The Phantom Zone
The sound of concrete breaking filled the air as Non, the silent muscle of General Zod's group, punched the dense wall in front of him. There was layer upon layer of concrete to get through, and several deadly traps inside, all designed to keep the treasure that General Zod desired safe. After what seemed like forever, Non had punched through the final layer, allowing General Zod, his wife Ursa, and his lackey Non into the fortress.
"We draw ever closer to our prize," Zod said as he looked at his wife. "Soon we will be free of the Phantom Zone forever, and then--"
"And then, revenge," Ursa said with a devious smile. The trio walked into the fortress, and the first thing they ran into was an invisible force field, keeping them confined where they stood. Zod looked up at the corners of the wall, where mini-lasers were projecting the force field. Zod and Ursa used their heat vision to destroy the lasers, freeing themselves of the force field as they continued.
Next, they found a door that led into a lead-lined room filled with pure kryptonite. Zod quickly closed the door as he stared at Non, nodding slightly. The bulky Kryptonian started spinning in place, drilling a hole in the floor, tunneling past the deadly room and up into the room beyond that. Zod and Ursa jumped down the hole and followed, coming up into the next room.
"This seems harmless enough," Ursa said as a dart flew past her. More darts flew out of the walls as she held up her armored wrists, causing all of the darts to bounce off of them as she led Zod and Non to the next door.
"This is it," Zod said as he put his hand on the handle. "Beyond this door is everything we need to destroy Kal-El and restore our glorious legacy!"
Zod opened the door and found his son, Lor-Zod, sitting there, waiting. Lor was a young man in his early 20's, with blonde hair and a black suit with the 'S' logo that he knew would anger his father to no end.
"Aw, that was sweet of you to say, but it's not happening, Dad," Lor said. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Uncle Non."
Non just grunted at him.
"Does this guy ever shut up? Seriously, stop talking my ear off," Lor said as he stood up.
"What are you doing here, boy?" Zod asked angrily. "Where is--"
"You mean the thing that does that thing? Oh, it's safe far from here," Lor told him. "I got word that you were doing that thing where you try to destroy everything in your path and I decided to stop you."
"Tell me where it is, or I will crush you," Zod demanded. "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long."
"Oh, come on, *Dad*," Lor said, doing the quotation marks. "What are you going to do, beat me like when I was little? Make me ‘kneel before Zod?’ You should have that printed on a t-shirt for as much as you say that stupid line."
"Kill him," Zod said calmly as Non flew forward. Lor just waited until Non got close enough before grabbing him, flipping him over his shoulder, and through the wall.
"Later, Uncle Non!"
As he turned back around, Zod grabbed his son by the neck, lifting him into the air and squeezing slowly.
"Tell me where it is, boy, or my face will be the last thing you will ever see,"
"Well, when you put it that way," Lor said while choking. His eyes started to glow red as a blast of heat vision shot into Zod's eyes. He screamed in pain as he dropped Lor, who tried to catch his breath, but not before Ursa grabbed him and flung him through the wall.
"Destroy him!" Zod ordered as Ursa flew after.
"I hate family reunions," Lor said as he saw Ursa and Non flying toward him. Lor ducked as the two rammed into each other.
"Seriously? I thought that kind of thing only worked in cartoons."
Zod rammed into Lor as the two flew through several rocks, causing them to shatter on impact as the two traded punches back and forth.
"I think this is more quality time than you've ever spent with me!" Lor said as he grabbed Zod and threw him into another floating rock. "Can we toss around a ball next?"
Zod recovered and grabbed a larger rock, spinning it around and sending it directly toward Lor.
"Me and my big mouth," Lor said as he reared his arm back to punch it, but Non grabbed him from behind as the rock impacted, sending both crashing to the ground. Lor, his costume now getting ragged and torn, tried to get up. "I'm starting to think that they don't like me."
Ursa grabbed Lor by the hair and kicked him in the face, sending the young man onto his back. She stomped him in the face before lifting him up by the remains of his shirt and punched him several times.
"I love you, too, mom," Lor said in a daze as Zod put a hand on her arm.
"That's enough, my dear, I believe I know where he has hidden the weapon," Zod said. "We have no further use for him. Non, dispose of this... thing that dares bear my genetics."
Non grabbed Lor and flew up into the air, seeing a nearby black hole. He spun around as fast as he could, sending Lor through it, not caring where the black hole went. The large Kryptonian just grunted as he flew off to find the General.
As Lor fell through the black hole to an unknown destination, the effects of the hole began de-aging the son of Zod from a twenty-something year old man, to by the time he fell out of the hole and onto Martha Kent's farm, a sixteen-year old boy.
After a good deal of traveling through the Phantom Zone, the trio found the small cave that was a makeshift home to Lor. After destroying everything in the place, Zod finally found what he was after. He held up a ring and started laughing.
"The destruction of the House of El begins!"
# # # # #
Now
The Kent Farm, just outside of Metropolis
Lor-Zod, or as his adopted Earth family named him, Chris, lay in a bed in the guest room. Martha and Lois had patched up his wounds and given him a pair of Clark's pajama pants to wear while he recovered. Chris continued to mumble random things in Kryptonian as his eyes remained closed.
