The last son of Krypton

Somewhere in the vast space.

I woke up laid down inside a pod of some kind, I could feel it being boosted onward and could observe through it's only porthole the stars passing by at a ludicrous speed.

'WTF!? Why am I in space?' Was the first thought that came to me when I opened my eyes.

As bright lights were continuously assaulting my vision, forcing me to shut my eyes in hopes to avoid the blinding pain.

I managed to make out shapes and eventually colours from my pod's interior.

I identified a button tagged with a myriad of alien fonts that formed some sort of message.

It meant 'seal window', I had no idea how I understood those scribbles, but nonetheless I tried to press it.

'Finally, I found a way to close this wretched window!'

Only to notice that my body was much weaker than I remembered it to be, and much smaller.

"I'm a baby?!" I voiced out to myself, but something heard me.

"[~Voice pattern recognized. Genetic code recognized. Identity recognized.~]" I heard a robotic voice speaking to me in a language I didn't know I knew.

Then a holographic image of three floating dots formed in front of me.

"[~Greetings, Sir. I am Brainiac. Your personal Artificial Intelligence ready to obey your commands.~]" It informed me.

It appears that the brainiac was my AI, I won't lie, I did not expect that.

But I will try to salvage the situation at least.

"Brainiac, close the window" I command with my baby voice while I feel my young vocal chords straining a little.

"[Yes sir. Commendable fluent use of Earthen language by the way, sir.]" It is a reply in english.

I blinked once or twice.

'Thanks, I guess.'

But I was relieved that it actually worked.

I've just noticed that I wasn't able to move my limbs the way I wanted them to anyway.

My body acted like it didn't have the muscle memory to fully respond to my commands.

Or maybe it just didn't have the strength capacity to.

'Babies are weak dude!'

Yes I knew that I took over the body of someone else, but still, being a baby isn't fun.

Only thing that I could do in this state was to ask my personal AI about my original home and show me his database.

And so I started my research. Finding more than I expected I would've thought.

In the large data I had been studying, I had learned lots of things about Krypton.

It's exotic plant and animal kingdom.

It's atmosphere and space research.

I found schematic designs for a slim exoskeleton. 'Dope'

And the thing that almost caused me a heart attack, I found a phantom drive stored in my spaceship.

You see. My spacecraft was highly advanced, even for kryptonian standards, with a phantom drive fitted for it's hyperdrive engines.

And I've learned that I was the son of Jor-el with a woman from the house of Zod.

What a Shakespearean Tragedy!

Nevertheless, I was born to be a scientist and an artist but also a warrior and a leader as well.

At least if I abide by both houses' philosophies.

It all felt so surreal.

Or maybe it's just me, I mean it's not everyday you wake up in a fictional reality.

You might be questioning: How did I figure it out?

If hearing names like Brainiac or Jor-el and a planet called krypton wasn't enough for me, then the visible red "S" branded everywhere should provide sufficient evidence that I was Superman.

I accepted my circumstances fast enough, it's not like I could change anything, so I better run with it.

I'm sure anyone in my position would be hyped at the opportunity of becoming Superman.

But that wasn't the case for me.

You see, I've always preferred the Dark Knight (flawed as he might be) over the Blue Boy Scout.

I just couldn't accept how he underused his powers.

I know, he is supposed to represent someone ordinary gifted with abilities far from it.

But I've always perceived him as someone who simply didn't want to be different and only fought the good fight because he felt he had nothing else to do.

I'm thinking about you "Metro Man"!

Worst, I would even point out that all the image Clark Kent portrayed as being the symbol of truth and justice is 100% hype and 0,1% substance.

I mean, his life was a "lie" after all, and he worked by reporting on his own actions as Superman.

Yeah, not really the example of truth and justice.

And what about his father?

Why would he, knowing that krypton was dying, made only one spacecraft for his son.

I mean, the kryptonians are one of the most technologically advanced races in the universe, shouldn't they have been smart enough to build many more spacecraft than just one?

Did the council prohibit their construction? I don't buy it!

And why was Superman "the last son of krypton"?

Was it to get rid of the competition for the surviving "last daughter of krypton"?

Hey! I'm not judging!

By the way, thanks for the help "father"!

Anyway, my detective work made me very exhausted.

I would acquire more info on my current situation later.

For now, I slowly fell asleep and some machinations began affecting my sleeping body.

———————————————————

In my dreams, I began to recollect my past.

I couldn't remember much from my previous life, that was weird.

Regardless, I still looked forward to keeping living.

More because I just wanted to, I refused to sleep forever in the endless void of oblivion, I wanted to transcend and move up the pyramid of existence, not abiding by what others told me to do.

I wasn't a genius nor the greatest athlete to walk the earth.

I was just a skeptic seeking the truth.

