[Third Person Pov]
Clark woke up to an immense, crushing weight pressing down on his shoulders, forcing him into a painful kneeling position on the cold metal floor. His arms were forcibly spread wide apart, locked in thick restraints that hummed with oppressive energy. Every breath felt labored under the artificial gravity.
At first, only darkness greeted him. He activated his X-ray vision, piercing through the shadows. He was inside a heavily reinforced underground cell. A glowing yellow energy panel shimmered across the only exit.
His mouth was sealed shut by a reinforced muzzle, and a tight visor clamped over his eyes, blocking his vision. Clark immediately began to thrash against his bonds, muscles straining. He tried to fire his heat vision anyway. The outer edges of the visor flared with bright, frustrated light as he poured power into the attempt again and again. He twisted his head sharply from side to side, growling deep in his throat with mounting annoyance.
"Sol?" Clark asked softly, voice muffled. "Are you there?"
Silence.
He sighed heavily.
Clark's powerful muscles began to bulge as he flexed with growing intensity. The more strength he exerted, the heavier the pressure bearing down on him became. The machine was clearly designed to loop and amplify his own power against him, turning his greatest asset into a weapon of self-suffocation.
A golden aura of spiritual energy ignited around his body. Clark growled louder, pushing harder. The air in the cell grew thick and suffocating, growing denser and heavier with every passing second. The very space around him started to visibly dent and warp under the immense gravitational pressure he was generating.
"Please stop!" a panicked voice cried from outside the cell. "If you continue, you'll create a black hole and kill us all!"
Clark activated his X-ray vision once more. He saw a young man — a younger version of Cranis — standing just outside the cell on his knees. The boy was panting heavily, sweating profusely, and gasping for air from the sheer pressure leaking outward. His eyes were nearly rolled back, and blood trickled steadily from his nose.
Clark slowly released a long, controlled breath and eased off his power. The golden aura faded. He grunted as the full weight of the restraints slammed back down on him, forcing him firmly back onto his knees.
"Who are you?" Clark asked, voice calm but edged with steel. "Where am I, and what do you want?"
The young man sighed in visible relief, slowly pushing himself up on shaky legs. He wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "My name is Kreel Serr Draal, son of Cranis Axiom Draal." He steadied himself. "You're currently deep underground in a secure, high-security facility… and I want to help you."
Clark remained silent for a long moment, scanning the boy with his super senses — heartbeat, micro-expressions, breathing patterns. Though the alien biology was slightly different from what he was used to, every indicator told him the boy was being truthful.
"You want to help me?" Clark repeated slowly, almost suspiciously.
"Yes. Thank goodness I arrived when I did," Kreel said, still catching his breath. "If you had kept pushing, the combination of your power and the confinement field would have inverted the space around you and torn a hole through reality… creating an actual black hole."
Clark's expression darkened behind the muzzle. "Where are the others? The people I came with — are they okay?"
"They're fine, for the most part," Kreel answered. "They're recuperating in their own cells after their battle with my brother. Except for Princess Lala… she's currently having dinner with my father."
"Huh?!" Clark's lips curled into a disturbed sneer beneath the muzzle. "I'll ask about the brother thing later. What the hell do you mean she's having dinner with your father?"
"Well, after your defeat—"
"Defeat?" Clark interrupted, tone flat. "Who was defeated? I was just closing my eyes for a few seconds, that's all. I don't remember anyone beating me in a fight."
"…Right," Kreel said carefully. "After you… closed your eyes… my brother appeared. Those three girls fought valiantly, but they stood no chance against him. They were defeated one by one. My father took Princess Lala and is now having dinner with her to celebrate their upcoming marriage."
"That's it. I'm opening the black hole," Clark said flatly. His golden energy immediately began spiking again.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Kreel exclaimed, stumbling backward. "Please stop! I'll help you escape… but only if you promise to save my brother."
"…Save your brother?" Clark asked, the energy stabilizing slightly.
Kreel nodded, clenching his fists and looking down with clear shame. "He's taken things too far. My brother once disobeyed Father when ordered to eliminate you. So Father started working on a device to control him completely and force obedience."
"Like the device he used on Yami…" Clark muttered.
"Yami?"
"Golden Darkness."
"Ah, yes," Kreel said. "She was the test subject for the prototype. Father needed someone disposable to test it on while also removing a threat. Once he saw it worked, he used the perfected version on my brother. With his help, Father has taken over most of the planet."
Clark let out a long, tired sigh. "Alright… I believe I understand the situation now."
"So… do you agree to help?" Kreel asked anxiously. "You're the only one I've ever seen who could stand up to my brother and actually hold his own. You're the only one who can save him."
"Hold my own?" Clark scoffed, a confident grin forming behind the muzzle. "No offense to you or your brother, but I was bodying him. He never stood a chance."
Kreel rolled his eyes. "And yet who's the one imprisoned and needing help to escape?"
"First of all, kid — third-party interference. That doesn't count," Clark shot back. "And second, who said I needed your help to escape? I can get out of this cell without even moving a muscle." His tone was both amused and supremely confident. "Watch me."
Clark curled his lips inward and let out a sharp, ringing whistle that cut through the air.
.
.
.
Kreel looked around in confusion as several seconds passed with nothing happening. "Was… something supposed to happen?"
Clark sighed. "Just give it a minute. He likes playing around first."
---
Deep above ground, Krypto was cheerfully digging in the dirt, kicking clouds of dust behind him with his powerful hind legs. "Dig, dig, dig!" he sang jubilantly to himself.
Beside him stood a small mountain — an anthill made entirely of defeated soldiers he had personally dealt with after catching them harassing innocent families. He grabbed one unconscious soldier by the leg, dragged him into a fresh hole, turned around, and cheerfully kicked dirt over him, burying the man up to his neck.
Dozens of similar holes dotted the area, with only the heads of groaning soldiers poking out.
"I wonder if Kal-El would appreciate all this hard work?" Krypto mused aloud, tail wagging.
A sharp, familiar whistle suddenly reached his ears. Krypto's ears perked up instantly.
"Speaking of who— Looks like he needs me!"
With an excited bark, Krypto launched into the sky, aimed straight down, and began spinning at super speed. He turned into a living white drill, carving a winding tunnel straight into the earth with effortless power. His tongue lolled out happily as he dug deeper and deeper toward the source of the whistle.
He slammed into a thick metal wall blocking his path — but it barely slowed him. The reinforced alloy warped and tore around his spinning form as he burst straight through it.
"Waaah!!" Kreel cried out, jumping back in terror.
"Kal—!!" Krypto froze mid-pounce the moment he saw Clark imprisoned and restrained.
His entire demeanor shifted instantly. The cheerful dog vanished. White fur bristled aggressively as Krypto lowered into a threatening stance, eyes igniting into glowing red orbs. He bared his sharp fangs at Kreel and growled with deep, protective fury.
"Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?!"
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