The chairman of the Owl Council stroked his chin, satisfaction curling at his lips as he watched Mr. Parody's magic send Adrian crashing through the air.
"So our so-called David Copperfield trick wasn't all bluff," he muttered.
He turned his pale eyes to Mr. Parody, who stood amid crackling blue lightning. Mr. Parody had been secured for him via connections in the magical world. His ace in the hole was ties to the legendary magician John Zatara, once of the Zatara Magic Theater in Crime Alley. Rumor held Zatara was a master of "Parody Magic," the strongest mage of his generation. His daughter, too, had awakened magic at age three—and the Zataras were famous throughout mystical circles.
Though the chairman had initially doubted the existence of real sorcery, witnessing that bolt of lightning erased all skepticism.
"Even with Superman's strength and speed, against unknown magic he is helpless," the chairman concluded, his voice cold.
He glanced at Adrian, who had been struck by the lightning. Thin smoke curled from his costume. The chairman snorted in contempt.
But what came next exceeded even his sharp expectations.
As Homelander hit the ground, a figure shattered through the maze's wall and charged, lightning in his roar, at Mr. Parody.
Bang.
Mr. Parody, hovering mid-air in his magical barrier, was slammed downward into the stone and earth. Dirt and debris erupted everywhere.
It was Clark who had struck him.
Clark had not returned to Smallville. He was still tracking Adrian—keeping his distance, watching, waiting. But when he entered the maze, the first thing he saw was Adrian struck down by lightning. Rational thought vanished. Anger consumed him.
Clark may have had conflicts with Adrian—Adrian's sarcasm, Adrian's scheming, Adrian sometimes acting like a parental figure—but Adrian was still his brother. When Clark broke gym equipment in middle school, it was Adrian who secretly paid for repairs. When Clark was attacked by the Owlman or endangered at Lex's mansion, Adrian had always been there in the final moment. Through their quarrels and tension, Adrian was someone Clark could rely on.
Now seeing him hit, Clark's fury ignited.
"How dare you lay hands on my brother," he roared, red flushing his cheeks. He unleashed everything within him.
Mr. Parody hastily erected a shimmering barrier spell, chanting to heal his wounds even as he prepared to defend. The barrier glowed, fragile with tension. Clark's fist crashed into it like a hammer, shattering the magic lattice in an explosion of light.
Mr. Parody was thrown back, chest gasping for air, pain shredding through him. He staggered, steadying himself, gripping his wand. He had never seen someone smash a barrier with sheer physical force.
He raised his wand and called forth a monstrous wave of water from the maze's depths. The flood crashed toward Clark.
Clark planted his feet firmly and bore the impact. The water slammed into him, then froze mid-air—crystallizing into an ice coffin that sealed around his body.
Mr. Parody exhaled triumphantly. But with a fissure and burst, the ice shattered. Clark roared and lunged forward.
Mr. Parody hastily raised a stronger magical wall, translucent but shimmering with elemental energy. Clark's fist slammed against it repeatedly—each blow harder than the last—until the barrier cracked and shattered.
Realizing he was in dire straits, Mr. Parody discarded all restraint. He drew deeply from forbidden magic, muttering incantations in an ancient tongue. A tempest of wind and energy gathered around him. Blue lightning crackled; stone debris whirled. His eyes glowed white; his hair floated upward. An uncanny dark aura pulsed around him. Space itself seemed to tremble.
Then light erupted in a blinding beam, blasting Clark away. Before Clark could hit the ground, a giant stone hand shot from the earth and seized him. Paralyzed, Clark writhed in agony as the stone fingers squeezed him.
At that moment, Adrian rose. Power unlocked from his Homelander template, he flew forward and struck the stone hand with a fist, shattering it. Despite his own pain, he charged toward Mr. Parody.
Since they were opposed in magic, Adrian and Clark relied on raw strength and close combat to counter the mage's spells.
As Adrian neared, Mr. Parody swung a giant spectral sword toward him. Adrian barely dodged. Parody's wand morphed into a binding rope that whipped around Adrian, while the wand's tip aimed at his temple, trying to pierce into his mind.
Adrian hung mid-air, caught in Parody's magical snare. But his eyes blazed. He would not yield—not while his brother's life hung in the balance.
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