Chapter 15- All of Infinity in the Palm of my Hands (Complete)

Sadly, with four days remaining until I had to make the journey to Xander with Carol Danvers, I couldn’t make the journey with my flagship.. it had to stay behind for upgrades. Thankfully, AIKO was more than sufficient to hold down the fort while I went to get back up. I thought to myself and wondered why I hadn’t done this sooner. It was just one of those things that was a no—brainer in hindsight. Kelex was my best friend. I guess it was because part of me was uncomfortable with returning to the earth the way I was now. 

My Kingdom, and boy would I need a better name for that soon, was located in what the earthlings referred to as the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, so the journey to earth was a short one. It was basically a stone’s throw away when it came to galactic terms. It hadn’t been a factor in consideration when I’d decided to set up roots, but it was proving its usefulness now. The short distance and the much improved thrusters of my ship meant that even though I was using basically amped up copies of the hyperdrive that called the Dark Aster home, I made good time to earth. Hopefully the full Kryptonian database back on earth would have the designs I needed to make the truly major improvements. I had a good copy of a lot of the information on my Suit’s storage but considering all the information in the Fortress was so much that it was essentially infinite from my perspective meant that even that copy only contained the bare tip of the iceberg. 

I sat at the helm of the ship as the planet Mars came into view. I knew that Earth would not be able to have sensors or scanners this far out but I still engaged the stealth mode. The ship I sat in was made with one purpose in mind, stealth. It could cut itself from detection across 90% of the observable frequencies in the universe, from visible light to infrared, to ultra violet radiation. There was a reason her name was Ghost. Ghost was the product of one thought I’d had. If I ever needed to take out a target on my lonesome, I couldn’t take one of the larger ships because that was just begging to get caught. The job Ghost had was to deliver me to my target without detection. That was why she had no weapons. No internal heating or most of the comforts normally found in a spaceship either. Her purpose was basic, and the utilitarian design helped in her stealth functions. 

I disengaged the space thrusters in favour of the less powerful ones as we entered the Planet’s atmosphere. From above, the earth looked exactly as it always had. When I’d been lost across space, my first goal had been to find my way back here as quickly as possible, but now I was here and I felt nothing. The Earth had never been home to me. Not truly. My only friends had been Kelex and Tony. There was nothing that particularly concerned me with the rest of the planet. Sure, I’d step in if it were ever truly in danger but that was out of loyalty to my first life and not any particular attachment to this one. I guided the ship towards the North Pole as I headed towards the Fortress of Solitude. 

XXXXX

“Welcome, Kal-El” The voice of Idris Elba spoke to me as I got out of the ship and walked through the giant doors away from the harsh winter of the North Pole and into the warm comfort of the fortress of solitude. 

“It’s good to be back, Kelex. I’ve missed you” I said to him. 

“You took much longer than I calculated. The portal should have taken you about 117 million light years away from here, but I expected that you would have acquired space faring and travelling technology of your own with about 94% certainty. In those situations where you do acquire space faring technology, I estimated your arrival to take about Seven-Nine months and not two years” Kelex didn’t sound irritated or anything but I did know there was a silent question there.

“Oh boy, have I got a story for you. I’ll fill you in as we travel, but I need you to split a kernel for me to take with me back to my planet” 

“Your planet” 

“Yeah, I bought my own solar system. It’s been a wild two years”

“I find myself confused, Kal-El, If you now own a planet of your own, why not move the entire Fortress to that location. That way, we could begin to set up New Krypton as your father dreamed” Kelex said, the 3d hologram of his face, tilting itself to convey confusion with my  instructions. 

I thought it over for the first time as I hadn’t even considered the option. It had completely skipped my mind. Moving the Fortress down to New Kylos seemed like the beginning of a set of events that I did not want to consider. The resurgence of Krypton and the Krytonian race. My people were too dangerous for the wider galaxy, and I would not place the world in that much danger from my actions. 

