Superman: Mythos

by Jaxumus

Summary:

A series of misfortunate events lead to Superman’s exile and imprisonment at the hands of Queen Maxima, in another one of her ploys to attain her very own super-heir. What follows and precedes is the Man of Steel’s most mythic adventure yet. Thrills, feats, and fun culminate in an epic for the ages. Truly following in the footsteps of heroes of old, Superman supplants himself as the definitive American Myth.

Chapter 1: Red Dusk

Summary:

Clark finds himself stranded on a red moon with none other than the villainous Queen Maxima.

Superman: Mythos #1 “Red Dusk”

A red sun burned in the sky. It seared the clouds and the scorched earth below in its unrepenting crimson hue. It covered the already rust-colored peaks and dry canyons, the vast stretches of desert and empty basins. On one such red crag, the last son of Krypton stood alone.

His face was weathered, not with age, but with weary. Like the red ground his boots tread, his skin was cracked, his lips were dry. His bright blue eyes were sunken and shadowed. His dark hair had grown long and unkept, furling down into a thick, greasy beard that hid his chin. His iconic suit had not fared much better. It was ripped and tattered, cut away at the shoulders and knees. The remains of his cape he wore across his shoulders, covering one arm like a western shawl. Instead, what flowed forth from his shoulders, flapping in the sand-packed wind, was no cape, but a fur. It was the skin of a once great beast, whose lion-like mane he wore as a hood. And strung to his golden belt, was a shimmering steel sword, Amazonian in its craft. The House of El’s crest still remained, displayed proudly across his chest. All hope was yet to be lost.

A dozen or so yards behind him, an emerald-clad feminine figure approached. She walked with an inflated swagger, her yellow cape and fiery hair flowing to her side. The wicked grin of conquest was painted across her face. As she came near, Clark’s head hung low and his eyes closed in defeat. His fists clenched, but they held nowhere near enough power to stand against her’s. She came up beside him and wrapped her arms tightly around his bicep. She smirked up at him, but his solemn gaze held firm. She tugged him away from the cliffside he stood upon and led him back from whence she came. Lady Maxima, Queen of Almerac finally had the Man of Steel all to herself. 

The two made their way towards a building in the distance, a massive metallic fortress built into the side of a red mountain. It was a military base of some kind that now lay deserted and in disrepair. Once inside, Clark found himself again looking out onto the horizon. The red sun now began to dip beneath the distant mountain peaks, blanketing the Mars-like terrain in warm violet. With the light of the hostile star fading, the image of a ringed planet became clear, filling nearly half the sky. He knelt on a cold metal window sill, as the last of the crimson light cut through the darkness of the makeshift master bedroom. Behind him, Maxima lay lounging across their rather lavish bed which contrasted the bleak metal room. She let out an exaggerated sigh, as she turned her body to face him. She positioned herself suggestively, despite knowing it was for not. Unfortunately for her, his will had yet to falter as his strength had. It was truly more than physical might that made him super.

“Do you know how long it has been, Kal-El?” Maxima spoke, her sultry voice balancing on a razor’s edge, one breath away from furious anger. “And just how much longer do you intend to make me wait for my heir?”

Clark looked down, diverting his eyes from the horizon. “I’ve lost track,” he said simply.

“No you haven’t,” Maxima said, the fact made her lips curl into a grin. “You’ve counted every Earth day that’s passed without their hero, their guardian, their Superman … Ha! All because you do not wish to sully your own ego by lying with me, a barbarian ,” she paused, letting him linger on the label he once granted her. She failed to see her own actions as they were, how they now surpassed mere barbarity. She didn’t seem to care. “Every breath you take on this moon, another one of your precious humans dies on Earth. So tell me, Man of Steel . Is tonight the night you end their suffering?”

Clark sighed, stepping down from the window sill. “Very well Maxima…” he began, clutching his lion-skin cloak. Then, in a single stroke, he threw it off along with his shirt, revealing his muscular form beneath. “You win.”

Maxima’s eyes widened, gazing upon the Man of Steel from top to bottom before stepping forth from the bed. She approached him hesitantly, a smile again forming. The moment she’d been waiting for had finally arrived. She bit her bottom lip and hummed with glee. “At long last…You come to your senses, Superman…” she spoke while running her hands up his powerful arms. She leaned in close, “I will inform my people once we are finished and they will give you an escort back to that rock you call home. As promised.”

Clark said nothing. He merely accepted her embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He looked down into her vibrant green eyes, before closing his, and laying his lips upon hers.

“Mhmm…Oh?” Maxima sneered as their lips clashed. “Or perhaps you’d like to stay awhile longer…”

14 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes. That’s how long , Clark thought to himself as he laid across from Maxima. She was sprawled out, taking up most of the room on the bed and tied up in every inch of its sheets. Her hair was frazzled, her skin was moist with sweat, and her mouth lay open, drooling. She was utterly exhausted and out cold. That’s how long I’ve been trapped on this old Almeracian moon base…

Clark sat up in bed, turning to take a look at the unconscious Maxima, before getting up to dress. Slipping back into his suit and throwing his lion-skin cloak over his shoulders, he quietly exited the room. He entered a dark metal hallway, lined with rust and sand. He made his way down the hall and into another, then through yet another. 

According to what’s left of the base’s archives, this place was abandoned long ago, along with the entire star system after a failed attempt at invasion. Both sides nuked each other into oblivion, rendering every inhabitable planet and moon in the system barren and desolate.

I initially tried rewiring the comm systems, archaic as they were. But Maxima wasn’t bluffing, the base’s radio waves were only powerful enough to reach neighboring systems. And the only known inhabited one was Almerac. I was utterly alone… But, I’ve found myself in stickier situations before…

After multiple twists and turns around the maze-like facility, Clark arrived at a rattling staircase that descended into pure darkness. Though every step he took was traced, as he had walked them many times before. 

After communications were a bust, I began exploring the base for anything that might be of use. All while the good Lady Maxima slept, of course.

At the foot of the long stairwell stood a metal door, red light gleaming through its seams. An old control panel laid to its right, which had previously been busted into with its wires exposed. Clark took two of the frayed wires, a red and a blue. He tapped their copper fibers together, igniting a spark, and with it, the door slid open.

Eventually, my exploration bore fruit. I’d found my raft. Though there was still much to be done. Each night, I buried myself in my work. Teaching myself as I went. Failing mostly, succeeding where I could. In fact, it reminded me a whole lot of Pa’s old pickup. And it was just as darn stubborn. 

Nevertheless, today was the day. It had to be. Today was the day… 

Clark walked out into the dawning light, onto a rickety metal ledge. He held onto its railing and looked out upon a large hangar bay below. Sand blew in from the massive garage entrance. Across the floor, machines laid in disrepair, and parts of ships were strewn about. Yet, at the far end of the hangar, a single shuttle stood. It was seemingly complete, or at least all in one piece, with a tarp draped over its body. Sitting beside it were freshly used tools and recently scavenged parts, along with barrels of stale fuel.

…I would fly again.

Clark slid down an old ladder and landed on the dusty hangar floor, beginning to make his way towards the shuttle. A slight smile managed to form on his weathered face as he came up beside his project. Taking both hands, he clutched the tarp and pulled it off the shuttle. It was a hunk of junk, barely held together by scraps, loose bolts, and exposed wiring. It was small, more of a missile than a full-blown rocket. It had a single, glass-covered cockpit with a cramped seat inside facing a simplistic control column. Clark was proud of it nonetheless. He stepped forth onto the ladder leading into the open cockpit. This was it, his moment had arrived.

“Kal-El!” Maxima roared.

Clark lowered his chin before he turned, one foot mounted on the edge of the cockpit, fully prepared to board. He saw her in the corner of his eye, standing atop the ledge overlooking the hangar. He could sense her anger boiling over, but he neither had the strength nor time to deal with it.

“What is it you think you are doing?!” She shouted, her fists crushing the metal railing she leaned upon.

Clark then turned to face her fully, his face calm and neutral. “I was just leaving, your highness,” he said in equal measure.

Maxima growled before leaping down from the ledge and landing on the hangar floor with massive force, giving the ground a shake. She stood and unsheathed her sword before preparing to charge at Clark. “Foolish Kryptonian. Don’t you understand? Here you are powerless against me! Lady Maxima! Ruler of all Almerac! You’ll regret this treasonous act!”

As she approached, Clark lifted up a make-shift detonator device in his hand. His expression shifted to one of anger, but not an overbearing rage, rather one of disappointment. “I’d say it’s been fun but…” He said solemnly. “It hasn’t.” He pressed the button on the detonator. A click sounded, followed by the sound of a charging battery. Then, suddenly, the floor Maxima ran upon lit up with sparks. Maxima screamed in pain as she was viciously shocked by the sudden surge of electricity. Half the floor of the hangar had been wired like an electric fence, and she was the wild dog.

Clark tossed the detonator to the side, his safety measure proving effective against the warrior queen. He then stepped fully into the shuttle’s cockpit, the glass shield sealing him in. With a few flips of nobs and button presses on the control column, the rockets ignited. The force abruptly jolted the shuttle forward, Clark having to adjust his steering so as to not careen into the floor. “Not to worry, just another spaceship…” Clark said to himself, angling the shuttle skyward. Behind him, fire from the engines engulfed the back of the hangar, melting the walls and burning the various ship parts. A few small explosions went off, with bigger ones no doubt to follow. The sudden destruction disabled his electrical field, freeing Maxima. She fell to her knees, her body sizzling with lingering heat. She snapped her head up to see Clark deliver a friendly wave, before pushing forward on the shuttle’s steering. In another fiery blast from the engines, his shaky ship launched forth. It flew out of the hangar and into the red sky, pieces of metal already shearing off its rusty body.

Maxima growled with anger, leaping to her feet and following the shuttle’s trail of smoke outside the hangar. She ran out onto the crimson desert sand, watching as he flew higher and higher into the moon’s atmosphere. She gave chase, but it was no use, he soon vanished out into open space. Maxima halted and activated the Almeracian communication device on her wrist.

“Come in High Council, this is your Queen. My betrothed has escaped. I require immediate evac,” Maxima radioed in, back to her homeworld. She paused for a moment when there wasn’t an immediate reply. “Ahem, I repeat, this is Queen Maxima requesting immediate evacuation!”

 

Meanwhile, in the pale green skies above Almerac, an armada of warships hovered. Each one crude in its sharp black and gray design, contrasting the classical architecture of the city below. Inside the royal palace, sat the invader prince on Maxima’s throne, De’cine of the Krenon Empire. He was a towering brute, with four arms, each enhanced by cybernetic modifications. Over his hulking body, he wore even bulkier armor with metal plating and furs around his collar and waist. His face was ghoulish, his eyes in a perpetual scowl while his mouth was crammed with shark-like teeth that formed an unnerving smile. By his side sat Sazu, Maxima’s once-loyal handmaiden. Now she wore one of her former mistress’ ceremonial white dresses and sat contently beside the warlord as he stroked her pink beads of hair. The rest of the court was filled with the Almerac High Council, half of which were replaced upon De’cine’s arrival, while the half that remained welcomed the change in leadership.

“I repeat- zzt -Queen Maxima -zzt -requesting evacuation!” The speakers of the palace’s communications terminal echoed throughout the throne room. The Almeracian comms worker sat at the terminal in silence, letting the message play through. De’cine growled with delight but ceased once he watched Sazu rise and make her way over to the terminal.

“What do you think you are doing, my Queen ?” He spoke, his voice just as monstrous as his appearance.

“Something I should have done a long time ago, my love,” Sazu said, pressing the transceiver on the terminal controls, and initiating communication with the wayward queen. “I’m sorry, your highness… but the council has decided to extend your stay in the Pautovi System. Enjoy your little Kryptonian vanity project. I assure you, Almerac is now in much greater hands.”

Notes:

"This is an imaginary story... Aren't they all?" - Alan Moore

But it is one based upon ancient Greek mythology as much as it is upon DC comics, if not more so. Specifically the works of Homer, namely The Odyessy. With this Superman story, I hope to go beyond little nods and direct parallels to the many trials and tribulations of the mythical hero, Odysseus (though there are many, bonus points if you can spot them all). I wanted to write this tale because I thought the Man of Steel was deserving of such an epic. You see, I do not see Superman as merely a comic book character. He has grown into something so, so much more. He is a myth, in the same vein as Heracles himself. As such, this is not an origin story or an 'evil Superman' story, as I'm sure we're all sick of at this point. No, this is an American Myth...

Chapter 2: The Many Suitors of Metropolis

Summary:

Supergirl joins the search for Clark.

Superman: Mythos #2 “The Many Suitors of Metropolis”

Every second that went by was like a century. Kara’s hand felt as if it were concrete as she dragged it slowly across the paper, painstakingly tracing out every stroke of every letter with her pencil. The words she wrote had been predetermined an hour ago, as soon as she glanced upon the page. She could have completed the entire thing in half a second if she wanted to, but no, Kara was forced to pace her mid-term marketing exam. Lest she raise suspicion among her college classmates, she had to try to ignore her powers and complete the exam within a reasonable time frame. The process was painful, to say the least, and she wondered how the hell her cousin Clark could do it nearly every single day at the Planet.

About two hours into the exam period, Kara’s ears perked up when she heard a chair move in the back of the class. Finally, a kid had finished before her. Once he passed in his test, Kara began writing faster. And faster. And faster. Until she slapped her pencil down onto her desk, the tip smoldering from the intense friction. “Done,” She said beneath her breath, lifting up the finished exam with a smile. With a proud puff in her chest, she left her desk and walked up to the front of the class to hand in her work to the professor.

The professor smiled meekly and nodded at her, adding her test to his hefty stack of papers. “Have a nice break, Miss Danvers,” he said with a sigh, knowing his break would be full of menial grading.

“Same to you, Dr. Johnson!” Kara said, overly cheerful as she turned and ran out the door. She sprinted down the halls and finding the stairwell empty, flew down its many flights to the bottom floor. Soon she burst out of the building and onto the campus quad. “Spring Break! Whoohoo!” She cried aloud, opening her arms towards the simmering yellow sun above, not a cloud in the sky.

“Kara! Kara over here!” A voice called from further up the quad. Kara contained herself and made her way over to her friend Marvin White who was standing beside a familiar-looking red-haired kid. While Kara was in a rush to get back to her dorm and pack, she decided to humor the boys. Both were cute after all, in a major dorky kind of way. Plus the redhead intrigued her, she could have sworn she’d seen him somewhere else before, not just here on campus.

“Hey, Marv! Done with classes? I just got out of my last midterm, it was brutal,” Kara said.

“Tell me about it,” the redhead butted in, his voice nasally, but full of confidence and swagger that he somehow managed to pull off.

“Sure am! Oh and this is-” Marvin began.

“Name’s Wally, Wally West. And the pleasure is all mine,” the redhead said with a toothy grin.

“I didn’t even… never mind, nice to meet you, Wally. Hey, have we met before?” Kara asked, still trying to pin down where she’d seen that smug freckled face.

“I don’t think we have, I just transferred. And trust me, I wouldn’t forget a face like yours,” Wally said with a wink.

Marvin quickly elbowed Wally’s arm and continued, “Say Kara, Wally and I are planning to head up to my lake house this weekend, wanna tag along?”

“Oh Marv I’d love to but-” Kara began, but she was interrupted by an obnoxiously loud ringtone.

“Oop, sorry guys, gotta take this. It’s my aunt,” Wally said, taking out his phone and stepping aside to answer it. After a brief dialog, he turned back to Kara and Marvin, “Sorry Marv buddy, can we raincheck the lake house? Turns out my um, uncle’s friend, um, needs me to cover for him at work… yeah…” Kara and Marvin looked at each other then back to Wally as he fumbled through his excuse. “Well uh, gotta flash!” And with that, he sped away.

Marvin sighed, “Quite the character, ain’t he?” He tried to put on a smile for Kara as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

“I hate to leave you like this Marv, but I’m busy over break too,” Kara said, trying to console him. “I’m staying with my cousin in Metropolis, remember?”

“Oh yeah, your internship at the Planet,” Marvin said looking down.

“Y-yeah, my internship, exactly,” Kara said, only now remembering the specifics of her cover story. “Take care Marv.” Kara leaned in and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek before leaving as well.

Kara rushed through campus, skipping as she went, taking in the sweet springtime air. Well, as sweet as midwestern late March could be. Eventually, she made it back to her dorm, where she began to pack her things. Her roommate, Wendy Harris, watched from her bed as Kara frantically stuffed her suitcase full of nearly all her clothes. Wendy slouched down in her bed, putting her phone to the side and letting out a sigh.

“Prob Wendy?” Kara asked while continuing to pack.

“Oh nothing,” Wendy said, pausing for a moment. “Well actually, that’s just it. Nothing . I’m doing nothing over break, and look at you, bigtime city girl over here.”

“Wen, it’s really not that big a deal,” Kara said, climbing over the top of her crammed suitcase in order to zip it closed. “Say, you like lakes? And houses by any chance?”

“Um, yes?” Wendy said, leaning over the side of her bed, and raising her brow up at Kara.

“You know Marvin right?” Kara asked.

“White? That dork, he’s kinda cute I guess…” Wendy pondered.

“Exactly!” Kara said, hopping to her feet with a sealed suitcase at her side. “I’ll give you his number, oh, and ask about the lake house.”

“Okay…” Wendy said, noticing Kara acting stranger than usual and she was a strange girl to start.

“Anyway girl, I gotta fly,” Kara said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and rolling her suitcase to the door. “Byeee!”

Kara took the back exit of her dorm, emptying out into a quiet courtyard between two buildings. With no one else around, she looked down at her top, it was a cream-colored button-up that went great with her black skirt, and her brunette wig for that matter. She sighed, “Yeah, it's worth it.” She brought her hands up to her chest and ripped off her blouse to reveal the proud emblem of the House of El beneath, the symbol of Superman, of Supergirl.

Before long she took to the skies, golden hair and red cape flowing in the wind, dressed in her iconic tight blue top, red skirt, and matching knee-length boots. She held her heavy suitcase at her side with ease, juggling it as she playfully weaved through the clouds. Kara kicked back, crossed her legs, and held her hands behind her head as she just floated along, taking in all those rejuvenating yellow sun rays. Only then did she hear the distant sound of a barking dog. She perked up, it wasn’t just any old dog either. Kara eased her way back towards the ground, scanning the horizon until she saw him.

“Krypto?” None other than the Superdog himself was flying towards her at Mach speed, currently about three miles away and closing fast. Kara’s boots set down upon a vast stretch of midwestern farmland as the white hound slowed his trail, eventually descending down to a sprint. Kara knelt down, causing  Krypto to halt between her arms. “Whoa, whoa boy, what is it?” Kara asked, petting the frazzled Kryptonian pet. Krypto let out several anxious barks before flying up out of Kara’s grasp. He barked some more before staunchly aiming his snout Northeast.

“Some trouble in Metropolis aye boy?” Kara asked, flying up beside him. Krypto turned to her with a pout, his black eyes slightly watering. “Some trouble with Clark too huh?” Kara clenched her fist. “Well then, lead the way.” With a resolute bark, Krypto lunged forward into the air, breaking the sound barrier seconds later, with Kara not far behind.

The two passed over several states before gleaning the Metropolis skyline on the horizon. With her super-hearing, Kara could tell something was off. She heard a city filled with screams of terror, rampant destruction, and death. Krypto sped forward, Kara struggling to keep up as they began weaving through the buildings, escalating in size as they neared the heart of the city.

Suddenly a red-blue blur whizzed by them and slammed into the side of a building. Both Kara and Krypto halted in their tracks as a cloud of dust from the collision consumed them. When the dust began to settle, Krypto let out a bark when a hand emerged from the rubble. With an angry cry, a young man pulled himself forth from the side of the building and soon joined them in hovering high above street level. Krypto yapped with excitement, flying forth to the boy’s side. The boy growled, much like the dog beside him as he brushed the rubble off his leather jacket. And beneath that jacket, he bore the crest. 

“Superboy!” Kara cried, swooping in to hold his arm. He shook her off with a grunt but lowered his hand to pet Krypto. “W-what’s happening here?” She asked, backing away slightly to give the angst-ridden teen some space.

Superboy ran his fingers through his long greasy fohawk with a sigh before finally acknowledging Kara. “What do you think?” he asked sarcastically. “Superman’s gone. And I’m here to pick up the old man’s slack.”

“Gone?!” Kara exclaimed. “What do you mean gone ?”

“Missing, vanished, dead… Take your pick,” Superboy said with a grin. “Where’ve you been? Living under a rock or something?”

“Try midterms…” Kara said, reaching out her hand to lean against the side of the building, feeling shaky in her flight.

“Been about a month now. ‘Course the League won’t admit it,” Superboy continued. “Says he’s out on another space mission . Guess all the bad guys in town aren’t buying their BS either, hence all the chaos. Point is, I’m here now and it's time this Superboy becomes the new Superman .” As he spoke, his eyes were locked on the street corner below. There, from behind one of the buildings, lumbered a hulking purple humanoid beast. Kara knew that disgusting blob anywhere, Parasite . A villain with the power to absorb energy and powers to feed his insatiable hunger. However, Kara had never before seen him so large, he was nearly the size of an elephant at present. He must have been feeding all day long, not just on ordinary life forms, but super ones too.  

“Con-” Before Kara could finish, Superboy zoomed forward towards the supervillain. Krypto accompanied Superboy, his current owner, despite his recklessness. Kara sighed, having no choice but to follow the duo into combat.

Superboy let out a battle cry as he collided fists-first into the bloated gut of the creature. Parasite roared in pain, the impact sending him careening up the street. He then planted his heavy stump-like feet into the concrete, eventually easing his momentum to a halt. His jagged teeth and gaping mouth-hole managed to smile, his body producing an inhuman reverberation that must have correlated to laughter. “...Heh heh heh…Must be my lucky day… a Kryptonian buffet. I think I’ll save the dog for dessert…” Parasite spoke, his voice just as sick and twisted as his appearance, while he began moving forward. His lumbering walk soon transitioned to a barreling sprint upon all fours.

“How’s about a knuckle sandwich dirtbag!” Superboy said, clapping his fist into his palm before rearing back.

“Conner!” Kara yelled, getting his attention. “Why don’t we make it a two-for-one?” She grinned, holding up her own fist. Krypto barked in agreement, preparing for a headbutt. Superboy hesitated, but then firmly nodded. All three then watched as Parasite approached, now in a full-on gallop that shook the street.

“Now!” Kara cried, launching forward towards the beast. Superboy followed, and Krypto too. Together in unison, they nailed Parasite in the chin, sending him spiraling backward. His massive purple body did dozens of spins before crashing upside down through a bus stop.

“Let's finish him off!” Superboy growled, lifting a taxi up over his head. Kara nodded and the two flew up the street towards the fallen Parasite, hoping to knock him out before he regained, or stole any more strength.

Then, both Superboy and Supergirl stopped in their tracks when they saw a sudden orange laser beam blast down onto Parasite from above. They looked up to see a shimmering gold-skinned figure, clad in white with a flowing yellow cape, descending down through the air. The orange lasers were sent forth from his eyes and when he ceased their stream, a perfect smile shone on his golden face with his matching mohawk flowing in the wind. “Never fear Earthlings, for Protex , your savior, has arrived!” He announced to both Kara, Superboy, and the cowering bystanders.

“Ghah! You idiot!” Superboy shouted up at the golden being. “It consumes all forms of raw energy!” He was right, Protex’s heat vision blast merely seeped into Parasite’s purple skin and as a result, his body began to bubble into rapid growth. Superboy roared in anger, throwing his taxi to the side and rocketing towards Parasite. He swooped in from below, giving him a powerful uppercut, sending the massive creature upwards. Though soon his heavy body began to crash back towards the ground, so Superboy flew up and met Parasite with his fists. He pushed him further into the sky, screaming in anger as he flew, likely straining under the enormous weight. 

Kara watched as Superboy carried Parasite higher and higher, away from the city, so he would not cause any more damage. Krypto was quick to follow, lending his support to his owner where he could. Kara’s glare then fell upon Protex, their so-called savior. Utterly remorseless, the being merely shrugged and flew away, back into the sky above Metropolis. It was then, looking up when Kara realized the sky was filled with dozens of super-men like Protex. All of them, whizzing around, engaging in combat with Superman’s rogues across the entire city. No regard for the destruction they brought about doing so. Without Clark, the prodigious seat of Metropolis' hero was vacant, just like Superboy, they wanted the title. They wanted to be the next Superman.

“Oh Rao …” Kara said beneath her breath, the severity of the situation set in. “Where’s the Justice League when you need them?”

“Ahem,” A voice called out from behind her. “Somebody call for, the League ?”

Kara’s heart filled with relief, but when she turned, that relief puttered out into mild disappointment. Standing there in his gaudy yellow-red suit and exposed ginger hair, was none other than Kid Flash, who’d zipped in at super-speed from who knows where. He had a toothy smile across his face and a quick wink for Kara when she locked eyes with him. Kara floated down to the street and folded her arms at the arrogant speedster, she was far from impressed.

“Just wait for it, sugar,” he said, tapping his foot and checking his watch. Soon enough, from the sky above descended the big red cheese himself, Captain Marvel . The bulky man had a boyish grin across his face, so wide it made his eyes squint. He landed next to Kid Flash, standing nearly twice his size, dressed in shining gold and red, the thunderbolt of Shazam displayed proudly across his chest.

Next to the captain, a smoldering green fireball splashed onto the street from above. When the emerald flames dissipated, a tall green-haired, tan-skinned woman stood in its wake, dressed in a matching green crop top and pants. Beside her, a rush of icy wind brought with it another superheroine. She was a shorter woman with platinum hair and a pale complexion, and she dressed in a skin-tight, blue and white suit. Together the two made Fire and Ice , the marginally less dynamic duo. As a matter of fact, the whole line of heroes, Kid Flash, Captain Marvel, Fire and Ice, left something to be desired considering the situation. 

“Ta-da!” Kid Flash announced arms open wide, once they had all assembled.

“No offense guys, but doesn’t this situation kinda call for the A-team?” Kara asked, trying not to sound too ungrateful. 

“Hey! Believe it or not, without Supes, more than just Metropolis feels it. Flash has been working extra in not just Central City, but the whole midwest!” Kid Flash rebutted. “Besides, all four of us combined, we’re practically him! Cap’s got the flight and strength, Fire’s got the heat vision, Ice has the breath, and I’ve got the speed,” he said proudly while zipping around to each of the team members.

“Missing a few, but it will have to do,” Kara said, slowly beginning to hover back into the air. “You four try to get the situation on the streets under control. That means taking down the bad guys and getting the super-wannabes to stand down. If anything they’re the greater threat.”

“We’re on it, ma’am!” Captain Marvel said with a dopey salute. “B-but where will you be?”

“Yeah, could really use a Kryptonian out here that isn’t…ya know,” Kid Flash added, pointing to the sky, where Superboy had left with Parasite moments prior.

Kara looked up with distress. She sighed, then looked back down at the team. “I already have a mission. I’ve got to find my cousin, I’ve got to find Superman. And I know just who to start with.”

After the brief exchange with her discount Justice League, Kara took to the skies of Metropolis once more. She didn’t have to travel far, soon enough she came upon the tallest building in the city: LexCorp Tower. A megastructure that pierced the very clouds and whose slanted glass facade was in the shape of an L, because of course it was. She flew in close to its glass exterior, rising until she came to the top floor. She folded her arms and slowly appeared before Lex Luthor’s office window. When she came close enough to peer within, her jaw dropped. Inside, she saw the back of Lex’s shining bald head as he sat at his desk, no surprise there, but across from him, seemingly working with the genius supervillain, was none other than star-reporter Lois Lane of the Daily Planet.

Chapter 3: Lois and Jimmy Save the Planet!

Summary:

As the title suggests, Lois and Jimmy team up to save the Planet.

Superman: Mythos #3 "Lois and Jimmy Save the Planet!"

“No way, no how, Miss Lane! I’m not losing my best reporter out there to that shit storm!” Editor-in-chief Perry White of the Daily Planet barked from behind his desk while chomping on a cigar. Behind him, outside the wide windows of his office, lay Metropolis in chaos. Super-men flew about the city, zipping past the Planet in vibrant, blurry streams of their flashy multi-colored costumes. And below, the streets were lined with destruction, Superman’s foes ran rampant knowing their heinous crimes would go interrupted by the missing Man of Steel.

“A-and your best photographer, Chief,” Jimmy Olsen piped in. The lanky twenty-something, dressed in a green sweater and a bright red bowtie around his neck, was standing hesitantly beside the headstrong Lois Lane. She stood firm, wearing a purple suit and matching skirt, her dark hair in a short bob. 

“Quiet, Olsen!” Perry snapped before kicking back in his chair and lighting up another cigar.

Lois abruptly slapped her hand down onto his desk, giving the Chief a slight startle. “Listen Chief, Jimmy and I are heading out there into the thick of it and coming back with a story alright. But not only that, we’re gonna figure out where Superman is and we might just be the only ones who can get him back. Right, Jim?” Lois smirked, her violet eyes gleaming with determination.

“R-right Mrs. Lane, ‘course!” Jimmy said with a budding enthusiasm. “My trusty signal watch hasn’t been able to reach Superman for days, something bad must have happened to the big guy. I mean, we gotta do something right?”

“All those times your pal Superman’s gotten you into trouble has turned you kids mad! He’s got you thinking you’re regular Super Friends. Haven’t you heard? He’s on another one of his space missions or whachamacall’em. And don’t you worry Lane, once he's back home, I want you to get him to answer for himself, leaving us all in the dust like this, pfft,” Perry continued, turning his attention out the window, seeing an H-crested, red and yellow-suited super-man clash with one of Superman’s more infamous cybernetic foes, Metallo. The clash below managed to shake the very foundations of the Planet. Perry held firm to the edges of his desk before glaring up at Lois. “See? Besides, how’s that piece on the whosit trial coming? Hmm?”

“Come on Chief, a puff piece on a failed celebrity marriage while Metropolis is at its knees?” Lois scoffed.

“That’s right! I want it on my desk, end of the day, or you're both fired!” Perry bluffed, though his tone was enough to make Jimmy jump.

“B-but Chief,” Jimmy began.

“Out! Both of you!” Perry shooed them away. “Oh, and where the hell is Kent? I’d expect he could talk some damn sense into you two.”

“ Smallville ? In Smallville. Still visiting his parents. Thought he’d stay a few extra days until all this craziness blew over,” Lois said with a sigh, grabbing her notepad and following Jimmy out of Perry’s office.

“Hah!” Perry laughed once the pair had left. “Leave it to the farmboy to tell when storms a’ coming.”

The Planet was quiet, well, as quiet as the home of most-read paper in the city could be. Or most-read in the world as Perry liked to say. The newsroom bustled with the real go-getters, while others sat at their computers scrambling to finish deadlines. Much of the ‘lower ranks’ failed to show up the past week or so given the circumstances. As such, Jimmy was picking up most of the slack, acting as a mail boy rather than a photographer. 

“Jim,” Lois began, making her way back to her desk. “Mind getting me last week’s court records, they should be in that cabinet.” She pointed to a stack of drawers at the end of a line of desks across from hers. She then sat down at her computer, cracking her knuckles and preparing to write.

“On it, Miss Lane,” Jimmy said with a salute, making his way over to the stuffed metal filing cabinet. “Just like old times, huh? Back when I was an intern here.” Jimmy found the drawer labeled court hearings and began flipping through the files to find the most recent. 

“You still are an intern Jim,” Lois reminded him, punching in her headline.

“Hey! I’m paid,” Jimmy said, grabbing hold of the proper file and starting back towards Lois. “Per photo at least… I’m keeping my options open, besides I heard freelance is the best way to go for up-and-comers like me.”

“That’s great Jim…” Lois said, hardly listening at that point, her mind now occupied by her story. Jimmy shrugged and sat on the edge of her desk, opening the court file out of curiosity. Turning through the tenuous legal jargon, he noticed something strange, as if a small object had been stuffed between the pages. Coming to the bulge in the paper, he turned one final page to reveal a shocking sight. A little green army man was lying between the fold, holding his rifle up towards Jimmy. He soon realized that it was moving and starting to take aim.

BANG! A loud, high-pitched gunshot echoed across the room.

“Ahh!” Jimmy cried, recoiling backward, dropping the stack of files. 

“Jimmy!” Lois cried, leaping from her desk as she watched him clutch his forehead, blood soon leaking out from between his fingers. Lois ran over to catch Jimmy before he stumbled to the ground. He lifted his hand from his forehead and Lois saw the tiny, pin-sized hole in his skin, gushing blood. Lois brought her two fingers to her mouth and let out a sharp whistle to grab the attention of a bystanding employee. “You! Get him some first aid! Stat!” She ordered, but the man was still too stunned to react. “Now!” Lois roared, finally breaking through enough to get him to nod and run off to grab aid. Jimmy then clutched onto Lois’ arm and pointed down at the files he’d dropped. She followed his eyes and saw the army man crawling out from between the pages and onto the tile floor. Lois glared at the little gunman, laying Jimmy down on her desk seat before stepping towards the assailant. The army man, seeing Lois’ giant shadow cast over him, rolled over to his back and prepared to fire. Before he could, Lois lifted her high heel over his tiny body and stomped him under her toe. With a swift crunch, he was nothing but a jumble of green plastic and circuitry.

“Nice one Miss Lane!... but…” Jimmy said, back on his feet with a bandage around his forehead. He was pointing again, this time to the cabinet where he’d gotten the compromised file. The metal drawers were shaking and clambering about as if they were about to explode.

“Get down!” Lois cried, running towards her desk, grabbing Jimmy, and vaulting over it to the other side. The two hid behind the desk’s protection while the cabinet exploded in a tiny mushroom cloud. The damage was minimal, but from the smoke clouds, poured out an army of tiny green men, tanks, and helicopters. A toy army was on the march, firing without warning throughout the Planet. Most of the reporters and other employees made a scramble for the exit, some getting hit with their tiny bullets on the way out.

One man, however, was going against the crowd, making his way through the rushing swarm and into the Planet newsroom. He stood proudly at the center of the little warzone. He wore a zany blue and white pinstripe suit, a black bowtie twice as big as Jimmy’s, and a bright green army beret over his greasy brown hair. In his hand, he held a remote control device, no doubt the contraption that was to blame for the mayhem. He let out a weasley chuckle before pushing up his thick round glasses. “At long last…” He began, “With Superman gone, the Daily Planet will pay for spewing their filth, their putrid lies. And their hurtful words… making fun of me! I, Mr. Winslow Scott! The one and only Toyman ! Shall now have his revenge!”

Lois couldn’t help but laugh. Her voice made Scott pause, his anger boiling up. “You dare to laugh?… Lois Lane?!” He cried as a miniature helicopter pivoted towards Lois and Jimmy behind their cover of the desk. The aircraft let out a barrage of fire from its little revolving turrets. The spray of bullets forced Lois and Jimmy to forgo their cover and race to the other side of the room. With their backs against the wall and the chopper still approaching, Lois grabbed a framed paper from the wall, with an old headline reading: Superman Defeats Giant Ape! , and smashed it across the body of the toy. The helicopter went down, caught up in shards of glass and newspaper shreddings, hitting the ground in a miniature fiery explosion at their feet.

Lois flipped her hair with a smile, “That all you got, Scott?

“Not by a long shot, Lane! Your days of public slander against me are over!” the Toyman cried, gesturing for another attack and initiating it with a click of a button on his controller. Below Lois and Jimmy, a battalion of army men, having crossed the wreckage of the helicopter and shattered frame, lined up to open fire. A yellow-tooth grin formed on the Toyman’s face, savoring the moment before he pulled the remote trigger.

“Now Olsen!” Lois yelled, stepping to the side as Jimmy revealed himself to have a fire extinguisher at the ready.

“Time for these Hot Wheels to cool off!” He quipped with a smile, releasing a flow of thick foam out across the toy soldiers. The substance pulled them off the ground and spun them up in a mess of foam. They continued to fire, but their bullets failed to breach their new frothy prison. Lois wasted no time, she sprinted towards the Toyman and lunged into a powerful punch across his flabby face. He cried with pain and stumbled backward, but Lois grabbed him by the bowtie and pulled him back to his feet. She reared back her fist once more but paused when she realized he was smiling. Lois looked down and saw that he had his finger hovering over the red button of his remote once more. She turned to her left to see a toy tank that was situated at her foot, aiming directly up at her face. She then looked over her shoulder at Jimmy who had his hands up, having been surrounded by tanks and two more helicopters.

“You know…” the Toyman began, blood pouring down from the corner of his grinning lips. “I always thought you were the brain to his brawn, but I guess you’re just a couple of meatheads huh? All of you are intellectual cripples compared to I! The one and only Toym-”

A loud crack sounded from the impact of the Toyman’s skull and the hardwood of a baseball bat. He collapsed to the ground and dropped his remote control.

“An original Louisville, ‘68. And it ain’t no toy,” Perry said, proudly throwing the baseball bat over his shoulder.

“Nice one Chief,” Lois said with a smile.

“Um… little help,” Jimmy whimpered from across the room, still surrounded by deadly toys ready to strike. Lois chuckled, reaching down to grab the Toyman’s remote. Finding the master control, she switched it off and the remaining soldiers, tanks, and helicopters shut down, freeing the Planet from their mini military occupation.

“Gotta say Chief, with that swing, you’d make a regular Super Friend,” Lois teased, Jimmy soon returning to her side to share a giggle. Perry sighed but soon laughed along.

“Alright, seeings how we’re no safer in here than we are out there. I’m shutting down the newsroom until Superman returns.” he finally admitted. “Leaving you free to pursue your leads by any means necessary. In other words, get out there, find him . Trust me, of all those super-freaks out there, you two got what it takes to actually save this city.”

“Awe…” Jimmy said with glee, leaning his elbow on Perry’s shoulder. “Thanks, Chief. It sure means a lot coming from you.”

“Don’t push it, Olsen!” Perry snapped, abruptly shoving Jimmy off his arm, nearly causing him to fall. “Now get out there and get me the story of the year! Nay, the decade! Superman Missing! Who Will Take His Place as Metropolis' Savior? ” He waved his hand in the air as if visualizing the front-page headline.

“Try, Superman Returns to Reclaim Metropolis from its Many Suitors ,” Lois said, visualizing her own.

“What is this? AP Literature? I don’t pay you to wax poetic, Lane!” He shouted, before pausing as all three stood there in the middle of the post-toy-warzone. “Why are you two still standing here! Go on! Get!”

Lois and Jimmy nodded before promptly turning towards the doors, stepping over the unconscious body of the Toyman along the way.

“Got your camera with extra film, Jim?” Lois asked, as Jimmy shuffled closely behind her confident stride.

“Yes and yes!” He said, slinging over his trusty super-zoom, already calibrated to best capture Superman at his top speed. “Say, you know where to even start on this, Miss Lane?”

“Not where to start, Jim,” Lois began, before correcting him, “it’s who .”

Chapter 4: Exclusive Interview With Metropolis’ Savior: Lex Luthor

Summary:

Lois and Jimmy turn to Lex Luthor for answers.

