One
Year Later:It's been over a
year since Blackest Night and the defeat of Krona and the White
Martians who tore the world asunder. Many lives were lost and
cities were all but destroyed. But Humanity perseveres; life
goes
on and the world is rebuilding. So too in Metropolis where
the
Man of Steel and his extended Meta Family gather to restore and protect
the City of Tomorrow and the planet Earth that they call home...
Batman stood at the edge of the Fortress of Solitude’s main
computer, a Kryptonian crystal console, watching Superman working
intently at the computer.
“Are you certain what the
crystals detected was a distress beacon?” he asked. Clark
looked up at him with a half smile.
“Just because it’s
not the Bat-computer doesn’t mean it’s
stupid,” Clark said.
“I wasn’t saying
that,” Bruce replied. “I was simply stating a
possibility. These crystals are operating outside their natural
environment. It’s very possible that it may have been a
momentary malfunction or misreading a similar terrestrial
signal.”
“Or the signal was blocked
before the Fortress could pinpoint it!” Clark
stopped and sighed, sitting back in the crystalline chair.
“I’m sorry Bruce. I’m slightly
on edge. I shouldn’t have snapped. The
possibility of a Kryptonian spacecraft on Earth…”
He looked at his friend. “You said you have some information
on Threshold?”
“Some is the operative
word,” Bruce said. “The information I’ve
been able to find is limited, and their connection to the rest of the
government is more so.”
“So what did you
find?”
“The group’s
immediate predecessor, Cloud 63, was founded by the military in the
southwestern US in the late fifties,” he said.
“Their base of operations was an airfield in Southern Utah
suspected to be one of the many possible sites of Area 51. There are a
few publically available files from Cloud 63, and the classified files
I’ve found pointed to one thing- UFO watchers.”
“So when did Cloud 63 become
Threshold?” Clark asked. Bruce cocked his mouth in the
closest approximation of a smile that Clark ever saw from Batman.
“The day that a meteor shower
carried a small alien spacecraft into the middle of Kansas, where it
crash landed in an as-yet unknown location.”
“When I arrived on
Earth.”
“When you arrived on
Earth,” Batman confirmed. “And from what
I’ve been able to find, it appears that Cloud 63 ceased to
exist when it was determined that Earth needed to be prepared for a
possible alien invasion.”
“And Threshold was formed in
order to combat those threats,” Clark said.
“Exactly,” Bruce
replied. “My only question is why is this our first public
sighting of them.”
“You’d think the
White Martian invasion would have drawn them out,” Clark
said. He laid his head back at looked at the crystal screen.
“Why now?”
“I’ll keep my eyes
on them,” Bruce said. “Until we know more, about
Threshold and your mystery signal, I’d suggest that
Metropolis needs protecting.” Superman looked at Batman and
grinned.
“Couldn’t agree
more.”
Featuring...
The
Superman Family
in
'ANSWERS WILL BE FORTHCOMING'
Clark Kent tapped his stylus absent-mindedly against his tablet PC,
watching the regular bustle of the Daily Planet’s
newsroom. He had already filed a pair of stories that
morning, little more than puff pieces about local happenings, but his
mind was on Threshold.
“So any luck into
your… research this morning?” Lois Lane asked from
behind him. He turned and grinned. Lois stood there
with Jimmy. Although Jimmy Olsen had discovered the truth
about his identity they still often talked cryptically around
him. It was a hard habit to break.
“Nothing
beneficial,” Clark said. “How’s the
morning gone for the two of you?”
“Had an interesting
interview,” Lois said.
“Colin Thornton,”
Jimmy said. Clark raised his eyebrow at Lois. Clark had
worked for Thornton for a short while, and the man had also turned out
to be a neighbor of theirs. There was something about him
that Clark didn’t trust.
“So why is the Planet
interviewing a competitor?” Clark asked.
“Something to do with the
moving and shaking at LexCorp,” Jimmy said. “Local
business reaction to the new boss over there.”
“Tessa Mercer?”
Clark asked. “I’d like to interview her, but
LexCorp has her locked up tight.”
“Not for long Kent,”
Perry White said as he approached his desk. “LexCorp has
finally granted us an interview and they’ve requested Kent
and Olsen be the one to do it. They’ve sent over an
information packet that I’ll email over to you.” He
glanced at his watch. “You have two hours to prep and be
there. Do us proud.”