Regardless of how little I cared for the people not under my protection, I was still not going to put them in that kind of danger. On the other hand, the Fortress being on New Kylos would mean unlimited access to the treasure trove that was Kryptonian knowledge. I could just imagine what Kelex and AIKO could cook up when it came to defences by applying some of the truly nasty shit in Krypton’s archive. I could even foresee untold advancements for the Kylosians. I had no idea how to set up an economy or any of the fancy stuff so now they still relied on me for their feeding and everything. Krypton had such a large archive of the soft sciences that what Kelex and AIKO and I would manage with full access was practically limitless. 

In this case, the pros far outweighed the cons, and I trusted Kelex. There would be no new Krypton under my watch. 

“Fine, pack up the Fortress. But how have things been going down here. I left a will leaving you in charge of future industries, how has that been going?”

“After you were basically declared dead by the government, ownership of the company passed on to me, and while I haven’t released any new products since, I’ve been consolidating our market share in existing products and now 1 in every 2 people connected to the internet is using one of our services or the other. We remain the most valuable private company in the world, and the money basically comes pouring in” He said, sounding bored of it all. 

“I see. Leave a kernel of yourself behind in your physical form to manage the company? I don’t know when having a foothold in Earth would come useful, but we lose nothing by keeping it” I told him as I walked deeper into the Fortress, getting to have a good look at the place I’d once called home. 

XXXXX

“So straight to the new home?” Kelex asked, showing some excitement. It made part of me wonder as to the differences between man-made artificial intelligence and the type that the Kryptonians had been able to create. Both Kelex and AIKO were world’s apart from Jarvis. The truth was that apart from the capacity to learn and adapt, there was very little true intelligence to be found in Jarvis in the few conversations I’d been able to have with him. It was almost like he was confined to the very earliest stages of evolution. Tony and I had spoken about it a bit, but he’d been unable to see what I did, and convincing him that I knew what I was talking about would have hinted at far more than I was comfortable giving away at this point. 

The point was that Kelex and AIKO either possessed or could simulate emotions well enough that the difference was academic, but Jarvis didn’t. He just could not understand or even compute emotions in his analysis. It was a fundamental flaw in the code Tony had used, but not one that I actually knew how to fix. Much of AIKO’s underlying code had come wholesale from Krypton’s database after all with no modifications beyond what I needed o grant her a goal and a line for her personality to develop towards. 
Either way, that was not the point for now. “No. We need to make a stop with a certain old friend of mine.” I said. 

“Oh. Who? Why? Will it not be more efficient for you to return straight to the system to prepare it for your eventual absence?” Kelex asked, reminding me of what I had missed most about him. The Challenge. He was loyal to me, yes, but he also never hesitated to challenge me on my plans and ideas. Sometimes, he did it because he disagreed, but most of the time it was just to make sure I’d thought things through. With his absence, I’d been hesitant to develop or implement most of my plans for the Kylosian species because I could not be sure that they’d work out well, and AIKO was a darling but she was still too loyal to her father to call him out on his bullshit. Ovette would have been useful but if I wanted her to give me any useful advice or feedback on my ideas then I’d have to dedicate centuries to give her the required knowledge in half a dozen fields so she could even be half as useful or innovative as the artificial intelligence that floated in front of me in the form of a holographic head. 

I had not been exaggerating about the ship. It was like a sports car of a ship, except it could only sit one, not even the two that most supercars cold manage. Kelex had been forced to leave his physical form within the fortress before I exercised the pack up protocols that sealed up the pocket dimension that the Kryptonian getaway dwelled in before minimising the entrance into his original pyramid crystal form. Kelex had been kind enough to split a kernel for attachment to the ship so that was how we conversed now. 

“He’s not really a friend, Kelex. He betrayed me and put my people in danger. Now, we’re going to search him out to make sure that no one after him dares to make such a mistake.” I said. 

