“Do you miss them?” Kara suddenly asked, just before I fell asleep.

“Who?” I intelligently asked. I was already a bit drowsy since I was already half asleep.

“Your family. Do you miss them?” She clarified softly. Despite how drowsy I was just a second ago, I was wide awake now.

On our little car trip, I had told her a bit about my Saiyan heritage. She obviously drew parallels to her story. Both of us were sent away to a distant planet by our parents just before our planets were destroyed.

Although she now had asked about my Saiyan family, I couldn’t help but think back to my quirky little family back on Earth.

Sure, I loved the Saiyan side of my family as well, in some shape and form, but it just wasn’t the same. In the last few years in my past life, I had spent more time thinking about the ones that had been waiting for me to come out of prison.

The ones that had supported me from outside as much as they could, when all my friends had forgotten about me. I didn’t want to know what they must have felt after getting the news of my suicide.

If I could, I would tell them I was okay now, more than okay. Living an old power fantasy of mine of becoming an honest to God Saiyan in the flesh. A being that one day could rival the gods.

I shut my eyes for a second before opening them again to blankly stare at the ceiling of my car.

“Every day.”

“Will it get better?” Her voice sounded painful and desperate, but I couldn’t give her an optimistic outlook.

“I don’t know. I hope so.”

The only response I got was Kara’s quiet sobbing.

“The only thing we can do for them now is to move forward and do what is necessary to live on.” I felt obligated to say, not only to her but to myself as well. Maybe it was my way of redeeming myself for what I did.

They probably wouldn’t understand why I killed myself, even though it was just a few weeks before my discharge. With everything going on in the background, how could they know I had no choice in the matter?

I felt Kara cuddle up to my arm as her tears fell, despite her best effort. After pulling my arm out, I hugged her and pulled her closer. I rubbed her back as I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to take me as well.

For the last three nights, we had been falling asleep like this, comforting each other to sleep. This wasn’t how I envisioned our relationship to develop. I think… I let her too close.

…

We drove into the city of tomorrow, Metropolis. It certainly looked up to its name. A city developed beyond its time.

At least, it looked highly advanced to me. I had seen some pictures and videos but it was something else to see it in person.

I glanced at the passenger seat. Maybe the effect lessened for the girl from a super-advanced civilization, but the different culture certainly had an appeal for the teenager.

She looked out of the window, as excited as she was just a few days ago. I didn’t think she would calm down anytime soon. There were just too many new things for her to discover.

I dropped off the car in a parking garage before we went to an apartment building where I could feel the familiar life force radiating its might.

Good thing it was early in the morning, and he was still in his apartment, otherwise we might have missed him. Neither Kara nor I were able to sleep long, so we arrived in the city too early for most.

With my telekinesis, picking a lock was beyond easy. I could have done it with the necessary tools as well, but why use tools when you have the force to open doors for you?

We took the elevator and stepped out of the third floor. I saw the door from which Superman’s life force was coming.

I went ahead and rang the bell at the apartment, 3-D. It didn’t take long until the resident got up and headed for the door.

Kara intensely looked at the door and seemed to follow something behind it. Obviously, she followed the movement of her baby cousin through it. She then subtly nodded at the closed door. Did they make eye contact?

After a click from the lock, Superman, or rather Clark, opened the door. He had a frown on his face as he looked through the crack of the door. His confused face donning his famous identity hiding glasses. Even though he hunched slightly, he was still slightly taller than me.

I was 180 (5’11") after my first growth spurt, so without his hunch, he should be around 191ish (6’3"). Maybe after my second growth spurt, I didn’t have to worry about him looking down on me anymore.

He briefly glanced at Kara before his gaze settled on me. If I hadn’t been able to hear his heartbeat skip a beat after he saw me, then even I wouldn’t have realized that he recognized me.

“Can I help you with something?” He finally asked as he kept observing the two of us.

I put a hand on Kara’s back and indicated to her to take a step forward as I explained, “We have some news of a long-lost cousin of yours. I think we should discuss this inside. Don’t want to risk someone overhearing family matters.”

Kara shyly waved at him with a subdued smile. I pulled out the clothing Kara had worn on her arrival and unfolded it to show the house of el.

Clark’s eyes widened in shock before his gaze settled on the girl. He quickly closed the door, which made Kara anxiously look at me. I only gave her a reassuring smile as Clark removed the chain lock and opened the door before inviting us inside.

Clark looked out into the hallway in case someone saw us before shutting the door again. I looked around the apartment, but I quickly lost interest. It was just an apartment of a dude. At least, he had some decoration, but besides that, nothing much to see.

“Kal-el?” Kara nervously asked, with hope in her voice.