“Will do Chief,”
Clark said.
John Henry Irons watched as his employees worked on the small device in
the clean room in front of him. It was a wireless, noninvasive heart
monitor and defibrillator. He smiled. In the last
year, the Steelworks had gone from a small workshop to one of the
world’s foremost think-tanks. It was now considered the
world’s top up-and-coming tech firm, and it was predicted to
rival LexCorp, STARLabs, and Wayne Enterprises by the end of the decade.
It was also considered the number one
reason for the rehabilitation for the Hob’s Bay area,
officially helping the neighborhood break free of its long-time
nickname of Suicide Slum. The Steelworks facility had helped gentrify
the area, bringing in goods, services and population that had saved the
dying neighborhood.
He was humbled to be the face of the
company. Despite it all, he kept a small corner of their facility to
himself to aid his other identity of Steel and his allies. He was
considered the Justice League’s go-to tech support guy now,
and that was more humbling than any other part of it.
“John Henry,” a
voice said, “if I didn’t know you better,
I’d say you were daydreaming.” John Henry turned
and smiled at his new business partner, Karen Starr of StarSoft. The
two friends embraced and John turned and led her down the hall.
“You know some of the
world’s greatest advancements came from daydreams,”
he said. Karen smiled and nodded.
“Sure, but I always thought us
technology types called it brainstorming,” she said.
“Doesn’t sound so childish.”
“Is being a little childish so
bad?” he asked. He led her to his office, which in all
reality was just a modified workshop. Kelex rushed towards them, a
serving tray in hand.
“Hey, what’s up,
Karen?” the android said. “Here’s your
latte just the way you like it, cream, sugar and hazelnut. And Uncle
John, here’s your coffee, two sugars.” John Henry
rolled his eyes.
“Still has the language
filter,” Karen chuckled.
“Better than the
‘wannabe rapper’ filter that Natasha had installed
before,” John said as they walked to the walled-off office.
They sat in facing armchairs, a small coffee table between them. He sat
his coffee cup down as Karen took a sip of hers.
“So how’s the
project coming?” he asked.
“Right now, we’re
testing the operating system with the hardware you supplied last
week,” she said. “We’re looking at speed
and compatibility, but so far…”
“So good?” John
Henry asked. The duo laughed.
“So then what’s
next?” she asked.
“Next?” John Henry
said. “Next, we release the StarTab. Then, we change the
world.”
“Amen to that.”
Clark tapped his toe impatiently as the elevator climbed to the top of
LexCorp Tower. Elevators were his number one pet peeve. They were too
slow, and stopped too often.
“It’d be easier to
fly up, wouldn’t it?” Jimmy asked. Clark
chuckled and relaxed. It was a strange incident that Jimmy
had found out. The two had been assigned to an interview with an inmate
at Stryker’s. There had been an explosion, a prison break,
and Clark had shielded Jimmy. The explosion shredded his suit,
revealing the red and blue beneath.
“Yeah, it would be,”
he said. “I’ve always been like this in
elevators.”
“I’ve always thought
it was claustrophobia,” Jimmy grinned. “Makes sense
for a farm boy, doesn’t it?”
“I’ll have to
remember that,” Clark said. He smiled as the elevator
pinged. Top floor. The doors opened and the pair
walked into the executive suite. Clark ran Mercer’s
biography through his head.
She was an up and coming young business
whiz when her software firm was bought by LexCorp. She had specialized
in designing social networking applications, and was making hundreds of
thousands of dollars a week and that was only a year out of college
with a staff of ten. Naturally, that attracted Lex Luthor.
She was put in charge of LexCorp’s failing software division,
and had it turning a profit in six months.
She was a natural successor to Lex
Luthor after his arrest and subsequent disappearance.
“Mister Kent, Olsen,
welcome,” the receptionist said. “I’ll
let Miss Mercer know you’re here.”
“Thank you,” Clark
said. He turned and raised his eyebrow at Jimmy. He
mouthed “making us wait” and Jimmy
chuckled. They sat down, and Clark pulled his phone from his
pocket. He opened the GBS news ticker and began
reading. An undersea earthquake was threatening to create a
tsunami in Hawaii, but Captain Marvel was already on the
scene. He started to scroll down further, but the
receptionist hung up the phone and looked right up at them.
