Saga One
Episode I: Superman
Chapter Two: Launch
1939. Twenty Two Years Later.
The buzz of conversation and the clatter of typewriters permeated the office of the Daily Planet just as the heat of the sun filled the coastal city of Metropolis. It had been two decades since the end of the Great War and the horrors it had entailed still lingered with its survivors, Clark included. He had left the army after the armistice determined to pursue a path dedicated to helping others. Either through the medical profession or some other area where he could pursue his humanitarian goals. After the war he had spent time travelling around Europe, lending a helping hand where he could in the rebuild. But, enmity was high and working together for the greater good was far from most people's minds, so Clark returned to the U.S. Enrolling in medical school he began an attempt at saving lives through his profession, he made it three years before the depression hit. Already struggling to pay his way through medical school Clark was forced to drop out, becoming part of the unemployed masses. Looking for any kind of job, Clark was able to scrape by on a few cents he earned at the former newspaper giant the 'Daily Planet'.
Pushing his way through the chaos of the news room, arms full of papers, the discord of Clark's mind was interrupted by a shout, "War in Europe! Britain and France are at war with Germany!" There was a brief moment of silence before the cacophony erupted again thrice louder than it had been before.
"Here we go again" Clark thought to himself, America would join in eventually, Clark knew it in his gut "This time it'll be different, this time I'm not going to kill people, I'm going to save them."
1950. Twelve Years Later.
The radio crackled as the truck dipped into an exceptionally deep road pit, breaking Bob Cosby's 'Way Back Home' in the middle of the chorus. Clark gazed out the open window over the wide Nevadan plains as he drove towards the Kent ranch. It had been four years since he had seen his family, after the war life had been difficult for the ranch as both Mark and young Timothy had been killed in action. Clark kicked himself mentally for not having been there more often for Jonathan, Sarah and the kids, left without a son, brother, father, and husband. Pulling up to the ranch house three young bundles of curly blonde hair came streaking out of the porch door. Grinning, Clark got out of his truck and was dive bombed by John, Rose, and Glenda Kent, Mark's three children. Helen, Mark's widow, stood in the open doorway watching the merry scene, "Welcome home!" She called. "It's good to be back" Clark replied, "What on earth have you terrors been eating?" He teased the children, "You've sprung up like a couple a ol' weeds!" "I'm notta' weed!" little Glenda stated firmly, "I'm a cowgirl!" "That so little miss?" Clark replied laughing, "It's good seein' ya' again, Uncle Clark" said John happily "It's good to see you all too" Clark said, ruffling the boy's hair. "Come on in Clark, Jonathan and Sarah will be glad to see you again." Called Helen, beckoning Clark indoors "Come on then sprouts" Clark said to the children as he trod towards the house.
Entering the living room Clark was momentarily taken aback by Jonathan and Sarah's appearance. It could be easy to forget just how much people could change over the course of time. "Clark! It's been to long!" Jonathan exclaimed as he pulled himself out of his armchair, "Why, you don't look a day older!" Sarah exclaimed, shock showing in her wrinkled face. "Why of course he does Hun, what'd you expect? You've known him near fifty years and he hadn't aged any during that whole time." Jonathan reprimanded her as he gripped Clark's shoulder, "Oh, I know it's just… well, we haven't seen you in so long you see and…" "It's all right Sarah," Clark replied, "Truth be told it catches me off guard too." "I bet we caught you a little of guard with our old looks now didn't we?" Jonathan laughed, "Now enough standing around talking about appearances, sit yourself down and have a drink." Clark felt instantly at home amongst the Kents, he had seen generations pass before his eyes yet this family's heart had stayed the same.
Later that night after Helen had taken the children to bed, Clark and Jonathan headed outside to the porch for a drink and a private chat. "I hate to ask you Clark, and if it isn't something you wanna' talk about then its fine by me, but, how'd things go over there?" Clark looked out at the stars for a moment before answering. "After the last war I just couldn't believe that that level of violence and destruction could ever surface again." He replied, Jonathan nodded, "Neither could I Clark, I saw most of my regiment die in the last one." Clark sighed "I thought that I could make a difference this time, change something." "There isn't any changing the way politicians do things Clark." Jonathan replied, "Not an ordinary person maybe, but I should be different, I should be able to do something." He replied, clenching his fists in emphasis. Jonathan looked up at the stars, as if searching for an answer. "You are still just one man Clark, an extraordinary one no less, but just one. The weight of the whole world is too much, even for your shoulders." Clark shook his head "I couldn't help them, too many in my care died. Burned, shot, blown, stabbed to death. I couldn't even bring myself to hate them. One of the Japanese soldiers grabbed my shirt, and looked straight into my eyes, pleading for me to save him…his entire body burned… but I couldn't. Just like I couldn't save her." Jonathan remained silent remembering how grief stricken Clark had been over the loss of his wife Lana. Breaking the silence Clark spoke again. "And now they have this A-bomb that can take away countless lives in a moment." Jonathan shook his head, "Too much power for mankind to hold" he said "They'll kill us all at this rate. You know they test those things down south of here don't you?" Clark nodded, "I'm going to see what it can do first hand." Jonathan started in his chair "Now look here Clark…" he began but Clark interrupted him. "I'm the only person alive that can confront this thing Jonathan. Now, either I can stop this death bomb or I die trying, either way I'll have accomplished something." "The world would lose its greatest soul, Clark." Clark turned his head to look at Jonathan as he leaned forward in his chair, desperately aiming to convince his old friend to change his mind. Smiling, Clark remembered back to when Jonathan was a young child trying to get to him at the top of a tree. He remembered climbing down, picking him up and then, in a single bound, leaping to the highest branch, Jonathan whooping with excitement. This was why he had to face this weapon. He needed to know if he could prevent moments like that from being taken from the people who deserved them. Too many had been robbed of life's precious moments already.
