![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Application for Siren's Pull
Character Information
General
Canon Source: Smallville/DC
Canon Format: TV series (extended N/A canon is comic books/movies etc and details of Metropolis etc. may come from there.)
Character's Name: Clark Kent (Kal-el, The Blur, Superman etc.)
Character's Age: 23
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. N/A
What form will your character's NV take? A flat crystal resembling the Crystal of El, replacing the one Clark might usually carry, and therefore not having its usual powers. Held in the left hand it produces a projected keyboard and screen for communicating via text, while held in the right it produces a hologram or a holographic screen for holographic and video communication. The audio function can be activated with a thumbtouch to the top of the symbol, and it glows to show that its active, making accidental recordings harder. After being activated, it can be left in a pocket or across a room without any disruption to the quality of sound.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities:
Strengths
There are just a few of them, so HERE is a link, detailing all of Clark's powers, from his main powers to supporting abilities.
The Earth's yellow sun gives Kryptonians like Clark their superabilities. These abilities are numerous, and reliant upon the sun to power them. After significant amounts of time removed from the sun, or on other planets, or under another sun, those powers are removed--for instance Clark, in the Phantom Zone, is powerless.
Clark's superhealing is fast, but he heals much faster - and can heal from more grievious injuries much faster in particular - when in direct sunlight.
Since Clark is still growing, his abilities grow with him year to year. The link above details these changes in more detail than I can, but I will try to explain what he is capable of under each of the headers below.
Superstrength
Clark's superstrength has reached a level where he is capable of catching vehicles moving at high velocity - such as a car or a helicopter without seeming stressed or taking a step out of place, and able to catch heavy falling objects such as the globe of the Daily Planet, and can easily throw aside missile warheads in flight. He can rip off re-enforced steel doors, mold metals with his hands, and throw people and vehicles easily. He has to constantly check his abilities to make sure that he doesn't hurt the people around him, and for years was concerned that he might hurt someone he was intimate with. Clark can be extremely gentle, even catching an arrow in midflight.
touch transmitted immunity: If Clark were to actually stop a car the way he has stopped several objects in the past, even metal would crumple upon impact with him. Instead the objects remain whole. However if he is preparing for the impact as though to be struck - i.e. in the first episode when he's struck by Lex's car, the vehicle crumples as though it's hit a stationary, solid object.
Superspeed
Clark is literally faster than a speeding bullet; he has outraced and caught bullets fired from handguns to high-powered rifles with ease, and can by this point cross continents in a few minutes. He is still slower than his friend Impulse (in other media, grandson of the Flash) who can only be captured as a long blur on a single frame of a film. In series 5/6 Clark's image was captured on a single frame of film and his features were perfectly clear, but with his abilities maturing, Clark has reached that 'Blur' status, thus the pre-Superman name he was given. Clark can't run on water the way that Bart does.
including:
adjusted vision - Clark can see fast moving objects and his environment sharply, even when he too is moving quickly--for instance he can see a bullet moving, and the waves caused by its passage. He can take note of other fast moving objects easily, though often his surroundings appear as slightly blurred, i.e. when moving in a straight line, though perhaps this is only to denote speed, as he seems to be able to pick out details easily.
speed reading - Clark is capable of reading details easily, and can scan read books or computer screens by taking in the pages one at a time. He's eventually capable of simply flicking through books.
superswimming - As an application of his superspeed, Clark is capable of swimming extremely fast, though not nearly as fast as his friend Arthur (AC) Curry (a.k.a. Aquaman)
vertical running - Clark can run fast enough that he can literally run down the side of a building. He's faster than a falling person.
other applications - Clark often uses his superspeed to get his tasks done in less time, such as his chores on the farm, or in one episode making deliveries of children's gifts at Christmas.
Superhearing
Clark's superhearing has improved to the point where he can listen to loud noises and their ensuing conversations across town, when he focuses on them. He usually does this from a vantage point, clearly so he can hear better. Clark can also listen to whispered conversations had across loud rooms or through walls by this point in the series. He can also hear people's heartbeats.
Superleaping/Flight (tentative)
Clark has been leaping great distances since his very first appearance in Smallville, and those leaps have gotten bigger and bigger. By Season 5 he was capable of leaping whole countries--one step off flight. Despite having been seen to hover, and being able to fly when his Kal-el identity is in control, Clark hasn't been able to fly so far, though he's close to discovering that ability; the suggested reason is that he identifies too much with being human.
X-ray/Telescoping and Microscoping/Heat vision
Clark's green (blue) eyes hide a great number of special skills and abilities. He can see through objects via his X-Ray vision, and can see people by skeleton when they're concealed behind walls or buried underground. Clark's eyes also transmit energy - his heat vision - and can heat liquid, metal, etc. He's used this ability to heat up guns and burn the holder, essentially shoot out objects, and warm up something as simple as coffee. Clark can focus on small objects and see them far more clearly than a human would be able to, seeing tiny serial numbers, for instance. He can also see further than other people - particularly from a great height or via a telescope.
Invulnerability/Superhealing/Longevity
Clark is extremely resilient, and unless affected by Kryptonite, his invulnerability is what protects him. He heals extremely quickly if injured, and as a result has rarely been seen wearing bruises or cuts. Even when shot, Clark's wound heals when his invulneribility returns, and he has to wear bandages over his non-existant bulletwounds to maintain his pretence of healing like a normal person. Usually bullets that strike him get flattened as though hitting a solid object, and the same goes for other things except noted under superstrength.
As Clark isn't human, and his invulnerability goes down to the cellular level, he doesn't age the same way humans do, and his ageing has been levelling out and will continue to do so until he literally doesn't appear to age.
including:
breathing underwater, in space, underground
Clark clearly can hold his breath for extended periods of time. He has been seen ascending to space (holding onto the outside of a missile), being pulled under and fighting underground, and fighting underneath water.
resistance to disease/viruses
At one point Clark has a cold, and he and his mother talk about how he's never been sick, ever since he was a child. This illness only comes on, though, when he's been pushed to his limits (several days apparently without rest) and then sapped of his powers.
recovery from wounds caused by Kryptonite or under the effects of Kryptonite
As soon as Clark is removed from the source of Kryptonite, his wounds heal over, and the effects of the Kryptonite wear off quickly, regardless of the length of time he's been exposed to it.
resistance to extremes of temperature
Clark can move through flame and into extremely hostile environments and remain there for some time. He can take hold of hot objects, protect people from explosions with his body, and essentially walk through fire.
