04 - A Day With The Man Of Steel I.

"So...I was wondering what you knew about my kind." Superman started as we flew through the air. "Did you meet any other Kryptonians before me?" He asked with a curious tone.

"No," I answered curtly. "The Kryptonians have gone effectively extinct even before I was born—to my knowledge, you are the last of them."

Superman frowned as he heard that but didn't seem surprised.

It was then that I remembered something.

"You mentioned something about your father in our fight..." I began.

He looked at me before shaking his head. "My father...Jor-El apparently made an AI version of himself before he died—that's how I first knew what I really was, he told me..." Superman said before turning to me. "My real name is Kal-El, by the way...my Kryptonian name. I go by Clark Kent here on Earth, but don't call me that when people are around."

"Why?" I asked as we flew. "Would it simply not be more convenient to be well-known in your daily life?" I couldn't imagine what being treated as your average citizen was like.

All my life I have always been stronger than my peers, and they knew it, which was why I was the Scion of Regent and not them.

Even after Viltrum fell, I was still treated as superior by the lesser races—I was a Viltrumite, after all.

But this Kryptonian beside me seemed to prefer the life of an average citizen when not in that suit of his.

Superman just shook his head before giving me an answer.

"Being well known only brings more trouble." He said with a thoughtful look.

"That is true." I recognized. "But does it not open more doors?"

"I can see through doors." He gave a cheeky smile as he said that.

...What's that supposed to mean?

"But about Krypton..." He asked again.

I maintained a pregnant silence for a bit in contemplation before glancing at the Kryptonian.

"Could you not just ask that supercomputer father of yours? I'm sure he has a lot of knowledge in his data banks." I asked back.

I knew a bit about Krypton, but I'm sure the Kryptonian AI would know more, right?

"I guess I can do that." Superman didn't deny my statement. "But people tend to be pretty biased about their own country, I want to see the other perspective."

I couldn't really fault him in that reasoning, there was logic in it...

Most AIs couldn't lie nor betray their programmed master, but I supposed that itself would make them biased and in favour of the master. Add could never see a fault in the Viltrum Empire, even if I pointed it out, the AI wouldn't ever recognize it as a fault.

"That makes sense," I said before continuing. "...Exactly what is it that you wanted to ask me?"

There were many things to know regarding a whole culture, thus I needed specific questions.

"I want to ask about a lot of things if that's fine with you." He said to which I just nodded. "...First, what are my people like?"

"The average Kryptonian was very different from you, Kal-El." I began. "They wouldn't ever tolerate lesser races, much less live amongst them."

This was one of the differences when it came to our two cultures.

Both of us were 'Empires', when regarding territories—but there was a reason why the Viltrum Empire was the Empire and Krypton was just Krypton.

My kind could tolerate lesser races, they were our toys and workers, after all.

But Kryptonians would straight up genocide any planet that was assimilated into their territory and terraform them into suitable colonies.

They were terrible diplomats for a reason. Krypton was like a giant echo chamber where whatever the leader said became the new truth even if it completely lacked any sense of logic.

If they didn't want to live there, then that planet would be sold to the Trade Organization, easy peasy.

"They weren't particularly discriminatory against any one race, they just didn't tolerate anyone that wasn't themselves," I said as Superman frowned.

That was mostly the truth...if you left out my race, of course. Those sun-breathers hated our guts and deemed us as the banished children of Rao, whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean.

Of course, this was just what I heard from my Viltrumite tutors, I didn't know much about how the Kryptonians actually acted in person.

"Kryotonians were mass-geneticists that practised eugenics as the most fundamental aspect of their society, that's what they were most well known for—in fact, their entire race was genetically engineered, with every individual manipulated for a specific purpose in their society; soldiers, labourers, scientists..."

"They did this to babies?" Superman asked with raised eyebrows.

"No, to the fetus," I answered. "If your parents were soldiers, then you would be engineered to be a soldier, it was their caste system, and they strictly followed it—I suppose that's the case for you, no? Your father must have been a soldier." I asked.

Superman was definitely much stronger than the average Kryptonian, I didn't know if it was simply because of all this sunlight he got or if he was a soldier...probably a combination of those factors.

"Actually, my father was a scientist," Superman answered, earning a rather surprised look on my face.

