Chapter 3 Unexpected Discovery

A couple of hours later, a section of the forest had become unrecognizable. Broken trees lay scattered, and large boulders had been moved around. If a hiker or hunter passed by, they might assume a storm had severely affected the area. However, a closer look revealed deep handprints on some of the debris. The one responsible for this destruction lay on the forest floor, carefree and unconcerned.

"So, twelve trees are around my limit right now," Brandon said with a proud expression. The combined weight was around 36 tons, and this number would continue to grow higher as the days went by until twelve trees became nothing.

Closing his eyes, Brandon relaxed on the ground. Omni man, invasions, and future villains weren't even on his mind at that moment. All that mattered was his growth and how excited it made him feel. As he lay there, he suddenly felt like he could hear his new mother, but he dismissed it. However that dismissal came back to bite him in the butt as his ears picked up on all sorts of things.

the birds, the bugs, the animals, and even his family all the way back home. His ears heard it all.

"Well, I guess that's another power activated, but how do I turn this down?" The noise was slowly becoming too much, to the point where he felt like he could even hear a leaf fall.

"Arghh, my head." In pain, he began to squeeze his ears, hoping to block out the noise, but he still heard everything despite this action.

'Come on, I need to relax.' Kneeling down, he slowed his breathing and concentrated on his hearing. He had to filter out the noise and bring it back to tolerable levels. Easier said than done, but if General Zod could do it, then so could he.

For the next couple of minutes, he focused on breathing while reining in the overwhelming noise bit by bit. It was all still there, but it wasn't stinging his eardrums anymore.

At least his hearing let him know that his mom was beginning to worry. He had been out for a while, which meant he should start heading back, plus he still needed to help his dad with the chicken pen. With that, he tidied up the area a bit, trying to make the destruction look more natural before heading home.

…

Back home, he was berated for staying out for so long. However, his mom's scolding didn't last long. She quickly forgave him, warning him not to do it again, and he went to help his father.

Fixing the chicken pen ended up going faster than expected, much to his dad's surprise. The original Brandon wasn't very handy, excelling more in academics than practical tasks. He, on the other hand, was different. His dad in his original world was a carpenter, so he was good with tools and fixing minor things. Taking advantage of his newfound skills, his dad quickly put him to work. They went around fixing everything that had piled up until they ran out of daylight. They headed back inside for one last meal before calling it a night.

Lying in bed, Brandon stared at the ceiling, thinking about the new powers he was gaining. They were truly amazing, and he knew they were growing fast, much to his delight. But now it was time to face the music. These incredible gifts came with some trouble.

In the movie, when Brandon first awakened his powers, he was relatively normal and had no mental issues besides a little awkwardness, typical for a kid his age. He only started to go nuts when he went to sleep that night because his ship called out to him and did something to him. If Brandon went to sleep right now, the same thing would most likely happen. This was worrying, but he had some confidence.

For one, unlike the original, he was not a child who could be easily manipulated. Second, he was already aware of what was going to happen, so he was mentally prepared. The original Brandon had been affected while asleep and defenseless.

"But what if I go to the ship without sleeping? Will it still behave the same way and remain unresponsive, or will it actually wait for me to sleep?" These questions would determine how well he handled this situation. If the ship reacted while he was awake, he wouldn't be so vulnerable.

With that plan in mind, Brandon knew he needed to check on his ship. Focusing his hearing he tried listening to his parents but he was still a novice and lacked control so he increased it way too much. Granting him another slight migraine but he was anything if not persistent. Trying once more he adjusted his hearing and discovered that his parents were just discussing their day. Which should keep them busy for quite a while.

Meaning he had an open window to go and find his ship. This was easy enough. Being as quiet as possible Brandon opened his window and jumped from the second floor landing without much difficulty.. Once outside, he made his way to the barn and found what he was looking for. A hidden panel with locks,nothing a little super strength couldn't take care of.

"Alright, here goes nothing… let's hope this doesn't make me go psycho." Gripping the lock, he ripped it in half before opening the doors, revealing a pod that immediately reacted to his presence by glowing red.

The moment his eyes met the light, he felt like he was being pulled into a trance as a voice began to speak in his head. It spoke in a language he had never heard before, but its meaning was clear.

"Take the world."

"Dominate"

"They are your lessers"

As soon as he heard that, he saw a vision of the world he came from. It looked like Coruscant from Star Wars, covered in patterns and lights without a hint of water or green. Technologically, it looked highly advanced and appeared as if it would last the test of time, until red cracks began spreading throughout its surface, causing the whole planet to blow apart.

After this, he was bombarded with brainwashing messages, telling him to take the world over and over again. That he needed to start anew for his people. How he needed to rebuild their population using the native species.

These messages soon began to repeat like a broken record, constantly showing him scenes of slaughter, telling him that he was better, that humans were weak. That he just needed to break his chains and he'd become a god among them.

"Grr, get out of my head! I won't take this world!" As if responding to his refusal, the voice suddenly changed, becoming angry and shouting something else that he understood.

"Traitor!"

With that, it stopped sending messages and powered off. Brandon fell forward, sweat dripping from his head. The experience had been anything but pleasant. However, it didn't matter because he had done it! He had conquered its attempts at manipulation.

This one action released so much stress. Even if he had never actively thought about it, he had been worried from the moment he chose Brightburn, aware of these issues but ignoring them in his excitement.

Still, what he learned surprised him. He didn't expect his people to have such a history, but it made sense. Kal-El had been sent to Earth with the same purpose of restoring Krypton. Except Jor-El went about it differently, wanting Kal-El to become a beacon for the people of Earth instead of its conqueror. Whoever sent Brandon here wanted to turn the world into a breeding farm for his future kin where humanity would be forced into slavery. While he and his people would be seen as gods.

Luckily for this Earth, he wasn't a homicidal maniac with a god complex. Smiling lightly at that thought, Brandon got up to leave when he noticed something glimmer in the moonlight. Curious, he reached into the cockpit and found a cylinder.

Giving it a better look, he realized that it was familiar, like he'd seen it before, which shouldn't be possible since it wasn't in the movie. "Where have I seen you before?" It wasn't until he checked its end that he recalled where he'd seen it.

The cylinder looked a lot like the key Kal-El had in Man of Steel, except this one didn't have the classic S. Instead, it had a different symbol that looked like a U.

[Image]

Checking the ship, he found a hole with the same shape, just like in Kal-El's ship. Its purpose was clear, and all he needed to do was place it within. Just as he was about to do so, he noticed movement in the house and heard his mom walking.

Knowing his time was up, he reluctantly put everything away before running back to his room with the key in hand.

Once in the clear, Brandon thought back to what happened. He never expected to leave with more questions than answers. He thought it would be simple, being some random alien species similar to Kryptonians, but things were beginning to make him question that. From the way his planet was destroyed to his purpose here, and finally, the key that clearly showed what looked like a family symbol.

Lying in bed, his thoughts slowly began to drift as he held the key tightly in hand.