Clark Kent

"So what are you, man or superman?"

- Lana Lang

Clark Kent, aka Superman, is Earth's greatest hero and the main protagonist of Smallville. Hailing from the planet Krypton, Clark is a super-powered alien who was raised in Smallville, Kansas. He resided there until his early adult years, when he moved to Metropolis.

Born as Unknown man and Faora, he was sent to Earth by his parents to fulfill a destiny in which he would become the savior of humanity: he was rocketed off of the planet just minutes before its destruction. Accompanied by a massive meteor shower, his spaceship crash-landed in Miller's Field in Smallville: there, he was found by farmers Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent to which they raised him as their son and named him Clark. Thanks to the yellow sun, Clark developed many Kryptonian powers that grew stronger as he got older. His parents instilled in him strong moral principles and taught him to use his abilities for good. Clark learned much about his origins from Dr. Virgil Swann, a journal, and an artificial intelligence version of Jor-El. Clark secretly fought crime around his hometown during his high school years and moonlit as a vigilante throughout Metropolis initially known as the Good Samaritan, then as the Red-Black Blur, and then simply as the Blur. By day, he works as a reporter at the and manages his family's farm.

For many years, Clark maintained an association with Lex Luthor that started as a friendship before evolving into mutual enmity, a complicated relationship with his first love Lana Lang, and finally met Lois Lane, with whom he began a relationship after they were assigned as co-workers at the Daily Planet. He also developed an unbreakable bond with his childhood friend Chloe Sullivan, an association with Lionel Luthor, a friendship with Oliver Queen with whom he works to fight for good, and an acquaintance with Tess Mercer.

After Jonathan's death, Chris started to mature more and began to worry more about the consequences of his actions. After several incidents involving his Kryptonian heritage (i.e. Kal-El's deadly encounters with Brainiac and a bond with his cousin Kara Kent), Lana's departure and Lex's constant attempts to discover his secret, Clark began to embrace his destiny as a hero, culminating in Jimmy Olsen's published photograph of the super-powered "Red-Blue Blur" on the Planet front page and the citizens adopting that name for their own vigilante. Following Jimmy's death as a consequence of Clark's mistakes while trying to stop Davis Bloome/Doomsday, Clark dropped the red-and-blue look and embraced his Kryptonian side, starting to leave his family crest as a symbol of hope at the sites of his heroic feats. When Zod returned to Earth as a younger clone of himself with his army and declared war on Earth, Kal-El had several encounters with Zod. After he used the Book of Rao to send all the army to a new world, Kal-El and Kam-El won over Zod in a deadly battle.

When he was warned about Darkseid coming to Earth, Clark's future as a hero fell into question due to the doubts and fears in his heart. But after going with Brainiac 5 to the future, he came back with a new purpose for his crusade and recently took the next step toward the future he saw by revealing his secret to Lois, who surprised him by telling him she already knew. With his secret out of the way, and seeing how well his relationship with Lois strengthened him, Clark decided to take the next step by proposing to Lois, who accepted with great delight. He also mentored his "brother" Alexander Luthor/Conner Kent.

Clark and his allies began making preparations to defend Earth from the coming of Darkseid. In the midst of his and Lois' wedding and after a final reunion with Lex, Clark won the battle with Darkseid by mastering his ability to, putting on the suit, pushing Apokolips away from Earth, and finally fulfilling his destiny by becoming the Earth's greatest savior known as Kid Superman.

Physical Appearance



 * "You do know, of course, you look absolutely ridiculous in that, right? And I got a great tailor, hook you up with a little color, maybe."

- Oliver Queen


 * "You talk like a cop, you walk like a fireman. Heck, you beat us to most of our own crime scenes. You might as well put an "S" on your chest."

- Bert Camp

Physically, Clark stands around 6 feet 3 inches tall in height and is broad-shouldered and muscular in build, towering even over other tall and muscular men, such as Oliver Queen. This build, alongside his wavy dark brown hair, perfectly puts him into the description of "tall, dark and handsome." He has the traditional House of El's blue navy eyes, with many other fellow Kryptonians telling him he has "his father's eyes". In fact, Clark looks just like his father Jor-El while he was on Earth during his youth.



A result of his good looks (and sometimes solely because of them), Clark is often the object of sexual desire for most of the women he comes in contact with. Even women who have been admittedly in love with Clark have been known to physically objectify him. In spite of this attention, Clark is generally oblivious to his attractiveness, and has never seemed to have much vanity or concern with his appearance at all (save for occasions where he was afraid of standing out or looking foolish).



In Seasons 1-8, Clark often wore a red jacket and blue t-shirt or the other way around. In 's Infamous, he stopped wearing red and blue while working at the Daily Planet so that he could start to create a dual identity. As a reporter, Clark wore dress shirts, ties and dark suits. Clark once showed Lois a pair of thick-lenses black-rimmed glasses. Once he began to step out more into the public eye as a superhero, Clark decided to wear the glasses more regularly in order to mask his true identity.

As the Red-Blue Blur, Clark wore a bright blue short-sleeved t-shirt, a dark red jacket, a black belt, light blue jeans and brown work boots.

In, Clark started to wear attire consisting of a black low-collar long-sleeved double-breasted twin-tailed trench coat, black pocketed denim pants, black belt, black riding boots, and a high-collar short-sleeved black shirt that bears a gray Mark of El. Since Sacrifice, he started to wear a white version of the Mark of El which shined brightly enough to be seen clearly if he was standing in the shadows.

In, Clark started to wear a black carhartt jacket with a black t-shirt underneath, black jeans and black boots to reflect his Kandorian Blur costume. This clothing is reminiscent to the red jacket and blue t-shirt.

After his near-death experience in Lazarus, Clark returned to his "Red-Blue Blur" look. He wore a bright blue low-collar short-sleeved t-shirt, a dark red leather low-collar long-sleeved, a dark red leather zip-up jacket with the Mark of El on the front, a black belt, black pants, and brown work boots.

Martha made Clark a costume that consisted of a blue low-collar long-sleeved shirt with a diamond-shaped, red-lined and yellow shield emblem with a red Mark of El in the middle on the chest, with blue pants with red trunks, a yellow belt, a pair of red boots and a flowing low-collar long red cape. Due to Clark's inner doubts and fears, Jor-El kept the costume in the Fortress of Solitude for the time being. Once Clark fully embraced his powers, Jor-El unveiled the costume, which was then presented to Clark by the spirit of Jonathan.

Clark has been seen wearing his glasses as his mild-mannered disguise in the following episodes:


 * : Whisper
 * : Noir
 * : Apocalypse
 * : Idol, Salvation
 * : Homecoming, Masquerade, Booster, Prophecy, Finale Part 1, Finale Part 2
 * Season Eleven: Guardian, Haunted, Argo, Olympus
 * Smallville Miniseries: Alien, Lantern, Continuity


 * The Red-Blue Blur/The Blur



When Clark began anonymously saving strangers in Metropolis, he became known as the Good Samaritan. Jimmy Olsen began tracking his saves, determined to get to the bottom of it. Finally, Jimmy was able to capture a picture of Clark super-speeding. His red jacket and blue shirt appeared on the image, causing Jimmy to name him the Red-Blue Blur.

With the start of, Clark went by the Blur. As the Blur, Clark wore dark clothing with his family's Kryptonian symbol on his chest, alluding to the Superman costume and also to the fact that Clark was still in mourning over Jimmy's death. He also left the Mark of El burned onto an object wherever he saved lives or stopped a crime. For a short while, Clark left his human life behind but returned to his life as Clark Kent to keep an eye on Lois, though he still mainly focused on his Kryptonian training with Jor-El.

After Cat Grant told him that the world needs an all-American hero who doesn't hide in the shadows, Clark was inspired to make a change and started with his costume, donning a new attire consisting of a red leather jacket with the Mark of El engraved on it and a blue shirt underneath.


 * Blur 1: Due to Clark's constant red-jacket/blue-shirt look (at times blue-jacket/red-shirt) at the start of his super-saves in Metropolis, Jimmy's first photo of him gave the general public the perception of a super-speeding man in red and blue. Unwilling to don a 'suit' just yet, though also seeing the notion on how a costumed hero watching over the people of the city can give them some hope, Clark sought Oliver to give the city a single clear view of his seeding alias. As confirmed by later notions, like kids' views of "the Red-Blue Blur" resembling what'll be Superman, as well as Martha adapting a yellow belt and Clark's red cape given to him by Rachel Davenport, the general public perceives this first guise of the proto-Superman "Blur" to be mostly donning blue, a yellow belt, and heavy red cape.
 * Blur 2: Though still giving off a mostly blur-like perception to the public, Clark decided to notch up his proto-Superman alias, with the events of persuading him to drop the red/blue colors in favor of a pure black look. This actual 'suit' includes a cape-like trench coat, in a way continuing on from the perception Oliver gave Metropolis back in Identity, and the actual Mark of El proudly on his chest. Because he isn't letting the citizens still fully see him yet, though there are exceptions from time to time with allowing Lois and a few citizens to glimpse him, Clark emphasizes the use of his family's crest by burning it at areas of his saves. Though it was at a great distance, thus mostly obscuring his face from the general public, he did let them fully see him for the first time during his last super-save in this suit as he caught the Daily Planet globe. This costume is very similar to the one Zod adopted when he possessed Lex.
 * Blur 3: Clark's truly final transition from the seeding alias that has been building for two years. In response to Cat Grant's emphasis on the continuing paranoia from certain sections of the general public and even the US military toward costumed heroes, Clark forever dropped the black in favor of returning to the more American-friendly red and blue. Though unable to keep a cape-look due to Jor-El confining the full-fledged Superman suit that Martha made for him, Clark opted to don a 'suit' more familiar with Oliver and the Justice League's: A red leather jacket with the iconic 'S' embedded (two halves of it on the left and right sides) of the front chest section, as well as a blue shirt from his first Blur look under the jacket. Clark used this last contribution to his proto-Superman "Blur" far less than the prior two so far, taking what could be considered a five-episode sabbatical before he finally started performing public super-saves in it.

He has been seen wearing his costume in the following episodes:


 * : Savior, Metallo, Rabid, Echo, Roulette, Crossfire, Idol, Pandora, Disciple, Absolute Justice, Part 2, Warrior, Persuasion, Conspiracy, Checkmate, Upgrade, Charade, Salvation
 * : Lazarus, Shield, Homecoming, Ambush, Icarus, Beacon, Masquerade, Scion, Booster, Prophecy

Oliver once wore a mock-up version of Clark's costume on one occasion to act as cover for Clark in Identity.


 * Superman




 * Superman Suit: Made by Martha Kent, this costume consists of a blue low-collar long-sleeved shirt with a diamond-shaped, red-lined and yellow shield emblem with a red Mark of El in the middle on the chest with blue pants with red trunks, a yellow belt with a Mark of El buckle, a pair of red boots and a red flowing low-collar long cape with a yellow diamond-shaped, black-lined emblem with a black-lined Mark of El in the middle on the back. Due to Clark's conquering his inner doubts and fears and fully mastering his powers, he was bequeathed the suit by both Jor-El and Jonathan Kent.




 * Superman Suit II: Clark changed his costume six months later. Gone are the red trunks, replaced by a red belt trimmed in gold with a gold buckle. Blue-gray bands now run lengthwise along his sides from under the arms to his boots. The Mark of El on the cape is now in dark silhouette with all the yellow removed. Clark explained that he put lead in the shield of his new suit to protect himself from being shot with Kryptonite bullets. Superman's belt buckle can also be used as a communication device for Watchtower, and has a holo-computer.

He has been seen wearing the Superman suit in the following episodes:
 * First costume
 * : Salvation
 * : Homecoming, Finale, Part 2
 * Second costume
 * Season Eleven: Guardian, Detective, Haunted, Effigy, Argo, Valkyrie, Olympus, Hollow
 * Smallville Miniseries: Titans, Alien, Lantern, Chaos, Continuity

Personality

 * "What's real is your strength and integrity and compassion. As long as you remain honest to those things, it doesn't matter what you wear or what name you go by, because...you'll always be my son"

- Martha

Two traits of Clark Kent that have been prominent for most of the series have been his positive and optimistic view on humanity as well as his self-loathing and self-pity of not being human. Clark strongly believes that feelings such as compassion are synonymous to the human race, and think humans are, on the whole, noble beings. He has often expressed a desire to be human and a disdain towards his alien heritage, probably because he feels his biology hinders his humanity despite several people telling him that humanity is more than biology. Clark also has been told many times to have a hero complex and that he often does good, selfless acts without any thought for himself. Clark can sometimes be sarcastic with others like he was with Lois when they first met.

This self-loathing is probably why Clark internalizes situations and believes everything is his fault or revolves around him in some fashion. It deeply affects him when his loved ones suffer because of, as he fails to consider that people who love him would willingly suffer for him and instead blames himself for any trouble that befalls them, regardless as to whether he's responsible or not. He considers knowing his secret a burden to bear that puts the secret-keeper in danger. He often feels guilty about things over which he had no control and, because of this, does not consider himself a hero. It may also explain part of his constant fear of sharing his secret, assuming that he won't be accepted for what he is because he is not comfortable with himself. Clark also struggles with the fact that he cannot save every endangered person and, as such, feels that his heroic deeds are inadequate.

This inferiority complex also extends to how Clark feels about his own race since he was quick to judge that Kryptonians were evil until discovering that they, like humans, were capable of love and compassion as well as hate and evil, his own father having been a respected Kryptonian scientist who had his world's best interests at heart. Clark has made some improvements toward accepting who he is, expressing gratefulness for his abilities and taking pride in his compassion for the human race, which he views as a strength. However, recent events and revelations have caused Clark to abruptly change his mind about his compassionate side, and he now feels like caring too much for humans limits his ability to save them. As he has grown older, Clark has begun to realize that the circumstances surrounding his destiny affect a greater circle than his small hometown and has clearly decided to embark on his Kryptonian training in the near future. However, after reuniting with Lana in the fall of 2007, he abandoned these plans and declared his intent to attempt to make a "normal" life with her on the farm. After Lana moved away from Smallville, accompanied by a near-death experience when he was temporarily rendered powerless, Clark resolved to take a more active role in his destiny and took a job at the Daily Planet to be certain of being in "the thick of the action." In conjunction with this decision, he began to use his powers in a more active manner.

Clark has two notable characteristics that he takes directly after his biological parents Jor-El and Lara: His father's independent spirit and his mother's never-ending bravery and compassionate heart. (Abandoned)

Clark is idealistic and has the ability to always find the good in people, which manifests itself into a willingness to trust others to a fault.


 * He trusted Lex Luthor for several seasons, despite indications that Lex was engaged in unethical projects.
 * He was willing to give a chance, even though he knew that his original self had contributed to the destruction of Krypton.
 * He was willing to trust Lionel Luthor from Season 5 on despite the many previous indications of Lionel's villainy.
 * He continued to consider Pete Ross a friend even after Pete proved a poor custodian of his secret and began to engage in unethical behavior, often blaming Clark for his problems due to knowing the secret causing him too much stress.
 * He continued to love and trust Lana even though she had married his former best friend and current enemy Lex Luthor.
 * He was willing to trust Brainiac 5 when he said he had been re-programmed, even though previous versions of the Kryptonian supercomputer had tried to resurrect Zod, kill him, his loved ones, unleash the Doomsday beast, and destroy the entire planet of Earth.
 * He was willing to put Tess Mercer in charge of Watchtower, despite knowing that she, like Lex, was involved in unethical activities and had previously sided with and the Kandorian army against Earth.
 * He gave Clark Luthor a second chance and sent him back to Earth-2, despite knowing that he was a sociopathic mass murderer who had ruined life for the citizens of Metropolis on his adopted home planet.
 * He had faith in Oliver Queen after he had been controlled by Darkseid's prophets using the Omega symbol, even though Oliver had just tried to take away all of his powers using gold kryptonite.

His ability to find the good in others has led to the redemption of several villains, including two Luthors: Lionel Luthor and Tess Mercer. He wasn't able to "save" Lex Luthor and apologized to him for failing to do so in 's Finale, Part 2, he also failed to redeem, despite reaching out to him in friendship midway through.

Clark also completely rejects the idea that the greater good can ever justify killing someone, even if it means that many others may die:


 * Clark refused to kill the impending vessel of, even though it was likely that Zod would destroy Earth like he had attempted to destroy Krypton. Instead, he killed Brainiac and in doing so, unwittingly open a portal to the Phantom Zone and freed Zod.
 * Rokk Krinn and the Legion of Super-Heroes were willing to kill in order to destroy Brainiac and save the lives of billions on Earth. Clark stopped them and insisted they find a better way: eventually they discovered they could combine their powers to generate an EMP and them remove Brainiac's nanites from Chloe, saving her life. (Legion)
 * Clark was not willing to kill even though he might destroy Metropolis and much of Earth. As a result, Oliver Queen and his team of heroes incapacitated Clark with  in order to attempt to kill Davis, as they knew that Clark wouldn't be willing to consider murder. (Doomsday)

However, on very few occasions, Clark was willing to hurt or even kill an alien in order to save others and/or himself. This was shown in particular when he faced the alien Titan in a brutal fight and revealed a sinister smile towards his opponent before punching him upwards. (Combat) He recapitulated this behavior in a fight with his doppelganger Bizarro, superimposed by a feeling of superiority in each case. (Bizarro) Several months later, he was even willing to destroy Bizarro with blue Kryptonite, although this plan was eventually adopted by Lana. (Persona)

Clark's optimistic opinions and outlook on life may also be somewhat inherent: while amnesiac, he retained a positive attitude of the people around him. Clark can be impulsive and often acts before thinking things through, doing things without considering the real-universe repercussions or adverse outcomes, despite his good intentions. Unsurprisingly, Clark has a hero complex, often trying to save lives at any and all costs. He has willingly risked his own life to save his loved ones and has, on many occasions, offered the Kents' home to individuals seeking refuge. Clark has a temper which can come out when the people he loves are put into danger. Clark is also very comfortable around children and enjoys situations in which he gets to be a "big brother" figure.

Additionally, because he closely guards his secret, Clark can sometimes be dishonest. He often makes up lies to explain his sudden presence or absence as well as his knowledge of mysterious things. He seems slightly less mature than his friends, although this could be the result of his sheltered upbringing. Clark has also been known to complain, especially about his roller-coaster relationship with Lana. His family and friends have repeatedly told him that he shouldn't bottle up his emotions until they get the best of him. Clark has also shown to be somewhat of a workaholic, using work to cope or avoid his problems, or working unreasonably long hours.

