Journal of a Superman

By S.P. Bley

Trial by Fire

Two Years Ago…

"J'onn J'onz to Metrotower. Come in Metrotower." The Martian looked down into the view screen. Like the original members that had stayed on, even he had taken on a newer look- a black body suit now under the red x. He kept the blue cape, but now his head had a more distinctive point to it, much like his true alien form.

"This is Superman," Kal-el replied, "what's up?"

"I received a priority distress call from Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Test Facility. INES Level Three at this point, but it could blow up to five by the time we're done," The Martian informed, "I have sent Kai-Ro ahead, but he will need back up."

"Level Three," Superman thought to himself, "That's the breach of all safety instruments, but not of the reactor. Why don't you send Captain Atom?"

"Captain Atom is not back from his other mission yet and I cannot risk pulling him from that mission as well," J'onn informed the Kryptonian, "You and Kai-Ro are the only other members available who can take the likely radiation leak."

"Can you transmit rendezvous co-ordinates?" Superman asked.

"I am now," the Martian Manhunter said as the readout displayed the place where Superman was going to meet the Green Lantern. Radiation threats meant that there was no teleporting. "One more thing, Superman," J'onn added, "Since we don't have Captain Atom, you may need to fly the reactor into the space and destroy it up there. Clear a geosynchronous orbit if that is the case."

A few minutes later, Superman exited the top of the Metro tower and flew down the coast line, south towards the nuclear plant. Half way down, as he was veering close to Baltimore, a green light flew through the sky. Kai-Ro leveled off next to Superman. "This humble one begs your forgiveness," the monk said as flew beside the Man of Steel, "My delay was due to the teleporters."

"Let's focus on the mission at hand, son." The proceeded to the research facility in relative silence, Kai-Ro not sure what to say. The two landed at the entrance to the main building, meeting a technician. "Superman, JLU, we're responding to your…"

"I know who you are," the technician said as he pointed into the building, "reactor three has gone critical. We have a stage five breech. Unless you do something now, we're going to have another Chernobyl right in the middle of the most densely populated portion of the country. D.C., Baltimore, Philly, Gotham," the man started ticking off, finishing somberly with, "your home town will all be dead."

"You have nothing to worry about," Superman said as he looked up at the roof, "do you have people inside?"

"Just emergency personnel." The technician said.

"Kia-Ro, get them out. You have three minutes." Kal-el ordered. As the Green Lantern rushed to get the fire fighters off the roof, Superman raced into the reactor core. The monk held his ring out, and a bright light of green energy erupted from it, forming a giant vacuum cleaner, which began sucking the people inside the safety of the green bag.

Inside the core room, Superman began pulling metal from where ever he could get it safely and slammed it into the cracks. It wouldn't be enough to stop the deadly force if it went to the next stage, but it was at least enough to get radio contact established between him and the Green Lantern. As he welded the last crack shut with his heat vision, he tried to call Kai-Ro. "Superman to Green Lantern, I've eased off the radiation leak but this won't hold." He turned to look at the welds, which where already white hot, "Kai-Ro, I need to make a fast exit. Clear the roof immediately."

The green vacuum construct pulled the last person up, and turned into a giant bubble. The monk floated the construct to the ground, opening the bubble to let the people off. One of the men, cladded in an anti-radiation suit, looked up at the Green Lantern. "Tom's still up there," He said, pointing to the roof.

"Superman," the GL fired off his comm. link, "there are people on the roof. You are no go for clearance."

Inside the core, the cracks where already starting to release small amounts of radiation. Green Lantern's comm. line came back garbled, but the man of steal could only hear "Go." Superman grabbed the reactor, and pried it loose from the floor. Holding it in his arms like a giant egg, he lifted off the ground, and blasted a hole through the roof with his heat vision as he flew up.

Both heroes reached the roof at the same time. Both saw it clear as day. Kai-Ro forgoing theatrics and putting a bubble around the last fire fighter on the roof; Superman was carrying the reactor out of the station into space. As he did, the welds began to bubble. One over his hand popped, spreading hot, molten, radioactive metal onto the Titan of Tomorrow's hand. The pain caused the reactor to slip slightly, as a get of hot plasma erupted from the side facing the Green Lantern and the man. It struck the bubble with a loud crack, knocking the Green Lantern monk back. The bubble dissipated and the beam continued as it hit Tom. In the blink of an eye, Superman caught the hole with his scalded hand and flew out of the atmosphere as the man let out a painful scream. Up above, a bright light signaled the detonation of the materials. The crowd below looked on aghast, as Kai-Ro got to his feet, looking at the smoking body. Kal-el returned, covered in soot, eyes wide with horror.


Present Day…

"Where is that coming from?" Luthor yelled as he got up from his desk, knocking several items to the floor. Luthor Tower was still the tallest building on New Troy, and Luthor still sat at the top office like a king over his domain. But the incessant tapping had driven the man to near sanity as the late autumn sun was setting over the towers. He turned to the dark haired woman in the room. "Mercy, Mary, Megan, who ever the hell you are…

"Abigail, sir," The woman sternly corrected.

"…where is that noise coming from?" Luthor shouted, "It's giving me a headache."

"Gee, I was always told about how patient you were," She said sarcastically, "how you never sweat the small stuff." She looked up at Luthor, whose back was against the window. Behind him, Abigail saw the source of the noise. A year with out it was enough to make anyone insane when it returned, she imagined. "Actually, your right, it isn't something small. Take a look behind you."

