You know, way back in part 1, something struck me as odd.
[Superman] waved in a friendly manner, but he was still too far off for her to hear him over the continuing din, so he said nothing. Instead, he turned to one of the female police officers as she approached him. She offered her hand and Clark shook it firmly.
"Superman, I just wanted to extend my personal thanks," the woman said. Her badge identified her as Major. "I didn't know it until just a few moments ago, but my sister was one of the people you pulled from the water. Thanks to you, she's going to live."
"I'm happy to hear that she'll be okay," Clark said sincerely. He gazed back at the scene for a quick second. "I wish I'd been able to do more, but I'm glad so many are safe."
"Safe because of you. Anyway, I need to get back." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the cleanup that was going on. "Thanks again, Superman."
She strode away, blonde ponytail swaying as she went. Clark turned back to the still dispersing crowd. He was about to gesture to Lois that he would happily provide a Superman statement for their article, but as he stepped forward, everything went wrong.
Pain shot through his chest and arms. Nausea washed over him and he had to fight the urge to vomit. His knees buckled beneath him, sending him crashing to the asphalt, while weakness flooded him. His first thought was that someone nearby had Kryptonite, but after a few moments of agony, he realized that whatever it was that he was feeling, it was not the same as the sickness he usually experienced when exposed to the radioactive stone. His heart sped up and it felt difficult to draw a breath.
For some reason that bothered me. Why would DC relate this specific incident? And since Superman didn't know or recognize this woman, are we sure she was a cop? Was she really being sincere, or did she have some more nefarious purpose in mind?
Or is she once again being
? Wouldn't be the first time, you know.
I'm eager to see what happens next. And let me offer my applause for coming up with an original and very reasonable explanation for Clark's trouble. I've never linked the life-force sucking machine and Deathstroke to endanger Clark, but I sure wish I had. That's downright ingenious.
Your next post is when?
Sorry to disappoint, but the cop was just a thankful cop. As I said above, I just wanted to make the rescue as "unremarkable" as possible for Clark before I slapped him with a heart attack.