The other three were taken aback by the sudden disappearance of him. Until now Knull had never shown any talent in teleportation, nor did the comics ever showed that power of his.
This was probably due to the boost given to him by the anti-matter Power Cosmic. Knull disappeared for a mili-second, only to appear a few hundred metres away from his previous position.
"The new power did give you quite a boost Knull." John spoke out.
"You have your tricks, I have mine."
"So you think you are the only one who can teleport?" Yhwach said and the next moment he appeared right behind and used the same move that he was supposed to take before, he vanished. John, seeing the move of Yhwach, changed himself to a chronosapien.
Since, Knull learned about teleportation, they needed to freeze him. And what better to make other than freezing time for him. Though he was sure that Darkness will help him get back to the normal time stream, that rout of surprise attack was what John was banking on.
Alien X vanished and was replaced by a new alien. This change happened fast and John stopped the time around Knull. John didn't need to care about Yhwach, when it came to time control, he was probably one of the top beings. He might not be able to pause time like John could, but he had powers to control the future time.
So this move was perfect. And Yhwach was finally able to hit Knull on his back, and this time it was more painful for Knull then it was supposed to be. The time pause proved to be more painful for Knull.
He screamed out in pain as the time was finally back in normal flow. Blood flowed from his back as the axe was stuck in his back and he couldn't release it with his hand alone as Yhwach was holding it down in his back.
Clark didn't want to be just for show as he travelled in hyperspeed again and hit him right at the chest with his full power. The punch was so strong that the others could immediately tell that Knull had broken some of his ribs.
It was unfortunate that there was no sound in space or John would have loved the sound of his breaking bones. And this time, he could not dodge nor could he cushion the impact by flying backwards. Yhwach made sure of that by holding him down. It was surprising that Knull who had been hit on his back and on his chest, was bleeding.
The wound in his back prompted blood to flow out and even the punch of Superman, made him vomit out specks of blood.John and others thought that he didn't even have blood vessels when they first met him. John flew slowly to Knull who was now sweating heavily and looked all beaten up. Before he had wrinkles all over his face, but after this small rout, it seemed like there were more creases on his face and even his whole body.
John didn't have any sympathy for him as he punched him right on his face. He was back in Alien X form and used both his celestial sapien power and along with phoenix force as his knuckles looked like they were burning in fire. The knuckles seemed like they were fire knuckle braces that rogue gangsters use on the streets.
It might seem funny to everyone, but it was super effective as it would inflict more pain on the enemy and John definitely wanted Knull to suffer. He had been behind the whole problem since the start and due to his actions a whole universe was lost forever.
Though the utopian universe was never a part of the multiverse, it didn't mean, their lives never mattered. John wanted him to suffer before he would kill him. The Power Cosmic of negative was not as powerful as the actual Power Cosmic. It was effective only against Silver Surfer and Galactus, but for others it was just a small increment of power.
Knull thought that with the help of Power Cosmic it would be much easier for him to win the battle, but he had underestimated the enemy too much. He expected a retaliation from Light, like it always has been, but he didn't know the full power of John and his summons. He had no idea of them.
John had been hiding his full power since the start and now with Alien X and jacked up Superman it was a lost battle before it even started. Of course, Yhwach was the one to inflict the most damage on him with his axe. John didn't want to take away the 'bright light' of their main power away. In the end, Light was the main nemesis of Darkness.
John, after punching and kicking Knull a few times with his heart's content, looked deeply into the eyes of Knull.
"You should have left that universe as it should have Knull. You want to control the multiverse? Sure. You want to bring us to Darkness? Acceptable. But never should have wiped away a universe just to establish your authority. It was fine with what you did to the Celestials. But there is a line you shouldn't cross." John roared.
---
Read 200+ more chapters on my p@treon.com/thelightedghost