SHATTERED WORLDS | DC (2022)

Year 0: Happily Ever After

Superman

 On a quiet night in Metropolis, the Man of Steel lay asleep. Beside him, his wife Lois Lane was sound asleep too. For Lois, the routine of watching and hearing the world's most powerful superhero sleep and snore had become a comforting habit. However, that night, Clark's superhuman hearing caught something that brought him abruptly awake.

"What's wrong, Clark?" Lois asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I can hear it," Clark replied, a smile spreading across his face.

"Hear what?"

"The heartbeat. The heartbeat, Lois. You're pregnant."

Lois sat up, stunned. "Wait, what? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely certain, honey. I can hear its heartbeat," Clark said, his excitement growing.

Lois lay back down, taking a moment to process the news. Meanwhile, Clark had jumped out of bed, his mind racing with plans.

"Well, first of all, we need to go to Star Labs to make sure the baby is healthy. I know a few people we can trust to be discrete. And we'll need to move out of the city, maybe back to Smallville if we have to. Having my parents close will be a big help. We also need to start looking for a bigger place, maybe a one-story house for the baby's safety. It won't be easy, but--"

Suddenly, a book hit Clark on the head, interrupting his train of thought.

"Did you just throw a book at me?" Clark asked incredulously.

"Yes, I did," Lois replied, irritated. "Because you aren't listening to me. Clark, I know this is big news, but we can't rush into any decisions right now. Especially tonight, we just found out. How about you talk to Bruce? I'm sure he'll help you get your head straight."

Clark sighed, realizing Lois was right. "Yeah, I guess that's a good idea. But wait, where are you going?"

"I just got a message from Jimmy about a developing story at the docks. Some uranium has gone missing. So I'm going to investigate."

"But you can't go. You just found out you're pregnant," Clark protested.

"And? Clark, being pregnant doesn't mean I can't do my job."

Clark reluctantly agreed to let her go. After saying their goodbyes, he flew over to Gotham City, Metropolis's sister city. It didn't take long for him to find his old friend. He flew down to the street where Batman, Nightwing, and Robin were taking care of some street thugs.

"You should've called me. I could've helped, you know," Clark said to Bruce.

"We're fine," Bruce replied curtly.

"Good to see you boys," Clark said, addressing both Dick and Damian who were finishing off the last of the thugs.

"Good to see you too, Clark. What brings you to Gotham tonight?" Dick asked.

"Oh, just need to talk with Bruce privately, that's all," Clark replied. Dick and Damian looked at each other, unsure of what was going on.

"You two take these thugs back to Blackgate Prison. I'll meet you guys back at the cave," Bruce ordered.

The two boys loaded the thugs onto the Batmobile and drove off towards Blackgate.

"What do you think that was about?" Damian asked, breaking the silence in the Batmobile.

"I'm not sure, but hopefully Bruce will tell us later," Dick replied.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Damian asked.