Mérida; Mexico

The capital of the state of Yucatán, Mérida is located in the northwest portion of the state, just south of the Gulf of Mexico, along the coastline of the large body of water. It has been referred to as the White City, both because of the color of the majority of the buildings and the fact that the residents keep the city very clean. Somewhat isolated from the rest of Mexico because of the Mayan heritage, the city has become a haven for many expatriates. The population is just under eight-hundred thousand people, making it one of the most populated cities in Mexico.

On this day, history was made in Mérida. With the sudden shift of the tectonic plates, the city of Mérida experienced a major earthquake that registered a 7.9 on the Richter scale. It began with violent shaking along the coastline and before long, the ground started to rupture. Smaller buildings in the city began to collapse, bringing debris and chunks of concrete down among unsuspecting people.

Water began to flow into the city from the sudden rupture. The city of Mérida had dropped slightly by the coast, bringing in flood waters. The water came through forcefully, washing away people and buildings. The sudden shock had disrupted the day for many, resulting in desecration or even destruction of the nineteenth century European-style houses which still stand in the city.

People ran for cover as fast as they could, attempting to outrun nature's attack on their home. Tourists, expatriates and citizens alike panicked. Chaos erupted on the streets that hadn't been flooded, and authorities found themselves as a loss to truly effect any change in the city.

Following the earthquake, the aftershocks seemed to be just as bad. People found themselves drowned in the floods or crushed by toppling buildings. Many tried to escape the city in droves from the destruction, but they found no respite from the attacks. Authorities tried the best they could to maintain order, but with little luck. The death toll had launched and grew with each passing minute. Panic in the streets broke into riots as the people tried to overpower the police who were trying to keep the peace in their city.

Cars flipped on their sides as they attempted to steer during the violent quakes. One careened into a group of pedestrians trying to run for cover. Another slammed into a second car at an intersection, and others also crashed, creating a pile-up that became a frequent imagery of the streets of Mérida at this point in time.

It would be the beginning of earthquakes which occurred all along the Gulf Coast, some of them just as tragic as the one in Mérida, some of them even worse.

Metropolis

High atop one of the many dorm buildings at Metropolis University stood Jamie Silber. For him, college was not at all what he thought it would be. Shortly after moving into the dorms, he lost contact with many of his friends from back home. His girlfriend since the beginning of high school had cheated on him. Combined with all the pressure of trying to perform well in school and keep up his grades in order to maintain his scholarship has proved to weigh heavily on him.

He looked over the edge of the twelve-story building. It was the middle of the day and many were at class or sleeping through class. No one would see him anyway. And if they did, none of them would care enough to say anything. He was an outcast on campus. He didn't get along with his roommate, yet everyone else on his floor did.

He stepped onto the ledge carefully and spread out his arms. He closed his eyes and he shook slightly. The weather was unseasonally warm for October and it contributed to the sweat that began to form on his brow. Slowly, he allowed his body to fall forward and he was speeding through the air without any resistance.

He hit something hard, but it didn't seem like he had fallen far enough to strike the ground just yet. And he was still conscious. Suddenly, he felt his body beginning to rise under some power that wasn't his own. Was this what it felt like when you died? Is this what it feels like for your spirit to rise out of your body?

He opened his eyes and saw the ground beneath him, growing more and more distant. He then realized that there was something holding onto him. He looked and saw that what held him was a man dressed in blue and red spandex, complete with a red cape that billowed in the wind. He had short, black hair with a slight curl in the front over his forehead and his eyes were a piercing blue, like the clear sky. When Jamie looked at him, he simply returned the look with a warm smile.

The two descended down upon the top of the dorm Jamie had just jumped from. As soon as his savior's feet touched the roof, he set Jamie down on his own two feet. Jamie just continued to look at him in awestruck silence. He folded his arms across his broad chest, covering the large red and yellow stylized S shield that was emblazoned over his pectoral muscles.

"I understand the elevators get pretty crowded in college dorms, but there are safer ways of reaching the ground floor," he said, in a very good-natured tone, with the smile still present on his face.

"Why did you stop me?" asked Jamie, focusing his eyes down at his feet.

"Because whatever you're trying to run from won't last forever," he replied. "Taking your own life is a permanent solution to that temporary problem."

"What do you know..." muttered Jamie. "Look at you, you've got it all. Powers, looks, everything. The whole world loves you and you've probably got a beautiful wife and kids and money and everything anyone could ever want. You have no idea what it's like when you're completely alone in the world."

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Jamie," he replied.

"What happened?"

"Forget it," said Jamie. "You wouldn't understand."

"I might if you told me the story," he said.

So Jamie did. He started to tell this idol of billions the story of why he was prepared to take his own life. About his problems in school, the difficulties with his friends. How his girlfriend had betrayed his trust after four years of being together. He just let it all spill out for the man of steel. And when he was done, he had expected this hero to laugh in his face, or chide him for being so immature. Instead, he just rubbed his chin and cast his eyes towards the heavens before he spoke again.

"Jamie, my father once told me the grass is always greener on the other side," he said. "It's a cliché, I know, and one I'm sure you've heard many times before."

"Yeah, so?"

"So my point is that the things you're describing, while they can be very difficult to deal with, aren't worth jumping off a building for. There are times when it feels like the whole world is against you, and there's nothing you can do to change it. You know the story of Atlas, right?"

"Not really."

"It's from Greek mythology," he began. "Atlas was the brother of Prometheus and the son of Iapetus and Clymene. He was one of the Titans and one day, they revolted against the gods of Mount Olympus. Atlas stormed the heavens and he was punished by Zeus and forced to bear the weight of the heavens and the earth on his shoulders."

