Vex (Man of Steel × MCU)

15th March 2000

”How is it looking out there Optima? ” Cerion asked as he floated close to the wreckage of his ship on the surface of the moon.

”Many of the ships thrusters, life support systems, landing gears, anti-gravity thrusters and hall-thrusters are all damaged. There are structural defects that will take almost a year to patch up. That timeframe may even be pushed back since we can access a docking bay. ”

Cerion let out a disappointed sigh at Optimas analysis. Just as he feared it was going to take forever to rebuild the ship without a resourceful dockyard. It was already going to take a year to restore all drones to working conditions. Then there is the power source to consider. The Phantom Drive had completely demolished the power source and engine. He will have to build the entire thing from scratch which was a huge problem.

To power up the ship, he will have to reinstall the power source which was better said than done. Kryptonian ships worked on nuclear fuel and he doubted SHIELD was going to just hand over nuclear fuel into his hands. Besides he didn really want to depend on SHIELD too much. If they realise that he was in desperate need of nuclear fuel they will squeeze him out for everything he was worth. Of course, he could go full-on big bad alien way to get things done but that would only create unnecessary enemies. Stealing Uranium or Plutonium was the next option but that was a stupid idea. Every single intelligence agency in the world would be keeping an eye on nuclear fuel. A theft like that will only attract too much attention and he won ever be able to steal again. The third option was to mine the Uranium from asteroids which was a waste of time. Even if he somehow managed to mine the bloody thing he would still need to enrich and process the fuel which he can do on the moon.

So that left the fourth and final option which was to completely remove the power source and create a new one. Fortunately, he knew just where to get such a power source.

”Do work on restoring the drones Optima. I have some unfinished business on Earth. ”

Having said that he flew away from the moon straight to Earth. It took him two months to properly set up a power generating station on the moon using solar panels from old satellites and other space probes floating around in space. That was a temporary solution because sooner he will require large quantities of energy.

The immediate outer space of Earth was a junkyard filled with used up rockets, old satellites and other kinds of solid waste. But along with this junk hundreds of working satellites spun around in fixed orbits. These satellites were the key to almost all information ever recorded in the history of the human race. For Cerion that was all he needed to fulfil his purpose. Thats why he built a stealth drone in the moon and sent it barreling straight for a satellite owned by Stark Industries. While he could have truly taken anything he wants from Earth itself without much fuss using the satellite was a cleaner way.

He had truly thought of the pros and cons of this plan. The Arc Reactor was something that would be an answer to his energy problem. Now, he could have extracted that information from the two surviving Vanko in Russia but he didn want to disturb the timeline. The second reason was that those lunatics might be under surveillance and he was not going to underestimate humans like some cliché villain. He had come this far by careful planning and meticulous execution of those plans. He was not going to suddenly throw away years of vigilance just because he was in possession of superpowers.

As the stealth drone was slowly making its way towards the satellite of Stark Industries he was waiting patiently at NASAs research centre in West Virginia. SHIELD thought that it would be beneficial for NASA and SHIELD to work on a new project. The project was to develop a Quinjet that worked on anti-gravity technology for propulsion. From what he understood so far the US Air force and NASA had done several projects together to develop the same technology but all ended in failure. Even Howard Stark the resident genius that propelled the USA into the next millennium failed in gravity manipulation. The man did manage to perfect Maglev with the limited technology he had access to. All the humans lacked was an essential component to truly understand gravity and with that, they would have mastered the last fundamental force of the physical universe.

”Many have tried in the past Dr Vex but all of those attempts ended in failure. What makes you think that you can succeed? For that matter why does SHIELD think you can succeed? ” asked Daniel Hoffman who was the director of NASA.

”All previous attempts failed because of the lack of an essential component for understanding gravity and its effects on space-time. ” said Cerion facing the director and other scientists that NASA had called into the meeting room. Even a few among the SHIELD research team was present in the room. While most of the SHIELD team was filled with researchers there was one glaring exception and that was Maria Hill. She posed as a programmer slash astrophysicist but he knew that she was here to keep an eye on him.

”And what would that component be? ” asked the Director with some healthy scepticism. The guy had no idea that he was speaking to an alien.

”Negative mass. ”

His answer garnered a scoff from the collective scientists in the room. Cerion noticed that the SHIELD scientists refrained to do that and he deduced they were in the know of his origins.

”Negative mass is an impossibility Dr Vex. ”

”Only according to Einstein but according to me it is possible. ”

”And we should believe you because…? ”

”Because negative mass can be created if one can master electron compression. You don have to take my word for it. I can prove it to you. ” said Cerion before he placed a small box on the table. Opening the box he took out a small black disc the size of his palm. He activated its energy core and the disc floated harmlessly in the air to everyones shock.