Superman: Mythos #4 “Exclusive Interview With Metropolis’ Savior: Lex Luthor”

Lois put the pedal to the metal in her Nash Rambler, speeding up the abandoned streets of Metropolis. Jimmy skittishly clutched onto the edges of his seat as he rode shotgun beside her. He peered up through the windshield to see the sky carved with swift colorful streaks left by various super-men as they flew by. His body was then suddenly jerked forward, nearly causing him to choke on his seatbelt, as Lois was forced to make an abrupt stop. In the intersecting street before them, a giant mass of purple flesh went barreling destructively across their sightline, kicking up the concrete as it soon careened into the side of a building.

“It’s Parasite !” Jimmy cried, grabbing his camera while Lois began steering away from the monstrous villain. 

“And it looks like he hasn’t been watching his diet,” Lois said, maneuvering the vehicle around the dozens of potholes left in the beast’s wake as well as older ones from prior super-powered battles. Then, while cautiously crossing the intersection, a sonic boom went off on their left-hand side. Jimmy again looked up through the windshield and saw an impossibly fast blur of red and blue soar directly over them, shattering windows and kicking up debris in its wake. Lois quickly lost control of her steering as a result of the blast, causing them to skid headfirst into a street crater. As Lois struggled to back them out of the crater, Jimmy managed to follow the flight of the blur until it collided with Parasite at the end of the street. The impact sent ripples across the building Parasite had been thrown into, followed by smaller ripples from the now slowed blur. Jimmy could, at last, make out what it was, a man. Or rather, a boy, a

“Superboy…” Jimmy said beneath his breath, zooming in with his camera lens to confirm as such.

Through his lens, Jimmy watched as the furious Superboy laid punch after punch into the jiggling purple flesh of Parasite. Though the monster only shook it off, and after an inhuman series of laughter, he reared back his meaty purple fist. Jimmy closed his eyes, but heard the booming crack of Parasite’s fist against Superboy’s entire body, sending the teenager flying back up the street and smashing into the top floor of a skyscraper. “Um… Miss Lane,” Jimmy began, watching as Parasite turned his piercing yellow gaze towards them. The creature smiled and licked his rows of razor sharp teeth before starting a lumbering galop in their direction. “Might want to hurry it up a bit…”

“What does it look like I’m doing?!” Lois snapped, throttling the engine in reverse but to no avail, the tire’s rubber merely burned on the edge of the crater. Now Lois too saw Parasite barreling towards them. “Run Jim,” She said, promptly unbuckling her seat belt and opening her door. Though when she went to step outside the car, her heel met nothing but air.

“Little help?” A cheery voice called out as their car began to float up out of the crater. Lois gasped, jolting back into her seat as the ground got further and further away from them. Soon Parasite arrived at the crater, but they were already tens of feet above him. The creature roared and clawed at the sky, but soon lost interest and left to resume his fight against Superboy.

Both Lois and Jimmy turned to peer out the back windshield to see the mustached, smiling face of a burly man carrying their vehicle through the sky with ease. Once they were out of relative danger, the super-man placed the car back down onto the street. Jimmy was quick to spring out of it and snap a picture of their rescuer. “Whoa, thanks mister! We would have been toast back there!”

“Now, now, no need to thank me. I’m just doing my job,” he said, walking over to the front of the car. His costume was ridiculous, even by wanna-be Superman standards. He wore nothing but a futuristic red vest, matching short shorts, and thigh-high yellow boots. 

Lois slowly got out of her car with a skeptical look and crossed her arms before the super-man. “And who are you supposed to be exactly?” She questioned, clearly not impressed with his presentation, especially the amount of body hair on display.

“Vartox! Champion of the planet Valeron!” He proclaimed proudly, assuming a heroic stance. “Though when I heard the news I-”

“Thought you’d get a shot at replacing Superman?” Lois interrupted.

“No,” Vartox said, folding his beefy arms back at Lois. “I thought I’d lend a hand. You see, Superman helped me and my people out in the past. I thought it’d only be fair to return the favor.”

“Right…” Lois said, still not convinced. “Come on Jimmy. We still have the real Superman to find.” With that, she hopped back into the driver's seat and started the engine back up, slamming the door shut behind her.

“She doesn’t mean it Mr. Vartox, sir,” Jimmy tried to explain. “She’s just still processing the big guy’s disappearance. You see, Miss Lane and Superman have a-”
“Jimmy!” Lois snapped before reaching across the center console, grabbing Jimmy by the pant leg and dragging him back inside.

“No offense taken, friends. Like I said, just doing my job,” Vartox said with a wink before assuming a ready stance. “Up, up, and away!” He shouted, blasting forth back into the sky.

“The audacity of these super -people,” Lois muttered once they were back speeding down the streets of Metropolis. “I mean, who do they think they are? Him ?” Her last word lingered, concealing a building sorrow. 

“I don’t know Miss Lane, Vartox seemed like a stand-up guy. Don’t know if I can say the same for Superboy, but he’s just a kid so…” Jimmy weighed in, while once again clutching the bottom of his seat due to Lois’ blatant disregard for traffic safety.

Lois’ nose sniffled and she managed to choke back a few tears from her watery eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” she spoke, regaining her composure. “We’re here .”

Lois parked the car up onto the curb, just outside the grand glass entranceway of LexCorp Tower. Jimmy got out onto the sidewalk, feeling dizzy upon looking up at the massive skyscraper. On top of his already uneasy stomach, on account of Lois’ reckless driving, the sheer size of the building and the terrors that lay within only added to his nausea. Lois stepped out confidently onto the sidewalk, grabbing the stunned Jimmy’s wrist as she pulled him along towards the revolving doors.

There was a peaceful quiet inside the granite-floored lobby of LexCorp, contrasting harshly with the rowdy chaos of the city just outside its concealing steel walls. At the end of the grandiose atrium sat a slender female receptionist behind an overly-large front desk. Behind her, displayed boldly across the wall, was a massive neon green L with LexCorp written along the bottom. The imposing sign bathed the gloomy space in its eerie green light.

The sound of Lois’ loud heels clacking swifty against the polished floor cut through the silence. Her and Jimmy’s arrival prompted the receptionist to glance up with shock before reaching for the phone on her desk. “ That’s quite alright, Summer ,” a calm voice from the speaker radioed in before she had even picked up the phone. The receptionist paused, then looked to Lois who was angrily holding up her Daily Planet press card while Jimmy was smiling awkwardly beside her. “ The Press is always welcome here. We have nothing to hide after all… You may send Miss Lane up right away… ”

The receptionist nodded and began, “Mr. Luthor will-”

“Yeah, we heard him,” Lois said bluntly while wasting no time in making her way to the line of elevators on the far side of the lobby. Jimmy rushed to keep up with Lois’ pace, having to briskly slide into the elevator she’d chosen just before its closure. The two rode up in silence, Jimmy staring at the ground, while Lois glared at the floor numbers as they rose, muttering heatedly to herself along the way. Finally, the digital green number flicked to 99, and with a cheery ding! the elevator came to a stop. The heavy metal doors slowly slid open and Lois promptly stepped out into the spacious office. The walls of the red-carpeted room consisted of fish tanks, filled with all kinds of exotic sealife, even a few sharks. The curved tanks eventually stopped at the far end of the room to give way to a large window that spanned the entire wall. From it, all of Metropolis could be gleaned from the highest point in the city. And looking out onto it now, sitting in his velvet chair, his back to his desk, was the man himself: Lex Luthor. Standing beside his desk, like a soldier in uniform, was his imposing female bodyguard, Mercy. 

Lois marched up to his desk and slapped her hand down onto its polished wood, though still, he neglected to turn and face her. Mercy readied herself, but a subtle wave of Luthor’s hand set her at ease. “Alright Luthor,” Lois began. “What did you do? And what have you done to this city? The very one you claim to protect, might I remind you!”

“ Miss Lane …” Luthor spoke, his voice deep, calm, and calculated, sounding almost disheartened by her accusations. “Since when does a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist such as yourself ask such leading questions? Hm?” Luthor finally spun around in his chair, showing them his defined facial features, strong brow, smug smirk, and of course, his shining bald head. He wore a trimmed black suit over his athletic physique, with an accompanying vest and matching white tie. “Please, take a seat,” he gestured to the two empty chairs in front of his desk. Jimmy nodded and went to sit down, but stopped himself upon realizing Lois wasn’t going to budge. Instead she leaned in closer over Luthor’s desk and planted her fist atop the stack of paperwork he’d presumably been working on.

“Take a look out there Luthor, the city's a mess,” Lois said between gritted her teeth, resisting every urge to strike the maniacal billionaire. “And I know you. If you aren’t behind this, you would have done something by now.”

“I’m flattered you hold me in such high regard, Miss Lane,” Lex said with a smirk. “And you’re right, only Lex Luthor has the ability to save this city from itself. Even when Superman was around, such was the case.” He turned to peer out the window once more, tugging confidently at his suit collar. 

“Oh yeah, that’s one other thing that just doesn’t add up. This so-called disappearance of Superman I keep on hearing about. Despite the League confirming his whereabouts: space . I mean, it’s not like he hasn’t gone off for a few days before. So why then, is nearly every supervillain in the city out there acting like it's Black Friday?” Lois interrogated.

“Ha! Please, Miss Lane!” Lex laughed, having to pause and wipe his eye with his silk pocket handkerchief. “You of all people, believing them ? The Justice League ? Don’t make me laugh. Though while the League’s excuse is laughable, I wanted to make sure myself. And thus I was able to confirm that Superman is indeed missing, if not dead.”

“Thanks to you I presume?” Lois snapped. 

“Ha! You give me too much credit, though I don’t blame you,” Lex continued. “Unfortunately my many attempts to abolish the Man of Steel have never been quite as successful as whatever happened to him as of recent. You see I’ve been tracking our friend for a number of years now, 24/7-365, or as close as one can get. Through a very foolproof method, mind you. Only to have his tracking signature go completely dark just over three weeks ago. With no sign of any return. Then with a simple hack of the League’s computer systems, I found they came up with the same thing. Gone, without a trace.”

“And you thought that’d be a tasty little tidbit to toss around your little super-villain community, is that it? Give all those sickos the go-ahead to wreak havoc without any risk of consequence,” Lois accused.

Lex closed his eyes and smirked, before letting out a chuckle. “Miss Lane, I was merely exercising my right to freedom of speech that this wonderful country affords me. You most of all should understand that inalienable value.”

Lois paused her next rebuttal, her eyes drifting behind Lex. Jimmy too had begun staring out the window in awe. Lex frowned, feeling removed from the center of attention, though raised his brow upon seeing a silhouetted shadow cast across his desk. He spun his chair around and looked up through his window at the spandex-clad teenager floating just outside the glass.

“Ah, the Supergirl ,” Lex said with a smirk, pressing a button beneath his desk. Soon the wide glass window slid open, allowing for Kara to enter the office. “I was wondering when you’d arrive. You may be faster than a bullet, but I guess the press has you beat.” He joked to no one’s amusement. He sighed before continuing, “these matters concern you as well I suppose. Why don’t you float on in and we can all discuss together.”

Kara obliged, but with a sour look on her face as she gently drifted inside. She set her feet down beside Luthor’s desk, hands on her hips, glaring at the infamous businessman. Despite the possibility of that Kryptonian stare becoming lethal in an instant, Lex remained excessively calm.

“Luthor here was just admitting to the rumoring of Superman’s disappearance,” Lois filled in. “The one that’s got the city in shambles. Knee-deep in supervillains and super-men alike.”

“Rumoring or causing ?” Kara questioned, folding her arms across her crest of El.

“Now, now, as I’ve already explained to Miss Lane, as much as I’d enjoy taking the credit for getting rid of your beloved cousin, I’m much too humble to do so,” Lex said, his self-appraisal causing both Kara and Lois to roll their eyes in unison. “Fine, the proof then. Mercy, would you please.” Lex snapped his fingers and his bodyguard promptly walked over to where a lever was situated on the wall. When she pulled down the lever the lights dimmed and a shade pulled down across the window. Then, projected onto the shade was a map of the world with a bright red S- pin over the area of Metropolis.

“Using access to all the camera footage in the city and beyond, I’m able to keep a live feed on Superman while he’s active,” Lex explained, while pointing to the S . “As soon as he’s spotted in, say, Tunisia. I’ll be the first in the States to know about it. Additionally, all thirteen LexCorp satellites are calibrated to recognize when a being of his biometric signature passes through our atmosphere. Suffice to say, according to my satellites, and the League’s for that matter, Superman hasn’t left the planet in the past twenty-seven days.”

“Maybe he’s just on vacation,” Jimmy piped in. “You said you can’t track him while he isn’t active right? Maybe he’s taking a break out of costume for a while. I mean, who could blame him?”

“For this long?” Lois questioned. “He’d never.”

“Right,” Kara agreed. “Besides, I’d know about it if he did.”

“While your feelings may be correct ladies, let us take a look at the facts,” Lex began, pressing a button on his keyboard which prompted the map screen to begin moving. Superman’s S began dotting around the country and outside of it, while digits displaying the dates went by in the corner. “Here,” Lex pointed to the S as the screen paused at the aforementioned twenty-seven days ago. The pin hovered over the islands of the Aegean Sea in Greece. Lex then pressed another key on his desk and the dating of the map slowed to hours. The S bounced from island to island until finally vanishing over a seemingly empty patch of sea. A blinking red circle then flickered over the area. “Based on his trajectory, he’s right there,” Lex said with a smile, sitting back down in his chair and tapping his fingers together, amused by their varying reactions.

Kara gasped, knowing exactly where he must have gone, and by the look on his face, Lex knew it too. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s face was steeped in confusion so he looked to Lois for answers, but she seemingly had none to offer. Lois looked at the map, the empty sea, then down at the desk with a frown. She too had a sneaking suspicion of where he might be, a suspicion Lex was all too happy to confirm.

“Give up?” He asked the group with a smile. “This spot, this one right here, is the estimated location of the rogue ethnostate known as Themycira .”

“Hey!” Kara butted in, pointing vehemently at Luthor. “Themyscira is not like that. They’re the ancient protectors of women the world over!”

“Believe what you like about the so-called Paradise Island , girl,” Lex continued. “The fact of the matter is that all signs point to Superman being held there. Or, perhaps he and the Amazon are on one of their secret little rendezvous up on Olympus, that would certainly explain why he’s gone off radar…” As he spoke, his narrowed eyes passed over to Lois, imagining such a hypothesis would upset her the most. In a way it did, Lois turned away from his arrogant stare and sheepishly held the elbow of her sleeve.

Kara, sensing Luthor owning the room, tried to take it back, “And why should we trust you? I mean, why would you be telling us this unless you had something to gain?”

“Yeah Lex,” Jimmy added, “Aren’t you the guy who’s always trying to get rid of Superman, now you’re helping us get him back, what gives?”

“I suppose, you can’t trust me,” Lex admitted, “but this is the one and only lead you have. As for my own benefit, well… I want him back just as much as you do, if not more so. You see, Superman will not be bested by anyone else but I, Lex Luthor. And I shall do so in the theater of this great city, where once and for all, the people will see their false-god fall! They will realize the folly of their ways and they will not look up, but beside them, to Lex Luthor, their true savior!” Lex had risen from his seat and raised his hands to the ceiling while proclaiming his fateful triumph.

“You’re a sick man, Luthor,” Lois said, turning her back from him. “When we get Superman back, you can have your little go at him. And we all know how that story ends. Come on Supergirl, Jimmy, we’ve got an invisible island to fly to.” With that, she made her way back to the elevator, with Jimmy in-toe. Supergirl took one last glance at the map, then a quick glare at Luthor, before following her as well.

As soon as the elevator closed and the three were out of sight, Luthor wiped the maniacal grin off his face. His expression turned deathly serious as he sat back down in his chair, pressing the button on his desk to begin retracting the map screen. He spun around to look out upon the city once more.

“They appear to have bought it, sir,” Mercy spoke, though she kept her body unnaturally still and staring directly forward.

“Of course they did, I told them the truth,” Lex said, crossing his legs and tapping his fingers together. “Well, enough of the truth to get them out of my hair… figuratively speaking, of course.”

“Indeed,” Mercy replied. “With the variables absent, shall we initiate Operation Antinous , sir?

“Hmm, not yet Mercy,” Luthor said with a smile, watching as an explosion went off in the upper-east side and a fissure formed downtown. All of which were spurned by the multitude of metahuman clashes all over the city. “The ungrateful people of this city shall suffer a while longer. It will serve to make their liberation by my hand all the more sweet…”

Chapter 5: The Dreamers of Naltor

Summary:

Superman crashlands on an alien planet.

Superman: Mythos #5 "The Dreamers of Naltor"

A streaming ball of flaming light scarred the violet sky. It was as if a star had been plucked forth from the heavens and cast down violently to meet the earth. It was even brighter than the dawning sun before it disappeared beneath the green waves of the sea. Its fire having been put out and reduced to a lingering pyre of smoke over the water. Bela watched it all from the shore.

Soon, unreality began to set in, as it always did. Suddenly, Bela’s next breath was devoid of air. Beneath her, the rolling sands of the beach began to consume her feet and legs. She screamed but no sound left her lips. She was up to her waist in sand and her pale face turned a veiny blue. Then, through her rapidly fading sight, she saw a figure emerge from the waves. He was tall and sturdy, his towering figure unshaken by the crashing surf. Bela could not see his face, for her eyes had dipped beneath ground level. Though she managed to tilt her head up and catch a glimpse of his torso as he leaned over the sinkhole. She saw the crimson emblem shimmering across his chest, the iconic S. She’d never seen it before yet somehow it felt all too familiar. Then, he let down his hand and she felt it clasp onto hers just when her vision went completely dark. An eternal second passed before he used his strength to pull her forth from her suffocating demise.

Bela awoke in a cold sweat, sheets and pillows tossed about all across her large silk bed. She jolted up and clutched her chest, rising and falling rapidly with every panting breath. It was then a pair of her loyal handmaidens ran through the door.

“Princess!” They cried. “Are you alright? We heard your cries from down the hall! Shall we fetch your father?”

“What time is it?” Bela replied simply, her voice soft and calm.

“Why, it’s nearly dawn break, your highness,” One of the handmaidens said, peering through the drapes of the opulent room and looking out upon the dark horizon. Though the blue sky had begun to lighten, preparing for the sun’s arrival from beneath the emerald waves.

“Quickly then,” Bela began, stepping out of bed and into her thin, elegantly sown, royal nightgown. “To the shore. We must be there when he arrives…”

Meanwhile, in a nearby sector of space, Clark’s makeshift rocketship punched its way through the thin atmosphere of the alien red moon. Escaping the surface of his prison world was the easy part, what came next was going to be tricky and require more than a little luck. Once he’d entered open space and cleared the gravitational pull of the moon, he switched off the rocket’s thrusters. Not that it much mattered, since upon checking his fuel supply, he saw that it was all nearly burned up. Luckily, gas and oil weren’t what was going to get him halfway across the galaxy within a reasonable timeframe. To get back to Earth before the end of the millennia, he’d have to jump his bucket of bolts into light speed. 

Clark’s hand hovered over a second control panel next to his primary one. Even compared to the sorry state of the main controls, these were even worse. They looked as if they’d been ripped from another, larger ship and welded haphazardly onto this one. That’s because they essentially were, with loose wires and exposed computer chips still visible on the ‘finished’ product.

Clark closed his eyes, and after a quick prayer, he laid his hand down across the control panel and punched in a series of coordinates into its dim, calculator-like, display. With the coordinates mapped, a second engine hummed in the front of the rocket with neon blue light emanating through the seams of its metal plating. A small green bulb then flashed above a lever on the control panel which Clark promptly took hold of. Praying the engine wouldn’t stall, he threw the lever down. The engine went silent and Clark sat back in his seat, clutching the steering, with sweat streaming down the sides of his face. He took a deep inhale, but the breath was cut short by a sudden jolt forward.

In less than a blink of an eye, the stars that dotted space around him stretched into long strands of glowing white light. The cockpit itself felt as if it was being warped, rapidly flattening and elongating, as Clark’s body was forced against the back of his seat. His vision blurred, the space outside the rocket moving too fast to comprehend. His limbs grew numb and limp, and his hands slipped from the controls. His mind was teetering on a complete blackout as the machinery around him raddled and loosened, nuts and bolts falling to the floor. Clark, his vision nearly devoid of sight, grabbed hold of either side of the rocket, practically keeping it together through his sheer strength alone. Plummeting through light space with little to no protection, Clark felt the burning pain sting across his body like hundreds of gunshots. He let out a fearsome roar, managing to hold the rocket together for a dozen or so more lightyears, but he soon gave way.

Just as Clark lost consciousness, the tip of the rocket began to furl away, followed by the rest of it, peeling away like a flaming metal banana. And as Clark let go of the walls, the cockpit split in two, leaving his limp body to fall out of the light-speed trajectory towards Earth. Despite leaving light-speed, his body was still flung across the entirety of a solar system in a matter of minutes. Soon he began to slow, but not before entering the gravitational pull of a nearby planet whose surface appeared to be lush and green, unlike the red moon from which he’d escaped. And peaking out from behind the curve of the Earth-like planet was the warm, gleaming light of a yellow sun. Like a meteor, his body fell into the atmosphere in a blazing glory. He soon hit the turning green of the ocean and his burning body was put out with a violent splash. There atop the waves, his body floated to the nearby shore.

The first sense to come back was his smell, taking in the salty air and refreshing ocean breeze. After that, he began to feel the cool water falling and rising over his face. Only after those rather pleasant sensations returned to him did he realize he couldn’t breathe. He curled forward and hurled up about a liter of seawater out of his lungs before falling back onto the sand, panting. He slowly opened his eyes, having to squint beneath the harsh sun, he noticed a silhouetted figure standing over him. He brought his hand up to block the glare and realized, staring down at him with awe, was a young woman with platinum hair and shimmering silver robes. Circled around her were a dozen or so similarly dressed women, though none were as opulent as the girl closest to him. She soon offered her hand and Clark took it, though he used most of his own strength to lift himself up out of the surf. 

The small crowd all gasped and began whispering when the symbol across his chest became discernible to them. Though they seemed to be confused by his overall appearance as he was still bearded, wearing a beastly skin over his shoulders, and more than a little worse for wear.

“ Kal-El… Kal-El… ” He heard them whisper amongst each other as he limped up the shore, being led by who he presumed to be their leader.

“Y-you-” Clark began, pausing to clear his salty throat. “You know my name?”

The girl beside him clasped his large hand between both of hers. The feel of her soft, pale skin was a welcome change for Clark. “Of course, Kal-El… We have all dreamed of your arrival for generations. How you will usher in a new age for our people. Though none knew exactly when you’d come. Until my dream this very morn…” she said, leading him from the shore and onto a white marble road, her handmaidens trailing along behind them.

“Dreamed of it?” Clark asked, looking further up the road to see a city on a hill sitting upon the horizon. It was like the great city-states of the ancient world with white colonnaded buildings, golden domes, and magnificent temples. Though like the ancient world of Earth, they appeared to be just as technologically advanced. Meaning Clark may still be trapped. Grant it, on a much more tolerable prison planet.

“That’s right,” the girl continued. “Many of us here on Naltor, mostly the women, are gifted with precognizant abilities. Abilities which only activate upon entering deep sleep, hence, we dream of the future.” She paused and turned to Clark just before the gates of the city. “I am Bela Nal, daughter of the High Seer and Princess of Naltor.”

“Your highness,” Clark said, lowing to bow, but she stopped him and shook her head. Then, all in unison, the women bowed before him instead. Clark managed to smile at their impromptu act of reverence, but it weirded him out more than anything. “T-thank you, ladies, but this really isn’t necessary-” His voice trailed off when he turned to see the gates of the city open wide before him. He stood in shock when he saw, situated in the middle of the city square, a colossal statue of himself. Clark was stunned, though eventually he was led inside by Bela, their party joined by sword-wielding guards as they made their way towards the city’s acropolis. Clark examined his statue further as they passed by, noticing that the iconic-looking stone Superman was holding some sort of box under his arm. He was unable to investigate further, having been pulled along by Bela until they came to the long marble steps of an opulent palace.

The large crowd of Naltorians that had formed around them stopped at the foot of the steps while Clark, Bela, and her handmaidens made the lofty trek to the high-arched entryway. Inside, the atrium stretched out into a lavish throne room overlooking the sea. At the end of the room sat an elevated platform with three golden thrones sitting atop it. The middle-most seat was the largest and currently occupied while the other two were empty. Sitting upon it was an older woman with the same platinum hair as Bela, wearing lavish purple robes and a silver crown. She had a warm, yet unnerving smile across her face and she held her arms open, welcoming them as they arrived.

Bela fell to her knee before her. “Apologies for not alerting you, mother. But I could not waste any time in getting to the shore this morning.”

“It is forgiven, my child,” the woman spoke, gesturing for Bela to rise. Her eyes then lingered over to Clark. “I dreamed it so. It could have only been you, who could have brought us him : Kal-El. Future-bringer. The Man of Tomorrow … Greetings, prophesied one, I am High Seer Aretea Nal. Ruler of all Naltor. It is an honor to finally be in your presence, I’m sure we’ll have much to discuss.”

“Hello Ma’am,” Clark said, with admittedly little patience for prophecies. “I regret to inform you, I’m not exactly in the business of ushering in new ages of civilization. As a matter of fact, I’m in a bit of a pickle myself.”

The High Seer closed her eyes and smiled. “In your quest to return home, yes? To Earth?”

“Why yes,” Clark began, “How did you-” She opened her eyes and gave him a knowing look. “Oh, right, dreamed of it. Well then, have you dreamed of what I’m meant to do? How I’m supposed to get home? If the people of Earth are safe?” Clark’s voice climbed, but he managed to ease himself back down. Despite their miraculous powers, he did not want to burden these people with his own problems.  

“Our Futorians have long tried to study this pivotal moment in time,” the High Seer began. “Though our visions have always been vague regarding the specifics. As if you, Kal-El, bring with you a fog…”

“Perhaps such uncertainty is a gift,” Clark offered while wondering how such a society could function with nearly everyone’s paths in life preset.

“Perhaps you are right, Kal-El, but we Naltorians refused to venture into the future completely blind. We have but one agreed-upon truth regarding your time here. A single line, if you will,” Aretea said. “It was even written into the stone by our earliest of oracles, retold and studied ever since. Each and every time, in the form of song…” With that, the High Seer snapped her fingers and a row of bards marched out in a line into the throne room, bowing before their ruler, then to Clark himself. All were dressed in lavish red and blue cloaks with the House of El’s shield embroidered onto their hoods.

Then, with the High Seer’s command, the row of bards recited their ancient hymn in perfect harmony: “ Kal-El of Earth, himself twice fallen, gifts to us his sacred treasure, a power of light. Will not remain unspoken, it is Naltor’s destiny to walk among the awoken… ”

“ Power of light …” Clark whispered to himself, remembering the strange box that had adorned his pre-commemorative statue in the city square. He then turned to the bards. “Um, great show folks, but if you’d excuse me.” He said, stepping forth through the crowd and behind the row of thrones. He exited out onto the marble balcony overlooking the sea and gazed above into the sky. He squinted, and using his telescopic vision, he spotted objects orbiting the planet just above the atmosphere. “I’ll be right back…” He said with a smirk, taking a few steps backward. The whole group, including the High Seer herself, had rushed to crowd around the balcony in order to watch him. “Up, up…” Clark began, before leaping off the ledge of the balcony and into the air. “And away!” He cried, blasting forth into the sky at an incredible speed. The onlookers gasped in amazement as their Man of Tomorrow soared away before their eyes. 

Clark couldn’t help but smile as he cut through the clouds, breathing in the cool, refreshing air and feeling the warmth of the yellow sun against his skin. Though Clark soon found himself leaving the atmosphere and entering the cold dark of space. There he floated in the orbit of Naltor amongst shards of metal and burnt-out machinery; the remains of his rocket. After scanning the debris, he spotted a mostly intact box, still hot with irradiating blue light. A wave of relief washed over him. With the light-speed drive in relatively good shape, the hope of his return remained. Though building a brand new rocket from scratch on a planet that had hardly passed the bronze age, might prove even tougher than building one on a post-apocalyptic moon. 

Nonetheless, he grabbed the box and began his descent back down to the surface. The royalty and their retainers watched as the god-like figure eclipsed the sun, his cloak billowing in the wind and a strange alien device beneath his arm. The High Seer outstretched her hand towards him and the others followed suit, letting their fingers touch his tattered blue suit as his feet landed down upon the marble floor once more.

“Behold, the instrument of our ascension,” the High Seer spoke, her voice trembling as she moved her fingers across Clark’s body and onto the light-speed drive.

“It’s an engine,” Clark explained, entering back into the throne room proper. “Capable of jumping a starship into light-speed. A nessasity for interstellar travel. I’d be happy to share its design, though give it freely to you, I cannot. I still need it to get back to Earth.”

“Of course, of course,” the High Seer said, coming up behind Clark. “I will have our future-scientist begin their work on it immediately.” She then snapped her fingers and pointed to the drive. Two handmaidens took the device from Clark much to his dismay. He leaned in to take it back, but the High Seer held her hand to his chest. “It is alright, Kal-El. Our scientists have studied the intergalactic future of our people. Already they have designed great starships and extra-Naltorian space colonies. Though only now, with the final missing piece you have brought us, may they truly begin their work. Turning our dreams into reality. I promise, you will be the first to ride upon the fruits of their labor and use them to return to your home.”

Clark eased his shoulders back and nodded to the High Seer, though he remained wary as he watched the light-speed drive leave his sight. “Apologies, your highness. Still getting used to how you folks operate around here.”

“There is no need, Kal-El. You have given us more than enough with your presence here alone. Let us return the favor… with a feast!” the High Seer exclaimed raising her hands in the air.

“Gee, Ma’am, I’m not quite sure that’s necessary,” Clark began, though he knew there was hardly a point in arguing. On the other hand, a warm meal and some rest after all he’d been through didn’t sound half bad.

“Nonsense!” Aretea said before turning to Bela and her handmaidens. “Girls, freshen him up for the feast. I want nothing but the finest for our honored guest. Tonight, we dine before the precipice of Naltor’s Golden Age!”

Chapter 6: Last Supper

Summary:

Clark tells the Naltorians his tale.

Superman: Mythos #6 "Last Supper"

Princess Bela’s handmaidens were very, thorough . They stripped Clark bare of his tattered suit and scrubbed down every inch of his body. Though when it came to his rather unkempt beard, they struggled to pierce it. It was as if each strand of hair was a fiber of unbreakable steel.

Clark smirked, lowering the shaving girl’s hand. “Please, allow me,” he said, grabbing a handheld mirror from one of the handmaidens. Carefully lining up the shot with one eye closed, he unleashed his heat vision. The girls all jolted backward, startled as they watched the hot red beam reflect off the mirror and strike Clark’s chin. Then, once the steam settled, the girls were amazed to see his clean, handsome face, devoid of any hair.

Once their deep clean was finished, Clark was presented with his suit. It was completely repaired, cape and all. Its red and blues were vibrant, and the House of El’s crest shone as prominently as ever. “Thank you,” Clark said simply, taking the suit into his hands. The near-indestructible fabric felt just as soft as the day Ma Kent sowed it together from his Kryptonian baby blanket.

After suiting up, Clark arrived at the entrance of the palace’s great dining hall. All had already been seated around a long table, with the High Seer at the very end and an open space between her and Bela. Though upon seeing Clark, now assuming his iconic look, the entire Naltorian royal court rose from their seats in reverence of him. Clark, still not entirely comfortable with the way he was treated on this planet, nonetheless gave the crowd a wave before making his way to his seat at the head of the table. Once he sat down, the rest followed suit. 

The High Seer immediately turned to Clark, resting her hands on his shoulder and thigh. “By the gods…” she spoke to him in a whispering tone but was nearly shouting in terms of volume. “You look even more magnificent than even my dreams have foretold.”

Clark cleared his throat, gently removing Aretea’s hand from his thigh. “Thank you, Ma’am. I must say, I was in dire need of a shower. Super-deodorance is unfortunately not one of my powers.”

“HAHAHA!” The entire table erupted in laughter. Clark winced, finding their uniformed cackles more than a little unnatural. 

After they had begun to settle down, the High Seer addressed Clark once more but spoke to the entire table. “Oh great hero, please, regale us of your epic tale. How did you arrive upon our shores? Tell us, so we may recount it in our histories.”

“Gee, I-” Clark paused. He’d hardly had time to reflect upon the series of events that had led him to this very moment. Only then had he begun to process the absurdity of it all. All the things he could have done differently to prevent the predicament he was in now. “I suppose it all began at dinner. A much smaller dinner than this one, back in my hometown. With my family…”

 

One Month Earlier

“So how’s school going, Kara?” Pa Kent asked while scooping out a hefty helping of mashed potatoes before passing the bowl along to Clark.

Kara let out a sigh, aimlessly rolling her peas around her plate. “It’s alright Pa. Midterms are coming up…but after that, it’s spring break!”

The three were sitting around the small dining table of the Kent residence, finishing their homecooked meal, with Ma starting to make dessert in the kitchen. Pa was dressed in his usual workman’s overalls and worn-out Kansas City baseball cap. Having worked the day on the farm, Clark and Kara followed suit. Clark wore a red flannel and faded jeans, foregoing his glasses, but still letting his messy hair hang down instead of up in its iconic S-curl. Kara wore ripped denim overalls and a white t-shirt, with a black headband in her golden hair. 

“Midterms? Already?” Clark said, giving Kara a concerned look. “Have you been studying, young lady?”

“Oh come on Kal, you know how quick we can read books right? How fast we can write? Pft, ‘course you do, Mr. Never-missed-a-deadline-at-the-Planet , over here,” Kara teased, though Clark remained staunchly serious.

“That’s not the point Kara,” Clark began, taking a deep breath. “My time at KU was pivotal in my effort to craft a civilian identity. A persona apart from Superman and the Clark Kent you know. Heck, I even took acting classes to make it happen.”

“Yeah, yeah, Clark Kent , the bumbling, mild-mannered reporter,” Kara said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m serious,” Clark continued. “And I do it more than just to protect you guys. Though, nothing could be more important than that,” He looked to Pa, who gave his son a nod. “But I also do it, for me . Superman and Clark Kent must remain separate. If I were to fully become Clark Kent, the world would suffer. If I were to fully become Superman, I would suffer. It just isn’t healthy to be on the clock, with everything exposed to everyone, all the time. All us capes do it. Even Bruce, to a certain extent…”

“Even Diana ?” Kara questioned, clearly seeing herself more in line with Wonder Woman. Diana didn’t have a secret identity and, to Kara, she seemed just fine. She was doing a whole lot better mentally than Bruce Wayne, that’s for sure.

Clark hesitated. “I’m- I mean, we’re, still working on her situation … But Diana’s an entirely different case. She’s an immortal Amazonian princess, and last I checked, you’re a ‘normal’ teenaged girl.”

“Oh cut the crap, Kal,” Kara snapped back. “There’s nothing normal about us. Especially me. This isn’t my home like it is yours. I spent twelve years being normal on Krypton. Now I’m here and there’s no going back to how it used to be.”

“That’s not true, there’s still a chance for you to live a life here, a human life,” Clark said, rising from his seat as he spoke. “And please, for God’s sake watch your language.”

Kara crossed her arms and turned away from the table, away from Clark, who was eased back into his seat by Jonathan. “Don’t you think you’re being a little too harsh on the kid?” Pa whispered, wrapping his arm around his son’s broad shoulders. “I’m flattered you think the way we raised ya was right. But maybe it won’t work for everyone else, especially if you force it upon them. I know for sure I didn’t raise you to do that, son.”

“Oh dear!” Martha’s voice called out from the kitchen before Clark could respond to his father. 

Clark stood and rushed into the kitchen, seeing his mother’s dessert preparation. A cavalcade of pots and pans were strewn about the counter with the oven open and ready. “What is it, Ma?”

“I forgot to pick up milk this morning when I was downtown,” Ma Kent said, tapping her foot on the floor and her finger to her cheek. “I suppose I could substitute-”

“No Ma, that won’t be necessary. I refuse to spare any expense for your famous rhubarb pie,” Clark said with a laugh, coming up behind Martha and giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Kara and I will run downtown and pick some up before the store closes.”

“We will?” Kara said, overhearing. 

“We will,” Clark said, stepping back out into the dining room and making his way towards the front door. He grabbed his old Smallville High jacket from the coat hanger and went to hand Kara her brown leather jacket as she reluctantly approached. She ignored him and walked out the door into the cool summer night. Clark sighed, waving to Ma and Pa before leaving after her.

“Aren’t you, cold ?” Clark asked, catching up to Kara as they headed toward the Kent family pickup.

“Kal, we’ve both been in the arctic, hell, in the vacuum of space with less,” Kara rebutted, hopping into the driver’s side of the truck. However, she was promptly scooched over to shotgun by Clark as he entered.

“Again, not the point,” Clark said, turning the key and starting up the engine. Soon they pulled out of the dirt driveway and onto the thin road that cut through the vast fields of grain. “Look, I know it’s hard to fit in. Believe me, I went through the same thing.”

“Did you though?” Kara questioned.

“I-” Clark began but was at a loss. Their experiences, while similar, were at the same time vastly different. Maybe Pa had a point, Clark thought.

“You had no idea who you were or where you came from. All you had to do was build a life from scratch. Here I am having to tear down an old one just to start again,” Kara said, staring out the window, watching the waves of grain rise and dip as they drove past. “ Ignorance is bliss. ”

“Sure, but it was also scary that way,” Clark explained. “Plus I didn’t have an older cousin to help me through it all.”

“Younger cousin…well, technically,” Kara corrected. “Look Kal, the difficulty of ‘fitting in’ isn’t the issue for me, like it was for a big dork like you,” she joked, nudging his elbow. Though her smile soon faded and her tone grew grim, “What if, I just don’t want to fit in? What if I just forget it and be who I was, who I am? Besides, wouldn’t it be better for the world if I was Supergirl all the time?”

Clark took a long pause, his eyes locked on the road. He then sighed and glanced at Kara. “Look, I’m not your father. I’m not going to force you to do anything. You’re free to live your life the way you want. And I’ll be here to support you no matter what. But please, go back to school, finish the semester, and give Kara Danvers a fair shake. Then, when spring break comes around, pack your things and come to Metropolis and we’ll let Supergirl have the run of the place. Then you can decide which works best for you. Deal?”

Kara’s smile grew and grew as Clark spoke. “Oh yes! Yes! It’s a deal, cuz!” She threw her arms around him and gave him a super-hug. Clark strained at the wheel, swerving off the road for a bit until Kara let go. “Heh, sorry… Hey why didn’t we just fly here?” she asked as they parked a few blocks away from Smallville’s Mainstreet.

“Superman and Clark Kent, both taking a vacation to Smallville?” Clark said stepping out of the truck and heading towards Mainstreet, lined with nothing but local farm stands. “That’s not suspicious at all.”

“Kal, you wear glasses as your disguise,” Kara teased. “Even suspicious people would find that suspicious. You could have at least thrown in a fake mustache. Or a wig, like me.”

“I work with the most skeptical woman on the planet and she’s yet to figure it out,” Clark said with a smirk. “I must be doing something right.”

The two walked down Mainstreet while numerous vendors tried to catch their attention. Although none so far were selling dairy products. Clark hoped to find Mr. Lang’s milk stand if to do nothing else but help support their long-time family friends. However, both Clark and Kara stopped in unison before one stand in particular. The strong scent had caught their attention. It was a sweet aroma that you didn’t need super senses to be drawn to.