"He keeps saying the same things over and over again," Martha said as she brought a fresh towel to cool his forehead with. "Clark says it means--"
"He's sorry," Lois said, having learned some Kryptonian, or at least enough to get by. "He still hasn't opened his eyes. What did Zod do to him?"
"Worse than that, what is Zod planning to do to Clark?" Martha asked.
# # # # #
Metropolis
Jimmy Olsen was walking out of the Daily Planet, letting out a loud yawn as he stepped out onto the street. He was now working two jobs to make ends meet, and wasn't sure how much longer he could take working nearly 16 hours a day with only a few hours of sleep.
As he walked, he thought he heard something in the nearby alley. It sounded like a woman begging for help, and Jimmy wasn't the kind of guy who'd let someone in need get hurt. That wasn't what his best friend Superman would do. Jimmy ran into the alley and heard the woman continuing to scream for help. As Jimmy got to the dumpster at the end of the alley, he looked around the corner and found Ursa standing there. She immediately grabbed the young man by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"Let me kill him," Ursa pleaded as she looked at the red-head struggling in her grip.
"Now, Ursa, you know that we need this one for our plan," Zod told her. "Perhaps after, when our goals have been reached and the son of Jor-El has been defeated."
Ursa took Jimmy away from the wall and pushed him into Non's grip, who held Jimmy from behind while Ursa ripped his shirt down the front before Non removed it completely. Jimmy fell forward, staring up at Zod's boots.
"You are the closest friend of my sworn enemy," Zod said as Jimmy was still trying to catch his breath. "That makes you my enemy."
Before Jimmy could say anything, Zod kicked him just hard enough to render the young man unconscious.
"Bring him," Zod ordered as Non slung him over his shoulder. Zod nodded to Ursa, who was holding the remnants of Jimmy's shirt. "Go, my love, deliver our message to the son of Kal-El. If the spawn of our enemy is anything like his father, he'll come running to save this pathetic creature."
# # # # #
"What are we doing? We need to be out there finding Zod!" Connor said as he sat in the living room, where Clark was telling Connor and Jon what was going on.
"I have another brother? Awesome!" Jon shouted, his eyes widening in anticipation of meeting the older boy.
"Not awesome," Connor said. "If he's here, then Zod's not far behind. Not looking forward to that."
"We'll deal with Zod before he can cause any damage, no matter what it takes," Clark promised. "The League is already on high priority alert. The second he steps out of the shadows, I'll be right there to stop him. I want to see if Chris wakes up, he might know what Zod's plan is. But if he doesn't wake up soon, then Connor and I will start searching for Zod ourselves. And yes, Jon, that makes him your brother, just like Connor. We're all a family, and right now, Chris needs us to be there for him."
"Can I see him?" Jon asked.
"Just be careful, he's still weak," Clark said as Jon flew upstairs. Clark looked at Connor and sighed. "I meant what I said, we're--"
"A family, got it," Connor said as he stood up, which is when Clark noticed something was off with him.
"Are you... sunburned?"
"What? No," Connor said, trying to laugh it off as Clark poked a finger on his skin. "Ow! I mean... not ow."
Clark lowered his glasses and used his x-ray vision on Connor, seeing all kinds of bruises, including his scraped leg. "Start talking."
Connor stared down at the floor, ashamed that he had to tell Clark about his problem. "It started when we were on Brainiac's ship..."
# # # # #
Jon just stared wide-eyed at the young man lying in the bed.
"Hi, Chris," Jon whispered to him. "I'm Jon, and I'm your little brother. And I want you to wake up so we can be friends. Then you and me and Connor can all be brothers together and save people as a team."
"Has Jon always been this optimistic?" Martha asked as she stood in the doorway watching him with Lois.
"He gets it from his father, and it seems to grow every day," Lois told him. "I'm just worried that someday something's going to cause him to lose that optimism. I mean, Jon's seen some of Clark's enemies up close before, but he's never met anything close to the evil that Zod has brought into our lives."
"It'll be okay, Lois," Martha promised. "If Clark can grow into the man he is, then I have no doubt that you and Clark can do the same for Jon. He's going to be fine, you'll see."
Lois suddenly received a text.
"Emergency, I'll be back soon. Had to go to the Fortress with Connor for something. Be back in an hour. Love you, Clark."
# # # # #
The Fortress of Solitude
Connor was laying on a table as Superman scanned him with a Kryptonian laser.
"What's this supposed to do?" Connor asked as the laser scanned up and down his body. "That tickles."
"It'll tell us why your powers haven't been restored like mine and Jon's were when we left Brainiac's ship," Superman told him. Krypto came up to Connor and whimpered a bit as he rested his head on the table, almost as if he could sense what was wrong.
"It'll be okay, boy," Connor told him as he patted the dog's head. "We'll fix what's wrong with me, then we can go play with Jon, okay?"
"I don't believe this," Superman said as he looked at the monitor's readings.
