"I'm Doctor Thaddeus Sivana. As CEO of Sivana industries, I know a thing or two about business. That is exactly what Washington needs. A business man to shake up the whole institution and make the American people feel safe again. I support Lex Luthor for president.
Darkseid sits on his throne within his chambers. He is joined by Granny Goodness and his son, Kalibak. DeSaad enters.
"DeSaad, what news do you have for me?" Darkseid asks.
"Lord Darkseid, I was checking in on Earth, and I noticed something." DeSaad says.
"What is it?" Darkseid asks, impatiently.
"A flyer I saw, for a performance." DeSaad says.
"What interest is this of to mine?" Darkseid asks.
"Well you see sir, it's the performer, he's calling himself Mr. Miracle, and his assistant is, Big Barda." DeSaad says.
Darkseid grits his teeth. Big Barda was previously one of Granny Goodness's furies, an elite group of female warriors on Apokolips. If Barda was now doing these circus shows on Earth, there was no doubt in Darkseid's mind who Mr. Miracle was. Darkseid's adopted son, Scott Free. Scott was offered to Darkseid in exchange for Darkseid's own son, Orion. This set forth an uneasy truce between Apokolips and New Genesis. Bringing an end to centuries of war.
"How do you want to respond to this revelation?" DeSaad asks.
"You will do nothing." Darkseid says.
"Nothing, but father-" Kalibak begins.
"I have spoken. I always knew Scott would eventually escape this place; I just didn't know he would take your top fury with him." Darkseid says as he looks over at Granny.
Granny grits her teeth. Big Barda was her top fury. She had known that Barda had fallen in love with Scott, but tried to use it as a form of torture against Scott. Until Barda returned Scott's feeling and aided in his escape.
"Now all of you leave me, I have greater matters that require my attention." Darkseid says.
Kalibak huffs off. DeSaad follows him.
"He doesn't trust you." DeSaad says.
"I could get him back here. I could get both of them." Kalibak says.
"So why don't you?" DeSaad asks.
"That would be against Darkseid's orders." Kalibak says.
"Don't you want to show him you're worthy? What would show that more than taking initiative?" DeSaad asks.
Kalibak considers what DeSaad says.
"Yes, perhaps you are right." Kalibak agrees."
"Come with me, I can get you to Earth." DeSaad says.
Kalibak and DeSaad go to DeSaad's chambers. DeSaad opens a compartment in his wall and pulls out a fatherbox.
"This can get you to Earth." DeSaad says.
Kalibak smirks as he takes the box. He intends on making his father proud.
Clark and Lois enter the AmerTek Arena. They are there to see the performance of Mr. Miracle. Clark has to write a review of it for the Planet. The two figured it would also make a good date night. They needed one night away from all the crazy events recently.
"So this is the second guy to hold the Mr. Miracle moniker?" Clark asks.
"Apparently, they're saying he's supposed to be the best escape artist since Zatara." Lois says.
"I'm gonna go get food, what do you want?" Clark asks.
"Two chili dogs, a soft pretzel, and a diet soda." Lois responds.
Lois heads to their seats. Clark heads to the concessions.
"Can I get three chili dogs, two soft pretzels, one large diet soda, and one regular." Clark says.
"That'll be fifty-two dollars." The cashier says.
Clark was taken aback by the price. He was suddenly glad he wasn't paying for an apartment anymore as he had mainly moved to the Fortress of Solitude full time.
Clark joins Lois in their seats. The lights dim. A spotlight hits the stage and a tall woman wearing a sexy ring leader costume walks on.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you the world greatest escape artist, Mr. Miracle!" She says.
Smoke engulfs the stage. As it dissipates, a silhouette of a man appears. The man steps out and is covered from head to toe in a red and yellow costume. He is also wearing a green cape. His hands are above his head in handcuffs. He turns his wrists and the handcuffs open, freeing his hands. The audience cheers.
"Thank you, thank you." He says.
"Welcome to the show, I am Mr. Miracle, and this beautiful lady is my assistant Barda." Mr. Miracle says.
"My first act will be a classic, the straight jacket." He says.
Barda fits him into the jacket and cinches it tight. In under two minutes he is free. These tricks continue, getting a little more daring each time. The audience cheers on, even Clark is impressed. He tries to not use his x-ray vision as he doesn't want the illusion somehow spoiled.
In downtown Metropolis a boom tube opens. Kalibak walks out from it. He walks right into the middle of the street. A car honks as it approaches him. Kalibak strikes at the car completely smashing its front end. He looks up and sees signs for Mr. Miracle's show. He snarls as he heads in the direction of the signs.
"For my final trick, Barda will chain me up with thirteen locks. I will then hang upside down in this tank of water." Mr. Miracle says.
The audience watches on as Barda preps Mr. Miracle for the stunt. She lowers him into the tank. The audience hold their breath along with him. They see one lock unhook from the chains. Then two, then three.
Suddenly the doors smash open.
"Found you!" Kalibak yells.
"Is this part of the show?" Lois asks.
"I'm guessing not." Clark says as he runs off.
Kalibak rushes to the stage. He knocks over the tank, shattering it on the ground.
"Think you can hide here?" Kalibak says.
