Zod's roar echoed over the ravaged New York.
His roar contained unwillingness, anger, but more than that, it was an emptiness, as if all his beliefs had been drained.
That colossal Kryptonian Spaceship, once his ark of hope for rebuilding Krypton's civilization, was now torn apart by a half-breed, disintegrating in the sky.
Burning metal fragments, spewing black smoke, fell from the sky one by one, crashing to the ground and raising clouds of dust.
Each falling fragment struck Zod's heart.
Hope... gone.
Everything... gone.
"General!"
A black afterimage descended from the sky, crashing heavily beside Zod.
It was Fiona; she emerged from the ruins and saw the wreckage of her Kryptonian Spaceship.
She glanced at the ship breaking apart in the air, then at Zod, who was kneeling on the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably, her stern face devoid of any extra expression.
"General, we haven't lost yet."
Fiona's voice remained steady, carrying the calm unique to a soldier.
She walked to Zod's side and knelt on one knee.
"You need time to adapt to this planet's sun."
"Its energy will make you stronger."
"You recover first; I will hold them off."
She stood up, turned her head, and coldly stared at Kara, who was walking out of the ruins, and the red-and-black clad chatterbox who, in her eyes, was utterly obnoxious.
Kara's expression was somewhat complex.
Watching the demise of the Kryptonian Spaceship, she felt no joy of victory in her heart; instead, there was an indescribable heaviness.
That was the last relic of her home planet's civilization.
Now, it had turned into a pile of scrap metal right before her eyes.
"Hey, hey, hey, I say, Kara, shouldn't you rush over now, give your kneeling boss a hug of love, and then persuade him to lay down his butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot?"
Deadpool's voice broke the solemnity.
He stood with one hand on his hip, the other pointing at Zod and Fiona, his mouth chattering incessantly.
"Or you two hold hands, and I'll take a photo for you, post it on social media with the caption 'Me and My Last Stubbornness,' how about that? It's sure to go viral."
Fiona didn't even bother to give him a glance.
All her attention was focused on Kara.
Just then, two figures slowly descended from the sky.
It was Tel-Rol, who had just impaled the spaceship, and Diana, the mood-setter.
Tel-Rol had his hands in his pockets, the golden aura around him had receded, but his green eyes watched the two on the ground with amusement.
"I say, are you two done yet? I'm starving."
He glanced at Zod, who was kneeling on the ground, then at Fiona beside him.
"One kneeling and crying, one standing and watching, what kind of melodrama are you performing? Hurry up, if you're going to fight, come at me together; once we're done, I can go eat."
Diana stood behind him, holding the sword of vulcan, her expression serious as she looked at the two Kryptonians before her.
Fiona watched the group slowly forming a circle around them, her body tensing even further.
This would be a tough fight, and she would definitely be on the defensive.
She was ready to die here, as long as she could buy enough time for the General.
But just then.
"Boom—!"
A dull thud, even heavier than the spaceship explosion just now, came from behind everyone.
The entire ground trembled violently.
Everyone, including Tel-Rol and Fiona, instinctively turned their heads to look.
Not far behind them, a circular metal construct, still emitting wisps of white smoke, had been forcefully smashed into the ground, leaving a hemispherical crater.
The shape of that thing... was identical to the core of the Kryptonian Spaceship that Tel-Rol had just blown up.
A tall figure stood silently beside the metal construct.
A red cape gently fluttered in the dust behind him.
Clark was back.
And he had brought back a... "souvenir."
General Zod slowly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the familiar metal core.
His body began to tremble uncontrollably.
He recognized that thing.
That was the World Engine.
It was the other World Engine he had deployed in the Indian Ocean.
It was his last, his very last hope.
How could it... be here?
Shouldn't the engine there be transforming Earth's core right now?
"No... impossible..."
Zod mumbled, struggling to get up from the ground, staggering a few steps towards the metal core.
"That thing... shouldn't be..."
Clark said nothing.
He just quietly looked at Zod, his usually gentle face now devoid of any expression.
Fiona was also stunned.
Her mind went blank.
Both World Engines... destroyed?
This meant... the plan to rebuild Krypton was completely... a failure.
"Thud."
General Zod's legs gave out, and he knelt on the ground once again.
This time, he didn't even have the strength to roar.
He just knelt there, like a stone statue, motionless.
Utter, complete despair.
Deadpool, watching this scene from afar, uncharacteristically fell silent.
He scratched his mask and whispered to Kara beside him.
"It's over, Barbie Q'd, this is completely finished."
"This General Zod, he's probably going to have his dao heart shattered and ascend on the spot, isn't he?"
Kara ignored him, just looking at Zod kneeling on the ground, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
Tel-Rol looked at Clark, then at the huge metal lump on the ground.
"Hmph, your efficiency is quite something."
He whistled.
"Less than two minutes, you ran back and forth from the Indian Ocean, and even casually dismantled a big guy?"
"Looks like you're not just someone who cries while holding your wife and child."
Clark didn't turn around, just replied flatly.
"I brought back the core of the World Engine."
His voice was very calm.
"The rebuilding of Krypton ends here."
These words became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"Haha..."
"Hahahaha..."
Zod, kneeling on the ground, suddenly began to laugh softly.
The laughter grew louder, more frantic.
He raised his head, his eyes no longer holding the rationality and pride from before, only a madness that sought to destroy everything!
"Rebuild?"
"Krypton?"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Zod laughed wildly as he stood up, pointing at Clark, pointing at Tel-Rol, pointing at everyone present.
"You destroyed my world!"
"You took everything from me!"
"Since Krypton cannot be reborn..."
Zod spread his arms, looking up at the sky and howling, his voice filled with vicious curses.
"Then this damned planet, let it be buried with it!!!"