"The computer says that I'm a stud, I already know," Connor said, trying to laugh it off. "Right?"
"The chamber that you said Brainiac put you into, it was supposed to rip you apart molecule by molecule, right?"
"Yeah, but I got out before anything bad happened," Connor said as he looked over in Superman's direction. "I felt weak for a while, but I got right back up to save Jon."
"No, something bad did happen," Superman told him. "That chamber ripped out your Kryptonian DNA. Every last strand of it. According to the scan...you're 100% human. There isn't a trace of Kryptonian left in you."
"But you can fix that, right?" Connor asked, his voice shaking. "You can shoot me with a laser, or throw me in a different chamber or something, right? Please, say you can fix this."
"I can't fix this, Connor, " Superman said sadly. "I destroyed Brainiac's ship, it had your stolen DNA on it. I'm sorry, but you're going to be like this forever."
# # # # #
While Martha and Lois were looking after Chris, Jon had gone outside and was sitting on the swingset, wondering where Connor went to. He was starting to love the idea of having two older brothers to hang out with. He loved hearing the stories about Nightwing, Red Robin, and Damian, wishing he could have that kind of family. Now it looked like that wish might come true.
Jon thought he saw a quick blur coming from the front yard and went to investigate. As he arrived on the front lawn, he gasped as he saw a torn shirt flapping in the wind as it hung from the flag pole.
"That's Uncle Jimmy's shirt that Mom gave him on his birthday," Jon said, starting to panic. "Dad said he was going to the Fortress for a little while, but Uncle Jimmy could be in real trouble. I-- I have to save him all by myself."
Quickly getting into his costume, Superboy took off into the air, scanning the countryside with his x-ray vision, just like his dad had taught him. Zod was one of the few villains his dad wouldn't talk about, so he couldn't be that bad, right? That's when he thought he heard Jimmy's voice.
"Don't worry, I'm coming!" Superboy shouted as he landed in a quarry several miles away. He might have gotten buried under a rock slide. Some super digging would probably save the day. After all, Jon loved digging in the dirt. "Tell me where you are!"
"Over here!" Jimmy's voice said as Superboy flew toward the sound. He started digging at superspeed until he uncovered something, but it wasn't what he was expecting. It was a bomb, and it was two seconds away from exploding.
"... Crap."
BOOM!
Superboy was blasted across the quarry, hitting the rock wall on the other side. He fell face first to the ground, moaning as he tried to pick himself up. As he raised his head, he saw the black boots of General Zod standing before him.
"Son of Kal-El," Zod said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I had hoped you'd come alone."
"Wh- who are you?" Superboy asked as Zod picked him up by the collar of his shirt.
"I am General Zod."
"What do you want?" Superboy asked as he tried to get enough strength to fight as Zod slammed him against the wall.
"Your father's head," Zod said. "But first I'm going to destroy his greatest possession: you."
"My dad's going to kick your butt," Superboy said while trying to breathe.
Zod slammed Superboy to the ground as Ursa grabbed the boy from behind, forcing him to his knees as Zod placed a fake diamond necklace around his neck.
"This is your big plan? Making me wear tacky jewelry?" Superboy asked.
Zod smiled as he held his closed fist toward Superboy, with the ring he'd recently acquired facing him.
"I offer you one chance," Zod said. "Swear allegiance to me and my house, or you will be the first to feel the wrath of Zod. Kiss the ring, child, and your life will be spared."
"Well, when you put it that way," Superboy said. "How about you kiss my cape?"
"Very well," Zod said as the ring lit up and fired at the diamond around Jon's neck, transforming it into a piece of red kryptonite. Ursa let the boy go, forcing him onto his stomach as the trio flew away. "Come, we have much to do before we face the son of Jor-El!"
Jon tried to pick himself up as he started feeling strange. He looked at his hands as he felt something bad starting to happen.
"What's happening to me?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
SUPERMAN FAMILY ALBUM
"Thanks for helping me out, Clark," Pete said Clark was helping him clean out the garage. "My dad said that I can't go out until this place is spotless."
"No problem," Clark said as he carried several heavy boxes out to the curb. "I had nothing else going on today anyway. My parents are in Metropolis for their anniversary, so I'm home alone for the weekend."
"Hey, you want to get ready for Lana's birthday party together?" Pete asked. "You know I always have trouble with my tie."
Clark dropped the boxes to the ground, along with his jaw. "That's TONIGHT?"
"Don't tell me you forgot," Pete said as Clark slowly started backing away.
"Of... course not," Clark said. "Well, the garage is clean, I'm just going to go... do stuff. Hey, what's that?"
When Pete looked the other way, Clark took off at superspeed.
# # # # #
"Come on," Clark said as he tried to get all the money he could find together in the house, only coming up with a few dollars. He'd used most of his money to help buy the local orphanage some new toys for the kids. "Great, how am I supposed to buy Lana something nice with five bucks?"
# # # # #
Clark rushed downtown to the local department store, hoping to find something he could afford when he saw Whitney walking out of the store with a snowglobe that had a dancing ballerina inside that turned when you wound it up.