Mr. Miracle coughs on the ground. He is out of the water, but he is still restrained. The audience panics as they head for the exits. Kalibak winds up for a punch. His arm is grabbed by Barda. She'd rather not reveal her powers, but she'll do so to protect her love.
"Traitor!" Kalibak yells.
He swings at Barda. She puts her arms up in defense. Before Kalibak can strike, Barda is flown away as Superman speeds in. Kalibak hits the ground and falls through the stage.
"Are you okay?" Superman asks Barda.
"I'm fine, but Scott-" She says.
Mr. Miracle is flopping on the ground as he continues to try and free himself. Kalibak crawls out of the hole he created and back onto the stage. He heads for Mr. Miracle. Superman cuts him off.
"You- I'll kill you!" Kalibak howls.
"Who are you?" Superman asks.
Kalibak swings a left hook at Superman, but Superman catches his arm. Kalibak swings with his right arm, but Superman blocks that too. Superman swings and hits Kalibak in his jaw.
Barda rushes over to Mr. Miracle.
"Scott, are you okay?" She asks.
"I'm almost free." He says.
Classic Scott, his life is in danger, but he's worried about the trick, Barda thinks to herself. She picks him up and runs off.
This leaves just Superman and Kalibak battling it out in the arena. Superman notices that Kalibak's punches are wild and random. He thinks to his own training with Kaire. Kalibak may be powerful, but he is very untrained. This gives Superman and edge in their fight. Kalibak swings again and again, he gets an occasional strike to land, but Superman can take it. The two brawl out of the main venue and into the concession area. The building has been evacuated.
Kalibak punches Superman back through the glass of the concessions counter. He smashes through the pretzel display. Kalibak lunges forward on top of him. He begins whaling away on Superman. Superman has his arms up in an attempt to block. Finally, he is able to push Kalibak off. Superman returns to his feet. He charges at Kalibak and the two blast through a wall into the bathroom. They both get back to their feet. Kalibak grabs Superman's head and bashes it into the sink, breaking the sink off the wall. Kalibak then grabs the broken remains of the sink and lifts it over his head. He prepares to hit Superman with it.
"Enough!" A voice says.
Kalibak's arm is grabbed as he looks over and sees Barda. Kalibak smacks her away. He turns back to Superman, who was back on his feet. Superman punches Kalibak once more in the jaw. This staggers Kalibak back as a boom tube opens. Kalibak falls back through the tube.
"NOOOO!" He yells as he is sucked in.
Superman looks over at Barda.
"Are you okay?" He asks as he helps her to her feet.
"I'm fine." Barda says.
"What was that?" Superman asks, suspecting Barda knows something.
"Trouble." Barda says, as she turns to walk away.
"Hey wait, I have more questions." Superman says as he grabs Barda by the wrist.
Barda turns around and punches Superman square in the jaw, knocking him on his butt.
"Don't touch me." Barda says.
"Barda, please. No more fighting." Mr. Miracle says as he enters the bathroom.
"Sorry." She says to Superman.
Superman gets back to his feet. He hadn't expected Barda to hit so hard.
"Who are you two, you're clearly not from Earth." Superman says.
"Superman please, we're from Apokolips." Mr. Miracle says.
"Apokolips!" Superman reacts. He recalled everything that Lois had told him. That was where the Cyborg Superman was created. The planet that decimated Mars.
"Are you warriors?" Superman asks.
"She was, I was more of a prisoner." Mr. Miracle says.
Superman's eyes widen.
"Superman please. She helped free me, brought me to Earth." Mr. Miracle says.
"We want nothing more than to live a regular life." Barda says.
Superman often longed for that himself. He nods and lets them go.
Kalibak falls at Darkseid's feet.
"You disappoint me Kalibak." Darkseid says.
"Father, please." Kalibak pleads.
"Do not call me that. You will be off to the pits until I feel like seeing you again." Darkseid says.
"Why father, why do you continue to ignore an assault on Earth?" Kalibak asks.
"The takeover of Earth is too important a task to leave to you. It was under High Father's protection following our truce. But with Scott leaving my planet, I consider that truce null. I have other planets that were under New Genesis protection to concern myself with first." Darkseid says.
Darkseid's eyes glow red and he shoots his Omega beams at Kalibak. They teleport Kalibak to the pits of Apokolips.
"Father, NOOO!" Kalibak yells out, to no one.
The next day at work, Lois and Clark are discussing what occurred last night. They both got a story out of last nights show. Clark reviewed what he could of the show, and Lois covered Superman's latest battle.
"The planet Apokolips is coming up more and more." Clark says.
"I've noticed, do you think more of these warriors will come to Earth?" Lois asks.
"I wouldn't doubt it, I'll have to talk with the League about it." Clark says.
Lois, Clark, good work on those latest stories. It's great to have my two best reporters back again." Perry says as he walks by.
"You can count on us chief." Lois says.
Steve Lombard walks by next.
"Can you believe it?" He asks.
"What?" Clark asks back.
"Thanks to the damage to the AmerTek Arena, the Metros have to play their first month of home games on the road. I'm going to have to travel all over the country." Steve says.
"Don't they open up against the Heat in Miami?" Lois asks.
"Yes, yes they do. Okay maybe this can work." Steve says as he walks off.
Lois and Clark smile at each other as they both get back to work. Clark then frowns, knowing a conflict with Apokolips is eventually coming.