Legends of Superman #6

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Legends of Superman #6
Soul Survivor

Written and Edited by Daniel Dyer

John Henry Irons is now a very conflicted man. Twice, Superman has saved John’s life, with nothing to gain for himself. Yet, the alien artificial intelligence known as Brainiac says this Superman (or Kal-El) destroyed its home planet and seeks to destroy Earth next. Who to believe? Irons’s not entirely sure what he should do. He just knows one thing that must be done. “I resign, Mr. Luthor.”

“What?!?!” screams Lex.

“I quit. Don’t worry, Lex. I don’t want you as an enemy. Your secrets are your own.” John starts towards the door of Lex’s office. “I would just rather pursue other endeavors.”

“What about the arm cannon? You have not finished it or the armor!” Lex declares.

John stops as he opens the door. “The armor and the cannon were a personal project, sir. If you wish to finish it, that is up to you.” He walks out, shutting the door behind him.

Lex sits at his desk, leaning back in his chair and shakes his head. Mr. Irons, Mr. Irons. I believe I will finish the project... to your own regret.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Mxyzptlk’s grin is wide as the lifeless body of Chris Bache slumps to the ground. Mxy revels in the glory of capturing another soul. His own personal great game. “Game over.”

“MONSTER!!” Superman rushes the little imp, grabbing ahold of Mxy and shaking him. “Bring him back!”

“Haven’t we been here before?” And with that, magical lightning surges from Mxy’s body, forcing Superman to let go, blasting the Man of Steel back. “Hands off, Blue Boy.”

Superman looks down on Mxy, thinking. “Alright, how do I get him back?”

Mxy’s grin widens. “The boy scout wants to play.” Mxy hops into Superman’s arms. “This is gonna be fun.”

Superman looks down at his feet, seeing them start vanishing. “Huh?” Seeing his legs then vanish, working upward until his whole body is gone, as is Mxy.

Superman reappears elsewhere, his costume now gone, replaced by some kind of black and red robe, a red headband on his head. “Where?”

“The home you never knew,” Mxy answers as he walks in.

“The home I never... Where I was born?”

“Oooo, guess you’re not the dimmest bulb, after all.”

“What’s the game, Mxy?”

“Simple. Do you remember before, when you made a wish? Well, dang your self sacrificing self. It was a noble wish, which meant I couldn’t take my payment. Do you realize how annoying that is.”

Superman folds his arms, standing and looking upon the small imp. “Uh-huh.”

“Someone as noble as you could put a kink in my plans. My fun. So, here’s the deal. We’ve traveled back in time. See, your planet is about to be destroyed and a rocket will be sent out. Your rocket. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop the launch. Do that, and Chris’s soul is free.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” inquires Superman.

“Because, don’t you get it? I won’t be freeing the kid. Without you around, the kid woulda never made a deal with me and I woulda never took his soul. The only time anomaly would be you. Here. Now.”

“Why don’t you just stop my rocket?”

“There are rules even I have to follow. Plus, if you fail, I have a win/lose situation. you could die on this long dead world, in which case, I keep Chris’s soul, and lose you as an enemy.” Mxyzptlk out stretches his hand. “Deal?”

Superman stands motionless for a moment. Then shakes Mxy’s hand. “Deal.”

“Excellent. Oh, and one small, tiny detail. You’re powerless.” Mxy vanishes in a puff of smoke.

“Powerless?”

Just then a couple of security guards bust in.

“Don’t move. Hands in the air. Now!”

Great.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Antarctic fortress, where a scene on a monitor shows John Henry leaving Lex’s office. “Not good,” comes an electronic voice. “Not good at all. It appears the human has had a change of loyalties. I must find others to test the last son of Krypton.” As Brainiac searches the databases from all over the earth, he comes across one of particular interests. “Suicide Squad? Intriguing. Perfect.”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Superman raises his hands over his head, the guards having their guns trained on him.

“What are you doing in Jor-El’s lab?”

Jor-El?

“This lab is off limits to all. Jor-El is a traitor to the council. His work must be deconstructed! Now, come along.”

“Drop the weapon,” says a man as he grabs a guard from behind, holding a blaster to the man’s head.

“Jor-El?!” the guard says in shock.

“Drop it.”

Jor-El’s comes into the light, letting Superman see himself reflected in the man’s face.

Dad?

As the guards lay down their weapons, Jor-El hits his captive with the butt of his blaster and Superman slams the other two guards’ heads together from behind.

“Thanks, stranger. You look familiar.”

Superman stands in shock, looking on at the father he never knew.

“What were you doing in here, anyways?”

“I was...” Superman is interrupted as the entire place begins to shake.

“Another trimmer. I must get the ship. It’s my son’s only hope.” Jor-El hurries into the next room, Superman following.

When they enter the room, a man is standing there, waiting. The man wears a blue and gold robe, black leggings. On his head sits a blue helmet, golden fins on the sides. On his arms, golden gauntlets and golden, metallic wings along his arms.

“Nightwing,” Jor-El says.

“Who?” asks Superman in confusion.

“Jor-El. The council has contacted me to bring you to justice,” explains Nightwing.

“Justice? Is this justice? To deprive me the only chance to save my son?”

