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Cerion Vex knew death, and he didn't fancy his chances of going through that horrible and cold feeling once again. It was not entirely true, as Cerion didn't exactly know death.

Before he became Cerion of House Vex in Krypton, he had another name and was just an employee of a bank working in the HR department. Unfortunately, fate decided to throw a curveball in the form of a car accident that left him in the hospital for a week. At the end of that week, he died from internal bleeding, which the doctors were too late to find. He knew he was going to die, and he dearly wished some miracle would save him. That didn't stop his vision from going dark and a terrible cold spreading from his legs to his head. His last memory was the red, puffy eyes of his girlfriend, whom he should have treated a bit better in retrospect.

Contrary to his leap into the unknown abyss that was death, he woke up into the light, and a whole new world was waiting for him. It took him only a few months to piece together exactly what happened and where he was. Somehow, he ended up in the fictional DC universe and that too in Krypton before the planet went boom. Strangely enough, he was born into the house of Vex, which was supposed to die out with Nyssa Vex. Instead, he learned that he was a descendant of Nyssa's sister, Celia Vex, who happened to be his grandmother. He couldn't care less about that as he was bombarded with the enormity of the situation he was in at the moment.

His wish had been granted, and now he lived as Cerion Vex, albeit in a world that only existed in fiction. The situation became all the more problematic because he was living on a planet that was a ticking time bomb, not to mention there were very dangerous beings lurking out in the galaxy. He also feared the circumstances behind his rebirth, as it could only happen with quirky, omnipotent beings. He feared what that meant as every human soul was just a piece of entertainment for some random all-powerful beings, or did this happen by some cosmic mojo? He didn't know.

What he knew for sure was that he didn't want to die again.

Staying in Krypton was a death sentence, and he had no idea the exact year or date the whole thing would go boom. The only thing he knew for sure was that it would explode into a thousand pieces shortly after Kal-El was born. Therefore, his only option was to somehow escape the planet of doom at the exact moment of Kal-El's escape or perhaps even before that if he was lucky.

With this simple plan in mind, Cerion began his new life in Krypton. Ten years into his life, he realised that escaping Krypton before Kal-El's birth was just a pipe dream and an impossible one at that. Krypton's deep-space defence security systems ensured no unauthorised hyperspace launches could be possible. Most planets had space defences for threats from beyond space, but Krypton focused its firepower on its own people to prevent them from space travel.

The security was too tight, and gravity wells were placed around the planet to ensure nothing went in or out without the express permission of the Kryptonian military. At this point he realised that his time of escape had to align with Zod's military coup. He had no intention of standing in the guy's way as he didn't fancy dying at the general's hands.

He also doubted he could somehow influence the Kryptonian council to start preparing for an immediate evacuation. If Jor-El and Dru-Zod couldn't do it, then he was certainly not the guy to convince the council, and that was if the Council would even hear him.

The House of Vex 'was' very influential, but because of its association with the previous administration, they were very much on the blacklist. It took his father and mother every scrap of goodwill to even be allowed as low-ranking members in the Lawmaker's guild.

It took a lot of bribes and his father's marriage to a distant relative of one of the Council members to earn that goodwill. His own birth, which the oracle predicted, and his subsequent 'fate' to be a good member of the Science Guild also helped somewhat. This ensured the future of the Vex family lay in science and research rather than politics.

He didn't complain about his supposed 'fate' one bit, as that was exactly what he wanted. Being in the Military guild would put him under Zod, but he would be exposed to Jor-El in the Science guild. At least he hoped he would be exposed to the man before everything went nuts.

So, knowing that his life was at stake, Cerion put his entire being into education. His distant relationship with Jor-El helped speed up his entry into the science guild. At the age of fifteen, he managed to enter the guild, and for one year, he worked as an apprentice to Jor-El.

Working under Jor-El made him realise how much of a genius the man was. Jor-El was working on a ton of projects all at once. Alternate energy, increased range of Phantom drives, monitoring the seismic activities of Krypton, and research into artificial intelligence were some of the few areas that Jor-El was researching. The guy was Krypton's foremost scientific expert in about every major field. He recommended that Cerion be selected for the research team that focused on alternate energy, more specifically, energy extraction from Anti-matter.

It was a project under the direct oversight of the Kryptonian Council and Jor-El. The facility had yet to extract the energy sufficiently as research was ongoing, but the results were promising. If the extraction process could be efficient, then Krypton could stop the exploitation of the planet's core.

Cerion's involvement in this project allowed him to access the lab on the moon of Krypton named Koron. The moon base was damaged heavily in the last civil war and was now depopulated. Only a research facility, which was mostly automated, was left in the base. This access to the moon base allowed Cerion to access a ship.

Unfortunately, the ship was not equipped with a Phantom Drive, and other Kryptonian scientists were nearby with a whole platoon of military guards. But fate gave him an opportunity through Lara-El. Jor-El's wife was working on the same energy project with him, and that was an opportunity he used to his advantage. He kept a keen eye on Laura, and being close to Jor, he was on good terms with his wife. When Laura suddenly decided to quit the project, he knew the jig was up.

That's how he found himself before the house of the El family. Well, not all El's lived here. Jor and Laura indeed called this tower their home. As Cerion stepped out of his hover car on the landing platform of the tower, the doors opened to reveal Jor. Usually, Jor would never greet guests as it was Laura, the more social of the two, and that alone confirmed his suspicions.

"Cerion! What a pleasant surprise." Jor greeted with a forced smile.

"It's nice to see you as well, Jor, and don't try very hard to smile. It doesn't suit you."

His joke just floored the scientist, and Jor laughed awkwardly.

"I was curious about why Lara would suddenly quit the project. We were making stellar progress, and then she suddenly stopped one day." said Cerion, and then he conspiratorially leaned closer. "Has the core destabilised already? Is there no hope left?"

Having worked closely with Jor-El has had its perks. Cerion knew what was going on with Krypton, so he had some leeway with the lab and its facilities. He was also watching the core, which had yet to destabilise completely, but it was only a matter of time. Krypton had never seen such a phenomenon, and an exact timeframe was hard to predict.

"Not yet, but as you know, anything can happen. The council has refused even to stop the mining despite my best efforts. All I could get out of the last meeting was for the matter to be considered as an issue. The Council will deliberate on my findings and decide sometime later."

"You and I both know that is not useful. We are all dead anyway. Have you suggested an evacuation procedure?"

"I did, but they immediately shot that down. The Council is extremely concerned that it will only cause mass hysteria and has asked me to never speak of this again."

"Those fools will sentence this planet to ruin while they debate endlessly. We need to ensure at least something survives of Krypton. Perhaps we can send some children out into one of the colonies or a distant planet without the council's knowledge."

Cerion's suggestion took Jor by surprise.

"You are suggesting that we betray the trust of the council. We will be committing treason and heresy." Jor warned, but Cerion could see Jor was not bothered by his supposed treason.

"The council exists for the betterment of all of Krypton, but we both know that Krypton will die. Is it not our duty to salvage something from Krypton? We can't save everyone without the Council's cooperation, but we can at least ensure some children live through the disaster. Perhaps they will be able to give our race a fresh beginning."

Jor was silent for some time, carefully watching Cerion, and then seemed to let out a sigh.

"Come inside. We have a lot of things to discuss." Jor invited him inside, and history changed for better or worse; none of them knew.

After that conversation, Cerion was filled in about Lara's pregnancy and agreed to help them transport their son off-world. The next few months were dedicated to working out a new Phantom Drive that could open the hyperspace channel even under the influence of Krypton's gravity. The modified Drive also requires a longer range to escape any pursuers and for quick access to the destination. With Cerion having access to Jor's plans, he built a modified Phantom Drive on his own, which he planned to install on the ship docked at the moon base. For months, they planned and plotted while Laura carried the baby. Cerion had to work day and night for the chance to make his escape along with Kal-El.

Every day that he worked on the moon base was a risk. Cerion knew that he was a dead man if there was a whiff of treason from his side. The military was getting restless, especially with General Zod creating a ruckus against the council. All the higher echelons of various guilds knew what was happening with Krypton. The signs have started to become very visible for the council to dismiss them. Most of the water bodies on the planet were getting heated up rapidly. Most volcanoes were beginning to go active one by one across the planet. The seawater was getting desalinated rapidly, and all aquatic creatures were dying due to rapid climate change. Thunderstorms were now abundant on the planet, causing enormous destruction to remote settlements. Only the energy shields around major cities like Kandor have proved effective against thunderstorms. But such measures were only going to be effective for the time being. It was only a matter of time before even the most advanced cities of Krypton would suffer under the wrath of the planet.

Cerion was working on some of the firewalls when he received a message from Jor. "The flower has been delivered safely. It is class M. Laura wants a child, and we plan to name the child Kal-El."

The message translated to the delivery was successful; the child was male. They have also named the child as Kal-El. So he quickly replied, knowing that time was at stake and they had many preparations to see through.

"Congratulations. The procedure is ready to be enacted."