"Hey, Clark," Whitney said. "You ready for Lana's party?"
"No," Clark said nervously. "I forgot Lana's birthday was today and I don't have the money for anything nice. Is that what you're--?"
"Yeah, I've been saving up for months for it," Whitney told him. "Think she'll like it?"
"She's going to love it," Clark said sadly as Whitney saw the sad expression on his face. He knew how much Clark liked Lana ever since the two had become friends a few years ago.
"Clark, I'm sure that you can find something just as good," Whitney assured him. "Why don't I get this home and we'll meet up in a while and I'll--"
Clark was already walking away with his head hung in shame.
# # # # #
"Gotta get Lana something great," Clark said as he paced around the living room. "But what? It's not like I can travel the world and find something... wait a minute, I can totally do that!"
# # # # #
Africa
Clark was rushing through, looking for something exotic and found a beautiful handmade beaded necklace from a villager who only asked for two dollars. It was the last one she had, as it took months to make them. But as Clark was rushing out of the small village, he noticed poachers trying to kill an elephant for its ivory. Without them seeing, Clark grabbed their guns and tied them up, leaving them for the authorities, but realized he'd dropped the necklace in the process, which the elephant he'd saved accidentally stomped on.
Clark just whimpered as he headed off to find another gift.
Paris
Clark found a small model of the Eifel Tower for two dollars. Lana had always dreamed of visiting Paris, so the model could be a reminder not to give up on her dream. As he was getting ready to head back to Smallville, Clark saw a fire had broken out at a nearby home. He couldn't leave without helping, so he used his speed to rush in and out of the building to get the family to safety. Once the house was cleared, he used his breath to put out the fire. As Clark looked down, he realized the model had melted due to the heat.
# # # # #
"One dollar left," Clark said as he looked down at the dollar bill in his hand. "What am I supposed to get for one dollar?"
As he was getting ready to head home, Clark passed by a donation bucket, just dropping the dollar in. They'd probably make better use of the dollar than he could.
Clark made it home just in time to get ready for Lana's party, putting on a suit and tie as he headed to the park. Everyone was there already, talking and having a good time. Lana was smiling and wearing a new red dress, talking with her girlfriends.
Pete saw Clark coming, running over to him while still holding a plate of cake. "You okay?"
"I couldn't find a decent gift," Clark said sadly. "The best I could do was flowers and a card. I'm a horrible friend."
"Are you kidding? You worked your butt off to afford that ski trip last spring, then you gave me your ticket at the last second because I couldn't afford it," Pete said.
"You were looking forward to it more," Clark told him. "You're one of my best friends, I'd do anything for you, or Whitney, or...," Clark stared at Lana and sighed.
"Clark!" Lana said as she headed toward him, hugging him and kissing his cheek. "Thank you, the gift was beautiful."
"The gift?" Clark asked, confused. "I just gave you--"
"The most beautiful snowglobe," Lana said, pointing to the ballerina snowglobe. "I love it."
"But I-- I didn't," Clark said as he saw Whitney standing by himself, watching the party. "Excuse me for a moment, Lana, I'll be right back."
Clark headed over to where Whitney was standing. "Start talking."
"I got her something smaller, and put your name on the snowglobe," Whitney told him.
"But... why? I thought you were interested in Lana."
"I am, but... dammit, Clark, I saw the look on your face and... you're a great guy, you have this huge heart and seeing you not smiling," Whitney said as he looked down. "It makes me not smile. You're the nicest guy in the world. I've seen you literally give the shirt off of your back to someone because they were cold. It's annoying how perfect you are. This could have been my chance to see you crash and burn, but I couldn't do it. You're my buddy, Clark. This was finally my chance to help you. Besides, there's... someone else that I like more. Being with Lana would be nice, but someone else makes me feel... I don't know... good about myself.."
"What's her name? Maybe I could--"
"It's a guy, Clark," Whitney told him. "It's Pete. I'm in love with Pete."
# # # # #
Later on, Clark was dancing with Lana as virtually everyone else was pairing up to share a dance to the music. Pete was sitting back, watching Clark and Lana, wishing it was Lana he was dancing with.
"Looks like we're the odd guys out," Whitney said as he sat down with Pete.
"Yeah," Pete told him. "What you did for Clark... that was pretty swell of you."
"Swell? Who the hell talks like that?" Whitney asked. "You really like Lana too, don't you?"
"Doesn't everybody?" Pete asked. "I mean, even you have to admit that you'd like to go out with her."
"Yeah, I guess I do," Whitney told him. He desperately wanted to tell Pete how he felt, but as he stared at one of his best friends, he started to realize that he didn't want to ruin a good thing that he already had. There was no need to make things awkward between them with a one-sided crush. "You want to cut out early, Pete? It's getting a little too romantic here for me. Want to check out that new video arcade, maybe get a burger?"
"Yeah, it's better than watching everyone on the verge of making out," Pete told him with a laugh. "Let's go, buddy."
As the two left, they just missed Lana and Clark sharing their first kiss.
