A sleek combat drone streaked through the massive hole torn in the outer wall, its engines whining as it carried a oversized, ominous weapon. The blaster was heavy and experimental-looking, with a large transparent containment chamber at its back that swirled with what resembled a captured nebula cloud—deep purples, vibrant blues, and crackling static charges flashing intermittently within the chaotic miniature cosmic storm.
Cranis's face split into a wide, evil grin. He began cackling to himself, low and unhinged, as he snatched the weapon from the drone's mechanical arms. "Yes… yes!" he whispered feverishly. "Now let's see how you'd handle this, Superman. You'll all pay. And once you're dead, Lala will be mine. My perfect bride. My prize. No one will stop me from—"
His triumphant monologue was violently interrupted.
The majority of the already-compromised ceiling suddenly cracked with a deafening rumble. Huge sections of reinforced material gave way and plummeted downward in a chaotic avalanche of steel, concrete, and debris. Momo, Lala, and Yami dropped through the collapsing floor along with the General and his squad of elite soldiers, all of them crashing into the ruined office in a heap of dust and destruction.
The room instantly transformed into a full-blown royal rumble.
Explosions bloomed from energy weapons. Heavy impacts shook the walls. Robotic soldiers clashed with the girls while the General barked frantic orders. Debris continued to rain down from above as the entire structure trembled violently. Shockwaves from Clark and Ultraman's earlier exchange still echoed, making the floor pitch like a ship in a storm.
Cranis panicked, eyes darting wildly. He swung the nebula weapon back and forth, unable to decide on a target. He aimed at Lala first, but his finger froze on the trigger—he couldn't risk killing his "bride." much less because of who Lala's father was, it would be no different than signing his own death warrant. He shifted toward Yami, but she was already locked in brutal combat with five robotic soldiers, slicing through them with transformed limbs and hair. She wasn't an immediate threat. Finally, his gaze locked onto Momo.
Momo rose gracefully from the rubble, waving both hands in fluid motions. Her spiritual energy flared green as every piece of fallen debris around her lifted into the air, orbiting her like a storm of deadly projectiles. With a sharp push of her palms, the rubble shot forward like guided missiles. They slammed into soldiers with tremendous force, denting and shattering battle suits, sending armored men flying in every direction.
Cranis didn't hesitate any longer once he saw Momo shifting her eyes towards him, narrowing with disgust.
He pulled the trigger.
The nebula cloud inside the chamber churned violently. A bolt of multicolored, crackling lightning erupted from the barrel with a terrifying shriek. Momo's danger sense screamed at her. She didn't even attempt a shield—there was no time. She dove desperately to the side at the last possible instant.
The bolt missed her by inches.
Instead, it struck three of Cranis's own men in rapid succession. The colorful lightning surged through their battle suits, flooding them with unstable energy. The moment it touched their skin, their veins bulged grotesquely, glowing bright purple beneath the surface.
The soldiers staggered out of their suits, gasping desperately for air that would never come. Blood poured from their noses, mouths, and ears in thick streams. Their eyes turned a sickening bright red as every blood vessel inside ruptured. Then, with wet, horrifying pops, both eyes exploded from their skulls, leaving empty, dripping sockets. They dropped to their knees, convulsing violently before vomiting not just blood—but what looked like liquefied internal organs, a gruesome slurry of red and pink.
"Ahhhhh!" Momo screamed at the top of her lungs, horror etched across her face. "What the actual fuck?!"
Even Lala, usually bright and energetic, faltered for a moment, her expression uneasy as she witnessed the nightmarish deaths. Yami's cold eyes narrowed, but she didn't stop fighting.
---
Meanwhile, far outside the crumbling tower, Clark and Ultraman's battle had escalated to apocalyptic levels.
Ultraman had tackled Clark straight through the outer wall and carried their fight out of the city in seconds, over oceans, deserts, and even through mountains. Clark rained down hammer-like punches, each one powerful enough to level buildings, but Ultraman took them with an eerie, indifferent expression. If he felt pain, his face gave no indication.