Luthor turned around to see what she saw: A boy, in his late teens, hovering out his window; out his window some 180 feet in the air. The colors where enough to bring back so much hatred he had felt the first time he met the original. "So, the rumors are true," Luthor said as he opened the window, "Superman is back."

"If you had your way," Calvin said in a much deeper voice as he entered the room, "it would be Supermen."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The clones Luthor," Superman firmly said, "I saw what you were up to at Aura."

"The real Superman would have played around for a little longer," Lex taunted.

"I've been tapping on your window for fifteen minutes," The Teen retorted, "I'm not patient when I wait."

"That is something the two of you have in common, isn't it? Either way, I know that this is a questionable legality…"

"…It's illegal."

"…And I question that." Luthor mocked, "But you have the burden of proof. And to be quite frank, I think that the majority of this town is less likely to believe in you then in Bigfoot or UFOs," Superman raised an eyebrow, "you know what I mean." Luthor said.

"Let me just make one thing clear," Calvin said, "If I ever found out that you did something like that again, I'm coming for you."

"Is that a threat?"

"Do you feel threatened?"

"I've had a chunk of Kryptonite in this room since the day I got back just in case you capes returned," Lex informed his guest, "do you feel threatened?"

Calvin glared as he walked back at to the window. He turned his back away from the CEO and looked him right in the eye. "I'm watching you." He said as he fell back first out of the window. Five stories down, the boy yawed into a straight flight, and flew away from the building with a small thud of a sonic boom.

"He's got some grace that the first one lacked, I'll give him that much." Lex said as he watched the kid leave.

"Can I get you anything?" Abigail asked.

"Champagne and chunk of Kryptonite off of E-bay," The bald man said, "In both cases, money is not an option. Tonight, Abigail, I celebrate." He finished with a sinister smile.


"Somet'in' for ya, sweety?" the waitress asked the man who had just sat down in her section. He was alone, an uncommon thing to go on for too long in this town. Normally it was the elderly coming in after church or one of the farmers treating his family. It was rare to get someone this late. And this alone.

"Coffee," The man said, not looking at the menu, "black." He looked up to see the electric blue simulated anchors on the dinner's Vid Screen. The background logo caught his eye. "Can you turn that up?" He asked.

"Hon, don' give me a reason to hate the news more. It's to depressing as is." The woman said as the sound increased. She took a good long look at the logo behind the man. "Like they need to tell us Superman's dead again. HA."

"…but now, almost a year after his death, a new Superman seems to be protecting the streets of Metropolis yet again." The anchor stated enthusiastically.

"I saw him swoop out of the sky over there," the boy pointed off camera, "and then he pulled us out of the car and carried us to the ground. Then he flew off that way. Like the stories mom told me."

"Yes," the announcer commented, "there are people all over the city of Metropolis saying that tonight. Six year old Kevin Murphy, and his mother, where in their car when it cut out mid-air. A death for most people, they are here to tell their story because of, what they and many others claim, is a new Superman. Superman, or some one with his sense of fashion, has been seen flying all over Metropolis for the past week, generating a slew of controversy."

"Well," an old woman said into the camera, "I think it's sweet that this guy is honoring the memory of Superman. Lord knows, this city has gotten pretty bad with out him."

"This is just some publicity stunt," another man yelled into the camera, "he's dead. His cousin has been missing for years. There is no one else like him out there."

"Skepticism is often drawn from the lack of hard evidence showing that Superman did indeed do anything," The announcer explained, "any alleged pictures of the new guy are poor in quality. The victims often do not have a camera, and there has yet to be a large event for him to show up at. But there are many people, including Kevin Murphy, who do believe it is real."

"I think he's a pretty cool guy. I like him."

"For WNN news, I'm Patrick Mattson."

The man looked down at the glass of water he was holding. It was starting to boil. He moved his hands away and looked back at the kitchen.

"Okay, hon, cup of coffee, black." The woman announced into the dinning room. She walked into the room to find it empty yet again. "It's like bein' back in Gotham." She said to herself as she walked to the table and picked up a Cred card. "At least he's a better tipper."


"Holly, want to go to homecoming with me?" Calvin asked in the halls. Holly was a girl on the swim team who Calvin often joked around with during meets. She was somewhat shorter then he was and had blonde hair which she kept short. And right now, she was his last resort.

"Not going, Cal," She answered.

"Come on," Calvin said, half pleading half joking, "You're the last person who doesn't have a date and has nothing wrong them. If you don't go with me, I'll have to dance with some fat chick. I don't want to do that."

"Believe you and me, neither do I," she said, pushing him aside, "which is why I'm not going." She leaned in close to whisper, "They hurt my back when I'm on top."

"Seriously," Calvin asked as he followed Holly down the hall, "what's wrong with going with me?"

"You're a guy. 'Nuff said."

"How about a mutual pity date then?" Calvin asked, "You feel sorry for me because I can't get a date, and I feel sorry for you because you hate 42."

"42?"

"Life, The Universe, and Everything."

"Nice try," Holly said with a smug smile on her face, "but you stole that from your brother."

"How'd you find out about…"

"Girl's Bathroom. It was the web before the web." She smiled as she walked into the classroom. Calvin feigned banging his head against the nearest locker.

"I'd be careful about doing that," Linda said as she approached him. Calvin only gave her a don't-make-this-worse stare, "Might hurt your brain. So, how'd it go?"

