kryptonix | ( inbox )

/Hey, Kell. It's me. You good over there?/

Yeah.

Why do you ask?

/Because everyone I know, or mostly everyone, got fucked over in this dumb mission.

So, might as well check./

(She is included in everyone.)

I made it out okay.

Did something happen?

(She got kidnapped, study-tortured, watched someone she cares about get fucked up trying to get her, one of her own turned out to be the anomaly and died, their numbers decreased, she's spent half the time thereafter in diamond form so she doesn't fall apart, and there's probably even more there.

She's cool.)

/Nothing you gotta worry about, it's fine./

(Nope.)

/I did want to talk to you about something, though? I'm just surface-level here so I'm not really looking, are you busy?/

[ hmm. ]

No. I can pop over. Just ping me with a location

[ even an image will do. he'll spot it from the air. ]

(She's doing what she did when they were looking for the arcade. A pin shows in the distance, straight into her room in the girl's dormitory of the X-Mansion.)

/You can be normal and go through the front door, or the window's open. Whatever works for you./

Will I have to talk to anyone else if I use the door?

/No guarantees./

I'll take the window.

[ and it'll take him all of five seconds to arrive, clambering through. ]

(She knows how fast he can go, which means she isn't startled or anything. She's in lougewear, shorts, a crop top, a cardigan, and her hair not styled into curls but very, very straight, looking up from her game on her couch and putting it aside.)

No one can say you're not efficient. Hey, Kell.

Hey.

[ then he falters, no idea on how to proceed. an awkward silence follows before he clears his throat. ]

Uh. Nice room.

You're bad at this.

(At least she looks okay, she has makeup on, she's put together, she doesn't mind him seeing her in lounge. Her room is basically a pink/purple gamer girl dream, with LED lights, consoles, games, all that nice stuff.)

Thanks anyway. So, do you have more people from your world here?

[ kell merely shrugs. there's a laundry list of things he's bad at. ]

Everyone from my world is gone, remember?

Whoever shows up, they'd be from the past or some other timeline.

(Pat pat on the space next to her, Kell. You know she doesn't bite.)

Well. I have a proposal. How would you feel about working together? You'd help us, mutants, and you'd have us to help you.

[ well. since she asked. he sits next to her. stiff as a brick. ]

I don't mind, but why do you need my help?

Your powers should suffice.

Well. Do you want the long answer or the short one?

Whichever one's the truth.

Either would be.

The easiest way to explain it is that we are losing numbers. There are the new generation mutants, and the older ones. I'm the former, and our leader was just sent home, which is concerning. So that's one issue. Second issue? We have an abundance of telepaths. Three Omega-level ones, and yours truly, so that boxes us in.

Third issue, the ones who remain are hardly suitable for field work. Hence, I need to outsource.

[ it makes sense. still, he's curious. ]

Did something happen then?

Eh, I got kidnapped, lightly tortured, and studied like a guinea pig, but you know, it happens. Not the first mutant, God knows I will not be the last. We all got unlucky in this mission for sure.

(Factual, very dismissive. It's not like she's upset or anything. Course not.

But also, all of them really had a time. Sophie, Quentin, Nate. Julian's gone. We do what we can.)

Fact is, alliances should help.

[ hm. even so. but he'll let sophie make that call. ]

Like I said, it's no problem on my end.

But I don't know all the mutants here. You'll have to introduce me.

[ meeting them will help too. kell would be able to locate them through their heartbeats. ]

See, thanks. I'll get you up to speed, and as a token of appreciation? We have a room that you can go break shit in and it will not actually break, so.

(She's basically offering him the Danger Room for a spin.)

Well, let's see. You have me, Quentin Quire, Nate Grey, and Jean Grey, telekinetic, telepathic people, I have my secondary mutation, some of them have some too. We have Scott Summers, in this case a kid version of Mr. X-Men Leader from another universe under our wing, Storm, who is a lady who can control the weather, and Jay, a guy with wings, healing factor, and some superhuman stuff.

[ kell nods. he's familiar. the legion had a training room after all. ]

I'll remember. And I'll keep an eye out.

[ for this whackjob who is experimenting on people. ]

(Oh, she hears that.)

Don't worry, they're not going to do it again, and I am keeping telepathic track. I've forgiven it because it was a morality shift, not a 'make your wettest dreams come true' shift, but I feel they come near mine again or think some shit I don't like, I'm stepping up.

(Which is not an ethical thing, but whatever.)

Edited 2025-08-19 13:17 (UTC)

But they're not your only concern.

[ otherwise this would be done and dusted. ]

No, but it was a focused effort on their part. They were hiveminde-y, or wanting to be one anyway. I'm a specialized hivemindey telepath with nanotech for data store and processing in my spine, so, if anything, it's more my shit that they were into anyway.

