A Son's Duty, A Son's Promise
His 21st birthday had come with a quiet weekend spent with his mother and step-father in Gotham City. His parents and he had lived in Gotham for more than a decade now - though he was born in Metropolis, his visits there were rare.
His coming-of-age birthday was not spent as a night on the town which was the case with most of his friends. No, this birthday had implications for him beyond what his friends could ever possibly imagine or understand.
He had made his decision and now was following through. Coming of age meant a 6 month stay at the North Pole. Those 6 months would forever transform him. It scared him, but more so it frightened his mother and step-father. It was his choice to embrace this destiny and he had freely made that choice. His parents expected nothing less from him but, in their hearts, he knew they had hoped that he could have a normal life which meant rejecting his heritage.
So it was that, back in Metropolis and with the anti-cloaking device Bruce had given him, he went to his father's monument and grave. For the first time he was doing this alone - as this occasion called for.
This would be the last time he visited Metropolis before undergoing his half-year long initiation at the Fortress.
The cloaking mechanism which hid his father's mausoleum had been put in place to prevent the body from being stolen, experimented upon, displayed as someone's sick trophy or, worse, desecrated.
Once inside the monument's public area, CJ took out the cell-phone sized cube of metal Bruce had given him. He waved the small object in front of the hologram of his father that stood at the center of the hall.
Suddenly a large rectangular structure appeared in front of him. It was black and made of marble. Each side of the structure was etched with the House of El's family crest. It was his family crest, the Kryptonian symbol for hope, the symbol his father had worn on his chest during his all-too-short career.
CJ stood before the family crest on the front side of the mausoleum. He waved the anti-cloaking device across it while taking a deep breath. He knew what would happen - he had been here once a year, on the anniversary of his father's death, with his mother and Bruce as they performed the same task.
The front of the rectangular structure seemingly vaporized into thin air. The mausoleum was now open as CJ slowly walked in.
Directly ahead his father lay clothed in the costume he had made famous, his arms folded over his chest. His still body rested on a simple raised table in a clear cryogenic chamber flooded with light.
The House of El crest floated above the chamber with a holographic inscription just below which read:
Here lies Kal-El
Last son of Krypton
Adopted son of Earth
Doer of good deeds
Slain by unknown forces while fighting the never ending battle
Tears streaming down his face, CJ approached his father's body.
As hard as this was for CJ, it was necessary to fulfill his duty and to make his promise.
His duty - to embrace his Kryptonian heritage and carry on his father's work, to reengage the House of El in the never ending battle.
His promise - to find out how they killed his father without using kryptonite, to find out whom the murderer or murderers were and, finally, to bring that person or those persons to justice.
The End
This is a one-shot. Please review. Reviews are what make the writing worthwhile.
Things are getting very busy for me so I pretty much shy away from writing anything but one-shots. This could be developed into a multi-chapter story and I leave it to other authors to take it up if they so choose.