"No, no! How could I ever question your strength? Ultraman, you'll always be the strongest in my dreams."
Johnny Quick immediately backtracked.
Still, from the irritation smoldering in Ultraman's eyes, he could tell that the newcomer's power far exceeded Ultraman's own. The man was just putting on a brave face.
Axis, for his part, simply smiled and said nothing. The Superman of this world, this so-called Ultraman, had an extraordinarily fragile ego but didn't dare lash out at him.
Axis had watched his earlier battle against the Anti-Monitor with perfect clarity, and the villains before him, Owlman, Superwoman, and Deathstorm, had all kept their mouths wisely shut throughout.
"I'm simply weakened right now. I was exposed to the light of a yellow sun just moments ago. You all know how it works. Without enough Kryptonite, I can't fight at my best. If I could absorb sufficient Kryptonite, I would absolutely destroy that demon. I am the strongest." Ultraman declared.
As a powerful Kryptonian, he could not endure exposure to Earth's sun. The moment yellow starlight struck him, his power diminished.
Only by absorbing the stones of his homeworld, drawing on the energy within, could he grow stronger. Kryptonite fueled his cells with tremendous power.
In front of this new member, Ultraman had no intention of losing his dignity. He could not afford to show weakness. The weak had no right to survive.
That was the creed of the House of Ui. Survival of the fittest, supremacy of the strong.
Hearing this, Axis was somewhat surprised. Since when did a version of Superman get hurt by yellow solar radiation? And he needed to absorb Kryptonite to power up? This guy was the complete opposite of Superman.
Superman's weakness was this man's energy source, and Superman's power source was this man's bane.
"Yellow starlight weakens you. What about red stars, or blue ones?" Axis asked.
In the DC universe, there were all manner of strange rules. Red stellar radiation could strip Superman of his powers and reduce him to an ordinary man. Yellow starlight enhanced his strength. And the light of a blue supergiant could send his power into overdrive, though at the cost of his lifespan.
"Red starlight has no effect on me whatsoever. It neither strengthens nor weakens me. Let me introduce you to our team.
"Our organization is called the Crime Syndicate. Our goal is to rule the entire world and force all of humanity to submit to our reign. Anyone who refuses will be killed. Owlman, Superwoman, and I are the three leaders. The remaining core members are Deathstorm, Power Ring, Johnny Quick, and Sea King. If you're willing, I can elevate you to a fourth leader." Ultraman said.
"You forgot to mention my little sweetheart. He's in the other world acting as our contact. We'll be meeting him very soon," Johnny Quick added.
"I didn't forget. He simply hasn't joined us yet." Ultraman shot Johnny Quick a look, and the speedster immediately fell silent.
"What kind of world are you planning to go to?" Axis asked.
"It's a world that is the complete inverse of ours. Over there, justice is celebrated and violence is condemned," Owlman explained.
His old butler, Alfred, had secretly traveled to that other world three years ago and had been transmitting information back using devices from their universe. Owlman had a reasonable understanding of conditions on the other side.
Axis nodded without betraying any emotion. So the other world was the normal version of Earth. This world was the one that was inverted.
Going along with them to the other world seemed like a worthwhile idea. At that moment, Axis noticed the prisoner who had been bound and restrained. The captive's hands were shackled, a cloth was stuffed into his mouth, and a hood covered his head. No matter how Axis looked at him, the man appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary human.
No, that wasn't right.
There was a peculiar power hidden inside his body. Had Axis not possessed the observational acuity of a universe-tier being, even he would have missed the anomaly.
"Who is this guy? Is he one of yours too? He looks like just a regular person." Axis glanced at the prisoner and spoke as though he couldn't care less.
"Don't underestimate him, friend. He's no ordinary man. He is the most dangerous, most unhinged one among us. The Crime Syndicate once had well over a hundred members, and most of them died at his hands.
"He possesses an extremely peculiar ability: after killing someone, he can steal their superpowers. It took everything we had to capture him." Owlman said.
After finishing, Owlman glanced pointedly at Superwoman and Ultraman. The two had just been signaling him with their eyes, telling him not to reveal information about the prisoner, but he had made the decision on his own.
A being this powerful would inevitably notice something was off.
Besides, their entire group dragging along an apparent civilian was far too suspicious. Deception was the greatest form of distrust.
Especially toward someone this strong. Telling him the full truth was the right call. They were about to cross into another universe, and there was no telling what they might face. If they wanted to build a new world for themselves, this was the way.
"That really is an incredible ability. Kill someone and steal their power. Can he take anything?" Axis asked, genuinely surprised. The ability was practically a cheat code.
Death Plunder. Wouldn't that mean he grew stronger with every fight?
