"You… you're Superman?!" Fire Man stared at the figure before him, his voice trembling with disbelief. "You're not dead?"
Indeed, the person who had burst onto the scene was Clark. Though Clark had been aware of the situation here earlier, he had been delayed by a group of Kryptonian mechanical warriors who had intercepted him on his way.
In a sense, the operatives of Vought International had accomplished part of their mission. They successfully located Superman after his return and even managed to hold him off briefly.
However, what they had not anticipated was the true extent of Clark's power. Even with two Doomsday clones at their disposal, they failed to defeat or even injure him. This outcome exceeded Vought's calculations entirely.
Vought had understood that Clark's strength far surpassed that of a typical Kryptonian. Even several squads of Kryptonian mechanical warriors were not a match for him. Yet, they had placed their confidence in the belief that Clark had previously disappeared due to Doomsday.
From Vought's perspective, even if Clark hadn't been killed by Doomsday, he must have been seriously injured. If one Doomsday wasn't enough to kill Clark, surely two would suffice. Acting on this assumption, they deployed two Doomsday clones—only to watch in shock as Clark killed them both with ease.
What Vought hadn't accounted for was a critical detail: the difference between their engineered creations and the original. Just like the mechanical warriors, artificially controlled beings lacked the potential of those with true autonomy. Mechanical warriors could only reach the lower limits of a Kryptonian's solar-powered capabilities, and the Doomsday clones could only achieve the baseline level of the original Doomsday. Infinite regeneration and evolution were entirely out of the question.
Even so, the mechanical warriors and Doomsday clones had managed to delay Clark long enough for some innocent bystanders to lose their lives.
"You sound like you already knew about my existence," Clark said, turning his gaze toward the reconnaissance goggle-wearing man, ignoring the stunned Fire Man.
From the reconnaissance man's earlier words, Clark deduced that this individual had been aware of him for some time. While Clark had been preoccupied fighting Doomsday, the man had seemed to relish the chaos, showing no inclination to resist or save lives, even as his comrades died.
Yet now, face-to-face with Clark, the reconnaissance man abandoned all pretense of resistance. His expression shifted from calm to one of regret.
"You still have time to chat with me? Shouldn't you be more worried about—" the man began, glancing at the trapped civilians. He trailed off abruptly, his expression hardening.
"Impressive. Even with abilities similar to yours, the gap between us is as vast as the one between me and ordinary humans. You truly live up to the title of a god among men," he admitted with a sigh.
What had shaken him wasn't merely Clark's presence but the suddenness of the change in his surroundings. All his companions were unconscious, including Fire Man, who moments earlier had been gaping at Clark. The reconnaissance man hadn't even noticed how it happened. One moment they were standing; the next, they had collapsed.
Clark's actions had unfolded faster than the man's enhanced senses could register, a testament to the vast disparity in their power levels.
"I'll ask you again," Clark said coldly. "Answer me truthfully, or I'll bring you in. And trust me, someone will extract the truth from your mind."
Faced with Clark's unyielding tone, the man raised his hands in mock surrender. "At this point, I see no reason to hide anything," he said. He cast a glance at the terrified but unharmed survivors inside the safe house, then began to explain.
"I knew some details about Vought's operation," the man began, his tone resigned. "But I didn't know their ultimate target. Based on my calculations, this whole setup was likely meant to draw someone out—either the Avengers or that defector hero, the Sentry."
"But I never expected the target to be you. Or maybe… you weren't their target, and you just happened to be here."
"When you were intercepted by the mechanical warriors and those two monsters, I realized who you were. But even then, I didn't think they'd stand a chance against you. Or perhaps they were never meant to be your true opponents," he finished, his voice trailing off.
"If you knew it was a Vought conspiracy and that innocent people could die, why did you target civilians instead of going after Vought?" Clark demanded, his voice icy.
The reconnaissance man chuckled bitterly. "Oh, Superman, you must not have paid much attention to who we are. We're failed experiments, just like the ones lying unconscious over there. Once, we were ordinary people too. But after enduring unspeakable experiments, we became 'enhanced'—though hardly by choice."
He took a deep breath, his smile twisted with bitterness. "But we're not true superhumans. We're defective products, failed experiments. Our only value lies in being further tested until our bodies inevitably collapse."
"Compared to those who've already perished in the labs, we're lucky to have had this brief taste of freedom. Even so, most of us won't survive the week. I, for one, have less than three hours left to live."
"So, knowing we were doomed, why not go out with a bang? If nothing else, we wanted to leave our mark on the world. Even if that mark was hate and fear, it was better than being forgotten entirely."
Clark's expression remained stern. "That's no excuse to harm innocent people. If your grievance is with Vought, you should have turned your wrath against them. Attacking the weak only strips you of any claim to sympathy."
"Exactly! If you're so powerful, why not take on Vought instead of us?" one of the civilians shouted from within the safe house.
"Monsters! You couldn't handle Vought, so you decided to kill defenseless people instead?" another chimed in.
"You deserve every bit of suffering you've endured!" someone else yelled. "I hope you all rot in hell!"
As the anger of the survivors spilled forth, the reconnaissance man smirked coldly. "Yell all you want. It won't change the fact that you're just ordinary people. You're lucky to be alive. You'll never have the power to fight Vought," he sneered.
"Zing!"
The taunt was cut short as a laser beam shot through his head, destroying both him and his goggles. The man collapsed instantly.
Clark could have intervened to prevent the execution, but he didn't. He understood that, for these survivors, this act of vengeance provided a catharsis they desperately needed.
"Superman, can you leave the rest of them to us?" one of the survivors asked, gesturing toward the unconscious experiments.
Clark hesitated, but eventually nodded. "Fine," he said.
What followed surprised even him. The survivors, despite their disheveled state, formed an orderly queue. Those with laser weapons took turns executing the experiments, then passed their weapons to the next in line.
The entire process unfolded without a single word exchanged. Their shared trauma had forged an unspoken understanding.
Clark watched for a moment, then sighed and turned away. He had already detected the arrival of law enforcement, the military, and members of the Seven. It seemed Vought had finally sent reinforcements—too late to stop the slaughter but just in time to maintain appearances.
As Clark ascended into the sky, a voice crackled in his ear. It was the Sentry.
"You should have let me handle it," the Sentry said gruffly. "Why bother protecting systems that let this happen?"
Clark didn't reply directly. "Did Vought come after you too?" he asked, steering the conversation away from the Sentry's complaints.
For now, he had more pressing matters to consider.
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