3 Meet The Parents

My eyes snap open. The morning sun lights the bedroom, dimmed by the curtains. I roll out of bed and immediately rush to the bedroom mirror and look to see what my new appearance is like.

Wow. I'm a young Tom Welling. I actually look like I'm about to start high school soon, rather than the 24 or 25 year old appearance of Tom Welling he had when he shot the first season. This is good. This means I can get started on securing the deliberate dorky demeanor.

I walk out of the bedroom and head downstairs.

"Hey Ma. I see you're making a hearty breakfast. Have I ever told you how much I appreciate you?" I asked.

"Not that I recall, but feel free to remind me often," Martha laughs.

Jonathan Kent is reading the paper, sipping coffee, quirks his eyebrow and said, "What? I don't get any appreciation? I see how it is."

I look flustered, "No, dad. You know how women are. They like to talk about feelings. We tough men are expected to repress emotions and keep a lid on any discussion that would emasculate ourselves. I wouldn't want to put you in a situation where I would ask you to compromise your macho exterior. But I think I can make an exception on Father's Day."

Martha and Jonathan looked at each other in shock and then started laughing.

"Good to know I have something to look forward to later this month," Jonathan said.

I sit at the kitchen table and start eating the plate that was set out for me.

"Hey, Mom? Do you think we can go into town today to pick up some eyeglasses?" I asked.

"What for? You've always had perfect vision. Are you seeing okay?" Martha asked.

"No, my eyesight is fine. I want to get a pair of fake eyeglasses that will make me look like a big dork. And maybe we can pick up some clothes that will drive that point home." I said.

Jonathan and Martha look at each other like they're confused.

"I don't get it. Why would you want to look like a dork," Jonathan said.

"Because I've made a decision regarding my long-term plans of how I'm going to introduce myself to the world, and it starts with defining who Clark Kent is." I said while getting out of the chair.

I walk over to grab my dad's reading glasses, putting them on and hunch over, "Picture this. Unassuming, quiet, mild-mannered, wholesome boy-next-door Clark Kent. Kind of bumbling. Bad at talking to girls and socially awkward, " I said while adjusting the glasses while looking nervously, "Um...hello uh-uh...Ms. Lane? Would you like to grab coffee sometime?" I act like I'm pursuing a girl, but while I say it I trip and fall.

I take the glasses off and stand straight up with my hands on my hips in a classic pose with a serious expression, "I'm glad I was able to stop this plane from crashing, ladies and gentlemen. I hope this little mishap hasn't put you off flying. Statistically speaking, it's the safest way to travel."

Jonathan said, "Clark...what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm going to create two personas. One persona will be the disguise. The civilian persona that no one could possibly think of as extraordinary in any way. Mild-mannered, unassuming, klutzy Clark Kent with glasses and bad farm boy dork chic. And the other persona: the confident, calm, dashing, graceful, powerful man with great posture and a deep suave voice. This will be the hero identity. The man who won't wear a mask. Who will just have a costume with a red-and-blue design and a red cape. On the front of the costume will be a symbol that looks like an "S." My name will be Superman. Fighting for truth, justice, and the American Way."

Martha looked disturbed, sharing another glance at Jonathan and said, "Honey...don't you think this is going a little fast?"

Jonathan agreed, "Yeah, Clark, where is all this coming from?"

I sat back at the kitchen table and said, "I had visions from the future. A man named Dr. Fate, who used to be in this group called the Justice Society of America has these like mystical powers and wears this stupid gold helmet, but with the helmet he has access to this entity named Nabu who is the Lord of Order and becomes a sorcerer supreme for this realm, protecting our planet from extra dimensional threats and magical foes. I know how crazy this all sounds, but I've seen the future. He shared with me my fate. Dr. Fate knows my fate. And I'm destined to become Superman. I will save the world many times in the future. And I can even fly! I have super breath, I'm bulletproof, I have heat vision, x-ray vision, I have super speed, and I'm one of the strongest beings in existence."

Jonathan sighs and says, "Clark. This is all too much. Let's just calm down."

I super speed both Jonathan and Martha outside and wait for them to realize they're outside.

"You ready? Watch this!" I exclaimed. I take a very deep breath and let loose a super breath that sends random things and some hay a mile away. Then, I super speed to grab the hose, turn it on, then place my thumb on the end of the hose to start spraying the water. After that, I take a deep breath, purse my lips, and focus on my cold breath and blow on the water, turning it to ice midair, it falls to the floor and shatters.

My parents look shocked.

"Wait. There's more." I said. I play back future events of my rescues and all the things I will accomplish. I picture Jor-El saying he's proud of me and I picture Lois and I dancing. I envision all the dangerous foes I defeat, throwing myself in front of meteors, jumping on a nuclear missile, taking a stab wound from General Zod and falling off a building. I run through tons of scenes while at super speed, then I feel the calm come over me. An extension of myself - I can feel the energy - I grab onto it and lift myself and hover in the air in front of my parents, turning my reaction speed back to normal.

