[Third Person Pov]
"Woah, what the heck happened here?" Momo asked as she stepped carefully through the giant, jagged opening Clark had blasted into the side of the ship. She helped settle Okarun beside her, both of them taking in the extensive damage and scorched metal that stretched out before them.
"Momo!!" Krypto barked happily the moment he spotted her. The super-dog immediately began circling her at rapid speed, then jumped up to climb over her with excited energy. Momo grinned widely and ruffled his soft ears with both hands.
Ken let out a sharp, high-pitched gasp as he covered his mouth with both hands, his eyes sparkling with pure wonder. "Superdog…!"
"Who are you?" Krypto asked, turning to glare at the newcomer while positioning himself protectively near Momo.
Okarun blinked several times before the realization fully hit him. His eyes widened comically as he shouted, "Holy— Did he just talk!?!"
"I can do a lot more than just talk," Krypto replied, his tone making it clear he was being more playful than truly threatening. "Now it's your turn. Who are you, bucko?"
"He goes by Okarun," Momo said, introducing him with a casual wave of her hand. "I suppose you could say he's a friend I recently made."
Ken glanced over toward Momo for a brief second. Their eyes met, and both of them immediately looked away, faces growing slightly flustered as they acknowledged the moment.
Krypto's expression shifted into a mischievous grin… only for it to vanish the moment he activated his special vision on Ken. "You do realize he's currently possessed, right?" Krypto asked, staring warily between the two of them.
"I'm aware," Momo explained calmly. "That's exactly why he's not leaving my side. I'm suppressing it until I can take him to Granny. She'll know what to do."
"If you want to see Granny, she's in the total opposite direction," Krypto said, pointing with his entire body toward the far end of the ruined corridor.
"I'm aware, duh," Momo scoffed, crossing her arms. "But do you seriously believe I was going to miss an entire alien invasion?"
"Fair point," Krypto agreed, clearly understanding exactly what kind of person Momo was.
Ken watched the easy back-and-forth exchange between them, noting the clear familiarity in their interactions. "Hold on a second… do you two know each other? Are you close to Superman?!"
"Close? Me and Superman?" Momo said with a proud smirk, crossing her fingers tightly together. "We're like this. Let me tell you—he would be nothing without me."
Krypto looked at Momo with a completely straight face… until she threw him a subtle wink, at which point he began to smile.
"Oh… the two of you sound quite close," Ken replied, adjusting his glasses. A faint frown crossed his face for half a second before it shifted into a reluctant grin.
He then started to pout. "How come you didn't say anything even though you knew I was searching for him last time?"
Momo stood with one hand on her hip and shifted her weight. "Duh, because I obviously didn't know you then. Do you think I'm just going to tell everyone I meet that I know Superman and introduce them?"
"…I have no arguments there. Apologies," Ken said apologetically, realizing she had made a fair point.
He then looked at Krypto with renewed, almost overwhelming excitement, fully processing once again that he was standing in front of an actual creature from outer space. "Do you mind if I pet you, Mr. Superdog, sir…?"
Krypto glanced toward Momo and caught her silent, pleading look. Since he wasn't particularly opposed to pets, he sat down regally with his head held high. "As I'm feeling generous at the moment… I suppose I'll allow it."
Ken's eyes immediately filled with tears as he carefully reached out and began petting Krypto, running his hands over the smooth, soft fur of the super-dog's neck and body. "I'm actually touching an advanced alien lifeform… inside an intergalactic spaceship," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "This is the greatest day of my life."
"So where's Cla—I mean Kal-El? Where did he run off to?" Momo began to question as she carefully stepped over a pile of scorched debris.
"He just arrived at the door of the boss of this ship," Krypto answered, using his X-ray vision to pinpoint Clark's location deeper within the vessel.
"And Lala?" Momo asked curiously, glancing around as if expecting the pink-haired princess to appear at any moment.
"Kal-El gave her a mission to handle," Krypto replied, quickly falling into step behind Momo once he noticed she had started walking again. "He also told me to keep you and your boyfriend safe."