I started to recall everything I've been through, everything seemed disjointed, everything seemed fake, or just too mundane.

Perhaps there were the gaps in my memory.

But as I said, I did think about living a normal life from time to time.

But having to consider sacrificing so much for someone that might not even appreciate it...

...Did I tell you already that I'm a skeptic?...

...so I simply refused to compromise.

Was I just fooling myself?

Very likely.

But I didn't care, so I saw no problem indulging myself into fantasies of grandeur.

I refused any kind of fate that didn't suit my standards.

Ok, I admit once I threw myself into researching the metaphysical.

I investigated one's soul, about the brain and its relation with what we call consciousness.

Once I've even considered involving myself in spiritualism and practicing meditation for its so famous effects on the mind.

I put all my energy into investigating a way to reach my goal…. I did so many things that would seem foolish for most people.

But I was just trying to find a proof to believe in, to be assured somehow.

I've eventually decided to change my frame of reference.

I'm a scientist now. Or I was.

I invent, transform, create, and destroy when the need arise.

And if I don't like something about the world, I change it!

My personal touch to that mentally is simply that sometimes science is more art than science itself.

I understood how competitive life really was.

It's a place where dog-eat-dog, and only the fittest survive.

Feeding on the ordinary.

And I knew, my life was in my hands only.

And I will survive.

...

———————————————————

I was waking up from my stasis state.

The sounds slowly began to increase.

The radiation of the sun reached out my body, enhancing and changing me.

And I was receiving so much of it.

It filled me and strengthened me.

I can feel it course through my small body.

I could feel it slowly boost my mind.

My Kryptonian body receives the radiation from a yellow sun, shaping it to be way more advanced than an average baby could ever hoped to be.

I could feel being remade from scratch at every picosecond down to the strings that composed my being, yes I know about the superstrings theory, gradually altering my very being.

"[Si…r…Sir!]" I instantly shot up after hearing Brainiac's robotic voice.

I had gone into an induced stasis state to preserve my biological age.

So, as I became aware of my situation, I responded appropriately.

"Brainiac, give me the report" I said focusing on the holographic screen.

"[Breaching the Earth's Atmosphere sir]" The AI reported.

'I guess I finally arrived.'

"Good, proceed with the atmospheric re-entry procedures." I said with confidence in the alien technology capacity.

"[Atmospheric drag inhibitors and heat shields deployed]" The AI reported.

The temperature in the ship didn't fluctuate, as the ship smoothly made the re-entry.

"[Pod's temperature stabilized. Stratosphere breached.]"

I've kept silent to avoid jinxing my arrival.

"[Entering the troposphere. Activating peripheral thrusters]"

"Proceed to the coordinations I've designed to you." I scanned the earth looking for this specific location, and I'm so glad that I'm able to avoid earthen scanners.

"[Yes, sir]!" It replied before executing my order.

Beep! The alarm signaled, pointing that the spaceship was approaching the designated coordinates.

It landed safely in front of my new parents' home.

I waited for the doors to open, and I was greeted by a very wealthy looking couple.

Since I've began absorbing solar radiation, my ears were becoming able to perceive sounds across multiple wavelengths, I began to hear the ultrasonic screeches of the bats on the underground cave and the chirps of the birds on the trees close by.

I could vaguely hear the planet.

Eventually I suppose, I might even be able to accurately pinpoint several things happening throughout the globe simply by focusing my mind enough.

And my sight wasn't left behind.

I could spot shapes and colors zooming in and out, I could see through my new parents, at varying levels of exposure, and even noticing the microscopic life being carried by the wind.

I could also see the electromagnetic spectrum.

My nose sensed the smells of my new mother's sweet perfume and even the disgusting filth in the nearby city.

I need to calm myself!

I was resisting the rising heat forming on the nerves around my eyes.

If I don't want to become Brightburn instead of Superman, I really need to calm down!

'At least I'm still an infant, and the amount of solar radiation was limited. Never thought I would ever be grateful for that though.' I blasphemed in my mind, all the while calming down.

My new parents approached, Thomas looked very scared and kept his arm up in front of Martha, in hopes to protect his wife from any possible danger.

But when I looked at my new mother, I noticed her smudged makeup.

Did something happen?

Unfortunately I didn't stay awake long enough to unravel this mystery.

The stress of my newly acquired powers took a heavy toll on me.

———————————————————

Thomas and Martha POV

North of Gothic Metropolis, stood a large manor surrounded by acres of green hills.

This manor is owned by a wealthy couple, named Thomas and Martha Wayne, a famed surgeon and a wealthy socialite who altruistically spent a large part of their wealth in hopes of making the world a better place.

The couple have been merrily married for a couple of years now.

But in the past few months, they had been dealing with a harsh reality.

The husband and wife wanted a child, just like any other parents.

