Chapter 147: Momentary Peace

"E-Eeek! D-Don't scare me like that, Tut; nearly gave me a heart attack." Said Susan as she backed away from her microscope while protectively raising her hands, creating a translucent forcefield, only to sigh in relief when she saw Pharaoh.

"I actually didn't; your heart is just beating slightly faster than usual with a higher concentration of adrenaline coursing through your veins, but if you say so." Remarked Pharaoh with a faint smirk as he walked down the stairs towards Susan while carrying Hana, who she just now noticed.

"Hmph, don't pull a Reed on me; I deal with enough of his nonsense. Ah, who is this?" Said Susan with a huff of annoyance as she rolled her eyes before glancing at Hana in Tut's arms.

"Oh, come on, I've shown you pictures of this beautiful woman plenty of times, Susan; I had to beat up Johnny a little 'cause he dared to call her sexy in my presence." Stated Tut blankly as he glanced at Susan while walking past her, heading towards the medical area of the lab, before placing Hana gently on a gurney.

"Hmm, is she your girlfriend? I don't mean to be rude, but are you color-blind, Tut? I thought you said your girlfriend was white, and didn't you say she was really curvy?" Questioned Susan quietly as she looked at Hana, who was being tended to by various robotic arms, before glancing at Susan's direction with a raised eyebrow.

"I appreciate the compliment, Ms. Storm, but I'm Pharoah's Mother. Also, I'm decently curvy; I'm just petite." Said Hana with a faint smile as she looked at the direction Susan's voice was coming from; she slightly widened her eyes before lightly hitting the side of her face.

"My apologies for not realizing sooner, Mrs. Kent; I'm not good at remembering faces. Nice to formally meet you. I'm Susan Storm; you can just call me Susan." Remarked Susan with a wry smile as she revealed herself in her purple panties and bra before outstretching her hand, prompting Hana to shake it.

"Nice to meet you as well, Susan; you can also just call me Hana. I've heard a few things about you from Pharaoh." Said Hana with a faint smile as she glanced at Susan's body before retracting her hand.

"Ho, I hope it's nice things." Muttered Susan with a smile while Pharaoh walked around the building searching for something.

"He's mentioned your brilliance as an Archaeologist a few times, though he mainly speaks about how beautiful you are. Commonly referring to you, as I quote, the sexy white woman among the group." Remarked Hana with a faint smirk as she looked at Susan, who sported a blank expression before turning around and eyeing Tut, only for some clothes to hit her face.

"What? I've got no shame in telling a woman she's sexy; if you weren't dating Mr. Richards, I definitely would be flirting with you. Speaking of that crazy scientist, where are the men?" Said Pharaoh with a shameless smile as he sat down beside Hana, who pulled his ear, causing him to wince in pain.

"I may not like Sara, but at least stay faithful to her; I didn't raise you to be a womanizer, did I, Tut?" Asked Hana while glaring at Tut, who rapidly shook his head, prompting Hana to huff before releasing his ear.

"Heh, I think you need to visit more often, Hana; with you here, there'll be someone who can actually tell this boy what to do." Said Susan as she put on her clothes, including her lab coat, before sitting on a desk while Pharaoh defensively raised his hand.

"Are you still holding that over my head? It happened once, and it was an accident; stop making such a big deal about it." Remarked Pharaoh with furrowed brows as he eyed Susan, who glared at him in anger, frustration, and disbelief.

"A-Are you being serious? That little accident of yours nearly destroyed the entire warehouse! Y-You know what, let's leave it at that; I don't wish to talk about that right now." Stated Susan as she glared at Pharaoh, only to take a deep breath, her anger quickly calming as she changed topics.

"Reed, Ben, and Johnny are speaking with the government about what occurred with Zod on the TV. We're trying to help, but you know how the government can be, so they'll probably return empty-handed, just like we always do when dealing with the government." Added Susan with an annoyed expression as she folded her arms while grumbling under her breath.

"Oh, you guys don't need to worry about him; I'll take care of that fucker. I'm the one he was looking for; I'm Zara-Al." Declared Pharaoh with an angry expression before calming and pointing at himself, though Susan didn't seem that surprised.

