"Yeah."
Heisenberg nodded, then rubbed the little ball's round body. A knowing smile spread across his face as he settled quietly onto the dome of the divine kingdom.
He placed the little ball on his belly, cradling it with both hands as it gradually grew still. Basking beneath the sun in the sky—now dyed in his own colors—he slept with exceptional comfort.
Within the divine kingdom, violent tremors kept the ground beneath the Kryptonians' feet in constant upheaval.
But by now, every Kryptonian here had already basked in the sunlight, so the shaking earth did not throw them into panic.
They simply stood motionless, eyes fixed with sacred reverence upon Heisenberg, who embraced an entire planet.
After Bach's explanation, everyone now understood—His Eminence intended to install a true planet within the divine kingdom!
And not just any planet, but a sentient one, capable of communication, an unimaginable marvel!
Having heard Bach's explanation, Astra was so overwhelmed with excitement she could barely contain herself. Watching the little sphere in the sky steadily shrinking, she could no longer hold back.
She had to transform the planet into the image of the old Krypton immediately, so that the scenes flickering endlessly through her dreams could be reborn into her life!
Originally, she had been planning to suggest that His Eminence Heisenberg take action against Earth.
But now, it seemed she had a far better option!
As expected of our Kryptonian Eminence—he truly understands us.
Since Krypton itself hadn't been an especially massive planet, and Kryptonians were hardly frail, they preferred small, sturdy, durable worlds.
As for Earth—tch. Earth was far too fragile. Remodeling it would cost even more energy!
With such thoughts running through her mind, Astra gazed toward Heisenberg with eyes full of desperate longing.
She simply kept waiting for him to bring the planet back.
So she watched the planet grow smaller and smaller, smaller still, until at last he held it in his arms.
She watched Heisenberg wave his hand and heal the wailing people across the world, then lie down upon the dome of the divine kingdom.
Astra waited and waited. And waited.
Half an hour later...
The Kryptonians stood rooted in place, staring at each other in bewilderment. They had been standing here for an entire half hour!
Your Eminence!
What in the world are you doing?!?
Watching Heisenberg lounging leisurely atop the dome, hearing the steady, rhythmic sound of his breathing...
Astra felt as though she were staring at a godforsaken flake!
What about the promised planet?
Hurry up and get down here!
If you don't come soon, the climax I've been building up to is going to pass me by entirely!!!
After swallowing hard with difficulty, Astra turned toward Bach, who stood at ease gazing up at Heisenberg, and asked quietly,
"Scholar, do you know what His Eminence is doing right now?"
"Of course!"
Bach nodded crisply.
"It's exactly as we can see. He...
is clearly holding a ball!"
"What the hell do you mean, holding a ball?! Why His Eminence is sleeping with a planet above the divine kingdom—that's the answer I want to know!
The Kryptonian people have barely gathered to a mere one hundred and fifty in number. Shouldn't we be seizing every moment, forging ahead with fierce determination, devoting ourselves to the search and retrieval of our remaining kin?
We shouldn't be wasting ti—"
"Hold your words, Commander Astra!"
Hearing Astra's increasingly agitated tone, the displeasure on Bach's face deepened.
He abruptly raised his right hand, and an invisible bio-field enveloped Astra entirely.
Then, with a forward push of his hand, Bach forced Astra two steps back against her will.
At the same time, Bach corrected her with open disapproval.
"It is I who must seize every moment—I, and you, and the rest of our newly empowered kin!
And it is likewise only we who waste time!
His Eminence makes no mistakes. Let me never again hear any doubt or denial directed at His Eminence!
Even if eleven signals were right now awaiting His Eminence's Bifrost, we still should not disturb him at this moment!
As subjects of His Eminence, Astra, we need only obey his will and never interfere with any of his decisions!
That is the sole meaning of our existence!"
"Yes!"
As Bach's words fell, Astra pressed her lips together and nodded decisively.
Then, rubbing Kara's head beside her, she hesitated before asking softly,
"Whatever profound meaning His Eminence's actions now hold, I can no longer simply wait here.
My genes won't permit me to waste time. So I will lead everyone in sparring practice, the better to master our new abilities!"
"Of course. Without orders from His Eminence, I have no authority to obstruct your decision."
Bach replied, turning to leave. Astra then began instructing Kara.
She always remembered the past—if her sister hadn't entrusted Kara to her, she would never have escaped Kandor City at all.
Without the cover provided by Zor-El and Jor-El, even if she had survived Brainiac's invasion, she would have become just one of the three million Kryptonians taken away alongside Kandor!
The freedom and life she now possessed were entirely borrowed from the destiny her sister and brother-in-law had given her—the charge to protect Kara.
And so...
She had to take care of Kara!
Of course, she also had to speak with His Eminence about Kandor City and Brainiac the very moment he returned to the divine kingdom!
Three million Kryptonians were still held in Brainiac's grasp!
Even if only by a single minute sooner, Astra wanted to free them earlier!
...
At the same time, atop the dome of the divine kingdom...
Heisenberg opened his eyes in surprise.
Since every blade of grass and every tree in the divine kingdom fell within the scope of his awareness,
he had heard every word of the exchange between Bach and Astra the instant it happened.
Only then did it vaguely dawn on him that he seemed to have forgotten something!
At this very moment, in Sector 2261...
