Summary: A meteor shower appears over the Altantic Ocean. Superman and Martian Manhunter investigate, and Kal-El learns that he is not alone.
Location: The Atlantic Ocean
Participants: Superman, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter
Rating: PG (For tight spandex and mention of great Kryptonian Philosophers)
It's growing late in the evening, but the time of day is what is drawing out the majority of people. This evening, a great showing in the sky would allow for the visibility of a meteor shower. Dozens upon dozens of tiny astral bodies are falling through the atmosphere, igniting and burning up in a great show to alight those who watch the skies. However, although safe, there's always the ever present worry that one of these will not burn up entirely, and an impact in a city or even in the wild could damage an ecosystem, let alone the scientific research of analyzing more space rocks.
However, the object coming through the atmosphere now is certainly too large to be a simple meteor or asteroid, let alone a comet or other body. This is something different, and although it appears to be decaying some, the 'object' is obviously heading on a crash course towards, thankfully, a body of water. Still, the panic of a few and the worry of NASA watching this object has alerted coast guard and any boaters to watch that area of the coast line, in the hopes of minimizing potential damage from the collision of whatever this object is with the water below.
Normal, everyday people aren't the only ones watching the meteor shower. After all, the apex of the Perseids shower was over a week ago. Most of what had been entering the atmosphere wasn't even of worthwhile notice... virtual pebbles. However, since the larger pieces are entering the atmosphere once again, Superman is cruising the upper atmosphere once again, a lead-lined sack in hand, plucking the larger bits for those very same scientists.
He doesn't miss the much larger object, however. At that size... this could lead to quite a bit of trouble to already endangered marine life. Activating a small communicator hidden in his costume, Kal calls out, "Watchtower, this is Superman. See a large bogey entering the atmosphere. Mark my position, approximately four miles north northwest. Going to investigate."
Stargazing is a popular pasttime for the Martian Manhunter, and he often finds his eyes drawn skyward. This evening, though, he is less concerned with the constellations than the meteor shower. «You have backup, Superman.» The telepathic message comes from J'onn, who zips into view and settles into a trajectory alongside Supes. He switches to his communicator. "There were strange readings on the monitor, so I came in case I was needed. I am unable to properly focus on the object or its contents at it's current velocity, however."
Oh, whatever this item is, it's moving with some severe velocity. However, as it nears the water, something seems to change about it. It almost appears to slow down, contrary to what a meteor or other celestial body. It's almost as if it were some forgotten space shuttle on auto pilot coming in for a landing..except, without the grace. Or the landing part. This 'meteor' heads straight through, but the two super heroes might notice something as they get closer and the meteor heads for the water. It's less like a meteor at all, and more like...well. A ship. Of some sort.
A chuckle actually escapes over Superman's lips as he responds to J'onn, by now actually familiar enough with the mental link to respond to it, «I think we have an ET moment here, J'onn. I'm moving in.» With that, his form becomes a blue blur, speeding toward the device. He doesn't move yet to catch it, instead moving to match its speed and trajectory. Whatever it is seems controlled... better not to touch it yet.
Instead, his eyes graze over the vessel, X-Ray vision attempting to penetrate it.
«Affirmative.» J'onn replies. He follows suit, placing himself at a parallel trajector on the opposite side of the craft as Superman. Like the Kryptonian, he focuses begins a thorough scan of the craft with his enhanced vision, examing the microscopic makeup of the ship's construction. «It is not Martian.» Normally, he wouldn't bother to point that out, but he is not exactly the only Martian on Earth these days. «Do you recognize the alloys?»
X-Ray and Martian X-Ray Vision would detect no weapons on the vessel, nor is it some 'carrier' craft or anything of the like for an invasion. Instead, it's a simple craft carrying one person, curled up fairly tightly in the pod. The alloys? They are strange, definatly not anything on Earth, but depending on his knowledge of alien cultures, primarily his home one, Superman might recognize kryptonian materials. The same sort that brought him to Earth. The sealer though would be the writing around the 'door', which, as the vessel slows and prepares to crash into the water, would become more visible and clearer as Kryptonian. At this point, the ship has slowed enough the two heroes, between them, could likely stop the vessel without any damage to the ship or the passanger, or it could crash into the water, as the loss in speed has left it at a point where it will likely not damage the ecosystem of the coast at all.
The Man of Steel doesn't even hesitate. He doesn't even warn Martian Manhunter, an indicator of just how major his own discovery is. In less than a second, he's in front of is, one hand reaching to the nose to encourage it to slow down, the other flitting across the surface, careful not to touch any of the actual symbols. His eyes are huge, and as he looks over at J'onn, it's with a mixture of fear and happiness, «It's Kryptonian, J'onn. It's like mine... the one the Kents found... but different somehow. There's someone inside, but not a child, I think.»
J'onn blinks as his companion decides abruptly to begin slowing the craft. He frowns slightly as Superman's message reaches him, but he immediately accepts the Kryptonian's word. «Another survivor,» he notes. He places his green hands on the craft and shifts his flight trajectory, helping Superman slow the ship and keep it from crashing. «Be careful, Clark.» J'onn uses Superman's real name, his human name, knowing how Superman must be feeling. The two are very much alike, after all. «Things are not always as they seem. I'm afraid that I must point out the notion that this could be a trap. You arrived a couple of decades ago, and as far as we are aware, Krypton exploded shortly after you were sent.»
