Superman

Today was just an average day for Clark Kent. He got up early in the morning and quickly took care of his hygiene before eating a small breakfast which included a bowl of oatmeal, eggs, and bacon. Now, he was making his way to the Daily planet, a worldwide news publisher, that he worked as a journalist for. But along the way, Clark stopped to help an elder woman cross the long and crowded streets of Metropolis.

" Whew! Another day, another dollar, am I right Lois?" Clark asked the brunette beside him as he clambered into the elevator.

" Sure Smallville." Losi replied. She looked at the man and rolled her eyes, how it was he always kept that optimistic attitude about everything, just confused her. " So, Clark, what's your excuse for being late today? I'm just curious what you're going to tell Perry." Lois asked the man.

" Well, I'm not that late, am I? I only stopped to help an old lady cross the street." Clark told the woman.

Lois looked at Clark and rolled her eyes.

" That excuse is only going to work so many times, Farm boy." Lois stated. She slapped Clark playfully on his shoulder with a stack of papers, before walking out of the elevator.

" What? It's not an excuse if it's true. And besides, Ms. Lane, Perry loves the elderly." Clark told the woman.

His smug, playful attitude was one of Clark's many endearing qualities. One that Lois found herself quite fond of. Even, when he was being a smartass.

" Kent! GET IN HERE!"

Both Lois and Clark heard shouted from the back of the office.

" Well, Smallville, let's see you work your magic." Lois patted Clark on his shoulder and smiled at the man as she pushed him towards Perry's office.

" Just watch, Lois." Clark told the woman. Over the years, Clark had proven not only a useful and respectable employee, but also a good person. Clark was sure, Perry would understand him being a few minutes late.

Clark walked into Perry White's office and sat down as the man finished pouring himself a small glass of whiskey.

" What seems to be the problem, Mr. White?" Clark asked the man.

" Oh, there you are Kent. I just wanted to tell you, your last piece on the justice league was a hit! Taking down Manheim's cult once again. Truly magnificent." Perry told the man.

" Oh! Well, just doing the best I could, Mr. White. I am glad you appreciated it, though." Clark told the man.

" Appreciated it? Didn't you hear me, son? I loved it! The people loved it! Hahaha!" Perry let out a hearty laugh. He was happy to see the Justice League not only save the day but make him so much money all at the same time. " Kent, I just wanted to congratulate you on this success, and maybe if you want, I'd like to make you reporter of the month."

" Oh, Mr. White. I appreciate it. But I think Lois and her report on Lex Luthor should get a little more attention. I mean, sure the Justice League took down the bad guys, but that's nothing compared to what Lois had to do to get that story." Clark told the man.

" Well, I guess... Lois did do a pretty good job on that. Her and Olsen both. Alright, Kent, you've talked me into it. Do me a favor and call Lois into my office will ya?" Perry told the man.

" Sure, thing Mr. White." Clark told the man. Clark got up from his seat and started walking towards the door.

" Oh, and Kent! Next time, make sure you and Lois aren't the loudest things in the room." Perry shouted.

Clark shook his head.

" Yes sir." Clark replied.

Clark walked out of the office, just as Lois was walking up. One look from the man's face and Lois could tell that Clark had been busted.

" So, how did it go Smallville?" Lois asked the man.

" Oh, it went pretty well, actually. Yeah, he said he wanted to thank me for my story on the Manheim incident. And then he mentioned something about making you reporter of the month? Or something like that? I don't know. But he wants you in his office now." Clark told the woman.

Suddenly, a large bolt of lightning struck down just a few blocks from the Daily planet.

Clark and Lois both cringed from the sight of the bright blue surge.

" What was that?!" Lois yelled.

Everyone in the room ran over to the windows and looked out as a giant smoke cloud hovered over the city.

" I don't know. I'll be right back." Clark told the woman. He walked towards his desk and put his papers down before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small device. He walked out to the top of the daily planet and placed the device in his ear, it was a communicator. " Superman to Batman, a large bolt of lightning just struck down in metropolis. What happened?" Clark asked.

" Batman to Superman: A large electrical anomaly was detected just moments before a ship was spotted entering The Moon's orbit. Wonder Woman's nearby. I already dispatched her to investigate." Batman replied form the league hall across town.