Super/arctic breath
Clark discovered this particular ability very late in the series, comparatively. The first time Clark sneezed, he literally blew the doors off--the barn doors, that is. Clark has used this power to put out fires, blow out steel doors as though from an explosion, and to blow up cool mist to conceal his identity.
Superdexterity
Clark is extremely dextrous, and has never mishandled anything (i.e. a ball), stumbled, slipped or tripped, except while being manipulated or under the effects of Kryptonite.
Superstamina
Clark is capable of going for long distances using his powers, crossing whole continents and back without exhausting his power reserves. He doesn't seem to need to sleep often or long, and during Lois' stay at the Kent Farm did his chores during he night in order to avoid her seeing him doing them at superspeed.
Supermemory
Chloe once commented that Clark's mind is like a steel trap, and in fact Clark has a photoperfect memory, capable of remembering addresses and details of things only by seeing or hearing them once. It's a talent that he uses by instinct, and talks down when it's mentioned to him, most likely because it's another step away from his being like everyone else.
Weaknesses
Clark's powers are still developing, and have been for some time, but with any power comes weaknesses. An extended link is below, covering vulnerability to certain other powers, such as psychic abilities, magic, alien technology, high pitched noises, and certain alien or kryptonite enhanced powers. HERE
Kryptonite
Meteor rocks from his home of Krypton have varying effects on him, the most commonly featured and important are detailed below:
Green kryptonite
This kind of kryptonite has been shown to boil the blood of Kryptonians exposed to it, causing deep and eventually mortal pain. Clark is shown as falling to his knees when exposed to the rock, and grows sicker over extended periods of time, and seems physically incapable of even crawling away from the source, but when the rock is removed or encased in lead, he feels better and is back to full power within a few seconds. Green kryptonite can be used in weapons to kill, i.e. kryptonite arrow heads or kryptonite bullets, or made into prison cells etc. Clark can imbibe kyptonite, or have it injected into his bloodstream, but it makes him extremely sick for extended periods of time, until his body purges the poison or until it kills him.
In Smallville, LuthorCorp experiments with green kryptonite frequently, and its often shown that even in varying different forms and qualities, the rock continues to have this adverse effect on Clark even when it causes very different responses in humans. Green kryptonite has been shown to be used in other forms as miracle cures or drugs of various kinds, further detailed in the link* below. Exposure to large quantities of the rock in its pure form has also physically mutated humans.
This colour of Kryptonite in particular has been shown to be on Earth in other places in the past, i.e. used as jewels in ancient relics placed a thousand years ago. The possibility remains that a piece could appear in one of Siren's Port's museums.
Black kryptonite
Black kryponite can be used to seperate the personalities or halves of a person. It's been used in the past to seperate Clark into Clark and Kal-El, and also - when superheated - used on humans. It was used on Lex to seperate him into a good and an evil side.
Blue kryptonite
Blue kryptonite weakens Kryptonians to a human like state, stripping them completely of their powers. Clark has come into contact with blue kryptonite before, including just before his arrival in Siren's Port.
It also has scientific applications, such as the ability to make plants grow well in harsh environments, and has other life saving/healing powers.
Silver kryptonite
When Clark is exposed to silver kryptonite it cuts through his skin, but also inflicts a deep psychosis on him, poisoning his mind. As a result, Clark becomes suspicious of everyone and everything around him, seeing plots against him where there are none.
Red kryptonite
Red kryptonite, when worn, causes Clark's inhibitions to melt away. It can be used in jewelery, and when worn Clark doesn't hold back any more, displaying eratic behaviour such as running away to Vegas to get married, or dropping out of highschool to run away to Metropolis.
Gold kryptonite
Gold kryptonite is one of the things that can actually be used to permanently harm Kryptonians, though Clark hasn't yet been exposed to it. Gold kryptonite can be used to cut, scar and kill.
*Other types and the specifics of his weaknesses to them are HERE.
Footnote: Clark, in the time he's taken from, will come with a shard of blue kryptonite (which renders him human and strips him of his abilities) driven through his chest. The idea is that this piece of kryptonite goes to SERO when they rescue him, and can then be used at some point/points in the future to render him powerless, as well as for some other scientific applications that might cause them to replicate the substance artificially, re. possibilities of exploring the properties of other types of kryptonite in the future. I say this because Clark's abilities are extremely powerful, and DC villains at least are aware of this weakness and will seek to use it, meaning that there can be some element of balance in place as a result. I'm also willing to weaken him significantly from his canon self, if it seems to be necessary, but obviously I'd prefer the Kryptonite route. An example of weakening his powers in play would be perhaps - due to his powers being inherently sun related - the Darkness steadily draining him through to morning, and I'd be happy to run with and play with this weakness if the app team would like to see it handled that way.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? N/A
Weapons: A blue kryptonite dagger
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: Here
Point in Canon: The end of series nine, when during his battle with Zod, Clark is run through with a dagger made of blue kryptonite and falls off a high rise building.
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: N/A
Character Personality:
Clark Kent is very much the son of two worlds. Born to loving parents on Krypton, but brought up by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas, he has inhereted his personality perhaps just as much as he has been formed by his experiences. Jor-El makes it clear that Clark falling into the Kent's lives is not by chance but by design; the Kents chosen to raise Clark as his Kryptonian parents desired him to be raised.
As a result, Clark is brought up in a loving, passionate home, protected from the world around him, and though the secret of his origin is jealously hidden away, he was never brought up to be ashamed of it, taking superpowered chores about the farm in his stride. He was, however, well taught to defend it, and at times Clark has relied on quick thinking to get him out of tight spots; though not everything is so easily explainable. It's a skill that still serves him, wriggling out from under Lois' scrutiny when he disappears at crucial moments.
Unfortunately the Kents' passion couldn't protect him forever. Entering High School, things just wouldn't be the same again; for one thing, he fell in love, and Clark's affection for Lana Lang was a rollercoaster of ups and downs that would leave him chewed up and spat out at the end.
The harsh reality was, for Clark, that his secret was something that must be kept under any circumstances, or it could all end badly; as proven by the numerous meteor infected people in Smallville, the danger he put his friend Pete (and others) into, and Lex Luthor's steady descent into obsession as he sought the answers to his questions. At a key moment mid-series, Clark tells his secret to Lana, asks her to marry him, and later comes too late to rescue her from a car crash; making a deal with Jor-El, he saves Lana's life, but chooses another path, not telling her his secret, and withholding his desire to marry her. The result is that she accepts Lex's proposal instead, seemingly in an effort to put Clark and his secrets behind her, and that his adoptive father - Jonathan Kent - dies. At this point, Clark even offers his own life in exchange, pleading with Jor-El for his father's life, a willing sacrifice if it meant just saving one life.
