Veins bulged on his neck as he used every ounce of strength to pull himself off the roof of the Batmobile.
His black cape which was torn in half by Soren, hung behind him like a battle-worn flag.
He painfully jumped down from the Batmobile, dragging his heavy steps toward the Batwing.
The old butler, sensing the tremors from the cave and rushing over, was shocked by what he saw.
He quickly moved to support Batman, "What happened? Sir, your injuries look serious. You need immediate treatment—"
"No, there's no time," Batman said in a low voice.
With Alfred's help, he climbed into the Batwing, piloting it into the air and chasing after Soren.
Soren flew swiftly through the skies.
The wind swept through his golden hair as he soared through the clouds, leaving Gotham behind and heading toward Metropolis.
At the same time, the Man of Tomorrow in Metropolis had just prevented a massive highway pile-up.
Taking a brief moment to rest, he sat atop the tallest building in the city, glancing at a newspaper with a troubled look on his face.
Recently, Soren hadn't reached out to him.
He'd even declined several of his dinner invitations.
The young hero couldn't understand why his longtime friend had suddenly distancing himself from him.
Everything had seemed fine before… hadn't it?
Clark couldn't help but feel disheartened.
Was it because he told Soren that he was an alien?
Did Soren finally feel there was a gap between them?
Maybe Soren didn't like aliens?
But Soren loved aliens in sci-fi movies… Clark had thought Soren would happily accept his real identity.
Yet, it seemed he had messed everything up.
That day, Clark had excitedly gone to the supermarket and bought a lot of Soren's favorite foods, hoping to use them as a way to fix their relationship.
But Soren not only used the excuse of having to work late to turn him down, he also got into Tony Stark's car afterward—
Clark had to admit that eavesdropping on Soren's conversation was wrong and disrespectful, but he couldn't handle how distant Soren had become.
Why did things turn out this way?
Clark quietly listened to Soren's excited and lively voice as he talked with Tony Stark.
Hearing that joy in Soren's tone made Clark feel a little sad.
—Why was Soren so happy around Iron Man but unwilling to see him?
Clark felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
The newspaper in his hands was crumpled from him folding and unfolding it.
It was open to the section recommending this week's movies, and Clark had carefully circled every sci-fi movie.
He wanted to ask Soren to go to the movies with him this weekend.
It was something they used to love doing together.
Every Friday night, they would look at the weekend's movie listings and pick out the one they were most excited to see.
Clark didn't want to drift apart from Soren—he wanted to fix their friendship.
If Soren would agree... Clark planned to take him to Tokyo Tower after the movie, a place Soren had always wanted to visit.
He was sure Soren would love it there.
Clark set down the newspaper and looked up, spotting a familiar white figure flying through the sky.
Curious, he raised an eyebrow and flew up to catch the figure.
"Angemon, what brings you to Metropolis?" Clark asked, blocking his path with a puzzled expression.
Angemon's wings fluttered slightly as he stopped mid-flight.
He stared at Superman in front of him, looking blank, almost as if he had forgotten what he was doing, unable to say a word.
"…Angemon?" Clark called out, confused.
Angemon seemed to snap out of it.
Suddenly, he summoned his golden staff while holding it in front of him defensively.
"I'm busy with something," he said, his voice full of hostility.
Clark frowned.
Something felt off about Angemon, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.
He stared at the familiar hero he'd often seen in the news, his eyes beginning to glow blue as he prepared to use his x-ray vision—
"Don't use your x-ray vision on me," Angemon snapped, pressing the tip of his staff against Superman's throat.
"Ah, sorry…" Clark quickly apologized, floating back a few inches.
Then, with concern in his voice, he asked, "Is something wrong? You look a little rough."
His gaze drifted to Angemon's wings, noticing several feathers had been ripped out.
"Mind your own business, Superman," Angemon said coldly.
Clark scratched his nose, "…Okay."
Angemon shot him a glance.
Even though most of his face was covered by a helmet, Clark could still sense a flicker of anger in his expression.
Soren moved around Superman, ready to fly away, but Clark's sharp hearing had already picked up the rumbling sound from across the Metropolis river.
Clark turned around and spotting the dark, sleek shape of the Batwing approaching them in fast speed.
"Boom—"
In an instant, the Batwing's wings flashed with fire as it launched two small missiles directly toward him!
Clark frowned as Soren flew past him, heading away.
Acting quickly, he shot forward, flying straight at the incoming missiles.
The two rockets cut through the air like needles, ready to explode, but Superman reached out with both hands, grabbing each missile mid-flight.
With a squeeze, Clark bent the missiles' metal casings, crumpling them like paper.
Something felt off today.
He held the now useless chunks of metal and flew up to the Batwing, curious to ask his mysterious neighbor why he'd shown up in Metropolis in broad daylight.
"Batman?" Clark called, positioning himself in front of the Batwing.
The Batwing quickly tilted, its wings gliding smoothly around Clark, avoiding the roadblock he created.
Clark followed, not blocking the path this time, but keeping pace alongside the Batwing, determined to figure out what was going on.
Clark flew alongside the cockpit window, knocking on the glass, "Batman, why did you suddenly attack me?"
Batman ignored his question, focusing on flying the Batwing forward.
Clark sighed.