The Present
As Clark descended to a rooftop, it occurred to him he'd have to walk if he didn't want to grab attention. Someone might have spotted him already, so it was best to get lost in the crowd.
Clark glanced down at the alleyway next to the building he was on and jumped, slowing his descent so he didn't make a crash when he landed. As he reached the ground, he could hear someone snoring. He turned in the direction of the snore, and saw a whole family sleeping behind a dumpster.
It didn't matter if Clark was from space or from earth, he knew things were getting bad. He'd been lucky. He was strong enough to do whatever hand labor the companies needed. And he barely kept paid for more than a few months. These people had to fight for the scraps of table scraps...
When you were broke, then the black and the white stopped being so different. You were all people, trying to survive. But if you had money... then it got worse. Clark had seen some shit he hold he'd never see again. The country was going to hell, and he'd been living in fantasy land these past few days, training for –
And that's when Clark realized something.
“What am I supposed to be training for?”
The Green Lanterns? They were galaxies away.
Brainiac? Probably even farther away than the Lanterns.
What was Zod not telling Clark? Something wasn't clear and Clark didn't like that.
A day earlier
Hal burst through the clouds, ripping ahead without so much as a pat of air hitting his face. He didn't need a plane anymore. He was a plane!
As he sent himself spiraling upwards, his thoughts went back to Wayne. He'd been such a fool, trying to trick Hal. Well we saw how that went, didn't we?
Hal was untouchable. He was empowered. Nothing could stop him.
And then Hal Jordan vanished from Earth's skies, like the hand of God had wiped him from existence.
Hal could barely comprehend what was happening as the green energy around him dissipated. He then didn't see a sky above him, he saw stars. He was out in space, and earth was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah, Mr. Jordan I presume?” a voice said from behind.
Hal turned around, raising his ring as he came face to face with a man in a green suit. His skin was red as a tomato, but his eyes were a brighter green than Hal's own ring.
“Where am I? What is this!” Hal yelled.
“We are in transit to Green Lantern headquarters. You may call me, Sinis. I have long been awaiting your arrival, Mr. Jordan. For a ring to choose such a young race as a host is most interesting. You must be an extraordinary specimen,” the red man said. “You may call me, Sinis.”
The Present
Clark checked the paper again as he looked for the room number.
“012, 012...” Clark muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway. As he reached the door in question, he felt an odd stillness in the air.
He paused, looking through the keyhole. There didn't appear to be anyone home, but Clark felt like something was looking back at him. He stepped back, debating in his head what to do.
As he looked the door up and down, he then began to see past it. He nearly fell over when he realized he could see the entire apartment.
“I'm going to need to start writing these tricks down...” Clark murmured.
It was when he realized he could barely see a figure. Right in the spot he had seen through the keyhole. Standing in the middle of the apartment, silently, as if it were some ghost or spectre.
Then when Clark began to move back from the apartment, it was then he realized the – whatever it was – was turning its head after him. It could see him to. That's when he made a run for it.
He was halfway down the stairwell when sound of a door breaking echoed down where he was.
As he got to the lobby, the thing crashed through the ceiling, landing in front of him. No one else seemed to see it, all just gasping and glancing at Clark like he was the one who just fell through two floors.
Then the thing began to be truly visible. It looked like a man, but not right. It had wires, plates, gears, and pale skin. It looked up at Clark, and then to Clark's horror, it looked like it had his face – just with a few years added on and a little grayed hair.
“Subject identified. Kal-El. Objective-” the monstroscity began to say as Clark plowed into it. It went flying out the lobby, breaking through the front doors.
“Kal-El, identified as hostile. Proceeding to apprehend,” it said, rising as Clark ran outside. “Calibrating parameters, scanning biometric data-”
Clark sent it sprawling with a left hook. As it tried to pick itself up a car slammed into it. But the car merely bent around it, the entire hood crumpling as it rose up, now glaring at Clark.
“Scanning complete, apprehending now,” it said, it's eyes starting to glow.
Time slowed down for Clark. He could feel the beams of light hitting him, sending him back. As he looked up, he swore he could see someone high above. It had to be Zod, he must have seen the fighting.
As Clark's head made contact with the side of a car, time started to speed back up. He turned his head upwards again, but this time he realized it wasn't Zod who was landing in front of him. It couldn't be. Zod didn't glow green.
“Well look what we've got here. Some negro trash starting a fight...”
