Legends of Superman #8

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Legends of Superman #8
Strange Visitor

Written by Romeo Dantes
Edited by Daniel Dyer

Professor Emmet Vale lay out in his backyard. He'd lived in his home for the past 20 years. He gazed up at the stars. Thoughts passed through his mind. What am I doing? STAR Labs? Why am I accepting work at STAR Labs? Why am I listening to Emil? I need money. I should be trying to go back to work for LexCorp. What am I doing?

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed, striking only a few feet away from Vale. Vale jumped up from his lawn chair, gasping for air. He crept carefully toward the scorched earth left by the bolt. Looking into the hole, Vale was shocked to find a young woman. Oh, my god Vale jumped into the hole. He quickly went to work. Although he worked in robotics, he knew enough about medicine to hope to do something. “Oh God, oh God, oh God. There's no pulse. But she's warm,” Vale shook his head. “Of course she's warm. Lightning just struck where she... she appeared? Where did she come from?”

It started as a groan, then a moan, and then a whisper, “He... he is... he is coming. He claims... claims he'll help. Only death... he only brings death...” The young woman warned before falling unconscious once more. Vale checked for her pulse once more, but could find nothing. He ran into his home and grabbed his phone. Dialing 911, he stepped back out only to witness the young woman disappear in a flash of lightning.

“911. What is your emergency?... Hello?... Hello?”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

"Lane! Kent! Get in here!” Perry White yelled out to the bullpen.

“Yeah, Chief?” Lois walked up. The two stepped into White's office.

“Where's Kent? I got a story for the two of you!”

“Not sure, but I can handle the story on my own.”

“I'm sure you can, but I already know that she won't talk to you.”

“Who won't talk to me? What's this story about, Chief?”

“Leslie Willis... KLEX's 'Queen of All Media'... she's staging an anti-Superman rally in Centennial Park downtown. I want to know why and what she has against him. She's still got that thing against you for that editorial you wrote, so I'm hoping Kent will get something.”

“Hey! That wasn't my fault! Everyone but her brainwashed little puppets knows she's Luthor's mouthpiece!”

“That doesn't matter. Find Kent! Get the story!” With that Lane stood up and stormed out of the room.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The streets of Suicide Slum were empty. No one in their right minds walked those streets at night unless you had the right kind of connections, and even that was dangerous. The dim streetlights hummed, hungry for power and a reason to light the streets. Three figures jumped out of a small convenience store, sprinting for freedom.

“We got this. We're home free,” the Bandito at the head of the line yelled back to the others. Just then, the streetlights buzzed. Each bulb on the street quickly brightened and blew out. The trio were frozen in awe. They'd never seen anything like that happen. Even with the new guns they'd been getting their hands on, they could only be amazed as they stood in the pitch black streets. Down a nearby alley, the darkness was interrupted by a final flash of light. The three young men crept around the corner to find a naked young woman lying on the ground.

“Hey man, look what we got here. It's looking like we 'bout to have a really good night,” one of the Banditos whispered as his mouth widened into a smile. The other two also had smiles on their faces as they began to inch their way toward the young girl. She began to stir. As she rose to her feet, the trio stepped up to her. She looked at them in fear. She began to back up, but the leader of the group circled around behind her and grabbed her. Suddenly a spark appeared out of her eyes. And without warning, her body exploded with electric energy. The Bandito that had been holding her was blasted back.

“What the $*&^? This is crazy man! I'm outta here!” yelled one of the remaining two as he began to sprint away, his compadre following right behind him.

Electrical energies surged throughout the alley. Slowly, the remaining sparks and other electric energies pulled together. The woman that was still standing there was but, she was no longer flesh and blood, but a being of complete energy. She studied herself as her body glowed in the night. She couldn't understand what had happened to her as she let out a scream that cracked glass, “Kzzaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhzzzkkzzzzzz!”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The high pitched scream rang in the ears of Metropolis' resident Kryptonian as he flew over the Daily Planet. Superman turned in the direction of Suicide Slums. What was that? It sounded like a scream, but there was something else to it. And with that, Superman sped off toward the scream. In a matter of seconds, he spotted a bolt of lightning... or what he thought was a bolt of lightning. But he'd never seen lightning leap from rooftop to rooftop. He followed the bolt until finally it stopped on the roof of an apartment complex.

“Kzzwhy are zzzyou fokzkkllowing me?” the girl yelled backed as she continued on her path. Superman could barely understand this strange being as it spoke.

“Calm down. I heard you scream. Are you all right? Do you have a name?” Superman spoke calmly.

“Kzzmt...” the young woman muttered as she slowed.

“Kismet? Ok, Kismet... are you all right?”

