Clark's feet touched down in a nearby alley, his heart hammering. His hands were still shaking as he looked at them.
"I… I actually did it," he whispered, almost laughing and crying at the same time. "I saved them."
He pulled his hoodie tight over his head, took a deep breath, and walked out of the alley, forcing himself to blend in with the sea of pedestrians.
By the time he stepped into the Daily Planet after changing his clothes back on, his nerves were back in overdrive. Reporters rushed everywhere, voices shouting over phones, typewriters clattering. He tried to slip toward his desk unnoticed, but a sharp voice cut through the chaos:
"Where have you been, Smallville?"
Lois with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed like twin daggers.
"I-I, uh…." Clark stammered, tugging nervously at his glasses. "I was just, um… getting… coffee? Yeah, coffee. But the line was… uh… really long."
Lois raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Right. Coffee. During the biggest story of the year." Her glare lingered, and Clark swore it was more terrifying than a crashing plane.
"Y-yeah… sorry…" he muttered, practically shrinking into himself as he slid past her.
Before Lois could press further, Perry White stormed out of his office, his voice booming over the noise.
"Alright, listen up! Every single one of you better be on this! Some… mutant just caught a plane out of the sky, and I want answers! Who is he? Where'd he come from? And why the hell was he in L.A.?"
Clark froze at the word. Mutant.
Right. This wasn't DC. This was Marvel. Here, superpowered people weren't aliens… they were mutants or super soldiers or scientific accidents.
He sank into his chair, pretending to shuffle papers, when his phone buzzed. He checked it and nearly jumped out of his seat.
Ma Kent.
His thumb hesitated, but he answered. "H-hello?"
"Clark?" Martha Kent's voice was soft, but he could hear the worry under it. "Was that you? On the news? The plane?"
Clark's mouth went dry. Every instinct screamed at him to lie, to protect them, to keep them out of this crazy new world. "Ma, I-I…" His eyes dropped to the desk. "I don't want to drag you and Pa into this."
There was silence on the other end. Then Jonathan Kent's steady voice broke through. "Son. Tell us the truth."
Clark swallowed hard. "…Yeah. It was me."
For a moment, neither parent spoke. He braced for anger, or disappointment but instead, Martha's voice came back, firm but warm.
"Come home, Clark."
"W-what? Why?"
"Because," Jonathan said, his tone carrying that quiet authority Clark had always respected, "we've been keeping something for you. And after today… I think it's time you had it."
Clark's heart pounded but he got up and left.
Timeskip
The cool Kansas air brushed against Clark's face as he descended from the sky, boots crunching softly on the dirt road that led up to the Kent farmhouse. He stared at it for a long moment. Looking at the wraparound porch, the weathered red barn, the golden fields stretching beyond.
It felt like stepping into a memory.
The front door opened before he could knock. Martha rushed out, apron still on, her arms wide. Clark barely had time to smile before she pulled him into a hug.
"Oh, Clark," she whispered, holding him like she hadn't seen him in years. "You scared me half to death."
"I'm sorry, Ma," Clark murmured, his voice trembling. "I didn't mean to…"
"Don't apologize," Jonathan Kent said as he joined them, his steady gaze meeting Clark's. "You did the right thing. You saved lives."
Clark looked away, suddenly unsure. "I didn't feel brave. I was terrified the whole time. But… I couldn't just stand there."
Jonathan's hand came down on his shoulder, firm and reassuring. "That's what makes you a hero, son. Doing what's right even when you're scared."
Martha took Clark's hand and led him inside. "We knew this day would come. That one day, you'd have to choose what kind of man you'd be. And we wanted you to be ready."
Jonathan opened a chest at the foot of the stairs. Inside, folded neatly, was a suit. Blue, red, and yellow. Iconic. The cape was unmistakable and Clark recognized the symbol instantly.
"The blanket we found you in," Martha explained softly. "We always knew it wasn't from this world. So I sewed it into something that could be."
Clark's throat tightened as he lifted the cape, running the fabric through his fingers. The weight of it wasn't heavy, but the meaning behind it was.
"You made this… for me?"
"For who we knew you'd become," Jonathan said. "Not because you have to be a hero, but because we knew you'd choose to be."
Tears welled in Clark's eyes as he pulled both of them into a hug, the cape draped over his arm.
"I'll wear it," he said, voice cracking. "And I promise that no matter what happens, no matter how far I go….I'll always come home to you."
Martha pressed a kiss to his cheek, smiling through her tears. "That's all we'll ever ask."
