Men of Steel
by TS Caladan
Superman remained rocked to his core with the incredible and terrible news he’d learned at his crystal Fortress of Solitude, long after he replaced the gigantic, yellow, arctic ‘pointer.’ His plan, before the little journey to the North Pole, was to return to Metropolis and continue his life as Clark Kent. Now he didn’t know what to do. He knew he could not go back home. Not now.
Zod was coming!
Superman flew to the Moon, a bit dazed and confused, lost in thoughts of what to do: What was precisely the correct thing to do to save the Earth from destruction, from Zod? Or, should he decide the other way? What would Kal-El do? What would the Big Decision be?
The Man of Steel might never assume the role of Clark again. He might never see the Earth ever again. He might not see Lois again or his mother or his cousin. Those were a few of his fears as he raced to the Moon.
He had to face Zod. He had to not only draw him to the Moon, he had to bring him to the ‘special place.’ And somehow…
The Moon was the perfect battlefield, far from the beautiful planet. Superman wanted his precious people safe from harm, safe from what lay ahead. Zod’s spaceship streaked on a trajectory towards Earth where it would encounter Luna long before the planet.
Kal-El’s strategy was to surprise his foe 240,000 miles before the General and his forces reached Earth. Was there any chance for peace? For one Kryptonian to not battle another?
“This was my father’s fight. Now it’s mine.”
Superman flew to the perfect place, aligned with Zod’s distant spacecraft…
It was a crater he had visited often, his lunar “Crater of Solitude.” Arzachel’s grey beauty was stark and rich and delightfully elegant. A very high, center peak was an amazing, dramatic feature. The other feature was a prominent crater on the floor of Arzachel. No major crater on the Moon had this combination of a high center-mountain with a big crater on the floor.
The Man of Steel flew to the very top of the peak and glided into a smooth standstill. His cape moved only slightly in the extremely faint atmosphere and subtle winds that few were aware of on the planet. His stance along with the bright red and bright blue uniform and cape, fell to a neat spot in the center of the peak.
This was the exact location Kal-El loved. He could sit anywhere in the air. Superman enjoyed the contact with the lunar surface and the view of Arz was breathtaking. The blackness of space and the fantastic lights and fires of suns were a glorious canopy over the whole scene.
He looked over at the one oddity in the beauty and grace of this incredible tower: It was a black spike that tapered to a slender, sharp point, straight up on the far south side of the high peak. Only a semi-flat portion stood at the very tip, approximately 30 feet by 13 feet. Why did Kal’s favorite spot outside of his Fortress have an uncharacteristic ‘thorn’ in its side? [Thorn of the Rose?] Why was there always a danger, a threat, a crisis, a problem to fix? Now this.
“How can I…choose?” The super-Man cleared his thoughts, quieted his mind, sat in the ‘lotus’ position. He closed his eyes and was calm; he reached Nirvana and was able to focus. Kal ran back in his mind once again what had happened at the crystal fortress~
It started out as one more ‘talk’ with his father as the boy and now man had enjoyed many times previously. Kal learned phenomenal amounts of history and truths in the years ‘talking to his father.’ Of course the projection was not Jor-El, the man. The two-dimensional screen in the shape of the Family Crest outline displayed Jor-El’s consciousness combined with the best computer technology. The image was not a virtual simulation of Jor-El. Superman’s father transcended. The ‘projection’ on the digital screen was Jor-El. He was alive, but could not be touched in the physical sense.
The brilliant day when a green crystal led him to the North Pole was the greatest day in Superboy’s life! He met his real father who introduced himself and also told young Clark who he really was, his greatness, his potential. A myriad of questions were answered and great love exchanged, even between Mother Lara, who remained spiritually ‘missing’ in the present.
“It cannot be true. What the purpose of my life really is, father.”
“You’ve known of your special powers from the beginning, Kal. It’s far more, son.”
“But this?” Superman paced back and forth in front of the Kryptonian screen that hovered in midair. “Are you certain of the facts? Have you truly confirmed the words you’ve told me?”
“Yes. It was my plan from the start. I wasn’t only saving you from the destruction of our world, it was also millions of our brothers and sisters as well. You are the means to do that.”
“Because of what’s in me? I carry them; they’re…they’ve been inside me all my life?”
“In your cells. To be restored, much later. But who knew way back then that our actions, ah, MY actions…would threaten your new world, your friends and all you love? My…wild Hope may destroy your Earth, as it turns out.” Jor-El suppressed his feelings and great sadness.
“Why does he hate you, father? You’ve never told me the full story.”
“Then I’ll tell you now. Ha. Uh. Militaries and scientists, how often they are in total conflict. He blames me for the sins or…possible sins of my father. And he’s right.”
“What? He is?” Then Kal shifted to the other subject. “I know nothing of your father,” the Man of Steel wondered and walked in more circles.
“His name was Lor-Van. He was head of the Science Union, long ago. In time, we sent out thousands of explorers in mighty ships to every sector of the galaxy. We tapped Krypton, its core, for the required energy to do that. It was foolish; it was wrong to use and deplete the planet to that extent. No one saw what would happen over centuries, the drain of electrical power, the instability and eventual great implosion.” The image of Jor-El reacted and controlled his own inner emotions. “Zod blames my father and of course…me. And now you, son. Krypton’s implosion freed him and two other outlaws imprisoned within the Phantom Zone.”
Kal stopped his steps and stared into the screen that was shaped like a large shield. “So…this attempt of yours, the hope for a future for our brothers and sisters, was a way to redeem our family? To remove the curse from El House, dear father?”
Jor-El’s eyes contained tears. Feelings surfaced. His son touched upon deeply buried emotions. Husband of Lara never examined those feelings, but simply…
…Felt compelled to do what he had to do.
“I campaigned for decades. I knew it was too late. We had to leave our beautiful red sun and planet with the last bits of energy and resources we had…”
Kal continued Jor-El’s train of thought. “Zod stepped in; he’d oppose any survival plan you presented…”
“He proposed MADNESS, instead. He saw the mass exodus as an act of desperation and fear and cowardice. Zod demanded we stand our ground, not flee. He wanted us to accept the impending doom as warrior-gods; embrace the inevitable fate. In that, Kal…he was not right.”
“And they listened and believed him at first. Later imprisoned him. All too late. Today. Everything’s different. It’s on my shoulders, father. I’m a Kansas boy. I love them all, my friends. I can’t let them die.” Now there were tears in the Man of Steel’s eyes.
“I am truly sorry, my son. I am truly sorry for the burden that weighs on your shoulders. General Zod will be here soon. He will destroy Earth because of your love of the Earth. You must decide, one way or the other. I am so sorry. Do you know what you will do, Kal?”
“No.”
In the present, Superman blasted upward with a force that moved much of the grey tower’s peak! Suddenly, just now, he had an idea in flight. It might work. He had to gather a mass of lead from the Earth’s satellite as well as…
On Zod’s black spaceship that he christened: “The Shrike”…
Ursa, the female, in full black/battalion gear, had a question for the General.
