A Kryptonian?
Alex's heart stirred as well, and he couldn't help but start going through the female Kryptonian characters in his memory.
Setting aside those obscure, forgettable side characters, there was really only one famous figure.
Superman's cousin—Supergirl, Kara.
Although the girl in front of him didn't look exactly like the Kara Alex remembered, her age was a close match.
It was very possible that this Kryptonian girl was simply another version of Kara, outside of Alex's memories.
Of course, there was also the possibility that Alex was overthinking it, and that this girl was some other Kryptonian entirely.
---
"Yes, I'm a Kryptonian."
Under Superman's gaze, the Kryptonian girl nodded and admitted it outright.
Alex immediately saw Superman's emotions begin to fluctuate.
Which was perfectly understandable.
After all, Krypton had long since been destroyed. Ever since General Zod was eliminated, Clark had believed himself to be the last surviving Kryptonian.
And yet now, after all this time, he was standing face-to-face with another one.
Superman's reaction was only natural.
---
"You… are you also a Kryptonian?"
The girl looked Superman up and down for a moment before asking him the same question.
"I am," Superman nodded firmly.
"And you?"
The girl then turned her gaze to Alex, who had just stepped closer. "You're not a Kryptonian. You should be a human from Earth."
A human from Earth.
Both Superman and Alex felt a slight stir in their hearts.
The fact that she even knew what planet this was said a lot.
There was no doubt—this Kryptonian girl had come to Earth with a clear purpose in mind.
---
"Who are you, and why did you come here?"
Superman quickly pushed those thoughts aside and asked her seriously.
But the Kryptonian girl suddenly smiled, her expression warm and familiar.
"You must be Kal-El, right?"
"…?"
Clark was even more confused now.
This girl actually knew him?
Alex, however, was now almost certain—things were lining up perfectly.
The girl in front of them was, in all likelihood, Supergirl Kara.
---
"You know me?" Superman asked, puzzled. "Who exactly are you?"
"Idiot," the girl laughed as she spoke. "I'm your cousin."
She jumped out of the spacecraft as she said it.
Superman's face immediately darkened.
This girl seemed pretty sharp, but that joke was seriously awkward.
So it really was Supergirl.
Alex simply shrugged.
---
"Listen, kid," Superman said patiently, "I really want to help you. But first, you need to tell me who you are."
"Only then can I help you, okay?"
"I already told you," the girl replied earnestly. "I'm your cousin, Kara."
She looked at herself, then back at Superman. "I just didn't expect you to be this grown up already."
Superman could only give a helpless smile.
She looked sincere—but this joke was getting more and more uncomfortable.
---
"Clark," Alex chuckled from the side, "from where I'm standing, you two really might be related."
"Don't you think you look a little alike?"
"Alex, even you're joining in?" Superman shook his head.
---
"Alright," Alex turned to Kara, "you say you're Clark—Kal-El's—cousin. Do you have any proof?"
"Kara began listing off details without hesitation.
"Kal-El, your father is Jor-El. Your mother is—"
She rattled off information about Superman's family with ease.
"That information isn't exactly a secret," Superman said, shaking his head. "That alone doesn't prove anything."
"Then I'll tell you my full name," Kara said seriously. "My name is Kara Zor-El."
"…Wait. Kara Zor-El?"
Superman's eyebrows shot up.
Zor-El—that was his uncle's name.
He had heard Jor-El mention him before.
Jor-El was a name many people knew. But Zor-El?
Very few people knew that one.
---
"Tell me why you came to Earth," Superman said after a moment of silence, choosing not to press her identity just yet.
"When Krypton was destroyed, Uncle Jor sent you—still a baby—to Earth," Kara explained.
"But you don't know this—he wasn't the only one sent away."
"My parents also sent me to Earth. But my ship was affected by Krypton's explosion and knocked off course."
"It was trapped in the Phantom Zone."
She shrugged. "I only just managed to escape now, so…"
Superman fell silent.
He carefully analyzed everything Kara had just said.
Logically speaking, there were no obvious flaws.
Time in the Phantom Zone was frozen—people trapped there didn't age.
That would explain why she was still so young.
…Wait a second.
Did I just seriously start accepting that she might be my cousin?
Superman shook his head hard.
He asked Kara several more questions in quick succession.
She answered every single one smoothly, without hesitation or contradiction.
It left Superman deeply unsettled.
Could she really be telling the truth?
Otherwise, how could she know so much about Jor-El's family?
---
"Clark," Alex said with a smile, "there's an easy way to settle this."
"Let's go ask Jor-El himself."
"Go see Uncle Jor?" Kara's eyes lit up immediately. "Sure! I haven't seen him in a long time!"
Then she suddenly turned to Alex, curiosity written all over her face.
"Who are you? You seem really close to Kal."
"You can call me Alex," he replied with a grin.
"Alex?" Kara tilted her head, rolling the name around. "That's a strange name."
---
"Kara," Superman finally said, having made up his mind, "I'll take you to the Fortress of Solitude."
Kara agreed without the slightest hesitation.
"I'll come along too," Alex added casually, clearly interested.
"I never took you for someone who'd be this curious," Superman said with a helpless smile, though he didn't object.
That only made Kara even more curious.
The Fortress of Solitude was one of Kal-El's most private places—yet he was willing to bring a human there?
Just what kind of relationship did these two have?
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