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A small Kryptonian craft detached from the massive mothership with a low, metallic growl.
Flames rippled across its sleek hull as it cut through the atmosphere of the planet below. The surface rose like a scarred titan jagged cliffs, blackened canyons, and plains of ice stretching to the horizon. A storm brewed in the distance, violet lightning clawing at the sky.
Inside the ship, General Zod stood at the command console, silent and statuesque. His cape swayed slightly around him stood Faora, and four Kryptonian soldiers in armor, and the ever-calm scientist Jax-Ur whose eyes were glued to the scanning device flickering with alien data.
The ship trembled as they entered the lower atmosphere.
Zod's gaze was fixed forward, his tone low and edged.
"Report."
Jax-Ur's fingers danced across the panel, glyphs reflecting in his spectacles. "Strange... The planet's core is active, but its star, the yellow sun that once sustained it has vanished sometime ago. By all rights, this world should be frozen solid."
Faora frowned slightly. "Yet it isn't."
"Precisely," Jax-Ur replied. "Something... or someone is sustaining it artificially. Energy traces indicate recent activity."
Zod's expression darkened, his eyes narrowing at the stormy horizon.
"Are you certain this is the world?"
Jax-Ur's lips curled in faint irritation. "Of course, General. The coordinates match the encrypted files from the old database. Jor-El's hidden project, his abomination was sent here."
Zod turned toward him, his voice cold and measured.
"Then we are not dealing with a mere rumour."
The ship descended lower, engines hissing as the ground came into view a barren plateau. Lightning split the sky, revealing something in the distance: a crystalline structure rising from the rock like a dagger of light.
It wasn't natural. It was Kryptonian.
The architecture was familiar yet different not the shining perfection of the Fortress of Solitude, but something older, rawer, the crystal spires pulsed faintly with inner energy. It looked less like a sanctuary and more like a throne hall in the middle of this planet.
Faora leaned closer to the viewport. "That... looks like one of ours."
Zod's eyes narrowed. "He's here."
With a sharp gesture, he commanded, "Take us down."
The ship descended in a slow arc, the engines roaring against the air. Dust spiraled in waves as it touched down, landing struts cracking theground. The ramp hissed open, releasing the Kryptonians into the harsh wind.
Zod walked ahead, regal. in his black armor, and his soldiers flanked him in perfect formation.
The fortress stood there imposing then, without a warning, the air trembled.
A hum of power rippled across the plateau.
Something moved above them.
A figure emerged from the sky, descending through the dust hovering effortlessly, his cape torn and weathered, his long dark hair whipping around a face carved in fury and pain. His skin was pale grey, marred by faint scars running across his face. His presence alone made them nervous, and when his crimson glowing eyes opened, the soldiers instinctively reached for their weapons.
He spoke his voice deep, resonant, and full of memory.
"General Zod..."
The moment the name left his lips, Zod's soldiers froze.
The tone wasn't one of fear.
Zod himself tilted his head slightly, assessing the figure. His gaze was sharp.
"So... you know who I am. Then identify yourself."
The figure descended slowly until his boots touched the cracked ground. He stood tall not deferential, not hostile yet.
"Of course, I know of you," he said, his voice cold and deliberate. "The great General Zod... the one who dreamed of saving Krypton through rebellion." His crimson eyes glowed brighter. "I see that you and your loyalists managed to crawl out of the Phantom Zone."
Zod's expression didn't waver.
"That did not answer my question."
The stranger smiled faintly though it was not kindness.
"I am H'El," he said at last. "Son of Jor-El."
A ripple of shock passed through the soldiers. Even Faora's usual composure faltered for a heartbeat.
Zod's eyes narrowed, his voice low and sharp.
"Jor-El had no son beyond Kal-El."
"But I am" H'El said, his gaze hardening. "I was away from Krypton most of the time" He stepped forward, his tone darkening. "He saved me and sent me away, moments before our home was about to be destroyed."
Lightning tore across the sky as the wind howled between them.
Zod and H'El stood mere paces apart, power was radiating from H'El.
