Earth -1
Central City…
Two rays of heat vision streaked into the distance, blasting through a building and bombarding whatever it was supposed to at the other side.
It was unknown whether it hit a gas container in one of the rooms, but it definitely hit something, as a side of the half collapsed building went up in a fiery explosion.
Dust and debris scattered in all directions as Earth -1 Superman receded his attack, looking at that direction with an unsightly expression.
The annoyance he felt at the moment was unprecedented. The helmet of fate was buried beneath the earth under Metropolis.
Personally doing it himself, he was sure that no one would be able to get their hands on that artifact.
For this purpose, he even stationed three cyborg heroes to stand guard.
How else would he feel? However, he couldn't take the helmet now. Not when this counterpart was still in front of him.
It would instantly put him at a disadvantage if one of his hands was occupied against a Superman who had both hands free. Yet, his situation would also change if someone else put that helmet on while he was distracted.
'How troublesome'.
To him, Nabu's helmet was a burden. Yet, one he didn't dare to let go.
Clark, however, froze in shock and disbelief at what had just happened.
"You ... You just". The Man Of Steel found it difficult to speak.
Confirming that the person who was just blasted wasn't mistaken identity, a momentary chill he had never felt before ran through his spine at the thought of what was about to happen.
"What? A friend of yours?" Negative Superman asked emotionlessly.
He opened his mouth to speak again but was stunned to find Clark suddenly back away into the distance.
Following which, he stopped moving entirely. Just floated in the air with his arms by his side, as if their previous battle had nothing to do with him.
'What the ….'.
The sudden change caught him by surprise.
Unable to understand why the enemy suddenly dropped his alert stance and distanced himself.
Also ..... What the hell was up with that solemn expression?
"I'm sorry. But after this, I don't wanna get involved". Even more to his bewilderment, the opponent actually apologized.
At the moment, Clark's face carried a deep frown.
".... I hoped I wouldn't have to kill you, but now. But now, it's no longer something I can decide".
"What the hell are you .....".
"Wow supes. Just ..... Wow".
Before he could finish his question, a voice sounded from behind, startling the Superman of Earth -1.
'Someone's behind me?'
With conditioned reflex, his body spun around as his right palm clenched into a fist and punched out.
'Loss of movement'.
"..".
There was no shockwave released, no figure flying into the distance. There wasn't even the sound of a collision.
All because the Superman who had attacked remained motionless in the air.
His body posture, still maintaining that punching posture in the air with the object of his attack only a few centimeters away to make contact.
Yet, the contact never came, much to his horror and disbelief.
'I …. I can't move'.
This was the first time he found himself in such a situation.
He immediately spread out his senses, trying to find out why. But there was no result.
With his hearing, vision, strength and everything he had. He couldn't figure out why he was unable to lift a finger.
It felt like he was shackled by something invisible.
As for the person who was responsible, he paid the attacker no heed.
To immobilize Superman wasn't difficult. Barely a trickle in his energy reserves.
Hence, his gaze was still fixed on Clark Kent, who stood aside and declared his stance the moment he had appeared.
"I mean ..... I expect those words from someone like Batman. But you? Now this is something worth studying".
"Would it make a difference if I wanted to save his life?"
Clark asked calmly.
"..".
"Touche". His eyes glowed.
Squelch!
Earth -1 Superman let out a slight gasp as his body stiffened.
Lowering his head, he found a bone sticking out of his chest. Blood flowed from the opening as it began to run down his super suit.
Superman was stupefied. He opened his mouth to speak …. At least, he tried to. But what came out wasn't words, but blood flowing out.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end.
Squelch!
"Arghh!". He roared in pain as another bone spur erupted out of his chest.
Followed by another ... and another.
Like a rapidly multiplying virus, bone spurs emerged out of his body one after another. First his chest, then his arms, legs shoulders.
Each one was accompanied by a cry of pain and the gritting of teeth.
Until the last ones emerged ten seconds later.
Straight from his throat and skull.
"No…". That were his last words before he lost all signs of life.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
Droplets of crimson blood flowed down his body and fell from the air.
Faced with such a brutal sight, even Superman flinched subconsciously.
"And that …. should do it". Taking a look at the now lifeless corpse before him, Amari released his control.
The body fell down, descending from the air and crashing into the rubble with a loud bang.
The dust cleared. A bloody male corpse laid unmoving with eyes as wide as full moons.
The chaotic blood lines within his eyes were filled with fear and disbelief. As if unable to accept that he died like this.
A bloody smell pervaded the atmosphere, causing Clark's frown to worsen
"That was excessive".
He remarked with a slightly pale face. It couldn't be helped, the scene now was too stimulating.
Especially when the person being used was a kryptonian like him.
Scratch that ... Another him from another universe.
To think he had been battling the other party with all his efforts and barely managed to stand on equal footing ... Yet now .....
"Really? I can bring him back to life if you'd prefer it?" Amari replied, his eyes glimmering with amusement.
"...".
Superman felt his eyelids twitch.
".... No need".
"No?"
"...".
Clark took a look at the dead corpse on the floor.
Yep. Definitely no need.
