Chapter 45 - The Martian

Clark, clad in his Superman suit, was pacing outside the Watchtower infirmary, arms crossed, his palm against his mouth, deep in thought. Who was the alien being? Did the apocalypse they had mentioned had something to do with the upcoming invasion? Probably. Then there was the way the alien kept looking at him while conscious. As if they knew him.

„-erman! CLARK!"

All sounds and smells came into focus at once, slightly overwhelming the Kryptonian. Shaking his head, he looked at the source of the voice – Cyborg, his fellow League member, one of the closest ones to his age.

„Sorry, Vic. I just keep thinking about the alien. The way he looked at me.. he seemed familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it," shaking his head once again, Clark continued, „anyway, what is it?"

Cyborg, looking a bit sheepish, looked at him. „It's about the invasion. I think I might have some intel. Batman, Diana and the rest are in the Monitor Womb. They're waiting for us."

Clark nodded and followed Cyborg to the Monitor Womb. Once all of them were seated, sans Cyborg, who remained standing, everyone's attention shifted towards him. „As you are well aware, I'm a cyborg. Batman, you've mentioned that some alien supercomputers keep sending out signals to outer space, correct?"

At Batman's nod, Victor's cybernetic eye glowed, projecting a small hologram of a strange-looking box onto the table. „Did it look something like this?"

Clark knew that Bruce prided himself in being the detective, so hearing him take a deeper breath than usual spoke of his surprise. Batman nodded again. „Yes. How do you know this?"

Cyborg nodded to himself, as if confirming his suspicions. „This is the computer that saved my life."

„Explain. Now." This time, the command came not from Clark nor Bruce, but Diana of Themyscira herself.

And so, Cyborg explained. He told them about his accident in his father's laboratory, about how his father, Dr. Silas Stone, and his colleagues worked on the so-called Mother Box. Experimenting on it, testing it, examining it. He told them about how he nearly died, how most of his limbs were decapitated, how his spine shattered, and how desperate his father was to save his life. Using the Mother Box, Victor slowly began to heal, though at a price.

„I became a cyborg," he finished. Victor slowly looked at each and every League member present, letting them take it all in. Superman, the quickest to recover, looked at him.

„Why didn't you tell us this?" he asked, no accusation in his voice, only pure curiosity.

„I didn't want you to pity me. I'm a cyborg, half-human, half-machine. Nobody cared about my origin story, they cared about what I could do... or maybe the nobody was me. Who knows. Point is, the Mother Boxes have been on Earth far longer than we think they have."

It was Batman who spoke this time. „If that's true, then that means the so-called Apocalypse may be even closer than we thought. From now on, I want at least two Leaguers on monitor duty at all times, no matter what. Superman, Wonder Woman, I want you both ready to be on call, as well. We need to be ready. You're our heavy hitters." Both of them nodded, Batman continued. „Cyborg, I will transport the Mother Box I keep in the Batcave to the Watchtower, I want you to run some additional tests on it, find out how much time we actually have left. Who's watching over our.. guest?"

Clark quickly x-rayed the Watchtower, stopping at the infirmary. „At the moment, no one. He seems to be waking up, however. And he seems to know me. Excuse me." In Superman's place there was now an empty space, the only remains of his presence being a strong gust of wind.

Pain. So much pain.

The only thing he was aware of.

Each and every nerve in his body was on fire.

He hated fire.

His fingers tingled.

He felt a powerful presence beside him. Could he try to communicate?

Gently reaching, he immediately recoiled. Kryptonian. Of course. They were immune.

The old fashioned way it is, then.

Ever so slowly, his eyes peeled open. The light was very bright. The Kryptonian seemed to notice this, and immediately, the lights dimmed.

„Slowly, you're very badly injured," a soft voice said. A voice so like his father's.

„K-Kal-El," he whispered weakly. His strength was returning, his pain slowly but surely fading. He would be back to full power in a matter of hours.

„How are you feeling? Who are you? How do you know me?" he asked, his voice betraying his confusion. Young. So young.

Blinking, he looked at Kal-El. „The apocalypse.."

„We know. You don't need to worry," Kal said. Sighing, he closed his eyes once more, before gently opening them, this time without the uncomfortable needle-like pain in his eyelids. Feeling some strength return to his limbs, he gently maneuvered himself into a sitting position.

He looked at Kal. „You look so much like your father," he said. He smiled a little at his confused expression.

