[center][hider=inspirational music][[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EphFQelYhp8&list=FLdAf0Rt2EDBxeC7ktnztJeQ&index=17[/youtube]][/hider]
[h1][color=4169E1]Van El[/color][/h1][/center]

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Being new to this school, Van was still learning all he could about the institution and his fellow students. At first he had been nervous and hesitant to go to this school for heroes, but Superman thought that it would be best for him to learn how to use his powers and be a force for good. Even after spending five years on earth Van still felt like a stranger in human society and he tried his best to hide this from others. On Krypton the culture was very different, stoicism was more valued and their culture was rich with traditions accompanied by incredible technology.

This school did however make Van feel more welcomed since many of the students were young people with powers like him and trying to learn how to control them and potentially become heroes. Van was here because Superman saw something special in him and wanted him to learn what it meant to be a hero. Even though Van was chronologically older than Kal El his cousin was far wiser and clearly the heir to the house of El. Van thought about his parents and dead world and his heart began to ache. He wished many times that his family and Krypton would come back.

Right now Van was at gym class with a good amount of other students who were gossiping with one another while watching people do the obstacle course. The course didn't seem to difficult especially since Van could jump higher thanks to earth's lower gravity. Unlike his cousin, Van's mutated cells could not process the solar energy of earth's yellow sun and therefor could not have any of the amazing powers that Superman possessed. Aside from being able to jump higher and lift heavy things, Van was basically human outside of his shape-shifting abilities. 

Watching some of the others go ahead of him was very entertaining and he wondered if his attempt at the course would be as good as theirs. He would refrain from using his powers to beat the course and just stay in his normal form throughout the course. Van would try and make the house of El proud. He wondered if his parents were watching him from Kryptonian heaven.

"Rao guide me through this challenge" he prayed out loud. Rao was highest deity in the Kryptonian pantheon and used regularly in religious prayer on Krypton.