The Planet Krypton

The planet Krypton was on the verge of destruction. Within the next hour, the entire planet would be nothing but debris and ash. An entire culture will soon have been destroyed, lost to the void of eternity. All but one small child, who would be the sole survivor of Krypton's demise...

In a hidden chamber inside of their home, Jor-El was making the final preparations on a small rocket. His wife, Lara, carried in a tiny infant wrapped in a red blanket.

"Is this truly the only answer?" Lara asked as she cradled the baby.

"I have pondered many solutions in the short time that I've known of Krypton's impending destruction," Jor-El told her. "I had originally envisioned the rocket being large enough for both you and our child."

"Then you would have wasted precious time," Lara said. "I would never leave you to die alone, Jor-El. You and I are one, now and forever. Where you go, I go. Even if it is into the next world."

"Lara, my better half, it is your love and guidance that has continued to sustain me through the years. Even knowing that we are about to die, I die knowing that I am with my one true soul mate," Jor-El told her as he stared down at his son. "We must launch the ship within the next two minutes if our son, our legacy, is to survive."

"Even if he escapes into orbit, where will he go? What world would take our child in and give him the love he would have received here?" Lara asked.

"There is one world, but it is very distant," Jor-El said as he took the baby. "A primitive world with a yellow sun. He will become strong, able to do things no other person can. He will need these advantages in order to survive in such a savage place."

"A yellow sun? He will be an outcast," Lara told him. "He will not be like the others."

"He will adapt, he will grow up as one of them," Jor-El said. "Perhaps he may even find beings who will give him what we can no longer provide. Our son will carry on, and perhaps one day, he himself will have a son to teach our ways to. Everything that is Krypton is in the crystals I have placed inside of the ship. Our son will know who he is, and where he comes from. And then, one day, so will his children. Krypton will live through him. As long as Kal-El survives, then so shall we."

Jor-El kissed the baby's forehead and gently placed him in the rocket. "My beloved Kal-El. I now give this new world our greatest gift. I give them you, my son. Though they may fear you and your gifts, you will rise above. You will be an example to them, teach them compassion, truth, justice. I know you will do great things, my son. I will forever be with you, where ever you may go."

The ground started to shake as Jor-El quickly closed the ship and activated the controls. The roof opened as the ship started getting into position, and within seconds it was fired into the stratosphere. As they watched the ship become smaller and smaller, Lara took her husband's hand, gripping it tightly as the planet Krypton was down to its final precious moments. Ten minutes after the rocket ship had escaped the planet's gravitational pull, the planet imploded, leaving nothing but the shattered remnants of a once proud race behind.

Inside the rocket ship, the tiny infant known as Kal-El headed toward Earth, where the infant would grow into a man, who would be everything his father had hoped for and more...

Family of Steel #1

"Homecoming"

Metropolis

Many Years Later

The sun was just beginning to set in the city of Metropolis on that fall evening. The buildings were starting to light up to give the city the bright glow it was famous for, with the biggest light of all coming from the Daily Planet globe, which sat on top of the news building while it slowly turned.

As the people on the streets went about their way, some heading home after a long day of work, some just heading out for a night on the town, others just wanting to spend a quiet night with friends or family, every head on the street turned at the sound of the police siren as it blared from up the street.

An armed robbery had just taken place, and the police had responded accordingly. It wasn't long before a chase ensued, with the robbers doing everything in their power to evade the cops, including firing their guns and tossing various objects out the window.

"Shake 'em!" the robber in the back seat shouted.

"I'm trying!" the driver shouted back. "Why don't you shoot out their tires or something?"

"At this speed? What if they hit someone?" the man in the backseat asked.

"For what we're gettin' paid? Who cares?" the driver asked. The man in the backseat just shrugged and leaned out the window, aiming for the tires on the police cruiser. After a few shots, he finally hit the mark.

