Chapter 1

'Am I dying?'

Corey thought as his body was starting to get cold. His limbs becoming numb, his vision blurred. Slowly but surely, Corey was going to die and there was nothing that he could do about it. The architect of his death being a drive-by shooting. His olive light brown skin was turning pale, his eyes slowly closing as he heard distant sirens getting further and further away. Until eventually, he finally closed his eyes, and everything went silent. So silent in fact, it almost seemed as if there was nothing there.

For a few moments there was just utter silence, then came muffled wailing as feeling came back to Corey. His body felt as if it were being squeezed, a strange feeling was felt from his stomach as if he were connected to something. It wouldn't be long before the wails grew louder and more coherent as he felt himself being pushed. Voices could be heard all around him in a strange language, one that Corey has never heard before. Then sound returned to him as the sounds of a woman crying out in pain filled his ears. His body felt so weak, so numb. He tried to open his eyes but each time he does, it's blinding as if someone put the sun directly in his face.

Corey could feel himself being moved around as a male voice spoke. His body being wrapped up in some form of clothe. Then he was being held quite closely in the arms of someone. Corey couldn't tell what was going on, only that he wasn't dead. Was he reborn? If so why did he remember who he was? Where was he reborn to? When? Why? The questions continued to mount up until he felt himself being placed into someone's gentle arms. His body being pulled closely to what could only be described as breasts. Not long after, he felt something being pushed to his lips. Instinctively, his mouth latched on and within seconds he felt milk enter his mouth.

When Corey tried to open his eyes this time, his vision wasn't as bad as before. He was able to see a handsome man and woman staring down at him. Both had proud and happy smiles respectivefully as their eyes gazed down upon him. Corey's eyes landed on their faces, their silky black hair blue and black eyes, and pale skin. What made him nearly feel his brain explode was the fact that the man standing beside the woman had a red "S" symbol on the front of whatever shirt that he was wearing.

'Isn't that like...Superman?' Corey thought, before feeling darkness creep into the corners of his eyes. His consciousness faded once again, allowing him to dream once again.

[5 Years Later]

'I'm a Kryptonian on Krypton...' Corey began to think as he sat within a futuristic classroom. He was getting off looks and glances from the children around him. They seemed to have seen him as the odd one out. Though that was due in part because of his "uniqueness". That is what his mother Lara called it anyway. Corey wasn't that good when it came to comics. He only knew about the movies, even the cartoon ones from when he was younger....younger younger. Now here he was in what he was thinking was an acid dream.

"Kor-El, how does life begin on a world capable of oxygen?" Called Kor's class instructor, who gave him a stern look.

"As bacteria, then they evolve into more complex lifeforms." Kor answered, getting a nod from his instructor who looked to the other students who faced forward now.

"Thank you Kor-El, at least one of you is fully capable of paying attention to the lesson." The instructor scolded the other students, causing Kor to mentally smirk. This was a regular occurrence ever since he could walk. Kor was the first Kryptonian to be birthed in centuries, maybe even thousands of years. Would that have made him a celebrity in the public view on Krypton? No, he was ostracized for it since to them he had no purpose. Kor didn't really understand it fully, but all of the Kryptonians around him were all born within incubation chambers. They all were programmed to a role that they had to achieve. Meanwhile he was born with something that others on Krypton didn't have. Purpose.

Kor glanced to his left to see a blonde haired and blued eye girl who was roughly one year younger than him facing forward. It was his younger cousin, Kara Zor-El. He didn't really know how she felt about him, she always seemed distant around him. As if he were the Black Sheep of the family. His mother told him not to let it get to him, but he knew what it felt like to be the Black Sheep. He died being one in his last life...

It wouldn't be long before classes were dismissed for the day, allowing Kor to head home. As he was leaving the facility, he felt as if he were being followed. With a glance being sent backwards, he noticed Kara following him. She had a blank look on her face, and looking directly at him. Instead of confronting her, he ignored her and continued to walk. Kor's attention went back to on thinking about what he had planned to do. He didn't know much about Krypton besides what he was being taught in the learning facilities. The main important detail that he did know, was that the moment that Superman was born, Krypton was going to blow up.

He was hoping that he'd make it off of Krypton, then again, his parents wouldn't have him die on this planet right?