Clark and Tiff both stared with wide eyes at the expanse of space that had suddenly appeared before them.
Just moments ago, the unimaginably vast Bifrost had swept the entire planet Mogo away.
So now, where the planet they had been gazing at once stood, there remained only a boundless void.
But here was the problem.
"Kal-El... why are we still here?" Tiff asked.
"What?"
Kal-El blinked.
Before Tiff could explain further, Clark grasped what she was asking.
And in that instant, Clark's expression soured immediately.
He furrowed his brows in frustration, then raised his right hand and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Great-grandfather!!!"
...
...
Clearly, it was utterly useless. Heisenberg hadn't heard a thing!
And so...
Clark looked around at the indifferent void of space on either side and suddenly felt as though his azure blue Superman suit had been dyed in the colors of Batman...
He had been forgotten by Heisenberg too!!!
He drew a deep breath, then shook his head lightly.
"Great-grandfather has probably forgotten us. Who knows how long it'll be before he remembers.
We'd better find somewhere to set down and get settled first!"
With that, Clark was about to look around and find a planet where they could land for a while.
But before he could act, Tiff got right in his face.
"Shut your mouth! His Eminence is a堂堂 god—how could he possibly do something as foolish as forgetting things?
There must be a deeper meaning to this!"
"No, trust me... there is absolutely no deeper meaning..."
Clark shook his head in exasperation. If there was one thing he knew, it was what kind of person Heisenberg was.
He was a big-hearted god!
Careless!
But, of course, Tiff would never allow Clark to insult the god in her heart.
And yet, Clark had indeed been at His Eminence's side far longer than she had.
Finding herself unable to refute him, she simply turned her back and ignored Clark altogether.
The two of them stewed in silence for a long while before Clark finally broke the bizarre awkwardness.
Surveying their surroundings, Clark said to Tiff thoughtfully,
"I've taken a look around. It's fairly empty out here, but I can just barely make out a faint point of light. About one-point-seven light-years away, there should be another planet.
If I push my speed, it won't take long to reach."
"Hah! Do you think you're His Eminence Heisenberg, wanting to fly across a light-year on your own?
Why don't you just call yourself Rao while you're at it!
Tch!"
Tiff spat out a scornful retort, then pulled up the star map stored in her armor and gave it a glance.
"This is near one of the designated routes for the Aezians' long-range voyages. The Aezians pass through that route once every three cosmic days.
Looking at the map, one of the route's temporary jump points is less than zero-point-zero-zero-four light-years from us. We could try making our way there.
Also... I still believe His Eminence left us here with some distinct purpose in mind.
Considering how active the Aezians are nearby, I intend to observe their domain.
Perhaps their realm holds something that interests His Eminence, something beneath his dignity to personally seize from mere mortals and weaklings.
So I shall act in his stead!"
"You're overthinking this... but that route you mentioned is worth considering!"
Clark nodded.
He wasn't sure how long it would take Heisenberg to remember them, so finding somewhere to land was important.
Since Tiff's suggested landing spot seemed reliable enough, he too was a little curious to meet other forms of alien life.
And so, the two of them resolutely set their course and flew off.
Although Tiff's ship had been left behind on Mogo—or rather, had gone off to Earth along with Mogo—
Kryptonian battle armor, once switched to cosmic mode, could activate jet-propulsion flight. Until its energy ran out, it could fly quite fast!
Of course, she still couldn't match Clark, so in the end it became Clark pulling her by the hand as they flew.
They had been flying for barely three minutes when Clark heard a peculiar sound.
He halted abruptly, and Tiff, tugged by his sudden stop, stared in confusion.
"What's the matter? Don't tell me three minutes is all you've got—that's way too fast!!!"
Tiff asked in displeasure, but Clark merely shook his head gently.
"Someone's chasing us!"
"Are you sure?"
Even as Tiff asked, she hurriedly checked the detection systems built into her armor.
After expanding the maximum detection range repeatedly and searching several times over, she actually did find a ship!
"There really is one. Your senses are downright terrifying!"
Tiff exclaimed in praise, then continued explaining to Clark.
"But compared to other signals, this ship's signal is way too faint. And the tracking function barely responded at all.
Probably just another unlucky soul attacked by space pirates. We don't need to bother with that kind of thing!"
"Space pirates?
Attacked?
Faint response?"
Clark paused, then shook his head.
"No way. It's moving extremely fast. Most regular spaceships couldn't keep up with me.
Since you said Great-grandfather left us here for a reason, you should make contact with that ship all the more.
Who knows, maybe that really is Great-grandfather's deeper meaning, haha!"
Laughing, Clark pulled Tiff in a turn and shot off in the direction of the ship.
And so, a minute later, the two of them stared speechlessly at what lay ahead.
Before them, a spaceship—no larger than a human head—was slowly opening its hatch.
As the hatch door slid open, a faint green glow flickered into view.
Then, a bee buzzed back and forth in front of Clark.
Even as it flew, it asked in frantic agitation,
"Excuse me—I'm a member of the Green Lantern Corps. My name is Bzee.
I'd like to ask you something.
You two are the only living beings in this nearby region of space, so I have to ask you...
Did you happen to see a planet disappear from the place you just passed through?!?
Dammit all, that was a huge planet—how could it just vanish like that?!?
My wife and over two billion children are still on Mogo!!!
I'm about to lose my mind!!!"
/-\
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