Issue 1: "That Unnamed Feeling"

Metropolis, Now:

“Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball, from Soho down to Brighton I must have played them all… But I ain't seen nothing like him in any amusement hall…”

Clark Kent smiles and fiddles with his tie, singing to the radio. He tips his glasses down the bridge of his nose and looks in the mirror, and quickly sleeks his hair back, preparing for work. His apartment is a lavish one; meticulously tidy, a large window facing the city of Metropolis and beyond. He steps out on the balcony and inhales the stiff air of the city, a taste and smell unlike anything he had experienced in Smallville. He smiles and puts on his jacket, then heads down to the bus stop outside.

Bus 14 in Metropolis runs uncharacteristically on time amidst the slow, if not nonexistent flow of traffic. Any other day, Clark Kent, known to the rest of the world as Superman, would fly to the Daily Planet but Perry White, his trusted friend and editor in chief, has made a point to point out his constant punctuality. If he’s not on time he’s early… Perry makes jokes about this but Clark is always wary of how a joke can turn into something more serious… Like people discovering the truth. That being said, his parents raised him this way, and it’s in his nature to be on time and ready to work, but this city works differently than his home town of Smallville. People are expected to be late and make poor excuses of why at that! So while Superman is never late for whatever crisis he must face day in, day out, Clark Kent on the other hand HAS to be. So he takes the bus just outside his apartment building and buys a transfer to prove to Perry it isn’t his own fault he is late on this particular morning. One can never trust a bus, but he can always trust a bus to do what a bus does best… be late.

Clark looks around the bus examining its other passengers and can’t help but feel his eyes drawn to a group of mentally disabled individuals at the back. Led by a couple of young volunteers the group takes the bus every Wednesday morning across town to a different facility, like clockwork.. He looks at them with compassion and exchanges a friendly smile to a young woman volunteer sitting next to a heavy set balding man. The young woman is reading yesterday’s edition of the Daily Planet and the man is breathing heavily on her, staring intently at the pictures and photos, a smile plastered on his face. When the young lady realizes that the man who has exchanged a friendly smile is the very man who has written an in-depth article about the Big Blue Boy Scout’s last super heroic romp high above the streets of Metropolis, she looks up with an excited smile and then back down at her charge, pointing at the newspaper and then over to Clark Kent and intently whispering to the large man at her side. Clark listens in, something he would never usually do on any other occasion, but seeing as how it may very well be about him, he can’t help himself.

“Yes Joey, that’s him! That’s the man who wrote it. That’s Superman’s Pal!”

The man responds with an excited glance at Clark, even as the reporter himself looks down at his own newspaper, trying not to look obvious. Anyway, Superman’s pal? Isn’t that Jimmy?

The bus buzzes and shudders, then comes to a stop right outside the Daily Planet building. Clark is about to open the door to enter his place of work when his eardrum rumbles as he picks up a sound from downtown Metropolis. He smiles slightly and slides into the dark alleyway behind the building, unbuttons his shirt, revealing the iconic symbol of the Man of Steel…!

He bursts out of his alleyway, making sure no one has spotted him, and then heads to the crime scene, not surprised to see Maggie Sawyer and the rest of the Special Crimes Unit on the scene. The criminal in question seems to have some kind of cannon attached to his forearm, and a power pack fuelling the destructive power he wields. Superman slowly floats down to the street and settles down on the concrete road opposite the villain.

“Excuse me, sir. I think you should just release the girl and give yourself up.”

The man spins around at the voice at tightens his grip on his hostage, choking her slightly. Superman motions forwards to whip her out of his grasp and knock him cold, but the man triggers his weapon, sending the hero flying into the police cordon set up at the end of the road, scattering the assorted officers assembled. Sawyer sprints over to the fallen hero and drags him out of range of the weapon, just before that piece of the street erupts in a blast of purple energy.

“Superman, glad you got here!” Maggie smiles feebly, and then looks down at the dazed hero.

“What is that thing?” Superman rubs the back of his head and looks down on the smoke slowly floating up his chest. “Knocked the wind out of me…”

“We lost three men before we figured out that much, Supes. We have some Intel from S.T.A.R labs telling us that that cannon is a plasma assault mortar.” Maggie rolls her eyes and laughs weakly, then clenches her fist. “Some guy stole it last week, and has just now decided to go on a free for all snatch fest from the city bank.”

“I’ll handle it.” Superman gets to his feet and stretches out, preparing himself.

“Whoa there, cowboy, that thing was on a low charge just then, and it knocked the stuffing out of you! You won’t be able to take another couple of salvoes from it on full power…” Maggie puts her hand on Superman’s chest and shakes her head. “I can’t let you storm in there and endanger yours… And the hostage’s life…”

Superman nods in understanding, then looks at the woman in front of him.