Minutes after Cerion's message was read, Jor called back all personnel from the moon base except for a few guards and Cerion himself. Cerion took control of the moon base and then shut down the gravity wells around Krypton. He didn't have to deactivate every gravity well but just those close to the moon. Jor would initiate the launch and trace a path for the launch vehicle straight for the moon. Cerion will have to take care of the guards after Jor give the signal, so he starts preparing.

Cerion watched as the ship returned after transporting all of his colleagues. Now, almost twenty guards were left in the base, and he knew just how to take care of them. But the coup had yet to start, and Jor had not given him the signal. So, Cerion used this time to make his own preparations. He took the command key that would override the base's security systems and inserted it into the prime slot. For a brief moment, the security alarms blared in the base before everything returned to normal.

"This is Cerion-Vex speaking. Please don't panic. This malfunction is the product of a new command key designed for this experimental procedure. For the duration of this experiment, no one is allowed to leave the base under any circumstances. Please maintain your positions and cooperate. Thank you."

With that part of the plan over, he directed the droids to replace the ship's Phantom Drive with the modified Drive. While this was happening, he began to set some explosives and poison gases around the base. The Antimatter chamber would be sealed with him staying inside, and when the time was right, he would take care of the facility's armed guards. For hours, he waited, all the while hacking into the generators powering the gravity wells close to the moon. Then, all of a sudden, Jor's voice came through the comms.

"Cerion! Are you there? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, Jor. What's happened? Why are you delaying the launch?" Cerion asked as the time that they had planned was passing away.

"I was held up by Zod. The General has launched his coup. I am on my way to the tower, but a full civil war is being fought here. Are you ready up there?"

"I am ready. On your signal, I can deactivate the gravity wells."

"What about other orbital forces?"

"I doubt they can intercept the launch, especially with the civil war. I am already getting reports of the fleet descending into the planet. Even if they decide to interfere, I have some other contingencies in place."

"We owe you, Cerion. Thank you for everything."

"Thank me after the plan succeeds. Launch Kal to space Jor and leave the rest to me. May the light of Rao be with you."

Cerion cut the connection and initiated the program to clean up the lab.

"Initiate STRIKE protocol."

"Command key accepted. Initiating STRIKE protocol."

The holographic image of the lab flashed into existence, and several yellow spots in the image began to pulse, signalling the start of poisonous gas infusing into the breathing air. While this occurred, Cerion began to gear up with a re-breather and battle suit. He loaded his gun and adjusted the settings to kill mode. He could stun any stranger, but what was the point? All of them were going to die anyway, and he didn't need some fool to wake up from a stun gun and foil all his plans.

"Initiate Project WISDOM and standby for Project DISMANTLE."

"Initiating."

Project WISDOM was the protocol to hack into the archives of Krypton and store specific data regarding technology and military secrets in a separate databank on the ship. Project DISMANTLE, on the other hand, was designed to secure Kal-El's escape. With the lab under his command key, he set out of the lab's secure vaults straight for his ship.

He carefully navigated the tunnels of the lab, ensuring that there was no life signature to any of the guards stationed at the facility. As he came across the final tunnel to the dockyard, he noticed his armband projecting two life signatures.

'They must have used a rebreather and escaped the effects of the poison gas.'

He took out a small metallic ball and quickly threw it into the tunnel straight for the two surviving guards. The ball flashed red and exploded, which was his cue. He threw himself into the tunnel and began firing his gun indiscriminately. Cerion shouldn't have bothered because the guards were already dead, as their rebreather was damaged in the explosion itself. With the path clear, he opened the tunnel doors and made his way to the ship. Thanks to the emergency lockdown he initiated, the ship's crew were also stuck in the lab, which made commandeering the ship all the easier.

He sped towards the ship as fast as possible, taking a speeder from the dock. When he finally arrived near the ship, he saw all the drones loading the ship with supplies for the long trip. After ensuring all supplies were loaded into the ship, he occupied the command chair, waiting for Jor's signal.

"Weapon's status?"

"All weapons online."

The drone that he had dubbed as Optima reported diligently.

"Shield's status?"

"Shield at 100%."

"Status of the Phantom drive?"

"Fully operational."

'Looks like all there is left to do is to wait for Jor's signal.' He thought.

Suddenly, a pop-up barged into the main screen with Jor's face on it.

"We are ready for the launch, Cerion."

"Good. We are ready over here, Jor. Send in Kal and leave the rest to me. Do remember that we have only a half-hour window. After that, my position will be crawling with the Kryptonian fleet." said Cerion as he initiated the DISMANTLE protocol.

Jor just nodded before the screen abruptly cut off.

Cerion increased the range of the ship's sensors, and he immediately noticed the launch of a ship from Krypton.

"The gravity wells have been disabled, Lord Vex. Project WISDOM has also run its course," reported Optima

"Good. Looks like it is time for our escape as well." said Cerion as he received the command key containing Project WISDOM. He secured it inside his tactical belt before taking the ship out of the base and began to move steadily outside of the moon's gravitational pull.

"Lord Vex, several vessels are in pursuit of Kal-El." Optima reported.

"Well, we can't have that now, can we." Cerion muttered as he needed Kal-El to be on earth else the timeline would go to shit. Besides, his own escape depended on the absence of any enemy ships.

Cerion gave full power to the ship's engines and took it straight to intercept the ships on Kal-El's tail. Within a few minutes, his ship's sensors picked up signatures of four ships.

"Plot their course and engage battle mode."

Immediately, Optima came through and began to project the course of the ships. He let the first one fly past him as it was the ship of Kal-El and then greeted the other three with a rain of fire. At the angle they were fighting, they had to depend entirely on virtual display because they were under the cover of Koron, one of the moons of Krypton.

Cerion winced as his ship shook under enemy fire.

"Shields at 90%."

"Arm Dismantler Cannon." He ordered as he pulled his ship through evasive manoeuvres. When the screen showed the cannon achieved 70% power, he fired the weapon in the general direction of the enemy ships. A bright silver light pierced through the vacuum of space and punched through two enemy ships in a blink. His naked eye could observe the bright explosions in the space before him.

"Kal-El has escaped from the Rao system, Lord Vex."

"Good. Now, let's make our move and join little Kal." He said as he turned the ship around and blasted straight back.

"Engage the Phantom Drive."

"The gravity wells are being reactivated, lord Vex. Their systems are rebooting. It seems there was a failsafe in the system." Optima warned

"When will the Phantom Drive activate?" Cerion asked in a panic.

"Not before the gravity wells are re-engaged."

"This Phantom Drive is a modified version. It can withstand the strain of gravity wells." He consoled himself even though he knew he never tested the new Drive in extreme gravity. 'Looks like I will just have to wing it.'

His ship violently shook as the gravity wells suddenly came online. A few minutes later, the Phantom Drive came online as well.

"Engage the Phantom Drive!" he shouted in alarm as the gravitational intensity increased. He could hear the metal frames of his ship warp under the pressure. There was a flash of white light and a violent tug. He could listen to the warping of metal under the immense strain, and in a jiffy, he was airborne. All of a sudden, he felt as if he couldn't breathe, and his body felt like it was being squeezed through a narrow tube, and then he knew no more.

1st January 2000

Phil had worked closely with Nicholas Fury throughout his career in SHIELD. In those long years, he had never seen Nick Fury, now the Director of SHIELD, being this anxious. His eyes traced the Director, who anxiously paced back and forth in his office. Phil couldn't blame the man. Even though he was skittish, his Director did it for both of them. Who wouldn't be skittish, especially when the Director of NASA calls in and reports a space-time anomaly was detected close to Earth? Keep in mind that this call came right after celebrating the New Year and the arrival of a new millennium.

When SHIELD was mobilised, and all its firepower was focused on the sky, NASA reported the phenomenon was over. An alien object was floating aimlessly in space, spinning close to Earth. The Director immediately called in some favours and locked out NASA from the entire process, and SHIELD took over. After all, SHIELD did have some expertise in handling alien invasion, which was not much, but they were more qualified than any other agency. The Director had the option to blow the object up, or he could capture the object and bring it back to earth. The Director chose to bring it to Earth, especially after their analysts pieced together that the object in question was an alien. That alone was enough for Director Fury to send a Quinjet and bring the dead alien back to the base.

Just letting the corpse float around in space would be ripe for disaster. The body would inevitably be drawn into Earth's atmosphere, and who knows what would happen after that? There is also the distant possibility that some other space agencies of the world may also take notice, and if they do, then the knowledge that there were aliens around would only spark mass hysteria. The retrieval operation was named Blue Lotus, and SHIELD's best agents were in that Quinjet.

"Director Fury. Do you copy?"

With that, the crew of Operation Blue Lotus broke the radio silence.

Phil stood up from his seat, looked at the Director calmly, and gave a nod of support. He watched his colleague slash boss press the button on the communication device.

"Agent Hill, report."

"We have collected the package, sir. But you will not believe this. The alien is still alive. Both heartbeat and pulse are steady."

