Legends of Superman #5

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Legends of Superman #5
Bloodsport
Part 2:
The Boy of Steel

Written and edited by Daniel Dyer

Superman. Since his arrival in Metropolis, some have called him the Man of Steel. Others have dubbed him the Metropolis Marvel. More still think of him as the Man of Tomorrow. What does he think about himself. The last survivor of a long dead alien race. A race he knows nothing about. If asked where he comes from, he would simply reply, “I’m not sure,” never having ever discovered his home planet’s name. But now, hovering before Big Blue (still holding Bloodsport by his jacket), is another. A young boy, nearly identical to the Man of Steel. This boy has took the name, “Superboy?”

“Correcto-moondo... uh... sir,” the kid answers.

Perfect...

“And you come from where... Superboy?”

Distraction time...

“Well....” Before Superboy can say more there’s an explosion, crumbling the far wall.

Superman turns to see what happened.

Seizing this opportunity, Bloodsport pulls down, allowing his feet to touch the ground and pulls S.B., flipping the kid over his shoulder, sending him hurtling into Superman. Bloodsport waves to Superman, as Big Blue turns and sees ‘Sport teleporting away.

Guess, I wasn’t made as tough as ‘im, Superboy thinks to himself as he gets to his feet.

“TWO OF YOU!! Two of you and he still got away!” roared Luthor.

Superman turns to Lex. “Sorry, Mr. Luthor. He caught me off guard. I assure you, I’ll apprehend him.”

“I should hope so, alien,” Lex says coldly as he walks out of there.

Superman then turns back, only to find Superboy has gone. “Great.”

“Hey, Blue.” John walks up to the Man of Steel. “I just want to say... thanks.” Extending his hand to Superman.

Shaking John’s hand. “Don’t worry about it. If you truly want to thank me, just make your life count for something,” Superman tells him as he lifts himself into the air.

That’s the attitude of a man who committed global mass murder?

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Great job, “Superboy”, the kid thinks to himself as he flies over Metropolis. Superman must think I’m a complete loser. I let that killer get away.

>>Yes, you did. And you wanna know how I deal with failures?<<

“Oh, no. Please, I won’t fail again. I promise!” shouts the kid as Superman flies up to him.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Uh... no one! No one.” Superboy looks down as he continues. “You probably think I screwed up, huh?”

“Son...” Big Blue starts, but is interrupted by a big explosion in the distance.

“What the...?”

“An explosion! Come on... Superboy. We can talk later. Now we act.”

“We? Really?” asks the kid excitedly.

“Really,” flying towards the epicenter of the explosion, finding the building aflame.

“We evacua....” But Supes doesn’t finish as he sees Bloodsport in the distance.

“Ta ta.” Bloodsport waves and then vanishes quickly.

“He’s going after Irons!”

“What?” inquires Superboy.

“I saw Bloodsport,” and in an instance the plan changes slightly. Superman looks to the Kid of Steel. “Superboy... I need to go after Bloodsport. Do you think you’ll be fine here, alone?”

“Hey, invulnerability is my friend. Now go, this is a job for Superboy.”

Grinning, Superman takes to the skies.

Seeing his idol fly off, SB suddenly gets a wake up call.

“Help us! My family... stuck... in there...” a man says just before he collapses.

SB wastes no time and in an instant, is in the smokey, burning building.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

John Henry enters his dark office, unsure of what is what. Did Superman really care? Or was he just a very good actor? “I don’t know,” utters John as he flicks on a light and sees Bloodsport, unmasked, and behind his desk.

“Oh, me either, my friend. I don’t know how someone as smart as Lex Luthor could intrust a ‘brotha’ such as you.”

“Trent? You’re....”

“Bloodsport. Correct. Surprised you remember me.” ‘Sport then has a large gun appear in his hand. “See, how good my tech is? You could never dream up the tech I’m now in possession of.”

“Tech? So, you’ve created a device which allows you to teleport weapons to you. It’s even able to ‘port yourself from place to place.”

“Very good, boy.” Bloodsport gets to his feet, never taking his aim off of John. “Although, I can only teleport over short distances.”

“And my guess is you’d need a stockpile of armaments.”

“My, my, I’m impressed. Not many of... your kind... could impress me.”

John glances pass Trent, seeing Superman hover outside the window, then quickly speed off. He is a killer. He’s leaving me at the mercy of this maniac. Earlier was just a show, for the public.

“Say, good-bye, John-boy.”

Just then Superman crashes through the wall, getting between John and the bullet. “Sorry about your office, Mr. Irons.”

“N... no problem. I thought I saw you leave.”

“I did, to get rid of his stockpile.”

“Nice job hero, but I bid you, adou,” Bloodsport says.

John looks up to Superman, wondering why ‘Sport is still standing before them.

“Nice try, but I used my heat ray vision to fry the circuits in your jacket while I was outside, listening.”

John, approaches Trent and decks him. “How you like that, ‘boy’?”

“Did you know him?”

“Oh yeah. Alex Trent. The guy was up for this job at Lexcorp.” And under his breathe, John mumbles, “Maybe he would fit in better here.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing. Where’s your “sidekick”, big guy?”

“Oh, no. Superboy,” and Big Blue speeds out of there.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The kid searches the burning building for the man’s missing family. He has not yet learned how to focus his X-ray vision so he must do it the hard way. “Anyone here? If you hear my voice say something!”

“H... help...” comes a man’s voice.

And then Superboy sees legs coming from under a downed beam. “I got you sir. Superboy is on the case.” But, as the kid lifts of the beam he sees the same man who had asked the kid to save his family.

“What the...? You wanted me to save your family. Why are you...?”

“I *cough* have no *cough* family. Never *huff* seen...” the man says before passing out.

“Sir? Sir?” Superboy puts his ear to the man’s chest, listening for a heart beat, but hears none.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Outside, as Superman flies down to the burning building, he sees Superboy walking from the building, carrying the man. A tear streaming down the kid’s face as he kneels on the street and places the body before him. “Why?! Why?! You tricked me! You used me! I... this man didn’t deserve this!”

“Superboy? What happened?”

“This man... after you left, he came to me, asking me to save his family. He said they were stuck in the fire.” SB wipes a tear from his eyes. “But it was a lie. This man was the one trapped in the building. Mxy tricked me.”

“Mxy? Mxyzptlk??” Superman asks.

“Ahem. That’s Mr. Mxyzptlk, Blue Boy,” states Mxyzptlk as he approaches, in the image of the now dead man. Now Mxy morphs back into his impish self. “And the boy now must pay the price for failing.” Magic sparks erupts from Mxy’s fingers, transforming Superboy into a much younger boy. He is now just Chris Bache.

“I’m so sorry for failing you, Superman.” Tears streaming down Chris’s face. “I wanted to be just like you. I just wanted to make the world a better place.”

“Aww, ain’t that touching.” Mxy wipes a tear from his eye. “But, I’m afraid it’s time to pay the piper.” With that, more magic erupts from Mxy’s fingers and engulfs Chris. Once the magic receeds back to Mxy, Chris’s body slumps to the ground. “Game over.” And Mxy grins, devilishly.

Continued...