Season One Episode 8: Prison Break (The Mid Season Finale)

My name is Clark Kent. I was sent away from my home planet of Krypton as a baby, and grew up on Earth. I found out that I had powers on this new planet, and eventually revealed myself to the world, as Superman. My secret identity is a field reporter at the Daily Planet, but when I'm not working, I'm out saving the world as a superhero. The Superman.

Previously on the Adventures of Superman...

Zod and his army was sent into the Phantom Zone on Krypton

Superman built his Fortress in the Arctic

The Fortress is looked over by Jor-El's AI


"Does it ever get lonely?" Superman asks.

"What?" Jor-El asks back in the Fortress.

"I mean, just waiting around here in the Fortress." Superman explains.

"No. I act as a person, but am technically not alive. So I do not feel loneliness." Jor-El replies.

Superman nods.

"I sense you are feeling loneliness?" Jor-El asks.

"I mean, everyone would love to be Superman. All the powers, and everything. But imagine how that feels for me. It's also tough knowing that there's no one else like me." Superman explains.

Jor-El looks at the floor.

"Father..?"

"...there is a slight chance, that there are other Kryptonians out there."

"Wait, what?! Why didn't you tell me? Who are they? Where are they?"

"I can't tell you that. Your real father programmed me not to tell you."

"But why? I-I have to meet them, I-"

"For this exact reason. These Kryptonians...they weren't very friendly."

"Weren't?"

"I may have said too much."

"Come on, you have to tell me more, please!"

The hologram disappears back into the device. Superman walks over and presses the button again and the hologram appears.

"You can't hide from this, you must tell me!"

The hologram disappears again and Superman walks over to press the button, but this time, he doesn't appear. He keeps pressing the button before reaching inside the device and pulling out the drive that powers it. It's damaged.

"Oh no." Superman whispers to himself.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN

Superman places the drive into a machine, and the machine speaks.

This drive has burned out due to the device it was placed in. The only way to get it to work again, is to place it in a machine with a coolant system to stop it from happening again.

"And how do I build a machine like that?"

There should be enough technology here to help you build it, and I will talk you through it.

"Alright."

Superman scavenges around the ship finding supplies and technology and all putting them in one pile. He uses super speed and quickly builds a machine that can project a hologram.

"I have everything. Except for the coolant system to make sure it doesn't fry out again. Is there a coolant system anywhere in the Fortress?"

I'm afraid not. You are going to have to get one from human technology.

"Dammit."

Metropolis is decorated with Christmas lights and trees and is looking pretty nice. Clark walks into the Daily Planet where there is an office Christmas party. Clark walks up to Perry White.

"Uh, um, Mr. White, I-I was wondering...if I could, um, instead of a field reporter, instead, instead get an...office job?" Clark asks.

"Uh, yeah. I'm sure we can make an arrangement." Perry says.

Clark smiles and nods. He turns to the rest of the party and sees Jimmy looking through his camera. Soon the party ends and Lois spills her drink all over her desk.

"Dammit." She whispers when Clark walks over to her with napkins and helps her clean it up.

"Oh, thanks Clark." She says.

"You're welcome." Clark says.

"So what're you doing for the holidays?" Lois asks.

"Oh well, I-I was just going to spend it with my mother, o-out in Kansas. It's what I've done every year...for a long time."

"Yeah. I usually go over to my sister's house. We invite over our mom and talk and even play a couple board games. It's fun every year."

"I really do enjoy the holidays."

"Well, here's to holiday fun." She says and holds up a plastic cup.

Clark does too.

"Merry Christmas." She announces.

"Happy Hanukkah." Clark says.

They bump cups.

"Hm." She smiles. "Happy Hanukkah."

Clark walks away.

He leaves the building and takes off in his Superman suit. A helicopter lands on a helipad and Amanda Waller steps out. She walks towards a building when Superman lands behind her. She smiles and turns.

"You going to give me a lecture on how we have to trust you again? Don't worry, I've left Cadmus and Metropolis. I'm joining a new agency: ARGUS." Amanda explains.

"I'm not here for that. I need help...building something."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll show you inside."

Amanda looks down.

"Give me a few minutes." She says.

Amanda walks into her own office when Superman walks into the office, and pulls out the drive.

"I'm building this device for this drive to work. It's a holographic device. But it burned out. I need a coolant system. But one for this drive."

