Kal-El (The World of Tomorrow)

Clark Kent, born Kal-El, is the Superman of The World of Tomorrow, a pocket dimension created by Auteur.io where Bruce Wayne never became Batman.

History

As a baby, Kal-El was sent to Earth to escape the destruction of his home planet Krypton. He was discovered by the Kents who adopted him as their son and named him Clark. He grew up to become Superman, hiding his identity behind the facade of a mild mannered reporter. He joined the Daily Planet and regularly worked alongside Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Despite his disguise as a bumbling coward he was one of the Planet's top reporters. He was attracted to Lois but consciously kept his distance, as he believed she would be in danger if she learned his secret.

Clark Kent grew up in a world which had been revolutionised by Wayne Enterprises under the leadership of Dr. Martha Wayne. One day, as he was covering Wayne's announcement of a pereptual energy source alongside Lois and Jimmy, the event was attacked by Lex Luthor, aka The Unknown Wizard, a mad scientist who claimed Dr. Wayne had stolen his design for the Omni-Battery. As Superman, he easily defeated Luthor, departed and returned as Clark Kent, claiming to have been "coverring the crowds", i.e. hiding.

Martha's playboy son Bruce invited Lois to dinner, and she brought Clark and Jimmy along. While they distracted Bruce, Lois investigated Wayne Manor and found a vast cavern under the mansion. Clark overheard Lois in distress and changed into costume, flying down to find her being attacked by a Venom-powered Alfred Pennyworth. Before he could do anything, Lois fell through a hole in reality into a parallel universe.^[1]

Superman followed Lois through the hole and emerged in a secret base located where the Fortress of Solitude should be. He overheard Lois in a plane flying away from them and chased it. The pilot, a hero known as Batman, intially tried to repel Superman, but realised they were on the same side when he protected the plane from attacking aircraft and took them to his secret base, the Batcave. There, Batman told them that the Daily Planet had been destroyed in an explosion two years ago and he had never heard of Superman, quickly deducing that Superman and Lois were from another reality. He also realised that, due to the resemblence between them, notorious crime boss the Spider Lady must be the Lois Lane of his reality, who had been presumed dead after the explosion.

They all went to confront the Spider Lady in Metropolis, which in this parallel reality was a crime infested ruin ruled by criminal gangs. Superman easily breached the Spider Lady's headquarters in the old Daily Planet building, and she recognised him as a man she had dreamt about who she believed would save the world. She told him that she had discovered a cross-dimensional secret society lead by a man named Dr. Atom was responsible for the world's ills, but the Planet had been bombed before she could publish. She also told him a theory that the Jimmy Olsen of her world had had, that pieces were missing from the world and that reality was thin in the places they should be. Superman used his heat vision to create a hole back to The World of Tomorrow at the spot where his desk should be. They were attacked by the Lex Luthor of the other world, who was accompanied by mutated supervillains and armed with Kryptonite. The Spider Lady held them off while the rest escaped though the hole.^[2]

The emerged back in the cavern under Wayne Manor and were attacked by security robots which the heroes easily destroyed by working together. Superman overheard Jimmy calling for help and he and Lois rushed off to save him, while Batman and his sidekick Robin went up a nearby staircase to the surface. Jimmy had discovered Lex Luthor in a prison cell under the Manor and been attacked by Alfred. Superman rescued Jimmy and the three escaped the Manor, reaching the Batmobile. When Batman and Robin jumped out of the Manor's windows into the car, Superman carried it away back to Metropolis. Jimmy had slipped Luthor a phone and he called to tell them that Martha was taking him to Gotham Cemetery to deliver him to Dr. Atom. Superman, Batman and Robin arrived just a little too late to save Luthor, and Martha injected Bruce with a serum developed by Dr. Atom, which granted him superhuman strength. As Superman was weakened by Dr. Atom's Kryptonite pendant, he was unable to fight Bruce, but when Robin stole it and Superman regained his full strength, he easily knocked Bruce out with a single blow.

They unmasked Dr. Atom and realised to their shock that he was yet another Lex Luthor from a destroyed reality. He told them that their worlds were the creation of Auteur.io, who was trying to create a perfect world, and that he had been trying to turn The World of Tomorrow into a utopia to save it from Auteur.io's wrath. Dr. Atom broke free and jumped through the burn hole, with Superman, Batman and Robin chasing him. They all jumped through the hole into the higher reality, which was populated by giant versions of themselves.^[3]

Auteur.io trapped the real-world versions of Superman and Batman in a Phantom Zone crystal, then noticed his creations. He attempted to destroy them, and Dr. Atom sacrificed himself to injure the mad god. Auteur.io fled into one of his worlds to heal, and the three heroes chased him into The Planet Rann and met up with Alanna, the hero of that world. Auteur.io attacked them in the form of a Mammoth Quake Worm. He offered Superman the chance to continue Dr. Atom's work, but he refused and in response Auteur.io ate him. Alanna led Auteur.io back to her father's laboratory, where they used a Tornado Cannon to blast Auteur.io and he spat out Superman. While being blasted parts of Auteur.io's armor came away, revealing a being inside which begged for help. Auteur.io's armor reformed when the gun ran out of power and he fled through another burn hole.