Zod in larger battalion gear and with his Family Crest on his chest, placed the final touches on the infamous ‘World Motor,’ a device that will be the instrument of the General’s revenge.
“With all due respect, Commander…will it work?” She regretted the question as soon as it was asked.
Zod was pleased. He smiled through his ominous face-gear and welcomed the question. He believed that he could destroy son of Jor-El with the completed and activated World Motor that stood before them. The General was very excited that he, Ursa and the idiot approached the prime objective. It was only a short matter of time when Two Supermen and a Superwoman should be able to pull the limbs of Kal-El apart and scatter them to the far corners of the galaxy!
Zod was further elated that after the Motor was shoved into the planet for its power and activation, the result would transform the Earth into a burned-out cinder.
“Sir. It has not been field tested. We are not scientists, sir.”
“That’s what computers are for, my dear. It will work.” He was extremely confident.
Ursa bowed. She also asked, “What strategy, sir, do you suggest when we face him?”
The silent ‘idiot’ looked on and barely understood the plan.
Zod stopped the amused expression on his brutal face. He stared right into his second in command’s eyes. He seriously and coldly told them to: “Rip him apart!”
Ursa and Zod laughed evil laughs.
The idiot was the last to laugh.
At super speed the Man of Steel gathered the lead he needed from the rich deposits under the lunar surface. He made the suit. He gathered the ‘surprise’ for the General and his forces and buried it in his ‘special place.’ [Did Kal always have the plan in mind?] He removed and hid the suit at the base of the Arz central tower. Everything was set.
He looked out and observed a moving object that quickly approached. It was Zod’s Shrike.
Superman flew to it. He flew right along with the ship as it blazed across space and turned towards the planet.
Kal got the attention of the criminals. They did exactly as expected: They followed him.
The craft trailed behind Superman as he flew back to the Crater Arzachel…
The son of Jor-El who carried the Spirit of Jor-El as well as the essential Spirits of millions of Kryptonians inside him…
…Flew straight down and into the deep, prominent crater on the flat floor of the big crater. He called the special feature: “Eden.” It symbolized his family’s sweet hope for a paradise.
Eden battleground was a round, grey ‘amphitheater’ with only four participants to the war.
Three dark and powerful forces de-shipped the ship. They were told by Zod to not attack, immediately. The General was too confident, too sure of himself and his treachery and technology. He believed he held the Life of his greatest foe’s son…in the palm of his hand. At first, they’ll talk…
Kal shouted, “General! I didn’t understand at first. WHY would Men of Steel need a spaceship? Then I saw you carry a strong, magnetic signature with you.”
“NO greetings, pleasantries for your father’s greatest admirer, son of El? It’s great to see you. You look glorious. Fantastic. Check your feelings, Kal-El. We genuinely care.” The outlaws smiled, even the stupid one.
“Liar and proponent of only madness! You only care about your people and what I carry in my cells. You plan to dispose of me right after extraction, do you not Zod?”
The General calmed himself as Kal slowly raged. He closed his eyes as his comrades stood still. “Do you not also care about your people? We cannot understand this, son.” The Supreme General actually got on his knees.
The action surprised his silent comrades.
Superman was angrier. “Don’t call me that.”
The General’s tranquil words were as slippery as any snake. “Do you not have the capability to sacrifice yourself for our people, Kal? The extraction of your cells, the essence of so many gods made real, freed to live in the universe, my boy…will leave you dead, yes? You know this. Your part, laid out by your father since you were sent here, has always been to fulfill your destiny, Kal. That means…your destruction. We are his hands, son. Fate. And you continue to wonder, that what? It’s better to destroy the World Motor and save Earthlings? Please, for the love of our people, realize what you are doing. You can make up for your family’s crimes right here! Now! Please you must make the right choice…for Krypton! Before you answer, understand how wonderful the beings on Krypton were before the darkness that your family caused…”
Kal held in his emotions with all of his strength and did not interrupt…
“We were incomprehensibly beautiful, the greatest artists and thinkers, greatest minds and also the most compassionate of hearts. This is what you have carried all your life, my boy. I want you to listen to me one last time, before it breaks my heart…to destroy you…and listen good.”
Kal from Kansas and not Krypton remained silent, still, and ready to blow. He listened.
General Zod stated, “This was precisely what Jor-El wanted. In spite of foolish people who would not leave a doomed world; look what your father did. He wanted to save us all, through you, Kal. I sense you have only learned this very recently. You speak with him? Really?” Zod was sincerely astounded to find out these things, psychically, because of his closeness to Kal.
“You didn’t want them to leave, Zod! How long was your mad campaign AGAINST exodus? Then, when you virtually trapped them to Doomsday, out of panic, you were jailed.”
“But your father saved them. Your real purpose wasn’t to fly around saving a few human beings…them!? Surely you know that. Son of Jor-El, surely you know you are the seeds of our great people. They matter more than them and even you. They must be the ones who live and not savages, your weak, warlike humans and yourself, right? Your big decision. What kind of a superhero are you? Why do you hesitate and not see the greater good? How can you, of all people, be so selfish and go against your father’s…biggest and greatest…Hope?”
Superman answered, “Because I cannot kill billions of people in the process. Jor-El never saw the consequences, after I landed here. He didn’t know of the good and kind people here, only that the yellow sun would protect me and make me strong…”
“Lor-Van also thought not of the consequences of his actions. Wait, Kal…”
“We’re not friends,” he flatly told the General.
Zod rose to his feet. His gentle pleas to the son of Jor-El were stated with closed eyes. Now he opened one. He opened the other.
Ursa nearly struck a pose of combat.
The dumb one simply looked around.
Zod had a new ploy. “Kal-El, please. Give yourself up without a fight.”
“Don’t fight you?”
Zod smiled, again like a snake. “We’re not here to fight.”
Superman tilted his head and didn’t believe the pale words. He corrected the Supreme General with certainty. “No! You’re here to destroy the Earth and billions of humans.”
“To save our people after all this time? Yes. Surrender, willfully…”
Kal thought about it intensely. He asked the universe…
Was Zod right all along? Did a Kryptonian life mean far more than an Earthly life? Should and could he destroy the Earth so his people can live? Was it fate? Would his father have chosen to save the gods or the basic, military-minded cave people on the primitive planet?
Son of Jor-El got his final answer. He knew. He could not smile under the burden of the decision to destroy the collective consciousness and therefore the many individual Spirits of his father’s world. He pointed at the yellow sun. “See that, Zod. Maybe that’s my Father? Maybe it, only now, suggested a resolution to…to everything? Ha.” Superman was less sad and smiled.
Ursa, behind her General and to the side, asked, “What?”
“I believe him. You said it, Zod: After all this time. Look at the Sun,” Kal commanded.