“Miss Mercer will see you
now,” she said. They stood and walked into the
executive suite. Clark had been in this office dozens of
times before, but Mercer had completely changed it. Luthor
had used it to display his power. Mercer had installed
several flatscreens, each streaming with information- CNN, Bloomberg,
Fox News, Twitter, Facebook, the NYSE and other information streams
that Clark didn’t even recognize- and all of it about LexCorp.
Mercer stood from her desk where
she’d been reading something on her screen. She was a
striking woman of average height, with auburn hair and grey eyes. She
wore a red blouse and black skirt. Jimmy was already snapping photos,
taking in the surroundings.
“Mister Kent, Mister Olsen,
welcome,” she said.
“Call me Clark,” he
said, “and he prefers Jimmy.”
“Then call me Tess,”
she said. “Please, have a seat.” She and Clark sat,
and Jimmy snapped a pair of photos before sitting himself.
“So we appreciate the time
you’ve taken to see us,” Clark said, setting his
tablet on the desk. He pressed the record button on the screen.
“You’ve been LexCorp CEO for six months and have
been completely silent that entire time. Why break your silence
now?”
“I had a lot of work to
do,” she said. “Mister Luthor’s attack on
you, his arrest and the subsequent chaos it caused… well, it
wasn’t good for our shareholders to say the very
least.” She smiled, but there was no humor behind it.
“Half of my job at the onset was to rehabilitate the image of
LexCorp. Mister Luthor almost ruined his own company through what he
did.”
“So what would you like to
talk about?” Clark asked. “What would you like to
tell us?”
“Well, my goals for LexCorp
for on-“ The building suddenly shook, and the windows behind
Mercer cracked. She spun to her phone and hit the intercom.
“Amanda, what the hell was
that?” she demanded.
“We have a meta attacking the
lobby!” the receptionist exclaimed. Clark looked down, and
glared through the building. He recognized the attacker- a former
LexCorp employee named Micah Flint. Flint was mutated by a
genetic experiment turned him into a being of living rock. He
took the name Rock and swore revenge on Luthor, and on Superman after
his defeat.
“We probably need to
evacuate,” Tess said calmly as the building shook again.
“I have a dedicated helicopter on the
roof.” She stood and leaned over the
desk. “You’re more than welcome to it
gentlemen.”
“This is a news story in
progress,” Clark said. “I think we might head
downstairs to cover it.”
“Suit yourself,” she
said. “We’ll pick this interview up again after the
crisis.” She smacked the desk and started to jog
out of the room. Clark heard her say something about an
off-site command center before running to the stairwell.
“So, is this where you rip
your shirt open and Superman flies off to beat up the bad
guy?” Jimmy asked.
“Well, I’ve got to
get you to safety first.”
They hurried down the stairs, joining
the throng of LexCorp employees, and reached the back docking bay of
the building several minutes later. It was an eternity for Clark, but
he had to make sure Jim was safe.
“Still have your signal
watch?” Clark asked.
“Yeah, but you’re
right here,” he said. Clark smiled.
“It’s not for
me,” he said as they broke free from the crowd.
“Be careful.”
“You too, Clark.”
He smiled and dashed away, ripping his
shirt open as he ran.
Tess watched as the man of steel appeared from nowhere and rocketed
towards her building. She looked at her bodyguards, the
amazonian Hope and Mercy.
“Sure enough, you were
right,” she said. “It didn’t take
long.”
“Not long at all,”
Hope said. “Releasing Rock was a quick way to get him
here.”
“It’s
amazing,” Tess said. “LexCorp has put him through
so much, and yet he still jumps to our aid.”
“He’s
Superman,” Mercy said. “That’s just what
he does.”
“LexCorp says they’ve changed,” the large
man-monster screamed. His skin was converted to a thick,
smooth layer of orange rock thanks to LexCorp genetic experiments
several years ago. He had volunteered for the experiment, but
he blamed Luthor for the extremity of the transformation. He
pulled a panel from a wall and threw it at the armored LexCorp
security. “Look at me! LexCorp has done
NOTHING to fix me!”
“It’s probably not
that simple Micah,” said a voice that made everyone turn.
