The arrival of the Suicide Squad eased the situation a bit—green kryptonite really worked wonders.
Ada and Elsa both let out sighs of relief. Fighting three-on-one had pushed them to their limits, nearly burning their Microcosmos dry. Now, Elsa raised her hands high. "Goddess of Dawn's Forgiveness!"
Absolute zero instantly made November even colder. The already miserable survivors saw snowflakes and frost falling to the ground. They shivered violently—these golden-armored warriors were amazing.
Three Kryptonians were frozen solid, unable to move, slipping into unconsciousness.
"No!" General Zod roared when he saw the tide turning, gathering all his strength and unleashing his heat vision again. But this time, it wasn't ordinary heat vision—it fanned out like a wide cone, sweeping everything in its path.
Everything the heat beams touched instantly vaporized. This was heat vision at full power. Metallo hadn't expected Zod to have so much energy left; he was instantly engulfed and melted into a pool of molten metal.
With the kryptonite gone, the Kryptonians' powers returned. Zod turned to Parasite, unleashing his laser-like iris blades that sliced straight through Parasite's brain, exploding him like a popped balloon.
As for Bizarro, Zod couldn't tolerate anyone bullying his own people. "Die!" he snarled, lunging at Bizarro, grabbing his cape, slamming him to the ground, and pummeling him mercilessly. His heat vision burned through Bizarro's limbs, then he tossed him aside like trash before glaring at Elsa.
Zod wasn't like Superman; he was ruthless and efficient. These criminals should have realized they'd only survived until now thanks to Superman's mercy.
Amanda was reminded of Superman's restraint. Superman was polite—he'd fight them for hundreds of rounds without finishing them off. But real Kryptonians? They were terrifying. These three prisoners had been defeated almost instantly. Cold sweat poured down Amanda's back. She couldn't tell whether she should feel lucky or miserable—lucky Superman wasn't evil, miserable at humanity's helplessness.
On the battlefield, Elsa saw Zod charging at her and quickly raised an ice wall. Zod crashed into it, slicing through it like it was tofu.
Elsa was about to be struck. Ada was pinned down and couldn't help, her heart seizing up.
"Die!" Zod roared, ready to split Elsa in two.
Boom—
The ice wall shattered from the shockwave, shards flying everywhere. But there was no blood. Elsa hadn't been hit.
Zod's attack missed. He looked around—both golden-armored women had vanished. What was going on? The recovered Kryptonians gathered beside Zod, sensing something was off.
Among the ruins, the people felt it too. Jimmy, phone in one hand, finger on the shutter button, was so tense he could barely move. What would happen next? He swallowed hard. Everything today was beyond comprehension: Superman defeated, new heroes fighting Kryptonians, criminals entering the fray and losing miserably—and now everyone had vanished, leaving only the Kryptonians. What was about to unfold?
According to Lois's intel, this battle wasn't just Superman fighting alone; he was part of a team. Jimmy silently shouted in his heart that it had to be the Justice League's plan—just like the last time with the Avengers. Superman was stalling for time while the other members worked behind the scenes. It had to be like that.
But this time, Jimmy was wrong. The main Justice League members were still drifting in space. After Superman went down, the only one busy on Earth was Kaitou Kid.
Kid had to reveal himself in broad daylight this time, which was a hassle. After changing clothes and arranging everything, he'd arrived a bit late—but thankfully, still on time.
After all, moonlight is just sunlight reflected by the moon, so Kid remained as dashing as ever even under the sun.
A black speck appeared in the sky—it was him. Zod's eyes burned with hatred at the sight of Kaitou Kid. He wanted to see what this man would do.
"Kaitou Kid?" Jimmy muttered. Lois had said Kid was a Justice League member too. His heart pounded—he was sure now, everything must be ready, and Kid would deliver his usual spectacular show.
His pulse raced. What was about to happen?
Kid landed lightly on a piece of rebar sticking up from the rubble, about ten meters high, still attached to a chunk of concrete. He looked like a dragonfly perching on a lotus leaf—graceful and weightless.
He had lost the mysterious aura of moonlight, but gained something new instead: an air of light and hope.
Kid had arrived. He was about to go all out and put on a show.
Everyone's eyes turned to Kid, including leaders of countries around the world. They had thought he was just a clown who'd slipped into the Justice League, but now they had to admit—he at least had courage.
The Kryptonians slowly descended, hovering around Kid and completely surrounding him. General Zod floated right in front of him, face to face.
"First, I must admit your courage," Zod said coldly. "You defeated Faora before. Then you dared infiltrate our ship with those fools in strange clothes. And now you appear here. But in my eyes, your bravery is foolishness. All you've done is throw your life away, wasting your courage for nothing."
Kid smiled, completely unafraid. "From my point of view, what you're doing is what's truly suicidal." Didn't these Kryptonians know this universe revolved around Earth? And Earth's heroes were always the main characters.
"Are you primitive, savage Earthlings hiding some trick?" Zod sneered. "Weren't those freakish prisoners your final trump card?"
"Of course not. The Justice League is humanity's ultimate trump card," Kid replied. "Now, are you ready to witness my performance?"
Zod's eyes turned icy. "Once your pathetic little show is over, you'll die right here. As a token of respect to a soon-to-be-extinct species, I'll let you begin."
He glanced around at the few remaining hopeful humans, shaking his head. Let them watch humanity's last moments. A ridiculous end would make for a good story to tell future generations.
Kid pulled his hand from his pocket, slowly raising it until it pointed directly at the sun. His voice rang out loud and clear: "I will steal the light of the sun."
Jimmy and the others thought they were hallucinating. Even though Kid was far away, they felt like they could hear him perfectly. Did he really just say he would steal the sun's light?
But what did that even mean?
Zod couldn't help following Kid's outstretched finger to the sun. His eyes widened. The edge of the sun looked like it was being swallowed by something and began to glow red.
Only Luthor immediately understood what Kid was doing. The Kryptonian sun was a red supergiant, giving off red light that suppressed Kryptonian powers—unlike Earth's yellow sun, which empowered them. Red sunlight weakened Kryptonians. Why hadn't he thought of this himself? This thief was brilliant—he was stealing the yellow sunlight that gave the Kryptonians their power, effectively stealing the sun's light.
Everyone watched the sun change. Not just here, but around the world, people saw the same thing: like a solar eclipse, but instead of darkness, a red sun appeared. Kid had really turned the sun red.
"Oh my God!" Jimmy gasped, furiously snapping photos to capture this shocking scene. Kid stood with his hand raised to the sky, the Kryptonians around him all staring upward as if he commanded them. In the photo, the sun was half red and half yellow, making it look like Kid was controlling the turning of the heavens and the fate of Earth itself.