Zod looked directly into the brightness.
“It’s yellow. The entire Solar System is a young universe, a vibrant, energetic, new one! Our red sun was old and dying anyway. We HAD our time and lived well. We had to leave.”
“What a total disappointment you must be to your father…and your mother.”
Those were fighting words on any planet.
Kal-El readied himself for battle.
Zod and dark comrades also prepared to fight as much as super people could fight. They almost were unable to damage each other for very long.
“Let me at him, sir?” Ursa pleaded with big eyes of fire.
“Beauty before age,” Zod said with a smile and a hand wave. “Show him what you can do, Ursa.” He laughed. Zod figured his second might have an advantage with nothing to lose. Kal had everything to lose. Kal had the heavy burden of his father and grandfather’s sins on his head.
In a flash, she rocketed into Superman like a guided missile! After Superman was knocked backward all the way and crashed into Eden’s crater wall, the moon dust cleared and he returned.
The idiot Kryptonian (a rarity) started to lunge into the Man of Steel, but was stopped by Zod.
“Don’t help her. I want to see what she can do against him.” They watched.
She flew to him again and pummeled his chest again and again with violent thrusts. Sounds of the mighty blows echoed off the crater walls and were similar to thunder.
Stars shined. The Sun was high in an ebony sky as the lunar war continued…
Kal-El stood his ground, absorbed the pounding and felt each and every attack to his Spirit. Pain was felt: a new experience. Only a super caused pain to another super. But death? No. They could not kill each other, stuck in a mere stalemated situation.
Kal was like a solid, immovable statue up against an insurmountable Force. Ursa and Kal would soon be hurt, exhausted, weakened by the repeated power blows. After a moment’s rest, the supers healed, revitalized and continued the fight.
Superman braced and protected himself from every body blow from her. He knew his next move would be utterly unexpected. Inside the Man of Steel, he made his energy rise to maximum and he STRUCK! One surprise punch, a “rope a dope” was pulled on Ursa. For a few seconds, she was unconscious but would soon regain her sensations in only a short time…
So far, everything went as Kal-El had planned. He might be able to get rid of one of them right now, as hard as it was for him to kill. Here was where his ‘special place’ might be the key to the entire battle. Formerly Clark Kent rolled her into a ball, brought her to his chest, turned toward the central tower, aimed, calculated the physics and made what was similar to a mile long ‘basketball’ shot. Ursa was thrown out of the crater and high up to the very top of the central peak. It was a perfect ‘swish’ as she landed upon the pinnacle…
Little time passed and nothing happened. She was not in sight.
Zod thought: She should have regained her senses and fought more with the son of Jor-El. Where was she?
They all looked at each other.
The dumb one sure didn’t know.
Superman smiled a small smile at his father’s adversary. He knew.
Zod turned to the idiot and loudly ordered, “Get him!”
The brute appeared even more stupid. “Wha?”
“KILL HIM!” Zod screamed louder to get through to the other superman.
He finally got the message and used his whole body as a missile as hard as diamond. It blasted into the Superman!
Both were knocked back some distance from each other with a loud BANG. They were momentarily dazed and sprawled out upon the surface and in moon dust. In a few seconds, the idiot and Kal recovered and went at each other again…
The amused General watched with glee. Then, from the bottom of the crater, Zod looked up at the top of the tower. He didn’t understand where Ursa was and what happened to her.
This time, Superman didn’t want to stand there and take the pounding and pain again. He’d concentrate like karate guys. He formed and focused his Spirit into his own insurmountable Force and CHARGED!
The brute saw clearly what the Superman did and mimicked his charge like bulls who squared off. They rammed each other and a virtual explosion occurred!
The violent impact made the loudest noise yet and formed a tiny crater inside the Eden Crater. Visibility blurred because the vicinity rained with grey moon dust. When the area cleared…
General Zod witnessed Kal and his stooge. Kal grabbed him into a ball and also tossed him to the top of the slender mountain, exactly what he did to Ursa. Zod correctly thought Jor-El’s son had a secret system that neutralized his comrades. Enraged Zod, the powerful warrior, also hardened himself and shot like a dart at his enemy! The thunder clap deafened the supers…
Kal was pushed back so forceful that his back plowed into the crater wall and did not stop for 5000 feet!
Both were injured in the tremendous impact.
It was the most pain Kal ever experienced. After a long moment of silence, Kal-El came to his senses and flew out of the tunnel he created. He faced Zod, who also came to consciousness.
“Stop! Kal stop.” Big breaths were expelled from the General. He bled.
Both combatants bled.
Son of Jor-El screamed! He screamed not because of pain. He screamed because of the entire situation, the agony of it all: the horrible fate of the old Kryptonians he carried. He screamed in pain again and only wanted to see his parents, talk to them…if it were possible?
Through heavy breaths, Zod expressed, “Good. Get it all out of your system, boy.”
“Shut up!” Superman also exuded violent emotions and heavy breaths.
“Ha. All this time. I forgot about it. Distracted, I guess. Ha. I had your life in the palm of my hand the whole time.”
“What?” Kal said and stared closely at him. What’s Zod’s ploy now?
Zod suddenly had become more evil. His voice was deeper. “I will destroy your friends: Olsen, Perry White, Cousin Kara and the one you love: pretty Lois. They will die in excruciating pain. I will ensure that happens, which, of course, will also be your fault as well. When I press the button, the atomic World Motor will be ON; the action cannot be undone. Earth will die. You will die. We will terraform conditions here…for our kind. We have only you to thank, son of Jor-El.” The warrior-General lowered his arm in a slow, smooth motion to show the Man of Steel the trigger-mechanism he thought he held in his right-hand. It wasn’t there! “What?”
“Oh the one my heat ray burnt to nothing? You didn’t feel it? You are distracted.”
ZOD EXPLODED AT THE REALIZATION! His people he was programmed to ‘serve and protect’ would not incubate and materialize in the real world. His people were truly dead. Zod went crazy! The mechanism he held in his hand was everything. Kal picked the truth out of his brain. Kal killed them and made his choice. Now, maniac General wanted to kill Superman. Zod screamed louder than his foe and smashed into him at different angles again and again!
Superman flew out of Eden and near another special place, near the base of Arzachel’s tower. He stepped on a lever on the surface. The lead suit he crafted popped up above the terrain. Kal got into it as he’d done before.
Zod breathed heavy and watched with curiosity from a short distance. “You have my attention.” He thought it was funny. “Your shiny suit won’t save you, brother. The coating means nothing! I will kill you now!” The General ‘saw red’ to the extent of intense Heat Rays. They blasted in Kal’s general direction and missed.
Superman in suit quickly flew to the top of the tower, his target area.
Mad Zod followed, but not in flight. He climbed up the tower in a blind rage with only ‘Kill, Kill, Kill’ on his twisted, un-programmed mind! He climbed like a rabid animal. Parts of the lunar landscape fell in pieces as the General climbed higher and higher, the hard way. Something was odd. Zod had to slow down the crazy ascent. He was forced to go slower. Nearly the last thought in his mind was: What magic made me weak?
