Posterity (book 1)

Chapter 1: Beginning, part 1

   All stories have to begin somewhere. And this one will begin on a warm summer day in Metropolis. Hundreds of people were crowded around a stage that had been set up in Metropolis Square. Loud chit-chat of the people could be heard from miles away. However, this didn't seem to bother one man in particular who stood in the front of the mob, as close to the stage as one could get. With a camera in hand, he snapped pictures every second of that stage that held nothing but a few security guards on it.
   Suddenly, the crowd was silent. One thousand voices faded to silence. Out onto the stage walked two people: the first was a tall, muscular man whose long, red hair was neatly combed and pulled up into a stubby ponytail. The second was a thin, professional-looking woman with glasses and a short bob cut.
The woman walked up to the podium in the front of the stage and waited a few seconds before saying her first words:
   "Good afternoon, Metropolis. My name is Luna Luthor, head of LexCorp.  As many of you know, my brother and I's company is focused on innovation..."
   Although still snapping pictures, the man, who's name was Jon, started to dose off. He was never a fan of long speeches; he always found them slow and boring. Minutes began to pass, and Luna still droned on.
   Luna Luthor; the daughter of the infamous Lex Luthor. The man with the ponytail that stood at her side was her twin brother, Lex jr. The two did not seem like they shared their father's malicious ambitions; or, at least it seemed that way.
   When he finally snapped out of his daze, he saw that Lex jr.had replaced Luna at the podium. He began speaking about a new revolutionary device that could teleport people in a twenty mile radius.
That sounds pretty interesting, thought Jon. He began to take a plethora of pictures with his trusty camera. Everyone in the massive crowd was cheering and clapping, absolutely awed by this new creation.
That is, until a loud snap boomed out, causing the crowd to go dead silent
Panic started to quickly arise. All of the people that were standing densely packed together in a crowd started to run in all different directions. Jon knew exactly what this was about; there was construction being done on a building right next to the stage. A cable of a crane that was hoisting up a large steel beam had snapped, causing the beam to dangle freely above the crowd. At any second, the cable could completely break.
Jon knew what he had to do.
He began to run the opposite direction of the crowd, and headed behind a fairly hidden building. Carefully placing his camera on a stray brick, he then ripped of his dress shirt, revealing a large, magnificent, letter "S."
Just like his father had done once before, this mighty tradition had now passed down to him:
Jonathan Kent was now Superman.
Now, with his work clothes completely off, Jon, as Superman, flew up above the crowd towards the unstable beam. He looked down and saw what looked to be thousands of frantically scurrying little ants running in all directions. There was no time to think about his surroundings; he had to act quickly.
It felt like the crane was miles away, with the cable only getting weaker by the second. Almost there, thought Jon. I can do this.
Just when he was about to grab the beam, the cable snapped with a loud crack. The screams down below became louder and more panicked. Jon had to be fast. If he failed to catch the beam, people could lose their lives. So with a sudden bolt downward, Jon sped towards the falling beam. Faster, faster, faster. Time seemed to drag on forever as the beam made its way closer to the ground. But luckily, Jon was able to conjure up enough speed to send himself level to the beam. Just as it was about to hit the ground, Jon swept himself underneath the beam and caught it with his arms; just in time.
The weight of the beam wasn't too heavy. Carefully, he floated himself down to the ground, where the crowd of relieved people were clapping and screaming of joy. Jon thought he heard someone yell, "Yeah, Superman!". He placed the beam onto a clear spot on the pavement. His work there was done.

Back at the Daily Planet, Jon's boss. Timothy Norton, approached him while he was sitting at his deck. After Perry White retired, Norton took his place as the editor-in-chief for the newspaper. Norton did his job well, but many would say that he wasn't as good as his predecessor.
"Well that was a crazy event, wasn't it?" said Norton.
   "Yup, it sure was," Jon replied.
   "Were you able to catch any pictures before all that madness went down?" questioned Norton.
   "Quite a lot, actually."
    Jon pulled out his camera and showed his boss all of the pictures that he had took. In response, Norton faintly smiled and nodded his head. He then responded, "Did you get any pictures of Superman?"
   Jon's mind froze for a brief second. He's been asked this question numerous times, and each of them he responded with the same answer: no. He was afraid that Norton would become suspicious and discover his secret. After all, similar reasons caused his mother, Lois Kent (then bearing her maiden name Lane), to find out about his father's identity.
   So, Jon just said "Sorry, not this time."
   Norton blinked and then said, "You know, I've noticed something: how come you're never able to catch a picture of Superman?"
   Just as Jon feared: Norton was growing suspicious. Jon didn't deal with stress very well, as it often lead to him making impulsive decisions. So he just quickly blurted out, "It all happens so quickly. These events, they're so stressful; everything just seems to be a blur."
   Jon felt like he was sweating. He was afraid of what his boss would say. What if he doesn't believe him? What if he takes his words as fiction? However, instead of doing any of this, Norton just  said, "Hmm, I understand." And after that, with a quick little nod, he walked away. Jon took a sigh of relief. He hoped that this would be the last time Norton mentioned Superman; he could only hope.