Five minutes later, Lana burst out of the auditorium, her dress torn and drenched in blood.
Her thoughts were scattered, panic pounding in her chest like a war drum. She couldn't think, couldn't reason. Her mind held only one word, sharp and desperate—
Escape.
She had to get away from that monster.
The image of her boyfriend Whitney collapsing in front of her replayed again and again, a cruel film she couldn't turn off. His body convulsed, his face twisted in agony, his shirt stained red. The memory drove a cold spear of terror straight through her soul.
Fear and helplessness wrapped around her like chains, dragging her down. From the moment the first classmate fell to her desperate flight, horror had been her only companion.
The main power switch had exploded, tearing through the auditorium in a deafening crack. Curtains shredded into ribbons, while thick silver cables burst free from the ceiling, thrashing and sparking like serpents loosed from a cage.
She had barely escaped when a blinding flash lit up the room, followed by screams that curdled the air. Turning back just once, Lana saw her classmate Fleck gripping a microphone stand. His hands were fused to the metal, his body convulsing violently. His eyes bulged, smoke curling from his shirt, before he crashed onto a loudspeaker with an ear-splitting boom.
A purple flash burst through the auditorium, dragging Lana's mind back to reality. She stumbled forward, gasping for air, legs barely carrying her as she ran into the night.
---
On the other side of town, Adrian was locked in a brutal clash with Clark.
Even from miles away, his vision pierced the walls of the dance hall. He saw every moment—Lana's terror, Fleck's death, the chaos Jerome had unleashed.
And he scoffed.
The boy still hadn't embraced it. He wanted revenge on the football players, yet let the teachers and innocent students scatter unharmed. Pathetic.
"If you want to be a villain," Adrian muttered as he ducked Clark's punch, "you can't cling to sympathy. That hesitation will kill you."
Their fists clashed again and again, each strike detonating like cannon fire in the forest clearing.
Clark's raw strength was growing, his instincts sharpening with each exchange. Though still weaker and slower, he was no longer an easy target. His natural combat sense allowed him to keep pace, his determination blazing even through exhaustion.
But Adrian's power was growing just as quickly. The Homelander template within him pushed further—its progress surging from seventy to seventy-eight percent. His body felt sharper, faster, heavier with strength. Each strike he threw rattled Clark to his bones.
When Clark lunged forward, catching Adrian's arm, hope flickered in his eyes. For a moment, he thought he had him.
But Adrian twisted free with a cruel grin, kneeing Clark in the gut and sending him stumbling. Seizing the moment, Adrian gripped his brother's shoulders and hurled him with merciless force.
Boom.
Clark's body cratered the earth, leaving him sprawled at the bottom of a pit, gasping for air. His limbs trembled, his strength nearly gone. For all his talent, he was still just a boy—unaware of his true Kryptonian nature, burdened with power he didn't yet understand.
Standing above him, Adrian clenched his fists, reveling in the surge of power coursing through his veins. His senses expanded. He could hear crickets chirping miles away, every rustle of leaves, every distant heartbeat.
And then—he stepped forward and didn't fall.
Adrian hovered, suspended above the ground, defying gravity.
Clark stared up at him, eyes wide. "What… how are you—?"
"Flying," Adrian finished, his tone both amused and proud. His lips curved into a smile that wasn't quite kind.
For a moment he floated, savoring the power, before dismissing it. Dropping back to the pit floor, he landed with a thud beside his brother.
"Clark, it's over," Adrian said, his eyes glinting with cold fire. Then he glanced toward the school, where lightning split the sky in silver arcs.
"Maybe you should run to that dance you've been ignoring. You won't like what's happening there."
Confusion clouded Clark's face—until another surge of lightning blasted across the night sky. His heart froze.
"Lana," he whispered.
Ignoring the pain ripping through his body, Clark forced himself to his feet. He blurred forward in a burst of super speed, leaving only a rushing gust of wind in his wake.
Adrian watched him go, shaking his head slowly. A brother who still clung to naïve hope.
---
Back at the school, Lana huddled behind a stone statue near the library, shivering. The fountain and thorny bushes shielded her trembling body, though sweat and blood soaked her skin. Her hands clasped tightly together as she whispered desperate prayers that the monster wouldn't find her.
But the sound of heavy footsteps shattered that hope.
The demon wrapped in lightning was coming closer.
And Lana's heart pounded like it might break free from her chest.
____
Advanced chapters are available on my patreon page
Read ahead of everyone 💙
Patreon.com/Zphyr