" Tell her to give me a moment, I'll be right there." Clark replied. Clark raced away from the Daily Planet, exploding into the sky while tearing off his suit and tie and revealing underneath a shiny blue suit with a large red S on the middle of his chest.

..................

It was a quiet and somewhat short trip to Earth. Just a few days, with Markus and Cir-El pushing the ship, for convenience. Normally, the transport ship, would take a few weeks to get to, but with his eagerness getting the better of him, Markus decided to speed things up, personally.

Once the ship was close enough to Earth, Markus looked to his wife.

" I'm going ahead. Have the ship stay out of sight of earth, and once you're sure your safe, join me on the planet. Everyone else is to stay here." Markus told the woman.

" Of course, Husband. Be safe." Cir-EL told the man.

" Aren't I always?" He joked.

The sight of the earth brought a great feeling of joy to Markus' heart. The tiny blue ball of rock, water, and greenery was a sight unlike anything he could have imagined.

" Home. I'm coming." Markus muttered. He left the ship in such a hurry and so fast, he could not see the lightning beginning to circulating his body. And when Markus broke through the atmosphere, he smashed down onto the planet in a rage of light and fury.

When Markus' vision first cleared, he was amazed by what he saw. Many small people wearing all kinds of clothing, of all kinds of color. Vehicles on four wheels and buildings as tall and as high as his own palace. Though he soon began to notice the panicked looks on their faces.

" Stay calm! I am not here to hurt you!" Markus exclaimed, but the people around him were just completely terrified by his massive frame and the fact that he emerged from a bolt of lightning. " Probably, wasn't a good idea to touchdown in a populated area." Markus groaned.

" No, it wasn't!" Markus felt a heavy object slam into his back and in an instant, Markus was racing across the city.

Markus turned around and elbowed the man, pushing him in his face.

" Ugh!" The man grunted and dropped with Markus right towards the ground.

Markus crashed through a building, albeit an empty one and hit the bottom of the basement. His back as hurting slightly. Whatever, or whoever it was that hit him, was strong that was for sure.

" Who the hell was that?" Markus asked himself.

The sound of the sound barrier breaking reached Markus' ears, he turned back around and once again he was picked up off the ground. This time however, he was able to see who it was coming for him. It was a man in an all-blue suit with red boots. On his chest was a symbol similar to Cir-El's, a red and yellow S on his chest and on his back, he wore a red cape with a black S on the back of it.

" I was going easy at first. But you're strong. So, now I'm done holding back understand?" The man stated. He started punching Markus repeatedly in his face. Smashing him through the building they were in. Over and over. He simply rained down blows like lightning itself. In a matter of seconds, Markus felt like he had been hit by at least four hundred blows. " I don't care what your name is... But you're going to tell me what you're doing in my city, where you came from, and why you attacked." The man explained as he continued punching Markus. When the man stopped Punching, he had nearly buried Markus into the earth. " You can explain it to me now, or through a straw in intensive care."

Markus looked up at the man, without so much as a drop of blood on his face and smiled at him.

" Is it my turn now" Markus asked the man with a grin on his face.

" What are you?"

Before the man could respond, Markus punched him in his jaw, sending flying straight out of the bottom of the building and exploding through the top of it.

Markus wasn't trying to hurt the man, but if he wanted a fight, he was going to give him one. After all, he couldn't look weak.

He followed after the man, and as his attacked crashed landed on a nearby patch of grass, Markus grabbed a ship from the water and hoisted it over his head.

" Ugh... You gotta be kidding me." The man muttered, when he looked back to see Markus leaping at him with a giant battleship in his hands.

Markus looked down at the man and smirked. He was ready to swing the ship down, when something hard hit him in his back and knocked him down into the water.

...................

Superman had faced many foes in his life, but there weren't many he could name that had ever hit him this hard. Darkseid, was the only one he could think of off the top of his head, with that much power behind his fists.

As Clark pulled himself out of the dirt, he looked up to see the man he was fighting lifting a battleship over his head.

" You gotta be kidding me." Clark groaned.

He was ready to blast the ship with his heat vision, to try and melt it to the man's hands. But before he could Diana slammed into him with her shield.

The man hit the water hard, and before the ship could crash, Superman got to his feet and jumped into the sky, catching it just in time before it hit the ground.

" Thanks Diana." Clark told the woman.

" No problem, Superman. Who is this guy?" Diana asked Clark.