Clark has a few ironic traits to his personality: He is afraid of heights despite the fact that he can survive almost any fall, and is also habitually late despite being able to run at teleportation-like speeds. Finally, and perhaps most ironically, Clark highly values trust in a relationship, despite his constant lies to protect his secret. When it comes to secrets and lies, Clark is an enormous hypocrite. He lies and keeps secrets constantly from other people, but is outraged when secrets are kept from him. This increasingly evident when Chloe keeps someone else's secret from him, such as Davis or Lana, and he feels betrayed, despite her keeping his secret even from those closest to her. He is good at math, and his interests include playing football and basketball, astronomy and journalism.

Most of Clark's personality traits and moral character are the direct result of his modest farm upbringing. Being very close to both of his parents, Clark was respectful, obedient, and highly valued their approval. Raised with a strong moral background, he does not like invasions of privacy, thinks the bad guys should be punished, and wants things to be fair. Clark is also hard-working and usually does not place much value in material possessions.

Clark's relationship with Lois consists of playful bantering, a unique partnership, and the ability to understand each other's personalities. (Oracle, Siren, Pandora) Clark's relationship with Lois began with him being very irritated by her impulsive behavior to rush into situations and her rude, bossy attitude towards him. (Gone) Like with most people that Clark meets, he tries to find the good in people. He eventually discovered that under Lois's mask of sarcasm and witty banter lie a heart full of compassion, love, and dedication much like himself. (Lucy) It's interesting to note that while Clark denied countless times that he doesn't have feelings for Lois, everyone else around him (from his parents, Lana, Chloe, Lucy, Jimmy, Oliver, and Kara) could see that he did have feelings that were brewing beneath the surface.

It's not until he's infected by red Kryptonite (Crimson) that the feelings he has developed towards Lois over the course of their relationship were revealed to him by his passion and willingness to reveal his powers to her. Since joining the Planet staff as a reporter and being partnered up with Lois, Clark has grown to admire and respect her as well as come to the realization that he is deeply in love with her. The special bond they developed is clearly evident by Clark's ability to break free from Maxima's seductive entrancement which she reveals to Lois, as well as her ability to calm him down following Alicia's death. (Instinct) Lois caught Clark using his powers four times (Blank, Crimson, Infamous, Salvation).



Clark confessed to Lois that he feels emotionally stronger with her in his life. (Pandora) This is made clear when Clark resumed his Kryptonian training and believed that, if he cut ties with his humanity, he would be completely focused to protect humanity without any distractions. However, Clark discovered that he could not protect humanity fully by standing apart. He needed something to keep him connected so he turned to Lois with whom he found inner strength and a strong connection to as the Blur that just deepened his relationship with her as Clark even more.

When Clark finally did tell Lois his secret, he found that she was not just a typical damsel-in-distress that needed his protection. Instead she was a major force to be reckoned with that could hold her own in any situation she came up against and expected Clark to treat her as his equal. (Harvest, Patriot) Clark admits to Lois that he always felt like an outsider, a freak until he met her who made him feel human. (Scion)

Recently, Clark has fully begun his Kryptonian training and is much less emotional and more violent than before (although he still retains his humor while around Lois). He has also seems to have become much calmer during battles and resorts to more brutally offensive methods than he would have in the past. His willingness to use violence is further expressed when he put a witness in the hospital (Echo), lifted Tess off the ground by the throat and manhandled her while under no threat. Clark once told to stay away from Lois, for she was off-limits, and threatened to destroy him and the Kandorians if Zod didn't leave Lois alone. (Disciple)

Clark's personality has also changed drastically enough since he first began his training that he no longer deals with the same inhibitions he did before. Red kryptonite no longer affects him in the same way because of this: while under its effects, Clark does not display the greedy and lustful tendencies he has in the past, because he no longer has to deal with those desires. Instead, he becomes simply more ruthless and violent. (Upgrade)

Powers & Abilities
"That's why I'm lucky to have parents like you. Every time I woke up and had a new ability, you were always there to help me adjust and this time is no different."

- Clark Kent, Arrival


 * Chris is the most powerful superhero on Earth, as well as one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe. Chris's superhuman abilities are the result of his cells' absorbing solar energy from Earth's yellow sun; having spent a lifetime under it have made his abilities virtually limitless, even surpassing other Kryptonians in power due to this tremendous advantage. As a Kryptonian, his cells are veritable organic solar batteries that absorb and metabolize solar energy. He converts this energy into his abilities. His abilities usually appear suddenly and he must learn to control them. They have evolved and grown stronger to a degree as Chris has gotten older.

In episodes like Slumber, Labyrinth, Fracture, and Collateral, it is apparent that Chris's powers are tied to certain neuron pathways in his brain which activates his abilities. While Chris was kept asleep by Sarah Conroy, he didn't have his superpowers at first but, when the sun hit him at the end of his dream, he was able to use his heat vision ability to destroy the Traveler. After phantom Hudson entered his mind, Chris was unable to activate his powers but the Martian Manhunter, John Jones, was able to exorcise the phantom using his red crystal, allowing Chris to wake up. After Chris entered Lex Luthor's mind in order to obtain certain memories that would help him find Lois and Kara, he was seen powerless towards Lex, who easily picked him up with one hand, but Chris eventually found his way out of Lex's mind and managed to get back to reality.


 * Solar Battery: This ability is the primal core from which all of Chris's superhuman powers and abilities manifest from. The interior of his body stores sunlight emitted from the Earth's yellow sun, and seems to operate like a battery. In outer space this ability is amplified. Emil theorized that if Chris enters into the Sun, his powers would become uncontrollable.


 * Super Strength: Chris's chief physical ability is his vast superhuman strength. Direct exposure or contact with the rays given off by Earth's yellow sun, makes him much more powerful and his strength capacity gets magnified to a degree. Chris, as a growing adolescent, was extremely strong, and as such, he would often be seen using his strength to help out around the Kent farm, by plunging fence posts into the ground, driving in nails with his thumb, lifting up tractors and other heavy machinery for his father Jonathan. He can easily overpower and kill humans and most metahumans, bend and break reinforced steel, crush wood panels and decimate large structures and level whole cities. Also, during this time, he would use this ability to stop rogue metahumans and save people all around Smallville, Kansas. He apparently, was aware of this power since the Kents found him in the field, and would on occasions, break tables and walls with his fists when he was little, until his parents taught him to never to use his powers in such a violent fashion.
 * Super Leap: Chris can combine his super strength and dexterity to perform highly accurate super leaps. The first time Chris jumped a vast distance, he displayed great hesitancy. Since then, he's shown increasing amounts of confidence and control over his super leaps. His "super leaps," as of before, were a substitute for flying, as Chris had yet to fully learn how to fly. Chris was able to jump higher the older he became.




 * Super Speed: Chris can move and react at superhuman speeds that far exceed the speed of sound barrier, whether it is on land or underwater. Clark through accelerated vision perceives the entire Earth in slow motion. Clark, as a growing adolescent, could run or move extremely fast, and would often be seen using this ability to rescue people in very tight situations. Even as a child, Clark could, as iterated in Transference, move fast, even more so than kids his own age, and even full adults, although he displayed signs of enhanced speed as a toddler. At first, Clark could travel around to places in Smallville in minutes, and as such, his movements could be perceived by his family and friends but not by those who were ignorant to his abilities. Later on, as he harnessed this ability and through years of practice, became too fast for anyone to follow and or detect, and even machines couldn't record his movement. In season 5, Chris can run from Metropolis to Honduras in seconds. (Void) By season 10, Clark can run on water (in season 4 Clark could not when chasing Bart) and was able to run back to Metropolis from London England in just 2 seconds. (Masquerade)
 * Clark Time / Accelerated Perception: In super speed mode, everything around him stops. Being coupled with his super speed, he gained accelerated vision when he learned super speed, at age six. This ability grew significantly more powerful in eighth grade, where he was able to run from the Kent barn to the Smallville library and back before Chloe could turn around.


 * Invulnerability: Under a yellow sun, Chris has an invisible force-field aura that renders him virtually invulnerable to any form of physical harm. Chris's skin is also much denser than a normal humans. Much like his speed and strength, Clark's durability capacity increased gradually as he gets older. When he was younger, he was immune to bullets, flames, cold temperatures, and all earthly diseases and sicknesses, and was able to collide with cars head on and come out completely unfazed. Also, due to the aura that surrounds Chris, even his hair is somewhat invulnerable to damage, as seen when Lana while possessed by Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, tried to cut his hair with a pair of scissors, and they snapped in half on contact. Now as an adult, along with still being immune to diseases, bullets, and temperature extremes; rockets/silos, bombs and lasers can't harm him in any way. He is now basically indestructible: even something devastating like an atom or nuclear bomb would have no effect on him. However, despite his invulnerability, forms of Kryptonite, magic, and certain alien weapons can still hurt him.


 * Healing Factor: Chris possesses an accelerated “healing factor”, allowing him to heal or recover from most wounds instantly when he is not exposed to green Kryptonite. Direct sunlight greatly amplifies this capacity of this ability. (Alien)


 * Super Stamina: Chris possess virtually unlimited endurance in all physical activities due to receiving better nourishment from the solar energy these cells process. In addition, a Chris's body stores enough solar energy to negate eat, drink, breathe and even sleep for as long as they want. This is evident as Kryptonians are able to survive in the vacuum of space, as he do not require air. Chris can take part in battle sequences for as long as he want, without difficulty or fatigue (unless he exhaust their reserves of solar energy or are exposed to Kryptonite.


 * X-Ray Vision: Chris can see through any type of matter, except for lead, just by concentrating. It may appear as a skeletal image similar to the ones seen on hospital x-rays, or it may be a full color image. Originally, he appeared to have mastered the skeletal images over full color. Just recently, however, he has mastered both aspects of this ability.
 * Electromagnetic Spectrum Perception: Chris can visually perceive most of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio and television, as well as all other transmissions or transmitted frequencies. With this ability, hey can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows him to see the auras generated by living beings.
 * Micro Vision: Chris has the ability to see extremely small residues, stains or streaks or other objects that humans cannot see with their own eyes. This ability can go so far as to see very small objects and images down to the atomic level.
 * Telescopic Vision: Chris has the ability to see people or objects from meters away (this power does not break the laws of physics: that is, they cannot see something that happens too far away as it happens). This ability operates independently of normal vision and can be activated or deactivated by an act of will.
 * Infrared Vision: Chris is able to see heat signatures.




 * Heat Vision: Chris can emit extreme pulses of heat and fire beams from his eyes, which was first triggered by his level of sexual stimulation. Over time and training, he has learned to develop and control his sexual urges and therefore his heat vision. He has fully mastered this ability.


 * Super Hearing: Chris can hear indirect whispers, frequencies, pitches, and other volumes of sound from vast distances. As an adult, Clark can multitask and use super-hearing and can also super-speed and hear conversations while he's moving. Chris's super hearing may pick up things randomly (such as someone in trouble) or Chris can focus listen to as specific sound.




 * Super Breath/Arctic breath: Chris can release strong pulses, currents, or waves of air by exhaling. He can also freeze people and objects the same way. At age 19, Chris was vulnerable in the Phantom Zone and returned to Earth with super-strong sneezes. When he got better, he honed the sneezes as super breath. He later learned how to use an arctic version of his super breath.


 * Super Dexterity: Chris is able to throw a basketball into a hoop yards away easily and he never trips. (Duplicity) When he failed to throw a football in a hoop, Martha was shocked and stated that she had never seen him miss before. (Jinx)




 * Flight: After he fully embraced his destiny, he gained the ability to fly, enabling him to hover, levitate, or transverse through the air at fast velocities. Chris has the ability to defy gravity by the means of gravitational manipulation or the ability to generate an anti-gravity field around himself. He has perfect control over this, he can move perfectly in any direction and also can levitate. Clark also has the ability to fly in outer space. Under his own power he can fly through space at planetary distances and to other galaxies. In a rather short amount of time, Chris has proven to have completely mastered this ability. (Finale, Part 2).


 * Longevity: While under the light of a yellow sun Chris would age without appearing to do so. This power retards his aging process making him effectively immortal. Also, Jonathan and John Jones have stated that he may be immortal or at least very long-lived.

Clark can hear Kryptonian beacons, and is able to mentally interface with Kryptonian artifacts to order them to fly into his hand as Kal-El. He has also had a possibly precognitive dream relating to the arrival of the Black Ship, though this is not clear. Although he has not been heard speaking it, Clark has been fluent in written Kryptonian language since about age 15 (it is unknown if he can understand or speak spoken Kryptonian). Jor-El gave Clark temporary telepathy in Echo as part of a lesson in his Kryptonian training. He used this to get closer to Lois by reading her thoughts and asking her on a date to where he now knew she really wanted to go, a monster truck rally.
 * Intellect: Clark has shown an inhuman ability to process information, such as when he managed to assess his parents' expenses by listening to them discuss their financial situation, calculating the answer in his head in seconds. Clark is quite intelligent despite his occasional over-reliance on his powers and frequent tendency to be impulsive. When he was 14, he managed to outsmart corrupt veteran cop Sam Phelan twice. The first is by making it so he is in possession of a confidential file and leaving him for the oncoming police when he intentionally tripped the alarm. Though Phelan forced Clark into a tricky position after this when he framed Jonathan for murder, the young Kryptonian managed to ultimately outwit him a second time by throwing a priceless breastplate out of the museum window for the authorities to find, noting that it would be impossible for Phelan to avoid any charges that time due to his DNA being on the artifact. Later, when Eric Summers had accidentally acquired his powers and began behaving out of control, a normal Clark bested him by deducing that he also acquired his vulnerability to kryptonite and by exploiting his other weaknesses of blind rage and vast inexperience with Kryptonian powers compared to Clark himself. Sometime after that, Clark had managed to come to the right conclusions concerning Lex's history with Club Zero and to figure out how Lana developed her visions after a pipeline exploded in addition to the fact that her kidnapper was a police officer. He was also instrumental in deducing that it was Sheriff Ethan Miller that framed his father and formulated a successful plan to lure and catch the corrupt lawman. Clark was also able to outdo Van McNulty when the latter learned his weakness to kryptonite by building a lead vest and also figured out that a phone call concerning Lana's death was made from the future based on recent weather forecasts and sporting events. While struggling against Zod's fighting skill, Clark ultimately out-thought the general by tricking him into getting absorbed back into the Phantom Zone. He was also able to successfully come up with a plan to separate Doomsday from Davis Bloome to bury the former underground and to coordinate with Oliver Queen to outfox Zod in order to escape the Phantom Zone.
 * Advanced Hand-to-hand Combatant: At first, Chris had no formal combat training but his superhuman physical abilities still made him extremely formidable, with even the most powerful of metahumans often being no real threat to him. While easily outclassed by more skilled and stronger (or equally strong but much more experienced) opponents, Clark showed himself to be not entirely powerless in close combat when without his powers, as he has developed a very powerful "right hook" and his regular physical condition can still easily equal and even surpass that of a highly strong human man, mostly due to his already muscular shape and peak-developed body; even displaying some intuitive fighting skill. He exploits the fact that no one expects him to fight back to land blows capable of instantly knocking his opponents out, which was surprisingly effective, as shown when he managed to subdue three metahumans, knock out any human opponent he fought with a single blow, and deal with many opponents during his time in the Phantom Zone. After fully immersing himself in his Kryptonian training, Clark became very proficient in hand-to-hand combat, which allowed him to equal, if not defeat, an adversary who would have previously easily outclassed him. This is later emphasized when he is able to defeat Alia, a highly trained Kryptonian soldier, relatively easily. This is emphasized even more when Clark is able to fight on par against Major Zod for an extended period of time despite Zod wielding a Kryptonian Knife, whereas the original Zod completely outclassed Clark before. He is also able to take out several of Zod's Gladiators as well as compete with Oliver Queen, a master hand-to-hand combatant, and almost defeat him while powerless in the Phantom Zone.

Clark believes strongly in non-lethal combat, and has never directly killed anyone using his powers. As a result, he has adopted a fighting style that depends largely on knocking opponents unconscious using his superhuman strength. He will sometimes combine these attacks with super speed, in order to remain anonymous or to sneak up on his opponents. He does use more force when battling more powerful metahumans, extraterrestrials and even supernatural beings.

Vulnerabilities

 * "We all have our weaknesses, I guess. Except for you, of course."

- Chloe Sullivan



Despite his nigh-invulnerability to harm, Chris can be still injured by various means.

He is vulnerable to kryptonite, radioactive remnants of his home planet Krypton. The known variations of kryptonite affect him in different ways. Like Kryptonians, kryptonite is affected by Earth's yellow sun which gives these rocks abilities that greatly influence them. Chris can protect himself from kryptonite radiation using lead. Removal of the substance reverses the effects.


 * Red solar radiation: replaces the higher-yield yellow solar energy in Chris's cells, robbing him of the fuel for his powers and rendering him mortal.

Kryptonite:
 * Green kryptonite:, along with magic, is one of his greatest weaknesses. It renders Chris physically weak and mentally ill: the effects will make Chris weaker the longer he's exposed to its radiation. Sometimes and depending on the circumstance, he can use his powers while in its presence. (Jitters, Fever, Shattered, Resurrection: Crisis, Splinter, and Abandoned) He once stated that green kryptonite exposure hurts more than cracked ribs. While powerless, after getting thrown into a car windshield, his ribs were fractured, and he stated, "I'd take this over meteor rocks any day of the week", conforming to the statement made above. As Chris has gotten older and stronger, he seems to have developed some resistance or tolerance to green kryptonite, though he is still vulnerable to its affects.


 * Red kryptonite: does't weaken him or physically affect him in any way, so he can still use his powers and abilities. Its affects are psychological, making him lose his inhibitions and social conscience: the effects strengthen over long periods of exposure. Under the influence of red kryptonite, Chris usually refers to himself as "Kal", short for his birth name, Kal-El.


 * Blue kryptonite: robs Clark of his powers and abilities for as long as he is in contact with it, but otherwise does not cause him any physical or mental harm.


 * Gold kryptonite: can give Clark permanent wounds or scars that can't ever be healed and it can also cause him to lose his powers and abilities forever.


 * Black kryptonite: can separate Clark from his Kryptonian persona, Kal-El.


 * Silver kryptonite: is a synthetic kryptonite that doesn't weaken Clark's abilities, though too much of exposure can make him sweat, his eyes will start to dilate, his skin becomes pale. and his breathing becomes heavy. It makes Clark dangerously paranoid and suspicious, inducing hallucinations in the process. This rock is essentially made up of organic matter that Brainiac is made up of.