Amari felt the urge to chuckle.
"Your love for all life, even that of an enemy is something that truly amazes me, you know that?"
"Then I suggest you try it some time". His eyes couldn't help but drift to the corpse again.
If he didn't know any better, perhaps he would conclude that this was Amari's show of force to him.
A reminder of some sorts that he wasn't someone to be messed with. But Clark was sure that they had pretty much gotten the message ever since the Ocean Master incident.
Well..... He was definitely sure ocean master did.
"I think it'll do not just you, but all of humanity some good".
"Huh!" Amari replied with a click of his tongue.
"I'll keep that in mind". He certainly wouldn't.
Clark didn't speak after that. The solemn atmosphere grew thicker with each passing second as both men flew there as time elapsed.
Until eventually, Clark couldn't resist.
"You came here to fulfill the deal.....". He didn't finish his sentence, but his eyes drifted to the one thing within Amari's possession.
And the crisis within his heart grew stronger.
Doctor Fate's helmet.
Unexpectedly however .....
"No". Amari shook his head. "I'm here for someone else. This can be considered an unexpected inconvenience".
The space around his arm holding the helmet swirled. Following which, the helmet of fate was sucked into a different dimension, disappearing from this one.
"Right .....". Clark wanted to speak again.
However... Boom!
It happened then. Something that caught both Superman and Amari off guard.
With slightly bewildered eyes, both men looked downwards, only to see the earth rumbling greatly.
An earthquake.
And not just any earthquake but one of earth scale magnitude.
Without needing to think, their hearing travelled to the farthest reaches of this earth, completely locking on the continuous rumbling sounds.
It was everywhere. In every destroyed city, wasteland, abandoned areas, even deep in the ocean.
The earth shook and rumbled everywhere.
"An earthquake?" Clark was puzzled.
Earthquakes were normal, but one of his magnitude wasn't something that just happened.
What the hell was going on?
"It's more than an earthquake". Contrary to Clark's puzzlement, Amari quickly understood what was happening.
"It's the end".
"The end? Of what?"
"The end of this negative Earth".
Amari delivered the news nonchalantly. His tone as calm and steady as it had always been.
Superman on the other hand, took it quite differently.
"What?" His voice took a sharp rise and his eyes narrowed.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying this world is coming to an end".
Amari replied with a gesture.
"This whole place? It's going to collapse in about..... thirty minutes. Ultimately fading out of existence itself".
"I …. Wait … You … Why? How?".
"You didn't know?" Amari looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
How did Clark even get here in the first place without knowing where exactly here was?
"This world isn't a true universe. At least not yet anyway. It could have been, but now, it's unstable, and the death of their Superman automatically began the countdown to its destruction. Once time's up, anything, and everything still here will vanish alongside ..... well, everything else".
"...". Clark was silent, showing how he wasn't prepared for what he had just heard.
Still, he was the man of steel. He got over it quickly.
"Then how do I stop it?"
Amari's eyebrows couldn't get any higher.
"That's the thing. You can't".
He found it funny.
'You can barely fight another Superman to a momentary tie. Now you want to save a planet from fading out of existence?'
"I .....". Clark fell silent.
"There has to be a way".
"There is". He received an affirmative reply, giving him hope.
"But you are too weak to implement it. At least with your current abilities, you have no hope of stabilizing a universe".
"...". Back on Earth, Clark had been hailed as many things. Forget how he had many enemies, the number of people who loved him exceeded his understanding.
During his early appearances, some of the more ..... Extreme fanatics had declared him God reincarnated.
With all he could do, it wasn't that big of a stretch .... If you didn't know the true power of one of The Presence's slightly stronger creations.
Sure, he was strong, fast, and invulnerable, but Clark wasn't sure he could hold a collapsing planet together, much less stabilize an entire universe.
"But ..... The people who are still alive…". Clark couldn't accept what was going to happen.
"They'll all die".
"Perhaps". He nodded. "But like I said..... I'm not here for them". Those glowing blue eyes peered into the distance where he found the person he was looking for.
Surprise, surprise …. He wasn't dead yet. Now that was something worth his attention.
As for the collapse of this universe .... It was going to happen anyway in the original timeline. He had no desire to change that.
With a thought, the space around him swirled, and his body began to disappear.
Clark watched as Amari teleported away, contemplating whether to stop him.
The thought of God knows how many people left in this world disappearing out of existence was something he couldn't accept.
He came all this way not just for Wonder Woman but also to save this world.
How could he be fine knowing that everything was going to collapse?
Amari was probably the only one who could stop it. Or at least, knew how.
But ultimately, his reasoning won over his heart of Justice.
And so, the Man Of Steel could only watch as Amari disappeared in place.
.....
The space swirled again, and a figure appeared in the air.
'Now then .....'. Amari swept his gaze around the surroundings, his gaze falling on the single warehouse building around a large construction site in the outskirts of Central City.
At the moment, his ears twitched slightly as he listened to the sounds of battle going in within the building.
Bang!
It happened then. A part of the warehouse wall was broken apart. Following which, a blonde girl in red and blue tights was thrown out of the building.
.....
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