I'll let you know if they slip.

[ not just a shift then. those impulses were there all along.

kell-el was never experimented on. tested, sure. his parents made sure he had to be battle ready, but they never hurt him. never did anything kell didn't volunteer for.

and he knows. he was the lucky one. ]

Sure.

You okay there?

(Not that he processes feelings well or anything, but you know. While she's nonchalant about it, there's no happy way to talk or hear about this situation.

Just checking on him, is all.)

[ kell gives a quiet grunt. ]

I guess it's weird to think I had a better life than most people. Sure, there was the war and end of the world stuff . . . but no one I knew ever treated me poorly.

Oh. That. Yeah. I mean, you got your problems, we got ours. Ours is more 'we all hate mutants because they're all dangerous, let's do something about it', and yours is more death, destruction, gloom, war, maniac man.

Edited 2025-08-20 01:04 (UTC)

Right.

But even my creator — They never put me through anything like that. They could have.

[ and that's why terra-man existed. even now kell can't help but wonder. did they think he was too weak? or they just didn't want that blood on his hands? ]

They . . . called me their son. It was the last thing they said. Before the universe collapsed.

Didn't your creator basically raise you with hopes and thoughts for goodness and salvation and that kind of stuff? Why would they hurt you intentionally? There's no way.

I wasn't raised. All my learning and information was fed into me during the cloning process.

And there wasn't exactly time to go over that stuff. They needed me to fight. It's all I ever did.

Oh, look at us, twinsies.

(At least on that part. Cannot relate to the rest of it at all.)

Still. There's no reason to harm you, is there? Or are you bugging out because, in comparison to the other clone you know, you had a relatively okay creation and study process?

I'm not bugging out. It's not even a clone thing. I knew someone who was experimented on. By their father.

[ he shrugs. ]

It's just . . . weird, that's all.

Not like you're really great at communicating, and I'm polite.

(As in not reading his thoughts all the time. She isn't polite, but she is trying to be.)

Yeah. I didn't personally know them or anything, the person who kidnapped me and all. I'm glad you weren't, but I also don't think anyone could force you into anything like that. You're like a tank.

Edited 2025-08-20 01:34 (UTC)

No. No one could.

I guess it's more . . . I haven't spent a lot of time with people. When it's peaceful. And stuff like this happens.

[ and he's never truly understood why. yeah people can be jerks or evil and so on, but the way human nature takes shape, allows for these atrocities . . . that feels beyond him. ]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm not really the most optimistic person to talk about these things. I always think something will happen, I think it comes with the territory of being... Different, I guess.

It's fine.

Like I said. It is surprising.

[ no one in the legion is the norm or normal. that's the whole point of the legion. and those differences were huge because it guaranteed you a spot in there. ]

I can't understand how it would be, unless you're saying you not being that fucked up is the surprising part.

It's fucked up in general.

[ kell huffs. he knows he's not explaining it well. was this the superman part of him? ]

Nevermind. It doesn't matter.

Except it does. Talk to me, but from the top.

Fine.

[ kell crosses his arms. ]

I came from a war that never ended. With trillions of lives on the line. The worst of the worst.

And people don't have to deal with that. But they still do things like this. It's a waste.

Survival does a thing, it makes you focus on it. In a place where you have to think those things, I guess that nature pops up more.

It is.

Probably.

But I hate that.

[ and that's probably . . . superman's influence. or the legion's. he never cared. he can't say he does care.

but it rankles all the same. ]

I do too. I think if I told you about our stuff in-depth, you'd be... Well, worse off.

(It's mutant genocide after mutant genocide, after all.)

And I've been down a path of wanting to get revenge, too, but that doesn't help.

Probably not.

[ maybe he'll cross the line and more, when he finally faces imperiex. but. he hasn't yet. ]

Anyway that was the only thing on my mind.

(Okay, then what now. Does she hug him? Nah. For all she gives him shit for communication, she's also shit at it.

So, uh, pat pat on his massive back. There you go. She guesses.)

Well, yeah. That was kind of it, too. I guess I got all my list out. Congratulations, you're now X-Men-adjacent.

What the heck is an X-Men.

... Oh, God, uh, let's see.

Alright. Mutants equal X-Gene. That's what we all have that makes us different from humans. X-Men is basically our superhero group of mutants.

Ah, yeah, I can't not say it. Welcome to the X-Men, hope you survive the experience. Beautiful motto, hm?

[ why does every team have a dumb motto. ]

Sure. Magical.

Isn't it? I myself didn't get to it, I did not survive the experience. My sisters did. I'm a whole different team, go figure.

I'd ask how many teams but I get the feeling I'm going to hate the answer.

Several. Mutants are not all the powered people we have.

I'm NYX.

(Which he might recognize from her building, and her work in Etraya and all that.)