Finally she stopped. The glowing girl turned to the sight of what she first ran from. Her eyes opened wide, sparks falling from her eyes. Kzzznozz... kzget away ” And in the blink of an eye she was gone.

“Well, what was that all about?” Superman wondered to himself as he headed home for the night.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The next day...

"Hey, Smallville Where have you been?” Lois yelled as Clark stepped off the elevator.

“Sorry, wasn't feeling too good. It musta been something I ate, 'cause I was throwing up everywhere.” Clark muttered meekly.

“More than I needed to know. Get your stuff together. We've got to get to Centennial Park 20 minutes ago!” Lois quickly rushed off yelling, “Now where is that kid? Jimmy?!”

What's going on in Centennial park? Clark wondered to himself. At his desk, he concentrated and listened.

“....learn to drive.... “....could poke somebody's....” “....Superman is a menace! How are we supposed to trust him? What do we know about him. Guy comes out of nowhere. Tells us he's an alien and he only wants to help?! Everything was fine and dandy before he came along. Now we have reports of more of these 'mystery men' popping up. That Green Lantern guy? The Flash? Even an Aqua-Hunk... I mean Aqua-Man! There are even rumors of a man in Gotham who thinks he's a bat! But with yin comes yang, and with superheros, come supervillains. Somebody's gonna get hurt. Since Superman and the super-friends appeared, a new breed of criminals have risen, a more dangerous criminal....” “....Smallville!” “....guy who freezes....” “....Smallville! “....cult member....” “....SMALLVILLE!”

Clark's attention returns to the Daily Planet with Lois screaming in his ear.

“Smallville! Stop daydreaming. Jimmy's waiting downstairs. We've got to get this story!”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Centennial Park...

"He claims to be an alien, and he should be treated as such. For all we know he could be a terrorist, and this terrorist doesn't need a plane to destroy our monuments of freedom and peace. I say... we don't let this ‘Man of Tomorrow’ ruin our today!” The crowd of loyal listeners broke out into applause. “Thank you! And stay tuned to KLEX in the morning all week as I call out Superman to an interview: an interview with the voice of the people, not Lois Lame.”

“I really wish I could hit her.” Lois muttered under her breath.

“So why did you need me to come?” Clark asked, “You can handle this on your own. I had a story I wanted to work on about the underdeveloped Suicide Slum community...”

“Smallville... shut up. No one cares about that. Perry said for you to get the interview, so go do it.” Lane sneered as she pushed him off toward the backstage area. “And take Jimmy with you!”

As Jimmy finally caught up with Clark, Clark turned and asked, “So what's the real reason I'm here.”

“Lois wrote a very opinionated editorial last year that wasn't very well received by Leslie.”

“Yeah... I'd figured by the 'Lois Lame' comment. And let me guess... Ms. Willis would not give an interview to Lois so I have to come in and get it for her.”

“That just about sums it up.”

The two came up to the security barricade to the backstage area. “We'd like to have an interview with Ms. Willis please.”

The security guard quickly stopped them, “No can do, buddy. You and your pal are just gonna have to listen to her radio...”

“Let them in, Bruno. I'll do this one,” Leslie Willis waved in Clark and Jimmy.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Willis. Clark Kent, Daily Planet,” Clark politely introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you, Clark, and please, call me Leslie. You know... you really should get contacts. You'd make for a fine catch if you did.”

“Um.... thank you... uh... Leslie,” Clark stuttered, “I'm just curious about your agenda against Superman. Where does it stem from?”

“I just don't trust him. Sure, he claims he's here to help, but how do we know he's not the head of an invasion force? He's an alien for cripes sakes! We're alone in the universe and all of the sudden, we're supposed to trust the first sign of intelligent life from outer space? My problem isn't directly with these superheroes. I know my history and the role mystery men played in World War II. It's just people's immediate willingness to trust this one.” Out of nowhere, a woman dressed as a chauffeur stepped up to Leslie and whispered in her ear. “Well, it looks like I'm needed on stage, so I'm going to have to cut this interview short. Have a nice day Clark.”

Clark was stunned. He was thinking to himself whether it was wise to reveal that he was an alien. People would find some reason to hate me anyway, Clark thought to himself as the first drops of rain fell onto his face.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Back on stage...

The rain fell silently, simply a mere drizzle. Leslie was still ranting about the dangers of trusting Superman. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the stage and there Kismet stood once again flesh and blood. She stepped to Leslie and grabbed her hands. “He is here! He says he's here to help but he will destroy you all!” Kismet's eyes began to glow. A second bolt then struck the two women, and in the flash of light, they were gone.

To be continued...