Clark hesitantly nodded, still in disbelief to finally come to know that he still had relatives left. “You are my cousin…?” He half asked and half stated as he looked at her.

“I am Kara Zor-El. Your big– former big cousin.”

“I-I don’t understand, how, when…”

Superman seemed rather hesitant about this entire ordeal, which was understandable since he didn’t have the best history with Kryptonians, but as the conversation went on, the two quickly opened up to each other.

Kara told him about her parents, Zor-El and Alura In-Ze. How they took Jor-El’s advice and sent Kara to earth to take care of her baby cousin. That she had arrived 2+ decades too late wasn’t something either of them could answer.

I only knew of the Arrowverse version, who got stuck in the phantom zone for 24 years before coming to earth while pulling some prison spaceship with her.

Thankfully, this universe didn’t seem to be the Arrowverse, otherwise, I would have already gone to Central City and kicked the Flash’s ass for not knowing how to use his powers correctly.

Although Barry Allen existed, he never went into a coma and the Flash had been active for a while now.

The Scarlet Speedster was probably Wally West, who was currently working as a forensic scientist with the Central City Police Department.

As Kara was talking about her arrival on earth, I added my perspective to the story. Apparently, stopping Kara’s spaceship from crashing into the ground seemed to have earned me some cookie points by the man of steel.

Though maybe I should ask for other points. The cookies he had tasted rather bland. He had looked at me amused when he saw me eat all of his cookies. Well, not all of them. I left him one. After all, I wasn’t an ass. That reminded me, I had to find a decent bakery in Portland to get my pastries.

I couldn’t help but smile at that thought. In the past, I always had to watch my pastry intake, so my body fat percentage didn’t increase.

Man, it was worth being a Saiyan just to be able to eat anything I wanted while looking phenomenal. I had busted my ass off when training and had a strict diet, but my physique didn’t come close to what I had now. It kind of made me jealous of myself, if that made sense.

“How about I show you where I work?” As I hoped, Kal-El was enthusiastic about having her around, someone to call family.

After he asked Kara briefly glanced at me, “I mean I don’t want to be a bother…”

“Kara, you wouldn’t. You are family!” I was glad to see him so welcoming. It would have sucked if he was like his counterpart in Young Justice. Well, a clone and a cousin were a bit different, but he still was an ass about it.

I knew she was hesitant, so I couldn’t help to inject. “Don’t worry about me. I will explore the city. Maybe afterward I will be able to give you a tour.”

She smiled at that, and a slight blush accentuated her face. She nodded affirmatively. “I’d like that.”

Clark looked between the two of us back and forth before Kara started asking Clark about his work. Together, we went downstairs again and separated. Clark would show his cousin around the Daily Planet while I looked for some decent restaurants.

I pulled out my phone and searched for some restaurants that had an all-you-can-eat buffet. Oh, I should probably look for a fun place too. Maybe an amusement park or an arcade. Or Zoo to show off some of Earth’s animals… Wait, was I preparing a date?

Before I could let the realization sink in, I noticed a news channel in the TVs behind a window of a tech shop. I knew that the airing news show was called Metropolis Today. It was a Daily Planet’s news show.

“Someone declared to be Superman’s betrothed?” I muttered as I saw how the supposedly betrothed woman in question suddenly started to tear up the studio before it cut to black.

I had noticed that a powerful life force had suddenly popped up in the city a few hours ago. I thought it was just a normal residence of the city inhabited by Superman. However, it seemed it wasn’t a normal residence but a normal villain that was usually beaten by Superman.

Considering that it was a news show of the Daily Planet, Superman would be informed of it shortly. However, this certainly wasn’t something I would let run through my fingers.

Without hesitating, I shot to my car and quickly changed into my armor before heading for the Miss Betrothed.

The building the woman was wreaking havoc inside wasn’t the Daily Planet main building. It was several blocks away.

I blasted through the air just before I crashed through the window. I opened it from the inside with my telekinesis.

I could already hear her voice from a few rooms away. I quickly rushed to the woman that lifted a camera and was about to smash it apart.

“I want Superman and I want him now!” Yikes, a grown woman throwing a temper tantrum. I didn’t know if her being attractive made it worse or better.

“I am waiting!” She declared, and I decided that it definitely made it worse. I was standing behind her as I pulled the camera out of her hands and placed it to the side.

“How about you calm down?” I asked as she turned around and gave me a once over, which I returned. Though her personality didn’t seem up to par, she was as beautiful as few were.

“You are not Superman.” She concluded.

“What gave me away?” I answered sarcastically.

She ignored my retort as she continued to observe me. “Though you look like a fine specimen yourself. Hmmm, fine. I will take you as my concubine. Though you will have to prove yourself first on Almerac.”