Everyone loves a team.

Yes, you strike me as a great team player, full of patience, just a peach.

Can't imagine what gave that away.

(Pffft. She's going to give him shit, but it's affectionate, she promises.)

You're self-aware enough, I'm sure you can answer for yourself.

It's all teamwork and feelings.

You'd think they'd get exhausted.

Why do you think I'm difficult? Imagine if you felt everyone's feelings and heard their thoughts all the time, there's no off button.

Telepathy makes you twelve times more exhausted of people than anything else.

[ hm. ]

You can't . . . turn it off?

The same way you can't turn off any of your senses. You can just, you know, redirect. I am not listening to what you're thinking, it's my background noise that I am ignoring, basically.

[ that makes sense. all his powers were physical and tightly controlled. ]

Got it. Like my super hearing.

I guess, but also, add empathy to it. I can also feel everything. I could smell what you do, feel your feelings, see through your eyes, feel your heartbeat, and all that great stuff. Your brain does and processes it, I can tap and do it.

Edited 2025-08-20 13:12 (UTC)

I know.

[ saturn girl was the same after all. ]

What about psychic blasts? Do you have those?

Define psychic blasts.

(Just so they are not getting crossed wires.)

Blasts that affect people . . . psychically?

The telepath I knew could do those.

Oh. In that case. Yeah.

There is a lot I can't do, though.

Yeah, I'm sure.

[ not a flex. kell know he's built differently. that's deliberate after all. ]

Ass. I mean telepathically.

Like what?

Psychic constructs, for one. Can't tear a whole person down and build them back up either.

I didn't know that was a thing.

Which?

Psychic constructs.

I don't think I've ever seen that before.

Quire can do it, so you'll probably see it.

Not my niche, though.

Nothing wrong with that . . . right?

Nope. I mean, it comes in all different shapes and sizes and all.

Well. I guess this is what I wanted to talk to you about, so. What now? You are here, so. Pool?

[ he shrugs. ]

I could go for a swim.

Don't destroy my fucking pool. Go ahead, I gotta change, I'll meet you out.

(He probably saw it anyway.)

I'm not going to destroy your pool.

[ obviously!! ]

I don't know what your cannonball looks like.

I wasn't going to do that. I would have just . . . . walked in?

That's because you're lame.

Now I feel I should destroy your pool on principle.

Wow, you'd do that to my best friend? Heartless.

Really? Not concerning that your best friend is a shallow hole of water?

Not for nothing, but I've been called that myself, I empathize with it.

(Listen. It's a joke. Hahaha. Unless?)

That feels concerning.

Yeah, yeah, go downstairs, I gotta change because that pool doesn't see me in any other way than fabulous.

(And she has a message to send to someone to meet them there.)

[ kell-el rolls his eyes but makes his way downstairs. ]

(She sends a friend a quick text, because that particular friend doesn't get Sophie in their brain, since it's horrifying. It reads:

come to the mansion's pool. cute boy alert. i want you to meet him.

She gets ready in a white bathing suit, and off she goes.)

[Illyana gets the message, scoffs, and then decides... Why not? She's in the mood to mess with someone, and besides, she can just teleport down--

Oh. No, she can't.

Okay, fine. So she walks down, you know, like a loser. Is she wearing a swimsuit? Nope. She's wearing her usual all black, although the ignorant would be forgiven for thinking her crop top and booty shorts are pool attire.]

Who do you need me to kick out?

[ kell-el had just been sitting by the side of the pool, at a loss. he's not much for . . . pool times. he glances at the newcomer with a frown. ]

What?

(On the inside? She's laughing so, so hard. On the outside, she's very serious, her face does not change. Instead, she just gestures.)

Less kick out, more kick in...to the pool. Magik, Kell, Kell, Magik. She's my...

(... Friend?)

... Personal demonic lady.

(Nailed it.)

Flattering.

[But sort of true, minus the "personal" part, so Illyana doesn't bother to correct her.]

You wanted me to meet him to... what? Check if he's possessed? Test his fighting skills?

[ demonic lady is a sequence of words new to him. he shoots sophie a quizzical look. ]

I'm not possessed. And my fighting skills are fine.

(She's trying to express that this is not just a random demonic lady she pulled from the streets, ok!!!!)

To meet him. And actually? You want to fight each other for funsies, just tell me, so I can go get the others and make popcorn. I bet on her.

If not, just hang around.

[Illyana grins, a definite troublemaking expression, as she pulls off her ridiculous boots.]

Of course you bet on me.

[Who wouldn't! She plops down on the side of the pool, sticking her feet into the water.]

So... Alien? Mutant? Science experiment? None of the above?

[This is directed at Kell, tactless but not judgmental. They're all sort of weirdos around here, right? And judging from those eyes of his, he's not your run of the mill human.]

