In the year 2022 a metal box was found in Smallville, Texas. It contained a chronicle within it. The record therein was a previously undiscovered tale of how Earth's mightiest hero, Superman, came to us in the midst of an era of darkness where the Earth's dictator Doomsday had ruled for decades. It is a story of good and evil, of sacrifice and salvation. It is the Lost Gospel of The Superman.
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Prologue
Krypton
Jor-El
was edgy as he walked the triangular corridor that led into the great Circle
Chamber of the Council of Krypton. As he
entered the great sphere he noted the solemn faces of the council all around
him as they stared at the grey, hulking figure in the centre of the room.
Jor-el activated his crystalline control staff. I emitted a piercing
shaft of light. The lights dimmed in the
chambers and green holographic screens listing criminal charges against the
accused hung in the air for all to see.
“This is no fantasy. No
careless product of wild imagination.
No, my good friends. This
indictment that I have brought before you today, the specific charges listed
here and against this individual—his acts of treason and his ultimate aim of
sedition. These are matters of
undeniable fact.” Jor-El’s somber words garnered the attention of everyone in
the room.
Jor-El fixed his eyes on the gigantic figure in the center of the
room. The beast returned the stare with
his red eyes. “Sor-Un, you were created
by this council to be Krypton’s greatest protector—charged with maintaining
defense of the Planet Krypton itself.”
The central figure’s grey, rhino-like skin lied taut upon his
chiselled face as white fangs jutted out of his lower jaw towards the heavens
above him. He showed no emotion.
“You are author of this insidious plot to establish a new order
amongst us with yourself as absolute ruler.
You were given the power and abilities, far above those of mortal men
and you have squandered it on your pride.
Your malevolence has even warped your appearance and turned your beauty
into monstrosity.” The display screens
that hung in their air magnified the evil that now resided on Sor-Un's
rock-like face.
“Not only did you recruit General Zod, Ursa and Non as your leaders
but you have taken down fully, one-third of Krypton’s finest warriors and
reduced them to servitude beneath your towering ego! Your army has already been relocated to the
Phantom Zone where you will join them.”
The council members shifted, leaning forward in their great chairs
as three pillars of light shot up through the chamber’s central sentencing
platform. There appeared, beside Sor-Un,
his chief aides General Zod, Ursa and Non.
When their elevation platforms had finished rising from beneath the
platform their steely and evil glares were fixed upon Jor-El and the council.
“Sor-un, you and your army shall be exiled to the phantom zone,
where you will spend eternity gnashing your teeth at your folly.” Jor-El tapped another slight recess in his
control staff and the hum of the massive judgment dome’s retractors echoed
above them. As the dome was opening,
there hanging in mid-air above was The Exiler, a massive grey star ship that
would transport Doomsday and his cadre of villains to the Phantom Zone.
Jor-El moved his finger to the third recess on his crystalline
control staff preparing to transport Doomsday and his three cronies to the
Exiler above.
“Do you have any last words, Sor-un?”
“You may call me, Doomsday, Jor-El--because for your planet, that is what I shall be.”
Jor-El smirked at Sor-Un's definitive threat and, just as he was
going to tap the Exiler’s button, the one who had just renamed himself Doomsday
turned his white horned head and nodded to General Zod on his right. The villainously bearded General Zod jutted
out his lower jaw forward, bit down on a particular tooth in the back of his
jaw, and the unmistakable echo of a mechanical click was heard throughout the
chamber.
The General’s consort, Ursa smiled a serpent’s smile as there
appeared a massive flash of green light in the heavens above.
Jor-El and the entire council shuddered and looked up at the sudden
flash of emerald light that had illuminated the black sky. A split second later a river of green light
two meters wide descended from the sky where the flash of light had been and
stabbed the floor of the chambers at Doomsday’s feet. The green energy poured into the crater it
had created with a steady stream of hot energy.
“No matter that it takes an eternity, Jor-El, you will bow down
before me!” Doomsday laughed a maniacal
laugh as the ground beneath the capitol city shook with a deadly shudder. Jor-El instinctively knew that Doomsday had
acquired a Devastator Beam from the ancient wars and must have mounted it on a
satellite in orbit. Jor-El knew the
energy beam was cutting to the core of the planet, piercing the very heart of
Krypton. The Devastator was dismantling
her core and there was no stopping it now.
The council fled their high and lofty seats and scrambled for the
exits of the great hall. Jor-El was the
only one that held his emotions in check and he turned toward Doomsday and
General Zod, staring at the with a flint-like sharpness. “You may take down Krypton with you, Doomsday
but you are hereby sentenced to your existence in a dark eternity!” And with that Jor-El tapped the recess on his
staff. A red bolt of tangible light
descended from the Exiler above and took hold of Doomsday, and his trio of
evil. Doomsday roared as the energy
lifted him and his crew into the belly of the Exiler. Once the bay doors had received their
villainous cargo and closed, the ship’s auto-pilot immediately spun it
heavenward where it would leave orbit and head for the Phantom Zone black hole. Jor-El watched as the Exiler disappeared into
the night sky.
The massive pillar of the green Devastator beam continued to flood
the planet’s core with its destructive power.
Jor-El steadied himself on the quaking floor. He activated his communicator gauntlet and
his wife Lara’s face appeared in a holographic image in front of him.
