Chapter 17: Chapter 17 - Truth
(Seven Tower - Annie's Apartment - 30th January 2020)
Clark was sitting quietly on the sofa reading over the latest intelligence report that General Lane had sent over. Annie paced back and forth in front of him. He had stayed with her after revealing the truth of what he really was and where he came from, which was when she had just started pacing. She hadn't really done much but pace for the last day since he explained everything, aside from sleeping for a bit and taking a call, but then it had been right back to wear out a path in Vought's carpets.
"I have to say, you're taking this a lot better than I thought you would," He remarked calmly before setting down the reports on the table before him. Annie took a deep breath.
"YOU'RE AN ALIEN! A REAL ALIEN! LIKE, FROM OUTER SPACE!"
Her mind had violently pulled everything back together from the insane haze that had fallen over her.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you're a space alien….. ALIENS ARE REAL?!"
The room fell silent as the superheroine gasped, trying to catch her breath as she finally stood still after what felt like ages reeling from the bombshell that Clark had dropped on her. Or… not Clark, she reminded herself. His real name was Kal, Kal-El from the planet Krypton, her best friend was an alien. She stayed there, staring at him as if trying to spot a hidden set of antennae, an extra eye, or a green tint to his skin. He just looked back at her with a very human set of raised eyebrows, and she didn't know if the normalness was freaking her out more than any deformity could.
"Oh yeah, this is a lot better than I thought it would go." Clark nodded as he picked up the glass of water from the table and gave it a sip.
"How are you so calm about this?" Annie asked, gradually coming down from the shouting she had been doing, mainly due to her being able to catch her breath and her throat protesting her. "Clark- Kal, whatever! How are you so chill about…. you just told me you're not human!"
Clark couldn't help but chuckle at her whispering the last part as if someone was nearby and could hear them or like she hadn't been shouting it a few moments ago, "Well, I've kind of had, oh…. practically my whole life to get used to it. So it's not that big of a shock for me. You keeping a cool head really helps."
"MY HEAD IS NOT COOL! MY HEAD IS THE OPPOSITE OF COOL!" Annie burst out again before taking a quick moment to take a breath and try to calm down again. "Clark, look at me, I'm freaking out here!"
"In truth, I'd have been worried if you weren't freaking out. That's sort of the base-level reaction to this type of news." Clark gave her a friendly smile as he stood moving over to her and holding her arms whilst looking her in the eye to help her calm down. "You haven't fainted, you're not trying to kill me, you didn't run off screaming 'The aliens are here! You're next! You're next!', and I'm pretty sure you're not going to rustle up an angry mob with pitchforks and torches."
"That's… fair I guess," Annie reflected. Looking back on her reaction, it had been pretty mild compared to how she knew most people would have reacted. "So, you're really an alien?"
"Yes. I was born on the planet Krypton, located in what you would call the Andromeda Galaxy. My people were called Kryptonians," Clark explained slowly again knowing he was probably going to have to do this a few times due to Annie still getting over the shock "My superpowers are the result of my unique biology. Which is enhanced by Earth's….. well, let's just say 'friendly atmosphere and climate,' along with the sun's greater solar radiation,"
"Solar radiation? So you get your powers from sunlight?" Annie asked, moving over and finally collapsing on a chair as Clark nodded and took his seat on the couch again.
"Partially, my biology is different from yours. Krypton's environment was extremely harsh, bordering on uninhabitable, so my people evolved with the ability to sustain ourselves on um, uh, how to explain it…" Clark paused as he tried to simplify the very complex biological processes that occurred within Kryptonian life. "My cells work like cold fusion reactors, they have parts which absorb solar energy and….. make energy….it's complicated."
"So without sunlight, would you be like normal?- I mean, human?!" Annie jumped to correct herself as she tried not to offend her friend, all while trying to understand what was happening.
"Not exactly. My skin, bone, and muscles are naturally denser than yours, and my body is designed to survive in an environment that would tear even most enhanced humans apart." Clark leaned forward taking comfort that Annie seemed to be relaxing more and not on the verge of freaking out again "I would be stronger and more durable than say, you, but far less than I am now. I wouldn't be able to fly or use my other abilities."
"Okay, okay," Annie nodded as she took in the information, which was sort of going over her head but she just wanted to try and make this seem normal. She paused for a moment, bit her lip, and then asked the question Clark had been waiting for.
"...So why are you here? On Earth I mean, and not Krypton?"
"Krypton's gone," Clark answered. His tone was sorrowful as he tried and failed to keep his face from falling.
"Gone? ... How? What happened?" Annie looked at her friend who appeared as if the weight of the world he was already carrying had just been doubled.
"The planet reached the end of its natural lifecycle. Krypton was ancient, and its core had become unstable until eventually, it exploded. The shock wave set off a chain reaction which caused our sun, Rao, to go supernova, which annihilated anything that survived, as well as the entire system." Clark sighed as he recounted what he knew of the end of his people from the Fortress's records. "The whole of Kryptonian civilisation, gone in a flash."
"What about your people? Are there others?" Annie asked her shock at Clark being an alien being replaced by the horror that her friend was apparently telling her he was alone in the universe. "Someone else must have survived, a colony, a space-ship."
Clark just looked at her, his eyes giving her all the answers she needed as he then turned his attention to the sample of Compound V on the table. "I am the only one, the sole survivor of the oldest race in the universe…. Or I thought I was until I saw this."
Clark lifted up the vial and affixed it with a stern look as he brought the bright blue liquid up to his eyes.
"The tests I ran on the serum, the things I found, it means that there's…" He stopped short, but Annie started to read between the lines.