“No, thank you. I am not up for offer.” My rejection didn’t seem to be well received as she turned from surprised to murderous glare really quickly. “Are you refusing the throne of Almerac? Are you refusing me, Queen Maxima??”

I pushed the punch that headed to my face to the side and directly counterattacked with a kick, sending her into the ceiling. She directly crashed through the ceiling like it wasn’t even there. Fortunately, we were on the top floor with just the roof at the top.

I pursued her out of the hole in the roof and flew after her. I overtook her before I drop-kicked her into a van right next to a construction site. The van was squashed underneath the force and suddenly exploded.

However, she didn’t seem too bothered by the attempt. She tanked the explosion while simultaneously clutching my ankle. She abruptly stood up and jumped out of the debris before she threw me into the support beams of the construction site.

I felt the metal beam bend around my body. My back ached, but I ignored it in favor of the woman heading towards me. I didn’t have to think as I pushed myself to the side. The bend metal beam was instantly bisected just after I left.

In the beam's place, Maxima hovered in the air with her sword in hand. She turned and rushed towards me with her blade high in the air. Her slash turned into a blur, making it impossible for normal people to defend against.

I deflected the sword to the side and tried to knee her stomach, which she just met with her own knee. I wrapped my hand around her wrists and unsuccessfully tried to push her away.

My ki churned inside my body as I pushed it to its limit, but alas it was I who was slowly pushed away. She was slowly but surely winning ground.

I opened my mouth, not to say something but to create a small ball of ki. She looked at it in surprise and reacted quickly.

She leaned back just as I released the beam at her face. It harmlessly sailed over her. She used the brief moment that I needed to attack to her advantage as she used her available leg and kicked my mouth shut.

The force was enough to send me high into the air. I already knew that my neck would be sore for days. I used the momentum and did a backflip, only to find her slash at me.

I raised my arm and blocked it with my armguard. It directly bit into the material, and it would have cut the armor in half if it wasn’t layered with protective ki.

I pushed the sword to the side as I slapped at her face with a ki sphere in hand. She raised her hand and blocked the blow, making the sphere explode on the back of her hand.

The two of us were quickly enveloped in the explosion. I used the short stun to kick the sword out of her hand, making it sail to the ground between the debris of the construction site. I flew out of the smoke.

At the corner of my eyes, I could see the construction site suffering a bit from the explosion as the metal beams melted from the attacks that I accidentally released on it.

I didn’t wait for her to exit the smoke and just threw another ki blast into it. I obviously didn’t stop and just started throwing ki blast after ki blast.

The explosion quickly grew in size and the pressure the explosions caused pushed away the metal beams and vehicles on the ground.

I stopped for a second, not because I thought I killed her, but to catch my breath. I heaved for a few moments as the smoke slowly settled.

By the time I could see a shadowy figure inside the smoke, two ki discs had already formed above my hands.

I looked at the disheveled figure of Maxima. She didn’t look too injured besides some scratches and bruised. Her hair was not as smooth as before, as it looked like she woke up with a bad hair day.

She had made herself small by crossing her arms in front of her and raised her legs to her chest in order to protect her vital spots as much as possible.

She slowly lowered her arms, and I noticed a glint in her eyes as a smile blossomed on her face despite the - admittedly minor – injuries she had suffered. “No one had ever lasted this long against me! No one. You are my equal!”

She was suddenly covered in bright white light and her armor was restored, as was her headpiece. Her hair suddenly straightened out as it unnaturally waved in the nonexistent wind.

She flew towards me as the glint in her eyes increased. Her expression made me unable to connect her with the ferocious woman that had attacked me a moment ago. My heart skipped a beat as she hugged me and rubbed her face into my chest.

It was only then when I realized she had already closed the distance and any chance to throw my ki discs at her had vanished.

“I have decided! You are going to be my husband.” She said as she floated away just enough to look at my face.

We floated to the ground before I spoke up. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” Honestly, it kind of reminded me of my mother’s engagement story with my dad… Ah, I mean my Saiyan parents.

“What? Why not?! I am Queen of Almerac and you have to do as I say!”

“This isn’t planet Vegeta or your planet. You can’t demand me to marry you. I refuse!”

She frowned at that, obviously not taking kindly on my exclamation. “You have no right to refuse!” She tapped on her belt before raising an arm towards me.

Just as I made a move to dodge whatever she wanted to throw at me, I felt some resistance, a force holding me in place. I instantly recognized it as telekinesis!

The force wasn’t enough to hold me in place forever, but it didn’t need to. In fact, it could barely hold me for a second, but until then, a red beam coming out of her hand had already reached my body.

It directly penetrated my ki and overloaded my nervous system. My body slumped into itself. “I knew you would fall for me.” She smugly told me as she held me at the collar of my armor. She tapped on her wrist before a blinding light shone behind me. My consciousness was already fading at that point.

