| Synopsis
| - On the fateful night of Clark Kent's senior prom, he and his father stepped out onto their porch for a talk. Pa Kent could sense that while the future would be full of excitement for his son, it would also be quite scary. Clark admitted that what would be scariest would be being separated from his friends and family, while he is exploring some new place, far away.
Unexpectedly, though, Clark is replaced by his future self, as Superman. Having lost his father several years ago, Clark is surprised to see Jonathan, but assumes that this must be a result of time unfolding and righting itself in the wake of his recent actions. Jonathan is confused, but soon realizes that this is really happening.
Clark is eager to tell his parents all about his life in their future, but Jonathan stops him and asks him two questions: is he happy, and is he still trying to help people? Clark confirms that he is doing both, and Jonathan responds that these are all he needs to know. However, he deduces that given Clark's excitement to tell them all about his life, they must not be around to see it for themselves.
Clark becomes sullen, but Jonathan reminds him that he never thought he'd live forever, reciting his motto that the future is unknowable, and that it must be faced with courage and head held high. Clark admits that that knowledge, amongst other things, has helped him through a lot of problems over the years, and he hugs his father in thanks.
Before the hug is through, Clark returns to his past self, and becomes confused. Brushing off the boy's confusion, Jonathan returns to Clark's fear of the future, and repeats his motto, to Clark's relief. Martha hears them, and insists that she get a photo of her two boys, intending to remember this night for many years to come.
- Years ago, on the night of his prom, Clark Kent's evening was interrupted by news that his parents had been in a horrible car accident. At the hospital, Jonathan Kent had known that his wife Martha had been killed, telling his son that he had seen angels carrying her away. Knowing he would soon die of his own injuries, he asked Clark to let him die at home. Without question, Clark gathered his father up into his arms, and took him back to the farm.
At his father's bedside, Clark regretted that despite all of his super-human abilities, he failed to keep his family safe. Weakly, Jonathan made Clark promise that with these unique powers he had, he would use them to become a force for good and a champion of the downtrodden. Before passing away, he told his son never to give up the fight to make the world a better place. The funeral service was brief, and Clark left town soon afterwards.
In Metropolis, Lord Vyndktvx's inter-temporal attacks on Superman continue as Superdoom, a violent and murderous superman themed robot, brutally beats him while he is subdued within chains of Kryptonite.
Meanwhile, the remains of the Legion of Super-Heroes escape from a fascist dystopian version of the future in which Universo is ruler. In their attempt to prevent that future by rewriting the past, they visit Mrs. Nyxly to ask her about when Clark's parents died - to the exact moment. Unfortunately, they arrive at the scene too late to prevent the accident. As Martha Kent dies, Saturn Woman uses her telepathy to allow Martha to tell her husband she loves him as she passes on.
An hour before the accident, Jonathan Kent gave Vyndktvx a handkerchief. With this, he caused the Kents' deaths via isomorphic magic. Through the use of a totemic personal item, he could cause someone's downfall. Later, he cemented Lex Luthor's rise to power by using Glen Glenmorgan's tie to bring the mogul down.
Meanwhile, Superman was preoccupied for years with his cat-and-mouse search for his mystery informant "Icarus," while Vyndtkvx struck him across time. Hoping that isomorphic magic would serve him well again, Vyndtkvx planned to steal Superman's cape to bring the superhuman down to earth.
Having chosen his moment, Vyndktvx had planned to grab the cape after one of Superman's first adventures, when he was still vulnerable. However, he found that he was beaten to the punch by a small boy, who took it. Realizing that he would need even more arms, legs, and eyes to serve him in the third dimension, he decided to recruit an army of people who hated Superman into his Anti-Superman Army.
Some years later, he equipped Nimrod the Hunter with future-tech weaponry to shoot the teleportation bullet into Superman's brain, which would later house the Anti-Superman Army's headquarters. He promised more of such weaponry if his army succeeded in recovering Superman's Kryptonite engine. At the same time, the Legion appeared to Superman and whisked him forward in time to the day that the Kryptonite engine would be stolen.
While still under attack by Superdoom, the Anti-Superman Army closes in on Superman. Hopefully, he first appeals to Erik Drekken, who begins to question his role in this. Xa-Du also feels hollow. Superdoom, though, ignores Superman's appeals to the goodness that still resides within the others, and continues beating him down. Fortunately, some nearby citizens spot him, and remove the Kryptonite chains from over his shoulders, restoring what little strength remains under the Red Sun.
Some time before that, Clark was visited in what remained of his Fortress of Solitude since his fight with Xa-Du by Saturn Woman. She was injured, but she would tell him only that he next had to go to Mars. Though Vyndtkvx had been attacking at every moment in Superman's life, it was only now that he was beginning to feel it. After this next battle on Mars, the future would rest solely on his shoulders.
Privately, Saturn Woman and her companions reflected on the fact that their history suggested that Superman died for a second and final time as a result of this battle. His death resulted in their future, in which Universo had all of their friends killed. Knowing that saving Superman is necessary to their goal, they made one more effort to set things right. Their Time Bubble soon arrives in the hospital room of the so-called Mister Triple-X, where Lois Lane and James Olsen wait.
Outside the hospital, Superman faces Superdoom with renewed vigour, since being freed from the Kryptonite. Their battle, though, is interrupted by a man who believes that it is his sole right to kill Superman - Lex Luthor.
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