The Death and Life of Superman (19 page)

“Hurry, Maxima, hit him with everything you’ve got! I can’t hold him long!”

But as Maxima threw her punch, Doomsday suddenly dropped into a crouch, so that her blow struck Superman instead, sending him flying.

How could he move so fast? He didn’t before—!
Maxima was scarcely more surprised when Doomsday turned and flung her onto the lot of a gas station half a block away.
Was he just toying with me before?
As Maxima lurched to her feet, he charged toward her, scooping up a small panel truck and dumping it down upon her.

Maxima ripped her way through the van, glass and metal flying before her. “Your onslaught does little but stimulate me, creature. Maxima welcomes this. For only when a warrior faces death can a conflict be deemed truly worthy!”

Superman again dove toward Doomsday feetfirst, driving the monster back against a row of gas pumps.
How can Maxima still revel in this? Doesn’t she see the danger? Doomsday doesn’t seem to be slowing down much.
He grappled with the beast as gasoline began gushing up around them.
We have to do some damage to him soon. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.

“Hold him tight, Kryptonian—Maxima will not miss again!”

Superman stole a glance her way. Maxima was ripping out the gas station’s signpost by the roots, trailing ripped electrical cables.

“Maxima, no! That pole’s sparking—!”

A mile away, the Guardian saw a flash of light a split second before he heard the thunderclap boom of the explosion.
Looks like I won’t need the trucking gear.
A plume of thick black smoke arose down the road. He turned his motorcycle in that direction, reaching the devastated village in a matter of moments.

It looked as though a hurricane had battered the area. Just ahead of him, Superman and Maxima lay sprawled in the village street.

“Superman? Friend, can you hear me?”

“Guardian?” Superman accepted the offered hand and struggled to his feet.

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner.” Harper turned and knelt over Maxima.

“How is she?” asked Superman.

“She’s coming around. I think she’ll be okay . . . probably suffered a pretty serious concussion, though.” He watched as Superman took an uncertain step forward. “You don’t look so hot yourself.”

“We’ve never faced anything like Doomsday before, Guardian . . . never. Where is he?”

“I don’t know. You two were the only living things I’ve seen in this town. Looks like most everyone else managed to get out. Maybe that explosion did him in . . . whatever he was.”

“No, we couldn’t be that lucky.” Superman looked around, scanning the area with his super-vision. He could see signs of destruction heading south out of town. “He must’ve come to before I did . . . if he lost consciousness at all.”

A monster . . . tougher than Superman?
The Guardian couldn’t believe it. “What sort of creature is he?”

“Hate . . . he is hate.” Maxima groggily began to stir. “We must stop Doomsday . . . we must.”

“She’s right. Doomsday must be stopped! He’s a threat to every living thing!”

The Guardian looked up at his friend. He’d never before heard such worry in the big man’s voice. Maxima braced herself against the Guardian’s knee and tried to rise. “Please, ma’am, take it slow and easy. You took quite a hit.”

“She’s in no condition to go on, Guardian . . . better get her to a hospital.” Superman looked again to the south, and his fists clenched involuntarily. “I’ll stop Doomsday—if it’s the last thing I do!”

Superman took three great strides and sprang into the air, soaring high above the countryside. Below, a trail of splintered trees and tortured soil meandered southeastward. It was like following the path of a tornado. There was utter destruction wherever Doomsday touched down.

I wish I knew where that monster came from.
In all his life, Superman had never seen anything—on Earth or off it—to equal Doomsday either for brute strength or sheer irrational rage.

There was no discernible pattern to the creature’s movements. He seemed just to wander from place to place, attacking whatever caught his eye. Sometimes he merely disabled what he attacked, while other times he smashed things to dust. It was a frightening realization.

There were a half-dozen major urban centers in this region. A chill gripped Superman’s heart.
Well over twenty-five million human lives could be in jeopardy.

Miles ahead, Doomsday smashed his way through the gigantic concrete support post of an interstate highway overpass. The huge tanker truck that toppled down on top of him did not appear to concern him one bit. He simply pounded the truck apart. As Doomsday stepped from the wreckage, a late-model sedan came around a bend toward him.

From behind the wheel, Charlie Sussman put on the brakes the moment he saw that the overpass had collapsed. He hit the horn and yanked the wheel hard to the right, but there was little chance of avoiding the monstrous figure that charged right at him.

