"Dead? How is that possible?" Clark's eyes flickered with surprise as he stared at the Kryptonian monster, which had completely lost any signs of life and remained utterly still. He could hardly believe such a formidable foe had simply died.
"What's wrong? Isn't the monster's death a good thing?" Kara asked, puzzled as she looked at Clark.
"Something's not right!" Clark shook his head slowly, his expression heavy. "You should have sensed the power of that Kryptonian monster before. Even with both of us combined, we weren't its match. We only managed to knock it into space with Diana's help…"
"Moreover, when we fought it earlier, we realized that its strength and defense were far superior to ours!"
"Sure, Earth's technology has advanced rapidly, especially in weapon manufacturing, but nuclear weapons haven't reached a level of qualitative improvement. They may be a bit stronger than the nuclear strikes I've faced before, but they couldn't possibly kill me back then, let alone now—or this Kryptonian monster!"
"But it is dead. Could it be that this thing wasn't as strong as we thought?" Kara hesitated, scrutinizing the monster's mangled body, which showed no signs of healing. She offered a tentative guess.
"Maybe, though I can't think of any other explanation." Clark examined the Kryptonian monster for a while, finding nothing unusual. He had no choice but to agree with Kara's speculation.
"If you're still worried, we can completely obliterate its body," Kara suggested, noticing Clark's lingering unease. "If Robert were here, he'd definitely make sure nothing was left. He says that all the time…"
"You're right! Robert's caution is justified. If I had been more careful before, we wouldn't have been caught in the mastermind's trap. That guy should never have gotten his hands on anything related to Krypton!" Clark nodded solemnly, and his terrifying heat vision blasted at the monster, starting the process of incinerating its body. Kara joined him in the effort.
However, what puzzled both Clark and Kara was that, even though the monster seemed dead, its body remained incredibly tough. Their heat vision wasn't nearly as effective as the nuclear strike or energy beams that had damaged it earlier.
This strange resistance raised another doubt, but without any clues, the two could only continue obliterating the Kryptonian monster's body.
"Phew! Finally done. If it weren't for the sun recharging us from space, I'd be completely drained," Kara exhaled wearily after some time, complaining about the prolonged effort.
Without the sun acting as a backup battery, Kara might not have been able to maintain full-power heat vision for so long, even though her strength had improved significantly.
"It should be over now," Clark nodded, scanning the area. Finding nothing amiss, he sighed in relief. "It looks like half the crisis is resolved. Now we just need to track down the mastermind and bring back Robert and Lana."
"They were probably transported by the power of the Space Stone. It's being studied by Jor-El now, but if he can't find them, we may need to look for other solutions," Kara said, a trace of worry in her eyes. She had faith in Robert's abilities, but even she didn't think he was invincible in the vast universe.
The universe was vast and full of unknown dangers. Even on a small planet like Earth, there were plenty of powerful beings. Who could say what else might be lurking out there?
"I'll figure something out. I'll bring them back," Clark said with determination, flying back toward Earth, with Kara following closely. The quiet of space returned, and it seemed like everything had come to an end.
But had it really?
Not long after Clark and Kara left, a tiny, unremarkable fragment of rock drifting through space suddenly stirred under the sunlight. Before long, a mass of flesh began writhing on the rock, absorbing every bit of energy around it—whether it was residual nuclear radiation, lingering heat vision energy, or solar energy. All of it was devoured.
Buzz! As the absorbed energy reached a critical point, it triggered a surge of latent power within the flesh. A terrifying energy rippled through it, causing it to expand rapidly until it transformed into the towering form of the Kryptonian monster, now over ten meters tall!
Roar! The monster let out an excited roar, though no sound carried through the vacuum of space, leaving it somewhat frustrated. Then, it set its sights on Earth.
Crackle! Electricity surged through its body as it began moving, disappearing from its spot in an instant.
"Superman and Supergirl are back? Is it over?" On Earth, Tony Stark breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Clark and Kara return unharmed. He flew toward them, eager to learn the outcome of the battle.
"That thing couldn't fly, so after freezing it in space, we nuked it. Then, Superman and I completely destroyed its body," Kara explained to Tony, sensing his curiosity.
"That's good. Now we just need to handle the aftermath and track down the mastermind," Tony nodded, glancing in the direction of the Batwing. "I have a feeling Bruce knows more than he's letting on. He managed to get his hands on kryptonite, after all, which is pretty suspicious…"
"I spoke to him earlier. He said he still doesn't know who gave him the kryptonite and that he's also investigating the truth behind the explosion," Clark responded, sharing the details of their earlier conversation.
