[Third Person Pov]
High above a cell tower, a blonde figure dressed in gothic clothing stood balanced perfectly on the narrow structure, staring down at the city below. Her twin pigtails swayed gently in the warm evening breeze as she remained perfectly still, like a shadow watching over the streets.
Yami observed with narrowed eyes as Clark walked Komi home, chatting casually before saying his farewells with a warm smile. Once Komi was safely inside, Clark continued walking for a short distance before stopping. He glanced around carefully, checking to make sure no one was paying attention to him.
His gaze then shifted directly toward Yami's hiding spot. With a faint smirk curling along his lips, he beckoned her over with a casual wave of his fingers.
Yami clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I even made sure to suppress my heartbeat and presence this time. How did he still find me?"
Clark sneered with playful arrogance and tapped the side of his nose knowingly. Yami sulked for a moment but eventually jumped down from the tower, flying gracefully across the rooftops of the nearby houses before landing lightly in front of him.
"What do you want?" Yami asked, her expression completely deadpan.
"I was just wondering the same thing," Clark replied, motioning for her to walk with him as he continued down the street. "What do you want? Didn't you leave? I didn't detect you on the planet until earlier today."
"I'm here to kill you as per my contract," Yami said with a completely straight face, her tone calm and nonchalant. She meant every word.
"What? Wasn't the contract terminated once Cranis died? It should technically be invalid now," Clark said, looking at her with a straight expression.
"New contract," Yami replied with a small shrug. "Someone else wants you dead. The pay was good, so I took it."
"You're joking, right?" Clark asked, giving her a deadpan stare.
"I don't joke. It's unprofessional," Yami replied, her neutral expression never changing.
"Unbelievable," Clark grumbled as they passed by a street vendor selling fresh taiyaki. The sweet, warm aroma immediately caught his attention—and he noticed it had the same effect on Yami. On impulse, he bought a few and handed one over to her.
"What's this?" Yami asked, eyeing the treat suspiciously as Clark offered it to her. "If this is an attempt to bribe me into canceling the contract, know that it won't work."
"Oh my god, just try it. I can tell you're interested," Clark said, gently stuffing the taiyaki into her mouth before handing her a fair share.
She gave him a sharp side-eye for his aggressive behavior but took a bite anyway. The moment the sweet filling hit her tongue, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened dramatically, as if an entirely new world had just opened up to her. Without hesitation, she devoured the entire treat in seconds, her usual stoic demeanor melting away as her eyes sparkled with pure wonder.
Clark raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, silently enjoying his own taiyaki. One of the many comforts Japan had brought him over the years was its delicious localized treats.
Yami looked down in confusion when she realized her hands were empty. She didn't even remember finishing it all, though a few crumbs still clung to the corners of her mouth.
She glanced over at Clark silently, her eyes locked onto the remaining snacks in his hands. Clark noticed her stare and rolled his eyes in exasperation.
He extended his taiyaki toward her as if offering it. Yami's eyes lit up and she reached for it eagerly—only for Clark to swipe it away at the last second and stuff the whole thing into his mouth in one go.
Yami stared at him with a look of utter betrayal, as if she couldn't believe his audacity. Clark started chuckling, the low rumble vibrating from his chest as he looked away.
Yami's glare intensified, her hair beginning to transform into sharp blades—until Clark quickly whacked her on the head. "Are you crazy?! Are you trying to expose my secret identity? Wait… how do you even know it's me?"
Yami looked him up and down while holding the top of her head, her eyes clearly asking, 'Are you seriously asking me that?'
"Fair enough…" Clark muttered, handing her the last piece of taiyaki from the bag with a snicker.
Yami's eyes lit up once more, but she froze and stared at him suspiciously, having learned her lesson. When Clark simply placed it gently in her hands, she accepted it carefully.
"Thanks…" she muttered quietly, nibbling on it little by little to make it last as long as possible.
"So who is it this time? Who's after my head?" Clark asked, glancing over at her with curiosity.
"I'm not liable to disclose that," Yami muttered. "But if it's any consolation, there are over three hundred different offers for your head, all with various prices and rewards."
"In what world would that bring me any sense of comfort?!" Clark asked, looking at her as if she had grown a second head.