As a result of making this choice, a lot of things in Clark's life change. He becomes more jaded, and more secretive, but above all holds himself responsible for - it seems to him - a lifetime of pain caused to others that have been responsible for keeping his secret, or gravitate toward it. Mid-season six he even blames himself for Lex's darkness, and when speaking with Chloe about Lana marrying Lex, the fact that Lana did it to protect Clark from Lionel fills him with clear agony. Another instance is after Zod possesses Lex and powers out the entire world, resulting in catastrophic destruction worldwide--despite having fought his way out of the Phantom Zone to battle him, and being weakened by a cold, Clark insists on doing everything he can to help, even refusing to sleep for days as he uses the night to move rubble without being seen. In the final season, Brainiac 5 says of Jonathan Kent's funeral: "--This was a defining moment for you. Perhaps "the" defining moment. The day you started to blame yourself."
To other people, Clark Kent is a hero - particularly to Chloe, who calls him at one point her "very own superhero" - but Clark insists otherwise. This belief is what measures his worth as a true lawful heroic type. Even when pushed to extremes, when someone he loves has died or is in danger, Clark has very clear moral lines that he will not cross. When presented with another vigilante - one prepared to kill - Clark is there to insist that she stop, much like he does in the comic books to one Bruce Wayne/Batman (not present in the Smallville-verse due to franchise rights). That isn't to say he hasn't come close, using his superstrength on various occasions to push people like Lex and Lionel Luthor around, but the clear contrast to Lex - particularly in the later seasons - is that when Clark says "I don't know what I'd do if you've hurt her', he doesn't mean 'kill you.' Hawkman tells Clark "You're not like the others, are you Clark? Kids who are in it for the thrills, or because they have a chip on their shoulder. You dont do this for glory or vengeance." He hits the nail sharply on the head, but Clark misses the point. Either way, despite the violence, and the force he employs to shut down the villains, his lines are clearly drawn, though it is noteable that the darker Clark Kent from mid-series was prepared to hunt down and kill the escaped prisoners from the Phantom Zone, rather than allow them to kill him. As Martian Manhunter points out, Clark didn't have to do that, but he considered it his responsibility, having released them, and stepped up to it regardless.
In truth, Clark doesn't want to be a hero. He shirks the power off to other people throughout, and his only interest is in not seeing lives lost or ruined, particularly those of people he cares about. As a result, Clark will bowl headlong into dangerous situations without stopping to think about strategy, confident that anything that he comes across won't be able to stand against him--something that isn't always true. His friends have had to come to his rescue several times, though more often Clark saves the day and zips off without waiting for the save to be acknowledged. More recently as The Blur, Clark has been leaving call-signs in places where he has saved lives--leaving the mark of the House of El somewhere in the vicinity (the S in a shield that Superman wears)--though that did backlash rather dangerously at one point (again Clark blamed himself). Clark is one step closer to acknowledging his heroism outright--though he hasn't quite got there yet, his inherent fear of his secret being known holding him back. Despite finally taking responsibility for the Kandorians, and accepting - in some small way - the mantle that the other heroes in the reassembling Justice League have given him in uniting them, Clark is still taking babysteps.
Clark has sincere trouble balancing his humanity with his alien heritage; for years, he refused to attend Jor-El's training, first out of suspicion that his Kryptonian parents were trying to destroy his life, and then later more often because he was more involved with Lana. At one point rescuing her and lingering caused him to lose his superhuman powers, and at another he tried to make a life with her rather than leaving. Clark was prepared to give up everything, even his freedom, so long as he never had to give up her, and it was that desire that brought him back to her again and again until she finally left. That didn't stop Clark finding solace in the arms of others, even rushing off for an underaged marriage (under the effects of red kryptonite) with one girl--Alicia Baker, a girl with teleporting powers. Still, while Lana is one of his weaknesses, the other is - as so many tell him - also his greatest strength; Clark's faith and hope in humanity.
The two - human vs. kryptonian - have stood as the basis of Clark's attributes throughout. Clark was brought up as a morally conscious human, to loving parents, on a farm he himself loved. He has seen the people around him as something aspirational throughout his life as himself an outsider, and strained constantly to be more human, more like them. When he loses his powers he seems almost grateful to finally be human and therefore to not be hiding his secret any more, despite the fact that this puts his family and Lana at risk. He hates that his secret puts others in danger, and would rather be without it. As a result Clark idealises humans, and (at first) shows more suspicion of other aliens, until he begins to realise that there's more to them, too. His experiences with other heroes - and discovering how the Justice League of America had been treated at their disbandment - has resulted in him having ever more faith in what he and the other masks - Green Arrow, Impulse, Cyborg, Stargirl etc. - are doing. Essentially, though, he does think of himself as human, certainly enough to impede his training and make it impossible to unleash the full extent of his power, including learning to fly.
As well as faith in these heroes, who all know his identity, and which he shared with them without question, Clark has an unwavering faith in almost everyone he meets, with few exceptions proven only by sour experience and time. He has given previous bad guys chance after chance to redeem themselves, trusted people whom he shouldn't have, such as his friend Pete, and even in the case of Lex Luthor, called them a friend long after their transgressions should have ruled that out (seriously, the guy kept a creepy stalker room full of creepy stalker stuff, and a constantly looping computer model of his best friend getting hit by a car.)
This idealism is dangerous, but it's just part of who Clark is, and even when advised to snap out of it by those closest to him, Clark can't help but hold out for people to become something they're not, stepping in to save them (even if he sometimes hesitates) because they deserve that chance at redemption if nothing else. Even if it is again and again. Clark had ample opportunity to step out of the way and let grenades and bullets kill Lex Luthor time and again; he simply chose not to. After Jimmy's death, Clark realises just how dangerous sparing such lives can be, and casts aside his identity as Clark Kent to pursue his training with Jor-El--believing that if only he'd known more about harnessing his powers, and not embraced his humanity so much, he might have been saved. This was at once a deepening of the darkness and stoicism that Clark needs to be a great leader, and a challenging final trial designed to see Clark through to his destiny.