She watched as her best friend's face turned into a rapidly-moving mixture of emotions: anger, frustration, horror and….hope. It was only a small glint of it but it was definitely there. Despite all she had seen of his life, hope was a strange thing to see on his face. She was so used to seeing him inspire it in others, much more rare coming from his person.
However, as she looked at it she could see where it was coming from and she completely understood why. There was something in the blue vial that held the answer to a question that Clark had been asking himself all his life, was he truly alone? Her friend had always seemed a little distant from even other superheroes as long as she knew him, but where before she had thought it was merely because of his level of fame and power, she now knew the truth, he was lonely on a whole other level. Now, here was a chance to end that loneliness.
"So what are you going to do?" Annie asked carefully, her question broke Clark out of his haze and caused him to place the vial back onto the table. His hopeful face became a frown.
"I'm not sure, I'll need to find the source of it. But even my contact with the military is drawing a blank at the moment. Vought's certainly kept this secret away from prying eyes." Clark mused sighing as his mind raced through his limited options at the moment. "But I will find it. For now, we keep going, we protect the people, and we fight Vought"
"What about Hughie and Lois?" Annie asked. The question earned her an unreadable look. "I know, and I know you don't like how they're doing it, but they are the only other people up against the same things we are. It really might be worth reaching out."
Clark suddenly felt like he had a bitter taste in his mouth that he was swirling around before he suddenly leaned back in his seat, the couch groaning from his weight. "It's….something to think about. For now, we act as if everything is normal and prepare for the fallout from what's coming."
"What's coming…?" Annie's eyes widened at Clark's words feeling like she had forgotten some big event, and then it hit her. "Oh shit…. I got the whistle blown on V."
"First things first: we have a meeting with the others about this movie they're trying to push on us." He stood, picked up the vial of V again, and this time placed it into a shielded compartment on his belt.
"Is that really important right now?" Annie said as the two of them moved towards the door of her apartment.
"No, not at all, but appearances are needed now more than ever and I have yet to actually meet this Stormfront." Clark responded. His demeanour shifted with practised ease, and the facade he presented to Vought and the world slid into place. "Also, I might've promised my Aunt I would attend, I've sort of caused her a few problems recently."
"Oh come on, Clark, she's covered for you all your life, I'm sure she would let you out of this if you asked nicely," Annie smirked while they started walking down the hallway that separated the Seven's rooms from each other.
"Well, I…. may have disobeyed orders from the President last week," Clark admitted as they got into the elevator causing Annie's eyes to go wide and turn on him as he reflected on his actions "I think I might have actually committed treason when I did it… or at least something that'll cause a few hearings,"
Annie just went silent as the doors closed on them and elected not to ask any questions about Clark's recent actions overseas. Learning that he was an alien and V had something to do with aliens was enough for one day. Hell, it was enough for several lifetimes. The two eventually reached the Seven Command Center. Everyone was there apart from Homelander, whose absence Clark took notice of. He shifted, then took the right-hand seat next to the team leader's chair. Maeve was seated second from the right, and gave Clark a small nod while Annie took her seat across from them in-between Noir and Stormfront.
Clark also looked to the window where Ashley and his aunt were standing, and his eyes was clearly focused on the meeting but his Aunt was shifting as she read something on her pad. She also kept glancing at her phone which she took out of her pocket every few seconds like clockwork.
"Okay, we ready guys?" Adam Bourke, Vought Studios' most prolific director, stood forward drawing all eyes to him as he gestured to the storyboard. "Okay, scene opens, we pan up, we see Homelander flying towards Martinez's Miami mansion. And Martinez makes a run for it. Octavio, vámonos! Vámonos, mi amigo! Octavio accelerates but Homelander eye-laser blasts out the tires… BZZZZOW... Boom! Tires screeching, Martinez gets out of the car dazed, looks up...Homelan-".
"Heat vision doesn't work like that. It burns at an average of 5000 degrees" Clark's voice cut off the eager director who suddenly froze looking at the hero who had the script in front of him and was clearly making notes. "Homelander would more than likely melt through the chassis and part of the road in that scenario. He would do better to either pick up the car or-"
"Oh well….um….I mean, semantics, we could change things, but it's not really important, it's just for the trailer…." Adam chuckled as he trailed off. Clark was not impressed by the response.
"Alright, first of all, that's not how you use the word 'semantics.' Secondly, it is important that future Super-abled children can watch this and not come away with an unrealistic understanding of what's possible." Clark responded, his calm demeanour and commanding presence were making Maeve and Annie smile as the director just sweated buckets. "Thirdly, ignoring all of that, this script doesn't make sense, the dialogue is very one-dimensional, especially the women, and you have the team meeting me for the first time at a horse ranch in Nebraska"
"...Yeahhhh?" Adam winced and adjusted his glasses uncomfortably.
"I'm from Kansas and it's a farm," Clark replied bluntly, causing Maeve to chuckle as Adam opened and closed his mouth to try and think of something to say. "Also, I have never said Y'all, in my life,"
"Well, that….um….we can…." Adam looked over to the two executives in the room. Ashley just looked like a deer caught in the headlights whilst Mary, having just turned fully away and with her phone pressed to her ear, wouldn't be of any help either.
"I think Superman raises a good point," Stormfront spoke up.
Adam faced the newest member of the Seven who was just smiling like the cat who ate the canary.
"We are going to need some real overhaul, and he's bang-on, you write all your women as either unknowable Hitchcock bitches or Michael Bay fuckdolls. I mean, I get that a lifetime of jerking off to Transformers didn't exactly make you popular with the ladies, but, you know, a little effort would be nice."
"Oh, well excuse me. And you know what?I do have two sisters." Adam shot back squaring off with Stormfront. It sounded like Superman was too much for him, but not the newest girl on the team.
