The stealth ship cut through the Arctic air at speeds that would make most military aircraft jealous. Below them, the endless white expanse of Ellesmere Island stretched to the horizon, Canada's northernmost territory, locked in ice and snow.
Bruce stood in the ship's observation area, hands moving across the holographic control panels.
"This technology..." he murmured, comparing it to his own designs. The Batwing was impressive by Earth standards, but compared to a craft capable of interstellar travel? It was like comparing a bicycle to a fighter jet.
"The Joker's gone. Shouldn't you be helping Gordon clean up the mess he left behind?"
Mario sat in the pilot's chair, watching the navigation display track their approach. The ship could make this journey in minutes, not because it was at top speed, but because acceleration took time even for spacecraft. In the vacuum of space, this distance would pass in the blink of an eye.
"I want to see what kind of person this Superman you mentioned really is."
And whether he has the capability to stop you if necessary, he didn't add.
From the cockpit, Ivan said, "We've reached the destination area."
"Good. Use the ship's scanners and see if you can find the spacecraft hidden under the ice."
Kryptonian technology was leagues beyond anything Earth had developed. Mario wasn't just interested in meeting Clark, he wanted access to the Growth Codex hidden aboard that ship. With it, he could potentially create an army of Kryptonian soldiers. They might not have Clark's potential, but as rank-and-file troops? They'd be among the strongest fighters in the universe.
"Got it!" Ivan's response came almost instantly.
"That fast?"
Mario moved to the cockpit, pressing his hands against the transparent hull. Through the window, he could see extensive military encampments spread across the ice below. Prefab buildings, equipment yards, and personnel moving in organized patterns.
"Looks like we found the place."
A standard research expedition wouldn't warrant this level of military presence. These were Canadian forces, drawn by reports of something buried in the ice. Unfortunately for them, they had no idea what they'd found.
"Can you get detailed scans of the ship below us?"
Ivan's fingers danced across the controls, bringing up a holographic projection. He pointed to the center of the image. "The vessel below has active scan-blocking capabilities."
Mario stared at the ship-shaped shadow in the middle of the display and felt the irony hit him. The anti-scanning technology designed to hide the ship was precisely what made it stand out like a beacon.
But he wasn't in a hurry. The ship was secondary. Finding Clark was the real priority.
Movement on the ground caught his attention. A helicopter was approaching from the distance, heading straight for the main camp. It touched down in a spray of ice and snow, rotors kicking up a small blizzard.
"Pull up the video feed from that helicopter."
As soon as he saw the woman stepping out onto the ice, Mario's face split into a grin.
"Perfect timing. Couldn't have planned it better myself."
Tony looked up at the screen with confusion. "Who is she? Another superhero?"
"Something like that."
Mario didn't elaborate on how Lois managed to be in a relationship with someone who had Superman's physical advantages. She definitely had extraordinary qualities, just not the kind you discussed in polite company. But his attention wasn't focused solely on her. Instead, his eyes tracked the heavily-laden worker who'd disembarked with her, a man in a winter coat and knit cap, carrying multiple bags and Lois's luggage.
Clark Kent.
After quitting his bartending job, he'd deliberately inserted himself into the expedition team heading for the military camp, taking work as a porter to get access to the site.
"Let's go. You all stay on the ship and wait for me. I'm going to have a chat with Superman."
The ship was cloaked, not invisible. When something that size descended, anyone with functioning eyes would see the displaced snow and wind, along with that conspicuous patch of empty air in the middle of the blizzard.
Mario gestured for Ivan to open the hatch. Without hesitation, he stepped out and dropped straight down. Having flight abilities was exactly this convenient. The rush of wind filled his ears as he descended. If he wasn't immune to extreme cold, his short-sleeved shirt would get him killed in about ten minutes in this environment.
He remained invisible as he floated through the air, tracking Clark's movement across the camp. Clark wasn't dressed much warmer than him, compared to Lois's heavy-duty expedition gear, he looked dangerously underdressed.
