"They all said I nearly died in the sky that day," the drunk man shouted while staggering around his small, leaking house with a bottle in his hand. "They said the meteor shower scared me so badly that I lost my mind and imagined things!"
His voice grew louder and more agitated.
"They took away my pilot license because of it!"
He pointed at Lex angrily.
"But I didn't imagine it. I know what I saw. There was a spaceship in the center of the meteor storm!"
The man's face turned red as he spoke, alcohol heavy on his breath.
"It was small. Tiny. Barely big enough to hold a baby."
He lifted the bottle dramatically.
"Who says aliens have to be the same size as humans? Why can't they be babies?"
When Lex began investigating the meteorite incidents connected to Smallville, he had accidentally uncovered this man.
Despite the pilot's miserable circumstances—living alone in a dilapidated house and drowning his days in alcohol—Lex didn't dismiss the story immediately.
Instead, he assembled a team.
Not just a small team either.
Experts from around the world were gathered: medical specialists, psychologists, interrogation professionals, and hypnosis experts. A luxurious group of elite professionals was formed for a single purpose.
To evaluate the testimony of a drunk pilot.
After exhaustive examination, their conclusion was simple.
There was more than a ninety-eight percent probability that the man believed what he was saying.
Which meant there was a high chance he was telling the truth.
In a world where magic existed and genetic mutations from meteorites had already been proven, the idea of extraterrestrial life was hardly impossible.
Whether to uncover the true nature of the meteorites or confirm the possibility that an alien spacecraft had landed on Earth more than a decade ago, Lex had reached a clear conclusion.
He needed to capture Superman.
Lex stared at the frozen frame of the red-caped figure on his screen.
His expression resembled that of a hunter who had just discovered prey wandering into his private hunting grounds.
On the wall behind him stood a glass display case.
Inside it rested a suit of green steel armor, covered in advanced technological systems.
It was one of the results of the extraordinary scientific talent Lex had gained after making his mysterious wish.
However, he had no intention of using it immediately.
"When do rulers personally wrestle wild beasts?" Lex murmured.
He reached for the phone.
His plan required cooperation.
More specifically, he needed someone who could stand openly at the front while he operated behind the scenes.
The name saved in his phone read:
Sam Lane.
Title: General, Congressman.
The call connected.
"General Lane," Lex said calmly, his tone polite but confident, "I heard that the military has recently been tracking and attempting to capture a rather special… living creature."
A faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Perhaps I could be of assistance."
His voice remained humble, yet his tone carried absolute certainty.
As if the creature in question had already been placed on his dining table.
…
"What… what do you mean?"
Clark felt a sudden unease after Victor mentioned that even with the meteorites gone, he still had weaknesses.
If possible, Clark never wanted to experience that suffocating helplessness again.
"You can move around normally despite being blind," Victor said calmly. "That must be because your super hearing developed alongside your super vision."
Clark had never mentioned when his super hearing appeared.
But Victor could easily infer it after watching him behave like a normal person despite losing his sight.
He simply didn't know whether Clark was hiding the ability out of caution… or because he didn't want anyone discovering he could secretly hear everything.
"Yes," Clark admitted after a moment of silence.
Victor folded his arms.
"No matter how powerful your hearing becomes, it still cannot replace your eyes."
"There will always be things hearing cannot do."
Clark frowned slightly.
"But brother," he said, "if I focus my hearing, I can monitor sounds from the other side of the country. My brain can separate thousands of different noises instantly."
Victor raised a hand and stopped him.
He understood Kryptonian potential far better than Clark himself did.
But that didn't change a simple truth.
Even Superman—with perfect eyesight—had nearly died many times.
Clark, who was currently blind and developing bad habits, was even more vulnerable.
"You rely too much on your hearing," Victor said calmly.
"If an enemy discovers that weakness, they'll target it."
"For example… sonic weapons."
He shook his head.
"Get more sunlight. It won't hurt you."
Super hearing had advantages, but extreme sensitivity could also become a weakness. In many battles throughout Superman's history, enemies had exploited his hearing.
Clark nodded slowly.
"I will."
Although he didn't completely agree, he could still feel the concern behind Victor's words.
From Clark's perspective, once the meteorites disappeared, nothing on Earth could truly threaten him.
Besides super hearing, he also possessed incredible speed.
Compared to him, the speed of sound felt like a crawling turtle.
He could travel kilometers in an instant.
Still, Clark didn't want to argue with his brother on the night Victor had just returned home.
"Besides…" Victor began.
Clark blinked.
"What else?"
Seeing Victor hesitate slightly made him nervous.
Did he have another weakness?
In truth, Superman had many potential vulnerabilities.
Red sunlight could strip away his powers, for example. But under normal circumstances, no one on Earth knew Kryptonians existed, let alone possessed red sun weapons.
Victor paused.
Originally, he had planned to mention meteorites directly.
Instead, he asked a strange question.
"Tell me something. If a stone is ground into powder… is it still a stone?"
Clark scratched the back of his head.
"I guess… not really."
Then realization struck him.
His blind eyes widened slightly as memory flooded back.
"I remember," Clark said slowly. "When I lost control that day, I wished that every meteorite capable of weakening me would disappear."
His expression darkened.
"Don't tell me…"
"Exactly."
Victor calmly pulled a small glass test tube from his pocket.
Inside the transparent tube floated a faintly glowing green liquid.
"The meteorites are gone," Victor said quietly. "But there are still things that can restrain your abilities."
Clark's reaction was immediate.
His strength drained from his body almost instantly.
He staggered backward and grabbed the railing for support.
"Meteorite…?"
His voice turned weak.
"Victor… what did you take out?"
Even though the effect wasn't as intense as before, the familiar wave of weakness spread through his body. Every muscle felt drained of power.
[Shock from Clark +206…]
"A by-product of meteorites."
Victor gently shook the test tube.
Clark's emotional response had clearly grown stronger since he started working as a hero.
This liquid was a finished product Victor had created using the formula for a meteorite-based solution capable of granting phasing abilities.
When Clark's wish erased the meteorites from the world, every meteorite Victor had collected over the years vanished instantly.
Only a few tubes of this liquid remained.
After all, the substance inside the tube could no longer be considered a "stone."
The Wish Stone had ignored it.
"Where did that come from?" Clark asked weakly.
Victor quickly put the tube away.
Almost immediately, Clark's strength began to return.
Like a vampire finally stepping out of harmful ultraviolet light, he straightened slowly while breathing heavily.
"That's not important," Victor replied.
"What matters is this."
He leaned against the railing.
"When those meteorites originally landed on Earth, laboratories from around the world collected samples for research."
Victor had discovered this long ago.
For reasons even he couldn't fully explain, he had never mentioned it to Clark until now.
But seeing Clark grow a little careless after becoming a hero made him change his mind.
"The meteorites themselves may have disappeared," Victor continued calmly, "but the substances derived from them might still exist somewhere."
Clark fell silent.
"The chance of you encountering them may be small," Victor said seriously.
"But it isn't zero."
....
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