35 - Taking half

-Mars-

"Here?"

"Yes."

"How deep?"

"To the core."

"Won't it destabilize—"

"Kara, just trust me. And don't hit the core," Zion cut off Kara.

Zion, after giving the details of the plan, dragged Kara with him to the other side of the planet to start his plan. The king also sent his son to assist and observe them. The red Martian prince, J'emm J'axx, assisted with two guards, one of whom was the Martian officer who met Zion, and another royal manhunter.

"Let's move back, Prince," Zion said, distancing himself from Kara.

Zion floated away from Kara with the other Martians, giving her enough space to use her heat vision without a care. The Martians didn't question much about the plan, as their king approved of it, and they were shared with the details.

The king was baffled when he gained knowledge of Zion's audacious plan, but he approved nonetheless. So, the Martians had no qualms with Zion digging a hole in their planet.

Kara used her X-ray vision to locate the Mars core, blasting the earth with her highly powered heat vision. The ground exploded before Kara's heat vision started to cut through the crust. It was like a knife through butter.

The Martians recoiled at the massive heat and the surprising power. Two hot red pillars carving through their planet was a surreal view for them to digest. They were awestruck and frightened by the powers of their newfound allies.

'Such power!' J'emm exclaimed in awe.

'Just don't piss her off, and you will be safe,' Zion quipped.

'I shall take it to mind.' But J'emm was not grateful for the advice.

"Why am I stuck with you people?" Zion shook his head in dismay.

Zion didn't comment more as they watched Kara burn a hole in Mars. Kara took small rests between her blasts to relax her eyes and continued again. This repeated a few times before she reached the required distance. She massaged her eyes as she felt the tiredness in her body; the heat vision took too much of her energy.

"Rest up; I will handle the rest," Zion voiced as he flew toward the molten earth.

The diameter of the hole was big enough to fit a bulky human without trouble. Zion pulled the sunstone from his pocket and nonchalantly chucked it in. The crystal fell straight without a clatter. Zion waited for minutes, and the minutes passed, causing Zion to be impatient.

The distance to the core of the planet was a long way down, 3,389 km straight down. Zion, bored, kept changing his body structure, turning into Superman, the grumpy Batman, Wonder Woman, and checked his assets, earning a glare from Kara.

He then turned to the prince, gesturing him to approach. He pushed the guards back, putting his hand around the young prince's shoulders. He whispered into the prince's mind, hiding it from the guards.

'You like that girl, S'yraa S'mitt,' Zion wiggled his eyebrows.

'How did you?" The young prince was shocked.

Zion gave a knowing smile, 'I know things, J'emm. I like that you are open-minded, don't have any prejudice. I will support you in your goal to dissolve the caste system in Mars. If you need any help, you can come find me."

'Thank you.'

'Don't sweat it," Zion waved him off.

'What about you and the lady?' The prince questioned.

Zion glanced at Kara, who was now outside the atmosphere, absorbing sunlight. 'It's complicated.'

'I understand."

'So, when are you going to introduce her to the family?'

'We are not ready to —'

The conversation, like a link of chains, led to another. Zion learned about the inner workings of the Martian community, and J'emm learned about human culture. They conversed until the whole of Mars shook, an earthquake that affected the planet. The massive earthquake caused mass panic in Martian cities, but Zion grinned.

The tremor continued for a minute before crystal tendrils burst forth from the earth. The crystal tendrils intervened, creating a majestic tower that pierced the sky. The tower had a gothic design with a massive crystal on its top.

The tower reaching its zenith pulsed with energy.

Waves of light spread across the land, triggering new crystalline structures to rise. From the original tower's center, tendrils rushed out, creating a surreal cityscape of interconnected spires. The air hummed with the creation as these structures formed a harmonious balance with the red sand of Mars, sticking out like a sore thumb.

The crystalline structure that covered the expanse of the city hummed with power and mystery. Kara, from outer space, got a full view of the city. The whole city of white was a gothic-style castle, pointy towers, edgy design, and weird statues.

And the whole community that was observing Mars was going wild.

Zion, watching his fortress, was proud of his creation. He had embodied Kryptonian technology and teenage dream to build them all into this Frankenstein's castle, where the horrors and dreams of men come into being. With a joyous smile, he rushed to the tower in the middle, a skip in his step.

The Martians followed him, the bright white crystalline structure striking awe in them. The prince traced his fingers on the smooth surface, feeling the cool of the crystal. The intricacies of this technology amazed them to no end.

Zion stood before the massive gothic gate, with its pointed arches, intricate tracery, and ornate detailing. The spiral designs, pointy tips, edgy design, and the crystal gargoyle added more to the gothic tower's design. Zion pressed his hands on it, lighting up the crystal adorning the gate.

With the dramatic light effect, the gate opened, of course with background music playing. Zion walked in like the king of the tower, or the high Wizard of the tower, his eyes scanning the interiors. A long corridor extended to the center, the walls ornamented with intricate patterns, its ceiling mimicking the cosmic canvas. The beauty was masterful architecture, depicting the heart of a great artisan.

Zion, adoring his work, walked to the center, a spiral staircase carved in crystal spiraled into the unknown. In the middle hovered a chandelier, its each shard groups depicting the constellations. Zion took his first step on the stairs, lighting it up in an intricate tapestry that resonated with the tower. He slowly climbed each step, mesmerized by its beauty.

