Superman: Man of Steel Issue 8
Broken City
Script By RoninReviews And Joey West
(ALL NEW CREATIVE TEAM!)
Sahara Desert
Every month Hamza Asife travels 40 Miles on his camel to the neighboring city of Ramatu to sell his wares, tiny miniature sculptures of tiny Egyptian Gods to tourists; this is his only source of income. In the morning he wakes at 4 o'clock, refills his flask with clean water and wakes his camel. He dresses his face with protective wraps in case of a sand storm and heads out into the endless sea of gold.
Its 4:30 AM and he has started to notice some odd differences in the dunes. Every day the dunes are the same tall sloping mounds of sand but today many of the biggest ones are crumbled like a little girl's sandcastle that's been stood on by her mean older brother.
Hamza continues on through the crumbled dunes, striding on wards.
It's 5:17 AM and Hamza is almost a quarter of the way through his journey he hears something that he's never heard before. A mighty whupping sound moving faster and faster through the air above him, sand around him begins to rise from the ground in its wake.
Startled his camel begins to quake and panic as the sound grows nearer and nearer. Hamza settles the beast with a comforting pat on the neck, but he's just as afraid as the camel. He looks up to see a massive beast of metal, with a blade for a wing passing over him. The helicopter passes in a second but the shock will be felt for a life time. He watches as the Helicopter continues along his same direction.
He considers returning home but knows he must press on, walking in the footsteps of the colossal winged metal beast.
6: 11 AM and the greater he remembered the dunes to be, the more crumbled they seem to be. Almost all the dunes in sight now are crumbled, where it was only a few at first. He realizes that his path way ahead of him has a definite ending whereas before it just lead to more dunes and along his regular pathway. As he nears the edge of the path he sees a huge crater where there used to be miles of dunes and sand, now reduced to a massive circular hole in the ground.
Spanning about a mile in each direction the sand all around it seems to be singed and burnt. He sees the helicopter sitting at the edge on the other side of the crater. All around are white men in suits and men in Kevlar military uniforms. The ones nearest the center of the crater are wearing hazmat suits inside as the center of the crater seems to be contaminated with thick red blood and some sort of purple looking flesh.
The Hazmat men seem to be scooping the remains into containment tanks. He quickly realizes this is a place of danger and decides to make his way around when he hears a shout come from the men. Quickly the military men begin to rush towards Hamza. He acts quickly leaping back onto his camel; he shouts for it to run and whips the reins. The camel takes off with a slow gallop away from the crater but it is too late.
Another sound of metal beasts erupts from the crater as two shiny chrome motor bike leap like pumas over the side of the crater. The bikes catch up with Hamza's camel and spin around kicking up sand as they do. The camel rears upwards in fright throwing Hamza to the ground. The camel attempts to make a dash for it but one of the men quickly rushes off his bike and tasers the camel. The camel moans a loud guttural groan before falling to the ground. Hamza looks up to see the aliens in their mysterious helmets looming over him.
The next thing he knows he's been bustled into a tent by the motor cycle men, he falls to the ground, sand peering between his fingers, he dares not to look up. He hears the men above him talking to a figure of authority in an alien language. A calm cool voice enters the scene after the immediate heated dialogue.
"Hey, hey what's all the hustle here gentlemen?" The cool voice asks.
"We found this guy on the edge of the crater with his camel, you said to make sure the area was cornered off." The motor cycle man says, his helmet still on his head.
"Yes, but I never said to harass and abduct them. Stop being so damn gun ho."
"Sorry sir. We'll be...calmer next time."
"I would hope so." The voice says sternly.
Hamza still cowering on the floor feels a warm hand on his shoulder. He looks up to see a pair of light green looking into his. A man with the cleanest face he has ever scene, no points of imperfection or wrinkles. His face completely shining clean as is his bald head. The man wears a smart pin stripe suit and seems to be completely unaffected by the heat.
"My friend, I do apologize for my friends behavior, they're a little on edge you see." The Man speaks in flawless Arabic.