"So you mean alien technology? I can't fix that. Not to mention we're not friends, Superman. You can't just walk in here and expect me to fix this just for you."

"Please Amanda. I need your help. You worked with Cadmus which was an organization that specialized in science. You're smart enough to fix this."

"No Superman, I'm not. I'm a tactical woman, Superman, I'm very cunning and I have a lot of street smarts but I'm not a scientist. And even with a scientist I'm sure even THEY might have trouble with it because it's ALIEN TECHNOLOGY."

"...do you know anyone ELSE who might be able to help?"

"Yeah. The smartest man alive. Lucky for you, he's not too far."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Mr. Lex Luthor. He owns Lexcorp which just moved to Metropolis. Lucky you."

"Thank you."

Superman leaves the office and takes off.

Superman slowly flies above Metropolis on his phone. He hears the other person on the end.

Sorry Clark, I've got business of my own. And in spite of recent events, I don't have the technology to help you.

"Alright, thanks Bruce. I'll see you around."

Superman ends the call. He then flies towards the LexCorp building. He enters the building when he hears a voice.

"Good evening, Superman."

A door opens and Lex Luthor steps out.

"Mr. Luthor. I'm sorry to intrude, but I need your help with something." Superman explains.

"Well, anything for the SUPERMAN. What seems to be the problem?" Lex says.

"This drive, it projects a hologram, but it broke. Burnt out. I built a new device that could help reactivate it, but to make sure it doesn't burn out again, I need a coolant device."

"A coolant device for alien technology. This is extremely complicated. I'm not sure I can do this."

"Mr. Luthor, you are the smartest man alive. That's why I came here. If anyone can help me fix this device, it's you. Trust me."

Lex smiles.

"I'll see what I can do."

Later, Lex plugs the drive into one of his super computers to read it. It starts analyzing the data on the drive. Superman walks in and sees this.

"Careful, it burnt out when plugged into a machine." He warns.

"I am not a fool, Superman. The drive isn't doing anything. The computer is simply analyzing the data." Lex explains.

A warning then pops up on the computer: UNREADABLE.

"And not very well, I might add." Lex says. "Do you have any alien technology that could analyze this?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Superman states and super speeds out of the building. He speeds back with some alien computers and tech.

Lex takes the pile and puts it on his desk.

"Thank you." He says.

He starts investigating the pile and finds a computer. He plugs the drive inside and it starts analyzing it.

"There's a lot of code here." Lex comments. "Do you know what any of this stuff means?"

"Yes. In my free time, I learned how to speak Kryptonian, but it's still all gibberish." Superman states.

"Then my theory is true. This is code. What was this device used for again?"

"A hologram."

"Alright. Everything seems to be intact. As much as I can tell...okay. If I can just use this tech to make a coolant device, I can fix this."

"Thank you, Mr. Luthor. How long would this take?"

"About two days."

"Thank you, Mr. Luthor."

"Merry Christmas."

Martha Kent lights a one candle on a menorah as Clark walks in.

"Happy Hanukkah." She greets.

"Hi mom." They hug. "I got you something."

"Clark..."

"It's that book you wanted."

"Thanks, Clark."

Martha sits on the couch.

"So where were you?"

"Something broke in the Fortress, I had to get it fixed."

"How?"

"I ended up asking Lex Luthor. He said he'd have it ready in a couple of days."

"Good."

"It's a shame we won't be getting any snow here this year. That's one of my favorite parts of the holidays."

"Don't worry about some snow. Here I made some dinner. Come."

Martha walks into the dining room and Clark follows her, a few seconds later.

Later, Superman knocks on the office door of Lex Luthor.

"Come in!" He calls.

Superman walks inside and sees Lex sitting at a desk filled with tools and supplies and tech. He's wearing nothing but a vest and some pants and shoes, working hard.

"Hate to interrupt, but you did say it would be ready in a couple of days." Superman says.

"I know. And I nearly have it ready. The coolant system is all built except it doesn't work. I've tried powering it but it just isn't strong enough for this alien drive. It would need an extraordinary amount of power to work. I'm sorry, Superman."

"No. Don't give up yet...I think I have an idea."

Superman leaves the building and takes off. He flies out of Metropolis and over the ocean to the Arctic and into the Fortress of Solitude. He finds the pod he arrived in and x-rays it. He finds an energy drive used to power it and takes it out of the ship before flying back to Metropolis and into the LexCorp building.