The sound of concrete breaking filled the air as Non, the silent muscle of General Zod's group, punched the dense wall in front of him. There was layer upon layer of concrete to get through, and several deadly traps inside, all designed to keep the treasure that General Zod desired safe. After what seemed like forever, Non had punched through the final layer, allowing General Zod, his wife Ursa, and his lackey Non into the fortress.
"We draw ever closer to our prize," Zod said as he looked at his wife. "Soon we will be free of the Phantom Zone forever, and then--"
"And then, revenge," Ursa said with a devious smile. The trio walked into the fortress, and the first thing they ran into was an invisible force field, keeping them confined where they stood. Zod looked up at the corners of the wall, where mini-lasers were projecting the force field. Zod and Ursa used their heat vision to destroy the lasers, freeing themselves of the force field as they continued.
Next, they found a door that led into a lead-lined room filled with pure kryptonite. Zod quickly closed the door as he stared at Non, nodding slightly. The bulky Kryptonian started spinning in place, drilling a hole in the floor, tunneling past the deadly room and up into the room beyond that. Zod and Ursa jumped down the hole and followed, coming up into the next room.
"This seems harmless enough," Ursa said as a dart flew past her. More darts flew out of the walls as she held up her armored wrists, causing all of the darts to bounce off of them as she led Zod and Non to the next door.
"This is it," Zod said as he put his hand on the handle. "Beyond this door is everything we need to destroy Kal-El and restore our glorious legacy!"
Zod opened the door and found his son, Lor-Zod, sitting there, waiting. Lor was a young man in his early 20's, with blonde hair and a black suit with the 'S' logo that he knew would anger his father to no end.
"Aw, that was sweet of you to say, but it's not happening, Dad," Lor said. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Uncle Non."
Non just grunted at him.
"Does this guy ever shut up? Seriously, stop talking my ear off," Lor said as he stood up.
"What are you doing here, boy?" Zod asked angrily. "Where is--"
"You mean the thing that does that thing? Oh, it's safe far from here," Lor told him. "I got word that you were doing that thing where you try to destroy everything in your path and I decided to stop you."
"Tell me where it is, or I will crush you," Zod demanded. "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long."
"Oh, come on, *Dad*," Lor said, doing the quotation marks. "What are you going to do, beat me like when I was little? Make me ‘kneel before Zod?’ You should have that printed on a t-shirt for as much as you say that stupid line."
"Kill him," Zod said calmly as Non flew forward. Lor just waited until Non got close enough before grabbing him, flipping him over his shoulder, and through the wall.
"Later, Uncle Non!"
As he turned back around, Zod grabbed his son by the neck, lifting him into the air and squeezing slowly.
"Tell me where it is, boy, or my face will be the last thing you will ever see,"
"Well, when you put it that way," Lor said while choking. His eyes started to glow red as a blast of heat vision shot into Zod's eyes. He screamed in pain as he dropped Lor, who tried to catch his breath, but not before Ursa grabbed him and flung him through the wall.
"Destroy him!" Zod ordered as Ursa flew after.
"I hate family reunions," Lor said as he saw Ursa and Non flying toward him. Lor ducked as the two rammed into each other.
"Seriously? I thought that kind of thing only worked in cartoons."
Zod rammed into Lor as the two flew through several rocks, causing them to shatter on impact as the two traded punches back and forth.
"I think this is more quality time than you've ever spent with me!" Lor said as he grabbed Zod and threw him into another floating rock. "Can we toss around a ball next?"
Zod recovered and grabbed a larger rock, spinning it around and sending it directly toward Lor.
"Me and my big mouth," Lor said as he reared his arm back to punch it, but Non grabbed him from behind as the rock impacted, sending both crashing to the ground. Lor, his costume now getting ragged and torn, tried to get up. "I'm starting to think that they don't like me."
Ursa grabbed Lor by the hair and kicked him in the face, sending the young man onto his back. She stomped him in the face before lifting him up by the remains of his shirt and punched him several times.
"I love you, too, mom," Lor said in a daze as Zod put a hand on her arm.
"That's enough, my dear, I believe I know where he has hidden the weapon," Zod said. "We have no further use for him. Non, dispose of this... thing that dares bear my genetics."
Non grabbed Lor and flew up into the air, seeing a nearby black hole. He spun around as fast as he could, sending Lor through it, not caring where the black hole went. The large Kryptonian just grunted as he flew off to find the General.
As Lor fell through the black hole to an unknown destination, the effects of the hole began de-aging the son of Zod from a twenty-something year old man, to by the time he fell out of the hole and onto Martha Kent's farm, a sixteen-year old boy.
After a good deal of traveling through the Phantom Zone, the trio found the small cave that was a makeshift home to Lor. After destroying everything in the place, Zod finally found what he was after. He held up a ring and started laughing.
"The destruction of the House of El begins!"
# # # # #
Now
The Kent Farm, just outside of Metropolis
Lor-Zod, or as his adopted Earth family named him, Chris, lay in a bed in the guest room. Martha and Lois had patched up his wounds and given him a pair of Clark's pajama pants to wear while he recovered. Chris continued to mumble random things in Kryptonian as his eyes remained closed.
