Up in the Sky By Lois Lane
The class 7 meteor shattered upon impact into at least six smaller pieces, seen above. Photo courtesy of STAR Labs.
METROPOLIS - At approximately 7:30 last night, a meteor estimated to have measured at least thirty-five feet in diameter broke through the atmosphere, headed straight for downtown Metropolis. Astronomers estimate that the high incoming velocity of the large space body was unusual given the angle of its approach, as was the integrity of the meteor itself, as no evidence has been found to suggest that any of the outer crust burned away upon entry. The predicted damage would have been catastrophic had it not been for Earth's favorite son.
Superman's timely intervention comes as no surprise to residents of the City of Tomorrow, but that is not to say the events that transpired were entirely without surprises. Dozens of witnesses attending a wedding atop the newly completed Arcadia Tower corroborate that they saw Superman fly in "faster than a speeding bullet" to take the brunt of the would-be disaster off the shoulders of our fair city. On contact with Superman, the meteor broke apart into a currently-estimated six smaller pieces, while a larger central piece remained in Newtonian conflict with the Man of Steel. Although things seemed glum at one moment, witnesses report that in the time it took them to blink, Superman had diverted the course of the meteor towards the open ocean nearby.
Things began to escalate from here. Sailors working on government contract to salvage the wreck of the U.S.S. Montgomery reported seeing the impact as Superman and the extraterrestrial body struck the ocean. Moments later, a sleek, black flying craft of unknown origin swooped in from across the southwest to investigate the fray, and almost as soon as it was on the scene, Superman emerged from the sea with a companion that seemed hostile.
"The plane, ship, whatever -- it was swoopin' in," said Bo "Bibbo" Bibowski, a loader on the salvage vessel. "And that thing, that alien or whatever, it was hittin' Supes. [That's] when it got crazy though. Real [expletive omitted] crazy."
According to Bibowski and others aboard his craft, this unknown entity engaged into combat with both Superman and the aircraft. Somehow, the "monster" was able to run across the water -- a feat normally thought to be impossible, even by Superman's standards -- and was headed toward Metropolis. Various tactics seemed to be used by both Superman and the pilot of the unknown craft to little avail before the airplane was able to contain the entity in some kind containment unit.
Superman wasted no time in grabbing the unit and flying the captured creature up into the sky. The black jet was quick in its pursuit. Details from here become more difficult to piece together, our correspondents in NASA confirm that Superman broke through the atmosphere into outer space with his captive in tow, followed quickly by the increasingly mysterious jetcraft. It is currently inferred that the creature was able to escape its containment device, but was hurled away by Superman shortly before being struck by a missile from the craft. Its fate after this point remains unknown.
Air Force officials were tight-lipped when pressed about the subject of a possible visit by extraterrestrial intelligence, both in its obvious political implications and the creature's exact intentions for Metropolis, and indeed if the city was even selected for a landing site or a random -- and almost disastrously unlucky -- roll of the cosmic dice. An Air Force spokesman stated that the United States is "investigating the veracity of all relevant claims thoroughly." In the meantime, they've tried to discourage local folklore that has already begun to spread, dubbing the creature "Doomsday" after the unimaginable destruction it nearly caused.
Questions abound and are still being investigated by the Daily Planet. Who was the pilot of the black craft, and how does it possess such impressive technology as to temporarily contain that which the Man of Steel could not? Was this the debut of a new revolution in Air Defense technology? Was this a rogue action by some unknown, well-financed and -- luckily for us -- civic-minded third party? Why is STAR Labs researcher Professor Hamilton completely unable to explain the lack of any erosion damage to the smooth meteorites that broke away upon impact, which seemed to encase the creature? Why does it seem to have sustained no damage at all apart from fractures across pre-designed fissures?
In more tragic news, there have been five reported deaths as a result of the falling meteorite pieces. Oscar LaHoya, 23, was killed on impact while walking home from the grocer. Marvin Hayes, 67, Victor Strauss, 51, Elina Baylock, 30, and Officer Mike Flannigan, 25, were all killed when a second piece struck the route 35 bus through downtown. At least eight more were injured, all of whom sustained non-critical injuries. Although these deaths will not go unmourned, there is some solace to be taken in that what could have been so much was contained.
At present, at least two of the meteorites seem to be missing. Police and military police are investigating.
Last Son of a Lost Land? By Clark Kent
The last known whereabouts of Arthur Currie, 26
AMNESTY BAY - Dr. Stephen Shin, a notable marine biologist in New England, may have ended his career -- and the life of a young man.
Shin made headlines around the world last month when he made a pair of especially bold statements. The first was that the fabled lost continent of Atlantis is very real. The second was that it's people somehow live on -- including one living among us, at least until recently.
Throughout New England in the last year, and particularly in the Boston area, a hero named Aquaman has been cited as preventing seaside disasters, rescuing marooned or capsized sailors, and even stopping mundane robberies farther inland. Eyewitness accounts suggest that Aquaman held both great physical strength and an impossible mastery of swift navigation through the roughest seas of the east coast. Shortly after making his claim about the discovery of Atlantis, Dr. Shin offered an Atlantean explanation for these seemingly impossible feats, going on to reveal the purported true identity of Aquaman -- Arthur Currie.
Under currently unknown circumstances possibly related to the sudden media attention stricken upon the Currie family, Arthur's father Tom Currie, 49, suffered a severe heart attack. He died in hospital earlier this week after a failed bypass attempt. Media frenzy over the alleged living wonder of the world continued, with an energy at the Currie family-owned lighthouse ranging from skeptical cynicism to open curiosity. Ed Gills of our Boston office recalled: "[We] were camped out there, day and night. Just waiting for him to show his face. How long could he wait, right?"
Reporters waiting for a comment got their wish on the day of Tom Currie's funeral, however, as Currie soon emerged from his home, shattering the door off its hinges. He was reported as belligerent and despondent, demanding to know what the journalists on scene wanted from him. Currie then ignored the obvious replies, allegedly stating that: "I don't belong here. I see that now", just moments before leaping off the nearby bluffs into the sea. After days without word from the supposed Aquaman, the Amnesty County Sheriff's Department is currently investigating the incident as a suicide.
Arthur Currie had no surviving kin to make a comment.
Business
WNT - 650
LXC - 890
THC - 705
PPH - 210
APH - 105
MDE - 295
