The Justice League gathered for the first time, picking up Batman and holding a meeting in the cabin of the Archimedes. With Superman and Batman both having perfect builds, and Wonder Woman so tall, the room felt a bit crowded.
With the way things looked, Kaitou Kid had to keep his hat on just so he wouldn't be completely overshadowed in the height department.
Other than Flash, who was excited to see Batman, everyone else was pretty calm. Superman and Batman, those two best friends, hadn't even looked each other in the eye yet.
Batman brought everyone bad news: the Terracotta Warriors were seriously tough. "Kaitou Kid, you made the right call," Batman said. Even outside Gotham City, his sense of justice hadn't faded. "But I have no idea how we can turn those villagers back."
"I heard from a survivor that first their souls were taken, and then they were transformed into Terracotta Warriors by some kind of shape-shifting magic," said Kaitou Kid. All three men frowned—none of them really understood magic.
Liu A'dou knew a bit, but he wasn't an expert. So he turned to Diana, who'd grown up with mythical figures among the Amazons. Diana mentioned she'd encountered the witch Circe in Washington—a woman who could turn people into pigs.
Witch Circe was from Queen Hippolyta's time and basically Diana's elder, but for some reason she always liked to give Diana trouble. She never did anything really bad, but she made Diana's life difficult just for fun.
So Diana did know a little about transformation magic. "If the villagers really were turned into stone people, the spellcaster has to have a way to reverse it. If I use my Lasso of Truth, he'll spill everything."
That was their only option, since none of them knew any magic.
"Our only target is Zhao Gao. Don't damage the other Terracotta Warriors," Superman said, raising the difficulty for everyone.
But the others agreed. If the villagers changed back missing an arm or a leg, that would be their fault. Liu A'dou agreed too.
"I'll go after Zhao Gao myself," Superman volunteered.
Liu A'dou thought, 'You've got almost no resistance to magic, can you really do it?' But then he remembered Superman's speed. He should be able to dodge most magical attacks, so it probably wasn't a big deal.
The plan was set. Superman would capture Zhao Gao, then Wonder Woman would interrogate him.
"Looks like there's nothing for me to do," Flash muttered, feeling a bit useless, but after glancing at Batman—who hadn't been given a task either—he kept quiet.
Liu A'dou said, "It's not like we're just standing around. We can watch the show. I've always admired Superman. I want to see what he can really do."
Flash nodded. That made sense. As one of the original superheroes, Superman was the hero of heroes.
Wonder Woman watched too, interested in seeing Superman's power up close.
Superman flew straight into the sky above the ruins, not hiding at all. "Zhao Gao, your ambitions should've ended two thousand years ago. Bring everyone back."
Superman spoke English. Zhao Gao had taken memories from souls, so even though he wasn't fluent, he could speak and understand.
"Didn't expect anyone to recognize me after two thousand years," Zhao Gao said, looking up. From the souls' memories, he knew who his visitor was. "Superman."
Superman slowly flew forward, passing over Terracotta Warriors and through their ready battle lines without a hint of fear.
From the memories he'd taken, Zhao Gao knew Superman was said to be the strongest being of this age, but he didn't believe it. After all, he thought he was the strongest. "Army, attack!"
Swish—
The Terracotta Warriors put down their work and turned into soldiers, letting loose a rain of arrows into the sky.
Superman didn't dodge or flinch. His whole body was wrapped in an energy field. Arrows sparked and broke against him, but Superman stayed calm.
'He's really putting on a show,' Liu A'dou thought. 'When will I ever have a body as strong as Superman's?'
"Clearly, your army from two thousand years ago isn't going to cut it," Superman said, showing off as he slowly landed right in front of Zhao Gao. "Two thousand years—you've got a lot to catch up on."
Dressed in a Terracotta Warrior outfit, Zhao Gao was actually a few centimeters taller than Superman. And sure enough, Superman was just as invulnerable as he'd remembered. But Zhao Gao had the strength of an immortal demon cultivator. "You haven't seen what I can do yet." As he spoke, Zhao Gao threw an uppercut.
The punch wasn't fast, but Superman didn't dodge.
Boom—
It was powerful. Superman was knocked flying and landed among the Terracotta Warriors.
"…"
Flash's jaw dropped. Superman just got beaten up? Even Wonder Woman was shocked, and so was Kaitou Kid. Only Batman stayed cold and silent.
Kaitou Kid suddenly said, "This must be Superman's way of being polite. Look at how respectful he is."
Would anyone get beat up by a villain just to be polite?
Obviously not.
But then Batman pulled out his binoculars and scanned the battlefield. He quickly figured it out. "It's Kryptonite."
No way. Kaitou Kid looked too, searching, and sure enough, behind Zhao Gao in the pile of artifacts, there was a stone glowing green. "So that's what Kryptonite looks like."
Now was not the time to be amazed. Superman was getting ganged up on. With Kryptonite there, he couldn't fight back at all—his face was already swollen.
"Flash, hurry and pull Superman back!" Kaitou Kid shouted. "I'll go steal the Kryptonite. Wonder Woman, Batman, you distract them!"
"No problem!" This time, Liu A'dou took command. Flash didn't hesitate at all. He darted through the Terracotta Warrior crowd, pushed them aside, and pulled Superman out of the melee.
"Kill! Kill them all!" Zhao Gao waved his hand, sending the army into battle.
Flash had zero desire to stick around and fight a bunch of stone guys. "All yours, guys!" he yelled as he left.
Batman and Wonder Woman were ready. The Lasso of Truth shot out, catching four or five Terracotta Warriors and swinging them like hammers, knocking down a row at a time.
Batman tossed bombs on the ground, blowing out deep pits to trip up the Warriors. Not hurting the Terracotta Warriors while also trying to stop them—yeah, that was tough.
Batman and Wonder Woman held out for a bit, then retreated.
This was Kaitou Kid's first time using his powers to steal something. With the Force, Liu A'dou could reach for the Kryptonite outside Zhao Gao's guard circle. It was easy—he just needed careful control.
It was like fishing, carefully and patiently pulling the stone toward him.
"No one can steal from me." Just as Liu A'dou was about to succeed, Zhao Gao suddenly appeared in front of him and snatched the beautifully carved Kryptonite back. "You again, thief."
Liu A'dou frowned. This Zhao Gao was powerful, no doubt about it. But he stayed calm and quickly reached out to grab the Kryptonite too.
Now both hands were holding the Kryptonite.
"Greedy little thief," Zhao Gao spat. He'd never met someone so reckless, still daring to grab for something right in front of him. In Zhao Gao's eyes, Liu A'dou was the very definition of greedy.
But Liu A'dou just grinned. "A thief's still better than a dead eunuch like you. At least I'm a real man."
That was Zhao Gao's fatal sore spot. Mentioning it was asking for death. "You're dead!" Zhao Gao roared, his stone hand turning to a claw as he reached for Liu A'dou's heart.
But Liu A'dou just smiled. If he wanted something, he always got it. "See ya!" With a Force push, he sent Zhao Gao flying and snatched the Kryptonite.
He got what he came for—now it was time to go!