"Oh, I figured that out already, Tut." Remarked Susan, her nonchalant behavior adding to Pharaoh's shock.

"You already knew? How?" Questioned Pharaoh curiously, only for Susan to grab the remote beside her, causing the TV to turn on, immediately turning to the news channel.

"The Alien, known as Zod, had attacked earlier today in a small town called Smallville, causing extensive damages; however, luckily for the residents, a man, or more accurately, child, was there to battle these two aliens and even managed to repel the two attackers while saving several people." Said the news Anchor solemnly while in the top corner of the screen was a video of Pharaoh fighting against Faora and Nam-Ek.

Ms. Storm then switched to another news channel; this time, though, it was playing the video of me in fullscreen, which was titled, 'Who is Blacksteel? Friend or foe?'

"Eh, that's better news coverage than I expected, but damn, news sure travels fast; it's only been like an hour since that fight in Smallville." Muttered Pharaoh with a raised eyebrow before turning and glancing at Susan, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it does; I even watched the battle of you fighting those two on YouTube; you looked like you could've used some help." Said Susan lightly, though her words caused Pharaoh to groan in annoyance.

"Trust me, I was fine; the problem was, I couldn't behave like an immovable object when so many civilians were nearby. If I did so, I would end up indirectly harming them, so I was forced to absorb their attacks with my body, which meant I was being flung left and right. However, what made it even more annoying is the fact that I can't use my full strength in public settings; I would've flattened that entire town if I did so; hell, I probably wouldn't even need to use my full strength." Remarked Pharaoh with an irritated expression as he folded his arms while glancing at the TV, watching him turn into a ragdoll after every attack he received.

"Well, do you need help?" Asked Susan seriously, only for Pharaoh to shake his head.

"No, they're weak, but they're far stronger than any one of you; your presence would really just serve to further limit me." Replied Pharaoh lightly, his words causing Susan to nod while slightly frowning.

"Anyways, I'll be staying here with my Mom until they show themselves again; can I borrow your phone? This suit doesn't have any pockets." Added Pharaoh as he glanced at Hana, who had drifted off to sleep thanks to the administered anesthesia, along with her being tired, before shifting his focus back to Susan, who nodded with a faint smirk, tossing her phone to him.

'I know everyone is going to be calling me.' Mused Pharaoh wryly as he inputted Sara's number, calling her first.

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"G-General Zod, I-I'd like to report that I've found information regarding the Codex of Life." Said a lanky man holding what looked to be a Kryptonian tablet while wearing no armor as he approached Zod, who was sitting in the commander's seat.

"Speak, Jax-Ur." Said Zod sternly as he quickly turned and glanced at Jax-Ur, who nervously nodded before tapping his tablet, causing the image of Pharaoh's body to be projected.

"You couldn't find the Codex of Life because the artifact no longer exists; Von-Al has infused the Codex of Life into Zara-Al's very cells; his DNA is intertwined with the Codex of Life." Declared Jax-Ur as the projection zoomed in on Pharaoh's body until it reached the nucleus of his cell, only to sign an infinitely complex strand of DNA swirling about.

"Can you extract the Codex of Life, Jax-Ur?" Asked Zod through gritted teeth as he clenched his armrest while eyeing Pharoah's DNA before glancing at Jax-Ur.

"Yes, General; it'll take some time, but yes. The only problem is a few blood samples won't work; I need his body." Replied Jax-Ur with a nod as he turned and looked at Zod.

"Tell me, does he need to be alive for the extraction process?" Asked Zod as he looked at Jax-Ur, who shook his head, causing him to faintly smile as he looked out the front window, eyeing Earth.

"Good, send out the World Engines." Ordered Zod, his words causing Jax-Ur to nod before quickly walking away, only for two large objects to be seen heading toward Earth several minutes later.

"Faora, Nam-Ek; you heard Jax-Ur. Zara-Al doesn't need to be alive." Said Zod as he turned to his right, glancing at Faora and Nam-Ek, who both nodded with a salute.

"General, I'd like to inform you about some information we found while battling Zara-Al." Stated Faora solemnly as she took a step forward, while Zod nodded his head, listening to her report about Pharaoh.

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Uh oh, it looks like Faora is creating a plan to stop or limit Pharaoh; wonder what it could be🧐