Phil exchanged a look of surprise with the Director. What kind of an alien entity can survive the vacuum of space?

"What should we do, sir?"

Phil noticed that the Director was silent for a few minutes before he took a deep breath.

"Bring it in, Agent Hill. Your mission remains the same."

"Yes, sir."

With that, the comms cut off, and there was radio silence again.

The Director sagged into his chair with a sigh.

"Interesting days are ahead of us, Coulson. The new millennia is off to a good start." said Fury with a shake of his head.

"At least we didn't have an alien invasion, sir. We might even benefit from a diplomatic exchange if the alien is friendly." He tried to lighten the mood.

"I don't have to tell you that in this line of business, we can't afford such luxury." said Fury

"Prepare for the worst, and you won't be surprised." He said grimly

"Indeed. I want you on this right away, Coulson. You have direct oversight."

"Yes, sir."

1,351Chapter 2: CH2: First impressions

It was an hour since Cerion woke up, and he should have freaked out, but he managed to stay calm and focused. There was no point in freaking out at the moment. He supposed there was a lot of time for that to happen.

He was conscious the moment he entered the planet's atmosphere. When he woke up, he found himself restrained and in a body bag. From that simple fact, he deduced that his ship might have broken apart, and somehow, he found himself on another planet. Thankfully, the planet was one with a Yellow Star for a sun because he could feel an unholy strength coursing through his body. Fortunately, he was still wearing the rebreather, shielding him from any sensory overload. He just continued to stay silent throughout the journey.

It was on the ground that the play changed pace. The moment his rescuers unravelled the bag, they noticed that he had regained consciousness. Then there was the customary freak-out by the humans, and he was glad he was in the custody of humans rather than any other alien species. There was nothing they could do that would harm him, so that was a relief unless they had Kryptonite, which was not cool. The humans continued their freak-out, and the military base they had taken him blared with alarms. He calmly broke the restraints and stood on his own legs. He was immediately converged upon from all sides by gun-wielding soldiers, mounted machine guns, artillery and tanks.

Then, he took a good look around the military base. The weapons and vehicles used by the soldiers were more advanced than the norm of the 1970s or the 80s. Another curious fact was that the soldiers were not wearing their standard uniform but rather uniforms in black. They looked like special-ops soldiers, and then there were several people dressed in tight bodysuits. The common factor in all these people was that they had a silver eagle logo on their uniforms. The only plausible explanation he could come up with was that either the Phantom Drive caused a time dilation field around himself or Earth was truly advanced enough. But to honestly know what happened without giving himself away to his rescuers, he had to take a risky step.

He again looked around the base and noticed it was in the middle of a desert. Nodding to himself, he deactivated the rebreather. The polymorphous glass shielding of his suit pulled back, and he was exposed to the air of Earth.

He instinctively closed his eyes and breathed in Earth's rich, nourishing air. He could hear the soldiers scream out warnings and threats but he didn't give a fuck to what they were saying. Having lived in a ticking time bomb of a planet that was Krypton he could truly appreciate the beauty of Earth. Krypton was just dying, and its air was polluted beyond anyone's imagination. A smile automatically blossomed on his face as he felt how thin the air was and how weak the gravity felt on Earth. In Krypton it felt like the planet was trying its hardest to ensure everything living in it felt its displeasure. Earth felt like a hot girl trying to woo you into staying with her for the rest of her life.

Cerion's smile abruptly disappeared when his enhanced senses hit him. It felt like the world was bearing down upon him, and every sound on the entire planet was being shot into his brain like bullets. He could feel his hands shake and almost slipped out of control, but his training kicked in.

From the moment he had planned the escape out of Krypton, he was training to master his senses. It was one thing to train for something that was only a hypothetical scenario, but it was quite another to truly apply what he learned when the situation called for it. It took some time for him to truly suppress many of his senses and focus on his own body. He managed to wrestle his senses and suppress them back. The real problem was his hearing because the sounds were very much distracting and painful. Comparatively, his vision was more manageable.

He took a deep breath and focused. He could feel that a force field was covering the entirety of his body. He would have genuinely liked to use what he assumed to be the tactile telekinesis field to fly away but he suppressed that urge. Instead, he used the momentary respite and control over his super senses to use his enhanced vision. He could see through concrete and steel, and his reach extended all around the base suddenly. What he saw took his breath away and only added more questions.

He saw the date on a digital clock, which was 1st January 2000. The problem, however, was that he also saw several people that should frankly not exist in the DC Universe. There was a guy in a black trench coat dressed up as a pirate with an eye patch and all. The guy looked like a carbon copy of Samuel L Jackson, and the guy was observing everything from a bunker below the base through a video feed.

Then, there was Clark Gregg dressed in a black suit. The guy was closing in on his position, and as if that was not weird enough, he could see that one of the astronauts on his rescue team was Cobie Smulders. That was a WTF moment that truly floored him, and he didn't know how to proceed. Frankly, he was ready to bolt straight into the sky and look for Kal-El.

As the thought of making a quick escape passed through his head, Clark Gregg stepped forward and addressed him.

"Hello, welcome to Earth. Can you understand me? Please nod once if you can understand what I am saying."

Cerion nodded slowly as if he was unsure how to respond exactly.

"Good, my name is Agent Phil Coulson. Can we know your name?" the guy in the suit asked, which made Cerion freeze.

Agent Phil Coulson? Where the fuck am I? Am I in some kind of weird DC-Marvel mixed universe? WTF!

He decided to file away that detail for later and concentrated on the here and now.

"My name is Cerion-Vex. I apologise if I caused you any discomfort or alarm." said Cerion with a slight dip of his head.

There was no loss in being a little bit courteous. He had practised the British accent for blending in on Earth, and now it was just bleeding into his speech.

"We fished you out from an orbit close to our planet. We had thought you to be dead. Can you explain how you found yourself close to our planet and how you survived space?" asked Coulson, who discreetly signalled the soldiers to lower their weapons.

Cerion knew that every piece of information would be used against him at some point. Therefore, he decided to be as vague and believable as possible.

"I once again apologise to have startled you and your people. My ship's Phantom Drive malfunctioned, and a space-time anomaly deposited me close to your planet. As for how I survived, it is quite obvious. The suit protected me."

"I see. You look like a human, and you speak our language well. What exactly are you? How can you speak our language so well?" asked Coulson.

Now, that was a tricky question. He could go with the route of Krypton used the same language, which would be a lie, and he would be caught red-handed. Earth itself has thousands of languages, so it stands to reason that other planets have different languages.

So, he decided to go with a bit of half-truth.

"Our earliest ancestors have met before Agent Coulson. It must have been thousands of years before when your people were less polished and developed. The language that you use is remarkably similar to what we use, although I don't know whether your written script is similar to that of Krypton."

"Krypton? That's the name of your planet?"

"Yes. I am a Kryptonian from the system of Rao. Although it doesn't matter now."

"What do you mean?"

"Krypton's core has been destabilising recently. We have been trying to find a solution or even evacuate our people to the moon of our planet. We have failed, and now, by some fluke accident, I am halfway across the universe. I doubt there is anything left of Krypton except scattered rocks."

That brought the mood down around them. Cerion could see that Coulson was thinking on how to proceed from there and he waited patiently for the agent. Using his super-senses, he heard the radio crackle to life in Coulson's ear, and it was Nick Fury's voice.

"Ask him about the ship he arrived here. Ask him about whether there are other survivors?"

"Are there any other survivors?" asked Coulson with a solemn face that would have fooled anyone as a sympathetic guy.

"I hope so, but very unlikely. Our evacuation protocols were not yet enacted because Krypton's ruling council had yet to give the go-ahead."

"I see. You have my deepest condolences. What about your ship? If you were close to Earth's orbit then surely your ship must be also close. We can help you recover the ship if it endured the travel." Coulson offered, but Cerion could see where this was going.

They wanted the ship for any technologies or data it would hold. Again, this presented a dilemma. He could just allow them to scourge space for any remains of the ship and hope that they never find anything. Doing that will make him indebted to SHIELD, and they will be dealing with him from a position of strength, especially if they find something.

He blinked as an idea came to his mind. It was going to expose him somewhat, but it would nicely counterweight his position on Earth, especially with Fury watching this exchange.

"You don't have to worry, Agent Coulson. I will search for any remains of my ship myself. There is no need to waste your resources." said Cerion before he took a few steps back from Coulson, who looked on in confusion.

He took a deep breath and bent his legs a little bit, and then, with a boom, he was away, flying into the air. He could feel the gravity of Earth trying to drag him down, but having lived in Krypton, Earth's gravity felt like a gentle tug. He could feel a force field covering his entire body, and suddenly, he punched through the air with no more barriers to hold him down. A sonic boom was left in his wake as his body cut through the air, completely overtaking the speed of sound. He was among the clouds, and it was just pure joy coursing through his mind.

"Whhhhoooooo."