"And excuse me, hello, Homelander really loves the script," Ashley butted in too, trying to reassert control over a meeting which had been set up as a formality, an easy rubber-stamp on a screenplay that was practically done already.
"Well, then where is he?" Stormfront gestured with one hand to the empty chair. Everyone turned to look.
Ashley opened her mouth to respond only for a sudden cracking sound to split the silence. Mary had dropped her tablet on the floor in shock. Clark would have moved over to ask her what was wrong if he didn't already know what had happened. She was white as a sheet as she turned around blankly and stared at the group before all but running for the door. The room fell quiet.
Everyone apart from Clark and Stromfornt glanced at everyone else. The latter was still smirking at Ashley, completely unfazed by what just happened. Ashley herself looked completely lost, scrambling to look at her phone which hadn't gone off and displayed no email or text to explain what just happened. Clark glanced over at Annie, who met his eyes and realisation dawned on her, which brought a growing smile to her face that she tried to hold back.
"Miss Barrett," Clark's voice caused Ashley to snap to him as he calmly stood up from his seat. "You are going to want to follow my aunt as this is important."
Ashley stood for a second before grabbing her phone and clipboard and started running after her boss. Bourke was left alone in the room full of superheroes. He shifted and glanced at the exit. Clark just looked at him and gestured with his head for him to leave. The director didn't need any other excuse, and made a break for the door.
"Well damn! That was a lot better than anything you'd see on VTV wasn't it? Anyone wanna get some ice cream, my treat?" Stormfront smiled from her seat. She leaned back and swayed side to side, looked around the room, then zeroed in on Clark with a glint in her eye and an extremely friendly smile on her lips "Who about you, big blue? You look like a double-chip chocolate guy, am I right?"
Annie's eyes widened as she looked from Stormfront to Clark whose face still held the usual stoic expression he wore when dealing with The Seven. He opened his mouth to respond before suddenly his head snapped to the window and before anyone could do anything he vanished. The only trace of where he went was the open balcony door and a fading rush of air. Everyone in the room looked at each other again confused by what just happened. The silence was only broken when Stromfront shrugged her shoulders and looked at Annie.
"Well, he sure lets a girl down easy doesn't he?"
(Vought Security Estate - Five Ponds Wilderness Area, New York State - Midday)
Becca just stood in the archway of her kitchen as she looked at Ryan sitting down whilst Clark examined him. She had scrambled to activate the signal watch as soon as Homelander had left, after what occurred only half an hour ago. She knew that Homelander was egotistical, vain and was certainly not completely sane given how he acted and what he had done to her, but the depths of that insanity had been a mystery to her until today.
He had thrown her son off of the roof!
The image of Ryan laying on the grass face first and unmoving was firmly lodged in her brain. She knew, no matter what, it was going to stay there forever. There was only one thing that was keeping her in control: The alarming reality of just how Ryan reacted when Homelander threatened her. He had pushed him clear across the yard and then his eyes had turned red. It was the first time she had ever seen her boy get truly angry and although she was proud he had stood up to Homelander she would be lying if she didn't say it hadn't scared her a little.
However, her fear was somewhat relieved as she watched as Clark knelt in front of her son and tended to him with an ease that belied his size. He had come the instant he had heard the signal, just like he had promised, just missing Homelander who had flown away mere seconds earlier after Ryan's brutal rejection. The new arrival had been gentle and calm as he asked what had happened before moving to look the boy over.
Clark's voice snapped her out of her haze as she watched the giant of a man stand up, her own thoughts had drowned out the apparent conversation he had been having with Ryan.
"... it's all good, nothing broken. Now I need you to go upstairs and pack. Just like we talked about, okay?" Clark smiled at Ryan who shifted a little before looking over to his mom and then back up before giving a small nod.
Ryan moved quickly from his seat but walked without energy or his usual vigour that drove her crazy at times. This was what could only be called a fast trudge. He shot her a quick glance, still holding the arm that he had tried to use to break his fall as if it caused him pain still before moving past her to the stairs. She waited a few moments until she heard his footsteps at the top of the stairs, then turned.
"Is he okay? I mean really okay, he passed out for a few minutes, and he complained about his arm, he hasn't bro-" Becca's mouth moved faster than her brain as all her fears came tumbling out of her.
"He's fine, small sprain on his ulnar tendon but I think that's from when he pushed Homelander away. The man is incredibly dense. Ryan's muscles weren't ready for it." Clark sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and fixed Becca with a look that was both reassuring but held a hint of worry.
"What is it?" She pressed and moved closer to the Man of Steel.
"He's absolutely fine. That's the issue… His bone and muscle density are 500% greater than when I last saw him, and the metabolic activityin his cells has increased. Ryan's biochemistry is changing on a fundamental level, his powers are starting to come in fully." Clark took a glance up at the ceiling, gaze piercing wood and plaster to make sure Ryan was indeed packing, which he was, before returning to look at Becca. "I think the…. physical and emotional aspects of today's incident have triggered them. Also, because of that and the incident, you can't stay. I can't protect you here."
"But….where can we go, there's no place on Earth that he won't find us!" Becca felt panic spiking through her, she had gone to Vought for that exact reason, and it hadn't done anything. "He'll just come and-"
"You're right, I can't hide you from him" Clark cut herself as reassuringly as he could.
Part of him wanted to take them to the Fortress right then and there but Ryan needed people and life, not a cage, and that only left one place. "But I can take you somewhere, a place where Ryan can be around people who have experience with a superabled child and wouldn't treat him differently."
"You want to take him to Vought?" Becca asked, horrified. She would rather burn down her fake house with herself in it than live through this again.