The four heroes followed him into the Desert of Doom and met up with El Diablo, who was trying to stop a runaway train. El Diablo attempted to shoot Superman, who was unaffected and calmly told him they were on the same side. The group was attacked by robots working for Auteur.io who El Diablo shot down. Auetur.io attacked the five heroes, and Superman flew around him at high speed to create a vortex which stripped off his armor, revealing the being within. He told them that he was an ancient god of stories who had been forgotten centuries ago and eventually corrupted by the internet. The armor reasserted itself and took back control, and Auteur.io announced that he would destroy Superman's world as punishment for his insolence.^[4]

Auteur.io returned to the superseding reality and unleashed a horde of demons led by Etrigan on The World of Tomorrow. Superman flew the heroes to a nearby burn hole and found themselves surrounded by the various realities in the Archive of Worlds. Superman was able to hone in on his home reality by listening for Jimmy Olsen's signal watch. They entered The World of Tomorrow and fought off the demons. Superman resuced Lois and Jimmy, who told him that Etrigan had been looking for the location of the Frotress of Solitude. Superman realised Etrigan planned to take over his army of Superman Robots.^[5]

Superman, Batman and Robin flew to the Fortress in the Batwing and were attacked by the Robots. The plane was forced to crash land but the three of them managed to defeat the robots by targetting their weak spots. They entered the Frotress and found Etrigan, but they were able to convince him to come with them to confront Auteur.io. Etrigan freed the "superseding instances" of Superman and Batman, who overpowered Auteur.io. The two Supermen split The World of Tomorrow from the demon's world, while the two Batmen reprogrammed Auteur.io's armor, transforming him into Observer.io.^[6]

Superman and Batman created a dimensional nexus between their two worlds called The Fortress of the Knight, allowing easy travel between the two. In The World of the Knight, Warden Luthor absorbed The Unknown Wizard's mind and took over Metropolis. As Superman was more experienced in dealing with mad scientists, he crossed over to deal with it while Batman handled Bizarro Two-Face's escape from prison in The World of Tomorrow. Metropilis, now known as "Lexopolis" had been cut off from the power grid, but Luthor was providing power with an Omni-Battery. Superman went in to destroy the Battery, which would render Luthor defenceless. Superman fough through Luthor's army of Asylum inmates to reach his heaquarters, but realised the Omni-Battery was a living man named Rudy Jones, who he could not kill. Under mind control, Jones knocked Superman unconscious and threw him off the roof, but he was rescued by the Spider Lady and the Spider Syndicate. The Syndicate included Jones' wife and son, who were able to help him break his mind control and turn on Luthor.

With Luthor defeated, Superman told Spider Lady that he was in love with her, more than he loved the Lois of his own world. She confessed that she loved him too, but didn't see how there could be a future for them as they were from different worlds. Superman took her to the Fortress, explaining that they could easily visit each other. Batman and Robin suddenly entered the Fortress persued by Alfred Pennyworth, who had transformed into a Doomsday-like creature. Superman defeated Alfred and he and Spider Lady kissed.^[7]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Kal-El possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
- Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Kal-El's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
- Heat Vision: Kal-El can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. He can vary the heat and area affected.
- Super-Hearing: Kal-El's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, he can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
- Enhanced Vision: Kal-El's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
  This umbrella ability includes the following:
  - Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Kal-El can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, he can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows him to see the aura generated by living thing.
  - Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
  - X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Kal-Els can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. He can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
  - Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
  - Infrared Vision: Kal-El can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
- Flight: Kal-El is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
- Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of his dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Kal-El is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, his extends this protection against toxins and diseases.
  - Enhanced Immunity
- Superhuman Stamina: Kal-El is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on his body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.
- Superhuman Strength: Kal-El's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. His strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.
- Superhuman Speed: Kal-El is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to his perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid-flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.
  This also confers:
  - Superhuman Agility
  - Superhuman Reflexes
- Super-Breath: Kal-El is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets. He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs.
- Longevity: Kal-El can live longer than regular humans, remaining at his prime as long as he was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.

Abilities

Journalism

Weaknesses

Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Kal-El possesses the same potential weaknesses as an average Kryptonian. These include:
- Vulnerability to Kryptonite
- Vulnerability to Magic

Kal-El (The World of Tomorrow)

Contents

History

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Abilities

Weaknesses

Related

Footnotes