The police cruiser swerved, but at the speed it was going, it hit a curb and was sent flying, heading right toward a mother and a carriage with her newborn twins. The woman screamed as she tried to shield her babies, closing her eyes as she expected this to be it. Seconds later, she opened her eyes as nothing had happened. Silence only filled the air as the woman looked to see what had happened.

The police cruiser was hanging in the air, being held up by a 10-year-old child with shaggy black hair. He was wearing blue jeans, red sneakers, a zippered blue jacket with the 'S' shield on it, and a long red cape that was flowing in the wind. The boy just curled his lip and smiled at her.

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

"I'mJo-," the boy said before remembering what his parents had told him when he was in costume. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone his real name. In his best gruff Batman imitation, he just smirked and said: "I'm Superboy."


Meanwhile, the robbers were getting away as the driver looked in the rearview mirror. "I think we lost 'em. It'll be a smooth ride from here on out."

"Yeah, a little too smooth," the robber in the backseat said. "It feels like we're not even on the road."

The man looked out the window, seeing the car was now flying through the air and was a good twenty feet off the ground. Seconds later, the car had been turned upside down and placed gently in front of the police station as the two robbers fell onto the roof of the car, seeing only a pair of red boots standing just outside of the window. The Man of Steel kneeled down and looked inside the window at them.

"Gentlemen," Superman said with a smile. "Would you care to step outside?"


Superboy was sitting on top of the Daily Planet building with his legs dangling over the edge of the roof as he stared out into the city. He was waiting for his father at their usual meeting place, where they agreed to meet up whenever they got separated while keeping the city safe.

"I thought I'd find you or your dad here,"

Superboy turned around to see a young man floating in the sky over the Daily Planet. He was wearing blue jeans, black boots, a black leather jacket and a blue t-shirt with the 'S' shield on it. He had long, shaggy black hair that nearly came down to his shoulders.

"Connor!" Superboy shouted as he immediately shot into the air, hugging his surrogate older brother tightly. "I thought you took off forever!"

"You really think I'd leave you for good?" Connor asked. "I just needed time away from everything."

"Where have you been?" Superboy asked as they landed on the roof.

"Where haven't I been? I've traveled everywhere, trying to find inner peace. I've seen wisemen, wise guys, shamans, voodoo priests, and everyone inbetween to find myself."

"Where were you hidden?"

Connor just mussed the boy's hair and smirked as they sat down. "The last place I looked, kid. But I'm back now. Where's your dad?"

"Taking some bad guys to jail, he's supposed to be back soon. Does this mean you're going to be moving to Metropolis?"

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to your parents about," Connor said as his super hearing started picking up a strange humming. "You hear that, kid?"

Superboy raised his head and listened to the same sound. "Yeah. What is it?"

A dozen wafer thin drones with two mini mounted lasers on top rose up over the ledge of the building as the two young men just stared at each other. The drones had located the two Kryptonians with infrared vision, identifying them as being metahuman.

"I've never seen drones like that before," Connor said. "Don't get too close."

"Come on, it's not like they can-" Superboy started to say as two laser blasts hit him right in the stomach. He doubled over in pain as Connor flew towards him, but the other drones opened fire at once, sending Connor falling onto the roof of the Daily Planet.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Superboy shouted as he shot his heat vision at them. The blast just bounced right off of the drone, having been forged out of the same metal alloy that the supervillain Metallo had been made from.

The drones turned their firepower back to Superboy as he fell onto the roof next to Connor. The drones closed in and circled around them, firing their lasers at the fallen duo. A heat vision blast from not too far away hit one of the drones, again bouncing right off of it. The drones then turned and focused on a new threat as it arrived.

"You want to fire on someone? Try me," Superman said as he floated there. The drones did just that and opened fire at once, sending Superman flying back in pain. He quickly bounced back and used his super breath to scatter the drones to knock them off-balance. "You want to play rough? Fine."

Removing his cape, Superman quickly sped around, gathering up all the drones inside of it. Superman flew down to the ground and as hard he could, slammed the drone filled cape onto the ground repeatedly, shattering the contents. Moments later, the hero flew back up to the roof to make sure Connor and Superboy were okay.

