"Ah!"
The school bus plunged into the river with a violent crash, and panic erupted inside. Students screamed as water rushed in, their cries merging with the grinding metal of the sinking vehicle.
The stocky bully who had mocked Clark only moments earlier was flung backward as the bus tilted.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His body smashed against the walls and seats before slamming into the iron frame of the rear window. He groaned once and fell unconscious. The other delinquents who had been standing suffered the same fate, thrown around like ragdolls.
Those who had been seated clung desperately to armrests and bolted seats, escaping serious injury for now. But luck would not save them from the rising water.
"Oh my God! Help!"
"The water's coming in—we're going to drown! Break the windows!"
"I can't swim! Somebody please!"
The cold, murky current surged in mercilessly. Students shoved one another in a desperate scramble for escape. A girl, bleeding from a head wound, collapsed into the freezing water. She tried to stand, but her strength was gone. Her body was giving in, lungs burning.
As despair consumed her, a hand seized her arm and yanked her upward.
"Are you alright?"
She coughed violently, gasping for air. Clark Kent steadied her, calm even in chaos.
"Thank you, Clark," she sobbed.
"It's okay. Stay calm. We'll get out of here."
He squeezed her shoulder gently, then turned to glance at the seat where his brother should have been. Empty.
Adrian was gone.
Of course he was. Clark knew his brother better than anyone—Adrian would never sit and wait for disaster. He had awakened his power long before Clark and embraced it without hesitation. His speed, his strength… all greater than Clark's own.
Clark inhaled sharply, stripped off his jacket, and dove into the freezing torrent. His father had told him to keep his powers hidden, but if he did nothing now, everyone on this bus would die. He couldn't just stand by.
Splash!
He surged beneath the surface, lungs filling with cold pressure. His hands gripped the rear panel of the bus, muscles straining. With a guttural roar, he tore the steel apart, carving an escape route.
Lifting his gaze, he froze.
Through the shifting veil of water above, he saw someone standing on the bridge. Watching.
Adrian.
The sight ignited Clark's anger. His brother stood there, unmoved, as if the lives of the drowning students were none of his concern. Clark's jaw clenched, fury burning inside.
Suppressing the urge to confront him, Clark pushed harder, dragging the bus upward inch by inch. His body screamed in protest, arms bulging with impossible strength. The current fought him, the waterlogged bus dragging him down.
"Too slow," he muttered through clenched teeth. At this pace, they wouldn't survive.
He lifted his head toward the bridge, shouting through the roar of the current.
"Adrian!"
His voice cracked with desperation. "If you don't help, I swear I'll tell Mom and Dad everything!"
It was a childish threat, the same tactic he'd used countless times before. But Adrian didn't move. He remained a statue, cold and indifferent.
Clark's strength faltered. His arms trembled. The bus slipped in his grasp. Despair was clawing its way in when—
Boom!
The river exploded.
A streak tore through the water like a missile, and suddenly Adrian was there. His hand clamped around the bus, and with effortless strength he wrenched it free from the depths.
The vehicle burst from the river, crashing through the surface with a thunderous splash. Water cascaded down like a sudden rainstorm, while the students inside gasped and choked for air.
The sunlight broke across their faces, dazzling and unreal. They were alive.
Adrian dragged the bus to the shallows near the bank and released it with careless ease. Emergency vehicles crowded the bridge above, sirens blaring. Parents rushed to their children, sobbing with relief.
Clark sat on the ground, a blanket draped around his shoulders by a nurse. His gaze fell on the pebbles at his feet, chest rising and falling with silent turmoil.
Adrian stood nearby, expression unreadable, his piercing eyes fixed not on Clark but on the girls who whispered and stared. They had seen Clark lifting the bus, not Adrian's final intervention. To them, Clark was the hero. Their gazes carried awe, fear, and confusion.
Adrian didn't bother correcting them.
"Clark! Adrian!"
The familiar voice of Jonathan Kent broke the tension. He rushed over, still in his work clothes, face lined with worry.
Grabbing Adrian's shoulder first, Jonathan searched his son's face with trembling hands. "Are you alright, son?"
"I'm fine," Adrian said.
Relief washed over Jonathan's face. He turned to Clark, kneeling beside him. "Clark, you're not hurt, are you?"
"No, Dad," Clark said softly, forcing a smile.
"Good. Let's go home."
Jonathan draped his jacket over Adrian's shoulders before ushering both boys away from the chaos.
---