He let out a whoop of joy as one of his greatest wishes came true. He has attained the ability for unaided flight. Wingsuit and Base jumping can fuck off as the sky was now his oyster.

2nd January 2000

The sun was setting slowly in the distance, and Coulson began to make his way to the special quarters that SHIELD hadassigned for their extraterrestrial guest. It has not been easy for most SHIELD agents to stay in the base, knowing that they housed a being who possessed powers far beyond their imagination. The only one who was experienced in dealing with super-powered beings was Nick Fury. But the Director had chosen to take a back seat and charged him to deal with their new guest.

Cerion-Vex represented a great opportunity or a great deal of calamity for Earth. It was Coulson's duty to properly vet him. Already, the threat level of Cerion had gone up after he demonstrated he could fly straight out of Earth's orbit well beyond Mach 9 speed with no external aid. From that single incident, it was easy to predict other possible powers of their guest. Super strength well beyond even the dreams of Captain America was a sure thing.

All SHIELD analysts were absolutely sure that there was nothing physical that could ever hurt Vex. If the guy could survive flying at speeds that even the most advanced rockets in NASA's arsenal could not, then the guy's strength was off the charts. Other projected abilities include enhanced senses, extreme resistance to basic elements and super speed. Frankly, even the projected abilities were terrifying to behold and he wondered just what other powers Vex possessed. It was imperative to assess what his intentions were, as he knew it was a bad idea to just ask the guy to get out of their planet.

Turning a corner, he found himself outside the door to the quarters assigned for Vex. He knocked on the door three times and stepped back a little bit.

"Mr Vex. Can I come in?"

"Please do come in, Agent Coulson."

Coulson opened the door and let himself inside.

"I see you have started working on the drone promptly." said Coulson as he moved closer to Cerion who quickly finished what he was doing to properly greet Coulson.

"The quicker I restore the drones, the quicker I can restore my ship or what's left of it."

Coulson nodded in understanding. The Director was not happy to learn that the wreckage of the alien ship was now safely tucked away inside a giant hole on the moon. The only thing that Vex brought back from the wreckage to Earth were several drones that he claimed would help speed up the ship's restoration. Unfortunately, the drones were in bad shape and needed some patchwork.

"Anything that you need to speed up the process?"

"Oh no. What you have provided so far is more than enough to restore the drones. The real challenge will be the ship itself." said Cerion as he sat opposite Coulson.

"I gathered that, which is why this conversation is important. Director Fury has agreed to vouch for your asylum on Earth, but know that this will be a tough position to sell to our government. The last time a group of aliens visited us, they tried to bomb us back to the Stone Age with their fleet. Many among our government will be against helping you rebuild your ship."

"You need something in return for your aid, and it will keep you clear from your government's pressure." Vex said with a straight face.

"Exactly." Coulson nodded, but he kept the truth in his mind.

The 'government' was not going to hear anything from SHIELD. The only ones who will be informed will be the President of the United States and the World Security Council.

"Let's negotiate."

That statement was followed by almost a three-hour-long discussion. In the end, Coulson retreated back from Vex's quarters with a satisfied smile. He was careful to make his expression impassive when he handed over a detailed report to Director Fury regarding the finer points of the deal he made with Vex.

"So he agrees to share his technology and aid us in developing our own in military, space, energy, manufacturing, cyber and medical fields in return for asylum and material help in restoring his spaceship. He also promises to work with SHIELD to defend Earth from any extraterrestrial threat so long as he is granted citizenship on Earth. Those are some good terms." Fury commented as he read through the report.

"I have catalogued all the technologies that Cerion has promised to provide in a separate document according to categories." said Coulson, and Fury acknowledged him with a nod.

"What about the DNA sample as well as his consent for some tests?" asked Fury

"Denied the both of them. He is prohibited by his government from sharing DNA of himself or that of any Kryptonian with other races. That is a fundamental law on their planet. Kryptonians are also forbidden to procreate with other races in the Universe."

"If he is the last Kryptonian, then how exactly does he think he can rebuild their race?" asked Fury.

"I asked that, sir. According to Vex, Krypton has stopped having natural births for thousands of years. I have included that in a detailed report about Kryptonian history and how modern Krypton was shaped as a result."

"Hmm. The Council will be disappointed at not getting a DNA sample. But we have ways to collect that, don't we, Coulson?"

"Already on it, sir. We will be sweeping his room for every scrap of samples."

"Good. Have you gleaned any of his future plans?" asked Fury.

"At the moment, he is concentrating on rebuilding the ship. After that, he wants to search the wreckage of his planet and search for any survivors."

"Hmm. I will take this to the Council. But I don't have to tell you to keep an eye on our guest." said Fury with his one-eyed stare.

"You don't have to worry about that, sir. I've got it covered." said Coulson before getting ready to leave.

"Coulson."

Halfway to the door, he paused and turned around.

"Yes, sir?"

"Have you thought of where he would stay for the duration of his stay?"

"No, sir."

"You better start thinking."

"Will do, sir."

«

"How is it looking out there, Optima?" Cerion asked as he floated close to the wreckage of his ship on the moon's surface.

"Many of the ship's thrusters, life support systems, landing gears, anti-gravity thrusters and hall-thrusters are all damaged. There are structural defects that will take almost a year to patch up. That timeframe may even be pushed back since we can't access a docking bay."

Cerion let out a disappointed sigh at Optima's analysis. Just as he feared, it would take forever to rebuild the ship without a resourceful dockyard and a building bay. With the limited resources at his disposal, it was already going to take a year to restore all drones to working conditions. Then, there was the power source to consider. The Phantom Drive had completely demolished the power source and engine. He would've had to build the entire thing from scratch, which was a huge problem.

To power up the ship, he needed to reinstall the power source, which was better said than done. Kryptonian ships worked on enriched nuclear fuel, and he doubted SHIELD was going to just hand over nuclear fuel to him. Besides, he didn't really want to depend on SHIELD too much. If they realised that he was in desperate need of nuclear fuel, they would squeeze him out for everything he was worth.

Of course, he could go full-on big bad alien way to get things done, but that would only create unnecessary enemies. Stealing Uranium or Plutonium was the next option, but that was a stupid idea. Every single intelligence agency in the world would be keeping an eye on nuclear fuel. A theft like that would only attract too much attention, and he won't ever be able to steal again. The third option was to mine the Uranium from asteroids, which was a waste of time. Even if he somehow managed to mine the bloody thing, he would still need to enrich and process the fuel, which he can't do on the moon.

So that left the fourth and final option, which was to completely remove the power source and create a new one. Fortunately, he knew just where to get such a power source. It was also one of the reasons he chose to openly cooperate with the US govt. It gave him easy access to their communication systems and access to a whole lot of valuable data legally.

"Do work on restoring those drones, Optima. I have some unfinished business on Earth."

Having said that, he flew away from the moon straight to Earth. It took him two months to properly set up a power-generating station on the moon using solar panels from old satellites and other space probes floating around in space. That was a temporary solution because sooner the drones would require large quantities of energy for longer hours of work.

The immediate outer space of Earth was a junkyard filled with used up rockets, old satellites and other kinds of solid waste. But along with this junk hundreds of working satellites spun around in fixed orbits. These satellites were the key to almost all information ever recorded in the history of the human race.

For Cerion, it was a goldmine he needed to fulfil his needs.

That's why he built a stealth drone on the moon and sent it barrelling straight for a satellite owned by Stark Industries. While he could've taken anything he wanted from Earth itself without much fuss, using the satellite was a cleaner way. Also, he felt a bit queasy about stealing stuff using his own hands, like a common thief. His moral senses tingled less when he was using Optima to do his dark deeds.

'I'll have to look into that little mind block. It might not be a healthy way of living.' Cerion thought.

But desperate times called for desperate measures.

He had thought of the pros and cons of this plan. The Arc Reactor was something that would be an answer to his energy problem. Now, he could've extracted that information from Anton Vanko in Russia. He suspected both father and son might be under surveillance by Russian intelligence agencies or even the CIA, and he was not going to underestimate humans like some cliché villain. He had come this far by careful planning and meticulous execution of those plans. He was not going to suddenly throw away years of vigilance just because he was in possession of superpowers.

As the stealth drone slowly made its way towards the satellite of Stark Industries, he waited patiently at NASA's research facility in West Virginia. SHIELD thought it'd be beneficial for NASA and SHIELD to work on a new project. The project was to develop a Quinjet that worked on anti-gravity technology for propulsion. From what he understood so far, the US Air Force and NASA had done several projects together to develop the same technology, but all ended in failure. Even Howard Stark, the resident genius who propelled the USA into the next millennium, failed in gravity manipulation. The man did manage to perfect Maglev with the limited technology he had access to. All the humans lacked was an essential component to truly understand gravity, and with that, they would have mastered the last fundamental force of the physical universe.

"Many have tried in the past, Dr. Vex, but all of those attempts ended in failure. What makes you think that you can succeed? For that matter, why does SHIELD think you can succeed?" asked Daniel Hoffman, the director of NASA.