"She's staying home."

"Called that one," Linda said under her breath.

"How did you know?"

"Girl's Bathroom. It was the web be…"

"…don't finish that."

"So," Linda began, changing the tone of voice to match the change of topic, "how did Lex Luthor take it? I would have listened over that headset I gave you, but the 'rents called dinner, and well, eat or save the world," she held her hands out as if each arm was a scale, "it's a tough call."

"He was amused," Calvin stated in a curious voice, "like he didn't care."

"I'm surprised he didn't pull out the kryptonite right then and there," Linda commented, "Considering the bad blood between him and you predecessor."

"Or Luthor has adopted a let-bygones-be-bygones philosophy."

"As if. He's a CEO. He steppes on toes for a living." Linda cynically noted. Once again, her voice changed tones as she changed subject matter. "What about Ashley?"

"What?"

"For home coming. Ask Ashley Powton."

"Sure," Calvin said quickly. "Who is she?"

"Honestly, have you been under a rock all week?" Linda asked, "She's the new girl. We have the same history class. I can ask her for you."

"Is she good looking?"

"I think so," Linda smiled, "but then again, I think your brother is good looking. Who am I to judge?"

"Just ask her," Calvin said as he slipped into the class room and sat at his desk.

"He can bend steel, but talking to a girl…" Linda said under her breath, fully aware that Calvin could hear her.


"You are researching a fashion designer from the turn of the century?" Robert asked as he looked over Michael Lark's shoulder, at the article he was reading.

"Not interested in her dresses," Mike said, not breaking his gaze from the words, "more like her friends."

"Lark, you are such a fanboy."

"Huh?"

"After your article about the 'New Superman'," Robert said, making quotation marks with his fingers, "it's all I can expect you to look at. So far, we have no way of knowing."

"This is more of a follow up," Mike assured the editor, "just like community reaction and all that stuff."

"Mikey, Mikey, Mikey, don't ruin any career like Lois Lane did," Robert instructed. "She only wrote about Superman and look where that got her."

"Alright, Bob," Mike said, closing out of the window, "I'll work on another story."

"Good," Robert said as he walked away, "and don't call me Bob."

"Don't call me Mikey," Michael said, as the editor disappeared. When he was sure that guy was gone, Mike brought up the window and continued reading.


A long range monorail pulled into New Troy's central station, as the man stepped out. He picked up his baggage, and walked hastily out of the building. The blonde haired man dodged in and out of the crowd, heading to a desolate warehouse district, still left abandoned after all these years.

In this part of town, he was alone. He needed to vent, needed to let off steam. He needed to remind himself why he was here in the first place. He dropped his sole brief case and opened it up. He pulled out a picture of his younger self with a small girl. She had curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Beauty like that was hard to come by, and she was given a beautiful name because of it: Melanie. The man shed a tear as he dropped the picture back into the brief case and pulled out a white trench coat, wrapping it around his red shirt and blue jeans. "You deserve your justice." The man said to the picture, "you might not understand why I did these things, but in time, you will. You and I, Melanie, we were robbed. Robbed of a chance at a normal life."

He held his hands up perpendicular to his body. From them, a small bolt of reddish orange light erupted. Smoke formed as the man moved his arms in a pattern around the room. When he finished, he looked at his art work. An S shield, very much like that of the legendary hero, was smoldering in the wall of the warehouse. "I intend to correct what is right. I lost that chance a year ago. I was happy. He was gone. But now his own son has returned and become a threat to this world again. I was a victim of his failure. Given a life worse then death. And you inadvertently became a victim. The sins of the father undebted shall be collected from the son. My sins have been paid by this life a hundred fold. Now," he raised a hand as a much larger, much more powerful light, erupted from his hand, striking the carved wall with such a heat, that it exploded almost instantly, "It is my turn to collect."


"Where are you?" Linda asked into a cell-phone ear piece

"Over Centennial Park," Calvin's voice came back. She looked out her apartment window in the direction of New Troy's famed park.

"Where?"

"See the big orange cloud over the city?"

"Yeah," Linda said as she looked out towards the condensed water vapor. The reflected colors dispelled her otherwise dark room with golden light, like the nimbus of gods, "It's a nice one."

"You should see it up close."

"I'm jealous," She stated as she tapped the keys on the computer, "hearing anything bad going down?"

"It's quiet." Calvin reported as he leveled out in front of the cloud, "It's like every super-villain upped and left after his death. And then the police seem to have gotten crime down by themselves. So…."

"Come again?"

"Something's coming up from south docks. And fast." The Teen of Steel reported.

"Hover car?"

"Too fast."

"Helicopter?"

"Too slow. It looks like a human."

"A human? Flying like you?" Linda said, taking in the words.

"No, he's propelling himself by some kind of energy." Calvin reported. "And it's hot. Massive signature in the infa…" The report cut out.

"Superman?" Linda said, checking her phone to make sure that it didn't drop Calvin's call. It didn't.

"…Under Fire…" the voice came responded in a broken and static sound, "…hurt… me." A loud sound like thunder roared into the ear piece as the sound cut out again…


Calvin reported what he was seeing in the infa-red spectrum, when the heat signature spiked. Bringing himself back to normal vision, Calvin saw a jet of reddish orange light heading straight for him. The beam collided and threw him up away from the man as a screaming static erupted in his ear piece. He felt a slight pain from the heat as he leveled off. "I'm under fire," he radioed back, albeit the heavy static, "This guy was able to hurt me." But for all intensive purposes, the line was dead.

