Boy Scout

Dragon's own inability to truly associate human emotions at that very moment made her feel stressed.

She knew that no matter what kind of victory they would achieve here, the city would still be domed. The casualties, painful as always, continued to ramp up in the more despicable manner that their current opponent had always championed when she came down from the heavens.

Dragon glanced from one of the many cameras that her suits used to zoom their gazes at the angelic being's face. Like always it held no such emotion, completely devoid of it if anything as she waylaid destruction, chaos, and death in the most creative of manners against the populace.

She could still hear it, the radio chatter, the signal of commands as capes that volunteered from across the world did their best against the demented seraph only to be ultimately futile against the coming storm.

The A.I. was not the pessimistic sort, but she could not help but think deep down in her systems that each and every fight against the Endbringers was just a slow stretch toward the inevitable. She did not give up, nor did she plan to, but as she stared while relaying orders, feedback, and any sort of helpful info to the defenders, all their efforts were futile since there seems to be no end in sight to the complete destruction or defeat of these monstrosities.

Nevertheless, she wished to still hope.

Determined to see that as a hero, she would do her best to try and find that solution, hard as it was.

While she lamented those thoughts it was as if Simurgh herself had been listening to her internal monologue, the seraph had unleashed her scream again as her servers counted the number of those in the red zone amongst the defenders rise.

Chatter on the radio rose in prominence as friends and foes alike panicked.

She detected the Legend fly out of range for a moment as she saw Eidolon recycle his powers to try and combat the growing tinker-tech that the Endbringer was constructing right in front of her.

Alexandria howled commands in the radio as she flew in trying to slow the process down as a bright light with the readings of gravity-based energy emerged from Eidolon.

The battle escalated quite a bit, but the Simurgh looked undisturbed.

Her serene face continued to stay still upon her contraption, confident as ever that no harm would ever come to her fully.

Dragon's suits converged to help with all the other blasters in the area to try and help as she continued to scan and understand what the Endbringer was creating until she detected a sudden…

Presence that blipped seemingly into existence right beside one of her suits that were not engaged in the current fight.

Her servos instantly turned towards the newcomer. Their presence was as mundane and unimpressive as it could get.

Especially since the stranger had sneezed rudely towards where her face would be in the suit.

"Excuse me, ma'am. It seems I've caught the sniffles."

Dragon looked at the man as if trying to blink in surprise. He was very odd. He wore a simple costume, form-fitting, but the texture and look of his overall blue body suit were almost akin to pajamas in style and texture. He had his red underwear out while buckled in by a gold or yellow belt as well as a simple red cloth acting as his cape.

If anything, the most distinctive part of his entire costume was the fact that he had a simple red and yellow shield on his chest. An S being at the center of it all.

Also… she noticed quickly and instantly that the man had no mask on.

His bare face crinkled a bit due to the almost comical red color of his sinuses. He even attempted to cover his nose up with his hands as his handsome yet plain face looked at her.

He waved in a friendly manner as Dragon continued to stare.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm sure even heroes such as yourself can catch colds. For me, I hate to say that this damned cold got me while I was on the way here. The Ort Cloud is pretty cold as it is a few minutes ago, had to wade through a thick mist of ice particles as I flew my way here."

Dragon, oddly enough did not get to process what the man had just said…

Nor if she could at all, given the claims he made.

"Doesn't matter… I believe you people need help? Well, I finally arrived on the scene madam, and from the looks of it, just in time to fix the mess that our naughty bird here has made."

Quickly and figuratively she shook her head to return what semblance of sanity there was left in the current situation and looked at the man with a much more straightened and professional manner of conduct.

"Sir, I terribly advise that you find something to cover your face, or better yet you should go down to the nearest command hub and get affiliated with the standard protocol and gear when facing the Simurgh. There is a great risk of you being open enough as it is and a danger if you ever succumb to her wiles."

The man scratched his nose again and nodded.

"I see. We are in international soil after all so laws do apply differently… but I can't turn my head when danger and lives are at stake, so why don't I do you all a favor and help regardless?" the man offered with a smiling and hopeful face, as if he was not taking this seriously but at the same time his voice was as genuine as it could get. He also offered a hand towards her… "Do we have a deal?"

Dragon stared at the outstretched hand, thinking if this was a joke.

"What?"

An explosion roared behind them both as the man's face turned into a frown. Then the man puffed his face, anticipating a sneeze once more as he covered his mouth and nose.

He seemed to be failing at stopping at the inevitable sneeze.

Dragon started to lose focus in her conversation against the strange man as she heard that the Simurgh was now starting to escalate her attacks after Eidolon pulled on a powerful Blaster power.

The radio chatter rose up in activity again. She then faced the man once more but was doing her best to multitask. "Sir we should get you down there to-

"ACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUU!"

The sound echoed across miles further down the entirety of the Oceanian continent.

It was like the thunderstrike of Zeus calling down the power of the Heavens…

But was constrained to a single sneeze.

Everything had quieted down to the smallest decibel as Dragon and everyone else in Canberra stared in silence at her very position.