“Well howdy there!” an excited feminine voice called out. They turned to see an attractive woman behind a stand stocked full of warm, fragrant pies. The woman had crimson braided pigtails beneath a straw sunhat and a light-green pinafore dress over a puffy-shouldered blouse. She had bright green eyes that matched her dark green lips that were currently spread apart in an unnerving smile. Below her, across her farm stand, were rows upon rows of unique pies, baked in the shape of thick-pedaled flowers. And above her stand was a sign that read: Auntie Pam’s World Famous Lotus Pies!

Kara’s mouth was immediately watering, stepping closer to the stand. She took in a deep whiff of the tasty aroma wafting off the hot pies. Clark remained hesitant, keeping at arm’s length from the stand. It was then he noticed that nearly everyone on Mainstreet was hanging near ‘Pam’s’ stand. Each of them was either chowing down on her Lotus pies or had their lips already stained with their purple juices. No one was talking. They were standing still, with blank faces and glazed-over eyes. 

“World famous, huh?” Clark asked, his eyes narrowed, further examining Pam herself. The woman looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “Have we met before?”

“It does say world-famous, don’t it?” she said, her cheery accent gaining a hint of edge. She then cut out two fresh slices from one of the pies and held them out before Clark and Kara. “Would you like a sample?”

“Ooo, yes please!” Kara said, graciously accepting the slice and instantly chowing down on it, letting its purple juices drip down and stain her shirt. Clark knew something was off, Kara was the furthest thing from a sloppy eater. The smell of the pies must have put her in a hungry trance, he could only imagine what effect fully ingesting one might be. Pam turned to Clark, still holding out his sample slice, insisting he try. Clark shook his head and slowly began stepping back, only to bump into a line of people standing behind him. All of them had blank stares, lips stained purple with Lotus.

“What’s the matter?” Pam asked, climbing up over her stand with pie in hand. “Don’t you want a taste?” Her accent faded, changing to a slow, sultry murmur. The Lotus-infected people followed her lead, forming a circle around Clark, and began closing in.

“Kara?” Clark called to his cousin, whose back was still to him. Her head then swiveled to him abruptly, staring at him with glowing red eyes. She took a step closer, then another, but soon she lifted herself off the ground and hovered toward him.

Pam was surprised by Kara’s sudden show of Kryptonian powers, but that shock was quickly replaced with a devilish grin. “My, my what do we have here? It must be my lucky day,” Pam said with a chuckle, “Now then, I must say, you’ve terribly offended me. Not wanting to eat Auntie’s pies? I guess you’ll just have to die…” She then threw off her sun hat, letting down her rich red hair, while her white skin began to melt from her face. At her feet, green vines began bursting through the soil, twisting and overlapping until they formed a throne for her to sit upon. The vines lifted her above Clark and the others as she wiped away the last of her face and body makeup, revealing her pale green skin beneath. She then pointed to Clark, “ Kill him. ”

Immediately, Kara fired a deadly beam of heat vision at Clark which he swiftly evaded by forcing himself through the line of Lotus-eaters. The zombie-like mob turned around and gave chase as Clark frantically ran up Mainstreet. Although, they were slow and uncoordinated, tripping over each other as they tried to catch up. Even Lotus-eater Kara was having trouble remaining airborne. 

“Augh! Forget him!” Pam commanded, seeing Clark gain a significant distance from her small, bumbling army. 

Their struggle bought Clark enough time to divert down a nearby alley. “Great Scott…” he said under his breath while undoing the top of his flannel, eventually pulling it apart to reveal the House of El’s crest beneath. “This looks like a job for-”

“ Superman… ” Pam said between gritted teeth as she looked up to see the Man of Steel slowly hovering down towards her and her pack of Lotus-eaters. “Here just to ruin my country get-away?”

“ Dr. Pamela Isly , I presume,” Clark said, crossing his arms with disappointment. “Or should I call you Auntie Pam ?

“Just Ivy , Poison Ivy , thanks,” Ivy snapped, her vines slowly creeping towards Clark. “And the pies? Consider this a little business venture,” she said, opening her arms wide, reveling in the brain-dead army she’d created. “With a rather gracious partner who’s been footing the bill. Though he didn’t tell me you’d show up. But I suppose that explains Miss Laser-eyes ,” she said, turning her attention to Kara. She smirked, holding her hand out and controlling Kara as if she were her puppet. Each twitch of her fingers caused Kara’s body to jolt and contort in unnatural ways.

“Stop!” Clark said with growing concern. He hated to see his cousin used in such a way.

“Make me,” Ivy said with a laugh. “Better yet, make her.” She then pointed to Clark and as she did, Kara rushed forward through the air towards him. Clark braced himself, not wanting to strike back, as her fists collided with his chest. He grunted, the impact sending them both flying up Mainstreet before landing and skidding up a few more blocks. Kara pinned Clark to the ground and when the dust cleared, he saw her raising her fist for another strike. He caught her freight train-sized punch, causing a miniature sonic boom between their hands that shook the surrounding buildings.

“She’s controlling you Kara! Fight it!” Clark cried, slowly pushing her fist away only to see her eyes begin to heat back up. “I really don’t want to do this,” he said, heating up his own.

The two Kryptonians shot forth heavy blasts from their eyes, both meeting each other in a fiery collision. Although, Clark’s larger beam quickly began to overpower Kara’s. She yelped, his blast meeting her own eyes as a resulting explosion knocked her backward. Clark zipped over to where she’d fallen to make sure she was okay. However, as he leaned over her, his face was immediately met with her fist. Kara leaped back to her feet with an uppercut to Clark’s jaw, the sucker punch sending him spiraling through the air.

Clark shook off the blow and stabilized himself in time to prepare for another one of Kara’s attacks. As she flew towards him at an incredible speed, he was able to catch her and restrain her in a chokehold. She squirmed and clawed at his arms, but she was firmly locked in his tight grip. “I’m sorry Kara, she’s leaving me no choice. I’m going to have to knock you-”

Before Clark could finish, Kara slammed the back of her head against his nose. The heavy impact sent Clark backward and Kara was able to slip from his grip.

“-out?” Clark said, touching his hand to his upper lip, noticing his nose had begun to bleed. He looked up to see Kara again charging toward him. This time, he grabbed hold of both her wrists as she neared, diverting her blow. He then lifted her body up and forcefully kneed her in the stomach. Kara gasped and coughed, having the wind knocked out of her as she plummeted to the ground. When she hit the dirt, she promptly grabbed her stomach in pain. Then her cheeks swelled and she covered her mouth. Her eyes widened, realizing she couldn’t hold it in, and soon vomited up a bucket of hot purple sludge. After hurling up her half-digested pie, she grew light-headed and began to fall. Clark was quick to swoop in and catch her.

“K-kal, I’m sorry…” Kara whispered, her voice weak as she brought her gentle hand to his. With the Lotus substance expelled from her body, she appeared to be back to normal.

Clark held her hand tight and assured her. “It’s alright, I think you gave me an idea…” He then carefully laid Kara down before lifting himself into the sky once more. He floated over to Ivy while her horde of Lotus-eaters tumbled over one another in an effort to reach to him. “I’m warning you, Pamela. Release these innocent people from your control and let's talk.”

“Talk? Ha!” Ivy laughed, her vines lifting her to eye level with Clark. “The Bat never wants to talk. I think I’m starting to like you more, unfortunately, you both have the same misplaced trust in these meat bags.” She pointed to the Lotus-eaters below. “They’re all far from innocent.”

“Ivy, most of these people are farmers,” Clark tried to reason. “They respect nature just as much as you.”

“By poisoning the very earth they till? Pesticides, fertilizers, GMOs? All a revolting disruption of the natural order!” Ivy spoke passionately, her eyes watering with chlorophyll while she continued to puppet her horde. “It’s only fair I return the favor…”

A single Lotus-eater managed to vault off the back of another and grab hold of Clark’s boot. He quickly shook them off and flew higher out of the people’s reach, looking down with disgust at what Ivy had turned them into. “I did warn you…” Clark said before letting out a swift beam of heat vision that sliced the trunk of Ivy’s vine throne in two. Ivy yelped, plummeting to the ground along with her falling vines. 

She hit the ground hard, but hopped back to her feet, her green face hot with anger. “Charge!” She cried, pointing forth to her Lotus-eaters. All of them then stormed towards Clark like a rising wave of bodies. He landed on the road to meet them, but before they collided, Clark took a deep breath and blew. An ice-cold wind raged forth from his lips, aimed at the legs of the charging horde. The people began to slow, their feet beginning to freeze solid to the ground. Soon they were all stopped in their tracks, squirming their upper bodies about while their legs remained firmly planted in ice.

At long last, Clark finally heard the distant sounds of sirens approaching. “It’s over Pamela,” Clark spoke, walking around the Lotus-eaters to meet her. “The authorities are on their way.” But when he found her charred vine throne, she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly he felt the binding wrap of vines curl around his wrist and ankles. Ivy then tip-toed out from behind Clark, trailing her fingers along his arms and chest.

“Tsk, tsk,” Ivy said, shaking her head. “Over you say? Those are kudzu vines, the fastest, strongest growing vines in the world. I never leave the house without one of their seeds.”

Without hesitation, Clark snapped the vines with ease. Ivy shrieked in response and braced herself for a superpowered blow, but it didn’t come. She laughed, looking up at Clark as he stood tall before her. “What’s the matter? Afraid to hit a woman?”

“I’m not!” A voice cried out from behind them. Just when Ivy turned to investigate, her face was met with Kara’s fist. The impact instantly knocked her out before sending her limp body flying into the side of a general store.

Clark sighed, as Kara stood triumphantly beside him. Both of them watched as police cars began racing down Mainstreet towards the scene. Clark patted Kara on the shoulder. “Nice work. Though I hope you know now why I only eat Ma’s pies. Speaking of which-”

“The milk?” Kara asked before zipping away at super-speed and returning in an instant. In her arms, she now held a jar of fresh milk. Clark gave her a narrow look. “Don’t worry, I left money on the counter. Plus a healthy tip, gotta support local farmers, ya know?”

Clark laughed, “Yeah, I know.” He then turned to ‘Pam’s’ farm stand, still loaded with Lotus pies. “Speaking of which…” He said, making his way over to it. He folded up the brightly colored table cloth and pulled out a crate from under the stand. The crate was full of cardboard-packaged pies. Looking like they had all been made in a factory and the printing on the crate read: LOTUSLAND CO.

Before they could investigate further, the cops had arrived. “Run on home Kara, I’ll be back soon,” Clark said, making his way toward the sheriff. Kara nodded and jogged through the crowd of frozen Lotus-eaters, back to the pick-up.

“Evening, officer,” Clark said, offering the sheriff his hand.

“Evening, Superman. Fancy seeing you all the way out here in Smallville,” the sheriff said, shaking the Man of Steel’s hand.

“Well, it’s lucky I came. Turns out Auntie Pam was none other than Gotham’s own Poison Ivy,” Clark said, turning to the general store where Ivy had crashed into. Officers were digging up the debris, eventually finding her and promptly locking her up in the back of their paddy wagon. “I’d recommend transferring her back to Arkham immediately.”

“You read my mind,” the sheriff said, though his curious gaze soon fell upon the Lotus-eaters. “And what exactly do we have here? Her little cronies?” 

“Absolutely not, sir,” Clark said. “These are the innocent people of Smallville who’ve been made victims by Ivy. They’ve each consumed a mind-altering toxin found in her Lotus pies. Each of them needs their stomach pumped as soon as possible.”

The sheriff nodded before turning to his men who were all still, awaiting his orders. “What are you standing around for? You heard the err- Super man. Get to it!” The sheriff shouted, his officers quickly scrambling to begin chipping away at the ice that held the Lotus-eaters in place.

“Look, Mr. uh Superman,” the sheriff said, turning back to Clark. “My son’s a big fan, mind if I get an autograph?”

“Of course, what’s his name?” Clark asked.

“Oh, his name’s James,” the sheriff said while searching his pockets. “Darn, you know what? Forgot my pen.”

“No worries,” Clark said with a smirk. “Say, you sheriffs get extra badges right? Mind if I borrow that one?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he said, taking off his star-shaped golden badge and handing it to Clark.

Clark then closed one eye and shot a weak beam of heat vision onto the badge, just enough to scar the metal. He soon finished and handed the badge back to the sheriff. “Well then, see you around officer,” Clark said with a smile, waving goodbye to him and the crowd, before lifting his feet off the ground and soaring into the night.

The sheriff laughed, looking down at the steaming badge, which now had engraved onto it: To James, Dreams save us. Dreams let us fly… Never stop dreaming, ever. - your pal, Superman.

Chapter 7: Nobody

Summary:

Clark investigates Lotus Co.

Superman: Mythos #7 "Nobody"

“Astounding…” the High Seer spoke, the entire royal court of Naltor sharing collectively in her awe. Each and every one of them were captivated by the Man of Steel’s perilous tale, not merely by the events told, but the way in which he spoke of them. His voice carried in a preeminent tone, at a crossroads between commanding and melodious. And although Clark never saw himself as much of a poet, he thought it wasn’t half bad. As such, he managed to completely captivate his audience throughout the course of their meal. Of course, he didn’t tell them everything. Despite being on a distant alien planet, he still didn’t want his secret identity revealed, so he skimmed out on a few of the finer details. The Naltorians didn’t seem to mind, they were much more enthralled with the epic battles he fought anyhow.

“Please, Kal El, continue,” Aretea pleaded as the main course of their feast arrived. Servants came into the dining hall from every corner, each carrying parts of what appeared to be some kind of alien boar. Slices of the beasts were then passed around, firstly to Clark. Looking down at the strange meal, he couldn’t help but lick his lips as the smell of pork wafted off the meat. Clark waited for the rest of the guests to receive their slices before digging in himself and to his surprise, it was quite delicious. Though he could not tell if that was because he hadn’t had a proper meal in over a month, or if he truly did have a taste for alien pork. 

“Tell us,” the High Seer continued, more interested in Clark’s story than the steaming meal on the plate before her. “After you vanquished the green siren , what happened? Did you punish the Supergirl for her incompetence?”

“Punish her? No, of course not,” Clark said after gulping down a chunk of pork along with a hefty sip of wine. “We just, talked…”

 

One Month Earlier

Clark tossed the last of Kara’s luggage into the back seat of Pa’s pickup. He wiped his hands and turned to see her hugging Ma goodbye on the porch steps. She then skipped her away over to Clark with Pa following behind. Kara’s skip turned into a low hover as she collided with Clark, wrapping her arms around him in super-hug. He was taken aback slightly but quickly returned the embrace. The two held each other while Pa came up beside them both and rested his hands on their shoulders. All three shared a smile as the morning sun gleamed over the amber waves of the Kent Farm.

“Love you, Kal,” Kara said, “Stay safe out there. Don’t go needing my rescuing, kay?”

“Love you too, Kara,” Clark said, patting her head. “But remember our deal?”

“‘Course I do,” Kara said, slightly annoyed, having gone over their deal a dozen times already. “No Supergirling until I’m done with midterms.”

“Good, and don’t even look at the Metropolis news or read the papers,” Clark said, his finger pointing down at her. “ I will handle it. And if not me, someone from the League will be more than happy to help out.”

“Don’t worry about it, cuz. You think I even read Clark Kent’s columns in the Planet? Your prose is so damn flowery,” Kara teased.

“She’s gotta point, kiddo!” Jonathan said with a laugh, giving Clark a slap on the back. “You’re not nearly as sharp and witty as that Lane gal is.”

“Thanks, Pa…” Clark said, shaking his head in his palm to hide a reddened face.

“Well then, Kar, should we hit the road? That way we can make it to Stanhope before sundown,” Pa said, making his way towards the driver’s side.

“Sure thing, Pa!” Kara said, giving Clark one last hug before soaring her way into the pickup.

Clark shook his head with a smile, backing up as they pulled out of the driveway. He continued to wave goodbye until the pickup turned onto the main road and drove out of sight. He then turned and made his way back to the house.

“Will you be staying for lunch, Clark dear?” Ma asked as Clark entered through the rattling screen door. She was already back in the kitchen, even after preparing breakfast for everyone earlier that morning.

“That’s alright, Ma,” Clark replied, entering the thin hallway beside the stairs where a rotary telephone was mounted on the wall. “I’m just going to make a quick call then I’ll be heading back to the city,” he said, grabbing the phone and dialing away on the circular switchboard. It was a number he’d made sure to memorize by heart. Nearly every ring passed by before someone finally picked up on the other end.

“Lois Lane, Daily Planet,” a fast-talking voice chimed in through the speakers. The tone of her voice indicated she was already preoccupied with a dozen other things on top of this call.

“H-hey there, Lois,” Clark spoke, casting a veil of meekness over his voice. “It’s me, Clark.”

“Well, hey yourself, Smallville,” Lois said, her tone notably growing warmer and more focused on him. “How are the folks?”

“They’re doing great, thanks,” Clark responded. “Say, Lois, mind doing me a favor. I’m working on something down here and I could use your help.”

“Working on vacation? See Clark, this is why I don’t do vacation ,” Lois said with a laugh. “But go ahead Smallville, hit me. Consider this me repaying you for all those lunches.”

“A-and a few dinners,” Clark added, not wanting to discount the handful of actual dates they’d been on, that didn’t fall strictly into the ‘lunch break’ category.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lois said, brushing it off. “So, what is it?”
“Have you ever heard of a company called Lotus Co.?” Clark asked, his voice simmering down to a whisper, despite the only other person around being his mother.

“ Lotus Co. huh… Sounds familiar…” Lois pondered while the loud clacking sound of typing began chiming in through the phone. “Aha! Here we are. Get this, it was a small pharmaceutical start-up. Allegedly, they continued the abandoned work of known felon, Dr. Jason Woodrue, in order to produce an experimental new line of medical drugs. Drugs whose chemicals were derived primarily from the titular Lotus flower. Though it looks like due to the drug’s hallucinogenic effect, it became fairly popular in the recreational scene.”

“Hmm, that sounds about right,” Clark said, pondering the information. “Anything else?”

“That might be about it…” Lois said. “Wait. Hold on… Oh, you gotta be kidding me…”

Clark’s eyes widened. “What? What is it?”

“In April of last year, Lotus Co. and all of its assets were bought for an undisclosed price. The company now serves as a subsidiary in LexCorp’s biotechnology division,” Lois revealed.

Clark nearly dropped the phone, taking a moment to regain his composure. “Where? Where are they based out off?”

“Easy there, Smallville. Give me a second,” Lois said, followed by more aggressive typing. “Here we are: LexCorp doesn’t offer any further information, but their original base of operations before the buyout was located off the eastern coast of Sicily. A place called the Cyclopean Isles . Willing to bet LexCorp didn’t bother moving their assets, so they’re probably still there.”

“Gee, Lois. Thanks a bunch,” Clark said while he scribbled down the last of the information on his notepad.

“Don’t mention it,” Lois replied. “But don’t go writing a bigger story than mine, you hear?”

“With your monopoly on Superman coverage? How could I compete?” Clark said with a laugh. “Anyways Lois, I’ll see you next week.”

“You better,” Lois said. “Not sure how much longer I can last alone between Perry’s grumpiness and Jimmy’s buffoonery.”

“Haha, don’t worry,” Clark replied. “I’ll be there to save you…”

With that, the two shared their goodbyes and Clark gently hung up the phone with a sigh. He then looked up and was a bit startled to see his mother standing in the hallway with him, leaning up against the wall with a smirk. 

“You love her, don’t you?” Ma said, in her signature knowing tone. In a way, she had X-ray vision of her own, able to see right through Clark’s many layers and dig deep at his core, his heart.

Clark smiled and shook his head. “I’m stupid to, aren’t I? I mean, with what I do, what I am… I wouldn’t dare share such weight with someone else, a weight even I struggle to carry alone.”

“Then don’t,” Ma said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t carry it alone. Besides, you already have us, and Kara, and all those Super Friends of yours. We’ll support you every step of the way.”

“Thanks, Ma,” Clark whispered, clasping his arms around his mother. “But I don’t think she’s ready yet… I’m not ready yet…”

After saying goodbye to his mother, Clark left the homestead. He passed his car parked in the driveway and instead ventured out into the wide fields of grain. He walked in silence through the wheat, running his hand along the many spikes as they rose and dipped. He soon came to a small grassy hill that peaked above the sea of farmland. Atop it sat a lonesome tree, with an old tire swing hanging down from one of its branches. Clark sighed, bringing his hand to the rough bark of the elder oak. He then began to unbutton his flannel, slowly revealing his suit beneath. After taking them off, he folded his clothes and set them beneath the shade, before looking out across the Kent Farm once more. His cape, now unfolded, billowed behind him in the wind. He smiled, though in the back of his mind, he was worried.

In a blink of an eye, he was gone. He soared up high into the sky and directed himself eastward through the clouds. A thundering boom followed his breaking of the sound barrier, enabling him to speed across the country in a matter of minutes. Before long, he was venturing across the great blue Atlantic, kicking up a powerful wake in the water below. He soon passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the warm, glistening Mediterranean Sea. His swift journey across the world came to a halt when he spotted the bright, sunny Italian island of Sicily below. He began his descent towards the eastern coastline of the large island and quickly found the handful of rocky islets known as the Cyclopean Isles. As he lowered closer, he raised his brow, finding nothing too impressive lining the surface of the main isle. It contained a boathouse and dock area near the water and a small building at the peak of the island which appeared to serve as a subpar sightseeing location. Nowhere did it appear to be the headquarters of a drug manufacturing plant. 

Clark then activated his X-ray vision to peer below the surface of the island. And to his lack of surprise, he saw a dozen underground rooms whose walls were all lead-lined, a LexCorp design staple. Clark searched for a proper entrance, seeing that a lead-lined hall appeared to empty out near a natural cave on the side of a coastal cliff face. He hovered around the island coastline until coming upon the darkened cave entrance. He set his feet down upon the rocky terrain and slowly entered into the maw.

Upon entering, he was expecting to be greeted with high-tech security, instead, it just appeared to be a normal cave. An extremely dark cave at that, not even his enhanced vision could penetrate the sheer blackness of it. Clark strode on, nearly blind, but he could still make out the lead walls of the hallway not much further away. It must have been situated at the very end of the ancient cave.

Clank! “Grrrr…” Noises sounded from within the darkness, echoing across the moist rocky walls.

Clark stopped in his tracks and addressed the void. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

“ Nobody am here, Superman…” a ghastly, gargling voice called out.

Suddenly, a bright blue beam lit up the darkness and struck Clark in the shoulder, freezing it in place with a chunk of materialized ice. Clark turned in time to see a familiar stoney white face emerging from the shadows.

“Nobody except, Bizarro !” the hulking monster of a man cried, as he threw a heavy punch toward the stunned Man of Steel. Clark managed to position himself so that Bizarro’s fist collided with the chunk of ice over his shoulder. The ice shattered upon impact, with shards piercing Bizarro’s hand. He roared with anger as he stumbled backward. Clark brushed off his shoulder and placed his hands on his hips, looking down at the poor creature he’d fought so many times before.

“Stand down, Bizarro. I know Luthor sent you,” Clark tried to reason. “You don’t have to fight for him.”

“Bizarro am always stand down! Bizarro fight for nobody, but himself! Bizarro fight for lies, injustice, and the Bizarro way!” He roared, before opening wide and letting a slew of fire pour forth from his mouth. Clark recoiled and knelt to the ground as his body became engulfed in relentless flame. He soon managed to reach up with his open hand and block the fiery stream, pushing it back until he grabbed hold of Bizarro’s face, covering his mouth with his palm. Bizarro’s cheeks bloated and his eyes widened before his face became consumed in a flaming ball of his own making. 

Clark stumbled back and shook the soot off his charred hand, while Bizarro fell backward onto the cave floor. Clark was quick to fly over and plant his foot onto Bizarro’s chest, holding him to the ground. 

“Give it up, Bizarro. Stop this and let’s work something out here. I don’t want to hurt you,” Clark pleaded while Bizarro struggled and clawed at his leg as he remained pinned to the cave floor.

“ It’s pointless to try and reason with the beast, is it not? ” A voice chimed in over a loudspeaker. The suave, overconfident tone was immediately recognizable, it was none other than Lex Luthor. Clark’s head swiveled, trying to look for the source of the voice, but it appeared to reverberate all throughout the cave.

“ Luthor …” Clark muttered. “Whatever it is you’re planning Lex, it won’t work. I suggest you surrender now, starting with the release of Bizarro fro-”

“ Ah! I’m going to stop you right there, ” Lex interrupted. “ While I’d love to debate the nonsense you’ve likely just uttered, I’m much too busy at the moment. You see Superman, this is a recorded message. Much like the one’s daddy left for you up north. ”

Clark clenched his fists, before looking down at Bizarro who was giggling like a child.

“ Normally, I wouldn’t have wasted my time with such a matter. However, I’ve calculated that this might be the last time we speak. Don’t bother with the how or why, it won’t be worth the effort. Trust me, you’ll need all the effort you can get soon. Anyways, consider this our final farewell, Superman… ” The recording paused for a moment. “ Blue Sun. ”

The cave responded to Luthor’s final two words by igniting in a piercing neon blue light. The pure darkness instantly became starkly bright, the light emanating from long fluorescent bulbs that lined the cave’s ceiling. The sudden shift stunned Clark at first, but only for a moment. Although a moment was just enough to allow Bizarro to grab hold of Clark’s ankle and swing his entire body against the wall. The entire cave shook upon Clark’s body indenting into the rocky surface. It was then Clark realized that this wasn’t ordinary blue light. He felt the unique and powerful molecules bouncing off his skin, they were nuclear in nature. They were artificial UV light rays, meant to simulate the radiation of a blue sun.

Clark managed to return to his feet and shake off the blow, only to receive another straight to the face. Bizarro’s fist collided with his chin with exponentially more force than he should have been capable of. Clark’s body was again forced back into the cave wall, this time causing shards of rubble to rain down from above.

“Bizarro, please! Luthor’s manipulating you! The blue sun; it makes you stronger, but exposed radiation, it will kill you! And Luthor knows it! He’s killing us both with one stone!” Clark cried, blood spitting from his lips.

“Bizarro am not care what Superman say. Luthor’s blue make Bizarro strong, Bizarro like being strong. Bizarro stronger than Superman,” Bizarro droned, while picking up a large chunk of fallen rubble. He held the boulder high above his head, preparing to smash it down onto Clark.

Clark was too weak to move, his body still lodged inside the cave wall. Unable to avoid Bizarro’s attack, he instead sent forth a beam of heat vision. The beam sliced the rock in two just as Bizarro was forcing it down upon him. Then, when the laser finished cutting through the boulder, it struck Bizarro directly in the eyes. Bizarro screamed in pain, the blast forcing him to drop the two halves of rock and clutch his steaming face. Clark then managed to free himself from the cave wall and assumed a readied stance before the powered-up Bizarro.

Bizarro removed his hands from his face and Clark saw his swollen, ash-covered eyes. Bizarro roared, fire leaking from his mouth as he reared back for another punch. Clark dodged, but he hardly needed to, Bizarro’s fist missed him entirely and slammed into the side of the cave. The cave shook, more and more debris falling from the crumbling ceiling. The quaking caused some of the blue UV bulbs to burst as a result. The blinded Bizarro removed his hand from the wall and lumbered into another strike. He slammed both his fists to the ground, causing a minor tremor. Again the attack missed Clark, but all around him and Bizarro, the cave was collapsing in on itself.

“Stop this Bizarro! You’ll bury us both!” Clark cried, glancing behind his shoulder, seeing the dim light of the exit only a few yards away.

Bizarro responded with an angry roar into the air, pouring forth fire that engulfed the cave ceiling in bright red flame, taking out the last of the blue lights. He then devolved into violent thrashing, his random strikes colliding with the crumbling cave, sending bigger and bigger pieces to the ground.

Clark realized there was no arguing with the beastly Superman, at least not in his current state. His only recourse was to make it out of the cave before he brought it down upon them. Clark turned and stumbled into a sprint towards the light of the exit. He soon leaped into the air and flew as fast as he could despite his injuries. Just as he came to the exit, a giant boulder collapsed in front of him. He rushed through it, breaking through with relative ease, but it was enough to slow him down. He managed to reach his arm out into the light before the entirety of the cave came crashing down onto his body. Clark shouted out in pain, but his voice was quickly silenced by the rubble.

Clark held out his right hand, the only part of him not covered. He reached for something, anything, but nothing was there. He felt his consciousness fading. The unbelievable weight of an island was on top of him and he could feel every inch of it. All of it, pressing down on him as if he were another rock in the pile. While it was too dark to see, an even blacker darkness began to overtake his vision.

Then, just when he was on the precipice of blacking out, he felt the warm, smooth touch of a hand grasp onto his. Their fingers wrapped around his wrist and before long, they pulled him forth from the rubble. Clark, covered in dust and debris, fell to his knees and then to his back as he panted for breath. He cracked open his eyes and was blinded by the harsh yellow sun, but the light was quickly obscured by a figure standing over him.

As his vision adjusted he saw her . He saw her smile, her long dark hair, and her golden tiara. Her presence irradiated power and beauty. It was enough to make Clark forget the pain he was in and smile back. He opened his mouth to speak, but coughed up a lung of dust before he could get a word in. So he merely mumbled, “ Diana?... ” before passing out.

Chapter 8: Among the Amazons

Summary:

Diana brings Clark to Themyscira.

Superman: Mythos #8 "Among the Amazons"

“The Wonder Woman , I presume?” the High Seer interjected. Clark paused his tale to finish the last of his alien pork, nodding as he chewed. “I thought so, we have not dreamed of her much. But when we do, never is she too far from you… Is she your mating companion?”

Clark nearly choked on his food, having to thump his chest and wash it down with a few sips of wine. “No, God no…” He managed to say between coughs as he regained his composure.

“Apologies, I’m not familiar with Earthling mating terminology, so excuse me if I use the wrong vernacular. Would you prefer it if I referred to her as your wife?” the High Seer continued, trying her best.

“No,” Clark said more sternly. “We’re just friends, coworkers really.”

“Ah, I see. So like the Lane woman?” Aretea asked.

Clark sighed, wanting to further explain, but he didn’t see the point in doing so. “Yes, just friends. Just like Lois.”

 

Three Weeks Earlier

Clark slowly awoke and felt the golden rays of the sun pouring through his bedside window, rejuvenating his tired body. Long white curtains flowed as a warm breeze filled the ancient marble room he’d been resting in. Clark arched his back up in the comfortable silk bed, quickly realizing he was devoid of his suit, or any form of clothes for that matter. Beside him, incense wafted, along with jars and bowls of crushed herbs and other strong-smelling ingredients.

His memory of what happened the day or so before was starting to come back to him when he heard chatter from just outside his room. The shadows of three figures stood just outside a closed door. They were trying to whisper, but one didn’t need super-hearing to figure out what they were saying. Or rather, what they were arguing about.

“Daughter, please. You must realize, even for you, this is highly irregular,” a mature female voice spoke. “It’s only been three years since-”
“Five years, mother,” another retorted. Clark clearly recognized the voice, it was Diana’s. “It’s been five years since we became known to Man’s World. And time moves a lot faster for those who aren’t blessed by the gods.”

“Admit it, sister ,” the third and final voice snapped. “You’ve brought your male plaything here for your own selfish desires. Who knows what could be following him, what dangers he might bring to our land.”

“Artemis, I thought you were a warrior? Scared of the terrors of Man’s World, are you?” Diana teased. “Trust me, a mortal’s wrath hardly compares to that of a god. The latter of which we have plenty of experience with.”

“That isn’t the point, Princess, and you know it!” Artemis growled. “Tell her, my Queen. We should banish this so-called Super man .”

“No, no, Artemis,” the Queen said in a soft tone, yet with a hint of concern in her motherly voice. “Diana is right. She was sent to be the bridge between us and the world of man. And he is the greatest of men, so we are told. It would be unjust not to accept him and lend him sanctuary. When he is well, he may come before the court and we shall uncover his intentions fairly.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Diana said.

“I respect your judgment, my Queen,” Artemis said before a brief pause, turning back to Diana with a stern finger. “But I remain wary of yours, sister …”

Clark heard the two Amazons walk away, leaving just Diana’s shadow standing before the door. A quiet moment passed before the door creaked open and Diana entered Clark’s room with a weary smile on her face. Clark managed one back as she came up beside his bed.

She was, well, wondrous . A shimmering golden tiara was nestled in her long flowing black hair. Her bright blue eyes had seen so much, yet still, they looked out upon the future’s horizon with hope. Her defined warrior’s body was protected beneath her gold and crimson breastplate, ending at her waist where it gave way to a star-spangled battle skirt. And on her waist was strapped the glowing golden Lasso of Hestia, capable of compelling anyone to tell the truth.

Clark’s eyes then lingered away from the Amazon and out the window of the infirmary. Through the thin billowing curtains, he looked out across a shining Greco-Roman city, the likes of which made ancient Athens look like Smallville. Amongst the more standard architecture of antiquity, there were also grand machinations of advanced technology. The likes of which Clark couldn’t even begin to think of what their purposes may be. They were impressive nonetheless, with the entire city being built upon a lush, rocky terrain common to most Mediterranean isles.

Clark shook his head with a soft chuckle, hardly believing the reality of where he was. It was as if he’d stepped right into the pages of myth. He then looked down at himself, his bare chest and his nude lower body which was still concealed beneath the sheets. 

“I see you’ve-” Clark began, his face growing slightly red.

“Taken the liberty of washing your uniform, yes,” Diana finished. “And Kal, please. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” She smirked, while Clark winced in embarrassment.

“Well, thank you,” Clark continued. “N-not just for the suit, but for the save. And for bringing me here .” His gaze once more turned out the window and onto the opulence of Themyscira. It was a place he’d only heard stories of from Diana, never did he think he’d actually make it there for himself. “Come to think of it, why were you there? On the Cyclopean Isles, that is?”

“Same as you, I presume,” Diana said. “I was following a lead. A new substance has been making the rounds in this corner of the world. Lotus , they call it. Recreationally and on its own, it is not harmful. Unless it's used in tandem with a plant elemental metahuman. I ran into one by the name of Black Orchid in Southern Turkey. She was able to use her powers to take control of anyone who ingested the drug. Building an army for herself and funding it by selling Lotus to the very people she took over.”

“Same story here, well, with a few more pies involved,” Clark said, to which Diana gave him a puzzled look. “Don’t worry about it. Point is, I was able to find out who’s truly behind Lotus.”

“Who?” Diana asked.

“ LexCorp Industries ,” Clark answered.

“ Luthor …” Diana growled between clenched teeth.

“I know,” Clark said, getting up out of the bed, making sure to wrap the sheets firmly around his waist. “Guess this is why Bruce always wants us all to compare notes.”

“And then the moment you step into Gotham, you’ve somehow sabotaged a three-month-long Riddler investigation,” Diana said with a laugh, making her way to a pillar in the corner of the room which had Clark’s suit placed upon it, clean and neatly folded. “Don’t even get me started on him.”

“Bruce can be difficult ,” Clark said, following Diana.

“That’s an understatement,” she said, handing him his suit.

Clark paused with his suit in his hands while Diana stood before him patiently. An awkward moment passed before it occurred to her.

“Ah, yes, of course,” she said, making her way to the door in order to give Clark his privacy. “Now then, ready yourself. Soon you shall meet the Queen.”

“Wait, I’m going to meet your mother ?” Clark said, his words cut short as Diana slammed the door closed behind her.

Clark was soon dressed in his iconic Superman costume and met with Wonder Woman outside the infirmary. The two exited the Amazonian medical facility and crossed through the heart of Themyscira towards the royal palace. Clark remained in awe of the city, meanwhile, the local Amazons glared at him as he walked by. He was clearly out of place in this society of female warriors, but he had practice feeling like an outsider, so it wasn’t a bother.

They soon came before the palace of the Queen. It was the grandest of all the structures on the island and it was also clearly the oldest. Its age was not evident through any decay, it was in pristine condition. Instead through its sheer presence and scale, it conveyed its antiquity. They traveled up the palace’s many steps and entered its spacious throne room, lined with colorful marble pillars, quarried from all four corners of the Old World. 

At the very end of the room, on an elevated platform sat Queen Hippolyta with a line of her most loyal advisors on either side of her. One of which hovered close to the Queen’s right hand. The Amazon in question was scowling down at Clark with a bit more ferocity than the others. He assumed she was the one named Artemis. She was distinct from the other Amazons, with her red hair tied into an extremely long ponytail, a massive battle axe strapped to her back, and dark red and black armor that was almost the opposite of Diana’s.

The Queen herself was the picture of warrior royalty. She had on a long purple cloak, over a similar set of armor to Diana’s, but in violet hues. On her head she wore an ornate golden crown with her long, curly black hair done up in intricate knots behind it. She looked like her daughter, but her eyes held a sadness and tired weary not present in Diana’s.

Clark and Diana both stood before the Queen and her line of Amazons as a silence hovered. Diana quickly nudged before dropping to her knee. He then quickly followed her lead and dropped to his knee as well.

“Rise,” the Queen spoke. They rose. “Welcome to Themyscira, Kal-El of Man’s World. Though you did not hail from there originally, yes?”

“No, ma’am. I come from the doomed planet of Krypton. The yellow sun of Earth gives my people great power. A power I’ve chosen to use to better mankind… And womankind, of course. And everything in between,” Clark explained, trying his best to shed himself in the best possible light, though he found the task rather difficult. Superman appraisal was often reserved for his articles in the Planet, but even then, behind the guise of Clark Kent, it felt like theater. Now, he had to make this look real to a group of people who thought the words super and man should be as far apart from each other as possible. “But I assure you, your highness, I may not be human, but I am an American.”

“An American , you say…” Hippolyta said, raising her brow. “I’ve only met one other who claimed to hail from this infant race of the so-called New World. His name was Steve Trevor…”

The Queen’s eyes darted over to Diana, who turned her head to the side to avoid eye contact with her mother. The long pause made Clark worry. Worry about what Steve might have done to warrant such a dramatic interlude, whoever he was.

“And he was as noble as a man could be,” she continued, letting Clark and Diana take a collective sigh of relief. “I have heard a great many things about you, Kal-El of Krypton.”

“All good I hope,” Clark said cheerfully, turning to Diana with a grin that she did not reciprocate. 

“Yes… All good ,” Hippolyta said, repeating Clark’s simplistic word choice. “And I have no doubt that you are a man of honor and justice. However, I’ve been deceived too many times by men who feign such virtues. My sisters and I have decided it would be best to remove your memories as they pertain to Themyscira and all her wonders.”

“Mother-!” Diana interjected.

“Quiet, Diana!” Artemis shouted, stepping out of the line of Amazon advisors. “You know it’s for the best!”

“What do you know of what’s best? You have not walked amongst men in millennia! None of you have!” Diana shouted.

“Silence! Both of you!” Hippolyta commanded. “You may be the Wonder Woman, Diana, but I am still the Queen and my word is law. You will take Kal-El to the wellspring of the River Lethe and he will drink from it, forgetting his time here. From there you shall transport him back to Man’s World. And to make sure the task is done, I will send with you my most loyal advisors.” 

Hippolyta then turned to her line of Amazons and spoke, “Artemis.”

Artemis smirked, stepping forth from the line and down next to Clark and Diana. Diana crossed her arms and glared at the smug Artemis. “Mother,” she began, “is an escort truly necessa-?”

