When Selene ran up the stairs, she never expected anyone to be standing at the stairwell entrance. Seeing Clark's shadow cast across the stairs, she instinctively darted left, then rolled and shot past Clark's side.
Everything happened too suddenly, and Selene moved too fast. The agents chasing after her saw Clark blocking the stairwell and assumed he was Selene's accomplice. Without a second thought, they opened fire on him.
Of course, bullets could not harm Clark. His biofield made him impervious to blades and bullets. But Clark was a little angry. He was kind, but he had a temper too. These people had charged at him and fired real bullets without a word. If he had been an ordinary person, wouldn't he have been killed? How could they be so irresponsible?
He had no idea that these agents had been driven furious by the slippery Catwoman. Catwoman was not especially good at frontal combat, but when it came to ambushes, positioning, and kiting enemies, she was among the very best. Taking advantage of the dim corridor lighting, she had knocked out several agents in sneak attacks, enraging the others. They had even stopped looking for their boss, Benjamin, and chased Catwoman all the way up from downstairs.
"Stop!" Clark shouted. "There are ordinary people here! How can you just open fire?!"
The agents actually paused for a moment, because they had never seen anyone like Clark. When they carried out missions, ordinary people either screamed and ran away or crouched off to the side with their hands over their heads. Someone bold enough to stand directly in their pursuit path was a first for them.
"We're carrying out a mission. Move aside immediately!"
"But you just shot at me! Do you have authorization? Who gave you permission to attack civilians?!"