Podrick Farm
"Hiss!"
Star-Lord grimaced and inhaled sharply through his teeth.
At this moment, Peter was applying iodine to his elbow.
Looking at the wound on Star-Lord's arm, which was bubbling with white foam, Peter breathed a sigh of relief.
Because that tiny wound—no bigger than a fingernail—was the only injury on Star-Lord's entire body.
Probably thanks to his Celestial heritage, Star-Lord had an incredibly tough body and an astonishing healing rate.
That's likely how he managed to bounce back so quickly after being forcefully shoved by Erik.
"You should understand by now, Star-Lord—mercy toward your enemy is cruelty to yourself. If I were you, I wouldn't have stopped after firing one shot."
Loki stood nearby, throwing in a sarcastic remark. "I'd make sure he couldn't move before talking sense into him—preferably after stabbing him a few times."
"Go help pour out the water," Peter said, annoyed by Loki's presence.
"Dad, I'm sorry I couldn't take him down," Star-Lord apologized, clearly feeling embarrassed.
"No, it's not your fault. That was Clark's power," Peter reassured the disheartened Star-Lord.
He had originally planned for Clark to experience life as an ordinary human for a couple of days, but now it seemed things had gone completely off-track.
While Clark had obediently followed the plan, Erik, who had gained Clark's powers, had gone completely off the rails and started acting like Homelander.
It was clear now—he had to act ahead of schedule.
"By the way, where's John?"
Peter suddenly realized he hadn't seen John in a while.
"He hasn't shown up since school," Star-Lord replied. "And he wasn't with Clark either."
Peter nodded and glanced outside.
Dark storm clouds were gathering at dusk, and thunder rumbled faintly in the distance.
Meanwhile...
Erik's House
Erik swung the door open and excitedly handed a newspaper to his mother. "Mom, did you see the news?"
His mother forced a smile and took the paper. "Yes, I saw it."
Noticing something off in her tone, Erik asked, "What's wrong, Mom?"
As he spoke, his mother instinctively took a step back.
"You… are you afraid of me, Mom?"
Before she could answer, his father's voice came from behind. "Erik, we're just concerned—where did your powers come from?"
Erik shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe it was the lightning."
His father looked skeptical. "I made an appointment with Dr. Li."
The smile on Erik's face vanished instantly. "I'm not sick, Dad. I'm special."
But his father ignored him and continued, "If you're healthy, we'll send you to Metropolis."
"I don't get it. What for?"
"I have an old colleague who's a university professor—he wants to meet you."
Anger flared in Erik's eyes. He shouted, "Does he want to study me?! I'm not some science experiment!"
The years of frustration and pain he had bottled up erupted at once. "Dad, everything that went wrong in this family was because of you! You always think you're right and never care about what I want!"
His father, not backing down, stepped forward and stared him down. "You might be special, but as long as you live in this house, you follow my rules!"
That domineering stance pushed Erik over the edge. In a flash of lightning-fast movement, he grabbed his father's arm and slammed him against the wall.
Boom!
The whole house seemed to tremble.
"I'm done with you! I'm not a freak, and I'm not going anywhere!"
His father groaned, pinned against the wall, and swallowed nervously as he felt Erik's inhuman strength. "Erik, put me down!"
"Let me tell you something—I'll do whatever I want now, and no one can stop me!"
Clutching his father's collar, a cold smile tugged at Erik's lips.
Just then, his mother's trembling voice rang out from behind. "Erik, let your father go!"
Erik turned—and froze when he saw his mother holding a golf club pointed at him.
"Mom?! What are you doing?"
Confused, he couldn't understand why she was looking at him like he was a threat.
"I got a call from the principal. He told me what you did at school."
"Mom, I just lost control for a second, that's all."
His mother shook her head and spoke with a heartbroken tone, "Everyone has to take responsibility for their actions."
Erik wanted to say more—but then the shrill sound of police sirens filled the air.
He quickly ran to the window and peeked through the curtains. Down the street, police cars were approaching.
His gaze snapped back to his mother in disbelief. "Mom… what did you do?!"
"Erik, you need help," she said, tears in her eyes.
"So you called the cops on me?!"
Erik looked at both his parents, utterly heartbroken. "You're my parents… You're supposed to protect me, not turn me in!"
"Step on it!"
Agent Mu Palasha, who had just left Clark's house, urged her team to speed up their approach to Erik's home.