"He keeps saying the same things over and over again," Martha said as she brought a fresh towel to cool his forehead with. "Clark says it means--"
"He's sorry," Lois said, having learned some Kryptonian, or at least enough to get by. "He still hasn't opened his eyes. What did Zod do to him?"
"Worse than that, what is Zod planning to do to Clark?" Martha asked.
# # # # #
Metropolis
Jimmy Olsen was walking out of the Daily Planet, letting out a loud yawn as he stepped out onto the street. He was now working two jobs to make ends meet, and wasn't sure how much longer he could take working nearly 16 hours a day with only a few hours of sleep.
As he walked, he thought he heard something in the nearby alley. It sounded like a woman begging for help, and Jimmy wasn't the kind of guy who'd let someone in need get hurt. That wasn't what his best friend Superman would do. Jimmy ran into the alley and heard the woman continuing to scream for help. As Jimmy got to the dumpster at the end of the alley, he looked around the corner and found Ursa standing there. She immediately grabbed the young man by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"Let me kill him," Ursa pleaded as she looked at the red-head struggling in her grip.
"Now, Ursa, you know that we need this one for our plan," Zod told her. "Perhaps after, when our goals have been reached and the son of Jor-El has been defeated."
Ursa took Jimmy away from the wall and pushed him into Non's grip, who held Jimmy from behind while Ursa ripped his shirt down the front before Non removed it completely. Jimmy fell forward, staring up at Zod's boots.
"You are the closest friend of my sworn enemy," Zod said as Jimmy was still trying to catch his breath. "That makes you my enemy."
Before Jimmy could say anything, Zod kicked him just hard enough to render the young man unconscious.
"Bring him," Zod ordered as Non slung him over his shoulder. Zod nodded to Ursa, who was holding the remnants of Jimmy's shirt. "Go, my love, deliver our message to the son of Kal-El. If the spawn of our enemy is anything like his father, he'll come running to save this pathetic creature."
# # # # #
"What are we doing? We need to be out there finding Zod!" Connor said as he sat in the living room, where Clark was telling Connor and Jon what was going on.
"I have another brother? Awesome!" Jon shouted, his eyes widening in anticipation of meeting the older boy.
"Not awesome," Connor said. "If he's here, then Zod's not far behind. Not looking forward to that."
"We'll deal with Zod before he can cause any damage, no matter what it takes," Clark promised. "The League is already on high priority alert. The second he steps out of the shadows, I'll be right there to stop him. I want to see if Chris wakes up, he might know what Zod's plan is. But if he doesn't wake up soon, then Connor and I will start searching for Zod ourselves. And yes, Jon, that makes him your brother, just like Connor. We're all a family, and right now, Chris needs us to be there for him."
"Can I see him?" Jon asked.
"Just be careful, he's still weak," Clark said as Jon flew upstairs. Clark looked at Connor and sighed. "I meant what I said, we're--"
"A family, got it," Connor said as he stood up, which is when Clark noticed something was off with him.
"Are you... sunburned?"
"What? No," Connor said, trying to laugh it off as Clark poked a finger on his skin. "Ow! I mean... not ow."
Clark lowered his glasses and used his x-ray vision on Connor, seeing all kinds of bruises, including his scraped leg. "Start talking."
Connor stared down at the floor, ashamed that he had to tell Clark about his problem. "It started when we were on Brainiac's ship..."
# # # # #
Jon just stared wide-eyed at the young man lying in the bed.
"Hi, Chris," Jon whispered to him. "I'm Jon, and I'm your little brother. And I want you to wake up so we can be friends. Then you and me and Connor can all be brothers together and save people as a team."
"Has Jon always been this optimistic?" Martha asked as she stood in the doorway watching him with Lois.
"He gets it from his father, and it seems to grow every day," Lois told him. "I'm just worried that someday something's going to cause him to lose that optimism. I mean, Jon's seen some of Clark's enemies up close before, but he's never met anything close to the evil that Zod has brought into our lives."
"It'll be okay, Lois," Martha promised. "If Clark can grow into the man he is, then I have no doubt that you and Clark can do the same for Jon. He's going to be fine, you'll see."
Lois suddenly received a text.
"Emergency, I'll be back soon. Had to go to the Fortress with Connor for something. Be back in an hour. Love you, Clark."
# # # # #
The Fortress of Solitude
Connor was laying on a table as Superman scanned him with a Kryptonian laser.
"What's this supposed to do?" Connor asked as the laser scanned up and down his body. "That tickles."
"It'll tell us why your powers haven't been restored like mine and Jon's were when we left Brainiac's ship," Superman told him. Krypto came up to Connor and whimpered a bit as he rested his head on the table, almost as if he could sense what was wrong.
"It'll be okay, boy," Connor told him as he patted the dog's head. "We'll fix what's wrong with me, then we can go play with Jon, okay?"
"I don't believe this," Superman said as he looked at the monitor's readings.
