"No, both of you are heroes."
Peter patted Clark and Azu's heads and looked over at a few girls wrapped in towels not far away.
The girls glanced at Clark and Azu, their eyes filled with fear.
"But... sometimes, being a hero means losing something."
He spoke to the two boys with a complex expression.
"Dad," Azu said, his expression troubled, gripping his water cup a little too tightly. "You said that Clark and I shouldn't reveal our abilities. I'm sorry, I... I may have made a mistake."
Unlike Clark, who was feeling a sense of accomplishment, Azu felt uncomfortable.
He believed he shouldn't have revealed his powers.
But at the time, Clark was in danger. If he hadn't helped and joined in pushing the bus to shore, Clark might have stubbornly kept trying to push it on his own.
For Clark's safety, he changed his mind and decided to help.
But that didn't mean he thought Clark was right.
"No, you saved Clark, didn't you?" Peter had just heard the two boys describe what had happened underwater.
"Although I think you should hide your powers, since it's already done, there's no need for regret or remorse."
Peter placed his hand on Azu's shoulder. "Sometimes, John, we face choices at critical moments."
He comforted Azu, saying, "We can make any choice, whether it's right, wrong, evil, or just, but you need to know that every choice will come with consequences."
Although he didn't agree with Azu and Clark exposing their abilities, he understood the special circumstances.
If the boys had chosen to stand by and do nothing, he might've thought he'd raised them poorly.
"Consequences?"
Azu hadn't noticed that his father was lost in thought. Although he didn't fully understand his father's words, he repeated the word.
"Mr. Podrick,"
Ms. McDonald, who had just finished wrapping a quick bandage, came over to greet Peter.
She looked at Clark and Azu with a peculiar expression.
The scene of the two boys pushing the bus still replayed in her mind.
But since they were Peter's kids, it seemed somewhat more acceptable.
After all, this man had single-handedly taken down a group of gangsters.
She adjusted her emotions and said in as normal a tone as possible, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect Clark and John."
She decided to keep the boys' actions a secret.
After all, Peter had saved her from those gangsters before.
"No, I know it has nothing to do with you, Ms. McDonald,"
Peter replied, "None of us want things like car accidents to happen."
Since she was pretending not to know, Peter went along with it.
After a few more words, once Ms. McDonald left, Azu whispered to Peter, "Dad, Ms. McDonald's heartbeat was really fast just now."
Azu's hearing had become sharper with age.
Now, he could easily pick up the sound of a human heartbeat.
"Mhm, I know," Peter nodded. "Ms. McDonald probably hasn't gotten over the accident yet."
As Azu was about to say more, Martha and Jonathan arrived by car.
"Oh, my God!" Martha, excited, hugged Clark tightly. "Are you hurt, Clark?"
"I'm fine, Mom."
Beside her, Jonathan sighed in relief and looked toward Peter. "Peter, what happened?"
Meanwhile...
Near the ambulance, Old Horace was taking a towel from a paramedic.
While thanking the medical staff, he glanced seriously at Peter, Jonathan, and the others in the distance.
Night fell on the Kent Farm.
Clark was having dinner with his parents.
The atmosphere at the table was tense.
Before dinner, the mother of one of the girls who had witnessed Clark and Azu pushing the bus came to the Kent family, wanting to know if it was really Clark who pushed the bus to shore.
Naturally, the Kent couple firmly denied it.
"Clark,"
Jonathan put down his fork and said to Clark, who was hanging his head, "Do you remember what we talked about before? You have to... hide that side of yourself. You can't let people see your abilities."
Clark bit his lip and looked up, "Then what should I do? Just watch them die? Like little Terry?"
"Who's little Terry?"
Jonathan paused, then continued without pressing the point. "If people knew about your powers, everything would change. Did you see Claire's face?"
"She was terrified."
"I don't understand."
Clark didn't comprehend his father's concern. He looked up and said, "I saved her, so why would she be afraid?"
"Because people fear the unknown."
Clark's mood worsened. "Am I not human, Dad?"
Hearing Clark's question, both parents were stunned. They looked at each other.
Jonathan finally spoke, "No, you're definitely human, Clark."
"I'm not human, Dad."
Clark said passionately, "John and I, we aren't. I'm not your son, Dad—I've always known that."
His parents froze at his words, as Jonathan assumed Clark had discovered the alien spaceship hidden in the barn.
But Clark's next words caught him by surprise.
"I know. I must be the godfather's son because he has powers that no one else does, just like me."
Ever since the zombie incident in the auditorium, when Clark saw Peter slicing through zombies with a sword and withstanding explosions, he began to suspect that Peter was his biological father.
After all, like himself, Peter possessed extraordinary strength and tough skin.
Clark, with his overactive imagination, even suspected he'd been mistakenly switched at the hospital, leading to his current father.
"No, of course not,"
Martha quickly denied it. If they didn't explain things to Clark, he might start doubting her.
Jonathan coughed, "Clark, you're our child. You always have been."
Clark lowered his head, muttering softly, "If... if it were the godfather, he wouldn't think I was wrong."
Hearing their son's muttering, the couple exchanged glances, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.
Jonathan asked, "Did your godfather say you weren't wrong, Clark?"
"No, he said that in that situation, my choice wasn't right or wrong, but I might lose something by making it."