"Lex Luthor did it."
Tina spoke in a rough male voice, her tone light and careless as if she were telling a joke rather than confessing to a crime. The moment the words left her mouth, her body shifted again.
Her skin rippled like soft clay being reshaped. The tall, bald man disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, and Tina returned to her original appearance. She ran her fingers through her reddish-brown hair and sighed with a trace of regret.
"It's a shame they spotted the problem with the signature," she said casually. "Otherwise I wouldn't have needed to grab the money yesterday."
"You promised me you wouldn't use that ability again!"
Catherine's lips trembled as she stared at her daughter. The realization that Tina had actually robbed a bank struck her like a hammer, and the pain in her voice was impossible to hide.
"I did it for us," Tina replied immediately.
Her pupils widened with excitement, and her cheeks flushed red as she pointed toward the schoolbag filled with cash.
"After Dad died, we've been stuck running this antique shop on a street nobody even looks at. We've struggled just to afford food and clothes. Look at this money, Mom. This is only the beginning."
Her voice rose with growing excitement.
"Soon we'll be able to live the same kind of life Lana does."
Lana's aunt owned the flower shop a few streets away, and the business earned far more than this aging antique store ever could. Ever since childhood, Tina had envied Lana deeply.
"Enough," Catherine said firmly. "I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Hurt?"
Tina laughed as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke imaginable.
"The security guard at the bank shot me twice in the back," she said, tapping her shoulder lightly. "All it did was ruin one of my suits."
Catherine inhaled slowly, forcing herself to calm down.
"Tina," she said gently, "no one's life is perfect."
"Lana's is."
Tina's expression instantly turned cold as she interrupted her mother.
She had heard those comforting words her entire life. People always said that nobody had it easy, but from Tina's perspective that had never been true.
Lana was like a white swan.
She had grown up in a wealthy family, beautiful and admired by everyone around her. Wherever she went, people's eyes naturally followed her.
Tina, on the other hand, had always felt like a dull gray duck standing unnoticed at the roadside.
"The money was stolen," Catherine said stiffly.
Her face darkened as she turned and walked toward the stairs.
"I'm returning it. I'll tell the bank I found the bag near a garbage truck."
"Mom, stop!"
Tina rushed forward impatiently and grabbed the schoolbag, trying to pull it away.
"Why can't we just have a happy life?"
Boom. Boom. Boom.
During the struggle, Tina accidentally used her full strength. Catherine lost her grip on the bag and stumbled backward.
Her frail body tumbled down the staircase.
She rolled several times before her head slammed hard against the wall at the bottom.
Her body went completely still.
"Mom!"
Tina's eyes widened in shock as she rushed down the stairs. She dropped the bag of money and knelt beside Catherine, her hands trembling as she pulled out her phone.
She was about to dial for emergency help.
But as the phone reached her ear, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
Her expression froze.
For several seconds she hesitated, her face twisting with conflict. Then slowly, the hesitation faded and her expression grew cold.
She lowered the phone and set it aside.
…
Before gym class that morning, the boys' locker room buzzed with the noise of students changing into their sports uniforms.
Suddenly—
"Ah!"
Clark cried out as his vision blurred.
He rubbed his eyes quickly and opened them again. The moment he looked around, his entire body stiffened in shock.
The room was filled with skeletons.
Each skeleton was wrapped in layers of flesh and blood, purple veins spreading through the tissue like twisted vines. It looked less like a locker room and more like something out of a horror movie.
"Clark?"
Peter looked at him with confusion.
But from Clark's perspective, Peter had turned into a walking skeleton covered in muscle and skin. The sight startled him so badly that he instinctively stepped backward.
"My eyes… my eyes…"
"What's wrong?"
Another flesh-and-blood skeleton turned its head.
Victor, who had just finished putting on his shirt, frowned slightly as he looked toward Clark.
"I…"
Clark stumbled backward in panic.
Then his gaze suddenly passed straight through the wall.
Beyond the locker room wall was the girls' changing room next door.
Several girls stood there in their underwear while changing clothes, chatting casually with each other. Among them was a familiar figure.
Lana.
Clark's eyes widened.
The future Superman froze as if he had just discovered a beautiful landscape. His gaze locked onto the scene, and before he realized it, a foolish grin slowly spread across his face.