"All previous attempts failed because of the lack of an essential component for understanding gravity and its effects on space-time." said Cerion, facing the director and other scientists that NASA had called into the meeting room. Even a few among the SHIELD research team were present in the room. While most of the SHIELD team was filled with researchers, there was one glaring exception, and that was Maria Hill. She posed as a programmer slash astrophysicist, but he knew that she was here to keep an eye on him.

"And what would that component be?" asked the Director with some healthy scepticism. The guy had no idea that he was speaking to an alien.

"Negative mass."

His answer garnered a scoff from the collective scientists in the room. Cerion noticed that the SHIELD scientists refrained from doing that, and he deduced they were in the know of his origins.

"Negative mass is an impossibility, Dr Vex."

"Only according to Einstein, but according to me, it is possible."

"And we should believe you because…?"

"Because negative mass can be created if one can master electron compression. You don't have to take my word for it. I can prove it to you." said Cerion before he placed a small box on the table. Opening the box, he took out a small black disc the size of his palm. He activated its energy core, and the disc floated harmlessly in the air, to everyone's shock.

"As you can see, this small disc can defy the gravity of Earth. Now, while it is simple to defy Earth's gravity, it is quite another thing to control propulsion through anti-gravity technology. I am, of course, talking about vessels inside the earth's atmosphere. It will get more complicated once outside of earth's atmosphere."

It was not considerably complicated to make anti-grav thrusters that can function in outer space but he didn't say anything of that sort to the crowd before him. He didn't want SHIELD and, in lieu, HYDRA to gain space superiority until he had properly come up with a plan to deal with the Nazis hiding in plain sight. He needed a plan to smoke them out and destroy them. But he was also mindful of the local politics involved on Earth. The balance of power was currently enforced through nukes. He didn't want any new tech to radically change that status quo because of his actions.

So, his plan was to string them along for as long as possible until he came up with a viable plan to ensure his tech didn't fall into the wrong hands.

"How did you…? Why haven't we heard of you before?" asked a completely flummoxed Director of NASA.

"Probably because of SHIELD." Cerion just shrugged. Let them come to their own conclusions.

He began to distribute the written paper on electron compression and how to synthesise the negative mass in the physical plane. It was a long explanation, and he had to study all the technical terms used on Earth to properly present the paper, but in the end, the project got full permission and funding. The project would start within the next two months. A new crew of engineers had to be allowed, and then the necessary equipment had to be procured. After two months, he was going to be locked inside the facility. So, he guessed that he had two months to procure the arc reactor technology.

The ride back to his apartment went without any major incident. The only complaint he had was the companion he was forced to take the ride with.

"What mode of transportation do you use in Krypton, Dr. Vex?" Maria Hill asked as she drove the car through Henry Street in Willowdale.

The woman was a sponge and gathered intelligence using whatever means necessary. So, he had his game face up and never gave anything substantial away.

"They are mostly speeders used by the common people. If you are rich, then there are advanced hovercrafts that are basically spaceships, but they will not be able to go beyond the planet's atmosphere."

"Why use other modes of transportation if you can fly?" Agent Hill asked curiously.

That question from Agent Hill was a tricky one. He had not yet explained that his powers only worked in the presence of a Yellow Sun, and he never will. He was not foolish enough to give SHIELD or mankind information regarding his powers.

"We had several restrictions on using our powers. Not everyone is skilled enough to fly around on our planet. Krypton's gravity was much stronger than that of Earth. This also factored into the increased reliance on vehicles for transportation."

"I see." Agent Hill hummed as she turned the car around a corner and slowed down before stopping before an eight-storied building.

"Well, my stop has arrived. Would you like a cup of tea?" he offered as he stepped out of the car into the street.

"Some other time Doc. Call me if you need anything, Dr Vex."

"I will, and thank you for the ride, Miss Hill."

"Call me Maria."

"Then I insist that you call me Cerion."

"See you soon, Cerion. Take care of yourself." said Maria as she shook hands with him and then drove off.

Cerion got to admit the woman was a good spy. The entire conversation felt normal, which was sort of what the SHIELD agent was angling for.

He fastened his side bag on his shoulder and slowly made his way inside the building.

"Back in early, Mr. Vex?" the security guard asked as he held open the door for him.

"It's not early enough to see my favourite TV show, George." He joked lightly, but as he stepped into the lobby, it was filled with couches, cardboard boxes, some light furniture, and numerous appliances.

"Who…what is this, George?" he asked in surprise.

"You've got a new neighbour, Mr Vex." said Geroge, and that worried Cerion.

"That's great." He said as he made his way for the elevator.

He worried that an agent was being drafted to keep a close watch on him. He knew that two agents were keeping an eye on him from across the street. SHIELD had learned not to install monitoring devices in the building after he systematically destroyed them in the last two months of his stay. From then on, they had only kept an eye on him through the agents in the opposite building, which was a shame. he enjoyed the cat-and-mouse play and the hunt for monitoring devices. It had become a recreational activity for him.

As he stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor, he expected the Black Widow, Hawkeye, or some other agent of SHIELD. Contrary to all his expectations, he was staring into Natalie Portman's face.

The surprise only lasted for a few seconds before he regained his beatings.

"Hi. I am Jane Foster. I just moved in here. Are you by chance Cerion Vex?" she asked with a bubbly persona.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Foster. I am Cerion. How do you know that I live here?" he asked as he shook hands with her.

It took a considerable amount of effort not to address her as Miss Portman. As a Star Wars fan, Natalie Portman was someone that he held in very high regard.

"My friend is Janet Cornell. She told me about you."

"Ah! The lady running the café a few blocks from here?"

"Yes." Jane smiled brightly, "She told me about you, and I needed an apartment close to my University."

"You study in Culver?" he asked, and it was then that he remembered that Jane Foster was an alumnus of Culver University.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of interesting individuals in Culver right now. He shook those thoughts away to listen properly to what Jane Foster was saying.

"I am studying under Erik Selvig. Of course, I know that you are an astrophysicist," she said with obvious excitement.

"How do you know that?" he asked, flummoxed.

He certainly had never divulged what his profession was to her or her friend in the café.

"Before moving here my father looked up the people of this whole block. He is paranoid that way. Sorry." she looked a little bashful now.

At least he could somewhat be less wary of Jane Foster. He was sure she was not here on SHIELD business. She would make a shitty spy but he was still on guard.

"I guess you are welcome to the neighbourhood."

"Thank you."

Good God, the woman had a beaming smile plastered on her face. If it weren't for his experience with dealing with this kind of shit, then he would have gone full fan-crazy on her. That'd have been disastrous in so many ways, and that thought kept him anchored to reality.

"You need any help with those things down in the lobby?" Cerion offered.

"Oh, no need. The guard outside offered his help."

"George is getting on his years, Miss Foster. I think it would be better if I helped. Just wait a little bit."

"You can call me Jane."

"Ok, Jane. Call me Cerion." he smiled,

Having made a new friend, he was in high spirits for the rest of the night. He left his bag inside his apartment and started to help move everything up into Jane Foster's apartment.

When he returned to his apartment, Optima was waiting for him with all the data that he would need from the satellite. Just as he was about to activate Optima and study the data she gathered, the space before him warped, and what looked like see-through crystals suddenly began to form.

"Greetings to you, Mr Vex. It has been many centuries since I've seen a Celestial face to face."

A voice spoke from his back and he turned around to find a bald woman dressed in a golden silk robe. The only thing going through his mind was, 'Oh fuck!'.

The Ancient One lounged on a bright red couch. She wondered whether she could add a couch like this one to Kamar Taj. Truly, this couch was better than what she had back home. Some paintings would also not be remiss, as many masters had complained about a lack of colours in the sanctum.

"Tea." Cerion offered, and she took the drink with a customary thank you.

"You know this is the only peaceful conversation that I have ever held with a Celestial. Usually, it devolves into outright threats and then a full-blown fight," she said as she took a sip of the tea.

She had to admit that she preferred her own tea, as this one did not meet her taste buds' expectations.

"You repeatedly call me a Celestial, but I am not one. My race is known as Kryptonian."

"Truly?" she raised an eyebrow.

The fact that the Time Stone was not at all able to predict Cerion's future was clue enough that the being sitting in front of her was a Celestial or at least on par with a Celestial.

"Yes."

"I am sorry to say that your lies will do you no good with me. You may fool the humans, but I happen to know that there is no Krypton in this vast Cosmos."

She was alerted to the moment when a powerful presence was brought inside Earth's atmosphere. The only reason the shields projected by the sanctums allowed Cerion entry was because humans were the ones to bring him to Earth. The magical shield that enveloped the Earth was specifically designed to keep the prime bodies of Celestials out from Earth. There are ways around the shielding, but she had plugged those gaps after one Celestial managed to breach through the shields some twenty years ago.

"I am telling you no lie. You just assumed that Krypton was a planet in your universe. I never said that I am from your universe."

Now, that piqued her interest.

