The invasion brought only destruction and pain. The overwhelming power of the Kryptonians shattered the myth of the invincible American soldier. In the end, it was up to the superheroes to finish the fight.
Superman was fighting alone against many. His mighty body was covered in wounds, and now he was trapped by five beams of heat vision, scorched by temperatures rivaling the sun. His consciousness was slipping away.
Survivors stood on the rubble below, staring anxiously at the sky. The sun blazed overhead, but it couldn't warm the chill in their hearts. This was the world's most dangerous moment. Superman was falling, and the other heroes were powerless.
The strongest always draws the strongest enemies. General Zod and his soldiers were born warriors. When it came to fighting and tactics, Superman was still far too inexperienced.
Jimmy held up his camera, capturing the moment Superman was defeated. Superman had lost. Against enemies this strong, he had truly lost.
Even with the help of two golden-armored women, the odds were still grim.
Inside the United Nations building, the leaders were sweating bullets. The U.S. President looked helplessly at his staff. They were all out of ideas.
Just then, Amanda Waller stepped forward. "Mr. President, I have a plan."
The President's head was pounding. His army had proven useless against the Kryptonians. He'd nearly ordered a nuclear strike already—if he'd had more faith in nukes, they might have already been launched at Metropolis. This wasn't like the battle in New York, where they could fight evenly. This time, the Kryptonians were like gods come to earth. In ancient times, this would've been a war of deities, far beyond the reach of mere mortals.
Now the head of A.R.G.U.S. had an idea. The President was willing to listen.
Amanda spoke confidently. "When I was warden of Liskott Prison, we had many of Superman's old enemies locked up. Why not gather these mortal enemies into a suicide squad, like a kamikaze team, and send these desperados to fight the Kryptonian invaders?"
Everyone was stunned. Using criminals on the battlefield? It wasn't without precedent—throughout history, convicts had been conscripted as cannon fodder. But this was the twenty-first century, and America prided itself on human rights. Forcing prisoners into combat would be scandalous.
Yet the President thought again: desperate times call for desperate measures. Amanda's idea was actually good. She had guts, too—S.H.I.E.L.D. had the Avengers, so she'd create the Suicide Squad, directly challenging Nick Fury's agency. If the President approved, Amanda's authority would soon surpass Director Fury's.
And since the Suicide Squad would be made up entirely of convicts, their deaths wouldn't cause any problems.
The politicians exchanged uneasy looks. Finally, someone stood up to support Amanda. With death staring them in the face, they couldn't afford hesitation—any problems could be dealt with after the fighting.
Approved. The President was convinced.
Amanda accepted her orders and left. She already had her candidates in mind. Even if they couldn't defeat the Kryptonians, they could at least ease the pressure on Superman.
That day, the prisoners learned that all those times Superman had let them live, he'd been holding back. When Superman got serious, even he feared himself. Now, these convicts were about to face killers every bit as powerful as Superman—and learn firsthand how terrifying Kryptonians really were.
Metallo, Bizarro, and the grotesque mutant Parasite were brought under heavy guard to downtown Metropolis.
Metallo and Bizarro were both creations of Lex Luthor. Determined to defeat Superman, Luthor had invented many strange weapons. Metallo gained his power from a Kryptonian meteorite, which became his heart—without it, he'd die. Even after Superman captured him, he couldn't destroy the kryptonite inside Metallo. Bizarro, meanwhile, was a defective clone made from Superman's DNA. His intelligence was lacking, and he liked to speak in opposites. His abilities were also reversed: cold vision, heat breath, the ability to see through lead, and a vulnerability not to green kryptonite but to blue kryptonite.
Parasite, though he had limbs and intelligence, wasn't human. His mouth looked like an ancient insect's, ringed with long fangs. He could absorb energy and transform— the more energy he took in, the stronger he became. His favorite meal was draining Superman dry.
These three were some of Superman's fiercest foes, always leaving him battered and humiliated. But against Kryptonians, things were different.
"Remember, your target isn't Superman. It's the Kryptonians who have the same powers as him. Defeat them."
Metallo and Parasite both grinned. They'd each been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison, but were promised reduced sentences for taking this mission. They were confident. Around their necks, explosive collars had been fastened. If they tried to escape, they'd be blown up.
"Target Superman," Bizarro said—meaning the opposite, of course. The bomb collars were useless on Bizarro, but he was too dumb to know that, easy to manipulate.
Fully armed guards opened the prison van doors, letting the three loose. They saw their old nemesis Superman getting pummeled, and their feelings were complicated—only they were supposed to beat Superman.
"Go," ordered the guards. Heavy cuffs and shackles clattered to the ground, freeing the three convicts. Could they really pull it off? Amanda felt a surge of nervousness. If this worked, she could build her Suicide Squad for future missions. But next time, she swore she'd recruit more controllable criminals like the Joker or Harley Quinn instead of these monsters.
"So many Supermen. What a party," Metallo sneered.
"Energy…so much energy," Parasite groaned in delight. He could feel the power pouring into him just by standing near so many Kryptonians. The bigger he got, the stronger he became.
Bizarro just giggled, thinking it was all some game. "Bizarro not want to play game"—meaning, of course, that he did.
General Zod quickly noticed the three newcomers. He stopped attacking Superman first, and the other Kryptonians followed his lead. Superman dropped straight from a hundred meters up, hitting the ground with a loud crash and lying motionless. He was completely spent.
Zod eyed the new enemies and smirked. "Humans really are grotesque."
Being mocked by aliens infuriated Metallo. He'd always been a thug, the type to never pass up a chance to take advantage of others—he couldn't stand being looked down on.
After Luthor rebuilt him, Metallo had fought Superman many times. He didn't like Superman but grudgingly respected him. Superman was noble, everything he wasn't. But now, in front of alien invaders, he found himself forced to fight on the same side as Superman—a feeling that left him conflicted.
"Let me teach you a lesson!" Metallo shouted, opening a hidden compartment in his chest to reveal a chunk of green kryptonite. Immediately, General Zod felt a wave of weakness wash over him. All the Kryptonians staggered to the ground.
"Hahaha! Pathetic!" Metallo roared with laughter.
As the Kryptonians crashed down, Parasite pounced, latching onto one and sucking his energy dry. Bizarro charged in too. "Don't play!" he yelled—meaning he wanted to play.
"Ahhh!"
The Kryptonian caught in Parasite's grip dropped to his knees, completely drained of strength. Meanwhile, Bizarro's punch sent another Kryptonian flying, clearly gaining the upper hand.
Zod was shocked. He never imagined Earth had things like this—creatures seemingly made to counter Kryptonians. And he had Lex Luthor to thank for it. Without Luthor's obsessive research on how to defeat Superman, these three would never have existed.