"What's wrong with your eyes?"
Peter asked again, staring at Clark in confusion.
After being startled for a moment, Clark seemed to forget where he was and continued staring blankly at the wall while smiling like an idiot.
"Nothing," Clark said quickly.
He shook his head and brushed off the question.
After Peter finished changing and left the locker room, Clark remained behind, slowly putting on his clothes while glancing reluctantly toward the wall again.
Victor followed his gaze.
He looked at the wall separating the locker rooms, then at Clark's eyes that seemed glued to it. Within seconds, he understood exactly what was happening.
"You've got a nosebleed, Clark."
The sudden comment broke Clark's concentration instantly.
Clark panicked and wiped his nose with his hand.
There was nothing there.
"Wait… would I even get nosebleeds?"
He looked up.
Victor stood nearby with his arms folded, staring at him with a teasing expression that seemed to see straight through him.
Under that gaze, Clark suddenly felt like a thief who had just been caught red-handed. He quickly turned his head away, his face filled with awkward guilt.
Why would Victor say that all of a sudden?
Did he somehow figure out what Clark had just been doing?
…
"You're saying you've developed a new ability that lets you see through things?"
Martha looked uneasy as she sat across from Clark in the living room.
Jonathan gently rubbed her back to reassure her while listening carefully to his son's explanation.
Victor leaned against the dining table with his arms crossed, a faint smile lingering on his lips. Clark didn't even dare to look in his direction.
Clark lowered his head slightly as he spoke.
"Sometimes I can see through things," he explained quietly. "Like an X-ray."
"Can't you control it?" Jonathan asked.
He frowned slightly as he considered the situation.
Clark's abilities had been appearing more and more frequently lately. Just two days earlier, Clark had suddenly begun floating in the air, although that ability hadn't appeared again since then.
The constant changes felt like surprises shattering the calm of everyday life, and that made Jonathan uneasy.
"I don't know how to control it yet," Clark admitted.
He glanced briefly toward Victor.
"Really?"
Victor chuckled softly.
"Before gym class, you were staring at that wall for quite a while," he said casually. "Your new ability didn't seem to have any trouble working then."
He added with a meaningful smile.
"Some things depend entirely on whether you want them or not."
The future Superman had just awakened his super vision, and the first thing he did with it was peek into the girls' locker room. The noble hero of Earth had certainly started his career in an impressive way.
Victor almost wished he had brought a camera that morning.
"Your eyes are muscles too," Jonathan said seriously. "Just like blinking or focusing. Try practicing control that way."
Clark nodded obediently.
"I'll try."
His face showed a hint of hesitation, but he agreed nonetheless.
Jonathan offered a few more reminders and warnings, making sure Clark understood the importance of being careful. Fortunately, this ability didn't appear dangerous.
Soon afterward, Martha gathered her things and left the house to run errands in town.
Jonathan also stepped outside to feed the cows in the barn.
Footsteps echoed quietly through the house.
Victor walked over and stopped near the couch.
"What were you about to say earlier, Clark?" he asked with a faint smile.
Clark stiffened slightly.
Victor stretched out the moment deliberately.
"Were you planning to confess your little adventure to Mom and Dad?" he asked lazily. "After all, there's nothing wrong with being sincere, right?"
Clark coughed awkwardly as his face turned red.
"My strength has been growing faster these past couple of days," he said quickly.
Hearing those familiar words repeated back to him made Clark feel even more embarrassed.
Once he confirmed that their parents were gone, he lowered his voice.
The sudden appearance of new abilities had already made his parents worried enough. Clark hadn't wanted to add more trouble.
"Your strength is increasing faster?" Victor repeated with interest.
That genuinely surprised him.
"What makes you think that?"
Clark thought for a moment before answering.
"Maybe it's because I'm finishing puberty," he said. "This is the stage when the human body develops the fastest."
Eighteen was the age when teenagers transitioned into adulthood. Physical changes often accelerated during this time.
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"You're not an alien?" he asked dryly.
For a brief moment, realization flashed across his mind. He had overlooked a simple explanation.
Then he added with mock seriousness,
"Aliens can't go through puberty?"
Clark blinked awkwardly.
"Well… I guess they can."
Victor laughed lightly.
Clark's expression grew even more embarrassed.
....
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