“Have you heard anything from inside the bank, Maggie?” He cracks his knuckles and awaits her answer.

“No… We only got here after that guy demolished two patrol cars… The perp tripped an alarm in the vault, destroyed all cameras… So really we have no idea what’s going on in that bank right now…”

Superman rolls his neck, and he grimaces.

“I just had a look in there with my x-ray vision.” He shakes his head. “All I can see is ash and bone. This guy slaughtered them, I’m assuming trying to get a feel for his weapon.”
Superman floats up off the ground, an angry look in his eye. “He slaughtered them… Women with their children, teenagers on their way to school… Leave this to me, Maggie.”

“Alright, Superman, but be careful.”

Superman lands in the exact same spot as when he arrived and coughs loudly. “You. Stand down. Now.”

The man spins around again and fires off five salvoes of pure energy, which engulf the Man of Steel. Purple smoke rises from the ground and Maggie and the rest of the squad feel their jaws drop. The man smiles and kisses his hostage crudely, and then starts to fire off salvoes in the direction of the cordon.

“I said YOU.” The Man of Tomorrow, the invincible, all mighty hero of Metropolis, steps out from the smoke, his costume darkened, his cape in shreds from the power of the blast, and points his finger at the shaking criminal. “Stand down.” He cracks his knuckles once more, which raises a slight cheer among the crowd formed behind the cordon. “NOW.”

The man fires off seven rounds at Superman, but the foremost superhero of the planet grabs them in mid air, grabs pure energy in the centre of his hand, and throws them up into the sky, where they detonate harmlessly, purple streaks dotting the sky like fading fireworks.

With the man distracted Maggie leaps over the cordon, firing off her pistol at the power pack on the mans back just as Superman gets the young girl clear from the murderer. The power pack seems to crack with light, and the man starts screaming as the cannon begins to rupture over his arm, and finally a colossal explosion rips his limb off at the shoulder, sending him flying back into the wall behind him, and causing a massive crater to streak out of where he was standing.

Maggie blows the smoke from her pistol and nods at Superman, who picks up the villain.

“I’ll take him to Strykers. Meet you there?”

“I’ll have the medical wing alerted. Turpin’s already out there checking up on some nutty professor bloke who went on a killing spree with a massive robot, so he can supervise the arrest and booking.”

Superman nods once more and lifts off into the air.

“I’ll be back before afternoon to assist in the repair of the street.”

“You always do, cowboy.” Maggie smiles and is patted on the back by her comrades in arms, then shakes her head at the scene of the bank massacre.

“Damnation…”

Just as Perry is about to begin speaking Lois Lane bursts through the doors of the room, causing Perry to burst with anger.

“Lane! I’m about to start - again! Do YOU have a fantastic news worthy reason for being late?”

Lois Lane quickly strokes her skirt down her leg and then nods frantically.

“Yes, Perry! I have a source at LexCommand (you know, the LexCorp funded space project? The one that launched the LexCore orbital platform…)” Lois rolls her eyes slightly. “Well… They’ve detected something that came out from the dark side of the moon…”

“Deep Purple blah blah blah… Hook me, Lane!” Perry taps his foot and Jimmy Olsen, photographer and intern journalist at the Daily Planet sniggers, and this gains an evil look from White himself.

“Uh… Sorry chief…”

Perry’s eyes seem to go red for a moment, and Clark smiles. He knows what’s coming next. Perry clenches his fists and puts one finger up to Lois, pausing her for a minute, which allows her a moment of gloating that she takes by looking over to Clark and nodding slowly. Perry turns to Jimmy and points his other finger at him, his hands shaking.
“DON’T CALL ME CHIEF! And get me a coffee! Now!”

Jimmy seems staggered by the comment and looks down at his old trainers, regret overcoming him. “Sorry… Right. Going. Gone.”

Perry looks back over to Lois, who pulls her self away from laughing silently with Clark, and back to the story.

“LexCore is intercepting the object, and… Well that’s all…” Lois shakes her head, preparing for a blasting.

Perry nods, his rage being taken out by the young red head who had just scampered out of the room. “No problem, Lois. Keep on it. This might be a big one, so keep you eye on it until its fit to burst.”

“Will do Perry.”

“Alright people, the agenda today…”

Metropolis, Now:

Clark smiles as the day winds down, and in the rush as people leave for home, and people clamber in for the late shift, he has a quiet moment with Lois.

“Hey Smallville… Well done on that ‘Barrage’ piece… Nice name and everything.”

“Uh… Thanks Lois… I was wondering, if you’re not busy… If you’d like to go get a cup of coffee?” Clark smiles.

“Yeah… Barrage… Great name… Did you come up with that your self? Wait… Excuse me?” Lois kind of staggers back, shocked at the offer from her archrival.