„I suppose I should introduce myself, despite my dramatic entrance." At Kal's nod, he continued. „My name is J'onn J'onzz of Mars, just like you are Kal-El of Krypton."

He stopped Kal before he could interrupt. „I knew your father, and I knew you. After the mass genocide of my face, I found myself on Krypton, barely months before its demise. Your parents took me in."

„M-my.. father..?"

J'onn smiled. „Yes. I promise to answer every question you have. But for now, let me explain, then you can ask. Is that alright with you?" After Kal nodded, J'onn continued. „I knew you as barely but a babe. Jor-El knew of Krypton's imminent destruction, and also knew that there would simply be no time to build a ship for all three of you. Your mother then suggested building a ship for one person only – you. The last Kryptonian. Shortly before Krypton's explosion, I traveled to Terra, or Earth. I recommended the planet, simply because it was near my home, and because it orbited a yellow sun."

„So you're the reason I'm here, on Earth, and not .. Daxam or Almerac?" he asked, smiling a little.

„Indeed. I watched over you for years. Once you grew into your powers and became Superman, I wanted to reveal myself to you. Help you understand your origins better. I admit, I should've done it much sooner, but I did not want to confuse or frighten you. I actually developed a secret identity, much like your own!"

„A secret identity?" he asked incredulously.

„Indeed!" J'onn laughed, feeling at ease for the first time in a long time. „Detective John Johns, Metropolis P.D. at your service."

Kal smiled, then became somber. „What happened?"

J'onn's expression turned grim. „I found a Mother Box and discovered it was sending signal into outer space, outside of this solar system. I decided to investigate, and it led me to the planet Apokalips. Have you heard of it?"

Kal shook his head. „It should be in the Fortress archives. Unfortunately, once I arrived there, I was captured by the Furies."

At Kal's confused look, J'onn elaborated. „Apokalips is ruled by the-so called New God Uxas, known to most as Darkseid. He is one of the most, if not the most powerful being in the universe. Ever. His goal is to conquer the universe and find the Anti-Life Equation, which would turn every living being into his slave."

Kal looked horrified. „Is this the apocalypse we're talking about? Why does he want to conquer Earth?"

J'onn looked at him. „Earth is a place of many great beings. There is a demigod Amazon, daughter of Zeus. A being with access to the Speed Force, which is extremely rare as it is. A race of Magicians. And most importantly, the last and only Kryptonian in the entire universe. He wants every single one of you into his army. And he wants me, too.

I am the last Green Martian."

They talked for hours. About Darkseid, about his plans, about Mars, about Krypton. Eventually, Clark commed the rest of the League and transported J'onn into the Monitor Womb once he started to heal properly, based on his Martian physiology. Once there, J'onn explained everything to them.

„How can we hope to defeat him, if he's the most powerful being in the universe?" asked Aquaman. His eyes were steely, yet he was worried.

„You can't. No one can defeat him. No one but one. The best you can do is drive him away and make sure he does not come back."

„No one but one?" asked Diana. J'onn's eyes were set on Clark.

„The only being capable of such power is Kal," and suddenly, all eyes turned to Superman. „But he is not in his prime yet. I am not sure he would be able to defeat him even in his prime. Darkseid is a being of immense, incredible power. To stagger him should be considered a victory."

„We'll be ready. We need to force him back to wherever the hell he will come from. We cannot afford to lose," said Clark, quietly. Everyone heard him.

Sarah was having an amazing day. She spent some time with her little nephew/brother.. which mostly consisted of changing diapers and feeding. She also had some time to read a couple of chapters of her new book, as well as exercise a little. It was a truly relaxing day.

That was, until she heard a knock on her window. There stood Clark in his Superman armor, his cape fluttering in the wind.

„Clark, what the hell are you doing? This is Smallville! People can see you!" she hissed after opening the window. She expected a retort or some teasing, as was his usual response to her worrying about his secret identity, but when she got neither, she finally looked at him.

„Are you okay? What's going on?" she asked, letting him slowly levitate inside. Once his feet were on the ground, she put her hands on his face, gently caressing him.

„The League will fight the fight of our lives."

So, not sure if anyone remembers, but Sarah's aunt Ria was pregnant! Because of the time-skip, she already gave birth. Sorry not sorry!

Please, leave a review, shit gets me going, ayy! Sorry if the chapter is short, it's 10:30 PM, I'm sick, and I wanted to churn it out as soon as I could.

We're nearing the finale, people! I suspect another 5 chapters, perhaps, and we're done! Ayy.