Doomsday grabbed hold of the swerving car and swung it about, using its own momentum to toss it high into the sky.

Charlie’s first thought was that he must be dreaming.
That’s it . . . I’ve dozed off at the wheel. Got to wake up before I have an accident!
“Wake up, Charlie!”
Wow . . . must be nearly a mile up. Everything looks so pretty from up here . . . so real.
“What is the matter with me?” Charlie pinched himself hard and screamed. “Wake up already!” The car reached its apex and began tipping backward.
Omigod, this is no dream—I’m gonna die.

But then the car jerked slightly to one side, and its fall slowed. It was a strange sensation. For a moment, Charlie wondered again if he was asleep.

A red cape flapped against the side of Charlie’s window. “It’s okay! I’ve got you!”

“You’ve got me?” Charlie was starting to come unraveled. “Heh! Sure.”
Somebody caught me. Why not?

“Sir? Don’t be afraid—everything’s going to be all right. I’m Superman.”

“S-S-Super . . . man? I hope you’re real. Otherwise, I know I’m dead!”

“No chance of that, sir. Keep talking, and take long, deep breaths. Don’t go into shock on me now. I’ve been searching for the creature that must have attacked you. Can you remember anything about him—anything at all?”

“Creature? I . . . yeah! He was big . . . came right at me. H-he grabbed hold of my car and just . . . threw it! It happened so fast. Didn’t seem real at first. What—what is he, Superman?”

“I wish I knew. He came from out of nowhere—destroying things at random—apparently for the sheer hell of it!”

“Then . . . yeah, it musta been him that collapsed the overpass!”

“Overpass?!” Superman peered down with his telescopic vision. “I don’t see any survivors among the wreckage. There’re dozens of chain-reaction fender-benders up and down both highways . . . lots of minor injuries there. Ah—there’s a state trooper on the scene. And I hear sirens . . . rescue vehicles are on the way.” Superman’s face fell. “Oh, no!”

“What’s wrong?” Charlie could hear the fear in his rescuer’s voice. “What do you see?”

“More trouble . . . terrible trouble. I’m needed—! I’ll set you down near that state trooper. Tell her to call for more rescue teams. We’ll need them at the shopping plaza on the northwest side of Midvale.”

At the suburban plaza, the parking lot of a Lex-Mart discount center lay in ruins, as if a bomb had gone off. A line of smashed cars led to a gaping hole where the main entrance had been. Inside, a stammering assistant manager desperately thumbed the public-address system and tried to keep his voice even. “Attention, Lex-Mart shoppers. This is an emergency situation. Repeat, this is an emergency situation. Please exit the store in a calm and orderly fashion.” A refrigerator flew past, no more than a foot from the assistant manager’s head, and he lost it. “Oh, hell! Just get out! Get out as quickly as you can!”

Doomsday had already smashed his way through garden supplies, sporting goods, and notions and was ripping his way through home appliances when the voice rang out.

“Hey, you!”

Doomsday turned at the challenge, a guttural growl on his lips.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you! Come closer.”

Doomsday followed the voice down the aisle into home electronics and found himself standing before a seventy-two-inch video projection screen. Across the screen flashed a series of scenes of half-naked men throwing each other across a cabled-off section of arena. Doomsday moved in on the screen slowly, never taking his eyes off it, but he made not a move to lash out. He seemed spellbound.

“. . . you don’t want to miss a single moment of the greatest spectacle in the history of professional wrestling! I’m talkin’ tag teams! I’m talkin’ steel cages! I’m talkin’ knock-down, drag-out grudge matches!”

Suddenly, the image on the screen switched to a closeup of a big, beefy man. His flowing blond hair stuck out from under an officer’s cap and a bandolier of bullets hung strapped across his bare chest. It seemed to Doomsday that he was pointing right at him.

“I’m talkin’ ’bout WAR-BASH 9000! This weekend! At the Metropolis Arena! I’m Major Mayhem, troopers—and I’m out for blood! I’m takin’ on the Mighty Gorilla! Ugly Ben Studly! And the Masked Bone-Crusher! And—I—WILL—prevail!” The image of the wrestler screamed out from the screen. “This time . . . IT’S WARRRR!!!”

