Superman: New Heights
Chapter One
The train whizzed through the farms of Smallville, acres of crop surrounding it, with the town far behind it. Crowded with people, the little girl waded through the sea of people to her compartment.
"What's wrong, Annie?" asked her dad, looking at his wife who seemed to be staring out of the window.
"I still think this is a bad idea," replied Annie, watching the fields zoom by her, the towering city of Metropolis getting closer and closer.
"It's not an idea, it's an opportunity," replied the man, as he looked back at his daughter. "It's more of an opportunity for Laura than us," he continued, gesturing to their daughter.
"Smallville was good enough for her. We don't need to-"
Before Annie could finish, the train seemed to rock to the side.
"Tom, what was that?" asked Annie to her husband, who looked just as confused.
"May have been just a bump in the rails, don't worry," replied Tom, taking Laura in his lap. The train rocked again, this time causing luggage to fall from the stow niches above.
"Dad, what's happening?" asked Laura, starting to cry.
"It's nothing, just some turbulence-"
"THE TRAIN IS DERAILING!" yelled one of the passengers. Everyone began to go haywire, as the train began to rock and lean more to the right.
"Tom?!" yelled Annie, standing up.
"Everything's going to be all right, don't panic!" shouted Tom, trying to comfort Laura at the same time.
The turbulence worsened as people began to fall on top of each other. Luggage flew all over the place, breaking the windows around them.
"HELP!" shouted Annie, as luggage fell in front of their compartment, blocking them in. Tom closed his eyes and held Laura tightly, bracing for impact to protect her.
Laura frantically looked around and, then outside the window. That's when she saw something unexplainable: A red-blue blur dashing alongside the caboose, to the front of the train.
A beaming smile appeared on Laura's face, as she held her dad.
"Mom, dad! It's him!" she exclaimed in glee. Both Annie and Tom looked confused as the train began to tip over, off the rails.
All of a sudden, the train seemed to inexplicably slow down, finally coming to a halt on the tracks. Pin-drop silence fell upon the train, as Laura climbed over the luggage and rushed to the front of the train.
A man was standing in front of the train, his hands still pushed into the metal front, as if he had stopped the derailing train with his bare hands. He was draped in a brilliant blue and wore a radiant red cape.
Laura reached the front of the train and stared at the man, with beaming eyes. She stared at the symbol on his chest, stitched onto the blue: A red and yellow "S".
The man looked at her, smiled and waved, before launching himself up into the atmosphere. She looked up at the sky in awe, as one of the passengers pointed at the sky and yelled out.
"IT'S SUPERMAN!"
"Well, students, it's hard to believe that this is going to be our final class together," said the professor to the students in class. They began to clap as the teacher smiled and began to go through a book.
"Okay. Rust Hart?"
"Present!"
"Marty Cohle?"
"Present!"
"Clark Kent?"
The professor was met with no response, as he looked up from his pages and looked around the room. There was an empty desk in the middle of the left row of the classroom.
"Uh, present!" exclaimed a student, huffing and panting as he rushed into the classroom. The professor chuckled as Clark walked up to his desk, placed his bag to its side, and sat down.
"Well, looks like the entire class is present for once!" joked the teacher, gesturing to the "Journalism 101" on the board. "Most of you did exceptionally well in the final exams, and I have to congratulate you all on getting your degrees," he continued, as all the students cheered.
"Will you be at our graduation tomorrow?" asked a student.
"Why, I have been with you all for over four years now. Of course I'm going to be there for all of you," replied the teacher, smiling at Clark.
"I know some of you are definitely going somewhere. Your classmate here, Clark Kent, gained an internship at the Daily Planet!" clapped the professor, as Clark shyly chuckled.
"It's just an internship, sir. Who knows where it would go?" replied Clark. The professor shook his hand.
"Never be too humble, Kent," laughed the professor, walking back to his desk.
"So, even though it's your final class here at the University of Smallville, it doesn't mean it has to be sad! How about any ideas on how to spend our last class together?" asked the professor, as everyone began to give suggestions.
