Almost four months had passed. The time for action had arrived.
A clandestine meeting was underway in a concealed bunker beneath Krypton's surface. The air was thick with tension as General Zod stood before his gathered warriors, his piercing gaze sweeping over the soldiers who had sworn loyalty to his cause.
His voice rang with conviction, echoing off the cold metallic walls.
"Today, we take back what is rightfully ours. Today, we take Krypton's future into our own hands. Instead of waiting for the end—we will forge a new beginning!"
The soldiers remained silent but resolute, their eyes gleaming with steely determination. This was the moment they had been preparing for.
A sharp beep cut through Zod's ear-com.
"General Zod, this is Damian. Mission is a go. Target Jor-El has left his residence. You have fifteen minutes to intercept and complete the mission objective."
Zod's eyes narrowed before his expression hardened. His response was crisp and controlled.
"Roger that, Damian. Good work. Keep eyes on the target and report any changes."
"Roger that, General."
As the transmission ended, Zod turned to his men.
"Move out!"
The Real Mission Begins
Unbeknownst to Zod, Damian had no intention of letting this mission succeed.
Since the beginning, his priority had never been saving Krypton, his father, or Zod's cause. To him, they—and everyone else on this planet—were meant to die.
His goal was simple: ensure his own survival.
And tonight, everything would finally fall into place.
Slipping Into Jor-El's Home
The moment Zod and his forces deployed, Damian made his move.
Using a cloaking field built from stolen Kryptonian stealth tech, he scaled the side of Jor-El's private residence, moving with practiced precision. Unlike other buildings, the House of El's estate wasn't built into the towering metallic spires of the city—it was located at the edge of Kryptonopolis, nestled within a private research compound.
Security drones hovered over the perimeter, their sensors sweeping the area in coordinated patterns. Damian had studied them for months.
He timed his approach perfectly, slipping through a blind spot in their rotation. A single leap carried him onto a balcony overlooking Jor-El's inner chambers.
With a practiced motion, he produced a signal disruptor, overriding the estate's perimeter defenses for exactly forty-five seconds. It was all the time he needed.
The door slid open silently, and Damian stepped inside.
Jor-El's private laboratory was an architectural marvel of Kryptonian design—holographic blueprints floated in the air, streams of data flowing through crystalline consoles. At its center, nestled within a containment pod, was Krypton's last hope:
The Genesis Chamber of Kal-El.
This was where Jor-El would encode the Codex—the genetic blueprint of Krypton's entire species—into his unborn son. In another timeline, he would believe he had successfully done so.
Damian was about to change that.
He approached the pod with measured steps. With a small ripple in the air, he reached into his infinite spatial storage and pulled out a sleek, black USB-like device.
A dual-function splicing program.
The device would copy the Codex's genetic sequence the moment Jor-El attempted to encode it.
Simultaneously, it would generate a false confirmation signal, fooling Jor-El into believing the Codex had been properly transferred into Kal-El.
The real data? It would be transmitted directly to Damian's personal console, stored in a secured, encrypted archive back in his quarters.
He inserted the device into the encoding terminal, pressing it into the crystalline data port. The system blinked to life, seamlessly integrating the external drive.
No alarms. No alerts.
Flawless.
Now, it was time for the final step.
Betraying Zod…
With the hardest part done, Damian activated his communicator once more.
"General, enemy forces have been alerted to our movements. They are converging on your position."
A pause. Then Zod's voice, laced with irritation. "How?"
Damian's fingers danced over a small holographic panel on his wrist, triggering a silent alarm deep within the Science Academy's security systems—a perfectly calculated misdirect.
"Unknown. The Science Academy vaults have been breached. Kryptonian enforcers are en route."
Zod would think the High Council had anticipated his move. He wouldn't suspect Damian was the one who had activated the alarm in the first place.
Damian cut the feed before Zod could reply.
Within moments, Kryptonian security forces would descend upon Zod's strike team. Just as history dictated, he would be captured.
And in the chaos, Damian would vanish, unseen and unnoticed.
As he stepped back onto the balcony, his work completed, Damian headed directly back to his quarters.
Every step he took was calculated, ensuring he left no trace. Zod and his forces had all eyes on them, exactly as planned.
Sometime later…
Damian paused briefly, glancing toward the upper floors where his parents usually slept.
"Sorry, Dad. Maybe I'll come back for you someday. But at least you'll be alive. As for Mom…" He shook his head. "She was always supposed to die."
There was no guilt. No hesitation.
People might call him selfish. But survival wasn't about morals—it was about choices.
And in a universe where planets exploded and gods waged war, Damian would do whatever it took to survive.
A low chuckle escaped him as he stepped into the garage.
"I just need to complete this quest."
He turned his attention to his system panel.
[Mission Quest: Escape Krypton by Any Means]
Time Remaining: 7 Days
Reward: 1x Traversal Ticket, 3x Lottery Tickets
Seven days. That was how long he had before Krypton fell.
Jor-El, even after the altercation with Zod, would still retrieve the Codex. Maybe today, maybe on the day Krypton was destroyed. Either way, all Damian had to do was wait for the transfer.
He sighed. If history had taught him anything, it was that Superman was always sent away at the last possible second.
"Let's just hope he does it sooner," Damian muttered.
For now, he had work to do. He opened his checklist, scanning the final preparations for his escape. His ship was ready. Supplies stocked. Weapons secured. He had mastered Kryptonian ship mechanics, genetic encryption, and flight controls.
He could have left long ago, but securing the Codex had been his top priority. Now, it was all falling into place.
The weight of what he had done finally settled in.
Zod was finished. Zod, his father, and their squad would be sent to the phantom zone. The great uprising he had planned was over before it even started.
And soon, Krypton itself would be nothing but dust in the void.
Damian exhaled slowly, stepping into the shadows of his father's private hangar.