[Third Person Pov]
The door to their room suddenly opened with a hydraulic hiss as heavily armed mechs in large robotic suits stormed inside, flooding the once-opulent penthouse. They had received the silent alarm Cranis triggered under the table earlier. The massive machines moved with surprising coordination, their heavy footsteps shaking the floor as energy weapons hummed to life.
"You guys sure decided to take your time," Cranis said, glaring at them with open disdain while retreating behind their line. "By the time it took you to arrive, I would've already been dead."
"Forgive us, Planetary President Cranis, sir!" the lead General barked, snapping a rigid salute. "It won't happen again! Awaiting your orders!"
Clark didn't wait for them to finish talking.
He appeared in front of Cranis in a blur, his Sunstone cape already detached and transforming mid-swing into a fiery golden-red axe. A powerful gale-force wind mixed with roaring flames swept across the entire room as Clark brought the blazing weapon down in a devastating overhead strike. The axe slammed into Cranis's electromagnetic forcefield with a deafening crack, sending sparks and flames exploding outward.
"Take them down!" Cranis roared, electricity discharging wildly from his battle suit as the electromagnetic forcefield absorbed the blow and converted the kinetic energy. He struggled against the intense heat of the flames licking around the barrier. "Take them alive—but be gentle with Princess Lala! Leave Superman to me!"
The space quickly turned into a full-scale war zone. Robotic soldiers poured through the broken windows and shattered doors, their heavy frames smashing furniture and priceless decorations as they engaged. Energy weapons lit up the room with constant bright flashes.
Yami moved like a living arsenal. Her body and hair transformed fluidly into an array of deadly weapons—blades, spikes, and whipping tendrils that lashed out at the robotic soldiers with lethal precision. She sliced through armor plating and tore into mechanical joints, her expression cold and focused as she danced through the chaos.
Lala clashed fiercely in the chaos, her wing-shaped blades ringing loudly as they met the energy swords of the robotic soldiers. She danced through the air with graceful agility, dodging rapid laser bullets fired from built-in weapons in their suits. Her devil-like tail whipped around constantly, shooting concentrated bursts of energy from its tip that sent enemies flying backward. Though most soldiers managed to block the worst of the blasts with their reinforced shields and swords, the sheer force still knocked them off balance.
Momo weaved through the air in a brilliant streak of green light, leaving a glowing aftertrail behind her as she dodged and darted between energy shots with incredible agility. She swooped down like a hawk, using powerful constructs to knock soldiers upward, smashing them through the ceiling and out into the open sky. However, even she wasn't untouchable—one of the larger mechs managed to swat her out of the air like an insect. She crashed hard into the far wall, cracking the reinforced material, before quickly pushing herself back up with a frustrated growl.
Meanwhile, Clark and Cranis fought at super speed between the legs of the towering robotic soldiers. Their movement left blazing trails of lightning and fire in their wake as they blurred across the battlefield.
Cranis tried multiple times to land the same counter-punch he had used earlier, attempting to redirect Clark's own power back at him. But this time Clark was prepared. Using disciplined martial arts honed over years, he expertly blocked and redirected the absorbed force, neutralizing the counterattack. His Sunstone axe had reshaped itself into a reinforced gauntlet. With a powerful thrust, Clark drove his fist forward and unleashed a roaring wave of fire that crashed directly into Cranis, sending him flying backward. Cranis screamed as the intense heat made him sweat profusely, his skin reddening from the rising temperature.
Cranis used the stored kinetic energy from the suit to propel himself away, dodging the worst of the blaze as the flames melted a large section of the wall behind him into slag. His hands began to glow with crackling energy. He projected himself skyward inside the massive room and started releasing rapid blasts of kinetic force down at Clark.
Clark moved at blinding super speed, turning intangible by vibrating his molecules into a highly agitated state. The kinetic blasts simply phased through his body harmlessly.
With a thought, Clark reshaped his gauntlet into a long, flaming link chain. He spun it rapidly and hurled it toward Cranis. The chain wrapped around Cranis's entire body, but the forcefield immediately pushed it outward, preventing direct contact. Cranis roared, extending both hands to maintain the shield while the glowing chain remained tightly coiled around the surface of the barrier itself.