“Nubia,” Hippolyta continued, ignoring her daughter’s defiance of her judgment. A second Amazon stepped out of the line and joined the group. She had big frizzy locks of hair and dark skin. She wore similar armor to both Diana and Artemis but colored golden and light blue. She stood taller than most of the other amazons, with a stern expression on her face and a fearsome spear at her side.

“And lastly…sister Maxima ,” Hippolyta spoke.

Clark immediately felt his stomach drop upon hearing the name. He looked up and was shocked to see none other than Queen Maxima of Almerac herself step forth from the line of Amazons. She wore their armor, but her long red hair, piercing green eyes, and devilish grin were unmistakable. It was her .

Clark clenched his fists as Maxima joined the escort. The alien queen appeared to be reveling in his anguish, having somehow disguised herself among the Amazons. Some kind of twisted magic must have been afoot, a power Maxima couldn’t have been capable of alone. Clark turned to Diana, whose attention was still on her mother; she had hardly reacted when Maxima was called forth.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Clark addressed Hippolyta. “May Diana and I have a few words before I, well, lose my memories.”

“No,” Artemis said, pressing her axe blade against the Man of Steel’s shoulder. “Enough delay. We should have never even let you step foot upon Themyscira, this whole thing has been an utter waste of our time.”

“Patience, Artemis,” the Queen spoke. “Let Kal-El speak with my daughter. The Superman has done nothing to harm us. His punishment is merely a precaution. A debt his forefathers leave him to repay.”

Artemis scoffed and backed away from Clark while he led Diana to the side, away from Maxima and the others. Once behind the shadow of the marble colonnade, he turned to her with concern. 

“I am sorry, Kal. But my mother is stubborn. All my people are slow to change. I’m sure you can understand,” Diana apologized.

“What? No, of course I understand. The Amazons may do what they please. It’s not that,” Clark said, placing his hands on Diana’s shoulders, his grip getting tighter as he spoke. “ It’s Maxima .”

“Sister Maxima? What about her?” Diana asked, puzzled by Clark’s frantic concern.

“What do you mean? Queen Maxima is the alien tyrant who came to Earth looking for a suitable mate. The one who tried to… you know,” Clark struggled to explain. “Long story short, I beat her a few years back and now there she is! Back!”

“Kal, please,” Diana said with a laugh, shrugging his hands on her shoulders. “You must be mistaken. I’ve known Maxima all my life. She is a loyal Amazon, through and through. A true champion of Hera.”

 Clark looked away from Diana and to the group of Amazons, only to find Maxima staring right back. That grin still plastered across her face. Even Diana had been fooled. All of the Amazons were caught in a terrible spell. Clark backed up against a column and clutched his forehead in distress. “Great Scott…”

Chapter 9: Superman Fights the River

Superman: Mythos #9 "Superman Fights the River"

“The River Lethe is a goddess in and of itself. However, she hardly appears in her godly form. Instead she remains an elemental, a force of nature. She is a divine body of water in Hades that separates the gloomy meadows of Asphodel and the warrior’s paradise of Elysium,” Diana explained as she led Clark, Artemis, Nubia and Maxima along a thin forest trail on the outskirts of the city. “Parts of her manage to bubble up to the surface and have become sacred wellsprings in select places. This is one such sacred place,” She said, stopping as they entered into a clearing.

At the center of the clearing was a small circular spring, with a trickling waterfall feeding it. Around it laid moss covered ruins and broken statues, all of which depicted a sorrowful-looking goddess. They were hooded, with their heads hung low and water streaming down from their marble eyes into the spring.

Clark felt the poke of Artemis’ battle axe against his back, pushing him further along towards the spring. Nubia’s spear too soon came to his chest and together, the Amazon’s forced him to kneel at the edge of the well. He then felt the heel of Maxima press against the back of his head, forcing him to arch his neck and stare into the swirling mystical water.

“Now drink,” Maxima said with glee, pressing down on him harder.

Clark had yet to come up with a plan. He’d failed to convince Diana of the dire circumstance. In fact, his seemingly nonsensical ramblings about her so-called sister , Maxima, pushed Diana to go along with her mother’s decision to wipe his memories of Themyscira. “ Maybe they were right ,” she said before their departure. “ Maybe it is for the best …”

Clark was forced to stare into the water of the Lethe. Its water was bubbling as if it were boiling, yet the steam that rose from its surface was ice cold. Streaks of glowing red pulsated beneath the whirling water and Clark could have swore he heard drowned screams emanating from its dark depths. He then felt the spear of Nubia back away from his chest.

“The water…” Nubia spoke, gazing down at the well with concern. “Does she look alright to you, Diana?”

Diana raised her brow and swiftly walked up beside the well, peering into its aching waters. “No, no she doesn’t look alright, Nubia. Artemis, Maxima, let him go. He cannot drink the water in this state. Lethe is not well, we must determine the cause of this.”

“Who cares?” Artemis said, still holding her axe blade to Clark. “Goddess piss is goddess piss. She’s been doing her job everyday, making Shades forget, since even before the Titans reigned. What makes you think today is any different?”

“She’s just trying to spare the mind of her man-thing, sister,” Maxima spoke, still holding her heel to Clark’s neck.

“Right you are, Maxima,” Artemis said. “Give it a rest already, Princess . This man is-”

Suddenly, Artemis was cut off when the Wellspring of Lethe erupted like a geyser, sending Clark, Maxima and the Amazons flying backward. Clark managed to catch the air and hover back down to his feet, while the rest tumbled behind. He held out his hand to block the violent blast of water bursting from the well. Soon the geyser settled and in its steaming wake floated a large humanoid figure composed entirely of water. Clark watched as the creature arched over him with its long clawed hands, flowing waves of hair, and a wisp-like tail that tethered it to the well. It had a ghoulish, vaguely feminine face whose expression was one of pure anger and pain. It let out a powerful shriek, its voice founding like a drowned, gargling banshee.

“ Lethe …” Diana muttered as she came up beside Clark, sword and shield at her side.

The creature’s dark sunken eyes targeted Diana before raising its claw and preparing to slash. As it did, Clark sent out a blast of heat vision that severed the creature’s hand before it could reach Diana. The water that made up its hand splashed lifelessly to the ground, boiling to steam at their feet. The creature reared back and roared before sucking more water up from the well. The extra water moved across its body and down its arm, in order to form a brand new hand, even bigger than the one before.

Clark’s eyes narrowed, spotting the thin tether of water that still connected the creature to the rest of the well. “Diana, distract it. I have an idea.”

Diana nodded to him before sidestepping to the other side of the well. She banged her sword and shield together, the constant clanging causing the beast’s murderous gaze to follow. Meanwhile, Clark flew to the back of the well and began to blow a gust of ice cold wind onto the thin stream of water. Slowly, the base of the creature was starting to freeze over, along with its supply of well water. 

“What have you done?…” Artemis growled, joining Diana to face the liquified beast, giant axe in hand.

“What have I done?!” Diana shouted, pausing to block a watery slash with her shield. “It is likely you, Artemis, who’s angered the gods!” She then sheathed her sword and took out her glowing lasso to wrap around the arm of the beast and yank it to the ground.

“Foolish sister, it is only you who deserves’ a goddesses wrath, by bringing a man here,” Artemis said, while lifting her axe high and chopping it down across the tied down arm of the creature. The severed arm again boiled away, but this time the goddess could not replenish her limb, for the well had been completely frozen over by Clark. The ice was slowly creeping up its body, rendering it less and less mobile with every second that passed.

“Now, now, sisters ,” Maxima said, coming up behind Artemis, readying her sword. “No use in arguing over a man!” She shouted while sinking her blade deep into Artemis’ back. Artemis dropped her axe as blood sprayed from her gaping mouth. “Besides…” She said with a wicked grin, putting her hand to Artemis’ shoulder and pulling the bloodied steel out of the Amazon. “He’s mine .”

“Artemis!” Diana cried, turning away from Lethe to race toward Maxima. “How could you, sister?!” Wonder Woman roared, bringing her sword down upon Maxima’s. Artemis fell to the ground at their feet, gasping for air as a pool of blood formed around her. As they held their blades firm, Diana looked for support from Nubia. Only then did she spot her in the back of the ruins, incapacitated with a similar wound to Artemis. The heinous betrayal fueled her anger, her crushing strength growing too great for Maxima to hold against.

Maxima backed away, dodging Diana’s weighty blow.  “You should have listened to Kal-El, princess ,” She taunted while Diana prepared for another strike. Though before she could, the giant watery fist of Lethe came crashing down upon her.

“Diana!” Clark cried, ceasing his stream of freezing breath. Without the constant freezing, the river monster soon broke free of the ice and once more, water moved freely into it from the well. He flew towards Diana, now entirely trapped in the beast’s liquid grasp, drowning as she was sucked further and further into its body. Clark forced his hand into the raging current and grabbed hold of Diana’s arm. He tried with all his might to pull her free of the corrupted divine waters, but it was no use. She slipped free of his grasp and was pulled down into the depths of the well.

Clark then slowly turned around to face Maxima, eyes burning red with rage. “What have you done, Maxima?” he said through gritted teeth, clenching his fists at his side. “What kind of twisted magic is this? Brainwashing the Amazons? Corrupting a goddess?”

“Ha!” Maxima laughed. “Hell if I know. We each had our part to play. I left the spell casting to the witch.”

“The witch?” Clark questioned. “What witch?”

“Then we left the boring stuff to baldy,” Maxima continued, ignoring Clark as she strutted towards him, unafraid of his burning eyes. “Leaving me to be…” she began, rearing back her fist. “The muscle!” Her fierce fist collided with Clark’s chest, shaking the very ground they stood upon while he remained completely still.

He brushed her fist to the side like it was nothing. “You’ll have to do a bit better than that.”

“Do I?” she said, taking a step back.

Suddenly, the two watery claws of Lethe crashed down upon Clark, wrapping around his neck and lifting him into the air. He tried to pry himself free of the beast’s grip, but there was nothing to grab hold of. His hands merely skimmed against the rushing water. Soon, his body was pulled beneath the swirling current. He saw Maxima up through the refracting surface of the water, watching with a grin as he was pulled down into the well.

Darkness overcame his vision. Then, the water around him began to glow a vast array of colors. He felt his body being thrust forward through the vibrant kaleidoscope. Faster and faster he was pulled until it became too much to watch. He closed his eyes and everything stopped.

When Clark opened his eyes again, he did not know if a minute had passed, or hours, or even days. All he knew was that he was back on dry land. He crawled out of a crashing surf onto the orange sands of a riverbank, gasping for breath. Looking up, he saw Diana. She was lingering up the bank, having emerged from the flowing river moments prior. Clark lifted himself to his feet and turned around to see the large, raging river they’d come from. They were no longer in Themyscira. Past the river, was a wide open landscape, dotted with crystalline leafless trees and brushed with orange sand. There was a vast empty plain stretching into the horizon, with no signs of civilization in sight. Above them, the atmosphere was a pale blue with a handful of misshapen moons dotting the sky. 

Clark then turned back around to follow Diana up the riverbank. “Are we in…” Clark hesitated. “... the Underworld ?”

“ Worse ,” Diana said, stopping at the height of the riverbank.

Clark came up beside her and joined in her gaze. They saw a small hill in the distance and an ancient homestead sitting atop it. At the base of the hill, walking towards them was a figure riding upon what appeared to be a lion, dragging another figure along behind them by chain. 

“The Planet Sorca,” Diana said as the lion rider came into view. She had long, dark violet hair, fashioned in classical Greek style. She wore a revealing emerald dress that hung loosely to her shapely figure. The rest of her was overly adorned in gleaming golden jewelry, no doubt full of powerful enchantments. In one hand she held laxly onto a silver chalice of wine, while in the other she held the end of a magical chain. The glowing purple chain was bound to the neck of a young girl whom she tugged along beside the lion. The girl had pale skin, a thin blue dress and straight black hair that hung over her eyes. Along with her neck, her hands too were bound with magical chains and her bare feet were worn from walking. So much so, that when the woman halted her lion before Clark and Diana, the girl collapsed to her knees in exhaustion.

“New Aeaea. The home of Circe…” Diana continued. She then glared up at the woman. “I should have known this was your doing, witch!”

Circe chuckled while lounging across the back of her lion. “Welcome, Diana, Superman . Make it here alright?” Circe taunted. “I can’t take all the credit. You can thank her for that,” She yanked on the young girl’s chain, forcing her forward.

“ Lethe …” Diana said beneath her breath. “How dare you? Binding a goddess and using her for your own twisted ends? A goddess of the Underworld no less? Hades will have your head for this.”

“Athena’s wisdom fails you, Princess,” Circe said. “Have you forgotten? The gods cannot touch me lest they risk a war with my father and the remaining Titans. For my exile is the treaty that binds their uneasy alliance.”

“Luckily, I’m no god,” Clark said, stepping forward. “I’d recommend you free that poor girl, ma’am. Or else.”

“I’m sorry,” Circe said with a laugh. “You don’t actually think you have any leverage in this discussion, do you Kal ? Diana, please tell your friend to be quiet, the women are speaking.”

Clark launched forward into the air, aiming to grab Lethe’s chain. Though before he could reach it, Circe lifted a single finger and stopped him in mid-air. His body became enveloped in a glowing purple light, a bubble of magic Clark couldn’t punch his way through.

“Not very bright are you?” Circe said, moving her glowing fingers about to affect her spell. The bubble around Clark became more jagged, with pieces piercing him. He grunted in pain, feeling as if a hundred flaming needles were being injected across his body. “And not so fond of magic either, hm?”

“Enough of this, Circe!” Diana shouted, pointing her sword up at the witch. “What do you want with us?”

“First off,” Circe began, throwing Clark to the ground and letting him free of her magical grasp. “I want nothing with him, it’s you I want Princess. The Superman goes to her , as per our arrangement,” Circe said, pointing behind them.

Diana and Clark turned to see a soaked Maxima emerge from the river. She ran her hands through her long fiery hair before unsheathing her sword with a grin. “Let’s finish this shall we?”

Clark got back to his feet and stood back-to-back with Diana. He looked back up at Circe who gave him a smirk, while twisting sparks of magic in her hand. He then looked behind his shoulder to see Maxima approaching Diana, the two ready to clash swords once more.

“Mind if we switch dance partners?” Clark asked.

“Gladly,” Diana replied.

The two swapped positions and immediately sprung upon their respective opponents. Circe dismounted her lion and sent it forth to clash with Diana. The beast was larger than an average lion, bred and raised on the harsh alien planet of Sorca. Its claws, like razor blades, came down on Diana’s sword with an incredible force. While the princess was busy, Circe tightened her grip on the chains of the goddess Lethe.

“The time has come,” Circe spoke to the goddess, placing her heel to her back and forcing her to her hands. Lethe nodded to her captor and began to command the water of the nearby river. The current diverted up onto the bank and surrounded the goddess’ hands in a swirling puddle. Then, the water rose into the air and formed a vertical circle. The water in the center of the circle began to move so fast that it began to open another portal, just like it had back in Themyscira. “Good…” Circe said, seemingly taking control of the portal herself, surrounding it in her violet magic. She stilled the water, making it become a clear gateway into a reddened land. Circe then positioned the portal behind Clark and Maxima as they clashed.

Circe’s lion had since forced Diana to the ground. She smiled before creating more magical chains that bound the immobilized Amazon. Diana struggled to break free, but the magic was strong. It diluted her powers, same as Lethe, or put them under the command of Circe, at least. Nevertheless, Diana could do nothing as she watched Circe send her beastly lion towards Clark.

“Kal-El!” Diana cried, using the last of her strength to throw her sword towards Clark. Clark heard her, as well as the sword flying towards him and the beast’s charge. He headbutted Maxima, sending her to the ground before turning to catch the hilt of the sword. He turned the blade out just in time to stab the lion through the heart as it tackled him. However, the momentum of the collision sent them both tumbling backward, right into the portal.

Clark grunted in pain as his back hit the rocky red surface on the other side. Suddenly, the weight of the dying beast on top of him became extremely heavy. He managed to lug the lion carcass off of him and climb back to his feet, his entire body overcome with a sudden weakness. He glanced up into the hazy pink sky and spotted a glaring red sun over the horizon. “No…” He said beneath his breath, looking back towards the river-portal that was still open. He limped toward the gate, hoping to dive back into Sorca, free Diana and finish the fight.

Clark took one step back into Circe’s planet, but his face was soon met with Maxima’s fist. The impact pushed him back through the portal and onto the red moon, Maxima on top of him. Maxima leapt to her feet and stood over his body triumphantly. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” she cried, laughing maniacally while grinding her heel into his chest. 

Clark stretched his hand out towards the portal as it began to shrink. “Diana…” He spoke between coughs, blood leaking from his lips.

“Kal! Kal!…” He heard her voice begin to fade as the swirling divine gateway closed, leaving him stranded beneath the red sun. He was alone on the barren moon, alone with Queen Maxima.

 

Present Day

“I was exiled on the red moon for just over two weeks,” Clark told the Naltorians. At last, he had reached the end of his heroic tale. The feast in the dinning hall of the palace had long passed, yet the royal court was still gathered around, listening intently to the Man of Steel. “Until I escaped my imprisonment by constructing the rocket that was destroyed in your atmosphere. The rocket I still need to get back to Earth.”

A silence fell over the Naltorians, only soft whispers floated amongst them. Then the High Seer Aretea stood and placed her hand on Clarks shoulder. “It has been an honor, Kal-El. Your tale will echo throughout these halls for generations to come.”

“As honored as I am, ma’am,” Clark began. “My tale is far from over. I’m afraid Maxima was just one piece in a larger puzzle.”

A messenger entered the quiet hall and rushed up to the High Seer, whispering something into her ear. Aretea nodded as she accepted her message. She then looked to Clark with a smile. “Our futurists have something to show you, Kal-El…”

Chapter 10: The Sandsmarks

Superman: Mythos #10 "The Sandsmarks"

Ding Dong! The doorbell of a sleepy Gateway City high-rise rang. Waiting patiently on the apartment steps were Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Kara Zor-El. Some muffled yelling could be heard from inside until the thump of angry footsteps came up to the door. The door swung open to reveal a middle-aged woman with glasses, banged brown hair, wearing professional attire. She took one look at the crew on her doorstep and turned back inside her home with a sigh. 

“Cassie!” She shouted up the stairs to the second floor. “Some friends of yours are here!”

“Th-thank you, Dr. Sandsmark, we-” Kara began.

“Look, Supergirl, right?” the woman asked. Kara nodded. “All I ask is that you keep the voices down in the house and keep the superheroing outside. Got it?”
“Y-yes, ma’am,” Kara and Jimmy replied in unison, while Lois simply chuckled.

“This is good actually, anything to get my daughter out of the house. I’ve got six more calls to get to later today…” Dr. Sandsmark said before a pause. She looked to Lois, “Do I know you?”

“Lois Lane, Daily Planet,” Lois introduced herself, holding out her hand.

“Dr. Helena Sandsmark, Gateway City Museum of Antiquities. It’s a pleasure,” Helena said, shaking Lois’ hand. “I did an interview with the Planet a few years back. It wasn’t with you though…”

“Was the interviewer a big bumbling buffoon of a man?” Lois asked.

Helena chuckled, “now that you mention it. Yes, yes he was.”

“That’s Clark Joseph Kent, for ya,” Lois said. “He was real proud of that piece he did about your work at Artemisia.”

“I’m not sure why,” Helena said. “Take it from a woman who reads ancient poetry all day long, that man’s prose is so damn flowery.”

Lois laughed, clutching the railing as she wiped away a tear. “Oh, I like you,” Lois said, taking out a card from her jacket and handing it to Helena. “Here’s my card. Let’s keep in touch. Maybe we can get you an updated story some time soon. One with less authorial self-aggrandizing, I assure you.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Miss Lane,” Helena said, accepting her card.

“And I’m Jim-” Jimmy began.

“Cassie!” Helena shouted. “Don’t keep these people waiting!”
“Coming, Mom!” A teen girl’s voice rang from upstairs, followed by swift footsteps. Soon the girl appeared at the top of the stairs. Cassie Sandsmark stood there triumphantly, with her long blonde hair and bulky headphones around her neck. She wore a bright red, blue, and gold Wonder Woman tank top, under an unzipped brown sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up to show off her Amazonian bracers. Over her legs she wore star embroidered leggings and red sneakers on her feet. 

“Kara!” she cried, leaping down the entire flight of stairs in a single bound. She slipped past her mother, through the doorway, and wrapped Kara in a hug. “It’s been way too long!” She paused, looking over Kara’s shoulder at Jimmy and Lois. “What’s with the stiffs?”

“They’re with me,” Kara said, unwrapping Cassie’s arms from around her body and holding her hands tight. “Cassie, we need your help.”

“Really? What for?” Cassie asked.

“Superman is missing,” Lois butted in. “Over a month now.”

“No way…” Cassie began. “You know what, now that you mention it. I haven’t seen Diana in a while either. But it’s not like she calls me or anything. I don’t think she knows how to use a cellphone.”

“That’s because they’re probably in the same place,” Kara continued. “Both their trails go cold over Themyscira. We need you to get us there.”

“Ha, me?” Cassie said with a nervous chuckle. “I’ve only gotten there on my own by accident. Every other time I’ve been with Diana.”

“Then you know how to get there. Great, let’s go,” Lois said, growing impatient.

“Well, yeah, but…” Cassie began. “I don’t think you guys are gonna like it.”

Cassie led the group up to the top floor of the apartment and out onto the roof of the building. A storm was brewing over the pink horizon of the coastal city and a light drizzle had begun overhead. 

“Good, he’s already out,” Cassie said to herself as she gathered everyone around her.

“ He ?” Lois questioned.

“ My dad …” Cassie said as loud thunder cracked while flashes of lightning danced across the sky.

“Your dad is-” Jimmy began.

“Yeah, Zeus, Jupiter, King of the Gods,” Cassie said. “Now, everyone, hold hands.” Cassie took Kara and Lois’ hands while they each took one of Jimmy’s. Together they stood in a circle while Cassie closed her eyes and began to whisper. Above them, the storm swirled and the rain picked up. Her whispers grew louder, “come on Dad, come on Dad…”

Lightning stuck just off the side of the building, followed by a rumbling thunder that shook the building. Jimmy nearly lept out of the circle. “Are we sure this is safe?” He asked, raising his voice in order to speak over the increasing rainfall.

“Nope!” Cassie shouted back. Then, another lightning bolt struck, this time directly on top of them. Each was blinded by impossibly white light as their bodies grew numb and evaporated off the roof of the building. In an instant, they had vanished, leaving nothing but a smoking trail in their wake.

Meanwhile, in Themyscira, the court of Hippolyta was caught in heated debate.

“There is no doubt about it,” Artemis began, limping out into the center of the council chamber. Her midsection was bandaged and her arm was in a sling, still recovering from her encounter with Maxima. “Only the magic of a witch could have fooled us all. And there’s only one witch who’s foolish enough to do it!”

“You are more than correct, sister,” Hippolyta spoke from her throne. “The divine sorceress, Circe , has tormented us for far too long from her place of exile. I shall convene with mighty Zeus to have her punishment changed to reflect something more permanent .”

Nubia stepped in, she too was wrapped in bandages. “When, my queen, have the gods shown to change their minds? To go back on their word? Father Zeus will not budge, if he did, it would make him look weak. Not to mention the remaining Titans. The destruction of a daughter of Helios will not bode well for their uneasy alliance with Olympus.”

“Well put, sister,” Artemis continued, before looking back up to Hippolyta. “And what of your daughter, my queen? We cannot let her rot in the degrepid halls of that witch! Send us to Sorca, at last the Amazons shall wage war on New Aeaea! It’s time we be the ones who dispense the divine justice of the gods!”

“Silence!” Hippolyta shouted. “Aside from the needless losses an assault on Sorca would entail, it will invoke the wrath of the Titans down upon us as well. This shall be a rescue mission, nothing more, nothing less. To bring back my daughter and leave the witch to her exile.”

Artemis grunted, angrily clutching her side in pain. “Who then? Who then, my queen, shall go on this rescue mission ?”

Then, thunder clapped from within the very halls of the palace, shaking it to its ancient foundation. The Amazonian council was blinded by a sudden burst of white light. When the light faded, standing in the center of the room amongst smoke and flame was Cassie Sandsmark alongside Kara, Lois, and Jimmy. After regaining their composure, the stunned Amazons quickly raised their weapons and closed in on the invaders.

“Stand down, sisters!” Hippolyta commanded. “It is one of our own!”

“ Cassandra ,” Artemis muttered, raising her axe with her one good hand. “Ah yes, the Wonder Girl . And just like her mentor, she’s brought with her a man …” She glared at Jimmy who nervously gave a wave. Her gaze then lingered over to Kara and Lois. “Along with two so-called women who have been corrupted by Man’s World. This one even wears the mark of the Superman…”

“Enough Artemis. Let our sister speak,” Hippolyta said. “Tell us, Cassandra, why have you come to us?”

Cassie hesitated, intimidated by the Amazonian eyes beating down on her.

“We’re here to find Superman and Wonder Woman,” Lois spoke up. “I assume that’s why you’re all here. Why you all seem to be at each other’s throats. Believe me, I know what it's like.”

“Who gave you permission to speak, mortal?” Artemis chided.

“No,” Cassie began. “She’s right. We’re here to help.”

“Then the gods have spoken,” Hipployta said. “Cassandra Sandsmark and the friends of  Kal-El shall be the ones to save our princess, my daughter…”

“What?!” Artemis shouted. “My Queen, you cannot possibly trust them! Or even Cassandra herself! Need I remind you, she is not one of us! She is a spawn of Man’s World. You should send-”

“ You Artemis? I should send you ?” Hipployta began. “Look at yourself. Nearly killed by one of Circe’s thralls, allowing her to escape with Diana. What makes you think I could possibly rely on the likes of you to bring her back over Cassandra, daughter of Zeus himself?”

Artemis grunted before sitting back down amongst the rest of the council, arms crossed, still clutching her wounded side in pain.

“We humbly accept the mission, my Queen,” Cassie said, falling to her knee before the queen. “W-we do, r-right?” She asked, looking up at the rest of the group.

“Yes, your highness, we accept,” Kara said, taking to her knee beside Cassie. “We will bring Diana back, I promise.”

“Tsk, we don’t need your permission to do what’s right, your worship ,” Lois said, neglecting to kneel, Jimmy following suit.

Hippolyta merely chuckled at their defiance. “Tis true, you do not need my permission. But you might need my rocket .”

Later that day, the Amazonian engineers prepared the invisible rocket for launch. It was a massive ship, angled up at 90 degrees between two ancient support structures, one of which held a marble staircase all the way to the cockpit. The rocket was made of glass-like panels with holographic surfaces that refracted light in such a way that it appeared invisible. Kara and Cassie waited by the steps while Lois and Jimmy were being equipped for the mission by the Amazons due to their lack of raw abilities.

Lois was the first to arrive. She looked like an Amazon with her shoulderless breastplate, thigh-length battle skirt, and armored greaves. Her short dark hair was even done up in a Greek style bun. And, of course, her forearms were protected by the Amazonians’ signature silver bracers. Both Cassie and Kara were impressed when the reporter turned warrior came their way. They were, however, somewhat less impressed by who followed her. 

Jimmy too had been geared up in Amazonian garb. He matched with Lois quite well, right down to the breastplate and skirt. He walked less confidently than Lois towards the rocket, his freckled face bright red in embarrassment. He stumbled a bit as he approached, having to get used to the slightly elevated heels that his new greaves provided. Cassie and Kara tried to contain their giggles as he joined beside them. Lois smiled and patted her partner’s shoulder. “Looking good Jim. You’re a regular feminist icon in those.”

“I’m honored,” Jimmy mumbled, his head hung low.

“You should be,” Nubia said, coming up to the group alongside Queen Hippolyta and Artemis. “Not only can that armor stop a bullet, but it has been enchanted to defend against Circe’s magic.”

“So you’ll have a few more seconds to live while she finds a way to bypass our anti-magic,” Artemis said, crossing her arms. “Us Amazons have never been too keen on spellcasting.”

“With this…” Hippolyta began, taking a step forward and revealing a glimmering long sword from under her arm. “They won’t need to be.”

Cassie’s eyes lit up upon seeing the sword. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked, reaching for the hilt of the blade.

“It is an aspect of the Sword of the goddess, Nemesis,” Hippolyta explained. “The arbiter of divine retribution and antithesis to Hecate, the goddess of magic and witchcraft. It is merely a replica and contains only a fraction of the original’s power. But, a fraction is all you will need to reverse whatever heinous spells Circe has concocted.”

“Ow!” Cassie cried, pulling her steaming hand away from the hilt. “What gives?!”

“Hm, it is just as I thought. I’m sorry Cassandra, you cannot wield it,” Hippolyta said. “I’m afraid you are not ready. Your conviction falters. Only those who are steadfast in their will to dispense justice can…” The Queen’s eyes then fell to Kara.

Kara hesitated, reaching out for the blade, only to stay her hand to her chest. She did not know if she could do it, but even moreso, she was too afraid to try. She thought back to her last conversation with Clark, the deal they had made. She’d done a lot of thinking since then, and even more since he’d been gone. She wondered if being Supergirl all the time was just an excuse to forget her past and avoid starting a new future for herself. In a way, it was more selfish than splitting her life between Supergirl and Kara. She wasn’t fighting for justice, she was fighting for nothing. Krypton is nothing .

“Gimme that thing,” Lois spoke up, grabbing the hilt of the Nemesis sword with ease. She slashed it in the air before spinning it at her side and sheathing it to her hip. “Huh, lighter than I thought.”

Kara smirked. Of course, Lois Lane is the most convicted woman she knew. If anyone was gonna wield it, I’d be her. Even Clark would have more trouble, she thought to herself.

“Very well,” Hippolyta began. “Let us prepare for launch.”

The group all filed into the cockpit of the invisible rocket. Inside was spacious, with two seats in front and two in back. Cassie and Kara took the front, while Lois and Jimmy took the back. Translucent buttons and control panels laid beneath the wide windshield and two steering yokes jutted out before Cassie and Kara.

“Um…” Cassie said aloud, growing overwhelmed by the numerous flashing controls.

“Not to worry,” Hippolyta’s voice echoed over the cockpit speakers. “The rocket has an auto-piloting system. In fact, it possesses a low level of sentience. So be kind.”

“Awwwe,” Cassie said, gently caressing the armrests of her seat.

“Great,” Lois said from behind Cassie. “I suppose it will want a tip after this too huh?”

“Commencing countdown,” Hippolyta radioed in. “May Tyche’s blessings be upon you.”

“I swear to God, you guys better be right about this,” Lois said. “Or should I be swearing to Zeus in this instance?”

“I wouldn’t,” Cassie said. “My dad isn’t the most reliable god, yours should do just fine.”

“Launch in T-minus, 5 seconds…4…” Hippolyta began. Immediately, the massive jets at the bottom of the rocket ignited in white-hot flame. The entire craft began to rattle as a result. The group held on firmly to their restraints as they shook about in their seats.

“Is it too late to use the restroom?” Jimmy asked.

“Yes!” Lois, Kara, and Cassie said in unison.

“3…2…” Hippolyta continued. “1!”

The rocket blasted into the sky at an incredible speed, ripping straight through the atmosphere with ease and past the moon in a matter of seconds. Then, once out of Earth’s gravitational field, the rocket initiated its light-speed engine. They jolted forward as the stars outside their windows became long streaks of white. A swirling vortex of blackened light formed in front of their windshield. They stretched and warped across space, passing hundreds of solar systems in a blink of an eye. Then, just as soon as it had started, everything stopped. The rocket jumped out of light-speed and before them was the washed out, tan-colored planet of Sorca, orbiting a distant yellow sun. They inched into its gravitational pull until they were gliding smoothly into its atmosphere. Fire sparked on the nose of the rocket, but it quickly calmed as they slowed to a soar over the vast empty plains of the uninhabited planet.

“Woo!” Cassie said, leaping out of her seat. “That was fun, right guys?”

“I-” Jimmy began, clutching his stomach, “no longer have to go to the restroom…”

“Look,” Kara said, unbuckling from her seat and stepping up to the windshield. The rocket had come to a complete stop, hovering a few dozen feet from the ground. Below them, atop a lonesome hill, was a small homestead surrounded by a lush and exotic garden. But, atop the roof of the innocuous villa, was something devious. There were two women, both bound to stakes by mystic chains. The first was Diana, the second was the goddess Lethe in her physical anthropomorphic form which resembled that of a pale young girl. Circe had them strung up as if they were decorations, trophies to her triumph over gods and heroes.

“Disgusting…” Cassie muttered. “Let’s go down there and show that witch who’s boss,” she said, cracking her knuckles.

“Easy, Cassie,” Kara said, “even with the Sword of Nemesis, Circe still vastly outmatches us. We need Diana, and especially Lethe, if we’re to stand a chance.”

“Fair enough,” Cassie said, slightly perturbed. “So Kar, what’s the plan?”

“Cassie and I will draw Circe out,” Kara began. “Lois and Jimmy, you’ll sneak up behind her hut and free Diana and Lethe with the sword.”

“Sure you two can handle Wicked yourselves?” Lois asked.

 

“No, we can’t ,” Kara said, resolutely. “But we can buy you enough time to bust out our big guns.”

“Alright! Let’s do it!” Cassie cheered, opening up a bottom hatch in the back of the cockpit and abruptly leaping out of the rocket. 

“Augh! Cassie!” Kara cried, running over to the ledge. She watched as Wonder Girl plummeted towards the earth before she stopped herself in midair and assumed flight. Kara sighed and turned to Lois and Jimmy. “Good luck.” And with that she too jumped from the rocket and caught the air below. She floated down beside Cassie, both superheroines hovering a few yards away from Circe’s front door.

“Hey witch!” Cassie shouted. “By the power of Father Zeus himself, I demand you show yourself! And end your imprisonment of Princess Diana and the Goddess Lethe!”

A soft chuckle could be heard within the shadow of the hut. “Ah yes, the sidekicks , I was wondering when you’d arrive…” Circe said, emerging from the darkness of her doorway, flanked by two lionesses. “Sorry little godling, your father has no power here. Hippolyta made sure of that,” She chided before taking a lengthy sip of wine from her goblet.

“We don’t need the power of a god to defeat the likes of you!” Kara said.

“That’s just objectively false,” Circe said with a laugh, before pointing an idle finger at Kara. “Come now, Supergirl , I thought you’d be a bit smarter than your cousin.” A bolt of purple lightning shot forth from her fingertips and zigzagged towards Kara. Cassie quickly came between Supergirl and the bolt, blocking the magical attack with her crossed bracers. 

“Ow, ow, ow!” Cassie cried. The silver of her bracers grew hot from absorbing the bolt, forcing Cassie to shake them cool as they steamed.

Circe sighed and rolled her eyes, unimpressed by the girls. “Pity…” she spoke, sending her lionesses forward. “Come here, children. Let’s make this quick, shall we?”

Meanwhile, overhead, the invisible rocket glided stealthily over Circe’s villa. It touched down in her backyard, allowing Lois and Jimmy to exit out onto the surface of the planet. Reaching the house, they climbed on top of the thatched roof and made their way towards the imposing pikes in which Diana and Lethe were chained.

A weakened Diana heard the rustling of bodies as the two climbed. She managed to open her weary eyes and peer down to spot Lois readying her blade in order to slash the magical chains. “By Hera,” she spoke. “Lois, is that you?”

“What’s the matter, princess?” Lois said to her with a smirk, “afraid I’m pulling off the look better than you? Unfortunately for the both of us I think Jimmy’s got us beat.”

Diana tilted her head further to see Jimmy roll clumsily onto the roof and run up beside Lois in his matching skirt. Diana let out a chuckle, despite it hurting her bruised rib cage. “Is that-?” she began.

“A little gift from your mom,” Lois said, rearing back the Sword of Nemesis before striking it down across the glowing purple chains. Immediately the steel broke through the magical barrier and slashed through the metal links as if it were a normal chain. Diana collapsed down from the pike and into Jimmy’s arms. The Amazonian quickly proved too heavy for the photographer, so he not so gracefully laid her down across the straw of the roof.

“Lethe…” Diana mumbled, pointing towards the second prisoner. The young girl hung motionless while bound in the chains. Her head hung low, her long dark hair concealing her face. Lois stepped up carefully toward the second pike and reared back her sword once more. The chains shattered and her lifeless body fell. This time, Jimmy was easily able to catch the girl, finding her to be eerily light, like a ghost in his arms.

“Umm…” Jimmy began, parting the girl’s hair to see her sleeping eyes beneath. “Is she-?”

It was then her eyes shot open and her blank stair quickly turned to one of raging fury. “ Where. Is. Circe? ” The goddess spoke, her voice shattered into a thousand tones all speaking at once. Her words sent a ripple that shook the very planet they stood upon, while the sound of crashing waves grew closer and closer.

“Grrr! Hold still so I can turn you into the pestering flies that you are!” Circe roared, firing blast upon blast of magic at Kara and Cassie as they swarmed her. The two girls flew circles around the witch, evading each of her shots, trying to buy enough time for her reckoning. Luckly, the time had finally come. Circe paused her attacks upon feeling the shift in the air. A moist wind blew in from the west, peppering the crystal trees and dunes of sand in dew. Her attention withdrew from the young heroines and towards her home. 

Suddenly, the front walls of the small building crashed down to make way for a tidal wave of rushing water. The water barreled down the hillside and thinned into a focused geyser aimed directly at Circe. Kara and Cassie landed a few feet away in time to see the gallons upon gallons of water strike the witch head on. She was consumed by the rocketing water as it pushed her body against the ground and kept her there with an incredible amount of pressing force. A gargled scream could scarcely be heard beneath the crashing of the waves. Eventually, the watery attack died down and the runoff formed into a river at the empty bason in which it once flowed.

Circe, nearly flattened to the ground, managed to sit back up and hurl at least a gallon of water up herself. It was then she realized she couldn’t move her arms and legs. She looked down to see her body wrapped in a glowing golden string. Standing before her was Diana, wielding her Lasso of Truth, alongside Lethe, her arm outstretched to control the river, and Lois, with the tip of her Sword of Nemesis resting beneath Circe’s chin. Jimmy was a few feet to the side, snapping pictures of the whole affair, while Kara and Cassie joined the line of women and goddesses staring down at the witch they’d defeated.

“Congratulations…” Circe sneered, spitting up some more water. “Do you want a medal?”

“Where is Kal-El?” Diana asked, tightening her lasso. “ The Lasso of Hestia compels you to reveal the truth. ”

Circe laughed. “All you women, worried about one man . It’s no wonder the Amazons disowned you, Princess.”

Diana furrowed her brow and tightened her grip once more. Circe winced, the lasso scalding her skin.

“Gah! Fine…” she said, refusing to resist the power of Hestia any longer. “Well, he’s probably escaped that moon by now.”

“What moon?” Kara asked.

“I didn’t bother with the details. That harlot, Maxima , was merely a tool for us; get Superman off world, leave the Princess to me…” Circe was forced to explain.

“Who’s us ?” Diana questioned.

“Myself, and Lex Luthor , of course,” Circe revealed with a smile. “A most capable accompless, as far as mortal men are concerned.”

“ Luthor, that snake ,” Lois said, pressing the flat edge of her blade to Circe’s neck. “He played us back in Metropolis, we should have known! God, I’m so stupid! What the hell is he planning?”