By the time he reached the top, Zod was no longer a superman; he was stripped of mighty powers and near death. When he looked to the left, there was the dead body of the dummy. When he looked to the right, he saw the dead body of Ursa, the one he loved. His last sight was a black spike that stood on the side and at the very top, only seen in outline by the stars it blocked.
Zod was dead. Kryptonite buried at the top did its job. Zod never heard of the element.
Kal in lead emerged from a niche of a large boulder. He took a few steps and collapsed. He was weak from the emotional strains. He carried his people; he was responsible for them and the ultimate decision to destroy them because of his love of Earth people~
He cried and cried inside a thin, full-body, lead-lined casing. He cried because he had to kill. He was in pain and very weak, not because he was dying. It was everything. “Why father?”
“Open your eyes, my son.”
When Kal-El’s tear-filled eyes opened, he found himself in perfect alignment with the Sun. The yellow rays did not hurt. They were pleasant. They were warm and wonderful. The huge disk in the blackness was a fantastic, radiant sight. He felt divine. “Father?”
“You wanted to speak to us again. Here we are.”
“We?” the shocked son replied to the Sun. He wiped his eyes and felt their presence.
“Hello, my son.”
“Mother!”
“We are so proud of you, Kal. Both of us. We are together. We are in love again.”
“I don’t believe it.”
Jor-El’s Spirit through a star expressed, “Please believe it, son. And we love you.”
A strange silence hit the sunrays. Kal felt that a big problem remained. “What’s wrong?”
Lara’s sweet voice told him about one more truth, one more Big Decision and one larger burden that can now be placed upon his shoulders. “That is, dear…if you decide…to take the…” His mother did not have the words. She was too emotional. She knew that this was the end and what her golden angel of a son would choose.
“You have another choice in front on you, son.” Jor-El took over the conversation.
Kal was fascinated. “I’m intrigued. It’s so beautiful to hear mother’s voice again. But, please…explain, father: What choice? What’s wrong? I just felt something.”
Jor-El was emotional. He explained to his son, through his feelings: “As it stands now, we can activate thousands if not millions of our people, through you, son. The Codex is viable.”
“What? Father, that’s what the General wanted?”
Lara said, “Not at all. Completely different, Kal. Nothing gets destroyed...” She did not have the heart to tell the full truth to her precious son.
Jor-El spoke plainly, “She means…nothing but you, son. You see, we sent alien emissaries to our distant colonies to oversee…”
“What father?’
“The colonies weren’t destroyed, weren’t all ruined. Many of our survivors lay in sarcophagi, preserved; they await ‘activation’ by the individual Spirits you hold, that you’ve always held. They can come alive, live again. Not as Men of Steel. Maybe some will be! Who understands consequences, eh? Maybe there will be an age of supermen again. Who knows?”
“Why is mother crying?”
Jor-El hesitated. He started to say what Kal already realized. “Because…”
The son finished his father’s statement of fact. “…Because I have to die. Zod was right. Codex extraction of our people’s souls from me will…will destroy me, forever.”
“Yes, Kal,” his father said solemnly while his mother cried. They knew his choice.
“You are telling me: My living is holding up the process, gumming up the works? Ha.”
The father did not mean to laugh, but he knew his son’s sense of humor. “Ha.”
“At my death, the Codex process will begin? Is that right, parents?”
“Yes.”
“The choice, and God I hope it’s my last choice, is: I live or many of our people live again? And Earth people are safe from harm?”
“Yes, son.”
Kal-El was very happy at the opportunity. This was his fate, his program. This was what he must do and very much wanted to do. “Then there is no choice. I must say goodbye to you both with all the love in my heart. Thank you for life, dear parents. I love you both, dearly…”
The sunlight glowed brighter.
“One question. Is there any way I could have a moment to say goodbye to my special friends, the ones I hold dear back on Earth?” Kal pushed a button and left the lead suit.
His father checked. It was possible. “Go back to closed eyes, son.”
“Sure.” Kal complied and smiled. Soon he’d feel the effects of the deadly Kryptonite.
In a dream reality that was the exact same as actual reality, Clark Kent was able to get his wish. In the real world, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White had ghostly experiences. Jimmy said, “Jeepers” about a hundred times. Perry was as white as a ghost when he saw Clark’s ghost, which was not Great Caesar’s ghost!
Clark was so thankful for a tender, brilliant moment with Miss Lane. They kissed. He even grabbed her ass. She let him. When he told her that he was Superman, Lois responded with…
“I know that. I was playing along with you, silly. You kept telling us with those double-meaning hints. Never there when he is. I would be some damn, lousy reporter. Clark? Clark?”
DECADES LATER:
In more modern times, without actual superheroes anymore or where superhero meta-humans/enhanced humans work for fed criminals instead of fighting corruption and the real enemies to humanity: hidden, occult Crime Families and bankers that secretly rule the planet…
The world, aka planet Earth, had gotten much darker, evil and far more dangerous. At a time when we needed true blue saviors, Men of Steel…one fell from the sky~
He was preceded by a Green Lantern, the one from the Ackbanar System. He or she announced to everyone on Earth as well as the other 12 inhabited planets in our System (they’d pass the news to populated satellites) that a different Superman had arrived. Over Media: “His name is Rol-Var, from the House of Var. He is a reincarnated Kryptonian with a new life, a new symbol. He is a great Scientist, thinker and problem-solver. He has been assigned charge or have complete jurisdiction over your 14 orbiters, your planets and moons and the various life upon them. Rol-Var is a kind King. He will rule wisely and fairly. Wars will cease. Needless killing and violence will end. A brave, better and free age for your System will happen. These are not the false promises you have heard before. In time, warriors will be made obsolete. The Meek will truly and peacefully and nonviolently inherit the Earth. In a sense, your Superman has returned.”
The public in every country and elites on hidden off-world colonies, whose time had come to an end, saw positive changes in the wind. Houses, Industries would be cleaned of corruption, on other planets also. Technology will be shared, distributed from the top (rich) on down (to the poor). Neo Superman will make sure that everything is done the right, proper and the most beneficial way for everyone. They will have a high standard of life because there won’t be a need for armies or any type of destruction or even police. Dreams will be made real, nearing utopia.
The New Superman landed and everyone got their first look. His uniform was bright blue.
How to order novels by TS Caladan
or go to publisher’s site: TWBPRESS.COM
TWB Press, publishing, electronic, e-books, ebooks, short stories, novels, science fiction, supernatural, horror, thrillers, fiction
TS Caladan's 3-Book "Traylogy" can be purchased thru TWB Press.
