Clark flew high above the port, maintaining order, when he heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned to see Jonathan Kent flying up to him.
"What's wrong?" Clark asked, his tone detached. This indifference felt strange to Jonathan.
In the past few days, Jonathan had come to realize that Clark, like his father and himself, had a superhuman heart. Their approaches to things had always been similar, so he was confused by Clark's recent violent actions.
"You shouldn't do that," Jonathan said. "We don't have the right to punish people. Just destroying the phone would have been enough."
"If we don't have the right, then who does?" Clark countered.
Jonathan answered instinctively, "The law and the government, of course... they're the ones who judge." He stopped abruptly as he realized the problem with his own statement.
"You see?" Clark said. "The government, the laws—they've all collapsed. This world isn't the same society you grew up in."
Clark stopped flying, and Jonathan hovered beside him. Though Jonathan was older and stronger, he felt a strange sense of inferiority to Clark in this moment.
"The systems that used to judge the wicked are gone. The only reason humanity is still surviving is because of the remaining heroes. At this point, heroes can't just save people; they have to manage, reward, and punish. Many heroes already understand this."
Clark had burned the man's retina in plain sight, in front of all the survivors and heroes. If Talia al Ghul hadn't stopped him because she didn't care about a stranger's life, what about the other heroes? The same heroes who had fought crime before society fell? Why didn't they speak up? Why was it that, even after the event, only Jonathan had come to confront him?
"Why... if everyone agrees with your methods, are you the only one doing this?" Jonathan's faith was shaken by the heroes' silence. If Clark's approach was the right one, why had no one taken the initiative before him?
"Isn't the answer in you and me?" Clark responded.
"You and me?" Jonathan was confused. Even as a Kryptonian, he didn't think he was that influential.
"More precisely," Clark continued, "it's in our Kryptonian blood." Clark looked toward another port where his father, Superman, and Lois Lane were directing survivors onto a ship. "Superman gives everyone hope.
It's his greatest charm and his most powerful superpower. But that hope also makes people complacent. Heroes know there might be a better way to handle things, but they instinctively rely on Superman. As long as he's here, they'll never truly despair. That idea is deeply ingrained."
Clark was honest; he had always envisioned himself becoming a hero like Superman when he grew up. He didn't crave admiration, but he wanted to use his power to help others. But because he was a young version of Superman, he was close enough to see the bigger picture.
He could still think for himself, unlike the other heroes who were overwhelmed by the hope his father provided. It was similar to how Lex Luthor, who never saw Superman as an ally, could still think rationally despite the hope Superman inspired. Luthor's intellect made him one of the few people who could see the flaws in relying on a single individual.
"So... it's Dad's presence that's making everyone choose silence?" Jonathan felt a deep unease. He couldn't believe it at first, but with his own Kryptonian mind, he had to admit that what Clark was saying made a certain kind of sense.
He thought back to the argument between Talia and Superman at the Fortress of Solitude. Was Talia wrong for wanting to eliminate the infected to protect the uninfected? No, she wasn't. But when two approaches were presented, why had everyone chosen Superman's way?
"You can see it that way," Clark said, "but you don't need to worry too much. Superman's hope has blinded many, but he also has the power to back it up. As long as Superman remains Superman, we can continue like this. What I did was just a private act because I couldn't stand it anymore."
Clark went back to maintaining order. Jonathan stayed where he was until Supergirl flew over and patted him on the shoulder. He then joined her, but Clark's words echoed in his mind.
He still trusted his father, but he could now see the inherent dangers of Superman's plan. If Superman was always there, they had nothing to worry about. But what if... Superman himself was infected? The moment that thought entered his mind, Jonathan knew he could no longer ignore the threat.
Clark continued to keep the peace, using his more aggressive methods to keep the unruly survivors in line.
While no one else was foolish enough to use a phone like that man, conflicts were inevitable with so many people in one place. In these extraordinary times, the fastest way to resolve a conflict wasn't with words, but with a direct show of force.
Clark didn't use his heat vision to burn everyone, but when it grazed someone's feet, even the most stubborn troublemaker would immediately quiet down.
Under Clark's influence, many of the other heroes began to use threats to keep the survivors in order. This change was not lost on Superman, who could hear everything with his super-hearing.
But he didn't say a word. He was kind, yes, but he also knew that not every hero was Superman. And for ordinary heroes, a little show of force was sometimes the only way to get the job done.