He hands the drive to Lex.

"Here." He says.

"What's this?" Lex asks.

"It's a drive that carries an extraordinary amount of power. The energy should be enough to power the device." Superman explains.

"This could work."

Lex picks up the coolant device and plugs in the drive. He presses the button and it turns on. Lex smiles, before turning it back off.

"It works. If you can plug this into your machine, everything will work normally."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Luthor. How can I repay you?"

"Don't. Consider this a gift from me to you for the holidays."

"Thank you."

Superman slowly leaves the office. Superman slowly lands in the Arctic again and back into the Fortress. He takes the machine and plugs the coolant device inside. He connects a couple of wires before turning on the coolant device. He seals up the machine and plugs the drive back inside.

"Gideon, did I build the device correctly?" Superman asks.

Yes you have, Kal-El. We've finally built the machine to bring back your father's AI, made out of parts used in your pod, the computers found in this old ship, and even one device found in storage, that brings out whatever energy and code are in the drives inside the machine.

"Yeah, and it's that device that will bring back my father, and this machine that will project him in front of me. That device will also activate the energy drive that will turn on the coolant device, which will stop the drive from burning out. ... Well, what are we waiting for? Let's bring him back."

Superman walks over to the machine and goes to press the button.

"Here we go."

Superman presses the button.

The machine turns on and the hologram appears. It's blurry at first but then turns crystal clear. It's Jor-El.

"Kal-El..."

"Father..."

"I should not have told you that there may have been other Kryptonians."

Superman chuckles.

"Your drive burnt out." Superman informs.

"Yeah...I think I remember...how did you get me back?"

"Well, I built a machine of my own, with the help of Gideon to bring you back online. I had some help to install a coolant system this time."

"Where'd you get one?"

"From some human friends."

"How could humans build something with that much energy with their technology?"

"I lended them some of mine. Most importantly, the drive that powered the pod I came in."

"Wait, you used the energy drive?"

"Yeah. Was I not supposed to?"

"Please tell me you tried to reprogram it before you used it."

"No. We just plugged it in. Why did I have to reprogram it?"

"Because according to that part of the machine, that small device makes sure all the energy and code in the drive is opened."

"Yeah, and that helped power the coolant device."

"Kal-El, you don't understand! That drive wasn't JUST used for your pod! It had another purpose!"

Then Jor-El's AI disappears, the hologram zips back into the machine.

"Father? Father! Gideon, what happened! What's going on here? What was he talking about?" Superman asks.

The machine starts shaking.

"What's happening to the machine?"

It appears that the drive used to power the coolant device had code to power smaller devices. But it also had code to power a much...larger one. Used back on Krypton.

"Well what's that device? Stop being so cryptic!" Superman yells, frantic, while backing up from the machine.

I can't tell you. It's against my programming to tell you. Jor-El's AI made it that way. But I can tell you that that code was used for another function, and the code used for that function is being reactivated now, and it's using this machine as that much larger device.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Parts start falling off of the machine, as the ray that projected the hologram, now shoots out a laser and stops in midair, as a large hole starts forming. Like a portal to another dimension. On the other side is pure blackness. The wind coming from the portal blows Superman's cape back. One figure steps out. A short but strong woman. Another figure steps out by her side. A big, tough man. Then one last figure steps out in the middle of them.

The man in gray clothing crawls out of the portal and gets up on his knees, angry. He let's out a yell, screaming only one word.

"FFFRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIII!"

He gets up on his feet, standing next to the 3 other figures.

"Who the hell are you? Where is my father?" Superman asks.

The figure starts speaking in Kryptonian. Superman recognizes the language and talks back to them.

Here's the English Translation though:

"Who are you?" Superman asks.

"My name, is General Zod. I am the ruler of Krypton. This place looks Kryptonian, but...everything here is different. I feel light. I feel strong. This air is nearly unbreathable. Where are we?"

"That doesn't matter. What happened here? Where did you come from?"

"How are we supposed to know? We spent...eternity...trapped in a dark, black void. And now we see the light. We don't know how, or why."

"I tried building a machine. One to help fix an AI. I used an energy drive, to help activate the machine, before it broke apart, and a portal opened, freeing you."

"You must have reactivated the Phantom Zone drive. It was taken from me by a traitor to Krypton, who trapped us in here for what must have been years. You used the drive and freed us."