Superman walked into the lobby, his cape billowing behind him.
“Oh, you’re worse
than Luthor,” Rock growled. He flexed, stretching
the limits of his purple body-suit. “You let me
suffer. You didn’t HELP me! I’m the victim here
Superman! You’re supposed to help victims of crimes
like this!”
“Micah, you need to calm
down,” he said. “We’re trying to get you
help, but you’ve been so impatient.”
“Whatever,” he
grunted. Rock put his head down and charged at Superman. Clark braced
himself and held his arms up. He grabbed Rock as he reached
him, spun, and threw him outside, crashing through the lobby windows.
A field of telekinetic energy grabbed
Rock before he could hit any other buildings. Supergirl descended from
the sky, her small red cape billowing behind her.
“Need a hand?” she
asked.
“Never hurts.”
“But this will!”
Rock bellowed. He backhanded Linda, sending her sailing
across the street. Clark blasted him with heat vision, and the
concussion sent him sprawling.
“Micah, we want to help
you!” Superman exclaimed as he drew close to him.
“STARLabs and LexCorp have both been working on your problem
for years!”
“Exactly!” he
cried. “Years, with no result!”
Rock jumped to his feet and punched Clark across the face.
Clark punched him in the gut, and he doubled over. Linda
rocketed from the side and tackled him. She punched him across the face
twice before he shoved her away.
“Come on jackass,”
she growled. “You’re a giant
rock-man. Did you really expect it to be easy?”
“No, but I expected
something!” he bellowed, pounding the pavement. The buildings
around them shifted, and windows shattered. Supergirl spun
and blasted the falling glass with her heat vision, and Clark blasted
the ground around Rock with his own heat vision. The asphalt
began to melt, and envelop Rock. He struggled, but Clark
sucked in a deep breath and blew, freezing the sticky, rocky substance
around him.
“I’m sorry
Micah,” he said. “I really am.”
Mercer looked at her two aides and smiled.
“Collect Mister
Flint,” she said. “It’s time we gave him
his cure.”
“Yes
ma’am,” Hope and Mercy replied in unison. They left
her standing in the operations center. She turned back to the screen as
the SCU arrived on the scene and smiled.
“You’d be very proud
of me Uncle Lex,” she muttered.
Her code name was Superwoman. She had no idea why Eiling
would pick that name for her, but she didn’t object. It was
her codename, it was assigned to her, she lived with it. She shook off
the teleportation effect of the Zeta beam as her eyes adjusted to the
sudden brightness of the planet Bellatrix. The planet’s three
moons were clearly visible, and she mentally shifted her cape into
something more closely resembling the native cloaks of Bellatrix
natives.
She was only a few kliks away from her
target, the Bellatrixan royal palace. The blue, red and white suit she
wore granted her the abilities of several alien races, and the most
useful at the moment was the natural Braalian magnetic abilities, which
kept the wind-swept, iron-rich sand from blinding her. She considered
flying to the palace, but the less attention she drew until she
fulfilled her mission, the better. As she walked, she
practiced shifting into the form that Eiling had ordered her to adopt.
To the General, this mission was vitally
important. He felt the more alien threats he struck at the
better, and Bellatrix was a planet with a powerful
reputation. Both Green Lantern Boodikka and the Blood Sisters
of Bellatrix were well known throughout the Cosmos. If Earth
proved their power here, it would be a powerful message. Why
she had to be in disguise was beyond her.
This day was special. The royalty of
Bellatrix would hold court for their citizens yearly, hear grievances
and, when appropriate, order to Blood Sisters to dispense
justice. It was largely ceremonial, and almost entirely
pageantry. She stepped into the Great Hall of the palace and
took careful note of everything. She saw representatives of
many races from Sector 1414 and beyond gathered together, as well as
several from other planets. She took special note of the pair
of L.E.G.I.O.N. agents near the back of the room. Naturally,
Dox would want every base covered.
She stood in line, and shifted to the
form she had prepared for. Her cloak ensured it was
unnoticed. Ahead of her, the Queen Mother, Queen and Lady
stood on a dias, their husbands standing behind them. Each would step
forward in turn, granting the request of the citizen. She did a quick
head count, and smiled as she realized that the Queen-
Bellatrix’s current reigning monarch- would be the one to
speak to her, not her mother or daughter.
