48

"Weren't we just here the other day?" asked Phyllis as the waiter left the table.

"Mom, is your memory going again?" Jimmy queried in reply. He then grabbed a tortilla chip and dipped it into the salsa and placed the delicious concoction in his mouth. "You know, I think you were right the other day. I could eat this stuff at every meal and still enjoy it!"

Another hand went into the serving basket of chips and selected one perfectly curved for dipping. "So... this is... Tex-Mex?" asked a slightly wan Guer-On as he mimicked Jimmy's behavior and coated the tortilla with the tasty sauce and sampled it.

"Well, actually this is just an appetizer. The good stuff is being prepared," answered Jim. "By the way, thanks for melting that lead off of me with your heat vision."

"It was the least I could do. This does have a... tang... to it, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does!" said Noel as she and her Dad made their way into the restaurant. "Have you ordered me a taco, yet?"

"Oh, yes!" answered her mother who then kissed George hello. "And for you, flyboy, chicken quesadillas."

George winked at his wife. "You sure you're talking to me? I heard that Jimmy was the new 'flyboy.' " He went over to his son and gave him a hug. "Congratulations, you hero, you!"

"I... just did what was right, Dad."

George's eyes glistened as a memory of a past conversation with another hero came to mind. "Exactly!" He turned to Guer-On and shook his hand. "And you, my extra-terrestrial friend, are always surprising me! You could have died down there from the green K."

"I almost did. But here I am, thanks to Jimmy."

"And here we all are, thanks to you! How did you manage to hang on long enough to hit your mark?"

"I don't know, really. It was the fact that two worlds would be blown to pieces if I did not, I suppose. But, it wasn't just me. It was all of us together."

"Yes it was," added Phyllis. "And look! The rest of the team is arriving!"

With those words, Chester Carr and his family came into the room with Metropolis police officer Joe Kubert and sat down, joining the super-friends.

"I didn't know what you wanted," said Phyllis. "You'll have to order for yourselves when the waiter returns."

Chester laughed, "Is that any way to treat the family of the man who engineered the rescue of the planet Earth?"

"Yeah, the Perfessor's boss was so impressed with him that he offered him a job!" said Joe.

"Yep, but I turned him down. I would've had to move to Metropolis, and I've had my fill of the place." Kubert gave Chester a scowl. "No offense, Joe. It's a nice town and all, but I guess I'll always be just a Texas boy at heart! Oh, and speaking of Metropolis..."

He reached into sack he was carrying and handed a box to his daughter. "Here ya go, Sherry. This is for you. Take good care of it. It's been through a lot just to get here!"

Sherry opened the box to find the snow globe her father had bought just before the earthquake hit Metropolis. "Ooooh! Thanks, Daddy! I love it! Look! that flying man there looks kind of like... Jimmy...! Doesn't it!"

"Yes! Yes, it does!"

"That reminds me," said George to his son. "I picked up a little souvenir, too." George fumbled around the pockets of his jacket until he found the green crystal. "I found this while mining that asteroid for kryptonite. I don't know if this one will speak to you like the last one, but..."

No one was more surprised than George as the crystal began to glow and then focused an emerald beam at his son. Phyllis was up and ready to revive Jim from what she expected to be a dead faint, but this time he never required assistance. The crystal was active for no more than a second, and Jimmy seemed less than fazed by the experience.

"Are you all right, son?" asked a worried George. "I only meant to give it to you! I never expected that to..."

"It's all right, Dad! I'm okay. The crystal did no more than infuse my mind with information."

His mother was still concerned. "The first time you were hit by the effects of one of those crystals, you were out cold for awhile. Why didn't that happen this time?"

"I'm thinking it's because that when it happened before, I was predominately human. Now, my Kryptonian blood has taken over."

Guer-On was intrigued. "That technology had not been invented by the time Kandor was separated from Krypton. According to archives, though, Jor-El was working on the process. So this is how you gained the powers you now possess?"

"Yep, but at first I thought it only put a lot of information in my head. As far as I can tell, this time that's all it did."

"And what did it tell you this time?"

"Aw, gee. I thought I was done with this trance stuff. Okay, Give me a sec, and I'll play it back for you."

"Play it back...?" asked Guer-On.

"Oh, no! Not Spooky Time Theater again!" said Noel as Jimmy went into the familiar trancelike state.

Jor-El, scientist of Kryptonopolis began this record of the final moments of his planet in the hope that it might somehow survive the explosion and reveal any secrets behind the cause of it that he could not discover. He and his wife, Lara, had already placed their infant son, Kal-El into a faster than light speed vehicle that was set to launch for a distant world where he would be safe from the destruction.

"The surface is erupting everywhere around us. We've little time left." Jor-El looked deeply into her eyes and added, "Lara, there may be room for both of you..."

"No, Jor! Save our son, but I can't leave without you. My place is by your side."