"No, not Vought. Trust me, I won't promise you Homelander won't come around, because I can't… at least not yet. I will promise you it will be better and healthier for Ryan, and he'll have a lot more positive influences." Clark placed a hand on her shoulder looking her in the eye and summoning every ounce of honesty he could. "And I promise I will protect your son."
Becca just stayed still. She looked at Clark, then at the walls of the house covered in tasteful artwork and pictures of nature landscapes. The decorations, vacation photos, the report cards, all of it was fake, not one thing around her was really real and as she looked at Clark she knew he was right. She found herself nodding even before her mind had reached the same conclusion.
"Okay, wh-what do I need to do?" Becca asked as she took a steady breath in.
"Pack up everything you want and need, then get in the car." Clark gave her a reassuring smile, Becca opened her mouth but he beat her to the question he knew she was going to ask. "Don't worry, we're not driving, it's just a lot easier for me to carry everything in the car."
"That…. makes sense," Becca chuckled awkwardly as she tried to calm herself down before giving Clark another questioning look. "So where are we going?"
"Home," Clark answered with a smile.
(2 hours later - Kent Family Farm, Smallville - Kansas)
Becca stood awkwardly on the wooden floor of the old farmhouse's front porch. Her arm draped over her son who stood just as awkwardly next to her. When Superman had said he was them to somewhere better for Ryan, Becca wasn't sure what she had imagined but this certainly wasn't it. She had half expected to be whisked away to his California mansion filled with secret gadgets, or some sort of top-secret institute for superpowered youngsters no one knew about, not a farm in the smallest of towns in small-town America.
"Ma, are you in?!" The most powerful man on Earth suddenly affected a rural farmboy accent as he pushed open the front door, leading the shocked pair into a hallway with a staircase leading up and a living room to their left. "I brought company!"
"Clark Joseph Kent!" Martha Kent appeared walking through the living from the kitchen with an apron on clearly in the midst of cooking, her voice as reprimanding as any mother ever. "You very much know I am in with that hearing of yours, so you've no excuse shouting your hea- Oh, my! Hello there."
The matronly woman paused suddenly as she saw Ryan and Becca standing next to Clark holding a suitcase each and looking very awkward. She gave her son a quick glance, which he returned with a small nod and gesture of his head towards the newcomers. The Kent matriarch quickly broke into a smile and moved forward projecting such a wave of warmth that Ryan and Becca could do nothing but blink.
"Clark, for goodness sake where are your manners, not introducing your friends? I thought I raised you better than that." Martha moved forward looking at Ryan and then to Becca with a posture that was nothing but welcoming. "I'm Matha Kent, Clark's Ma, but don't worry. I don't have a silly name like my son so you don't need to call me Super-Ma'am or anything like that."
Ryan giggled a little at the bad joke and Becca felt herself relax as she suddenly realised what Clark had meant by people with experience with superabled children. She found herself smiling without effort as she addressed Superman's mom, a concept somehow both very ordinary and very strange at the same time.
"I'm Rebbeca Butcher, but everyone calls me Becca, and this little trouble maker," Becca gave her boy a small squeeze which caused him to become a little embarrassed "This is my son, Ryan,"
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Kent," Ryan smiled as he greeted the woman who looked like she had come straight off of one of his mother's recipe book covers, right down to the hairstyle and apron.
"Bless my soul, what a polite young man!" Martha was radiant as she bent over a little to be level with Ryan, then whispered conspiratorially. "Tell you what, after you get unpacked I'll show you where I hide the chocolate chip cookies! Not even Clark knows where they are."
Ryan looked down shyly, just managing a small nod that only earned him a wider smile from the elder Kent.
"The Bedrooms are upstairs," Clark chimed in, then gestured to the staircase next to them.
"Becca, turn left at the landing and yours is at the end of the hall. Ryan, turn left and it's the first door on the right, that's where you'll be sleeping."
Ryan looked at Clark and then to his mother who managed to keep the smile on her face as she just gave her son a firm nod. With Ryan leading the way, the two of them climbed the stairs disappearing from view. The moment they were gone Clark let out a deep sigh and took stock of his own feelings: stressed and unsure what to do next. Martha just moved over to her son and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder causing him to look at her and give a small smile.
"Clark, what's happened? And what do you need me to do?" She knew her son well enough that even if hadn't just shown up with two strangers she would know something deeper was wrong.
The question drew a sigh as he tried to figure out where to begin, releasing the deep breath he just took he started to explain everything. He decided to start with what was in front of him, which was the two innocent people he had rescued from the proverbial dragon's lair. Then once he got through that minefield he would work out how to broach other big news about the extraterrestrial origins of Compound V.
While Clark made his delicate explanation, Becca and Ryan found themselves moving through what looked like a Norman Rockwell painting. She wound up in a rather comfortable bedchamber. As she explored, she found it to be a little cramped. It was clearly a spare room intended for guests, with the double bed taking up most of the room and boxes of old trinkets tucked into one corner.
Meanwhile, Ryan hadn't moved since his mom had left him standing in the room Clark had said was his. It was large and spacious, a single long bed occupied the centre, with a writing desk against the other wall. The walls were filled with photos, posters and more than a few shelves that were lined with awards and what were clearly childhood mementoes. All of them had one thing in common.
They all belonged to Superman.
Ryan couldn't but edge across the floor like he was standing on sacred ground, like his ordinary boring feet would somehow pollute this sanctuary. He brought the bag he had brought and gently placed it on the bed before opening it up to start unpacking. He actually felt himself holding his breath as he opened the set of drawers wondering what would be in them, what heroic costumes were stored within. However, as he opened the first one he found himself disappointed. Instead of a brightly coloured super-suit, the space was empty.
