『Head in the Sand』

Woken by a subtle warmth, the feeling of strength filling her body. Her thoughts renewed, her perceptions returned. Her eyes opened partially, seeing a bokeh effect through her lashes, she saw greens and blues. She saw an infinite darkness spotted by dots, stars. And then, through the tinted glass of the Sumbioship, Heka narrowed her sights on the large yellow orb several million miles away.

Tears began to stroll down the sides of her face. The thoughts of here parents, the belief that she'd never see them again. She wanted to cry out loud, she felt as if she was on the verge of exploding from the heart.

That was until the interface which had formed before reappeared. It was like a holographic overlay, yet she didn't see it in her reflection on the canopy or on the controls.

Sniffling, she looked side to side and the overlay followed. Everything she looked at was highlighted, the first thing being the sun.

A text box appeared with information, it had a light blue outline, the words were the same color. It was just a bit darker within the box, offering ambient contrast to the text from the background. It was simple and appealing.

『This is Sol, also known as the Sun by the native inhabitants of Earth, aka also known as Terra, our currently programmed destination. The yellow star gives Kryptonians abnormal powers, unlike a Red Sun who renders them just as powerless as a normal human being, compared to the denizens of Earth. 』

She stared at the information which was gifted to her. Her eyes moved towards the moon, which was instantly highlighted and a text box appeared. More information was freely given. A small smile came across her lips, she didn't understand what this was, but for some reason she began to become calmer as there was less unknowns.

『This is the natural orbital planetoid known as the Moon, or Luna, by the planet's habitants. It shields the planet from asteroids and other rogue astronomical objects. It controls many factors pertaining to the planet's axis, weather and even the natural inhabitants reproductive system through its influence via gravity. 』

The information was very basic, it wasn't too into depth. At the moment she didn't need all the science behind everything that was shown to her. She was believed to be a genius by her parents, so one could only assume she already understood this common level of knowledge.

Taking in and releasing a shaky breath, she looked towards the planet below from the side of the canopy. They were entering the atmosphere, a subtle tremble made her flash back to Krypton.

Heka closed her eyes for a few moments, before opening them again and looking down at the shackles around her ankles. Bending her legs and pulling them apart, she snapped the restraints and shoved them aside.

She stared at her toes as she wiggled them. She sat up more in the cockpit, her arms still within the confines of the black straitjacket that had her family's symbol on it's chest padding.

Her face was taken back by the red hue which surrounded the little ship. The atmospheric reentry was beautiful, but also scary at the same time. The ship began to rock violently, but she narrowly avoided hitting her head against the glass.

Breaking through the clouds, she was greeted by the sight of a massive city. One of the buildings with a giant ball on top of it catching her attention almost immediately. "The... Daily... Planet...?" She read the words off the description which appeared.

『The Daily Planet is a newspaper publisher located in Metropolis. It is considered to be CatCo Worldwide Media's biggest competitor. Clark Kent, also known as Kal-El, a fellow Kryptonian Works here as a Reporter while doubling as the World Wide Vigilante Superman. 』

Her eyes lit up when she saw that there was another Kryptonian present here. She had no idea that there were more survivors, let alone at the same location. She ran her tongue along her dry lower lip, and rubbed them together to moisten the top.

"Unidentified flying craft, you are entering United States Airspace. Identify yourself or be shot down."

The radio, though sounding gargled due to interference, was rather clear. She stared at the receiver for a few moments before looking to the right of her craft and narrowing her eye on the human in a fighter jet flying right up next to her.

"A... Kid?" The pilot lifted their head slightly to see more into the cockpit of the alien craft. "With their hands tied?" He was sounding relatively confused. "This is D5, I've made contact with the target. It's a child, they're not in control and don't seem to be capable of responding. What are your orders?"

Looking at the fighter jet, she pursed her lips as the information popped up.

『This is human aircraft of their 20th to 21st century, known as the F/A-18 Hornet. The Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather, carrier-capable, multirole combat jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft. 』

"What do you mean tied up? Can you describe what you see D5?" The receiver was piggy backing off of the fighter's radio transceiver, she could hear everything.

"She's in some kind of straitjacket, no pants, no shoes. She has bind marks visible on her legs. She has black hair, she's odd eyed. She seems bewildered by... Everything. Clearly not from around here."

The pilot who was observing her, watched as she was just looking out the canopy at everything and anything. Information flooded into her mind through her eyes. Everything despite how primitive it was, appeared new and exciting.

She had almost forgotten about her parents until the ship shook again, sending her smacking into the thick glass of the canopy. She fell back into the seat, curling her head into the rest as if coiling in pain.

"She hit her head..." The pilot shook his head slightly, before noticing the triangular emblem on her chest. "Wait! There's something on her jacket! It appears to be similar to superman's insignia."

There was a brief silence on the other side of the radio before they radio spoke up again, "As she isn't capable of maneuvering the vessel out of the airspace of the city, you have to shoot it down!"

The pilot paused hearing this orders. They were ordering him to shoot down a child? Why in god's name would do that? It was even Kryptonian, why would he shoot a kin of superman? A bead of sweat ran down the side his forehead. Were his superiors insane?

He looked at the kid again who was looking right back at him. She nodded to him, as if she understood and even heard the orders. The reason for them were clear, she had no control and the trajectory was going straight for the city.

Making a sheepish expression he pulled back and moved behind the Kryptonian craft.

