clark hits the brick wall of the building like a freight train, like a bomb, the impact cratering the otherwise sturdy structure, boring a hole right through it as he loses control of his trajectory, his body flung into it at an impressive rate, and when he lands on the other side it’s with piles of bricks and mortar, pieces of the mostly abandoned building falling on his head, dusting up the blue and red of his suit, coloring him in ash. he wobbles to his feet, because that’s what he has to do, that’s who he is, always standing up when he’s beaten to the ground, always shining through whatever layers of debris and charcoal he has to, in order to prevail, tall and strong and bright as a supergiant sun, the symbol on his chest remaining a beacon in the dark. in his own world, this world, or the next. he is superman, he has hope, and as long as he has that, he knows he can fight against anything.
still though. it would have been nice if not every bad guy he’s put away in the past decade or so had managed to fall through the rift and wreak havoc here as well, forcing him to battle them once again to put them away. things like this do occur plenty in his home dimension-- the occasional break out from prison, the wandering menace from the phantom zone-- but it’s extra salt in the wound now since most human onlookers don’t really know who to root for and clark has to deal with this monster while also avoiding the police sirens chasing them all around town. he’s lured the snarling, ravenous half-human-half-monster that used to be a guy named john burkley over to this side of town, mostly populated by shutdown stores and empty warehouses, but new york is still on their trail and clark is still trying to take him out with minimal collateral damage.
he’s not standing for long though before mr. burkley burrows through the hole he’s left and charges at him, both of them entangled and thudding against the ground quickly, the building floor breaking instantly, the man’s teeth longer than clark’s head as he snaps at him, his oversized body scaly and hideously deformed, but strong, being mostly muscle now.