The man, surrounded by an aura of the red orange light, flew within striking range of the new Superman and delivered a blow, sending Calvin up higher yet again. Once more, the Teen of Steel leveled off and re-collected himself. He then flew straight for the man and struck with a powerful blow. The man didn't lose much composure and fired another volley. Cal caught the man's fist in his palm. "What do you want?" He asked in his Superman voice, strained under the heat the guy was putting off.

"Some say revenge is a dish best served cold," the man said as the light around his hand intensified. It was becoming hard for Superman to endure, and finally, the intensity of the flash caused him to let go of the man's fist and fly under the direction of the wave of plasma, "But from what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire."

"Speak English," Calvin said as he did a back flip to slow himself down.

"I want your death, boy," the man said as he rocketed towards Superman. The seventeen year old did a 180 and launched himself into the cloud he had been flying around. Inside was a world of grey. Despite the beautiful hues outside, the light did not penetrate much of the interior. Tiny ice particles started to collect all over Calvin's body as he raced through the water vapor. He sped up, making sure that the man that was following him was in the distance. When the red light faded, Superman made a rapid incline, flying almost perpendicular to his original course.

He emerged out of the cloud and eased off, flying towards earth on the west side cloud. Now it was time for him to display some ingenuity. The layers of the cloud seemed to disappear as Calvin looked at them with his x-ray vision. First the orange white outside, then the various shades of grey, until he was looking at the back of his assailant, confused by the sudden disappearance of his quarry. With a thunder like roar, Superman flew into the cloud straight to the man's back. The attacker turned to see the blue red streak break the grey surroundings, tossing a powerful punch to he man's gut. As the man flew downwards following the force, a bright red orange light erupted from his hands towards the superhero.

Calvin dodged the blast, return fire with a wave of heat vision. "Give it up, sunshine," the teen yelled through the fog surrounding the two of them, "I'm willing to bet that you can't see me." No answer was heard. Superman raced off in the direction of the falling body, fearing the worse. When his trajectory finally emerged from the cloud bank, Calvin scanned the skies and the earth below.

"Superman, you there?" The radio piece echoed with Linda's voice in his ears. The static had since dropped off now that the attack was over.

"What happened?"

"Some dude flew…"

"There is someone other than you who can fly?"

"Yeah. Anyway, he flew up here. Just randomly attacked me. I confused him in a cloud, but I don't think I scarred him off."

"You better get scarred off, before he gets you in round two." Linda barked, Calvin agreed, and turned towards Queensland Park, after doing one more, quick sweep to make sure that there was no evidence that the guy was still there.


Stepping out of the monorail to St. Martin's Island was like walking back in time for Mike. The upscale part of the city was decidedly retro and might have had the lowest apartments of the whole of Metropolis. A good thing compared to the hundred plus stories all over the huge city. The blonde haired boy walked down the street blocks of the island, sporadically pulling out a piece of paper to check the address he was looking for. He finally stopped at an old house. One that looked like it had not been touched by the reconstruction over the past seventy years. One that looked like it was built almost two centuries ago.

Mike checked the address once more, and slipped through the wrought iron gates, walking towards the front door. He pounded on it, sending a loud echo through the house. A bark from a dog followed. The creature sounded huge, and Mike backed away.

CLICK! The door slid open enough to reveal the gaunt features of the elderly woman opened.

"Ms. Lang?" Mike asked.

"Who are you?" The woman asked, "And before you answer, If you are trying to save my soul, I should remind you that I haven't gotten around to hanging my 'beware of dog' sign yet."

"I'm not h-here to s-sell anything," Mike said, backing slightly away from the door. "I just h-have a pr-problem."

"Kid, I'm a fashion designer," the elderly Lana said, "not a speech therapist."

"No, I-I was l-listening to your sp-speech last week," Mike said, "m-my br-brother was on before-ore you. You s-said you where the first superman's friend. I'm fr-friends with the new one."

The door shut. Mike knew it was hopeless, and turned to walk away. He should have pegged the woman as one of the people who was upset by Calvin taking up the moniker of such an Icon. As he walked off the porch of the old house, the door once again creaked behind him. The blonde boy turned to see Lana Lang, and a large St. Bernard on the threshold. "There's more then that, isn't there son?" She asked.

Mike turned back and walked into the room. Like the outside, the inside of the house was very retro. In front of a large fireplace sat a sofa and chair with no Vid screen. All along the walls, pictures of many girls hung, all of them in poses that seemed to show off their various attires. Mike walked towards the seats in the room as the St. Bernard tapped his head against the boy's hand. He pulled his arm away from the dog in shock. "I've never known a boy to be afraid of a dog. Brutus doesn't bite."

"Its n-name is Brutus," Mike said as he stared down the dog, "how c-could he not b-bite."

"Names can often be misleading," Lana said as she walked into the room and took a seat in the arm chair, "which is why I have my doubts about your friend. Superman."

"He just told me," Mike confided, "I'm really kind of nervous about knowing. L-Like if I slip up and tell. It c-could cause a lot m-more pain. It's a big b-burden he just heaved on me w-without asking."

"We rarely are asked if we want to do something important," the old lady said as Brutus walked to her feet and put his head on her lap, "and if we are, it isn't."

"I could have had a n-nice life w-without knowing."

