Project Kal-El
1. Genesis
(In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…)
The day had been uneventful so far. Smallville was calm. Metropolis was as calm as a bustling city could be. Even Firestorm Labs, only a few miles outside the town, was calm.
"Where's the paperwork on Project Annihilator?" Dr. Lawrence Hamilton bellowed, speaking to no one in particular. He had to catch up on his files and today seemed like an appropriate day to do so.
"I have it here, sir," replied some nameless worker submissively. He took it from the worker and turned to get to the elevator. He wasn't as fit as he once was and could no longer stand to climb up five flights of stairs to get to his office.
Three other people were in the elevator: Colonel Rick Flag Sr., Amanda Waller, and Dr. Ambrose Wolf.
The elevator began its ascent upward.
(And the earth was without form, and void…)
Jonathon and Martha Kent were driving to the market for the beginning of a long day. They both felt the tension from the day before, when their doctor had concluded that they would never have children. Both were silent, but would give one another reassuring smiles every few minutes.
(And darkness was upon the face of the deep…)
Lionel Luthor and his son, Alexander, were in Smallville, by chance of business. While his father spoke with more important people, Lex wandered into a cornfield. He was instantly astonished by how much darker it was when one is surrounded by tall cornstalks.
(And God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light.)
The calm was split by a bright light in the sky.
Jonathon stopped the truck and looked up at the sky. There was a giant light, but something odd was happening to it…he couldn't figure out what it was until Martha exclaimed, "There's more than one!" He realized the bright beam was indeed hundreds of lights, which as they grew closer to Earth, were slowly becoming more distinct…
"Lex! Lex, where are you?" Lex could hear his father's voice, but he had wandered too far. As the blazing meteors began to hit the ground, he turned every direction, but could not see the way out. "Dad, help me!" he yelled desperately.
Hamilton had just asked the young intern Amanda Waller how things were at Cadmus when she gasped and pointed out the window of the elevator. He turned and cried out. Green-tinted meteors were smashing into the ground and anything in their way.
"What's going on?" Flag exclaimed. "Are those meteors?"
"We need to get out of-" Waller was interrupted by a loud crash as a meteor flew straight threw the wall across the top of the elevator. She and Hamilton screamed as the elevator swung dangerously back and forth. Wolf lurched forward and jammed his hand into the emergency open button. The doors slid open with a creak. There were only a couple of feet to squeeze through onto the next floor.
Hamilton let out a groan and the others instantly saw the other reason he had screamed. A small meteor has burst through the window and pierced the top of his leg. Blood seeped through his khakis as he slumped to the floor, whimpering.
"We need to get out of here before it falls," Flag said. Wolf immediately went to the wall and began to push himself up. Flag and Waller each gave a hand in helping him through.
The elevator creaked and leaned back a bit more. Waller gave a small shriek.
"Come on, Miss Waller," Flag prodded. She planted her hands on the next floor. Flag lifted her legs while Wolf pulled her arms. Flag turned back to Hamilton, not even flinching as the elevator dropped a foot more.
Hamilton shook his head. "Get yourself up, Colonel. This elevator's going to fall before we can both get up. I'm wounded; you need to help yourself."
"Sorry, sir. That's against policy." Flag heaved Hamilton over his shoulder and pushed him up to Waller and Wolf. They tugged his arms and he cried out in pain from his leg. The elevator creaked and they pulled Hamilton the rest of the way though.
Then the elevator dropped.
Flag didn't scream, or even gasp. He just closed his eyes and hoped his son would understand. He hoped Rick Jr. would understand that sacrificing oneself was an honor. It was the noblest thing one could do. As he fell to his death and the elevator crashed against the bottom of the shaft, he just closed his eyes. He had led a tiring life.
The others stared down in shock. Soon, though, Wolf strode away.
"Collect meteors!" he yelled to a few field workers. "Check for anything else conspicuous. See if there is anything to be gained from this disaster!"
Hamilton sat in shock until medics put him on a stretcher to be taken to Metropolis Hospital. Waller checked in with Cadmus to assure them that she was all right. They too said to check the immediate area for anything suspicious. She could not help but wonder if someone had known about the shower beforehand…but that was impossible.
(And God saw the light, that it was good…)
"Jonathon, are you okay?" Martha asked, looking at her husband. They had crouched in the truck until the unimaginably loud sound of meteors and earth colliding had ceased.
"I'm fine," he replied, wiping a spot of blood from his forehead. A meteor had broken the windshield and glass had flown everywhere. The two climbed out of the truck, examining the destruction. Granted, they were in a fairly deserted section between city and town, but they could tell by the craters that many homes (and probably lives) had been lost.
They walked a ways down the road, looking for others. Finally, they reached a point where on left there was a small hill and another road on the right. They turned to go over the hill, for they could see faint smoke coming over the horizon.
If they had gone over that hill, they would have seen the smoke was coming from a small pod, under which a young boy was hiding. The Kents would have brought him home, raised him as their own. He would have grown up caring, hardworking, and fully aware of human values. This would be a very different story indeed. This would be the story of Superman.
But, as fate would have it, the Kents heard a scream from behind them. They turned and instantly recognized the young Lana Lang. She ran to them, begging for help, yelling that her parents were hurt. They went with her. Her parents were saved, but the life of the boy in the spaceship would be altered forever…
John Peters and Victor Sharpe scanned the area from a government issued convertible, following Wolf's orders.
"Hey, what's that over there? A fire or something?" Peters pointed to the spot the Kents had come so close to finding.
"Well, geez, you don't suppose something's on fire after a meteor shower?" Sharpe asked sarcastically. He scowled. There was nothing to be found in this wreckage.
"But does the smoke look…green to you?" Peters persisted. "I think we should check it out. And get more meteor samples."
Sharpe sighed. "Fine, but we don't need too many more samples. This stuff is going to be embedded in the earth for a long time."
When they had walked over the small hill they saw what we all know they would: a small, silver spacecraft. The two men approached hesitantly and were shocked at what they saw next. A young boy was crouched under the craft, wrapped in a yellow, red, and blue blanket. He stared up at the two men with cold blue eyes.
Sharpe quickly called Firestorm on his radio.
"We found a kid," he told Wolf. "About four or five, but he's right near this…spaceship thing. Should we bring them both in?"
Peters shifted from foot to foot; there was something otherworldly about the boy's deadpan gaze. He wondered if the kid had taken refuge under the spaceship. Maybe his family was dead; maybe that was why he was acting so impassive.
"Wolf says to bring him in," Sharpe said. "Says he could be useful."
"A venomous snake can be useful to make medicine. But you handle him wrong and end up-"
"Oh, come on, Peters! He's just a kid."
It did not take long for the people at Firestorm to observe this kid's unusual strength and speed…and his defensive nature. Indeed, nine people had to be hospitalized within the first hour of his stay. But Wolf and Hamilton were set on keeping their discovery all to themselves. Hamilton hoped to find life outside of Earth. Wolf hoped to make the ultimate weapon. The boy hoped for nothing at all, for he did not understand what hope was.
(And he separated the light from the darkness.)
Author's Note: What do you think? Totally confused? For the record, I'm trying a new thing where instead of asterisks or other types of page breaks, I'm using different quotes, lyrics, etc to separate sections of the story. So biblical verses won't be the only thing used. I just named this chapter Genesis because it's the beginning of Kal-El and then thought that the verses from Genesis would be good for page breaks. Please review!