Abruptly, Major Mayhem disappeared from the screen and was replaced by a supergraphic of the Metropolis Arena logo. An announcer’s voice came blasting from the speakers. “Pro-wrestling as you’ve never seen it before! This weekend at Metropolis Arena . . . Metropolis Arena . . . METROPOLIS ARENA!” With each staccato repetition, the volume shot up and the Metropolis logo flashed bigger. “Now—where ya gonna go?”

Doomsday’s huge mouth gaped open, and his lips twisted as he tried to mimic the sound. “Mhh-trr-plss?”

“DOOMSDAY!” The voice of Superman echoed loud and strong throughout the store. The creature turned away from the television as Superman came flying at him. Superman smashed into Doomsday like a lineman sacking a quarterback, driving the creature back through the television screen and the wall behind it. Together they tumbled out across the back loading dock, sending workers scattering to get out of their way.

Bellowing his awful laugh, Doomsday joyously pummeled Superman through the side of a semitrailer truck.

To Superman, it felt as though his entire body hurt. Pain was not unknown to him, but it had been years since he’d felt it this intensely.
I’d swear the harder I fight, the more Doomsday likes it! He’s been fighting most of the day, but he still seems as eager—and as strong—as ever! If he has energy reserves as extensive as mine, I may be in trouble!

From overhead came the sound of rotor blades. As Doomsday shoved him down onto the asphalt, Superman saw two helicopters approaching from the south. One bore the logo of superstation WLEX, the other of the
Daily Planet.

Oh, Lord, Lois and Jimmy are on board!
Superman’s blood ran cold.
Those pilots better keep their distance!

Jimmy Olsen hung halfway out of the open helicopter, camera in hand. “That’s Doomsday? Wow, he’s a big one!”

Very big,
thought Lois.
Be careful, Clark.
She thumbed the switch of the microphone in her hand. “The Midvale Lex-Mart stood in ruins as Superman struggled with the mysterious creature. End of paragraph . . . stand by for more.”

Lois released the talk switch and said a silent prayer.

Lex Luthor returned to the video lounge where Supergirl continued to stare intently at the array of screens. “Well, love, my news director assured me that he’d dispatched a camera crew to get to the bottom of this Doomsday nonsense . . .”

“It’s not nonsense, Lex! They’re on the air now, and Doomsday just wrecked one of your shopping marts.”

“What?!” Luthor turned to the screens. Superman was grappling with a monster in front of what had been the Midvale Lex-Mart. “Bloody hell!”

“Superman’s trying to stop the creature, but he’s not having much luck. Anything that can give Superman that hard a fight must be incredibly powerful!” Supergirl rose from her chair. “I’d better go help!”

Lex put a hand on Supergirl’s shoulder. “We’ve been all through that, love! The last thing we need now is for you to go flying off! Whenever Superman’s away, the local citizenry start getting . . . edgy.” It pained him to admit that, but he couldn’t deny it. “And with the ol’ boy off havin’ a go-round with some ugly drongo, the city needs its Supergirl to fill the void.”

“Are you sure, Lex?” Supergirl looked at him uncertainly. “Doomsday’s already caused so much destruction. Your newsman placed the latest death toll at over a hundred!”

“Superman can handle him, and I can weather the loss of a Lex-Mart! Trust me, pet, the good people of Metropolis will feel better knowing that you and Team Luthor are home.”

“All right, I’ll stay put for now.” She looked back at the screens. One of them showed Superman closing in on Doomsday, but the monster was lifting what appeared to be an empty tour bus.

As if Superman ever really needs help,
thought Lex.
He’s always survived—despite my best-laid plans!
He pulled Supergirl closer and gave her his most sincere smile. “You’ll see, love. Superman will be just fine!”

With a mighty heave, Doomsday hurled the tour bus directly at Superman. Unable to avoid the collision, Superman was driven backward by the impact.

Inside an adjacent Big Belly Burger restaurant, a customer shoved his son to the floor as the Man of Steel came tumbling out of control through the big glass window. Superman had only a moment to shout out a warning before he disappeared out the other side of the building. He landed hard on the shoulder of the highway outside in a shower of glass, steel, and plaster.
At least the bus was empty. But all those people in the restaurant—!
He had to hope, to pray that they were all right. He rolled over onto his chest and pushed himself up to his knees. He had to pull himself together. He had to end this fight before more people were hurt.

A shadow loomed over Superman as he tried to catch his breath. As that horrible laugh again echoed in his ears, he steeled himself for the expected blow, but it didn’t come. The laughter abruptly stopped, replaced by a lower, more guttural sound.