9" x 6" books with cover art are less than $18.00. EBooks are $3.99.
by TS Caladan
Superman remained rocked to his core with the incredible and terrible news he’d learned at his crystal Fortress of Solitude, long after he replaced the gigantic, yellow, arctic ‘pointer.’ His plan, before the little journey to the North Pole, was to return to Metropolis and continue his life as Clark Kent. Now he didn’t know what to do. He knew he could not go back home. Not now.
Zod was coming!
Superman flew to the Moon, a bit dazed and confused, lost in thoughts of what to do: What was precisely the correct thing to do to save the Earth from destruction, from Zod? Or, should he decide the other way? What would Kal-El do? What would the Big Decision be?
The Man of Steel might never assume the role of Clark again. He might never see the Earth ever again. He might not see Lois again or his mother or his cousin. Those were a few of his fears as he raced to the Moon.
He had to face Zod. He had to not only draw him to the Moon, he had to bring him to the ‘special place.’ And somehow…
The Moon was the perfect battlefield, far from the beautiful planet. Superman wanted his precious people safe from harm, safe from what lay ahead. Zod’s spaceship streaked on a trajectory towards Earth where it would encounter Luna long before the planet.
Kal-El’s strategy was to surprise his foe 240,000 miles before the General and his forces reached Earth. Was there any chance for peace? For one Kryptonian to not battle another?
“This was my father’s fight. Now it’s mine.”
Superman flew to the perfect place, aligned with Zod’s distant spacecraft…
It was a crater he had visited often, his lunar “Crater of Solitude.” Arzachel’s grey beauty was stark and rich and delightfully elegant. A very high, center peak was an amazing, dramatic feature. The other feature was a prominent crater on the floor of Arzachel. No major crater on the Moon had this combination of a high center-mountain with a big crater on the floor.
The Man of Steel flew to the very top of the peak and glided into a smooth standstill. His cape moved only slightly in the extremely faint atmosphere and subtle winds that few were aware of on the planet. His stance along with the bright red and bright blue uniform and cape, fell to a neat spot in the center of the peak.
This was the exact location Kal-El loved. He could sit anywhere in the air. Superman enjoyed the contact with the lunar surface and the view of Arz was breathtaking. The blackness of space and the fantastic lights and fires of suns were a glorious canopy over the whole scene.
He looked over at the one oddity in the beauty and grace of this incredible tower: It was a black spike that tapered to a slender, sharp point, straight up on the far south side of the high peak. Only a semi-flat portion stood at the very tip, approximately 30 feet by 13 feet. Why did Kal’s favorite spot outside of his Fortress have an uncharacteristic ‘thorn’ in its side? [Thorn of the Rose?] Why was there always a danger, a threat, a crisis, a problem to fix? Now this.
“How can I…choose?” The super-Man cleared his thoughts, quieted his mind, sat in the ‘lotus’ position. He closed his eyes and was calm; he reached Nirvana and was able to focus. Kal ran back in his mind once again what had happened at the crystal fortress~
It started out as one more ‘talk’ with his father as the boy and now man had enjoyed many times previously. Kal learned phenomenal amounts of history and truths in the years ‘talking to his father.’ Of course the projection was not Jor-El, the man. The two-dimensional screen in the shape of the Family Crest outline displayed Jor-El’s consciousness combined with the best computer technology. The image was not a virtual simulation of Jor-El. Superman’s father transcended. The ‘projection’ on the digital screen was Jor-El. He was alive, but could not be touched in the physical sense.
The brilliant day when a green crystal led him to the North Pole was the greatest day in Superboy’s life! He met his real father who introduced himself and also told young Clark who he really was, his greatness, his potential. A myriad of questions were answered and great love exchanged, even between Mother Lara, who remained spiritually ‘missing’ in the present.
“It cannot be true. What the purpose of my life really is, father.”
“You’ve known of your special powers from the beginning, Kal. It’s far more, son.”
“But this?” Superman paced back and forth in front of the Kryptonian screen that hovered in midair. “Are you certain of the facts? Have you truly confirmed the words you’ve told me?”
“Yes. It was my plan from the start. I wasn’t only saving you from the destruction of our world, it was also millions of our brothers and sisters as well. You are the means to do that.”
“Because of what’s in me? I carry them; they’re…they’ve been inside me all my life?”
“In your cells. To be restored, much later. But who knew way back then that our actions, ah, MY actions…would threaten your new world, your friends and all you love? My…wild Hope may destroy your Earth, as it turns out.” Jor-El suppressed his feelings and great sadness.
“Why does he hate you, father? You’ve never told me the full story.”
“Then I’ll tell you now. Ha. Uh. Militaries and scientists, how often they are in total conflict. He blames me for the sins or…possible sins of my father. And he’s right.”
“What? He is?” Then Kal shifted to the other subject. “I know nothing of your father,” the Man of Steel wondered and walked in more circles.
“His name was Lor-Van. He was head of the Science Union, long ago. In time, we sent out thousands of explorers in mighty ships to every sector of the galaxy. We tapped Krypton, its core, for the required energy to do that. It was foolish; it was wrong to use and deplete the planet to that extent. No one saw what would happen over centuries, the drain of electrical power, the instability and eventual great implosion.” The image of Jor-El reacted and controlled his own inner emotions. “Zod blames my father and of course…me. And now you, son. Krypton’s implosion freed him and two other outlaws imprisoned within the Phantom Zone.”
Kal stopped his steps and stared into the screen that was shaped like a large shield. “So…this attempt of yours, the hope for a future for our brothers and sisters, was a way to redeem our family? To remove the curse from El House, dear father?”
Jor-El’s eyes contained tears. Feelings surfaced. His son touched upon deeply buried emotions. Husband of Lara never examined those feelings, but simply…
…Felt compelled to do what he had to do.
“I campaigned for decades. I knew it was too late. We had to leave our beautiful red sun and planet with the last bits of energy and resources we had…”
Kal continued Jor-El’s train of thought. “Zod stepped in; he’d oppose any survival plan you presented…”
“He proposed MADNESS, instead. He saw the mass exodus as an act of desperation and fear and cowardice. Zod demanded we stand our ground, not flee. He wanted us to accept the impending doom as warrior-gods; embrace the inevitable fate. In that, Kal…he was not right.”
“And they listened and believed him at first. Later imprisoned him. All too late. Today. Everything’s different. It’s on my shoulders, father. I’m a Kansas boy. I love them all, my friends. I can’t let them die.” Now there were tears in the Man of Steel’s eyes.
“I am truly sorry, my son. I am truly sorry for the burden that weighs on your shoulders. General Zod will be here soon. He will destroy Earth because of your love of the Earth. You must decide, one way or the other. I am so sorry. Do you know what you will do, Kal?”
“No.”
In the present, Superman blasted upward with a force that moved much of the grey tower’s peak! Suddenly, just now, he had an idea in flight. It might work. He had to gather a mass of lead from the Earth’s satellite as well as…
On Zod’s black spaceship that he christened: “The Shrike”…
Ursa, the female, in full black/battalion gear, had a question for the General.
