His world exploded before his birth. Propelled by a futuristic craft powered by a science beyond mans comprehension he arrived on a our world as a baby. Raised as a human by loving, caring parents who instilled in him the difference between right and wrong, he derives his powers from our yellow sun that give him enormous and unheard of abilities ! His massive strength and incomprehensible powers are matched only by the great and true heart that beats within his chest ! He is one of the most powerful champions for truth, justice , and the American way that has ever lived ! A man from the stars ever seeking to make the Earth his home, and to protect that home from evils no one else would have a glimmer of hope against ! He is the man of steel, the man of tomorrow...he is..

Superman #13

First Mornings light...

By Ralph Angelo

He lands atop the buildings shattered rooftop, as he alights, he grips the ends of his cape , and softly touches down. Less then twelve hours ago he , along with every other Superhero in existence put it all on the line to save the Earth. They failed. They would have lost. Earth would now be a frozen ball of ice, from which there would be no return, unlike the "Final Night." disaster of several years ago. This time it would have been decidedly final. But salvation came in the unlikeliest of forms, the devil himself saved their world. The most vile and evil creature in existence, and mankinds greatest enemy, Brainiac! His reasons for salvation were simply to let the heroes, and Superman in particular, know that nothing they can do will stop him, when he finally does come to destroy the Earth. And come he will. When, no one knows.

But for now, Mongul, the Cyborg, and their evil army have been beaten, and spread across the cosmos. The victory was there, but not the way Superman and the others wanted. Not the way they envisioned this ending. Still, it is a victory, thinks Superman as he looks around from his rooftop perch. Fires burn everywhere yet, even though the sun has begun to rise above the slowly awakening city. A city devastated by the Cold Armageddon conflict. Buildings lie in ruins everywhere. Some survived the war. Some didn't. But this one did. Surprisingly the building that is Clark Kent and Lois Lane's home did survive, albeit not in pristine shape.

Superman sighs once more, his anguish apparent on his face as he enters the shattered roof top, and heads towards his apartment. Faster then the eye can follow, he enters his home, shutting the door behind him. Immediately he knows she is there. And not for the candles burning around the apartment, but because her presence alone speaks to him, to his heart.

Lois Lane stands in the doorway of the kitchen, a carton of half melted ice cream in her hand with a spoon sticking out of it. Upon seeing him standing there, she drops the carton and runs to his arms. She begins crying immediately, weeping quietly. He hugs her, gently kissing her head. No words need be spoken , for none can fill the moment properly. They have been apart to long*, and now , no matter what else has happened, they have been reunited, that is all that really matters. Wordlessly, Superman, lifts her in his arms , and carries her towards their bedroom , shutting the door behind them.

*Since issue #8

Two months later...

Metropolis slowly has been rebuilding itself, piece by piece, brick by brick. Luthor has spent many millions of dollars alone, investing in the reconstruction project. The worlds greatest heroes have worked tirelessly worldwide , putting all their efforts and energies into a massive push the likes of which the world has never seen.

But in his heart, the last Kryptonian, Kal-El, known as Superman wonders if it is not a waste of time and effort. No one knows when Brainiac will return, or what he will do when he does. But he must be defeated when he does return. That Superman knows. In that effort , Superman spends many, many hours in the "Fortress of Solitude", going over computer simulations as well as holographic representations of any battle with Braniac. He sends his work to the JLA satellite , where J'onn J'Jonnz collaborates with Superman on his findings. Both men remain grim , but still they persevere.

Slowly, but surely the world has righted itself. It is years away from being what it once was, if it can ever truly be that again, but it has begun to recover, as heroes and villains at first worked side by side with the common man . But slowly, and surely the villainous reverted to their evil ways as the world slowly came together like some huge, broken jig saw puzzle. That is where our story truly begins tonight...

"Give me the bag, lady!" Snarls the angry young tough, his nose ring swaying as his head moves closer to the old womans face. His braided hair falls in clumps across his shoulders, as his black skin glistens with sweat.

