Shadows and Sunlight

Finally, as he flew over the Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore, he soared up between the skyscrapers!

The sonic boom echoed through Baltimore, and every window along the port cracked in an instant.

Clark flew through the sky, breaking the sound barrier and passing through the clouds.

As he burst through the clouds, the unfiltered sunlight poured down on him.

The bright sun shone all around.

The endless sea of clouds lay beneath him, disappearing at the curved edge of the horizon.

The sky was clear and blue, with no impurities.

He hovered in the air, feeling every inch of his skin bathed in the yellow sun's glow.

At 16,000 meters above the ground, the warm and grand light of the yellow sun embraced him.

It felt as if the whole Earth, the whole sun, the entire universe had been waiting for him, waiting for this god of Earth, this son of the sun, to truly arrive.

And at this moment, the future guardian of Earth had finally arrived.

With his arms extended forward, his body felt lighter and stronger than ever before.

He moved through the sky like a bird or a plane, flying faster than the speed of sound.

He quickly reached his destination and landed near the disaster-stricken area.

Clark began searching for Soren's heartbeat again.

His heart was in his throat, fearing that he still might not find that familiar heartbeat.

Countless sounds surged toward him, but he focused intently and soon accurately caught the sound he was searching for.

He instantly moved to the direction of the sound.

In the alley beside the café, Soren was looking astonished.

He looked at his palms in disbelief.

What just happened?

It seemed like one second he was surrounded by Black Widow and the military, and the next, he was safely back in the alley.

He quickly reverted to his human form and then looked up to see Clark who was suddenly appearing in front of him.

...Did Clark save him?

But how could Clark know that he was Angemon?

When he transformed into Angemon, he didn't even have a heartbeat.

Angemon, being a Digimon, didn't have blood or a heart.

Clark couldn't possibly have found him through his heartbeat.

"Soren, are you okay? Let me see if you're hurt!" Clark immediately reached Soren, ignoring everything else.

He anxiously grabbed Soren's shoulders and used his X-ray vision to check Soren's condition.

He rarely used this power.

He had first awakened his X-ray vision in middle school, and back then, his power was unstable.

He hadn't learned to control it properly, and everyone would occasionally show up with clear bones and organs in his vision, which troubled him for a long time.

But now, he was so worried that he forgot everything else.

He was only concerned about whether Soren was getting hurt in the chaos or not.

Soren was still a little bit dazed, his expression turned blank as his mind raced, trying to figure out who had saved him.

Could it really have been Clark?

The soft blue glow in Clark's eyes snapped him back to reality.

He quickly pulled away from Clark's hands, not wanting Clark to use his X-ray vision on him, "Clark, what are you doing here?"

Clark saw that Soren wasn't hurt and quickly stopped using his X-ray vision.

His mind raced to come up with a good excuse for why he suddenly appeared in New York City.

He couldn't just tell Soren everything about himself.

Jonathan had always said that could put his friends in danger.

And deep down, Clark was afraid that if Soren knew the truth, he'd see him as a freak and push him away.

Clark nervously clenched his fists and awkwardly said, "Uh... I... Jonathan and Martha sent me to New York City for a little vacation, and I just happened to be around when... you know, all this happened. So I came to find you..."

Soren glanced up and down at Clark's bare feet and his shirt, which was coming apart at the seams.

He had a pretty good idea of what really happened but pretended not to know.

He then asked him curiously, "Was it you who saved me earlier?"

The small-town boy from Kansas must have used a lot of effort to get to New York City so quickly.

Clark couldn't even fly yet—had he really run all the way here?

Clark looked a bit confused, "Earlier?"

Soren looked at Clark carefully.

But he didn't seem to know what had happened.

Soren shook his head and said, "It's fine... Everything seems calm now. I saw that the big green guy was already taken down by the government. It was pretty scary—almost all the windows were shattered. When I ran in here, I almost got hit by falling glass. Let's go outside and check. New York City is really dangerous. I should hurry go home and let my parents know I'm okay."

He didn't bring up why Clark was here again.

It was as if he believed every word Clark said, no matter how strange it was.

He didn't seem to doubt him at all.

This made Clark feel even more guilty.

Soren trusted him so much, which only highlighted how bad and unfair his lie was.

How could he deceive his friend like this?

But he couldn't let Soren be in danger.

Clark's face darkened and said, "I saw so many people get hurt. I couldn't help them."

Soren thought: His Kryptonian hero instincts must be kicking in. This big rescue-loving guy is feeling guilty for not being able to save everyone.

Soren sighed when he heard his words.

He then stood on his tiptoes, wrapped his arms around Clark's shoulders, and rested his chin on them.

He whispered in Clark's ear, "It's okay... Clark, we have to accept that no one can help everyone."

"And besides, you're just an ordinary person," Soren said with a playful glint in his eyes, he then turned his face at Clark and showed a slightly mischievous smile at him, "Aren't you?"