"I-I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Hamza splutters.
"No need my friend. This is no fault of yours. Tell me where were you heading? I would have one of my friends drive you there to make up for this... inconvenience."
"Drive?"
"Yes, in a car. I would also like to have your animal tended for medically in case of any affects from the taser."
"I-I- I cannot accept, I don't want to be of any more trouble."
"Nonsense."
The man gets to his feet and turns to his lieutenant.
"Adrian, have the jeep brought around and take our friend, here, to where ever he wants to go, and don't forget his camel."
"Right away sir." Adiran replies before instantly leaving the tent. The man suddenly pauses and turns back to Hamza.
"I apologize I didn't catch your name."
"Uh Hamza Asife."
"I am Lex Luthor, nice to meet you."
Metropolis
A thick plume of smoke departs from the broken city as the re-building effort begins. There is not a single patch of land without a large, heavy piece of machinery in some way reconstructing what once was. There is not one piece of machinery which does not have the words in bold, brave white letters "LexCorp" flawlessly plastered onto it, a badge worn proudly.
Hardly able to hear himself think, a young man scurries across the floor, leaving the ground zero of sorts as quickly as he can with a bag of supplies in hand, desperation stamped on his forehead. Behind him screeches another desperate creature, he sprints out of his completely destroyed store, his wanting, his need turning into anger.
"Get back here, kid!" he screams at the top of his lungs.
Panting, the boy weaves through the machinery, clutching his bag and trying not to alert anyone, but failing in the process. Knocking into everything possible, he gives away his location to the rabid shop owner, who pounces and prances over the crowded crater of a street, stalking his thief.
"Give me back my S***!"
At last, he catches up with the child, wrapping his hand around his throat and pulling the bag from his limp fingers. As the child squirms and chokes, a slight tap on the store owner's shoulder is felt. He turns, to reveal Superman, as inspiring as ever, smiling.
Superman smirks, "ahem".
Dumbfounded, the owner's eyes widen, releasing his grip from the child who crashes to the floor. Slowly gaining back his concentration, he swings his fist at the man of steel, the man of tomorrow catching it as if a baseball were thrown his way.
Reaching into his boot, he pulls a few dollar bills out of his boot, putting it out to the bitter man. Superman nods. Snatching the money and dumping the bag, he rushes off into the endless sea of rubble and Lex Corp Logos.
"Thank you." The child stutters, getting to his feet and going his way with the bag.
Under his breath, the last son of krypton whispers, "You're welcome", as he turns to the citizens of Metropolis as the press stare at him through the glass of a camera. He waves, confused they wave back as he tries to figure out something to say. As the moments go by, he realizes there is nothing to say, nothing at all, so he does what he does best. Help. Running into the buildings, he joins the rebuilding effort, a wall fixed in a matter of seconds as the disaster relief workers gasp in disbelief.
Underground base
Lex Luthor strides through the underground facility followed by a threatening entourage of well build body guards, 3 lawyers and a scientist all followed by men in hazmat suits wheeling along large sealed containers. Lex strides along the corridor till he suddenly stops abruptly.
He lifts his hand into a fist to signal his entourage to stop. He stops and waits for a couple of minutes till he hears a low whirring from above him. Slowly a tiny circular case is lowered on wires from the ceiling. Before Lex lands a small mechanical jar with a brain inside it and a skull logo on the front of the mechanical jar on wheels.
"The Brain, we meet at last." Lex smirks.
"At last indeed, Mr. Luthor. This will be interesting to work with someone that I hear has an intellect almost as vast as my own."
"Try not to butter me up too much, I'll be slipping out of my Armani. Where is Miss Waller?"
"That simpleton has no interest in our art Luthor, she only cares for destructive weapons. No finesse about her."
A sturdy strong but monotone voice echoes along the titanium walls causing Lex and The Brain to swivel around.
"I hope you're not bitching about me again Mr. Brain. I get enough of that in our weekly board meetings."