For her part, the old woman merely clutches her bag all the tighter, trying to hold on to her possessions. "Please. Leave me alone, I have nothing you could want. Why are you doing this?"

The punk rips the bag from her grasp, as she falls to the ground painfully.

"Because I can, old lady, that's why."

He begins to rip through the bag, looking for money, when a voice from above intrudes upon his foul deed.

"Looking for something?"

The punk turns skywards, his eyes widening with recognition, "You!" He blurts out, "Superman!"

"Good, we're introduced. Now return what's not yours. Then we're going to see Inspector Turpin."

"No way man!" The punk throws the bag at Superman and begins to run, but before he can even get two steps, Superman is standing in front of him, arms folded on his chest.

"Don't be foolish, son. You can't win here. Save yourself some embarrassment."

"No way man!" The punk cocks his fist, and hits Superman square in the jaw with everything he has, but only manages to break his hand! "AAAHHHH" He screams as he holds his shattered hand skywards.

"Enough's enough." Muses Superman aloud, "This game is over."

The man of Steel grabs the young punk by the back of the collar, and carries him to the old woman, who is now standing, counting the money in her bag .

"Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Yes Superman, thank you. If it wasn't for you, I'd be poor until my next Social Security check came in next month. Thank you!" She reaches over and kisses him on the cheek. He smiles warmly and waves , as he takes to the sky, his charge in tow. "Remember to stop down at your local precinct house to fill out a report on this incident, ma'am. I know it's

a bother, but it is necessary."

"I will Superman, and thank you again." She waves as he takes to the air, the thug in his grip as he flies away towards Police Headquarters.

Minutes later, Superman deposits the punk in one of the precincts nearby, as he once again takes to the sky, surveying the slowly rebuilding city.

"So much has come and gone since the battle with Mongul. But at least by everyone doing their part, things are finally getting back to some semblance of normal." He thinks to himself. "Still, we're a long ways off."

Just then, his super hearing picks up a distress call from an embattled police officer "Help! Officer down! We need special crimes! It's Met-"

Suddenly an explosion ends the rest of the mans words, but Superman is already on his way, cutting across the metropolis skyline like a laser beam, heading right for the source of the mans pleas!

The surrounding street is devastated, a fire hydrant sprays a geyser of water a hundred feet in the air, an armored car lies on its side, but by far the worst thing to greet Supermans eyes is the being who caused this madness

There, holding the unconscious cop in his steely grip is a creature out of nightmare!

"Metallo!" Shouts Superman, "Let that officer go, now!"

The Metallic villain turns towards Superman and tries to approximate a smile. The effect is horrific. "You want this pig, boy scout? Go catch him!"

The cyborg throws the unconscious cop skywards, but instantly the man of steel is there, catching him , and carefully lowering him to the ground, near a just arrived Special Crimes Unit van. "You men take care of him, Metallo's mine."

Superman streaks off, after the gleaming steel villain, tackling him, and slamming him through the downed armored car, and out the other side.

"This time Metallo, I'll make sure you stay where I put you."

"What, Strykers?" Asks the metal fiend. They can't hold me, nothin' can!" As he speaks, he kicks Superman away. "When you gonna learn boy scout, nothin' can stop Metallo, especially not you!"

He begins to open his chest cavity, to release the Kryptonite radiation held inside his form, but before he can use his Kryptonite "heart" to harm Superman, the man of steel fires his heat vision, fusing the chest panel closed, welding it in place!

"I don't think so , Metallo. Not this time. I, and the world doesn't have the time or patience to dance with you at the moment. We have to many other more important fish to fry." With a powerful right cross, Superman smashes Metallo backwards, into the fire hydrants geyser-like stream, when the Man of Steel inhales mightily, and then exhales, freezing the geyser around Metallo.

And then the SCU is there, wrapping negator cables around the frozen form of Metallo.