Aliens and Weapons:
 * Alien beings: can wound and even kill Clark depending on the type of alien. Doomsday can easily overpower and kill Clark. At first, due to his internal darkness and doubts, Darkseid was capable of using him as a vessel, However, later on, Clark, with the help of Brainiac 5, harnessed and gained control of himself. Aldar was able to easily overpower Clark. Titan was able to briefly overpower Clark and easily hurt and bleed him.
 * Alien weapons: Such as the Starblade, can give Clark permanent wounds. He would've bled to death if Jor-El hadn't healed him through Jonathan. A Kryptonian dagger could kill Clark if he was stabbed with it, as he's Kryptonian. The Persuader's atomic axe was able to wound Clark due to the atom-splitting properties of the metal. It appears that lesser extraterrestrial devices have no effect on him, as Clark was able to withstand a powerful energy beam released from the Blue Beetle suit unharmed.

Others:
 * High-frequency noises: Because of his super hearing, Clark's ears are extra-sensitive to extreme noises such as Black Canary's sonic scream or Silver Banshee's banshee scream.
 * Lead: Clark can't see through lead or lead-lined objects with his X-ray vision.
 * Limiters: Over the course of his life and acquisition of power under a yellow sun, Clark was taught how to place mental limiters on his own power. These "limiters" are used to keep his power in check so that he doesn't accidentally hurt innocent people. Though for him it is unknown that he has placed several of these limiters within his own mind, it is unknown how many and just how powerful he would be if he decided to release them all. They are the barriers that allow him to be human enough to live a normal life, and he only ever releases one of them when fighting a particularly powerful opponent or performing a predominately difficult task.

Early life

 * "You are my home, you're my family. You make me feel like I actually belong."

- Clark



Chris was born as Kam-El, the only son of 'Unknown man-El and Lara, on the planet Krypton. Kal-El was a few weeks old when Krypton was about to be destroyed after his uncle Zor-El ignited Krypton's core and also due to 's attempt to conquer its people, Jor-El placed Kal-El in a spaceship, to send him to a good family on the planet Earth where he visited years ago. Though Lara wondered if the people of Earth would accept and love him, Jor-El reassured her that the family he chose would be good to him.



Kal-El came to Earth during the meteor shower which struck the community of Smallville, Kansas, on October 16, 1989. He was sent from Krypton as an infant, but because of the distance from Earth, Kal-El appeared to be between the ages of two and three when his ship crash-landed. Jonathan and Martha Kent found him in Miller's Field: unable to have children themselves, the Kents adopted the young orphan and raised him as their son. Because he owed a favor from Lionel Luthor, Jonathan allowed him to produce forged paperwork that made it official. They arbitrarily picked a May 13, 1987 birth date for their new son and named him Clark, Martha's maiden name.



Clark formed a friendship with another farmer's son, Pete Ross in early childhood. He also was grade school friends with Greg Arkin and Abigail Fine. Clark has been in love with Lana Lang for most of his life. Lana lived a mile away and while growing up, Clark used his telescope in his loft to spy on her. However, Lana almost always wore a necklace with a meteor rock charm on it. As a result, Clark could not even come into close physical proximity without being physically affected but never understood why. Clark met Chloe Sullivan in eighth grade and along with Pete Ross, the three formed an inseparable trio.



Clark was considerably stronger than other children at an early age. Martha noticed his strength the day she brought him home. He even cracked the kitchen table in half and occasionally put holes in the walls during tantrums. He once lifted a 500-pound bed frame as a toddler.

When Clark had to read an essay at school in front of the entire class, parents and teachers, he was very scared but Jonathan convinced him to believe in himself and in what he had written, and gave three key phrases to get it right : "Find your centre, stand your ground and speak your piece."



Because Jonathan and Martha did not want him to inadvertently injure other children, Clark was not allowed in playgroups or to play on sports teams as a child. His father also once mentioned that he was never allowed to play baseball with other kids. Indeed, in an attempt to protect Pete from a bully, he once threw the other child through a door. Clark developed super-speed around age six. Jonathan and Martha taught Clark that his abilities were "gifts", but also that he should never tell anyone else about them. By the time he was 14, he knew that he was adopted, but he seriously began to question his strange powers and confronted his parents, demanding answers.

Smallville TV Series
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Season Eleven
Six months later, Clark lives with Lois in their Metropolis apartment. He is no longer known as The Blur to the public, instead he is known by the name of Superman which was dubbed to him by Lois after he had saved humanity from Darkseid's Apokolips. At some point, after his public debut, Clark updated his Superman costume. At home with Lois, Clark showers and brushes his teeth, talking with her about the energy ribbon - or "aurora" - that attacked the space station. As he then makes breakfast, he asks if they should return the wedding presents they received. Lois states that the wedding was postponed not cancelled, so they shouldn't have to.

As they lament their independently busy lives - he with saving the Earth, she with becoming a pre-eminent reporter - Lois mentions that the Russians have already announced they will be commissioning a statue of Superman to commemorate his saving of the space station. Clark expresses his discomfort at the hero worship, but Lois assures him that it is inspiring people, just as he wanted to do with the suit. Clark states that he'd like to finally tell the Earth that Superman is an alien. Lois counters that with all of the concern brought on by the pictures of the aliens on Apokolips, it might not be the best time, especially with Lex Luthor making such noise about it in public.



Recently, he saved a Russian space station from a mysterious explosion. Later, in his mild-mannered disguise, Clark met Lex Luthor on the street. Lex introduced himself to Clark, because he doesn't remember Clark. Luthor only knows from the video clips that they were friends when they were young. He hardly recognized Kent. Clark is surprised that Lex knew that they were friends years ago. Lex doesn't understand how they could ever have been friends. Clark responded with: "As you said, we were younger."



Meanwhile Green Arrow patrols the city and arrives to the Port of Metropolis, in order to apprehend a crew of thieves who attempts to raid a shipping container.He's surprised by one of the goons who has climbed on top of a stack of containers and trains an RPG launcher on the Emerald Archer. Before Ollie can react, the goon fires. Just before the RPG strikes him, Superman zips into the area and stands in front of it, shielding Ollie from the hit and the explosion. Superman knocks the crew out and ties the bunch together around a pole. A short time after, Ollie and Clark, now in street clothes, watch as Metropolis PD comes by to apprehend the thieves. Ollie's a bit surprised Clark didn't stay in costume to greet the police, joking that Superman is "all about b standing around, shaking hands, kissing babies..." As they walk off, Clark retorts that Superman has never kissed a baby. When Ollie asks if Clark Kent has, Clark mentions an exploding baby from his past. When Ollie exults about not having to experience such things when the Queens move to Star City, Clark expresses surprise that they haven't left yet. They were supposed to have left but Ollie says the hold-up is on his wife.

In space, Superman talks to Watchtower over their communication network, as he accesses the holo-computer in his belt. He is scanning for hints at the cause of the storm and finds none, noting he used his whole spectrum of Super-Vision. In S.T.A.R. Labs, Chloe and Emil discuss the development of Clark's powers. Emil states Virgil Swann founded the facility as a way to help The Traveler develop his abilities. Clark ask if they could have sent one of their Environmental Hazard Drones instead, and Emil apologizes for having to send Clark instead. Clark checks his belt buckle communicator and finds a message from Lois, telling him he is late for the conference, much to Clark's dismay. Clark then uses his superspeed and arrives to the conference and saw Lois asking Lex where he disappeared to after he was declared dead and before Tess's death which leads Lex to defend himself. Clark shows up and whispers to Lois that they both know Lex killed Tess, but can't do anything without proof. Lex then begins criticizing Superman and the Justice League, claiming they have failed to protect humanity and now the Earth is in more danger than ever. He announces the Guardian orbital defense platforms as a means of protection and the public is impressed, save for Lois and Clark. She ask who will pilot the Shuttle to bring the satellites into orbit on such short notice, and Lex introduces the pilot, Commander Hank Henshaw.

Clark interviews Hank Henshaw one last time before the LuthorCorp shuttle takes flight, as Hank eats a large meal, claiming it's apart of a superstition pilots like him share. Hank then makes a passionate quote about piloting, and how it helps him appreciate what he has on Earth, and says that Lex has given him a greater purpose, allowing him to pilot The Guardian Platforms into space. Clark claims that the world isn't as dark as Lex claims, and Hank mockingly ask if Clark is a Superman fan. Hank then claims that Superman is doing a good job, but should do more. Clark says that it's best Superman not impose his ideas on all. Hank says it's a good idea, but sometimes people need to be forced. Clark thanks him for the interview as Hank goes off to get ready.

During takeoff, Lois tells Clark she has a bad feeling about the Guardian platforms, but Clark claims it might be a good thing, as Superman can't be everywhere at once, but Lois isn't convinced. Clark claims that Hank is trustworthy, but Lois claims Lex is still dangerous. Aboard the Shuttle, Hank begins leaving Orbit, when the ship begins experiencing problems. In mid-air, it explodes. Clark runs off and changes into his Superman suit, with Chloe guiding him from Watchtower. Superman catches up to the shuttle and sets out the fire caused by the explosion, and removes the last fuel tank before it explodes. Using his gamma vision, he's able to see that there is a radiation leak.

Superman has Chloe contact Commander Henshaw through LexCorp mission control, where he informs them that he can save them, but needs to pry open the shuttle as it will depressurize, but Henshaw insist that Superman save his crew members first, in order to pilot the shuttle into orbit as the shuttle is leaking radiation. But before Superman leaves to save the crew, Henshaw reveals a secret. Superman saves the crew and returns to the shuttle as the oxygen levels reach zero and Henshaw passes out.

Henshaw wakes up on a stretcher, with burns from the radiation exposure. As the paramedics begin to transport him, Superman instructs them to send him to Emil at S.T.A.R. Labs. Lois comes up to Superman, hoping for a quote, but he instead tells her that Clark will not be home for breakfast, because the explosion was not a misfire.

At LexCorp Plaza, Lex arrives in his penthouse office, as Superman angrily breaks his glass window by clapping. Superman accuses Lex of activating the Guardian Platform mid-flight, but Lex dismisses the claim, saying the accident could have been avoided had the military not forced the private sectors hand. Superman accuses him again, nearly attacking him, until three military helicopters show up, demanding that Superman step away from Lex. Lex claims that Superman's appearance at the Korolyov and Guardian incidents, as well as his apparent attack of LexCorp Plaza, Superman had given Sam Lane a reason to intervene. The military tell him he is under arrest, but Superman refuses as the military ready their guns.

Superman is fired upon by the military helicopter under the orders of General Lane. During the confrontation Clark receives a call from Lois, whom he asked if her father knows his secret identity, saying that he had implied it before. Lois reassures him that if General Lane knew that he was firing upon his own son-in-law he'd probably wouldn't have fired at him. As they surround Superman they begin firing, Lois seeks cover under her convertible.

The bullets deflect off of Superman and hit the tail rotor of one of the helicopters,which begins to fall to the street below. Superman flies down and saves Lois before the helicopter crashes onto of her car, and explodes. High above in the clouds Lois is wrapped in a romantic embrace with Clark followed by a passionate kiss.

Superman then returns to downtown Metropolis where he proceeds to clean up the mess made by the military during their field test of his abilities before the arrival of the fire department where he leaves a calling card apologizing. Superman then meets with General Lane at Liberty park where they have a discussion about his recent heroics but also the fear members of Washington DC have against him as he has no real accountability to the government only to his moral code. Superman suggest to General Lane that he'd be up to going to Washington DC to meet with the President, just when he's suddenly summoned by Emil's signal watch to S.T.A.R. Labs. Emil informs Clark via his Bluetooth earpiece that Lex had transferred Hank Henshaw's mind into one of his EH drones however the process made his mind unstable.



Superman arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs. confronting cybernetic Henshaw who engages him in an intense battle of sheer super strength as Henshaw's cyborg body is able to adapt and counter any of Superman's abilities as he demonstrated by throwing Superman through ten buildings. Superman tries to reason with Henshaw after punches some sense into him.

Superman manages to disconnect Henshaw long enough to calm him down and returns him to S.T.A.R. Labs to an isolation unit where he is connected to a computer interface. Superman meets with Terri Henshaw informing her that he's made special arrangements for her to see her husband whenever she wanted too. Before he leaves Superman sees Henshaw who apologizes to him and asked Superman how he manages to do the right thing.

The next Morning in Metropolis, Superman pays a visit to Lex Luthor at LexCorp where he attempts to apologizes for misjudging him before on their last encounter. Only to discover that the Guardian shuttle incident was a no accident it was a means for Lex to coat Superman with an isotope radiation that he could track Superman's whereabouts anywhere on Earth with his satellites. Superman realizes what this means and angrily threaten Lex this isn't over as he leaves.



Floating above the Daily Planet rooftop, Clark awaits for Lois who arrives hoping to find "Clark Kent" only to see Superman instead. Superman tells her that "Clark Kent" will be taking an extended leave of absence. He wouldn't risk leading Lex Luthor into their lives because he could track his whereabouts with the radiation. Lois is angry with this startling revelations and wants to hurt Lex. But Clark forbids it. Lois then suggest that Clark uses his Heat vision to destroy Lex's satellites but Clark says that isn't the answer either. Clark tries to comfort Lois but she is still uneasy about the whole situation, Clark reassures her that he'll find away to come back home to her. He kisses her tenderly then flies away.

Later that night as the rest of Metropolis sleeps peacefully, Clark is floating above in space overlooking Earth and hears Lois's voice who reaffirms her love for him.

3 weeks later, Clark and Lois are finally able to spend some time together, but they are still dealing with Lex tracking Clark. They are at the Fortress, and Oliver made sure one of his satellites blocked Lex's for one second so Clark and Lois could teleport to the Fortress without Lex knowing. Clark also revealed to Lois that after he completed his trials and made peace with Jor-El, his computer program ended. The fortress as well as the knowledge of the galaxies are now Clark's to use as he sees fit. So far Clark has used it to shield his radiographic signature from Lex's keyhole satellite and to find a way to remove the isotope from his system.

The Following Morning, Clark returns Lois to Metropolis and takes her directly to Daily Planet basement. He then files towards a hostage situation across town in which an unknown gunman has a group of children held hostage above within a bus. While the police attempt to handle the situation with diplomacy. Superman uses his Heat vision to disarm the gun from the assailant and quickly grabs him and pulls him out from the roof of the bus with his Super strength and holds unto him with a firm grip. Superman then turns his attention to the children and address a boy who previous attempted to be a hero by standing up to the gunman who pointed a gun at his face. Superman tells the boy not to be reckless especially around gun as they are not toys. Superman returns his attention to the assailant only to discover that he's got the ability of Teleportation and uses that ability to free himself and to fire at the police unit below using his Super speed Superman intercepted every bullet in his hand and converted it into a ball then handing it to Dan Turpin before pursuing the teleporter who stood on a nearby roof, Superman arrives and confronts him only to discover that he was using the hostage crisis to distract Superman from a robbery that was in progress and that he had placed a bomb on the crane holding the bus with children as an insurance to prevent Superman from touching him with a remote detonator. Superman uses his Arctic breath to freeze the teleporter in place then uses his heat vision to thaw his head while he interrogates him on who sold him the tech suit equipped with teleportation, The teleporter refusing to corporate, Superman uses his X-ray vision to see that the tech is from LexCorp.

After he take care of the bomb, Superman round up the teleportation thieves who apologize to the children for kidnapping them, hitching their school bus up on a crane, and then trying to blow them up with a bomb. As Superman politely soars off with one of the teleportation vests, Dan Turpin meets Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon visiting Metropolis who got to see Superman in action first hand.Barbara is more impressed than Bruce is, or more impressed than Bruce is letting on. Bruce however reveals that it looks like Superman is taken.

Later, at the Ace of Clubs, Lex and Bruce have their lunch meeting on the patio while Barbara Gordon is having lunch with Otis. Lex and Bruce's lunch however is prematurely ended by Superman.

Later, at Lexcorp R&D, Superman and Lex are all forced friendly-like as Lex analyzes the teleportation vest and admits the technology is his, but it was stolen. Stolen, in fact, during a series of robberies made on Lexcorp and other companies, one of which was foiled way back by the Green Arrow and Superman. Lex surmises that whomever created these teleportation vests using all that stolen technology would have to be very familiar with Lexcorp's patents and proprietary coding. Which leads Superman to Stryker's Island prison and The Toyman. Safely incarcerated and seemingly not a suspect, according to Warden Draper, since he's been under constant supervision in "hyper-solitary". Superman is stymied. Meanwhile, imprisoned elsewhere at Stryker's is Bruno Mannheim, the head of Intergang, who's acting like a raving lunatic while palming the Crime Bible, which he says was given to him by G. Gordon Godfrey. Next thing we know, Mannheim has escaped his cell! Well, not so much escaped as being interrogated by The Batman. The Batman has Mannheim and he only wants to know where Joe Chill is. Mannheim claims he's gone straight, that the Crime Bible changed his life, and a lot of nonsense, but the Batman's having none of that. Next thing we know, Superman arrives on the scene.

Superman meets Batman and he wants to have a word with him. Instead, he gets Batman manifesting some sort of energy and then punched Superman. Batman and Superman do battle on Stryker's island. Batman with the advantage using red sun radiation generated from his suit. Superman discovers Bruce Wayne is Batman and manages to beat Batman and interrogates him on why he tried to free Bruno Mannheim, he said that he needed to find the man who murdered his parents. Superman is shocked and puts Batman down.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow and Nightwing haven't gotten the memo from their respective bosses that they've reached a détente and it's time to stop fighting. Evenly matched, Arrow and Nightwing have spilled arrows and Batarangs all over the place trying to smack each other down. Superman arrives to break up the fracas when Bruno Mannheim pleads for sanctuary from the Man of Steel. Superman then snatches Mannheim and takes him up, up, and away for questioning.

In the sky, Superman says he's sorry to be using extreme measures on Mannheim. Mannheim doesn't know anything, but Superman points out he's lying, and knows his better half will have a talk to him over this. Just then, in front of the Batwing, Mannheim falls from above before Superman catches him below. Mannheim spills the beans: Intergang wanted to protect themselves from the invasion, Mannheim decided against it but offered Joe Chill to help them. But now, Chill is off the grid, rumored to be in FBI custody. Superman grabs the tracking device and asks Batman if he catches that. The Batwing storms off, Superman takes that as a yes.