Zod in larger battalion gear and with his Family Crest on his chest, placed the final touches on the infamous ‘World Motor,’ a device that will be the instrument of the General’s revenge.
“With all due respect, Commander…will it work?” She regretted the question as soon as it was asked.
Zod was pleased. He smiled through his ominous face-gear and welcomed the question. He believed that he could destroy son of Jor-El with the completed and activated World Motor that stood before them. The General was very excited that he, Ursa and the idiot approached the prime objective. It was only a short matter of time when Two Supermen and a Superwoman should be able to pull the limbs of Kal-El apart and scatter them to the far corners of the galaxy!
Zod was further elated that after the Motor was shoved into the planet for its power and activation, the result would transform the Earth into a burned-out cinder.
“Sir. It has not been field tested. We are not scientists, sir.”
“That’s what computers are for, my dear. It will work.” He was extremely confident.
Ursa bowed. She also asked, “What strategy, sir, do you suggest when we face him?”
The silent ‘idiot’ looked on and barely understood the plan.
Zod stopped the amused expression on his brutal face. He stared right into his second in command’s eyes. He seriously and coldly told them to: “Rip him apart!”
Ursa and Zod laughed evil laughs.
The idiot was the last to laugh.
At super speed the Man of Steel gathered the lead he needed from the rich deposits under the lunar surface. He made the suit. He gathered the ‘surprise’ for the General and his forces and buried it in his ‘special place.’ [Did Kal always have the plan in mind?] He removed and hid the suit at the base of the Arz central tower. Everything was set.
He looked out and observed a moving object that quickly approached. It was Zod’s Shrike.
Superman flew to it. He flew right along with the ship as it blazed across space and turned towards the planet.
Kal got the attention of the criminals. They did exactly as expected: They followed him.
The craft trailed behind Superman as he flew back to the Crater Arzachel…
The son of Jor-El who carried the Spirit of Jor-El as well as the essential Spirits of millions of Kryptonians inside him…
…Flew straight down and into the deep, prominent crater on the flat floor of the big crater. He called the special feature: “Eden.” It symbolized his family’s sweet hope for a paradise.
Eden battleground was a round, grey ‘amphitheater’ with only four participants to the war.
Three dark and powerful forces de-shipped the ship. They were told by Zod to not attack, immediately. The General was too confident, too sure of himself and his treachery and technology. He believed he held the Life of his greatest foe’s son…in the palm of his hand. At first, they’ll talk…
Kal shouted, “General! I didn’t understand at first. WHY would Men of Steel need a spaceship? Then I saw you carry a strong, magnetic signature with you.”
“NO greetings, pleasantries for your father’s greatest admirer, son of El? It’s great to see you. You look glorious. Fantastic. Check your feelings, Kal-El. We genuinely care.” The outlaws smiled, even the stupid one.
“Liar and proponent of only madness! You only care about your people and what I carry in my cells. You plan to dispose of me right after extraction, do you not Zod?”
The General calmed himself as Kal slowly raged. He closed his eyes as his comrades stood still. “Do you not also care about your people? We cannot understand this, son.” The Supreme General actually got on his knees.
The action surprised his silent comrades.
Superman was angrier. “Don’t call me that.”
The General’s tranquil words were as slippery as any snake. “Do you not have the capability to sacrifice yourself for our people, Kal? The extraction of your cells, the essence of so many gods made real, freed to live in the universe, my boy…will leave you dead, yes? You know this. Your part, laid out by your father since you were sent here, has always been to fulfill your destiny, Kal. That means…your destruction. We are his hands, son. Fate. And you continue to wonder, that what? It’s better to destroy the World Motor and save Earthlings? Please, for the love of our people, realize what you are doing. You can make up for your family’s crimes right here! Now! Please you must make the right choice…for Krypton! Before you answer, understand how wonderful the beings on Krypton were before the darkness that your family caused…”
Kal held in his emotions with all of his strength and did not interrupt…
“We were incomprehensibly beautiful, the greatest artists and thinkers, greatest minds and also the most compassionate of hearts. This is what you have carried all your life, my boy. I want you to listen to me one last time, before it breaks my heart…to destroy you…and listen good.”
Kal from Kansas and not Krypton remained silent, still, and ready to blow. He listened.
General Zod stated, “This was precisely what Jor-El wanted. In spite of foolish people who would not leave a doomed world; look what your father did. He wanted to save us all, through you, Kal. I sense you have only learned this very recently. You speak with him? Really?” Zod was sincerely astounded to find out these things, psychically, because of his closeness to Kal.
“You didn’t want them to leave, Zod! How long was your mad campaign AGAINST exodus? Then, when you virtually trapped them to Doomsday, out of panic, you were jailed.”
“But your father saved them. Your real purpose wasn’t to fly around saving a few human beings…them!? Surely you know that. Son of Jor-El, surely you know you are the seeds of our great people. They matter more than them and even you. They must be the ones who live and not savages, your weak, warlike humans and yourself, right? Your big decision. What kind of a superhero are you? Why do you hesitate and not see the greater good? How can you, of all people, be so selfish and go against your father’s…biggest and greatest…Hope?”
Superman answered, “Because I cannot kill billions of people in the process. Jor-El never saw the consequences, after I landed here. He didn’t know of the good and kind people here, only that the yellow sun would protect me and make me strong…”
“Lor-Van also thought not of the consequences of his actions. Wait, Kal…”
“We’re not friends,” he flatly told the General.
Zod rose to his feet. His gentle pleas to the son of Jor-El were stated with closed eyes. Now he opened one. He opened the other.
Ursa nearly struck a pose of combat.
The dumb one simply looked around.
Zod had a new ploy. “Kal-El, please. Give yourself up without a fight.”
“Don’t fight you?”
Zod smiled, again like a snake. “We’re not here to fight.”
Superman tilted his head and didn’t believe the pale words. He corrected the Supreme General with certainty. “No! You’re here to destroy the Earth and billions of humans.”
“To save our people after all this time? Yes. Surrender, willfully…”
Kal thought about it intensely. He asked the universe…
Was Zod right all along? Did a Kryptonian life mean far more than an Earthly life? Should and could he destroy the Earth so his people can live? Was it fate? Would his father have chosen to save the gods or the basic, military-minded cave people on the primitive planet?
Son of Jor-El got his final answer. He knew. He could not smile under the burden of the decision to destroy the collective consciousness and therefore the many individual Spirits of his father’s world. He pointed at the yellow sun. “See that, Zod. Maybe that’s my Father? Maybe it, only now, suggested a resolution to…to everything? Ha.” Superman was less sad and smiled.
Ursa, behind her General and to the side, asked, “What?”
“I believe him. You said it, Zod: After all this time. Look at the Sun,” Kal commanded.
Zod looked directly into the brightness.
