28. Normal day

"Are you finished?" Kara questioned the lively little Galvan monitoring the engraving process of a Kryptonian data crystal, a sunstone.

"Yes, only the last part of engraving left before it can be used," Grey Matter replied, his eyes still fixated on the sunstone undergoing the process. He had spent the last twenty-four hours digesting the raw data he absorbed into useful information. Fully grasping the mechanism behind the crystalline structure, he programmed a new one that would help him form a base and terraform Mars into a habitable planet.

The bots completed the process, handing a pure white crystal that shone blue under the holographic monitor. The seemingly normal crystal contained everything he needed, and it was only double the size of Grey Matter.

"It's done," Grey Matter rejoiced.

"Are we going to leave now?" Kara was bored out of her mind. The last twenty-four hours were a waste.

Grey Matter didn't even turn his gaze at her as he absorbed the knowledge. She had to roam around the fortress to stave off her boredom; she couldn't even go back to Metropolis since Superman ordered her to help Zion.

After a few hours of touring, she could only go out into space to charge her cells. She liked the feeling of the young Sol. An exhilarating surge coursed through her veins, a profound vitality awakened within her. It was as if every cell in her body was enlivened with cosmic energy. It was euphoric.

That's how she spent the rest of the hours, bathing in the sun. The unfaltering void of space allowed her to absorb more concentrated stellar energy than Earth. The atmosphere scattered the light and reduced its concentration. She felt stronger than ever with each sunbath.

"Let's go," Zion, now in his Kryptonian form, called, storing the crystal in his suit.

"Mars?" Kara inquired.

"No, I need to activate a nuclear bomb in Gotham," Zion answered as he walked toward the hatch.

"A bomb?" Kara puzzled, trailing him.

Zion kept walking as he answered, "I built a reactor for Wayne Enterprises. They should be assembling the parts, and I need to be there to monitor it. That thing would power Gotham for centuries."

Kara stopped as the hatch opened, the air rushed out, the gravity zeroed, and the pressure quickly dropped to null. Zion looked at the ancient bright white glowing ball of fire in the distance. His drained cells danced in joy as they greedily absorbed the stellar energy, strengthening themselves. His eyes heated up for a moment before he suppressed the energy.

Zion turned to Kara and gave her a nod before jumping out toward Earth. He let gravity drag him as he turned to Kara, only to see her follow him. They both fell through the thermosphere, the air lit up around them. Zion quickly adjusted his speed and slowed down his descent; Kara did the same.

"Let's go to Metropolis and take my car to Gotham," Zion adjusted his course.

"Why should I follow? I did what I was meant to," Kara gave her answer; she didn't want to spend more time with this fellow.

Zion looked at her with a victorious grin that could earn a punch, "Superman ordered you to help me until I finish terraforming, so you are coming with me to Gotham. You are stuck with me, remember?"

Kara clenched her fist and let out a deep breath to calm herself. She wanted to test her strength on Zion, especially on that punchable face, but restrained herself.

They quickly flew to Metropolis and landed where Zion had parked his car, in front of the Cafe. Zion turned to Kara, who was still in her uniform, "Are you gonna come in that?"

Kara gave him the side-eye and vanished for a moment, reappearing in a new set of clothes. A white long sleeve shirt folded to her elbow and tight black jeans. The style fit perfectly with her shoulder-length hair and strong personality.

Zion got into his car, his transformation undone, and Kara got in the passenger seat. The car roared to life and quickly vanished into the traffic. Zion kept his eyes on the road as he blitzed past the vehicles at high speed. Everything blurred as he drove, his car's AI handling most of the driving.

-Skipping the awkward silent drive-

Zion parked the car before Wayne Enterprises' main building, the skyscraper extending to the skies, dwarfing the buildings nearby. The paparazzi and journalists were waiting around the building like hawks, seeking any info on the new energy tech.

Zion quickly beelined to the entrance and showed the ID that Batman had given him to use when he arrived. The security quickly let them in, stopping the reporters from getting in the way.

"Zion, yo Zion," a voice called from the crowd.

Zion stopped in his tracks to look at the person who called. It was a red-haired youth in a brown leather jacket, a camera gripped in his hands. Jimmy Olsen waved his hands at Zion with a bright smile.

"Yo, it's me, Jimmy!"

Zion looked to the guards and ordered, "Let him in."

The guards complied as Zion's identity showed he was the leading scientist. They didn't question why a young person was a leading scientist, but the ID showed he was important, and they had received an order from the boss to let the person named Zion in.

Jimmy talked with someone behind him before walking to Zion. "Thanks, man."

"Why are you here?" Zion questioned. The Wayne enterprise had already announced the new energy tech, even if it was just downgraded info, so the journalist shouldn't be here.

"Just here to get a scoop on Wayne Enterprises' latest invention. We've got an appointment with someone from R&D," Jimmy answered.

"Well, good luck," Zion wished.

"Why are you here, Zion?" Jimmy asked, not expecting to meet Zion of all people in Gotham.