However, despite this, Martha is faced with the simple but painful fact, she can't give birth.

She was barren.

Thomas knew how devastated she became when she was given the terrible news.

He spent days and nights trying to console her, telling her that it's going to be okay and that his love for her wasn't lesser because of this.

Unfortunately, she could only weep in her grief.

Months have passed since they received those heavy news.

And thought she appeared to accept her condition, she now spent most of her time in silence.

Spending most of her time gazing to nothing in particular.

With empty eyes that held no mirth nor vigor.

Thomas had been advising her that adoption was an option for them.

Martha, though welcomed the idea, was still hesitant.

Only time should eventually heal that scar, and it would be quite a while before she could smile again.

It was a sunny day, Thomas had taken his day off from work to accompany his desolated wife.

They were sitting on the terrace in the back of the mansion that overlooked the green field that they own, seemingly making small talk.

Though he noticed that she was distracted, he knew her mind was elsewhere.

"Would you like some tea my dear? Perhaps we shall go for a light snack?" Thomas asked of her.

She turned to him, and though she smiled, it was painfully clear that she's not genuinely happy. "No thank you my love. I'm not hungry."

He nodded before returning to his seat.

"Thomas?" Martha began after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes dear?"

"Are you disappointed with me?" She asked him out of the blue.

"I know I will never be able to... conceive a child. Our own child." She choked on her words at this.

"I know you've already told me that I should forgive myself, given my... condition. But... do you... do you feel like we will never be as happy as we were before all of this?"

Her lips quivered, tears began to well up, ruining her beautiful makeup.

Martha Wayne was opening herself up, desperate to find an answer. "Please tell me honestly Thomas. Is it wrong of me to feel like that?"

Her husband took a moment, deciding the best way to give his answer.

Anything that he said now would determine how they would live henceforth.

So he carefully said; "It is not wrong of you to feel like that, Martha. You are just having to deal with so much."

She swallowed the lump in her throat before she said. "But I..."

"Please let me finish my dear." He asked.

Thomas suddenly raised from his seat and walked closer to his wife, facing her, and continued. "... just because we can't have our own child, the product of our love, we won't be less happy. We could find another way, together, to live as we were."

Martha slightly relaxed, but she still wasn't fully assured. And Thomas continued. "If I may, my dear, I think that in this situation... we must realize that it's better to not cling to what we cannot change."

At this, Martha began to see where her husband was going. "But it's hard, Thomas. I'm scared."

"But it is something that we must do when in the lowest point of our lives, my love. Scary as it might be, we must stay strong. Strong against the pain and agony. And face life once again with our heads held high and our chest puffed out. Daring it to bring us down again..."

Then he concluded. "And prove to it that we will never again fall."

Martha's expression brightened, and her smile looked more genuine this time.

And he added. "And know... that we are never alone in this. As long as we have one another."

Thomas' wife began to cry, not out of sadness, but out of happiness after what he said, she extended her hands into one of his, grasped it tightly and said.

"Thank you my love."

He reciprocated her smile with his own, kissing her forehead in a gesture of assurance, and nodded, feeling no need to speak to convey his delight.

While the couple was having a heartwarming moment.

Outside of Earth's atmosphere, a foreign object began to enter the planet's orbit in a fast but controlled trajectory.

It was a spaceship.

Made out of metal that the humans would not find on their planet, and is both created and engineered by an advanced alien race with technological level that exceeded that which the humans had at the current time.

The structure of the ship consisted of a pod, an engine, and multiple thrusters.

And branded in the front of the ship, two alien symbols were engraved side by side.

To the alien race, the engraved symbols meant 'Hope' and 'Doom'.

To the eyes of humans, they would look at it, and say that it looked similar to a 'S' and a 'Z'.

"I'm glad you never gave up on me."

"And I never will, my love." He replied.

Martha let go of his hand and after a few minutes of comfortable silence, she said.

"Well dear, about that tea... shall we prepare it together." She proposed with a brighter, more honest-looking smile.

Thomas nodded and walked with his spouse towards the kitchen.

However, when both of them heard a faint sound, coming from the sky, it looked similar to a shooting star, and noticed it getting closer and closer with every passing second, both of them stopped on their tracks and turned their heads upward in an attempt to better see the source of the light.

"Thomas... what is that?" Martha asked, curious about what it could be, as it approached their location.

"I do not know dear." He responded.

He briskly walked towards the front side of their Manor through the interior to save time.

When he opened the front door and tilted his head slightly upwards, Thomas saw something descending in front of the Wayne Manor.

"Martha, we should wait inside!" He advised her.

When he was certain that everything had calmed down, they went to the front of their home.

He was uncertain as to what the object was exactly.

Its shape reminded him of a rocket, but due to how it looked, he could not say what the object was with full conviction.

