章 30: A Hero Bound
Pete glanced at Clark with a shocked expression, his face clearly showing, "Is he always like this?"
Clark rested his forehead on his hand and let out a soft laugh.
After school, they had planned to go to Soren's house and watch the movie together after dinner.
Soren happily skipped home with his small backpack.
Renee was arranging flowers in a vase in the living room.
Seeing him come in, she asked with concern, "How was your first day at school, sweetie?"
Soren practically leaped up the stairs, excitedly digging through his DVDs and setting up his CD player without looking back, "It was great, Mom!"
His happiness was obvious.
His golden wavy hair seemed to bounce with every step, as if it had wings.
Soren was eagerly looking forward to watching "Star Trek" with Clark.
He used to love watching TV with little Clark when they were kids.
Even though they had big disagreements on whether to watch <<Doctor Who>> or <<101 Dalmatians,>> it was always their special time together!
And now they were going to watch <<Star Trek>>!
What fan could refuse the ultimate viewing experience of watching <<Star Trek>> with Superman? — Superman, who was alive and could talk, was right next to him, watching ST together!
After dinner, Soren happily ran back to his room, rolling around on his bed, waiting for Clark to arrive.
But he didn't hear the doorbell ringing at all.
As it got later and later, Soren began to get a bit anxious.
He had thought maybe Clark was busy helping Jonathan and Martha with farm work and would come later, but it was already ten o'clock.
Even if Clark wasn't using his powers, he should have finished his chores by now.
He dialed the Kent family home phone, and Martha answered.
Soren introduced himself and asked if Clark was still at home.
Martha replied with surprise, "Wait, what's going on? Clark told me about this earlier. After dinner, he took a phone call and went out. I thought he'd be at your place by now…"
"He left early?" Soren asked, his concern growing.
"Yes, around eight o'clock…"
Realizing something was off, Soren quickly hung up the phone and hurriedly put on his coat.
Clark had left at eight but hadn't arrived by ten?
Two hours was more than enough time for Clark to circle the Earth several times over.
Where could he be?
Soren worried.
In Smallville—on Earth, where else could Clark go?
Even if he had to fly to the other side of the planet to stop a volcano from erupting near a city, Clark would still have enough time to drop a quick message saying he might be late.
Clark was nearly an adult Kryptonian.
There was almost nothing on this planet that could harm him, except for…
Except for Kryptonite.
Kryptonite from Krypton, a specialty of the meteor town Smallville.
With this thought, Soren's heart raced.
He need to find him, he thought.
He stepped out of Hargreaves's mansion, and as his right foot crossed the iron gate, white light flashed.
The next moment, a pure hite and shining Angemon appeared above Smallville.
Soren flew slowly through the clouds.
Angemon had excellent vision, and even through the clouds, it could see everything on the ground clearly.
Farmhouses, fields, forests, churches, country roads, town streets... He scanned every sight before him, carefully observing all of Smallville, making sure he didn't miss anything.
The misty clouds surrounded him, soaking the Angemon's golden hair.
As time passed, his heartbeat raced faster with every minute.
His mind couldn't help but flash with comic book scenes of Clark in trouble—intense battles, world-ending villains, dark apocalypse wars, the Origin Wall, Papetua... Even though he knew that Clark, being just a small-town boy, probably wouldn't face these dangers, his worry made him panic, almost gasping for breath.
Finally, in a cornfield near an abandoned factory, he spotted something unusual.
Soren quickly dove down.
Just before landing, his wings vanished, and his shinning Angemon form silently turned back into the slim boy.
Soren landed in the middle of the cornfield, the tall corn stalks towering over his shoulders.
In the darkness, the black corn leaves looked like crossed sickles, densely packed.
He looked down at the dirt beneath his feet, where several different-sized footprints with various patterns were pressed into the soil.
Then he looked up and followed the direction where the corn stalks had been pushed aside.
"Clark!" he shouted.
...
Soren running through the cornfield.
The thick corn leaves brushed against his cheeks, leaving small cuts on his skin, but he didn't notice it.
His eyes were focused straight ahead on the large wooden cross standing in the distance.
"Clark!" Soren called out again.
Under the faint starlight, he could finally see Clark tied to the cross.
Clark's hands were bound to the wooden beams by thick ropes.
His head hung low, and sweat dripped from his forehead as he looked incredibly weak.
His T-shirt had been torn, exposing his strong chest, and someone had painted a large red "S" on it.
Soren's mind went blank.
He stepped forward but stumbled over the corn stalks at his feet, almost falling to the ground.
Why… how could this happen?
Struggling through what felt like endless corn stalks, Soren finally made it to Clark.
"...Clark?" he called softly, his voice full of disbelief.
Clark seemed to hear him for the first time, slightly lifting his head to reveal eyes full of pain, even in the darkness.
Soren quickly scanned Clark's body and relieved to see there were no visible injuries.
Without hesitating, he reached out and ripped the necklace from around Clark's neck.
The pendant glowed faintly in Soren's hand with a familiar, ominous green light.
It was Kryptonite.
Soren threw the necklace as far as he could.
"Clark, are you okay?" Soren's voice trembled, his heart aching as he quickly tried to wipe the red paint off Clark's chest with his sleeve.
The red paint had been cruelly drawn into an "S."
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