04 – Favor
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"I... was this glass supposed to be this fragile?" I asked concerned.

The woman looked at me with a look as lost as mine and didn't know what to say. "N-No? I was just holding this glass now and it was as stiff as it was supposed to be... maybe something made it fragile?" she said lost in thought.

When she noticed that I was wet from the water I spilled on the glass, she took one of the dry towels she had brought and used it to dry me quickly. Leaving the room running, she shouted at me. "Wait a minute, I'll get you another glass of water, this time a tough one."

I looked at Krypto with a confused look as I tried to understand what was happening. Apparently I was on an unknown planet, of which, people looked like Kryptonians but have never heard of Krypton.

While I was processing what happened, the woman came back with a wooden mug this time and handed it to me as she said. "That's a wooden mug Charles won at a Black family party. He's never used this mug, so we don't care if it breaks, even though I find it hard for you to break it".

This time I took extra care not to break the mug and drank all the warm water the woman bothered to warm for me. The concern she's had for me since I woke up was something that made my heart warm. "Thanks a lot for the water. I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Joh-El."

Hearing my gratitude, a friendly smile appeared on her face and she answered me before it became a look of disbelief and quickly turned to a smile. "Hi, Joh... John... Johel? I'm sorry, don't worry about the water. My name is Martha. Your name doesn't sound American..."

"It's because it's a name from the planet Krypton, my name is Joh from the house of the El family." I said while smiling as I pointed down the symbol on my chest.

"Kryptonian"? Are you sure about that?" She asked me with a dubious look, after all, it was a teenager telling her that he had come from another planet. It would be hard to believe that story.

I understood why she doubted that I came from another planet, and I looked at the solid wooden mug in my hand. For a person to break that mug would be extremely difficult under normal conditions, but after bathing in that lake with Krypto in the forest, I could use the strength I gained to prove her that I was from another planet.

So I handed her the mug and I said. "Please use all your strength to try to break that mug."

She took the mug out of my hand, and even though she was a little doubtful, she used all her strength on the wooden mug and she didn't even dent it. Then she gave me back my mug and looked at me wanting to see what I would do.

And when I got the mug, I used all the strength I had to try to break it. The solid wood mug was much stronger than the aluminum cup, even while using my full strength it was a little hard to break. But after 5 seconds of squeezing as hard as I could, to Martha's complete disbelief, the mug began to crack, until the wood broke in the middle and the body shattered.

"You... you... how did you do that?" She asked as she got up from the chair that she was sitting on, while being amazed.

"It's the strength of a Kryptonian." I told her, ever since receiving a look that really believed what I was saying.

"So you really came from another planet? Where are your parents, did you come alone?" She started asking me several questions.

"I really came from another planet. My planet was destroyed and in a mutual effort between me and my parents, we opened a portal so that we could escape, unfortunately, due to a miscalculation the portal became unstable and Krypto and I were sucked in before my parents. I don't know what happened to them, I just hope for the best." I said as I stroked Krypto's huge head which had come close to me, but I tried not to think about it too much.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and the man I had seen on top of the strange machine before passing out came in with a shocked look.

...

After I explained everything, I honestly imagined that they would be afraid of me, after all, I was a 14-year-old boy who was at least twice as strong as a big man. But actually, the look Martha was giving me was one of concern, as was Charles's as we stared at the table in their dining room.

"So you're stuck on an unknown planet, with unknown people, not knowing anything about your parents, not knowing how to get back and with no company?" Martha asked with a concerned look at me.

*Bark* Krypto who was sitting on the floor next to my chair barked at her in protest.

"Sorry, Krypto. You're stuck with only Krypto's company?" She corrected herself after noticing the dog's dissatisfaction at being ignored.

"I'm still not used to how smart you are." Charles said as he looked at Krypto.

"Basically, yes." I answered the question she asked.

"Charles, do you remember the favor Rob owes you?" Martha looked at her husband and asked.

"Rob"? Hm... ahh yes! I don't think he could make a false identity for Joh-El." Charles responded as he shook his head in disappointment.

"What if he used an existing identity? He could stay with us." Martha had said it with a smart look.

Charles took a long time to understand what she meant, but when he did, the look of surprise on his face was incredible. "Are you sure? Will you be all right?" He asked worriedly.

"I'm sure, dear, I think this is one, if not the best chance I would ever have to get over it. That would be beneficial to everyone." She responded with a determined look.

"It's okay, I can talk to him, I don't think that'll be impossible, after all, I saved his life at that time. But you need to ask the other party involved if he'll accept that." Charles said with a calm look.

Martha listening to what he said, opened a little smile on her face and turned to me, who did not understand anything that was happening. "Joh-El, our son John passed away due to some complications a few days after his birth."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I was sad to hear the news and noticed the look on her face go down a little when she told me.

"Don't worry, it's been 14 years. What I mean is, he'd be the same age as you. Recapping what you said, you don't know how you came here, much less how to get home in a short period of time. Charles's friend, Rob, works in a high government position here in New York and owes him a favor. To create a false identity out of nothing, this period of which the government is having a cold war against the Soviet Union is impossible, but it may be possible to change an existing identity". She said to me with a solemn and somewhat expectant look.

I started to process what she was saying and put a hypothesis in my mind, but a person sacrificing all this to a stranger like me was something very difficult, if not impossible to happen, I didn't believe she would suggest something like that. "Hm?"

"So... if you accept, we can register you as our son John, and you can live here with us from now until you get back home, what do you think?" She asked with a clear expectation in her eyes.

"You want me to be your son?"

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