"Ignorance isn't bliss. It's a poor substitute. When I first met the original Superman, I knew something was special about him. It was hard, because he deserved to be seen as special. But for a lot of people his achievements needed to be kept in the dark. I know who he really was, but telling met ruining that persons' life."

"That's why I'd rather not know. I don't want to hurt him."

"Do you think that he wants to hurt you?"

"No."

"Is he normally honest and open with you?"

"Yes."

"If he lied to you, would you be hurt?"

"Yes."

"I will say this about the first Superman, he kept his eyes on the prize. He knew what he wanted in life when he wasn't in the cape. But his constant secret keeping really alienated the people that he cared about. When she was finally told, or rather, found out, she was devastated. They never spoke afterwards…" Lana trailed off as she scratched the dog behind his ears. "Although if you want a piece of advice, don't let anyone know that you know until after his enemies can do no worse."

"Thanks." Mike said as he got up for the door. All that way, and he didn't have anymore closure then when he left.

"Are you worried about him, or yourself?" Lana asked before the blonde boy could get away.

"Both." Mike said as he sat down, "he's getting himself into danger. He'd like to think of himself as invincible, but he could get killed, or kill someone."

"There have been times where the first Superman inspired that same fear," the woman said as she got up and walked towards fire place, "there isn't much you can do about the first one. Hardly much he can do about it. But there is something you can do to prevent him from hurting others." She opened the box, revealing a green crystal inside. "I've had this for a long time. Since the first one went rogue many years ago that one time. I keep trying to justify having it around, telling myself that it is for something that he might do, but its more for those things that I could never imagine him doing."

"Kryptonite?" Mike questioned the contents of the box.

"No one said caring for someone was easy. And this isn't a burden you can choose." Lana said as she closed the box and held it out for Mike to take.

"Yes it is." Mike said, defiantly, "You're asking me to kill my best friend. I'm not going to." He opened the door and ran out the lawn, slipping once again through the gates as the old lady looked on.


"So he has a thing for revenge," Linda ticked off on her hands, "and radiation. So I figured…"

"What makes you think its radiation?" Calvin asked, as his brother walked into the room.

"When he attacked, your end of our phone conversation went dead." Linda said

"Cal was attacked?" Mike interrupted, "By who?"

"Some nut job who could hold his own against me."

"You know your not all powerful, Cal." Mike reminded

"Yeah, but not many people can hurt me."

"But some can."

"Mike," Linda yelled over the boys, "is something wrong?"

"No," Mike said after a long pause, "No, so what did this guy do?"

"Said he was getting revenge. Threw fire balls…"

"…Radiation heat," Linda corrected.

"…Radiation heat balls," Calvin corrected himself, "that from this point on will be called fire balls for sake of brevity. And then he flew away when I started to really come at him."

"So, I ran a search with the words 'Superman' and 'Radiation'."

"And you got billions of hits, most dealing with fanboys talking about a villain or Kryptonite?" Calvin asked sarcastically, not noticing Mike cringing slightly.

"Actually, JLU publishes reports on all closed cases on their site. There are a few baddies with radiation powers: Atomic Skull, but he died in the Near Apocalypse, Kryptonite, access is restricted, but it can be obtained. However it wouldn't have affected you like that did."

"So, we're at a dead end."

"Not quite. Remember those red lights in your dad's lab?" Linda asked.

"Yeah."

"Red sun filters. Superman's home world was under a red sun, which is why Kryptonians aren't alive at all. They only get their powers under a yellow sun hotter."

"Point being?" Mike asked.

"I did a search on red sun users who fought Superman. Three hits. Two were deceased, and one never exchanged blows, but blames Superman." She said as she showed Calvin a picture.

"That's him," Calvin acknowledged, recognizing the blonde hair.

"Thomas Buck, AKA Rad," Linda began to explain, "who only fought with the Green Lantern. Buck worked at a nuclear Plant down the bay a little. He blamed Superman and Green Lantern for the accident that gave him his powers."

"So he doesn't like being a freak?" Mike asked

"He may also feel cheated out of his revenge," Calvin added, "with his M.O., he definitely didn't kill Superman. But I bet he wanted to."

The group continued to talk about the Thomas Buck for some time before Linda called it a night and left. Calvin and Mike both went to bed sometime after. While the brown haired boy got some rest, the younger did not. He stared out his bedside window, each time he closed his eyes, he would see the green light. Calvin was starting to show signs of cockiness.


"Live from Television Hill," the TV announcer said as the female anchor sat down, "this is good morning Metropolis, with your hosts Warren Derek and Rebecca Summerson."

"Good morning," Rebecca began, looking into the camera, "we begin to day with word from Kasnia that Prince Andre will be making a visit to Metropolis later this month to be fitted for suits for his December wedding to North Kasnian Baroness Rogaritta. The marriage is likely to end the years of bloodshed in the European nation. Andre will meet briefly with American diplomats to address…"

"…accusations that he is supplying money to anti-American terrorist groups." The security guard watched the delay and the front door of the polished lobby of the building. He flipped through the crosswords as a man walked through the double doors. The guard only noted it as odd, considering how early it was for tourists enter the building.

"Where is Rebecca Summerson?" The blonde haired man asked.

"Sorry, buddy, she's on the air," the guard said as he looked down at the paper. Beside it was a small Geiger counter. It was mostly a paper weight, given to detect the unlikely radioactive threat. The needle had spiked. "Sir, are you feeling hot today?" the guard asked.

