—When the sixteen-year-old boy stepped out of that subway car, the decrepit, aging wizard, in the final moments, bestowed upon him the powers of the six gods: Solomon, Hercules, Mercury, Atlas, Zeus, and Achilles, all infused into him.
To gain all this power, he needed only to utter the wizard's name—"SHAZAM!"
—He possessed the speed of Mercury.
He and Superman synchronized their movements, shattering the flow of time as they competed in a realm of relative stillness measured in nanoseconds.
In the room beyond the alloy door, the prototype of the endurance-enhancing pill was placed by Superman within a suspended transparent cube, quietly awaiting the arrival of everyone.
Billy spotted the pill immediately and darted toward it.
Faster, faster, Billy Batson!
The speed of the Messenger of the Gods was pushed to its limits, with Superman already nearing Billy from behind.
However, Billy's starting point was closer to the pill, so the distance between him and the pill was shorter.
As Superman reached out to grab his cape, Billy's fingers were already brushing the surface of the transparent cube.
The transparent cube shook and shattered from the high-speed impact.
Superman was pulling at Billy's cape, veins bulging on Billy's neck as he desperately stretched his hand forward, his fingers hooking onto the pill, clutching it in his grasp!
—He possessed the strength of Hercules.
Billy grabbed the pill, his toes making an imprint on the floor as he stopped his momentum.
He turned and threw a punch at Superman!
However, Superman's combat skills far exceeded his, and as Billy turned around, Superman had already released his cape and raised his right fist, meeting Billy's full-powered punch with a solid, clenched fist.
The clash of two superhuman forces sent them both flying backward from the powerful recoil.
Billy tumbled through the air several times but still tightly gripped the pill, while Superman soared above him, his anger dark and stormy as a raging cloud.
"I'm giving you one last chance, Billy."
Superman, like an enraged sun god, looked down at Billy, his white cape seeming ready to billow upward at any moment.
Billy knelt on one knee, stabilizing himself, and looked up to face the airborne Superman.
Between his dark, intense brows, there was an unyielding stubbornness.
"I don't need it!"
The sixteen-year-old boy resolutely brandished the dagger of rebellion against the Superman he had admired since childhood.
—He also possessed the courage of Achilles.
Billy sprang to his feet and charged at Superman once more!
Simultaneously, Batman threw a red sun grenade into the room at the crucial moment.
—This was the last original micro red sun particle collected by Captain Atom before his self-destruction.
Due to the extreme instability of the micro red sun wave frequency, Batman could only make it into a short-lived impact grenade that emitted red sun rays, ready to handle any situation that might arise.
Superman's power came from Earth's yellow sun rays, but the frequency band of red sun rays could strip him of all his superpowers in an instant, rendering him as powerless as an ordinary human.
The red sun grenade that was thrown by Batman, exploded in the room, bathing the entire Fortress of Solitude in red sun light.
Clark plummeted to the ground from mid-air, taking a heavy hit from Billy that sent him crashing into the wall.
The entire wall behind him shattered into fragments.
Taking advantage of the moment, Batman grabbed Soren and said, "Let's go."
"Billy, come with me!" he shouted back at Shazam, grabbing Soren's hand and quickly running towards the exit of the Fortress of Solitude.
Soren was nearly dragged out by Batman.
He glanced back anxiously into the room, his steps faltering as he tried to keep up with Batman.
"Clark…"
Batman's breath, warm against his ear, came with a hushed urgency. "He's already seen you. You can't stay near him anymore."
Soren closed his eyes in sorrow.
He knew Batman was right.
The moment Clark saw him, their relationship was irrevocably broken.
The trust they had painstakingly built over time had been shattered.
Clark might never trust him again, and perhaps… even hate him.
But he couldn't just leave Clark behind.
He had to go back to him; he couldn't leave Clark alone in there.
Without slowing Batman's pace, he followed Batman and Billy to the Batwing, but once both of them were inside, he pulled free of Batman's grasp.
"I need to go back."
He couldn't bring himself to look at Batman's expression.
Batman glared at him in silence, disregarding his words.
He yanked Soren into the Batwing, growling orders for Shazam to restrain Soren, then closed the cockpit canopy and started the aircraft.
Shazam, caught between a rock and a hard place, was hesitant but, under Batman's stern glare, he held Soren's shoulders and buckled him into the seat, "Don't be reckless. Can't we leave with B?"
The Batwing struggled to lift off amidst the snowstorm.
The storm was intensifying, making the ascent difficult.
The entire aircraft shook, and the turbulence inside the cockpit grew worse, nearly causing Billy to topple to the right.
Suddenly, the plane lurched sharply, visibly distorting as if an invisible giant hand was wrenching it open from the rear.
The entire Batwing began to tilt backward.
Batman yanked the control stick sharply, trying to stabilize the plane's tilt, but the engines began to emit ominous buzzing sounds, steadily worsening with the clear forewarning of an impending explosion.
The cabin's alarm system blared to life, and the dashboard display flashed a warning: "Severe damage to aircraft. Please don parachute equipment and evacuate immediately."
Batman slammed a fist against the dashboard.
His eyes scanned the display screen.
Even before pressing the malfunction scan button, he already knew what had happened.
— He had expected the red sun grenade to buy them at least thirty minutes, but clearly, the Superman who had endured countless battles and injuries was now gaining strength at a terrifying rate.
Even the red sun grenade could only momentarily suppress his superpowers.