"The computer says that I'm a stud, I already know," Connor said, trying to laugh it off. "Right?"
"The chamber that you said Brainiac put you into, it was supposed to rip you apart molecule by molecule, right?"
"Yeah, but I got out before anything bad happened," Connor said as he looked over in Superman's direction. "I felt weak for a while, but I got right back up to save Jon."
"No, something bad did happen," Superman told him. "That chamber ripped out your Kryptonian DNA. Every last strand of it. According to the scan...you're 100% human. There isn't a trace of Kryptonian left in you."
"But you can fix that, right?" Connor asked, his voice shaking. "You can shoot me with a laser, or throw me in a different chamber or something, right? Please, say you can fix this."
"I can't fix this, Connor, " Superman said sadly. "I destroyed Brainiac's ship, it had your stolen DNA on it. I'm sorry, but you're going to be like this forever."
# # # # #
While Martha and Lois were looking after Chris, Jon had gone outside and was sitting on the swingset, wondering where Connor went to. He was starting to love the idea of having two older brothers to hang out with. He loved hearing the stories about Nightwing, Red Robin, and Damian, wishing he could have that kind of family. Now it looked like that wish might come true.
Jon thought he saw a quick blur coming from the front yard and went to investigate. As he arrived on the front lawn, he gasped as he saw a torn shirt flapping in the wind as it hung from the flag pole.
"That's Uncle Jimmy's shirt that Mom gave him on his birthday," Jon said, starting to panic. "Dad said he was going to the Fortress for a little while, but Uncle Jimmy could be in real trouble. I-- I have to save him all by myself."
Quickly getting into his costume, Superboy took off into the air, scanning the countryside with his x-ray vision, just like his dad had taught him. Zod was one of the few villains his dad wouldn't talk about, so he couldn't be that bad, right? That's when he thought he heard Jimmy's voice.
"Don't worry, I'm coming!" Superboy shouted as he landed in a quarry several miles away. He might have gotten buried under a rock slide. Some super digging would probably save the day. After all, Jon loved digging in the dirt. "Tell me where you are!"
"Over here!" Jimmy's voice said as Superboy flew toward the sound. He started digging at superspeed until he uncovered something, but it wasn't what he was expecting. It was a bomb, and it was two seconds away from exploding.
"... Crap."
BOOM!
Superboy was blasted across the quarry, hitting the rock wall on the other side. He fell face first to the ground, moaning as he tried to pick himself up. As he raised his head, he saw the black boots of General Zod standing before him.
"Son of Kal-El," Zod said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I had hoped you'd come alone."
"Wh- who are you?" Superboy asked as Zod picked him up by the collar of his shirt.
"I am General Zod."
"What do you want?" Superboy asked as he tried to get enough strength to fight as Zod slammed him against the wall.
"Your father's head," Zod said. "But first I'm going to destroy his greatest possession: you."
"My dad's going to kick your butt," Superboy said while trying to breathe.
Zod slammed Superboy to the ground as Ursa grabbed the boy from behind, forcing him to his knees as Zod placed a fake diamond necklace around his neck.
"This is your big plan? Making me wear tacky jewelry?" Superboy asked.
Zod smiled as he held his closed fist toward Superboy, with the ring he'd recently acquired facing him.
"I offer you one chance," Zod said. "Swear allegiance to me and my house, or you will be the first to feel the wrath of Zod. Kiss the ring, child, and your life will be spared."
"Well, when you put it that way," Superboy said. "How about you kiss my cape?"
"Very well," Zod said as the ring lit up and fired at the diamond around Jon's neck, transforming it into a piece of red kryptonite. Ursa let the boy go, forcing him onto his stomach as the trio flew away. "Come, we have much to do before we face the son of Jor-El!"
Jon tried to pick himself up as he started feeling strange. He looked at his hands as he felt something bad starting to happen.
"What's happening to me?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
SUPERMAN FAMILY ALBUM
"Thanks for helping me out, Clark," Pete said Clark was helping him clean out the garage. "My dad said that I can't go out until this place is spotless."
"No problem," Clark said as he carried several heavy boxes out to the curb. "I had nothing else going on today anyway. My parents are in Metropolis for their anniversary, so I'm home alone for the weekend."
"Hey, you want to get ready for Lana's birthday party together?" Pete asked. "You know I always have trouble with my tie."
Clark dropped the boxes to the ground, along with his jaw. "That's TONIGHT?"
"Don't tell me you forgot," Pete said as Clark slowly started backing away.
"Of... course not," Clark said. "Well, the garage is clean, I'm just going to go... do stuff. Hey, what's that?"
When Pete looked the other way, Clark took off at superspeed.
# # # # #
"Come on," Clark said as he tried to get all the money he could find together in the house, only coming up with a few dollars. He'd used most of his money to help buy the local orphanage some new toys for the kids. "Great, how am I supposed to buy Lana something nice with five bucks?"
# # # # #
Clark rushed downtown to the local department store, hoping to find something he could afford when he saw Whitney walking out of the store with a snowglobe that had a dancing ballerina inside that turned when you wound it up.
