SUPERMAN (Earth-7)

As Superboy

Being among so many superheroes and seeing his potential future deeply inspired him. From that night on, he would wear his makeshift uniform and soar through the skies of Smallville as the mighty Superboy.

Meanwhile, in the 30th century, his friends helped him enlist in the Legion of Super-Heroes under the false identity of Mon-El, a Daxamite who was a descendant of the original Superman. Working alongside the Legion meant having complete freedom to explore his powers and use his abilities on the battlefield.

Clark managed to act secretly as Superboy until he turned 18, when he dared to explore Metropolis, attracting the attention of the local media. This quickly reached the knowledge of Martha and Jonathan, who discovered their son's secret heroic life. Martha and Jon were disappointed not to have known about his heroic life and claimed they would have supported him from the beginning, in the right way.

Clark apologized and took the opportunity to talk about the internship he had secured at the Daily Star in Metropolis. They were impressed with his resume, especially after he shared his years of work as a writer for the Smallville school newspaper. However, this would require him to live in Metropolis.

His parents were reluctant but eventually agreed, on the condition that he would visit them frequently. The Legionnaires, otherwise, did not react well to the news, as the president of the United Planets, R.J. Brande, had become stricter in selecting members for the Legion of Super-Heroes and requested a second confirmation of Mon-El's unofficial documents.

Brainiac-5 could have bypassed the documentation, but under the surveillance of the United Planets, they would quickly discover that Clark did not live in the 30th century and would prohibit the use of the Zeta Tube illegally implemented in his closet.

As a last resort, they asked Clark to stay and live alongside them, leading the Legion. That was his place. Clark had never doubted it, but he couldn't allow that future to be forgotten or spare an entire world from the presence of a hero like Superman.

He said goodbye to the friends with whom he had fought for so many years and grown up with. Clark would no longer be able to see them, but he would never forget them.

Leaving Smallville

On his last day in Smallville, Martha gave him a new Superman uniform, made from the alien clothes he was covered in during his journey to Earth.

In the center, the symbol from his ship, an "S," was almost as if it had been written in the stars that this was a Superman.

Opening his childhood ship for the last time, Clark felt a little queasy, as the walls had been covered by a small greenish crystallization. Jon said the metal must have been oxidizing over time.

Inside the ship, Clark found a type of panel still on under the lining. When he accessed it, the ship took flight as if it were being turned on for the first time, and Superman made a point of following it.

It was a long journey, and at the end of it, the ship buried itself in the ground of the ice desert they were now in, which began to vibrate. From the bottom of the glacier, it opened up into colossal crystalline cylinders, forming a complex monument that seemed to beg to be explored.

The Fortress of Sollitude

Even before he touched the huge lead door, it recognize him, and decided to open. In the same second, a red blast hit him, and amid licks of affection, a robust dog, almost the size of Clark, was revealed, extremely curious to see him again.

All of this was new; having so many answers he thought he would never get was a dream.

Shy and fragile, the automatons crept out of their hiding places among the crystals. With a few words from Clark, they were able to synthesize his language to introduce themselves. There were 12 robots, sent in a space probe to take care of the fortress's maintenance and the baby's development, who they believed had never landed. The dog was Krypto, a name in honor of his deceased home planet. He was sent in an escape ship as a test to see if the baby's ship would reach Earth according to its trajectory, but it seems that Krypton's explosion impacted the ship's launch and its route.

The Twelve Robots then organized themselves into a circle, and together they began to transmit the message they had been so eager to play for so long. 

"We love you, my son. We know, however, that we will not be blessed with the gift of coexistence, for our future rests in you. Krypton is a glorious and beautiful planet, and you will honor its memory. They failed in save their world from failing, but we cannot fail to save ours. Because of this, we have found a smaller and distant planet where our world can now grow and flourish. If we ever dreamed of the future, it was because we awoke with you in our arms, our beloved Kal-El. Never feel abandoned, helpless, or indecisive, for you exist because you are the memory of everything that ever was. You live because our hope will never cease. You love because we will never stop loving you.

Be good. Be strong. Be yourself."

His parents' names were Jor-El and Lara, his planet was Krypton, and his name was Kal-El. For the first time, Superman was sure of who he was.