"Pfft. Let's make this quick Miss Waller. I wish to return to my work." The Brain grumbles.
"Very well." Amanda Waller smirks.
Amanda walks towards the large foreboding metal door with multiple bars and locks. She scans her hand against the hand print before speaking into the microphone,
"General Amanda Waller, Priority Level Alpha Access."
The door opens immediately with a loud, SHUNK as it slides back into the wall.
Lex and the Brain walk into the room which is a massive science lab, masses of super advanced experiments hang from the walls like bunting. Red Computer panel's like wallpaper being the only light in the darkroom.
At the end of the room surrounded by buzzing scientists taking notes and checking thermometers and fluid chambers are two large test tubes, one is about the size of a small car in width and the size of an average tree in height, the other is about the size and width of a broom cupboard. Inside each test tube are two tiny fetuses, attacked to a robotic umbilical chord.
They are approached by Psimon who seems to emerge from the shadows.
"You're an efficient worker Mr. Psi. They're at fetus stage already?" Lex asks as he and Psimon meet in front of the test tubes and shake hands.
"Ah yes. Their aging has been increased rapidly as our deadline seems to be coming up sooner rather than later." Psimon replies.
Amanda Waller enters the conversation. "Psimon, how is their psychic upbringing coming along? No bumps in the road I hope, making sure to stick to script."
"Of course Miss. Waller, but I must be allowed to I must be allowed to improvise every now and again, yes? I am an artist after all." Psimon whiles.
"You're as much of an artist as my 4 year old nephew, Psimon. Get back to your skulking. Brain, talk our guest through our test subjects." Amanda Waller demands.
"Urgh, fine!" Brain buzzes.
He rolls over to the larger test tube.
"This subject is Code Name: Doomsday, a huge hulking creature made up of Superman and Rudy Jones' DNA. This is going to give him a monstrous looking appearance as well as the ability to emit concussive radiation, unlike how Mr. Jones seems to draw it in.
His abilities will include a strength far exceeding Superman's, an impenetrable organic skeleton that will be able to withstand the force of an exploding star, maybe even greater than that and in case he doesn't a flawless regenerative ability. He is the bad guy."
"Certifiable disgusting." Lex retorts.
The Brain wheels over to the smaller test tube.
"Code Name: Ultra Man, This one is 100% Superman, his powers will not fully develop till he is fully grown but with age we project that his abilities will far exceed Superman's as well as gain a few of his own. However we've ran into a few difficulties with the procedure."
"What is it?" Lex asks.
"The child is unable to maintain a steady heart beat because of the lack of blood in artificial circulation and we're going to need to splice it with something else that will be compatible."
"Why not use more of Rudy's?"
"Do you want him to look hideous and deformed?" Brain asks.
"Of course not. Whose blood should we drain then?" Lex asks.
"I was actually wondering if you'd be willing to donate." Amanda smirks. Lex stares, wide eyed.
Everyone looks shocked.
Metropolis- A Broken City
A chip of concrete falls from the corner of a worn down building, the edge crumbling into a powdery mess as a dusty leather shoe breaks off pieces and watches them fall and explode hitting the pavement. From below, onlookers try to determine what the silhouette that watches them is, one man lifting his binoculars up to get a closer look, what his eyes find are a ragged mess of a man.
Five empty beer bottles lay to his side, one on the ground below which had presumably fell in his drunken fit. Emptying the final beer bottle down his swollen gullet, it slips from his hand and shatters bouncing off the roof of a tattered car.
Down below his feet, which seemed so far away, with his back to the man was our man of steel, Superman. Burying his hands in the dirt, the last son of Krypton retrieved a body from the ground, pulling it out and wrapping a blanket over its almost unrecognizable body.
His face twitching, his hands shivering as he looks out to the nearing ten bodies he has found. Surprisingly, sorrow is let out by the faces of the watchers, they give an encouraging smile to the man of tomorrow, some even removing their hats. Sprinting to him is a small child, one oblivious to her situation, she tugs on Superman's finger.
