A year had slowly passed.
Supreme Superman Clark had come to understand the weight of responsibility that came with being a superhero earlier than most. He continued his path as a street hero, distinct from Superman's legacy. Every day he donned his mask to pursue justice, but now he no longer celebrated his role as he once had.
Before, he gained his power from his mentor.
Now, from his mentor's death, he learned to think and to recognize his limits and his bottom line. Still, Clark had not adopted "no killing" as an absolute rule like Batman in the comics. He was willing to kill when necessary, but every life he took was the result of deliberate and careful choice. Each time he brought down a criminal, he reminded himself of what his mentor, Malrick, had taught him.
Every day Clark recited Malrick's past warnings in his mind. In this way he honored the sacrifice that had been made for him.
One evening, as the sun sank below the horizon, Clark sat beside his girlfriend, Lori, by the sea. The gleaming reflection of light danced across the water. He was silent, much as he had been three years ago. But back then he had stared into the sea, sulking because his father had torn up his comics. Now his silence held a rare serenity, the quiet contentment of being beside the woman he cared for. Such peace was a luxury, because when night came, he would be busy again, fighting crime.
Clark watched the last sunlight shimmer across the waves and found himself wondering if Malrick was at peace wherever he was now.
But how could he really know how Malrick was faring in heaven?
What he didn't know was that Malrick was far from gone. At that very moment, high above Clark's head, he hovered unseen.
At last he had completed the analysis of the Silver Superman and Supreme Little Superman genetic structures, fully understanding their unique advantages. All that remained was to refine his own genes. Soon he would break past ninety thousand times the normal gene limit.
He was confident.
Modifying his own genetics would still take time, and in the meanwhile he awaited the moment Clark would awaken his true abilities. Once that day came, Malrick planned to depart, his role complete.
From the beginning, Malrick had played his part much like Uncle Ben was to Peter Parker. Classic triggers worked. When he died before Clark's eyes, that boy, who had been only fourteen or fifteen, instantly matured into a true hero. Aside from the way his strength manifested being unlike Superman's typical emergence, Clark had no other issues.
Invisible to all but the cosmic forces that governed existence, Malrick watched Clark's life unfold.
A few days later, at dawn, something extraordinary happened. A comet streaked across the sky and Clark finally awakened Superman's powers. When sunlight bathed the Earth, Clark, filled with the energy of the yellow sun, began to manifest varied abilities associated with Superman genetics.
When Clark soared upward, lifted by his new power, he was filled with wonder and surprise. But within that exhilaration there was also regret. He thought, If only I had awakened these abilities a year earlier, Malrick might still be alive.
Once the initial shock subsided, Clark realized that the responsibility he bore had grown even heavier.
He began training to control his new powers. Then something even more remarkable occurred. His super‑enhanced brain, recognizing patterns and adjusting rapidly, enabled him to advance his strength control from the basic application to a one‑hundredfold increase in an incredibly short time. And the next advancement, a ten‑thousandfold increase, came just as smoothly.
For several days, this progress lifted Supreme Little Superman's spirits. Yet his joy did not last long.
One day, an older Superman from another world, known as Golden Age Superman of Earth Two, arrived unexpectedly at Source Earth. He approached Supreme Little Superman with grave news.
"A catastrophe is unfolding outside our universe," the older Superman told him.
Clark had barely recovered from discovering that versions of Superman and Batman truly existed outside his world. Now another shocking reality followed.
The elder Superman explained that existence was divided into two realms: the positive matter universe and the antimatter universe. Opposing forces ruled each — the benevolent cosmic overseer called the Monitor and his counterpart, the Anti‑Monitor, who governed the antimatter universe.
As these universes expanded, so did the power of both cosmic entities. But the Anti‑Monitor had grown ambitious and launched a war against positive matter realities, consuming world after world. Many universes had already been destroyed. To save theirs, the heroes had to defeat the Anti‑Monitor.
The sheer scale of this revelation stunned Clark at first. But one phrase struck him most: Save the world.
At that moment, Supreme Little Superman recalled something Malrick had once said when they first met:
"Your potential is rare, and one day you may become a savior fit for the world."
Could it be that his mentor had foreseen events like this all along?
Clark's excitement and resolve soared. He seized Golden Age Superman's hand, ready to leave and join the battle to save the multiverse.
With no hesitation, the elder Superman agreed. They departed Source Earth together.
Not long after they left, a vast wall of crimson energy enveloped their universe, signaling the advance of the antimatter realm. Wherever it passed, all matter was erased, consumed by the unstoppable expansion from the Anti‑Matter side.
As Source Earth stood on the brink of annihilation, Malrick suddenly appeared. Without hesitation, he plucked the planet from its doomed place in space and secured it within his World Ring.
"That Clark is still so impulsive," Malrick murmured. "If I had not been watching, he would have faced another tragedy."
In the original tale of Supreme Little Superman, the destruction of Source Earth marked the start of his journey into hardship. By the time he awakened his powers, the elder Superman and he had just left. Immediately after, their home was consumed by antimatter, and everyone he loved was lost, leaving him alone in the multiverse. Even then, his spirit remained fierce. In the final confrontation against the Anti‑Monitor, he stayed with Golden Age Superman to cover the retreat of others. But after the Anti‑Monitor was defeated, the last surviving Earth was mismanaged by heroes and villains alike, turning it into a place of despair. That betrayal ignited a fury in Supreme Little Superman that drove him down a dark path.
But the Supreme Little Superman who had been guided by Malrick was different.
"Let Supreme Little Superman handle saving the universe," Malrick declared as he vanished into the void.
Far outside the universe, he resumed his work on modifying his gene structure.
"The arrival of Earth Two's Superman allowed me to collect another gene sequence, an unexpected advantage," he observed.