In fact, as Ryan unpacked further he found that everything he opened was empty and it was clear that the room, although well-maintained, had not been occupied in years. The desk was bare apart from a few photos and a fine layer of dust. Even the keepsakes on the shelves were old and clearly had been placed there most likely to fill space rather than for any real sentimental value.
Ryan lifted the last item from his bag: his thick winter coat, then he let out a small dejected sigh. He should have expected it. This was just a room after all, and since his father had thrown him from the roof he knew heroes weren't real. He shuffled, coat in hand, over to the closet he had yet to open, wondering what the point of all of this was. But as he opened the door, he froze. The boy knew he grew up in a bubble more ignorant of music and movies than other kids, but if he knew one thing it was Superheroes. He would sneak onto his mom's laptop when she wasn't looking to read their stories, look at pictures, and watch videos of them, so he knew exactly what he was looking at.
There, hanging on an innocent coat hanger before him, was a black woven T-shirt with a large S-shield crest on the upper middle along with a pair of blue trousers and a belt.
Superboy's Costume! Holy schnikes, this was Superboy's Costume!
The words rang inside his head as he stood there just looking at the iconic piece of clothing. This simple, relatable, realistic look had made Ryan fall in love with heroes when he had first seen it. It was an old and shaky video taken by an amateur, but it had shown the then-Superboy leaping headlong into a tornado just to rescue a girl's kitten that she had left behind. He knew Clark was now a grown man and his Superman identity was even more impressive, but he remembered how he felt when he had seen that young black-haired boy do the right thing, like he too could do the impossible.
Ryan had dropped the coat and before he knew what he was doing, he had the hanger clutched in hand and was holding the costume. His mind raced as he felt a surge of confidence rush through him. He started to scramble out of his own shirt, careful not to let the sacred vestments drop. It was a little awkward, but a few moments later he was standing proud and tall with the black shirt on, the red S-shield on his chest. After pulling on the slightly-too-long trousers, he turned to face the mirror in the corner.
Ryan puffed out his chest, placed his hands on his hips, and struck a triumphant pose. Then he paused.
'Superboy wouldn't be scared, Superboy wouldn't have let anyone touch his mother or speak to her like Homelander did.' he felt his hands tensing at his side as he looked at the image and tried to imagine himself standing proudly in front of his mother protecting her. The image vanished as reality returned to him. 'You're not Superboy though, he could fly and lift buildings, but you can't do anything. The clothes don't even fit right. You're noth-'
"It looks pretty good on you, although I don't think black's your colour" The boy found himself whirling around as he suddenly saw an amused Clark standing in the doorway looking at him while holding a plate of food, which he carried in and placed on the bedside table. "The shirt's heavier than it looks, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," Ryan answered, feeling more awkward than before. He shifted, suddenly feeling like the t-shirt weighed a thousand pounds. "Why is that?"
"It's a special blend of tungsten-impregnated Kevlar. My aunt Mary, she works for Vought. She had it made when I wasn't that much older than you." Clark moved and took a seat on the bed, somehow looking both very natural as someone in their childhood bedroom but very out of place as Superman parking his hind end on a Jayhawks bedsheet. "We tried a bunch of other fabrics, but they tore apart when I ran or jumped. My Ma will tell you I looked pretty darn silly early on."
"Yeah," Ryan forced a smile on his face knowing where this was going, and he knew he had to give the expected answer.
This was where Superman was going to step in and give him a speech about powers and how he had a responsibility to use them. How he wasn't normal and had to be ready because someday he would be a superhero. He might have grown up lonely with only his mom to speak to, but he still read comics, watched movies and knew scenes like this by heart.
"Ryan, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Clark asked as he looked past the boy's smile and saw tension and stresses all too familiar on a face far too young.
"I want to be like you," Ryan forced out what he knew to be the right answer, how he had to be strong and ready to protect his mother and do what he knew was expected of him. "I want to be a superhero."
"I didn't." The answer caused Ryan to blink and freeze. Surely he had heard wrong. He looked up, staring like the man was some sort of an alien with three-heads.
The room fell eerily silent for a few moments before the boy broke eye contact and spoke awkwardly. "You… you didn't?"
"No, I wanted to be a farmer like my Pa for a really long time. You know, working the land, getting up with the sun, feeding the cows, the chickens, ploughing the fields and the rest of it, I think I would have liked doing that." Clark patted the bed next to him causing Ryan to come over and sit next to the world's greatest hero. He looked at the wall as if he could see that life. "When I was about your age I kind of started to want to be a reporter."
"A reporter? Really?" Ryan looked confused again. This wasn't going anything like it did in the movies, TV shows, or comics he had read.
"Oh yeah, I thought they were awesome!" Clark chuckled with a genuine enthusiasm that made Ryan smile as the man recalled his very humble boyhood dream. "They got to travel, meet interesting people and share their stories with everyone. They influenced people's lives, kept powerful people honest, and showed folks who never went anywhere what the whole wide world was like."
Ryan smiled at the description and for a moment felt overwhelmed by the genuine enthusiasm and zeal the older man had. He himself felt for a moment that he too wanted to be a reporter, a job Clark had made out to be the greatest job in the world even though he knew the reality was probably not as described. The two of them sat there for a few moments, then Ryan looked away smiling.
"So if you could be anything, Ryan, what would you want to be?" Clark felt he needed to know the child next to him a lot more than he did, and in truth when this had all started, he hadn't thought he would end up in this situation.
Now that he was more relaxed, Ryan thought hard for a moment. He pushed past the part of himself telling him to say what was expected of him.
"I don't know. I like making stop-motion Lego animation, so maybe something in movies? I also like school, so a teacher?" Ryan shifted as he tried to really think about the question he was being asked before looking up into Clark's face, "... but don't I have to be, you know...a Superhero?"