"Absolutely. Take my Speed Force, for example. If this guy killed me, he'd gain my Speed Force. Same with Ultraman's heat vision, super strength, and freeze breath, or Deathstorm's molecular manipulation. He can absorb all of it." Johnny Quick said.
"He'll never get the chance to absorb my power. I'll kill him long before that. I've beaten him plenty of times already." Ultraman gave a cold snort, though his eyes betrayed a deep wariness toward the prisoner.
"True, you've beaten him many times. But the gap between you two shrank every single time. In the final bout, he fought you to a dead standstill. If not for Superwoman's Lasso of Submission, we never would have captured him." Owlman tore away the pretense without the slightest hesitation.
"Don't say it like that, Owlman. At least right now, we are the victors." Superwoman quickly smoothed things over.
"Why not just kill him? What's the point of keeping someone this dangerous alive? His endgame is obviously to kill all of you and take your powers." Axis said.
What a twisted ability.
The comic-book multiverse really was crawling with broken powers. If this guy killed him, would he absorb Saiyan strength, Ki, or even God of Destruction energy?
Someone this dangerous should be eliminated preemptively.
"Oh man, buddy, we've got common ground! I've been pushing for us to off this guy too. The bosses just won't go for it." Johnny Quick immediately gave Axis a thumbs-up, then added with a helpless shrug.
Having such a volatile threat at their side was nothing but trouble. The instant he broke free, he would kill one of them.
Yet after deliberating, Ultraman, Superwoman, and Owlman had decided to keep him alive.
"He's our secret weapon. You fought that demon yourself. You know how powerful he is. Our plan is to release the prisoner at a critical moment and let him deal with the Anti-Monitor." Ultraman looked at Axis and said.
"Superwoman's Lasso of Submission can control him and bend him to our will. And he has a weakness: he's still mortal. He can only transform by chanting his incantation." Owlman added.
"I'm quite curious, actually. Could you tell me the details? I'd like to know what precautions to take around someone this dangerous." Axis said.
"Broly, caution is wise. That purple destruction energy of yours would definitely catch his eye. If he kills you, he gains your power." Owlman said.
"His name is Alexander Luthor. Originally just an ordinary human. One day, by accident, he stumbled into an ancient cave and inherited a primordial magical legacy. All he has to do is shout 'Mazahs!' and a bolt of black lightning descends from the sky, transforming him into a superhuman with immortality, immense strength, flight as fast as lightning, and a body of steel." Ultraman explained.
Alexander Luthor. So what was his relationship to Lex Luthor? And why had a bald man ended up with the power of Shazam?
Still, the Mazahs power set was seriously overpowered.
The baseline version already included the full suite of Shazam's abilities, and on top of that came the power to kill and steal the abilities of others.
It was essentially a souped-up Black Adam, though Axis had no idea how many powers the man had already plundered or what his current level of strength looked like.
But if this group had managed to capture him, he was certainly no match for Axis.
His weakness was also obvious: at his core, he was mortal.
Axis remembered debates from his previous life on the internet. If Black Adam spoke his transformation incantation, he would revert to human form, and that human body would age.
Since Black Adam had lived for thousands of years, reverting would cause him to crumble to dust instantly. However, according to Ultraman, Alexander Luthor had only possessed his power for a few years.
So forcing him back into human form would make him trivially easy to deal with.
At that moment, the bound prisoner suddenly turned his head toward Axis. Beneath the hood, an eerie smile spread across his hidden face.
"I think your restraints are a bit crude. For someone this dangerous, you should really take more precautions." Axis said.
A thought suddenly occurred to him. The power of Shazam, or rather the power of Black Adam, could be taken away. This man had also received his abilities through someone else.
If that was the case, could Axis strip the power from him? The sheer absurdity of an ability that let you steal any enemy's power upon killing them was enough to make Axis envious.
Perhaps he could test it with his Dragon.
"Do you have any special abilities? Besides that purple energy, I mean. Something you could use to help us restrain him." Ultraman's interest was immediately piqued.
"I am also a god. An immortal, undying god. I command a miraculous energy called ki. I can place a seal on him. I'll inject a portion of my ki into his body, and if he makes any dangerous moves, I can detonate that energy remotely and obliterate his internal organs." Axis said, a sphere of blue light rising above his open palm.
His control over ki energy had reached an extraordinarily refined level. Hiding his own ki inside another person's body and then detonating it was effortless.
The moment the words left his mouth, Superwoman's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. Her gaze flickered involuntarily toward the prisoner, Alexander Luthor.
No one else caught that fleeting glance, but Axis and Owlman, standing off to the side, both noticed. Axis kept his observations to himself, and Owlman said nothing either.
Axis's divine perception told him clearly that Superwoman was pregnant. And as for who the father of her unborn child might be...