Clark is generally optimistic, but can be quiet and withdrawn at times, deeply involved with his own thoughts. He is warm, witty, and capable of making hard decisions. At times, Clark is an excellent actor and liar, to his friends as well as his enemies, but at others his anger or evasiveness seems to dissolve this quality, and people who have experience can see right through it (like Lois, Chloe and Lana). Even now, Clark still bottles up his emotions - though it was most obvious in his high school days, moping over Lana - but his goodbye to Lois at the end of Season Nine leaves a lot unspoken. Clark can be excessively violent, but he learns from these experiences--as he says to his mother at one point that he finally understands Lex: hate is easier than love.
Clark is also excellent around children--his mother comments that his father would have been delighted to see how Clark was with one little girl, who refused to speak and would shatter glass if she got upset, encouraging her to open up to him. At one point - over the course of a few days - Clark demonstrated this same parental warmth to a baby found in a cornfield (like him) who was cursed with accelerated growth, and died just a short while later. In Siren's Port, I expect Clark to act as a warm parental figure to other children, especially those without parents, as he was. The Kents taught Clark this compassion from others from an early age, and it extends to everyone; even people that Clark finds as an initially frustrating as Lois.
To his friends, as to his loving parents, Clark is someone to be depended on. He's impulsive when it comes to his hero complex, reckless, but seems to genuinely invite a fondness from the people around him, except instead where they get consumed by jealousy instead; for instance Jimmy felt that Clark was making the moves on his girl, when in fact they were just good friends, since Chloe was protecting Clark's secret from him at the expense of their relationship. He can be more than a little frustrating (especially when he's late), but the fact remains that he's always there when he's needed. He is empathetic, though emotionally bottled up himself, but he always means well, even if he makes mistakes delivering the sentiment. He is hardworking, always does as he's told, and has a passion for a variety of things including astronomy and football, which he gave up because he considered himself a danger to others on the court, and knew that a bloodtest would reveal that he wasn't human. In addition to his sacrifical nature - jumping in front of bullets and the like even when they can harm him - Clark is also sacrifical in other ways, for instance going to a college he can commute to so as not to leave his ageing parents with a farm they couldn't keep up while he was gone. This genuine desire to simply be good, even at his own expense, is inherent to Clark's nature.
But then there's Lois; Lois who challenges him, and holds him in check, who questions even his judgements made in absolute good sense and throws her own angle on them. Clark even admits openly that he is more emotionally grounded with her than he's ever been in his life, and his passion and love for her have grown on top of rocky foundations, dancing between teasing hatred and outright trust ever since Lois' early stays on the Kent farm. Even so, The Secret and his double-identity do get in the way of their relationship, as Lois is so determined to protect The Blur that she would protect him even from Clark, and be suspicious of his bringing up the topic at all--enough to actually break off her relationship with him. If anything, this shows how fiercely Lois will eventually protect Clark's secret, though as usual he's blind to that kind of subtlety.
Conditional: Personality development in previous game: N/A
Character Plans: Clark's name will be recognised, inevitably, by some of the characters in the game, though being from Smallville, Clark is a pre-Superman model, and hasn't come into contact with most of them before (barring a few examples). He will probably take up his role as The Blur in the city, using his powers for lawful good, while taking a job in reporting, though he has other options (Clark grew up as a farmer and knows how to work cattle, has been frequently prodded toward policing, but also once dreamed of a football career, something he didn't pursue as a result of feeling that his powers would endanger the other players.) Reporting is most likely, as it's a better cover.
Appearance/PB: HERE
Note: To characters from DC canons, Clark is still essentially a young Superman, and since Superman's ageing is supposed to be slowing down, probably appears not that different to the Clark Kent/Superman that some of them already know. Chronologically, in three years Clark is the blue eyed hero. Naturally there is some difference between the two universes i.e. the colour of his eyes (frequently debated, as characters mention them as blue in the series but Welling's are clearly green), and how bulky and magnificent Supes is, but it's up to you whether your character recognises him or not.
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[Clark is in no hurry to go splashing his face all over the network after his little run in with SERO, so this post is audio.]
I'm looking for some friends of mine--I don't want to put them in any danger, but if you can hear me, please respond on this frequency.
As for everyone else, I guess I'm Clark.
Is it true what I've read, about us all being brought here by this Core? That none of us can leave and that everyone here has some kind of power, no matter how normal they were before? [It sounded like a prison for the superpowered.] And does anyone have a map of the earth with this island on it? There's something I want to try.
Third Person Sample
The last thing he remembered was falling. Up above him, Zod had been encased in light, sent away with the other Kandorians to their new home, and Clark had felt...satisfied. He'd done what he had to do; done what even he hadn't expected to be possible, and now he was falling off a skyscraper, as human as anyone else, blue kryptonite buried in his stomach.
But he hadn't hit the ground.
Still, something had rendered him unconscious. Something had kept him out for who knew how long after his arrival in the baseball diamond, so that SERO had had opportunity enough to rush him away from the bright lights, confiscate the shard of crystal - surely Clark wouldn't miss it - and secure him in their facility for medical care and observation. He came round slowly, green eyes flickering open onto bright lights, raising one arm up to block them from his eyes.
His voice sounded clear but strained. Where was he? Hospital? Some lab somewhere? Had they found out he was different when he survived the fall? "Where am I?"
An exciteable doctor leant over him, reading from the Driver's License clutched in both begloved hands: "Mr. Kent, you have an exceptional healing ability. If you would just--"
There was no time to finish that sentence. Decades of fearing experimentation on him, of nightmares where he would wake up strapped down to some lab-table, sparked a response in Clark he didn't question, reaching up to snatch away his ID in measured, controlled panic. No. He dragged himself upright, vision spinning briefly before everything snapped clear, and reconsidered striking out at the nervous doctor, who was retreating clean across the room with his hands raised high.
He'd woken in a hospital room, tubes in his arms, not strapped down, but he counted his blessings. With his very identity thrown into the mix--what else was there for him to do but resist--to escape? Fortunately his things had been left on the table beside him, and Clark snatched them away, his eyes on the Doctor.
"I really can't stay."
There were sounds in the room behind him, a ruckus sparked by the disturbance in the examination room, and Clark span out into the hallway through the double doors, not risking standing still long enough to allow himself to be spotted, let alone coralled by whoever these people were. Checkmate - maybe something worse, who knew? - but Clark wasn't planning to stick around to find out. There was far too much at risk.
The brisk night air outside didn't feel like an alien world--though something told him he wasn't in Kansas any more, either. What had happened to him, when he fell off that building?