"Then he must have tampered with your genetics himself and made you the best of the best." I decided.

It was a plausible theory, Krypton was probably already on the verge of destruction when Kal-El was born, so perhaps his father had just done it sneakily without anyone noticing before sending him off to this planet.

"Thank you." Superman seemed to have taken it as a compliment, I didn't bother to correct him.

"We're here." The conversation was cut short as the two of us landed in front of a tall, cubical building made of concrete. Attached to the front of the building was a symbol composed of two red lines intertwining with each other.

A cross, I suppose.

"This is a hospital, it's a—"

"I know what a medical hospice is, Superman," I said with an offended look. "Everyone has them."

"Oh, sorry." He chuckled as his face gave a cheeky grin.

I just snorted as the two of us walked inside the hospital building.

"Oh my god, It's Superman!" — "Why is he always there whenever I leave the house..." — "He's carrying a dead person!?" — "I think that guy is just knocked out."

Immediate gaps were sent our way as the Terrans witnessed Superman making an appearance. I felt their gaze travel to me in surprise as I floated in the air, their murmurs filling the facility like the buzzing of an insect colony.

My gaze snapped to every Terran present, the sharp eyes I possessed analytically perceiving their entire bodies.

So weak—was the only thing on my mind as I saw their illnesses, their rancid tumours developing inside of them, and their disabilities marking them as unworthy parasites to society.

What could these people even offer to the greater society? They were all so ugly even as I saw what lay beneath their clothes, so physically frail even compared to Alexander, and probably stupid too.

I glanced at a man in a white outfit, most definitely a doctor, approach us with a smile on his elderly face.

"Superman, it's great to see you again...! And, um, who is this?" He said with a cheery tone before glancing at me.

It seemed Kal-El frequented this place considering the doctor's tone. I wonder how I can use this against him later...

"This is my friend Scion, don't worry about him, I don't think he bites." I don't get it, why would I bite? That's a perfect way of getting your teeth knocked out in an actual battle. "Never mind that, Joe. Could you take care of this man?"

The doctor, apparently named Joe, looked at the unconscious criminal in the Kryptonian's arms before immediately nodding.

I looked away and ignored their chatter as some nurses took the unconscious man into one of their rooms.

I caught a stare that was different from the rest, I didn't hesitate to return it.

It was a man wearing the casual fashion that I've seen on this planet, but what attracted my attention was his heartbeat.

He seemed to notice that I had noticed him and immediately looked away.

His heartbeat showed nervousness, and he had been looking at me not with the amazement that the others had, but with an apprasing gaze.

Perhaps one of the Skrulls? No, his heartbeat, even if slightly different, was still very much Terran.

Maybe he is just an eye for someone more noteworthy, an agent.

I ignored it for now but kept a note in my mind regarding these eyes.

Knowledge was power, and obviously, someone was trying to gather knowledge on me—most likely this nation's government and its associates.

Let them see for now, maybe I should even inspire a little bit of fear in them...

"Hm?" I glanced back at Superman who had gone silent for some reason, the doctor who had talked to him also stared in confusion.

Kal-El looked at me then at the doctor, then to the side.

What is he looking at?

I glanced in the same direction, my eyes piercing through the concrete walls as my ears listened to what the Kryptonian was so interested in.

A small Terran, little in stature and young in age. It was a boy, just about training age if he had been a Viltrumite.

The boy was shedding some really intense tears, his heartbeat was all over the place and it was obvious that he was in emotional turmoil.

What was he crying over? Squinting my eyes a little, it was clear—an older woman, presumably a relative of the young boy, laid perfectly still in a hospital as the boy sat on a chair just a foot away from the bed, balling his eyes out.

The Terran woman did not have a heartbeat.

I glanced back at Kal-El, but he was already gone, much to the confusion of the flustered doctor.

A sigh came out of my mouth before I shook my head. I then did the same thing and vanished in a blur, moving too fast for any Terran to see with their naked eye.

I wasn't used to using such speeds in such small spaces without breaking through the walls, but it would probably collapse this whole building if I did, so I moved swiftly but carefully.

It seemed this was one of the things Superman was better at than I was, probably because he had to learn it his whole life to not accidentally crash into someone like a train.