"Well," Zion wrapped his arm around Jimmy's shoulder and pulled him in, whispering, "I am the guy who invented the tech."

Jimmy doubted his ears as he turned to Zion, his face showing his thoughts. "You made it?"

Zion smiled, "I did."

Jimmy turned his head and checked the other journalists waiting; he then turned to Zion and asked in a whisper, "Can you give us an exclusive insight?"

"Jimmy, always chasing the big stories," Zion smiled.

Jimmy shrugged, "Work habit."

"Okay, come with me." Zion removed his hand from Jimmy's shoulder, gestured him to follow as he walked to the third elevator.

Jimmy turned back and called his associate. "Clark, come fast, man. I got us an exclusive insight."

At Jimmy's call, a man with black hair wearing thick spectacles walked out from unrest crowd. His steps were steady, his posture slightly bent, wearing a baggy shirt and jeans. The man walked toward them and stood next to Jimmy.

"Zion, meet Clark Kent, one of our investigative journalists," Jimmy introduced his colleague to Zion. "Clark, this is Zion, the guy who met with Superman."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kent," Zion extended his hand for a handshake.

Clark returned the gesture, acting natural, "Nice to meet you too."

"Well, let's talk as we get to the subject, shall we?" Zion got into the elevator.

He pressed the ID to the panel as the last of them got in. The door shut tight before the elevator began to descend. The silence in the elevator was only broken by the elevator music. The elevator stopped four floors underground, and the metal door opened to reveal a huge shape with a massive machine sitting in the middle.

The machine was a half-finished sphere with many wires attached to it. Its intricate mechanism interlocked with each other in a complicated mess. The parts inside the sphere were utter chaos to the mind.

"What are you all doing? Do you have permission to be here?" asked the man in a white coat. The ID on him revealed him to be an assistant engineer.

"The question is, what are you doing here?" Zion asked with a frown at the mess of his work. These folks were messing up the whole thing; they had connected the energy relay to the capacitors without a transformer, which, if not corrected, would erase the whole of Gotham when the Atomic Engine gets activated. This was one of the major issues; there were other thousands of smaller ones.

Zion had built the parts like a Lego puzzle, each piece taking an important job in the conversion and transfer of energy. One mistake, and the whole thing goes 'BOOM!!!.' This was not only a technical error but a human error, a massive one at that. It was his human error; he should have written a manual for assembling the chamber, which would have been ten thousand pages.

"And who are you?" asked the engineer, irritated at a child questioning him.

Zion threw his ID to the man before walking toward the Conversion Chamber of the Atomic Engine. The sphere being an intricate mess irked him to no end. It was the feeling of someone scribbling on your best artwork; you would want to stab them to death.

"ALL OF YOU, STOP WORKING!!!" Zion roared.

The experts who were studying the mission froze at the angry roar. They turned to see a young man with an enraged frown. Those who were working on the engine were the best Wayne Enterprises could offer; they were the best in their field, called to assemble this monster.

"Why are you asking us to stop working?" One of the seniors asked.

"Why? You are messing up the energy conversion array and jamming up the relay. You want Gotham to vanish when this thing starts?" Zion's question made the senior frown.

"Who are you?"

"The one who built this," Zion crossed his arms.

The senior was a bit shocked, at the ingenuity of the creation and at the age of the creator. He was clearly not expecting it to be someone so young. It is true there are geniuses, behemoths, in the scientific field who are young; even he was called one. But he never expected this young man to be the one to build the machine that was giving him a headache.

The machine was simple yet complicated. It was like understanding what each block represents but never knowing how they build a tower.

"You built this?" The senior became skeptical as he thought of the face.

"He did," another voice answered instead of Zion.

Two men walked toward the machine side by side, their footsteps echoing off the concrete floor.

One was in his prime, a commanding figure with a tall, athletic build, dressed in a finely tailored suit. His hair, jet black, was perfectly coiffed, his chiseled jawline accentuating a strong, determined countenance.

The other, much older, dressed in a sharp gray suit. His salt-and-pepper hair was impeccably groomed, adding a touch of sophistication to his appearance. Behind a pair of rectangular glasses, his intelligent eyes hinted at a mind constantly at work.

Bruce glanced at the unfamiliar presences as he walked next to Zion. "You brought company."

"They are friends," Zion answered.

"It is a pleasure to meet another brilliant mind," Lucius extended his hand.

Zion returned the gesture, "The pleasure's mine."

Lucius shook his hand and turned to the engineers. "There seems to be a problem with how our people assembled your engine."

"Well, they did connect the things wrongly. NOTHING would not have gone wrong if we had started it. It would have been only Gotham disappearing from the face of the Earth." Zion's voice filled the space, sarcasm oozing.

The scientist froze in place. Lucius was calm, Bruce didn't even flinch, and Clark frowned. Jimmy was shocked, and Kara was, well, Kara.

"So, now get out," Zion pointed to the elevators.

"People, I think you all need a break," Lucius suggested, trying to smooth things out.

Zion watched as the scientists stopped working and left like hawks.