"Are you alright?" Superman asked.

"Yeah," Connor said as he helped Superboy up. "What were those things? That stung like hell."

"My stomach hurts," Jon told him. Superman lifted the boy's jacket, seeing his stomach had red marks on it from the lasers that had struck him.

Superman reached into his cape, pulling out a piece of one of the drone, scanning it with his x-ray vision. He could tell immediately where these things came from, and he wasn't happy.

"Take Jon home," Superman told him. "I"ll be there after I pay someone a little visit."

"Come on, Jon," Connor said as he scooped the boy up into his arms. "It's way past your bedtime, anyway."

As Connor flew off the roof, Superman just stared down at the drone piece in his hand, crushing it.


LexCorp

"What do you mean that all the drones are offline?" Lex Luthor asked as he sat at his desk. "That means that I'll be having a guest drop in very soon."

Luthor hung up the phone and turned his chair to stare out the window, where the Man of Steel was floating there. With the push of a button, the window opened as Superman floated in, opening his cape over Luthor's desk, where the drone pieces fell on top of it.

"I found your toys," Superman said as he reattached his cape. "They had LexCorp tech written all over them."

"Does my desk look like a garbage can?" Luthor asked as he stared up at the hero. "You'll be getting the bill for destroying these prototypes."

"Prototypes for what?" Superman asked. "What's your game, Luthor?"

"Why, prototypes for the new Superman toyline, of course," Luthor smirked.

"You don't have the rights to use my image. I'd never give you permission for that. The only ones who have that permission are the charities I work with."

"Funny you should mention that. Just last week I closed the deal on buying out every last charity you are associated with, just to get the sole rights to your image and merchandise."

"But the children-"

"Oh, I'm not completely heartless, the children of those charities are still well provided for, only now when people see who's feeding and clothing them, they'll know it's Lex Luthor who's funding them. Meanwhile, I'll be producing Superman merchandise in mass quantities. The first shipment hits stores next week. You're going to make me a very rich man, Kryptonian. Well, richer."

"You're never going to get away with this, I'll have my lawyer get in contact with you."

"Please do. That fancy lawyer stationery is the perfect lining for the bottom of my birdcage."

"You attacked my son!" Superman said angrily.

"The boy was never in any real danger. I do admit, the lasers do need to be dialed back a bit. The drones were merely testing out the technology for the laser eyes on the Superman action figures. The lasers themselves will be harmless to normal children. We use a red sunlight simulator to give out that real sense of laser vision. It's no more harmful than a laser pointer. Unless you're Kryptonian, however. It'll leave quite a sting. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a late night business meeting. We're going to be discussing the Superman motion picture. I really have my heart set on Tyler Perry playing you. And by that, I mean in the full Madea get-up he's known so well for."

"This isn't over," Superman said as Luthor stood up.

"Oh, my dear Superman, it's been over since the day you returned to Metropolis with that little moppet in tow," Luthor smiled as he opened his drawer and tossed Superman a doll version of the Man of Steel. "Here, a gift from me to your boy as an apology.'

"We don't want anything from you, Luthor," Superman said as he tossed the doll onto the desk. "And if you ever come near Superboy again, you will pay."

"Do bring him by sometime," Luthor said smugly as Superman headed to the window. "I'd love to personally meet the fruit of your loins. Perhaps we could discuss a Saturday morning cartoon about him."

As Superman left, Luthor stared down at the mess on his desk. The prototypes had been destroyed, but they had done their job. Getting under Superman's skin was the one thing that truly brought Lex Luthor joy.


Outside of Metropolis sat the Kent Farm, located in a peaceful area where the Kent family could have their privacy while teaching their young son Jon how to use his powers properly. The Man of Steel landed just outside the door, reaching for the door handle. As he was about to open it, his wife of several years was about to storm out with a baseball bat wrapped in barbwire.

