2013.12.31 - A Different Kind of Zod

Ursa has been on this planet Earth for a while now, and though she has managed to reunite with her son, she has yet to find any trace of General Zod. So while she's been getting involved with some of the on-goings on Earth, for the most part she kept to the role of one observing from the outside with little interference. Currently her chief concern is to manage and meet with Superman, to which end she visited J. Jonah Jameson, and to have her son join her in inflicting justice on one Lex Luthor.

But seeing how both her son and Superman have been proving elusive, she's set back on another excrusion to fly at a higher altitude, keeping her eyes out in a sweep for her husband and superior officer, General Zod.

Speaking of Zod, or rather, of A Zod, the man himself is in the city, and not that hard to spot, given the silver and black suit he wears. The Kryptonian general is...actually out saving people. Go figure!

Zod is in the process of wrenching apart a car door from its morrings to pull several humans to safety. Having spotted the crash a few moments ago and heard the calls for help, Zod moved to render assisstance. Ursa might notice this Zod to be younger than the one she might remember. Closer to her own age in fact compared to the early 40s Zid she remembers.

"Thanks man," one of the people pulled from the car says, "but who exactly are you?"

"My name is Zod. I am an acquaintance of Superman, if that helps put your mind at ease." he answers. Oddly enough, it seems to do just that, and Zod goes back to work pulling the rest of the accident victims free before using a burst of super breath to put out the fires the collision caused so as not to have any kind of massive explosion or anything once everyone is safe.

Ursa easily overhears the conversation, as Kryptonians who openly try to detect specific people are wont to do. She alters her course of flight and as she approaches, she takes note of Zod helping the humans, as well as looking a good deal younger then she recalls. Considering what she has seen so far on this planet, nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

Descending at an even pace while Zod continues to assist the victims of the accident. "General Zod...?" She asks cautiously, not yet giving a proper salute as she needs to verify the identity of the man who looks a bit unlike the one she knows so well.

Turning to the voice, Zod chuckles.

"I was wondering when I might run into you, Ursa." he says and nods. "Yes, I am General Zod, though in all likelihood not the same one you remember. Do you recall Jor-El's theory that alternate realities might exist? Parallel realities and the like? It would seem his theories were proven to be fact. I guess the Phantom Zone itself could have been considered a confirmation of that idea in and of itself, but I think you get the idea." he says. Then smiles, crossing his arms. "And the last I knew, one saluted their superior officer, soldier." he says with an only half-joking tone.

"I have heard of an unworthy Zod who have failed to conquer this world before I arrived..." Ursa offers in a way of her own affirmation for Jor-El's theory, "Non was very much a supporter, before the Council did away with his intellect," Ursa cannot help but hiss somewhat venomously upon reflecting on what happened to such a brilliant man as Non. "With the very idea you cited in mind, I had to make sure, how do you know me then, General?" Ursa asks, wondering if her parallel in his world attained a similar rank as Commander of Elite Black Zero, or if she even married General Zod at the onset of the Phantom Zone ordeal at all. All things aside, she does offer General Zod a proper salute, looking quite serious about it.

"You were one of my most trusted soldiers, Ursa, my second in command, in fact." Zod replies. He doesn't recall anyone named Non, but it is possible t hat may be one of the differences between their worlds. "You aided me in attempting to save Krypton's people by attempting to dethrone the council so that we could get our people off-world. Things didn't work out as we'd hoped, sadly." He shakes his head and sighs in a mixture of wistful regret and disgust. "Still, it would seem the memory of our people lives on here on this world. Through both the last scion of the House of El, and a scion of the house of Zod, child to you and an alternate version of me, it appears."

"That much remains the same across parallel lines it seems," Ursa says as she lowers her hand back down to the side of her body, "Our brave decision seems shared as well, as well as our fate if you have seen the Phantom Zone for yourself." Tilting her head sidewars, Ursa looks intently at Zod, "so you have not had a child...yes, Lor-Zod is my child, and yours...or the you that I know. We only had each other to keep our sanity in the Phantom Zone, and we did the impossible. We created life in a dead dimension."

"Have you met Lor-Zod? What do you make of him?" Ursa presses on, her questions a mixture of conversation and interrogation as she tries to decide how her allegiance would come into play with this Zod, seeing as he is the one standing before her. Perhaps the man she knows best is in that Zod's world and she'll have to make do. She has always been a survivor.

"An interesting question. And I would say that I make of him that he is a Zod. He has chosen his path and intends to walk it. Though I am not the same Zod as the man who fathered him, I am proud of his choice. Krypton is dead, yes, but he is helping to keep it's memory alive in choosing to serve the people of his adopted world. I did as much for our people as you did as well." Zod says. And there is genuine pride in his voice when he speaks of this might-have-been son. "I endorse his decision. I will admit to some curiosity that he seems to have befriended Kal-El so quickly, but I sense much of my old friend in Kal." Zod gives a nonchalant shrug. "He also seems to have adapted well to Earth despite his young age. He is a Zod. I suspect that you and the Zod who fathered him would have passed on that trait to him."

"Kal-El is a friend of yours where you come from?" Ursa asks curiously, apparently never having gotten to meet Kal-El as of yet. "Has Jor-El not betrayed you where you come from?" She makes no other indication of what she makes of Kal-El.

"One fact remains, Krypton is no more. We are all that's left, we must honor its memory, and if possible...rebuild little by little. Even if we have to make this Earth our home."

"Jor-El, actually. Kal-El I've only recently met." Zod says. "Jor-El was indeed the one who sent me to the Zone, but that was due to the council threatening his wife and child's safety more than anything else. or so I'd like to believe. Even if we didn't always see eye to eye, I believe that Jor-El would never have been involved in that otherwise." Zod says. And then quirks a brow.

"I agree. We must make this place our home. And we should honor it's memory. I can think of no better way to do so than to follow in the footsteps of Lor-Zod and Kal-El. We were born to serve and protect the people of Krypton. I believe we should continue that mandate with this new world. These people are much like we were back home. From what I've been led to understand, only the fact that we are under a different sun, along with lighter gravity, is responsible for our powers here." Zod seems amused. "I have to wonder what powers a human would develop if exposed to a similar change in environment. Would they become like us, or turn into something else altogether?" He pauses to reflect on that for a few moments. But then ascends into the air lightly, turning to hear the sounds of a bak alarm. He presumes Ursa can also hear it.

"We'll continue this discussion on the way. Feel free to join in if you wish. But minimal force only. The people here are woefully under-armed and practically as insects compared to us. No need to use a grenade to swat a fly, as the humans say."

"Then there is much a like, and key differences apart, all in all, I think we should work together," Ursa offers after having a good grip of the situation, it seems like there is more alike then different, and this Zod would present a working relationship that should be familiar. "To make matters simpler, allow me to refer to you as General Zod, constant allusions to the fact we do not originate at the same dimension would serve no purpose."

"These humans are weak by nature, powers or not, I can best them." Ursa offers in what sounds like a non-biased tactical analysis, "that said, it is very much within the realm of possibility they may develop similar reaction under a star such as Rao."

At the sound of the alarm, Ursa looks towards the source, and then at Zod who is already on his way, "as you said, General, there is no need for two of us to deal with such a light matter, I am sure you can deal with it on your own. We should arrange a meeting, all of us, Kal-El, yourself, myself and Lor-Zod...there is something that concerns us all. I shall see you soon, General...welcome to Earth." Ursa flies away in a different direction, needing a moment to clear her mind and ponder the meaning of this General Zod and what path she must take as a result.