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 # 15

"Two words"

By Ralph L. Angelo Jr.

"That's it, Gold'n, now dive left." The Man of Steel speaks as he flies slightly behind his young protege' , as she deftly avoids a missile flying directly at her, letting it pass by harmlessly.

"Whee!" She shouts gleefully, "That was fun."

"Don't get cocky Gold'n. That was only one, what about the rest?" he answers , as they speed through the blue sky.

She turns her head back towards him, suddenly looking shocked, "The rest?"

As if on cue, a dozen more missiles appear before them, honing in on their position!

"Uh oh." Gold'n stammers, under an almost hushed breath.

"No hesitation Gold'n, take them down, NOW!"

Superman streaks ahead of the young girl, rocketing towards the first few missiles, his heat ray vision leaps from his eyes powerfully, as it burns the sensitive electronics in the missiles firing mechanism, quickly he slaps a few missiles straight west, where they'll head for the ocean, and fall in harmlessly.

Then, he smiles almost slyly, as he turns to see where Gold'n is, as he does, an errant missile slams into him, knocking him from the sky with a powerful concussive blast

Ba-Fwoosh!

Superman drops like a broken rag doll!

"Superman! No!" Screams Gold'n as she explodes two missiles simultaneously with her energy blasts from each hand.

Poom! Boom!

The heroine dives after Supermans falling form, becoming a streak of golden light, and then catching him well before he hits the ground.

"Superman! Superman! Wake up! Please wake up!" she cries frantically as she races towards the ground, holding his insensate form.

He smiles and opens his eyes before they touch down.

"I'm alright, Gold'n. I wanted to see how you reacted under stress. Now c'mon, we have to get the rest of those missiles."

He streaks away from her, and she immediately races to his side.

"Okay Gold'n you take the three on the left, I have the four on the right, GO!"

Superman streaks to his four, using his heat ray vision as a laser, he cuts the engines off the missiles, then gathers them in a bundle, and races the whole package up towards the edge of space , where he crushes the deadly mass of metal triggering a massive explosion that lights up the sky momentarily!

'Wow!" Mutters Gold'n, momentarily distracted by the light show above her, but almost instantly, she focuses back on the task at hand. With a blast of speed, she over takes the nearest missile, and tries to emulate Supermans use of his heat ray vision with a blast of her force beam, only to end up with rather explosive results!

Ba-Koom!

She drops like a broken toy, as two missiles continue past her. Her thoughts are buried in a thick miasma, as she fights to stay awake, but her limbs feel like lead. The wind rushes past her, as her eyes peel open from the force of the air around her hurtling form.,and then, suddenly strong arms grip her, and slow her descent, until she feels herself being lifted upwards, as a powerful voice strikes at her deepest being, prodding her awake.

"Wake up Gold'n, we're not finished here yet, and I know you're tougher then that." Superman releases her, as she takes control of her own flight once again.

"Wait Superman, I'll get these. You got yours. Let me finish here."

He nods okay, as she speeds off, rocketing alongside one of the missiles, she looks past it at the other one. Then she blazes towards the one nearest her, kicking it powerfully into the other, then streaking away at the moment of impact ,as both explode brightly.

Ba Kooomffff!

Superman floats in the air nearby, as Gold'n pulls to a stop next to him.

"Not bad." He remarks, "But you couldn't have done that in a populated area, you do realize that."

"Uh, I guess I do now." She blushes sheepishly and looks away, as she realizes her almost mistake. "And I thought I did so well."

Superman smiles, "You did do well. Very well, in fact. Though there was one other small mistake you made .When I was hit by that first missile, you should have stayed after the others, making sure they were taken care of before seeing to me. You have to know your partners abilities , and trust in them in certain instances. I wouldn't have been badly hurt by the fall, but a town or other nearby populated area could have been destroyed by you looking after me. Learn to prioritize, even if you have to sacrifice one of your teammates , the greater good should be considered. In this case it could have been a few thousand unknowing civilians."