"Are you claiming to be from another universe?" she asked with a healthy dose of scepticism.

"Yes, and before you ask, most of the people in that universe do not exist here. It took me some time to put that together properly."

Now, that was unexpected but not the strangest thing she had heard in her lifetime.

"Please do elaborate." she prodded.

"Most of the people here have a very different profession and names. For example, the Director of SHIELD was an actor on Earth. The same is true for Jane Foster, who has moved in recently across the hall. Even your alter ego was an actor on the Earth I knew. In my home universe, there was no Captain America or Super Soldiers in general. There was an intergalactic policing force called Green Lanterns in my home universe, but here, nothing of that sort exists. There are a trillion other differences between our worlds, and I have not even scratched the surface."

"I see. So, you are an outer being like Dormammu." she muttered to herself with a perplexed look.

"Who?" asked Cerion with a baffled look.

"Dormammu is an outer being like yourself. This explains why you have been absorbing the life energy of the universe like a sponge." she explained patiently as her mind raced with thoughts.

"I did what now? What are you talking about?" he asked in surprise.

"Oh, dear. You have no idea what you have been doing all this time?" she was now genuinely shocked and that happened rarely.

"I flew around a little bit, and I did some corporate theft. Other than that, I've never done anything that could threaten this planet."

She couldn't find any lies, and the Cerion looked honest enough. Now, what to do? The Ancient One frowned thoughtfully at the alien being before her.

"What do you know of magic or dimensional energies?" she asked, leaning forward with a sense of urgency.

"Next to nothing other than the fact that they are supposed to be a fundamental force that governs the Universe."

"If you know nothing of magic or dimensional energies in general, then how are you absorbing the humongous energies at a rate that even baffles an experienced Celestial?" she asked in surprise.

"My powers come from absorbing the Yellow Sun's radiation impinging on this planet. Kryptonian genes absorb any and all radiation, especially gamma radiation."

"I am afraid you are not just absorbing radiations from the Sun. You are absorbing a huge amount of dimensional energy. This universe has an abundance of varying energies because of the unique way it took birth. These energies have already made a wide variety of changes in your body. I think you have not noticed this till now because your body has yet to reach its limit in absorbing these energies." she explained patiently.

"What changes?" Cerion asked with a flummoxed expression.

"Your cells are no longer dying out, Mr Vex. It is one of the prime reasons that SHIELD has yet to procure a dead cell from your bed sheets or garbage. Essentially, your body has become immune to time."

«

"Agent Coulson, report."

"Sir, we have not been able to procure a DNA sample much less a hair or a cell from Mr Vex." said Coulson in a calm voice even if he was on the business end of Fury's stare.

"Three months and not a single sample from our alien guest?" Fury asked incredulously.

"Yes, sir."

"We do have Hill on the field, right?"

"Yes, sir." Coulson nodded.

"And yet we haven't got a single genetic sample from our guest. Why?"

"We have accessed all his personal belongings, clothes, watch, bed sheets, carpet and even the garbage, but we have not found any traces of genetic samples. Our best possible guess is that he cleans up neatly or there is nothing to clean up." said Coulson, pursing his lips.

"Do elaborate Coulson." said Fury with some confusion.

"Several of our analysts believe that Mr Vex simply does not age like normal humans. Another group is of the opinion that he does not age at all."

"So, you are telling me that we have an immortal alien amongst us?" Fury asked in disbelief.

"Not exactly, sir. It is entirely possible that this is due to Mr Vex's physiology. He has not at all shared anything about Kryptonian genetics with us." Coulson reminded his boss.

For a time, Fury remained silent, looking thoughtfully at the table in his room while drumming his fingers against the hardwood surface.

"What do you think about him?" Fury asked finally.

"Every psych profile we have of Mr Vex puts him as friendly. Agent Hill also speaks favourably of him."

"What else she has to say about him?" asked Fury.

"He does not mix well with large crowds. She thinks he is physically restraining himself to behave in a certain way to blend in," said Coulson before he hastily added, "This was something our analysts predicted, as extraterrestrial lifeforms may have a different relationship with time than humans."

"Do you think it was a bad idea to throw him out into the open?" asked Fury as he scrolled through the images taken by the agents assigned to keep an eye on Cerion.

"Locking him up in our base would have been counterproductive. There was a significant chance that he would have turned hostile at some point. We did clock him as a friendly in our initial assessment. Having him operate in the open has done some good to him, and we did collect a ton of data without pissing off a super-powered alien." said Coulson with a shrug. "I would say the risks were there but very minimal, and the decision was a sound one. Anyway, it seems to work out in the end."

Coulson nodded at a picture of Cerion with a woman in a café.

"Who am I looking at?" asked Fury.

"That would be Jane Foster, sir. She is a research fellow in Culver."

"Their relationship?"

"They are neighbours, as Miss Foster lives opposite Mr Vex's room. As far as we know, they are friends."

"Keep an eye on them."

"Will do sir." Coulson nodded before he hesitated.

Fury didn't miss the look that passed through Coulson's face.

"Come off it, Coulson."

"Sir, shouldn't we have asked him about the Kree, Skrull or any other extraterrestrial civilizations out there?" asked Coulson.

After all, any intel on alien civilizations were a goldmine and if it could be delivered freely all the better.

"I don't want to spook him. Besides, we don't know whether Krypton has any standing alliances with the Kree. If they do, then I don't want any possible blowback affecting us in any way. We just found someone with similar powers to Carol Danvers, and I would like to build some trust with our guest." said Fury, leaning back into his seat and casting a speculative eye on the image of Cerion Vex and Jane Foster.

"Let him roam the Earth under our watch and let things progress organically. Sooner or later, he will develop attachments on our planet and that we will exploit for the safety and security of this planet."

"Sir, there is also another potential problem." said Coulson which made Fury raise an eyebrow in interest.

"We have been monitoring the status of Mr Vex's ship using our satellites orbiting the moon. There is a distinct possibility that other space agencies will pick up the ship's location, especially with all the solar panels clustering around the ship's general location." said Coulson

"That is not good," Fury said with a sigh. "We cannot exactly transport the ship into our atmosphere. We do not have a spacecraft capable of doing such a thing, and even if it was possible, there would be security risks. A space mission of that scale will not go unnoticed."

"What do we do sir? If anyone gets an idea of what's going on then the situation will spin out of our control." said Coulson

Fury stood up from his seat and stared at the bright sky outside. The sun was about to go out, but the sky remained as bright as it could be. A few minutes later, he made a decision.

"Clear my schedule on Friday. I think it's time that I pay a visit to our alien friend."

"How am I doing?" asked Cerion, sitting cross-legged on the floor of his apartment with his eyes closed.

"You are doing very well, Cerion. Your energy output is steady, but it could be better. Now, slowly open your eyes and see for yourself." said the Ancient One.

Cerion did exactly that and he saw that a bubble of energy was surrounding him. The bubble was silver-white on the outside but he could actually feel the energy that was now thrumming in his veins.

"You are doing good, Cerion. Now, concentrate and absorb back the energy into your body."

He did as the Ancient One suggested and folded the energy bubble into himself. When the process was complete, he was on his feet and did a fist pump. "Yes!" He was mindful of his actions as he didn't want to accidentally blow the upper levels of the building.

"There is a long way yet to go, but for the moment, this is an improvement," said the Ancient One, snapping her fingers to dismiss the Mirror Dimension.

"But I am improving, right?"

"Indeed." she nodded. "You've managed to exert some control over the energy inside your body. But our task is to control the energy intake into your body, which is easier said than done. The time dilation field has disenchanted one of the most essential links between your soul and body. I have seen this happen, and it will take time for your body to sync with the energy you now wield."

"I will get there eventually. After all, we have only practised this for a week and that too in your presence." said Cerion before sinking into a couch with a bottle of beer in his hand.

He had noticed some subtle ageing on his body and had assumed it was the result of his exposure to Yellow Sun radiation or a time dilation field. It was the Ancient One that confirmed the time dilation theory. He had no reason to disbelieve her as she would be the foremost expert on anything related to time. His eyes scanned for the Time Stone on her person, but he came up empty.

"Speaking of which, how is your Sanskrit learning?" asked the Ancient One as she sat opposite him on a couch, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"It's coming along well, though I don't have much time to spare," Cerion admitted. "But I am trying my best with the time I have. It is not exactly an easy language to learn on the fly."

"Hmm... that's good. You will have to spend some time in Kamar Taj. There is a limit to which I can teach you if you are on this side of the globe."

"I will have to cut into the time of my work on the ship. Not to mention, SHIELD will notice that I am missing from the crash site. I don't want to alarm them even more without due cause."

"Don't you worry. An opportunity will present itself soon enough. Do train with the sling ring Cerion. I've got a feeling that you'll be needing it shortly."

Having said her piece, the Ancient One stood up from the couch and created a portal in a jiffy.

"What do you mean by that?" Cerion asked with a frown as he, too, stood up.

"You'll see." Ancient One said with a smile before her eyes flickered to the door. "Answer your door."

