Watchtower

Meeting Room

11:00 am

Arthur held the duke football in his hands, Pulling his arm in a backwards direction "You ready my boy?" he asked "Ready when you are Dad" replied Arthur Jr he stretched out his hands as Aquaman threw the ball towards his son, Arthur Jr took a few steps backwards while watching the ball travel through the air at the same time, The boy caught the ball and held it tightly towards his chest but in the process of catching it he lost his footing and fell backwards into the arms of his mother "Gotcha sweetheart" said Mera who now had her hands on his left shoulder and back, Helping him stand upright "Thanks mom, Oh wait I just remembered" he then threw the football down as it bounced off the floor "AND THAT IS A TOUCHDOWN!" shouted Cyborg.

The male heroes in the room & Arthur Jr lifted their arms and screamed out in celebration of the touchdown except for J'onn and Batman they instead smirked at the scene happening in front of their eyes, The ladies of the JL & Superman laughed out loud "I think we've just discovered Tom Brady's newest rival" said Kal, Aquaman grinned at what Clark had said "So did you two talk about everything you needed to talk about?" he asked, Diana and Kal looked at each other & smiled "Yes we did" she replied, Their foreheads touched as the both of them closed their eyes for a few seconds.

The couple separated but their hands stayed intertwined "Arthur, Mera, I need to apologise to you two and Atlantis for the damage that my fellow kryptonians did to your oceans via the use of the kryptonian world engines on the day of the black zero event and the fact that I just left the debris in that same spot after the battle between me & Zod's followers had ended, I am" said Kal

Arthur & Mera looked at each other in confusion "My brother let me just stop you right there, That was not your fault, If anything we should be thanking you, If you had not destroyed that machine it would have done catastrophic damage, When it first activated (I, Tula and a large group of my soldiers) ventured out towards the spot where it was, Our intention was to try and stop it but when we saw how powerful it's gravitational field was and how it was pulling everything on the ocean floor towards the white laser beam and then crushing it, I knew then that we couldn't stop it, So I did what I thought would be best, I sent out a mental message to the various creatures of the sea and told them to stay far away from this spot & dispersed my large group of soldiers in various different directions to save any (Ships, Submarines, Crew members & Divers) that were in the vicinity of that spot & get them as far away as possible, Tula came back to me and reported saying that a man dressed in blue was flying around & battling the machine".

Supes expression became one of slight embarrassment "In that moment I swam upwards onto the surface of the water & watched as you and the machine fought one another, It then caught you and threw you directly into it's white laser beam, Me and Tula both thought for sure you were dead until we noticed that you were flying down towards the spot of the ocean floor where the world engine was terraforming, We watched through the wall of water that was surrounding as you stood taking all that gravity and power directly onto yourself" said Arthur "Must have been extremely painful" said Mera "Yes it was" Kal replied "Then you flew directly upwards, Me & Tula couldn't believe what we were witnessing, Moments later we heard your scream of rage and then an explosion which made me quickly grab Tula and swim far away from it while avoiding the now falling debris of the world engine, Once I had got Tula away, I told her to stay where she was & quickly swam back to the spot in order to look for you" "You went back to look for me" said Clark.

Arthur nodded his head "I was the one who pulled your ass back onto the land after the world engine exploded, After checking that you were still breathing, I left you on that rocky surface and then went back into the ocean, Fact is Clark we have met each other before the world engine incident, Do you remember that Oil Rig fire in 2013, Who do you think sent those two whales to save you and take you to the shore" "That was you" said Clark "Yeah that oil rig fire was started via a torpedo from a submarine that was being driven by an enemy of mine called Scavenger, I and Kahldur had spotted his submarine & both agreed that it would be fun to ruin Scavenger's day, I swam underneath the submarine, Using my hands & my strength I pushed the Sub all the way to the top so that it would break through the surface of the ocean, Me and Kahldur jumped onto the roof of the Sub with the intention of going inside and beating up Scavenger & his men, Seconds later the roof hatch of the submarine opened up to reveal Scavenger himself armed with a gun in his hand, Kahldur quickly kicked the gun out of his hands which allowed me to grab Scavenger, Moments later the torpedo was fired as we watched it make impact with the oil rig, Scavenger then said you have two options right now, I could deal with him and his men & let all those innocent rig workers die or choose to rescue the workers & allow him to escape".

The room was silent until Batman spoke up "Well from what you told us about rescuing Superman, You and Kahldur clearly chose to save the rig workers" "Must have been a tough thing to do to let one of your oldest enemies go for the greater good" said John Stewart "You made the right choice though" said Kyle "I know, Even though I hate oil rigs being set up in my oceans, It is not the workers faults, They are just doing their jobs on the orders of their bosses while at the same time trying to support and provide for their families" said Arthur.

Clark thought about that day & started to laugh to himself "What is it?" asked Mera "I keep thinking about the faces of those oil rig workers when I broke open the door to the room that they had locked themselves in so that they were safe from the fire, Their expressions when they saw this (Big shirtless guy with a raggy beard, black trousers and shoes, Drenched head to toe in water while also not being affected by the oil soaked flames that were travelling all around his body) were just ones of complete bafflement".