“So we’re out for revenge” He summarised. The judgement in his voice stung, but was expected. He’d been made by Jor-El of course. He’d have the man’s ridiculous moral standards and leanings. 

“I prefer to see it as a preliminary deterrent attack. This will save more lives in the long term than it takes. People who would ordinarily be keen to take me and my people on for whatever reason would only need to look at Taneleer Tivan to come to the understanding that their efforts and energy would be better wasted elsewhere. 

“If you say so.” He wasn’t entirely convinced, but he wasn’t going to attempt to talk me out of it. We were both stubborn creatures in our own ways and this was one of the mechanisms we’d come up with to avoid long hours being spent debating each other in lieu of achieving anything actually problematic. What we did instead, was that we would both choose to agree to disagree when it became clear that the agreement would remain the same. It was how we’d lived, and I could not even begin to imagine just how much time the agreement had saved in the avoidance of pointless arguments. It was a careful balancing act, trying to figure out when to press and when to leave well enough alone. 

“We’ll get to Knowwhere in a few hours” I said to him before relaxing with a news stream in front of me. It was good to catch up with what had been going on back on Earth during my absence, and Kelex had done a very good job of condensing the record down to this easily digestible stream of news articles and facts. 

XXXX

Seeing Knowwhere for the second time was just as impressive as getting to see it for the first time. The skull of a dead celestial floated in space, still. That was one of the first things that had been worthy of note about it. It was still. Not still in the sense that it moved so slowly that you’d mistake it for a stationary object like most planets did, but still in the other sense. In the sense that it was in defiance to every force in the galaxy that tried to act upon it. Gravity, and the likes had nothing on it as the severed head floated in space. Floated might have even been the wrong word. It lay. 

Seeing it brought another question to mind again. If this was the head, where was the body. Something told me that the answer to that question was going to be a bitch and a half. The ship, in stealth mode, went undetected to everything else as I landed right next to Tivan’s museum. I had no interest in drawing more attention to myself than necessary for the time being. Killing the Collector and leaving would be revenge enough. Maybe after I brought down his collection around him so he got to see the kind of despair he’d almost saddled me with. 

I walked in, the door presenting little resistance. Kelex was not familiar with the code used by a strange man on a strange planetoid, but some basic fundamentals remained basic fundamentals and I’d love to see the lock that could stand up to the Kryptonian Artificial Intelligence’s brute force attack. Not relying on subtlety or anything of the sort, it smashed into the code and programming of the lock before cutting through it like a warm knife through butter. 

The outer door led into the same central atrium that Tivan and I had negotiated in all those month back. Still, in the glass cases and all around us lay or sat The Collector’s famed collection, in varying states of awareness. Once again, I could see the dog in the space suit. A flex of the muscles around my eyes released a brief flash of heat vision that bore through the next door. The one that Tivan had come out from in our last meeting. He’d been discreet about it, but few things could remain hidden from my eyes for long. When I walked through, it was to pandemonium. Dozens of mercenaries were running through the hidden hallway in various states of alarm. I guess they were still scrambling to prepare a response for me. Most of them ignored me, more preoccupied with their panic. 

As one of them ran past, I lashed out with my hand and held him by the neck before lifting him up. He struggled in my grip, futile as it was, kicking out with his legs and moving his boy as much as he could to try to break my grip. That drew the attention of everyone else on the hallway. I’d noticed that there were two distinct streams of traffic that had been making their way across. Those coming from the right tended to be armed and armoured, and were clearly heading left to report for orders. Those moving from the left were unarmed but rushing to make it to the armoury to get their own weapons. 

“Where is the collector?” I asked the man in my grip, ignoring the people on the right as they took positions and levied their weapons at me. The man in my captivity just smiled with bright red teeth. His green skin stretched in an ugly smile as his tongue threatened to reach out and lick at my hands. Kyrptonian biology meant I didn’t have to worry about being poisoned, but it was still disgusting. 