“Do you want to go grab a coffee? If you’re not busy that is…”

“Heck, Smallville! Why not make it a full-blown alcoholic beverage?” She smiles that million-dollar smile of hers, and then looks at Clark straight in the eye. “First round on you?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Lois.” He smiles and they walk into the elevator that had just arrived.

“Oh and Clark… You might want to stop drooling…” Clark checks his mouth in a flash, his face going red from embarrassment.

“I’m kidding Smallville. Easy target, every time…”

The lift door closes and Clark smiles slowly.

What had he just done? Oh great, another terrible mistake to haunt the Kansas farmboy…

The Centre of the Universe, Oa, Trouble looming:

The blue skinned Green Lantern sets down in the Citadel of the Guardians, and enters the grand chamber to be met by his two superiors.

“State the reason why you have returned to us, Jar, returned from the mission that you follow so closely and with all your heart…”

Jar straightens up and sticks his ringed fist in the air, in a Green Lantern salute. “On my travels I encountered something that may interest you.” The Fist of the Guardians, Jar Kell, opens up a small rift in time and space and pulls out a green energy bubble, and inside it are small fragments of a meteor that glow bright even from beneath the emerald power.

“Is this what you want to show us, Jar?” Ganthet and Appa Ali Apsa place their hands over the bauble, and they snap their hands back, a look of fiercest concern etched on their features. “Where did you find this?”

“Sector 2815. On the border between the two sectors. Do you know what it is, sirs and mistress?”

“Replace the fragments into the dimensional rift, Fist of the Guardians, and remove your ring.”

Jar’s face drains of all colour, leaving him a white slate. His usual blue cheeks are gone, and his limp grey hair seems to die at the thought of removing his ring.

“Your will be done I suppose.” He removes the ring and suddenly jerks uncontrollably, as if strings had become attached to his body, and were being pulled every which way with no care for his health. His arms flinch and move uncontrollably, and his face contorts into a strange mix of anger and terror, then nothing, he is still, his skin a dark shade of deep blue, an occurrence that hadn’t happened since he was a boy on the light fields of Onara.

“Speak, Kell. What is the matter?” Ganthet looks at Appa, who nods solemnly. They raise their hands and the green ring of Jar Kell shoots into their outstretched palms.

“No no…” Jar lifts his head up, and stares at his masters with deep, red eyes. “That’s mine. Don’t take that away you elitist piiiigs!”

He dives at the two Guardians with outstretched fingers, his heart beat triple its normal rhythm. Ganthet raises his other arm and Jar is lifted up in an instant, his writhing body trying to escape the invisible control of one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

“You… Can’t stop this! Too far… GONE! It HAS found the LAST OF THEM! THE POWER… HIS! FOREVER LOST to those he HOLDS dear!”

Jar spits blood and bile as his body convulses, and is sedated by the emerald energy that Appa creates his a flick of her wrist. Five Green Lanterns burst into the room, rings raised, and watch as the Fist of the Guardians is placed into the Central Power Battery.

“Master Ganthet! Master Apsa! Are you alright?”

“We are fine, auxillary Lantern of Sector 3544. You may leave our chambers.”

The five Lanterns look at each over and nod, saluting their superiors.

“Jar, can you hear my voice?” Ganthet floats up to his young soldier, and moves a hand over his head, the dark energy floating out of his body and into a small ball, which hovers in Ganthet’s palm. “He has become unresponsive. It may have been a mistake to remove his protective aura, but now we know the truth behind the fragment…”

“We know its origins as well, brother Ganthet.” Appa shakes her head, and watches as Ganthet floats back to the ground.

“Hmm. Kell will recover with the healing energies of the Battery.”

“Brother Ganthet… The origins of the fragment?”

“Hmm. Yes. The long dead planet of Krypton. The pigmentation of the rock… The one thing we dreaded those two earth centuries ago… The rock has a special radiation signature, somehow attracted to a Kryptonian aura…”

“Then… It is headed to him right at this moment! To the planet Earth, to the one known as Kal-El!”

Metropolis, Now:

“Lois, we haven’t really spoken about.... About our lives before the Planet, have we? It’s always about the job, always the next story… Never the past…” Clark sips his lemonade and smiles.

“Are you trying to get me to talk about my childhood, Clark? Because seriously… That’s a no-no…” Lois smiles and takes a swig of her beer, then wipes her lips with her sleeve. “But if you want to talk about yours, I guess I can’t stop you. So spill your guts. I dares ya’.”

“Well… I was raised in Smallville… Lived on a farm… Went to school… Nothing big…”

“Particular wording there, Clark? ‘Raised’? Not born? Where were you born?” Lois puts her beer aside for a minute, and props her head up with her hands, her elbows leaning on the table.