Clark adapted instantly. As Ultraman tackled him again, he leaned forward, wrapped both powerful arms around his opponent's waist, and roared. With a mighty heave, he flipped Ultraman upside down, killing all their forward momentum. Clark then drove downward at super speed, slamming his opponent headfirst into a rocky mountain ridge below.
The impact was cataclysmic. Rubble, dirt, and massive boulders exploded outward in every direction. When the dust finally settled, both figures broke apart. Ultraman looked momentarily dizzy, but he charged forward without hesitation.
They met head-on in a blistering melee.
Fists, feet, elbows, and knees blurred at super speed. Clark held the clear advantage in unarmed combat, moving with graceful, flowing precision reminiscent of Tai Chi. He caught Ultraman's first punch with an open palm, redirecting the arm in a wide arc and exposing his center. Three devastating strikes followed in perfect sequence: a crushing punch to the gut, a spinning elbow to the sternum, and another spinning motion that allowed him to grab Ultraman's shoulder and drive a powerful knee into his stomach.
They became two streaks of color—red-gold and black-silver—destroying the landscape around them as they fought. Ultraman unleashed heavy, super-powered punches directly into Superman's face, each blow distorting the air with visible shockwaves. The earth cracked and shattered beneath them.
Clark caught one wrist, then the other. He levitated upward and spun rapidly in a fast corkscrew, forcing Ultraman to spin with him. The motion generated a howling gale force before Clark slammed him violently into the ground.
Ultraman bled from his mouth and nose, but he swept Clark's legs out from under him while rising. Clark stopped his fall instantly with flight, twisted sideways in mid-air, and delivered a thunderous uppercut to Ultraman's chin just as he got halfway up. The air cracked audibly. Ultraman was driven backward, his feet carving deep, rocky grooves into the stone before he finally slowed to a stop.
Clark landed upright, feet planted firmly. His fist cocked back slowly. A brilliant golden outline of spiritual energy flared around his body. His muscles bulged powerfully as he tightened his fist, knuckles cracking like gunshots. The pressure radiating from his punch created a visible vortex in the air, swirling violently and pulling everything nearby toward him like a miniature black hole.
Ultraman was dragged forward against his will, pulled directly into perfect striking range.
Clark's eyes burned with focused intensity.
He unleashed the punch.
The resulting shockwave ignited with devastating force, erasing the rocky terrain in an instant and terraforming the entire battlefield into a barren, glassed desert as the pressure wave rolled outward for miles.
The devastating shockwave from Clark's punch sent Ultraman flipping and tumbling violently through the air like a ragdoll. The sheer force was so immense it threatened to shatter the planetary shielding entirely and hurl him into deep space if he reached it. Ultraman's body accelerated at terrifying speed, the air around him igniting from friction as he neared the upper atmosphere.
But before he could burn up, a long flaming chain shot out from below. It wrapped tightly around Ultraman's neck with a metallic *shing*. The moment it pulled taut, a massive blast of displaced air exploded outward from the sudden change in momentum.
Clark stood firm on the ground, the chain wrapped several times around his glowing fist. With a powerful yank, he hauled Ultraman back down like a disobedient dog on a leash. Clark charged forward to meet him mid-air, his chained fist burning white-hot with concentrated energy. He smashed it directly into Ultraman's face with a thunderous crack.
Clark transformed into a rolling ball of golden fire as both of them plummeted. He drove Ultraman face-first into the barren desert floor, carving a long trench through the sand and rock before they finally skidded to a halt.
Clark rose slowly, both of them breathing heavily. Ultraman bore far more visible damage — blood trickling from his nose and mouth, his black-and-silver suit cracked in several places. Clark stepped forward and planted his boot firmly on Ultraman's chest, pinning him to the ground. His eyes flared bright red-gold.
"Stand down," Clark growled, voice low and dangerous. "This ends now."