"Ryan, I'm going to be honest with you. Being ordinary isn't really an option for people like us," Clark admitted. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave a reassuring smile. "But normalcy is something you can have if you want it. There is nothing wrong with wanting to settle down and live peacefully. You have that choice,"
"But I have these powers, aren't I... don't I have to use them to help people?" Ryan was feeling weird in his chest, like it was lighter and heavier at the same time.
"No," The answer was a shock to a system that was fast running out of ways to be shocked. Clark smiled and decided to clarify what he meant. "If you want to do what I do Ryan, to be a superhero then that's okay. I'm not going to lie, it's an incredible, amazing life and you will affect the lives of millions. But most importantly, it's a choice. I fundamentally believe that. I believe that we make our own destiny and no one has the right to force a way of living onto anyone. So what do you want to be?"
"... I don't know" Ryan finally answered truthfully. The day had left him without the faintest idea of what he wanted from life, but he did know one thing at the moment as he looked up. "Could you….. could you show me how to be like you, like, strong and brave… and do things you do? Like you did with the baseball… I just want to keep my mom safe."
Clark looked down at the wide trusting eyes that clearly wanted not to be afraid and needed someone to show him how to handle what was happening to him. "Okay, buddy. I'll show you, but first things first: Eat your dinner, brush your teeth, get a good night's sleep and we'll start tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," Ryan gave the larger man a nod causing Clark to stand up and walk past the plate of food his Ma had put together and toward the door, only stopping when he heard a quiet voice "….. thanks Clark,"
He gave the kid a smile and then left the room, closing the door slowly and letting out a contented sigh before turning to face the worried woman who was standing next to the door. Becca still looked like she could explode at any second, but seemed much calmer than before.
"Thank you," Becca whispered looking at Clark with tears in her eyes as she glanced at the door. "Thank you,"
(Seven Tower - Floor 82, Stan Edgar's office - Same time)
The executive office was in absolute chaos.
Mary stood frozen as the office swirled around her in a blur of confusion, anger and panic. Phones were ringing, pieces of legal paperwork were either being passed back and forth or just shredded, and more than one person was on a laptop or else had a phone pressed to their ear and was shouting to be heard. However, her eyes were not on the mayhem around her but rather on the sole centre of calm in the storm.
Stan Edgar just sat behind his desk, unmoving; he had been reading some papers someone had given him but had since put them down and had his back turned to them all. Mary edged forward until she could see the Vought CEO looking at a silver shield-shaped pendant in his right hand and tracing it lightly with his thumb. But before she could see more of it he closed his hand then turned to face her.
"What's the matter, Miss Clark? You seem unnerved." He asked the question which from anyone else would have sounded cynical and sarcastic but from him sounded bland, ordinary and genuine, almost as if the company wasn't burning down around them.
"Sir, we are down 68% in morning trading, 20% in the last 5 minutes alone. The stock is in freefall, our investors are climbing over each other to be the first to denounce us publicly, the FDA is trying to rush the door and if the shares hit 19 then we are going to have to do a buyback." Mary moved forward moving into the eye of the storm. "We need to release a statement soon or else the stock price will collapse and we will all need to start talking to some damn great lawyers."
"And, what kind of statement would you release if you were me?" He asked, looking at Mary with piercing eyes that she would never get used to even if she lived to be a hundred.
"We've only got two options. First, we deny. Deny everything. High risk, high reward…. if we don't pull it off, however, we are all looking at serious jail time, especially if there is a legitimate whistle-blower. That leaves Option 2. Mea culpa, confess to everything they know already and try to survive this and hide everything else." Mary stated, her mind trying to figure out which option was better and which one her boss would go for.
"They've called it!" Daniel Prestia's voice sounded out clearly across the room. He was head of finance and Vought's CFO, which technically made him number two in the company but hierarchy had never been so straightforward. "They've suspended trading, we dropped 649 points, and that's just today. We need a response, sir."
"Both are excellent suggestions, Miss Clark," Stan Edgar's voice caused the already quiet room to go even quieter, he was serene even now as he turned to fully face the room. "However, neither are appropriate for this situation, and I have already come up with a response."
"You have?" Mary asked wide-eyed as she couldn't but look shocked at the man who had just been sitting there for the past few hours.
"Yes, I have. Bill, start the prep for legal. I've emailed you what we are going to need. Pat, likewise. Gear up the media machine. I want all hands on this, call in everyone. Anyone who doesn't answer you is fired. And lastly, Maureen, get a team together and burn everything you can" Stan stood up placing both hands on the table Mary could see the glint of the pendant still in his left hand but was quickly directed back to his face as he looked around the office seeing everyone nodding. "Good, now, everyone, get out."
Stan gestured to the door. He leaned slowly back down into his chair watching them all fill out, waiting until Mary was just about to leave. "Not you, Mary, we need to talk."
"Yes, sir? What do you need?" She moved over quickly and her heart was hammering as her mind was already trying to figure out what he could want her for.
"I need to know. Apart from the birth certificate, the clinic papers and the false records with our medical team, is there anything I've missed?" Stan asked the question with such a slight tone of emotion that it almost sounded like concern.
"S-sir?" Mary just looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened when she realised what he was talking about. "... You know?"
"Yes yes, I know about Clark and your assistance with his adoption," Stan actually scoffed a little, an utterly joyless sound, as his right hand started to caress the pendant again. "To be honest, I actually know more than you, but that isn't the point. I need to know now if there is any lingering trace. Any un-pulled thread?"