He had no idea why she had nodded to him, nor knew why he was being encouraged. Was she trapped in the vessel? There was only one way to find out. He hesitantly flipped up the cover to the missile trigger on joystick and prepared to lock.

Hearing the computer notify him of the lock, he closed his eyes as he pressed the button of the firing mechanism and then barrel rolled to the side to avoid impact.

"Missile Launch detected. Missile lock detected. Ejecting occupant!" The onboard computer of the symbioship spoke before the canopy drew back and the cockpit seat launched from the vessel.

Heka kept her eyes closed as she was sent flying into the air, the ship exploding right beneath her. She didn't know to fly, she didn't know how to use any of her powers that Guardian-1 spoke of.

Surely as her name wasn't Shirley, she didn't want to crash into the ocean below. She didn't know how to swim!

As all that was on her mind was now distress despite having agreed with being shot down, she began to wiggle around in mid-air. She tore her arms free of the straps, but preserving the rest of the straitjacket.

She began to lose her momentum and to her expectations, she soon began to fall flightless from the skies above.

The fighter jet whizzed passed her, the pilot watching her with a guilty conscious as she began to fall at an increasingly high rate of speed. Her heterochromatic eyes looked off into the distance, there was someone flying at a low altitude directly towards her. It wasn't a plane, it was a bird, it was superman!

She recognized the emblem to the House of El on his chest.

As her eyes rested on him, she had long forgotten to scream as she descended through the atmosphere towards the watery surface of Earth.

『This is Kal-El, also known as Clark Kent and his Alter Ego Superman. He is a Kryptonian refugee just like you, he's a Hero, a man who refuses to use his powers to kill. He lives up to his family Crest of Hope.』

She moved into a free fall position, her arms and legs spread out. The black straitjacket with blue-grey trim was like a thigh length dress on her.

Adrenaline was rushing through her system. The world around her almost appeared to slow down. Her thoughts were going a million miles a second. Suddenly a notification bell sounded with a da-ding.

『Status Unlocked. Sufficient Photosynthesis. Powers are Unlocked.』

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

『Virtual Status Screen | Kryptonian Edition | MK I 』

『Designation』

Heka–An

『Biological Age 』

Sixteen

『Physical Gender』

Female

『Race 』

Kryptonian-Magi

『Affiliations』

House of An

Independent

『Abilities』

Kryptonian Physiology: 1 of 5.

Kryptonian Mysticism: 0 of 5

Super Genius Level Intellect: 5 of 10

『EXP』

0/1,000

『Inventory』

『Virtual Shop』

『V-Coins』

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Seeing this new screen appear in front of her, she stared at it. She had her powers now? She had felt the power of the sun inside of her earlier, does this mean she can use it? She didn't entirely understand. A puzzled expression came across her face as she could feel the air pushing passed her face, she really didn't like the feeling of helplessness..

Seeing her age, she aged in hibernation? She gained a whole five years, or was it a loss of five years? She was quick to catch onto the fact that she was no longer the same height either as she was no longer curled up inside that flying contraption!

Her senses felt as if they were overloading. It was as if she couldn't control them, not right away. All she needed to do was concentrate, but how could she? She was free falling!

Taking in as deep of a breath as she could, she glanced over in the direction of Superman. He was getting even closer. She could tell she was going to be caught by him before they reached the ground.

She thought about it, Heka figured that it wasn't dishonorable to be saved by this man. From the information she had taken in, it was clear he was man of good intentions.

Heka closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Even if she couldn't take flight, she'd be caught by this man. She felt the wind, she tasted the salt in the air. She felt the warmth of the sun peeking through the clouds at her back.

Her eyes opened, an eerily calm look overtook her face.

Superman was mere feet away from catching her when suddenly she pushed off the wind as if it was a solid wall. His head instinctively snapped to the side as he slowed to a hover. Watching as Heka was going downward at a sharp diagonal angle.

"That is not going to end well," Superman immediately shotoff after her.

She then proceeded to barrel roll in the air, maneuvering belly up as she flew, as she was heading straight for the nearest beach.

His eyes narrowed on her chest as he was closing in, his attention zooming in at the insignia. "House of An?" Superman questioned aloud as he then began to pursue the fair-skinned teen, catching up to her with ease.

Sticking her tongue out at superman, rather childishly, "What of it, Kal-El?"

Blinking a few times hearing her say his name and seeing her reaction to his recognition of her house, he sniggered to himself. However as he saw her not pulling up from her current trajection, he stopped himself as he went wide eyed. "Wait! Slow down! You're going to hit–!"

Head first, Heka, rammed into the 'soft' sands of a delaware beach; sending a large puff of sand flying into the air. It was as if a missile had hit, leaving a crater and single unconscious Kryptonian in the center of it with their head sticking into the ground like an ostrich's primary defense tactic.

Landing delicately on his feet, he stood at the edge of the crater as he shook his head. "Oh... That must've been one hard landing." He muttered quietly to himself, as he began walking towards her. "You alright there?"

Looking up into the air towards the sound of helicopters, Clark sighed. When he finally reached her destination, he'd reach down and scoop the girl into his arms. Last thing he needed was her face plastered everywhere.

Quickly, before any news van could arrive and before any drone could get a good look at her face, he retreated from the scene. Superman flew low below the radar before disappearing amongst the numerous buildings of Metropolis City.