Meanwhile at the Daily Planet, Superman helps Lois find him in the sky by sparking his heat vision. After the talk over what he did to Mannheim, Lois confirms Chill is in FBI custody. As for Toyman being a suspect, the answer is no, but Lois learns that an Oswald Loomis did try to visit Toyman dozens of times before turning away. Superman wants to talk with Batman again, and has a way into contacting him.At a supply ship called Leviathan docked in Metropolis is an HQ for Batman and Nightwing, where inside they are getting medical treatment. The cameras pick up something and Bruce decides to head out alone, while Barb is in the Hub, when he looks outside to see what it is: the Bat-Signal.

Batman arrives on the rooftop source of the signal to find Superman waiting for him. Superman knows enough about the Batman that this is the specific way to call a meeting with him. Superman also knows Batman and Nightwing located Joe Chill's safe house in Suicide Slum.Superman doesn't want Batman tearing through Suicide Slum hell bent on revenge for Joe Chill so he proposes "a joint investigation mutually beneficial to both of us." They make sure Joe Chill is safe from Intergang and then find out who's manufacturing the weapons he's peddling and Batman agrees.

At Suicide Slum, Superman and Batman are on a stakeout. Batman is irritated by Superman's penchant for conversation but Superman seems to really be enjoying having a partner in crime fighting. Superman revealed that, he didn't want to draw attention to it and compromise Batman's security because he knows Lex Luthor is watching all his movements. Superman and Batman then scans the building and Batman's night vision goggles spot some extra snipers Superman missed when he bathed the building with X-rays. Batman then easily and stealthily penetrates the safe house and finds Joe Chill's room, though Superman beats him there with Super speed.At the safe house, Chill, a lifelong criminal, isn't exactly repentant about killing Batman's parents, whoever they were. Batman can't be specific and Chill has killed a lot of people for lots of reasons. This isn't good enough for Batman, who loses it, until Superman literally slaps him down. Superman calmly explains to Joe Chill that they're really here to find out where they can find a man named Loomis, who they believe is manufacturing the weapons Chill fenced for Intergang. But hey, they don't have to look very far because Loomis is already there! Batman and Superman spring into action with Heat Vision and Batarangs, but a burst of cold takes out both. Loomis isn't alone. He has help from Mr. Freeze.Superman and Batman are fighting Prankster and Mr. Freeze. Batman reveals that Mr. Freeze is Victor Fries. Prankster reveals that he wants to prove himself to Intergang. While Superman tries to distract the villains, Batman and Joe Chill try to escape. Superman gets shot by Kryptonite bullets while Mr. Freeze kills Joe Chill and frames Batman for the crime.

Batman frees himself, and sees that Chill is dead, and Superman is critically wounded. Batman contacts Nightwing to inform her about Superman's condition. The FBI comes in to arrest Batman. Batman escapes with Superman within the Batmobile. Then Daily Planet reporter Lois joins the police and the FBI in the pursuit chase.Upon dropping off his last passenger, a bus driver doses off in the middle of the street, only to be waken up by the Batmobile going through his bus. News stations cover the pursuit of the "murderer Batman kidnapping a wounded Superman" just as Lois and Ollie meet up (wondering where Batman is taking Superman) and Chloe is hacking into the traffic system so no one is hurt during the chase.

Inside the Batmobile: Nightwing comments on the stress she's feeling over Superman being hurt and Batman being chased, just as Superman tells Batman to call him Clark and Batman, relieved that Clark is still alive, asks him who to call to save him. Nightwing calls Chloe, who in turn calls a choked up Lois: Nightwing gives her the situation: Superman has four Kryptonite bullets, none to the heart, but his vitals are fading. Nightwing, later, gives Batman Lois' message: get the Kryptonite out, and then expose Superman to yellow sunlight. But as Batman says, he's already has his hands full.A road block is set up, with cops surrounded, so Batman can't "go through it" like before, so he comes up with a different idea. Shifting the front tires to a "X" position, and firing the boosters from below, the Batmobile literally goes around the road block from above. The cops, and even Lois and Ollie, can't believe what they saw. A helicopter approaches, with an EMP on board, and Batman knows this and but can't do anything about it, until Ollie messages him that he can. Ollie simply "pops up" to the helicopter, and it goes away. Nightwing takes control of the Batmobile, leading it outside the Leviathan ship. Batman performs the surgery inside the car, just as Lois arrives and she sees it happening. After getting the bullets out, Batman reprograms his vest and splash Clark with yellow sunlight, just as the police report that they lost the Batman. Chloe is relieved that it's over, but Batman and Nightwing respond that it isn't: they need to make sure that the authorities know it was Freeze and Prankster who killed Chill. Ollie agrees, but also asks for his lawyer to be called too (he's been arrested).

Inside Leviathan: Clark wakes up with Lois by his side, where Lois reveals the Earth still thinks Batman killed Superman, and she can't help but be tempted by the huge story she's been given: Batman isn't a myth, and is Bruce Wayne. Barbara Gordon, introducing herself to the two, gives Clark some orange juice before he heads out to speak with Bruce, who is hard at work at the armory. Bruce asks why Clark hasn't destroyed Lex' satellite, but Clark points out Lex would build more, and that he prefers hope and inspiration over fear and brute force (in a way, criticizing Bruce's Batman). Bruce tells Clark that he's been having a hard time finding Prankster and Freeze, because Freeze needs to be in extreme colds to survive: Clark points out the Hobbs River as an idea, but the list is too big. Then Clark has an idea: use Lex' tracking from himself to read other types of radiation, like Kryptonite. Bruce tries that, and then successfully, finds the villains' location. Given Clark's weaknesses, and Bruce still being human who can't survive colds 40 below: Bruce reveals what he has built: armored suits for Superman and Batman to fight in. In order to still keep a low profile, the two heroes head out into the sewers with another one of Batman's vehicles: the Batboat.

At Freeze's hideout: Superman and Batman find no one there, at least until Prankster appears using a robotic suit Toyman was developing, complete with Kryptonite on the chest. He reveals that Freeze is under his control, and is attacking the citizens, but in actuality, his suit's fuel cells are overloading, and will explode. And with Freeze above the city's water purification plant, anyone within one mile will die. Batman heads out in the Batboat to take care of Freeze, while Superman goes to handle Prankster.

In Metropolis, the next morning, Lois Lane talks to Superman about the news headline of today. Superman and Batman have been hailed as heroes by the Daily Planet, labeled World's Finest in the paper. In Gotham, Superman speaks with Bruce Wayne about his (Bruce's) parents. Bruce puts the flowers down and reveals that he and Superman are at the spot where his parents died. Bruce and Superman agree to work together if necessary.

Later on the moon at the construction site for Queen Industries' new Moon Base, Clark and Martian Manhunter oversee the construction which the S.T.A.R. Labs H.E.D drones help in the process. Clark shares some Double Stuff Oreo cookies with his friend and mentor when he receives an alert about an attack on Metropolis involving a former Project Ares subject. As Superman speeds off to deal with the threat, J'onn decides to return to his apartment in Metropolis.

Out in the streets of Metropolis, a Dr. Jones who wants to be called Psimon is looking for Lex, whose Project Ares has apparently given the diminutive doctor his purple skin, an oversized and glowing-through-his-skull brain and some kind of indeterminate psycho-molecular power. Psimon is not convinced a peaceful resolution to this situation is possible and shoots a purple blast at Lex, whom Superman saves and proceeds to returns to finish with Psimon, who proves to be able to act more quickly than Superman thanks to his enhanced synaptic firing. As he tries to capture Psimon, the criminal's telepathic abilities allow him to "feel" Superman's moves before he makes them and counteract them. Moving faster than thought, Bart arrives to help his old friend. The speedster, sporting a new costume, proves too quick for Psimon and is able to punch him into submission.To celebrate, Impulse speeds ice cream cones into the hands of all the nearby citizens, including Superman.

Out in the ocean, Clark and Bart race each other above the water. Bart comments on Clark running slower than he used to, which Clark attributes to now having the ability to fly as well. Clark makes a wager that he can fly faster than Bart can run with the loser paying for lunch. As the two rocket over the coast of Cameroon, a young woman watches from a distance.

Clark arrives in Mumbai, India, assuming that he has beaten Bart. As children swarm him for an autograph, he finds that Bart was not only there first but is playing a game of soccer with some of the locals. Later, as they share food, Clark describes how he can't return to his life as Clark Kent and must remain Superman for the time being due to Lex's irradiation ploy. Research from S.T.A.R. Labs has revealed that his healing ability from the rays of the sun is slowly curing the radiation. Bart suggests he fly into the sun to speed up the process and burn the rest of it away, but Clark tells him that Emil isn't sure they could stop the process from eventually turn him into raw energy if he tried it.

Though he's happy to spend some time with Bart, Clark points out that it's not really the speedster's style and asks if something is wrong. Bart deflects by saying he had to get a glimpse of Clark in a costume. A moment of appreciation between the two is broken up by a call from Chloe at Watchtower. She tells them that a situation with art thieves in Paris has arisen and, as they don't have any agents in Europe as of yet, they are the two closest to respond. They make another wager over who can get there first. Bart gives Clark a head start and his friend bolts into the sky. As he prepares to run, Bart hears an ominous voice call his name. He looks around but sees nothing but the locals. Tapping into the Speed Force, he runs after the Man of Steel.At the Musée du Louvre in Paris, Superman and Impulse arrive to help the French police with a chaotic scene, baffled at the threat art thieves are presenting. Suddenly, a huge explosion racks the front of the museum. Out of the rubble runs Monsieur Mallah, a giant gorilla carrying the Mona Lisa. In a container slung around Mallah's back is the brain of the scientist who increased Mallah's intelligence to genius levels. The two lead a gang of monkeys and apes stealing art.

As Impulse attends to the smaller primates, Superman turns his attention to Mallah and the Brain. The Brain can speak through the container and Superman asks if he is Mallah's. Brain explains that they are lovers and helped each other escape from the experimentation that led to their current states. They plan to sell the stolen art to fund and form their own nation. Mallah pulls a gun and fires at the crowd.

Impulse runs to catch some of the bullets but sees there are too many. He taps into the Speed Force to move faster and is able to stop all of the projectiles. Using the Force, though, brings on the mysterious voice again. In Speed Time, Bart sees a horrifying dark creature run out of the Force that he's seen before, telling him that "It is time." The creature bolts toward Bart, reaching out to grab him.

Meanwhile, Superman uppercuts Mallah off of his feet, knocking him out. He turns to find the other monkeys and apes massing toward him. Winding his arms up and bringing his hands together in a superclap, Clark uses the force and the sound of the clap to upend all of the primates and knock them unconscious.

Clark finds a tired and scared Bart on his knees, muttering that "it" almost got him. Looking around the scene, Clark asks what Bart is talking about. Realizing the creature is nowhere to be found—and wanting to keep the secret to himself—Bart tells his friend it was nothing. Flying over the Atlantic, Clark carries Bart, who told him about the creature, refusing to let him use superspeed to avoid being captured by it in the Speed Force. Bart then mentions the "Speed Demon" or "Black Racer" has always waited for him at every turn when he used his superspeed, after which he explains in detail what really happened years ago during the time he was captured by Lex. With the creature always present ever since, Clark asks why Bart wanted a race to India in the first place. Bart admits that, since Clark is the only one who can come close to keeping pace with him, he hoped that by the two going so fast and Clark not seeing the demon, he could prove it was all in his head. Clark assures his friend that he's not crazy. He states that they need to find a way for Clark to face the creature and make it stop tormenting Bart once and for all. At S.T.A.R. Labs, Emil Hamilton meets with his staff to discuss two problems before them: one, assisting Superman in finding a way to help Impulse with the dark creature; and two, aiding Watchtower in retrieving the technology that LexCorp used to transfer Hank Henshaw's consciousness from his charred and crippled body into one of the H.E.D. drones. Emil states he will address the technology issue and assigns the others to Impulse's case.The scientists at S.T.A.R. Labs set Bart and Clark up for a speed assessment. As Bart chats up a lovely blonde scientist, Emil asks Clark how he's able to be so jovial. Clark answers that Bart probably welcomes any distraction from being chased by the creature as long as he has. With everything set, Bart wonders how Clark will manage to match his speed, considering he runs a lot faster than Clark. Emil explains that the treadmills they are using for the assessment had been specially designed with a frictionless engine assembly when they began testing Clark's abilities. This will allow Bart to run as fast as he can while Clark's treadmill will accelerate him towards Bart's speed. They all hope that if they can get Clark fast enough, he can witness the creature as well. As they run, Clark encourages Bart to go full speed, insisting that he has his friend's back. With approval, Bart taps into the Speed Force and runs so fast that he causes the treadmill and the monitoring equipment to explode. As Clark falls to the floor, while in the Speed Force, the horrible creature towers over him, chastising his speed as "not pure." Outside of the force, Bart asks Clark if he was able to see the demon. Now knowing what he is dealing with, Clark assures his friend that he will find a way to save him.

Clark and Lois meet on the roof of the Daily Planet Building for a bite to eat and further lament that he can't return to his "normal" life as a mild-mannered reporter. She mentions that he has burned through all of his sick days and vacation time and that their boss, Franklin Stern, is getting suspicious about his absence. Joking about having to tell him Clark's become a fireman or something else, Clark admits that he's devoted his life to bigger things now.

Regarding one of those things, Lois shows Clark pictures of the LexCorp employee, Fritz, who was thrown into a wall and superspeed aged to death at the ruins ofLuthorCorp's abandoned Ridge Facility. She shows him pictures of other incidents of it occurring over the past five years. She says that these "speed storms" have popped up in Keystone City, Mexico, Miami, and islands in the Pacific Ocean, and have been increasing in frequency. Clark immediately recognizes each as places Bart has been and that the storms are chasing him like the dark creature. Clark worries that he won't be able to find a way to help Bart when Lois points out that he should consult someone else who has run as fast as Bart before. They are interrupted by Jeff and Clark superspeeds into the sky. Later, Clark and Bart visit the JSA Brownstone, being tended to by a Mrs. Hunkel. She lets them past the security measures and Clark takes Bart into the museum honoring the members of the Justice Society of America. Bart recalls that this was Carter Hall's group but wonders how any of the artifacts will help them with his problem with the "speed demon." Clark explains they are there to begin a search for the first hero to break the sound barrier on foot, Jay Garrick.

On the soccer field in Mumbai where Bart played with the kids earlier, one of the speed storms breaks out. Another hits at Louvre in France. Chloe and Oliver monitor the outbreaks at Watchtower and note the increasing frequency. Oliver relays this to Clark while Clark asks how Chloe is doing following her procedure. Oliver assures him that he's looking after her.

Clark and Bart walk the white plains of Utah until they come upon an isolated house. An old voice asks if he can help them and Bart reveals they are looking for Jay Garrick. The man at the end of the voice steps from the house and identifies himself as Garrick.

At Garrick's house, the old man chastises Bart for stealing his identity. He asks him he did it and Bart admits that he doesn't know. He also reveals that he doesn't remember anything of his life previous to waking up with his abilities, just that there was a flash of light and the names of Garrick, Wally West, and Barry Allen just appeared in his head. Clark explains to Garrick the plan Carter Hall had of resurrecting the Justice Society of America with the help of the new, younger heroes. He asks for the elder's help.



Garrick suggests Bart talk to his old teammate, Pieter Cross, instead. Impatient, Bart asks what the old man knows about the "Black Racer." The elder speedster tells them his leg was broken when the federal government tried rounding up the JSA and he never wanted it repaired. When Clark attempts to ask why he would never want to run fast again, Bart correctly guesses that he's seen the demon. Garrick admits to it and explains that what is occurring to Bart happened to him. Clark mentions the speed storms and Garrick says it's the racer calling Bart out. Bart asks how the old man survived it and Garrick reiterates that he just stopped running. Bart adamantly refuses that option and the elder tells him the only other option is to die.



As the speed storm crackles in Utah, Clark tries to reason with Jay Garrick that there must be another option to help Bart. Garrick asserts that there is no choice in the matter and that by using the Speed Force, the demon is there to collect the debt. Clark asks why there were no records of speed storms while Garrick was with the JSA. The old man surmises that Bart is so fast that it has made the creature hungry and desperate. Picking up on the thought, Clark reasons that it is sending out the speed storms to try to create a new speedster to take on as its prey. Bart realizes that the biology of the speedsters is special and that's why so many have died in the attempts.

Bart asks Garrick how many speedsters there are. The old man gives a mealy answer about not being the first and Bart not being the last. Bart confronts him about not having raced the demon himself to stop to have possibly stopped it, and Garrick denounces their abilities as a curse. Clark offers that curses can be blessings if they don't let their powers control their lives. Garrick likens Clark to Carter Hall and Bart jumps on the moment to call him out for not having stayed in touch with his team. The old man owns up to being proud of how he acted, but it's not good enough for Bart. Riled up, he starts tapping into the Speed Force before Clark manages to stop him.



Clark fields communication from Chloe at Watchtower. He asks how she is and she tells him she's coping. She alerts him to a speed storm brewing in Las Vegas, a huge one that isn't slowing down and many dying. Clark relays the message to Bart, who tries running off on his own. Clark grabs him and Bart argues that the racer is waiting for him there and is calling to him. Clark tells Chloe that they didn't come up with a solution. She responds that S.T.A.R. Labs might have something. Patched to Emil Hamilton, the doctor explains they took the concept of sending Clark into the sun to remove his irradiation to fashion a containment suit. He states that they modified the suit to collect speed energy and that Clark might be able to use it to constantly move fast enough to confront the demon.

The scientists at S.T.A.R. fire a pod into the atmosphere and it quickly rockets its way to the young heroes' location in Utah. The pod opens to reveal the new suit, a black and silver affair with a glowing S-Shield. Clark quickly puts on the suit and speeds to the massive storm in Las Vegas. Boldly, Clark proclaims to the demon that it's "time for round two."

In Las Vegas, Clark Kent saves a man from becoming another victim of a speed storm. He cannot save everyone but he does save as many as he can. Superman stops the speed storms and has everyone evacuate. An angry Black Flash, seeing that Superman is trying to stop him, decides to kill him. Superman and Black Flash begin to fight.



In Las Vegas, Superman continues to fight the Black Flash. Just as Black Flash seems to be gaining the upper hand just as Bart arrives, prepared at last for the final showdown and his reckoning with the speed force.