The last thing I heard as I slipped into unconsciousness was a woman’s angry yell, “-itch!”

…

I heard some people argue with each other, but I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. My vision and with it all, my other senses were slowly returning to me.

I only had to glance around and see the walls and the throne in the distance to know that I was most likely not on earth anymore. A bunch of guards suddenly surrounded me, Maxima, and another woman clad in green before we were sucked into a blinding light.

We landed heavily in the middle of the debris. We appeared to have been teleported to a gigantic round tunnel with various side tunnels. The place was so big that I figured I could walk around here as an Oozaru with ease.

Before I could finish my inspection, I saw Maxima leaning above the green woman with a sword in hand. She was about to impale her when I pushed her away with a Kiai.

Honestly, although the technique wasn’t as destructive as other ki attacks, it was a good nonlethal surprise attack. It used the air currents around me with ki to produce a powerful shock wave.

The queen was pushed onto her butt, which made her glare at me.

“This isn’t the time to kill each other. To me, it looks like we are all in the same boat. What happened anyway? Aren’t you the Queen? Or are we not on your planet?”

She sent a hateful glare at the woman in green as she pushed herself up to stand before she headed to the woman menacingly. Before she could attempt to kill her again, I stood in her way.

“Out of my way, I have to kill this traitorous wench!” Traitorous? Was I pulled into a coup? Great…

“Lady! Forgive me, he deceived me! I was a fool.” The woman in green pleaded as she kneeled on the ground.

“A dead fool!” She glared murder at the kneeling woman.

“I said this isn’t the time to kill each other. How about you do something productive and tell me where we are?”

I remained in front of her, trying to block her view of the woman and have her eyes stay on me. She gave an indignant huff before she sat on a stone a few feet away.

“Miles underground. I used these ancient tunnels as a prison. And now it is because of her they threw us into this place! That my people could overthrow me!” She glared at the cowering woman.

I couldn’t help but snort, “If your people are planning to overthrow you, there is something you are doing wrong. If you are as unreasonable as you are in your marriage attempt, it is no wonder no one likes you.”

My little slight surprised her as she looked at me with a frown.

“Now, is there something I need to know about these tunnels? Maybe some demons or monsters running around here?”

The former? queen’s expression changed, and I knew that look. She remembered something crucial. She stood up and leaned on her sword.

“Mistress-“

“Silence Sazu! We should leave before the carnorite hears us.”

‘Woman, don’t jinx us!’ I chided her in my mind before I looked up at the ceiling. The year imprisoned by the Preserver taught me to recognize a force field when I saw one.

“The ceiling is shielded to prevent any prisoner from escaping.” Maxima confirmed my suspicion when she saw me looking at the ceiling.

“Great. Let’s leave first and fin-“ Before I could finish my sentence, the ground shook, followed by a roar.

“Is that the carnorite?” Maxima nodded.

She then urged us into a tunnel just a several meter thick tentacle appeared from a side tunnel and grabbed Sazu. The tentacle suddenly released a blinding light as lightning ran across the tentacle. Sazu had to bear the full force of it before it dragged Sazu away.

A ki disc immediately appeared above my hand, which I quickly released at the tentacle. With no effort, the ki disc cut into the tentacle and severed it.

Before I could celebrate, several other tentacles rushed towards us out of different side tunnels. I quickly picked the incapacitated Sazu up and flew towards the tunnel Maxima pointed at.

Maxima, with her sword, bashed several tentacles away, giving us enough room to escape. She followed shortly afterward.

We entered a circular room with several tunnels going in a different direction. The tentacles were close behind us and almost reached us before we flew onto a rock in the middle of the room.

The tentacles tried to reach us, but the distance seemed just far away enough for us to evade it. This carnorite seemed to have realized that it couldn’t reach us and retreated, but it didn’t seem to have given up on eating us.

The floor started to rumble. The ground and the rock we stood on suddenly broke apart as a brown creature crashed through it. With its body on full display, I realized the tentacles weren’t tentacles, but its tongues!

“Maxima, distract it for a few seconds!” I called out to her, and she rushed the beast without hesitating.

As she engaged the beast, I formed a power ball in my arm and threw it above the carnorite. The moment it was close to a weirdly looking device hanging from the ceiling, it exploded in a radiant brilliance, stunning Maxima and Sazu while I openly looked at the blinding light.

I felt the ki and power rush through my body, trying to expand me into my Oozaru form. I forcefully suppressed and contained the power inside my body. I felt my muscles strain under the power, almost threatening to rip to shreds, but I knew it would hold on.

I felt myself enter the Ikari state. Waiting no longer, I aided Maxima in her fight against the carnorite.