321 Maple Street, Smallville USAClark Kent was spending some quality time in the hidden cellar he had constructed under the Kent home.
He has swept out the secret exit tunnel, which tended to accumulate dust and debris. The signal lamp and short-wave radio were in good working order. He had cleaned the laboratory, disposing of the remains of his latest chemistry experiment-- another failed attempt to ameliorate the effects of kryptonite. The Kryptonian memory-probe, based on blueprints from his own father, was in good working order. His experimental time-viewer was still a disappointment. He had been working on it for years, and it still had poor gain, a fuzzy, static-y picture, and seemed to shift focus between alternate universes. Maybe Brainiac 5 could help him? Or maybe that new friend of the Legion, Rond Vidar? Clark was not sure how they would look at his experiments with time-travel. It might be pretty heavily regulated in the 3Oth century.
He needed to work on the robots. He had been trying to give them different appearances. He had only one Superboy and one Clark robot left now. The Ma and Pa robots were satisfactory, but Chief Parker looked wall-eyed, and the voice was too squeaky. The Lanabot needed serious updating. Lana had matured considerably in the past year. Clark had to admit he was somewhat embarrassed when working on keeping the Lanabot’s anatomy current.
He scanned his journal. There were blank pages for ongoing experiments. He still did not know how long he could go without sleeping or eating, before he began to feel ill effects. He would need to set aside time for that experiment. But Ma’s cooking was so delicious, he was not looking forward to missing out on that for an extended period.
He checked the trophy room. It held his first souvenirs: a cup of bullets that had bounced off his chest the first day he put on the Superboy costume. Ma’s keepsake trunk was there, and the Phantom Zone projector. Beyond was the larger cavern he had been constructing to hold his many other souvenirs, including awards and statues he had collected from various Science Fairs and other charitable events, and that alternate yellow Superboy costume that had caused so much trouble. It was probably a bad idea keeping all this underneath a house in the middle of suburbia. He should really build a more secure, less accessible vault. Perhaps underneath one of the world’s deserts, or under the ice at one of the poles?
He glanced at his collection of Legion of Super-Heroes statuettes, and noted that the Dream Girl figure was softly glowing. He reached out and touched it tentatively.
A hologram appeared in the air above the statuettes. Superboy recognized the actual Dream Girl of Naltor.
“
Superboy:
Dream Girl of the Legion of Substitute Heroes calling.
Please, I have a favor to ask of you.
The next time you attend a Legion meeting, please sponsor Star Boy and I as 'new' members.
We will be in disguise, wearing lead-lined armor, and masquerading as ‘Sir Prize’ and ‘Miss Terious’.
Please convince the other Legionnaires to admit us, and have them promise not to seek to discover our identities until we are ready to reveal ourselves.
The other Legionnaires respect and admire you, and I am sure they will accede to your request.
The Seers of Naltor have prophesied that we two must re-join the Legion, and seek their aid in order to find and rescue my sister.
She recently vanished mysteriously from the Magic School on Zerox, the Sorcerer’s World.
I know this is a strange request, but please help us, Superboy. You are our only hope.”
As Nura spoke, the picture changed, showing a young girl Clark assumed was Nura’s sister, although she little resembled her. Red-headed, green-eyed, and freckled, she reminded him more of a somewhat younger Lana Lang. There was something compelling, even captivating about her image. Even after the hologram closed, he struggled to get the picture of her out of his mind.
Nura’s sister-- he did not even know her name-- had a strange, paradoxical aura around her: both innocent and wise, vulnerable yet powerful. She was-- the word that kept occurring to Clark’s mind--
enchanting.
"
Please help us, Superboy. You are our only hope.”
“I’ve been thinking about my future,” Clark told his parents over supper that night. “After graduation. I might… I think I might want to move to the 3Oth century permanently. The technology level is a lot like I remember from my infancy on Krypton. And I think I can really make a difference there as a permanent member of the Legion. I can always travel back in time and visit, just as if… as if I were coming home from college. Every weekend, even.”
“What would you study there?” asked Pa Kent. “Still journalism?”
“Well, no,” said Clark. “Super-heroing would be my permanent career. And training other, younger heroes, eventually, I guess.”
“And how would you explain the sudden appearance of Clark Kent after a thousand years, as a permanent resident of 3Oth-century Earth?” asked Pa.
Clark cleared his throat. He wanted to phrase this properly. “I don’t really have or need a secret identity in the future,” he explained. “In the 3Oth century, Clark Kent, Superboy, Kal-El… they’re just names. My friends-- the other Legionnaires, I mean-- know me by all of them. So does everyone else in the future, I guess.”
Ma Kent looked at Clark piercingly. “Why this sudden idea?” asked Martha. “Are you needed a thousand years in the future more than you are needed now?” She eyed him, eyes suddenly twinkling. “Clark, is there a girl?”
Clark flushed. “No, Ma, I mean, yes, there are a lot of girls in the Legion, but… but not like that. I mean, it’s just something I’ve been thinking about. My future, I mean. There are a lot of possibilities. This was just an idea.”
A little embarrassed, Clark waited for Ma or Pa to change the subject.
Superboy 133 (10/66)
Adventure Comics 350 (11/66) Link
Adventure Comics 351 (12/66) Link
Superboy 135 (01/67)
It had been a busy couple of weeks. Clark was glad to be able to finally have supper with his parents again, instead of leftovers at midnight.
“Any more thoughts on moving to the 3Oth century after graduation?” asked Pa.
“I don’t think it’s a real possibility,” Clark replied. “The Legionnaires were pretty adamant about erasing my memory of the future when they thought I wouldn’t be a semi-regular Legionnaire anymore. And the recent appearances of that young super-hero Robin, and the adult Lex Luthor from the future seem to indicate pretty strongly my destiny is in this time, not in the 3Oth century. I guess the best plan is a Journalism major at Metropolis University, and then, hopefully, a career as a reporter. That way, i can keep my ear to the ground for places where my super-powers can be of help.”
“And what about the girl?” asked Ma, eyes twinkling again.
Clark blushed again, and shook his head. “There was never any girl, Ma.” A hazy memory of... Lana?... in a strange, white dress flickered momentarily in his mind’s eye, but it was gone almost before it could register. He shrugged. “Maybe sometime in the future, Ma.”
END=========================================================================
In some obscure, improbable alternate future, it is the 865th century.
Kal-El and Mysa Nal, celebrated instructors on the newest Sorcerer’s World, are hosting their 83,500th wedding anniversary.
Kal-El is a stately old man, with sapphire-blue eyes, white hair and well-trimmed beard, and garbed in royal-and-scarlet, vaguely Kryptonian wizard robes.
Mysa appears as a healthier, happier version of ‘The Hag’, her long silvery hair plaited into fantastical braids. Her robes are a plain mauve, trimmed with gold. Her emerald eyes still harbor a mischievous gleam.
Many of their old friends are in attendance. J’Onn J’Onzz, the living planet Mars, gazes down from orbit above. There is the immortal Tanner Mothgrasp; Trianna, the alien goddess of war,with her magical meteoric morningstar; the reformed half-demon emperor Mordru; Ganthet and Sayd; and many others.
There are representatives of their four thousand generations of descendants. Not all, of course, for this would include the entire population of the planet New New Krypton.
Surrounded by family, acolytes, former students, and friends from the various Justice Legions, they cut the cake together…
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