Lois was soon escorted by one of the military personnel toward a prefab building, while Clark carried the bags toward a different structure, a converted shipping container. Mario followed him inside. The space was extremely cramped, filled with boxes, equipment, and various supplies. Clearly, this had originally been a storage unit. Clark set down his burdens and retrieved a folding cot from the corner, unfolding it and placing it in the only available floor space, the center of the room. There was literally nowhere else to put it.
The harsh, minimalist conditions made it clear that whoever was running this operation didn't want Lois here. They were only accommodating her because they had no choice.
"Clark, treating a lady like this isn't very gentlemanly."
"Who's there?"
Clark spun around at the voice, but his eyes found nothing. His brow furrowed as he wondered if he was experiencing another episode. As a child, he'd been able to hear sounds from miles away. It had taken years of training to learn control, and filter out the constant noise.
"I'm here to see you."
This time, he realized it wasn't his powers acting up. Using the direction of the voice, he pinpointed Mario's exact location even though he couldn't see him.
"Who are you?"
Clark moved toward Mario's position. His father's warnings echoed in his mind, never reveal your abilities in front of ordinary people. But whoever was speaking to him from thin air was clearly not ordinary.
"Name's Mario. I came to meet you, and to give you a warning. The ship you're looking for is definitely here. But the moment you activate it, your father's enemies will receive the signal and head for Earth. They'll come to destroy everything."
Clark reached out instinctively, his hand passing through empty air where Mario's voice originated.
"You knew my father? You know where I came from?"
"That's not exactly a well-kept secret. But someone's coming, let's change locations for this conversation."
As if on cue, the door burst open. Freezing wind rushed into the small space, dropping the temperature immediately.
A man in a bulky parka stuck his head in and shouted past Clark. "Ms. Lane! Don't wander off. Temperature drops to minus forty at night. Otherwise, I might not find your body until spring thaw."
Clark used the moment to slip out, brushing past Lois as they crossed paths in the doorway.
Lois looked around the cramped storage space converted into living quarters. "What if I need to use the bathroom?"
The man smiled without humor. "There's a bucket in the corner."
He shut the door.
---
"What do you want?"
Standing in the middle of the glacier, Clark stared at the man who'd suddenly materialized before.
"Nothing sinister. I'm here to help you."
For a price, Mario added silently. Outwardly, his expression remained friendly as he pointed toward the distant ice. "There's a spaceship hidden inside that glacier. As long as you take the key hanging around your neck and insert it into the ship's control system, you'll learn the whole truth about your origins. But here's the catch, the moment you activate that ship, you'll trigger its distress beacon."
Clark's frown deepened, his right hand unconsciously moving to the pendant beneath his shirt. "What happens when the beacon activates? And how do you know any of this?"
Mario pulled a diamond pickaxe from his inventory and started attacking the glacier. Within seconds, he'd carved out a small room in the ice and placed a torch inside for light.
"Let's get out of the wind first."
Clark nodded and followed him into the ice shelter. Mario made a few quick modifications to the space, then sealed the entrance with ice blocks.
"The beacon itself isn't dangerous. It just sends a distress signal to every Kryptonian outpost in the universe. Then your people will arrive with spaceships and terraforming equipment. They'll wipe out humanity and restore Krypton's glory using Earth as raw material. As for how I know..." Mario shrugged. "That's complicated. Mainly because even if I explained it, you wouldn't believe me."
When Clark heard "wipe out humanity," concern flooded his eyes. Forget everyone else, he would never let anyone harm his mother, Martha. But on the other hand, the truth was right there in front of him. He didn't want to give up this chance. And even if he didn't enter the ship, the Canadian military would eventually excavate it anyway, which would still trigger the alarm.
"Isn't there any solution?"
The corners of Mario's mouth lifted. "Of course there is."
"Just capture the Kryptonians who want to terraform Earth before they can do it."