Logically, she should have been paired with Ultraman, given that she carried the name Lois Lane, and the intimacy between the two was plain to see.
"Are you sure about this? He may look like a normal man right now, but once he transforms, his power isn't far below mine. His physical capabilities fall only slightly short of my own." Ultraman said.
He was tempted. Alexander Luthor had always been a thorn in his side. From the very beginning, the man had opposed him at every turn, and the two had remained bitter enemies ever since.
"We can try it. Just remove his hood and let him transform. Let's see if my methods work on him." Axis said with a smile.
Once his ki was inside the man, there would be no escaping it. He could even lace the ki with a trace of God of Destruction energy.
Alexander Luthor was powerful, but he had not set foot into the realm of the gods. He had no immunity to energy of destruction.
Even the Anti-Monitor lacked that. The Anti-Monitor had needed anti-matter energy to counteract Axis's God of Destruction power. A single touch of energy of destruction meant death, followed by a long respawn back in the Sixth Dimension.
"That's far too risky, dear new member. I have to warn you: his strength is formidable. We shouldn't experiment carelessly." Superwoman offered what appeared to be a friendly caution.
"Even at full power, he's no match for me. You all saw my fight with the Anti-Monitor. And I'll make preparations in advance. Besides, I have all of you backing me up. You subdued him once. You can help me subdue him a second time." Axis grinned a grin that wasn't at all friendly.
He raised his palm, and a sphere of purple God of Destruction energy materialized above it. He compressed it into a tiny ball, then wrapped a layer of divine power around it, followed by an outer shell of ki energy.
The divine power served as a barrier to keep the energy of destruction dormant, while the ki formed the outermost safeguard.
Axis walked up to the prisoner. Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, he pushed the orb into Alexander Luthor's body. It was a small sphere: purple at its core, blue in its middle layer, and white on its surface.
The instant the energy ball made contact, the prisoner began thrashing violently.
A flicker of conflict passed through Superwoman's eyes, but she remained standing beside Ultraman and did not move.
You'll have to fend for yourself, Alexander Luthor.
Moments later, Alexander Luthor was on his knees, gasping for air in ragged heaves. Axis stepped forward, ripped the hood off his head, and pulled the gag from his mouth.
"MAZAHS!"
The instant he was freed, without a heartbeat of hesitation, Alexander Luthor bellowed the word.
A deafening crack split the air as a bolt of black lightning plunged from the void. The moment it struck him, Alexander Luthor's body swelled and towered upward.
The scrawny man who had barely stood five foot seven transformed into a hulking figure well over six and a half feet tall. Thunder crackled across his frame. His eyes blazed with blue light, and he wore a suit of armor strikingly similar to that of Shazam.
"Free at last. You shouldn't have been so confident. You can't handle me. Your power is mine now." The newly liberated Alexander Luthor sneered and launched himself at Axis.
He had heard every word of their conversation.
This newcomer possessed a mysterious purple energy capable of threatening the Anti-Monitor. If he could claim that power, he could defeat Ultraman, defeat the Anti-Monitor, defeat them all.
Watching Alexander Luthor barrel toward him, a cold smile curled at the corner of Axis's mouth. He triggered the energy sphere.
"Ngh... AAAAAGH! What... what did you do to me?!"
Alexander Luthor pitched forward and hit the ground face-first at Axis's feet. He clutched his chest and writhed in agony.
A terrifying energy was spreading through his body, tearing at his organs and searing his very soul. The pain was beyond anything he had ever known.
"Looks like you're nothing special after all. I thought you'd be more impressive. Your life is in my hands now. What I just planted inside you is my own divine power. The moment you harbor even a shred of defiance toward me, all I have to do is think it, and you die where you stand." Axis seized him by the throat and hoisted him off the ground.
Once they crossed over to the other world, he would put this man's ability to the test. If the Death Plunder was truly as broken as they claimed, Axis would find a way to make it his own.
The members of the Crime Syndicate stared in collective astonishment and delight.
None of them had expected the new recruit to suppress Alexander Luthor so effortlessly, to defuse the ticking time bomb they had been carrying at their side.
"Damn you, you coward! Fight me head-on if you dare. Beat me fair and square!"
"You want a fair fight? Fine. I'll give you one." Axis set Alexander Luthor back on his feet.
If someone wanted to challenge a Saiyan, the Saiyan would always answer.
"Die!" The freshly freed Alexander Luthor charged again.
This time, Axis did not activate the seal. He answered with nothing but his fists, not even drawing on his God of Destruction energy.
What followed was a merciless beating. Alexander Luthor was utterly outclassed, battered until there was nothing left of him.
"That's it? I expected so much more from you. Is this really the best you can do?" Axis planted his foot on Alexander Luthor's head and looked down at him with undisguised disappointment.
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ps?