I'm Not a Damn Kryptonian! - 1

1

I dreamed of home. What that even meant anymore, I wasn't sure. I just know that as I slept, I felt warm and safe. Clear blue skies. A crowd of people, walking, talking, laughing. The scent of food being prepared. Was it the Viltrum of old that I dreamt of? Before the civil war, before the Great Purge and then the virus?

Sometimes I wondered what it was like…

“Sir, we've reached the edge of the target system.”

My eyes snapped open, my brain instantly alert. Bad form to nod off in front of the crew, but space travel bored me to tears. Hard to take seriously when you can fly faster than the speed of light under your own power. “You performed the scan?” I asked idly, fingers drumming against the arm of my command chair. Most Viltrumites liked to loom over their subordinates. I found that most aliens didn't need constant reminders of their inferiority.

“Yes sir,” the alien, some kind of viltrunoid with craggy purple skin, confirmed. “It’s just as the intelligence suggested. Two planets in this star system show signs of life.”

“How advanced? Are we too late?”

“The fourth planet shows moderately advanced technology. A dead surface, but many underground cavern cities. They are past the threshold of the treaty. The third is post-industrial. It seems like they are just beginning to make forays into space travel since they were found, but they're beginning to show signs of irreversible damage to the biosphere.”

I nodded to myself slightly. The perfect target for my first mission. It seemed payment was owed to the surveyor who had given the Empire these coordinates. “Open airlock 3A. You are to return to active duty once I am away. Glory to the Empire.” I saluted, one fist over my heart, returned by all of the bridge crew as I strode away. 

Once at the airlock, I took in a deep breath and stepped inside. Cold vacuum sucked at me and I willed myself out into the dark void as the shields dropped. I jettisoned toward the third planet at a steady speed before slowing down rapidly as I approached. It wouldn't be a good first impression if I accidentally caused an explosion adjacent to a thermonuclear device when I struck the atmosphere.

It was a pretty little world. Several land masses and oceans, a sparkling ball of blue and green. It reminded me of Viltrum in a way.  Minus the bodies of course. Then the moment I entered into the atmosphere, something changed. My body tingled as if passing through an invisible field and a viltrunoid appeared in my field of vision, looking like she was strolling through the air next to me.

I turned to regard her warily. I hadn't yet scouted the world to see if any of it's denizens might be a threat and keeping up with me while flying was no easy feat for a lesser species. 

It was actually disconcerting how much like a Viltrumite she appeared, with ghostly pale skin, dark clothes and a small tattoo beneath one eye. I judged it to be religious based on the intricacy of it.

“Hi there,” she greeted me with a kind smile. That sealed it. She was no Viltrumite, just one of many species that had a similar form as us. There were a lot of those in the universe. After all, life strove for perfection.

“Hello,” I said carefully, not dropping my guard, though I did slow to a stop there in the upper atmosphere. It seemed polite. I'd learned quickly that politeness never hurt and could save you pain.

She stopped as well and while I floated, she looked to be standing in the air as if it were flat ground. “Are you one of this planet's inhabitants?” I inquired curiously.

“I inhabit many worlds. But this one has a special place in my heart,” she said vaguely. “Might I ask your name?”

“Justan of Viltrum.” I gave a courteous nod, watching for any sign of reaction. Nothing. The universe was a large place. “And may I ask yours?”

“You can call me Dee. It's close enough to my true name. What brings you to Earth?”

Earth. The name rang a chord within me, but I wasn't sure why. “I’ve been sent by my people as part of the World Betterment Committee. Many planets like this are in a critical stage of their development, between catastrophe and balance, order and chaos. We wish to help them survive and thrive.” I rattled off the script that had been trained into me since birth. “I was assigned to this planet to serve as it’s protector.”

Or a destroyer should they slap away the Empire’s hand of friendship and enlightenment. I’d seen the vid feeds for myself. Worlds decimated by my people, true, but also worlds that had refused our help and then imploded upon themselves. Ours was a benevolent, guiding hand, one that helped bring stability and prosperity where we went.

So why did seeing the records of destruction leave such a pit in my stomach? What kind of Viltrumite was I?

“It is a noble goal,” Dee said. “But every goal comes with a cost. What will be yours?” She drifted closer and I had to fight the urge to flinch. There was something ancient in her gaze. Eyes too old for her young face. It reminded me too much of the few other Viltrumites I’d met while growing up. “I wonder how many souls you will send to me… Or if you might become something greater.” She smiled and patted my cheek fondly. Like how I imagined a mother might. Not that I had one of those. “For now, Justan of Viltrum, I’ll leave you with this…” She leaned close and whispered into my ear. “Welcome home.”