I took the liberty of stealing a few Terran medicines and pills for myself—not for personal use, but for Add to analyze before making my way to the room.

The door was already open, so I just stepped in as I saw Superman standing over the little boy.

For a split second, an intrusive thought of mine made it seem like he was going to crush the little boy with his bare hands, but Kal-El merely hugged the young Terran.

"Hm..." The young boy wiped the tears from his face before slowly turning around—

"S-Superman...!?" His eyes widened and his pupils dilated in surprise and excitement.

"Yes." Kal-El smiled as he brought the little boy into a tight hug. "I am here."

The boy didn't seem to know how to react, so his brain just reverted to the previous emotion.

"I-I..." He started crying again, the smell of his tears entering my nose as his heartbeat quickened.

I stood at the sidelines with an awkward expression, not quite sure what to make of this scene in particular.

But my opinion of Superman did drop, why was he comforting what seemed to be a 9-year-old child?

This kid was old enough to handle his emotions—a baby I could somewhat understand, a toddler is a 'maybe' area for me, but a child who was already at training age?

If a Viltrumite boy cried like this at that age, he'd be shamed for the rest of his lifespan! What a pathetic loser...

Superman should be disciplining him, not comforting the weakling!

"I p-promised her I'd... " The boy pulled back as he tried to say something in between sobs, but stopped as he saw something that widened his eyes.

Authentic Kryptonian tears flowed down from Superman's eyes, he was crying too, but had a smile on his face.

However, upon closer inspection, those tears seemed to have been made intentionally, perhaps to manipulate the young boy.

Kal-El was vibrating his eyelids at a specific rhythm and speed that triggered a natural response from his body, that being the secretion of tears.

I was impressed, this kind of control over one's body was quite hard to master.

Could such a thing really be trained by living amongst these insects? Pretending to be one of them takes skill, after all...

"What!? N-No!" The boy reached up and tried to wipe those tears away from Kal-El's face, but the Kryptonian did not move and simply let him do so. "Don't cry!"

Kal-El chuckled as his tears stopped. "Alright, alright, but promise me you'll stop too, okay?" He said as he patted the young boy's shoulders. "What's your name...?"

"G-Gar..." The boy tried to say but his throat was dry from all the crying.

It was at that moment that the doctor from earlier appeared right at the door, followed by a nurse.

"Hey, Joe—could you get some water for Gar here?" Superman said as he looked up, no signs of those tears that had previously stained his features.

"Sure." The doctor nodded without hesitation as he gestured for the nurse to do so, which she did.

The boy brought the glass cup of water onto his lips before he drank a few gulps of the liquids.

"M-My name is Garfield..." The boy answered Superman's question.

"Like the cat?" Superman smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

The boy blinked—before he snickered and nodded. "Yeah...like the cat."

But the happy expression on his youthful face proved to be short-lived as he glanced back at the deceased woman.

Joe widened his eyes as he walked closer, eyeing the monitor that Add sneakily informed me was a device that tracked a patient's heartbeat before frowning.

"Oh..." He glanced back at Superman before shaking his head and sighing. "She was still amongst us when you flew in..."

Ah, that meant that she had just died, which tracked considering her still-fresh scent.

"That woman is your Mother, Gar?" Superman asked the young boy.

The boy just nodded his head before speaking up. "Was." He seemed about to cry again but stopped himself when he saw Kal-El's radiant smile.

"You cry too, Superman...?" Garfield asked the Kryptonian who nodded at the statement.

"Everyone does, Gar. Even me." He then glanced at the boy's mother in contemplation. "You know, I lost my mother too when I was young." He revealed, surprising everyone present.

I just smirked at that statement—Superman's Terran mother had been alive up until his adulthood, I knew so from the photo in Smallville, but his Kryptonian mother was long dead even before Kal-El took his first steps.

So he wasn't technically lying.

"R-Really?" Garfield seemed shocked and didn't know what to do with that information.

"Yes..." Superman muttered before glancing to the side in reminiscence, he then looked back at the boy. "Everyone loses those they love the most—it's...it's just how life is."

Garfield looked down as Superman said those words.

"Scion." He addressed me as I glanced at him in surprise. I didn't want to participate in whatever Kryptonian indoctrination ritual this was...