Clark chuckled to himself. He'd been Smallville's own hero, Superman, for over 6 months now and yet he considered graduating at the top of his class as his greatest achievement.
He was worried though, for what would come ahead. It's something he was dreading ever since high school ended, and he walked into his journalism class at university for the first time. Even heat vision wouldn't help with the anxiety.
As soon as the final day at university ended, Clark ducked away from the massive wave of students rushing out of the building and flew off into the atmosphere. He was feeling a wave of emotions, as he began to fly higher.
Clark flew higher and higher to the clouds, the air getting thinner, and yet nothing seemed to affect him. He stopped in mid-air, the clouds soundlessly drifting away in the blue sky. He flew back lower to the ground, staying high and fast enough that no one sees him.
A small red barn came into view, adjacent to a house overlooking a farm. Clark flew to a water tower next to the barn, and slowly landed on the top of the tower. He looked at the Sun setting and sat down.
"Time to talk to myself again…" told Clark to himself, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. He looked at the costume underneath his plaid shirt, catching a small glimpse of the emblem stitched onto his suit.
He took a small glance at the watch on his left hand, smiling. It seemed to tick slower, and the second hand was stuck in place.
"One day, you're going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be," said the voice, replaying itself in his voice. He chuckled and looked back at the Sun, when he heard someone call out to him.
"Clark!" yelled a woman. Clark recognized the voice.
"I'm on my way!" exclaimed Clark, zooming down the tower and back to the house's front door, where his mother, Martha, opened the door for him.
"There's my university graduate!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. Clark laughed as he pulled away, and Martha rushed back to the living room.
"Did you pick up the gown?" asked Clark, walking into the house. It was relatively small, but large enough to house him and his mother.
Martha walked back to him, holding his blue gown and cap. "I thought the students were supposed to collect them, weren't they?" asked Martha.
"Yeah, I was uh…busy," reasoned Clark, sheepishly itching his neck.
"Busy stopping a train from derailing?" asked Martha, looking at the television, which was reporting on the latest sighting of Superman. Clark laughed as he sat down on the couch.
"Kind of don't like that name. 'Superman,'" commented Clark.
"I thought you were the one who chose it, weren't you?" asked Martha.
"It was actually dad…who gave me the name," replied Clark, a little hesitation towards the end of the sentence. Martha smiled and put her hands on Clark's shoulders.
"He would be proud of the man you've become, Clark. I know he would," reassured Martha. Clark pursed his lips and nodded when he began to hear screams from a faraway distance.
"HELP! HELP, IT WON'T SHUT OFF!"
Clark zoomed out of the house and in the direction of the screams, throwing his plaid shirt and glasses in the air, revealing his Superman outfit. The speed at which he ran threw his hair back, almost into a makeshift, longer quiff. He began to fly towards the sound and noticed the source: A man's tractor wasn't stopping, and was approaching his barn.
Clark flew in front of the tractor and lifted it up, preventing it from hitting the barn.
"Are you all right?" asked Superman, unrecognizable from Clark Kent. The man nodded, both in awe and surprise.
Clark placed the tractor slowly on the ground, as the man crawled out. Its engine was still going.
"It still won't stop," commented Superman, examining the front of the tractor.
"Maybe a faulty ignition switch?" asked the farmer.
"Or…" replied Superman, using his x-ray vision to examine the inside of the tractor.
"It's a faulty solenoid," finished Superman.
"How did you-" started the man, but Clark cut him off, as he took off the hood of the tractor, exposing its engine. He then turned his head back to the man.
"This is a JD20 tractor?" asked Superman, as the farmer nodded.
"Uh…yeah. Got it a few years back. She's old, but I can't let go of her, you know what I mean?" replied the farmer, as Superman nodded.
"Can I get a screwdriver and a wrench?" he asked. The surprised farmer nodded and rushed into the barn, as Clark examined the engine further.
"Solenoid's been gummed up by oil…" he thought, using his heat vision and firing a concentrated beam of heat from his eyes to free it up from any oil that covered it.