Black Flash, finally satisfied that Bart arrive getting to feed on "Pure" speed. Bart then rush to take Clark out of the fight and proceeds to absorb the Speed Force out of Clark's containment suit. Clark tries to talk Bart out of taking on the Black Flash with Impulse revealed that the speedsters he met with told him that he was the only one who can take him down. Bart then confides in Clark that he never been alone, and then rushes to take down Black Flash. Clark then proceeds to try to catch up and help Bart.

Bart rushes to Black Flash with Clark trying to convince him to slow down. They both flashback to back when they first met as teenagers back on the barn. Bart, who thanks Clark for looking out for him. He says he's going to explore the world, and invites Clark to come. Clark asks him to stay, and Bart slyly says he'd consider it... if Clark can catch him. The two superspeed down the roads of Smallville, but Bart easily leaves Clark in the dust.



There is soon a big Speed Force explosion that took out both Bart and Black Flash out leaving a giant lightning bolt in the desert with Clark mourning and forced to tell Watchtower that Impulse is gone.



Sometime later at the JSA Brownstone, Clark and Jay look at the first Impulse Suit in the glass case. Jay Garrick feels somber about what happened saying Bart did what he should have done a long time ago. Clark tells Jay that everything end no matter what and Bart would have never stopped running, as long as you're running towards something. Abigail Hunkel and Emil came in to pay their respects. After Abigail and Jay left to get some tea and leave Clark and Emil to talk. Emil reveals that the speed force Bart exposed Clark to might have had an unforeseen effect.



Lois sits at their apartment asking Clark if their going to hold a funeral like they did for Carter. Clark replies he will also build a statue for Bart. He then asks if he found anything about Lex with Lois saying considering how the night has went it's pretty much a win and she'll tell him after his next flyby. Clark replies he doesn't think he will be doing that anymore.



Then there is a knock on the door and as Lois opens it, there is Clark in his glasses and suit and tie simply saying "Honey, I'm home". As they embrace Lois wonders how is this possible, with Clark replying thanks to Bart's speed, the radiation is removed. Lois then tells his get back into the suit because they have work to do.



At LexCorp Plaza, Lex heads towards his office only to find that the lights aren't working. As he calls for Otis, Superman appears with Lex realizing that he found a way to remove the radiation off him. The Green Arrow appears revealing they are here to take Tess back. Then Lois appears surrounding Lex. As Green Arrow is about to use a taser arrow, Lois slaps Lex knocking him unconscious. As he wakes up, He is help by Otis. He realizes what the heroes did, he asks where is Tess.



At Watchtower, Clark, Lois and Oliver stands patience as Emil downloads a grateful Tess into a computer system making her a hologram. Clark wonders where Chloe,Oliver reveals she's outside waiting to reveal something to him. Chloe tells Clark about the Monitors and then she tells Clark about the baby she is about to have. As Clark understands and accepts Chloe's decision to leave to start a life with Oliver for the sake of their child. Clark is overjoyed and takes Chloe on a flight, she later reveals that she and Oliver needs to leave so the baby can come safely to term with Clark understanding since that is what both Jor-El and Lara as well as Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent did for him.

Back at the apartment, Lois and Clark are in the shower with Clark washing her hair. Clark wonders if Lois would be alright in Africa and if he should go with her to check on the vigilante known as the Angel of the Plateau. Lois reminds him that Franklin Stern is watching him closely now that he returned from his extended leave. She asks if Clark would be alright after what just happened with Bart, and Clark says he will but he wonders how many more people do they have to loose. Clark then proceeds to take care of an apartment building on Russell and Glosson.

After Clark takes care of the fire, he goes to the Daily Planet bullpen, where he is confronted by Cat Grant who wonders why he hasn't answered any of her calls. Clark meekly replies he forgot to charge his cell phone. Cat reveals that he has a visitor, with Booster jokingly greeting him. Clark pushes him to the rooftop, and confronts him about arriving at his workplace. Booster reveals that since he is from the future, he knows about Clark's "hiatus" and Clark wonders whether Booster knew about what was going to happen to Bart. Skeets says their knowledge of the future is constantly changing. Booster shows Clark his Legion ring and asks about the "Legion Protocol Six", but Clark is not aware of it. The moment Clark touches the ring, it suddenly activates, causing Clark and Booster to suddenly disappear in a flash of light, leaving a very confused Skeets alone. They wake up in the 31st century in front of a destroyed Superman statue in the middle of a torn Metropolis.

In the Metropolis of 31st Century, Clark and Booster try to understand what happened to them and investigate Superman's fallen statue. Clark questions Booster Gold how he could a get a Legion ring from the 31st century while himself was living in the 25th when suddenly Skeets appears revealing that he was waiting for them for one thousand years. While they are talking a burning spaceship which is on a collusion crash, is heading towards the city of Metropolis.

Superman catches the ship and lands it safely to the ground. Afterwards he greets his old friend, Lighting Lad, who asked them how he arrived there unfortunately their reunion is interrupted by the squad of guards demanding their surrender.

With the aid from Skeets who causes a distracting for the group they move to the Legion safe house #47 where Clark now disguised in customary 31's attire explains that he was transported by the flight ring, which leaves Brainiac 5 and Garth puzzled as they have no knowledge to Protocol 6 and it wasn't enacted by any Legionnaire. Furthermore Garth persuades Brainiac 5 to reveal to Clark that his cousin, Kara, is held as a prisoner by EarthGov.



Clark gets mad and attacks some men working for Kirt Niedrigh. Suddenly Superman arrives at the EarthGov facility and requests from Kirt to give him back Kara. Minister Niedrigh orders his men to attack Superman with red sunlight stylised weapons that causes him to lose his powers for a few seconds but that doesn't stop him from defeating them. When his powers come back he grabs Niedrigh and angrily asks him where is she. Then Kirt, obviously scared, tells him where he has put Kara. Clark finds Kara in a weakened state.

Still in 31st century, above Earth, Superman reunites with his cousin, Kara, whom has just freed from an EarthGov facility where she was held as a prisoner. Kara explains to Clark how she time-traveled into the future with his Legion ring and that she was ordered by Jor-El to do so. Clark comments that he didn't even noticed his ring or his cousin were missing and apologises to her but he also questions Kara how "Supergirl" was involved in ther war between Earth and New Krypton. She tells him that when she arrived in the future she was welcomed by Brainiac-5 and the Legion, which launched a diplomatic mission when they discovered Argo, the lost Kryptonian colony, but was sabotaged by someone from EarthGov and that event was the start of the war. Kara also reveals that she was not an actually a prisoner but a spy for the Kryptonians.

Later Superman and Supergirl appear on New Krypton defending Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl, who had been charged for terrorism. When Beh-Osk hears the Legionnaires call Superman as Kal-El, he realises that Superman is the last son of ancient Krypton and gets astonished by that revelation. He then calls all the Kryptonians to kneel before "Argo's salvation". Clark seems not so happy about that action and Kara says to him "Welcome home".



On New Krypton, Chancellor Pa-Vel escorts Superman in the Hall of Scion in which there are multiples statues of Kryptonians who had contributed to Argo's evolution for over a thousand years. Cancellor also mentions that Clark liberated their ancestors from the tyranny of General Zod and that is why every Kryptonian on New Krypton calls him "Liberator". Chancellor also explains to Superman a bit about their religion, how proud enlightened people they are and that their war is more about that despite the violence. He also reveals that the main cause of the war is to recover the body of their God. A confused Clark questions him about his revelation knowing that the God they worship is Rao, Krypton's red sun but Chancellor says that Rao was worshiped only by their ancestors and they now worship a new one, showing him the statue of their Goddess and also revealing to him that Clark actually knew her.



Superman later finds Supergirl and Cosmic Boy and says to Kara that she doesn't have to say anything, betraying the Kryptonians' trust because he already knows everything. He reveals to Supergirl and Cosmic Boy that the war is not about politics but actually for another, more religious reason. The Kryptonians actually want to recover Faora's body, whom they worship as their Goddess because of her tale that was told by Argo's settlers and eventually became myth. They believe that her body holds the key of unlocking their future as a people and that is why they sent Kara as a spy to locate the coordinates of Faora's tomb, but without her actually know what she is looking for.

Over the Amazon forest, Clark and Kara are discussing Kara's decision to become a spy for the Kryptonians and how she doesn't like it anymore feeling she had been taken advantage of. Suddenly two of EarthGov's spaceships appear with the one shooting at Kara. Clark is ready to battle them but an enraged Kara uses her heat vision destroying one of the ships. Then they both easily take care of the rest of the soldiers with Clark using his breath to freeze them.



After that they find a huge gate with a Kryptonian symbol on it, which leads to Faora's tomb. When they enter the room they see a huge structure, resembling a palace which was built by Zod, and Kara wonders why Zod buried Faora there. Clark tells her that the original Zod and Faora couldn't have children so when his clone found out that Faora's clone, who had already killed, was actually pregnant with his child, he immediately regretted his action and fell into depression and that is why he built this place, to honnor her. Clark also says that he made a throne for himself, to seat after he had conquered the Earth, in the center of the structure facing a pit where he had kept Faora's dead body frozen inside a crystalline cube. Then Kara asks again why he put the throne facing the pit and Clark assumes that that he did it because of guilt. After that Clark and Kara fly down the pit and visit Faora's body where Clark explains that the Kryptonians believe that her child was a sacred thing, because as they believe that it may have been the answer on why the Kryptonians had powers under yellow sun and not red. Kara then states that the Kryptonians won't be the first to know the answer.



In the Amazon forest, outside Faora's tomb, Clark and Kara are discussing about the war. Clark says that maybe the humans are not ready for a relationship with New Krypton and it might take a long time to do so. Kara defending the Kryptonians says that humans are not able to change and like many of her kind she does not think very highly of them.



This conversation leads in a big fight between the two cousins but Clark manages to explain to Kara that the humans are not all like Kirt Niedrigh, giving examples of his adopted parents and Lois. They both manage to calm each other when suddenly Kara gets a call from New Krypton and at the same time Clark gets a call from the Legion. They both inform them that New Krypton is under attack, Earthgov managed to send Doomsday at the planet via a boom tube, and the kryptonians are launching their assault on Earth.

In outer space, Superman and Supergirl meet Brainiac 5 and the rest of the Legion. Brainiac 5 informs the cousins that the Kryptonians have launched an incoming gravity bomb at Earth in response to the attack by Doomsday on New Krypton. Clark seems surprised and Kara asks about Doomsday so Cosmic Boy explains to her that it was a monster that Clark defeated some years ago. Brainiac 5 says that it is possible Earthgov did not authorize the attack on New Krypton, or, if they did, maybe Kirt Niedrigh wasn't actually clear to his superiors about what he found beneath old Metropolis. Kara then asks from Clark to go to New Krypton because he has the experience to defeat the beast, due to his last encounter with Doomsday. Kara calls all the Legion members to follow her to Earth, except from Saturn Girl, who follows Clark on New Krypton.



On New Krypton, Superman and Saturn Girl find Doomsday, the hulking brute having almost killed off the Eradicators and caused mass panic in the city. Clark asks Imra to make a link with the minds of all the Kryptonians. Clark then informs them about who he is and Doomsday's origin. He also encourages them to help him defeat the beast. Unfortunately, Clark and the other Kryptonians' efforts are not enough to stop Doomsday so Clark decides to take the monster and throw it to the sun. Cancellor Pa-Vel says to Clark that he isn't powerful enough to escape the sun's gravity, and Clark responds that he is aware of that.

Meanwhile deep in space Superman engages Doomsday flying him directly into the Sun while telepathically communicating with Saturn Girl, whom he tells her certain instructions as he doesn't believe he'll make it out alive. He tells her to tell Lois, make sure that both Booster and Kara find a place in the 31st century. Saturn Girl tells Superman it doesn't have to be this way, Using the full blast of his Heat vision Superman launches Doomsday into the gravitational pull of the sun with himself caught in it as well as they both plummet into the fiery tomb, Superman asked that the Legion would ensure that no one unearth this monster again. Another Legionnaire interjects his opinion in telepathic communicating declaring that A lot of responsibility to rest upon one Legionnaire the voice is revealed to be Cosmic Boy who has come to Superman's rescue but not alone but with the rest of the Legionnaires creating a buddy system link chain to pull Superman out of the sun pull. As they declared that they wouldn't allow Superman to self-sacrifice his Destiny without a fight. Together the Legion and the last two solo survivors of House of El fly as one unit of the sun proclaiming "Long Live The Legion" & "Long Live The House Of El".

Later in a now reformatted Metropolis, citizens wear jet packs to adjust to their new environmental gravity atmosphere. Superman encounters a mother trying to apprehend her son who has an obsession with speed and running the mother mention his name as "Bartholomew Allen" which causes Superman to shed a tear.

Brainiac 5 arrives to inform Superman of the peace progress development being made between Earth and New Krypton as both side are working together in bringing about unity. Brainiac 5 hands Superman his original Legion ring back declaring that it must remain in his possession a while longer in order for Booster to recover it in 25th century museum as history unfold. Superman watches as a New Beginning dawns for Metropolis.

Returning to space, Clark finds Kara floating high above looking outward in space. Clark attempts to make small chat between himself and her as he states "He always felt torn between two worlds" Kara acknowledges that this situation demonstrated that in a ridiculous matter so to speak. Clark offers Kara the choice to come back with him to present day 21st century with Booster and Skeets, also mentioning that Chloe would love to see her present at her upcoming baby shower in a few months, Kara says she wouldn't miss it but for now she's not quite ready to leave 31st century just yet as for the first time in her life she feels at peace because she doesn't have a mission assigned to her now her life is her own and she couldn't be happier.

Weeks later, Martha calls her son Clark, who was sleeping with Lois, and informs him about an attack on her. Clark is concerned about his mother's well being and asks her about the attack but the only thing Martha can say is that someone saved her.

Clark and Lois land at Dulles Airport in Washington, to cover the news of the attack against Clark's mother. At the airport, Clark says he could simply fly them to Washington instead of taking a plane to get there but Lois says that if someone spots Superman in Washington and finds out that there is no evidence of how Clark Kent, who surprisingly is also there, flew into town, it could possibly blow his cover off, in which Clark agrees. Then he notices a girl who is crying because she has left her teddy bear at home, and without being seen by anyone, flies to the girl's house and brings the bear making it look as it had been left on the plane.

In Martha's house, they enjoy a good feast and then talk about how Conner is, Martha reveals that he is at San Francisco attending a school that Jay Garrick made. They also talk about the attack, how worried Clark was and the mysterious woman in white who saved Martha. Lois says that the attack had something to do with D.E.O., mentioning they appear to be more than a little shady when they took Corben into custody last month, they also discussing on how to act now. Clark says he will investigate the D.E.O. and Lois will investigate Martha's mysterious savior.

Later Clark lark is in the location where it should be the basis of the D.E.O., but finds nothing in sight. Suddenly, the whole structure emerges from the ground and a young man comes out to get Clark Kent, introducing himself as Steve Trevor.



Inside the D.E.O. headquarters, Steve tours Clark in the facilities. Steve does not tell much except from the fact that the agency was formed to prevent something like the organization Checkmate would recur. Suddenly an emergency alarm rings so Steve leaves and when Clark is left alone, he prepares for action.

Superman arrives at the scene and defeats winged creatures that were attacking Lois and Diana, the woman that saved his mother. Within minutes a group of D.E.O., captained by Steve Trevor, also arrives. Diana flees away before Steve can recognize her, but when Lois sees Trevor she reveals to Superman that she dated him in the past.





At the Marston Home for Wayward girls, two children are fighting over a toy before two older girls break them up before they start arguing and fighting each other. Diana comes and says this is neither the time or place for violence. The two girls then insult her calling her a "stray dog" before Diana tells the girls to look away for a moment and picks them up telling them to calm down. Clark then comes in and asks Diana for some of her time. At first she doesn't want to talk to him, but then he takes off his glasses, and she realizes he is Superman and leaves with him. Diana admits since her arrival she has been helping others who can't help themselves. Clark comments on that saying it seems she spends most of her "helping" time putting men in the hospital. She says during her time in "men's world" she has realized that men are rarely victimized by the opposite sex like these women have been. Then Clark asks her about her connection with Steve Trevor and she replies by saying it is complicated. Suddenly Watchtower communicates with Clark and tells him that she had tracked down the hostiles that he, Lois and Diana encountered at the cathedral and then sends him the coordinates.



Some time later, Superman and Diana arrive at the place, where Tess sent them and Diana says she feels that dark magics were deprecated there. Superman sees some footprints, indicating that the harpies they fought were actually human and Diana sees some tablets with the stories of her people. Then Superman uses his x-ray vision and realizes that someone has covered the original stonework with new ones and Diana says not just anyone could have done that. She states that these are actually messages and that her mother is still alive.



Later Lois arrives back to Martha's house after walking Shelby through DC. Martha and Lois asks about what progress Clark is making. He found that the prints belong to a Felix Faust and that the prints were entered into the system from records collected back in the forties. Clark tries to contact Tess who is offline, but Martha is able to hack into the computer because "when the Red Queen takes down a shadowy organization, no one thinks to change their password". They find out Faust was part of shadowy Anti-Occult unit called "Shadowpact" that was formed during World War II along with Director Bones, who looks exactly as he does now, as well as Zatanna's father, John Zatara, who left the unit after the first mission. They start to wonder if Diana was truly after Bones or Faust. Clark changes into Superman in order to get information.



Superman flies in the sky, while Lois is following him with her car. He spots a fire, while talking to Lois by an intercom and says he has located Diana, with his telescopic vision, outside of Steve Trevor's apartment. He also tells Lois that Diana is taking care of a tank.

Suddenly, as Diana is busy fighting the soldiers of D.E.O., a sniper aims at the head of Trevor and shoots at him but thanks to the quick intervention of Superman, who catches the bullet with his hands, he doesn't get killed.





General Lane explains to Superman that the attack Bones ordered against Diana has been approved by the U.S. president himself. Superman defends Diana by saying she hasn't done anything wrong and she is only looking for her mother. Bones responds by saying to Diana that he can take her to her mother. Diana accepts the offer and to even being handcuffed with magical shackles, saying that if they keep their word she will not struggle. The D.E.O. takes Diana into their custody and moves her from the scene. Lane prevents Superman from interfering, saying to him to choose his battles and find another way to handle this. Superman tells Steve to run away from the scene and meet Lois in an alley before he gets in trouble too.



While being tortured by Bones, Diana hears with her super hearing, Clark's voice, who tells her to hold on and that he will find her mother.