Before he could ask what that meant, the Ancient One stepped into the portal, which closed up in a jiffy. For a short moment, he stared blankly at the space where the portal was before a knock on the door distracted him.

Making sure there was nothing out of the ordinary in his room, he opened the door, only to let out an internal sigh of relief as his late-night guest turned out to be Jane Foster. Only two weeks had passed since Jane Foster moved into the apartment across from his own. In that short time, a tentative friendship had blossomed between them.

"Do you know what time it is?" Jane asked with a cross look on her face.

Her raven hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a white hoodie over a white round neck shirt with black jeans. It looked as if she was dressed to go out which she usually doesn't do often at night.

"Mmm…" that was all he could let out as his brain short-circuited for a moment.

"It's quarter past seven. Did you forget that today was takeout night?" asked Jane, and it was then that everything clicked into clarity for him.

"Ah, I simply forgot about that. Just let me get my jacket."

He hurried back into his bedroom and plucked a jacket out of his closet. A few minutes later, he was walking beside Jane through the street on the way to a nearby restaurant.

"How come you forgot this was the takeout night?" asked Jane.

"Contrary to your belief, I do have to work during the day. I was simply busy with some work and forgot."

"Oh. It must've been interesting stuff if you forgot the takeout?" asked Jane said innocently.

"Mmhm." Cerion hummed noncommittally.

"There are a lot of works being done on String theory."

"Is there?" he asked absently as they crossed a road.

"Maybe supersymmetry?" Jane fished unabashedly.

"I see what you are doing."

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You are trying to find out what I am working on." Cerion accused her with a flat stare.

"Hey, you can't blame a girl for being curious." defended Jane

"Have you ever heard the saying curiosity killed the cat?" asked Cerion just before they reached the restaurant and held out the door for Jane.

"Only in passing." said Jane before hopping inside.

"Figures." he mumbled before following her inside.

He took a seat across from Jane at their usual table.

"So, what are you having today?" Jane asked as she browsed the menu provided by the waitress.

"I wanted to try Thai food. Mmm…." He browsed through the dishes until, finally, his eyes struck gold. "I think I will have Panang Curry."

"Truly! Have you ever had Thai food before?" asked Jane with a look of concentration as she went through the menu.

"Once or twice. You?"

"Never tried any so far. Is it any good?" asked Jane.

"Trust me, you will love it." He said with a thumbs up.

"What the hell. I might as well try this one. Panang Curry, was it?"

Eventually, both of them ordered the dish and tucked in.

"Mmm…." Jane moaned. "It tastes good."

"Far better than the horrible thing you cooked in your kitchen, right?" Cerion asked with a grin.

"I seem to remember that you were not much better." said Jane, waving her fork threateningly, not at all happy to be reminded of her failed attempt at cooking.

"I am just out of practice. Give me one month, and I will surprise you," he challenged.

"How about a bet?" asked Jane.

"The stakes?" he leaned forward in interest.

"April 30 will be the deadline. You learn to cook within that time, and if you impress me, I will give you….." Jane thought hard but couldn't come up with anything.

"Give me a personal tour of your college, especially your lab. And I'll get access to your research notes," he said with a victorious grin.

"Hey, that's too much…." She trailed off as an idea came to her mind.

A smile blossomed on her face as she realised she could turn this around.

"Alright, I will give you a tour of the college and access to my lab. My research notes are off the table, but I can agree to unrestricted access to my research under several conditions."

"Name them." Cerion steepled his fingers and looked interested.

"You have to impress me with your cooking, which is a given." Jane ticked off one of her fingers.

"Alright." Cerion agreed.

"You have to tell me where you work right now, and when I win the bet, you have to tell me all about exactly what you are working on. Deal?" she offered her hand, which he shook after thinking things through.

"That's awfully skewed in your favour, but since I already know where you hang your coat, I'm game." Cerion said after a brief moment of thought. "You have a deal, Jane."

"So, tell me, exactly where do you work?" asked Jane. "It's been bugging me for a long time."

Cerion merely fished his ID card from the pocket of his jeans and slid it across the table. He did enjoy Jane's wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression, which, if nothing else, made his day.

Before he could tease her, his phone rang. Knowing that only very few people knew his number, he deduced this was a call that demanded immediate attention.

"Hello."

"We haven't met yet, but I would like to meet you. Just turn your head to the left." A sharp voice spoke from the phone.

Version turned his head to the left, and sure enough, there was a black dude in a full dark emo pirate theme standing outside in the street.

"I am Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD. We need to talk."

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Vex by Dragonspectre01

DC Superheroes & Avengers Xover Rated: M, English, Fantasy & Adventure, OC, Agent Phil Coulson, Agent Maria Hill, Jane Foster, Words: 132k+, Favs: 3k+, Follows: 4k+, Published: Nov 18, 2020 Updated: Jul 11

1,351Chapter 5: CH5: A rented island

6 April 2000

"Concentrate and sharpen your energy a bit more."

Cerion did as he was told; he pushed in more energy to increase the density step by step. Contrary to his wishes, a tidal wave of energy rushed out through his palms, breaking the structural integrity of the energy construct.

"You seem to be a bit distracted today. What happened?" asked the Ancient One, who was overseeing his training to control the energy flow within his body.

It was an uphill battle to take control of his energy, but the Ancient One was a patient teacher even though he was not a patient student.

He let out a sigh and took a seat on the floor of his apartment. "I just had a conversation with Nick Fury a few days back."

"I gather it didn't go well." commented the Ancient One with an understanding nod.

"Oh, you have no idea…" Cerion muttered as he thought of that conversation.

"So, how has Earth been treating you?" asked Fury.

Cerion looked at the leader of one of the largest spy organisations on Earth from the corner of his eyes. Both of them were sitting on a side bench by the street across from the restaurant. He could see Jane was patiently waiting for him in the restaurant.

"The air is fresh, food is good, music is enjoyable, movies are good…"

"And people?" asked Fury, smoothly cutting in.

"There are a lot of people, and I emphasise the lot," he said, as it was quite difficult to control his senses with so many people around.

It was getting difficult to shut out the world and catch a few hours of sleep.

"Is that an issue?" asked Fury with an unreadable stare.

"No… it's just difficult to get used to, but I'll manage." said Cerion before directing a curious stare at the Director of SHIELD.

"What brings you here, Director Fury?"

"A situation has come up recently regarding your ship." said Fury, eyeing Cerion keenly.

"My ship?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. It has been brought to my attention that there is a strong possibility that other space agencies of our planet may detect the presence of your ship."

"So you want me to move the ship away from the moon?" asked Cerion.

"Yeah. Is that doable?" asked Fury

Frankly, Cerion couldn't even entertain the thought of moving his ship anywhere. As of right now, his 'ship' was just a pile of metal with minimal structural integrity. Moving it across space would undo all of the patchwork he had done till now. Not to mention he would have to move it piece by piece as the ship was in fragments.

'Then there is the matter of transportation. Just how exactly am I supposed to transport…'

A light bulb blinked to life in his head, and he subtly palmed the sling ring in his pant's left pocket. Half the problem could be solved by using the sling ring, but there was still the matter of an exact location to secure his ship. In the end, he had no choice. It was in his interest to keep his ship's existence away from the general public.

"I can try." he found himself saying in the end.

"Good. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. You are in contact with Agent Coulson, aren't you?"

"Of course." Cerion said, and he remained seated while Fury stood up.

"In that case, it's time for me to take my leave. Please keep us in the loop when you decide to move your ship from the moon," said Fury as he made his way to take his leave.

"Director Fury, we are not finished," said Cerion, hardly moving from his seated position.

Cerion could hear Fury's increasing heart rate as the Director turned towards him.

"You have something else to discuss?" asked Fury, smoothing out his face and looked curiously at him.

"Please sit, Director." said Cerion, and he patiently kept his silence until Fury sat back on the bench.

"I will not be keeping you appraised of my ship's location or its status anymore."

"But…"

Cerion didn't give the man time to comment as he turned on him with a glare. He noted Fury was palming a gun inside his trench coat.

Yeah, like that's gonna help, he thought with a mental scoff.

"When I first made contact with your organisation, we made a pact. I would share my technology and expertise and help to advance the human race. I asked for very little in return, including the safety of Kryptonian genetics. You promised not to seek Kryptonian DNA, and you have been trying your best to secure it. You have violated an agreement made in good faith. Your actions will have consequences, Director Fury. I won't work with liars and thieves. You can expect unilateral adjustments in our agreement from my side as well. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Good day to you, Director Fury."

Having said that, he promptly walked across the street, refusing to heed Nick Fury's calls.

"That's what happened."

"Hmm… Was it necessary to antagonise the Director of SHIELD? You have only made them see you more as a threat now." said the Ancient One.

"They were already seeing me as a threat. Besides I needed to establish some ground rules in this alliance. I did give them most of what they asked. The least they could have done was to show a little respect to the agreement we signed in good faith."