"Hey, Clark," Whitney said. "You ready for Lana's party?"
"No," Clark said nervously. "I forgot Lana's birthday was today and I don't have the money for anything nice. Is that what you're--?"
"Yeah, I've been saving up for months for it," Whitney told him. "Think she'll like it?"
"She's going to love it," Clark said sadly as Whitney saw the sad expression on his face. He knew how much Clark liked Lana ever since the two had become friends a few years ago.
"Clark, I'm sure that you can find something just as good," Whitney assured him. "Why don't I get this home and we'll meet up in a while and I'll--"
Clark was already walking away with his head hung in shame.
# # # # #
"Gotta get Lana something great," Clark said as he paced around the living room. "But what? It's not like I can travel the world and find something... wait a minute, I can totally do that!"
# # # # #
Africa
Clark was rushing through, looking for something exotic and found a beautiful handmade beaded necklace from a villager who only asked for two dollars. It was the last one she had, as it took months to make them. But as Clark was rushing out of the small village, he noticed poachers trying to kill an elephant for its ivory. Without them seeing, Clark grabbed their guns and tied them up, leaving them for the authorities, but realized he'd dropped the necklace in the process, which the elephant he'd saved accidentally stomped on.
Clark just whimpered as he headed off to find another gift.
Paris
Clark found a small model of the Eifel Tower for two dollars. Lana had always dreamed of visiting Paris, so the model could be a reminder not to give up on her dream. As he was getting ready to head back to Smallville, Clark saw a fire had broken out at a nearby home. He couldn't leave without helping, so he used his speed to rush in and out of the building to get the family to safety. Once the house was cleared, he used his breath to put out the fire. As Clark looked down, he realized the model had melted due to the heat.
# # # # #
"One dollar left," Clark said as he looked down at the dollar bill in his hand. "What am I supposed to get for one dollar?"
As he was getting ready to head home, Clark passed by a donation bucket, just dropping the dollar in. They'd probably make better use of the dollar than he could.
Clark made it home just in time to get ready for Lana's party, putting on a suit and tie as he headed to the park. Everyone was there already, talking and having a good time. Lana was smiling and wearing a new red dress, talking with her girlfriends.
Pete saw Clark coming, running over to him while still holding a plate of cake. "You okay?"
"I couldn't find a decent gift," Clark said sadly. "The best I could do was flowers and a card. I'm a horrible friend."
"Are you kidding? You worked your butt off to afford that ski trip last spring, then you gave me your ticket at the last second because I couldn't afford it," Pete said.
"You were looking forward to it more," Clark told him. "You're one of my best friends, I'd do anything for you, or Whitney, or...," Clark stared at Lana and sighed.
"Clark!" Lana said as she headed toward him, hugging him and kissing his cheek. "Thank you, the gift was beautiful."
"The gift?" Clark asked, confused. "I just gave you--"
"The most beautiful snowglobe," Lana said, pointing to the ballerina snowglobe. "I love it."
"But I-- I didn't," Clark said as he saw Whitney standing by himself, watching the party. "Excuse me for a moment, Lana, I'll be right back."
Clark headed over to where Whitney was standing. "Start talking."
"I got her something smaller, and put your name on the snowglobe," Whitney told him.
"But... why? I thought you were interested in Lana."
"I am, but... dammit, Clark, I saw the look on your face and... you're a great guy, you have this huge heart and seeing you not smiling," Whitney said as he looked down. "It makes me not smile. You're the nicest guy in the world. I've seen you literally give the shirt off of your back to someone because they were cold. It's annoying how perfect you are. This could have been my chance to see you crash and burn, but I couldn't do it. You're my buddy, Clark. This was finally my chance to help you. Besides, there's... someone else that I like more. Being with Lana would be nice, but someone else makes me feel... I don't know... good about myself.."
"What's her name? Maybe I could--"
"It's a guy, Clark," Whitney told him. "It's Pete. I'm in love with Pete."
# # # # #
Later on, Clark was dancing with Lana as virtually everyone else was pairing up to share a dance to the music. Pete was sitting back, watching Clark and Lana, wishing it was Lana he was dancing with.
"Looks like we're the odd guys out," Whitney said as he sat down with Pete.
"Yeah," Pete told him. "What you did for Clark... that was pretty swell of you."
"Swell? Who the hell talks like that?" Whitney asked. "You really like Lana too, don't you?"
"Doesn't everybody?" Pete asked. "I mean, even you have to admit that you'd like to go out with her."
"Yeah, I guess I do," Whitney told him. He desperately wanted to tell Pete how he felt, but as he stared at one of his best friends, he started to realize that he didn't want to ruin a good thing that he already had. There was no need to make things awkward between them with a one-sided crush. "You want to cut out early, Pete? It's getting a little too romantic here for me. Want to check out that new video arcade, maybe get a burger?"
"Yeah, it's better than watching everyone on the verge of making out," Pete told him with a laugh. "Let's go, buddy."
As the two left, they just missed Lana and Clark sharing their first kiss.