General
Canon Source: Smallville/DC
Canon Format: TV series (extended N/A canon is comic books/movies etc and details of Metropolis etc. may come from there.)
Character's Name: Clark Kent (Kal-el, The Blur, Superman etc.)
Character's Age: 23
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. N/A
What form will your character's NV take? A flat crystal resembling the Crystal of El, replacing the one Clark might usually carry, and therefore not having its usual powers. Held in the left hand it produces a projected keyboard and screen for communicating via text, while held in the right it produces a hologram or a holographic screen for holographic and video communication. The audio function can be activated with a thumbtouch to the top of the symbol, and it glows to show that its active, making accidental recordings harder. After being activated, it can be left in a pocket or across a room without any disruption to the quality of sound.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities:
Strengths
There are just a few of them, so HERE is a link, detailing all of Clark's powers, from his main powers to supporting abilities.
The Earth's yellow sun gives Kryptonians like Clark their superabilities. These abilities are numerous, and reliant upon the sun to power them. After significant amounts of time removed from the sun, or on other planets, or under another sun, those powers are removed--for instance Clark, in the Phantom Zone, is powerless.
Clark's superhealing is fast, but he heals much faster - and can heal from more grievious injuries much faster in particular - when in direct sunlight.
Since Clark is still growing, his abilities grow with him year to year. The link above details these changes in more detail than I can, but I will try to explain what he is capable of under each of the headers below.
Superstrength
Clark's superstrength has reached a level where he is capable of catching vehicles moving at high velocity - such as a car or a helicopter without seeming stressed or taking a step out of place, and able to catch heavy falling objects such as the globe of the Daily Planet, and can easily throw aside missile warheads in flight. He can rip off re-enforced steel doors, mold metals with his hands, and throw people and vehicles easily. He has to constantly check his abilities to make sure that he doesn't hurt the people around him, and for years was concerned that he might hurt someone he was intimate with. Clark can be extremely gentle, even catching an arrow in midflight.
touch transmitted immunity: If Clark were to actually stop a car the way he has stopped several objects in the past, even metal would crumple upon impact with him. Instead the objects remain whole. However if he is preparing for the impact as though to be struck - i.e. in the first episode when he's struck by Lex's car, the vehicle crumples as though it's hit a stationary, solid object.
Superspeed
Clark is literally faster than a speeding bullet; he has outraced and caught bullets fired from handguns to high-powered rifles with ease, and can by this point cross continents in a few minutes. He is still slower than his friend Impulse (in other media, grandson of the Flash) who can only be captured as a long blur on a single frame of a film. In series 5/6 Clark's image was captured on a single frame of film and his features were perfectly clear, but with his abilities maturing, Clark has reached that 'Blur' status, thus the pre-Superman name he was given. Clark can't run on water the way that Bart does.
including:
adjusted vision - Clark can see fast moving objects and his environment sharply, even when he too is moving quickly--for instance he can see a bullet moving, and the waves caused by its passage. He can take note of other fast moving objects easily, though often his surroundings appear as slightly blurred, i.e. when moving in a straight line, though perhaps this is only to denote speed, as he seems to be able to pick out details easily.
speed reading - Clark is capable of reading details easily, and can scan read books or computer screens by taking in the pages one at a time. He's eventually capable of simply flicking through books.
superswimming - As an application of his superspeed, Clark is capable of swimming extremely fast, though not nearly as fast as his friend Arthur (AC) Curry (a.k.a. Aquaman)
vertical running - Clark can run fast enough that he can literally run down the side of a building. He's faster than a falling person.
other applications - Clark often uses his superspeed to get his tasks done in less time, such as his chores on the farm, or in one episode making deliveries of children's gifts at Christmas.
Superhearing
Clark's superhearing has improved to the point where he can listen to loud noises and their ensuing conversations across town, when he focuses on them. He usually does this from a vantage point, clearly so he can hear better. Clark can also listen to whispered conversations had across loud rooms or through walls by this point in the series. He can also hear people's heartbeats.
Superleaping/Flight (tentative)
Clark has been leaping great distances since his very first appearance in Smallville, and those leaps have gotten bigger and bigger. By Season 5 he was capable of leaping whole countries--one step off flight. Despite having been seen to hover, and being able to fly when his Kal-el identity is in control, Clark hasn't been able to fly so far, though he's close to discovering that ability; the suggested reason is that he identifies too much with being human.
X-ray/Telescoping and Microscoping/Heat vision
Clark's green (blue) eyes hide a great number of special skills and abilities. He can see through objects via his X-Ray vision, and can see people by skeleton when they're concealed behind walls or buried underground. Clark's eyes also transmit energy - his heat vision - and can heat liquid, metal, etc. He's used this ability to heat up guns and burn the holder, essentially shoot out objects, and warm up something as simple as coffee. Clark can focus on small objects and see them far more clearly than a human would be able to, seeing tiny serial numbers, for instance. He can also see further than other people - particularly from a great height or via a telescope.
Invulnerability/Superhealing/Longevity
Clark is extremely resilient, and unless affected by Kryptonite, his invulnerability is what protects him. He heals extremely quickly if injured, and as a result has rarely been seen wearing bruises or cuts. Even when shot, Clark's wound heals when his invulneribility returns, and he has to wear bandages over his non-existant bulletwounds to maintain his pretence of healing like a normal person. Usually bullets that strike him get flattened as though hitting a solid object, and the same goes for other things except noted under superstrength.
As Clark isn't human, and his invulnerability goes down to the cellular level, he doesn't age the same way humans do, and his ageing has been levelling out and will continue to do so until he literally doesn't appear to age.
including:
breathing underwater, in space, underground
Clark clearly can hold his breath for extended periods of time. He has been seen ascending to space (holding onto the outside of a missile), being pulled under and fighting underground, and fighting underneath water.
resistance to disease/viruses
At one point Clark has a cold, and he and his mother talk about how he's never been sick, ever since he was a child. This illness only comes on, though, when he's been pushed to his limits (several days apparently without rest) and then sapped of his powers.
recovery from wounds caused by Kryptonite or under the effects of Kryptonite
As soon as Clark is removed from the source of Kryptonite, his wounds heal over, and the effects of the Kryptonite wear off quickly, regardless of the length of time he's been exposed to it.
resistance to extremes of temperature
Clark can move through flame and into extremely hostile environments and remain there for some time. He can take hold of hot objects, protect people from explosions with his body, and essentially walk through fire.