"No sir, but I'll bring over everything I have in case I missed something," Mary swallowed as she looked at the man, not sure if his show of emotion was more disturbing than his apparent omniscience of what she had done. "I just wanted to -"
"I know what you wanted and why you did it," Edgar cut her off. His voice gained a hard edge as he gripped the pendant tight in his hand for a moment before relaxing again. "Tell me something, do you care, really care for your nephew?"
"I do," She replied immediately without hesitation.
Mary admitted finding that statement more true than she first realised, Clark was her family and truly the closest thing to a child she had after messing up her own relationships with her own children. She was about to leave when she found herself stopping and turning to face her boss. He was still sitting there staring at the pendant in his hand as if it was the important thing in existence, a question forming in her mind.
"Why do you? Care, I mean." Mary asked abruptly. "This is more than just the company. Why do you care about my nephew? Why are you helping us?"
The Vought CEO didn't reply. He just looked at her in a way that sent a shiver up her spine, it wasn't anger or anything similar. The gaze felt like a scorching response as if she had just asked a deeply personal question she shouldn't have and should have known better. She shifted for a few moments before she quickly turned and left not wanting to push the issue, leaving the Vought CEO alone.
"... I owe his father," Stan whispered as he clasped his hand tight around the pendant before standing up and ready to enact his response to the situation at hand.
(Midland Beach sewer system - Staten Island, New York State - Late evening, 30th January 2020)
Annie was panicking as she walked through the underground tunnel system. The day was not going like anything she had pictured, sure it had started off great but now she was in a sewer following the smell of fish guts like a dog. The group they had tracked down had rammed a speedboat into a whale that The Deep had stupidly summoned, then escaped into the sewer system forcing them to chase after them.
She had thought that revealing Compound V to the world was going to be the final nail in the coffin of Vought, but then came Stan Edgar with a long-winded speech about unity and pulling together. He had pointed The Seven, minus Clark who had disappeared to who knew where, at the super-terrorist that had appeared on the radar after he crashed a police helicopter. Homelander had been dismissive of Stan's reasons but they were all still there and all going after this terrorist and the group with him.
She had toyed with signalling Clark, but at the moment didn't think it was needed, although she hated Vought and didn't like any of the Seven apart from Maeve, this was real Superhero work. The terrorist had killed people and his attack on a Police helicopter had killed two officers so he needed to be stopped. So did whoever was harbouring him on that boat-
"Annie!" The familiar voice caused her to freeze. There was Hughie, walking out from the shadows covered in blood and guts with a relieved smile on his face at the sight of her. "You got my message, Annie I-"
The blast from Annie threw Hughie clear across the room and into the adjacent wall. She had tried to use as little power as possible as she heard the heavy footfalls of Homelander approaching from the opposite direction. As he stepped into the slightly illuminated tunnel his face was fixed in an evil scowl. Slowly, he walked over to the prone figure of Hughie. Annie moved forward as well, quickly slipping her hand into her pocket and subtly pressing the watch Clark had given her. She prayed he would be quick.
"OH COME ON! HIM, REALLY! You gotta be fucking kidding me." Homelander sighed as the pathetic thing in front of him scrambled to prop himself against the wall, but the supe ignored him and looked over at Starlight. "This guy again? Really?"
"I didn't kno-" Annie tried to come up with an excuse but Homelander raised a hand that he clenched into a fist.
"Shut it. What, do you have rocks in your fucking head? Or is my boy frying your brain every night too much?" Homelander asked moving forward before placing his hand on her arm and all but launching her forward. "You know what doesn't matter. I'm sorting this out now. Kill him."
"Wha-...what no, he's…..Clark wouldn't" Annie felt her blood freeze as she looked ahead.
"Claaaark is not fucking here. I am. And I am tired of you not being on the same page as the rest of us." Homelander smirked at her as he felt his blood flowing downward at the sight of Hughie's fear and Annie's panic. "Kill him now or… I'll kill you both,"
"I-I-I-" Annie strutted her brain going haywire as she tried to think of any way out of this.
"Oh come on! Fucking chicks, right Hugh?" Homelander joked as he moved behind her and then gripped her arms like a vice. "Raise your arms, like you just don't care. Then let off a blast and fry the worm….. Do it now or die"
Annie felt herself freeze and was about to refuse to spit in Homelander's face when she saw Hughie's face. He was looking at her with complete love, serenity and forgiveness even giving her a small nod. It caused her to freeze for a moment as she knew what he was telling her to do, she felt sick as the heat built up in her hands praying for someone anyone to stop it.
"What is that? What the fuck is that noise?" Homelander's question caught her off-guard as he suddenly started twisting his head listening to something she couldn't hear.
Her eyes widened in understanding and before she could do anything suddenly felt herself being slammed against the wall Homelander's hand around her throat. His free hand started searching her costume not caring for decency or respect as he manhandled her before finally pulling out the signal watch from her pocket. He looked at it for a second before slamming it into the wall destroying it. He was furious.
"What the fuck was that? What the fuck are you playing at you bi-" Homelander's voice cut off at the same time Annie felt his hand leave her throat.
As she sucked in precious oxygen into her lungs her eyes widened as she was suddenly greeted by the sight of Clark holding Homelander in a headlock. The latter was looking shocked as his arms went up to start trying to pry the arms off whilst the former was shifting to keep his grip his face one of pure concentration.
"John, that's enough! Enough John, we are not killing anyone!" Clark's was loud enough that it caused the room to shake as he struggled to maintain his grip. "You are not going to h- AHH!"
Clark's grip broke as Homelander's snapped his head back into Clark's face and then drove his elbow into the other super's stomach. Neither action caused any real damage but their suddenness was coupled with just enough force to make Clark lose his grip. Homelander quickly pushed away from him and turned his breathing heavy as his eyes started to glow red, Clark squared off from him as his eyes also went red.
