Void Universe

Clark opened his eyes and found himself falling into absolute nothingness.

Not darkness. Darkness still had contours.

This was pure absence, a silence where even light had died.

He floated there, his body heavier than ever, as though every bone had been filled with lead.

The "S" emblem on his chest, the Kryptonian symbol that had once stood for hope and strength, had gone dull as a dust-covered stone.

His strength was draining away, and there was no stopping it.

Instinctively, he looked up for the familiar warmth of a star.

But all he saw was a cosmic graveyard: the shattered cores of giant planets, violently twisted wreckage of spacecraft, nebula dust frozen in place... Everything was still, as though time itself had stopped here.

No stars. Not one.

The realization struck his heart like a block of ice.

Kryptonians drew their power from young yellow stars. In this graveyard of stars, his body had become a vessel that could only lose energy, never replenish it. With every second, he grew weaker.

He thought of the farm in Kansas, where the sunlight had always felt so warm. He thought of Metropolis, of Lois... What would happen to them if he was trapped here forever?

Three meters away, Chu Hang floated motionless.

His eyes were closed, and golden cracks spread across his body like a spiderweb. He looked like a priceless porcelain figure on the verge of shattering.

The cracks slowly healed, only to be forced open again by the power raging inside him. The cycle repeated without end.

Golden blood seeped from the gaps and instantly crystallized in the vacuum, glimmering with a tragic beauty.

Clark struggled over to support him, but the moment his hand touched Chu Hang, a gentle, irresistible force pushed him away.

"Chu Hang?" he called