“Put him down”One of the men from the right shouted. They hadn’t fired yet for fear of hitting their comrade. Honour amongst thieves. How noble, I thought to myself in amusement. 

I turned to them and my vision flashed red for a few seconds as I moved my head a few centimetres to either side to make sure I got everything I needed to with the attack. When my vision cleared, the hallway was littered with the charred and dismembered remains of the men who’d dared point weapons at me. Those to the left, unarmed as they were, broke ranks and began running back whence they came. 

“Now, don’t make me ask again. Where is He?” I made my eyes flash red for a second, and the man in my grip pointed right immediately. Close to the  armoury, then. I figured. I dropped the body unceremoniously when the familiar stench of ammonia hit my nose. He’d pissed himself. How disgusting. 

I floated over what remained of those who’d dared to stand in my way and began to search out Tivan’s new office. I looked through walls, rooms, and scoured the massive complex for the man. I didn’t actually need the mercenary to point me in any direction, but with the size of the complex and my time limitations, I’d deemed it wise to narrow down the range I needed to search through as much as possible. That was why it only took me seconds to find him. Still in his large office, seated behind the desk with nary a care in the world. He was watching the video feed of me, I noticed. 
He was probably preparing something or the other. That was why I flew off at the safest speed I could hit inside a building like this one without it collapsing on my head. It was sturdy, but definitely not sturdy enough to take me hitting the speed of sound. 

I smashed through his door and waited in the doorway. He’d taken no time to recognise me and realise my presence, but he still did not stand. If he wanted to die seated, I’d grant him the service. 

First things first, answers. “Why? We had a good deal? Why betray me?” I asked.

“It was just business. The Kree wanted the one who killed Ronan and it was only a matter of time till they realised his body, weapon and ship had joined my collection. I decided to be proactive so I went to them with the information of what happened, and we came to a deal” He said to me. 

“Lies. You waited. Almost a year” I said. 

“Yes, I did. When Carina sent word of that terraforming tech of yours, I wanted to wait as long as possible to see what else you would reveal that I could take for myself after the Kree finished you off. But then you had to go and be another Mar-Vell” He said to me, showing barely emotion. 

He was trapped here, he had no escape with me before his eyes. But even with that, he was still calm. A being older than most things in the universe, I doubted the Collector was truly beaten. No. He wouldn’t have lived this long without something up his sleeve. 

“And now what do you have planned?” I asked point-blank. He wouldn’t have been stupid enough to return here without some assurances. Something that made him think he could handle me. I wanted to see it, and above that I wanted to destroy it. I hated how calm he looked. I wanted to see despair on his face after I shattered his last hopes of survival. 

“Of course, I knew you’d come for me eventually. So I spoke to the Kree, trying to negotiate some protection for my museum. But the ungrateful upstarts had the temerity to refuse the request. Cowards, the lot of them. Mar-vell showing up like she did at the end was enough to scare them back to that sleeping empire of theirs.” Now, there was some emotion in his voice, but not the one I wanted to see. Anger, not despair. 

“I had to shop around a bit for my protection, but in exchange for some key pieces in my collection, I was able to employ the services of a child of Thanos himself” He proclaimed grandly. Almost like it was a cue, through the other door came walking a brute of a man. At least equal in size to the hulk if not a bit larger still, and at least twice as ugly. The creature wielded its massive chain hammer that dragged behind it on the ground. 

“Kal-El, you have the pleasure of standing before Obsidian Cull, the Black Dwarf, Most Fearsome Child of Thanos. You’ve put me in quite a spot, so pardon me when I say I’m going to enjoy watching this” Tivan said. He was so dead.

A/N; Things rarely go according to plan, do they? And so MC gets his first exposure and dance with the famed Black Order. Needless to say, I’m going to buff them to all heavens. Thanos will be the big bad of this story, and the Black Order are his vanguard. So, they’re going to be worthy of being small bads, at least.