"Have you ever lost someone?" He asked as Garfield looked up then at me, his eyes squinting as he tried to figure out who I was.

"Of course," I answered with a shrug. "I suppose you're asking about my relatives—in that case, I have lost both of my parents," I revealed casually.

My Mother had just never been there, she had vanished long before my brain could even comprehend what death was.

But my Father? He died at the same time all the others did, though admittedly, his death was much more dramatic than just getting ripped in two by a Demon God.

That's just how my Father was, he would never settle for a lame death.

"Then that makes us similar in that aspect," Superman muttered darkly before he gave a respectful nod. "And how did you cope with it?"

That...

"I..." I didn't really know how I should answer such a question.

Cope with it? Did I really cope with it? Why would I cope with it, I—

I killed the rest.

"I just did," I said with a non-committal shrug of my shoulders. "It wasn't that hard, just took out some of my frustration."

I did feel satisfied with myself after doing so.

Superman raised an eyebrow at my answer before shaking his head and looking back at the little boy. "As you can see, everyone deals with loss in different ways."

"I became Superman." Kal-El smiled as he said so. 

"Y-You became Superman because of loss...?" Garfield seemed to think about that statement for a bit as he glanced at his deceased mother. "Does...does having a dead mom give you superpowers—OW!"

Superman flicked him in the head before Garfield could finish the thought. "Not like that, Gar." He chuckled as he pulled back his arm. "But it did give me a motivation...a reason."

I widened my eyes at what he had just done...

Such impeccable self-control, how did that flick not crush that boy's skull and rattle his brains?

Hm...

"In fact, it's kind of the reason why I'm talking to you right now—yeah, it's a little selfish." Kal-El scratched the back of his head after saying that. "I didn't want anyone else to feel the same pain I did the day I lost them, I didn't want them to feel that dread and loneliness, I wanted them to be...a little more happy."

"I wanted you to be happy because truthfully, seeing such people be happy is one of the things that...that makes me happy." He smiled before stepping back. 

"Woah..." Garfield looked amazed after hearing those simple words. "I-I kind of like that, I want to make people happy too!"

"And you just did, Garfield." Superman smiled as he patted the boy's head.

Garfield considered the sentiment before he turned his back to us and slowly walked towards the hospital bed, wherein he held his mother's dead hand.

"I hope you're happy with me, Ma..." I heard him whisper and so did Superman as he smiled.

"Well, I guess that's mission accomplished." He whispered to us in a not-so-quiet voice as Joe glanced at me before his two hands met in a clap.

"It certainly is, Superman." What do you mean? You just stood there—even I gave an input! "I'll make sure to give the good word to Garfield's father, I'm sure he will appreciate it..."

"Ah, where is his father?" Superman asked. "Why was the kid just alone here...?"

"Oh, his father left him here due to some important matters." He whispered back. "I'm sure he's just at work, and will probably return by the hour."

"I see." Superman nodded before he turned to the door.

Then he glanced at me. "Hey, want some ice cream?" What the hell is ice cream? Is that some fermented ice or something? Sounds awful...

"I wanted to try the cuisine known as...spaghetti, I heard it was even better than a burger." Superman just laughed at my statement before nodding.

"Sure, why not..." Then the both of us walked out of the door—

"Wait!" Called out a voice from behind.

We turned around as Superman voiced out his confusion. "Oh, Gar, what is it?"

The young boy held the Kryptonian by the cloak as he swallowed a gulp and looked up. "Uh, I always wanted to..." He made a weird gesture with his arms, a motion that went up and down. "Fly!"

"I saw you carry that girl on the TV and—"

"Sure!" Superman said before the boy was hoisted up onto the Kryptonian's shoulders. "Let's go!" He ran off outside, though at an extremely slow pace compared to usual.

"A real piece of work, isn't he...?" I glanced at the Terran doctor who said those words, he shook his head before looking at me. "He's too perfect at times, it's hard to remember that he's human."

"He isn't." I snorted. "And you have a cancerous tumour in your lung, doctor," I said with a smirk as I turned the other way, making sure to enjoy his shocked look.

For my first day on this planet, a day with Superman wasn't as boring as I'd thought.

...Still don't get why he likes these insects though.