Super/arctic breath
Clark discovered this particular ability very late in the series, comparatively. The first time Clark sneezed, he literally blew the doors off--the barn doors, that is. Clark has used this power to put out fires, blow out steel doors as though from an explosion, and to blow up cool mist to conceal his identity.
Superdexterity
Clark is extremely dextrous, and has never mishandled anything (i.e. a ball), stumbled, slipped or tripped, except while being manipulated or under the effects of Kryptonite.
Superstamina
Clark is capable of going for long distances using his powers, crossing whole continents and back without exhausting his power reserves. He doesn't seem to need to sleep often or long, and during Lois' stay at the Kent Farm did his chores during he night in order to avoid her seeing him doing them at superspeed.
Supermemory
Chloe once commented that Clark's mind is like a steel trap, and in fact Clark has a photoperfect memory, capable of remembering addresses and details of things only by seeing or hearing them once. It's a talent that he uses by instinct, and talks down when it's mentioned to him, most likely because it's another step away from his being like everyone else.
Weaknesses
Clark's powers are still developing, and have been for some time, but with any power comes weaknesses. An extended link is below, covering vulnerability to certain other powers, such as psychic abilities, magic, alien technology, high pitched noises, and certain alien or kryptonite enhanced powers. HERE
Kryptonite
Meteor rocks from his home of Krypton have varying effects on him, the most commonly featured and important are detailed below:
Green kryptonite
This kind of kryptonite has been shown to boil the blood of Kryptonians exposed to it, causing deep and eventually mortal pain. Clark is shown as falling to his knees when exposed to the rock, and grows sicker over extended periods of time, and seems physically incapable of even crawling away from the source, but when the rock is removed or encased in lead, he feels better and is back to full power within a few seconds. Green kryptonite can be used in weapons to kill, i.e. kryptonite arrow heads or kryptonite bullets, or made into prison cells etc. Clark can imbibe kyptonite, or have it injected into his bloodstream, but it makes him extremely sick for extended periods of time, until his body purges the poison or until it kills him.
In Smallville, LuthorCorp experiments with green kryptonite frequently, and its often shown that even in varying different forms and qualities, the rock continues to have this adverse effect on Clark even when it causes very different responses in humans. Green kryptonite has been shown to be used in other forms as miracle cures or drugs of various kinds, further detailed in the link* below. Exposure to large quantities of the rock in its pure form has also physically mutated humans.
This colour of Kryptonite in particular has been shown to be on Earth in other places in the past, i.e. used as jewels in ancient relics placed a thousand years ago. The possibility remains that a piece could appear in one of Siren's Port's museums.
Black kryptonite
Black kryponite can be used to seperate the personalities or halves of a person. It's been used in the past to seperate Clark into Clark and Kal-El, and also - when superheated - used on humans. It was used on Lex to seperate him into a good and an evil side.
Blue kryptonite
Blue kryptonite weakens Kryptonians to a human like state, stripping them completely of their powers. Clark has come into contact with blue kryptonite before, including just before his arrival in Siren's Port.
It also has scientific applications, such as the ability to make plants grow well in harsh environments, and has other life saving/healing powers.
Silver kryptonite
When Clark is exposed to silver kryptonite it cuts through his skin, but also inflicts a deep psychosis on him, poisoning his mind. As a result, Clark becomes suspicious of everyone and everything around him, seeing plots against him where there are none.
Red kryptonite
Red kryptonite, when worn, causes Clark's inhibitions to melt away. It can be used in jewelery, and when worn Clark doesn't hold back any more, displaying eratic behaviour such as running away to Vegas to get married, or dropping out of highschool to run away to Metropolis.
Gold kryptonite
Gold kryptonite is one of the things that can actually be used to permanently harm Kryptonians, though Clark hasn't yet been exposed to it. Gold kryptonite can be used to cut, scar and kill.
*Other types and the specifics of his weaknesses to them are HERE.
Footnote: Clark, in the time he's taken from, will come with a shard of blue kryptonite (which renders him human and strips him of his abilities) driven through his chest. The idea is that this piece of kryptonite goes to SERO when they rescue him, and can then be used at some point/points in the future to render him powerless, as well as for some other scientific applications that might cause them to replicate the substance artificially, re. possibilities of exploring the properties of other types of kryptonite in the future. I say this because Clark's abilities are extremely powerful, and DC villains at least are aware of this weakness and will seek to use it, meaning that there can be some element of balance in place as a result. I'm also willing to weaken him significantly from his canon self, if it seems to be necessary, but obviously I'd prefer the Kryptonite route. An example of weakening his powers in play would be perhaps - due to his powers being inherently sun related - the Darkness steadily draining him through to morning, and I'd be happy to run with and play with this weakness if the app team would like to see it handled that way.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? N/A
Weapons: A blue kryptonite dagger
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: Here
Point in Canon: The end of series nine, when during his battle with Zod, Clark is run through with a dagger made of blue kryptonite and falls off a high rise building.
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: N/A
Character Personality:
Clark Kent is very much the son of two worlds. Born to loving parents on Krypton, but brought up by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas, he has inhereted his personality perhaps just as much as he has been formed by his experiences. Jor-El makes it clear that Clark falling into the Kent's lives is not by chance but by design; the Kents chosen to raise Clark as his Kryptonian parents desired him to be raised.
As a result, Clark is brought up in a loving, passionate home, protected from the world around him, and though the secret of his origin is jealously hidden away, he was never brought up to be ashamed of it, taking superpowered chores about the farm in his stride. He was, however, well taught to defend it, and at times Clark has relied on quick thinking to get him out of tight spots; though not everything is so easily explainable. It's a skill that still serves him, wriggling out from under Lois' scrutiny when he disappears at crucial moments.
Unfortunately the Kents' passion couldn't protect him forever. Entering High School, things just wouldn't be the same again; for one thing, he fell in love, and Clark's affection for Lana Lang was a rollercoaster of ups and downs that would leave him chewed up and spat out at the end.
The harsh reality was, for Clark, that his secret was something that must be kept under any circumstances, or it could all end badly; as proven by the numerous meteor infected people in Smallville, the danger he put his friend Pete (and others) into, and Lex Luthor's steady descent into obsession as he sought the answers to his questions. At a key moment mid-series, Clark tells his secret to Lana, asks her to marry him, and later comes too late to rescue her from a car crash; making a deal with Jor-El, he saves Lana's life, but chooses another path, not telling her his secret, and withholding his desire to marry her. The result is that she accepts Lex's proposal instead, seemingly in an effort to put Clark and his secrets behind her, and that his adoptive father - Jonathan Kent - dies. At this point, Clark even offers his own life in exchange, pleading with Jor-El for his father's life, a willing sacrifice if it meant just saving one life.