”As you can see this small disc can defy the gravity of Earth. Now, while it is simple to defy earths gravity it is quite another thing to control propulsion through anti-gravity technology. I am of course talking about vessels inside the earths atmosphere. It will get more complicated once outside of earths atmosphere. ”

”How did you…? Why haven we heard of you before? ” asked a completely flummoxed Director of NASA.

”Probably because of SHIELD. ” Cerion just shrugged. Let them come to their own conclusions.

He began to distribute the written paper on electron compression and how to synthesise the negative mass in the physical plane. It was a long explanation and he had to study all the technical terms used on Earth to properly present the paper but in the end, the project got full permission and funding. The project would start within the next two months. A new crew of engineers had to be allowed and then the necessary equipment has to be procured. After two months he was going to be locked inside the facility. So he guessed that he had two months to procure the arc reactor technology.

The ride back to his apartment went without any major incident. The only complaint he had was the companion he was forced to take the ride with.

”What mode of transportation do you use in Krypton Dr Vex? ” asked Maria Hill as she drove the car through Henry Street of Willowdale.

”Mostly speeders by the common people. If you are rich then there are advanced hover crafts that are basically a spaceship but it will not be able to go beyond the planets atmosphere. ”

”Why use other modes of transportation if you can fly? ” Maria asked curiously

That question by Maria Hill was a tricky one. He had not yet explained that his powers only worked in the presence of a Yellow Sun and he never will. He was not foolish enough to give SHIELD or mankind information regarding his powers.

”We had several restrictions on using our powers. Not everyone is skilled enough to fly around on our planet. Kryptons gravity was much more strong than that of Earth. This also factored into the increased reliance on vehicles for transportation. ”

”I see. ” Maria Hill hummed as she turned the car around a corner and slowed down before stopping before an eight storied building.

”Well, my stop has arrived. Interested in a cup of tea? ” he offered as he stepped out of the car into the street.

”Some other time Doc. Call me if you need anything Dr Vex. ”

”I will and thank you for the ride, Miss Hill. ”

”Call me Maria. ”

”Then I insist that you call me Cerion. ”

”See you soon Cerion. Take care of yourself. ” said Maria as she shook hands with him and then drove off.

Cerion got to admit the woman was a good spy. The entire conversation felt normal which was sort of what the SHIELD agent was angling for.

He fastened his side bag on his shoulder and slowly made his way inside the building.

”Back in early Mr Vex? ” the security guard asked as he held out the door for him.

”Not early enough to see my favourite TV show George. ” He joked lightly but as he stepped into the lobby it was filled with couches, cardboard boxes, some light furniture and other numerous appliances.

”Who…what is this George? ” he asked in surprise.

”Youve got a new neighbour Mr Vex. ” said Geroge and that worried Cerion.

”Thats great. ” He said as he made his way for the elevator. He worried that an agent was being drafted to keep a close watch on him. He knew that two agents were keeping an eye on him from across the street. SHIELD had learned to not install monitoring devices in the building after he systematically destroyed them in the last two months of his stay. From then on they had only kept an eye on him through the agents on the opposite building.

As he stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor he was expecting the Black Widow or Hawkeye or some other agent of SHIELD. Contrary to all his expectations he was staring into the face of Natalie Portman.

The surprise only lasted for a few seconds before he regained his beatings.

”Hi. I am Jane Foster. I just moved in here. Are you by chance Cerion Vex? ” she asked with a bubbly persona.

”Nice to meet you, Miss Foster. I am Cerion Vex. How do you know that I live here? ” he asked as he shook hands with her. It took a considerable amount of effort not to address her as Miss Portman. As a Star Wars fan, Natalie Portman was someone that he held in very high regard.

”My friend is Janet Cornell. She told me about you. ”

”Ah! The lady running the café a few blocks from here? ”

”Yes. She told me about you and I needed an apartment close to my University. ”

”You study in Culver? ” he asked and it was then that he remembered that Jane Foster was an alumnus of Culver University. Come to think of it there were a lot of interesting individuals in Culver right now. He shook those thoughts away to listen properly to what Jane Foster was saying.

”I am studying under Erik Selvig. I know of course that you are an astrophysicist. ” She said with some obvious excitement.

”How do you know that? ” he asked flummoxed. He certainly had never divulged what his profession was to her or her friend in the café.

”Before moving here my father looked up the people of this whole block. He is paranoid that way. Sorry. ” She looked a little bashful now.