Clark stepped back, unfolding the suit fully now and smiled at his parents.
Timeskip
The next day, the California sun bathed Los Angeles in gold. On a busy street, a delivery truck rumbled along. Inside, the driver glanced down at his phone, thumbing through a message.
When he looked back up his stomach dropped.
A red light. A child crossing the street.
He slammed the brakes. Nothing. The pedal sank uselessly under his foot.
"God, no!" He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact.
But instead of a sickening crash, the truck jolted to a sudden stop, as if it had slammed into a wall made of steel.
The driver blinked, hands gripping the wheel. Slowly, he dared to look.
A man stood in front of the truck, one hand pressed against its grill, holding back tons of metal with casual strength. Sunlight glinted off a blue suit, a red cape rippling in the wind, and a bold "S" emblazoned on his chest.
The stranger glanced up at the driver with a warm smile. "Hey. You okay?"
The driver could only nod, his mouth hanging open.
The man turned toward the little boy frozen in the crosswalk. Clark bent down, picked up the cap the child had dropped, and gently placed it back on his head. "Here you go, buddy. You alright?"
The boy nodded stiffly, eyes wide as saucers. "N-Nice suit…"
Clark chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Thanks. My mom made it."
With that, he turned as if to leave, but the driver leaned out his window, voice shaky. "Wait who… who are you?"
Clark paused. For a moment, Brian's old nerves bubbled up and the shy, bullied kid who never thought he'd matter. But then he straightened, shoulders squared, cape fluttering behind him.
He smiled, confident and kind.
"Superman."
And with a rush of wind, he lifted off the ground and soared into the sky.
High above the city, Superman drifted through the clouds, letting the sun warm his skin. The air was crisp, the wind rushing past him and it felt peaceful. For the first time since the plane, he allowed himself to feel it. Freedom.
Then, a sharp scent hit his senses. Acrid. Bitter. Smoke.
Clark's eyes snapped open, narrowing toward the horizon. A column of black smoke twisted upward like a warning signal. His stomach dropped.
Without hesitation, he angled his body and streaked toward it, the city rushing up to meet him.
An apartment building burned, flames licking out of shattered windows. Fire engines surrounded the block, hoses blasting water, but the blaze only grew fiercer. A crowd pressed against police barricades, phones raised, voices shouting. Among them was Lois, notebook in hand, eyes sharp as she dictated notes, and Jimmy, camera snapping furiously.
Clark's heart clenched. People were still inside.
He landed on the roof of a neighboring building, eyes glowing faintly as he focused. The world peeled away. Walls vanished, smoke thinned, and inside he saw them and there was six people. Trapped. One huddled in a bathroom coughing violently. Two more pounded at a jammed window. A family crouched together in the stairwell, flames cutting off their escape.
"No time to wait for backup." His jaw set.
He dropped from the roof, cape snapping like a banner of hope. The crowd gasped, reporters shouting over each other.
"Who is that!"
Superman didn't pause. He smashed through a window with his shoulder, flames roaring around him. Heat washed over his skin, smoke searing his lungs but he forced himself forward, unshaken.
The first victim, a young woman, choked in the bathroom, eyes wide in terror. Clark tore the door off its hinges and scooped her into his arms. "You're safe now," he promised, his voice steady. One leap, and they were out the window, landing gently on the pavement where firefighters rushed to take her.
The crowd erupted. Jimmy's camera clicked like mad. Lois's pen never stopped moving, though her eyes followed the cape.
Back inside.
The family next. Clark blasted through a flaming beam with his heat vision, sending sparks scattering, then wrapped his arms around the three of them. Their sobs muffled against his chest as he soared out, depositing them with the paramedics.
The window was jammed shut, flames creeping closer. Clark ripped the frame free, reached in, and pulled the man and woman into the air, carrying them clear just as the floor gave way behind them.
When his boots touched the ground the last time, the building groaned, fire consuming its bones. Clark turned back, cape scorched at the edges but his body unharmed.
The crowd surged forward, applause breaking out. "Superman! Superman!" someone shouted, the name catching like wildfire.
Lois stared, her pen frozen mid-sentence. For once, she was speechless. Jimmy lowered his camera, awe softening his usual grin.
Superman raised a hand to calm the crowd, offering a reassuring smile. "Everyone's safe now," he said, voice carrying strength and comfort. "That's what matters."
Then, before questions could fly, he lifted into the sky, disappearing above the skies.
Lois finally blinked, her sharp gaze locking on the fading dot in the clouds. "Superman…" she whispered, the word both a name and a mystery.