"Oi, cunts!" Both men froze and turned as appearing from the darkness of an adjacent tunnel was Billy Butcher wearing a long black trench coat covered like Hughie in blood and guts.
"William? My god today is a day for reunions!" Homelander smirked at the man turning to face him but still positioning himself to respond to Clark. "I'll love to catch up with you and all but I need a few minutes. First I need to teach my boy a lesson, then kill the pathetic worm on the floor and then I am all yours. By the way, your wife makes delicious pancakes,"
"Yeah, well eat this motherfucker!" Butcher smirked as he stepped aside only for a slim Asian man in a baseball cap to appear.
The man thrust his hands forward, then wrenched them downward. Clark felt himself get heavier as the floor smashed apart he saw the same thing was happening to Homelander. Before either of them could react he heard the ceiling crack and all he could do was lift his hand as rubble and what appeared to be several cars slammed into him. Clark was momentarily thrown as the unexpected force in which the objects hit sent him smashing further into the earth than he would have liked. His world became a blur of darkness that only stopped when he managed to use his powers to halt his descent hovering in the dark pocket of earth he had created.
"Well that was interesting," Homelander's voice sounded out from somewhere nearby, the muffling sound clearly showing that he was buried too.
Clark however ignored him as he righted himself and shot upwards barreling through the rubble, earth and metal that had been compacted on top of him. He could hear Homelander doing the same nearby as the two men started to race to the surface. Clark reached it first, smashing through the final layer and then through the hole that now existed in the ceiling, shooting further in the air than he had planned. However, the new vantage point allowed him to quickly scan the area for signs of where everyone had gone, his heart sank as he saw the trail of destruction below him.
BOOM! CRACK!
Clark's head snapped up and saw that a nearby apartment block was half demolished, on fire and purple sparks of lightning shooting into the air. He shot forward towards the roof and the air bent around him as he tried to reach the scene as swiftly as possible. There was still time for him to stop this from resulting in- SNAP
"NO!" Clark's voice cut out as the sickening sound reached his ears as Stromfront's hand left the Asian man's neck, Clark shot forward gripping her arm and almost holding her in the air. "WHAT DID YOU DO!"
"What I had to Big Blue, what I had to," Stormfront responded so casually that Clark actually let go of her looking in shock at the Superheroine in front of her. "Don't worry I'm sure you'll get there first next time,"
"I SAID HE WAS MINE!" Homelander's voice caused both of them to look over to the other superhero who had arrived a look of barely suppressed rage on his face.
"You snooze you lose gramps," Stromfront responded with a shrug as she walked away from Clark and past Homelander.
The two heroes stood still for a moment, Homelander just looked at the mutilated corpse in front of him and then turned and left without saying a word. Clark just felt sick, he had been a few seconds too late to help, a few seconds all, people had died and a man had been executed. Clark looked at the corpse and lifted his hands to his capes clasps removing the cape so that he could drape it over the fallen man. As he knelt over the man Clark looked up at a young Asian woman cowering on the roof, and his eyes connected with hers for a moment.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't stop this," Clark managed to whisper before he saw the woman slink away running for her life, taking nothing with her but leaving Clark feeling disgusted.
(A few hours later - Clark's Apartment - Seven Tower)
Annie knocked on the door again before deciding to just push it open. She knew someone was inside as she heard sounds coming from within, as she walked in she heard a TV on and the news report from earlier playing. It was the one that made her feel sick as it showed Stan Edgar pinning Compound V on the deceased Madelyn Sitwell and turning this whole thing into victory for Vought. Playing on fear of superpowered terrorists to drive the public into supporting Vought and driving their stock prices and position not only back to normal but higher than ever before. As she entered the apartment properly she saw him, bent forward in a chair, still in his Superman costume minus the cape, hands still sticky with blood.
"Clark wha-" Annie tried to speak but Clark cut her off as he spoke in a sombre voice.
"They killed that man, Annie, they killed him and people are celebrating it." Clark glanced up at the TV which was showing the public's reaction to the terrorist's death and Stromfront's heroics all of which were positive. "Is this what the world is now? Is this what people want? No justice, no closure, just violent bloody fights where the bad guy is executed without a trial or chance to reform? Is that the justice people want now?"
"I-I-I…..I don't know Clark," Was all Annie could manage as she looked from her friend to the TV whose images made her feel sick. "Maybe this is how the world works? I don't know, all I know is we are losing and whatever I or we do they just get stronger."
"Yes, they are," Clark's voice changed as he suddenly stood up a look of resolve on his face as he turned and started walking towards the door. "And I am tired of just reacting."
"Clark, where are you going?" Annie asked quickly. She found it difficult to keep up with him.
"To find Hughie, Lois and Butcher," Clark responded as he glanced at Annie as they moved towards the elevator. "My way isn't working and neither is yours, so we need to do something different. Especially if we are going to stop what is coming."
"What's coming?" Annie asked as the doors started to close looking at her friend with worry as he had an edge to his voice.
"The end of the world Annie, or more accurately the Superhuman Apocalypse," Clark responded as the doors slid shut.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Luke5921
Luke5921 (Author's notes)
Okay I'm back!
I do apologise for the delay my life has got super busy as of late, new job, new living arrangements and so much else creeping up on me. I am trying to keep to a schedule and writing is an important part of it but unfortunately out the very long list of priorities I have in my life writing is the one that is near the bottom :(
That being said I will always keep writing and will keep every story I have going for as long as I can so even if my schedule sometimes disappears into the black hole of my life I will keep coming back to continue them.
Anyway like always, please review, follow and favourite as you desire!
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