"Where is the studio?" The blonde haired man asked.

"Not a word out of me, until you explain this," the guard said as he raised the Geiger counter to the visitor. The needle jumped and a loud cracking echoed from the box.

Thomas held his hands over the guard, as a massive blast of red orange light filled the room. When the light faded, the nuclear man walked away from the smoldering remains of the front desk. "Glad that you understand." He said as he walked into the hall.

"…And that's the weather for today," the meteorologist said as the camera lights for the anchor desk flicked on, "thank you, Bill. When we return…"

BOOM! The walls of the studio exploded inward as the production crew hit the ground. Thomas walked into the studio and held his hands at shoulder level with the room. "Alright, everyone, I want you all to move to the far end of the room," He ordered as the crowd of people looked up towards him, "Anyone who doesn't gets fried." He fired a blast of energy at one of the cameras, which exploded, sending the feed into static.


Calvin awoke quickly to the ringing of a cell phone. He fumbled around for it and hit the end button, believing it to be nothing more than the first alarm of the morning. He put the phone back on the desk and shut his eyes for five more minutes of sleep's sweet release. Five more minutes came fast, and Calvin grabbed the phone to check the time. Instead, he had a number from an unknown person. "Hello?" He groggily spoke into the phone receiver.

"Calvin Lark?" A familiar man's voice replied.

"Who is this?"

"Agent Ryder, Bureau of…

"Why the hell are you calling me at," Calvin looked at his watch, "five thirty in the morning?"

"Have you checked the web news cast?"

"I was dreaming!"

"CHECK IT!" Ryder's voice echoed in the boys head as he bolted up from the bed. Calvin looked around. It had been a dream. Ryder wasn't real. The phone's alarm still had an hour on it. Half tempted to go back to sleep and forget about the dream, the brown haired boy got up, pushing the covers off his boxer and muscle shirt. He walked over to the desk and booted up the computer, waiting for it to come on. When all the awful whirling was over, Calvin opened up the first Net news he could fine. The shot was of a building in New Troy that was surrounded by police.

"For those of you just joining us," the announcer calmly stated, "channel six's Good Morning Metropolis crew has been taken hostage by what police describe as a meta-human. The condition of the hostages is reportedly fine, but the assailant has already made his demands and has promised that if they are not met, people will die."

"Sam," the off screen anchor began, "what is he demanding?"

"Early reports suggest that he was able to get one demand across the airwaves before the station was shut down by the FCC. He said he would let the hostages go if Superman meets him. There is no word on any demands past that, but this seems like the ultimate crucible for those that believe that there is a new Superman in Metropolis…"

Calvin flicked off the TV and pulled his suit out of the hiding spot. As he pulled the pants up, his brother stirred. "Where are you going?" Mike asked as he spotted his brother getting dressed in the outfit.

"Our nut job is at the news station." Calvin informed as he turned the web cast back on. "He wants me." Calvin walked towards the window and then looked back at the room. He then walked to the desk and picked up his glasses, opened a drawer, and dropped them in. "Tell the 'rents I left for school early." He opened the larger of the two windows in the room, and lifted out for it. Turning over the neighborhoods street, he flew east towards the rising sun and the rising threat.


"Two minutes," the camera man said to the reporter in helicopter. The man smiled. The biggest story since Superman's death, and the rival news station wasn't able to cover it. It was journalist's dream. Suddenly, the aircraft began to move upwards, away from the building

"What are you doing?" the anchor asked the pilot, as the helicopter flew skywards.

"Something's on radar" The man at the controls answered, "its fast. I'm not looking to get hit by it."

"Camera down there, now," the now wide eyed journalist roared at the camera man, pointing towards direction of the radar blip, "Interrupt the feed. If we break it first, they'll be a big pay off."

The cameraman scanned the city line, until he saw what the big deal was. "Got him. I'm going to break in."

"We now go live to Walt, our eye in the sky, with some breaking news from the Channel 6 hostage situation. Walt?"

"Walt here," the reporter announced as he watched the picture of the young man in a red and blue outfit with the distinctive S shield, flying down the streets towards the police officers, "No longer a myth, the New Superman has just arrived." He triumphantly finished.

Calvin flew underneath the helicopter and over the police barricades. The people below pointed up and murmured about the flying boy as Superman used his x-ray vision to figure out where the hostages where being held. As the walls of the building disappeared, Calvin watched as the people came to view, huddled under the glass window of the eighteenth story. Like a rocket, the Teen of Tomorrow burst through the glass as a small group of cheers erupted from the street level. As the kid landed he looked at Thomas Buck. "Let them go, Tom," He ordered, in his Superman voice.

"Very well, Superman." Rad said as he stepped away from the hole in the wall, "I just want you." The crowd began to get up and quietly walked out of the room. Neither titan noticed one of the camera men grab a camera as he exited.

"Why?" Calvin asked, "I'm not the real Superman. I'm not his son, cousin, nephew, whatever. I don't even know the man."

"Superman, we preach a message of 'eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind' but no one lives it," Tom began. "The courts, the papers, the public, they all give what is deserved to institutions that they represent. You could have called your self something else and I would not have thought about hurting you. But you chose to be the next Superman. Your hero worship is why you will die."