"I would say it was an overreaction on your part. You could have handled it better." said the Ancient One

"I probably could have." he admitted reluctantly.

"What has happened has happened. There is no point in overthinking it. Have you moved the ship yet?"

"No." Cerion shook his head. "I've not yet decided on a location. Speaking of which, I will be needing your help to move my ship."

"Oh really?"

"I am no expert in using the sling ring. You saw how my energy constructs are. Any portal I create will lack cohesion. I would only damage my ship further if I tried to use the sling ring to transport it."

"Why exactly do you even need the ship? There is no point in searching for Krypton as I promise you your planet does not exist in this cosmos."

"I believe you, but if I restore the ship, I can access the rest of the universe. There is a chance that I can find a decent planet to restart the Kryptonian race." he said, but the Ancient One merely shook her head.

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" asked the Ancient One.

"What do you mean?" Cerion frowned at the Ancient One.

"You do know you are immortal, and I assume you are going to use Krypton's cloning technology to repopulate the universe with your race."

"What are you saying?"

The Ancient One let out a long suffering sigh as she looked into her lap, gathering her thoughts.

"Just think about what you will unleash upon the universe if you clone yourself. The Universe will be filled with beings that will absorb untold amounts of dimensional energies. The balance of cosmos will fail with the existence of more Kryptonians. By attempting to raise Krypton you will erase the rest of the Universe." said the Ancient One.

"You can't be sure of that." he argued.

"I'm afraid I can. Now that you have taken the dimensional energies into your body I can see your future more clearly."

"My future?" Cerion blinked as he gave the woman a curious look.

"Well, bits and pieces of possible outcomes would be the correct answer. If you make clones based on your DNA, you will doom this reality to death."

"How?" Cerion stared incredulously at the sorceress. "I'm sure there are other immortal beings out there?"

"Indeed. And how will they take it when a race of immortals that suck the very life force of the universe suddenly appears in large numbers."

His eyes widened in realisation.

"War." he said grimly.

Power attracts more power and he could see why the Ancient One was showing him. But at the same time, stopping the progression of his race didn't sit well with him either.

"War." The Ancient One agreed. "But not just any war. It'll be a war that will shred even the tiniest of atoms. This universe will simply cease to exist."

Now, that had to be hyperbole, but he didn't call her on that.

"Is that why you restrict my knowledge about the mystic arts?" he asked instead.

"To an extent, yes." the Ancient One nodded serenely, "I cannot predict how you or any of your future descendants will turn out. If you turn against this reality, then an adequate defence against you must be mounted. The Order of Mystic Arts was formed to defend this reality against beings like yourself. It will be counterproductive to our efforts to teach you our secrets, and at the same time, it would be remiss to leave you uninformed."

"But I don't intend to be a threat to humanity."

"For now. Can you give an absolute guarantee that you won't become an enemy of humanity? Even the minute possibility of you turning against humanity is a chance that we can't ignore. The same can be said about SHIELD's actions."

"So you are defending their actions now?" Cerion couldn't help but feel like he made a blunder in coming to Earth or at least making himself accessible to many of Earth's inhabitants.

"No, Cerion." she said patiently, "I am merely giving you a little bit of insight lest you come to hasty conclusions. Try to see things from other perspectives."

For a moment, the two of them remained silent. He believed that the Ancient One was being somewhat paranoid, but he understood where she was coming from. That didn't mean he had to like it.

This, more than anything, made him realise that he had to find alternate lodgings. No matter what, his efforts to blend in with humanity were not going to work. Sooner or later, he would get exposed, and a lot of people would see a threat in him. It was natural to feel fear, but there was a chance that it could truly make humanity unreasonable. He remembered the whole mutant scare in the MCU, but thankfully, he had heard no tale of mutants so far.

"I suppose I can understand why SHIELD did what it did, and your reasons are somewhat valid, of course." he admitted reluctantly.

If he encountered another species, he certainly would've been looking into ways of studying a new alien form. Therefore, he could understand where SHIELD was coming from. But they were not motivated by simply studying new life. If they got their hands on his DNA, they'd most likely go into Super Soldier research and create some monstrosity. He could not allow humans to weaponise his DNA or even stumble into a silver bullet of some kind that could take him out.

"I shall explain some of my reluctance to teach you at some other time. Now, you were saying something about your ship."

"I have to move the ship to somewhere safe. It has to be away from the moon, but I am at a loss. I thought about transporting it to Mars, but as you can guess, that is a long journey. I will have to drag the ship piece by piece approximately 200 million miles unless, of course, you lend a hand."

Cerion watched the Ancient One mull it over for a short time.

"Why go for Mars when you can just keep your ship on Earth?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"I don't think anyone would be happy with that," Cerion said, taken aback by the advice he received from the immortal sorceress.

"Who's going to know?" the Ancient One shrugged with an innocent smile.

It only made him more confused. The Ancient One had only finished explaining how he was a threat, and now she wanted him to keep his ship on Earth, knowing full well that he'd be working to restore it.

'Bloody cryptic witches and sorcerers. I should've flown far away from Earth and never looked back.'

"I have to say it is quite a beautiful sight." said the Ancient One as she looked at the Earth from the moon's surface.

Cerion floated to her side, wearing an identical space suit. He had loaned one to the Ancient One. He didn't know whether there was any magical spell to survive space. If there was one, she didn't mention it to him.

"Don't be dramatic. I bet you've visited the moon before." he commented.

"You can't deny that it is a beauty, though. Just look…" she pointed at the blue ball of a planet that was some 200,000 miles away.

Taking a good look at the Earth himself, he had to admit it was a beauty like none other. No images could do justice to what he saw with his own eyes. He couldn't help but compare Earth and Krypton.

Compared to Earth, Krypton was a waste dump. There was no beauty to Krypton as green cover and oceans were very scarce there. The majority of the planet was covered with desert with little to no clouds or green cover. This left the skies bare for the sun to blare its full might on Krypton. The planet was resource-rich with exotic metals, but Earth was heavenly compared to Krypton.

"And to think trillions of lifeforms call that blue dot their home. It makes you very small, doesn't it?" asked the Ancient One with a nostalgic smile.

He gave her a deadpan stare.

"I think we have some better things to do rather than oozing philosophy on the Moon."

"You are right. Let's finish this quick enough." said the Ancient One before she waved her hands in a complex pattern.

Sparks of dimensional energy escaped the Ancient One's palms, expanding across the surface of the moon in a bubble. Cerion could feel a slight tingle when the bubble enclosed a large section of space they occupied.

"Just something that will keep any activities here from prying eyes." the Ancient One explained.

Cerion led the Ancient One down to the crater, where he stationed his ship. The further they moved into the hole, the visibility began to decline.

"Optima, give us lights." he ordered, and the drones working on the ship began to light up around the ship.

"That is a gigantic ship." Ancient One commented as they floated above the ship.

She took out the sling ring and began to create a portal.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cerion asked.

"I am sure. Now, go to the other end and create a portal of your own. Maintain it for as long as possible, and I will do the rest."

Heeding her advice, he flew to the opposite end and began to create a portal. Just as he suspected, it was a small portal prone to destabilization occasionally. The Ancient One, on the other hand, created a gigantic portal that dwarfed his own exponentially.

The portal created by the Ancient One began to swallow the ship quite effortlessly. Branches of magical energy plunged into the portal he developed and began to forcibly expand. He just maintained the energy output the best as he could, and then, in an instant, the entire ship vanished before his eyes.

"Well, there you go. Now, come here. Let's go and see where your ship ended up," said the Ancient One as she dismissed the bubble of magical ward that had so far kept their activities from prying eyes and created a small portal.

He stepped in first, followed by the Ancient One.

On the other side of the portal, a vast area of forest greeted him. His eyes traced his ship by a beachhead, and as he used his enhanced vision around, he found that he was on an island surrounded by sea for miles. He could not see any land nearby; in fact, he could not see anything after a specific distance. It was as if his vision was being blocked somehow.

"We are near Huawei. This island once housed one of the oldest sanctums of our Order. Now, it lies in ruins, but the island remains intact. Shielded from the outside world by some of the oldest protective spells, it can remain hidden from any prying eyes."

"This place is amazing." said Cerion as he took in the thriving wildlife on the island.

"Will this suffice?" the Ancient One asked.

"This is perfect!" Cerion looked around at the island with amazement before he turned his eyes on the Ancient One. How could I ever repay you?

"I will think of something when the time is right." she said before she ignited her thumb with a spark of energy and pressed it into his forehead.

He felt a wave of energy pass through his body and settle in. He looked at her curiously, wanting to know what that was about.

"Now you can access the island whenever you please." the Ancient One said as a way of explanation.

"Oh yes. I can see it now," said Cerion as his vision penetrated the magical protections surrounding the island.

"So, now that you have a place to work on your ship, let's discuss the rent." said the Ancient One.

"There is a rent?" he asked incredulously.

"I may belong to a mystical order that emphasises spiritualism, but we have our expenses. So, let's talk about that rent."