That though nearly made Kor frown, thinking back on his past life. He had lived a life like that, in a household where you pull your own weight or you would be left stranding.

Just as Kor stepped onto the family hovercraft that was being piloted by an AI, Kara stepped in right behind him. Kor however said nothing, choosing to stay silent with her. He turned his attention out the window to watch as the hovercraft rose from the ground and flew off taking him home. Kor and Kara sat on the same side of the vehicle silently. The girl seemed to sneak glances at him from time to time, as if waiting for him to say something. Kor however used his imaginations to occupy him, keeping himself entertained on what he could do once he got his superpowers. The silence between the two cousins continued, until Kara shuffled and turned her azure blue eyes onto Kor.

"Why do you ignore me?" Kara questioned, her voice laced with a curious yet neutral tone. The question itself made Kor's face contort into confusion, after all she had been doing that for a few years now.

"Are you not being contradictory?" Kor replied with another question, not moving to look at Kara. His gaze remained on the passing buildings and hovercrafts that they passed by. Kara said nothing for a moment, before speaking once more but with more emotion to her tone.

"The other students talk about you, they say rude things." Kara stated, trying to spark up a conversation with him. To her surprise, Kor shrugged it off before replying to her.

"Words mean nothing as long as they is no proof. If I humor them with a reaction to their words, then they win. If I do not, then I win." Kor replied plainly and simply.

"So you do hear them?"

"It is not hard when they can barely keep their mouths shut."

"Why not tell Uncle Jor and Lara El?"

"Why bother them with a none existent problem?"

"Because it IS a problem!" Kara raised a her voice, finally getting Kor to turn his gaze unto her. He saw a concerned look on her face, as if she were worried about him. He was confused, since she hardly talked to him at all.

"Kara, calm down. Their words means nothing more than envy and lies to elevate their nonexistent position." Kor reassured, and watched as Kara shook her head at him.

"You may be fine with it, but I am not! What if they say something that is true? What if they say something that could hurt you?" Kara asked quickly while leaning over to him. Before Kor could reply, he felt the hovercraft that they were riding in beginning to land. As it landed, he let out a sigh before the door to the hovercraft opened for him. He stepped out as he spoke back to Kara.

"Then I will deal with it when it actually does hurt to hear them speak. K'Lex, please take Kara home safely." Kor said and ordered, then heard the hovercraft's door close. Soon it rose into the air once more, and began to fly away once again. Kor watched the hovercraft fly through Krypton's orange red skies, before turning to walk up the steps to his house. Rather his new house, which was the home of the House of El. As he reached the front door, the door slid open for him to reveal a floating bot awaiting him.

"Welcome home, Kor-El. Your mother and father are still in their meeting with the Science Council. I will have something made for you to eat unless you do not wish to eat." The robot spoke through a speaker, and found a nod from Kor as his answer as he stepped inside. The robot floated off, leaving the young Kryptonian to his own devices as he walked up a flight of spiraling stairs. Once up them, he walked down a hall approaching his bedroom. When he was inside of his bedroom, he had the door closed and sealed shut behind him.

'Man I really wish I actually paid attention to those comic buffs whenever they shouted that nerd shit." Kor thought as he approached his bed, then plopped face down on it. A sigh left him as he rolled over to his back and stared up at the ceiling. For a moment he thought back on his past life, trying to find anything that he was going to miss. Then came to the conclusion that the only thing that he missed was being able to eat ice cream.

A knock came to Kor's door, causing him to sit up slowly. He felt a brow raise upon remembering that he was home alone. The fact that someone was knocking on his door was...strange.

"Who is it?" He called, and heard a professional as well as stern male voice reply through the door.

"Zod." Was the simple reply, immediately making Kor rise to his feet and as if at attention. Quickly, he made his way to the door and opened it to find the black and gray uniformed Dru-Zod towering over him. His black pupils peered down at him as a blank expression was adorned on his face. He had a trimmed beard on his face. His olive skin having aged well like fine wine. "Have you forgotten that your practice was today Kor-El?" Zod questioned as he folded his arms over his chest.

"No sir, just wanting to take some time to myself to think." Kor answered, and watched Zod nod at him before stepping back for Kor to step out of his room.