They both touch down lightly to the sandy desert floor beneath them, as a jeep approaches, and an older military man steps out of it. "Superman, thank you for getting rid of that old ordnance for us."

Superman shakes the generals hand. "My pleasure , General Ryker. It gave me a chance to ad to my young friends training here." He points towards Gold'n with his open hand.

"Very Good Superman, and thank you Gold'n. Your display was awe inspiring to the troops."

Behind the General, several truck loads of soldiers cheer at his mention of them, as a lapel mike he wears carries his voice to those men watching.

She blushes and waves at her fans, as both she and the Man of Steel take to the air.

"It was our pleasure, General," Answers Superman, "We're not the real heroes here, you and your men who defend our great nation are. We just do what we can to help out."

The soldiers below wave and cheer louder, as Superman and Gold'n accelerate away into the distance.

Within minutes, both speedsters are back in Metropolis. "I have work to do now Gold'n. If you need me, contact me through the signal watch I gave you."

She smiles, nods, and waves goodbye, as Superman speeds off towards the Daily Planet. "She's learned a lot in the past month." He thinks, "I don't know , but I have a good feeling about her becoming one of the best of us. Though I'd like to have her spend some more time with young heroes her own age. Perhaps the Titans or even Young Justice might have a place for her."

He alights at the Daily Planet building, which is still heavily under construction, but the lower floors have been completed, and now the staff are moving back in.

"Hard to believe that a few months ago, this was a gaping hole. But the good people of Metropolis have worked very hard, pulled together greatly to rebuild their city. It's still a long way off, but it's getting better." He muses to himself , as he ducks into a stairwell, to make a faster then the eye can see change of clothes, and to exit an elevator a moment later as...

"Clark! "Shouts Lois Lane-Kent , his wife, "How was your morning?" She looks up from her desk, behind her computer screen.

"Eventful, Lois. Yours?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not feeling to well this morning. I think I may have a bug or something. I have an appointment with the Dr. this afternoon. Hopefully he'll just give me a shot, and I'll be back in shape before nightfall."

Clark leans over and kisses her on the forehead. "You're always in shape, as far as I'm concerned."

She returns the kiss, and adds a small hug, "That goes double for you, my big beautiful man."

"Hey you two, stop wasting company time with family matters." A gravelly voice they both recognize immediately forces their heads to turn towards its source, as both husband and wife smile at the sound.

"Hello Perry," Clark begins, "What's up today? Anything pressing news wise?" Perry White smiles at his friends ,"No son, nothing really. Since the alien war was over, things have been quiet world wide, for the most part."

Suddenly, as if on cue Ron Troupe runs into the Planets offices from the elevator, tension written all over his face! "Perry, guys! There's a war going on over at Lexcorp! Some super baddie is tearing up the place, and from what I just heard from Jimmy, he's there with a camera."And then as almost an after thought, "Luthor himself's been injured!"

"Luthor's hurt?" Asks Clark incredulously. "What's happening there, Ron? Who's the villain?" chatters White quickly

"No idea Perry. It's some guy wearing a green armored suit, but his face is hidden behind a smoked face shield. No one can see him."

"Perry, I'll take it." Speaks Clark quickly.

"Alright son, you go there, be careful, and get me a front page story."

"Clark, be careful." Speaks Lois, almost in a whisper, her words having a double meaning only Clark Kent knows of.

He kisses his wife gently, and then makes his way quickly out the door, towards the elevator.

2 seconds later, Superman is streaking across the Metropolis skyline, and towards the signs of battle.

"Unbelievable! Even with their new weapons, the SCU is on the ropes."

Superman dives towards the battle, his telescopic vision enlarging the armored villain before him. "That suit, I've seen it before, years ago.* Luthor manufactured it, but it caused insanity in its wearer. When that happened, Luthor did away with it. Mainly because he couldn't coax anyone else to wear it"

*Way back in John Byrnes first few issues, someone was seen wearing the battle suit.

