Next morning. Clark wakes up bathed by the sun beams that recharge his energies. At his side, Lana still sleeps. His sensible hearing detects a noise in the living room. Arriving there, he sees a tall woman, with defined muscles, large wavy ginger hair a bit redder than Lana's. She wears metallic green top and trousers; golden shoulder pads, boots and gloves; a red belt and a beige cape covering her back. Lana arrives next and is amazed by the presence of the strange visitor, who begins to speak:
"Na das'tya pranis Maxima..." She presses a button on her right glove and continues to speak. "Forgive me, I forgot to activate my translator. I am princess Maxima Pereztern, from planet Almerac. The royal family of my planet faces a grave genetic problem that affects the new generations, rendering them sterile. It's up to me to restore the noble lineage of Almerac and produce healthy heirs. Sadly, there aren't adequate partners there, what made me search through the cosmos. And I've finally found someone: you, Kal-El of Krypton!"
"It was you who was spying on me last night, wasn't you?", Clark asks.
"Yes. When I noted your suspicion, I opted for a strategical retreat, before you could detect me. But, back to my offer, what do you say? Do you accept to be my consort?"
"Your Highness, in case you haven't noticed, I'm already married."
"What? To that stunted figure by your side? I imagined she was a buddy, servant, whatever, but wife? Don't make me laugh, Kal-El! She isn't worthy of you."
Lana is indignant at the insults and revolts against Maxima.
"Who are you calling stunted, you-?"
Lana is interrupted when Maxima grabs her by the neck and lifts her.
"Do not even dare address me in this insolent way!"
Clark quickly frees Lana and opposes himself to the visitor.
"Violence won't help toy to achieve anything. Let's talk calmly, but not here."
"So well. Tell when and where, Kal-El. I have a map of this city and its surroundings on my portable computer."
"In the ruins of the Lexor Condominium, north of the city. It is a vast abandoned area, ravaged by clashes and toxic leaks in the ground. We'll have enough privacy. In half an hour."
"Agreed, Kal-El. Do not be late." After pressing a button on her left glove, Maxima disappears in a bluish teleport glow.
Properly dressed in his blue and red costume, Superman appears punctually at the assigned location. Lexor Condominium was one of Lex Luthor's investments, before his facade of philanthropic entrepreneur had fallen. Lex, however, hadn't worried about environmental issues. After several residents became ill, it was discovered that the soil was contaminated by highly toxic wastes. Lex tried to blame outsourced companies, besides hiring criminals to provoke confrontations in the area, creating a distraction and disrupting the work of environmental forensics. Today, it is a condemned and uninhabited area.
Maxima's voice makes itself present.
"Congratulations on your punctuality, Kal-El!"
Superman's voice shows some impatience.
"All right. Go straight to the point. I'm all ears."
"As I said before we were interrupted, your Terran wife is not an appropriate partner."
"You made your point quite clear. But I disagree."
"She may even seem appropriate. Now. But what about the future? What if you want to have children? You are likely to be genetically incompatible to procreate. Or, even if you are compatible, pregnancy may be risky for her. Not to mention the question of longevity."
"Your argument would even sound reasonable except for a few details. First: Having children is not essential for a marriage to work, but the feeling and harmony between the parties involved; Second, even though Lana and I may want children, we can adopt or resort to assisted reproductive technology, which, if I do not know, is very advanced here on Earth."
"It's also advanced in Almerac, but royal families are royal families everywhere: traditionalists. They want marriage, pomp and circumstance, as well as heirs conceived the old fashioned way. Think of my proposal. In Almerac, you would be a prince consort, with all the perks and possibility of being king!"
"I'm sorry, but-"
The speech of Superman is interrupted by the arrival of a gynoid of short stature, three eyes, four arms, artificial skin pink and violet robes of a servant of the royalty.
"This is Sazu, my robotic servant. I named her after my deceased companion maid. What happened, Sazu? Why are you interrupting us?"
"I detected a vehicle approaching, milady!"
In fact, a motorcycle engine is heard in the distance. The noise grows louder, until a green motorcycle piloted by a female figure approaches and parks a few feet from Maxima and Superman. The motorcyclist removes the helmet. It's Lana.
"Well, well, the stunted one appeared!"
Lana's first impulse is to charge against Maxima again, but she refrains herself to a verbal contestation only.
"My name is Lana Lang."
Superman talks to his wife.
"What are you doing here? It can be dangerous. Do you remember the way she treated you in out apartment?"
