Story: "Kith and Kin Part Two" (23 Pages)

Credits:

Joe Kelly (plot, script)
Kano and Aluir Amancio (pencils)
Marlo Alquiza (inks)
Comicraft (letters)
Moose Baumann (colors)
Eddie Berganza (edits)

Feature Character:

Superman

Guest Star:

Talia

Supporting Characters:

Lois Lane
Jimmy Olsen
La Encantadora
Victor Lucero
Maggie Sawyer
Lex Luthor

Villains:

Ubu
Ra's al Ghul
Scarlet Scythe
Faora

Other Characters:

Bim
Herbert
Gaia

Synopsis:

Superman and Talia arrive on Ra's al Ghul's flying ship to discover there not just a Lazarus pit, but something more terrible, a crucible in which al Ghul intends to draw tremendous power from the Earth. Elsewhere, the Scarlet Scythe exchanges chit chat with Lois Lane, revealing that it was not the League of Assassins who made the attempt on Superman's life, but someone using their own equipment and evidently trying to frame them for the attempt if anyone chose to dig around.

Melodramatically, Ra's states that he proposes to bond with the Earth so that he can become greater than human and never be affected by his heart (so hurt at his daughter's betrayal) again. The only slight hitch is that the process could tear Earth apart. Superman asks Encantadora to sever the ties that bind the ship to the earth and so prevent the bonding, but Ra's displays his trump card: that the lives of both Victor (Encantadora's brother) and Lois are in the hands of his assassins. To even the odds, Superman tells her that her brother has been killed, meaning Ra's must plunge into the bonding crucible prematurely, while Talia attempts to save the lives of those her father threatens. She has no need to save Lois, however, as when the reporter stabs the Scarlet Scythe in the hand with an ornate pen, the psychotic assassin falls deeply in love with her and allows her to go free. Meanwhile, Superman grapples with Ra's al Ghul within the crucible, wherein the Earth rejects al Ghul and embraces Superman, wanting to bond with this more 'pure' specimen. However, Superman's overwhelming love for Lois is enough to prevent him from obeying the Earth's will and so prevents the disaster that their bonding would bring by destroying the crucible.

Later, Encantadora promises to hand herself over to the police, which she does for a brief moment, before disappearing with Victor to begin a new life, and Talia agrees to become the head of Lexcorp, a role which Lex Luthor can no longer fill now that he's been voted U.S. president.

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