'I see, so this is Jor El's creation...' Zod's chin lifted, his cape whipping behind him. "Then tell me, Jor-El's son, why do you linger here on this dead world? What is your purpose?"
H'El's eyes burned brighter. "That's my question for you, General. Why are you here?"
The soldiers tensed. The air grew hotter, oppressive.
H'El's fists clenched, the ground beneath him cracking.
"I know your crimes," H'El said, his voice vibrating with restrained wrath. "And I sense something from you, that same pride that destroyed Krypton once before." His tone dropped lower, colder. "And I'll decide what to do with all of you based on your answer."
Faora took a step forward, hand twitching toward her weapon, but Zod lifted a hand stopping her without looking away from H'El.
For the first time, a thin smile crossed the General's lips calm and dangerous.
"Well then," Zod said softly. "Let us hope, son of Jor-El, that you like my answer."
****
THE BATCAVE -
Batman stood before the Batcomputer cape draped, cowl removed, eyes sharp with focus. His gloves moved swiftly over the console, decrypting lines of Kryptonian script that would have taken anyone else a lifetime to comprehend.
He'd been at it for hours. The data he retrieved from the Fortress of Solitude stolen right beneath Superman's nose was finally giving up its secrets.
"Come on…" Bruce muttered, as his fingers danced across holographic panels. "There has to be something deeper than the surface logs."
A faint chime rang through the cave. The computer's monotone voice announced:
"Encryption sequence complete. Access granted."
Thousands of data began flooding the central screen. Schematics. Coordinates. Star charts.
Bruce's eyes narrowed. The symbols represented locations across the known galaxies, old Kryptonian outposts, stretching back millennia. Outposts that predated even the fall of Krypton itself. He exhaled through his nose.
"You really built an empire, didn't you, Krypton…"
Then, something strange flickered in the corner of the screen an unfamiliar sigil pulsing faintly, buried beneath layers of encryption. The file was labeled only in one word:
"LEGACY."
Bruce hesitated, his instinct whispering trap. But curiosity, his most dangerous habit won. He opened it.
The cave lights dimmed instantly. The Batcomputer's glow turned blue, then white. Static shimmered across the screen before a figure appeared Jor-El.
His image was translucent, yet regal. The Kryptonian's eyes were kind but weighed by knowledge, his voice deep and filled with that strange mixture of intellect and warmth.
"Kal-El… my son," Jor-El's voice began, echoing softly through the cave. "If you are seeing this message, then you have gone beyond what I intended for you. You have not only survived… you have thrived. I am proud of you."
Batman didn't move. He just watched, silent, analyzing.
Jor-El continued, his tone shifting heavier, more solemn.
"But pride, my son, does not erase the burdens of our past. There are truths I could not leave you within the crystals of the Fortress. Truths that would have endangered you, until now."
He stepped closer to the holographic projection, as though speaking directly to Kal-El.
"Long before Krypton's fall, I made choices… desperate ones. Our world was dying, and I sought every path to save it. Among those paths was a project I abandoned or so I thought. His name is H'El, one of my greatest creations, a clone."
Bruce's eyes widened slightly.
Jor-El's expression darkened.
"He was meant to be the perfect vessel of Krypton's future, my creation, born not of nature but of will and science. I used my own genetic code… and many more. H'El was sent away before Krypton's destruction to test the stars, to seek worlds that could sustain us and to uphold Krypton's legacy. His mind… his purpose… may have fractured with time."
The hologram flickered again, the voice breaking through distortion.
"If you find him, Kal… you must not face him as an enemy. He is as much a part of Krypton as you are. Yet… if he turns against you, remember his strength will not lie in power alone, but in conviction twisted by loss. He believes himself to be just like any other Kryptonian and he will defend Kryptonian rules and laws, even if it means ending everything else."
The hologram softened, Jor-El's final words echoing through the stone chamber like a ghostly whisper.
"My son, the future of Krypton does not rest in rebuilding the ashes of the past. It rests in what you choose to protect now. Be wiser than us… and forgive what you must destroy."
The message faded.
Silence fell again.
Batman stood there, eyes fixed on the empty screen. His jaw tightened.
"H'El," he said quietly, testing the name. "So there's another one out there."
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want