Rad's fists glowed red as he fired a blast of light at Calvin, sending him through the wall behind him, wrecking an interview show's audience bleachers. Rad lifted off the ground and flew into the hole as the boy stood up in wrecked seats. Tom tossed a punch, which Superman ducked and countered with a strong uppercut that sent the radiation man into the ceiling, wrecking a cooking show's set. Calvin rushed up to throw another punch, only to be met with kick to the face as he emerged from the hole between the two levels. The boy doubled over and rebounded off a set of ovens, destroying today's pre-made product as he grabbed the man around the midsection and slammed the guy threw a wall and out over the gathered crowed, which gasped as the debris fell over some of the responding officers.

Idiot, Calvin thought as he let go of Rad and rushed down to the ground level to stop the large concrete chunk before it hit. "Give me some room," He yelled at the officers as he lowered the slab onto the pavement. As the last part was dropped, Calvin felt a pain to his gut that caused him to fly upwards. The crowd gasped as Rad threw a second punch to Superman's gut, sending him flying through the ground level and into the lobby, where he crashed into a polished rock column, breaking it. Rad flew in with another punch, which Calvin caught in his bare hand. Using Tom's momentum against him, Superman tossed into a wall and rushed over to grab the blonde haired mans shirt collar. "What Superman, the real Superman, did was an accident. He didn't want this to happen, and I'm sure he feels sorry for it."

Rad's whole body glowed red hot as a large radial blast blew Calvin away from the man and into a second column. "It isn't about the accident," Tom said as he walked towards the hero, still lying in the debris, "I could have lived a happy life with or without the accident. But after I awoke, I went home, to my wife and my daughter. I got checked, and nothing was wrong with me. I thought I was normal. But about a year later, my daughter was sick." He picked up the boy and tossed him across the room, "she had developed Leukemia. All the findings concluded that I was the one responsible." He picked up Calvin again and held the kid at eye level, "I can't hold my daughter. I can't kiss her good night. She sleeps in a quarantined room in a hospital because the chemo killed her immune system. Superman took my daughter away from me. And for the record, those people out there think that you are the real Superman. So, if the name fits." He tossed Calvin threw the lobby's revolving glass door and out into the plaza where the gathered crowd of cops, reporters, and bystanders watched in horror. Calvin looked up to see the final seconds of the lobby fight replayed on a large screen on the building. Someone had snuck in to film their fight.

Several police officers walked around the barriers and in-between Calvin and the building, gun pointed towards the emerging threat. As Tom came out, his hands began to glow as the officers held out the weapons. As loud bangs began to echo, the glowing intensified as Superman watched the bullets melt in the heat generated by the menace.

"Stand back," Tom ordered as the gun fire stopped, "and I will spare you. I only want Superman. He is incompetent. He won't help, he'll only hurt."

The offers held their guns and looked at their superior as Calvin returned to his feet. "I'll take my chances with the kid. FIRE!" Another round of bullets flew, meeting the same fate as the first. Rad's hands once again glowed red as he aimed his fist at the officers. Before he could fire, Calvin leapt over the police line, and grabbed Rad in a hold. His feet pushed down on the street, cracking it slightly as he pushed off the ground. If he could clear the building…

But Rad blasted him halfway up, breaking Calvin's grip. Superman put his arms and legs together and rapidly ascended into the early morning sky. He looked back as a red streak followed him. He dodged it, weaving so as to not get hit. Below him, the city began to fade. Buildings and streets disappeared as clouds broke into pure blue sky. Calvin turned his head to see how well his plan was working. He saw the radioactive man began to loose speed, his blasts getting weaker and less accurate. The boy continued his rise, as the man began to teeter and then loose altitude. Superman's plan had worked. Rad would follow him to the ends of the earth, or in this case, the top of the earth. The Teen of Tomorrow turned around, and dove after the man that had passed out. The wind lashed his hair as Calvin grabbed the enemy and took control of their descent, slowing for a smooth landing as the city came back into view. Calvin leveled his feet out as he landed back in front of the studio. An officer rushed over and clasped Rad's arms in a reinforced cuff that allowed no use of the hands at all.

"Genetic Disenabler," the cop said as Calvin placed the unconscious man on his feet, "ceases function to any extra-human proteins with in his body. Stops his powers until we can hold him." The man explained as he looked up at Superman. "This crazy guy was right about one thing," The officer said as he walked the stirring Tom to the SWAT truck, "you are the real Superman."

"Thanks," Calvin said meekly.

"Seriously, kid, this could have been a lot worse without you," the cop said.

As the press moved in to try and get an interview, Calvin lifted off the ground, and flew back the way towards Queensland Park. He still had to go to school, despite being big story downtown.


"Sure you want to do this?" Linda's voice echoed through the ear piece as the boy flew above the streets of New Troy later that afternoon, "You know how skittish you get around terminally ill."

"Yeah," Calvin answered, "I need to do it; to feel good about today."

"Metro-General," Linda's voice stated.

"See you on the other side," Calvin said as he landed in front of a large hospital. He caught stares from people as he entered the lobby. It wasn't everyday that Superman walked into a hospital like a normal person. People where whispering and pointing as he walked up to the nurse at the front desk.

"May I- May I h-help you, Superman?" The middle aged nurse stammered, like a school girl.

"I'm here to see Melanie Buck." The Superman voice that exited the boy's mouth said, "She's in quarantine, I believe."

The crowd gathered around the young man as the nurse searched her computer and then phoned the floor. "Floor 12, Room 1233," The nurse said as Calvin backed away. The crowd of people followed as Calvin began to pick up speed. Eventually, he had disappeared in a blur, leaving the crowd behind as he raced up the stairs.