“Don’t know for sure,” Circe said. “Again, I didn’t bother with the details that didn’t concern myself.”

“How on-brand ,” Cassie snarked. 

“You should be thankful we didn’t go for you, little Zeus-spawn,” Circe snapped at Cassie. The lasso burned her skin once more. “All I know is that he needed Superman off world while he set a trap, to then be sprung upon his return. You best hurry, I sense the Man of Steel is on his way home now.”

“Indeed,” Lethe spoke, her voice having softened but still full of divine presence. “The currents of the cosmos predict his return at any moment. You must leave now and intercept his voyage.”

“But what about-?” Cassie began.

“Circe?” Lethe said. “I will deal with the sorceress. I will make sure my waters never flow upon this accursed planet ever again. And I will inform Lord Hades of this heinous treachery. And he is not as quick to forgive as I.”

Circe laughed while Diana returned her lasso to her side. “Let Hades do his worst. Even he does not have the right to end me,” Circe taunted. “Just as the deathless gods above, I will remain, Diana. Long after the pitiful likes of Lex Luthor and Queen Maxima . I will always be here to torment you Amazonians and your Olympian caretakers. Until the wrath of the Titans befals this realm once more, I will remain! I will-”

Circe’s tirade was cut short when Jimmy Olsen stepped forward from the line and delivered a meaty punch to her face, knocking the exhausted sorceress out. Jimmy shook his hand in pain, while Diana patted him on the shoulder. The women all laughed, even Lethe managed to chuckle.

“Now then,” Diana spoke to the group. “It’s time to stop Kal-El from getting home.”

Chapter 11: Phantoms

Superman: Mythos #11 "Phantoms"

A sleek black helicopter glided over the icy, arctic tundra. It bobbed over the glacial cliffs until evening out over a vast field of ice. On the white horizon stood a jagged peak composed of massive crystalline spears. The spears ranged in size and crossed over one another to create the alien structure. The strange building looked as if it had been birthed right out of the ground and had grown erratically, like a cancer.

Lex Luthor scoffed, looking down through the window of the helicopter as it lowered towards the fortress. Below, a small construction crew was stationed just outside one of the thick crystal walls. Kicking up a cloud of powdered snow, the helicopter landed beside the site and Lex was first to step out onto the arctic ground. He wore a dark purple parka with neon green inlays and a LexCorp patch stitched to the shoulder. He made his way to the far end of the construction site, with a team of armed security guards following him. They made it to the crystalline wall of the megastructure where a perfectly circular hole had been carved into it. Lex entered the hole and walked down the glass-like tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a group of workers operating a loud machine. It was a waterjet drill, slowly carving through the crystal, pushing the tunnel further and further into the structure.

The worker in charge turned to address Lex, holding his hard hat to his chest with respect. “Mr. Luthor,” he began. “The process has been harder than expected. This stuff, it’s tougher than diamond. Had some of the whitecoats down here earlier to take a look at some samples. They’ve never seen anything like it. They says the molecular structure has got more in common with organic life than your average mineral.”

“And yet the drill of my design has managed to pierce it nonetheless,” Lex said, removing his glove and placing his hand upon the smooth crystal surface. Beyond the wall, he could see the refracted light of the interior. “How much longer until we break through?”

“You came just in time, sir,” the worker said, “your drill estimates we’re only three more feet away from open air.”

“Excellent…” Lex said, reaching into his parka and retrieving what appeared to be a grenade. “Now, get out of my way.”

The workers quickly obliged upon seeing Lex’s weapon. They abandoned the drill as it continued to hum along, thinning the wall until it began to crack and eventually shatter. Steam poured forth from the newly opened hole, filling the tunnel. Sirens sounded from the other side and red lights flashed.

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! Robotic voices echoed as the sound of metallic footsteps could be heard closing in on their position. Lex held up his hand, stopping his bodyguards from moving in. He waited until the footsteps were just outside the hole before tossing his grenade into the mist. The bomb exploded, not with fire, but with electricity. It sent shock waves across the area that didn’t affect Lex or his bodyguards, but it caused the robotic voices to fail.

  When the steam settled, the ground beneath the hole was littered with a dozen humanoid metal robots with the House of El’s crest across their chests. Each of them had fallen, sparks flying from their malfunctioning joints and oil spilling from their orifices. Lex wiped his hands with a smirk and stepped over the robots and into the fortress proper.

He entered a long crystal hallway, only to find two more robots charging at him from either direction. 

INTRUDER ALERT! SURRENDER NOW!  

“Or what?” Lex taunted, taking out another EMP device and tossing it at one of the robots. It went off, immediately shutting down the machine’s mechanisms, though its body still careened forward with all its momentum. Lex slid out of the way, letting the disabled robot smash directly into the functioning one. The second robot shoved the body of the lifeless one off only to find itself staring down the barrel of Lex’s high-tech sidearm.

“Ah, not so fast,” Lex said, holding the gun to the robot’s forehead. “This one has enough firepower to blow a hole clean through the hull of a destroyer. Trust me, it’s already been tested in the South China Sea.”

“ I was not designed to fear termination ,” the Super-bot retorted. 

“And that…” Lex paused, aiming his sidearm down and pulling the trigger. A fiery beam shot from the barrel, carving right through the mechanical gut of the robot. The Super-bot collapsed, its body now in two. “...is what makes you weak.”

The rest of Lex’s bodyguards caught up and protected his flanks while he kneeled beside the fallen robot. Lex rolled up his sleeve to access a touch-screen computer interface mounted to his forearm. He hooked a wire up to it and connected the other end to the back of the robot’s skull. In a matter of seconds, he managed to hack into the AI’s systems and download detailed schematics of the fortress onto his device.

“This way,” Lex said, standing up and proceeding further down the crystal corridor. He followed the hacked map until the winding hallways emptied into a vast, high-ceilinged chamber. Lex lowered his computer and walked out onto a ledge overlooking a deep ravine. At the far side of the ravine, carved into the crystal wall, was a massive statue of two individuals. A robed man and woman, together holding up a giant globe, but it did not depict Earth. Lex stopped at the edge where a series of small crystals laid before him, arranged almost like a keyboard. Lex reached out and took one of the many crystals, and examined it, before putting it back in a different location. The keyboard glowed blue and a giant projection soon formed over the ravine. It was a hologram of a man in shimmering silver robes with the House of El’s crest across his chest in black. He had pure white hair with an S-swirl and a darker, graying beard. His tired, wrinkled eyes looked down upon Lex, unconcerned. The glowing blue of the keyboard then shifted to red.

“You are not my son,” the hologram man said, his calm voice echoing across the crystal chamber.

“What gave it away?” Lex joked, turning away from the keyboard and towards a long set of steps that crossed the ravine.

“You are a human. Therefore you must be an ally or enemy of Kal-El,” the hologram said, still staring forward despite Lex having moved positions. “If you are an enemy of my son, I have nothing but pity for you.”

Lex laughed, looking over the edge of the staircase as he crossed, seeing a massive cauldron of molten lava bubbling below. His bodyguards followed, crossing the ravine more hesitantly than Lex who practically skipped across.

“You cannot possibly hope to defeat him…” the hologram continued. “It would be an exercise in futility.”

Ignoring the father of Kal-El, Lex entered the other side of the ravine, which was divided into various rooms. All of which housed a range of human and Kryptonian objects of curiosity, alongside other miscellaneous alien artifacts. Further down were large aquariums and terrariums, housing living alien creatures of all shapes, sizes, and eccentricities.

“Imagine what he’s hiding from us…” Lex said, admiring the rows upon rows of relics and rarities. “A cure for cancer? An end to world hunger? Limitless reusable energy?”

“Sir,” one of Lex’s bodyguards called out from further down. He pointed to the entrance to a room at the far end of the chamber. It was sealed shut, a mighty door of dark purple crystal with an S engraved onto it. Lex checked his map to confirm that it was indeed the location they’d been searching for. Lex walked up to the door and knocked on its hard surface. He hazarded a guess that the crystal was even harder than those that made up the fortress as a whole, luckily, he came prepared. He moved his hand along the smooth surface until coming to a small control panel beside the door. It looked like a traditional number pad, but its symbols did not resemble any that could be found on Earth.

Lex lifted his forearm device parallel with the panel and, using the stolen AI systems, he managed to find the string of alien code that pertained to the locked door. The lock proved difficult to crack, but after a few minutes, he arrived at the solution. With a smirk, he typed in the correct sequence on the panel, and soon enough, the thick purple doors slid open.

They entered the gloomy, violet-lit room. It was circular in shape and made of the same smooth crystal as the door, differing from the more jagged surfaces that made up the rest of the fortress. At the center of the room was a pedestal and sitting atop it was a strange, bulky camera-like device. It was a metallic red with a broad black lens and a tripod base. Across from the device, displayed on the wall, was a black and white projection. Figures appeared to move about on the display, but they were too full of static to make out.

Lex, a smug smile still glued to his face, walked up to the device and grasped its two protruding handles. He lifted it off its pedestal and presented it to his bodyguards. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began. “I present to you; the end of Superman as we know him.”

Clark awoke in his Naltorian bed chambers, the warm orange light of the morning sun peeking through the curtains. Despite the situation, he slept rather soundly. It was the first night in nearly a month he didn’t spend beside the villainous Queen Maxima. Jumping out of bed and right into his costume, Clark soon made his way to the door.

Outside, in the palace hall, he was immediately greeted by two of the royal handmaidens. They appeared to have been waiting for him. “Good morning Kal-El. Right this way, please…” They said in unison before leading him down the hall. Clark followed the girls down to the lower levels of the palace. Soon they reached a chamber at sea level, which acted as an open-air boathouse. Docks lined the water and past the high-arched ceiling of the palace, it opened up to the vast emerald ocean beyond. In the water sat dozens of elegant vessels, all shaped like ancient Greek triremes with pronounced avian flourishes. Naltorian shipbuilders and scientists bustled about the place, working on new ship designs. 

Clark was brought over to a densely populated part of the docks. The crowd swiftly parted upon his arrival, revealing the boat they’d all been working on. It was smaller than the rest but shared a similar aesthetic. Its deck was replaced with what appeared to be a cockpit; a domed sheet of glass with enough room for two or three people inside. Despite the high-tech interior, the hull was still lined with oars and the back was fitted with a rudder.

The High Seer soon arrived next to Clark, taking his hand and admiring the vessel before them. “Is it not fantastic, Kal-El?”

“It’s quite the boat, ma’am,” Clark replied, not nearly as impressed.

“Why, Kal-El,” the High Seer said with a chuckle. “This is no mere boat. This is a starship . Fitted with the very same technology you fell to us with.”

“The light-speed drive? It’s in that?” Clark asked.

“Yes, of course! How else are you supposed to get home?” the High Seer said.

Clark paused, hardly believing what he was hearing. “You mean, you’ve already invented interstellar travel?”

“I did not lie, Kal-El. Our Futurists were ready for your arrival, ready for you to fulfill the missing piece in their theorems and blueprints,” the High Seer explained. “However, we may have skipped a few steps in the process. I regret to inform you that we have no fuel source besides the light-speed engine. Meaning to leave the atmosphere, you must only rely on the means by which we currently traverse the sea…” She pointed to the oars, as well as the sail being hoisted to the boat’s mast.

Clark smirked, “I’m sure I can make it work, ma’am.” He then turned to the rest of the Naltorians gathered around. Holding up his hand, he spoke to them, “Thank you all! Thank you for giving me refuge, a much-needed place to rest. And thank you for aiding me so greatly in my journey. I will be sure the people of Earth hear of your unwavering selflessness.”

“It is us who must thank you, Kal-El,” the High Seer said, holding his hand firmly. “You have been everything we could have ever dreamed of and more. Your stories shall echo across the hearths of Naltorians for generations to come.”

Clark nodded to the High Seer and Princess Bela beside her, before turning towards the vessel. Though before he could step off the dock, the High Seer grabbed his arm. She pulled him close and whispered into his ear, “I dreamed of you last night.”

“Um,” Clark began, unsure how to respond. “Th-thank you, your highness, I’m flattered.”

“No,” she spoke. “I received a premonition pertaining to your voyage home.”

“Do I…” Clark paused. “...Do I make it?”

“Yes,” she said. Clark sighed in relief. “But, before you do,” she continued, “you must journey to the land of the formless. A place where forgotten shades wander, devoid of life and death, unbeholden to time and space. Do not leave the ring of light, lest you join their errant ranks.”

Before Clark could respond, the excited Naltorian crowd filled in, pushing him towards the edge of the dock and onto the boat. He settled into the cockpit as the glass windshield lowered around him. In front of him were the controls of the light-speed engine and on either side of him were the ends of two oars. He grabbed hold of the oars, lifted them out of the water, leaned forward, dipped them back in, and pushed. A single super-row propelled him forward at an incredible speed. He blasted out of the palace boathouse and began skimming across the sea. With a few more thrusts of the oars, he skipped off a wave, caught the wind in his sails, and flew across the sky. Metal wings jutted out from the hull and Clark was able to steer the boat skyward. The mast and oars tore away in the thin air, allowing for the smooth rocket to pierce the edge of the atmosphere. Clark felt the planet's gravity beginning to pull him back towards the ocean below. Despite still being within the atmosphere, he initiated the light-speed drive. With a flip of a lever, the hull of the boat heated up and a glowing blue light passed through its seams. 

The cockpit rattled while Clark held firm onto the steering yoke. He double checked the coordinates of his trajectory, they hadn’t changed since he left Maxima’s moon, they were still primed for Earth. Then, without warning, the vessel jolted forward into light speed. Stars and solar systems zipped past him in seconds, the light outside the cockpit warping around him. This time, the rocket he flew remained in one piece when it came to a stop. In the blink of an eye, the warping of light ceased and the window of the rocket was consumed by the blue-green marble of Earth.

Clark could barely contain the boyish grin across his face upon laying eyes on his home. He quickly unhitched the cockpit and flew out of his seat into the space just outside Earth’s atmosphere. He opened his arms wide and took in the rejuvenating rays of the yellow sun he knew so well. After the brief moment of reprieve, Clark’s face grew stern and he set his sights on the city of Metropolis below. He could already hear the sounds of screaming and destruction as he drew near. However, upon closing in on Earth’s atmosphere, he felt a sudden sting rattle down his spine. He paused as his whole body began to feel like static. He tried to brush it off, flying forward towards the surface at a faster speed, but he felt as if he was being pulled backward. Clark roared, using all his might to push past the invisible force, but it was no use.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted an inconceivable sight. A dimensionless, spinning rectangle was floating towards him. Its surface was completely flat and devoid of any color, in fact, it seemed to suck in any light that was around it. And before long, it got to Clark. It pulled him inside, flattening his body within its formless surface. Now within its confines, Clark could still see the outside world beyond, but he was trapped behind an unbreakable wall of glass.

“No! No!” He cried, though no sound left his lips. The shape continued to rotate as it careened out into space, its surface area growing smaller and smaller with each spin. Before long, it was reduced to nothing. The void soon consumed Clark’s vision, while his body grew weightless. All senses disappeared as the laws of time and space removed themselves from his person.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself below a ray of light, while the space around him remained a gray, empty void. Clark stood on the perfectly flat surface and looked out onto the plains of shadow. In the distance, he saw figures moving, each aimlessly wandering across the fields of nothingness 

One such figure appeared directly before him, just outside the pillar of light. He could just scarcely make out the figure’s ghostly features as he began to further materialize. He had slicked black hair with white streaks on the sides, and a graying goatee. He wore a silver cape around his shoulders over a sleek black suit with a red Z-shaped crest across his chest. He looked down upon Clark with disgrace, though a subtle smirk had begun to creep across his lips.

“Welcome, Son of Jor-El,” he began. “To your father’s crowning achievement: the Phantom Zone . Your new home…”

Chapter 12: The Homefront

Superman: Mythos #12 "The Homefront"

“Why are we stopping?” Jimmy asked from the back of the invisible rocket’s cockpit. Having just jumped out of light speed, Diana halted the ship before entering Earth’s atmosphere.

“The ship is picking up some strange readings. There’s some kind of energy wall surrounding the entire planet,” Diana explained, looking down at the various complex sensory systems across the ship's dashboard.

“What kind of energy ?” Lois asked.

“Dark matter…” Diana said with concern.

“Luthor’s trap,” Kara concluded, getting up from her seat and taking a closer look with her telescopic vision. “I’ve seen this type of radiation signature before. It’s almost identical to that of the Phantom Zone , an inescapable prison dimension first discovered by my uncle. Oh Rao, he’s turned the whole planet into a projector, transporting anything that passes through…”

“And no sign of Superman,” Cassie said, sitting next to Diana, using the ship’s scanners to locate any lifeforms in orbit. “Meaning…”

“Well, we aren’t ramming straight through this thing that’s for sure,” Diana said, changing the subject to focus on their current objective. “Kara, there's multiple locations where the signature is strongest, can you see them?”

Kara scanned half the planet thoroughly. “Yes, there are several satellites in orbit that appear to be irradiating the projection. And wouldn’t you know it, they’re from LexCorp . Those surveillance satellites he was bragging about earlier, he must have modified them, found a way to connect them to the source. Meaning he somehow got his hands on the Phantom Zone Projector.”

“Please tell me it has an undo button,” Lois said.

“It does,” Kara replied, “it can locate an individual prisoner and free them.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Diana said, taking back the ship's controls and rearing its thrusters. “Kara, fly out there and destroy the nearest satellite, that should give us a large enough gap to slip through. Once we’re all on the ground, we’ll regroup and head for LexCorp. Kara and Lois, Cassie and Jimmy; split up and search for the projector.”

“What about you?” Kara asked.

“I’m going to have a little talk with our friend Lex Luthor…”

 

“This is Catherine Grant reporting live from downtown Metropolis where none other than Kid Flash is going head-to-head with the infamous supervillain known as the Atomic Skull ! The ghoulish, radioactive criminal has left nothing but destruction and chaos in his wake and the young speedster seems to be on his last legs! The situation down here has everyone asking: isn’t this a job for Superman? But alas today marks one month since the disappearance of the Man of Steel…”

“Shit, shit, shit!” Wally West exclaimed as the very road he ran upon crumbled to bits beneath a vibrant green blast of radioactive energy. Losing his footing, Kid Flash tripped and skidded violently up the block. Wally clutched his aching head and managed to lift his tired body up to see the Atomic Skull still marching his way down Mainstreet.

The villain wore heavy steampunk armor, glowing with green atomic energy. The neck of the armor was an open hole producing a constant plume of emerald fire. Within the flames, floated a human skull which was cackling with delight. He marched slowly and steadily up the street sending blasts of destructive energy out from his fists at random.

Wally tried to get back to his feet, but a sharp pain bit into his ankle. He began limping away, hoping to find some debris to hide behind before it was too late. The cover he had in mind, a chunk of concrete, exploded before his eyes, leaving nothing but smoldering green embers. He turned to see the Atomic Skull charging up another blast at point-blank range.

“Heh, heh, heh!” the villain laughed, his gravelly voice full of robotic static, “nowhere left to run…” A bright green light swelled in the palm of his hand. Wally closed his eyes and held up his hands, preparing for the worst. The blast went off, but Wally was still there. He opened his eyes to see a man in sleek, purple, and green power armor, absorb the energy and dispense of it.

“I don’t think so,” the man said, grabbing the Atomic Skull’s outstretched hand and sending a shockwave through his system. He managed to reverse the villain’s ionic signature, rendering his radioactive powers benign. The flame around his skull went out, allowing for the armored man to deliver a devastating punch to the villain's boney face. The Atomic Skull collapsed, utterly defeated.

Onlookers came out from behind cover and began to clap for the hero as he turned around to lend Wally a hand. It was then Kid Flash saw his face, namely, his shiny bald head. It was none other than Lex Luthor. Wally hesitated, pulling his hand away.

“Now, now, Wallace . Let’s not make a scene,” Lex threatened. Upon seeing Lex glare, along with the building applause and cheers, Wally obliged and took the so-called hero’s hand. Lex smirked and wrapped his arm around Wally’s shoulder, before waving to the crowd. “Thank you, Kid Flash, for your efforts to defend our great city in these trying times. But your services are no longer needed. I will be keeping Metropolis safe from now on. Not the League and certainly none of those pitiful super-men .”

 

“But-” Wally began, pausing when Lex’s armored grip on him strengthened, nearly popping his shoulder.

“Run on home, little hero. And tell your friends: if I catch another one of you in my city again, well...” Lex paused. “Let’s just say, no one will be here to save you…”

“You saw it here first, folks!” Cat Grant reported, while the media crews shoved through the crowds in order to get a clear shot of the triumphant Luthor. “Lex Luthor saves the day here in Metropolis yet again. After the week or so of uncertainty following the disappearance of Superman, it's clear that out of all the possible super-men to take his place, Lex is the one. He’s not only put the likes of super-criminals like Parasite and Metallo behind bars but he’s also driven away the ‘Superman wannabes’ who’ve caused just as much chaos as the criminals themselves. While the loss of the Man of Steel still weighs heavy on our hearts, people of Metropolis, you can sleep soundly tonight knowing Lex Luthor will keep this city safe.”

After a successful day of super heroics, Lex retired to his tower. Using his rocket boots, he propelled himself to the helicopter pad atop the LexCorp building. Pressing a button on his suit, the H on the pad opened up beneath him and he slowly began lowering down into the building via elevator. The elevator opened directly into his office from a hidden doorway. Once inside his office, he deactivated his armor, the entire front unfurling so that he could step out of it with ease. He was wearing a suit underneath, taking a moment to adjust his tie as he made his way over to his desk. Mercy, his loyal bodyguard, stood watch before the front entrance.

Lex sighed with satisfaction looking out through his window over a peaceful Metropolis, Lex-drones patrolling the skies. Lex then slid his hand over his desk, pressing a button on the corner to begin unveiling a wide projector screen over the window. “Matrix,” Lex spoke into the desk’s mic. “Show me PZ-projection, eight-zero-one.”

The office’s computer system obliged and soon an image appeared across the massive screen. It was a black and white projection, full of static. Two vague figures could be made out, one of which was clearly the towering silhouette of the Man of Steel. Lex sighed once more, gaining more pleasure out of witnessing a captured Superman as opposed to a peaceful city.

“You should have kept your armor on,” a stern feminine voice called out from behind him. Lex raised his brow and turned around from the Phantom Zone projection to see Wonder Woman standing in the center of his office. He spied the silver Corinthian-style helmet she held in her hand.

“I should say the same to you. Mercy ,” Lex said, leaning forward across his desk. Immediately, Mercy lunged into action. Diana swung the helmet, bashing Mercy in the face with the blunt object. She was surprised when the bodyguard shook off the heavy blow and grabbed onto Diana’s wrist. Diana dropped the helmet and the two women struggled to get a firm hold over one another.

“Hades’ Helm of Invisibility, clever,” Lex said, examining the helmet as it rolled over to the leg of his desk. “You may have used it to sneak into my office, but it wasn’t what freed you from the witch. For that, you must have had help .”

Diana managed to shove Mercy off. The bodyguard skidded backward but held her footing, leaping forward into a double jump kick. Diana blocked the rushing kicks with her bracers before Mercy stepped back and reared for another. Diana caught her third kick, swinging her by her ankle and smashing her into one of the antique busts that lined the office. Mercy growled, brushing the marble rubble off her shoulders, only to notice the glowing golden rope bound tightly around her wrist. Diana smirked, the rest of her lasso wrapped around her forearm. She yanked Mercy forward, pulling her beneath her feet before her elbow dropped onto her back. Mercy roared, trying to fight her off while Diana hog-tied her with the lasso.

“Submit!” Diana demanded, holding Mercy down, her face pressed up against the floor. Mercy continued to squirm but soon surrendered beneath the superior might of the demigoddess.

“Impressive form,” Lex commented. Diana looked up to see Lex back in his power armor and charging up an energy blast from his hand. “But slow.” A powerful green beam fired from his gauntlet, the impact throwing Diana backward. She slammed against the elevator doors, her body indenting into the metal. When she looked back up, Lex was preparing for another shot. Diana lunged forward into a soar, flying directly at Lex, fists first. She collided with his core, rattling his armor, but not enough to break it. She wrapped him in a tackle and the two went barreling through the window. The glass wall shattered and they fell from the highest floor of LexCorp tower. Diana landed on top of Lex at street level, a crater forming from their forceful impact. She then wailed on him with meaty punches, all blocked by the energy shield that surrounded his head.

Lex laughed maniacally. “You’re only hurting yourself, Princess. Look around you.”

Diana ceased her barrage and saw the crowd of people that had formed around the crater. All were watching in shock, seeing their heroes clash. A Lex-drone flew in close with its camera, projecting the unseemly scene onto all the nearby billboards. While Diana was distracted, Lex seized the opportunity to deliver a rocketed uppercut, sending her hurtling backward into a building.

“It’s alright, citizens of Metropolis. I have the situation under control,” Lex announced to the onlookers as he emerged from the crater. “It appears that Wonder Woman has turned against us. In fact, I have reason to believe that she’s the one who orchestrated Superman’s disappearance.” The crowd gasped. “I know, I know, it’s hard to believe, but I assure you-”

“Lies!” Diana roared, soaring towards Lex at breakneck speed. She threw a punch so impactful that it shattered Lex's energy shield. He tried to back away, but Diana caught him by the collar of his armor and pulled him close. She delivered another punch, this time to his unprotected face. Blood erupted from his nose and a tooth spat from his mouth. Through sheer force of will, he refused to let himself be knocked out by her single, superpowered punch. Another fist came flying in, but Lex’s shields were back online, able to block the Amazon’s blow in the nick of time. Lex then sent a shock wave through his suit, zapping Diana and forcing her to take a step backward. He managed to get in a few good hits himself and soon they were evenly trading blows in the center of the crater, at the foot of LexCorp Tower, for all to see.

Meanwhile, inside the tower itself, Kara, Cassie, Lois, and Jimmy began their search for the Phantom Zone Projector. First, they fought their way through the small army of security guards to get past the lobby, including one superpowered secretary, not unlike Mercy.

“Picking up some crazy dark matter radiation coming from the fourth sublevel, LexCorp R&D,” Kara said as they stopped before the elevators. “But all the rooms are lead-lined, I can’t tell what’s inside.”

“Then we’ll just have to search each and every one,” Lois said determinedly, still wielding the Sword of Nemesis by her side. “Jimmy, Wonder Girl, take the west wing. Kara, you and I will take the east.”

The team concurred and split up once the elevator had brought them down to the R&D department. Cassie rushed down the left-hand side of the corridor they emptied into, Jimmy struggling to keep up with the young demigoddess.

 

“Nope. Nope. Nope,” Cassie said, moving at super-speed from one door to the next. She found nothing but nondescript lab equipment and cowering employees in each room, yet to find the Kryptonian projector. “Wait.” She paused her search. “What does this thing even look like?” she asked Jimmy.

Jimmy, who’d seen the projector only a few times before, strained to remember its characteristics. Then, looking down at the camera strapped around his neck, his memory clicked. “Sorta like a camera, I guess,” he said, holding up his own. “But bigger, clunkier, and more alien…”

“Okay…” Cassie said, not sure what to make of Jimmy’s description.

“You’ll know it when you see it,” Jimmy stated.

The two continued down the hall until reaching the end where a large, heavily sealed metal door stood.

“I suppose this would have been the place to start,” Jimmy said while Cassie stepped up to the door. She grabbed the handle, but it didn’t budge. After trying to pry it open with her strength, she resorted to punching the metal. The door dented from her meaty blow and continued to bow beneath her rapid strikes. With one final hit, the crippled door flung off its hinges and fell to the floor with a loud bang. Cassie and Jimmy stepped inside the small, lead-lined room, at the center of which was a pedestal sealed within a cylinder of force field. Atop the pedestal sat the device they were looking for, the Phantom Zone Projector. It was hooked up to various cords and tubes that fed into complex computer modules, some displaying the current locations of the LexCorp satellites as they orbited the planet.

“Bingo,” Cassie said, ready to force her way through the last few lines of security.

“Eh, not so fast, girly,” a man spoke, his voice gruff and robotic.

Cassie and Jimmy paused, seeing a cybernetic man emerge from behind the projector. Half his face was flesh, while the other half was a gruesome metallic skull. He wore an open leather jacket over a silver skeletal body, entwined with wires that pulsated green energy across his body.

“ Metallo ,” Jimmy said beneath his breath.

“Mr. Luthor said you might come along, Supergirl . And you too, Jimbo,” Metallo taunted. “Say, where’s my gal, Lois? Don’t tell me some other one of Luthor’s goons already got to have their fun with her.”

“Wait, I’m not-” Cassie began.

“Shove it, Superbrat!” Metallo snapped. “Let’s finish this so I can get my paycheck.” He reached for his chest and opened up a compartment to reveal the chunk of glowing green Kryptonite in place of his heart. “Come at me!”

“Whatever you say,” Cassie said with a smirk, casually strolling up next to Metallo. His face was struck with surprise, seeing ‘Supergirl’ unaffected by her ultimate weakness.

“Wha- How- That’s impossible!” Metallo shouted, swinging his metal fist at Cassie. Wonder Girl caught his hand and crushed it in her grasp. He screamed in anguish, dropping to one knee.

“Check again, Skynet,” Cassie said, opening her jacket to reveal her Wonder Woman tank top. “I ain’t Super.” She then shoved her fist into his chest and ripped out his Kryptonite heart. Without his power source, his body shut down, hitting the floor with an unceremonious clunk.

“You… little… sh-” he murmured before powering down, the green glow of his eyes dimming out.

 

Cassie grasped the Kryptonite in her hand before shoving it into her pocket. Jimmy raised a brow at her. “What? It might come in handy someday. Come on, let's bust this thing out.”

“You go ahead, I’ll call Lois; tell her the search is over,” Jimmy said, whipping out his phone and dialing up Lois. After a couple of rings, she picked up, but there was nothing but silence on her end. “Um, Ms. Lane? Lois? Can you hear me? We found the projector, I repeat, we found the projector.”

“Th-that’s great, Jim,” Lois said, her tense voice sounding shell-shocked. “We found, well… we found something else.”

Lois and Kara stood in a long dark room, lined with massive tanks full of thick blue amber. Floating lifeless in the tank before them was none other than Superboy, and beside him, Krypto the Superdog. Down the line of tanks encased were more of the ‘super-men,’ including Captain Marvel, Protex, Vartox, and more. All of whom had been captured by Lex during his cleaning of Metropolis' streets. Under the guise of law and order, Lex had brought them in for his own twisted experimentations.

“ Oh Rao , Conner…” Kara whispered, placing her hand over the glass that separated her and Superboy. Her hand then tightened into a fist, the glass of the tank cracking beneath her knuckles. “It’s time we end this. End him .”

Chapter 13: Escape from Without

Superman: Mythos #13 "Escape from Without"

“It’s no use, Kal-El,” Zod spoke, while Clark beat at the pillar of light that encased him. “You should count yourself lucky. It appears whoever trapped you in this realm did not go through the proper procedure. A part of you still exists on the mortal plane. But, in time, the Phantom Zone will claim you all the same.”

Clark ceased his struggle and looked down at his boots. His legs were slowly beginning to fade away, becoming like a shade, the same as Zod’s entire body. Alarmed by this, Clark leaped into the air, but his body did not catch the wind, for there was no wind. There was no air for that matter. He fell back down to the shadowy surface. 

“I’m afraid no amount of yellow sunlight can save you here,” Zod said, leaning up against the pillar of light, unable to enter it himself, just as Clark wasn’t allowed to leave it. The General looked out upon the barren dimension. On the horizon, other shadowy figures lingered. Most of them were humanoid, while others appeared to be more monstrous. 

Clark leaned his head and back against the wall of light and slid down the sleek surface onto his rear. Crossing his arms, he rested his elbows on his knees and pressed his forehead to his forearms. “It was there. I was right there…” He murmured.

“But you were sloppy,” Zod said.

“Excuse me?” Clark asked, tilting his head up.

“You grew desperate, forgot you were at war. You let relief and hope cloud your judgment,” Zod deduced. “Your enemy saw this, or, they knew it would happen. And they sprung for you a trap that you foolishly leapt right into. Am I wrong?”

Clark diverted his gaze away from the general, refusing to respond.

“Deny it all you like, son of Jor-El,” he continued. “You see, that is the difference between you and I. The difference between a proper Kryptonian and whatever passes for an Earthling these days. They’re all weak-willed and despite your impenetrable skin, you’re more or less the same. Arguably worse. A god, diluted to nothing but a weak-willed servant to lesser beings. Now you’re paying for it. Now they see you for who you really are, or at least, one of them does.”

“So hope makes you weak, huh?” Clark asked with a snicker. “From where I’m standing, you look like the weak one, Zod. For a decorated general, you sure seem to have a lot of defeats under your belt.”

“Still a sense of humor, hm?” Zod retorted. “Don’t worry, that will be the first to go here. Long before sanity and memory.”

“I’ll still have hope.”

Zod laughed. “Your father had hope . Tell me, did he ever tell you the tale of Councilman Ty-Zor?”

Clark remained silent.

“I thought not,” Zod continued. “I’m sure there are a great many things Jor-El neglected to tell you about Krypton. Ty-Zor was a member of the Science Council, same as your father. He grew disillusioned with the council, rightfully so, and became increasingly radicalized.”

“Hm, sounds familiar,” Clark said, standing back up and folding his arms.

“Again with the humor, Kal-El. Enjoy it while it lasts,” Zod said, unamused. “Ty-Zor founded a rogue state on the Moon of Mithen where he sought to create a city in his own image. He was a genius, you see, and the people of his new city loved him dearly. At the time, Jor-El and the rest of the Council saw no issue in Zor City’s existence. In fact, their leading scientific research benefited Krypton as a whole. I, for one, wasn’t convinced. I warned them. But did they listen? Of course not. Even then, Krypton was deceased, rotten to the core. But I digress. Problems arose in Zor when those within his walls threatened his power. He began silencing his political rivals. The man was a deranged narcissist, obsessed with his own ego and intellect. Before long, we had a tyrant on our hands, with a taste for bloodshed, and he wasn’t going to stop at Zor.

“Your father and I were sent by the council to lay siege to Zor before he could mount an offensive on Krypton. Scientific genius, Ty-Zor was, but military technician he was not. We occupied the city in less than a fortnight. But only then did we discover the horror within its walls: Kryptonian experimentation, weapons of mass destruction, genetic monstrosities… We burned it all to the ground. And as for Ty-Zor himself, he refused to surrender, willing to fight us until the last breath. He was a pitiful warrior, we could have easily restrained him and brought him before the council, but I took the opportunity to slay the maniac myself, much to your father’s dismay.”

“Rightfully so,” Clark said, echoing his father’s sentiment.

“He was too dangerous to be kept alive, Kal-El. And with the council’s recent behavior, I didn’t trust them to make the right decision,” Zod replied.

“The right decision being murder?” Clark questioned.

“ Yes ,” Zod said bluntly. “It was this very event that sparked your father’s research into a merciful alternative to capital punishment. You now stand upon the fruits of that endeavor. The Phantom Zone. But I ask you, Kal-El, what is more merciful, to end one’s suffering by ridding them of this world? Or letting them languish for eternity in this hellscape?”

“But-” Clark began.

“Silence!” Zod shouted, pounding his fists against the pillar of light, appearing to weaken it. “Look at yourself, not even a day into your exile here and you’ve dreaded every second of it. Tell me, has the sweet release of death crossed your mind yet? The Phantom Zone is not for great men like us, Kal-El. It is not even for the scum of the earth criminals. It is for beasts… Beasts, like that!” Zod pointed into the shadowy void where a large shade lumbered. The dark clouds around the bulky figure cleared and Clark could see the beast in full. It was the monstrous Doomsday, the one and only thing Clark himself had sent to the Phantom Zone, who wasn’t a resident already, for he had no other option. “Beasts that cannot be killed, this is the place for them… Men should be granted the courtesy of death. But, alas, you are too weak-willed to give them that aren’t you? Hm, maybe you do belong in here, after all, Kal-El…”

With that, Zod’s body dissolved back into the void. Once more he became an indistinct shade amongst the rest, to resume his eternal punishment. Clark fell back down to his knees and smashed the floor with his fists before collapsing. His entire body grew light and weak. He watched his fingertips begin to fade away into translucent shadow. His senses wavered and his mind grew numb, the circle of light that protected him was beginning to dissipate. 

“No…” He groaned, trying to lift himself back up but to no avail. He closed his eyes, ready to let the darkness of the eternal void consume him.

“ Kal! ” A voice called out from above. Clark opened one eye, he did not know if a second had passed or an eternity. “ Superman! ” Multiple voices echoed throughout the Zone. Clark used all his strength to tilt his head up to see the blinding white light being cast down upon him. Suddenly, his body began to materialize and started to float up towards the light. “ Ruff! Ruff! ”

Clark was soon blinded by the light that consumed him, his vision filled by streaks of colors rapidly passing him. The colors soon halted and formed into the structure of a large room. Clark felt the ground beneath his feet and a hand reached out to stabilize him. His blurred vision came back to him and the first thing he saw was his loyal friend, Krypto the Superdog, jumping up to lick his weary face. Clark laughed, cradling his dog in a hug, a tear streaming down his cheek. He looked up through watery eyes to see Lois, Jimmy, Superboy, and Wonder Girl standing by the still-hot Phantom Zone Projector. They were all inside the lobby of LexCorp Tower. And, by his side, clutching his hand tightly, was his loving cousin.

“Kara…” Clark whispered, pulling her into a hug and placing a kiss upon her forehead.

“Please,” Kara said through sniffling tears, “please don’t ever go away like that again, okay?”

Clark chuckled softly, tightening his hug. “I won’t, I won’t…” He looked up to see Lois giving him a nod. He was a little surprised to see her in full Amazonian garb with a massive broadsword resting over her shoulder. Nonetheless, he nodded back and saw the crowd of super-men and a few minor Justice Leaguers standing behind her and the rest. Some seemed relieved to have Superman back, others did not know what to feel, and some hid their anger. 

“H-Hi everyone,” Clark said with an awkward wave.

“You’re tired and weak, Amazon,” Lex said, lifting Diana up by her hair. “At least that witch was good for something. But I suppose you can’t send a woman to do a man’s job, no matter how much divine blood is in her veins.” He delivered a heavy punch to her face before slamming her back down onto the pavement. “I’ll just have to be the one who finishes you off…” Lex planted his metal boot down across Diana’s back, pinning her to the ground as he charged up his arm cannon. Draining nearly all his energy reserves, he prepared to fire the fatal shot.

Just as soon as Lex was about to fire, duel red beams sliced directly through his arm cannon. His gauntlet exploded in his face and the immense build-up of energy sent him flying backward. He was thrown against the wall of the crater he and Diana had fought within. When the smoke cleared and his vision straightened, Lex saw Superman and his army of allies sanding before him triumphantly.

“It’s over, Lex,” Clark said, while Captain Marvel helped Diana back to her feet, joining the line of Leaguers and super-men.

Lex laughed, his voice straining, hinging on madness. “A red moon, deep space, even the Phantom Zone. You truly are resilient, aren’t you? You’re like a cockroach, I can’t get rid of you. No matter how hard I try.”

“It wasn’t just the resilience, super-strength, or flight, that saved me from your traps, Lex,” Clark said, glancing at his allies. “I had a little help from my friends.”

