Superman: The Ark of Krypton
By
Jason Richard
Superman became aware of his surroundings slowly. He was in a laboratory, surrounded by various machines still working. He could hear the breathing and heartbeat of one other person in the room, sitting by his bed. He sat up, turned, and tried to open his eyes, but something was wrong. All he saw was black.
"What…" he began.
"Kal-El," said Kara, the person sitting by his bed. "Take it easy. The kryptonite hurt you a lot. You…you've gone blind."
Superman leaned back against the bed, stunned.
"That's a new one," said Superman. "I…I didn't even know that was possible. Will…will my eyes get better?"
"There's a chance," said Kara., "But they aren't sure."
Superman took a deep breath, just letting that sink in. He had no idea what to make of it.
"How's Brainiac?" asked Superman.
"His core is locked away," said Kara. "I won't know if we'll be able to reverse the Colu programming until I examine it, but you successfully got the core out. The program can't advance at the very least."
"Good," said Superman, nodding distractedly. "That's good."
He took the tubes from his arms and tried to stand.
"Oh," said Kara, standing. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"I need to find out," said Superman. "If I can still work with this."
Kara stood, but wasn't certain what to do.
Superman was able to stand, and he waited for a second. Kara stood there with confusion written all over her face.
"What are you doing?" asked Kara.
"Listening. I can tell where things are when they are making a sound. If I can use that, then maybe…yes, the computers are over there. I can hear the humming…"
He moved in that direction and knocked into a side table, spilling medical tools that clanged to the floor.
Kara cringed.
"But I detect things that aren't making a sound," said Superman sadly.
He then brought his hand up and snapped his finger. This time Kara figured she knew what he was doing. Certain nocturnal creatures navigated in the dark by letting out a sound and listening for an echo. The amount of time it took for the echo to get back to them let them figure out how far away an object was. It was called…
"Echolocation?" she asked.
"Right," said Superman. "And I do hear echoes, but it all sounds like a jumble. I don't know how bats get around like this."
He sighed.
"So," said Kara. "What are you going to do?"
"Well," said Superman. "I can hear the news media out there. It's time to let the world know the truth."
Kara was surprised to hear this. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked.
"We can't hide this," said Superman. "Some other alien threat is going to come along eventually. Unless I can figure out how to fight while blind or my eyes heal suddenly, people will wonder why I'm not helping or doing much. They're going to find out sooner or later, so they should learn by me being honest. It's as simple as that. Will you take me out there, please?"
He extended his hand, and Kara felt terrible for him. Reluctantly she grabbed his hand and led him out of that room and to the entrance so that he could talk to the press.
She didn't think it would go well.
...
...
...
Sorry this chapter took so long, I was sick with a virus that put blisters on my hands and made them unusable for a week. :( I'm fine now, and back writing. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading.
Jason.