Clark Lost His Powers

Splash, splash.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and rain poured down in torrents, turning the Farms' green lawn into a muddy mess.

Jonathan, Martha, and David sat in the warm house, drinking hot tea.

Raindrops the size of beans battered the windows, crackling loudly.

"Why isn't Clark back yet?"

Holding a steaming cup of black tea, Martha glanced outside in confusion.

"I saw Chloe call him away."

After taking a sip of tea, David spoke.

"Maybe he's helping Chloe proofread."

Jonathan worried about his eldest son's safety.

"It's only a heavy rainstorm, not a flood. Clark will be fine."

He smiled.

Bang!

Suddenly, a weak hand slapped against the door.

A tall figure pushed open the door and staggered miserably into the house. His torn clothes were covered in mud, and several strands of his drenched hair clung to his face.

Crack!

A brilliant flash of lightning lit up the pale face of Clark, who had fallen to the floor. There were several streaks of blood on the side of his face.

"Clark, what happened to you?"

Jonathan and Martha were terrified. They had never seen their son in such a state, and they hurriedly stepped forward to help their eldest son up.

Martha touched her son's forehead and found it burning hot, her face changing in shock.

"Ah! Why is your forehead so hot?"

"Are you okay?"

David's expression changed, his brows knitting tightly as he quickly took the heavy Clark from his parents.

The only thing David could think of that would leave Clark in such a sorry state was Kryptonite.

"Were you walking home with Lana to get out of the rain, and Whitney saw you?"

"N-No."

Soaked through and weak, Clark was helped into a chair by his younger brother. He weakly raised his head to look at David, panic in his eyes.

"David, I... I've lost my powers!"

The family stared in stunned disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

David froze.

He did not quite understand Clark's words. Had Superman's powers ever disappeared before?

Though it was cloudy and raining outside, it was not the Red Sun that could rob a Kryptonian of his strength.

"I don't understand either.

"Before I came home, I was struck by lightning, and then my powers disappeared."

Clark looked at his burned hands when a drop of blood suddenly fell onto them.

He touched his nose. He was actually having a nosebleed. His vision went dark, and he collapsed onto the table.

"Clark?"

David was about to ask whether Clark had accidentally inhaled Kryptonite dust.

That could also disable his powers for a period of time.

But Clark had actually passed out.

"David, we need to take your brother to the hospital."

Panicked, Martha wanted to drive through the rain to the hospital immediately, but Jonathan grabbed her arm.

"Wait, Martha."

If they went to the hospital and the doctors found something, it would surely cause trouble. He did not want to lose the son he had worked so hard to raise.

"Maybe this is normal for Clark. Let's watch him for a while longer."

Clark was not from Earth. No one knew whether he might have some unusual stage of development. Perhaps this was like bears hibernating in winter or caterpillars spinning cocoons.

"It's fine, Mom."

David listened closely to Clark's heartbeat and frowned.

"Clark's heartbeat is strong and steady. He seems to have fainted from overexertion combined with a fever."

"Some medicine and rest should be enough."

"Really?"

Martha looked at her serious younger son, half believing and half doubting.

Clark's body was normal in some ways. Compared to ordinary people, he was outrageously strong, but compared to a Kryptonian, he was highly abnormal.

Still, for the moment, he was definitely not in any danger.

"I'll take him upstairs first."

A trace of confusion flashed through David's eyes over what had happened to Clark. Together with his father Jonathan, he carried Clark upstairs.

As the downpour swept in, Avery, his blond hair plastered down and his clothes torn to shreds, ran home.

Suddenly, his speed inexplicably surged. Like an out-of-control airplane skimming the ground, he broke the sound barrier, blasted apart the raindrops, and crashed violently into a huge roadside tree that would take several people to encircle.

Bang!

As if struck by a rocket, the tree exploded into fragments, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

Avery pulled himself out of the tree trunk and stared in shock at his completely unharmed body.

"What's going on? Why wasn't I hurt at all?"

Even if a speeding truck had smashed into a tree like that, its front end should have been crumpled.

Yet he was completely unharmed.

"And that speed just now?"

"I'm just like the Angel Warrior from the comics!"

Unable to believe it, Avery was shocked and ecstatic at the miraculous sight before him.

This kind of power?!

Angel Warrior was a wildly popular comic that had been serialized for more than a decade and had accompanied countless children through their childhoods. It told the story of the superhero Angel Warrior, who possessed speed beyond sound and an immensely powerful body.

He tentatively threw another punch with all his strength.

Bang!

The air exploded like a pressurized boiling pot, and the roar of a sonic boom carried for miles, even drowning out the thunder in the sky.

In an instant, the raindrops and pooled water within several meters were violently blasted away. A visible shockwave surged forward, and the area more than ten meters ahead looked as though it had been swept by a typhoon, shattering tree after tree in an instant and creating a fan-shaped stretch of destruction that looked as though it had been hit by missiles.

After standing there blankly for several seconds, a laugh that seemed to have been suppressed for far too long burst into madness in the rain. Avery covered his forehead and threw back his head in wild laughter, one exposed eye blazing with endless defiance and arrogance.

With such power, what in the world could stop him now?

"I can do whatever I want!"

When his backpack strap snapped as he crashed through the roadside tree, the backpack fell to the ground, spilling books and homework everywhere.

Before, he would have hurriedly picked them up to avoid being scolded by his parents when he got home.

But now...

Avery's lips curled in deep contempt.

Now that he possessed the power of a god, did he still need to go to school?

His parents, especially that old-fashioned father of his, could no longer control him!

He took a step to leave.

A fist-sized meteorite that had fallen out of his backpack began to glow green, as if it had sensed something.

As Avery passed the backpack, his legs gave out and he fell into the mud. Pain surged through him as though his skin were being burned.

"My powers disappeared again?"

Lying weakly in the muddy water, he stared at the strangely glowing meteorite, his face turning ugly with shock and suspicion.

"What is this thing?"

The next morning, the rain had passed and the sky had cleared. Bright sunlight streamed into the house.

In the warm, comfortable bed.

With a cold towel on his forehead, Clark opened his eyes, feeling much better.

His parents and younger brother were all gathered around his bed.

He threw back the covers and sat up.

"Clark, how are you?" Warmth flowed through Clark's heart at his parents' concerned questions, and he smiled.

"I'm fine now."

Clark then looked toward his younger brother. Though David stood there silently, his brows were tightly furrowed, and his eyes held concern and a desire for answers.

"What exactly happened to you?"

Not just David—the couple also wanted to know why their eldest son had ended up like this.

"After school yesterday..."

Pressing a hand to his forehead, Clark thought back. It should have had something to do with the lightning.

"Dam Bridge, Avery, saving someone, getting struck by lightning, Green Lightning?"

After hearing his account, the couple looked at each other, unable to make sense of it.

"It really was a meteorite."

David shook his head.

Had the lightning reacted with Kryptonite and caused an effect similar to inhaling Kryptonite dust?