Back in the forest, the battle against the King Serpent raged on. The Guardians continued throwing everything they had at it as planned and had made some progress but none of it was enough to end the creature. They did land several successful blows that cracked and broke parts of its armor and even left some large gashes but the Serpent was resilient.
"War Woman and Martian Man try to restrain its wings!" Immortal shouted. It became harder to hold the snake back ever since it transformed. The wings it grew gave it a large amount of maneuverability, using them to increase its speed randomly.
Thankfully none of them had been too injured so far from its attacks but Immortal didn't know how long that would last. This had been going on for far too long and something was bound to happen.
A shout suddenly knocked Immortal out of his thoughts.
"Watch out!"
Twisting his neck he watched the snake attack using its tail as it aimed right for Dark Wing. "No!" Flying at top speed he reached right in the Knick of time and took the brunt of the force.
Boom!
Getting up immortal looked down at Dark Wing and checked his condition. "You alright Dark Wing?"
"Yeah I'm alright I just need to walk it off" Saying this he tried getting up but instantly fell back "Agh sorry I think I might be done for now my legs are no good"
"Don't worry friend, we'll take it from here." Turning around, the immortal flew back in with tired eyes.
Darkwing, badly injured, was forced to retreat. His board carried him away from the fight, leaving the Guardians without one of their key strategists. Aquarius, Green Ghost, and Martian Man struggled to contribute effectively. Their abilities, while powerful, were not suitable against the serpent. It wasn't their fault this opponent was simply a bad match for their abilities.
This left Red Rush, the Immortal, and War Woman as the primary combatants, their combined efforts barely enough to keep the beast at bay. The serpent's eyes burned with a malevolent light as it lunged at them, its tail whipping through the air with devastating force.
"We need to buy more time!" the Immortal shouted, his voice barely audible over the din of battle. He dodged a sweeping strike from the serpent's tail, retaliating with a barrage of punches that seemed to do little more than annoy the creature.
"I'm doing everything I can here!" War Woman yelled back, her mace breaking another section of the serpent's scales. She aimed for the eyes and snout as instructed, but the beast's thrashing made it nearly impossible to land a decisive blow. Leaving her with only its body to strike at.
War Woman stepped back and watched the beast with a heated gaze. 'This beast has to have a weakness I just need to find it but where!' The snout and eyes were obvious points to attack but in her long history of battle, she recognized certain patterns, especially amongst creatures like the Kaiju.
Weaker ones generally required force or simple attacks to defeat. while those that had higher levels of threat carried vulnerabilities. Sometimes it would be a specific element like lightning or a unique part of the body but there was always a weak point.
While she was watching the serpent battle she noticed something strange on the base of its neck. To most untrained eyes it would appear normal but she was a seasoned warrior that had fought for a thousand years.
"Red Rush I can't get a good look at its neck. Get close and see if there is something different there."
Red Rush wasn't sure of what she might be looking for but he didn't bother asking and disappeared in a blur. His speed allowed him to dodge the random strikes and debris. Within a second he stuck himself to its neck and was surprised when he found something slightly different.
Reaching his comms he shared the news "Aye there's something different here. One of its scales appears reversed"
Hearing those words the rest of the team realized that this was it! The key to winning the fight. No words were shared amongst them but they all knew what they needed to do as they concentrated their attacks on that scale.
The immortal in particular flew straight for the weak point at Mach 3 and delivered a punch that blew the snake back! But more importantly his blow caused a crack to appear on that spot.
RAAAAAH!
In a fit of rage, the Serpent twisted its body and attacked faster than it had before. Unfortunately this time the guardians were unable to complete dodge as most of them were launched against the earth and trees.
Unfinished with its assault it stared straight at the group of heroes with its eyes burning in fury. Not long after a reverberating sound began to echo throughout the forest.
"That noise! It's the same one it made when it shot that beam into the sky" Aquarius shouted with a grunt. While the rest tensed knowing what was coming next.
"Everyone scatter!" Following the immortal's words they began taking evasive maneuvers. With Green Ghost becoming intangible and Red Rush zooming out of range while the others found their own way out.
War Woman tried to follow suit but collapsed before she could continue. Looking down at her leg she found her thigh impaled by one of its scales impeding her movement. She tried to get up but couldn't because of the pain.
By the time the others realized this it was already too late. All of them were too far. The only one who had a chance of getting there was Red Rush but he knew that he wasn't fast enough to get her out.
Already at the peak of its hold, the serpent opened its maw releasing a bright red blast that melted everything it touched. War Woman pulled her mace from her thigh and prepared to take on the attack when she noticed her vision became dark as a shadow enveloped her.
"You look like you need a hand. Let me handle this for you."
Standing in front of her was a large man wearing bright red and blue. She couldn't see his front but she could tell he carried great strength as his red cape flowed in the wind with a golden crest.
Right after saying this the man released two beams of his own that not only clashed with the serpents but pierced right through it! Within seconds it reached the beast and burned its mouth. Forcing it back as it shrieked in pain.
The guardians stood frozen as they watched the newcomer deal damage with a single attack. Which surprised them as they had struggled to do this thus far.
Turning around the man went down on one knee and lifted War Woman effortlessly. Usually, she would protest and might even beat the person to near death especially when it was a man doing so but at this moment her thoughts dwelled on something else.