"What's the Phantom Zone?"

"It's another dimension. It's used as a prison by the Kryptonians. As I said, a traitor trapped us in there. Now, do you mind just telling us where we are?"

"...You're on Earth. My father put me in a pod that crash landed here on Earth 26 years ago, right before Krypton exploded. I was the only survivor, except for you...I'm...I'm not the only one!" Superman smiles.

"Krypton...is dead?"

"...yes. I'm very sorry."

Zod drops to his knees.

"I failed. All because of that traitor...JOR-EL!"

"Who?"

"Jor-El...he is the name of the man who betrayed us...he trapped us in the Phantom Zone...he is a traitor to all of Krypton!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I am sure! I had a chance to save Krypton, but I failed...because of him. He doomed all of Krypton. ... But like you said, there are others, we have a chance to repopulate...Krypton can return..."

"I'm not sure we should repopulate, there are people living here on Earth, and they get suspicious when only ONE alien arrives. Imagine an entire race of them asking to share the planet."

"Why are you hesitant in the return of your people boy? Are you not Kryptonian yourself?"

"No...I am Kryptonian...I do not lie."

"Then why are you not...you're the son of Jor-El...aren't you?"

...

"Sent away from Krypton at the last second, your hesitation for the return of your people and at the mention of his name, the fact that you have the energy drive that Jor-El took from me...and the AI you tried to recover. I recall Jor-El working on something just like that. You are Kal-El..."

...

"Well? Aren't you?"

...

"Tell us the truth, boy! You do not lie after all..."

"...yes. I am the son of Jor-El."

"And this is what? Krypton's memorial? It doesn't matter, that Krypton is dead. Because there are still survivors. Most of them locked in the Phantom Zone. We can get them out. We can repopulate, return Krypton."

"That's a bad idea, Zod. This is the human's planet!"

"Will you not join us?"

"...no. You need to change your plans."

"I warn you, Kal-El. If you oppose us, or dare try to stop us, we will end you. I am a great tactician, and a great leader, I can and will pick you apart bit by bit. You can either join us, or you can sit and watch. Those are the only two options that will leave you alive."

Zod and his 2 friends go to leave the Fortress. Superman super speeds in front of them with red eyes.

"You're not going anywhere." Superman states.

"Astonishing. How did you get these abilities?"

"That's none of your business."

Zod's henchman tackles Superman and they tumble out of the Fortress and into the snow. Superman knocks him off with heat vision and flies up into the sky.

"STOP!"

"It must be the effects of this planet that gives Kryptonians these abilities. Flight, heat vision, strength and durability. How else would Non survive that blast?"

Zod hovers up into the air, and zooms towards Superman, knocking him to the ground.

"Go!" Zod orders and his henchman and henchwoman take off away from the Fortress.

"Do not try to stop us, Kal-El. Or else your fate will be much worse." Zod warns, and zooms off into the sky.

Superman lets himself fall back onto the ice, defeated. Later, he rummages through the wreckage of the machine. Underneath a piece, he finds the energy drive. The drive was used to power the Phantom Zone projector, and now the machine used the drive to set Zod free.

He places the drive on the desk of the Kryptonian computer. Superman then walks over to he device used to project Jor-El's AI, but now doesn't work with the drive lost in the rubble.

"Father...this time of the year has always been my favorite. A time for the whole family to get together...but something's always been missing. Something's been missing my entire life. And now I finally know what that is. It's my past. I was looking forward to the holidays because then I had everything in life I needed. Powers, answers, peace. And when you told me that there were other Kryptonians, I got even more excited. I thought this was a chance to learn about my real family. My Kryptonian family. But in the process, I freed a maniac who you apparently betrayed back on Krypton. Why? How? I don't know. I don't have answers. And they have the same powers as I do. I don't have power. I don't have peace. I don't have answers. And I don't have my real family this year. So, I know you're not really him, but I still see you as my father. And I need you to come back. ... Happy holidays." Superman says to the device.

He then turns around, and walks out of the Fortress.

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN

Next Time on the Adventures of Superman: The Toyman (1x9)

A series of mysterious murders catch Superman's attention, and each murder eventually leads back to a criminal known as the Toyman, who must be brought down.

A/N: The Adventures of Superman is going on a short break for the holidays. Have a good...December.