A Million Reasons | K. Danvers ✔

[73] Another Crash Landing

• Unknown Space And Time •

Mon-El could hear voices and the darkness he was in was slowly clearing up too. The last thing he remembered was being swallowed up in a wormhole, traveling blindly for days until some unknown obstacle had catapulted the space pod roughly. After the crash, he had lost consciousness.

Though deep down, he knew either he had crash-landed on some other planet again or he was about to die in the space pod crashing against some asteroid. But luck was in favor as he hadn't been thrown into an asteroid field but had crossed a portal to Earth, crashing through it.

The only difference was that the Earth he had crash-landed on once again wasn't the same as earlier. He was yet to find out that he had crossed a time portal and landed in the future.

When he gained consciousness and the darkness faded, he saw that his surroundings were very much like the med bay of Mount Justice. A ray of hope lit up in his heart that perhaps he had found his way back to his friends. But as his vision cleared up, he saw that despite the initial similarity, his surroundings weren't exactly the same as Mount Justice.

"Oh you're awake," an unfamiliar female voice reached him and he tilted his head, hoping to see either Kara, Lois, Meg, Artemis or even Alex.

But to his disappointment, the woman sitting on the chair beside him was neither of those he had hoped to see. She had shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes. The dress she was wearing looked akin to the vigilante suits he had seen the YJ use, the only difference was that it was black with silver lining on the sleeves and collar with no symbol to give away her allegiance.

It seemed as if the woman hadn't expected him to be calm and was probably waiting for him to lash out. But Mon had learned from his past experience and was careful not to repeat the mistake.

However, he was thinking that he really had no choice when it came to first impressions; it was always a crash landing. It had almost become his signature characteristic.

"What planet is this?"

"Earth," she replied, her eyes indicating that she was curious to know which planet he had come from because an average human would ask what country he was in and not ask about the planet instead.

He was relieved to find out that he was on a familiar planet. And as it was Earth, he decided to maintain his civilian identity and get out of there to find his friends as soon as possible.

"Where am I? And why...?"

"Don't worry, we have no intentions to harm you," she began softly, "you're being kept here until you recover and if you cooperate, you'll be let go soon as you get better."

"My space pod...?"

"It's in our custody. The crash has damaged it a lot so we're letting our experts try to repair it."

"And who are you?"

She smiled, trying to be friendly towards him so that he would not hesitate to open up, "I'm Imra Ardeen. And you are?"

He considered what to tell her before replying, "Mike Mathews."

"Right. And where are you from?"

The next response was automatic, as a result of Kara constantly hammering the fake backstory into his head, "Greece."

Her smile widened as if she had caught up on that lie easily. "Interesting. But your space pod isn't from Greece, correct?"

"Well..."

"And you crashed here from outer space. You can't deny it."

He chose to keep silent, not knowing what would be the best way to react in that situation.

"So Mister Mathews or whoever you may be, let me tell you that it will be better if you refrain from withholding information from us. We do not intend you any harm but if you keep up this suspicious behavior then it will be your own loss," she explained, her voice still as calm as earlier making Mon think perhaps it wasn't the first time she was dealing with such a situation either, "so how about both of us be honest towards each other and start over?"

He considered once again but he knew he was in their custody and not cooperating right then could only put himself at risk. So he nodded and judged her reaction.

"Imra Ardeen. Commander of the Legion," she held her hand out in front of him casually.

He shook the offered hand, thinking there was nothing to lose if he revealed his true identity either, "Mon-El. Former prince of Daxam."

"Daxam?"

"And no, I am not lying again," he remarked, sensing the disbelief in her eyes.

"Interesting... So you're a Daxamite. No wonder we had trouble decoding your genetic information."

"What is it with people so interested in decoding my genetic information," he mumbled recalling how Tim had done the same, the only difference was that he had managed to achieve the results while it seemed the Legion couldn't do so.

"So..." She paused as if considering how to address him.

"You can call me Mon-El."

"Okay so Mon-El, the reason we are so shocked to hear that you're a Daxamite is that your planet has no proof of existence at the moment," she elaborated, "it had suffered destruction under Queen Rhea a long time ago."

The familiar name sparked a flash of rage inside him but he managed to control it.

"If you're speaking the truth, then you're her son or probably some descendant."

"Not a fact I'm proud of, to be honest."

"I see," she seemed to believe him but the cautious flicker in her eyes showed that she would not tolerate any attempt to escape, "I am not going to bombard you with questions for now. I suggest you should rest here until you recover. After that, you will have to tell us how you came here and what happened in your space travel. That way, it will be easier for us to help you out and we'll also be assured that you're not a threat."

She had stood up to leave but he stopped her.

"Before you go, I have one question."

"Sure," she smiled, a friendly expression taking over her features, "ask away."

"Do you know anything about the Young Justice?" She looked baffled so he added, "Justice League? Superman?"

"Mon-El, I have no idea what you speak of."

He recalled she had said Daxam got destructed under Queen Rhea years ago and that hinted at the possibility that he was in a different time frame, "alright then can you tell me what year this is?"

"3017."

"Oh fuck..." His suspicion got confirmed and Imra looked slightly taken aback. "Ah, I'm sorry. I just..."

"What year do you last remember then?" She seemed to have caught on to his dilemma as well.

He spoke up, sending her into a brief shock as well, "2017."

***