A statement with maximum impact.
After nearly two hours, she stepped in
front of Queen Jeulla of Bellatrix and bowed deeply.
“Welcome my
daughter,” she said. “What do you wish of
me?”
“I come from a small fiefdom,
milady,” she said, not looking up at her. “Our
people are oppressed and desire relief. We desire freedom.”
“I am unaware of such strife
on Bellatrix,” the Queen replied. “In what province
do you reside my child?”
“Oh, it’s not on
Bellatrix,” she said, looking up with a smile. Her eyes
glowed red for a moment before she blasted Queen Jeulla with her
Daxamite heat vision, severing her head cleanly at the neck. She jumped
to her feet and shed her cloak, revealing her assumed form.
“I am Supergirl of
Earth,” she bellowed as over a thousand eyes saw her blue,
red and yellow costume. “And we will not stand for alien
interference in our world any longer! Let this serve as a
message to all races- EARTH IS NOT TO BE REGARDED
LIGHTLY!!!” The Blood Sisters and L.E.G.I.O.N.
agents both started to react, rushing towards her with all
speed. She simply smiled and pressed a toggle on her
belt. A Zeta beam enveloped her and pulled her away.
On the dias, Lady Kiella, suddenly the
Queen-elect of Bellatrix, cradled her mother’s headless
corpse. She wailed in despair for several moments before lying the body
down lightly and standing. She placed her hand on her swollen, pregnant
stomach, where the new Lady of Bellatrix waited for birth, and looked
out at her followers and other aliens.
“I declare a five million
standard credit bounty on the head of this Supergirl,” she
said. “I want her alive. She will face me as her
executioner!”
Clark Kent fiddled with the stylus of his tablet, thinking of how best
to close the story of his own fight with Rock. He tapped the tablet
several times as he thought of a good closing, but Perry’s
voice interrupted his thoughts.
“You’ll be working
with Kent,” he said. “He’s one
of our best, and he’ll be great to show you the
ropes.” He turned to see Perry escorting a young red-headed
girl with short hair towards him. She carried a messenger’s
bag, and wore a small, blue men’s dress shirt and loose
khakis. She smiled and he stood to introduce himself.
“Clark Kent,” he
said. “It’s a pleasure to meet
you…”
“Kristen,” she said.
“My name is Kristen Wells, and I’m your new
intern.”
NEXT
ISSUE:
In
ACTION
COMICS #3: Supergirl stands
framed for a crime she didn’t commit and must deal
with a bounty on her head. Unfortunately, an intergalactic bounty on
one of Earth’s superheroes means there’s only one
bastich tough enough
to frag the bounty and collect. It’s Team Superman versus the
Main Man
himself, LOBO, with the fate of one of their own at stake! METROPOLIS
MAILBAG:
So
for some reason I never include an author’s note in a first
issue,
always planning on doing it in the second. I don’t know why,
but it’s
been my habit for years.
I’ve
got to take a second to thank Curt for his kind words last
issue. JLU has been a site I always enjoyed but
never was able to
contribute to until my short-lived Legion Worlds run.
Frankly, I’m
disappointed in my Legion run. I had some great plans, but
real life
got in the way, as it often does, and the series fell by the wayside. I
tried to get something going at JLU a couple times after that,
including a Supergirl series that you will see (and already have seen)
some hints of in this series. Then the OYL relaunch happened, and I saw
an opportunity to get my foot in the door on one of my favorite titles
to write- SUPERMAN.
With
the title change to Action Comics, I also saw an opportunity to do
something fun that I started to hint at in my previous run on a
Superman title (at DC Infinity if you’re wondering) and write
this as a
Superman Family book. Every member of the Superman Family is fair game,
from Supergirl to Krypto, Superboy to Bibbo, and even Gangbuster and
Rose & Thorn. In addition to that, expect to see some major DCU
guest stars. The biggest guest possible popped up right at the
beginning of this issue, but you can expect to see Zatanna, Adam
Strange, L.E.G.I.O.N., Jason Blood (and his rhyming alter-ego,
naturally), Starfire and many more in issues to come.
Buckle
in folks. Expect plenty of action. It’s not the title by
mistake.
#2