"Boyfriend?!" both Momo and Ken shouted at the exact same time.
"He is not my boyfriend!"
"I am not her boyfriend!"
The two of them exclaimed simultaneously while pointing accusatory fingers at each other, faces slightly flushed.
"Heh," Krypto laughed lightly, continuing to walk forward with a casual, almost bouncing step.
"Woah… you guys really went all out here," Momo said as she took in the corridors ahead, which were half-engulfed in lingering flames on one side and thick layers of ice on the other.
"It's like an alien museum…" Ken exclaimed excitedly, his earlier embarrassment momentarily forgotten as he began closely observing the frozen alien statues. He lightly knocked on one of them with his knuckles. "Are they going to be okay?"
"That will depend on them," Krypto said confidently as he walked right between the icy figures. "These guys are space pirates. They deserve it."
Suddenly, a cold, telepathic voice echoed inside their minds.
"More intruders!! Flee if you don't want to face off against the rest of our armada!" Geryuganshoop warned. "Being unable to stop Superman is one thing, but I doubt the rest of you possess the same resistance."
"Did anyone else just hear a voice inside their heads?!" Ken asked in a panic, clutching the top of his head protectively with both hands.
"Bring it on!!" Momo encouraged with a fierce, excited grin.
"Um… why exactly are we provoking them?" Ken asked nervously, fidgeting with his hands as he glanced around the damaged corridor.
"These fuckers are trying to invade our planet!" Momo declared, bringing her fist into her palm and cracking her knuckles with determination. "I'm not going to be all chummy with them. While Superman deals with the boss, we'll deal with the stragglers. That'll teach them to think twice about coming here with malicious intent."
"You are very passionate about this," Ken said with a light grin, finding himself swept up by Momo's intense, almost infectious energy despite his lingering nervousness.
"Well, ever since I was little I've been trained to be an exorcist," Momo explained, flashing him a confident smile. "An exorcist's job is to protect people from the supernatural and the paranormal. So I suppose you could say this is just something I was raised to do."
"I see… I suppose that makes sense," Ken muttered quietly, doing his best to keep pace with both her words and her stride.
"Over there!" several alien voices suddenly shouted from further down the corridor.
The three of them stopped as a squad of heavily armed alien pirates appeared, weapons already raised and ready. Without hesitation, they opened fire. Bright laser blasts illuminated the darkened corridor in rapid flashes of color.
"Ahhh!!" Ken shouted in pure panic and immediately dove to hide behind Momo.
Momo quickly conjured a shimmering force-field of spiritual energy around the group. The laser shots slammed harmlessly against the glowing barrier. She glanced over her shoulder at Ken with a raised brow and a completely straight face. "Seriously?"
"I'm sorry, but you seem to really know what you're doing," Ken admitted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
Momo rolled her eyes, though a small smile tugged at her lips, before focusing ahead once more. She dispelled the force-field and extended her hand. With a sharp pull of her spiritual energy, she yanked every weapon straight out of the aliens' grips.
"What—!"
"Hey!!"
"Give those back!"
Momo clenched her hand into a tight fist, crushing the floating weapons until they detonated in midair with a series of sharp explosions.
"Superdog, I choose you!" she exclaimed dramatically, pointing forward like a trainer sending out a powerful Pokémon.
Krypto let out an enthusiastic howl and charged ahead at full speed, completely decimating the entire squad in a single reckless, joyful rush. His tongue hung out the whole time as he clearly enjoyed every second of it.
The moment he finished, the entire ship began to shake violently, nearly throwing all three of them off their feet.
"What is happening?!" Ken shouted over the distant explosions, grabbing onto the wall for support.
"It's Kal-El!" Krypto informed them. "He's battling the boss dude right now!"
"Then let's keep going!" Momo shouted, bracing herself against the wall as another powerful tremor rocked the vessel. "Krypto, think you can lead us to the voice that was in our heads?"
"Normally I would have told you no," Krypto replied, "but since you're talking about a different kind of voice… perhaps I can! Follow me!"
With that, the super-dog began to levitate off the ground and flew deeper into the ship, leading the way.
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