"I understand you want to protect me, but... This conversation between you and her also concerns my life! I couldn't stay out."
In order to shorten the interruption and resume the conversation with Superman, Maxima decides to soften her hostile stance toward Lana.
"In spite of my previous tantrum, I don't intend to harm Lana Lang. If she interests you so much, you can bring her to Almerac. I'm willing to tolerate an open relationship, Kal-El."
Lana is shocked by the proposal. Wow, she left any notion of good sense back on her planet, 'cause really…
She thinks of some improprieties to respond to Maxima, but Superman advances in a more polite, but emphatic way.
"I'm sorry, princess, but I'm monogamist. I love Lana and only her. I'm not open to anyone else."
"Apparently, I'll have to take a more persuasive stance."
"And what do you intend to do? Fight? Appeal to some kind of blackmail? Do you want a consort or a slave for your whims?"
Maxima takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment. Although not willing to go that far, she acknowledges that her arrogant and invasive attitude gave way to Superman to think otherwise. As much as her pride instills in her insistence, she knows, in the depths of her soul, that she must not.
"I won't force you to do anything you don't want. If it reassures you, my 'persuasive attitude' would be undress myself to arouse your libido, but I see even that would be pointless. As much as I question your marital choice and still can't understand what you saw in the stunted Terran woman, a consort who doesn't want me would be of no use. I'll continue my search elsewhere." Maxima turns her look to her robotic servant. "Let's go, Sazu".
"But, milady...", the maid insists, "...will you give up like this? We still can-"
"No, Sazu, we can't. Obey and let's go!"
Before Maxima and her mechanic servant reach their ship, however, a powerful motor roar cuts through the air. It's a chrome-plated, jet-propelled space motorcycle, with a metallic skull adorning the front. Its pilot? The space bounty hunter known as Lobo, the last Czarnian alive (because he killed all the others; long story), wearing dark blue leather clothes.
He advances fiercely against Superman.
"Missed me, Big Blue?"
The hero tries to disengage, but the Czarnian drags him away. Suddenly, an explosion in the air opens a tubular portal composed of rippling luminous circles. Superman recognizes that formation:
"A Boom Tube! I didn't know you had a Mother Box." Superman refers to the compact, living computer used by the inhabitants of two planets: New Genesis and Apokolips.
"You'd be surprised with the resources I have, Big Blue!
Superman tries to free himself from Lobo, but the bounty hunter carries him through the Tube, which teleports them to another planet.
Before Maxima and Lana recover from the astonishment of Lobo's appearance, a huge shadow spreads across the area where they meet. When looking up, they see a huge, discoid-shaped spacecraft in various shades of gray, looking rusty in some places. The ship lands and a red-haired man emerges from it, sporting a horseshoe-type mustache, wearing a vest, open, with red leather and yellow edges, with brick-red trousers.
"Maxima!" Exclaims the stranger, smiling. "At last we meet again! I took the liberty of activating the translator so that we all understood each other."
Lana, in a low voice, asks Maxima:
"Do you know this guy?"
"His name is Vernax. It is a clone of Vartox, of the planet Valeron. He has the flaws, worsened, of the original and none of the qualities. I have already declined several of his seduction attempts, but he does not give up."
The visitor talks to Maxima.
"Princess Maxima of Almerac, for the thirty-fourth time, do you accept to be my consort?"
Lana is shocked by the situation. Thirty-four times? Damn it! Maxima can have several flaws, but she still has more good sense than this guy!
"By the thirty-fourth time: NO!" Maxima turns her face and begins to walk away. "Take your ship, turn around and go back to your planet."
Vernax grabs her by her right arm.
"No one tells Vernax what to do. And don't turn your back on me, woman!"
"Release my arm!"
"What if I do not want to?"
Turning deftly her body, Maxima unbalances Vernax and knocks him down. He stands up and advances against her, holding her two wrists. She smiles, distracting him, then hits him a knee in his lower parts, causing him to bend over and fall to the ground.
Suddenly, a bluish discharge, of very high voltage, reaches Maxima from the back. As she falls to the ground, she can only turn her head enough to see her attacker: Sazu, her robotic servant, firing the lightning bolt through a metal tip that came from her left hand.
"Sazu… You t-traitor… full of shi-"
The Almeracian princess faints before she can finish the sentence.
"Great!" Vernax celebrates, already recovered from Maxima's knee-hit. "Sazu, bring Maxima. And also the Terran woman. She'll be my concubine. What can I say? I have a thing for redheads."