The ship is slowed easily enough, and the trajectory changed as well. However, as nothing can ever be easy, something happens as the ship nears a complete stop by the two heroes. The 'portal' pops and hisses open, rolling open before...whoever, whatever, is revealed inside. There are lights shining, yellow solar light pouring out from the seams of the portal as it rolls open, finally locking open as if the ship had expected it had allready landed, and it was time to release the prisoner/passanger. Should either look inside now, they might realize that the passanger is a blonde, roughly 18 year old teenage girl, wearing a full body grey suit with a familiar 'shield' on the chest.
Superman looks up at J'onn, who by now is close enough to talk to without having to worry about wind preventing them from hearing each other "I realize that. It's just..." he pauses as the portal pops open. As the ship reaches a complete stop, he lowers it down, letting it touch down on the water, before moving slowly away.
"Great Rao! The crest," he can't help but exclaim. He pauses a moment, thinking toward J'onn, «Be ready.» and switches to Kryptonian, "~Hello... daughter of the house of El. Can you hear me?~"
J'onn turns his eyes on the figure. He notes the crest, but remains impassive. If this is legitimate, he knows exactly how big a moment it is for Clark, and he's not going to ruin it for him. But he's still prepared, eyes faintly glowing red with supressed optic blasts if the girl turns out to be hostile. He reaches out with his mind, attempting a perfunctory telepathic scan of the new arrival while Superman tries to engage her in conversation.
There's no telepathic guards, in fact, she's not even active at the moment. Like a dreamer, though J'onn would 'see' visions from her memory. A planet exploding. Some people of Krypton. Little else. But, all that changes when blue eyes open wide and the girl 'wakes up'. Like a person waking from a night terror, the blonde darts for the 'door' of her pod, barely realizing there are two flying people there. Once she does notice, though, she starts to look a bit paniced, like an animal trapped in a corner...until it finally clicks. He said something..in Kryptonian. Sure, it sounded like a 'farm boy' version of Kryptonian but.. "~...Where...Am I?~"
And it's not as if his suit is exactly Kryptonian in appearance. In fact, the only familiar part of it would be the matching crest on Superman's chest. He looks to J'onn for a moment before holding out a hand to the girl, "~You are on a planet called Earth. My home. Who are you?~"
The visage should be relatively familiar to Kara; although he has his mother's eyes, his face is the spitting image of his father, Jor-El. And so is his smile as he looks back to J'onn, switching back to English, "I know it's dangerous, but look at her..."
J'onn does look at her, staring hard for a brief moment in order to check her molecular composition. «She dreamt of Krypton's end. It does seem to verify that she is genuinely Kryptonian. I will follow your lead in this.» With that private message to Superman, J'onn returns his attention to the girl. «Do not be afraid.» He 'says', allowing both her and Superman to hear. It's an important message to get across, considering his distinctly non-human and non-Kryptonian appearance.
The blonde looks around quickly, but she stops in on the man's face. "~...You look just like Jor-El. You...You can't be....~" The woman starts to look around as she takes deep breaths. J'onn's check would verify the molecular composition of a Kryptonian as she looks about. The message is received, and for the first time, the blonde smiles slowly. "~...I... I am Kara Zor-El. I was sent from Krypton to seek out my infant cousin, Kal-El and protect him...~" Kara can't help but look over the man in front of her. "~You look just like Jor-El...my uncle.~"
It takes a lot to stay the Man of Steel, but Kara's words hit Superman like the proverbial ton of bricks. The first words to come out of his mouth will hopefully never make it on the news, "Buh..." He then shakes his head, "~Zor-El... my... uncle. Jor-El was my father.~"
He coughs, mentally sending a translation of the conversation so far to J'onn, not knowing if he's familiar with the language. "~Kara... I am Kal-El, son of Jor-El. You...~" He pauses, "~Infant?~"
J'onn has been using his telepathy to follow the conversation, but Superman's mental translation allows him to perform a neat trick. He quickly and effortlessly copies Superman's knowledge of the language, and becomes instantly fluent. «She was sent in statis, like you.» He says in Kryptonian, deducing the obvious conclusion. «If she had arrived as she was supposed to, you would have been an infant. Instead, something happened that delayed her trip.»
"~There were problems when I launched.... I remember the ship failling.~" Kara looks about, answer J'onn first, before she looks up at Kal-El. "~You...You look just like him.~" The blonde doesn't even necessarily look at the other man, though she does after a moment to look at the man. "~I....So this is Earth. I arrived though...finally...~" And with that, she laughs. It's a laugh regardless of language, and moves to hug Superman, her cousin.
It wasn't the reaction he expected, but it wouldn't be the first time someone surprised Superman with a hug. He starts a bit, and a look goes to J'onn almost begging for rescue... but the hug is accepted. "~That... makes sense.~" He looks down at the craft, "~We need to get this to a safe place. The fortress comes to mind. It may have secrets much like mine had.~"
«Then let us go,» J'onn replies. «We will have attracted attention by now, and it may be best if we were gone by the time it arrives.» He maks no move to help Superman from the dreaded 'teenage girl hug', but does offer a wry, amused smile at him before firmly gripping the ship. «You lead, I'll follow.»