It took ages for the crowd to disperse once Superman and Supergirl actually got into the Citadel, and once they finished their business with the Guardians, they decided to meet up with Hal who currently waited for them on the roof of his Contingent's recreation deck.

"Ahoy down there!" Clark's voice called.

Hal smiled as he looked upward and spied the two graceful forms of Kal-El and Kara Zor-El as they lowered themselves out of the sky.

"You're still every grandpa's favourite Justice Leaguer, alright." Hal quipped.

Superman was about half a head taller than Hal and about twice as muscled. That's what thirty years of yellow sun radiation does to a Kryptonian. His jet-black hair was windswept, with that all too iconic loose handful of curled strands hanging down on the frame of his face.

His cousin was just as perfect looking as he was. Kara was technically sixteen years older than Kal and sent to Earth at the same time, but due to her shuttle entering a wormhole, she arrived on Earth when Kal was already established as Superman. Right now she was seventeen and about an inch shorter than Hal. Her time in the yellow sun was beginning to show after a year of living with Kal on Earth; she had shot up in height in recent months and her muscles were beginning to get sharper. Hal reckoned by the time she was in her mid-twenties she'd look just as tough as Diana.

Her face always reminded Hal of a 1950s pin up girl; easy on the makeup, rosy, and framed by shoulder-length golden blonde hair. It was the result of remnants of Kryptonian culture that she still clung to. That was apparently their style.

"'Sup, Top Gun?" Kara joked as she came in for a high five.

Hal casually high fived the girl and retorted "Hey, sounds like baby Kal's showing you all the good stuff."

"I dunno if I'd call anything 'Tom Cruise' good." Kara joked as she planted her hands on her hips.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. So what's the sitch?" Hal said with cheer as he approached Clark and they locked their hands together in a firm shake.

Superman promptly released the handshake and prepared to summarise their meeting with the Guardians. "The storm is approaching from dead space in between galaxies. When it closes in on ours, Kara and I will need to apply counter rotations to sap its strength away. It's pretty straight forward. Might take a few Earth days for us to manage though."

"Yeah." Kara added. "It's due in next month I think."

"Okay, it's good to have notice for once. I can cover Metropolis for you while you're gone."

"Thanks Hal, I really appreciate it." Clark thanked warmly. He was the type of guy that made you feel just as powerful as he was when he showed you his gratitude. "Anyway pal, where's this girl I've heard about?" Clark asked.

Kara beamed at Jordan with a teasing smirk "Girl, huh?"

Hal shook his head as he and Clark released their handshake. "Gardner needs to shut his stupid mouth. She's bringing someone for you to meet."

Clark's smile softened, almost as if he knew exactly who was coming. Kara just stared at Hal in confusion. "Who?" She snapped.

"It's a surprise, blondie. Don't get your skirt ruffled."

Supergirl crossed her arms with a mock frown. "I hate surprises..."

Hal took this chance to say "Your English is really good, Kara. I can't even hear your accent anymore."

"Well I guess I've got a good teacher." She said with a loving glance to her cousin, who gently rustled her hair.

"I bet you speak it better that Kal speaks Kryptonian." Hal teased his friend.

Kara, cocking her head, arched an eyebrow. "Oh I dunno, I've been teaching him a couple things."

Clark laughed "Fun fact: English? A lot easier than Kryptonian."

Chuckles and laughter aired out the empty meeting spire, and Hal found himself thinking about everything Kara has been through. She was on Krypton when Brainiac arrived and took Kandor City, tearing it from the ground. That was Krypton's first contact with alien life. After that, her parents sent her to Earth the same way Superman's did. The difference between her and Superman is that Supergirl actually lived sixteen years of her life on Krypton before it was destroyed; she knew the planet. She knew her parents. Kal is, by all intents and purposes, human. He was raised by a human family who found him as a baby. Kara had trouble adjusting to a different world, accepting the fact that her parents, friends and family were dead, and that her baby cousin was now older and more experienced than her. Hal thought that both her and Kal were incredibly strong for being able to bring her through that kind of trauma. He thought that if that happened to him, he wouldn't end up being so optimistic.

"Good job. Both of you." Hal started. The two last surviving members of the El family sent their eyes to the human Green Lantern, both puzzled. "It must be hard to turn your origins into something to be proud of. But you did. And now, Krypton's legacy lives on throughout the universe because of that symbol. It means hope everywhere now, not just on Krypton."

Kara, who is a little less soft-spoken than her little cousin, stepped forward and said "Hal...thanks, but...what's going on?"

In that instant, Vell arrived with her and Hal's mentor Tomar-Re at her side. Tomar's beaked face immediately drooped in shock. "W-What is this...? You told me..."

Vell replied with little remorse "I'm sorry, Tomar...but there's nothing to be afraid of."

In silence, Tomar frightenedly gazed onto Clark's face, which absorbed the sadness and fear on the Xudarian's. Kara squinted for a few seconds, then said to Kal "Is...is that him? The one you told me about?"

"Yes, Kara. Tomar-Re of Xudar."

There was yet more silence. Kara took several steps forward in the tense calm. Tomar's eyes gathered tears and he whimpered to himself. Hal swallowed. Seeing his logical, calm and collected friend in such a state made him feel sick.

Kara suddenly lunged forward and locked Tomar into a tight hug. The alien was as shocked as anything... "My cousin told me that you helped us."

Hal explained "Kara Zor-El was there on Krypton when you were saving it. She was shuttled to Earth like Superman, but she passed through a temporal anomaly."

"G-Great Guardians...you were alive on Krypton all those cycles ago?"