---
Back in the crumbling office, the chaos had reached its peak.
Yami finished cutting down the last of the soldiers around her with ruthless efficiency. Her eyes, burning with pure vengeance and hatred, locked onto Cranis. The air itself seemed to part as she beat her angelic wings once and rocketed forward, her arm transformed into lethal blades aimed straight for the tyrant's heart.
Momo's spiritual senses screamed in warning. "Yami! No! Stop!"
But it was too late.
Cranis, grinning maniacally, squeezed the trigger of the nebula death ray. The muzzle glowed brightly as the colorful lightning bolt began to charge with a high-pitched whine.
Momo and Lala both inhaled sharply at the same moment.
"SUPERMAN!!" they screamed in unison, voices filled with desperation.
---
Far away on the battlefield, Clark's head snapped up the instant he heard their desperate cry.
Everything around him slowed to a crawl — as if time itself had nearly stopped. His superior vision zoomed forward at impossible speed, racing across the ocean where aquatic creatures hung frozen mid-jump above the waves. Birds were suspended motionless in the sky. He even spotted Krypto, frozen mid-leap, using a soldier's body as a springboard, tongue lolling out with a wide, joyous smile on his face.
In less than a microsecond, Clark's eyes landed on the ruined battlefield. He instantly understood the mortal danger Yami was in.
Without hesitation, he kicked Ultraman away. His body hung frozen in the air as Clark's messy hair fell over his eyes. Golden spiritual energy surged violently around him. His jaw clenched hard, fingers twitching with raw power.
**BOOM!**
A crater formed beneath his feet from the sheer pressure he was generating.
**BOOM!!**
The crater widened dramatically as his muscles tensed, arms rising and crossing in front of him before slowly clenching into fists.
**BOOM!!!**
With a motion like he was physically parting the sky, Clark took off.
The ground around him erupted in a magnitude 5 earthquake. His body instantly caught fire from the immense friction as he accelerated. He tore across the ocean at speeds beyond comprehension — the sea splitting into two massive walls of water on either side of him. The flames around his body compressed tighter and tighter, growing brighter and more focused until he became a single flickering spark of white-gold fire… and then vanished entirely from sight. (A/N: And when the world needed him most, he vanished)
Clark arrived at the gaping hole in the tower wall in an infinitesimal fraction of a second. The colorful lightning bolt was mere centimeters from Yami's face. Cranis stood frozen with a large, victorious smile. Momo and Lala's expressions were locked in pure terror.
Clark rushed forward, eyes wide and frantic. He grabbed Yami by the shoulders and shoved her out of the way, gritting his teeth as he took her place.
Time snapped back to normal.
Yami went flying across the room, twirling elegantly through the air before stabbing one of her blade-arms into the floor to stop herself.
The nebula lightning bolt struck Clark square in the chest instead.
"Arghhhhh!!" Clark cried out, his back arching violently as excruciating pain surged through every nerve in his body. The strange, colorful energy crackled across his skin and Sunstone suit.
"CLARK!!" Momo and Lala screamed, covering their mouths in horror.
Yami's eyes widened in pure shock.
Clark dropped heavily to his knees, then collapsed onto the floor, panting and gasping. His heart hammered wildly — he had never pushed himself that hard before. Still, a faint, exhausted smile touched his lips.
"I did it this time…" he rasped between labored breaths. "I was fast enough this time… I did it… I was fast… I was fast enough"
His eyelids grew heavier, opening and closing slowly. Just before darkness took him completely, his eyes watered as he choked out on last whisper:
"I… was… fast—"
Then everything went black.
...
A/N: The one thing I hate about all of this is that I have to explain it to people because of how Superman's character is perceived.
First please remember, he is Six-Fucking-Teen, meaning he's still growing into his superpowers and isn't as powerful as a 20-30 something Superman is in the comics
Second, the death ray thing, although to others it might have caused instant death, to Superman all it did was tranquilize him...
I already know I'm going to get so much backlash for this and it's already annoying me.
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