The crisp morning air gently rustled the hair of the small party gathered outside of the Kent family ranch to bid Clark farewell. "Come back and see us soon, won't you Clark?" Sarah asked as she took Clark's hand in her own aged and wrinkled one. "I'll try to get back as soon as I can" he replied, feeling uncomfortable at giving her such an answer. "Make sure that you do." Jonathan said as he paced his hand on Clark's shoulder, giving him a knowing look. "You fella's take good care of your mom and grandparents now." Clark said to the three children gathered around him. "Yes Sir we will." John replied. Standing Clark turned to bid Helen farewell, "Goodbye, Helen. Take care." "I will Clark, it was good seeing you again." She replied. Clark got in his truck and turned the key, with a start the engine came to life, putting his foot on the gas he steered himself down the dusty driveway. Looking back he waved his hand out the window before steeling himself for the next stage of his journey.
Looking out his window, he slowed as he saw the old well by the side of the driveway. Remembering how Jeremiah had jokingly recalled how he and Thomas had had to dig a new well after discovering Clark underground. Clark slammed on the brakes and turned the truck around as quickly as he could, heading back up the drive. The Kents stood puzzled on the porch of the house watching as Clark returned to them. Stopping the truck, Clark hopped out, "What's the matter Clark?" Helen called to him as he took a few steps towards the open yard in front of the Ranch house. "There something that I've always wondered but, never gotten around to doing." He replied. Walking forward Clark began scanning the ground with his eyes, he had been able to see the outline of objects for a while now. This new power had come in handy in the field when he needed an idea of what was going on inside a person's body. There it was, several feet underground, the metallic earthen womb from which he had sprung. Plunging his fist into the ground with the incredible force, throwing dirt soaring into the air, he begun to dig. The Kent family jumped back with a start, taken aback by the sudden action. Regaining his senses Jonathan stated, "He's looking for it." "Looking for what?" John queried. "You'll see." Sarah answered, uncertainty creeping into her voice, what exactly would Clark find? What answers and what questions would it bring?
It wasn't long before they all heard a loud metallic clang, Clark slowed his superhuman pace, carefully clearing the last layer of dirt covering the shiny metal object. Stepping back for a moment to take in the sight, Clark felt a sense of surrealism at the sight of the craft from which he had originated. There in the ground still partially covered by earth was a shining angular craft. The brilliant metal hull refracted light like a crystal, yet it remained metallic in appearance, shaped similarly to a diamond yet with a definite shape. Peering into the pit Clark had dug Jonathan exclaimed, "Well, I'll be!" nodding Helen commented "You sure don't see that every day." Suddenly Clark was blasted by a beam of light from the alien object, bathing him in all the colours of the spectrum as if in response to his presence. The Kent family threw their hands to their eyes to shield themselves from the intensity of the light, lowering them as it slowly began to fade. Out of the last residue of light emerged Clark floating on the air like a feather, clothed in foreign attire with a dark red cape billowing out behind him.
"Clark? Is that you?" Sarah questioned squinting into the ever diminishing light beam. "Yes, I'm all right." He replied.
"What happened in there?" Jonathan asked, amazed at Clark's new appearance "What is that you're wearing?" "I don't know" was his reply "When that light hit me it was like it was layering this on me." He gestured down to the dark blue suit that covered his body from his neck to his toes. The strange unearthly material moved with his body's motions, the multiple layers of weaving clung tightly to his form, giving him an athletic look. A gold band ran half way around his waist and a dark red patch covered his sides from the middle of his torso to his mid-thigh. Clark gazed at his hands, half covered in the strange material that left his fingers free, stunned by what had just happened. "Why's there an s on his chest?" John asked Sarah who could only shake her head in reply. "Clark, how are you doing that?" Helen asked staring in bewilderment at him floating at least one foot above the ground. Looking down he floated gracefully to the hard earth, red boots touching the ground gently as he answered her. "I have no idea." "You can fly!" little Glenda exclaimed, breaking everyone out of their stupor "Uncle Clark can fly!" Sarah burst out in laughter at the situation "Well what do you know? We have our very own sparrow!" Clark grinned, "Yeah, What do ya' know."
The air smashed into his face at a thousand miles per hour and yet he didn't feel any pain as he propelled himself faster than any commercial airliner. It was as if his whole body had been reawakened by the light from the diamond container buried deep underground. Now he could feel the power coursing through his body, making him stronger than ever before.
He could see farther than he ever had, and he was putting it good use searching for the Nevada nuclear test site. He had survived artillery shells, machine gun fire, and being set alight by a flamethrower, but now with this even greater power he could face this killing machine. He saw it miles before he arrived at the scene. Soldiers were sitting in dugout pits in the ground and scarecrows wearing surplus uniforms stood awaiting their deaths in the wide plains. But this wasn't to be an ordinary ground detonation, today an atmospheric test was planned. As he approached the site a long pillar of smoke took off into the clear desert sky, making its way to the earth's atmosphere. This was it, it was either do or die and either solution was what Clark was seeking. Setting of an enormous deafening boom, Clark tore after the missile with his arms stretched straight out before him, cleaving a path through the air. He was closing in faster than any mortal could follow and as he approached he shut his eyes, anticipating the blow. For a second time that day a blinding light scarred the Nevadan sky, and a shock wave went blasting through the air sending Clark's body rocketing heavenwards. Back to where he had originated many years ago.