The next day.
Morin contacted Clark.
"So," Morin asked, "what's your decision?"
He had many ways to deal with General Zod and the other Kryptonians. Still, he believed this choice should belong to Clark.
"I want to negotiate," Clark said seriously.
"I want to lay out the pros and cons of their choices. How I respond depends on what they decide."
"Very good." Morin nodded, then looked at Bruce.
"You're going too?"
"You can go. Why can't I?" Bruce frowned.
"Parallax is moving fast and is about to collide with the Green Lantern Corps. Hal's already on his way," Morin said calmly.
"I think it's better if you handle that side while I deal with Zod."
Bruce raised an eyebrow, about to argue.
Then it clicked.
If Zod and his people were the same race as Clark, even with some power difference, it wouldn't be small.
In other words-
A group of Supermen.
Good grief.
Logic or instinct, it didn't matter. Bruce knew that even with his current strength, this wasn't a problem he could solve.
If you can't win, you can't win.
Taking the exit Morin offered, Bruce nodded.
"You're right. With the Lantern Corps and Hal involved, they do need my help."
Talking about people who weren't present was one thing.
For Hal, still stuck in his "silly puppy" phase, this wasn't gossip. It was a fact.
"If anything goes wrong, contact me," Morin said.
"I'll come."
Based on Clark's strength in the original timeline, he could already fight Zod's group head-on. The current Clark, trained by Morin, was far stronger-especially in control and combat sense.
Even without Clark, Morin alone could deal with this "cheat-code" race with ease. Electromagnetism. Telepathy. Physical strength. Magic.
Any one of them was enough to crush Kryptonians who hadn't yet absorbed yellow sun radiation.
Inside the ship trapped by Morin's magnetic field, the Kryptonians were technically exposed to sunlight. But the ship was filled with a special gas that absorbed radiation. Zod and the others felt nothing.
More importantly, Morin remembered something.
That ship carried the most lethal weapon against Kryptonians.
Kryptonite.
If things went sideways and these "cheaters" started powering up, Morin wouldn't hesitate to play dirty.
Contingency planning was mandatory.
"In that case, I'm off," Bruce said solemnly. Yellow light flared as he rose into the sky.
Since gaining his "new flame," the Yellow Power Ring, Bruce used magic far less often.
It was simple.
One option exhausted his body.
The other took a flick of the wrist-and looked better doing it.
Everyone knows which one to choose.
Tsk. What a player, Morin thought.
He turned to Diana, fully armed.
"Ready?"
"I thought you'd warn me it's dangerous," Diana said, drawing the Godkiller sword and giving it a flourish.
"Do I know you that poorly?" Morin shook his head.
"Your instincts are begging for a fight. Besides, with me here, what danger is there?"
"I like that confidence." Diana smiled.
"Let's go."
"Right." Clark nodded quickly and shot into the upper atmosphere.
Being the third wheel was unbearable.
Facing hostile Kryptonians sounded better.
Morin wrapped an arm around Diana's waist and carried her along. She could fly, but not as effortlessly-or as fast.
Maybe she'd put too many points into physique and looks.
As for Earth's other factions-
This time, Morin hadn't let those plotlines unfold.
Technology ahead of its era only caused imbalance.
And imbalance meant catastrophe.
This wasn't a game. You couldn't reload if things went wrong.
Of course, there was some selfishness involved.
Those who understood, understood.
The three arrived directly before the cloaked Kryptonian warship.
The hatch opened.
Just before their arrival, the overwhelming magnetic field weakened. Faora sensed it immediately and reported to Zod, who ordered the doors opened.
Regardless of intent, the sheer scale of that electromagnetic barrier forced a peaceful first response.
Faora had calculated it clearly.
If the enemy wished, they could crush the ship outright.
Even if the ship were destroyed, Zod's warriors wouldn't die from the fall. But they'd be stranded on Earth forever.
And worse-
The ship carried the world engine and the cloning chambers.
The last hope of Krypton.
If those were destroyed, Zod would be the greatest sinner in history.
This wasn't about pride.
It was about an entire civilization.
So Zod restrained his temper.
The hatch sealed behind them. After repressurization, they entered the corridor.
Immediately, Clark felt wrong.
The gravity was extreme-far beyond Earth's.
For Morin, it was meaningless.
For Clark, the problem wasn't gravity.
It was his body.
The moment he inhaled, he felt energy draining from his cells.
Rapidly.
Violently.
"It's... poison!" Clark shouted as his legs gave out.
"The air-!"
"Relax." Morin waved a hand, isolating the air around Clark with a magnetic field.
"They didn't poison you."
"With your body, no poison could."
He paused.
"But if you insist on calling it poison... you're not wrong."
"This is Kryptonian air. It contains substances that weaken your cells."
"Am I... useless?" Clark asked, panic creeping in.
He'd never felt this weak.
Never.
"Of course not." Morin made a pulling motion.
Countless microscopic particles were ripped from Clark's body, gathering at Morin's fingertip.
They condensed into a tiny green dot.
"There. You're fine. You'll learn to block it yourself later. For now, let's finish this."
Clark felt strength returning immediately.
Not all of it.
Some energy was gone for good.
The green dot was Kryptonite.
And Kryptonite never gave back what it took.
That was the truth.
Kryptonite wasn't just a mineral.
It was everywhere on Krypton. Even in the air.
Gravity mattered, but not enough to explain everything.
The real suppressor had always been Kryptonite.
Perhaps the universe had deemed Kryptonians too perfect.
So it created a leash.
A race that should have conquered the stars was instead trapped, waiting to die.
Fate had a cruel sense of humor.
With Clark back in fighting condition, they moved forward.
At the corridor's end, Zod, Faora, and the others waited.
"General," Faora said quietly,
"That man is generating an unprecedented magnetic reaction."
"Hm." Zod nodded.
His attention was on Clark.
The suit.
The crest.
The resemblance-
"He really is..." Zod thought.
Nothing like Jor-El.
Not even close.
How did that scientist father someone built like this?
The chin. The brow.
Completely different.
If not for Clark's earlier reaction and the crest, Zod might have doubted it entirely.
"This is my son."
A projection appeared.
Jor-El.
"Heh." Zod glanced at him.
"Even in death, you planned ahead."
Zod wasn't surprised.
Jor-El was always like this.
Scientist and general. Pen and sword.
They'd worked as one-until Krypton's future tore them apart.
And Zod had killed him.
Friends who understood each other perfectly.
A tragedy.
Honestly, if one of them had been a woman, Krypton might still exist.
As for the hacking-
Jor-El designed the ship.
Of course there were backdoors.
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