The nurse on the floor was surprised to see the famous guest had climbed twelve flights of steps in such a short time, but then again, the guy had flown into the upper Troposphere this morning. She escorted Calvin to the doorway, before she donned a belt. A blue-yellow light emitted from the buckle as the woman entered the room. "Melanie," Calvin listened to the woman as she woke the girl up, "you have a visitor. Can you put on your belt for him?" Calvin looked around as the doors began to click open. Several patients and their guests looked out to see the visitor. The door to the room opened and the woman came out and took off the belt, followed by a small girl wearing a similar device with the same force field, which was supposed to protect her from all matter. Calvin was immediately shocked by her lack of hair. "Ten minutes, sir." The nurse instructed.

"Superman?" She squealed she looked at the red and blue suit.

"Hey, Melanie," Calvin said as he dropped to eye level with the girl.

"I saw you on the news today," The girl said with big grin, revealing a missing tooth, "you were really brave to go up against that bad man."

"Thank you," Calvin said. She had taken the words out of Calvin's mouth. He had come to say he was sorry about her father being arrested. But the girl didn't even recognize the man. He didn't think. His parents had always been together. Hers had been apart for a year. She most likely didn't know anything about him, or what he looked like. "Melanie, do you remember your daddy?"

"Not really. I know he and mommy had a big fight when I got sick," She stated, "He used to call a lot until one day when mommy said he couldn't call anymore."

"Well I ran into him today," Calvin said, "and he said he really wants to be with you, but he can't. So he said to me, 'Superman, I want you to tell her that she is the most important person in my life and that I think about her everyday.' He wants you to know that it hurts him very much that he can't see you, and that he misses you a lot."

"Where did you see him?" The girl asked.

"I had to save him. He took a bad step fell." Calvin's bastardized version of the truth was hard to tell to the girl. But Melanie didn't know. Rather, she grabbed the hero and gave him a big hug. Calvin was a little stunned. All he could feel was the same coldness of a window wrapping around him. He reciprocated, embracing the girl as close as he could, given the protective force field around her.

"Thank-you, Superman," the girl said as she finally let go. She looked up as the floor nurse returned to view.

"You need to go back, sweetie," The woman softly said, "You need your rest." Melanie walked back into the isolation room, waving at her guest as she walked in. The door slid behind her as the nurse looked Calvin in the eye, noticing that they were watery.


"Brutus," A voice yelled from inside the old house, "quit yapping at the door bell." The old woman's distorted image appeared in the glass. As the large sounding bolt opened, the door swung inward as Lana Lang looked at the guest on her porch.

"Michael," She said, recognizing the blonde boy from a day ago, "I saw your friend on the news."

"I know," Mike said as he walked in the house, "that's why I came here. I wanted to know, if you still had the thing we talked about yesterday."

"Oh," Lana said, as she walked out of the foyer and into the living room. She picked up the box and walked back, holding it out to the boy, "Why the change of heart?"

"Because," Mike said in a confident voice, "if he tried to hurt someone, he could do a lot of damage. It would be for the greater good."


"Holly," The girl's mother screamed upstairs, "it's the phone."

"Who is it?" Holly Kleine yelled back.

"He says he's a friend from school, Jon Ryder?" Holly rushed down from her room and grabbed the receiver, pushing the longest strands of her short golden hair out of her eyes as she answered.

"Hello?" She asked as she climbed the stairs again

"Holly, you're being reassigned." A much younger voice replied.

"Mom's a floor below, you can stop pretending." She said. There was a pause on the other end, and the girl swore she could have heard some slimy thing moving in the background.

"Better?" The "real" Jon Ryder's voice asked.

"Much, so what was this about me being reassigned?"

"Nothing important that would blow your cover," Ryder stoically stated, "Just keep an eye on the new Superman."

"Do you have a real name I could look for?"

"You know I can't tell…"

"Can it, Spacey, you practically told me he goes to my school. Why else have me watch out for him?"

"He is at your school, but I can't tell you his name," Jon answered, "He hasn't done anything yet, and my hands are tied."

"Whatever, as long as it keeps me from the desk job," The girl said as she hung up the phone.


Calvin sat on a patio chair in his back yard, looking up at the sky. After a good half hour of watching the news stories, he needed to think. The stars shone through the light clouds of the night sky as a car rolled into the garage. The chain link gate opened as Susan walked from the driveway to the back yard. "I thought you'd be back here," She said as she approached her son, "you used to come out here to look for Superman when you were little. You would get so excited if you thought you saw him. You would run in and tell us which way he was going."

"I was just thinking," Calvin asserted.

"I know," Susan replied, "I just think it's cute that the day the new one makes a real appearance, you're out here looking up at the sky."

"So, you like the new guy?"

"Yeah," Susan said as she looked at her son, "He seems to want to do what is right. It's a rare quality these days, with everyone trying to get ahead by any means necessary. What about you? Think he's just as good as the first Superman?"

"He's new," Calvin said, half acting, half serious, "I need to give him time."

"I think I'll give him the benefit of the doubt," Susan said as she climbed the steps to the back door, "For now, he's doing a good job." She closed the door behind her. Calvin peeled back the walls to watch as she walked into the kitchen and into the view of the window. The boy stared back out at the sky, right at Orion. "Thanks, Mom," he said to himself.