Lex gagged. “Are you listening to yourself right now?”

“I’d say you’d be much better off with friends of your own,” Clark continued. “But it seems like you made some new ones as of late. Circe , Maxima … I applaud the effort, but I don’t think those ladies are the best influence on you.”

“You should have seen your friends a month ago when they were tearing up the streets of this city!” Lex snapped. “ I was the one to step in, I was the one who stopped them ! I saved this city, and kept it safe! Until now…” Lex opened his arms and looked upon the wreckage that his battle with Diana had spawned.

“Don’t worry,” Clark said. “I’m going to have a nice long chat with many of the folks behind me later, but first, we have to deal with the more immediate threat: you .”

“Why wait, hm?” Lex laughed. “ MOLON LABE! ”

Suddenly, from the sound of Lex’s words, Captain Marvel fell to his knee, clutching his head in pain. Superboy too did the same, along with all the other super-men. Even Krypto began barking erratically. All of whom had been trapped in the tanks at LexCorp not long ago.

“Captain, are you alright?” Diana said, trying to help the hero back to his feet. He swung his arm back, shoving her hands off of him. He stood up tall, with a fiery anger in his eyes. Then, without warning, he threw a meaty punch, nailing Diana in the chin and sending her careening into the side of a building. The Captain sped after her and landed another blow, shaking the building he’d smashed her into.

“Diana!” Cassie cried, flying after them. She wrapped her arms around the broad neck of Captain Marvel and tried to pry him off of her mentor. He struggled to reach around to grab her, so he instead threw himself backward onto the ground, sandwiching her between his heavy body and the pavement. Cassie’s screams were muffled beneath his weight. Diana, quickly regaining her composure, lifted the Captain off of Cassie and threw him into the building. She then helped Cassie up and together they punched him in the gut. Captain Marvel lunged forward, wheezing from the blow, but managed to grab hold of Cassie’s wrist. He flew into the sky, taking Wonder Girl with him. He held her above his head as he flew and began to shout.

“Shazam! Shazam!” he cried, and at his command lightning fell forth from the sky and struck Cassie head-on. Multiple magical bolts fired down from the heavens and managed to hurt Cassie unlike the lightning she called from her father. Diana flew closely behind them, managing to catch up to the Captain and rip Cassie from his grasp. “Shazam!” The last bolt missed Cassie and instead struck Captain Marvel himself. In a bright blast of light, the muscle-bound hero disappeared. When the light faded, all that was left was a young boy, screaming at the top of his lungs as he fell toward the ground.

“Gotcha,” Diana said, scooping the boy up out of the air and delivering him safely back down to the ground.

“L-Luthor, mind control, bad super-men!” the boy rambled, hugging Diana tightly. “Bad me?... Golly, I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright, Billy,” Diana said, setting him on the ground beside Cassie who was still writhing in pain. Diana knelt down beside her protege, making sure she stayed upright. She then looked back up to Billy. “How can we stop this?”

“T-the words, he’s gotta say the words!” Billy said.

“ Molon Labe …” Diana whispered. “ Come and take them ...” She tilted her head back. “Kal-El! You hear that?”

“A little busy right now, Diana!” Clark shouted back, fending off the entire army of mind-controlled super-men by himself. “Aughh!” He cried, being hit by Protex’s heat vision, only to be thrown back by an uppercut from Vartox. Clark spun around in time to grab Protex by the throat and slam him into the wall of a building. “I’m sorry,” Clark said before delivering a punch of incalculable force to the Martian super-man’s face. The impact knocked him out cold, sending his body hurtling to the ground. Clark then heard the sound of another flying fist, turning to catch Vartox’s hand before he could strike true. Clark pulled him forward and headbutted the Valerian with enough strength to knock him out as well. 

More and more super-men poured upon Clark in a similar fashion, each one he managed to take out. But it was taking time, time which they didn’t have. “I…” he began, throwing a few more supersonic punches. “Can’t…” he continued, clashing his beams of heat vision with another’s. “Get…” he said, throwing a super-man to the ground before incasing him in a block of ice with his freeze breath. “To Lex!”

“ I’ve got him,” Kara said, taking out a super-man of her own before spotting Lex as he tried to drag himself away in his damaged power armor. Kara took one step forward, but before she could take flight, Superboy hovered down to block her path. He didn’t make eye contact, his strained face was turned away from her. He appeared to be fighting with himself, or whatever programming Lex had put into him this time.

“Conner,” Kara began. “Just step aside, okay?”

Superboy bit back a response, grunting in pain before clutching his skull. “R-run K-kara…” he managed to say before his burning eyes shot open, sending forth a destructive red beam. His stray heat vision missed Kara and sliced the corner of a building clean off. Kara lunged forward and tackled Superboy to the ground. His wild heat vision didn’t cease, forcing Kara to keep the back of his head pinned down so that his beam fired straight into the sky. Kara struggled to keep his spasming body down, though soon, the hardship was lifted when a red-yellow blur whizzed by. Soon, Superboy’s limbs were bound with rebar, welded with green flames, and frozen over for good measure. Kara looked up to see Kid Flash alongside minor Leaguers, Fire and Ice. 

“Got ya covered, Danvers ,” Wally said with a cocky smirk. “Now go get ‘em.” 

Kara didn’t hesitate, she sped forward toward Lex and grabbed him by the color of his armor. He dragged him up off the rubble and hovered into the air with him. Her eyes burned red with flame. “Call them off!” She demanded. “Or, by Rao, I will kill you .”

Lex simply laughed in response. “Kill me? Ha! You can’t possibly expect me to believe you.”

“Try me!” Kara roared, her red eyes beginning to pulsate.

Lex's smile slowly faded when he felt two small points of heat beginning to swell across his forehead. He started to sweat, letting out a nervous laugh. Smoke began to coil up from his forehead as Kara’s dulled heat vision bored into his head. Lex clenched his teeth as his body trembled, before letting out a roar of pain. 

“Alright! Alright!” he cried. “ Molon Labe! MOLON LABE! ”

 Suddenly, every super-man that was still standing, ceased their assault and fell to the ground in a daze. With the wall of bodies gone, Clark could see Kara and Luthor still in her clutches. He’d said the words, he’d freed them from their mind control, but Kara did not stop. Two circular scars formed on Lex’s forehead, the flesh beginning to burn away. Kara’s heat was not far from penetrating his skull.

“Kara! No!” Clark cried, floating down to the edge of the crater, across from where Kara hovered with Lex.

“Gah!” Kara grunted, turning her burning gaze away from Lex and closing her eyes. Her grip tightened around his collar, bending the metal of his armor. “Why not!” She shouted back to Clark. “He’s just going to do it again! And again, and again! When does it end, Kal?! Tell me! When?!”

“Never,” Clark said, slowly hovering up behind Kara. “It’s a never-ending battle we wage. And to stay on the right side of it, you can’t become like him. It’s a thin, thin line, but once you cross it, there’s no going back. So Kara, please, I beg you.”

Kara tried to choke back the tears that streamed down her cheeks. Her grip grew shaky and soon she let go. Lex landed back into the crater with a thud, the remaining bits of his armor falling apart at the seams. With multiple bones broken, Lex couldn’t stand back up, but he seemed content to lay there as the authorities began to arrive. He had a crooked smile on his face, chuckling as streams of hot blood poured down from his forehead.

“I-I’m sorry, Kal,” Kara whimpered, falling into Clark’s arms as she sobbed.

“It’s okay, Kara, it’s okay,” Clark consoled, patting her golden hair.

“She’s right, you know,” Diana spoke up, limping to the edge of the crater with Cassie and Billy beside her. “He won’t stop. Ever . And we cannot lose you again. Nor can the Amazons let him go on unpunished. We should send him to the Phantom Zone, Kal. Rid this world, for good, of the festering cancer that is Lex Luthor .”

“No,” Clark said firmly as the police began to swarm the area. They reached Lex and cuffed the super-criminal. “We aren’t judge, jury, and executioner. And as long as this nation stands, every man, woman, and child shall have a right to fair trial. Not by us, but by a jury of their peers…”

“Ha! You have nothing to prove! Have you all forgotten? I saved this city! I’m the hero!” Lex shouted as the police pushed him along to their paddy wagon. Lex was shoved inside the back of the van and strapped down to a seat. Lex was then blinded by the sudden flash of Jimmy Olsen’s camera.

“Tell that to tomorrow's paper,” Lois Lane said before slamming the car door on Lex herself.

Lex growled looking away from Lois and Jimmy as they waved at him through the window. “I know you can hear me,” he spoke aloud. “You should have listened to your friends, Superman. Your reliance on the broken systems that govern us and the sheeple that live within them will be your undoing. Because when I get out, and I will , you will have wished you died on the red moon with that alien whore…”

Clark muted Lex’s far-off ramblings as the authorities drove him away. He looked down at Kara with a smile that she did not share. She somberly kissed his cheek before floating up out of his grasp. She flew off into the light of the setting sun as its orange glow filled the streets of Metropolis. Behind him, the super-men dispersed, leaving only Conner, Cassie, Diana, Billy, and Wally standing at the edge of the crater. Krypto ran through the line of heroes and up to Clark’s side, barking joyfully. He knelt down to pet the superdog, when he noticed something colorful lost within the debris. Clark shoved the rubble in front of him aside to free the star-spangled colors of his nation’s flag. Clark took hold of the fallen flag pole and propped it upright in the middle of the crater. The red, white, and blue furled in the warm breeze as dusk settled over Metropolis. He was home .

THE END...

Notes:

...For now.

The main plot of this story is complete, however a prologue may be in order to tie up loose ends. Some of which may include the a resolution with Maxima, a proper reuniting with Lois, and Clark Kent's return to the Planet. When this prologue will come, I'm not sure, but in the mean time, let me know if there is anything you would add or change about my Superman tale. Or just leave a review if you'd like. Either way, I'd like to thank you for reading this as it has been a significant project of mine for the last few months, I really do appreciate it. Thank you.

Chapter 14: The Never-Ending Battle

Summary:

PART II HAS BEGUN!

Superman: Mythos II #1 "The Never-Ending Battle"

The sleek, silver frame of the Invisible Jet glided through space at light-speed. The white streaks of passing stars decorated the blackened void just outside the jet’s windshield. Clark Kent, Superman , sat there beside the pilot in the cockpit, his firm gaze mesmerized by the passing wonders. He held his hand to his chin, hunched over with his elbow resting on his knee. The events that transpired mere weeks ago still played on repeat in his mind. Just as the stars continued to zoom past, again and again, so did his memories. Circe, Maxima, Lex… And everyone and everything in-between.

“Are you going to be alright with this, Kal?” Wonder Woman asked, diverting her eyes away from the void of space and towards Clark sitting beside her as she continued to pilot the craft.  “I could just as easily handle this matter myself, or any number of the other Leaguers.”

Diana’s voice at last snapped Clark out of his wanton trance. He closed his eyes and shook his head, leaning back in his chair. “Please, Diana. There’s no need, I’m perfectly fine. Besides, this is my mess to clean.”

“It was hardly your fault, Kal,” Diana said. “I’m just worried about you leaving Earth so shortly after your return…” she trailed off.

“If anything, my absence proved the people of Earth can get along fine without Superman, at least, for a little while,” Clark said with a weak smile.

“ If anything , it proved just the opposite,” Diana rebutted. “Metropolis was in shambles before your return. Luthor-”

“Is in jail awaiting trial,” Clark interrupted. “And Circe is on Sorca, in fact, she never left. And Maxima, well…” he paused, gesturing to the stars. “Point is, Earth will be safe. All with the League and Kara around…” He spoke his cousin’s name through a coat of quiet melancholy.

“Kara is…” Diana began, but stopped herself, not wanting to pile on any more undue trauma. She sighed, “Listen, Kal. It’s not the planet I’m worried about…” She reached over and placed her consoling hand on his shoulder. “It’s you .”

Clark looked down in the open palms of his hands and sighed himself before clenching his fists shut. A fake smile replaced his look of unease. He placed his own hand to his shoulder, atop Diana’s. He nodded to her reasuridly. “Let’s just get this done, okay?”

“Okay…” Diana whispered back, still looking into his pale blue eyes. Then, before them, the view outside the jet’s windshield zoomed to a sudden stop. The streaming beams of light converged into speckled stars across the vast space and at the center of it all was a massive, ringed planet. And sitting upon the outskirts of the rings, in which they drew near to, was a speck of a moon, a red moon . As they approached, the Saturn-like planet, moving ever so slowly along its orbit, revealed behind it; the giant, blazing ball of red flame. The red sun in which it revolved around.

Clark winced when the red UV light poured into the cockpit. Diana looked to her friend with worry as she gently piloted the jet towards the red moon. Though his gaze, by contrast, was steadfast. He looked forward, sweat already dripping down his face, at the moon as it grew bigger and bigger until it eclipsed the entire viewing area outside the windshield. Soon they’d entered the sand-brushed atmosphere of the moon, the jet promptly getting pelted by the dozens of rocky debris that shot through the air. After flying through the giant sandstorm that wrapped around the moon like a forcefield, Diana set the jet down just beyond a large red canyon. And past the canyon, across a dry, crack-filled plain, was the old Almeracian military base which was built right into the side of a mountain.

Diana left her seat at the controls and moved to the back of the cockpit where her sword, shield, and lasso rested. The Amazonian princess prepared herself, sheathing her sword, attaching her shield to her backside, and strapping her lasso to her belt. She then adjusted her shimmering silver bracers and fixed her golden tiara between her locks of curly dark hair. As his companion got ready, Clark took his time getting up from his chair, quietly psyching himself up for what was to come.

Once prepared, Diana met Clark at the sealed exit of the jet. She nodded to him, he nodded back, before she punched a series of numbers into a control panel beside the lowering door. With a hiss, the door unsealed and began to lower down onto the rocky red terrain of the moon. A set of metallic stairs then shifted up from the inside of the door, allowing for them to step down from the jet. Diana led, vaulting down from the stairs with ease, while Clark, without his flight, carefully maneuvered down to the ground behind her. Together, the two made their way towards the looming base in the distance.

Diana kicked the thick rusted door clean off its hinges and entered into the old fortress. Inside, the sand-packed metal hallways were dark, power having long been absent from the bases’ circuitry. Once far enough away from the red light of the sun, Clark turned on the lantern he’d brought along, knowing his advanced vision wouldn’t do him much good on the planetoid. It also meant, without any x-ray vision, they’d have to search the old fashion way. Diana opened and quickly checked within the first of the many off-shoot rooms that lined the hallway. Clark did the same with the one on the opposite side. One-by-one, they made their way up the hall, making sure to check within each room they passed, whether it be a control room, armory, or janitor’s closet.

Eventually, they came to a hall on one of the top floors that Clark found familiar. He stepped ahead of Diana and approached one room in particular. Without hesitation, he opened the door into a musk-filled, rust-lined bedroom with a window overlooking the red wasteland. Clark’s stomach turned, his thoughts reminiscent of the time he’d spent there as a helpless prisoner. He slowly stepped forth towards the long horizontal window, stepping over a giant crest of El etched into the floor and over it was a massive X . Not yet noticing the eery symbol on the floor, he placed his trembling hands on the cold metal of the windowsill and looked out upon the dusty plains and sunken crags. 

His gaze soon diverted from the red horizon and down to his feet in shame. To his shock, he saw not his feet, but instead, his own reflection staring back at him, found in the blade of a sword held fast to his neck. He gasped as if to shout, but he held still upon feeling the razor sharp silver graze his skin. Thick red blood began to trickle down his neck and up along the edge of the blade.

Clark felt a warm breath envelop his ear and he heard a panting breath, seemingly belonging to one on the verge of tears. “How could you…” a trembling voice then whispered. “How could you leave me!” The sudden shout stunned Clark, but he felt his assailant’s grip weaken around her hilt, allowing him to thrust his head backwards without fear of the blade’s deadly slice. The back of his head collided with the nose of his assailant, causing them to stumble back, directly into the clutches of Diana’s brawny arms. Clark then turned to see none other than the disheveled Queen Maxima, her whole body having swiftly been wrapped up by the golden string of Diana’s lasso. Maxima’s rich red hair was a dirtied mess, her gold and emerald uniform having been torn, and her once flowing yellow cape was nothing but a tiny scrap of translucent fabric.

Without hesitation, Diana shoved the Almeracian queen to the ground. Falling to her knees, Diana straddled her muscular thighs around Maxima’s waist, locking her in place. The alien screamed, foam brimming on her lips as she struggled to break free from the Amazon’s iron grip. Diana then took her shield and lifted it high above her head before wailing it down upon Maxima’s skull. The rim of the shield collided with Maxima’s forehead with such force that it jolted her head back against the hard metal floor, knocking her out clean.

When Maxima regained her consciousness, she found herself bobbing, her tied up body slung over the shoulder of Wonder Woman. Below her, she saw the footprints of both the Amazon and the Kryptonian leading away from the military base now in the distance. She soon began to struggle against Diana’s grasp once again.

“Unhand me, harlot!” Maxima demanded. “I have an empire to reclaim!”

“Would you rather we leave you here?” Diana said simply and without any further physical force needed, Maxima ceased her struggling. Instead, the alien queen pouted and slouched over the Amazon’s shoulder. Clark paused once they’d reached the Invisible Jet, watching as Diana carried Maxima inside.

“At least tell me what you plan to do with me, Kryptonian?” she spoke to him as he followed them inside.

“Superman has convinced me to let you serve out a sentence befitting your crimes in America,” Diana said, throwing Maxima down onto one of the cockpit’s chairs. Then, with a press of the ship's controls, the chair strapped her in place with metal cuffs. “I would have had you brought back to Themyscira, where each of my sisters could take a turn telling you how much they appreciated you masquerading within our ranks… Though as Kal pointed out, such an occurrence would most likely fall within the bounds of cruel and unusual …” Maxima gritted her teeth at the Amazon. Diana merely smirked back before taking her seat in the pilot’s chair in front of her.

Clark took his seat across from Maxima, rotating it towards her so that he may plainly speak with her. “You mentioned your empire…” he began.

“That’s right Kal-El. I was betrayed, not only by you,” she responded.

“But by Luthor too,” Clark added. “He left Circe out to dry as well. I’m afraid he betrayed you all, using your powers for his own selfish gain.”

Maxima laughed. “Luthor? You think I’m upset about him ? Please, all three of us knew what we were getting into when we agreed to work together. Neither one of us had the other’s ‘best interests’ in mind. No… I suffer a far greater woe…” Maxima paused, looking out the window as the jet began to rise back into the dusty atmosphere. “ Suza …” she said with fiery anger in her breath. She looked back at Clark. “I’ve been betrayed by my own. A pretender sits upon my throne! Undoubtedly flinging the empire into undue chaos!”

“Perhaps you should have thought of such a possibility before abandoning your duties to chase after a mate ,”  Diana sneered, while punching in a series of coordinates, setting them a course for Earth.

“Idiot!” Maxima snapped back. “I was doing my duty! The House of the Blood Royale tradition demands I find a proper mate! So that his seed may produce in me a being worthy of the throne of all Almerac!... Do not blame me, Princess , for your own pitiful lack of prestige in the art of courtship!”

“Ah, I see,” Diana said, in a sarcastic tone as she reached for a lever on the control panel. “Maybe on my next date I should try kidnapping the man and strand us together on a desolate moon, like a sociopath.”

“ You -” Maxima bubbled with rage, so much so that she could not form words with which to speak her anger.

“Wait, Diana,” Clark said, holding her wrist and keeping her hand away from the light-speed ignition. “With the inherent instability of Almerac, I predicted this might happen during Maxima’s absence.”

“And?” Diana questioned, seeing this as no business of theirs.

“The people of Almerac do not need to suffer as a result of a misguided ruler,” Clark said.

“Well then, with Queen Maxima gone, I’m sure their suffering has diminished ten-fold,” Diana said, reaching again for the light-speed.

Clark held her hand back once more. “She’s misguided, yes. But not cruel.”

Diana raised her brow. “And what she did to you wasn’t cruel ?” she questioned.

Clark sighed and took a moment to search for the proper words before speaking again, “she cares for her people. A quality which this usurper may not possess. Look, all I ask is that we check things out on Almerac. If things are stable, we can resume business as usual.”

“Ha!” Maxima laughed with glee. “At last you come to your senses, Kal-El.”

“Quiet, Maxima,” he said sternly. “This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven what you’ve done. Your trial still awaits, whether on Earth or Almerac. I will see to it that justice is done.”

Diana sighed, erasing the coordinates of Earth and punching in those of Almerac. She wrapped her hand around the lever and engaged the light-speed. “Oh, Cla--Kal…” she corrected. “You’re too good for your own good…” Everytime she thought she’d seen the limits of that man’s compassion, he still ceased to amaze her with the unending care within his heart. To those of every race, creed, and background, good or evil, Superman will stop at nothing to protect them.

The Invisible Jet soon fell out of light-speed and into the orbit of the Earth-like planet known as Almerac. Beside it, moving slowly in its orbit, was a large chalky white moon, and in the far distance was, thankfully, a yellow sun. The surface of the planet was half rocky, mountainous land, half raging sea, with swirling storm clouds above. It was a livable environment, but harsh. The type of planet that bred warriors, which it very much did. All the inhanbidents, while not as skilled as a trained royal like Maxima, had at least some level of superhuman strength.

“Not picking up anything out of the ordinary on radar,” Diana informed as they hovered in mid-orbit. “Wait a second…”

It was then the three spotted the massive armada of warships peeking from out behind the otherside of the planet. The dozens of black-gray cruisers were crude in make, looking as if they were scraped together with spare parts and stolen technology. The fleet slowly began to come their way, likely continuing on their orbital patrol.

“What are those things?” Clark said, getting up from his seat and stepping up to the windshield to get a better look. Both he and Diana then looked to Maxima for answers.

“Hell if I know!” she snapped at them. “I’ve never seen such a ship in my life. They’re disgusting if you ask me. Such filth doesn’t belong in the skies of mighty Almerac! See, I told you, this must be the usurper's fleet. The situation is even more dire than I presumed.”

“So you’re telling us those ships aren’t Almeracian?” Diana asked.

“Your dull wittedness never ceases to amaze me, Princess,” Maxima chided. “Of course they’re not my ships!”

“That means Almerac has been invaded by a foreign power. This is no mere internal coup d’etat,” Clark reasoned, keeping an eye on the approaching fleet.

“But many have no doubt sided with the enemy,” Maxima said. “One such traitor being my ‘loyal’ handmaiden Suza. She told me so herself before resolving to strand me on the red moon.”

“Diana,” Clark said with worry, “they’re getting closer.”

“At ease, Kal,” Diana said, “they don’t call this the Invisible Jet without reason.” She said, before flicking a few more notches on the control panel, switching the jet into total stealth mode. 

The ships drew nearer and nearer until they were only a few hundred yards away. It was then one of the vessels paused and drew away from the rest of the fleet as they continued their patrol. The lone ship looked as if it was heading directly for them. Clark, suspecting the worst, closed his eyes and tried to hear what was going on inside the ship. To his surprise, his senses were unable to penetrate the ship’s hull. He wondered if something aboard was preventing his powers or if they’d yet to fully return to him after his red sun exposure back on the Pautovian moon. 

Before he could rationalize further, a noise from the ship did enter his ear. It was a loud and mighty blast that shot forth from the ship’s mega-canon. A bright pink lazer sliced through the space between the ship and the jet, colliding with the jet in a fiery explosion. Clark, using his super-speed, managed to grab both Diana and Maxima in time and shield them best he could within his grasp. Around them, the Invisible Jet was obliterated and from out of the ball of fire, Clark and the two women he held close emerged. Due to the absorption of the powerful blast, combined with his powers still not at full strength, Clark passed out as he plummeted into the planet’s atmosphere. As they soared down through the clouds, he let go of both Diana and Maxima, who were unconscious themselves, and entered into a spiraling freefall.

Feeling the wind against her cheeks, Diana soon snapped awake. She gasped, but there was no air in the thin atmosphere to breathe. Nevertheless, she caught the air beneath her body and presumed a steady flight. She first bolted over as fast as she could to catch Clark. With the knocked-out Man of Steel under her arm, she flew towards Maxima and caught her as well. However, by the time she had both safely within her grasp, there were only a few hundred feet from the ground. Diana roared at the top of her lungs as she applied all her strength in order to slow their rapid descent. At the last moment, she threw her enchanted shield out under her and landed her feet down upon it. The shield hit the rocky ground and immediately, beneath her boots, formed a massive crater in the side of a hill. Diana cried in pain, feeling her right leg snap beneath the extreme force of the impact. Letting go of Clark and Maxima, she assumed a role and released the rest of her inertia by tumbling another thirty yards past the crash site. With her head half submerged in the dirt, she fell back into unconsciousness.

Clark, his back now strewn across a rock at the bottom of the newly formed crater, held his throbbing skull as he woke back up. Arching forward, he managed to regain his footing. With a shake of his head, he regained his proper vision and looked upon the not-so-happy-landing. Maxima was on the other side of the crater, reeling from her minor injuries, but beginning to stand back up as well. Then, he spotted Diana a few yards away, outside the crater. He rushed up to her and was stunned to see her mangled left leg. Both her ankle and knee were bent in the wrong directions. Clark fell to his knees and swiftly turned Diana on her back. The sudden shift and jolt of pain must have awakened her as she began to grunt. Soon her blue eyes met his and she gritted her teeth into an uneasy smile.

“How bad?” she asked.

“Um, I’m going to have to put a few things back where they belong,” Clark said, hesitating to act.

“Do it!” she cried, using the last of her strength to heave her own mangled leg up onto Clark’s lap. From there, Clark didn’t waste any more time. With his heat vision, he split open her metal greaves in two and the armor slid off her broken leg. He then placed both hands onto her ankle and, while one hand holding it firm, he balled the other into a fist and gently tapped her sideways foot. His super-strength gave the precise tap enough force to pop her ankle back into place. Diana cried in pain in response, clawing against the dirt at her sides. Clark then moved up her leg to her knee. Using the same technique, he popped it back into place as well. Once the deed was done, Clark fell onto his back and laid across the dirt, exhausted. Diana similarly let her head fall back against the dirt, her incredible pain slowly drifting into numbness. Side-by-side, laying upon the ground, Clark and Diana shared a brief moment of reprieve.

“Invisible Jet… what a joke,” Maxima’s sneering tone tore down their swift reprieve and brought them right back down to dire reality. She limped over to them, being the least affected by the crash. “I’ve never been one to trust human technology. This just further proves my weariness.”

“It shouldn’t have been possible…” Diana said between coughs. “How did they see us?”

“The how or why doesn’t matter right now,” Clark said, bringing himself back up to his feet. “All that matters now is we find a way out of this and figure out who’s taken Almerac.” He looked up, and just beyond the clouds, he saw the fleet of warships trailing across the pale green sky. He then reached down to Diana and slung her arm over his shoulders. “Come on, let’s get our bearings here,” he said before hovering up to the top of the rocky hill they’d crashed into. He set down at its peak, with Maxima following behind, and soon the three of them looked out upon the horizon. There, within the valley of dueling mountain peaks and on the shore of a vast sea, was a grand capital city. Silver buildings shimmered in the light of the setting sun, their towering classical structures were imposing, even from a distance. Though, directly over the city, was one of the crude warships, this one bigger than the rest. The mother ship was oddly shaped, more rounded and spherical than its jagged and elongated counterparts on patrol.

“ Almaaria …” Maxima whispered the name of her city, “what have they done to you?” She then glanced over to the horizon and gasped. “I don’t believe it…”

“What?” Clark asked, following her gaze. There, on the far horizon, away from the setting sun, sat the peak of the rising moon. Though, unlike what it had been when they passed it in orbit, the moon was no longer chalky white in color. It was blood red. Clark’s face grew stiff, nearly losing his grip on Diana. Though soon, he felt her weight bearing down on him more so than before. “H-how,” he stuttered, knowing now, with the blood moon having fully risen, it was having the same effect on him as would a red sun.

“ The Haraa’Meg-Ra ,” Maxima spoke. “An ancient Almeracian rite performed in times of war on the planet. Though, I’ve never once seen it before myself. No one has, for centuries. Not since the unification of all Almerac long ago. Using forgotten magics, the elders perform a blood sacrifice that stains the entire moon in the very blood they shed…”

“Kal, that doesn’t mean…” Diana began.

“It does,” he said solemnly. “They’ve somehow managed to distort their yellow sun’s rays, making the moon reflect them as red … It’s weaker though, I can feel it. Just like our own moon it only reflects a portion of the sun’s light…” he trailed off.

“But, it’s enough?” Diana asked, wearily, fretting the answer.

“Yes,” Clark said. “Here on Almerac… I’m powerless at night.”

Notes:

The Return! Welcome to Part 2 of "Superman: Mythos"! Strap in for a all new, fully fleshed-out adventure following the events of Part 1. I'm here to explore the aftermath of Part 1 as well as kick off brand new plotlines. If you're a pervious reader, welcome back! And if you're new, hey! Just continue reading! As per usual, reviews, comments, and suggestions are much appreciated!

Again, I'm open to any and all suggestions. One thing I've been toying with is a Clark/Diana romance. I'm not the biggest fan of this pairing, but the more I write them the more I see the appeal. Let me know if this is of interest to you guys or if you want me to stick firmly on the 'Lois path' I originally planned for. Or if you want a saucy love-triangle between them all instead, we can do that too! Please let me know on this or any other stuff you'd like to see from the Superman mythos make their way into, well, "Superman: Mythos".

Though there's a few rules I have that I'll let you guys in on. 1. NO BATMAN! - he's had enough scene time in all media as is. Mentions are, of course, allowed, as I've already made a few Bruce-references. 2. NO KRYPTONITE - this is more of a challenge to myself, to avoid the obvious and, quite frankly, lazy Superman weakness (though I did use Metallo in #12, but that was more for a fun gag and Supes wasn't even there). Don't expect to see these few things, but everything and anything else is fair game!

With that, I'll see ya around, True Believers! Shit - wrong company...

Chapter 15: Phone Home

Superman: Mythos II #2 "Phone Home"

Clark stared up at the blood-soaked moon lingering directly above the modest campsite they’d scraped together within a rocky crag. Across the reflecting red water of a bay, sat the gleaming city of Almaaria. And floating above it, was the crude mother ship of the unknown invaders. Clark leaned against the entrance of the cavern, his face struck with worry. Still he contended with red-sun induced weakness radiating through his body.

“It’s been fourteen hours…” he spoke aloud, eyes still locked upon the dark, crimson sky. “Where is the sun?”

Maxima laughed, stepping up out of the cave, away from the fire she and Diana had set. She approached the Man of Steel and slapped her hand down upon his shoulder. She felt him recoil from the impact, a clear sign of his power having fled from his body. “I thought you’d have visited enough alien worlds to realize this, Kal-El. That not all planet’s rotations are alike. Almerac happens to spin twice as slow as Earth. It’s also larger. Making our nights a little more than double your own.”

Clark looked down and sighed before crossing his arms across his broad chest. “I thought as much. Just didn’t want to believe it…” he said before turning and entering back into the small cavern. He soon came to Diana, who was sitting by the campfire, her broken leg in a makeshift cast consisting of tree branches and scrap metal debris from the Invisible Jet. Diana leaned over and prodded the fire with a stick, keeping the flames from dissipating. She looked up at Clark, who was staring into the flames, deep in thought.

“I don’t like the look on your face, Kal,” she spoke, raising her brow while folding her arms back up at him. “Don’t tell me-”

“We’ve wasted enough time as is,” he interrupted. “We need to get a signal out to the Watchtower as soon as possible. Inform them of the situation. Not to mention get some intel on what exactly is going on here.”

“There’s a signal tower at the Almaaria spaceport located on the outskirts of the city,” Maxima informed, joining Clark and Diana around the fire. “It’s capable of sending instantaneous light-speed radio waves to any system.”

“Excellent, that’s just what we’ll need,” Clark said with stern determination, balling his fist into his palm.

“Surely you’ll wait until sunrise, no?” Diana asked, still concerned for Clark in his current predicament.

“No time,” Clark said. “Besides…” He looked down at his hands, feeling what little remained of his power. “Once Almerac’s yellow sun returns to the sky, it will still take a while for me to absorb all the light I need. And by then, the blood moon will have risen once more… That being said, I’m not power- less .”

“Neither am I,” Diana said, struggling to her feet, using a tree branch as a crutch to maintain her balance. “I’ll be coming with you.”

Clark sighed, looking to his side as he searched for his words. Meanwhile, with a devilish smirk on her face, Maxima proudly stepped forth.

“Take a seat, Princess ,” she said. Unlike Clark, she needed no time at all to present her feelings on the matter. “I won’t have a cripple joining me into enemy territory.”

Diana scowled at the alien queen, though in the back of her mind, she knew she was right. Still, given last month’s events, Diana did not want to keep Clark out of her sight, let alone leave him with Maxima of all people.

“She’s right, Diana,” Clark said with reluctance. “We’ll return as soon as we can. You should be safe here. And if you spot an enemy patrol, hide. Do not engage. You’re in no shape to fight.”

“And you are?” Diana rebutted, though in sinking back into her seat beside the fire, she’d all but conceded the argument.

“I’m hoping there won’t be a fight,” Clark said, turning to Maxima who shot him a frown in return. “At least not yet.” Maxima’s frown shifted to a glower, turning away from Clark to cross her arms and roll her eyes.

Diana sighed, continuing to prod the campfire. “Very well…” she spoke. “May the gods be with you.”

 

Before they left the campsite, both Clark and Maxima concealed their colorful uniforms under ragged cloaks they’d scavenged from an abandoned farmstead. Then, they followed the coastline of the glistening bay, towards the outskirts of Almaaria.

“Well, it’s no suit and pair of glasses, but I suppose this’ll do,” Clark said, lifting up the edges of the patched-up and dusty cloak.

“It’s disgraceful is what it is,” Maxima replied, disgusted by the rags she wore. “A queen’s return to her planet should be accompanied by triumphal marches through the capital and festival games held everyday throughout the following months. Instead, I trudge through the shadows of my own city like a rat.”

Before long, they’d reached a small ridge which overlooked a wide concrete plain, lined with Almeracian battlecruisers, commercial ships, and personal shuttles. Notably, none of the ships in the docking bay resembled the ones that were currently encircling Almerac’s skies. Whoever the invaders were, they didn’t have the Almercian taste of sleek, classical design. Most of the ships sported gold and marble trims, accompanied by entire hulls of shimmering silver. They were a far cry from the brutish, ebon-gray ships that hovered above.

“There,” Maxima said, pointing to the signal tower on the far side of the spaceport, which was part of a larger port-complex of connecting buildings and jet bridges. Clark tried to get a better look, squinting as hard as he could at the building that was just a mile or so away. Alas, his telescopic vision failed him as he was only able to come up with an overly-blurry, enhanced image of the tower.

“Alright,” he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head, returning his vision to normal. “Let’s move in.”

Still under the cover of night, aside from the red glare of the moon, Clark and Maxima slipped down from the ridge and darted across the docking bay towards the spaceport complex. Reaching the far side of the building, they held their backs up against the wall upon hearing noises emanating from the base of the signal tower. Peaking their heads around the corner, they spotted a pair of guards on patrol, making their rounds about the spaceport premises. The guards however, were not Almeracian. They were towering, cybernetic brutes with manes of mangled fur and wire. They had four arms each, two holding a long rifle, while the others at their sides were ready to pull a blade or pistol from their hips. Their faces were ghoulish, with jagged teeth, more resembling tusks and sunken eyes trapped in a perpetual scowl.

“Impossible…” Maxima muttered. “It can’t be… No, no it must be them .”

“So you do know them? Huh?” Clark asked.

“I’d know their ugly faces anywhere,” she sneered, though her stern, angered face was soon cast over with distress. “Though their bodies… that metal, they’re, they’re-”

“Cyborgs, by the looks of it,” Clark said, rather unsurprised. “Common for most Type II, interplanetary civilizations. They’re far from the first I’ve come across.”

“I know what a cyborg is, Kal-El,” Maxima said. “It’s who they are, not what they are that baffles me.”

“Well, who are they?” Clark asked.

“The Krenans,” Maxima explained. “Native to the planet Kreno in a neighboring star system. Not more than fifty years ago my father led an expedition there in the name of conquest. Yet, when we arrived, we found nothing but a barren wasteland and worse yet, the underdeveloped barbarians who lived there. Four-armed, naked brutes who fought with sticks and rocks over which anthill to piss on.”

Clark raised his brow concerning the last insensitive remark, but remained quiet as to allow her to carry on with her ‘cultural analysis.’

“They were generations away from the wheel , let alone interstellar travel,” she continued. “In terms of resources, the planet itself didn’t have much to provide. And the Krenans themselves were too unwieldy to subjucate into slave labor. So, we abandoned the colonization efforts and sought out more profitable endeavors. Preferably ones that didn’t involve shit-eating cavemen.”

“Remarkable…” Clark said, pondering the information as he examined the cybernetic warriors from afar. “So they’ve gone from neanderthal to spaceborne-supersoldier in little more than a generation.”

“It shouldn’t be possible,” Maxima said through gritted teeth, slamming her fist into the concrete wall.

“Unless they had help,” Clark concluded. They each turned to each other in a moment of quiet contemplation before Clark broke the silence. “No matter, that’s besides the point. We’ll get to the bottom of this later. For now, let's get to that tower.”

Maxima, wanting to discuss further due to her utter bewilderment, stayed herself and followed in a crouch behind Clark as they approached the tower. While hugging another corner, they allowed for the guards to continue their patrol before moving in. As soon as the brutish cyborgs left the entrance area of the tower, Clark and Maxima came up to the unguarded metal doors, though quickly they found them to be locked. Clark ran his hand along the control panel to the right of the doors and tried to use his x-ray vision. The quick glimpses he got of the panel’s circuitry through his flickering x-ray sight was enough for him to locate the particular wire that would disable the locking mechanism. He then took a step back and changed from x-ray vision to heat vision, only needing a bit of his weakened heat to fry the locking wire. Once the circuit broke, the metal doors slid right open and Clark and Maxima slipped inside.

Closing the doors behind them, they entered into the dimly lit base-level of the control tower. It was completely vacant, with loose chairs and papers scattered about. It looked as if whoever was stationed there left in a hurry. Clark paused, kneeling to the floor to investigate a charred red smear that stained the gray tiling. He pressed his fingers to the substance, confirming it to be blood. He stood back up, and without commenting, moved forth to the service stairwell with increased haste, a look of contained aggravation across his face. Maxima, even with her powers still intact, struggled to keep up with him as he bolted up the stairs.

At the top of the flight of stairs, Clark again used his flickering x-ray vision to confirm that the control room was vacant as well. Knowing this, he barged in and rushed to the bridge controls which were situated beneath a wide plate-glass window that overlooked the spaceports’ entire airfield. Growing frustrated with the alien controls, Maxima happily stepped in.

“Allow me,” she said with a smirk, moving Clark to the side as she punched in the Sol System coordinates and prepared to send a recorded signal. Lastly, with the flip of a lever, a microphone dropped down from the ceiling in front of Clark who was taken aback. “There, ready for a transmission to Earth. Go for it, radio-man .”