“It’s yellow. The entire Solar System is a young universe, a vibrant, energetic, new one! Our red sun was old and dying anyway. We HAD our time and lived well. We had to leave.”
“What a total disappointment you must be to your father…and your mother.”
Those were fighting words on any planet.
Kal-El readied himself for battle.
Zod and dark comrades also prepared to fight as much as super people could fight. They almost were unable to damage each other for very long.
“Let me at him, sir?” Ursa pleaded with big eyes of fire.
“Beauty before age,” Zod said with a smile and a hand wave. “Show him what you can do, Ursa.” He laughed. Zod figured his second might have an advantage with nothing to lose. Kal had everything to lose. Kal had the heavy burden of his father and grandfather’s sins on his head.
In a flash, she rocketed into Superman like a guided missile! After Superman was knocked backward all the way and crashed into Eden’s crater wall, the moon dust cleared and he returned.
The idiot Kryptonian (a rarity) started to lunge into the Man of Steel, but was stopped by Zod.
“Don’t help her. I want to see what she can do against him.” They watched.
She flew to him again and pummeled his chest again and again with violent thrusts. Sounds of the mighty blows echoed off the crater walls and were similar to thunder.
Stars shined. The Sun was high in an ebony sky as the lunar war continued…
Kal-El stood his ground, absorbed the pounding and felt each and every attack to his Spirit. Pain was felt: a new experience. Only a super caused pain to another super. But death? No. They could not kill each other, stuck in a mere stalemated situation.
Kal was like a solid, immovable statue up against an insurmountable Force. Ursa and Kal would soon be hurt, exhausted, weakened by the repeated power blows. After a moment’s rest, the supers healed, revitalized and continued the fight.
Superman braced and protected himself from every body blow from her. He knew his next move would be utterly unexpected. Inside the Man of Steel, he made his energy rise to maximum and he STRUCK! One surprise punch, a “rope a dope” was pulled on Ursa. For a few seconds, she was unconscious but would soon regain her sensations in only a short time…
So far, everything went as Kal-El had planned. He might be able to get rid of one of them right now, as hard as it was for him to kill. Here was where his ‘special place’ might be the key to the entire battle. Formerly Clark Kent rolled her into a ball, brought her to his chest, turned toward the central tower, aimed, calculated the physics and made what was similar to a mile long ‘basketball’ shot. Ursa was thrown out of the crater and high up to the very top of the central peak. It was a perfect ‘swish’ as she landed upon the pinnacle…
Little time passed and nothing happened. She was not in sight.
Zod thought: She should have regained her senses and fought more with the son of Jor-El. Where was she?
They all looked at each other.
The dumb one sure didn’t know.
Superman smiled a small smile at his father’s adversary. He knew.
Zod turned to the idiot and loudly ordered, “Get him!”
The brute appeared even more stupid. “Wha?”
“KILL HIM!” Zod screamed louder to get through to the other superman.
He finally got the message and used his whole body as a missile as hard as diamond. It blasted into the Superman!
Both were knocked back some distance from each other with a loud BANG. They were momentarily dazed and sprawled out upon the surface and in moon dust. In a few seconds, the idiot and Kal recovered and went at each other again…
The amused General watched with glee. Then, from the bottom of the crater, Zod looked up at the top of the tower. He didn’t understand where Ursa was and what happened to her.
This time, Superman didn’t want to stand there and take the pounding and pain again. He’d concentrate like karate guys. He formed and focused his Spirit into his own insurmountable Force and CHARGED!
The brute saw clearly what the Superman did and mimicked his charge like bulls who squared off. They rammed each other and a virtual explosion occurred!
The violent impact made the loudest noise yet and formed a tiny crater inside the Eden Crater. Visibility blurred because the vicinity rained with grey moon dust. When the area cleared…
General Zod witnessed Kal and his stooge. Kal grabbed him into a ball and also tossed him to the top of the slender mountain, exactly what he did to Ursa. Zod correctly thought Jor-El’s son had a secret system that neutralized his comrades. Enraged Zod, the powerful warrior, also hardened himself and shot like a dart at his enemy! The thunder clap deafened the supers…
Kal was pushed back so forceful that his back plowed into the crater wall and did not stop for 5000 feet!
Both were injured in the tremendous impact.
It was the most pain Kal ever experienced. After a long moment of silence, Kal-El came to his senses and flew out of the tunnel he created. He faced Zod, who also came to consciousness.
“Stop! Kal stop.” Big breaths were expelled from the General. He bled.
Both combatants bled.
Son of Jor-El screamed! He screamed not because of pain. He screamed because of the entire situation, the agony of it all: the horrible fate of the old Kryptonians he carried. He screamed in pain again and only wanted to see his parents, talk to them…if it were possible?
Through heavy breaths, Zod expressed, “Good. Get it all out of your system, boy.”
“Shut up!” Superman also exuded violent emotions and heavy breaths.
“Ha. All this time. I forgot about it. Distracted, I guess. Ha. I had your life in the palm of my hand the whole time.”
“What?” Kal said and stared closely at him. What’s Zod’s ploy now?
Zod suddenly had become more evil. His voice was deeper. “I will destroy your friends: Olsen, Perry White, Cousin Kara and the one you love: pretty Lois. They will die in excruciating pain. I will ensure that happens, which, of course, will also be your fault as well. When I press the button, the atomic World Motor will be ON; the action cannot be undone. Earth will die. You will die. We will terraform conditions here…for our kind. We have only you to thank, son of Jor-El.” The warrior-General lowered his arm in a slow, smooth motion to show the Man of Steel the trigger-mechanism he thought he held in his right-hand. It wasn’t there! “What?”
“Oh the one my heat ray burnt to nothing? You didn’t feel it? You are distracted.”
ZOD EXPLODED AT THE REALIZATION! His people he was programmed to ‘serve and protect’ would not incubate and materialize in the real world. His people were truly dead. Zod went crazy! The mechanism he held in his hand was everything. Kal picked the truth out of his brain. Kal killed them and made his choice. Now, maniac General wanted to kill Superman. Zod screamed louder than his foe and smashed into him at different angles again and again!
Superman flew out of Eden and near another special place, near the base of Arzachel’s tower. He stepped on a lever on the surface. The lead suit he crafted popped up above the terrain. Kal got into it as he’d done before.
Zod breathed heavy and watched with curiosity from a short distance. “You have my attention.” He thought it was funny. “Your shiny suit won’t save you, brother. The coating means nothing! I will kill you now!” The General ‘saw red’ to the extent of intense Heat Rays. They blasted in Kal’s general direction and missed.
Superman in suit quickly flew to the top of the tower, his target area.
Mad Zod followed, but not in flight. He climbed up the tower in a blind rage with only ‘Kill, Kill, Kill’ on his twisted, un-programmed mind! He climbed like a rabid animal. Parts of the lunar landscape fell in pieces as the General climbed higher and higher, the hard way. Something was odd. Zod had to slow down the crazy ascent. He was forced to go slower. Nearly the last thought in his mind was: What magic made me weak?
