[Third Person Pov]
Momo had to hold tightly onto Ken as they flew through the incredibly spacious corridors of the intergalactic spaceship. Each hallway was nearly the size of a football field, giving both Momo and Krypto complete freedom to soar and maneuver however they pleased. Ken, meanwhile, swung through the air, held aloft by Momo's spiritual energy constructs that acted like giant, glowing hands.
"I have a feeling this is going to become a normal occurrence—me being carried around like this," Ken said, going completely limp and letting his body flop around as they flew.
"It wouldn't be the case if you actually possessed the necessary stamina to keep up with us," Momo scoffed as they made a series of sharp, impressive turns, weaving skillfully around floating debris and structural obstacles.
"It's not my fault! I'm not a very athletic person—I've never had any reason to be!" Ken retorted loudly, his voice bouncing off the cavernous walls.
"Lazy people. It's never ever their fault, is it?" Momo said with a haughty scoff, clearly just teasing him.
"After this, you should definitely talk to my brother," she continued, her tone turning slightly more sympathetic. "He'd think of a great training regimen for you. Your stamina is honestly pathetic."
"Ahh… the really handsome guy from last time," Ken said with a nod, remembering how intimidated he had felt standing in front of Clark.
"Really? That's how you remember him? As the handsome guy?" Momo asked in exasperation, rolling her eyes mid-flight.
"What? Objectively speaking it's true. How else was I supposed to remember him?" Ken asked nonchalantly.
"Oh, I don't know… perhaps the dork with the stupid glasses? The one with the idiot-looking face? There are many different ways…"
Ken suddenly noticed the increasing amount of debris falling around them and asked, "Is it just me, or is the quaking growing more intense?"
"It is," Momo confirmed, glancing in the direction of the distant battle. "Which means Superman must be getting more and more serious. Too bad we're going to miss it—it must be an incredible fight."
"Stop! Turn back! The only thing waiting for you beyond this point is certain death!" Geryuganshoop's telepathic warning suddenly rang through their minds, sharp and urgent.
"Heh! That must mean we're close! Let's go!" Momo said excitedly, accelerating to catch up with Krypto. Behind her, Ken let out a prolonged scream as the sudden increase in speed whipped him through the air even faster.
Krypto let out a sharp bark and pointed ahead with his snout. "Up ahead!"
A massive, reinforced door stood before them, leading into the ship's monitoring room.
Momo grinned fiercely as she cocked her fist back. A giant, green, veiny spiritual fist materialized beside her. With a powerful swing of her arm, the enormous construct shot forward and blew the entire door clean off its hinges in an explosion of twisted metal.
Krypto and Momo slid inside the room with perfect control. Ken, however, stumbled forward from the leftover momentum the moment Momo set him down. He rolled across the floor and landed hard on his butt right beside them.
Still on the ground, Ken frantically searched for his glasses, which had slipped off during the landing. Once he put them back on, the image in front of him became crystal clear.
Geryuganshoop was slowly rising to his full height, towering over all of them. The alien looked like a grotesque mix between a squid and a living slime, possessing only two large eyes and a wide, menacing mouth.
Instead of being intimidated, Ken's eyes lit up with pure fascination. "Ohoho! How cool!!" he exclaimed as he scrambled back to his feet.
Psychic energy began radiating outward from Geryuganshoop in visible waves, his extraordinary power becoming immediately apparent to everyone in the room.
"Very well," the alien said in a deep, menacing voice. "For failing to heed my warning… I won't show you any mercy!"
Krypto's eyes suddenly widened as his instincts flared with alarm. "Momo! Barricade yourselves! Now!"
"Wha—!" Although Momo was confused by the urgency in his voice, she acted instantly and without hesitation.
She pulled Ken tightly against her and rapidly conjured a thick, protective barrier of spiritual energy around both of them.
The very next second, a massive explosion erupted from somewhere deep within the ship—so powerful it rattled the entire vessel. A searing wave of heat and flames swept through the wide corridors like a tidal wave of fire.
The blast roared into the monitoring room, consuming everything in its path and reducing most of the chamber to scorched wreckage in an instant.
Momo only let out a strained grunt as she raised both hands, reinforcing her spiritual barrier and pouring every ounce of available energy into it.
Ken watched in pure horror as the entire monitoring room began collapsing around them. Massive chunks of rubble and twisted metal rained down from above, piling higher and higher until the two of them were completely buried under the debris.
The monitoring room was utterly obliterated as a direct result of the distant clash between Superman and the ship's captain.
With a determined push, Momo expanded her barrier outward, shoving the superheated pieces of metal and alien away from them. She gradually unburied herself and Ken, finally letting out a long sigh of relief once they were free.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Krypto," Momo said, looking over at the super-dog, who casually shook the remaining rubble off his fur like it was nothing more than light dust.
"Is it over?" Ken asked nervously, eyes darting around the ruined chamber, clearly worried another cave-in could happen at any moment.
"No. It's far from over," Krypto answered, activating his X-ray vision and peering deep into the ship. "As a matter of fact… it's only just beginning."
---
Once the residual blast settled between them, both Clark and Boros dropped into sprinting stances. In the next instant they became multiple overlapping blurs, charging at each other with explosive force. They circled so rapidly that their forms dissolved into two streaking orbs of light—one pure gold, the other crackling violet.
Clark kept his eyes locked on Boros the entire time. The conqueror came spinning toward him with a devastating roundhouse kick. Clark casually leaned backward; the bolts of energy trailing from Boros' limb merely grazed his skin without leaving a mark.
Boros completed the full spin and brought his fist down in a crushing overhead strike, the sheer force warping the air around it into visible distortion waves.
Clark dodged nonchalantly, tilting sideways until he was levitating parallel to the ground, completely unfazed.
Boros blinked in momentary confusion. When he looked down, Clark was already positioned on his side right in front of him, fist rising from below and catching fire against the wind resistance.
The uppercut connected with a thunderous impact, erupting in a spectacular shower of embers and sparks. A sharp crack split the air as Boros was launched skyward, shattering the reinforced ceiling and blasting completely out of the spaceship.
Boros vomited a thick spray of blood as he suddenly found himself staring out at Earth's blue atmosphere. For a single fleeting second, even he couldn't help thinking the view was rather lovely.
Clark blitzed into position in front of him in the blink of an eye, he suddenly started soaring forward with a powerful flying kick. The force of the strike folded Boros' body nearly in half; the pupil in his single eye vanished for a moment from the sheer shock.
The surrounding area suffered the worst of the damage. Towering spires along the outer shell of the alien vessel shattered and fractured into countless fragments. Boros' crumpled form tore through the upper atmosphere, catching fire and parting the clouds for miles as he was sent hurtling around the curvature of the planet.
"Sol, do me a favor," Clark said calmly as he watched the conqueror's tumbling trajectory.
"Whatever you need," Sol replied, instantly ready.
"Keep tabs on how he channels his energy. I want to test later whether I can replicate that method using the solar energy stored in my cells."
"I wouldn't recommend that," Sol cautioned. "If you completely exhaust the energy within your cells, there's a real possibility your powers could vanish until you give them time to recharge under a yellow sun."
"I'm not going to do it right now," Clark answered. "That's why I said I'll test it later."
With that, the air around him trembled in anticipation. Clark shot forward at super speed, rocketing after the still-tumbling alien conqueror.
********************************************
+20 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3