"Look, Superman! Look!"
Above the man of tomorrow is the man without a home, now in some kind of alcohol induced rage, depression seeping from his eyes.
"It's over! Its all over!"
Taking flight for the first time in what seems like years, he leaps up onto the edge of the rooftop, sitting.
"I certainly hope you're not thinking of jumping there, buddy."
"It's the end, kid. You'd all be fools not to"
"I once considered jumping... when times went bad... I was just about ready to give up." Superman sighs as the drunken man turns to him, sitting down at the edge.
"Don't think you can talk me out of this, mister. The skies have fallen... the heavens are coming down on us."
"I once felt that way. Like I was the only one that noticed how sick this world was, how apathetic people had become to the violence, the death that surrounded me."
"So what did ya do?"
Superman puts his hand on the man's shoulder, "I'd gone halfway across the world from my family just to jump, to India. I remember the fall more than anything else, the great leap and then the plunge down into darkness. I survived, which I'm eternally grateful for. I can't imagine if I had died there. But in the middle of the fall, I saw something. It was just your regular mugging, one scared idiot with a knife and a vulnerable young lady.
I remember thinking that I was only a minute away, if I had not jumped, I could've stopped it before it happened. Then, I realized, instead of giving up on a world that had given up, I could do something about it. And so I woke up in hospital, where a nurse greeted me and told me that a couple of cops saw me drop and stopped a mugging on the way."
The man was lost for words, holding back tears.
"I'd decided that if you cared about the world, it'd care again. So then on, I decided to make a difference, do what I could with what I already had to help."
A face of determination suddenly popped over the previous one of depression and grief. Superman grabs the man and descends to the ground, the man's eyes opening to the destruction and waste around him. The man of tomorrow releases him, the man instantly running to join the others in the rebuilding effort. A slight tap is felt on his neck, it's Brooke and Fiona.
Brooke sighs, "I have a... I have a warrant for your arrest."
Superman smiles, his face one of understanding. "Just doing your job, officers. I understand." A squeak is heard from under the rubble, Superman zooming to it. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait."
Ploughing his hands through the broken bits of stone and metal, Superman recovers a child, turning to Officers Brooke and Fiona to find that they're gone.
Jupiter
With a radius of 58,232 km, fire's the size of mountains course through the center of Saturn as the rich hot core blazes ever hotter. A small pod pushes on through the heart of the Planet slowly passes through the Core, it's been over a 24 hours and the Pod still retains no sign of burning.
Now the pod has almost reached the other side as this day of long arduous pushing, slowly, through the miles and miles of molten rock. Eventually the pod breaks the surface of the planet and out into the air, reborn again in a blaze of molten glory. The pod thumbs down onto the surface of the planet, molten rock leaking out of the hole it made. The pod even seems to heave heavily, but is suddenly brought back from its rest as it is suddenly grasped by a tractor beam, pulling it up into the sky, back into the fray.
The Pod pulls into the doors of a massive dark ship. It's put through an hour of decontamination by mechanical tendrils that clean it all down. A man walks into the room like a Priest approaches the alter and stands about a meter away from the Pod. His deep robotic voice echoes through the huge room as he says,
"Pod, Open."
The pod door springs open with a cloud of gas steams through the room as volcanic ash is thrown through the room like a grenade just went off. The man isn't affected in the last. He hears a low, staggered breathing coming from the pod. A red and blackened hand reaches out and grasps to his arms. He pulls the body out of the pod, skinny and shaking. Molten lava coursing down its naked body as it stands clutching the tall man.
"Ma-my- leader,... I- Ah- I have been... reborn..."
"Yes, you my child, you have done excellently well. You are reborn into a new form, a new worthy form, My Kara-El."
The tall man holds Kara's face in his hands.
"Tha-thank you My Saviour, Brainiac."
Brainiac looks down into her charred eyes.
"You are ready."
TO BE CONTINUED...