"Very well, let us continue your training from yesterday."

"....May I eat first?"

"No."

[2 Hours Later]

"Higher!" Zod ordered as he easily blocked a high kick from Kor with a raised up knee from himself. Kor did as ordered as he was shirtless, all he had on was his trousers from before. He had on no shoes of any kind, allowing his growing physique to be shown. Zod sent a held back punch at Kor, who easily brought up his forearms to parry the strike. Then with a spin, Kor tried to send a kick with with back heel at Zod's abdomen. Instead the general caught Kor's leg, then flung him around with little effort put into it.

Kor's small body landed on the floor with a thud as a groan left his lips. However, despite his aching muscles telling him otherwise, Kor rose back up to his feet back in the practiced combat stance that Zod taught him. He began to do labored breathes, then steady his beating heart from beating too rapidly. Without another moment to waste, Kor rushed forward and threw a straight fist at Zod. Zod moved a hand out to swipe the blow to the side, parrying it. A kick was sent to him as well from Kor, though this time it collided with the Kryptonian General's hip.

This training session continued for several long minutes. The reason for it being that Dru-Zod wished to train Kor-El. He had heard word of how Kor was Krypton's first natural birth. Besides that he was interest in the child who "had no purpose", other than living. From what he knows, Kor is intelligent like Jor-El, and is far more adaptable than any other Kryptonian. It seemed that a naturally born Kryptonian had no limits when it came to growth. Considering that he was teaching Kor-El martial arts reserved for the soldiers. Kor was doing far better than most recruits would have been able to do. That is something that Zod has become quite interested in. As far as to what degree, that is to be seen.

After Zod had blocked another weak punch from Kor, the both of them heard a woman clearing their throat. Both Zod and Kor turned to find the boy's mother standing nearby with a disapproving look. Her arms were folded over her chest as she stood nearby. Beside her was Kara who was dressed in a white dress with golden streaks.

"When me and Jor agreed for you to teach our son to defend himself Zod. We didn't mean to where he looks as if he were being beaten senseless." Lara scolded, causing Zod to sigh before shaking his head at her. Kor caught his breathe, walking over to grab a towel that was neatly folded beside them. Both he and Zod had been practicing within the garden that Lara had. They were using it for a makeshift sparring chamber.

"Lara, in order for him to know how to defend himself he has to experience how it would feel to be hurt. Otherwise he will not understand what it means to feel pain, nor how it feels to adapt to the changing situation." Zod explained, but only got Lara's exasperated sigh before pointing at Kor.

"Kor is not going to be a warrior, Dru." Lara stated, but noticed the General send a glance to Kor's way. She knew that look, one of ambitions brewing beneath the surface.

"We shall see...training is over for today. I bid you all good night, take care Lara." Zod said his goodbyes before taking his leave of the El household. Kor watched him leave, then be approached by his mother who looked him over for wounds. All he had were minor bruises from being thrashed about. That was to be expected when facing Krypton's best warrior when it came to combat. When his mother was finished playing mother hen with him, she quickly turned into mother bear.

"Kor, we discussed that when General Zod came to teach you how to defend yourself, you would suffer no injuries." Lara scolded softly while Kara stayed back and simply watched with a neutral glare. Kor looked up at his mother and let out a deep breathe.

"We got a little carried away mother, it will not happen again." Kor relented, knowing that trying to tell a lie would not avail him. She was the wife of the smartest man on Krypton, she could tell lies from truth. With a resolute nod, she allowed a warm smile to come to her lips before she ushered her son inside.

"Come, wash up and get ready for dinner. Your uncle and aunt are already here." Lara stated and watched as her son sped walked upstairs. Kara watched as well, then looked back at Lara to see that the woman's stomach had a bump that was steadily growing.

[30 Minutes Later]

'Politics, politics, and more politics..' Kor thought as he ate silently. His father and his uncle were deeply in discussion about the Science Council's recent decision to use the planet's core as a power source. Kor felt that he should be paying attention, but at the same time he couldn't care less. He was hungry, tired, and just about done with the day. His mind was already back to using his imagination to help pass the time. That was what he did whenever he just wanted the day to be over. What snapped him out of it was his name being called.

