The SR-71 Blackbird, the world's fastest aircraft, holds the world record for speed for traveling at Mach 3.3, or roughly 2200mph. It could make the trip from Metropolis to the outer fringes of the Antarctica in just less than six hours.
Superman was there in twenty-three minutes.
The icy landscape was a blur beneath him. Mountains of snow and ice whipped past as he sped towards the Ronne Ice Shelf. While he had traveled the world numerous times, had been to each and every continent, and had studied the world from the vantage of space on numerous occasions, Superman was admittedly not very familiar with the frozen landscape beneath him. He didn't have many reasons to visit Antarctica. He was, in fact, flying blind, relatively speaking.
He reached the area he recognized as the Ronne Ice Shelf, and then adjusted his course, heading northeast. Not sure of the facilities location, he combined his telescopic and x-ray vision and searched the horizon for any signs of an explosion.
He saw the storm then.
Swollen clouds blocked out the sun, cast ominous shadows over the landscape, and battered the terrain with snow, hail, and icy wind. One moment, the storm was a hundred miles away. The next, Superman was flying headlong through the blizzard. Hail the size of basketballs smashes harmlessly against his invulnerable frame. Icy wind went unnoticed. The sub-zero temperature was a distant thought.
His mind was on one thing and one thing only: Finding the facility. Finding Lois.
And then he saw it.
He slowed to a hover and hung in the air above it.
The crater stretched out beneath him like a great scar on the landscape. It reached fifty miles in every direction. The bottom, which Superman guessed was nearly a quarter-mile deep, was completely covered with water. Closer look revealed the scattered corpses of a dozen different species of Antarctic aquatic life.
Superman slowly descended towards the destruction. His heart was pounding, both from the physical exertion of the flight and the fear he felt for his wife. There was no sign of life. Nothing moved, save for the driving snow and the howling wind. No sign of the facility remained.
"If Lois was here when it exploded…" he thought grimly.
Superman pushed the though from his mind and flew further down. He scanned the crater with his x-ray vision, turning slowly in a tight circle as he descended.
As he grew closer to the bottom, he could see other objects floating in the water. There was a vehicle of some sort; small and half hidden in the snow and water; perhaps a snow mobile. Not to far away, there was something larger, a truck of some kind. As he got closer, Superman could see large tires and other chucks of metal scattered here and there. But there was no sign of Lois, or anyone else for that matter…
And then he saw it.
There, in the darkness, and the snow, and the gloom, and the wind; he saw it. Small and frail, charred and black and burnt beyond belief. A human skeleton; resting against a chuck of ice floating in the water; it's lower half absent. And that's when he began to see the others. It was like his brain was trying to protect him from it all, but now that he had seen the first; he could not help but to see the rest.
Over two dozen of them; all floating beneath the surface of the icy water. All lost to him. All dead.
And Lois…
A wave of nausea hit Superman like a physical thing. His eyes rolled in his head and his vision swam. He vaguely felt the sensation of falling before the water enveloped him. The freezing sensation hit him like a thousand needles penetrating his body all at once. He tried to yell but swallowed water. He tried to fly up, but barely managed to rise three feet. He swam for the surface, but suddenly, his arms felt heavy and tired. He kicked his legs with all his might, but if felt as if he was moving in slow motion and the surface seemed to be growing further away.
His body screamed for air, a feeling Superman rarely experienced. It was followed by another sensation that was alien to him; panic.
He kicked and reached and pulled with all his might. But it wasn't enough. His strength was gone. His energy was fading, and his body was running out of air.
He was drowning.
He closed his eyes tight, and saw her there. Her blue-grey eyes looking back at him; her bright smile beckoning him, her radiant skin, soft features, and indomitable spirit calling to him.
"Lois…" he whispered in his mind.
He reached for her, but missed. He tried again, and swore he could feel his fingertips brush the soft skin of her cheek. He reached for her again and again and again. But each time he did, she seemed to be just out of reach.
He reached again, his hand intent on finding her, touching her, holding her close.
His fingers wrapped around something solid, and hard, and cold.
Superman opened his eyes and saw the large chunk of ice floating on the surface of the water. He squeezed it and pulled hard. His head broke the surface of the water and he inhaled deep and coughed hard. His vision was swimming, his head was pounding, and his heart was like a hammer in his chest. He felt feverish and frozen to the bone all at the same moment. He tried to pull himself up on the ice, but he felt weaker than he'd ever felt before.
He felt like he was being exposed to kryptonite.
Superman took a deep breath and with every remaining bit of his fading energy, he pulled. He pulled as hard as he could. He pulled with everything he had. He pulled with force of will and desperation and hope and the complete and utter refusal to ever give up. He pulled his body from the freezing water and onto the floating ice block.
And there he lay.
His was completely exhausted. His strength was gone. His powers were gone.
And as his vision faded; as tears began to fall from his eyes and turn to ice before they could leave his cheeks; as darkness consumed him; Superman slowly realized he may be about to die.
Only one thought floated through his mind, more terrifying and gut wrenching and heartbreaking; one thought that made him feel like he was already dead.
Lois was gone.