As a result of making this choice, a lot of things in Clark's life change. He becomes more jaded, and more secretive, but above all holds himself responsible for - it seems to him - a lifetime of pain caused to others that have been responsible for keeping his secret, or gravitate toward it. Mid-season six he even blames himself for Lex's darkness, and when speaking with Chloe about Lana marrying Lex, the fact that Lana did it to protect Clark from Lionel fills him with clear agony. Another instance is after Zod possesses Lex and powers out the entire world, resulting in catastrophic destruction worldwide--despite having fought his way out of the Phantom Zone to battle him, and being weakened by a cold, Clark insists on doing everything he can to help, even refusing to sleep for days as he uses the night to move rubble without being seen. In the final season, Brainiac 5 says of Jonathan Kent's funeral: "--This was a defining moment for you. Perhaps "the" defining moment. The day you started to blame yourself."
To other people, Clark Kent is a hero - particularly to Chloe, who calls him at one point her "very own superhero" - but Clark insists otherwise. This belief is what measures his worth as a true lawful heroic type. Even when pushed to extremes, when someone he loves has died or is in danger, Clark has very clear moral lines that he will not cross. When presented with another vigilante - one prepared to kill - Clark is there to insist that she stop, much like he does in the comic books to one Bruce Wayne/Batman (not present in the Smallville-verse due to franchise rights). That isn't to say he hasn't come close, using his superstrength on various occasions to push people like Lex and Lionel Luthor around, but the clear contrast to Lex - particularly in the later seasons - is that when Clark says "I don't know what I'd do if you've hurt her', he doesn't mean 'kill you.' Hawkman tells Clark "You're not like the others, are you Clark? Kids who are in it for the thrills, or because they have a chip on their shoulder. You dont do this for glory or vengeance." He hits the nail sharply on the head, but Clark misses the point. Either way, despite the violence, and the force he employs to shut down the villains, his lines are clearly drawn, though it is noteable that the darker Clark Kent from mid-series was prepared to hunt down and kill the escaped prisoners from the Phantom Zone, rather than allow them to kill him. As Martian Manhunter points out, Clark didn't have to do that, but he considered it his responsibility, having released them, and stepped up to it regardless.
In truth, Clark doesn't want to be a hero. He shirks the power off to other people throughout, and his only interest is in not seeing lives lost or ruined, particularly those of people he cares about. As a result, Clark will bowl headlong into dangerous situations without stopping to think about strategy, confident that anything that he comes across won't be able to stand against him--something that isn't always true. His friends have had to come to his rescue several times, though more often Clark saves the day and zips off without waiting for the save to be acknowledged. More recently as The Blur, Clark has been leaving call-signs in places where he has saved lives--leaving the mark of the House of El somewhere in the vicinity (the S in a shield that Superman wears)--though that did backlash rather dangerously at one point (again Clark blamed himself). Clark is one step closer to acknowledging his heroism outright--though he hasn't quite got there yet, his inherent fear of his secret being known holding him back. Despite finally taking responsibility for the Kandorians, and accepting - in some small way - the mantle that the other heroes in the reassembling Justice League have given him in uniting them, Clark is still taking babysteps.
Clark has sincere trouble balancing his humanity with his alien heritage; for years, he refused to attend Jor-El's training, first out of suspicion that his Kryptonian parents were trying to destroy his life, and then later more often because he was more involved with Lana. At one point rescuing her and lingering caused him to lose his superhuman powers, and at another he tried to make a life with her rather than leaving. Clark was prepared to give up everything, even his freedom, so long as he never had to give up her, and it was that desire that brought him back to her again and again until she finally left. That didn't stop Clark finding solace in the arms of others, even rushing off for an underaged marriage (under the effects of red kryptonite) with one girl--Alicia Baker, a girl with teleporting powers. Still, while Lana is one of his weaknesses, the other is - as so many tell him - also his greatest strength; Clark's faith and hope in humanity.
The two - human vs. kryptonian - have stood as the basis of Clark's attributes throughout. Clark was brought up as a morally conscious human, to loving parents, on a farm he himself loved. He has seen the people around him as something aspirational throughout his life as himself an outsider, and strained constantly to be more human, more like them. When he loses his powers he seems almost grateful to finally be human and therefore to not be hiding his secret any more, despite the fact that this puts his family and Lana at risk. He hates that his secret puts others in danger, and would rather be without it. As a result Clark idealises humans, and (at first) shows more suspicion of other aliens, until he begins to realise that there's more to them, too. His experiences with other heroes - and discovering how the Justice League of America had been treated at their disbandment - has resulted in him having ever more faith in what he and the other masks - Green Arrow, Impulse, Cyborg, Stargirl etc. - are doing. Essentially, though, he does think of himself as human, certainly enough to impede his training and make it impossible to unleash the full extent of his power, including learning to fly.
As well as faith in these heroes, who all know his identity, and which he shared with them without question, Clark has an unwavering faith in almost everyone he meets, with few exceptions proven only by sour experience and time. He has given previous bad guys chance after chance to redeem themselves, trusted people whom he shouldn't have, such as his friend Pete, and even in the case of Lex Luthor, called them a friend long after their transgressions should have ruled that out (seriously, the guy kept a creepy stalker room full of creepy stalker stuff, and a constantly looping computer model of his best friend getting hit by a car.)
This idealism is dangerous, but it's just part of who Clark is, and even when advised to snap out of it by those closest to him, Clark can't help but hold out for people to become something they're not, stepping in to save them (even if he sometimes hesitates) because they deserve that chance at redemption if nothing else. Even if it is again and again. Clark had ample opportunity to step out of the way and let grenades and bullets kill Lex Luthor time and again; he simply chose not to. After Jimmy's death, Clark realises just how dangerous sparing such lives can be, and casts aside his identity as Clark Kent to pursue his training with Jor-El--believing that if only he'd known more about harnessing his powers, and not embraced his humanity so much, he might have been saved. This was at once a deepening of the darkness and stoicism that Clark needs to be a great leader, and a challenging final trial designed to see Clark through to his destiny.