A chill ran down my spine and I instinctively lashed out quick enough to create a sonic boom from the sheer unease I felt.

But the mysterious girl was already gone without a trace.

I shuddered despite myself and continued on my course.

I had a planet to examine.
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I was left feeling… Satisfied. The world was as fractured and divided as so many pre-space travel civilizations. They were almost certainly on the brink of collapse if the amount of conflicts and civil unrest I spotted were accurate. It was as I thought: The planet was perfect for a rookie like me.

I started my mission by seeking out the largest and most vibrant city on the planet. Several passes over the various continents painted a picture of a burgeoning world, but for every shining city, there were a dozen villages barely making a living in the dirt. I identified the city I was looking for though and hovered above it, eyeing the impressive skyline and clean streets. Finally, I lowered myself down until I settled onto the sidewalk.

I received more than a few odd looks from the locals, viltrunoids who looked incredibly similar to Viltrumites. Enough that it bothered me for some reason, even though there were many such races, like Thanagarians, Tamaranians, and even the strange denizens of New Genesis and Apokolips.

Amidst the looks was some fear, but that was only natural given that I’d just landed from the sky. It didn’t appear that these people could fly naturally. I took in the sights, but I couldn’t help but feel bothered again. I heard the babble of the crowds around me, but it echoed strangely in my ears. There was the fact it was being actively translated by the implant that allowed me to speak to the many other aliens in the Viltrum Empire, but there was something… else.

With a though-command, I disabled my implant and just allowed the voices of the crowd to wash over me. To my surprise and confusion… I could understand them.

“Do you see that guy? Think he’s one of Superman’s?”

“Yes sir, I’ll have the reports done by Monday.”

“Hot Dogs! Get your Hot Dogs here!”

“Lexcorp stock is in the dumps. It’s the perfect time to buy!”

“He isn’t wearing a mask. And look at that uniform. He must be a Kryptonian!”

“Think he’s a new member of the League?”

I closed my eyes and allowed the voices to filter through my mind. Much of it was nonsense, lacking context, but I could fill in the blanks. Lexcorp sounded like a company. They spoke of a ‘Superman’. Perhaps this world’s current champion? And a ‘League’. More like this Superman? Kryptonian… The word rang a bell in my head. A forgotten lesson perhaps? Or one from when I was too young to absorb the information?

Strange.

“Hey buddy!”

The voice startled me out of my thoughts and I glanced at the alien male that was waving at me. “Yes?” I moved slightly closer to the cart that he was standing beside. It smelled of oil and salt. It was rather pleasant. 

“You want a pretzel?” He tapped on a case that I could now see displayed several twisting shapes of some kind of bread. “Only a buck.”

Buck. A male deer? And how did I know what that was? I decided from the context that it was more likely a slang word for the local currency. “I do not have any money,” I said with a small shake of my head.

The man shrugged. “Eh, first one is on the house. You look like a newcomer to the city.” His eyes ran up and down my uniform. “More like the planet really.” He held out one of the ‘pretzels’ in a metallic foil wrap alongside a cup of sauce. 

“I am,” I said matter of factly. Then for the first time in my life, I felt the urge to make an attempt at humor, though where it came from, I couldn't say. “Take me to your leader?”

The man laughed good naturedly and turned to help an approaching customer as I took a tentative bite. 

Flavor exploded across my tongue, a far cry from the military rations I'd been raised on. I dipped a piece in the sauce. Even more delicious. 

I ate ravenously as if I was starving, licking my fingers clean before I knew it. The cart owner laughed again and handed me some disposable paper wipes which I used gratefully. 

“What is the name of this city?” I asked him.

“You're in Metropolis, home to the greatest superhero in the world,” he said proudly. When I stared blankly, he tilted his head. “You weren't kidding about the alien thing, were you?”

“I do not typically ‘kid'.”

“Riiiiggghhhhhtttttt… Well keep an eye out for Supes and maybe you can talk to him. He's an alien too.”

“I see.” I paused and glanced at his cart before reaching into a pouch on my belt. While I did not have any of whatever passed as money for the locals, I did have a few trinkets from my (brief) travels. “For the food and advice.” I handed him a nugget of gold. Asteroid mining was incredibly easy when you could survive in a vacuum. And they made good practice when I wanted to hit something with my full strength. 

I took off into the air as the aliens gaped at me.

Locals, I reminded myself. I was the alien now. A show of politeness would go a long way for the eventual integration or conquest of the planet.

Once I had reached a sufficient height, I began a lazy flight across the city, eyes scanning for the one called Superman. There was enough posters, billboards, and informational broadcasts around the city for me to know what he looked like at least. 