'I've seen this man before' Looking at him she focused on his features and recognized that he was quite handsome but also seemed young. However the moment he smiled a memory briefly flashed through her mind.
"It's you! You're the one who ran away at that time" She knew she recognized him from somewhere but to think that he'd appear here.
"Haha sorry about that but I really couldn't get caught at the time and I know you're going to have lots of questions but we really need to keep this short. Mr snake over there is recovering and he doesn't look too happy"
War Woman turned and saw that he was right. It seemed that the wound wasn't enough to take the serpent out. Looking back at the man's eyes she gave a glare before releasing a sigh "Very well but you better not run this time"
Setting her down somewhere further away from the battle Brandon turned around and stared at the snake as it lifted itself off the ground. Looking into its maw he noticed that the burn marks were already gone.
'I really spent too much time there. A rookie mistake but it's alright if I can hurt it once then I can hurt it again.'
Floating up into the air Brandon's eyes glowed with red light as he charged back in. His abilities had drastically increased since the last time and he was going to show it.
Boom!
In an instant, he reached the snake and struck it with his full force creating a shock wave to spread throughout the forest. However, he wasn't done just yet.
Boom Boom Boom
In a flurry of speed, he released a hurricane of blows. The snake at first was unbothered and just saw it as annoying but this soon changed as it began to feel pain underneath its armor. While its protection was impressive it didn't account for shock waves that caused internal damage
"Holy! Who is this guy?" Red Rush asked in surprise as he looked at Immortal for answers. "He looks like he might be as strong as you. He doesn't happen to be your hidden son right?"
Immortal panicked for a moment as he thought about it but he quickly threw that idea away. He'd been alive for a long time and had sired many children but he was sure that this one wasn't his.
"I don't know but I'm glad he's on our side. Now come on, we can't let him have all the fun now can we?" As he said this immortal didn't forget to press his hidden camera to send the footage to Cecil for further study. Anyone capable of throwing blows like himself was someone definitely worth looking into.
Back in the fight, Brandon flew around the snake with precision. Everything the Serpent threw at him was effortlessly dodged as he continued raining blows.
While he did this the rest of the guardians returned and began aiming for its weak points once more.
Immortal in particular noticed that the beast was completely honed in on Brandon and used that to his advantage. With swift action he appeared on its back and gripped hard on its wings. By the time the serpent realized what was happening it was already too late.
Rip!
RAAAHRRR!
The moment the two wings were pried off it cried in pain as blood gushed from its wound. The rest of the guardians didn't let it rest as they targeted its reverse scale. Brandon noticed this and realized that if they were attacking that spot then it must be its weak point. With precise action, he targeted the scale with his heat vision.
The serpent felt the danger and attempted to flee but the rest of the guardians restrained it but like a cornered animal it began thrashing as much as it could, no longer caring about its safety. All it wanted was to kill as many as it could in revenge for all the pain it endured.
In its struggle trees were ripped from the earth and tossed around like projectiles while it released beams in different directions. One of these beams was about to hit Martian Man but Brandon appeared on time and pushed him out of the way while he took the brunt of its force.
"Aghhh!!!" He shouted in pain as the energy continued pushing him into the earth but he resisted with all his might as he slowly walked through the energy until he had enough strength to strike back.
Boom!
With a powerful uppercut, he managed to close its maw only to get smacked with its tail across the forest.
.
.
.
Laying in a crater a mile away was Brandon with several tears in his brand-new suit. His figure was no longer pristine and his hair was messy with some spots of bruising here and there.
"Ugh I might have gotten a little cocky taking that blast like Broly" Pushing himself up he grunted in pain and half kneeled on the ground.
Looking down at his appearance Brandon felt a sort of reality check. Since arriving he thought his only foe would be Omni Man but he neglected the fact that he is still a young Kryptonian with no battle experience whatsoever. Most of all he forgot the fact that he too can feel pain.
Which happened to be the most surprising thing he realized. As he hadn't felt even an inkling of pain since arriving in this world at least that was until today.
Standing tall he walked forward with a slight limp as the battle happening in the distance continued to echo. 'Alright enough messing around it's time to end things'
Walking faster he ignored his limp and started running until his run turned to flying. Within moments he broke the sound barrier. Reaching the battlefield he took hold of the snake and in everyone's amazed faces he lifted it and started flying high with it.
Brandon heard the guardians calling him but he ignored them and focused on his opponent who thrashed in his hold but he wasn't going to let him get away. Within seconds Brandon passed the clouds and kept pressing on until he reached a point he'd never flown to before. The earth's atmosphere.
'Come on I'm almost there just a little more!'
Reaching the edge he finally arrived at the point he'd been searching for. Turning around he dropped the snake and silently stared down as the sun rose behind him.
With the sky no longer blocking its appearance he had full access to its energy and rapidly healed all his wounds. Any bruise he may have had disappeared as if they were never there and in moments Brandon felt his body being supercharged with energy. It was at then that he knew he was ready.
Opening his eyes they glowed red as he came crashing down to the snake. Taking it in his arms again he went faster and faster, appearing like a meteor. The friction of the air quickly ignited and burned all around them but this was nothing for Brandon however the same couldn't be said for the King Serpent who wailed in agony.