[Chapter 5: Power]Kal gasped as his senses threatened to overwhelm him. Threatened, but failed.
He focused on flying, clamping his aura down as tightly against his skin as he could as he shot over state lines and spotted his destination.
He must maintain control or it wouldn't just be the reactor potentially going into meltdown. . . .
His feet landed hard on the pavement, cracking it, but it fared better than the parking lot of Home Renov. Kal straightened, looking up at the front entrance of Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant.
"Superman!"
He flinched at the loud cry but managed to not cover his ears as he focused, noting how everyone was away from doorways and moving to place their backs against the wall if they weren't already. His X-ray vision peeled away the walls and he quickly located the containment area of Reactor 3. He couldn't see the reactor itself due to the heavy shielding, but he could see the adjoining chamber where the heat exchanger was and saw that one of the pumps within was not working – when it needed to be.
He blurred. There was no time to ask for permission or even to share his plan. He could hear the alarms squealing, demanding attention and declaring catastrophe was imminent if conditions were not immediately altered.
He zipped forward, gritting his teeth to maintain the tight reign of control over his strength and speed. Still, he felt the concrete give beneath a few of his steps, but there was nothing for it.
He entered the room, crushing the door handle as he opened the door, but he managed to keep his feet from damaging the floor as he slid to a stop beside the pump.
Taking a deep breath, he yanked the side covering of the pump to expose the drive shaft before he manually began turning the unpowered pump with his bare hands. Hearing the water flowing, he focused on the heat exchanger where the pumps were forcing water through. Praying his plan worked, he slowly exhaled, delicately releasing a cold stream of frosty air at the red hot pipes filled with water that should be pulling heat away from the reactor as it cycled.
The red faded for a moment, before the cooled water was replaced by hot from the reactor once more, and so Kal repeated the process, cycling the water through the cooled pipes to bring the temperature of the reactor down as designed.
He heard the exclamations of relief from where he assumed the control room to be, but he knew he couldn't stop yet.
He knew it would likely be hours before he could stop, and while that thought initially made him wince internally, he quickly realized the monotonous actions of turning the drive shaft and blowing ice cold air every other breath was calming more than just the raging temperatures of the reactor. It was soothing his own spasming powers as well.
Imprints of his hands were soon on the drive shaft, providing him a better grip as he let his eye close and his mind drift. The drone of machinery and pulsing water passed over him, allowing time to pass faster than it would have to him otherwise.
Eventually, the alarms faded away and he dimly became aware of people in the room. He opened his eye and slowly stopped turning the shaft.
"You did it, Superman," the man at the front of the group said, his voice thick with relief. "We cannot thank you enough!"
Kal's eye fell to the nametag attached to the man’s lapel.
Dr. Erik Adams
Head of Nuclear Operations"Glad I could help,” Kal said with a smile. “So everything is alright now? The other reactors?”
“All stable,” Adams assured.
“And the power outages?” Kal asked.
“That’s . . . a little less stable, admittedly."
"I'll see what I can do to help with the power issues, then. I'm feeling better than I did earlier. Sorry about the damage I caused. I can repair it later if you'd like," Kal offered.
"No, no! Don't even think of doing so. Maintenance is fighting over what to do with the door handle and boot prints. They want to immortalize it all," Adams stated, grinning.
"Oh. Okay. Glad I could redecorate?" Kal offered, confused and a little self-conscious.
Adams laughed.
"Well, if you need anything, you know how to contact me," Kal said, before disappearing.
O o O o O
Kal shot to the Foundation, immediately feeling the overcharging effects of the solar storm. While the hours of cooling the reactor had helped him tremendously, he could already feel power pooling at his core. He considered flying around the world a few times to burn off the access energy, but realized that might just provide more opportunity for the sun to charge him further. Without many other options, he simply pushed himself to expend more energy by flying faster than he normally would. Hopefully that would allow him to maintain control.
The strategy mostly worked. He landed with a heavy thud instead of a crack.
He hurried into the Foundation.
“Kal! How do you feel?” Dr. Klein asked. He had heard Kal's sonic boom so had raced down the stairs the moment he realized Kal would be coming in through the front door.
“Still overpowered, but I have a little better handle on it now. Is there anything I can do to help with the power outages?” Kal asked.
“Let me call the National Guard. They should be able to let us know how best you can help, or at least get us in contact with the person who knows,” Julie said, quickly picking up the phone.