Without hesitation, Clark grabbed hold of the microphone, the moving sound waves across the control panel indicating its operationality. He then cleared his throat, and began. “Attention JLA, this is Superman in need of backup. I repeat, this is Superman in need of immediate back up. Wonder Woman and I are stranded on the planet Almerac which has since been invaded by an unknown force. The invaders are hostile and will attack on sight. I repeat, the invaders are hostile. We require a rescue squad only, lest we risk further interplanetary conflict.”

“What?!” Maxima interrupted, grabbing the microphone out of Clark’s hand. “This is Maxima speaking, Queen of all Almerac. And if you ever want to see the Man of Steel alive again, I suggest you send an army of your strongest warriors to help take back what was stolen from me!”

“What are you doing?!” Clark berated. He tried to pry the microphone back out of Maxima’s hands, but between their two grips, the device ripped in two, ending the transmission.

“Augh! Now look at what you’ve done!” Maxima snapped as the pieces of the mic sparked and sizzled at their feat.

“What I’ve done?” Clark said. “What were you thinking sending a message like that? Who knows what J’onn will send us now.”

“Pfft, if it even worked ,” Maxima said, crossing her arms and turning her head to the side in disgust. 

It was then Clark paused, the faint remains of his super-hearing picking up on commotion emanating from downstairs, and soon, just outside the room. His eyes widened, before he moved to tackle Maxima to the floor.

“Get down!” he cried as the door to the control room blew open and a barrage of laser-fire followed. The entire room went up in thick smoke and flashing sparks. Coughing, both Clark and Maxima managed to lift themselves back up to their feet. And, when the smoke began to settle, they found themselves surrounded by a squadron of six Krenan soldiers. Their tusked mouths drooled as they chuckled amongst themselves, all of them pointing their arm-mounted laser cannons towards the duo. With nowhere to run, Clark raised his arms up in surrender, but Maxima knew better, she drew her sword and assumed a ready stance. Then, as Clark placed his hands above his head, he felt a warmth begin to graze his fingers and neck. He tilted his head back and saw that, upon the glistening ocean horizon, the yellow sun was beginning to rise. He smirked, putting his hands back down to his side.

One of the Krenan soldiers took this as an offense and fired a laser bolt directly at Clark’s chest from point-blank range. Clark stumbled back, using the busted control panel as support. He then lifted himself back up, still with a smile on his face. He brushed the soot off his chest and walked up to the soldier. The Krenan’s hoarse chuckle ceased, turning into a worried gulp before Clark’s swift fist came flying into his gut from below. The cyborg was flung backwards in a spiral before smashing right through the back wall and out of the tower. Maxima laughed aloud before rushing up to the closest Krenan and, while he was stunned, sliced his head clean off. An eruption of black blood and sparks flew from his severed neck before his heavy body slumped to the ground with a thump.

Both Clark and Maxima continued to engage with the Krenans, taking them out one-by-one, but more continued to pile on. Soon the entire control room was full of them and Clark and Maxima were pushed back to the window. With nowhere else to run, Clark smashed open the window and took Maxima under his arm. With a wave of laser fire behind them, Clark leapt forth from the top of the control tower and set his sights to the sky. However, he soon felt his body failing to catch the air beneath his feet.

“Kal-El!” Maxima cried, seeing them lose altitude.

“The sun-” Clark said with a grunt. “Hasn’t been long enough…”

Before long, they plummeted back down to the spaceport, both Clark and Maxima landing ungracefully on the cement of the airfield. The march of Krenan soldiers soon thundered around them and they were surrounded within seconds, too many to fight. Then, a shadow fell over them as well. Clark looked up, the sun now blocked by the massive Krenan mothership. He gritted his teeth in anger, wanting to curse the skies as the ship that hovered there seemed to stare down at them, relishing in its victory.

To their surprise, Clark and Maxima were not killed on sight, instead, they were bound with power-dampening cuffs and taken prisoner to the High Palace of Almerac. However, it was not before they were pariaded publicly through the city on their way there. Krenans and subjected Almeracians alike watched the former queen and the famous Superman shuffle barefooted up the marble streets of Almaaria. They were prodded with electro-spears each time they faltered in their pace, and sometimes they were shocked for no reason at all besides the Krenans’ sick pleasure.

Eventually, after trekking up the many steps of the royal Almaracian palace, they were forced to their knees before the throne of the invader-king. There, in the seat that was once Maxima’s and all her ancestors’ sat the Prince De’cine, Emperor of Kreno’s newly established interplanetary dominion. He was the most brutish of all the Krenans, with more raw Krenan muscle and cybernetic enhancements than all the rest. Upon his lap sat the once loyal handmaiden of Queen Maxima, Sazu. The Almeracian girl smiled widely, seeing her former master on her knees before her. To add insult to injury, she was even wearing one of Maxima’s old ceremonial dresses. Sazu wasn’t the only traitor, among the royal court remained about half of Almerac’s once-revered High Council. 

Maxima glared at the traitors before hucking a lob of spit down at the feet of De’cine. “The gall… The lot of you… You don’t deserve to be considered Almeracian! Let alone members of her High Council!” Her beration slowly escalated in anger. “I swear upon the blood moon above, I will have each of your heads!... and you …” She turned directly to Sazu. “I’ll have you hung from the gates of-”

“Enough!” De’cine bellowed. “That’s the queen, my wife , you choose to insult.” Sazu snicked, holding tightly to one of the four bulky arms of her husband. “It’s only by her grace and the will of our lord, Cerebrus , that you two remain with hearts in your chests…”

“ Cerebrus …” Clark whispered beneath his breath.

“Face it, Maxima! You were never fit to rule our great nation,” Sazu added. “Always chasing after your precious man-thing.” She scoffed at Clark, who hardly took offense.

Maxima, on the other hand, boiled over in anger. “Look who’s talking! Whoring yourself out to this, this troglodyte!”

“I’ve heard enough,” De’cine spoke. “Ultraa, get these prisoners out of my sight. Besides, we must begin preparation for the Ascension … ”

“Right away, your highness,” a Almeracian High Council member broke from the crowd with Krenan guards by his side. He was tall and handsome, like most Almeracians, donning golden and purple armor with a flowing crimson cape. And he was young, for a member of the High Council which was made up primarily of elders. 

Maxima’s face darkened as the Almeracian man took her by the arm and forced her back to her feet. The Krenan guards likewise grabbed Clark and soon they were on their way down to the palace’s dungeons.

“ Ultraa …” she murmured through gritted teeth as she struggled against his grip. “How could you betray your own kind?”

“I could ask the same of you, Maxima,” Ultraa said, keeping his eyes forward as he continued to drag her deeper into the palace towards a hall of cells beneath the keep.

“Could you now? Ha!” Maxima laughed. “No one is more loyal to her people than I! I’m your queen for Almaara’s sake! My very viens run ripe with the blood of the ancients, the warriors of legend live in me!”

“I wish you’d thought of that before abandoning us time and time again to pursue…” he paused, glancing over to Clark who was locked in the iron grip of the two Krenan guards. “...what did he have… that I didn’t?”

A silence fell over the group as Ultraa and the guards shoved Maxima and Clark into their respective dungeon cells. The bars of which were made of intense laser strips made to slice through anything that may try to get in or out.

“Ultraa…” Maxima called out to him after he turned his back. “ My betrothed …” He tilted his head down and paused. “Why?” she asked again.

“After the Ascension, De’cine will leave for another system. Likely Earth,” Ultraa explained. “In his stead, I will rise to the throne of Almerac and become its provincial governor within the Krenan Empire. Then, at long last, I shall take the seat that was promised to me by your father.” 

Another silence fell.

“You want to know why I couldn’t take you as a husband, Ultraa?” Maxima spoke, breaking the silence. “You’re a pathetic little man with dreams of playing king… But you’ll never be a king. You’ll merely be the puppet of a tyrant.”

Ultraa stood with his back to Maxima for a moment before continuing out of the dungeon without a word.

“A warning for you, Ultraa! And all those who oppose me!” Maxima called to him. “I am Queen Maxima of Almerac and I will have my vengeance! And all who’ve unrightfully sat on my throne, will find themselves kneeling before my blade! Heads will roll, Ultraa! Heads. Will. Roll!”

Chapter 16: A League of Their Own

Superman: Mythos II #3 "A League of Their Own"

A vibrant display of stars and milky swirls of the vast galaxy beyond served as the backdrop to a modest picnic amongst a garden of evergreens. Cassie Sandsmark, aka Wonder Girl , had meticulously prepared a romantic feast of ham and cheese, assorted fruits, and lemonade across her hand-knitted, fan-made Wonder Woman quilt. All of which was topped with a single candle centerpiece that kept on blowing itself out. Cassie, after lighting the candle again for the umpteenth time, sat back on the edge of the quilt, legs crossed with a nervous smile across her face as she awaited her new boyfriend’s approval.

Conner Kent’s thoughts were elsewhere. Sitting across from Cassie with his arm over his knee, the other leg outstretched onto the grass, Superboy was gazing up at the endless 

mosaic of stars. The teenage clone of Big Blue showed off his rebellious nature with a “S” embroidered leather jacket, a pouch-equipt belt, a messy fade, and an earring for good measure. He’d been doing this a lot lately, thinking that is. Especially after his mind was taken over yet again by Lex Luthor not more than a month ago. To make matters worse, he hadn’t seen his “cousin” Kara since he nearly tried to laser her to death due to the aforementioned brainwashing. Sure, each of the super-men had been under the control of Lex, but for Conner, it was different. Since Lex was, more or less, his biological father. Or maybe biological donor would be more accurate, at least, that’s how he tried to look at it.

Between them both, resting peacefully while curled up in the soft grass, was none other than Krypto the Superdog. The dog was a bit tuckered out after the intense game of space-catch he’d played with Conner and Cassie where he’d flown a few times to the moon and back to catch their super-powered discus throws. Unfortunately, the game came to an abrupt end when Conner stumbled on a toss and sent the disc headlong towards the sun. Still Krypto wanted to go after it, but both Cassie and Conner didn’t want to wait a month or so for him to come back from his solar journey, only to find that the discus had long since melted into nothing. 

“Um… Hey, Conner…” Cassie finally spoke up, still with an uneasy grin as she tapped her knees and slightly rocked back and forth.

“Yeah, what’s up, Cassie?” he said, slowly removing his gaze from the stars and hesitantly bringing it to the girl in front of him.

Cassie laughed nervously, having to divert her own eyes from his bright, blue stare. She threw a stand of her long golden hair behind her shoulder and looked back up at him, then down to the picnic she’d prepared. “W-well… Do you like it?”

“Oh, sure, yeah,” he responded, less than enthusiastically as he picked up a ham sandwich and took a hearty bite. “It’s—great—Cassie,” he said, muffled through a mouthful of bread and meat. “ You’re great,” he then said clearly, having gulped down the rest of the sandwich.

Cassie couldn’t help but smile as a blush grew across her cheeks. Though underneath it, she was cursing herself. The date was going less than stellar and she wanted to avoid acting so love-struck. Though it was hard to play it cool, considering she’d had a major crush on Conner for the longest time, practically since they first met. He’s what got her to ditch the cruddy costume and black wig she used to rock as Wonder Girl back in the day. Now they were on their first real date and she couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t into it…wasn’t into her. Of course, he’d been through a lot as of late and she knew that. Though still, she hoped he didn’t accept her date out of pity or a lapse of judgment in his current state.

“Conner…” she began, lifting her head back up and looking determinately into his eyes. But his had since diverted away, again he looked above, now with a look of sneaking suspicion across his face. “Are-?”

“Shhh…” Conner interrupted, bringing his finger to his lips as he appeared to be listening to something Cassie could not hear. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

“Um… no?” Cassie said, raising her brow and crossing her arms. At this point, she determined he was acting straight up rude.

“A transmission… It’s Kal!” Superboy cried, leaping up into the air and darting off.

“C-conner! Wait!” Cassie called as she watched him zip away at an incredible speed. Cassie stood and looked down at their half-eaten picnic, hesitating to leave it. Nevertheless, she soared after him.

Weaving through the garden of evergreens, it was revealed that they weren’t in a forest at all. Soon, they made it to the metal entry way of the Justice League Watchtower, their picnic having taken place within the orbiting satellite’s vast courtyard greenery. They now sped through metal corridors, lined with minor heroes and metanance employees alike. Eventually, they came to the bridge, an open room with massive windows overlooking Earth and a floor consisting of communication stations, surveillance systems, and a teleportation platform. In front of the main window was a large projection screen which was currently displaying a battle taking place live down below. A Justice League line-up, consisting of major A-listers, were dealing with a threat in the Caribbean. By the looks of it, Aquaman, Flash, Batman, Green Lantern, Black Canary, and Green Arrow, were all going up against a monstrous, ten-story-tall starfish.

Standing at the primary computer station which hovered over the rest, was J’onn J’onzz aka, the Martian Manhunter, who was watching the battle carefully and radioing in when necessary. Though, to his side, he was also listening to an incoming transmission. Conner furled his brow at the tall Martian hero before zipping up to the control panel himself. 

“What are you doing?” J’onn asked in his monotone voice as Conner angrily yanked the headphones from off his bald green head before putting the transmission on speaker. The JLA’s battle audio softened in order for the transmission to play through loud and clear to the entire bridge.

“ Zizzt — Wonder Woman and I are stranded —Zizzzt— Almerac — Zizzt-zzit — unknown force —Zizzt—H ostile —Zizzt— Invaders —Zizzt— rescue squad only —Zizzt— lest we risk further —Zizzt— conflict… ”

“ Zizztc — tick — if you ever want to see the Man of Steel alive again! —Zizzzt— army —Zizzzt— strongest warriors —Zizzzt— take back —Zizzzt— stolen from me! —Berrrzzzt…Beep!... ”

Superman and Maxima’s patchy message from Almerac came through. Conner slammed his fist against the control panel, nearly breaking it as a result. “And were you planning to do anything about this, greenie ?” he chided. Cassie was quick to come up behind Conner and rest her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.

“Of course,” J’onn responded, unthreatened by Conner’s angered demeanor. “Though all League resources are currently preoccupied with the Starro situation in Corto Maltese. As such I’ll be sending a tertiary rescue squad to Almerac.” J’onn then pressed a button on the control panel and broadcasted his voice throughout the Watchtower. “Attention Leaguers. Could General Glory, Crimson Fox, Red Tornado, and Booster Gold please report to Javelin Dock 3 for mission briefing. I repeat General Glory, Crimson Fox, Red Tornado, and Booster Gold report to Javelin Dock 3 for mission briefing.”

“ Tertiary ?” Conner snapped. “Superman’s gone missing for the second time in less than a month and you plan to send a bunch of C-listers to go and get him?”

“Superman and Wonder Woman are two of our most effective members. They are… the best of us. Once their backups arrive, they should have minimal difficulty upon their escape from Almerac,” J’onn explained calmly. “They should not have been there in the first place. I’d wager Kal-El received a momentary lapse in his judgment, due to the emotional turmoil inflicted upon him via his imprisonment by one, Queen Maxima.”

“Why not send Wonder Girl and I instead?” Conner remarked, offering his hand to Cassie’s, to which she was hesitant, but flattered to take.

“Y-yeah,” Cassie spoke up. “Why not us? We know them.”

“This is not some training exercise, children. Besides, Kal-El suggested the avoidance of a full-scale assault, in favor of a stealth oriented rescue. Of which I, for one, concur,” J’onn said, shutting them down. Conner was about to speak again, but J’onn continued. “While each of your mentors gave you Watchtower permissions, I’m still at liberty to take them away. So I would choose your next actions wisely while aboard my station.”

Conner boiled with rage, his face noticeably heating up. It was a shock he didn’t just fire off a line of heavy heat vision right then and there. Instead, he turned his back on the Martian and stomped his way out of the bridge. Cassie followed, still with her hand in his.

“Screw Mr. J’onzz,” Cassie said aloud once the door to the bridge slid shut behind them.

“Seriously?” Conner responded, surprised by Cassie’s fiery attitude. “Thought a good girl like you was into following the rules,” he teased.

Cassie laughed, “trust me. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Diana, it’s that rules were meant to be broken. Especially the ‘rules’ of man … or Martian , rather.”

“Sweet…” Conner said, turning to look deep into her sparkling eyes, they were of passion and innocence. She’d yet to know the cruelty of the world, or at least, she knew of it, but chose to accept it and smile. She was a gleaming pillar of golden light in his dark miserable world. Conner may come to fully realize that in time, but for now, he was merely catching a glimpse.

“So…” Cassie said, swaying from side to side with her hands together. “Whatta ya say we steal ourselves a Javelin?”

Conner snapped out of his Cassie-induced trance and placed his hand to his scruffy chin. “Greenie was right about one thing. We can’t do this alone.”

“Aww, whatta mean?” Cassie wined, clutching Conner’s hand tightly. “We’re not enough of a powerhouse pair?”

An idea sparked in Conner’s head, spawning a devilish grin across his face. “I’d feel better if we had ourselves a bit of extra muscle…” he said, before grabbing Cassie’s forearm and leaping into the air with her.

“Whoa hey, watch it! I can fly just fine on my own,” Cassie said, yanking her arm away from his grip as she steaded in her flight beside him. Still, she struggled to keep up as they weaved through the Watchtower’s winding corridors. “Hey! Mind telling me where in Hades we’re going, hotshot?”

“The brig,” he replied simply, suddenly halting before a massive, tightly sealed metal entryway deep in the Watchtower.

“Um…” Cassie began as Conner walked up to the door’s control panel. “Should I be worried? I think I should be worried,” she said, thinking that perhaps she bit off more than she could chew by enabling this rebellious young Kryptonian. She glided back down behind Conner as she watched him let the computer scan his retina. A red laser scanned over his eyeball before flashing green and speaking in a robotic tone: WELCOME, SUPERMAN . Then, the sound of pistons from behind the door rumbled and soon the vault-like door slowly unsealed itself and creaked open.

“Wait, that actually worked?” Cassie said, more befuddled than worried now.

“Alright! Looks like they forgot to clone-proof the place,” Conner said, opening up the door fully before sauntering in. Cassie followed closely behind him as they passed cell after cell. All of which were sealed with electro-shielding and power-dampening technology inside, specialized for each specific super-powered detainee. At present, most of the cells were empty, since it was currently illegal for the Justice League to detain prisoners for an extended period of time. In fact, they could only take prisoners in certain situations, often during international super-powered incidents.

One such prisoner, Conner stood before now. He smiled to himself looking up at the hulking figure as it lumbered from the back of its cell and out of the shadows. Cassie, now clutching Conner's shoulders, stood trembling as she watched the beastly man-shaped thing step into the light. He was big, pale-skinned and was wearing an oversized, inside out Superman t-shirt, so that the “S” was mirrored across his beefy chest. He was: Bizarro!

“Kon-?” the hulking Superman clone murmured, hesitantly pressing his hand up to the electro-shield, only to receive a sudden shock. Bizarro stumbled backwards, clearly afraid. “Kon am come to hurt Bizarro?” he asked in a whimper.

“No, no, no, Biz,” Conner said in a warm, comforting tone. A tone which Cassie had never seen him take. She let go of him as she stepped towards the cell and deactivated its electro-shielding. Cassie stood frozen in shock as Conner stepped up into Bizarro’s cell and lent the supervillain his hand. “I’m here to get you outta here, buddy.”

“R-real?” Bizarro asked, taking Conner’s hand in his own, which was three-times larger. “Kon-bro is the worst!” he exclaimed with joy.

“Yeah,” Conner said, his trademark slick attitude returning as he glanced back at Cassie, giving her a wink. “I’m the worst , aren’t I?”

Cassie, still too stunned to fully react, managed to lift her hand up in a meek wave. “H-haai…” she said, through a worried pant.

Bizarro looked past Conner at Wonder Girl and smiled, waving back. “Yellow-her am really ugly girl, am girl with Kon-bro?”

“Yeah, the ugly chick’s with me,” he snickered. “Her name’s Cassie, and we both need your help, Biz.”

“What am Kon-bro need Bizarro help for?” Bizarro asked.

“Well, looks like our dad’s gotten himself into a sticky situation once again and it’s up to us to save him,” Conner explained.

“ Pup pup? ” Bizarro spoked, his stoney face soon boiling up with anger. Suddenly, he slammed his fist into the side of the cell, causing it to crack and shake. Cassie yelped, stumbling backward while Conner remained firm and tried to ease the beastly super-clone. “He am left Bizarro to die under rocks! He trick Bizarro into fighting other Pup pup …”

Superboy laughed upon hearing this and placed his hand on Bizarro’s angered fist. “Ha, don’t worry Biz, we’re not helping Lex, that tool. We’re helping our other dad… our real dad. Superman .”

Bizarro eased back down and placed his heavy hand on Conner’s shoulder. “Superman am tried to show Bizarro the wrong of Lex, but Bizarro no listen… Now Bizarro here, in cage.” Sorrow then replaced the clone’s fury as he reflected upon his last battle with Superman on the Cyclopean Isles.

“Well, Biz,” Conner began. “You can right those wrongs by coming along with us and this time, we’ll be doing the saving. Hopefully, we can make up for any of the past beef we’ve got with Big Blue, you and I both…”

Notes:

Back! And happy to bring one of my favorite DC ships into the story. Unfortunately for you Clark/Diana fans, I've decided to keep Clark firmly on the Lois-endgame path (so we can possibly have the marriage and Jon later down the line). Hopefully you can get your Super/Wonder fix with Conner and Cassie! Big villain reveal coming soon, so stay tuned and see if you can guess who it'll be.

P.S. — Check out my ongoing Wonder Woman story as well, 'Wonder Woman: Amazonomachy'. It's in the same universe! But takes place sometime after the events of Mythos.

Chapter 17: Luthor v. City of Metropolis

Superman: Mythos II #4 "Luthor v. City of Metropolis"

Mere hours before his trial, Lex Luthor sat alone in his holding cell beneath the Metropolis Police Department. He was in the center of the cramped eight-by-six, sitting atop the backrest of a metal chair, rocking slightly back and forth. In his hands, he was flipping through a dusty old leatherbound book, humming joyfully to himself as he read it. Then, he abruptly shut the book with a loud clap and his eyes glanced directly forward, without moving his shiny bald head. There, just outside his cell, cloaked in shadow, he saw the shimmering red and gold “S” shield. He smirked and leaned up tall for his guest, though, a wave of disappointment washed over him when the figure stepped out fully into the light and it was revealed to Lex that they were not a Super man , but a Super girl .

“Ah yes, the prodigal daughter hath returned,” Lex said, opening his arms wide while trying to hide his disappointment. He felt that a visit from the Man of Steel was warranted after such a battle, alas, he’d have to settle for less. Though, he wondered, after their last encounter, how much more she could offer. “Come to say you’re sorry?” Lex said with a fake pout, pointing to the laser scar that was still seared into his forehead.

Kara said nothing as she stepped up to the bars. Her expression was blank, though her eyes held a hit of disgust. She was disgusted with Lex, of course, but perhaps with herself as well. Her bright blue eyes diverted away from the maniacal billionaire’s emerald glare when he brought up their last meeting. She was ashamed of what she’d done and terrified by what she didn’t do. If Clark hadn’t been there to stop her, Lex would be dead.

“Not very talkative are you?” Lex said after the prolonged silence. “That’s quite alright, I can appreciate that. Most women never think to stop talking. Of course, that’s assuming most of them know how to think .”

That one dug at Kara, her face winced, but still, she remained silent.

Lex laughed. “I’m only kidding. Most men have the same issue. If you ask me, it’s only the people like you and I, the strong , who deserve the privilege of free thought. Most of them, the people out there. The ones who need our saving. They’re sheep. Or moths, rather, blindly drawn to the nearest flame.”

Lex sat back down on his uncomfortable metal chair and crossed his legs, resting his book in his lap. He tried to draw Kara’s attention to the book, but her eyes did not divert from his. He sighed. “Xenophon’s Anabasis ,” he identified the work as if she’d asked what it was. “A remarkable story from a simpler, some would say, better time… It’s about a band of Greek mercenaries who fell under the command of a foreign Persian Prince, an alien to them. Prince Cyrus the Younger he was called, known across his family’s great empire for his charm and charisma. But, he was greedy. He wanted the throne from his brother, so he built himself an army, these mislead Greek among them, and marched into the heart of Persia. There he was promptly killed by his brother and his army was scattered. The some ten thousand Greeks were left stranded and alone, without allies or supplies, deep behind enemy lines. One man among them, Xenophon, took charge,” Lex explained, pointing to the authorship of the novel. “He was a brilliant man in both philosophy and battle. He was far from the machismo of Cyrus which got them into the mess. Long story short, Xenophon leads his men back to safety and even lived to write about it. Incredible… Wouldn’t you say?”

Again, Kara said nothing. Another string of silence passed before the lights in the hallway in which Kara stood flashed on and a group of guards entered. Kara took a step back and allowed the men to approach the cell. Lex stood up with a sigh and adjusted his bright orange jail uniform as if it were a suit. “Show time…” he whispered to himself as the guards unlocked his cell only to lock him back up in chains and lead him outside. Kara followed them as they made their way out of the police station. She wanted to make sure he was properly transported to the courthouse. Just outside the doors of the station, the media was waiting. Cameras flashed, catching Luthor as he was escorted down the marble steps and into a police van. Lex turned to Kara as he was being locked in place on the cold seat of the transport van. 

“I hope you’re planning to join us in court. I’d very much like to hear the true identity of Supergirl when they sign you in. And I hate to say it, but that “S” won’t suffice as an ID, sweetheart. All for the protection of our most dutiful system of governance,” Lex grimaced. “Wish me luck… Though I doubt I’ll be needing it.” The door of the van then slammed shut and Kara was no longer staring at Lex, but at her own vibrant reflection in the police-blue metallic door.

 

“Jesus, Jimmy!” Lois cried as a stack of paper flew off her messy desk courtesy of Jimmy Olsen’s clumsy behind. 

“S-sorry Miss Lane! But-” Jimmy said, hitting his head on the lip of her desk before gleefully revealing the lanyard and Press ID badge he’d found underneath. “I found it!”

“Great work, Jimmy!” Lois said before snatching the badge out of his hands and throwing it around her neck. Her badge was similar to the one Jimmy was already wearing, each displaying their respective names and ID numbers, though her’s said Daily Planet Journalist , while his said Daily Planet Photographer . “Alright, let’s check in with Perry and then get our late asses over to the courthouse. The trial is in less than an hour.”

Lois, with a hop in her step as always, jogged her clacking heels over to Perry White’s office with Jimmy tailing close behind. Without knocking, she slammed open the door and proclaimed to the chief, “Jimmy and I are heading out to catch the trial. Don’t forget to hold the presses. We aren’t printing tomorrow without this thing’s verdict.” While standing in the doorway, Lois was puzzled to see Perry conversing with a young, ponytailed brunette with bulky glasses and a frumpy fashion sense. 

“Lane!” the Chief barked. “ Thank God …” he mumbled beneath his breath. He then stood up and ushered the girl to do the same. “Miss Lane, meet Miss Danvers, our newest intern. Danvers, Miss Lane.”

“Hi,” the shy girl spoke, giving Lois a meek wave.

Lois rolled her eyes in response. “Nice to meet you, kid. Look Chief, I don't have time for the pleasantries. Did you hear what I said about the trial?”

“‘Course I did!” Perry shouted. “That’s why you’ll be taking Miss Danvers along with you… and getting her outta my hair.”

“Aw, come on, Chief…” Lois groaned.

“Oh quit your whining,” Perry said, beginning to push the two out of his office. “She’s going with you and that’s final. A-and don’t call me Chief!” he shouted before slamming the door.

Lois, hardly acknowledging the girl, hurried forward to the exit. “Looks like I’m on double daycare duty today…”

“Hey!” Jimmy said, joining alongside the intern as they followed the speedy star reporter into the elevator. He then turned his attention to the girl and cleared his throat. “I’m Jimmy by the way, nice to meet ya.”

“I’m Linda,” the girl replied, her voice extra frilly.

“Gee,” Jimmy said, taking a closer look at the girl, trying to see past her oversized spectacles. “You sure look familiar, have we met?”

“That’s Kent’s cousin, Jimmy,” Lois said, her attention still strictly forward as they exited the elevator into the lobby. “She’s visited a couple times before, never for long. She’s been in the Planet’s intern pipeline for a while now. Stanhope College, right?”

“R-right,” Linda stuttered, her heart skipping a beat upon being referred to as anyone’s cousin. “That’s right, I’m Clark’s cousin.”

“Yep…” Lois said, exiting the Planet and heading straight for the curb in order to hail a cab. “He’s quite fond of you, actually.”

“Really?” Linda said, while not surprised by Clark’s appraisal, she was honored by it nonetheless.

“Linda, huh?” Jimmy said, still looking inquisitively at her. Meanwhile she prayed her disguise would hold. “Could have sworn Mr. Kent’s cousin’s name began with a C or something.”

“Quit freaking her out and get in the cab, Olsen,” Lois said, opening the back door of the cab she’d successfully hailed before practically shoving Jimmy inside. Linda followed in after Jimmy while Lois took the passenger seat.

“Metropolis Courthouse,” she ordered the cab driver. “And step on it.”

Before long they were sifting through the crowd of people who’d gathered at the doors of the courthouse. Lois, with her press badge held high, elbowed her way through the sea of people, Jimmy and Linda following closely in her wake. Soon, they made it inside the grandiose courtroom just before the guarded doors were shut behind them. They were filed into the press section, far in the back, which Lois was more than a little displeased with. So much so that before the hearing began she left Jimmy and Linda and squeezed herself into the end of a pew full of state officials a few rows up. Meanwhile, Jimmy, instead of seeking a position closer, periodically stood up on their pew and snapped photos from his elevated position. Linda, despite hardly knowing her co-workers , nonetheless sunk in her seat with embarrassment when Lois was escorted back to her seat by the bailiff and after which, when Jimmy was sternly told to ‘sit his ginger-ass back down.’

After the little Lois-Jimmy kerfuffle, the real drama had soon begun. All of which started when Lex himself, dressed in his prison orange, was escorted by guards to his seat at the defense,  beside his steely-eyed attorney. The prosecution, acting as representatives of the City of Metropolis, were already seated across the aisle. And beside them, sat the jury on the far side of the court. Whispers were abound when Luthor entered, though the entire court then fell silent once the judge appeared and took his seat. “All rise,” the bailiff proclaimed. “Department One of the Superior Court is now in session. Judge Adrian presiding. Please be seated.”

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen…” the judge began, pushing up his glasses after flipping through the heavy stack of papers on his desk. “Calling the case of the People of the City of Metropolis versus Alexander Luthor. Are both sides ready?”

“Ready for the People, Your Honor,” the prosecution stood and spoke. Linda was taken aback by how tall and imposing the man was, for a lawyer. He was a well built black man with a stern face and deep voice. In size and proportions, he reminded her a whole lot of Clark.

“Who is he?” Linda found herself inadvertently whispering aloud.

“District Attorney, Augustus Freeman,” Lois said, while scribbling down barely-legible shorthand in her notebook. “One of the few stand-up guys in this city’s administration. At least, he seems it. He doesn’t talk much. I tried to get an interview with him a few times and came up flat.”

“And Miss Lane always gets her interviews,” Jimmy added.

“Damn right, Jimmy,” Lois said. “Allusive as he is, he’s a hell of a lawyer. The People are in good hands on this one. We might actually have a shot at Luthor here.”

“It’ll certainly be a tough one though,” Jimmy said. “Don’t forget, more than half of our witnesses are capes . Captain Marvel, Kid Flash, Supergirl … And they ain’t showing unless they reveal themselves.”

“ Selfish ,” Lois smeared. “The whole lot of them. Can’t they see this is more important than a silly secret identity? Luthor needs to be put to justice. No matter the cost.”

“All of them?” Linda began. “Even Superman?”

Lois fell silent and paused her notetaking. “Hey, eyes on the trial kid,” she said, dropping the subject and returning to her notes.

“The prosecution may make their opening remarks,” the judge said, leaving the floor to Freeman. The towering attorney stood and left his desk, walking to the center of the room, he addressed the jury.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I need not introduce the defendant,” Freeman began. “You all know him very well, I am sure. But, what you may not be aware of is the many crimes of Mr. Luthor that have been hidden from you for years. However, today, he faces only a fraction of those convictions. Today he stands accused of corporate conspiracy, danger to public safety and… crimes against humanity . All of which, I will prove to you, justly describe Mr. Luthor’s actions over the past few months, and certainly prior to that as well. So let it be known: If you let this man walk free today, you are not only letting him walk free of the crimes he is convicted of today, but also those of which he is not. Thank you.”

Augustus nodded to the jury and took his seat, while Luthor’s lawyer robotically stood and addressed the jury with his cold gaze. “Your Honor and ladies and gentleman of the jury. As the prosecution so aptly put, you know Mr. Luthor. Lex Luthor is one of you. Lex Luthor is Metropolis. My client would never, ever do anything to harm the city he loves. And you could take his word on that, but he’d much rather you take his actions. Half of this city is employed by LexCorp and LexCorp subsidiaries. Each year, LexCorp is consistently ranked number one in donations to charity of any Fortune 500 company. And now, in LexCorp’s biotechnology subsidiaries, Lotus Co. is working on a cure for cancer,” the defendant paused to allow for the gasps to fill the room. 

Lois rolled her eyes. “What is this?” she whispered. “This is a court hearing not a board meeting, Jesus.”

“Ladies and gentleman,” the defendant continued. “Today, the prosecution will seek to endlessly slander and cancel my client. I ask you to refrain from giving in to their lies. They are merely jealous of Lex Luthor’s success. He came from nothing and worked his way up to the top. The American Dream, fully realized-”

“Wrap it up,” Judge Adrian cut in.

“Ahem, of course, Your Honor,” the defendant nodded before continuing, “the only thing my client is guilty of, ladies and gentleman, is having the will to make this city a better place. Thank you.”

“Very well,” the judge said before addressing Freeman. “The prosecution may now call its first witness…”

A long and arduous process followed. A process in which the People of the City of Metropolis were sorely losing. Witness after witness that was called had either been bribed or smitten by Luthor to shed him in the best possible light. Freeman could not bring any substantial evidence to his claims. Lois had slowed the pace of her notetaking as a mix of sorrow and anger filled within her. Jimmy had grown bored, having lost hope in the justice of the trial very near the beginning. Lex, meanwhile, was leaning back in his chair with a smarmy smile across his face. Linda, however, remained steadfast. She had to , she thought to herself. For if she lost hope, she’d have to overcome what dangerous emotions awaited her in the face of hopelessness.

Judge Adrian removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes before addressing Freeman once more. “Does the prosecution have any more witnesses?”

Freeman started to speak, but paused when one of his assistants started to whisper in his ear. The District Attorney nodded and said, “Yes, Your Honor, there is one last witness the prosecution would like to call upon.”

Luthor immediately leaned forward and grabbed forcefully onto the collar of his attorney. “You said that was the last of them, you idiot ,” Lex growled beneath gritted teeth. “Who are they calling?”

“Y-yes,” his lawyer stuttered before jolting up. “Objection, Your Honor! The prosecution has already gone through their agreed upon list of witnesses.”

“And what of it?” the judge asked. “The defense will be free to question this witness the same as the rest. Go ahead Mr. Freeman.”

“Your Honor,” Augustus bowed before clearing his throat. “The prosecution calls one, Dr. Pamela Isley to the stand.”

The doors of the courtroom slammed open and out strided a confident woman of a pale green complexion, flanked on either side by Arkham Asylum guards. She had long ruby-red hair and wore a dark green power suit and large concealing shades. She looked more like a fashion model than a criminal, especially with her confident strut up to the stand.

“Objection!” Lex blurted out himself, taking his defense into his own hands. “You mean to have a mentally deranged psychopath, a criminal , testify against me?!”

“If I may, your honor,” Augustus intervened. “The witnesses’ recent psych evaluations administered by one, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, indicated an utmost adherence to impartiality.”

“She’s in chains for God’s sake!” Lex barked before turning to the jury, beginning to lose his cool. “A-and don’t let that suit fool you, she’s fresh out of her straightjacket!”

“Jesus, Lex,” Ivy said while checking her nails, neglecting to even turn his way. “Keep this up and we’ll both end up in straightjackets.”

“Order!” the judge shouted with a smack of his gavel. He then glanced at the psych reports having been handed to him. “From what I can gather, Dr. Isley is fit for questioning. Prosecution, you may begin.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Augustus said, stepping towards Ivy at the stand. Meanwhile, Lex’s bald head heated red as he held back his boiling rage. “Dr. Isley,” Augustus began. “Can you please, tell the ladies and gentleman of the jury what exactly Lotus Co. is?”

“Gladly,” she responded, only now glancing at Lex with a smirk. “The company sought to continue the work of my mentor, Dr. Jason Woodrue. He’d successfully managed to splice together human and plant DNA. I myself am living proof of his success… whether for better or worse. But I digress… Lotus sought to replicate his work and modify it. Though pretty soon, they ran out of funding. That’s where LexCorp stepped in and bought the company. Suddenly, Mr. Luthor himself became highly interested in the company and poured resources into the new biotechnical division. With the funding and under Luthor’s direct supervision, they were able to come up with a less powerful splice, this time acting as consumable wherein a plant parasite could be introduced into the body and infect the brain. However, the side effects were null lest that be acted upon via a plant elemental.”

“Such as yourself and the supervillainess known as Black Orchid,” Augustus added.

“Yes,” Ivy said before a pause. “That’s when Lex Luthor hired me to spread the plant parasite and thus my control over the population. Only now do I realize it was all in the hopes to attract Superman. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used my additions to the formula to gain control over the super-men who tore this place up last month.”

“Pfft,” Lex said aloud. “Baseless conjecture. I saved Lotus Co., a company researching a cure to brain cancer, mind you. I have no idea how Dr. Isley came upon my property and less so how she managed to corrupt it. And as for Superman, ha! I can’t see what he has to do with any of this.”

“When doesn’t it have to do with Superman, Lex?” Ivy said, turning to Luthor with a grin. His bald head fumed, clutching his fists he held back an outburst.

“Order! Order!” the judge announced with a few smacks of his gavel. “I’ve heard quite enough for one day. I call this court to recess. We will resume at the same time tomorrow, excuse me, on Monday.”

Lex was the first to stand, his wrist still cuffed. The guards soon led him down the courtroom aisle, preparing to clear a path through the mob of reporters that’d quickly formed at the end of the pews. Of which, Lois, Jimmy, and Linda were a part of, clamoring to get to the front. Before braving the crowd, Lex notably leaned over to a LexCorp official sitting at the end of a pew and whispered something into his ear. The official nodded before leaving out the back of the court. Lex then put on a smile as the room filled with camera flashes.

“Mr. Luthor, are you aware of the effect these indictments are having on LexCorp’s stock? Especially so soon after the release of your electric car,” a ambitious finance reporter was first to ask, after elbowing his way to the front.

“The ebb and flow of the market, son. By tomorrow morning we’ll be back in the green, I assure you,” Lex said, while the guards carved him a path through the crowd, eventually making their way outside and onto the courthouse steps.

Lois had sped ahead of both Jimmy and Linda, meeting Lex outside as soon as the doors were opened. Lex grinned maliciously upon seeing her face. “What is it this time, Miss Lane? Was the exclusive I gave you not enough?”

“A bunch of horseshit is what it was, Lex,” Lois snapped back. “A glorified monologue that sent us on a wild goose chase. Unfortunately for you, we found the goose. And yours is cooked.”