[ he's not thrown off. mostly because he's a blunt person by nature and thus, used to this sort of thing. ]

Clone. From the future.

(See?? She knew it. She's a genius, her opinions are flawless and her decision-making has no plotholes whatsoever.)

Wow, no comment on me betting on her, Kell?

Maybe he thinks I would beat him, too. Smart.

[Poor Kell. It's like Sophie and Illyana's teasing is syncing up.]

Clone from the future, huh? What kind of future?

The terrible war kind.

[ he glances at sophie, not a twitch in his expression. ]

No need. Neither of you have seen me fight.

Wait, you think you'd win!

(And she's not reading his mind, it's just observation before she comes to sit next to him, bumping shoulders.)

Wanna change that? Let's fight.

[This is a normal thing to say to someone you've just met.]

Next to the pool?

[ he glances at it. ]

You may not have a pool left.

... Danger room? Snake Island?

(Just so they're away from HER pool, thank you.)

[She points at Sophie, as though seconding the point.]

Or we could use the pool. First to dunk the other wins, with Sophie as refree.

Or if you fuck over my pool, you're on cleaning duty for a month.

(Just making that clear!!!!)

So not the pool?

[ where then. ]

[Illyana laughs, rolling her eyes with no real malice.]

Danger Room it is.

Actually? I haven't really been to that one. Illyana, you know how to, like, do the whole she-bang?

(Just asking as she gets up. Ah, to go to the Danger Room in a bikini, what is her life.)

[ kell-el lingers behind, listening. ]

It has levels of intensity, right? And safeguards.

Hey, Kell-El. How are you holding up with the mission announcement we just got?

Fine?

Not having powers for a while is not so strange.

( this is oddly nice to hear at least One Metahuman Say )

Something you've had to contend with before, I take it?

It happens now and then. Especially on magic worlds.

Magic worlds having their own possible superseding logic?

I imagine the other line would be worlds without yellow suns.

That happens too.

Powers give us an edge. They're useful. And in a way, they do make us who we are.

This is just a roadbump.

( lois here going 'thank you for being reasonable and also experienced enough to know your powers are not the sum of who you are.' for the guy who insists he's a weapon only.

good work, kell-el. you're a whole person in there, and it's great to see. )

You've got a good head on your shoulders. Always nice having more of those around.

How does the massive shift in strength regulation work out for you?

[ it helps that he's done it before. nothing new for him. ]

As long as it's not permanent, I can wait it out.

( old hat versus her having two people going very new hat and unsure how to deal with it. )

Glad to hear it. You'll be keeping low key through all this vent nonsense?

Maybe lock myself in a room. Seems fine.

( feels like that may not be as smooth a hope as one might wish but hey, maybe it'll work out? that'd be great. she does not mention that star labs are apparently here with lockable rooms because that's still weird. )

Send a shout if you end up wanting a supply drop in the interim. Pretty sure I'll be running around to some degree, even just trying to help locate the vent.

On your own?

If needed, but likely with at least Clark or Jon in tow.

The child?

Should he be wandering about?

My sincere hope is he doesn't end up doing that. My realistic expectation of circumstances is there's going to be time where he will, and I'd better plan for it.

Seeing kids playing superhero . . . it doesn't feel right.

It doesn't sit easy with me either. What's worse is I can't even ask myself what's going on in another world that this was the solution. Because knowing me, even if it's another me entirely, I wouldn't agree to this if it wasn't the best solution out of a series of worse ones.

And I guess he won't listen to you. Not entirely.

He is, for better and worse, definitely my son. So no. Takes too much after me.

Kids. They always are a headache.

Prefer them as a headache to a heartache, but yeah. Definitely been learning that one personally. He's a good kid, just... he hasn't had to deal with being standard human/Red-Sun Kryptonian involuntarily before. Neither has his dad. Makes for a double hit on both their shock values when it's happening with a whole festival of hallucinations and the rest at the same time.

Glad to know I can be slightly less worried in your general direction.

Why would you be worried about me?

You're one of the people I know here. As a general rule, I don't want people I know to suffer. Excepting Luthor, and even he I don't care to see suffer unless he's learning from it. Doesn't seem likely he will so far.

[ so it's just based on that? fine then. ]

The bald guy is causing trouble already?

I think it's curl envy. Really should have used all that intelligence to find a better hair-growth remedy than what's out on the market right now.

( jokes aside... )

Luthor's more the ticking time bomb. I'm hoping his first meltdown isn't in the next few weeks.

You think he'll come for you?

Considering how many of his ex's he locked up in his own private pocket dimension prison, if he thought it would lead to him getting what he wanted, sure. But I doubt I'm going to be target number one. He's very heavily obsessed with Superman. Hard for him to see much beyond that.

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