CHAPTER 10

The first time Clark Kent felt fear, he was seven years old.

At that age, his powers where mostly sensory in nature. Hearing, sight, etc. He was fast and strong, to be sure, but not by much more than a grown man.

Pa Kent could still beat him at arm-wrestling. That would change within a year.

But he could still be hurt. His skin was tough, but not invulnerable. And he could still feel pain…

There was a sound, in the chicken coop. The most terrible sound he'd ever heard. The sound of teeth sinking into soft flesh and tearing it open. The growl of some wild animal as it tore into the birds his family relied on.

Clark locked up, too afraid to move.

He could hear it all, but he knew he wasn't strong enough to stop it.

He was a child then. But he was a man now.

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Doomsday raises his enormous hand and takes a swipe at the nearest potential victim, an old man lying on a stretcher, helpless to move or free himself.

Without even thinking, Superman flies past the crowd and tackles the monster before the blow can land, dragging him with all his might away from the medical camp and back several yards into the crater they had caused.

Doomsday hits the ground hard while Superman manages to roll away several feet. Using his momentum, Superman raises himself into the air and attempts to gain some altitude.

Instantly, Doomsday's hand in on his ankle, and he is whipped backwards and slammed into the ground.

Before he can breathe, the monster is on top of him, pummeling his face over and over again with his bone-clawed fists. Several of the blows come close to puncturing his eyes before Superman lets loose with a fierce blast of heat vision. The intense heat causes the thick skin on Doomsday's face and arms to blister and boil before driving him back.

Superman keeps the pressure on as he rises to his feet, tightening his focus and turning the wide-shot firestorm into a thin red beam of impossible heat.

The air around them crackles and cries out in pain, as the heat from the laser blast cooks the ground below them, turning much of it into glass.

But still, Doomsday will not go down.

The intense force and heat cooks away the skin on the monster's face, revealing even denser and more complex bone armor underneath.

It almost looks as if…. Yes, the bone is actually growing out of Doomsday's head, forming a shield to protect him from the attack.

Superman instantly shuts off his heat vision. As the smoke clears, Doomsday stands revealed with a new crown of bone-armor surrounding his head, extending down his jaw and neck in thick shards.

The creature has become even harder to stop.

Okay, think! There has to be a way to end this, Superman reasons.

Stop trying to beat this thing on its own level. Use the one thing it can't match you on, your mind.

What do we know about it? It is Kryptonian. How did they stop it before? They imprisoned it. Not a bad option. But how do I do that?

The Phantom Zone!

The inescapable prison dimension discovered by Superman's father Jor-El, reserved only for the absolute worse members of Kryptonian culture.

But I'd need the Projector to send him there. And it's all the way at the Fortress. And in the time it would take me to get there in back, how many people would die?

But how many more will die if this fight goes on?

If only Kara were here, she could fly to the Fortress and grab the Projector while I kept Doomsday occupied.

Without warning, Doomsday charges the field, barreling towards the Man of Steel with unmistakable intent.

Superman grits his teeth and shoots forward on his own, his immense speed breaking the sound barrier as he collides with the monster.

In an instant, he punches the beast seven hundred times, each blow landing with all the force of a cannonball.

To the survivors on the edge of the crater, the sound is like rapid-fire thunder, each blast mixing with the others until it becomes one unbearable noise cluster.

Doomsday staggers from the attack, unsteady on his feet, while Superman's fists come away bloody and bruised.

But still, the Man of Steel presses on. Never letting up, even for an instant.

The beast's skin is like a shark's, he realizes. Almost every inch is covered in small, razor-sharp teeth, explaining why it hurt so much to touch.

What kind of sick mind creates a thing like this?

Things were getting more and more hopeless by the minute. The beast never seems to tire, only seems mildly dazed by the worst of Superman's attacks, and above all seems to be enjoying itself.

Meanwhile, Superman can feel his reserves draining with each strike. But there is something else, as well. Some deeper issue that his conscious mind can't quite grasp yet.

Space, maybe? Could I drag him up and finish this on the Moon or something? Maybe just leave him there? But chances are I could drop him on the trip, and I can't risk him landing on another populated area.

Damn it! What do I do!

I can't risk any more lives, but if this goes on much longer, he will kill me and then everyone else on the planet too.

But then, as if suddenly tired of their game, Doomsday sweeps out with both arms in a wide arc, bringing them both together on either side of Superman's head.

The impact is devastating. Blood pours from Superman's ears and nose, and his eyes roll back into his head as he tumbles to the ground.

He was just… playing with me…?

Superman has fallen.

Using all his might, he focuses his vision up at the monster, staring down at him with something resembling disappointment, before simply walking away.

No… the survivors… you can't….

He reaches out desperately towards the monster's back, as it trudges on towards the city of Metropolis, to untold carnage and destruction.

He has failed.

All his struggles, all his victories, they have all been for nothing.

My God… I've lost… everything.

He slips away, his mind fading and his heart broken.

It is over.

"Kal-El…" a voice like an angel whispers.

He opens his eyes to find himself surrounded by intense yellow sunlight. Warm and inviting.

"Kal-El," the voice says again.

She floats before him, in her robes of blue and scarlet, her blonde hair seemingly the source of the sunlight that embraces him.

"Kara?" he asks his cousin. "Does this mean… Am I dead?"

She smiles, soft and comforting.

"Almost, my super man…. But you still have one more task before you…"

"What is that?" he asks.

"You must slay the monster Doomsday, and fulfill your destiny."

"But I can't…"

"Never fear, for there is always a way," she winks. "I know the secret of slaying the Ender of Worlds. Listen close and I will tell it to you…"

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S-SHIELD'S NOTES

The Ghost of Kara. Or is it the Daughter of Rao. Or is there a difference?

Thanks for reading.