Clark was speechless. The enemy had spaceships, advanced technology, and were his own people. In his understanding, these so-called compatriots were probably stronger than him. Capture them? With what?
"When they arrive, I'll handle them. But everything has a price."
Finally revealing his true purpose, Mario produced a syringe from his inventory. It was made from vibraniun. Using it on Superman wasn't a waste at all.
He twirled the vibranium needle between his fingers.
The moment Clark saw the syringe, his mind filled with images. Laboratories, confinement, and evil experiments... These had been childhood fears, scenarios his father had warned him about.
"You want my blood?"
Mario nodded without hesitation. "Just one sample. And in exchange, I'll not only help you deal with General Zod when he arrives on Earth, I'll also help you find a girlfriend. As long as you agree, I'll deliver her to you immediately."
This empty promise was something Mario had perfected. Dealing with Zod was necessary because he needed Kryptonian test subjects. As for the girlfriend, if he didn't interfere with the plot, Lois would end up with Clark anyway.
Clark hesitated, clearly torn.
Mario stepped closer with the syringe. "Come on. I'll be quick. I've had lots of practice."
Years of drawing blood samples had given him considerable skill. He was confident Clark wouldn't feel any pain.
"No. Not yet. I can't trust what you're telling me."
Clark wasn't about to let his blood be taken based on two minutes of conversation from a stranger. Mario had expected this.
"Fair enough. But since you say you can handle my people, there shouldn't be any problem with me going into the ship now, right?"
Mario put away the syringe with regret. Even if he couldn't get Clark's blood, at least establishing contact was progress. The fact that Clark hadn't completely refused meant there was still a chance to obtain a sample peacefully later.
"Let's go. I'll take you there."
Mario had his mini-map and could see the exact location of the ship hidden beneath the ice. He pulled out his pickaxe and started digging in the ship's direction. The extremely hard ice layers shattered instantly under his tool, and he harvested large quantities of blue ice, not the regular frozen water.
Clark, following behind, wasn't particularly impressed by Mario's ability to break through solid ice. He could do the same thing easily with his heat vision. That wasn't what caught his attention. What intrigued him were the torches Mario kept placing along the ice tunnel walls. To his senses, the torches were clearly burning with bright orange flames. But they emitted no heat and showed no signs of fuel consumption.
He stopped walking and reached out tentatively to touch one of the flames. Just as his senses indicated, the fire carried not even a hint of warmth.
"Stop playing with the decorations and keep moving!"
Mario's voice echoed from up ahead. While Clark had been examining the torch, he had already broken through the outer ice layers and entered the cavity containing the ship.
After one last curious look at the torch, Clark hurried forward and emerged into a massive ice cavern. There, encased in millennia of frozen water, was a spacecraft.
Before he could process what he was seeing, Mario said, "This ship is ugly as hell. Looks like a horseshoe crab. What were they thinking with those ridges?"
Calling it a horseshoe crab might be slightly generous, but the comparison was apt. If he had his choice, he definitely wouldn't pick this design aesthetic.
Unfortunately, Clark didn't see anything wrong with the ship's appearance. In fact, he thought it looked pretty cool.
"Stay back. I want to go inside and look around."
As he spoke, his eyes turned red. Two beams of crimson energy shot from his eyes, striking the ice encasing the ship. The immense heat instantly melted ice. Massive amounts of steam billowed upward, but the temperature was too extreme. Before the vapor could rise more than a few meters, it condensed back into ice crystals that fell like snow.
A passage leading to the ship's entrance was carved out by the laser beams, a perfectly circular tunnel that contrasted sharply with Mario's rectangular mining style.
As a Minecraft player, he muttered under his breath about "round shapes" and "heresy against proper geometry."
Following behind Clark, they approached the ship's entrance. Just as they reached the doorway, Mario suddenly thought of something. He looked at Clark's eyes.
"When you use your heat vision… doesn't it make your eyes dry?"