Clark hates it too, but so long as it means Zod is busy running his mouth and grandstanding, he'll take it any day of the week. Anything to delay him, and distract him from the real threat.

Zod drags him for several blocks, and broken shards of glass and concrete dig into Clark's back and exposed arms. He finally drops him only a few blocks away, in full view of the solar tower and the red sun. "It's tragic that you thought you could take me on like this. Metropolis would not be destroyed if you had all just stopped fighting and joined me."

There's another human presence on the streets now, closing in on them quickly. Lois is running from cover to cover, trying to catch up without Zod noticing her. And now she's armed with a lead-sheathed kryptonite knife.