At least he could somewhat be less wary of Jane Foster. He was sure she was not here on SHIELD business. She would make a shitty spy but he was still on guard.

”I guess you are welcome to the neighbourhood. ”

”Thank you. ” Good God the woman had a beaming smile plastered on her face. If it wasn for his experience with dealing with this kind of shit then he would have gone full fan-crazy on her.

”You need any help with those things down in the lobby? ”

”Oh, no need. The guard outside offered his help. ”

”George is getting on his years, Miss Foster. I think it would be better if I helped. Just wait a little bit. ”

Having said that he left his bag inside his apartment and started to help move everything up into Jane Fosters apartment.

When he returned back to his apartment Optima was waiting for him there with all the data that he would need from the satellite. Just as he was about to activate Optima the space before him warped and what looked like see-through crystals began to form all of a sudden.

”Greetings to you Mr Vex. It has been many centuries I have seen a Celestial face to face. ”

A voice spoke from his back and he turned around to find a bald woman dressed in a golden silk robe. The only thing going through his mind was Oh **!.

The Ancient One lounged on the couch which was bright red. She wondered whether she could add a couch like this one in Kamar Taj. Truly this couch was better than what she had at the moment. Some paintings would also not be remiss as many masters have complained about a lack of colours in the sanctum.

”Tea. ” Cerion offered and she took the drink with a customary thank you.

”You know this is the only peaceful conversation that I had ever held with a Celestial. Usually, it devolves into outright threats and then a full-blown fight. ” She said as she took a sip of the tea. She had to admit that she preferred her own tea as this one was not up to the expectations of her taste buds.

”You repeatedly call me a Celestial but I am not one. My race is known as Kryptonian. ”

”Truly? ” she raised an eyebrow. The fact that the Time Stone was not at all able to predict Cerions future was clue enough that the being sitting in front of her was a Celestial.

”Yes. ”

”I am sorry to say that your lies will do you no good with me. You may fool SHIELD but I happen to know that there is no Krypton in this vast Cosmos. ”

She was alerted the moment when a powerful presence was brought inside Earths atmosphere. The only reason the shields projected by the sanctums allowed Cerion entry was because humans were the ones to bring him to Earth. The magical shield that enveloped the Earth was specifically designed to keep the prime bodies of Celestials out from Earth. There are ways around the shielding but she had plugged those gaps after one Celestial managed to breach through the shields some twenty years ago.

”I am telling you no lie. You just assumed that Krypton was a planet in your universe. I never said that I am from your universe. ”

Now that piqued her interest.

”Are you claiming to be from another universe? ” she asked with a healthy dose of scepticism.

”Yes and before you ask most of the people in that universe do not exist here. It took me some time to properly put that together. ”

”Please do elaborate. ”

”Most of the people here have a very different profession and names. For example, the Director of SHIELD was an actor on Earth. The same is true for Jane Foster who has moved in recently across the hall. Even your alter ego was an actor on the Earth I knew. In my home universe, there was no Captain America or Super Soldiers in general. There was an intergalactic policing force called Green Lanterns in my home universe but here nothing of that sort exists. There are a trillion other differences between our worlds and I have not even scratched the surface. ”

”I see. So you are an outer being like Dormammu. ” She muttered to herself with a perplexed look.

”Who? ” asked Cerion

”Dormammu is an outer being like yourself. This explains why you have been absorbing the life energy of the universe like a sponge. ” she explained patiently as her mind raced with thoughts.

”I did what now? What are you talking about? ” he asked in surprise

”Oh, dear. You have no idea what you have been doing all this time? ”

”I flew around a little bit and I did some corporate theft. Other than that I have never done anything that could threaten this planet. ”

”What do you know of magic or universal energies? ” she asked leaning forward with a note of urgency.

”Next to nothing other than the fact that they are supposed to be a fundamental force that governs the Universe. ”

”If you know nothing of magic or universal energies in general then how are you absorbing the humongous energies at a rate that even baffles an experienced Celestial? ” she asked in surprise.

”My powers come from absorbing the Yellow Sun radiations impinging on this planet. Kryptonian genes absorb any and all radiations especially gamma radiations. ”

”I am afraid you are not just absorbing radiations from the Sun. You are absorbing a huge amount of universal energies. This universe has an abundance of varying energies because of the unique way this universe took birth. These energies have already made a wide variety of changes in your body. I think you have not noticed this till now because your body has yet to reach its limit in absorbing these energies. ”

”What changes? ”

”Your cells are no longer dying out Mr Vex. It is one of the prime reasons that SHIELD has yet to procure a dead cell from your bed sheets or garbage. Essentially, your body has become immune to time. ”