Clark pulled hard on the chain, tightening it until parts of the forcefield bloated outward between the links like an inflated balloon. Then he shot skyward, swinging Cranis around and around at super speed like a tethered ball. The rapid spinning was meant to disorient him and make him dizzy. At the same time, Clark used Cranis as a living wrecking ball, smashing him into the large robotic soldiers that were overwhelming Lala, Momo, and Yami. Each collision sent mechs staggering or crashing to the ground in showers of sparks.
With a final powerful swing, Clark flung Cranis overhead and slammed him straight through the floor, driving him down into the level beneath them with a deafening crash.
Cranis landed hard on his back. He acted immediately, flipping onto his stomach and trying to push himself up with trembling arms. Before he could fully recover, he suddenly vomited onto the ruined floor.
Clark floated down calmly through the hole in the ceiling, his Sunstone cape reforming over his shoulders. His eyes glowed with growing intensity as heat built behind them.
"Let me make one thing clear," Clark said, his voice low and filled with disdain as he stared down at the struggling tyrant. "Lala will never be yours. Not now. Not later. Not ever."
He didn't give Cranis a chance to reply.
Clark's heat vision swept across the ground in a wide, devastating arc. The blast kicked Cranis off his feet and sent him tumbling backward until he slammed into a reinforced wall.
Clark walked forward menacingly, his cape flaring behind him with every step, eyes still blazing with ruby light. He whipped his head sharply, sending another concentrated beam of heat vision straight at Cranis. The villain cried out in agony, desperately raising his hands to summon his forcefield once more. His palms began to visibly burn and char from the overwhelming intensity while the power suit started to malfunction, sparks flying as systems overheated.
"Ahhhhhh!!!" Cranis screamed. The heat transferred through the barrier, causing the wall behind him to glow red-hot.
Clark continued his slow, threatening advance—one menacing step after another.
Then Cranis suddenly started laughing through the pain.
"Hahaha! Come to Papa!"
Clark paused for a fraction of a second, tilting his head in confusion at the bizarre taunt. He leaned back and unleashed a massive blinding wave of heat vision. At the same moment, he heard a strange whooshing sound cutting through the air.
When the blinding light and heat finally faded, the floor was scorched black and glowing red-hot, with a heavy haze of heat distorting the air around them.
Cranis was completely unharmed.
And standing protectively in front of him was a large, imposing figure wearing a sleek black and silver-white suit with a similar flowing cape. The strange part was that the figure didn't resemble Cranis in the slightest. Instead, he looked almost exactly like Clark—human features, strong build—except for one glaring difference: instead of the iconic "S" on his chest, the emblem proudly displayed the letter "U".
Clark blinked slowly in stunned disbelief.
"…What?"
Before Clark could even process the sight, the figure was suddenly in front of him in a low combat stance, fist cocked back. Clark, caught completely off guard by the bizarre turn of events, didn't have time to react.
The uppercut connected with devastating force.
A massive blast of wind exploded outward, instantly cooling the scorched floor as Clark's body was launched violently upward. He tore through the ceiling with a deafening crash. Momo and Lala exclaimed in shock as Clark burst through the floor beneath them and continued upward, smashing through the next ceiling as well. He shot into the open sky like a projectile, leaving a bright contrail behind him, before crashing hard against the planetary atmospheric barrier high above. The force of the impact caused the energy shield to ripple violently across the sky.
Clark peeled off the barrier and began spiraling out of control, falling back down through the holes he had created. He crashed violently back into the penthouse floor with a thunderous **BOOM**, landing in the center of a deep crater. He lay there momentarily dazed, smoke rising from his suit.
Cranis was laughing with pure, arrogant joy.
The mysterious figure levitated calmly beside him, looking down at Clark with a completely emotionless expression.
"Hahahaha!" Cranis cackled. "Since you want to use such a pretentious name like Superman, I suppose it's only fitting my son gets one as well." His lips curled into a cruel sneer. "Allow me to introduce you… Meet my son. My blessing from the heavens! I call him… Ultraman!"
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