Action Comics Annual #2: Doomsdays, Finale

Lois Lane walked home. The streets were a mess, but in the distance there was a glow of green, which told her that the Green Lantern, and the rest of the Justice League, had already started work on reconstructing downtown. Soon they would over toward this part of time, and then Metropolis would return to its gleaming place as one of the most beautiful cities in the country.

Stryker's was nearly full again. They'd recovered most of the escapees. But others had fled the city immediately. It wasn't good. She came to her apartment building, climbed up the long winding staircase to her apartment, and unlocked the door with a twist of a key. She dumped her coat on a chair and relaxed on her coach. “God damn. What a day.”

Tpt. Tpt.

“Hmm?”

She stood up and looked around. Something was tapping at her window. Her eyes widened. She rushed toward it, pulled back the curtains and then she grinned.

“Hello, Ms Lane.” Superman smiled, floating high above the street, gazing into her dark eyes with his own. “It's been a long time.”

“Superman, it's been…”

“Too long.” He paused. “I heard about Clark, but Wonder Woman told me he's doing well.”

“Yeah, he called me. Where have you been? It's been… Months.”

“It's a long story. Not for now. Let's just say that after the Parasite incident… I was taken.”

“Taken?” repeated Lois, expecting him to elaborate.

“Never mind. I just came over to say… Hi. The League and I, we're working on rebuilding the city. But I guess you had already guessed that.” He turned away, ready to lift off.

“Wait!”

He span around. “Yes?”

She approached him, and touched the s-insignia on his chest. “Just to know… This is real.”

He took her hand in his own, and put his other on her cheek. “It's real, Lois. I'll see around.” And with that, he was gone.

She knew what she had to do, then and there.

“Lois!” grinned John Henry, as he removed his helmet.

She was standing in the doorway, her hand resting tentatively on the door itself. “John, you're… you're back in costume!”

“I don't know how to explain it, Lois, one moment…” he thought back to what had happened to him, the removal of all the painful machinery that had integrated itself into his body, and then hesitated. “One moment I'm not, and the next I am.”

She took a step forward, but there was still a distance between them that neither appeared to want to shorten. “And those robots roaming the streets…?”

“I had some spare time on my hands after I helped rebuild the city after the Apocalypse Invasion. And I also had access to a pocket dimension of space to work in…”

“Wow,” sighed Lois.

“Are you ok?” Asked Irons, as he began to remove his armor.

“No, I'm not,” she stated simply.

He nodded slowly. “I saw that Superman was back.”

“Yeah, and… I need to tell you something.”

“Yeah, I bet you do…” he sighed, and finished removing his boots. He stretched, hiding his back from her, and then cracked his neck. “So, what's on your mind?”

“I think that I got into this relationship for the wrong reasons. And… I don't think I can continue with it anymore…”

“Hmm.”

“And, it's… It's not you John, I think…” she laughed awkwardly, “I think there's something wrong with me. I think there's something about a big strapping man and a cape that just… Messes my head up.”

“Yeah,” smiled Irons. “Ok.”

“I hope this won't ruin our friendship, John…”

“No, of course not. I kind of knew that there was only one guy in a red cape that held a special place in your heart, and with him not being around, I don't know… Ha, it was fun while it lasted, y'know?”

“It was.” She took his hand and kissed his cheek. “I'm sorry.”

“Nah, don't apologize, we're alright.”

“I've got to go write up a story about massive robots stalking the streets.”

“If you need a source, you know where to find me!”

“I intend to!” she smiled and walked out of the Steelworks, leaving John Henry behind, his smile slowly fading as she left.

“Damn,” he sighed, as he turned away from the doorway.

Flying. Skimming across the atmosphere and just… Flying. No threats from the stars, no other-dimensional beings intent on invasion, just the sky, and Superman. He breathed in, filled his lungs, and exhaled, centering himself. His mind, no longer a flurry of thoughts and emotions, filled with just that singular instinct, pushing him onwards beneath the O-zone: Fly.

He smiled, and dove lower into the sky, and surfed on the edge of the cloud line, water particles flickering into his cape as he went. An air liner suddenly came into view, and he barrelled to a side with ease, flew backwards parallel to a wing and waved to the passengers inside. And then he eased off, and watched it fly slowly into the distance.

With a smile, he dove downwards, and plummeted into the cold waters below. He sank as deep as he could using his own momentum, and then pushed on using his Sun fueled powers, until he was at the deepest part of the ocean, the blackness permeable. His X-Ray vision sparked up, and he viewed the strange and mysterious world below, a strange, alien fascination filling him. With a small nod of satisfaction, he let himself go, and stepped off the ocean floor, sand drifting up after him. As soon as there was distance between him and the floor, he shot back up, pierced the membrane of the ocean and shot back up into the sky above.

It was night time now.

He span around at super speed and his costume dried within seconds. He then brought himself to a stop, and shook his head slowly to dispel the dizziness he had suddenly brought on himself. With a chuckle he headed back west. He flew below radar, and then slowed to a steady glide as he crossed into American waters. There was an audible click as United States air forces noted his entrance into their air-space. He then pushed on, until Metropolis came into sight.

Home.

He smiled once more, and then landed on the globe of the Daily Planet. He rested their for a second. And then, with a smile, he set off again. Flying. Because when he wasn’t fighting as Superman, when he wasn’t living as Clark Kent, and when he had a spare moment… This is what he would do. Fly.