Jamie rolled his eyes and the man of steel took notice of this.

"What I'm saying is that we all play the role of Atlas at times. Look around you, Jamie. Everyone out there feels that they have to bear the weight of the world on their shoulders. And everyone thinks they have to carry that load alone. But we're not Atlas and none of us are alone in bearing such a burden. Things seem bleak now, but it's always darkest before dawn."

"How do you know that things will get better?" asked Jamie.

And with that, Superman paused for a moment and just locked eyes with the young man. Jamie Silber felt that the man's piercing eyes could stare directly into his soul. And then he spoke once again and he said, "I don't. But that's life. We play the hand we're dealt. Sometimes we come up short, sometimes we win big. But I promise you that if you do jump, you will upset a lot of people. You may think your friends, your girlfriend and your family won't care what happens to you. But they will. Someday, you'll realize that yourself."

"Why do you care?" asked Jamie. "You've got bigger things to worry about than something this little."

"Jamie, there's nothing bigger than the little things," he said with a smile. "What are you studying here anyway?"

"Psychology."

"Why psychology?"

"I dunno," said Jamie. "I guess I wanted to help people."

"Can't do that very well when you're buried in a casket, now can you?"

"No... no I suppose not."

"C'mon, how about we get down off this roof?" asked Superman. "I'm sure you have midterms coming up that you should be studying for."

"Yeah... yeah I guess," he muttered.

Mexico

Mérida was just the beginning. Soon, the earthquake had spread to other cities in the Yucatán. Eventually, it had spread past those borders, moving into the states of Campeche and Quintana Roo. A state of emergency had been declared by the Mexican government, with evacuations of other bordering states underway.

The water from the Gulf of Mexico began to flood the country, devouring the streets and buildings in a wave of liquid. People ran from their houses, screaming in horror at the oncoming devastation. There was no way to stop the onslaught, no way to stop the earthquakes or the floods as they came into the country.

It would get worse. Soon.

Daily Planet; Metropolis

Jimmy Olsen sat at a computer in the Daily Planet's newsroom, watching a live feed from Mexico of the devastation caused by the earthquakes and the floods. His mouth hung open in shock and his blue eyes were wide as they took in the horror.

"Holy shit..." he muttered.

"Olsen!"

He practically fell out of his chair at the sound of his last name being shouted over the roar of the newsroom, something he had become all too familiar with. He leapt to his feet and saw Perry White, the editor-in-chief, standing in front of an open office door. White's collar was unbuttoned at the top and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His tie was nowhere to be found.

"Yeah Chief?" asked Jimmy.

"Lane and Kent, where the hell are they?!" he demanded. His brown and white hair was a mess and badly needed a comb to be run through it. Jimmy was all too well aware of the signs of Perry White when he was under stress, and today was a perfect example of it.

"I haven't seen th—" began Jimmy. Before he could finish his sentence, the doors to the newsroom opened and a young woman in her early thirties walked in, with long black hair, wearing dress pants and a suit jacket.

"Lane!" exclaimed Perry. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Trying to see if I can dig up some sort of comment from the White House on what they're going to do about the Mexico situation, Chief," replied Lois.

"And?" he asked.

"They said that they'll be praying for the people of Mexico and are working on sending relief aid down there," she said. "Official numbers are still confidential at this point, though. And we don't know how long it will take them to get help."

"Beautiful, so we know nothing," said Perry.

"Let me go, Perry," said Lois. "I can get on a plane and be there in a few hours."

"I'm not sendin' you to Mexico on your own," said Perry. "Where the hell's that husband of yours? Kent should be going with."

"I... I don't know," she said. "I'm sure he's trying to get here as fast as he can, though."

"I gotta have someone down there and soon," said Perry. "Any word from the metahuman community? Why aren't they helping out? Do we know what even caused this? Is it natural or is there some nutball out there looking to cause trouble?"

"I don't know," said Lois.

"Well find out!" exclaimed Perry. He looked at Jimmy. "Both of you! What the hell am I paying you two for?!"

The newsroom doors opened again, this time to make room for a tall man who walked with a slouch. He was dressed immaculately in a suit, his dark hair slicked back, and a pair of glasses concealing his blue eyes. He made his way towards Perry, Lois and Jimmy, pushing past everyone.

"Hi Perry, Jimmy," he said as he came up to them. He kissed Lois on the cheek and looked at each of their faces. "...did I miss something?"

"Where have you been, CK?" asked Jimmy. He pointed at one of the television monitors in the newsroom, which had drawn a crowd of people. Clark Kent moved towards the set and looked up at it. He saw news reports and footage coming in from Mexico and the diaster over there.

"You didn't hear?" asked Lois. Clark shook his head. She then said, "you should go."

Her voice was extremely low, almost inaudible to most people. But Clark could hear her perfectly, as if she were speaking at a normal volume. Clark turned and pushed past the people in the newsroom, darting back out the doors.

"Hey Kent, hold on!" exclaimed Perry. He looked at Lois. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"Umm, his... cousin was on vacation in Mexico," said Lois. "He probably just wants to call and see that everything's okay."

Clark ran into the stairwell of the building and started to run up the stairs towards the roof. He pulled his glasses off and slid them into the coat of his blazer and as he ran up the stairs, he undid his tie and opened his shirt, revealing a red and yellow S shield on blue spandex beneath the shirt.

Within a few seconds, Clark Kent was gone and Superman was soaring through the air, faster than a speeding bullet, on a direct route from Metropolis to Mexico.