But after adoring the stairs, he took flight, quickly rising through the middle. His fingers flicked the hovering crystal shards, causing a beautiful reaction. The shards glittered like starlight colliding in a melodious symphony.

Zion floated above after causing a beautiful chaos. The Martians followed, still mesmerized by the sheer beauty of this tower. They couldn't believe such a structure was created in minutes. They didn't know that Kryptonian sunstone could do far more than build structures.

Zion arrived on the top floor, the control room for the whole city. It was a bit cliché to have the whole control room in the highest point in the city, that gets stuck down first. But Zion wasn't one to fully think through his choices, as long as it ended up cool.

Zion walked in through the door undelayed, entering a whole different world. Gone were the Gothic style, and in were the cyberpunk. Holograms floated about, showing many different locations in the city. Zion walked up to the smooth control panel with no buttons, his hands pressed against them prompting holographic controls to appear around his hands.

Zion, now online, navigated through the tower system with natural ease. He knew of each and every function he basically designed. He quickly checked through the integrity and the functionality of the Castle. The castle was perfect and functional without flaw in its creation.

The castle was the first half of the terraforming.

Zion then navigated, activating what he called the [World Changer]. It was a big name for the device but it stuck to its functions, changing the world. Zion quickly skimmed through to check for any bugs in programs. This was his way of making sure things go right.

The Martians entered the control room as they gazed around the holograms afloat. They tried to read the words, but they were some ruins that they didn't understand. Zion, unbothered, kept to the controls, letting the Martians have their tour.

Zion skimmed through the hundreds of complicated programs, checking multiple components at a time. He was grateful to be a Martian now; he could literally alter his brain to help with the processing.

...

- Kara on the other side. -

She was having a stroll through the memory lane as she scanned the city of its edginess. She couldn't believe that Kryptonian's advanced tech would be used to create what a human would call a vampire's castle.

This was so edgy.

But the castle still held an allure beauty incomparable to the symmetric buildings of Metropolis. Its intricacy evoked deep thoughts like a magnificent art, which it was. This beat city beat all the sci-fi cities that could have been built.

She traced her fingers on the smooth walls, feeling the familiar sensation that she had lost. The memories buried deep within her mind resurfaced.

'Kara, you got to understand the consequences,' chided her mother.

'C'mon, she only tried to help,' her father came to her rescue, like always.

..

'Dad, can you read me a bedtime story?' She asked her father.

'Okay, anything for my daughter,' Her father pulled the storybook he had read to her a thousand times.

..

'Hey, did you finish your assignment?' Asked her friend.

'I did,' she answered.

..

'You are flying, Kal-El' Kara lifted her infant cousin.

Kal-El only giggled in joy.

..

..

'Should we really do this?' Her mother cried, for the first time she had ever seen.

'We must, to protect her,' Her father's voice was more determined than she ever heard.

..

'Goodbye, my precious daughter. You were the pride of my life.' Her mother kissed her forehead.

'You will be safe, my star. Rao will protect you.' Her father assured.

..

Kara closed her eyes in reminiscent, wiped the tears forming in her eyes. The memories that gave her strength, empowered her through her dark times, hope for a better tomorrow. It was the memories of her home that kept her going through the darkest hours.

She missed her mother.

She missed her father.

She missed their warmth.

She could never return.

She could never...

She was now in an unfamiliar world with a duty to protect.

Kara opened her eyes determined, the emotional rollercoaster due to the recent incidents have shaken her wall. But the walls were back up, ready to tackle all problems. Kara didn't know, or fully understand yet, that this was her home now.

But her eyes caught something on her face.

...

Zion completed his inspections; the system was solid, unlike the Swiss cheese that's full of holes. The castle was ready and good to go. He was just hoping that Martians won't come to war after he stole half of the planet.

Don't mind him; he already informed he needed a big piece of land; it's just half of the planet, no biggie. Zion's fingers danced on the honorific controls, starting the process of [Mechmorphing]. Zion pressed the big red button, prompting a column to rise from the ground next to him.

The white column had a hole carved through it.

Zion morphed his body; the Omnitrix appeared in his palm. He placed his hands in and white crystals grew, sealing his hand. Zion then watched as golden circuitry lines lit up on the column; the Omnitrix was connected.

"What are you doing?" J'emm questioned, curiosity in his voice.

Zion turned, his hands still captured in the column. "Just accelerating the process."

The white tower's giant crystal lit up like a disco ball, a party for the Martians; they won't be dancing though. The blinding golden light became the second sun in the nights of Mars. The white city, now covered in circuitry lines, hummed to life, Massive Atomic engine stored in its depth kicking to life.

The amount of energy the whole castle would be enough to bomb the solar system, but the energy was directed to the Mechmorpher in the basement. The city that stretched to the core of the planet began its work, starting the transformation from the core of the planet.

The core was slowly swallowed by the titanic structure, replacing it with an artificial core, a black spear sat in the place of the original core. Of course, this caused some problems as subterranean tunnels collapsed on itself, lava boiled, and animals ran wild.

The planet's magnetic field also shifted a bit, giving birth to giant storms. The Martian king panicked, but he kept his cool and calmed down his citizens through the psychic link by informing them of what was happening to their planet.

This subdued the panic but raised many questions from the opportunists.

The white Martians' coup was about to happen; the rebelling white Martians were grouped and ready before a message arrived at their head. The news was revolutionary, but it also managed to stop them from couping.

*****

o(*￣▽￣*)ブ Hehehe…