What was apparent to everyone else, however, was the fact that the skies were now clear.

There was no tinker-tech machine of doom.

And most importantly, there was no Simurgh, nor any trace of the Endbringer at all in the city.

"What the f-" someone intoned into the radio, breaking the silence as Dragon stared at the now clear sky and tried to rewind her footage over what had happened.

A second ago the Simurgh and her weapon were just over there in the distance, a frame later it was like she was annihilated completely from existence when the powerful sneeze was heard across the entire continent.

Oddly enough, any capes that were near the Endbringer were unharmed. From civilians to the volunteers of the fight, everyone was safe.

But the Simurgh had just straight up vanished.

Dragon turned her head over the man closest to the suit where she was currently inhabiting.

If she could react at all as a human, this would be the most shocking moment that she had ever experienced ever since her inception.

"Agh… this damned cold. I hate it. I think I should consult a doctor about it or two… maybe Lex can help. But he's in prison though, hm… I'll have to find something in the Fortress I guess." The man nonchalantly said before realizing that he was being stared at.

"Hm?"

Dragon continued to stare in incredulity as she heard her comm system ping her.

"Dragon, what happened? Who is that man?" she heard Alexandria's voice come out of it as the man smiled sheepishly.

"Oh dear, I made such a mess didn't I?" the man then suddenly perked up, striking a pose and outstretching both of his hands forward. "Never fear! As a hero, I will do my best to fix and save the city! Mark my words, fair lady." He reassured her as suddenly from the man's fingertips, he seemingly produced smaller versions of himself that just blinked into existence in a number that made her question if it was a stranger effect…

Or if the Simurgh had triumphed in some odd way that left everyone present in this strange state.

The strange man's clones flew around the city at speeds that were not visible to the naked eye as they saved, fixed, and even downright HEAL every man, woman, and child that were affected by the attack.

Seconds later, the strange man then recalled every single clone he had back towards him and then from his eyes, he produced a rainbow-like beam that spread across the entire city…

Much to the shock of everyone involved, suddenly the entirety of Canberra had been returned to its former state as it once was.

Literally, before the attack had taken place.

"What in the world?" Dragon heard Legend say as the radio chatter once again rose up.

Everything was fixed.

Everything. Even down to the casualties.

Even those who were dead were back and living.

It was as if nothing had happened.

All because one man had arrived on the scene and sneezed. Dragon slowly turned the head of her drone back towards the stranger.

The man was smiling hopefully and peacefully even with his red sinuses.

"There we are. Everything's now okay fellow heroes and civilians. I bid you all a good day for Superman's work is never done." The man then started to float upwards into the sky as Dragon stared while the Triumvirate and whoever was in charge shouted at her to stop the man.

The man waved at her with a salute as he raised his hands upward…

And flew, breaking the sound barrier with a loud bang.

While she still heard him say, "Until next time folks!"

"…"

As the moment passed, Dragon questioned herself if a system check was in line with her schedule that day, all the while when the Triumvirate flew towards her.

Was this what being high on drugs felt like?


SOMEWHERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

Taylor heard the familiar sound of the plants in her backyard being shuffled by the wind.

She frowned as she placed the book that she was reading very seriously down on her lap. She then crossed her arms in disappointment as the pile of books beside her, surprisingly had not fallen from their barely standing pile.

The man that she had waited for more than an hour at this moment landed smoothly with an apologetic face. He looked embarrassed if anything.

"You're late."

The man winced at her voice.

"I deeply apologize my dear girl. Was busy trying to get a gift that would cheer you up that I managed to do a few detours."

"Uh-huh… you always excuse that. I thought you promised that you would read and critique with me. It was your idea that we should make a book club. Even if it's just the two of us right now." She sadly said.

The man placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, cheer up. Pa always said that to start somewhere means that you have to be patient. We will get others to join your book club soon, and of course, that means you will get new friends. A young woman such as yourself should find healthy relationships to foster a good outlook in life, so even if we start small now, I know deep in my heart we can reach something big and genuine in the future."

Taylor huffed at him as he sat right in front of her, taking a book from the pile.

It was the Twelve Labors of Heracles.

"You're such a dork. Though I wish I was as hopeful as you."

"Hope is a great thing Taylor, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies." The man said with a comforted expression.

She then sarcastically laughed. "You just ripped off a movie."

The man then huffed himself with a small chuckle as both started to read their books.

"I resent that, I'm pretty sure I came up with it first."

"Sure… you go believe that Boy Scout."

"I find that as a compliment Taylor." The man proudly said.

"Yeah… yeah, read your book 'Superman'."

The man smiled as his charge eventually grinned behind the book she was reading. He was proud. She was ultimately getting better with her outlook on life.

Hopefully, he can do the same in this small world.


AN: If you can't tell, this is Silver-Age Superman with a dash of good things that came with every version that came forward. I don't know if I wish to continue this due to its very obvious crack nature, but hey, that was made that bygone age of comics so zany and fun regardless of the weirdness that came with each story. I hope you guys enjoyed as much as I had writing this.

Also... no, Taylor did not summon Superman and no, he isn't a projection.