"Kor, how was school today?" Jor asked as he sent a nervous look at Lara who was giving him a stern glare. Kor noticed this almost immediately, his mother most likely scolded him and reminded his father to try and spend time with him more. Kor began playing with his food with the utensil in his hand.

"It was fine, I am still scoring higher than my peers." Kor replied nonchalantly, but someone had to ruin that chalantness.

"You have people talking about you though..." Kara uttered, but her words were heard by both her parents and his. Both Zor and Jor-El narrowed their eyes on Kara and Kor as they leaned forward in their seats. Lara and Alura had worried looks on their faces as they looked at their own children respectively.

"What are they talking about exactly?" Jor asked, his tone sounding serious now. He waited for an answer and found that Kor remained silent. So he turned his gaze over to Kara who had a pensive look on her face. She spilt the beans almost immediately.

"They...they say that he has no purpose. That Kor isn't true Kryptonian, that he should die and be cloned with a true purpose so that he could be a true Kryptonian." Kara said with shaky tone, causing Lara to place a hand over her mouth.

'Damned snitch..' Kor thought, then watched as his father turned his gaze onto him. He had a look of disbelief, one that also showed that he wanted answers from him as well. Being found out, he decided to speak the truth rather than avoid it.

"What she says is true, though it is not as bad as it looks." Kor said trying to calm his father down.

"Not as bad as it looks? Son, they are practically telling you to kill yourself! As your father I will not have my son be treated this way without any repercussions." Jor stated and rose from his seat, nearly storming out. He was most likely going to make a call, where a few people were probably going to lose their careers.

"Kor, why not tell us? Why keep it to yourself?" Zor-El questioned as he gave Kor an odd look.

"Because words don't hurt me, it only hurts if they are true." Kor answered, causing Zor to stare at him for a moment. Then a proud smile came onto his lips before nodding his head at him.

"You did well not to humor their words, but allowing them to continue spouting lies is not the right way to go about it. You could have told us." Zor stated assuredly, little did he know, the main reason wasn't because words did not hurt. It was because he knew that Krypton's days were numbered. Meaning those same individuals who spoke about him so negatively about him were not going to live once Superman was born.

[10 Minutes Later]

Kor was headed for his bedroom, aiming to go to sleep for the night. What stopped him was Jor who stood near his door with an unreadable look on his face. When he saw Kor coming her gestured for him to come over. The two father and son met each other in the hallway, with Jor taking a knee to be on Kor's level. Once he was close enough, Jor placed a hand on his son's shoulder and let out a deep breathe.

"Kor, I have no other way to say this without just coming out with it. But this is something that you must know as my son. Our planet is in danger, I will do what I can to try and save it. In the event that I cannot save it, you will have to protect our legacy." Jor said, causing Kor to frown up at him.

"What do you mean, father?" Kor asked, causing Jor to sigh as he gave his son's shoulder a slight squeeze.

"Krypton's legacy is something that only you can protect. I know that I am asking much of you at a young age. But I know that you can do it. You are Krypton's first spark of hope in centuries, a spark that I want to see shine. A spark that me and your mother both want to see soar. You can be whatever you wish to be, whether it be a warrior, an engineer, a scientist, whichever role that you wish to take. For as long as you live, Krypton's legacy will still shine along with you."

Kor stared at Jor for a moment, feeling as if a burden had just been thrusted upon him. He had just gotten used to the new life that he was living, trying to keep himself from caring for his new parents. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, it seemed as if being a little kid influenced him to care regardless of what he wanted to do. He knew that they were going to die, he knew they were never going to be seen again. But for whatever reason, he still cared for them as if they were his own parents. Parents who loved him, while the parents from his past life didn't.

"Wha....What is I can't be that spark that shines?" Kor slowly asked, watching as his father's face started to become softer and compassionate.

"Then you will still be my pride and joy, my son." Jor replied and hugged his son. Kor returned the hug and felt as if that sentence warmed his heart. When the two separated, they said their goodnights, allowing Kor to finally return to his room and undress. As he laid in bed on his back, he gazed up at the ceiling again thinking about if he was ready for the life ahead. Wondering if he was going to have to kill people to live. Wondering about if there was a reason why he got to get a second chance at life, just to lose his parents who already gave him a better life than his previous one.