Suddenly, a fearsome figure broke through the door of Jor-El's lab. It was... "Mal-Vol? Why are you here? Despite what you think, Krypton is about to die as I predicted! I have no quarrel with you, but I intend to save my son!"

"Oh, I know the planet is about to shatter, Jor-El! In truth, I have known about it for far longer than you!"

"But... if that's true," asked Lara, "we could have saved our civilization, our heritage. Our people could have started over on another planet!"

"Oh, but that would never do," replied Mal-Vol, whose demeanor seemed to be that of a madman to the young couple. His eyes were wild with insane malice. "Our people are beyond saving! That's why I took it upon myself to destroy them!"

"No... Not even you could have..."

"Oh, yes! Yes, I did! The destruction of our planet is no accident, Jor-El! It is the final part of a plan that I mapped out long ago. History will never record it, but I am the destroyer of Krypton! And I do so willingly... for very good reasons!"

Lara could not believe what she heard. "How... Why would you do something so heinous? Our people were on the verge of a new age! A new age of science and art, and of love. We were becoming a people with compassion..."

"What? Even now you spout that blasphemy? With the planet coming apart all around you? That Open Heart tripe...?"

"The Open Heart movement made us a better people! We were becoming..."

"We were becoming a race of heathens that had turned so far from Rao, that we could never get back to the Krypton Way. It was time to cleanse all existence of the unfaithful! And I began the process with that slut that started it all."

Jor-El didn't like where this was going. "Who are you talking about?" he whispered cautiously.

"That blonde tramp. Your friend..."

"No! You killed Lyla?".

"Yes, of course I did!" the zealot replied triumphantly. "You should have been there, Jor-El. I've never felt more exhilarated. I wrapped my fingers about her pretty little throat and squeezed the life out of her! But, she deserved it! Don't you see? She was the Anti-Rao! She had to die before the sins of our people could be washed away!"

"You're insane!" cried Lara.

"Oh no, quite the contrary. I am the only sane person left on this planet. And that is why I created the so-called alien spacecraft that stole Kandor from the surface."

Despite Mal-Vol's reprehensible story, Jor-El's curiosity got the better of him as the sounds of the quakes increased in amplitude. "You... created..."

"Let me make it easy for you, Jor-El. The 'alien' spaceship was designed by me. It was built on one of our moons."

"You were the pilot?"

"No, I needed to be publicly visible somewhere when it happened so I could not be tied to the event. And there was no alien piloting the ship, either. It was a super-computer that I personally programmed. Oh, you seem so surprised that anyone other than your family could make discoveries or create technology. It was I who created the element 349 as you like to call it. It was I who harnessed its abilities and married it to a transporter beam. It was I who created the spaceship and the super-computer that ran it. And it was I who concocted the plan to destroy the planet, thus wiping out the sinful from the cosmos."

"And what have you done with Kandor? Have you destroyed it?"

"It still exists, for the time being. Just before the planet becomes cinders, my super-computer - I call it 'Brainiac' - will return to transport me away from Krypton. The sinners of Kandor will be informed by me of the fate of their home. And that if they choose not to return to Rao..."

"As you interpret His word?"

"As I interpret his word, yes... then I will see to it that Rao's wrath shall come to pass over them as well, and they will all go to meet their maker and face Rao for their sin."

"While you remain chaste and alive, of course?"

"If I must be the last and only Kryptonian alive, then so be it!"

"So I repeat my original question. Why are you here? To tell us this? It hardly matters now, does it?"

"I am here to abort your attempt to save your family. You see, you two and your unholy progeny must meet your fate, Jor-El. I knew you would not cease in your efforts to escape the explosion."

"Kal-El is just an infant," cried Lara. "Surely even you can see he's innocent..."

"There are no innocents! Especially him! He is of your husband's bloodline, and that makes him anything but innocent!" He paused for what could only be interpreted as dramatic effect. "But... I had another reason for coming here! I wanted to see Jor-El suffer as he watches you die!"

"We've already made our peace, Vol. We're ready to die together in the blast."

"Oh, no. Your family won't die that way. A quick Ka-boom, and you're all gone? Oh, no, no, no! You, Jor-El, will have the pleasure of seeing me personally take the life of your wife and child the same way I took the life of that harlot friend of yours! I want that vision to be on your mind as you wait for the final cataclysm."

Jor-El had heard enough. How Mal-Vol had planned to incapacitate him enough to carry out his threat, he didn't know, but he was not about to wait for it to happen. He leapt at the religious fanatic and knocked him over as the two grabbed and punched at each other. All the while they fought, the quakes continued to increase. The skies darkened with smoke and ash spewing up to the heavens.

For an old man, Mal-Vol was in excellent shape. His strength was far greater than Jor-El would've thought. More than once, it seemed as though he would lose the advantage in their struggle, ending all hope of saving his son.