"Oh. My God," Martha exclaims.

I put my right fist in the air and continue to rise higher and higher, then I shoot off in the sky until I unleash a sonic boom. I circle the entire farm land, then head back to my parents and slowly hover in front of them.

"See! I'm Superman! I just need to practice with my heat vision, x-ray vision, work on my flight a bit, and I'll be good to go! Now, I don't plan on going out there right now and being a superhero, but I wanted to let you know my long-term plans. I have these gifts I was born with. What kind of person would I be if I don't use them to help the world? If a psycho is going to blow up a school or release a toxic gas into the city killing millions or a meteor is going to strike the Earth like in 1989...if I let people die when I could be DOING something with my powers….could you and I live with that? I plan to be a beacon of hope for the world. Someone people can look to when they've lost all other options. When things look their darkest, I want to be a symbol of justice and hope - a person strong enough to fight for what's right in this world and be the shield to protect humanity against the bad things out there." I said dramatically.

Jonathan and Martha look at me and then each other, then turn back to me.

"What do you need us to do? Whatever it is. Just say it." Jonathan said.

"We believe in you, Clark. Whatever you want to do." Martha confirmed.

"Well, first, I have to tell you some things. Let's go inside. I'll let you two walk this time." I said.

"Yes, that was slightly nauseating, Clark. Warn us next time." Jonathan said.

The three of us walk inside and take our seats. I put on a serious expression.

"I know where I'm from. I'm from the planet Krypton. My home world was destroyed. It no longer exists. The only pieces of my planet are floating in space and some of the fragments reached Earth. That's what those meteor fragments were in 1989 - they were pieces of my planet. And the green, glowing meteor rock is called Kryptonite. They're radioactive pieces of Krypton. One of the first things we'll have to do is go and collect these meteor rocks because they're dangerous. The Kryptonite will mutate humans, making them acquire different abilities, but often, these individuals will turn insane. I'm not sure if the powers they acquire make the go crazy or if it's the meteor rock that changes their brain chemistry and makes them lose their morality and causes them to act out in barbarous acts, but 99.99% of the meteor-infected will act out. One of the visions I had was of a boy who was tied up and put on a cross-like structure in a cornfield the day of the meteor shower. Now, he's been in a coma for nearly 12 years. He's going to wake up in a few months and will go killing the jocks that tied him up in the cornfield - due to the meteor infection, it has suspended his aging, so he still looks 16 and he has these electric powers. People will usually acquire their powers based on the circumstances surrounding the infection. As an example, one man had someone smash a snow globe against his head (a snow globe with meteor rock in it), and the fragments seeped into his skull. When he went to get an MRI, the magnet in the machine caused a reaction with the meteor rock, causing the kid to acquire powers over magnetism, he could move metal...Also, by touching people, he can control chemicals in their brain and make them like him." I said.

I continue talking, "We need to get evidence of how dangerous these meteor rocks are and pin the blame on Luther Corp. Luther Corp has kept the EPA out of Smallville and they've been experimenting on the meteor rock to grow crops and do all sorts of weird experiments. They've prevented clean-up. There are hundreds if not thousands of impact sites in Smallville. There are fragments in lakes, streams, cornfields, greenhouses, literally everywhere. Lana Lang's necklace is even made of meteor rock. In my senior year, the class rings will be made of red meteor fragments. I plan to work with Queen Industries and find a way to clean up this mess so less meteor-infected individuals acquire these dangerous powers and lose their minds and hurt people. Anyway, sorry for going on this tangent, let me continue telling you about Krypton."

"I was the first natural born baby in centuries. The babies were born in these gestation chambers. The genes were selected based on what qualities they felt fit them best. Certain genes for the military, certain genes for scientists, certain genes for engineers, etc. My parents decided to have a natural birth and after my birth, my parents went to the Council of Krypton and told them that the planet core was unstable due to many years of unrestricted mining. They didn't listen to my father. They told him to keep it quiet. My parents created a spaceship and put me on it and sent me to Earth before the destruction of the planet. They included a few items that will help me find certain artifacts across Earth that will build a crystal structure that resembles buildings in Krypton. This structure will contain information from the known 28 galaxies, information that my birth father can download into my brain that will be essential to combating galactic threats. I'll need to build this fortress as a home base and start my training soon. Do you have the items that came with the ship?"

Jonathan looked hesitant before confirming, "Yes, I do. Hold on, son." He walked to get the items and then handed them to me.

"Where's the spaceship, dad?" I asked.

"Follow me." Jonathan said.

The three of us walked to the spaceship in the storm cellar and stood around it.

"Oh wait! I almost forgot! Hold on, I need to get something!" I exclaimed and super sped to Miller's Field, while in super speed mode, I desperately tried to activate my x-ray vision, but it didn't work. Then, I covered my eyes with my hands and tried again to focus on seeing through my hands, and it worked. I used my x-ray vision to scan Miller's Field to look for the key to the spaceship and found the octagonal disc. I sped over, dug up the key, then ran back to my parents.