"In a world where one enjoys a good challenge and loves fighting," Yami replied calmly. "But I digress. The consolation lies in the fact that you don't have to worry about who specifically wants you dead—since the answer is basically everyone." She flashed him a thumbs up.
"I'm tempted to fly you to the moon and leave you stranded there," Clark said flatly, his tone far from impressed.
Yami was about to retort when Clark suddenly tilted his head faintly, his expression shifting as if he were paying close attention to something far away—something distant and urgent that only he could perceive.
Clark lifted his gaze upward in visible confusion and activated his super vision, his eyes narrowing with focus. A fracture appeared in the sky as space itself seemed to tear open. From the newly formed wormhole emerged a massive spaceship of truly impressive magnitude, looming like a dark omen against the afternoon sky.
Yami followed his line of sight and looked up as well. Her pupils widened noticeably as she took in the full, overwhelming scale of the vessel descending toward the city.
It suddenly grew dark across the entire area, an unnatural shadow swallowing the daylight even though it was still the middle of the afternoon. When people looked up, they froze in place, staring at the alien armada with a heavy feeling of dread washing over them. The sight was nothing short of apocalyptic.
Some civilians quickly pulled out their phones to start recording the impossible event, while others stepped out of their vehicles, removing hats and standing in stunned silence with mouths hanging open in disbelief.
The alien invaders showed no hesitation. Thousands of ominous purple lights ignited brightly along the sides of the enormous vessel. In the next instant, they fired their artillery cannons, launching giant metal shells the size of tanker trucks—or perhaps even larger—hurtling down toward the city below.
…
Clark swiped the glasses off his face in one swift motion. Red energy swelled around him like a blazing aura, leaving only his glowing eyes clearly visible through the swirling power.
A subtle pressure built in the air around Clark's body before he launched himself upward. Yami instinctively raised a hand to shield her face and took a cautious step back from the force of his takeoff.
Clark appeared as nothing more than a distant red-and-gold speck of light against the massive foreign vessel due to how incredibly fast he was moving. His jaw was set tightly as he witnessed the devastating barrage of shells streaking toward the helpless city. He acted purely on instinct, driven by a single clear goal: Save the city.
His body became illuminated by his natural energy as he came to a sudden stop directly in the path of the incoming attack. To him, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The massive shell casings cut through the air at a crawl, leaving distorted trails of compressed atmosphere in their wake.
With so many projectiles hurtling at high speed, Clark knew he wouldn't be able to catch them all individually. His eyes suddenly flared with intense power. A natural field of energy expanded outward from his body as he floated with his limbs spread wide, creating a protective bubble of influence that encompassed a vast area around him.
…
"Ahhhh!!" Civilians shouted in terror as they crouched down, some clutching the tops of their heads protectively, others pulling their children close, while most simply braced themselves for the inevitable impact once they saw the flashes of incoming fire.
Then, the joyful voice of a child broke through the tense silence, echoing clearly across the street. "Look! It's Superman!!"
Everyone looked up in awe. All the deadly shells were suddenly suspended in mid-air, stopped dead in their tracks right in front of the city. The barrage had been completely halted.
A man who had been trembling in fright stared at the enormous artillery shell frozen mere inches from his face. He cautiously raised a shaky hand and touched it, pushing against the cold metal faintly before stumbling backward and landing hard on his backside. His life had just flashed before his eyes.
He looked around and saw the same miraculous sight everywhere—hundreds of other shells hanging motionless in the air like a deadly constellation.
Cheers erupted in a wild frenzy across the streets. People started clapping vigorously and whistling as they stared up at their savior with overwhelming relief and gratitude.
Clark levitated powerfully in the air, one arm extended outward as he controlled the suspended projectiles. A confident smirk slowly curled along his lips while his cape billowed dramatically in an unseen force.
"My abilities really are developing nicely, aren't they?" Clark said with a charming, confident grin.
"Naturally, Kal-El," Sol responded in his mind with equal confidence. "You have yet to reach your full potential, the limits of which even I am unable to calculate."
"That's great," Clark replied, narrowing his eyes threateningly toward the massive alien vessel hovering above, "but first… let's teach them a lesson they won't soon forget. I don't take kindly to those who threaten this planet and the people I've sworn to protect."
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