"Heh, Bruce isn't one to give up information easily. If he's been Batman this long without being exposed, it's because he knows how to keep secrets," Tony chuckled, watching the Batwing. "Don't worry. I'll handle him. I know what makes him tick."
Tony was confident that he wouldn't even need to directly confront Batman. By simply disrupting Gotham's economy, Batman would be forced to act.
Whether the Wayne Group suffered or not, even minor disruptions to the lives of Gotham's citizens would be intolerable to Batman. Though Batman's wealth had once rivaled Tony's, that was before Tony became Iron Man. Since then, Tony's personal fortune had skyrocketed, especially after the formation of the Avengers. Even with recent setbacks from the Dark Event, which caused both the Avengers' reputation and Stark Industries' stock price to take a hit, Tony remained far wealthier than Bruce.
And more importantly, in this economic battle, Tony had the advantage of being on the offensive, while Bruce was stuck playing defense—a position that naturally put him at a disadvantage.
Tony was so confident in his ability to pressure Batman that he doubted he'd even need to execute his plan fully. Batman would fold before it came to that.
But just as Tony was preparing to take charge of dealing with Batman, Clark and Kara's eyes suddenly widened. Even from a distance, Diana also turned her gaze toward the sky, her expression full of uncertainty.
"That monster's not dead! No, it's stronger than before! Did it revive?!" Kara shouted in alarm.
"No time to worry about that! Tony, get the Avengers out of here. We'll try to hold it off…" Clark took a deep breath and quickly warned Tony.
"I'll leave the suits and those with ranged abilities to help!" Tony's expression darkened as he stared into the sky, issuing commands in a low voice.
"Just the suits will do. Have them engage the monster and see if they can weaken it. As for the Avengers, it's too dangerous. If Earth survives Saiyan attacks only to fall to this monster, that'd be tragic…" Clark shook his head gravely.
"JARVIS! Deploy all suits! Intercept the monster! Fire all available star-class weapons!" Tony immediately commanded.
With Tony's orders, a streak of light tore through the sky as an army of suits surged toward the Kryptonian monster. Simultaneously, spacecraft and fighter jets opened fire on the creature's location.
Even America's military had developed more advanced space-based energy weapons, so it was no surprise that Tony Stark had done the same. Though Tony's primary focus wasn't on weapon development, it didn't hinder his ability to upgrade his arsenal. After all, Tony was a bona fide genius!
In truth, Tony Stark was reliable, especially when it came to catering to the fears of those with a "firepower deficiency." As the suits and crossfire rained down on the Kryptonian monster, the massive creature was momentarily stalled in its descent to Earth.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted in the sky, and even Batman, watching from the Batwing, had to admit that Tony Stark and the Avengers were more than capable of waging a full-scale interstellar war. Even civilizations that had just entered the space age might struggle to match the firepower of Tony's arsenal.
And that didn't even take into account the other superhuman members of the Avengers.
However, the cost of such a war was immense for Tony. The suits, in particular, were being destroyed at an alarming rate. With fewer suits left to intercept the monster, the spacecraft and jets had no choice but to engage more directly.
Although Clark had promised to do his best to stop the monster, Tony wasn't willing to let him take that risk. After all, Clark had already been injured numerous times during the battle. If Tony could reduce the danger Clark faced with his equipment, it was worth it.
Moreover, Tony hadn't had a chance to showcase his value on the battlefield for a long time. When the Kryptonian monster was on the ground, he couldn't unleash his full firepower without risking Earth's safety. But now, with the monster in space, it was like a sitting target, and Tony was determined to flex his muscles—even if it came at great expense
.
Thud! After what seemed like ages, when the suits were depleted, the jets destroyed, and most of the spaceships ran out of energy, the charred and battered body of the Kryptonian monster crashed into the ground, creating a massive crater.
"Is it dead?" Tony stared at the footage JARVIS had sent him, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he asked the question eagerly.
Tony couldn't help but feel thrilled. This was, after all, the monster that even Clark and Kara couldn't kill, yet it had fallen at his hands. He had accomplished something major!
"It's not that simple!" Clark's grim voice cut through Tony's excitement. "Back in space, the monster looked just as dead, and we obliterated its body, yet it still appeared above Earth. I'm starting to doubt it's really dead…"
"Oh, right!" Tony's expression turned serious again, recalling what Kara had mentioned earlier.
Crack! Just then, the sound of something breaking echoed from the crater where the Kryptonian monster lay…
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