Superman: The Ark of Krypton

Chapter 98

by

Jason Richard

When the super hearing started it not only woke Zod up from his nap, but it was quite disorienting. So many voices and sounds all at once, too many to organize. How did the one Kryptonian here stand it? The speed and the strength felt great, but his hearing?

Zod took several deep breaths, sat down cross-legged, and concentrated. He could get through this. He was a Kryptonian soldier. He would master these powers. They would not master him.

…

Edward Lytener heard the news that Lois had been found not guilty, and he didn't take the news well. He lay down on his prison bed with his arms crossed and his face in a scowl. After all the effort he had gone through to get back at Lois she'd gotten off scot-free. He hadn't been at the trial personally as his last escape wouldn't allow him to be moved from maximum security, but he had done a video testimony where he denied everything about his hard light holograms.

It hadn't been enough. Lois was free and he was in prison. At least Lex Luthor was in hot water with no Superman to bail him out.

Lytener figured it might be best to just lie low for a bit and not attract attention to himself. If he waited this out he could strike when they least expected it and stay out of trouble.

In a prison this secure, what trouble could he be in?

…

The time to strike had almost come, for Zod. He wouldn't go after the scientist immediately. First, he had to neutralize his greatest threat, which he saw flying over the city from his alley. This Superman, as he was apparently called, had been given a lifetime to master these powers, inevitably making him faster and stronger than Zod no matter how long he waited. Zod would need to use his military experience and cunning to even the odds.

He'd finally gotten all the powers he was supposed to get. Speed, strength, heat vision, ice breath, flying, and x-ray vision. Now he just needed a plan. And for that, he needed to know the limits of these powers.

He tried holding his breath and felt nothing, so choking was out. He tried squeezing his own wrist to get a sense of how strong and durable he was. He was able to leave a bruise, but the wound healed itself pretty quickly. He tried to dislocate a shoulder and was able to do it. The bone didn't go back in automatically, and he had to put it back in himself. So the healing only sped up the natural process and nothing else. Good to know. He used heat vision on himself, and that actually put a burn on his skin, and that didn't heal as fast. After all these experiments he formed a plan of action. First, he needed a change of location, but it shouldn't be hard to get Superman to his chosen battlefield. Superman had to be looking for him.

So Zod, his black uniform standing out against a white building, flew up and revealed himself to Superman. The flying hero took one look at the alien general and flew over to attack. He did not recognize him for the Kryptonian he had seen in Brainiacs footage, all he knew was that this was a Kryptonian criminal, and as this man flew off to his chosen battleground Superman chased after him.

Superman was clearly faster than the other Kryptonian, but Zod had training in combat fighters used in deep space. They were small, one man crafts that were fast and maneuverable. His experience with such craft allowed him to predict where his opponent was going to fly as well as fly in such a way that his opponent would lose him easily.

And so that's how it went. Every time Superman thought he was close enough to grab him and pin him down Zod pulled a maneuver and got away. They flew through the city like this for a few minutes until Zod reached his destination just outside Metropolis.

It was a metal mill, filled with a surprising amount of lead.

Superman almost paused his flight. Why would he go there? This place would block x-ray vision for both of them, and yet that is exactly where this Kryptonian was headed.

And then Zod burst through a wall. Superman quickly followed him inside, but then dove down to pull some mill workers out of the way of the falling debris. As he set them down they ran off and Superman looked around.

And he couldn't find the other Kryptonian. Suddenly Superman understood.

With lead everywhere, from vats filled with molten lead, sheets and blocks of finished lead, and crates filled with lead ore, there were plenty of places for the Kryptonian to hide. The other Kryptonian would undoubtedly have super hearing, and if anyone could figure out how to move so that super hearing couldn't catch you it would be someone else with super hearing.

And Superman couldn't just trash the place to find him as there were still mill workers in hazmat suits all trying to escape the building.

Superman kept his guard up, as it was clear this place put him at a huge disadvantage. He looked around asking himself where the other Kryptonian was, and when he would strike.