The farmer came back out of the barn, heaving a heavy toolkit. Superman stopped using his heat vision instantly, so as to not freak the man out any further. Superman took a screwdriver and wrench from the toolbox and beg an to operate on the engine, tightening up the solenoid.
"Check now," suggested Superman, as the farmer got back in the tractor and pulled the switch. The engine switched off and the annoying noise from the tractor graduated down to a light purr from the engine.
"That solves the problem, though I'd recommend taking her to Howie's Auto Repair shop," replied Superman. The man chuckled and put his hands together.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Super! Uh, stay here, I'll get you something!" said the man, hurriedly rushing into his house.
"Uh, it's really not necessary," chuckled Superman, but the farmer had already rushed in. He came out of the house, holding a box of chocolates.
"It's my son's graduation tomorrow, so I made us these chocolates for him and his friends. You can have one if you'd like to, though!" encouraged the farmer, handing him a small, round chocolate bar.
"Your son is in the University of Smallville? What's his name?" asked Superman, curious.
"Whitney. Whitney Ford," replied the farmer, as Clark's eyes went wide. Whitney was the football jock who had tormented him throughout high school, and dated his former crush, Lana Lang.
"That's…nice," replied Superman, eating the chocolate. "Oh, and this chocolate is amazing!" he finished, much to the man's glee. Superman walked away as the farmer thanked him one last time, before taking off into the sky.
"That was Whitney's dad? Speaking of which, I wonder how Lana's doing. Haven't seen her since…a couple of years," thought Superman, as the moon began to rise.
He took a turn and flew to Lana's house, where it seemed like a party was taking place. He stayed in the sky and noticed a large number of teens and young adults accumulated in the backyard, drinking and dancing to their heart's content.
He spotted Lana in the crowd, and as he expected, Whitney was right by her side, the two of them laughing with other couples.
Superman sighed as he whirled his cape back and zoomed away, back toward his house.
He flew in through his open window into his bedroom, where his mother had hung his gown and hat on a hanger inside his closet. He chuckled as he lay on his bed and closed his eyes, almost instantly drifting off to sleep.
"GO SMALLVILLE!" shouted everyone, as they threw their caps in the air in glee. Fanfare began to play as all the students gathered with their parents, taking photos of each other in their bright blue graduation gowns.
Clark smiled as he rushed up to his mother and hugged her, holding his diploma in his hand.
"Graduating with distinction. I knew you'd get here, I just didn't think it'd be so fast," said Martha, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I wouldn't be here without you and dad, ma," replied Clark, adjusting his gown. "The last 4 years just seemed to…fly by," he chuckled, giving her his diploma.
"Still can't believe you leave for Metropolis in a few days. Don't you want to stay at least a little longer?" she asked. Clark smiled as he looked around at everyone, and his eyes automatically caught Lana's, who waved at him.
Martha followed his eyes and realized whom he was staring at.
"Meet me at the farm?" asked Martha. Clark nodded without breaking eye contact with Lana, only just realizing that his jaw was agape.
"Clark, hey!" she said, giving him a hug. "It's been so long!"
"Yeah, L-Lana. It has," replied Clark, stuttering a little.
"So, what's next for Smallville's farmboy?" she asked, chuckling.
"Oh, me? Uh, the Daily Planet. I got an internship there for…j-journalism," replied Clark. It was as if he was just putting words in order rather than speaking a coherent sentence.
"Well, I'm off to Metropolis too. Going into research," she replied.
"Research? I'm guessing Lexcorp then?" asked Clark.
"Yep. Mostly as a lab assistant though. Maybe I'll see you around?" she asked.
"Y-Yeah! Yeah, sure," bumbled Clark. Just then, a tall, blond student walked up to Lana and put his arm around her.
"Congrats on graduation! Oh, hi Kent!" said Whitney, still dressed in his football shirt that he had been wearing since high school.
"Hey, Whitney. Where's your gown?" asked Clark.
"Took that shit off the second I could. It's just not me, you know?" said Whitney.
"Right," whispered Clark. "You're going to Metropolis too?"