A few minutes later, Kal was flying to Connecticut, joining the maintenance teams there. After a crash course in transformers, generators, faraday cages, and power stations (thanks to speed reading provided manuals and prior knowledge), Superman was replacing machinery and putting up makeshift generator units and the like. He soon did this all over the Americas as the hours wore on, ping-ponging through Canada to the southern tip of Chile, going where he was needed and doing what he could to enable critical areas to ride out the rest of the storm. Rolling blackouts would still be required in certain areas due to the reduced available power, but at least the power grids were no longer at risk of outright collapsing.
“Superman, thank you. We’re good here, but my boss just told me the UN is asking for you to go to Europe. Their grid is looking like ours had been,” the man in the construction hat said before telling him where he was needed exactly.
“Thanks. I’m on my way,” Kal said before shooting up into the sky.
He kept moving, expending energy. With his speed, strength, and flight, he was using up about the same amount of energy as he was absorbing. As long as he didn’t stand and do nothing for too long, he maintained control and felt more like his normal self.
He arrived in France and did more of the same, shoring up the power grid and helping to deliver generators and fuel where needed. He was barely aware of which nation he was in as the hours went on, and then he heard alarms blaring. There was an emergency at a chemical plant, and something told him there was no time to waste.
He landed outside the plant with the sun at his back before charging inside.
“Superman! The tanks are leaking and the pressure is building in others! We have to evacuate! The control systems completely failed after the initial blast!” a scientist cried in Polish the moment Kal appeared in the control room.
He didn’t need to hear anymore. Kal blurred. There were several tanks, each releasing volatile gas out onto the factory floor. Giant pipes snaked throughout the plant, most originating from a side room that had suffered from an internal explosion, resulting in the current cascade effect. He couldn't discern more than that as company workers panicked in their mad dash for the exits.
And then an odd scent tickled his nose.
His knowledge of chemicals thanks to his years in the military screamed in his soul. In a split second, a ruthless chemical reaction went off.
Kal snapped out his aura, saturating the entire structure with his life force as a putrid, deadly vapor condensed in the air, coating everything within the space in a blink. Floors, walls, windows, clothing, hair, skin. . . . The chemical film blanketed everything.
But so did his power.
“It-It’s on us!”
"Get out!”
“I don’t want to die!”
"Stop! Stay close!" Kal bellowed, cutting through the terrified voices echoing throughout.
Everyone immediately stopped, turning toward his voice as they became aware of something else against their skin. Energy beyond anything they had ever felt before.
"Take off your outer clothing and exit together, but don't go beyond 100 feet from the building," Superman said, standing just off the main tank. "I need to handle the rest of the leaks, but I'll be out shortly. Don't go beyond the range of my aura."
"Your aura?" some asked, slowly comprehending before doing as he said.
Superman handled the remaining issues with the tanks. Fortunately, the worst of the danger was quickly handled. Within five minutes, everyone was outside and taking off the clothing they could.
“Don’t touch us!” one of the workers warned those they joined outside. “Stay back!”
“We need to be decontaminated immediately,” another said before explaining what was on them.
The next few hours were a whirlwind of activity with the whole front area of the complex converting into a makeshift decontamination assembly line.
Trucks with special equipment arrived and tents were put up, and hazmat workers started washing and checking everyone over as Superman remained, extending his aura out to provide protection against the chemical and waiting to be told everyone was clear of the deadly, toxic mixture. His aura was the only thing preventing horrible chemical burns and absorption of the toxin.
News crews had arrived but were kept back, though their cameras and reporters were in view, capturing everything for the world.
“We’re almost done, Superman,” the leader of the hazmat team said. “I am going to have to ask you to be decontaminated as well, though, before you leave when everyone else is clear. And I’m afraid your uniform will have to be destroyed. This compound is just not safe.”
“I had expected that,” Kal admitted, looking at his hand and rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. “This stuff is pretty nasty.”
The man in the hazmat suit nodded as another heavily protected man approached with a smile.
“Okay, we’re all–”
What was said next, Kal did not hear, for in that moment his skin was suddenly hot, tingling as if in contact with thousands of sparklers. The pulse of endless power surged so strongly that control over his aura didn't merely slip away, it was snatched.
His aura yanked in all directions, pulled taut, funneling even more power into his frame as comprehension of what was happening solidified.
This was another solar flare amid the ongoing solar storm.
His aura was a net, channeling the sun’s energy into him.
It was beyond anything he had ever felt before as his back arched. It was like being touched by Parasite all over, but ten times stronger and in reverse. The influx of power was too much, too intense and it quickly became agony.
He screamed.
O o O o O
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