Superman finally joined the two and said softly "She was. And thanks to you and the time you granted a world that gave up on itself, she and I are here now. You didn't fail Krypton. Krypton failed you."

Tomar's eyes began to flicker, then he exhaled as if a great burden had been lessened. It hadn't been removed, but consoling with the Kryptonians seemed to cause him to stand tall. "I tried. By the swirling spiral galaxies, I tried."

"We know you did...we've seen the logs." Hal added.

Clark nodded, saying "My father went to the science council with what he learned, but they weren't ready to accept the truth."

Kara glanced upwards at Tomar as she loosened her hug. "What happened wasn't your fault. I wished...things could've happened differently, but there's a long list of people who were responsible for sucking our world dry."

Clark glanced up at Hal and Vell, eyes shimmering. He approached Vell, who most uncharacteristically, wasn't looking at his muscles and was instead focused entirely on his eyes. "You've done something wonderful for us. Both of you." He started. "My Earth name is Clark. It's nice to meet you..."

"Vell." She said, raising a hand for a handshake in such an awkward manner that someone could've expected it to be the first time she tried it after being told what it was and not being shown. "A lot of people I met in my old job were afraid of you. I thought you were some kind of angry god."

"No one should be afraid of me, especially not any friend of Hal's." He replied softly. Clark released his hand and stepped to Vell's side, so that Tomar and Kara were in view.

Kara approached and repeated the handshake that her cousin had shared with the Bekkorian, saying "Hi, Vell."

"Hey. Thanks for helping us help Tomar."

Kara smiled sweetly. "And thank you for letting us meet him."

Tomar-Re closed in on Hal and laid a hand onto Hal's shoulder. "Old friend...I was so lost in my sorrow. I apologise for my behaviour for the length of our friendship whenever your Kryptonian friend was of any relevance."

"Tomar, what you felt is a testament to how great of a man you are. But I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone here when I say that the time for living in the past is over. It's time to look forward."

"What you have done for me is without description. Protector Jordan and Initiate Vell...you are indeed my friends."

Vell's insides shifted slightly at the mention of her being Tomar's friend. The word 'friend' didn't really translate properly into Bekkorian, but she knew what it meant...and it touched her.

Tomar turned to Superman and Supergirl and said "My friends, I believe we have a large conversation to partake in. May I show you about the Contingent base and perhaps into the mess hall for some food?"

Clark and Kara exchanged a sunny smirk as he answered "Absolutely, sir."

"What kind of food do you guys serve?" Kara asked.

Hal chuckled. "Whatever you what. If it exists and is in the database, the synthesizer will spit it out for you."

Kara's eyes sparkled. "Really...? Like...I can have...Kryptonian food?"

"Sure you can, kiddo." Clark said, ruffling her hair playfully. "We'll see you around. Take care of him for me, ma'am." He said to Vell with a wink.

Vell smiled. "I can't make any promises. He seems to like deathly situations."

"Aye to that." Clark replied.

The two Kryptonians and the Xudarian took to the air as Hal and Vell joined each other. Hal felt the urge to wrap an arm around her, but checked the motion.

Vell instead turned to him and looked lovingly into his eyes. Hal arched his brow and asked "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You looked at me like you wanted to bend over and kiss me."

"Maybe I did."

"Shut up. What is it?"

"I feel like we did the right thing. After seeing those logs, no one could blame him for what happened."

There are realms of existence that do not adhere to the laws of physics. Time and space can be bent, splintered, even. These dimensions can be the pinnacle of tortures possible to the feeble minded. General Dru-Zod was not that, however. Zod was a warrior. He was a soldier. He would not succumb to any torture no matter how painful or disturbing, until his mission was completed. And currently, it was to punish those who had failed his world when it needed them most. The first on his list was the House of El. They betrayed and doomed him to the horrible place he currently resided on multiple occasions. But they were...elusive.

As Zod himself knew, in war the righteousness of your cause does not matter. What mattered was the stock of your army. Kal-El had befriended many gifted individuals...and that had made him untouchable. They outnumbered Zod and his crew of loyalists...so perhaps it was time to pursue another.

In recent years, after freeing himself from the Phantom Zone the first time and traversing the spaceways with his newfound abilities, Zod discovered that there was another party responsible for the destruction of Krypton. A group who was accountable for allowing such a travesty to occur at all. And now, he deemed it the necessary time to eliminate them in the name of justice. No one had paid for the death of his world, and he had wasted recent years in hunting a man who would've been a baby at the time of Krypton's death.

The General pressed the final component of his device into place and welded the joints shut with his heat vision.

He gazed at the infinite blackness around him for the last time as he sat on an asteroid which hurtled through it for all eternity. His men were eager for a fight. And so was he. Behind him sat Faora, Quex-Ul, Jax-Ur, Mala and Dev-Em. "Sir, are the components adequate?" Faora asked, her voice as soft as silk.

Jax-Ur chimed in. "I doubt it. Those prison ships had been adrift here since the second era. Their phantom drives would be inert by now."

"Fortunately, doctor, you are incorrect." Zod announced.

He stood and raised the camera-like device to his compatriots, his stone-chiselled face cracking in a thin-lipped smile. The Phantom Zone projector hummed lowly, enough energy held in its systems to hold a portal open for twenty seconds, more than enough time for Zod and the Kryptonian war criminals to escape to find the subject of their revenge. He had made sure to know the device that doomed him to eternal suffering as well as he knew the Jewelled Mountains of Krypton in case the wretched Kal-El dared to send him back.