to get into contact with at this point due to the disagreement they had, and the fact that she was leading efforts to find their child.

He couldn’t blame her though. Diana was a true warrior, woman, and a mother. She was more of a parent than he had ever been, and that was a scar he knew he would have to carry for the rest of his life. For a brief moment he thought about his old girlfriend Cassie, and the life that he had turned away from and gave away. At the time, he had felt it the proper thing to do, for how could someone like him ever be a father, but ever since he made that choice there wasn’t a day that went by that he did not think about it. He could have tried.

Connor shook his head, now wasn’t a time to get himself lost in the past. He still needed to figure out a way to find what he was looking for. Perhaps he could float at the top of Earth atmosphere and listen for any sign of activity, but even that seemed ludicrous. There were over six billion people living on the surface, and even if he did hear anything it could take days, possibly weeks and whatever the rebels were attempting could be completed by the time he found something. Then there was the fact that he would need rest himself, because despite all his strength, he would still get tired. He was at a loss.

It was about time to be getting back. Perhaps he could fly over Metropolis again, maybe there was something he had missed. He lifted up off the moon’s surface, but as he did, something happened that wasn’t supposed too. He heard something.

In space, sound doesn’t travel as it normally does on Earth, but Connor was picking up something as if it were only a few feet away. It was a constant ringing, not all that different from the land line phone that Connor kept in the house back in Smallville.

The sound was coming from Earth, but where? Connor began flying away from the moon at top speed towards the Earth atmosphere. He broke earth’s atmosphere, the Kryptonian jumpsuit taking the friction of re-entry with ease, and the sound grew louder and louder the faster he approached the ground; to a point where it was almost deafening. It hurt so much that he had to slow his flight to be able to maintain his altitude. He was compelled though to find out where it was coming from. Eventually his search led him into a desert; well more like crashed him into it. Eventually the sound became so loud that it caused him to lose control over flight completely. He cried out in agony as he crashed down into the desert wastes.

His mouth was full of dirt and his bones ached a little from the hard landing. All that on top of the massive pounding in his skull resulting from the constant ringing, Connor found it amazing that he was even able to stand, but he had learned long ago how to master his senses. For a person with Kryptonian genetics it was all about focus, and though it took nearly all he had it caused the ringing to lessen in his ears, but it also helped him to focus on its origin.

It was coming from underground. There was a canyon not too far from where Connor had landed, but the ringing seemed to be coming from deeper than that. He leaped over to the Canyon, and used x-ray and telescopic vision to look down further into the Canyon depths. He wanted to be sure to avoid any traps if there happened to be any, but when he looked into the darkness of the Canyon all he saw was a large metal door.

“Now, what would that be doing down there?” he said to himself rhetorically. Leaping down into the Canyon, he shortly found himself in front of the door. The door was massive, towering above him, and it appeared to be several meters thick. When he tried to see through the door he was met with a solid sheet of black.

“It’s lined with lead.” Connor muttered, trying to figure the whole situation out, but as soon as those words left his mouth the ringing ceased. Since he was focusing on blocking out the ringing, he had almost not noticed its disappearance, and it wasn’t till a voice spoke, that he knew otherwise.

“I see you found the place Mr. Kent. It took you long enough.” A female voice rang out from the Canyon walls.

No Caption Provided

“What the,” Connor muttered startled, “Who’s there, and what the heck is going on?”

“Relax Mr. Kent,” the voice continued, “We’ve met before, and I can assure that you are in safe hands.” Then with that the massive door began to shift as it creaked open and disappeared into the rock surface of the Canyon, and there just behind the door stood a pettie woman in a strange outfit and violet hair.

“Dr. Veritas!?” Connor piped, “That ringing and all this was you?”

“Yes Mr. Kent, I’m sorry about the noise, but after that little show you put on at the Capitol, you disappeared. I needed to get into contact with you, and you left me no other option.”

“I’m sorry; I had to clear my head. There had been a lot going on that I didn’t know. What in the world was that ringing though?”

“It’s simple really. I’m sure you remember James Olsen’s signal watch from your younger days?” Dr. Veritas inquired, and unfortunately Connor wished he could forget about that damn watch. Both he and Kara had confided in each other back then that both of them had at times wanted to rip that watch off Jimmy’s hands and shove it down Kal’s throat for having the stupid idea in the first place. There was nothing quite as unpleasant as trying to eat a bowl of cereal in the morning only to end up choking on the milk because of a noise that was so ear splitting that it caused every muscle in your body to seize up in that initial second when first hearing it.

“As crude as the initial design was it gets the job done, and the modifications that I have made have allowed me to alter the signal in such a way that I can reach you and only you if I need to, but it seems I had to boost the signal quite a bit actually. You must have been a long ways away.

“I was on the moon.” Connor snapped, and Dr. Veritas suddenly looked taken about.

“Oh my, I’m sure you must have quite a headache. I do apologize, but if you don’t mind me asking what were you doing on the moon?”

“I needed some quiet to help me think, I’ve run into quite a bit of resistance in my investigation.”

“So I’ve heard. By the way, that’s a stylish outfit you have going on there,” Dr. Veritas said as she put her finger on the Kryptonian one piece. The suit was black and it covered his entire body save for his hands and head. It had slots on the shoulders for a cape, but there was no family crest on the chest as was normal for most Kryptonian body suits.

“It’s Kryptonian. Superman gave it to me a long time ago. It tends not to burn up as easy as cotton and denim do during atmospheric re-entry.”

“Well it looks good on you; perhaps you might consider adding color to it though?” Veritas inquired, but Connor just smiled and shook his head. The Kryptonian garb was for Kryptonian’s, and Connor had always just looked at it the outfit as if he were only borrowing it. It seemed like now though, Connor would be borrowing the outfit indefinitely.

“Oh well, you can’t blame a woman for trying.” Dr. Veritas said as she turned and stepped up onto a platform which rose up and floated in front of Connor, “now if you don’t mind come this way please.” The platform turned and sped off down the long dark corridor, and Connor followed along lifting off, and then landing on the platform behind Veritas. The light’s turned on as they moved, and eventually the reached a doorway that lead into a small room. It didn’t take Connor long to realize they were in an elevator, because as soon as they entered the room the door closed behind them, and Connor felt a slight rising in his stomach.

“Uh, Doctor, if you don’t mind me asking. Where am I?”

“You’re in a place that was once known as the most advanced research facility on the Planet Earth,” The solid paneling suddenly gave way to glass and Connor marveled at what he saw before him. The interior of the facility was massive, far bigger than the Fortress of Solitude. Connor could make out all kinds of machinery, both human and alien in origin. On platforms all over the place there were holograms floating, all in Dr. Veritas image and at its center was a bright glowing light, and as concentrated harder the realization of what he was looking at finally struck him.

“I don’t believe it.” Connor stammered, completely baffled, “Is that…”

“The Earth’s core.” Dr. Veritas said with a grin on her face, “Welcome Mr. Kent, to the Block.”

No Caption Provided

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#2  Edited By TommytheHitman

Awesome job man! I really like how you did the polar opposite to what I tend to do and let descriptions explain the story rather then dialogue. Also I really enjoyed that Signal Watch thing...

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dngn4774

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@delphic: Nice work. Loved the balance between dialogue and description. Whatever happened to Cassie?

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#6  Edited By dngn4774
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4donkeyjohnson

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Jimmy Olsen signal watch :)

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Jimmy Olsen signal watch :)

haha, everyone seems to really love the signal watch thing.

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