Awesome. I didn't even notice it was a matte painting initially. Nice work.

Clark studied the S-shield-shaped sunstone crystal in his hands with a growing fury. All of his life,this damned thing had brought nothing but pain & grief to himself and his family. It was a symbol of all that was wrong himself and his life. Clark's father-his biological father-had given it to him,along with the baby blankets which would become the basis for his costume,as a reminder of where he came from. Like the alien ship and freakish powers weren't enough,Clark thought bitterly.

But this....thing....wasn't just another artifact of a dead world,of a long dead universe.

According to the message Jor-El had left him,the crystal held all the memories of every Kryptonian. Not just those who had lived and those who were living at the time of the Cataclysm. No,this crystal,so Jor-El had said also contained the memories of all the Kryptonians yet to be born. All the Kryptonians that were yet to come.

Kryptonians who now would never be born.

How could such a thing be,Clark wondered. How could you record the life experiences of those who had yet to take their first breaths,would never know what their parents faces looked like,had never met their great loves and most definitely never would?

As Clark turned the crystal over & over in his hands he felt his anger grow from dull-red lava to blazing white-hot rage,bubbling deep within his core. Jor-El message had stated that when the time was right,the complete knowledge within the crystal would "make itself known to you,my son,but if this knowledge,this power was unleashed too soon,all of Creation-and particularly the One responsible for our world's destruction-will seek out the crystal and the knowledge contained within....and use it to totally remake the Universe you now call home."

"Well,DAD,you were right! It sure as Hell felt like all of creation came gunning for me when they found out about the crystal." Clark's roar overpowered the howling wind. The Problem was THE CRYSTAL WASN'T QUITE READY!! Darkseid,Brainiac. EVEN AN ANGEL OF THE FRIGGIN' LORD ALL CAME AFTER ME,ALL LOOKING TO GET THEIR GRUBBY LITTLE MITTS ON THIS HUNK OF USELESS ROCK!! YEAH I SAID IT,A USELESS. HUNK!! OF !! ROCK!!!BECAUSE WHERE WAS ALL THAT KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM WHEN I NEEDED IT,DAD?!?! HUH?! WHERE WAS IT!!!!

The mournful sound of the Arctic wind and the snap of Clark's cape provided the only response.


"Fuck you,Dad!"

Clark let out a breath,and took another look at the desolate landscape surrounding him,satisfied by what he saw. The nearest inhabited area was a thousand miles away,and aside from a sapling,long-dead,there was not another living thing for miles and miles.
There was nothing of any interest in this area. No petroleum,natural gas,shale deposits,nothing to attract the attention of oil companies. This area had been throughly explored by every scientific organization known to man and was both strategically insignificant and totally lifeless. Well out of the way of all the major shipping lanes (and quite a few of the minor ones,as well.) and no aircraft or satellite overflights,whatsoever.

Perfect

This frozen hellhole would make an appropriate burial spot for the crystal that was the repository of the knowledge of a long-dead civilization whose hearts were as cold and hard as ice.The pain and suffering caused by them. Let it all end here.

"Fuck you,Dad!"

Clark wound up for the most important pitch of his life.

"And fuck Almighty KRYPTON!!"

Within the span of time it takes for a human to cough,the deep blue of the crystal was lost in the infinite white.

"HERE AND NOW,KRYPTON DIES WITH ME!!"

There was silence for a long time after that. Even the wind seemed to still.

After another minute or two,Clark finally released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He felt as if the weight of his homeworld had finally been released.

For the first time in his life,Clark Kent felt at peace.

He turned his back to the direction where he threw the crystal,and prepared to leave this place forever.

Then he felt the Earth tremble....

His right eye had just begun to touch the spot where the crystal disappeared,when the first crystal tower broke through the icy ground. And another. And another. Before Clark's astonished eyes,a virtual city,seemingly made of ice,and stretching for miles in every direction appeared before him.

Clark tried to speak,and it took him a second to realize his jaw was hanging open.

"My parents never did anything small,did they?"


Realizing he could not leave this....Fortress alone,Clark squared his shoulders,and began walking up to the entrance. As he got closer,he could almost here it calling out to him....

excellent..i can almost hear the John Williams Theme..dun dun da da dun..dun dun dun..dun dun da da dun ..DAH DAH DUN!!