“Jor-El! What is happening?” Lara all but screamed at the other end
of the link between them. Jor-El noticed the desperation and horror on her face
as she grasped their only, infant son in her slender arms. “Sor-Un has destroyed us, Lara. Krypton is doomed!” The ground shook knocking Jor-El to his
feet. Lara’s image faltered as she
steadied herself, barely able to stay on her own feet. “Lara, activate the force field around our
home. I installed it when Sor-Un began
his assault. I will be there in
moments. Hang on! ”
Jor-El shut the holograph off and dashed into the triangular hallway
that would take him to the landing platforms that encompassed the Council
Dome. There his Metal-Hawk waited for
him. As Jor-El darted through the
corridor he dodged this way and that to avoid the ceiling panels that were
being shaken loose by the planet-wide quake that was slowly ripping Krypton
apart. In another moment Jor-El emerged onto
the landing platforms where he gratefully noticed his Metal Hawk was still
intact where others and had been crushed by pieces of crystal beams that had
fallen off the superstructure of the great dome. He leapt into the open cock-pit and fired the
pulse engines and the Metal-Hawk lifted into the air where lightning now
crackled all through the atmosphere as the planet tore from within. Jor-El saw the ground far below collapse and
entire buildings disappear like toys into the gaping ground beneath.
In space the
Exiler sped towards the Phantom Zone black hole that perpetually hung on the
far side of Krypton’s two moons. The
viewing screen on the holding deck of the Exiler gave Doomsday and Zod an
ominous view of their impending exile.
Only Ursa shuddered at the thought of the Phantom Zone before them. Non and Zod looked on as their monstrous
leader stoically stood motionless with hatred for Jor-El rambling through his
veins.
As his craft raced through the acrid air of the dying planet Jor-El
saw his stronghold in the distance. As
of yet The House of El had not sustained critical damage. Jor-El activated the Metal-Hawk’s landing
gear and the great metal bird descended towards his home’s landing
platform. He activated his
Communicator. “Lara, open the force
field.” In an instant he noticed the air
around his tower crackle with a blue light and then it faded signalling it was
clear.
As his Metal-Hawk touched down Jor-El was already leaping out of the
cockpit and heading to the main doors of his home. He could see Lara holding their newborn baby
boy through the gigantic glass doors when a tremor hit with such force it flung
both of them to the ground. Lara angled
her body toward the ground, shielding her baby from the fall. Jor-El recovered his balance and ran toward
the house. The glass doors automatically
opened wide to let the sprinting statesman in.
He quickly and tenderly wrapped his arm around his wife, Lara who was groaning
in pain as he helped her up, her baby boy unharmed. “My love, we must get Kal to my lab
downstairs. It’s his only hope.”
“What do you
mean, Jor?” Lara’s face cracked in
panic.
“You know what I
mean, Lara!” Jor-El’s face fell into a sad resolve.
The Exiler accelerated toward the black hole that gaped as the inescapable
route into the Phantom Zone. The ship
began to judder as the reinforced metal frame of the craft began to buckle in
the black hole’s gravitational hurricane.
“I will stand at your side even into the Abyss my Liege,” spouted General Zod to his superior,
always playing the loyal underling even though at a moment’s notice he would
gladly usurp Sor-Un’s lead position.
The creature of doom kept his ugly face forward towards the tear in
space as he responded to the syrupy Zod.
“Save your meaningless platitude for your own ears, Zod. If you dare step out of line, even in there,
I will remove your head from your body.
I intend to rule in this impending hell and make its denizens my
slaves.” Zod’s performance was wasted on
this heartless creature. Non looked on
as his General’s face did not react to Sor-Un's impenetrable reaction.
Then something happened that this enemy of Krypton did not
expect. As Krypton’s core had been
rattled into pieces by his Devastator beam, the planet had begun to explode from
the inside. As she ripped itself apart
Krypton began to spew dark green torrents of molten lava into space at
unfathomable speeds along with gigantic boulders and rocks. One such projectile struck the Exiler with
such force that the boulder knocked the grey craft off of its trajectory toward
the black hole. The Exiler was put into
a spin that sent it hurtling to the left of the black hole at a speed nearing
that of light itself.
The interior of the ship went dark as all systems were
rebooted. With the reboot came the fact
that the restraints on Doomsday and his crew were deactivated and their
manacles fell off. As Zod’s restraints
hit the floor with a clank a smile crept across his evil face. “My lord, it would appear that fate has dealt
us a hand that would be very disappointing to Jor-El.”
“I agree, Zod,” Sor-Un's deep, growling voice rebounded off the
holding platform’s bare, grey walls.
“Ursa, access the Brainiac computer so that we can seize control of this
vessel.”
“Sor-Un, My lord,” Ursa snapped to attention as she took steps
towards the brightly lit computer panel which lined the perimeter of the
room. Non, happy to be out of his
manacles, kicked the fallen restraints and sparks flew as his chains collided
with the metal walls. Sor-Un whirled and
backhanded Non, sending the enormous mute flying against the back wall. “Be more careful, slave!” Non picked himself up dabbing at his bleeding
lip giving Sor-Un a silent stare of loathing.
"You will call me Doomsday now.
Sor-un is dead. Because for any
one creature who challenges me, for them, Doomsday is what I shall be.
“I am in the Brainiac system, my lord,” Ursa spoke, trying to get
Doomsday’s attention off of poor Non.
“We should be able to control the ship now.”
“Excellent. Tell Brainiac to
execute a search of the closest inhabitable planets. We cannot return to Krypton—she only has
minutes left.”
Zod looked at his withering world.
He had loved his planet. His
hopes had been to rule it one day when he had found a way to dispose of
Doomsday. But it was too late. No time for regret. There were other planets to rule and his time
would come.
Doomsday smiled as he gazed upon Krypton which was so very close to
complete destruction. For Doomsday loved
nothing more than to steal, kill and destroy.