They screeched to a stop outside the house. Drawing her pistol, she was ready to storm in.
The next moment—bang!—he was slammed backward by the door flying open and sent hurtling through the air, crashing to the ground and rolling in pain.
To his disbelief, Erik immediately picked up his car and hurled it at the nearby house.
Boom!
The car smashed into the building and embedded itself in the wall. Chunks of debris exploded outward, accompanied by a deafening roar.
After causing all this destruction, Erik shot Mu Palasha a contemptuous glance—then vanished into thin air.
Mu Palasha tried to get up, only to be overwhelmed by searing pain.
Her ribs were broken.
Damn this miserable little town.
She never should've come to this godforsaken place.
After trashing the police vehicles, Erik returned to the bridge where he had previously exchanged powers with Clark.
Standing at the edge, he looked down at the raging river below.
"You thinking of jumping?"
A sudden voice came from behind him.
Erik turned around and saw John, a fellow student from school.
"No," Erik replied. "I just want to test my limits. What are you doing here?"
"I came to tell you something," John said casually as he walked forward. "You don't have any limits."
"Even with superpowers, you're still a weak, cowardly, pathetic excuse for a human being."
Erik narrowed his eyes at the provocation. "You clearly don't understand the power I possess."
"I could squash you like a bug."
Erik stepped over the railing, eyes dark with menace, and slowly advanced toward John."I'll do whatever the hell I want, and no one can sto—"
But before he could finish that sentence, John blasted him mid-sentence with heat vision—instantly.
Erik's body was launched backward, skidding across the bridge and leaving a deep trench before finally slamming into a support column with a loud thud.
Lying on the ground, Erik clutched his chest in pain.
He can shoot lasers from his eyes?!I'm not the only special one?
Reeling with doubt, Erik gritted his teeth, stood up, and launched himself forward with super speed, charging at John.
But to his shock, his punch was effortlessly caught mid-air.
Expressionless, John shook his head."As expected. Even with powers, you're still a worthless piece of trash. You don't even know how to use them. You're so weak it disgusts me."
With that, John slapped Erik across the face with a loud crack—the impact sent Erik flying again.
His ears rang, his cheek burned like fire, and lying on the ground, Erik gasped for air, struggling to rise.
John strolled up to him and looked down with disdain."I'm faster. I'm stronger. If I wanted to, I could end you right now."
"You're not someone who can 'do whatever he wants'—you're just a powerless, arrogant, pathetic human."
Enraged by John's words, Erik roared and lunged for another attack.
But once again, his supposedly lightning-fast punch was casually intercepted.
John spun and smashed his elbow into Erik's chest with a thud, sending him flying again.
Before Erik could even hit the ground, John darted forward, grabbed him by the throat, and rocketed into the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The air thundered as John accelerated upward, repeatedly breaking the sound barrier.
"W-what are you doing?!"
The wind howled in Erik's ears. Now, he was truly afraid.
He hadn't expected John to fly—let alone to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than him in every way.
He had thought he was the most extraordinary being on Earth.
But now he realized—he wasn't even close.
His arrogance crumbled, leaving only raw terror behind.
"You wanted to test your limits, didn't you?"John's tone was cold. "Let me help."
"No!!"
John hurled Erik from tens of thousands of feet in the air.
Erik's scream tore through the sky as he plummeted.The howling wind rushed past his ears like knives. He accelerated uncontrollably, fear overwhelming every nerve in his body. His soul felt as though it was separating from his flesh, his face frozen in numb horror.
BOOM!
He slammed into the river like a missile.
The impact was like dropping a depth charge—water exploded dozens of meters into the air, a shockwave blasted outward, and the surface split with a deafening roar.
At the same time...
Clark arrived at the bridge—just in time to see Erik crash into the river.
Shocked, he looked up at the sky, then immediately sprinted to the riverbank.
Even though he was extremely displeased with how Erik had acted after gaining his powers, he didn't want him to die.
He waited anxiously at the river's edge, but Erik never surfaced.
Fearing the worst, Clark dove in with a splash.
Underwater, he spotted Erik surrounded by a school of small, eerie green-glowing fish.
Recognizing the Kryptonite-infused fish, which naturally weakened those with Kryptonian powers, Clark quickly swam over, scattered the fish, and grabbed Erik's limp body.
But now that he was just an ordinary human, Clark struggled.He lacked the strength to carry Erik to the surface, and his arms began to weaken.
Slowly... they started sinking.