Clark is generally optimistic, but can be quiet and withdrawn at times, deeply involved with his own thoughts. He is warm, witty, and capable of making hard decisions. At times, Clark is an excellent actor and liar, to his friends as well as his enemies, but at others his anger or evasiveness seems to dissolve this quality, and people who have experience can see right through it (like Lois, Chloe and Lana). Even now, Clark still bottles up his emotions - though it was most obvious in his high school days, moping over Lana - but his goodbye to Lois at the end of Season Nine leaves a lot unspoken. Clark can be excessively violent, but he learns from these experiences--as he says to his mother at one point that he finally understands Lex: hate is easier than love.
Clark is also excellent around children--his mother comments that his father would have been delighted to see how Clark was with one little girl, who refused to speak and would shatter glass if she got upset, encouraging her to open up to him. At one point - over the course of a few days - Clark demonstrated this same parental warmth to a baby found in a cornfield (like him) who was cursed with accelerated growth, and died just a short while later. In Siren's Port, I expect Clark to act as a warm parental figure to other children, especially those without parents, as he was. The Kents taught Clark this compassion from others from an early age, and it extends to everyone; even people that Clark finds as an initially frustrating as Lois.
To his friends, as to his loving parents, Clark is someone to be depended on. He's impulsive when it comes to his hero complex, reckless, but seems to genuinely invite a fondness from the people around him, except instead where they get consumed by jealousy instead; for instance Jimmy felt that Clark was making the moves on his girl, when in fact they were just good friends, since Chloe was protecting Clark's secret from him at the expense of their relationship. He can be more than a little frustrating (especially when he's late), but the fact remains that he's always there when he's needed. He is empathetic, though emotionally bottled up himself, but he always means well, even if he makes mistakes delivering the sentiment. He is hardworking, always does as he's told, and has a passion for a variety of things including astronomy and football, which he gave up because he considered himself a danger to others on the court, and knew that a bloodtest would reveal that he wasn't human. In addition to his sacrifical nature - jumping in front of bullets and the like even when they can harm him - Clark is also sacrifical in other ways, for instance going to a college he can commute to so as not to leave his ageing parents with a farm they couldn't keep up while he was gone. This genuine desire to simply be good, even at his own expense, is inherent to Clark's nature.
But then there's Lois; Lois who challenges him, and holds him in check, who questions even his judgements made in absolute good sense and throws her own angle on them. Clark even admits openly that he is more emotionally grounded with her than he's ever been in his life, and his passion and love for her have grown on top of rocky foundations, dancing between teasing hatred and outright trust ever since Lois' early stays on the Kent farm. Even so, The Secret and his double-identity do get in the way of their relationship, as Lois is so determined to protect The Blur that she would protect him even from Clark, and be suspicious of his bringing up the topic at all--enough to actually break off her relationship with him. If anything, this shows how fiercely Lois will eventually protect Clark's secret, though as usual he's blind to that kind of subtlety.
Conditional: Personality development in previous game: N/A
Character Plans: Clark's name will be recognised, inevitably, by some of the characters in the game, though being from Smallville, Clark is a pre-Superman model, and hasn't come into contact with most of them before (barring a few examples). He will probably take up his role as The Blur in the city, using his powers for lawful good, while taking a job in reporting, though he has other options (Clark grew up as a farmer and knows how to work cattle, has been frequently prodded toward policing, but also once dreamed of a football career, something he didn't pursue as a result of feeling that his powers would endanger the other players.) Reporting is most likely, as it's a better cover.
Appearance/PB: HERE
Note: To characters from DC canons, Clark is still essentially a young Superman, and since Superman's ageing is supposed to be slowing down, probably appears not that different to the Clark Kent/Superman that some of them already know. Chronologically, in three years Clark is the blue eyed hero. Naturally there is some difference between the two universes i.e. the colour of his eyes (frequently debated, as characters mention them as blue in the series but Welling's are clearly green), and how bulky and magnificent Supes is, but it's up to you whether your character recognises him or not.
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[Clark is in no hurry to go splashing his face all over the network after his little run in with SERO, so this post is audio.]
I'm looking for some friends of mine--I don't want to put them in any danger, but if you can hear me, please respond on this frequency.
As for everyone else, I guess I'm Clark.
Is it true what I've read, about us all being brought here by this Core? That none of us can leave and that everyone here has some kind of power, no matter how normal they were before? [It sounded like a prison for the superpowered.] And does anyone have a map of the earth with this island on it? There's something I want to try.
Third Person Sample
The last thing he remembered was falling. Up above him, Zod had been encased in light, sent away with the other Kandorians to their new home, and Clark had felt...satisfied. He'd done what he had to do; done what even he hadn't expected to be possible, and now he was falling off a skyscraper, as human as anyone else, blue kryptonite buried in his stomach.
But he hadn't hit the ground.
Still, something had rendered him unconscious. Something had kept him out for who knew how long after his arrival in the baseball diamond, so that SERO had had opportunity enough to rush him away from the bright lights, confiscate the shard of crystal - surely Clark wouldn't miss it - and secure him in their facility for medical care and observation. He came round slowly, green eyes flickering open onto bright lights, raising one arm up to block them from his eyes.
His voice sounded clear but strained. Where was he? Hospital? Some lab somewhere? Had they found out he was different when he survived the fall? "Where am I?"
An exciteable doctor leant over him, reading from the Driver's License clutched in both begloved hands: "Mr. Kent, you have an exceptional healing ability. If you would just--"
There was no time to finish that sentence. Decades of fearing experimentation on him, of nightmares where he would wake up strapped down to some lab-table, sparked a response in Clark he didn't question, reaching up to snatch away his ID in measured, controlled panic. No. He dragged himself upright, vision spinning briefly before everything snapped clear, and reconsidered striking out at the nervous doctor, who was retreating clean across the room with his hands raised high.
He'd woken in a hospital room, tubes in his arms, not strapped down, but he counted his blessings. With his very identity thrown into the mix--what else was there for him to do but resist--to escape? Fortunately his things had been left on the table beside him, and Clark snatched them away, his eyes on the Doctor.
"I really can't stay."
There were sounds in the room behind him, a ruckus sparked by the disturbance in the examination room, and Clark span out into the hallway through the double doors, not risking standing still long enough to allow himself to be spotted, let alone coralled by whoever these people were. Checkmate - maybe something worse, who knew? - but Clark wasn't planning to stick around to find out. There was far too much at risk.
The brisk night air outside didn't feel like an alien world--though something told him he wasn't in Kansas any more, either. What had happened to him, when he fell off that building?