Suddenly, a golden streak arrives from the other direction. Ramming the armored villain , hard!

Bra-KOW!

The armored foe lands in a heap, smashing through cars on the street, before coming to a skidding halt.

"Okay you psycho loser,"Shouts Gold'n angrily, " It's time someone put you on your metal butt!"

"Be careful , Gold'n." Admonishes the man of steel."Whoever he is , he's decidedly dangerous."

Even as Superman speaks, the green armored attacker rises to his feet, and fires a blast of energy out of his right gauntlet, directly at Gold'n, but she merely flies away.

"Uh-uh green meanie. You ain't gettin' this golden girl so easily."

"Says you, witch.", answers a mechanically augmented voice from inside the suit, as suddenly dozens of blasts erupt form the Green armored suits gauntlets , and with a precision that can only be considered computer assisted, they track Gold'n's movements through the sky, finally pinning her with two powerful beams of cohesive plasma.

Ba-kooom!

"Enough, monster.", yells the Man of Steel, as he pounds the armored figure with a powerful right, but surprisingly, the enemy stands his ground, stands his ground, and returns the blow! Actually knocking the man of steel back a few feet! "Incredible! His strength almost rivals my own! Who is this?" Thinks Superman incredulously.

Almost as if he could read Supermans mind, the villain answers him. "My name is Catalyst, Kryptonian, and I'm here for one reason only, to make your life hell"

Superman delivers a crushing left, that knocks Catalyst off his feet, and into the air. Immediately the villains boot rockets kick in, and right his haphazard flight. Superman flies after him instantly, but...

"Not so fast, boy scout. You have a choice, continue our fight, or save the girl." As he speaks, Catalyst aims his hand at the unconscious form of Gold'n, and then raises his arm upwards to the building front above her, and fires! Instantly tons of debris topple towards her, but Superman is faster, he streaks in, grabs her , and then rockets to a nearby rooftop to lay her gently down. Already knowing that Catalyst is long gone!

Gold'n struggles back to consciousness "Wh-where is he?" she asks weakly.

"He got away, Gold'n." Answers the concerned Man of Steel.

"I screwed up, didn't I?" She asks meekly as she groggily gets to her feet.

"No. No you didn't. That could've happened to anyone. Your one mistake was not learning what your foe had to offer as far as an offense. That's the only lesson here. When you encounter him next time, and I'm sure there will be a next time, test him, don't let him test you. Be wary, and learn his measure before you dive in."

She stretches her arms to her sides, and then looks at Superman. "I think I'm okay."

"Do you want me to get you a place to stay for the evening with friends of mine?"

"N-no Superman, I'm just going to go home and sleep this off. I'll be fine in the morning."

"Alright, be careful." She nods and flies away.

Superman stares into the city, searching with his varied vision powers for signs of the man known as Catalyst. None are to be found. Nearby, he watches as Luthor is carried out of his partially re-constructed building on a stretcher , but he's awake and talking.

"I don't like this. Usually, I'd say Luthor was involved in this. But he is injured, so I'm not sure what to think."

Superman flies slowly around Metropolis one more time, searching for his new enemy, but no trace is found. Soon he alights on the rooftop of his home, and quickly enters. Moments later, Clark Kent is showered and cleaned up, as he hears a key slip into the door knob. He walks towards the door to greet his wife, when he hears her sobbing quietly.

"Lois? What's the matter?" He asks hesitantly.

She looks up with him with tears in her eyes, but then she smiles, and Clark realizes they're tears of joy. "What is it honey?" He asks again.

She stammers her answer. "I-its...Clark I..." She pauses before speaking, and then she takes a long sigh, and smiles at her husband. She begins to speak, and what she says are two words. Two words that will forever change the life of Clark and Lois Kent, as well as Superman. "I'm pregnant."

Next: Going to War: Part I

Kryptonian Komments C/O CptMarvell@aol.com