In the latest installment of author Mark Wooden’s superhero fanfiction, Superman gets his first look at the Metropolis murderer — a gray-skinned monster calling himself Solomon Grundy.
If you want to start at the beginning, CLICK HERE!
Once on the street secluded from Maggie Sawyer’s detectives, Clark let go of his usual slouching walk. Standing tall, he dug into his messenger bag and opened a hidden section where he’d placed a red, blue and yellow-colored costume.
Faster than a blink, he’d transformed from a mild-mannered reporter into the iconic hero the world knew as Superman.
Stashing his bag of Clark Kent clothes behind a dumpster, Superman listened for the sound he’d heard earlier, that of a large man thundering through the storm drains a few blocks away.
That had to be their murderer.
Spotting a utility hole cover, Superman lifted it and floated down into the underground drains. He was careful not to touch down in the ankle-deep water.
Whoever was down here, they made so much noise it was easy to track them. Superman didn’t want to give himself away in a similar fashion.
Superman glided through the storm drains, using his x-ray vision in combination with his enhanced hearing to search for his quarry.
He detected the man (and he used the term loosely) a few tunnels away and out of normal sight.
The grey-skinned man was easily a bit over seven feet tall forcing him to hunch over as he plodded under the drain’s six-foot-high ceiling. He was every bit as muscular as he was tall.
The destruction the beast of a man had left in his wake at the murder scenes made sense now.
That destruction would end tonight.
Breaking into a full-on flight, Superman backtracked down a drain, then came around a side tunnel. This maneuver allowed him to cut off the grey-skinned fiend.
Hovering several yards in front of the thing, Superman said, “You’ve been causing a lot of trouble in Metropolis.”
The murderer stopped abruptly, glared at the Man of Steel with a set of eyes that were yellow where they should be white.
“If you give up now, I’ll see to it they give you a comfortable cell,” Superman continued. Sizing up the man, he added, “Or whatever they figure will hold you.”
The grey-skinned man scowled, took a deep breath and yelled at Superman.
“Is that a no?” Superman asked.
“Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday,” the beast replied.
He then charged at Superman.
Expecting the attack, Superman inhaled deeply. Just as quickly, he exhaled a plume of super-cooled air. It blew against Superman’s attacker. Ice particles formed on the beast’s arms as he threw them up to protect his face.
Superman’s breath slowed the monster’s advance, but it didn’t stop him.
If finesse didn’t work…
The creature, this Solomon Grundy, pushed forward against Superman’s breath. When he got into arm’s reach of the Man of Steel, Superman cut his breath assault. He threw a right hook that would flatten an elephant.
Grundy took the blow to the jaw. He stumbled back a few feet but stopped. Grundy turned those haunting eyes back on Superman. “Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday.”
The beast threw his punch, but Superman pulled back. Grundy’s freakishly large fist swung within a hair’s breadth of the Man of Steel but didn’t make contact. Superman put a bit more power in his punch to Grundy’s stomach.
The force of the blow sent Grundy back down the storm drain tunnel, skidding across the water. He came to a stop when he hit a wall. His body dislodged concrete, but nothing that would critically damage the structure.
Superman floated toward Grundy, cautious against another attack. “Stay down, Grundy,” he suggested.
Grundy shook his head, more to clear it than as a negative reply to the hero. He was groggy but started to get up.
Looking around him, Superman noted a utility shaft heading up a just above Grundy. The beast was much too large to fit through it easily; he must have gotten in here from one of the openings that dropped into Hobb’s River.
From the beast’s lack of vocabulary, Superman also deduced he wasn’t smart enough to finger which people he wanted to kill and how to find them. Someone was behind this, but Grundy probably wouldn’t be able to tell him anything.
“Solomon Grundy —”
“I get it,” Superman said.
Grundy was back on his feet, not looking like the Man of Steel’s blows had bothered him one bit. Their fight may come to a battle of attrition, but Superman had to win if he were to protect a sleazebag real estate investor and several of Metropolis’s finest.
Superman moved in for another punch.
To be continued…
While writing this fanfiction, I used Green Ronin’s Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition RPG, to leave some things to chance. Check it out!
Like this fanfiction? Check out Mark’s original “Shadowdance” saga books!
Author’s Note:
The characters Maria Hill, Captain Marvel/ Carol Danvers, SHIELD, Abigail Brand and Nick Fury are Copyright Marvel Comics
The characters Superman/ Clark Kent/ Kal-El, Supergirl/ Kara Zor-El, Darkseid, Maggie Sawyer, Solomon Grundy and Parademons are Copyright DC Comics
I don’t own any of the characters as this is fanfiction, done for fun and as a creative exercise