Aquaman burst out laughing at hearing that which then got all the occupants in the room laughing as well except Batman he sat there with a straight face, His back to them as he carried on reading articles from the wall street journal newspaper "It was one of those expressions in comedy movies where the characters are like yeah this is the sign that is telling me I definitely need to stop smoking weed" said Clark which made everyone laugh even more.

Eventually the laughter in the room calmed down "What happened after" asked Shazam "I helped them onto the rescue helicopter but noticed in that moment that one of the towers on the oil rig was losing it's balance and was going to crash directly down onto the Helicopter & Helipad, So I took action by holding the tower back which gave the helicopter the opportunity to depart safely with all those workers alive and well" Kal replied

"Arthur when did you first notice Superman's presence during that incident" asked Zatanna, "He was coming from the east side of the river heading west towards the rig while I & Kahldur were coming from the north heading south, So we were on his right, Kahldur was the one who noticed your presence, We watched in shock at how fast you were swimming & presumed you were an Atlantean or were from one of the other neighbouring kingdoms, Once you had climbed onto one of the base pillars that held the rig up, The two of us watched on by poking our heads out of the water as you climbed up & ventured further into the rig, Me & Kahldur moments later were forced to descend back down into the ocean in order to avoid some of the burning projectiles that were falling off the rig and noticed that some of the creatures of the sea had been hit & trapped by those very same projectiles, The two of us got to work freeing any sea creatures that had been trapped by the debris, To be honest the way the rig was burning it should have collapsed quicker but you holding it back in order to save those workers & rescue team also helped me & Kahldur to get the last of my sea creatures free and get them away safely, Thank you for what you did that day Clark" Arthur replied he then stretched out his hand.

"Thanks for saving my life twice" Kal replied shaking Arthurs hand, Turning it into a bro's style handshake "Your welcome brother" said Arthur.

J'onn loaded the video that he had shown Martha earlier onto his tablet "Kal there is something you need to watch, When you're ready, Click the screen" he passed the tablet to Superman who took it from his hand.

Kal took a seat at the table & clicked the screen as the video started.

Flashback

36 years ago

Krypton, House of El citadel

The day of Kal-El's Birth

Lara held baby Kal El in her arms as she looked down at him and saw his blue eyes looking right back at her, A smile came to her face "My beautiful baby boy, Jor and I little miracle, We love you so much" her right hand cupped his left cheek she then looked up towards the computer screen "Kelex are we ready?" she asked "Yes Lady Lara we have already started the recording of this message" "J'onn by the time you have received this message, We will be dead and Krypton will no longer exist, As you can see I am currently holding mine & Jor's child, We named him Kal-El and he is beautiful, Absolutely beautiful, Nine moths I carried him and every second was worth it, To now hold him in my arms, All I can feel is immense joy in my heart, Kal is the living embodiment of hope".

Lara then went silent as warm tears came forth & flowed down her cheeks "But unfortunately I am forced to accept the reality that the very day I have given birth to Kal is the day where I and Jor have to send him away from Krypton, Jor went to the council in order to make one last plea for them to try and save our people and if not that give him control of the codex but something has happened, General Zod & his wife sub commander Faora-Ul and a few of their loyalists have started a coup against the Law council in order to gain control of Krypton, Zod killed High Eminence Ro-Zar he calls his new found group the sword of Rao and right now Krypton is in the midst of a brutal & bloody civil war between his group & Krypton's armies, Zod tried to convince Jor to join his cause but Jor refused so Zod had him arrested, Jor was able to kill a few of Zod's loyalists and has now escaped and is heading for the genesis chamber, (He is going to take the codex from it, Bring it back to our home and merge it with Kal's cells, The DNA of a billion people will live inside our son), This planet is doomed but he will live on another planet, Me & Kelor are still trying to find a planet to send him to, Preferably one with a yellow star and I know that the great Lord Rao will protect him on his journey to whichever planet we send him to".

Lara breathed slowly and then carried on talking "I have a favour to ask of you J'onn if one day at some point in the future you meet Kal, Tell him about us, Tell him about his kind compassionate warrior mother and his incredible smart & brilliant father that became Krypton's most revered & smartest scientist, Tell him about his Uncle Zor-El (Krypton's 2nd smartest scientist) & Aunt Alura & their daughter his cousin Kara Zor-El, He must never forget who we were, The house of El will live on in him" Lara kissed baby Kal on his forehead, Her eyes gazed into his "My beautiful boy, I pray to the great lord Rao that you are found and taken in by a loving family who will raise you as their own because they will be so lucky to have you, I love you Kal" "I am sorry to interrupt Lady Lara but we have found a suitable planet for baby Kal-El while Master Jor has just arrived & is making his way inside" said Kelor "Understood, Well I guess this is farewell J'onn for the very last time, Me & Jor hope you are well and you take care of yourself, End Transmission".

The video then cut off.