Somewhere else inside D.E.O's facility, Clark, in his civilian disguise, is welcomed by another special agent of the organization, Cameron Chase. She presumes that he is here to continue the tour he began and Clark says that he was expecting Commander Trevor. Chase says that Trevor is on administrative leave at the moment. She also says that Director Bones strives for a greater level of transparency with the American public than their predecessor had. Then Clark asks her why they arrested an innocent super. Chase says that this information is classified and asks him how does he know about that but Clark responds that his fiance's father was at the scene. While they are talking, Clark scans with his X-ray vision all the rooms of the facility. They meet a group of men, looking like monks, whom Chase simply calls employees, chanting a song which, according to her, keeps the evil forces out, but Clark adds that it must also help keep them inside.



After asking directions for the restroom, Clark rushes to continue his search and discovers a place called the Black Room, full of relics and magical objects. He also finds some kind of big urn, inside of which Queen Hippolyta is being held in suspended animation. Clark proceeds to tell Diana that he found her mother. Suddenly, Faust along with a huge sea monster appear and the beast hits Clark with one of its tentacles.



Clark then comes face to face with Faust, who explains that he is after the jewel on Hippolyta's tiara, called the Eye of Ares. Suddenly, Bones shoots Faust, saying that he will not let him destroy the Earth, by unleashing Hades. Clark also gets hit and then Faust takes the gem from the tiara and throws it into the water. Suddenly an earthquake starts and a portal opens from which the God of death, Hades, emerges.





Diana then appears and gives a couple of punches to Faust, warning him to stay away from her mother, but he immediately gets healed so Clark proceeds to hit him with his heat vision. Clark and Diana collect the body of Hippolyta and Diana tries to awaken her but Clark asks her to help him in the fight. Diana seems not to be sure if she can help him at the time, but Clark tells her to find out soon and then changes into Superman in order to face Hades.



Meanwhile General Lane along with Lois and Steve are inside his car and while he is driving, they are trying to communicate with someone else but Lois says that the phones are out. Lois tries to communicate with Clark by whispering in chance of him listening to her with his super-hearing. Superman watching from above, freezes, with his artic breath, all the zombies that have surrounded the vehicle Lois is in, proving to her that he can hear her. He then tries to communicate with Watchtower, asking for back-up, but he fails.



Then Hades watches Superman, who is coming to fight him and recognizes him as the new champion of humankind but he also comments that this being isn't of this world or any other he knows and seeks to undo his work. Faust reveals to Hades that they call him "Superman" and he finds it very obvious. Hades says it's time to show to this champion what it really means to be a god and wishes to find out what he is made of. So he creates an enormous storm surrounding the Washington Monument and transforming it into a giant hand made of rock. Seeing that, a horrified Superman calls for back-up again.





At Washington D.C., a stone giant, Hades made out of the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, causes terror while a group of harpies are heading to the plane in which President Martinez and his family are in. The President reassures his children that everything is going to be okay and one of his assistants tells him he sees something on the plane's wing. Suddenly a military aircraft fires against the harpy there is on the wing but more of them arrive and attack the aircrafts. Then Superman arrives and defeats the harpies. After that he communicates via Morse code with the pilot of one of the aircrafts, telling him to not engage with the creatures because they are actually humans who cannot control themselves. Then the pilot passes the message to the President. Superman also reassures them he is working on a solution and the President wonders why Superman is doing what the D.E.O. should be doing.





Later, soldiers try to defeat the zombies and Superman attacks the stone giant. Unfortunately the giant knocks him down and Hades comes to inspect him, saying that he is definitely not from this Earth and not quite one of the New Gods either. Superman answers that he is just a man who tries to do what's right and punches Hades, making him bleed and retorting that he is not an actual Deity either, but just another being from a different dimension, wanting to enslave humanity. Then Superman attacks him again but Hades manages to hit him first saying that he had once conquered the Earth and he can do it again but Superman says humanity didn't have him before. Hades proceeds to make the giant crush him beneath his foot.



While Diana confronts Hades, the mighty god mocks her by saying that although Hippolyta's blood runs in her veins, she can not stop him by herself. Suddenly, Superman resurfaces under the foot of the rock giant, throwing him down and saying Diana does not fight alone.



Superman and Wonder Woman begin to fight against Hades' harpies, and during the fight, Diana explains to Clark that the only way to defeat Hades is to send him back to Tartarus, a hellish dimension where he was imprisoned by Hippolyta years ago, in order to keep the Olympian realms in balance. She also says that her mother in order to imprison Hades in the first place she had to kill the witch, who served him, meaning that now they have to kill Faust. Superman says that is not going to happen and there is always another way, taking Hades and flying him into outer space.





Before they go into space, Superman warns Hades that even if he is immortal he can throw him into deep space whenever he wants, to spend eternity wandering in the black cold endless void. Intimidated by Superman, Hades thinks about it and decides to finally surrender. Then Superman throws him back to Earth, inside a portal leading to Tartarus imprison him once again. After the portal is closed, the stone giant collapses.



Later Diana asks Clark what power did he use to subdue Hades and Clark responds by saying he used only words. They later wonder what will happen now with the heroes and how will the government and the army react.



Later, Clark and Diana talk about the future. Clark says he is not prepared to be regarded almost as a god, something that is more accustomed to Diana, who is descended from trans-dimensional Greek god-beings. Clark tells her that in the coming weeks one of his associates will be setting up a hub for his team's Watchtower network in DC and it can be made available to her if she decides to stay. Diana says that after much discussion with her mother she decided to stay not only as an ambassador for Themyscira but also to show the Earth that her people should not be feared but embraced and prove that it is possible make a difference, when fighting for truth and justice. Clark asks her if she will see Steve again and Diana responds by saying she believes she shall see more of this "boy".



Clark and Martha walk through Washington talking about the first time that Clark visited the city as a child. Jonathan wanted him to understand that power comes with responsibility, and Clark seems to understand it very well now. In fact, he confesses to his mother that he will take a big step in trying to mediate the rejection of the unknown that is brewing in the country but he is not sure what he must do to turn the tide. Martha tells him that he is already doing very well into inspiring hope. Clark says it's time to inspire change too. Martha then says if he feels in his heart that it is the right thing to do, then he already has his answer.



Later, Superman repairs the Washington Monument in front of thousands of people who admire him, and after changing to his civilian persona he goes to find Lois, who is very proud of him, in the crowd. They both know that tomorrow the Earth will be a different place, so they savor these moments by kissing.



Later, Superman visits Conner Kent and tells him that Jay told him he was proud for him. Superman also says they are lucky they had people like Jay in their lives. Conner also says that he might visit Rose in Alcatraz because he wants her to know that just because her father was a tool, it doesn't mean she has to be one too and Clark says he believes he and his team of Titans are going to be fine. Conner then asks Clark why he came to visit him and Clark says he is going to have a very important conversation with the President. Conner asks what this has to do with him and Clark says it is going to change the way people look at that "S" on his chest.



The same night, Superman visits the White House to meet with President Martinez. He apologizes for waking him up but he says that they need to talk. The President thanks him for saving his life and then properly introduces himself saying that he can call him "Thomas" to which Superman replies that he can call him "Kal-El", of Krypton and he's an alien.





Flying in space above Earth, Superman remembers his father's advice while listening to the world talk about his recent confession of being an alien. There is mistrust and fear of him, but Superman knew the risk he was taking. While trying to remember the three phrases his father told him, Lois sends him the third phrase in a text message, showing him she is there for him. Suddenly Clark hears a bullet train in Japan that cannot be stopped so he goes back to work. Inside the train there is a small boy, named Hiro Okamura, who is playing with his robots and toys when suddenly the train runs at full speed to a fatal accident. Tess, who observes the situation and supports Superman from the Watchtower, informs "Boy Scout" of a fluctuation in Earth's magnetic pole that has destabilized the train's track system but still she does not know what caused it.



Fortunately Superman succeeds in saving the train, slowing it down and no one gets hurt, but then nervous people start to question him about his origin and if there are more aliens like him, that they should be afraid of. Hiro seems to run away from the train, as if he is afraid of Superman, who just tries to explain that he needed the Earth to know that not everything out there is a threat.



The U.S. president summons Superman to a meeting at the Oval Office, where he shows to him some photos of someone who fell in Russia in recent meteor shower. Superman recognizes the person as a "Monitor" and when the President asks him what is a "Monitor", Superman responds to him by saying that he will know as soon as he does. Superman then promises he will investigate the matter, and that is something that everyone should be concerned.



At Watchtower, Chloe, Tess, Clark and Lois discuss about Earth-2, which was presumably annihilated by the Monitors, and Clark wonders what crime could that Earth have committed to deserve to merit annihilation. Chloe says everything she knows about the alternate Earth and the Monitors but also informs them that the memories, that were transported to her from her doppelgänger never actually took root and she only gets fleeting glimpses. Tess informs them that Lex is preparing his jet to visit Moscow and Lois thinks of a way to sneak in as a press attaché and go to Russia with Lex so she can keep an eye on him. Clark then says he has a better idea and the proceeds to communicate with another member of the team, asking for a favour.



Boarding the plane, Otis tells his boss that he has invited the press to chronicle his "greatness", much to Lex's annoyance. They then watch as Superman fly over them with Lex seeing it as a challenge but Clark, who is inside the plane as a representative of the Daily Plane, says that it might be more of a reminder. Lex is obviously disappointed having Clark Kent accompanying him in his travel, saying that Lois Lane would be better company.



Inside Lex's jet, Clark interviews Lex about what he believes crashed in Russia and asks him why he is so interested on that and if it has something to do with his alleged attack at S.T.A.R. Labs. He then asks him about his rivalry with Superman but Lex responds by saying he doesn't trust Superman and in fact nobody should trust him, he also says he is glad the Earth is finally starting to sober up. Clark then says that Lex's amnesia is not a secret so he asks him if it has something to do with that and Lex says he is not sure but maybe his hatred for the superhero has something to do with his old life.



After that Lex starts to ask Clark about his relationship with Lois and why they haven't get married yet but Clark says they just haven't find the right moment yet. So Lex advises him not to wait too long, mentioning the amount of coverage Lois gives to Superman, indicating with that he might lose her to another man. Suddenly the jet gets into a big storm and because of a lightning they lose an engine so Clark prepares to take action but surprisingly someone else catches the jet from its fall. At first, Lex thinks that Superman might have saved them, something that makes him clearly irritated but it is revealed they were saved by a Russian team of superheroes, called the Rocket Red Brigade, who welcomes them in Moscow.



Clark thanks the Rocket Red Brigade for saving them earlier and recognizes one of the team members as being one of the astronauts who was in the Guardian rocket months ago, Alexi. Alexi tells Clark that the government offered him the opportunity to form a team to fight against internal and external threats to Russia, all inspired by Superman, and in fact they already have prevented many meteorites from hitting the country. Alexi also reveals that the thing that fell the other day from the sky was not a meteorite but a man, which makes Clark ask if he thinks it seems right to keep the man captive. Alexi replies that his opinion is that if someone does not want to say why he is here, he does not hide anything good.

Later, Clark arrives at the door of the premises where the Monitor is in, which is also the base of the Rocket Reds and he says goodbye to Alexi, who asks him to thank Superman from his behalf for saving his life. Suddenly the alarms of the facility are activated and Clark, removing his glasses, uses his X-ray vision to see what happens. The warning is fully justified as the Monitor called Ray-Lan has somehow been freed from his chains and makes a hole in the wall, killing a member of the Rocket Reds. Alexi says he does not want to hurt him, but Ray-Lan says he will have to.







The freed Monitor is killing soldiers on his way out of the facility. Lex asks him why he does that, and Ray-Lan responds that if he does not understand his purpose, he doesn't deserve to live so he proceeds to kill Lex too. Fortunately, Superman's timely intervention saves Luthor, and the fight between Superman and Ray-Lan begins. While fighting the Monitor mocks Superman's weakness and then Superman asks him what is the "Crisis", to which Ray-Lan is surprised that Superman doesn't know. Superman gives him a headbutt in the face and both contenders are separated by the blow. Ray-Lan, who lands on a building, succeeds to escape, while Lex wonders where he has gone, but Superman, seeing his own blood on his hands wonders how the Monitor could hurt him.



Ray-Lan has just escaped from the facility in Moscow he was held captive thanks to the chaos he created and Superman, who is still sore, realizes he is bleeding because of the cut on his eyebrow. Ignoring Luthor who shouts at him to follow the Monitor, Superman flies above the clouds and the solar energy, which recharges him, heals him immediately. Then he communicates with Tess at Watchtower and tells her that now they have two priorities: to find out where the Monitor is hiding and how was Ray-Lan able to hurt him.





Switching back to his civillain disguise, Clark returns to the scene of conflict and reunites with Lex Luthor. Lex decides to go and find the Monitor on his own, whom he can trace through a device. Clark goes with him and when Lex thinks Clark can not hear him, he tells to Otis that he took Clark with him because he wouldn't mind if something happened to him.



Later near in Russia, Clark and Lex have tracked the Monitor in the abandoned and radioactive city of Chernobyl. While searching the place they find there a hole in the ground that leads them to an underground level where a huge spaceship is hidden.





Lex and Clark explore Monitor's spacecraft. Lex tells to Clark that the meteor shower that caused the accident of Karolyev ("Guardian") were the remains of a destroyed parallel Earth, and that suggests the existence of others. In fact, deep inside the spaceship, the two discover a glass tube-like structure that somehow contains several parallel earths that have already been decimated. But before they could react to the incredible view, the Monitor appears and tells them that their world has already far exceeded its useful life, and the two of them will not live to see its end.







Beneath Chernobyl, Clark and Lex try to escape from the Monitor, who is stalking them through his ship while revealing bits and pieces of his plan. Ray-Lan says that his fellow Monitors should be trying to prevent the inhabitants of the Earths they destroy from learning the truth about the fate of their world and Clark realizes that is why another Monitor killed Chloe Sullivan of Earth-2, when she set foot on this Earth. Eventually Lex and Clark manage to escape the ship, which fires its thrusts in preparation to take off. Clark takes advantage and flies himself and Lex out, timing his movements to make it look like they were thrown out by the blast. They land on a bridge, and the Monitor surprises them and shoots Clark in the chest, sending him flying through the air and into a frozen lake. Lex dives in after him and approaches the sinking body of an unconscious Clark, whose shirt has been ripped off by the hit of the Monitor, revealing his Superman costume.



Lex is diving into the frozen lake trying to reach Clark, but another shot coming from the Monitor hits Clark and makes him sink deeper in the water, making him unreachable. Luckily for Clark, Lex couldn't reach him and so he did not see his Superman costume inside the shreds of his civilian clothes.

When Ray-Lan is ready to kill Lex, Superman appears and attacks the Monitor, throwing him far away in the forest. Because of his hypothermia, Lex has fainted and Superman lights a fire around him to warm his body. He then rises above the clouds to recharge himself with solar energy.



While regaining his strength, Superman communicates with Emil and Tess at the Watchtower, who explain to him why they believe the Monitor can hurt him without the help of any kind of kryptonite or red solar radiation. They say that the Monitors are beings outside the laws governing their universe, their energy is not governed by the physical laws of our own, which also makes Superman vulnerable to their attacks. Emil tells Clark to seek help from Supergirl but he refuses because as he says if the Monitor can hurt him, he can hurt Kara too. Clark then descends and gets ready to face his enemy once again improvising.





Ray-Lan remotely controls his ship but Superman swoops down and destroys his arm cannon. Lex tells Superman to kill the Monitor or else his peers will keep coming. Superman tells him that's not his style and then flies directly into the beam of the ship, using it against itself and destroys it. As he falls, the ship causes a great explosion throwing shrapnel and fire. When Clark falls from the sky, wounded and blistered by passing through the beam of the ship, he sees Ray-Lan lying dead among the rubble, impaled by a metal rod on his chest. Regretfully, Superman apologizes and closes the corpse's eyes.





Lex wakes up in a bed in Metropolis General with Clark sitting in a chair beside him. Lex is shocked to see him alive, and Clark explains that Superman saved him from drowning and warmed his body in the same way he did with Lex's. Luthor apologizes for dragging him to Russia in his expedition, but Clark says he volunteered. Clark tells him the Monitor probably would've tried to destroy the planet with or without Lex's intervention. Clark starts to leave, when Lex tells him he's a good liar. Despite Clark's consoling words, Lex says he can see the disapproval in his eyes. And he suspects he saw that look in his "past life," before he lost his memories. Clark acknowledges something of their history, saying that many times Lex's need to save the Earth often butted heads with his ego.





Later in the Watchtower, Lois, Chloe, Clark and Tess read an article on the Daily Planet, titled "The New Cold War" and written by Cat Grant, presenting Superman as a threat and even stating that the Monitor's ship was actually his. Lois is furious with Cat's article and gets even more angry because of the fact that Franklin Stern didn't publish her story about the murder in Gotham. Clark says that they have bigger problems to worry about as the danger of the "Crisis" hasn't passed yet. Suddenly Bruce appears and says that even though he knew that the man in Gotham wasn't actually Clark he is happy to see him standing on his feet. Moreover he says that because of the "Crisis" he has decided to join the team, at least temporarily, so they can face the threat together.







Clark and Lois step out of the cinema, where they just watched a brand new superhero film. While they talk about the movie and the crisis, that still concerns Clark, a green light suddenly appears the sky. Seeing its trajectory and speed makes Clark worry for a possible attack. Clark can not tell what the object, wrapped in the green glow, is so he throws Lois on an abandoned old sofa in the street, when he realizes that the unknown object goes straight against him. Hit by the light, Clark is surrounded by green light and sees before him the projection of a being, who identifies himself as Tomar-Re. The alien says to Clark that if he is seeing him, it is because he has received his ring and his duty. Together they recite the oath of the Green Lanterns and when the light fades, Clark is revealed, wearing a green and black costume along with a glowing ring on his finger, which welcomes him to the Green Lantern Corps.



Clark tries using his heat vision and arctic breath in attempt to remove the ring while Lois is contacting Emil Hamilton at S.T.A.R. Labs for help. As Clark attempts to remove the ring, various constructs in the form of a jackhammer, a crowbar and a plunger appears which a confused Lois refers to as ghost props. A relieved Clark finally is able to remove it and throw it into the atmosphere where Emil begins to track it. As he does the ring makes a U-Turn back to Earth to Clark's finger which Clark flies to catch. Clark then hears a loud siren coming from Metropolis National Bank where he goes to intervene, telling Lois to inform Emil that they should worry about his wardrobe change later.



