The Anti-Superman Armor went into full operation, targeting the airborne Superman and firing eighteen mini-missiles in rapid succession, all aimed directly at him!
As the thrusters ignited, the gold-red armor and the missiles shot into the sky together.
Iron Man extended his arm once more, and the laser cannons on his arms automatically locked onto the target locations.
Red heat vision from Superman and green laser beams from Iron Man intersected in midair.
Superman dodged the incoming missiles with swift movements, countering by using his heat vision to destroy several of them.
Still, three missiles struck him, blasting him backward once again!
Not yet fully recovered, Superman was flung through the air by the explosion, and the Anti-Superman Armor pursued him relentlessly.
Its arms transformed, retracting the missile launchers and shifting into tightly clenched steel fists.
Grabbing Superman by the collar, the mech delivered a powerful punch straight to Superman's face!
"This is my favorite part," Tony quipped inside the armor, speaking to his AI, "punching this guy square in the face."
"Sir, Superman appears to be in a weakened state. You should press the advantage," his AI assistant advised after scanning the biological readouts.
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Now that's some good news."
He looked at Superman with a grin, his thrusters overclocking, and drove Superman's body deep into the ice by pressing down on his collarbone.
Then, without pause, he delivered another earth-shaking punch to Superman's face.
The blow echoed loudly, deforming parts of the armor, while Superman was smashed further into the ice mountain.
Superman let out a furious roar, his eyes glowing red.
With a swift motion, he caught the mech's fist, and his heat vision erupted violently, targeting the uncovered viewport on the armor's face.
The right-eye window of the armor immediately shattered into a flurry of fragments, though they thankfully did not scatter.
Inside the mech, Tony Stark quickly turned his head and said, "JARVIS, log Superman's heat vision impact strength. We'll need to reinforce the viewport for next time."
"Understood, Sir. Sensors show 30% damage to the armor's vision. I'll activate the Red Sun Gauntlets for you now."
The anti-Superman armor twisted to evade the heat vision attack.
A layer of red metal coating spread over the steel fists again, starting from the wrists.
These gauntlets, designed by Batman, had miniature Red Sun reactors installed at the joints, capable of mimicking the frequency of Red Sun rays.
Once wrapped in Vibranium, the gauntlets were fully activated.
Iron Man cracked his neck as Superman charged at him, throwing a punch straight into the armor's chest!
The massive anti-Superman armor's torso caved inward from the impact, and inside, Tony felt the blow reverberate, causing a sharp hum in his chest.
He spat blood.
The anti-Superman armor was sent flying, tumbling through the air before stabilizing quickly.
As Superman prepared to land a second punch, Iron Ma swung back with a counterpunch, hitting Superman square in the face!
The miniature Red Sun reactors couldn't fully match the real rays of the Red Sun, but they still weakened Superman.
This punch sent Superman flying, crashing into the peak of a nearby iceberg.
Iron Man flew after him. "Looks like this new gear's working pretty well, Jarvis."
"Sir, are you complimenting Batman's invention?"
"Not a chance!"
Iron Man quickly retorted.
He grabbed the Superman as the iceberg groaned under the strain, it seemed it was on the verge of collapse.
While holding Superman, he contacted Steve over the communication earpiece, "What's the situation on your end? I can keep him busy a little longer—get everyone out."
"We're evacuating now, Tony! Get back here!" Steve replied urgently.
"I can't pass up the chance to get a few more hits in," Tony grinned as he cut off the communication and relentlessly hammered Superman with heavy blows, dragging him higher into the sky.
—However, high above in the sky, the intensity of ultraviolet rays suddenly surged.
The raging snowstorm abruptly ceased, and the brilliant Arctic sunlight bathed them in its glare.
Superman looked up, his eyes glowing a furious red.
"You've made a fatal mistake, Tony Stark."
"Sir, I believe it's time to retreat," the AI butler's usually calm tone turned urgent
.
Tony's eyes widened slightly, "You're right, Jarvis."
He immediately let go, his thrusters spinning to life.
With a sharp backward thrust, he activated his airbrakes and shot like an arrow toward the sonic boom portal.
"Close the portal, we're retreating!"
Behind him, Superman's enraged voice roared, "Soren! You dare to leave!"
Tony zipped into the sonic boom portal as the anti-Superman armor grabbed Steve and the others.
The tunnel burst with a brilliant light, and the howling sound of distorted space raged like a hurricane.
Before Superman could enter the sonic boom portal, their figures vanished into the light, and the portal promptly closed.
The fierce wind suddenly stilled.
The clouds, which had been swept aside by the portal's force, hung frozen in the sky like a pool of filthy water, suspended in midair, as if it was solidify in the sky.
...
The pointy-eared first officer stood in the spaceship corridor, turning back to look at him with a puzzled expression, "…You shouldn't be here. This is illogical."
Soren panicked, as if that one sentence had already exiled him from the Enterprise.
He hurriedly clutched his chest and protested, "Why? I'm a crew member of the Enterprise too—"
Tap tap tap, tap tap tap.
The sound of knocking came from the glass window beside him.
Soren instinctively turned his head, but before he could react, the ground beneath him disappeared, and he fell into the infinite darkness of space outside the window—
"Ah!"
Soren jolted awake in his soft bed and sat up abruptly.
Warm, bright sunlight streamed through the half-drawn white curtains, filling the room with light, and bathing half of his blanket in a soft, pale blue hue.
His mind felt foggy, as though it were wrapped in gauze.
Slowly, he scanned the room, taking in the familiar furniture, the familiar decorations, and toys.