"Tell me you took care of the monster that hurt our son," Lois said. "Or better yet, take me to him so I can put a few marks on him."

"Whoa, calm down, Mama Bear," Superman said as he calmly took the bat from her. "No more Walking Dead marathons for you. Did Jon make it home okay?"

"He's upstairs sleeping," Lois told him. "Did you see the bruises on him?"

"Red sun energy," Superman said as he started changing out of his costume. "A few hours playing in the sun tomorrow and he'll be as good as new. Lex Luthor sent the drones after him to get to me. He bought out all the charities I'm connected to just so he could get the rights to my image."

"Can he do that?" Lois asked as Clark Kent headed upstairs to look in on his son.

"I'm going to get in contact with Bruce tomorrow, see if he can't find us a lawyer to fight it, but for now it looks like Luthor has the upper hand," Clark said as he looked in on Jon. The boy was sleeping in his bed, clutching a My Buddy doll tightly in his arms. The doll was Jon's security blanket that used to belong to Clark when he was a boy. Jon's grandmother had found it in the attic and given it to the boy when he was four, with Jon keeping it in his possession ever since. "Where's Connor?"

"Sleeping on the couch," Lois told him as Clark gently closed the door. "He has nowhere else to go I think he wants to stay here until he gets on his feet."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt if he stayed with us for a while until he finds something," Clark said as he sniffed the air. "Have you been smoking?"

"One cigarette to calm my nerves after seeing Jon's stomach. This is the first time since Jon's powers developed that he's really been hurt. If someone like Luthor wants to hurt him..."

"It won't happen again, I promise," Clark said as he held her close. "Maybe we should see about putting extra padding into his suit or something. He still hasn't gotten his full powers yet, we should look into extra protection for him. But first I want to look into Luthor's latest scheme before it causes too much damage."

"Baby, you're talking to one of the #1 reporters in the world. I'll have everything you need to know by tomorrow night."

"You just be careful, you never know what to expect from Lex Luthor."


The next morning, Jon walked into the kitchen in his pajamas, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as Lois was squeezing some fresh orange juice.

"Jonathan Samuel Kent, you go put some shoes on, I don't like you walking around the cold floors barefoot," Lois told him. Jon just shrugged as he lifted himself off the ground, floating toward the breakfast table.

"Come on Lois, I used to go barefoot all the time on the farm when I was young," Clark said as he came into the kitchen.

"You're also 100% Kryptonian and never had to deal with being sick," Lois reminded him. "We don't know completely what will affect Jon and what won't with his genetics. He could be immune to kryptonite but still catch a common cold for all we know."

"Whatever comes our way, we'll get through it as a family," Clark said as he kissed her before mussing Jon's hair as Connor walked into the room with no shirt or boots on.

"It's 5 a.m. Why am I up at 5 a.m.?"

"Chores," Clark told him. "You're going to earn your keep if you're living here. You can start by getting the eggs from the chicken coop and milking the cow after you get dressed. Jon, you feed the animals."

"Gah, it's like living with the older Kents all over again," Connor said as he headed for the door. Jon finished his orange juice and flew after him, taking Connor's hand.

"Come on, I'll show you how to get the best eggs. Some of the chickens can be really stubborn about giving up their eggs."

"You know what, I think I'm going to like having him here," Lois said as she watched how happy Jon was to have an older kid around.


The LexCorp Toy Factory

The recently opened factory was manufacturing all manner of Superman based products. Dolls, action figures, board games, yo-yo's, and everything inbetween. The toys would hit shelves soon, and Lex Luthor's pockets would be lined with even more money.

With minimal security around, someone was easily able to sneak into the factory, with a small jar he'd acquired from a new ally. An ally who had helped him become a whole man. He started to open the jar, having a little trouble at first, but finally popped it, letting what looked like a silvery liquid fall onto the floor, which quickly started spreading throughout the factory.

"That's right, my little friends, go play. Soon all of Metropolis will be our playground."

TO BE CONTINUED...