Nightwing is silent for a moment. “You plan to doom your son. You have caused a disturbance in society. Jor-El, I do not like being the council’s lapdog. But I see a need to stop your talk of doom.”

This may be a real stupid move but... “Da... Jor-El, get the ship, I’ll deal with this.” And Superman charges at this planet’s protector.

They both go crashing through a window. Clark doesn’t know anything about this “Nightwing”. One thing seems clear, though, this hero does believe in justice and keeping the piece. He can tell that much. It pains Superman to attack this symbol of justice, but he’s made a decision. Jor-El must succeed. Not because Clark would cease to exist. No, not that, but because Superman would. The Earth needs a symbol of justice of its own.

As the heroes fall, Nightwing twists, getting on top, and as they hit, Superman takes the brunt of the impact. Nightwing gets to his feet and sees a skyrocket blast out of the lab, carrying the rocket and Jor-El with it. Nightwing looks down on his unconscious attacker. “Why?”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Superman now sits in a jail cell, on his home planet, just waiting for its destruction. No powers, no help. He doesn’t know how long he has left. He has helped his father. He feels good about that, but what about Chris Bache. How can he save the boy who immolates him. A loophole? But what? I don’t know this being’s crazy rules. Well, there is one crazy rule I know.

“Hey, buddy,” Mxy says cheerful as he appears in the cell besides Superman. “Whatcha moping for?”

“Go away.”

“Aww, but you’re ruining my game.”

“THIS ISN”T A GAME!” shouts Superman.

“Temper, temper. And here I was going to help you out to get the game moving along,” Mxy admits. “Not so sure, now, but...” waving his hand, making the cell open.

Superman gets up, shutting the cell door. “I quit.”

“What?! You can’t give up. It’s not part of the game!” Mxyzptlk gets furious.

“You win. I realize I can’t win in a rigged game.”

Mxyzptlk grows to enormous side. “YOU WILL FOLLOW THROUGH ON OUR DEAL!”

Superman yawns. “Or...?”

“Or... or...” Mxy begins to shrink.

“I’ll go home now.”

“What makes you think I’ll just send you home?”

Superman can feel the ground shake. “You have to. I’ve figured this out. You can’t kill me. You can’t be the direct cause of my death. Otherwise, why wouldn’t you just kill me and be done with it.”

“I’d automatically lose the kid’s soul!” Mxy exclaims.

“If you stopped the rocket, but I’m talking about me. You are bound by certain rules. One being, you can’t directly cause the ‘player’s’ death. You can only put the ‘player’ in a position where they can do the deed,” Superman explains.

“Fine.” Mxyzptlk snaps his fingers and the two are back where they began in Metropolis. Superman’s uniform returned to him. “Happy now?” Mxy asks as he’s about to vanish.

Looking down at Chris’s unconscious body, Superman says, “Not so fast.” Superman grabs Mxy by the arm. “There’s another rule you must be held accountable. Return his soul,” pointing to Chris.

“Nuh-huh. His soul was taken by the book.”

“Not quite.” Superman picks up Chris. “His wish... was selfless. He wanted powers to help. To make the world a better place. I know this. He told me before you showed up.”

Mxyzptlk’s eyes go blank, his magic pouring from his body, circling around Chris. Chris’s body is lifted out of Superman’s arms. As the body lays itself back on the ground, Chris awakens and Mxy regains control of his impish body.

“S... Superman?”

Superman smiles. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine.” The Man of Steel kneels down and hugs Chris.

“That’s it! You are going down, McGurk! I may not be able to kill you, but I can make you regret ever crossing Mxyzptlk!” Rage is clearly evident on the mystical imp, ready to unleash a torrent of magic upon the mighty Metropolis Marvel. That’s just what would happen if not for a symbol, an ankh, appearing out of thin air between Superman and Mxyzptlk.

“What?”

“Imp from the 5th dimension,” says a man as he appears in front of the ankh. The man is wearing blue, with a long golden cape, as well as golden boots and gloves. An amulet hangs around his neck and his facial features are hidden by a golden helm. “You have been outdone and outclassed. Your race’s rules prevent you from seeking retaliation. Begone.”

And then Mr. Mxyzptlk simply vanishes.

“Who are you?”

“An ally. Rest easy, Superman, in the knowledge that Fate is on your side,” the mysterious newcomer states before he vanishes.

“Wicked,” exclaims Chris.

“Yeah, cool,” smiles Superman as he picks up Chris and flies off.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

"Karnowsky, is ready, sir,” an intercom announces.

“Good, send him in.”

In walks a man, wearing blue armor with red shoulder plates. He has a blue helmet, with a red visor over his eyes. But the real impressive piece is his arm cannon which takes the place of his right arm.

“How does it feel, Karnowsky?”

“Fits like a glove, Luthor,” answers Karnowsky as he aims the arm cannon. “And call me Barrage. So, when do I take this baby for a test drive against the boy scout?”

“Soon enough. First, I have another assignment,” Lex answers as he gives Barrage a picture of John Henry.

Barrage grins. “So, I’m gunning for my ‘creator’? Consider him history,” Barrage states as he crumbles up the picture.

Continued...