At Metropolis National, Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer as well as other members of the Metropolis police department are pinned behind the car wondering where Superman is at, to which they see him fly in his new Green Lantern uniform. Superman begins to use his heat vision warning the criminals to stand down. As he does the ring proceeds to create missile constructs of its own as a shocked Clark warn the criminals to watch out. As the criminals duck in shock, they proceed to fire their missiles. Clark and the police look on in shock as Superman attempts to get all the missiles, when all of a sudden the ring creates a giant Superman construct thus destroying the remain weaponry, causing the terrified bank crooks to flee surrendering to the police. Superman begins to apologize as he flies off in order to figure out how to properly control his ring. As he does he flies into John Stewart who tells Clark they need to talk.



At Watchtower, Clark is discussing his new powers and the history of the Green Lantern Corps with a projection of Tomar-Re while Lois, Tess, and John watch. Tomar reveals he died in attempt to defend Krypton from destruction and now his ring, sector and duty is handed down to Clark which is mainly due to the return of the Kryptonian species the Argo colony. Clark tries to explain to Tomar that Earth is the home he has sworn to protect but Tomar tells him that his assigned sector is 2813. Clark then tells him that he knows for a fact that he doesn't suppose to interact with the citizens of New Krypton. He asks why not choose someone worthy from the Kandorian army?



John tells Clark that this isn't how it works, the rings are powered by the willpower of their wearers, which is why in the past they chose people like himself, Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan as Corps members. Lois and Tess disbelieve that John Stewart has a stronger will than them or any of the 6 billion people on Earth, with Tess even wondering how did someone like Alan Scott get hold of one of their rings, with John admitting he doesn't know what loophole Alan used to get a ring of his own. Clark then questions what gives a Guardian or whoever is left, the right to force other sentient beings into service. John retorts that orders are orders and Superman is a soldier now.



In the Fortress, Clark tries to control the functions of his power ring but he finds it difficult. John, not being able to answer his questions, tells him to be patient, trust the Corps, as it is, like the Guardians, older even from Earth, and not question the rules. But Clark gets frustrated on carrying a weapon so powerful, without knowing how to use it, so he decides to visit "the closest thing to an expert" he knows.



At S.T.A.R. Labs, John says he doesn't know a lot about his power ring even though he wears it for a decade. Emil explains that the ring enables the user to tap into power from beneath the fabric of reality and that the mind tells the ring how to filter and implement this power. Furthermore, the energy is traceable and acts as a locator. Suddenly, an employee of the lab says to Emil that a signal was detected similar to the one of the ring outside of the facility. John says he hasn't invited anyone from the Corps there, so he and Clark change back to their Lantern uniforms and go to check what is going on. Much to their surprise they find an army of Manhunters waiting outside.



Superman and John try to contain the Manhunters' attack without putting in danger any civilian in Metropolis. Since they can not beat them, as their rings can't make a dent in them, Clark quickly decides to take the fight to a non populated area to avoid causing any casualties, so they fly to the Moon, where Justice League's new Watchtower base is still being built by S.T.A.R. Labs' drones. While fighting with them the two heroes hear the Manhunters saying that the Green Lanterns have violated a treaty, but Stewart says he has no idea what they're talking about. To aid Superman and Green Lantern in their battle, Tess takes under her control the drones and commands them to attack the Manhunters. During the battle, John realizes that the Manhunters are powered by yellow rings and that is why their rings can not work on them so he tells to Clark to fall back. Superman tells to Tess to stand down and then ends the battle with a powerful blast of heat vision destroying the remaining Manhunters. Clark asks John if this is the last of them and he says there's always more.



On the Moon, a group of Green Lanterns explain to Clark and John and that there is no treaty between the Guardians and the Manhunters, and one of them suggests that these Manhunters were rogue units that have gone mad without a purpose. Superman asks who created the yellow rings that powered the robots and the Lanterns explain that in order to battle the Manhunters, the Guardians took extreme measures, as the rings powered by the emerald energy of will were not enough, so they created the yellow rings, that are powered by fear. Unfortunately, the yellow light also drew something from the darkness, the ancient fear entity Parallax. After this revelation, the Lanterns decide to return to their sectors and report to their post. Before leaving, Salaak says something to John, requesting not to reveal it to the other Lanterns.



Traveling to an unknown part of the galaxy, John still cannot believe what Salaak has told him, but suddenly he and Superman come face to face with Parallax. The entity says that he could feel John's fear from miles away. The two Lanterns see that Parallax has imprisoned the presumed dead Guardians and feeds from them. Parallax says that they offered themselves to him as part of a trade, a treaty, their fear as eternal fuel for his hunger for the power they siphoned from his domain with the promise of never hunting him again. Clark tells Parallax that the terms of the treaty haven't been violated but Parallax says the Lanterns are gathering to destroy it, with Clark being the newest member of the Corps as proof of it. Threatening Clark, Parallax says that the Guardians have lost their luster and the Manhunters have failed so he seeks to feed from the population of Earth. He starts vomiting yellow rings and sends them across the galaxy to find recruits for his own Corps.



Parallax has captured Clark and John and says that his yellow rings have arrived on Earth, by now, and his "harvesters" will provide him with the fear of the humans, so he can feast on it. One of the imprisoned Guardians, Ganthet, communicates telepathically with the two Lanterns and informs them that the other Guardians are keeping Parallax distracted, so he can tell them that in order to defeat Parallax, they should find something the beast fears. He has more to say, but he's unfortunately cut off by Parallax, who promptly tears him in two. Clark says that Ganthet bought them some time, by distracting Parallax, and they need to fall back. They both create a cage around the asteroid Parallax resides, preventing him of leaving it. John then says that Clark must return to Earth to stop these yellow rings, because the more fear they generate the stronger Parallax will become but Clark doesn't want to leave him behind. John says that he doesn't have a choice and that he will buy Clark some time in order for him to get back on Earth, so Clark wishes John good luck and leaves but while he is leaving, Parallax manages to break though the cage he has been held in, ready to face John.



Superman sends a distress signal for all available Lanterns, informing them of the situation with Parallax and the yellow rings. At S.T.A.R. Labs, Emil Hamilton and his fellow scientists receive Clark's message and inform Superman the yellow rings have landed in Gotham City, specifically at Arkham Asylum.

In Gotham, Batman and Nightwing are doing their best to contain the newly powered inmates of Arkham have already been transformed into Yellow Lanterns. Luckily, Superman arrives just in time to offer assistance.



On Earth, the team is monitoring the yellow rings and the subsequent mayhem they're causing. They communicate with Superman, who is fighting with the Yellow Lanterns in Gotham and tells them to focus on threats that are unrelated to the rings and let him deal with them because a situation like this is the perfect chance for other minor threats to go unnoticed.



In Arkham Asylum, Batman and Nightwing find it difficult to defeat the super-powered inmates. Superman tries to control the situation but his inexperience with his power ring doesn't help at all. Batman then tells him that the ring is not doing either of them any bit of good so Superman manages to break free of his Green Lantern armor and operate in his own suit once more, saying that he is more than just the ring. After this, all the Yellow Lanterns stand still and kneel before him. Superman is impressed and cannot believe that was all he had to do but he soon realizes that isn't the case. Parallax suddenly appears behind him, having John under his control.



Superman tries to convince John Stewart, who is possessed by Parallax, that it's okay to experience fear, that it's not an emotion anyone should repress or ignore. While trying to influence Parallax and help John get the control, Superman is also fighting the manifestations Parallax creates to attack him. Superman's words about a soldier having the right to ask questions seem to have an impact on John, who briefly takes control of his body, but surprisingly Parallax gets back in charge and makes John respond by impaling Superman with a sword constructed by his yellow ring, saying that he is going to murder his whole world.



Watchtower informs Superman, who is pierced by a sword constructed of yellow energy, about their plan to reboot the rings, while Parallax leaves John's body intending to take over Superman's but he tells to his teammates to reset the rings. When they do the sword on Superman's chest disappears, he gets his strength back and all the Yellow Lanterns, including John, are released from the influence of fear and lose their powers with the rings turning black. Superman tells John, now he is free from Parallax, to get back up because they aren't done fighting yet.



After their rings get rebooted and they lose their powers, the inmates of Arkham fall from the sky unable to do anything to escape from their eventual death but fortunately Superman manages to save them all. Parallax is about to attack again but the real help comes when the other Green Lanterns arrive on the scene with the entity of willpower. The two entities begin to battle and with an assist from Superman, they banish Parallax to its realm, which was his greatest fear.



Later, Stewart explains to Clark that the Corps will endure and from now on no one will be conscripted against his will. John also tells Clark that his ring will be returned to the colony, where the Kryptonians will elect which of them will become the new Green Lantern of Sector 2813 and no one will know Kal-El was the ring's first choice. After that, Clark is reunited with Lois, who asks his help to cover the latest breaking story: Green Arrow's return to crime-fighting.



In Metropolis, Superman tries to contain Professor Bryce Gordon, who's been possessed by an evil spirit after he found a strange black diamond in Africa a few days ago, that has turned him into a violent monster. Tess informs him about the Professor and Superman tries not hurt him but he has to use force to battle him.



Superman decides to end the fight by smashing the black diamond, shattering it to pieces. After that, the Professor gets back to normal but suddenly Superman hears Lois call for help and flies to Antarctica at super speed. He arrives in time to catch her just before the vortex pulls her in, but they're both caught in the rift just before it closes thanks to Michael Holt.



In a parallel Earth, Superman and Lois emerge from the wormhole to find themselves in a destroyed Metropolis under siege by the Monitors. Superman takes Lois and they fly to a higher ground. Lois asks if they time-traveled but Clark says the rift they fell through was just like the one Chloe from Earth-2 crashed through. Clark then asks Lois why is she whispering and she says that this exactly the kind of place where you whisper, while also showing to him a man in a red and white costume, bound to the top of a building, similar to that of Daily Planet. Clark realizes they are lost in the Multiverse and Lois asks how are they going to return back but Clark says he doesn't know if they will, starring at the sky, which is full of the Monitors' ships.



Superman and Lois are fighting some Manhunters, who are chasing them so they can kill them. After destroying some of them, Superman takes Lois and fly away escaping. Lois puzzles over why the Manhunters were hunting them given the fact that the Green Lanterns are their usual opponents but Clark says these robots were running on Bleed instead of Lantern energy, suggesting that the Monitors probably use them to deal with the "supers" and "metas" of each Earth while they move their ships into firing position. Lois then wonders where all the people of this Earth have gone and Clark after hearing some of them with his super-hearing heads to a church nearby.



They enter the church and they find a group of people hiding in there and one of them, whom Clark identifies as the Jimmy Olsen of this Earth but in fact he is called Hank, tells them to immediately leave as according to him the "capes" are the reason most of the civilians are dead. Suddenly, the Lois Lane of this Earth appears among the people and tells Hank that they should let them stay because there is nowhere else they can go. A shocked Lois looks at her doppelganger while Superman asks her what happened. The alternate Lois says that she watched the Manhunters murder Mister Majestic, the superhero who was alternate Lois' lover and whose body was bound to the top of a building, along with every other hero. Superman then asks how did it started and alternate Lois explains that the Monitors put one ship on each side of the planet and they did something to Earth's core and it's only a matter of time until they destroy this Earth once and for all. Suddenly, the ships above Metropolis begin to fire and a worried Lois tells to Clark they need to get out of there immediately, in which he agrees.



Superman is fighting with the Manhunters, preventing them from attacking the refugees. The Manhunters suddenly evacuate in preparation for the "purge," and Superman hears gunshots in the church. He returns and finds everyone but Lois dead, all as a result of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Not being able to do anything more, Superman takes a shocked Lois and fly away, telling her this Earth also had a Kryptonian, in the form of Mister Majestic, and there is chance that his father built him an ice castle too. They then set off in search of this earth's equivalent of the Fortress of Solitude, as it is their only option.



Superman flies with Lois, trying to escape the Bleed that is destroying everything in its path. Superman hopes that the Fortress can send them back to their Earth like it did with Clark Luthor. They reach the Fortress of Solitude, but this world's Jor-El is less than welcoming as he does not recognize Superman as his son, calling him an impostor, because he knows that he is already dead. Jor-El then locks Superman inside a golden crystal and Lois steps forward trying to reason with him, saying that he is making a mistake. Jor-El is surprised and asks her who is she who dares to question him and she says that she is Lois Lane.



While Superman is imprisoned inside the golden crystal, the huge wave of Bleed approaches the Fortress, devouring everything in its path. After arguing with him, Lois manages to convince Jor-El to release Superman and help them travel to another parallel world. Jor-El tells to Lois everything he knows about the multiverse but he says he can not guarantee them they are going to end up back at their Earth and also asks her if she can take him with them as well. Lois says that they will take their chances in order to survive and then agrees to take Jor-El with them. Jor-El then downloads his consciousness in a crystal and teleports everyone somewhere else, moments before this Earth gets devoured by the Bleed.



Superman and Lois, along with Jor-El's crystal, wake up on another parallel Earth, that's not in much better shape than the one they just left. This earth was attacked and seized by Apokolips and the two planets have collided with each other, leaving everything destroyed with wrecked Manhunters and skeletons of dead people with the Omega symbol on their forehead on the streets among the ruins.



Superman talks with Jor-El, from the previous Earth they visited, in an effort to understand the bleed technology and the multiverse. Jor-El explains that Kryptonian scientists found the means of traveling through space via wormholes and accidentally stumbled unto the bleed technology which proved to be erratic and highly unstable as it appear to destroy whatever it came in contact with. Superman informs Jor-El that the Monitors somehow managed to harness the bleed and use it as means to travel to parallel worlds and destroy them. However, Earth-Omega wasn't destroyed by the Monitors; it was destroyed by something else. Upon returning to Lois, who has found a ship that might be still working, they have a brief moment of weakness in which Lois admits to him that seeing the amount of devastation upon these worlds caused by the Monitors, is almost too much to bear and she's worried about their own Earth. Superman reassures her he would do whatever it takes to insure that their Earth won't suffer the same fate. Suddenly Superman hears a very faint sound, similar to a heartbeat so together with Lois they head towards its source to find out what exactly it is.



Superman and Lois eventually discover the source of the noise Clark heard. A dark figure calls to him from the rubble, saying on his Earth, Superman was known as Clark Kent. When Superman asks the figure how he know this, the figure turns and says they have fought each other in the past on Clark's native universe, and indicates that Superman had defeated him. The figure then reveals himself as Darkseid in his materialized form, saying that he never forgets a face.



Superman and Lois talk to Darkseid. The ruler of Apokolips tells them that there isn't any other version of him in the multiverse, as there is only one Darkseid and until recently, he traveled to many universes to bring death and destruction. He also mentions the only reason Superman achieved to defeat him before was because he hadn't reached his full strength at the time. However, the Monitors succeeded to broke him, when he had already conquered this world. Superman then offers a deal to Darkseid, to help them board on one of the Monitors' ships flying overhead, and in return Clark will also give him something. Darkseid accepts the offer so, while Superman carries Lois and follows the Monitors' ship into the atmosphere, he fires his Omega beams towards the ship, opening its side door so Superman and Lois can get inside it just before the ship enters the Bleed. Once inside, they lay low while Monitors investigate the duo's forced entry, unaware that stowaways have entered the ship and fearing of Bleed contamination. They then proceed to go in search of a room called the "Orrery". Lois is concerned about the deal they made with Darkseid but Clark says he couldn't leave her behind.



In Bleed space, Superman and Lois search for their Earth among a large number of dead ones. Lois places her hand in a machine that recognizes in which one she belongs and they find out that their home is still unharmed. Suddenly a Monitor appears, calling himself a Weaver, who has been trained since birth to manipulate the Bleed as a weapon, and declares that he is going to kill them like Superman killed one of their architects, Ray-Lan. Superman says to Lois he will try to make the Weaver hurt himself, as the Bleed can probably hurt him too. Just then, three more Weavers appear and they say that no one else from the multiple Earths has ever get aboard a Monitor's ship. Together, they render Superman unconscious. After Superman loses his senses and the Monitors take both him and Lois to a holding cell, until the Council decides their fate. After that, Superman wakes up and they suddenly start hearing a very familiar voice. That voice belongs to Lex Luthor, who suggests the Monitors, rather than razing his universe, simply "reboot" it.



The Monitors listen to Lex's proposal to reboot the universe. Superman interrupts his proposal, saying that what he is proposing is madness. Lex is surprised to see that Superman and Lois are still alive, as he was wondering where have they ended up. Lois calls him a monster but Lex insists he's the only one actually trying to save the world by reasoning with the Monitors. The Monitors end the transmission, saying they have much to discuss. Lois is shocked when she learns that the Monitors are actually going to consider Lex's offer. The Monitors then recognize Superman as the person who killed Ray-Lan, so they decide to sentence both of them to death so they won't be able to interfere again in their plans. They intend to kill Superman and Lois by jettisoning them into the Bleed, as no one can survive it, not even the Monitors. Superman says he can get them out of this situation, but Lois will have to trust him and let the Monitors kill him first.



Superman allows himself to be put into a chamber, which the Monitors flood with Bleed. A tearful Lois watches him being expelled from the Monitors' vessel. However, despite the rigors of Bleed Space, Superman manages to return to the ship and force his way back in. He reenters just as Lois is about to be expelled from the ship as well.

Lois gets aboard a lifeboat and escapes from the Monitors' ship but just before she leaves a wounded Superman appears and gets away with her. As they travel through the Bleed space they see an Earth, that feels like home. They return to their home universe and crash land in Tibet, where Lois holds an unconscious Clark in her arms, calling for help, but they're alone.



On the other side of the globe Clark wakes up fully healed but with a shredded costume, while some helps nurse him back to health marveling on how the sun healed him so fast. As he thanks the man, he overhears Lois calling the Watchtower, Tess Mercer informs them of the crisis in motion with cities around the world are all being affected, and Washington D.C., where Martha Kent as well as General Sam Lane are stationed, was hit first just like on the other Earth. Lois is worried that they are too late to stop it. Clark is optimistic and holding Lois, saying their is still a chance to stop this soaring telling her it is time to go 'Up, up and away'.



Across the Atlantic Ocean, Clark and Lois are almost home, watching the Monitors rebooting the universe which Lex convinced them to do as they break the water and air down to base elements and collecting it as they prepare to reassemble it, realizing Lex may have bought them some time to stop this. Clark wonders if Lois is ready to see this but Lois rationalize since they are possibly one of the last journalists, they have no choice. Lois wonders if her dad and his mom, along with everyone else in D.C. being vaporized is better than being terminated, Superman says he doesn't plan on finding out and would only take time to grieve if they can't save the day. However he tells tells her they need to focus because one of the ships releases a group of Manhunters on them.



