Clark pushed himself up from the ground, one hand pressed against his chest as he locked eyes with Adrian.
Around them, Green Arrow and the others stood frozen in shock. None of them had expected Superman, the symbol of hope they were relying on, to be blasted away so easily by Adrian's Heat Vision at the very start of the fight.
The difference in power was becoming harder to ignore.
Green Arrow felt a knot tighten in his chest. After already losing Captain Atom and Martian Manhunter, the sight of Clark struggling made his fear of Adrian deepen into something heavier, almost suffocating.
For a moment, doubt crept in.
Was there really anyone who could stop him?
Clark took a slow breath and suddenly activated his super speed, moving straight toward Adrian.
His expression sharpened as his eyes ignited, red beams firing forward in an instant.
Adrian reacted immediately, lifting into the air with controlled flight.
A searing beam of energy tore through the space beneath him, slicing across the battlefield with devastating heat. Adrian twisted midair and avoided it cleanly.
Before Clark could adjust, Adrian shifted position and struck from behind.
Clark spun instantly, meeting the attack head on with a punch.
BOOM!
Their fists collided midair, producing a shockwave that ripped through the air itself.
Both of them were pushed back from the impact, boots and fists carving trails through dust and debris.
At the edge of the battlefield, Chloe reacted first. She closed the distance in an instant and drove a heavy punch into Clark's torso.
The impact sent him flying.
Clark crashed hard, skidding across broken concrete before Chloe pursued him again without hesitation. She grabbed his cape mid motion, used it to pivot, and drove a brutal kick into his abdomen.
The force launched him further across the battlefield.
He slammed into the ground with a thunderous impact, forming a crater that shattered the surrounding terrain.
Chloe landed a few steps away, watching him carefully.
"He's stronger than before," she said quietly.
A voice answered from behind her.
"Is that so?"
Clark appeared behind her in an instant.
Before she could fully turn, he struck her with a sharp punch to the neck.
Chloe staggered back but recovered quickly, shifting her stance and firing Heat Vision forward.
Clark broke off immediately, rising into the sky and using cloud cover to conceal his movement.
Even though Amy had previously drained part of his strength, Clark was still adapting. His body constantly pushed itself beyond normal limits when the situation demanded it.
Chloe rolled her neck slightly, studying the sky.
That punch had carried more force than she expected.
So he's still evolving.
For a brief moment, she considered the possibility, then dismissed it.
No matter how much he improved, she still held the advantage.
Her eyes glowed faintly as she activated enhanced vision, scanning the battlefield. She locked onto Clark's position almost instantly.
Without hesitation, she launched herself forward.
Clark shot upward to maintain distance, weaving through broken structures and debris. He used the battlefield terrain to his advantage, trying to control the rhythm of the fight.
"You can't hide from me, Clark. I can see you clearly," Chloe called out as she closed in at high speed.
In an instant, she appeared behind him.
BOOM!
Their fists collided again, releasing a violent shockwave.
Chloe barely moved back a step.
Clark was thrown off balance and forced backward.
She pressed the advantage immediately, chasing him through the ruined landscape. Every step she took cracked the ground beneath her.
"I'm faster than you," she said, voice cutting through the air as she moved.
Before the sentence finished, she was already in front of him.
A kick struck Clark cleanly, sending him crashing through multiple structures in a straight line. Concrete and metal folded under the force of his impact.
The sound echoed like an earthquake.
"I'm stronger than you," Chloe continued, following him without pause.
She caught up again and struck him with another heavy blow, driving him into the ground once more.
Clark hit the crater hard, the impact deepening the broken earth beneath him.
Her attacks were not random. Each strike was precise, controlled, and deliberate, showing clear combat discipline and training.
Clark's durability kept him conscious, but pain spread through his body in waves. His muscles burned, and even his internal structure felt strained under the repeated impacts.
He forced himself upright, blood now visible at the corner of his mouth. Dust clung to his clothes, and his breathing had become heavier.
Across from him, Chloe paused, watching.
"So what now, Clark? Giving up?"
Her tone suggested she believed the fight was nearing its end. Even she was breathing harder now, the prolonged exchange taking its toll.
Clark wiped the blood from his lip and steadied himself.
"It's too early to talk like that," he said.
He suddenly flipped backward, creating distance, and threw an object forward.
Chloe caught it without hesitation.
A small device, blinking red.
Her head tilted slightly.
Then it detonated.
BOOM!
A violent blast of compressed energy and sound erupted outward, swallowing her position in a devastating shockwave.
The explosion tore through nearby structures, reducing concrete and metal into fragments.
Clark had used a sonic weapon.
A specialized high frequency device designed to disrupt through resonance and pressure waves, capable of affecting even enhanced physiology through vibration interference.
The blast was not meant to kill outright, but to destabilize.
And it worked.
At the center of the explosion, Chloe was thrown backward with immense force, crashing through a reinforced wall and bending a metal support beam on impact.
The beam snapped, launching upward into the air.
She continued through the structure, breaking through concrete layers before finally hitting the ground hard enough to form another crater.
For a moment, she stayed down.
Then she pushed herself up slowly.
Her balance was slightly off, her hearing affected, a ringing pressure still lingering in her ears. Her movements were less precise than before.
Clark had clearly planned this.
He knew her weakness.
The battlefield was now filled with smoke and dust, reducing visibility.
At the edge, Mera stepped back cautiously, shielding herself from the lingering shockwave.
Even she could not hide her reaction.
These two were not just powerful beings.
They were catastrophic forces clashing on Earth.
And if they continued, the destruction would not remain localized.
That thought alone unsettled her.
Lois and Adrian stood nearby, both watching in silence, absorbing what they had just witnessed.
Lois looked shaken.
She had never seen Clark fight like this, not like someone willing to use weapons in a battle against his own brother.
Nightwing stared ahead, speechless. The scale of the fight had gone far beyond anything he had ever prepared for.
Deathstroke narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Sound based interference," he muttered. "So that's the angle."
He was already analyzing weaknesses, even in the middle of chaos.
Chloe, still recovering from the sonic disruption, finally stabilized her breathing.
Clark used that moment.
He closed distance instantly and drove a punch into her jaw.
The impact forced her backward.
Before she could fully reset, Clark grabbed her by the neck.
Chloe responded immediately, grabbing his neck in return.
They locked each other in place.
Neither willing to let go.
Neither willing to fall.
Heat Vision flared from both of them at the same time.
BOOM!
Their beams collided midair, exploding into a violent burst of energy.
The shockwave ripped through the battlefield again.
Clark used the opening to throw Chloe with all his remaining strength.
She crashed into a military transport vehicle, crushing it under the impact. The vehicle flipped violently across the ground.
Clark dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.
Chloe rose again from the rubble, shaking off the disorientation.
Her eyes locked onto him.
"You're done here, Clark."
Clark forced himself upright, his voice low but steady.
"You failed to stop me."
Chloe narrowed her eyes.
Without warning, Clark moved again, pushing forward despite exhaustion.
He grabbed Chloe mid exchange and used her momentum against her, twisting into an aerial maneuver before striking her with a counter punch.
The hit landed, but Chloe recovered fast and answered with a heavier strike.
Clark was launched backward again, crashing into rocks and debris.
He tried to rise, but his body no longer responded the way it should.
His strength was slipping.
Chloe walked forward slowly, closing the distance.
"It's over."
Clark wiped blood from his face.
"It's not over. Not even close."
Amy, watching from the edge of the battlefield, hesitated for only a moment.
Then she moved.
Super speed activated.
She rushed forward, aiming directly toward Clark, intent on stepping into the fight.
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