"Nah. Staying back to help my old man at the farm. Oh, by the way, Superman stopped by yesterday!" exclaimed Whitney.
"No way!" squealed Lana.
"Yeah! I helped him fix my dad's tractor. He said I was really gifted as a mechanic, and super knowledgeable for someone my age," fibbed Whitney, much to Clark's dismay. Lana seemed enraptured by him.
"Hey, so how'd you fix the tractor?" asked Clark. Whitney seemed blank.
"Was it the ignition switch?" prodded Clark, as Whitney nodded.
"Yeah! It was the ignition switch. We had to basically uh…boot it up again," replied Whitney, looking a little flustered as Clark chuckled. Lana smiled and looked back at Clark.
"Well, I'm gonna go back to my dad, don't wanna leave him waiting for too long," said Whitney, going back to his dad in the crowd.
"So, Metropolis! What do you think it's going to be like?" asked Lana. Clark shrugged.
"Massive buildings to soar around," he blurted out, immediately covering his mouth as if he just spilled some secret.
"That's a good analogy. Like flying in higher skies," she added. Clark nodded.
"We really need to catch up. High school left us at a…weird place," she replied. Clark swallowed hard.
"Yeah, yeah definitely. I mean, not definitely about the weird place, I meant definitely about how we have to catch up. Not that I'm saying it wasn't exactly a weird place, it was but-"
"I'm gonna stop you right there," laughed Lana. "How about a coffee? When we're both at Metropolis?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure!" replied Clark, hoping that he didn't seem too enthusiastic.
"Cool! I'll see you there then. Bye Clark," she said, as she began to walk to her car. That's when Clark's super hearing began to go haywire.
"HEY! IT'S COLLAPSING!" shouted someone from afar. Clark ducked out of the crowd and into the bushes, taking off his gown and flying away from the place.
Superman flew to the source of the noise: the Smallville Canyon. He used his super-vision and noticed a man trapped under a rock, where a boulder seemed to be careening off of a ledge and onto him.
Before the boulder could hit him, Superman flew straight through the boulder, slicing it into two pieces and falling on either side of the man, missing him entirely.
Superman flew to the man and easily lifted the rock off of him, picking him up and flying him out of the canyon.
"T-Thank you," said the man.
"You're a researcher?" asked Superman, looking at the logo on the man's uniform: The Lexcorp insignia.
"Yeah. I'm Dr. Jones. Rudy Jones," he said, as Superman brought him to safety.
"What were you doing there?" asked Superman.
"Our team found an…artifact down there. An ancient artifact. I was investigating the area for any more similar artifacts in the area when the place started to collapse on me," replied Rudy.
"Take care," said Superman. "And tell Lex Luthor to be more careful about where he sends his researchers. Smallville Canyon is known to be dangerous," he joked, as he flew away from the scene.
Clark was finally done packing his bags, as he stared out of his window, with Metropolis in the distance. He saw the large towers piercing the sky, and wondered what it would be like to fly alongside them.
He placed both his bags near his bed, and then the Superman costume in his cupboard.
"Here I come…" he told himself, looking back at Metropolis.
"The crystal seems to be gamma-activated," said a scientist, wearing a hazmat suit. The lab was completely sterile, and at the center of it all was a purple crystal, refracting light through each its surface.
It sparkled more than any diamond and was inside a small, bulletproof glass container.
"Okay then…firing gamma radiation now," said the second scientist, as he switched on a machine, firing gamma radiation at the crystal.
"Luthor wants results, let's hope this works," said the first scientist. The crystal began to glow a bright purple, before a machine read a massive spike in radiation.
"WOAH! What was that?" asked one of the scientists.
"No idea, but it's not glowing anymore," commented the other scientist.
"It shot something else, some form of radiation. What was that?" asked the first scientist.
"According to the readings, it was a radio wave," replied the scientist.
"The hell? From gamma to radio?" asked the first scientist, stupefied.
"More like a signal," replied the scientist, a slight look of worry on his face.
"The crystal sent a signal."