By the time he reached the top, Zod was no longer a superman; he was stripped of mighty powers and near death. When he looked to the left, there was the dead body of the dummy. When he looked to the right, he saw the dead body of Ursa, the one he loved. His last sight was a black spike that stood on the side and at the very top, only seen in outline by the stars it blocked.
Zod was dead. Kryptonite buried at the top did its job. Zod never heard of the element.
Kal in lead emerged from a niche of a large boulder. He took a few steps and collapsed. He was weak from the emotional strains. He carried his people; he was responsible for them and the ultimate decision to destroy them because of his love of Earth people~
He cried and cried inside a thin, full-body, lead-lined casing. He cried because he had to kill. He was in pain and very weak, not because he was dying. It was everything. “Why father?”
“Open your eyes, my son.”
When Kal-El’s tear-filled eyes opened, he found himself in perfect alignment with the Sun. The yellow rays did not hurt. They were pleasant. They were warm and wonderful. The huge disk in the blackness was a fantastic, radiant sight. He felt divine. “Father?”
“You wanted to speak to us again. Here we are.”
“We?” the shocked son replied to the Sun. He wiped his eyes and felt their presence.
“Hello, my son.”
“Mother!”
“We are so proud of you, Kal. Both of us. We are together. We are in love again.”
“I don’t believe it.”
Jor-El’s Spirit through a star expressed, “Please believe it, son. And we love you.”
A strange silence hit the sunrays. Kal felt that a big problem remained. “What’s wrong?”
Lara’s sweet voice told him about one more truth, one more Big Decision and one larger burden that can now be placed upon his shoulders. “That is, dear…if you decide…to take the…” His mother did not have the words. She was too emotional. She knew that this was the end and what her golden angel of a son would choose.
“You have another choice in front on you, son.” Jor-El took over the conversation.
Kal was fascinated. “I’m intrigued. It’s so beautiful to hear mother’s voice again. But, please…explain, father: What choice? What’s wrong? I just felt something.”
Jor-El was emotional. He explained to his son, through his feelings: “As it stands now, we can activate thousands if not millions of our people, through you, son. The Codex is viable.”
“What? Father, that’s what the General wanted?”
Lara said, “Not at all. Completely different, Kal. Nothing gets destroyed...” She did not have the heart to tell the full truth to her precious son.
Jor-El spoke plainly, “She means…nothing but you, son. You see, we sent alien emissaries to our distant colonies to oversee…”
“What father?’
“The colonies weren’t destroyed, weren’t all ruined. Many of our survivors lay in sarcophagi, preserved; they await ‘activation’ by the individual Spirits you hold, that you’ve always held. They can come alive, live again. Not as Men of Steel. Maybe some will be! Who understands consequences, eh? Maybe there will be an age of supermen again. Who knows?”
“Why is mother crying?”
Jor-El hesitated. He started to say what Kal already realized. “Because…”
The son finished his father’s statement of fact. “…Because I have to die. Zod was right. Codex extraction of our people’s souls from me will…will destroy me, forever.”
“Yes, Kal,” his father said solemnly while his mother cried. They knew his choice.
“You are telling me: My living is holding up the process, gumming up the works? Ha.”
The father did not mean to laugh, but he knew his son’s sense of humor. “Ha.”
“At my death, the Codex process will begin? Is that right, parents?”
“Yes.”
“The choice, and God I hope it’s my last choice, is: I live or many of our people live again? And Earth people are safe from harm?”
“Yes, son.”
Kal-El was very happy at the opportunity. This was his fate, his program. This was what he must do and very much wanted to do. “Then there is no choice. I must say goodbye to you both with all the love in my heart. Thank you for life, dear parents. I love you both, dearly…”
The sunlight glowed brighter.
“One question. Is there any way I could have a moment to say goodbye to my special friends, the ones I hold dear back on Earth?” Kal pushed a button and left the lead suit.
His father checked. It was possible. “Go back to closed eyes, son.”
“Sure.” Kal complied and smiled. Soon he’d feel the effects of the deadly Kryptonite.
In a dream reality that was the exact same as actual reality, Clark Kent was able to get his wish. In the real world, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White had ghostly experiences. Jimmy said, “Jeepers” about a hundred times. Perry was as white as a ghost when he saw Clark’s ghost, which was not Great Caesar’s ghost!
Clark was so thankful for a tender, brilliant moment with Miss Lane. They kissed. He even grabbed her ass. She let him. When he told her that he was Superman, Lois responded with…
“I know that. I was playing along with you, silly. You kept telling us with those double-meaning hints. Never there when he is. I would be some damn, lousy reporter. Clark? Clark?”
DECADES LATER:
In more modern times, without actual superheroes anymore or where superhero meta-humans/enhanced humans work for fed criminals instead of fighting corruption and the real enemies to humanity: hidden, occult Crime Families and bankers that secretly rule the planet…
The world, aka planet Earth, had gotten much darker, evil and far more dangerous. At a time when we needed true blue saviors, Men of Steel…one fell from the sky~
He was preceded by a Green Lantern, the one from the Ackbanar System. He or she announced to everyone on Earth as well as the other 12 inhabited planets in our System (they’d pass the news to populated satellites) that a different Superman had arrived. Over Media: “His name is Rol-Var, from the House of Var. He is a reincarnated Kryptonian with a new life, a new symbol. He is a great Scientist, thinker and problem-solver. He has been assigned charge or have complete jurisdiction over your 14 orbiters, your planets and moons and the various life upon them. Rol-Var is a kind King. He will rule wisely and fairly. Wars will cease. Needless killing and violence will end. A brave, better and free age for your System will happen. These are not the false promises you have heard before. In time, warriors will be made obsolete. The Meek will truly and peacefully and nonviolently inherit the Earth. In a sense, your Superman has returned.”
The public in every country and elites on hidden off-world colonies, whose time had come to an end, saw positive changes in the wind. Houses, Industries would be cleaned of corruption, on other planets also. Technology will be shared, distributed from the top (rich) on down (to the poor). Neo Superman will make sure that everything is done the right, proper and the most beneficial way for everyone. They will have a high standard of life because there won’t be a need for armies or any type of destruction or even police. Dreams will be made real, nearing utopia.
The New Superman landed and everyone got their first look. His uniform was bright blue.
How to order novels by TS Caladan
- http://www.twbpress.com/authortraycaladan.html Promo-page from publisher: TWB Press in Colorado
- http://www.twbpress.com/sonofzog.html TWB Press in Colorado
or go to publisher’s site: TWBPRESS.COM
TWB Press, publishing, electronic, e-books, ebooks, short stories, novels, science fiction, supernatural, horror, thrillers, fiction
TS Caladan's 3-Book "Traylogy" can be purchased thru TWB Press.
9" x 6" books with cover art are less than $18.00. EBooks are $3.99.