Meeting room

11:15 am

Everyone except J'onn had gathered around Clark who was now crying, Diana was currently sat on Kal's lap, Her forehead touched his temple while her hands were currently interlocked with his as they cried together, Even a few members of the league (Arthur, Mera, Dinah, Zatanna, Beatriz and Barry) were shedding a few tears from watching Lara's message to Kal "A day, That is all she & your father got to have with you my love" said Diana "Zod's sword of Rao & the law council are the ones to blame for that, Zor-El & Jor-El repeatedly warned the law council that the core of Krypton is not something to be messed around with, The El brothers even attempted to try & physically stop them but were restrained by the councils sapphire guards & were forced to watch on in horror as the law council initiated the harvesting process, The ignorance to not listen to the top two scientists of Krypton" said J'onn.

"And then Zod initiated a coup to try and get back control but from what the A.I version of my father Jor-El told me was that if Zod had succeeded he would have become a dictator because his intention was to cull the masses by choosing who should live & who needs to die" Kal replied "Clark what is the codex exactly?" Mera asked "Also do you really have the DNA of 1 billion kryptonians inside you?" asked Dinah "To answer both your questions, The codex was a dark coloured skull that held the genetic template for reproduction on Krypton, On my birth planet if a wife & husband wanted a child, They wouldn't have sex, Instead they would go to the genesis chamber where they would both give various DNA samples to the machines which would then do the job of the womb where it carry's the baby instead" said Kal "Like a surrogacy" said Mera.

"Yes but during the 9 months of gestation the parents are allowed to modify their child in order to fit the pre-determined role that he or she will one day take up when he or she is an adult like a worker, A warrior, A Leader, A scientist or any other role" Clark replied "You said Kryptonians could modify their child, What does that mean?" asked Kyle Rayner "Kryptonians could modify how their child should be when growing up, Let's say the child's role is to be a warrior, You could type into the computer, I want my child to never have the emotions of (Happiness, Joy, Love, Sadness, Guilt) instead I want he or she to be (Cold, Calculating, Ruthless, No remorse shown when killing enemies, Mercy shall never be shown or used because mercy is weakness), I want my child to not even know the concept of a parents love and not know how to love it's parents in return" said J'onn.

The league reacted in horror "That's barbaric" said Mera "That was Krypton" said Kal "But Jor & Lara felt that Kryptonian children had lost the element of choice, What if a child had dreamed of becoming something else instead of what society had intended for him or her, This is also why Lara & Jor decided to conceive Kal naturally, Krypton's first natural birth in centuries and then Jor-El took that skull codex that held the DNA of a billion kryptonians & merged it with Kal's cells, All of Krypton's heirs living inside the body of one refugee" J'onn replied who was now pointing his finger towards the killer of Onimar Synn "A billion people, That's an entire species" said Kent Nelson "Holy shit" said Dinah "What the fuck" Batman thought to himself.

The killer of Onimar Synn remembered the dream of his mother Lara "I met her J'onn, I met my mother Lara" "You met Lara, How?" J'onn asked, Clark proceeded to explain about what had transpired during the time he was unconscious after he had fought the Parademon Brute "I am happy for you that you were able to meet her Kal but I think the time has come to get back to business, We need to rescue your dog, May I" said J'onn who stretched out his hand as Kal handed the tablet back to him.

The Martian pulled up a picture of a man that was 5 foot 11, Slicked back dark hair, black iris coloured eyes, Goatee style beard, Blue kryptonian jumpsuit with a white cape on it and showed the image to Kal "Did Jor-El ever mention about this individual to you?" J'onn asked "Xa-Du, Nope never heard of him, Who is he" Kal replied "A scientist who worked alongside your father & your uncle and eventually became a traitor to Krypton, 15 years before you were conceived, Xa-Du was tasked with maintaining & keeping alive the environment & lands of Krypton, A job which he thoroughly enjoyed doing until 5 years later due to an extensive mining operation that was done to Krypton, The three main cities of Krypton which consisted of (Kandor, Argo city & Kryptonopolis) ended up being moved underground and of course would mean 97% of the population would now be living underground as well, The only three buildings that were still part of the surface of Krypton was (Your kryptonian home where your mother & father lived, The law councils tower which stretched all the way up to the sky and the genesis chamber which had now been set down onto the core of Krypton itself) which was made into a large tower as well in order to evenly distribute the core's power".

Kal's eyes became one of complete shock, His fingers dented the table from gripping it so hard at what he had just been told "Great Rao, They set the genesis chamber onto the core of Krypton itself which means that the law council eventual decision to initiate a harvesting process made most of the energy from the core being pumped directly into the genesis chamber & factor in the extra work it had to put in to power the rest of the planet and all three cities of Krypton, No wonder Krypton died so easily, The cold hearted bastards on the law council literally put the core through actual torture that it eventually died from it's injuries, There was only so much the core could take" "By the gods" said Diana "What the actual fuck" said Hal "Motherfuckers" said Arthur.

The room went silent for a few minutes as the revelation sunk in until Superman eventually broke the silence "Tell me more about Xa-Du?" he asked "After the extensive mining operation, The Law council informed the science guild to notify Xa that his services for keeping Krypton's lands & environments in good health was no longer needed due to the citizens now living underground as well and that he would no longer get funds for that particular task because in their eyes it would be a waste of money & that the time had come for Xa to now find some new project in the science guild to work on" said J'onn.