And then, Mal-Vol managed to push Jor-El away long enough to wrest an energy pistol from his pocket.

"I don't care what you do to me, Mal-Vol." said Jor-El through gasps for breath. "But you won't stop me from saving my son from your misguided plan."

"Oh, I don't know," said Mal-Vol calmly. And he fired the weapon at the launch control kiosk. "I believe I've just done that! Now the two of you! Back against that equipment rack! Now!" The madman took the time to chuckle at his advantage. "Now, Jor-El. Now the time has come for you all feel the wrath of Rao!"

Suddenly a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Ken-Dal and he had picked up a metal bar from the quake debris! He swung the bar and smashed it against Mal-Vol's hand, disarming him. Again he flailed away at the fanatic, and again, and again!

"You will not hurt anyone anymore! You won't! You won't!" At that moment seismic activity struck the lab and a gaping hole opened up in the floor, spewing fire and lava up to the ceiling. With one last swing, Ken-Dal connected with Mal-Vol's chest, sending him backwards and into the hole. Mal-Vol fell into the abyss and it closed as if swallowing a treat.

Ken-Dal sunk to his knees exhausted. As Jor-El and Lara looked on, he turned towards them and said, "My Matty never liked liked him. She always said he was a bad man!"

Lara went to the old man to comfort him, but Jor went to the launch control. "It... doesn't look too bad. It could be fixed. But not in time, I think." Lara helped Ken-Dal up. The rumblings were now non-stop. The end was approaching.

"Jor-El, maybe I can help!" said the old man. He looked at the control panel that had been hit with the energy ray. The panel had been blown open. Wires were exposed and the contact switch had been destroyed. "This wire..." he said, "...and this one..." He touched the wires together and sparks flew. The kiosk began to heat up and... the model starship came to life! The craft began to rise through the open ceiling and away from the danger of the planet.

"Mal-Vol said we were about to face the wrath of Rao. I can't help but think that's what happened to him! Thank you, Ken!" said a grateful Lara to the old man.

"Just like when I was younger," he said. "I haven't hot-wired a floater in years!"

The three of them watched the craft as it rose higher and higher into the sky. Jor-El embraced his wife as the planet crumbled beneath them.

"Farewell, Kal-El!" he said. "Farewell, my son!"

As the starship climbed, it gained speed and then was gone in an instant. Seconds later a seemingly alien saucer-like ship appeared, and not finding the individual it sought, it quickly disappeared again into the heavens.

Jor-El cradled his wife in his arms as their world prepared to blow apart. "I love you!" he said.

And then there was no more.

Everyone stared incredulously at Jimmy as he snapped out of his trance. "So 'there was no more' meant..." asked Noel.

"I guess that's when the planet blew up." said Jim. "Everything looked like it was flying apart and then it all went black."

"So the destruction of Krypton was not just an accident of nature nor the carelessness of its people," mused George. "It was a deliberately planned and executed act of vengeance."

"And that act almost stretched over to two more worlds." added Phyllis.

"And countless trillions of lives." said Guer-On, who seemed to be the most shaken individual of all. He was silent for a moment.

"Are you okay, Gary?" asked Chester.

"Yes... I think so. It's just that for more than two hundred years, it was believed that our planet exploded due to our ignorance of the ecology... or the planet losing its orbital trajectory... or the clone wars. Take your pick! But to now realize that one fanatical extremist would..." He began to weep.

Noel left her chair and came over to Guer-On. Putting her arms around him, she hugged him and said, "But it's all over now, Mister Guer-On. And Krypton's people live on today, thanks to people like my Grandpa Clark."

"Yes, Noel. You're right." said the obviously touched Kryptonian. "And to people like you and your family." Guer-On straightened as he wiped away a tear and tried to change the mood. "Well! I believe I was about to taste real Tex-Mex! What was the dish you ordered for me, young Mister Kent?"

"Steak fajitas! And I ordered the same. My favorite, you know!"

"And here it comes!" cried Noel as the waiter returned with the dinners sizzling on the plates.

In short order, the group was ready to dig in, but not before George offered a prayer. "...And thank you, Lord... or Rao or whatever name one wants to call you. Thank you for the wisdom..." George glanced at Chester. "...The strength..." He looked at his wife. "...The courage..." He gazed at Guer-On. "The exuberance" He winked at Noel. "...and the will to... to 'do what's right.' " His eyes were on his son. "And we pray our thanks for the deliverance of this world as we ask for the deliverance of another. Amen!"

"This is... quite tasty!" said an obviously pleased Guer-On as he chowed down on the steak and peppers.

"Oh, no! No! No! No! No! No!" cried Jim alarmingly.

"What's wrong, son? Are you all right?" asked his mother. "Another disturbing vision, perhaps?"

"You could say that! Tomorrow, I have to go back to school. And I just remembered that I have a paper to write for history class or Mr. Weisinger is gonna flunk me!"