Earth...

"Look!" someone said. "Up in the sky!"

"It's a bird!"

"It's a plane!"

"No...it's a spaceship! Run for your lives!!"

Jor-El's ship landed just inside the park. Mom and I exited. On the way back to Earth, the ship picked up reports about a mysterious arsonist. Then the reports changed to eyewitness accounts that the arsonist was Superman. Finally, the reports changed to Superman battling another Superman.

"Are you coming?" I asked Grandpa.

"No, I have other business to attend to. I'll be back, someday."

The hatch closed and the ship floated into the air for a moment before vanishing with a crackle of energy.

"Taxi!" yelled Mom.

Amazingly, one showed up pretty quickly. Mom told him to head for the latest sighting of Superman fighting Superman.

I imagine this fare was a little unusual for him. A woman in a Superman suit (I forgot to mention that Dad gave Mom his old-new suit so that it could protect her while in space) and a ten-year-old wearing a Superboy costume just asked to be taken to the spot where Superman was fighting. Then again this is Metropolis.

We were soon dropped off.

"Uh, would you believe I left my money in my other tights," said Mom.

Suddenly, a bus flew overhead and smashed into the side of a building.

"It's on me!" the cabbie shouted before peeling off out of there.

Mom glanced to me. "We'll pay him later."

People ran and screamed all around us. Fires burned and people hid. Some people were helping others trapped under debris and such.

I spotted Dad. He was trading blows with another airborne person. From the back, he looked a lot like Dad. "There he is!" I started running.

"Jon Kent!" said Mom in her best "mom voice." "What have I told you?"

I sighed. "Look both ways before crossing a battlefield."

This is when Dad delivered a devastating blow to his foe. The fake Superman was knocked away. Dad then turned his attention to us. He let out a bright, happy smile and then floated down to us. He held us close in a warm squeeze. It felt great to be back home. "What are you doing back?"

"It's a long story," said Mom.

"I'm glad to see you both, but you need to get to safety."

"Since when has that ever worked?" said Mom, putting her hands on her hips.

It was at this point that the other Superman landed with a smash. Shockwaves rippled through the street and set off some car alarms. "I tried to make it easy on you, Old Man," he sneered. "Set you up for the arsons; the people turn against you; hope dwindles. I didn't want it to end this way." I recognized the voice. The other Superman slowly began to stand. His cape fluttered behind him. He...was me. An older me; he looked similar to the other me from that parallel world—except this one had a goatee.

"I look weird in a goatee," I blurted.

A dorky smirk stretched across his face. "Heh-heh-heh, hello, Jon. It's about time you showed. Now get out the way so I can play catch with the Old Man." I stepped in front of Dad and spread my arms. "Don't think I won't hurt you just because you're my past."

"You're not my future! And you don't scare me anymore! I make my own future!"

"What happened on that trip?" Dad whispered to Mom.

The goatee me leaned back in a fit of laughter. "You know that's not true. Every event is predestined. There is no hope. There is no free will. There is no tomorrow."

"How did you get like this?"

The other me raised his head a bit and narrowed his eyes. "I witnessed my dad die at the hands of a fake Superman when I was ten. That sort of thing can mess you up."

He charged at Dad. I leapt at him and grabbed his temples. Suddenly, the world around us shifted. The sky changed to red. The buildings curved like they were bowing. The streets seemed to go at weird angles.

"A torquasm vo battlefield?" said Goatee Me. "Impressive."

Dad looked to Mom. "He knows torquasm vo?"

"Grandpa was an excellent teacher," said the older me.

I pointed at him. "He won't help you now! He's free!"

The other me faltered. His head tilted in confusion. "He's...what?"

A chink in the armor. "That's right. I destroyed the kryptonite in his brain. He's back to normal now. So, if the future is written in stone...how is it I just changed it?"

"Jor-El's back?" Dad whispered.

"Then I will find a way to reverse it. There are countless ways for our future to occur. No matter what you do, it is pointless."

"Clark," said Mom. "Do something."

"I don't need to," he said. "Jon's already won."

I stared down the futuristic fake Superman. "I'll never become you."

"How do you know?"

"I have hope."

My false future self suddenly screamed out in pain and anger. He charged at me wildly; but just before he reached me, he dissolved into dust. In a flash, the streets and buildings returned to normal. Mom and Dad gathered me into a big family hug.

"Great job, Son; I'm so proud," said Dad. He looked at Mom and me. "And I'm so glad you're both home safe." He then slowly turned to me with one of those "serious" looks. "But, we do need to talk about what I found in the third drawer of your dresser, Jon."

I smiled wide. "Heh, uh..."

Busted.