I kept a close eye on the local time keeping devices and once approximately twenty of their minutes had passed, I felt a rush of air beside me. I turned and stared at the ridiculous looking viltrunoid who now flew with me. Tight blue bodysuit, an emblem on his chest, a flowing red cape and what looked like red tights on the outside… it was hilariously unfit for a planet's champion to wear. But it was eye catching and perhaps that was the point? To make him immediately stand out from local law enforcement or military personnel.

He spoke to me eagerly in an unfamiliar language and I stared blankly at him for a moment before reactivating my implant. “-and you can't understand me, can you?” He had just finished asking with a sad tone as I did so.

“I can understand you just fine,” I corrected him. “I just had to-”

His eyes brightened before I could finish. “Incredible! I thought I was the only one left and I- I'm sorry, let me start over-”

It was my turn to interrupt as I halted abruptly midair. This alien must have thought we were of the same species. “I'm sorry,” I said with a raised hand. “But I had to reactivate my translation implant.”

He visibly sagged with disappointment. “So you aren't a Kryptonian?”

I shook my head. My name is Justan. I'm from a distant world called ‘Viltrum’,” I said. I mentally readied myself for a fight, but that was met with only an enthusiastic sort of interest from the man before me. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Justan. My name is Kal-El, native of Krypton, but raised here on Earth,” he introduced himself. Hm. Interesting. “What brings you to the neighborhood?” His voice had taken on that echoing quality that told me he was speaking whatever language the humans in Metropolis.

I turned off my implant again with an annoyed thought before answering. “I’m a part of what’s called the World Betterment Committee.”

“Never heard of it,” he said affably. “Are you like the Green Lantern Corp?”

What? He knew of the damned Lanterns, but not of their sworn enemies, the Viltrumites? What kind of madness was this?

“You might say that…” I said slowly, still trying to reel in my thoughts. “But where Lanterns take care of entire sectors of space and spread their attention a bit far, my people focus on individual worlds at a time.”

“That must take quite a lot of time and resources. It sounds like your people are quite generous with their time,” he commented.

“We can afford to be,” I said. “Time is one of the many gifts that we Viltrumites possess in spades.”

“What do you mean by that?” I went to reply, but suddenly Kal-El’s head jerked to the side, eyes going distant. What was he looking at? “Sorry, got something to take care of.”

He moved in a blur of speed and I accelerated to follow. Just below the speed of sound if I was any judge. Then just as quickly, he stopped. Down below, I could see a mechanical viltrunoid firing beams of green energy wildly with wanton glee. Fires burned, people screamed and I could see more than one civilian injured or trapped by debris. 

“Metallo,” Kal-El said grimly. “Stay back, Justan. I’ll handle this.”

I decided to do as he instructed, floating idly in the air as the two began to battle. The bursts of viridian energy that the metal man was emitting seemed to be capable of harming Kal-El, as he took great pains to avoid them. I began to see evidence that this ‘Kryptonian’ possessed several abilities in common with Viltrumites, including flight, strength, and resilience. He also seemed to possess the ability to project beams of energy from his eyes and he would occasionally launch gusts of freezing cold air. Based on the fact Kal-El had reacted to this criminal attack with such speed and I didn’t see any kind of communication device on his person (the implanted kind being no doubt too advanced of a technology for this world) I could only assume he had heightened senses of some sort as well.

I was somewhat baffled. Never before had I seen a race display powers similar to my own, but also more. His people must have been formidable indeed. I made a mental note to inquire about this planet ‘Krypton’ at a later date. They could prove to be a threat to the Empire.

I noticed as the fight progressed that more of the surroundings were being destroyed the more the two fought. Kal-El didn’t strike me as weak, so why was this taking so long? Had I misjudged his power?

Finally I spotted an opening and decided to strike. Civilians were being put in danger and wasn’t that my job now, to be a defender for this world? I flew in quicker than either combatant could react and with one sharp move, ripped off the head of the metallic man. Broken machinery flew and fluids splattered my face and uniform.

“Well,” I said casually as Kal-El stared with unrestrained horror. “That was easier than it looked.”
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A/N: First chapter of the side project, here we go! Lemme know what y'all think and how I could improve it, especially seeing as this won't be posted elsewhere for a while, until I have a good backlog posted here at least. I'm going with the assumption that Viltrumites have some kind of intuitive sense of direction and vision to match it, which explains why they're able to travel between entire star systems without the aid of ships. I imagine they use ships mostly just for the convenience/ longer distances. Also while the Viltrumites exist here, this won't be that much of an Invincible cross, it's basically just that species. Less an SI, more of a human who was reborn as a Viltrumite, but now returned to Earth. MC will have basic DC knowledge once human memories start awakening, but not Young Justice and not perfect either, just basic comics knowledge like secret identities and the like.