“Ha!” Lex laughed. “Write that one down would you? I’d like to remember that.” He then glanced forward and saw a man with a clunky-looking camera racing towards him up the courthouse steps. “Now then, step aside Miss Lane, it’s time for my close-up.”

Before Lois could question him further, the strong arm of a guard pushed her back into the sea of reporters while the suspicious cameraman set up his shot. The camera in question was like nothing Lois had ever seen before, but somehow, hauntingly familiar.

“Is that-?” Jimmy began, running up beside Lois with Linda.

“Smile Mr. Luthor!” the cameraman said. Then, pressing down on the gun-like trigger of his odd camera, the device fired up with a deep hum. After a moment, the sound of a fuse emerged followed by an impossibly bright light. The guards, the reporters, everyone was immediately stunned by the flashbang.

Linda, shielding her face from the flash, lowered her arm and was the first to see what had happened. Before her very eyes, Lex Luthor, the subject of the cameraman’s picture , was dematerializing into thin air. While everyone was still stunned, Linda zipped forward through the crowd at super-speed. While doing so, she ripped off her clothes, glasses, and wig, revealing herself to be none other than Supergirl! When Lois and Jimmy’s eyes adjusted, they now saw Kara standing where Lex had once been, waving her arms within his still fading figure. Kara then looked up and saw the wide grimace of Lex disappear completely along with the rest of his body. 

“Supergirl, quick! He’s getting away!” Lois cried, leaping over the crowd while pointing to the fleeing cameraman. Kara tried to move forward after the man, but the mob around her soon closed in and more cameras flashed and microphones shoved her in her face. Everyone was wondering if she had something to do with Lex’s sudden disappearance.

Kara, feeling claustrophobic, just wanted to punch through the wall of people and give chase. But she couldn’t, instead, she took a deep breath and slowly rose above the crowd. There, floating ten or so feet in the air, she spotted the suspicious cameraman as he turned down an alleyway. Kara’s eyes narrowed before she sped off after him. Below, Lois grabbed Jimmy by the arm and dragged him out of the mob in order to follow Supergirl.

“B-but Miss Lane, what about Linda? I lost her!” Jimmy cried.

“Forget ‘er, she’ll find her way back to the Planet! Now come on!” Lois said, breaking into a jog down the courthouse steps. “Lex won’t get to zap his way out of this court hearing. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Kara touched her bright red boots down upon the wet concrete of the alleyway. She quickly spotted the cameraman hastily rushing towards the end of the alley. In an instant Kara was right behind him. She folded her arms and waited for him to reach the dead end, a brick wall. He clawed at the wall, hoping to climb it and escape, but it was no use.

“Nowhere left to run,” Kara said, trying to sound as imposing as she possibly could. “Now tell me, what did you do to Lex? Where did he go?”

The cameraman giggled while the sound of a fuse ramped up. “Why don’t I just show you?!” He then swiftly turned around and revealed his fully charged camera device ready to fire another shot.

“No!” Kara lunged forward, but it was too late. The flash went off and Kara became consumed in white light. Then, she felt her body fading out of this world just as Luthor’s had. Then, Lois and Jimmy entered in time to see her completely vanish, seemingly, from existence…

Lois raced forward and while the man was fiddling with his device in order to fire another blast, she threw a punch, knocking him back against the wall. Jimmy made it there just in time to yank the camera-like device out of his hands before he could use it again. Now able to examine it up close, Jimmy remembered where he’d seen such a device before.

“Miss Lane, it’s- it’s-” he stuttered.

“A Phantom Zone projector?” Lois questioned, taking another look at the part-alien device.

“Not quite…” the cameraman said with a few more giggles. 

Lois raised her fist at him in response. “Talk.”

He winced, before continuing, “Back when the real projector was in LexCorp’s possession, R&D produced not only the Projector-powered satellites, but an independent replica…” He pointed to the device. “But we found it to be inaccurate …”

“ Inaccurate … What the hell does that mean?” Lois said.

“It’s all theory, of course, but…” the man continued. “The Zone is the thin void of membrane between universes…”

“Universe s …” Jimmy said with shock. “Plural? Like alternate dimensions? Are you serious?”

“Quite right, boyo,” he said with a snicker. “And that new toy sends ‘em straight past the Zone and right into… well, the otherside …”

Chapter 18: Kara of Two Worlds Part 1: World's Finest

Superman: Mythos II #5 Kara of Two Worlds Part 1: World's Finest

An unmarked van pulled into the lot of a dilapidated warehouse in the eastern quarter of the Metropolis city docs. The quarter had been marked for renovation by the city council for the past month and a half. Work on the project, however, had been stalled somewhere along the line of bureaucracy. Whether the hold up lied with the Public Works Department or the construction unions, or whoever else, didn’t really matter at the moment. Because at the moment, the old warehouse served as the perfect base of operations for a Gotham-Metropolis cross-bay smuggling scheme. By all estimates, this little sea-side venture was headed up by the Maroni crime family who’d since been looking to expand their operations outside of Gotham. They were spurned to do such on account of the growing Falcone family who’d been moving in on their territory. The van had come from all the way down in Suicide Slum, hardly the type of riffraff Maroni’s gangs liked to associate with. Meaning, they were likely just a couple of paying customers.

“Hey man, you sure about this whole thing, Scrap?” the young man in the passenger seat of the van asked as they were waved in through the garage of the warehouse.

“‘Course I am, T,” the driver replied, he too was equally as young. Both were nothing more than a couple of hoodlums with enough life ahead of them to make things right for themselves. Tonight however, they’d be brushing shoulders with hardened killers, men who make a business of bloodshed. “Besides, if we want her and her pals off our back, we need us some of the good stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah you right, Scrap. You always righ- ek !” the young man yelped upon hearing the loud clap of metal echo across the dark warehouse when one of the mobsters joyfully slapped the roof of their van. The man soon showed his greasy, goolish, cigar chomping face as he blew smoke through the window.

“‘Evening, boys…” he said with a gargling sneer. “You the Paperboy fellas we’ve been hearing about, no?”

“The Newsboy Legion, sir,” the driver corrected rigidly, his hands quaking as they still clutched onto the wheel.

“Well… you’ll be happy to hear some of your exploits make it across the pond,” the mobster said. “You should be proud.”

“We’re proud, very proud sir,” the driver responded once more.

“Well then,” the mobster said with another slap. “Let’s get you boys what we owe ya. A pound of our finest.” He then whistled and gave a thumbs up to a pair of gangsters on the far side of the warehouse. The two heeded and soon disappeared within the walls of storage containers to retrieve the hidden stockpile of product. Soon, they emerged back into the dim light carrying a heavy lead chest that they promptly laid down before their captain.

“Here ya are boss, first of this mornings-” before the goon could finish, a grappling hook emerged from the darkness behind him and fastened around his ankle. “What the-” he muttered before his leg violently scooped out from under him and his face met the pavement. What followed was his blood curdling scream slowly fading into silence as he was dragged into the darkness. His pal immediately drew his gun while the captain stepped forward with a raised brow. Thinking he saw movement, the goon fired a few shots into the void until he too was grappled. His wrists were suddenly tied together, forcing him to drop his gun. He then let out a scream that was quickly silenced once he disappeared. Meanwhile the Newsboys rolled up their van’s windows and started the engine. But, when they tried to move, they found their tires to all be popped, each with a crossbow bolt lodged in its deflated rubber.

“Alright. Who’s out there? The Batman is dead , you ain’t fooling me…” the captain said, picking up a tommy gun and surveying the pitchblack warehouse. “Boy Wonder? That you?” he teased, though his joking tone couldn’t hide the sweat beginning to trickle down his face or his quaking, gun-wielding hands.

“ I am vengeance. I am the night. ”

Suddenly, the single light of the warehouse was obscured by a bat-like cape. Though, to whom it belonged was no Batman, nor was she a Batgirl. She had distinct dark purple armor and a cowl, with long flowing dark hair, and a bold white cross across her chest.

“I am Huntress!” the woman cried while delivering a powerful flying kick to the mob captain. The tommy gun spat off in all directions before slamming to the ground beneath her heel, his hand still trapped gripping its handle. With his back against the floor, she knelt on his pudgy gut before rearing her fist back and dealing a sharp jab to his wrinkled forehead. In a spurt of blood, he was out cold against the floor. She heard a clamor overhead, on the wide balcony overlooking the warehouse floor. With a flip of her hair, the Huntress turned up to see a dozen more goons enter onto the balcony and encircle her with tommy guns from above.

“There she is…” one growled.

“She’s got the capo!” another cried.

“Just shut the hell up and blast ‘er,” the next said before cocking his gun.

The rest followed suit and took aim. Huntress’ eyes widened beneath her pointed cowl before surveilling the area for cover. Just as the first round of bullets rang, she dove behind the lead-lined chest of product . Though the cover wasn’t sufficient, they had her surrounded and only her back was covered. As she heard the bullets ping off the metal behind her, she braced herself with her gauntlets. Eyes closed, she expected to feel the sting of the impact, but it never came. Instead, the sound of ricocheting echoed throughout the warehouse, though it wasn’t off of metal, but a woman. In front of the Huntress stood, hands on her hips with a flowing half-cape over her shoulder, a tall, imposing blonde superheroine in a white leotard.

“Sorry boys…” she said, having caught a bullet between her bright blue gloved-fingers. “In this case, size does unfortunately matter…” She made herself chuckle before flicking the bullet away. The gang members stood shocked for a moment before opening fire once more, this time trained fully on the invulnerable woman. She sighed and took to flight, slowly hovering into the air as the bullets continued to bounce off her skin. Then, with a flip of her bob cut, opened her glowing red eyes before scanning the balcony. When her gaze passed the men, their guns suddenly grew red hot, causing them to collectively drop their weapons with an accompanying scream.

“This is why we don’t mess around in Metropolis, man! This town’s still got super-freaks!” one of the goons cried before splitting.

“What about the capo?” another cried.

“Forget about ‘em!” the next replied before bolting himself.

Before long, the gang had fully retreated out of the warehouse, leaving nothing but the Newsboys in their van and the unconscious mob captain. The super-woman smiled to herself while gracefully floating back down to the floor. Before convening with Huntress, she hovered over to the Newsboys. She came up to the passenger side of the van and knocked on the window with a smirk. “Hiya there fellas. Car trouble?” she teased. The two young men inside both nodded to her in unison before the passenger slowly pulled down his window. “Got a spare?” she asked, having spied their flat tire courtesy of the Huntress.

“Y-yeah, i-it’s in the back…” the driver nervously responded. “I’ll-”

“No worries, I’ve got it,” she assured them before she went around to the back of their van. She soon retrieved the spare tire from the trunk and placed it beside the flat. She then took a knee and grabbed the van by the bumper. Suddenly, without warning, she lifted up the back end of the van, forcing the Newsboys to be thrown forwards in their seats. While lifting the van, the woman began to unscrew the flat tire with her bare hands and once it was off, screwed the new one in just the same way. She soon dropped the van back to the ground and it bounced on its newly replaced tire. She clapped her hands together before meeting them again back at the passenger side window. She then opened the door and leaned into the front of the van. The boys, jostled by her impromptu repair job, leaned as far as they could away from her. Though her face held a smile, her eyes were glaring at them as if she was still using her heat vision.

“I don’t wanna see you boys messing around with these guys no more, got it?” she said, her voice deathly serious.

The boys nodded vigorously in response. “W-we won’t Miss Power Girl, ma’am. P-promise!” the passenger pleaded. “Y-yeah, for sure!” the driver added.

“Good,” she said, her voice once again cheery before she slammed the van door shut and turned away. Power Girl then crossed her arms over her infamous emblemless chest while behind her, the Newsboys sped off in a hurry. “Saved the day again.”

“If your definition of ‘saving the day’ includes letting two delinquents get away,” Huntress said, brushing herself off as she emerged from her faulty cover. “Besides, I had things under control.”

Power Girl rolled her eyes as she sauntered over to her partner-in-justice. “Oh, did you now?” she said with a laugh, running her glove along the chest of product . “Oh Helena, you’re way too much like your old man.” She sighed while looking down at the metal crate with an inquisitive look. “What’d these jerk-offs want anyways? This thing is lead-lined…”

Then, before she could allow Huntress to properly analyze the container, Power Girl impatiently ripped its metal cover clean off. Both heroines were shocked to find their faces immediately lit with an ominous green light emanating from the contents of the container. Power Girl more so as her eyes widened and she gulped down hard. She began to back away, feeling a hot stinging sensation begin to coil up her spine and out across her entire body. “W-where, where could they have possibly gotten all this, this… Kryptonite ?!” she said aloud before losing her footing entirely. Falling backwards, she expected to hit the ground, but instead, she was caught. Not by Huntress, but by the conscious mob captain who’d wrapped her in his arms and was holding a spike of Kryptonite up to her throat.

“Consider ‘em a few party favors from old man Luthor’s going-away-for-good bash,” the captain said, pricking Power Girl’s throat with the Kryptonite, sending a trickle of bright red blood down her neck.

Huntress acted fast, quick-drawing her miniature crossbow and releasing a bolt that flew straight through the captain’s hand. Unfortunately the bolt kept going and dug deep into Power Girl’s shoulder. The captain squealed and dropped the Kryptonite, while Power Girl stammered away from his loosened grasp, clutching her bloodied shoulder. With Power Girl out of the way, Huntress acrobatically leapt onto the captain’s shoulders and tied her legs around his neck. They both plummeted backwards onto the floor and while he squirmed, Huntress tightened her head lock. Before long, he was once again out cold, this time for certain. The caped crusader then leapt back to her feet and dusted off her hands, satisfied with her work.

Power Girl was less so. Backing away from the crate of Kryptonite, she regained enough of her strength to rip the crossbow bolt out of her shoulder. She roared with pain, shaking the entire warehouse before throwing the bloodied projectile to the floor. She rolled her shoulder back with a groan as she approached Huntress. “ Nice shot ,” she said, sarcastically congratulating her partner.

“Well, you’re a pretty big target,” Huntress shot back with a cheeky shrug.

“ Tsk , shut up,” Power Girl said, playfully punching Huntress in the shoulder with an infinitesimal fraction of her strength and still it made the dark knight wince. The two then turned their attention to the crate of Kryptonite and the dozen others that were stacked behind it, probably containing truck loads more of the stuff. “Well…” Power Girl began, still making sure to keep her distance from the Kryptonian poison. “I hadn’t originally planned to come all the way down here for a bust. But seeings we found out where ol’ Luthor’s stash wound up, I see this as a pretty big win.”

“Indeed,” Huntress said, finally able to get to her thorough examination of the crates. After kneeling beside the primary crate and collecting various data on her wrist-mounted computer system, she turned to Power Girl and said, “I’ll get a JSA squad down here to clean up this mess. And make sure the Kryptonite gets as far away from Metropolis as possible.”

“Good, that’s good…” Power Girl said, partly zoning out at the glowing green rocks of her native planet, long dead.

Huntress paused, raising her brow before asking her, “You said you hadn’t originally come down here for this. I assume this wasn’t just a social call either, was it?”

Power Girl shook her head, snapping back to reality. “No, it’s not,” she replied. “There’s something… well, someone , you’ve gotta see.”

 

“Let me out of here or I swear I will laser this place to the ground,” Kara Zor-El, Supergirl, threatened while strapped into an upright examination table. Only moments prior, she’d woken up to find her wrists and ankles bound to the metal table via seemingly indestructible obsidian braces. Tried as she might, she was unable to bust through them. While she struggled, she took in the strangely familiar surroundings and the two costumed women standing over her. She was in a large, open, cave-like room made of packed ice. The walls weren’t smooth like crystals, but looked as though they’d been carved out. She was in an area of the ice cave that appeared to be an open-air lab, housing various computer systems and scientific equipment. The strange thing was, all the technology looked as if it was right out of a 60s Star-Trek set, hardly looking like real equipment at all. Nevertheless, one of the women, dressed in purple and black, was using the various systems to analyze Kara, so they must have worked. Looking past the women, Kara saw a most peculiar sight. Three massive, colorful statues, towering over the entirety of the cave, not unlike the ice statues of her aunt and uncle in the Fortress of Solitude. In fact, two of the figures depicted looked exactly like Jor-El and Lara, and together they were holding up what appeared to be the globe of Krypton. Though they weren’t dressed in Kryptonian garb at all, instead, they wore tacky-looking space suits, Jor-El’s look-alike with a sun emblem across his chest instead of the traditional Crest of El. What shocked her the most was the third statue which was undoubtedly of Superman. He looked just like Clark, but older, with squinted eyes and gray temples. And the S on his chest was smaller and simpler than the one Kara wore. It truly did look more like an S than the Crest of El. 

“Quit your struggling kid, those bonds are made from the metal of a collapsing dwarf star. The stuff was tough for even my cousin to break… Anyways, Hel, I found her out cold in my apartment this morning of all places. It’s like she just appeared out of nowhere” Kara snapped out of her trance and finally took notice of the tall blonde woman standing before her. It took her a bit to put it together, but once she did there was no mistaking it. She looked like an older version of her.

“W-who are you?” Kara asked.

“I’ll do you one better,” Power Girl said. “Who are you?”

Kara glared back at her, refusing to respond further.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go first,” Power Girl began. “I’m Kara Zor-L. But my fans call me Power Girl.”

“B-but, I’m Kara…” Kara muttered, utterly confused. “And I’m-”

“ Supergirl ?” Power Girl finished, eying the S on Kara’s chest. “Yeah, I picked up on that.”

“So,” Power Girl began, now addressing Huntress who was busy analyzing the readings she’d gathered from thoroughly examining Kara. “What are we dealing with here? Time travel? Probably of the alternate timeline variety, cause I would never wear… that .”

“Try an alternate universe entirely,” Huntress said, turning away from the computers to address them both. “Her very molecules are vibrating at a different frequency than ours. Whether they be in the past, present, or future. Though judging by the age of the H 2 O in her system, her universe is a few years younger than our own. Infinitesimally younger, mind you. But enough to result in a roughly fifteen year gap, I’d say.”

“Another universe?” Power Girl questioned. “Seriously, Hel?”

“Dead serious,” she responded. “Jay had his theories about this and once had a run-in with a so-called alternate Flash . My findings here seem to back up what he observed way back when.”

“Um, excuse me,” Kara butted in, feeling uncomfortable being referred to as if she was a lab rat. “If you’re me… why don’t you bear the Crest of El? Instead you’ve got, well, ahem… nothing .”

Power Girl rolled her eyes and chuckled. “ Crest of L ? What, that?” she pointed back at the Superman statue and its simplified S. “You’re kidding right? That’s just a fun bit of branding Ma Kent whipped up years ago, after a certain reporter gave him the name ‘Superman.’ S . Super . Brilliant right?” She teased. “After landing here, I figured I’d carve my own niche and not follow in my ‘little’ cousin’s footsteps. I’ll be honest, Supergirl did cross my mind once or twice, but I found Power was a better fit. And what’s more powerful than these , huh?”

“You are oh-so proud of yourself aren’t you?” Huntress playfully jabbed.

“Oh come on, you’ve got a similar story, don’t you, Hel?” Power Girl teased, nudging her partner. “Neither Bat nor Cat, no… she’s a Huntress !”

“Could you please not disclose sensitive information in front of a potential foe?” Huntress said.

“Well. If you are who you say you are. And if he’s anything like the cousin I know. Then I’m not your foe,” Kara assured them. “Where is he anyways? Where is Superman?”

“Oh, Clark?” Power Girl began, a lump building in her throat. “He’s dead. Superman is dead.”

Chapter 19: D-Day

Superman: Mythos II #6 "D-Day"

“Hey guys! Totally stoked for the ‘mish right? I know I am... No, no that’s stupid… Ahem, greetings fellow Justice League members, fellow defenders of justice all. I’m honored to- No, that’s worse… Ok, hello comrades, ready to dispense some justice?... That just might work, yeah…” Booster Gold, the greatest hero you’ve never heard of, monologued to himself in the bathroom mirror. He was dressed in an obnoxiously shiny gold and navy blue suit with a prominent star across his chest. His equally golden hair was chiseled to perfection with about a pound of gel and hairspray applied. He kept his overly-white smile wide, thinking he was alone. But that smile immediately disappeared when he heard the toilet flushing in the stall beside him.

“ I think she’ll say yes ,” a sarcastic voice followed by a round of snorting echoed from the stall, before it opened up and outstepped a Green Lantern, still adjusting his crotch. Not the Green Lantern, just a Green Lantern. His green uniform was more of a biker jacket than a super-suit, his face was lanky and boorish, and his ginger bowl cut wasn’t doing him any favors.

Booster swiftly spun away from his reflection and leaned back against the sink while Guy Gardener waltzed over to wash his hands. “I-um, didn’t know anyone else was here…”

“I had to take a mean shit before the JLI mission,” Guy shared. “Bunch’a terrorist decide to take over an embassy on chili day at the cafe. Can you believe it?”

“The Justice League International…” Booster said with awe. “Any chance you and the guys could reconsider my rejected application?”

“In your dreams, Goldilocks,” Guy said, using Booster’s sleeve to dry his hands. “Have fun on the D-List pal. Heard you got a mission cleaning up Big Blue’s table scraps. Good luck. Y‘er sure gonna need it. Heheheh…” The nasally Lantern chuckled as he left the bathroom. Booster, head hung low, followed him out into the hall. There, waiting for Guy, was another costumed hero. He was clad in a bright blue suit and cowl with big bug-eyed yellow goggles. Across his chest was the outline of a beetle, since he was none other than the Blue Beetle.

“Guy, there you are,” Beetle said, checking his watch as the two emerged from the bathroom. “Rest of the team is already in the Bug.”

“Then you better hurry up and get with ‘em,” Guy said, slapping Beetle on the shoulder as he passed by. “Cuz my ring’s a helluva lot faster than that flying hunk of junk you’ve got. Heheh.” With that, Guy used his bright green, energy emitting ring to phase through the wall of the station and out into open space.

“Jeez that guy ’s an asshole,” Booster said, sheepishly kicking his foot beside Beetle.

“Tell me about it,” Beetle responded. “Try working with him.” He then turned to Booter. “Gold, right?” he asked, holding out his hand. “You sent in a JLI application a few months ago, right? I remember reading your profile. Quite impressive if I do say so myself.”

“Gee thanks,” Booster said, shaking his hand, though still he was disheartened. “I guess your vote didn’t pull much weight then.”

“Heh, it never does,” Beetle admitted. “It was close though. Get a few more League auxiliary missions under your belt and try again. We’ll reconsider, even Guy.”

“Thanks man,” Booster said, patting Beetle on the shoulder. “Shit, I’ve gotta run. Got one of those auxiliary missions right now.”

“Well… Good luck then!” Beetle shouted to him as Booster darted back down the hall towards the hanger bay.

Booster, starting in a jog down the Watchtower halls, chuckled to himself. “Luck? Booster Gold doesn’t need luck! Right, Skeets?”

“ Statistically, there is no such thing as luck, sir. ” A robotic voice buzzed. And soon, from out of Booster’s back armor emerged a small golden drone that hovered beside him.

“Guess you’re right, Skeets,” Booster said as they reached a dead end. “With this 25th-Century tech, we make our own luck.” He then pressed his League identification card to a control panel and soon a blast door slid open in front of him. Through the industrial doorway, he entered into a vast docking bay lined with sleek space shuttles and bustling with mechanics and heroes alike. Booster made his way across to Javelin Dock 3, where he and his team had been assigned to meet by Martian Manhunter.
Situated before an energy-shielded hangar door into space was a Javelin space shuttle prepped for their mission to Almerac. Three heroes stood there waiting for him. First was General Glory who looked like an American Flag came to life and was ready to kick some Commie ass. His massive arms were crossed and the squared jaw that protruded out of his blue mask was in a perpetual grimace. Next to him, her back against the Javalin’s hull was Crimson Fox. However, despite the name, she looked more like a maroon cobra with her large, snake-like hood and cape. Then there was the android Red Tornado standing like a statue beside them. He held a blank expression on his robotic red face which Booster found most disturbing. 

Hoping for a warm welcome and a chance to relay his bathroom-rehearsed lines, Booster was instead stilted by their three cold gazes. Steadily approaching them, already at a loss for words, Booster was only able to manage a weak “Hi guys—”
“You’re late Golden Boy. Missed the briefing,” Crimson Fox immediately interrupted him in her stern, yet alluring, French accent.

“She’s right,” General Glory added, his voice like overly-prideful gravel. “And I hate repeating myself.”

“No matter,” Red Tornado chimed in with a monotone, yet at the same time, quite cheery disposition. “I can simply relay my memory recording of the meeting to Booster Gold now.”

“No!” both General Glory and Crimson Fox snapped simultaneously.

“If I could have it my way, I’d leave him,” General Glory grimaced. “But I’m not at liberty to do so.”
“Well, I uh, appreciate your honesty, colonel,” Booster said, trying to save at least a bit of face.
“That’s General to you, buster,” Glory barked, pointing a fat finger at Booster.
“Sure, yeah, of course. And it’s actually, Booster,” Booster corrected, causing the General’s fury to boil.
“Why you—” the General began, biting back his anger beneath gritted teeth.
“The two of you, shut up and get on the ship,” Crimson Fox interrupted before strutting up the boarding ramp of the Javelin.
“Lift-off is in T-minus five minutes,” Red Tornado added before following her up into the ship.

General Glory eased off of Booster and tugged on his eagle-crested armored tunic. With a dissatisfied grunt, he too entered the ship. Booster let out a half-relieved, half-sorrowful sigh and turned to peer out into the vacuum of space in which they were bound for. He nearly fell into a trance looking out into the sea of a hundred stars, but the sound of the Javelin’s boarding ramp retreating snapped him back to reality. With a gulp, Booster scrambled into the ship just as the ramp sealed shut behind him. It was going to be an interesting ride, at the very least.

 

“Aaaand…” Conner said, peaking around the corner that led into Javelin Dock 3. He watched as the four D-Listers piled into the spacecraft and prepared for take-off. The dual jet engines fired up and the wings elongated. Then, with a repulsor blast that shook the entire hangar, the Javelin shot off into the void of space. “Now.”

Superboy, with Wonder Girl in tow, crept around the corner into the hangar bay proper. Then, making a mockery of their attempt at stealth, lumbered in the hulking Bizarro. Nonetheless, the three managed to avoid the notice of the hangar’s skeleton crew. Only recently had the Watchtower grown in size and operation to warrant around-the-clock personnel. Despite Batman’s intensive vetting process, the staff didn’t quite work as smoothly as intended yet. Most of the employees had dispersed from the docking bay, heading to other parts of the hangar to prepare heroes for other missions. That left Conner, Cassie, and Bizarro free to approach a vacant Javelin that was sitting beside the one that had just taken off.

Reaching the open ramp of the ship, Conner ushered the other two inside. Despite agreeing to the plan, the youthful excitement of breaking the rules was already beginning to fade from Cassie’s psyche. In its place, a sense of worry and dread was beginning to set in. Then she remembered what kind of trouble her mentor, Diana, and Superman might be in right now and did her best to pull herself back together. She nodded up at Conner before taking one finger of Bizarro's meaty hand and leading him inside the ship. Conner nearly lost his footing on the ramp when Bizarro stepped inside, his weight offsetting the vessel. When the coast appeared to be clear, Conner followed them inside and closed the ramp and blast door behind him.

“Wow. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Cassie said, marveling at the walls of blinking control panels as she entered into the four-seat cockpit.

“Well yeah. What did you think we’d have to do?” Conner said, moving up through the vessel into the cockpit before settling down at the foremost controls. He gripped the two-handled yoke of the ship and nodded to himself with a sideways smirk.

“I don’t know… Maybe knock out some guards and steal their uniforms or something? Just like in Star Wars!” Cassie exclaimed, taking a hesitant seat beside Conner in the co-pilot's seat. Meanwhile Bizarro towered behind both of them, staring curiously out the shielded window into the vastness of space before them. 

“I haven’t seen it,” Conner replied bluntly while flipping a few switches that ignited the engines.

“You haven’t seen Star Wars?! We gotta fix that,” Cassie replied, eyeing her co-pilot's steering yoke like it was some kind of disgusting creature.

“Fine, I’ll add it to the list. I’m only six years old, remember? The first four of which were spent in a lab,” Conner playfully reminded her.
“Yes. And please. Don’t remind me I’m dating a six-year-old,” Cassie said, pulling her arms together, deciding not to help fly this thing.

“ Dating? ” Conner raised his brow, a devilish smirk arising on his prideful face. 

“Just drive!” Cassie shouted at him, her face lighting up a bright red.

Bizarro giggled at the show the two young heroes were putting on for him.

“You got it, sweetheart,” Conner said simply before. “Punch it, Biz!”

Cassie, with a baffled expression on her face, watched as Bizarro’s meaty hand reached past her seat and pressed a button at the co-pilot's control panel. Suddenly, the ship jolted out of the hangar bay and blasted into open space. Cassie was thrown back in her seat and was unable to hold back a scream.

“Y-you mean to tell me that both of you already know how to fly this thing?” Cassie asked once she had regained control of her staggered breath.

“‘Course we do. We were both created by Lex Luthor. A man who could rival Batman in terms of contingency plans. He stuffed our brains with all kinds of shit that might help us take the League down. Most of it is subconscious. But I knew once I laid eyes on this thing I could fly it. Biz felt the same, right buddy?” Conner said, his smile refusing to fade as they now skipped along through the stars, Earth growing further and further away in the rear view mirror.

“Kon-bro am wrong as always!” Bizarro said cheerfully, slipping into a bit of his trademark backwards speech.

“Well, weren’t you two made for each other,” Cassie commented, slumping down in her chair as she let the clones steer. “Literally!”
“Make yourself useful Wonder Girl and plot a course for Almerac,” Conner said, his cool-guy tone starting to grate on Cassie a bit.

“Aye, aye captain,” she said, rolling her eyes and leaning over to a thin blank computer screen. Below was a numbered keyboard in which she used to punch in the coordinates to the far-off star system. “Done.”

“And done,” Conner added, nodding back to Bizarro. Bizarro grunted in reply before grabbing hold of a large lever and shifting it forward. In response, the entire ship launched into lightspeed, leaving the solar system in a near instant before zipping across the stars towards Almerac.

 

“Almerac,” Crimson Fox uttered from the co-pilot’s seat as their Javelin emeged out of lightspeed. The craft hovered on the edge of the alien planet’s atmosphere, below, Almerac’s sky was dotted with the Krenan’s crude black fleet.

After feeling the strangly soothing engine-hum of lightspeed suddenly cease, Booster Gold jolted awake from his space-nap. Beside him, General Glory rose from his seat to peer through the view port at the looming fleet. His stoney face grimiced beneath his star-spangled mask. 

“According to my databanks…” Red Tornado chimed in from the pilot’s seat. “Those ships are not Almeracian. In fact, I’m unable to trace their origins to any known space-fairing civilization.”

“Uhhh the briefing didn’t say anything about stopping an invasion force by ourselves…” Booster said, still a bit drowsy, but alert enough to register the massive threat posed before them. “Even Superman couldn’t take them.”

“Pft,” General Glory scoffed, leaving the cockpit and making his way to the armory in the back of the Javelin. “Sure they were able to handle a Man of Steel , but wait until they get a taste of American steel.” The grizzled patriot chuckled while picking up and loading an AK-47. Booster gulped, worried by how fragrantly the proud General flailed his gun around.

“At ease, Amercian ,” Crimson Fox cut in, while adjusting her comms system. “League mandate states we must attempt a diplomatic solution first.” The General grumbled while Booster let out a hesitant sigh. “Tornado, bring us closer to the fleet. I’m patching in a radio signal now.”

“Isn’t it amazing how pretty much every alien species we interact with figured out the whole radiowaves thing?” Booster commented.

“Shut up.” the General responded, clearly still more than a little pissed about not being able to go in guns-blazing like it was D-Day II or something.

“We are now within range, Crimson.” Red Tornado said after easing the Javelin a few hundred feet above the city of Almaaria.

Crimson nodded and began patching in her transmission. “Attention. This is the Crimson Fox of the Justice League of Earth. We request peaceful entery onto the Almarian surface. I repeat: this is the Crimson Fox of the Just-”

Suddenly and without warning a white-hot pink lazer blast launched from the nearest Krenan battleship and completely and utterly abbliterated the cockpit of the Javelin. Crimson Fox and Red Tornado were immediately consumed by flame, while Booster Gold and General Glory were launched into the back of the ship from the recoil. Booster screamed, holding up his armored forearm to block the flames. Then, he felt his back slam up against the wall of the interior. When he looked back up, the nose of the ship was gone and they were plummeting towards the surface. He turned to his left to see Glory, devoid of panic, arming himself further as they began to enter freefall.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Booster cried, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks, fogging up his yellow visors.

“Perparing for touchdown behind enemy lines, boy!” the General shouted back, while slinging a parachute onto his back, along side his AK, a sniper rifle, and a dozen smaller side arms strapped to his belt. Then, he ripped open the escape hatch on the far wall before diving out into the Almeracian sky. Booster yelped with fear, realizing he was now the last person aboard a rapidly crashing vessel.

“Okay,” he told himself with a breath. “Skeets, activate energy shield.” Skeets replied with a monotone beep-boop and Booster’s body was soon sealed in a thin golden energy shield. Then, shaking off the last of his jitters, he raced forward and dove out of the destroyed nose of the Javelin and into open air. Once outside, Booster managed a smirk while assuming a Superman-style flying pose. “Alright! The rest is nothing my Legion flight ring can’t handle!” he said with confidence as he threw is golden-ringed hand out before him. However, he didn’t feel the weight lift beneath him like it usually did when he entered flight. “Uhhh, Skeets? Analysis?”

“ Oh , your Legion flight ring was damaged in the attack, sir . I thought you knew this .”

“NO! That information would have been helpful before I lept out of a plane without a parachute!” the stress in Booster’s voice returned in full force. Panicking, he looked down and saw land beneath him rapidly approaching. “All energy to shields! Now! We’re gonna brute force this thing!” His command was heeded and his fient yellow energy coat became ten times brighter. Booster braced himself, having no idea if this would actually work. Then, impact.

Booster’s body acted as a mini meteorite and cratered the entirety of a grassy hillside just outside Almaaria. To his own surprise, he was able to lift himself out of the dirt and rubble relatively unscathed. Although, the same couldn’t be said about his suit. His overcharged shields were completely shattered and he lacked the energy to restore them or any other functions of his future tech. Even Skeets had gone silent. For all intents and purposes, he was no longer Booster Gold, but some powerless shlub from the 25th Century in a tacky costume.

Booster looked up to the sky, seeing the remains of their Javelin crash into the bay. Then, he was startled by the sound of something landing behind him. He turned to see General Glory detach from his parachute and dive into a perfectly executed roll down into Booster’s crater. Without even acknowledging Booster, the General whipped out his AK and army crawled up to the lip of the crater. Confused, Booster approached the man who had gone full army-mode.

“Get down you idiot! Charlie’s coming in hot,” the General barked, grabbing Booster and yanking him down beneath the cover of the crater.

“Who the hell is Charlie?” Booster questioned, peaking his head up over the crater to spy a line of shadowy figures marching towards them through the smoke.

“The enemy…” Glory grimaced, cocking his rifle and placing his finger over the trigger. Then, with a valiant cry, he began unloading onto the incoming line. 

Booster rolled to the side and covered his ears as General Glory continued to rain fire into the misty horizon. Then, the gunfire stopped. Booster rolled back over and looked up to see the General being lifted off his feet. Booster’s watery eyes widened as he began to fully comprehend the heinous creature that had General Glory in its iron grip. It was a seven-foot tall, barbarious cyborg beast. A mish-mash of metal, fur, and muscle. The ferocious creature was lifting Glory up by the neck like he was nothing. The General grunted and squirmed, but the purple in his face indicated that his life was quickly being squeezed out of him. Soon, more Krenans as Booster would soon come to know them, showed up along side the first one. They were swiftly making a perimeter around Booster’s crater, their laser guns heating up. He had to move fast. Forgetting the General, Booster clambered to his feet and ran. He slipped his way down the muddy hillside crater as pink laser blast began to abliterate chunks of earth behind him.

“C-coward…” General Glory grumbled with his last breath before the lead Krenan tossed his lifeless body to the side and joined in the chase towards their next target: Booster Gold.

Luckily for Booster, the cybornectic beasts weren’t particularly fast on their feet so he was able to get a decent breath ahead of them. However, when he glanced backwards to check on his persuers, his toe collided with a stray piece of metal which sent him tumbling forward.

“Oww!” Booster complained, grabbing his toe before getting up to take a look at what he’d tripped over. To his shock and surprise, it was none other that the Red Tornado! But the android appeared to be lodged neck-deep in rubble. Booster glanced up at the charging line of Krenans still a few yards away. He figured he’d at least try to help Tornado out, for his own sake, given he was fresh out of super-abilities himself. 

“--zzzt--Boost-ter-ter zzt--Gold?” The Red Tornado’s speech malfunctioned.

“It’s alright, buddy. I gotcha,” Booster said, taking a firm grasp of the android’s skull. Then, with a strong tug, he ripped the head up out of the ground. Unfornturaly, rest of the body didn’t follow, only a few sparking tubes and wires attached to his severed neck. “Uh oh.” Booster said, but before he could go digging for more parts, the Krenans were on their door step. Tucking Red Tornado’s head beneath his arm like a football, Booster turned to continue his escape.

But, as soon as he ran over another hill, he was met with yet another line of Krenans. Suddenly it all made sense why they were all moving so slow, they were preforming a flank. Booster was surrounded! “Shit, shit, shit!” he cursed, looking for a way out. He had the high ground, but it wouldn’t be much use. He held the android head tight as the enemies moved in. Booster knelt, ready to meet his fate. Though he had enough courage to glance up and meet his first attacker eye-to-eye.

A single Krenan had emerged from the line with his plasma rifle in hand, ready to put Booster down as if he were a wounded dog. Booster watched the disgusting cyborg’s row of sharpened teeth twist into a smile. Booster should have felt scared, instead he was angry. Angry that he failed League, failed Superman, failed everyone. He watched the muzzle of the alien gun heat up with pink energy.

Just when Booster thought it was over, the laser missed its mark. The Krenan growled as a tightly wound thread of golden rope around his wrist forced him to drop his gun. Booster and the rest of the Krenans looked up to the sky to see an imposing feminine figure silhouetted against the red moonlight. Then, between Booster and the line of Krenans landed noneother than Wonder Woman. 

“Yahoo!” Booster exclaimed, unable to hold back his relief. 

Diana paused, glancing over her shoulder and raising her brow as if to say, “seriously?” She then tightened her grip on her lasso, still attached to the Krenan’s wrist, before yanking him around and using him as a wrecking ball against his fellow soldiers. Booster noticed Wonder Woman wince as she put too much weight on her injured leg. Booster wished he could help, but he just couldn’t see how. It wasn’t like she needed him though. At breakneck speed, she dashed into the line of Krenans and began to slice and dice their mechanical limbs with her sword. Before long, the small Krenan scouting party was reduced to nothing but mangled scraps.  

Booster, still in awe, watched as the demigoddess returned to the top of the hill, her armor stained with blood and oil. She sheathed her blade and began to wound up her lasso. Stopping before Booster and Tornado, she looked down at the worse-for-wear duo and sighed. “Welcome to the war, gentlemen,” she said, lending Booster a hand.