Prologue
Part I

Jor-El was hovering above a small pod, preparing to send his son to Earth before the destruction of Krypton. He was tweaking the last few things on the spaceship as Lara entered the room, holding the infant, Kal-El, tightly in her arms.

"Have you finished?" Lara asked, as she came to a standstill before Jor-El's work table.

"Nearly." Jor-El replied, before sighing. "It's the only answer, Lara. If he remains here with us... he will die as surely as we will."

"But why Earth, Jor-El? They're primitives, thousands of years behind us."

"He will need that advantage to survive. Their atmosphere will... sustain him." Jor-El explained, as he turned to look at his wife and son. He glanced back at the ship, before readjusting a few of the information crystals that lined the inner frame.

"He will defy their gravity." Lara whispered softly.

"He will look like one of them." Jor-El continued his explanation.

"He won't be one of them." Lara countered.

"No." He agreed with a smile, "His dense molecular structure will make him strong."

"He'll be odd. Different!" Lara tried to persuade her husband, once again, to pick another destination.

Jor-El continued with a smile, "He'll be fast. Virtually invulnerable."

"Isolated. Alone." Lara said quietly to herself, in an almost whimper like voice, giving up.

"He will not be alone." Jor-El said, turning to face Lara. He then proceeded to hold up a clear crystal, taking a long look at it. "He will never be alone." He places it in one of the slots along with the other crystals in the ship. It glowed brightly, before becoming clear once more.

"It is time..." Jor-El said quietly, turning around to stare at his son, who was still being embraced by Lara.

She nodded slightly, tightening her arms around Kal-El. She walked forward, before bending down and laying the small infant into the bowl shaped chamber. "Goodbye, Kal-El. I love you." She whispered to him, as the straightened up, before returning to her husband's side.

Jor-El moved forward, pressing one of the crystals down. Metal slide from both sides of the frame to enclose the chamber. "Goodbye, My Son." He said, before ejecting the pod through a complex system of pistons and hydraulics.

As soon as the pod flew past Krypton's atmosphere, the last crystal Jor-El placed into the frame glowed again. Jor-El's voice echoed out of no-where.

"You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you... even in the face of our deaths... the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel... all this, and more... I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your own eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I can send you, Kal-El.

My son, you will not remember me. I am Jor-El. I am your father. By the time you reach Earth, by their reckoning, I will have been dead for many thousands of years. The knowledge that I have, matters physical and historic, I will give to you fully on your voyage to your new home. These are important matters, to be, sure, but still matters of mere fact. There are questions to be asked and in your eighteenth year on earth, it will be time for you to do so. How does a Good man live? What is virtue'? When does a man's obligation to those around him exceed his obligation to himself'? These are not simple questions - even on Krypton there is no precise science which provides us with the answers. I can only tell you what I myself believe. To this end, I have tried to anticipate your questions, and in -the order of their importance to you.

Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you will be raised as a human being, you are not one of them. You will have great powers, which you will grow into with age.

You are superior to others. You can only become inferior by setting yourself above them. Lead by inspiration. Let your actions and ideals become a touchstone against which mankind may learn how to serve the common good. While it is forbidden for you to interfere with human history itself, your leadership can stir others to their own capacity for moral betterment

The virtuous spirit has no need for thanks or approval. Only the certain conviction that what has been done is right. Develop such conviction in yourself, Kal-El. The human heart on your planet is still subject to small jealousies, lies, and monstrous deceptions. Resist these temptations as you inevitably find them - and your ethical power will then properly outweigh your physical advantage over others...

Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and power are needed - but always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. Your being is both separate and your own , but I have caused your earthly presence and must share responsibility for your actions. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all - their capacity for good - I have sent them you…my only son."

This pre-recorded message kept replaying until the spaceship, and the kryptonic meteor rocks which followed, entered earth's atmosphere, heading for...

...Smallville, Kansas.