Superman and Lois finally arrive at Watchtower where Tess Mercer, Chloe and Oliver along with Batman, Nightwing Martian Manhunter, Supergirl, Jay Garrick and his team of teenagers. Clark tells Chloe, Tess and Bruce to find out everything from one of the Manhunters he destroyed about the Crisis, because more ships are on their way. As Batman starts to examine the crumpled Manhunter head he wonders where are they going, Clark grimly says everywhere.



Bruce and Clark sit in the Kents' apartment to figure out a game plan. Bruce is angered when he finds out about Lex Luthor's machinations but he distracts himself by revealing what he has extracted from the Manhunter head. Bruce points out that the Manhunters can be hurt but the Crisis is not something Superman can just punch away. Clark asks Bruce if they will be able to stop the crisis without either side having any casualties but Bruce remains uncomfortably silent. He then says to Clark to put on another pot of coffee.



Soon Clark gathers all of the heroes onto his rooftop and gives them the lowdown. They can distract the Manhunters with physical attacks while Watchtower leads an evacuation to the heartland. If the distraction they provide fails everyone will die or be 'rebooted', but if they win everything will stay as it was and how they all remember the world. Clark tells them to say goodbye to their loved ones and suit up ready for war.

In Watchtower, Lois Lane has enlisted for the team's mission and is having a heart to heart with Clark before gearing up and discussing the plan. Lois explains that while the superheroes will fight the Manhunters, she will sneak inside the Monitors' ship and upload a virus that would get the control of their networking systems. Clark then reveals he has to turn to the only human on Earth capable of helping their plan succeed and that is Lex Luthor.



Confronting Lex he makes a correct assumption that Luthor had quietly mapped the Monitor and Manhunter systems during his machinations with them. Lex is impressed with Superman's intelligence and points out he has done just that. Due to his dealings, instead of a Red bleed his organizing a reshuffling Blue bleed has bought them time and that Superman has to agree to a temporary truce in order for everyone on Earth to succeed. The two men then shake hands, with Lex revealing he knows that if Lois is harmed it will likely mean his undoing either from the reboot or at Superman's hands.



Superman delivers a rousing speech to the heroes. The other Earths might have been erased or rebooted but they are determined for their Earth to survive and their continuity to continue. With that Superman, Luthor and all of Earth's heroes attack the incoming Manhunters.

The plan goes into overdrive and the attack is immediately full on. They may be on a zero fatality mission but the Manhunters are not and Superman makes it clear if they are hit, they die. The powerhouses are stuck with their specific missions, Superman and Supergirl are clearing a path for Lois and Lex.

Pods land in Metropolis releasing Monitors as all the older heroes form an army to fight them, Superman arrives with Lois and asks Tess if their backup plan worked. Tess confirms that a second virus was planted in Lex Luthor's battlesuit. As a hull rips open Superman is there to aid his escape and Lex is relieved that at least they are honorable.

Superman spots the pod approaching Earth, feelings of sheer horror aside, he, Kara and J'onn try to stop the pod from hitting its target. Even with their combined might the pod overcomes them and speeds beyond them breaking the sound barrier.

All the heroes race to the Watchtower but are too late to stop the destruction as the pod crashes into the side and it begins to crumble to dust. A tearful Clark pours on the speed as Ollie cries out. Superman is shocked to see a red tornado explode from the rubble landing Chloe safely on the ground. John and Aya protect everyone with an emerald bubble shield as Superman approaches with a devastated Ollie but as the dust clears Chloe is unharmed and joined by Tess (In her new Red Tornado form). Lois and Ollie hug Chloe while Tess takes Superman aside to explain how she manufactured her new android body also telling Superman about how the Monitors had sent the pod to deliberately sever the virus they had and the link to their network. Superman asks Tess what was in the pod just as something smashes its way out of the rubble. Clark utters some rousing words as the heroes swear to fight together now and forever against this threat.

Batman is proving a weak link in the fight with the Monitor warriors. Clark tells him to fall back, get Lois and Chloe to safety and try to re-establish the link to the Monitors' ship.

With might of astounding levels Clark soars upwards then smashes the warrior to a wheezing wreck. Clark tells him to pass a message on to his masters than no more blood will be shed. The Omega Monitor launches a series of cables that capture Superman. The warrior points out that if Superman is broken then the will of his 'Justice League' will too. Instead of passing the message Superman instructed the Omega Monitor orders the orbiting ship to triangulate his position and fire with all their might. Clark cries out refusing to be rebooted but the Omega Monitor laughs wheezily that he no longer has a choice.

Superman, meanwhile is in trouble as he becomes a phantom watching events of his life play backwards. As he is tormented by this Arrow, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl arrive to see him reflect the reboot energy back at the craft it came from. Superman's counter attack disrupts their network long enough for Tess to reconect. Superman orders Tess to control the ships to fire on everything except the collector and reconstruction ships.



The League stands in the Fortress standing judgment over the female Monitor. The universe is now back to normal though all that died is still dead. The female Monitor asks to die but J'onn points out that Clark would never kill anyone. The League then decides to send the Monitor to the Phantom Zone. Arrow asks Clark what they do now the threat is over, Clark smiles and tells him that we should, endure, survive and live our lives and with that though on their minds they all race off.

Three weeks later LexCorp holds a major press confrence and Lex introduces the public to a new monument built on the former Watchtower site. In a massive turnout Lex publicly admits that if it weren't for the heroes of earth the universe would be lost. Then Superman makes a speech that is broadcast all over the world. As the tarp falls away it reveals a stunning bronze statue of the Justice League.

As Lois helps Clark move out of the Bullpen into his new office the two receive simultaneous text messages and race out arm in arm at super speed. And so we arrive at hospital just after the birth of Chloe and Ollie's baby. Ollie of course gifting the young boy with a baby sized bow.



Lois and Clark are shocked to be named God Parents and coo over the new addition. Clark remembering the losses they have suffered over the years is truly touched to meet a new life brought into the fold and even more so when they reveal the baby's name to be Jonathan.



Later Lois and Clark sharing a bath look back at their recent achievements and look forward to a little downtime. Lois jumps out of the bath straight into a jumpsuit strapping on a parachute as Clark suits up in his costume. The two fly out into the night directly in front of a full moon embracing, soaring through the sky.

Tess radios in to 'Boy Scout' about a tsunami in India so Lois dashes landward with her parachute leaving Clark to do his thing. Tess tells Clark that he has only three minutes to stop the disaster but he has one request - no more 'Boy Scout' as a codename, saying that this looks like a job for Superman.

Clark's Vision
Main Article: Clark Kent's vision


 * "Look, up in the sky!"

- unnamed reporter, Salvation

In Clark's dream of the future in the year 2013, Lois and Clark both still worked at the. Lois had gone on to become a star reporter (her assistant gave her a fruit basket sent by the Dalai Lama) and is engaged to Clark, who had embraced his destiny, and was hinted to using a pair of glasses as Clark Kent. Meanwhile, Perry White was their editor, Olsen was a photographer, and Lex was running for President of the United States. Clark heard that a plane was going to crash into the Daily Planet and he flew up to catch the plane and guide it to safety as.

Future

 * "That's what I become."

- Clark Kent, after meeting his future self, Homecoming



By October 15, 2017, 30-year-old Clark had been known as Superman for nearly six years. He and Lois both still worked at the Daily Planet but were now top reporters, working on the 8th floor of the building in their own private office. Clark's disguise appearance was now that of a nerdy, glasses wearing uptight mild-mannered reporter to conceal his identity as Superman. Clark knew that on this very day, an abandoned nuclear reactor was going to blow up just outside Metropolis that could destroy the city and also that while this happens, Lois would be in a helicopter that experienced problems and would fall off the roof of the Daily Planet. Clark waited in the elevator so that he would bump into his younger self who was still only 24 years old and had not yet become Superman. He said he knew to be here because the same thing happened to him when he was 24 and when he met his future self. Also, he told his younger self to go to the roof to save Lois while he went to contain the blast.



In 2018, Lois Lane runs into a bumbling Clark Kent while coming down the stairs after speaking to Jimmy Olsen. After assuring that no one was paying attention to them, she asks that Clark drop the act. Lois then asked Clark if he has their wedding rings to which he displays them to her with immense anticipation. Lois asked him if he is ready and he says that he has been ready for 7 years to have an official public wedding ceremony. Just then they are alerted to the fact that a bomb has been found in an elevator uptown. Clark mentions he'll be a few minutes late to the ceremony Lois says she'll be waiting for him.



Rushing up to the rooftop, Clark removes his glasses and runs forwards, ripping open his shirt to reveal the red and yellow House of El symbol against a wash of blue, as Superman flies off to save the day.

Season Eight
In a timeline where Clark did not meet Rokk the day before fighting Doomsday in a head-on fight, Doomsday killed Clark.

Season Nine

 * "I made all the wrong choices. A lot of people died."

- Clark

In a possible future, Clark is a prisoner of the Kandorians, as he was stripped of his powers due to the red sun. Thinking he was better off on his own, Clark discovered he was wrong when he turned his back on and. Clark bargained his father's watch for ' life with Alia. Clark explained everything to Lois, of what had happened months to a year of her disappearance. Clark was taken to be executed by, only to be saved by Chloe, Oliver, and other resistance fighters using kryptonite arrows. As he was getting cleaned up, Clark and Lois talked about the mistakes he made, and with so much love and care he had, the two spent a sensuous, passionate night together. Clark, making an attempt to take the tower down to regain his powers, was captured by Zod. When Clark was regaining his power, Zod stabbed him with a kryptonite dagger. Clark told Lois to use the ring and go back, which she did with Alia following her.

Season Seven
See: Clark Kent

Season Ten (Earth-2)
See: Clark Luthor

Season Eleven
See: Clark Kent
 * Alien (Earth-13)

Mister Majestic was his world's greatest superhero until the Monitors came to destroy it. The Manhunters, who are running on Bleed and serve the Monitors, arrived on Earth and murdered all of its heroes along with Majestic, in front of the eyes of his lover, Lois Lane. After his death, his corpse was hanged on top of a building. He also had a Fortress of Solitude as well as an artificial intelligence with the consciousness of his biological father, who after Majestic's death was grieving for the loss of his son.
 * Chaos (Earth-Majestic)

In the Comics
Superman was the original superhero, innovating the genre with his first appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938. Although the creators of Smallville keep the spirit of the character intact, there are notable differences between the character depicted on Smallville, and the character as he appears in the source material.

Throughout the Silver Age of comics from the late 1950's through the mid-1970's, Clark began his super-hero career as a teenager going by the identity of Superboy, along with his animal sidekick Krypto the Superdog. Clark would have many adventures both solo and with the Legion of Super-Heroes, until graduating high school and moving to Metropolis. However, following the events of 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event in the Modern Age of comics, this history was wiped clean in favor of a new version of the origin, 1986's The Man of Steel, by writer/artist John Byrne. This story would form the origin of the character for nearly 20 years.

In most versions of Superman's origin, Clark Kent leaves Smallville immediately after completing high school, and goes to college in Metropolis before spending time traveling the world. After a year or so of traveling, Superman arrives in Metropolis with the created persona of Clark Kent (bumbling, with glasses) in his mid-twenties as a reporter for the. The relationship with Lana Lang has no melodramatic hardships, Lex Luthor and Clark were only friends for a short while, and Clark did not meet members of his future rogues' gallery (such as Brainiac or ) or his future allies until after he established himself as Superman. In a major contrast with the show, Clark is often depicted in the comics as gaining the ability of flight as an adolescent while still living in Smallville, well before he completed high school.

Superman's character has seen dramatic changes based on different eras of the comics. Clark's adoptive human father, Jonathan Kent, is shown both dying before Clark's emergence as Superman, as well as staying alive as a supporting character. Most media adaptations of the character (save for Lois & Clark, Ruby Spears' Superman and Superman: The Animated Series) favor the death of Jonathan. Jonathan Kent recently died in Action Comics at the conclusion of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Brainiac story arc, as Pa Kent suffers a fatal heart attack after saving his wife from an onslaught by Brainiac. After the onset of the "New 52" in 2011, Clark loses both of his adoptive parents before becoming Superman. Said version of Superman, however, been dropped after the relaunch of "Rebirth" and brought back to normal, in favor of his previous incarnation (The Post-Crisis one.) In the process both he and Lois are bestowed a precious gift with a child of their own whom they name Jonathan Samuel Kent after his own father and Lois', Jon has recently learned of his true lingage and that his kryptonian powers are emerging as he get's older now currently in his eight age, he's taking up the cape himself under the handle of Superboy under the watchful eye of his parents.



Also, based on different eras and interpretations, the source material usually shows either Clark Kent or Superman as the dominant personality. The modern comics favor Clark Kent as the main identity, who created the Superman persona as a way to be free of worry in regards to his friends and family, as well as to maintain some facets of a "normal life."

In most comics and cartoons, unlike Smallville, the idea of a superhero team (such as the Justice League of America) was originally Superman's. He felt that most of the Earth's problems could be handled best if people chose to unite their abilities to serve the greater good.

Trivia

 * Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938).
 * June 2013 marked the officially recognized 75th anniversary of Superman.
 * Clark is 6'3."
 * Clark's first word was "," his birth mother's name. He was named "Kal-El" by his Kryptonian cousin . It means "star child" in Kryptonian.
 * He was a good student and rarely missed school.
 * Alcohol does not affect Clark, but he did not drink as a teen because his parents disapproved.
 * Clark graduated from Smallville High School in May 2005. Of the close-knit group of four in his class (Clark, Chloe, and Lana), he was the only one who walked across the stage and received his diploma.
 * Even Clark's hair is invulnerable: it breaks scissors, although he could pull it off himself.
 * Clark was voted "Most Likely to be drafted into the NFL" twice: once in his high school yearbook and again on his senior year "Who's Who" list.
 * Clark is trained in CPR and has administered it to Lex, Lana and Jordan Cross on several occasions.
 * Clark is not a very good dancer - this is referenced in Crimson, Hypnotic and Arrow, and seen in Spell.
 * Clark learned a new superpower or a new kryptonite vulnerability in every season except season 8.
 * Clark lost his powers at least once every season except season 2.
 * Clark first wore his red jacket/blue shirt combo in Season Two's Vortex, and continued to wear it more and more frequently until he swore off of the red and blue at the end of 's Doomsday.
 * Clark's birth year on Earth is 1987. He celebrates his birthday in early May, which makes his license say he's . Since he turned 18 at the end of his senior year, he is probably younger than most of his classmates (in Earth years) and almost a full year younger than Lana, who was 18 at the start of their senior year. (However, Kara mentioned the trip to Earth takes 3 years, making Clark's birth in 1986 and being about a year older than most people believe, including himself).
 * Clark got a C+ in Shop class as seen in Dichotic.
 * Clark's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent were actually chosen by Jor-El to raise Clark because of Jonathan Kent's father, Hiram Kent's, suggestion that if Jor-El, known as Joe on Earth, needed anything, he would know where to find him.
 * Clark has been hit by two cars. Lex Luthor hit him with a Porsche in 's Pilot, and Morgan Edge hit him with a car in 's Shattered. He has also caught a car in midair before Pariah and had a car thrown at him before Doomsday.
 * Clark's second Blur attire is similar to the black suit Superman wears when in some continuities he becomes a tyrant, and is also similar to the black uniform he wore in the comics when he came back from the dead after being killed by Doomsday.
 * During the show's run, Clark wore glasses on five occasions, prior to adopting it as a disguise. First when he was recovering from being blind in Whisper, second in Jimmy's 1940's dream sequence in Noir, third in an alternate time line in Apocalypse, and fourth in Idol. His glasses are also seen in the glimpse of the future in Salvation and fifth time is when he travels to the distant future where he forced to wear them for a brief time himself and then he encounter's his future self wearing them as a part of his disguise in Homecoming. He officially adopts the glasses as a disguise in Masquerade.

Relationships
Clark's relationships are primarily defined by who he chooses to trust with his true Kryptonian origins. His personal conflict with his destiny has a direct effect on all of his romantic and friendly relationships.

Family and Mentors:
 * Clark and his adoptive parents - Details on his loving relationship with Jonathan and Martha Kent.
 * Clark and his Kryptonian parents - Details on his complex relationship with Jor-El and Lara.
 * Clark and Lionel - Details on how they went from being enemies to allies.
 * Clark and Kara - Details on the cousins' relationship.
 * Clark and John - Details on his relationship with his "guardian angel" that began wth Jor-El back on Krypton.
 * Clark and Conner - Details on his relationship with his and Lex Luthor's younger clone.

Male relationships:
 * Clark and Pete – Details on their long-standing brotherly friendship.
 * Clark and Lex – Details on their complex early friendship and later animosity.
 * Clark and Brainiac - Details on their deadly relationship and how it later changed.
 * Clark and Oliver – Details on their heroic friendship.
 * Clark and Davis - Details on their acquaintance and shared past.
 * Clark and Jimmy - Details on their friendship.
 * Clark and Zod - Details on their history and rivalry.
 * Clark and Emil - Details on their allied relationship.

Female relationships:
 * Clark and Lois – Details on their evolving relationship from annoyance, friendship, partnership, and fated romance.
 * Clark and Lana – Details on their complicated and tragic romance.
 * Clark and Chloe – Details on their complex and strong friendship.
 * Clark and Alicia - Details on their brief romance.
 * Clark and Kyla - Details on their romance.
 * Clark and Tess - Details on their awkward friendship.

Love triangles:
 * Clark, Lois, and the Blur - Details on the love triangle built for two, as Clark competes with his own alter-ego The Blur for the affection of Lois Lane.
 * Clark, Lana and Chloe – Details on the love triangle the three had in high school, and the changes between the three as they get older.
 * Clark, Lex and Lana – Details on the complex romantic triangle that has developed as they have gotten older.
 * Clark, Lois and Lana - Details on the love triangle that developed as Clark began to get closer to Lois towards the end of his involvement with Lana.
 * Clark, Chloe and Jimmy - Details on the awkward relationship between the three of them, as Chloe was torn between her boyfriend and her best friend.
 * Clark, Lana and Jason - Details on the love triangle the three had in their last year of high school.
 * Clark, Lana and Whitney - Details on the love triangle the three had during their first year of high school.
 * Clark, Lois and Oliver - Details on the triangle that developed when Lois became closer with Clark while Oliver wanted her back.