“I wasn’t born in Smallville… I was adopted. I never found out about my natural… biological parents… Never cared to…” He knows he’s lying slightly. He knows of his parents. Jor-El. Lara. His home planet of Krypton, deep in the darkness of Space. But right now, that doesn’t matter. She’s the worlds most tenacious reporter, and if he gives her a shred, a mere shred of evidence to even suggest his otherworldly identity… He’d be on the front page with an S on his chest faster than… A speeding bullet…

“You were never curious? Never wanted to know why they gave you up for adoption?”

“Why should I? It’s never factored into my life… Besides, I have my Ma. My Pa. They live in Kansas. In Smallville, just outside of Topeka. I don’t need to know… I have people who love me there. They’re my parents.”

“True…True… If it were me, I’d always have wanted to know… But I didn’t, did I? My dad is Sam Lane, five star General of the United States Army… My mom… Well. Hmm. I thought we were talking about you.” Lois smiles slightly, showing emotion about something other than a news story for one of the first times in the six years Clark had known her. Lois’ mother was something of an enigma in her life, and no one at the Planet knew anything of her…

“Yeah… Basically, Smallville, Metropolis and now.” Clark twiddles his thumbs. “The progression of my life as Clark Kent.”

Lois nods slowly.

“It was always different for me. I was an army brat… I never thought I’d get into journalism… That was always my cousin’s dream. And guess what?”
“What, Lois?”

“Now she’s the one who’s doing something in the army… or something.” She smiles. “I really have no idea. Lost contact with her a while ago.” She laughs. “Role reversal or what, Smallville?” She looks down at the empty bottle of beer in front of her.

“You’re talking about Chloe, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I miss her, you know?”

“I do too, Lois. I do too.”

“Well, anyway, is it your round?” Lois lifts up her bottle and waves it around in the air. “Hey, barkeep! Let’s have another of these, alright?”

Bibbo Bibbowski, ex boxer and now proprieter of the Ace O’ Clubs bar and grill nods and grabs a cold beer from the fridge beneath the old fashioned wooden bar, and walks over to the table.
“What’ll it be for the sir den, Mz Lane?” His ears are puffed and he has scars atop his head from some kind of surgery from the past, and his left eye seems to be lagging behind the right, probably the result of a boxing injury.

“I’ll have the-”

Lois interrupts her friend and colleageue.

“He’ll have the same as me this round, Bibbo. Thanks.”

Bibbo nods and walks back over to the bar, picking up another bottle of beer, irritated at the second trip. The bar isn’t as full as usual, the normal clientelle of riff raff and devious criminals seeing Lois Lane, girl reporter… And fleeing for safety!

Clark eyes the bottle as if it were a cockroach. Sheer confusion and terror…

“Uh, Lois, I don’t drink…” Clark tips his glasses up his nose and smiles feebly.

“Jeez, Smallville! Push the boat out once. One beer isn’t going affect your judgement…” She winks slightly, but Clark can’t tell if it was a trick of the light or… Was Lois Lane, his staunchest opponent… Was she flirting?

“Alright, alright, fine. Wait…” He plucks up his ears and detects the sounds of the TV next door. He knows that something is amiss… Something that shouldn’t be… The LexCore satellite platform is plummeting into the sun?

“Uh, Lois, I’m sorry I have to go…”

“What?! Clark, are you blowing me off because of one measly beer?” She shrugs her shoulders. “Fine… Fine… Wait… Where’d you go?” Lois looks around the room, and to her amazement her friend is gone… But twenty dollars for drinks has been left on the table.

“Oh. And I thought we were having a moment Clark.”

Superman speeds out of the atmosphere of Earth, taking in a lungful of oxygen as he goes. He’s lost valuable time, and the LexCore platform is fast approaching the sun…

He sees the pieces of debris float outwards from earth, and picks up as much speed as he can. The massive orbital craft is speeding away faster than anything made by man, and Superman knows that this has something to do with Luthor. He stretches out his arm, his bare fingers about to grab the hull of the craft when he’s struck by something that gnaws at his soul. He hesitates, doubles back, and spins out of control away from the platform. He grabs his head, trying to stop his mind from exploding, then shakes his head, shaking off the effect of what had happened. He looks up, and starts flying once more, but now…

The platform plummets into the Sun, and any people left living from the explosion… Are doomed to a fiery death.

Superman clenches his fists in deep space. He had lost it. He had lost his head, hesitated, and now the people on that station had paid the price. He had doomed them, and in the darkness of space, he screams.

He lets it all out, something he could not do on Earth… Or any other planet. Windows would shatter, peoples brains would bleed because of the awesome raw power of his anger. He shakes his fists and feels an icy tear break off from his cheak, and float out into the void. With a sneer he grabs it, catching it between his fingers, then shatters it, shaking his head as he does so. He looks at the sun, feels his eyes tingle, and then mouths the word ‘why?’

Why did he fail?

Being late does seem like a big concern to the Last Son of Krypton now, doesn’t it?

This story continues in Adventures of Superman #4!