"We'll take it from here , Supes." Speaks Dan Turpin, the SCU head honcho, as he chomps on his ever present cigar.

"Good Dan, I have to take care of a few other things."

Without another word, Superman streaks off, towards a certain basement. The only surviving section of a certain building . A building called the daily Planet.

Inside the cramped basement space, Lois Lane works feverishly at a small manual typewriter, angered by the severe slowness of the whole ordeal, she blows a lock of her hair out of her eyes, and sits back, angrily crossing her arms, and staring daggers at the typewriter.

"You need me to defeat that evil villain for you Ms Lane?"

She smiles at the sound of that voice, and immediately rises up and kisses the man who issued those words, the man standing behind her, her husband, Clark Kent.

"If anyone could Mr Kent, it'd be you." She smiles playfully. Lois stands and kisses her husband, and then they both sit down at their respective, ramshackle desks.

"I'm glad Stern and Perry decided to show their backbone by taking you back." Begins Clark.

"Well as Perry said, he "Couldn't have his best reporter in a time of crisis getting a job with the Daily Bugle or some other second rate rag." end quote."

"I know Lois, I was there. I think Perry was just waiting for the right moment to call you back, and Cold Armageddon was it."

"It did annoy that lady DA, didn't it?" Laughs Lois.

"Well the best part of the whole thing was Stern telling her to sue him if she had a problem with his decision." Quips Kent.

"What are you two doing? I know you're married, but Great Caesars ghost, I don't pay you for lollygagging here, get back to work!"

They both turn, as Perry White enters the room, a broad grin on his face, as ink covers a pair of dirty coveralls he wears.

"We may be shoved back to the dark ages, at least temporarily, but we still have a paper to get out once a day." Continues White.

Just then a red haired young man, in his early twenties races into the room as if he were the Flash himself! "Chief!" Shouts an excited Jimmy Olsen, " There's some Supervillain battle going on in Mid-Town. The SCU is having a hard time, even with their new weapons!* "

*see issue #10

"Kent! Get down there, and bring your tape recorder this time, we all have to pull street duty these days son, hop to it! Olsen, go with him! And don't forget the film this time."

Jimmy turns, "Okay Clark le- Clark? Where'd he go?"

Olsen turns and looks around the room, but Clark Kent is no where to be seen. Nearby Lois Lane smiles and points towards the door. "You better hurry Jimmy, Clark ran out of here when he heard about the story happening."

"That's right Jimmy,"Continues Perry White, "You want to get the big stories in this business, you have to be ready to jump. Watch Kent, you'll learn a lot."

"Okay Chief." answers Olsen as he runs for the door,

"And don't call me Chief !" Shouts White after his fleeting form.

Across town... A huge Blue Skinned creature with horns atop its head, and a leathern tail

wades through the SCU officers, their weapons fire not affecting it in any way appreciable.

Suddenly a streak of light seems to flash by, almost golden in color, and instantly the creature is gone!

"Wha? Stammers Dan Turpin, "Musta been Supes. Guess he took that ugly sucker somewhere and put it ta bed. Probably Cadmus or STAR Labs."

"Where's your emergency, Dan?"

Everyone turns skywards, as Superman slowly descends, his cape fluttering around him.

"Wha? You just took it outta here."

"No, I just arrived now Inspector. What went on here?"

"There was some kinda monster, it's skin deflected our blaster bolts fer the most part, but then somebody, somethin' flew in and took it outta here, we thought it was you. But come ta think of it, the color seemed like it was Gold or sumpin' "

"Hhhmm, "Thinks Superman, "No Dan, I just arrived, as I said earlier. It seems like we have a new player in town. I suppose I better look around . I'll let you know what I can, if I come up with anything."

And with that the Man of Steel is gone, searching the city for any clues as to their mysterious flash of golden light. He'll find nothing. And nearby a shrouded figure smiles, before disappearing in a flash of light we've recently seen, a flash of golden light...

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