Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Chapter 3 — Lost and Found
Superboy wants to go to Earth-4.1
Earth-1, it turns out, is too unfamiliar and alien to him, while Earth-4 — with its relative lack of cosmic heroes and villains — is closer to his own Earth-Prime. Since Earth-4 has Superman comic books, he’ll take on a new identity with a disguise, the whole nine yards. The heroes of Earth-4 agree to help him.
This dovetails perfectly with Brainy’s plan, which is to cut off Earth-4 from the other Earths. It’s the best thing for the people there, he argues, and will also prove the efficacy of the mystery technology he’s developed to fight the Time Trapper. Brainy pitches in to help young Clark with his disguise. Superman asks if this is the best use of Brainy’s time, all things considered.
BRAINY: Did you really think I would sever Earth-4 from us and leave it completely defenseless? The heroes there are nowhere near as powerful as here, and while young Clark’s powers are not yet fully developed, in time he’ll be as powerful as you. At least there will be one champion in that universe who is truly a force to reckon with.
While all of this is going on, we learn that Batman doesn’t trust Brainy. Superman tries to explain that Brainy doesn’t mean to be mysterious and non-forthcoming; he’s just so far advanced that he can’t help it. Brainy, meanwhile, pretty much treats Batman like dirt, since Batman is useless for his purposes.2
BATMAN: You trust him?
SUPERMAN: He’s more brilliant than any million people on the planet, including you and me.
BATMAN: I know he’s intelligent. I’m asking if he’s trustworthy.
SUPERMAN: He’s probably saved my life as often as you have.
BATMAN: And put it at risk as well, if I remember the stories you’ve told about him.
SUPERMAN: You’ve met the Legion. You’ve worked with them.
BATMAN: Yes, and I’ve even been to their perfect, shining future. And I know that I don’t trust anything that perfect.
The heroes are still gathered at the Fortress, making plans, developing strategies. Brainy plans to build something that will punch right through the Time Trapper’s Iron Curtain of Time, bringing the fight to him. In the meantime, Superman makes a decision—he will deal with Lex Luthor once and for all. So he and Batman break into Luthor’s cell.
LUTHOR: To what do I owe the honor, old foe?
SUPERMAN: I wanted to tell you something.
LUTHOR: Unless you plan to shoot yourself with a kryptonite bullet, I don’t want to hear it.
SUPERMAN: I miss you, Lex. I miss having you as my friend. When we were kids, you were the only person I could talk to, the only person I could trust. My only equal.
LUTHOR: And how did you repay that trust? By scarring me for life! By destroying my work! And now you come here with a sob story, and I’m supposed to buy it? Am I supposed to weep with you and feel sorry for you and become good? Am I supposed to forget what you did to me?
SUPERMAN (sadly): No, Lex. I just came to say goodbye.
LUTHOR: Goodbye?
SUPERMAN: Bruce, could you…
LUTHOR: Bruce? [Batman advances] Bruce Wayne of course it makes sense oh my God. Oh my God. You’re going to do it. You’re finally going to kill me. And you can’t even do it yourself, you coward! You have to have your lackey do it for you! Look at me! Damn you, you alien freak, look at me while he kills me! At least have the decency to watch your own handiwork!
But Superman only looks away as Batman approaches Luthor…and Luthor screams.3
Back at the Fortress, Brainy has gathered his tech. He’s ready for his test run and he fires up the tuning forks, modified with the tech he stole from Brainiac. It works! The universes are separated…and Earth-4 is permanently disconnected from the rest of the multiverse.
That night, Superman goes to Lana.
SUPERMAN: Someday…someday I’ll tell you everything. I’ll tell you about today. But not now. I just can’t…
Later, he goes to his diary in a secluded, private area of the Fortress and uses his heat vision to write: “Lex is no longer an issue.” And then he puts his face in his hands and sits alone.
Meanwhile, when no one is watching, Brainiac 5 slips into the Phantom Zone Viewing Chamber and begins cannibalizing Superman’s Phantom Zone equipment…
He presses a button and Batman suddenly leaps from the shadows! He was right — he couldn‘t trust Brainiac Five, who is now ready to unleash the horrors of the Phantom Zone on an unsuspecting Earth…unless Batman can stop him!
End Chapter 3
More soon!
(The only glory I will ever get for this thing that I’ve carried in my brain since childhood is people looking at it. So if you have friends you think might get a kick out of it, please point them in this direction! Teen Barry thanks you, and so do I.)
- The Superboy in question is the Clark Kent of Earth-Prime, introduced in DC Comics Presents during the original Crisis. Yes, he’s the same guy later turned into a meta-parody of toxic fandom, but at the time, he was just an earnest Superboy from “our world,” trying to do his best. I remember really loving this character (and years later, I admit I despised what DC did with him). It’s no surprise to me that I would have used him in Crisis on Captive Earths.
- Batman and Brainy not getting along is something that I needed for a plot reason you’ll see in a later chapter, but with the distance and wisdom of years, I admit that I think it really works! It’s sort of like that feeling you get when you have a best friend and then you meet the person they used to hang out with all the time as a kid. Not jealousy, per se, but just this sense of disconnect.
- Mark Waid, on the off-chance you’re reading this…stick with me.