"What is that thing?" Martha uttered out, awed and slightly frightened by it.

"I do not know, please stay back."

But Martha's curiosity triumphed over her fear, she began to walk towards the UFO.

Her husband then rushed to her side. "I do not think that it's a good idea my love."

Martha looked at him and said. "It landed on our doorstep, we have to at least know what it is." she reasoned.

And so they walked towards the supposed rocket, with him walking in front of her, fully intending on protecting her from any potential harm.

The woman was suddenly filled with vigor as she approached the massive object.

She was more than simply curious, she was now giving it her full attention, desiring to see and know what the object really was.

When they were close to the object, Martha began to graze it slightly, making her husband extremely worried.

But when it did nothing, he relaxed a little.

"How fascinating." Martha uttered out, her previous fear being long gone.

Never before had the couple seen this kind of construct in their lives, and it came down from the sky as if a sign from the heavens.

The moment they saw the engraved symbols carved upon the object, both of them wondered about their meaning.

What's their meaning? What did they stand for? An abbreviation possibly? Or perhaps a language that just happened to be similar to the Latin alphabet?

"What do you think it means Thomas?" she asked him.

He looked upon the symbol before he responded with. "I do not know. But what I do know is that someone thinks highly of these symbols to engrave them into this...hmm...spaceship."

'Ah, so it is a spaceship!' She realized.

An alien spaceship, to be exact.

Because spaceships, especially human-made ones, did not have the same appearance of the one they're seeing now.

Suddenly, the rocket's domed tip shifted slightly as it's accompanied by a hissing noise, indicating the release of pressured air.

Then the sound of it's gears became audible as the dome began to split into several parts to open and show what it contained.

The interior of the ship, while small, contained a person.

A baby, and he was looking directly at them, as if it was not affected nor disturbed by his strange transportation.

Martha gasped at the sight.

Surprised, shocked, delighted... she was not sure of the exact emotion that she felt when she saw the baby, but perhaps, blissful happiness along with a feeling of apprehension could come close.

"My goodness, who could've put a child in this blasted contraption?" Martha said as she, unconsciously, got the baby into her arms.

"Is he hurt?" Thomas said while examining the baby, using his medical knowledge.

Though the baby boy was fast asleep, Thomas was glad that he did not show any signs of harm.

Amazingly, after a moment spent gazing at the baby, he found his wife smiling blissfully.

"He's so beautiful." She said rather affectionately in a motherly tone. "So precious."

Thomas, seeing Martha's sparkling eyes, knew that the woman had been caught in a trance.

She looked so happy now, even more so than when he managed to console her.

From that, he realized that the desire to adopt this boy had surfaced from inside her.

And that she would face many people who would oppose this notion with defiance.

Martha Wayne was known to Thomas for her determination whenever she wanted something.

The difference that she had among others who had this trait was that she knew the things that would be worth having.

And she also knew that those things might not be so easily achieved.

She would fight for him, this he knew all too well.

Martha Wayne could be adamant when she wanted to, and in this circumstance, Thomas just knew that this boy that came from the sky had become part of their family.

"Martha!" He began, prompting her to turn to him.

"I believe we should... remove this ship from this place. It might attract unwanted attention if there's a guest."

She looked upon the vehicle that brought the baby that she held in her arms and said. "But where should we put this? And how should we move it?" She asked, considering the size of the rocket.

Thomas merely smiled and said in an assuring tone. "You leave the method to me my dear. And as for the location, I believe I know just the place."

"But how should we call the baby?" He pondered.

Seeing how good hearted her husband was by helping her with this new baby, she remembered how close he and his father were.

And so she said. "I want to call him Patrick."

Now looking at the cute baby in her hands, she continued. "Patrick Wayne."

Thomas became speechless for a moment. But eventually, he let out a genuine smile of happiness and said.

"Welcome to our family, Patrick Wayne."

—————————————————————

(01/08/2020)

*Hey there! Thanks for reading my work! I hope this chapter is of your liking. I tried to explain how AU this will be throughout its course. Sorry if you expected a more authentic portrayal of the DCverse.

But as I previously mentioned in the description of this story. I will eventually delve into the multiverse and explore more than one version of the same characters.

For now, I plan to properly set up my character in this reality.

Any ideas for powers, adventure arcs and girls is more than welcomed. I might not use anything, but you will have my gratitude for trying.

If this chapter is a mess of grammatical errors, please wait that I'll promptly try to fix it. But for that I need your feedback.

I do recommend on FanFiction.Net "In Zod We Trust" from PoolHero, "Hammer Effect" from Rain Reid, "The Dark Knight, Son of Krypton" from badliar 2312.

They helped me a lot to create my story. I really like them! Check them out

Thanks as always for your time, hope you have a fantastic day and please stay safe.

Bye.