" I don't know, but he's strong, Diana. Be careful." Superman told Diana.

The man exploded from the water, without only a scratch on his cheek. It wasn't much, but it was something. And for Superman that meant he could be beaten. He wasn't invulnerable.

" Superman, this man... His armor, it looks like mine." Diana whispered.

" I noticed. But he's not an amazon, is he?" Superman asked.

" No. But it is important we find out where he got it from. If one of my sisters is hurt, he will pay dearly." Diana stated.

" That's the idea. Come on, together!" Superman exclaimed.

Superman and Wonder Woman rushed the man together, and for a moment thing seemed to be swaying in their direction. But before they could even reach the man, something exploded into Earth's atmosphere, and in moments, Diana was knocked away.

" DIANA!" Superman bellowed.

" She's a little busy, right now." The man spoke. Superman turned around and was smacked right in his jaw, by the man's heavy fist.

Superman crashed into the ground, hard. Hard enough to cause a tremor for miles, felt even back in Metropolis.

" Bastard." Superman cursed. He looked into the sky at the man floating above him and glared.

" You're strong, you know that? You don't need to hold back. I can take it." The man stated.

Superman exploded into the air faster than the man could react and slammed his fist into the man's chin.

For the first time, Superman drew blood.

The force of the blow, rang out like a shockwave, sending the mystery man crashing back first onto the grass. But it wasn't enough to stop him, as the man quickly rebounded and launched himself back into the air, stunning Superman.

That punch was enough to split the moon in half." Superman muttered to himself.

Who was this mysterious man, and why was he attacking Metropolis?

................

When Cir-El showed up and knocked the woman away from him, Markus felt a rush of relief. She was strong as well. Not as strong as the man in front of him now, but certainly a powerhouse in her own right.

Markus wiped the blood from his lip and launched himself back into the air.

" That was good. You're strong. What's your name?" Markus asked the man.

" You can call me, Superman. What's your name?" Superman asked.

" My people King Vulcan." Markus told the man.

" Vulcan? Well, Vulcan what are you doing on my planet?" Superman asked Vulcan, boldly.

" Your planet? This is my-"

Before Markus could finish his sentence, Cir-El and the woman from earlier both came crashing down near Superman and Markus, arms still locked together, struggling to overpower the other.

Cir-El tried to knee the woman in her gut, but the woman caught her leg and rolled through. Using her smaller frame, she got behind Cir-El and threw her by her arm.

The woman was tossed in the air, but she quickly recovered, throwing her weight backwards to flip herself up right.

And when Superman laid eyes on her, he suddenly jolted.

" Diana! Wait!" Superman yelled out.

Markus had the same reaction when looking upon the other woman, taking note of how similar her armor was to his own. The same W, the same bracers, the only difference was her suit was red and the symbol on her chest was silver. Her shorts were blue and had silver stars on them.

" Cir-El, you hold too!" Markus yelled.

Both Diana and Cir-El stopped fighting and instead looked towards the two men, who were floating down towards them.

" Who are you people?" Superman asked the two strangers. He had this sense of familiarity with the woman, and he wanted to know why.

" You feel like talking now?" Markus asked.

" We can go back to fighting and I can still beat it out of you." Superman replied.

" I told you who I was." Markus stated.

" Yes, but who is she, and why are you here?" Superman asked.

" That's a fair question. I did crash down in the middle of a city." Markus muttered. " My name is Markus, and this is my wife Cir-El." Markus told the man. " And we did not come here to fight... You. We didn't come here to fight you." Markus explained.

" Cir-El? Are you a kryptonian?" Superman asked the woman.

Cir-El shook her head no in response.

" No. I am from a planet called Daxam. Though we are related to kryptonians." Cir-El told the man.

" I see. And what are you here for? Who are you here to fight?" Superman asked. His tone had softened just a little bit, but he was still very aggressive.

" You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Markus replied.

" Try me." Superman grunted.

" I'm here, because my brother called me here. He attacked my home. Clear and simple and challenged me to a fight. I'm here to give him what he wants." Markus told the man.

" And who is this brother?" Diana asked.

" He calls himself the God of War- Ares." Markus exclaimed.

Superman watched as Diana's eyes went as wide as saucers.

He couldn't believe it, nor could she. Was it really possible the man that stood before him was a god? All Superman knew was, his peaceful day in metropolis was about to change, and not for the better.