Chapter 219: New Fear Unlocked Part 1

Flying at immense speed, it didn't take Superman long to arrive in front of S.T.A.R. Labs. Once there, he paused for a moment to look over the scene outside and check for foes, but he saw none and quickly proceeded inside.

Once in, he was greeted by a completely different atmosphere—one of wreckage and death as far as the eye could see.

But he paid little mind to the damage and rushed over to the scene that had alerted him there in the first place. Just a few floors below the main lobby, he found the tarnished holding center where the remains of his ally Green Lantern could be seen, along with a dying Kid Flash.

Seeing the state the latter was in, Superman rushed over, feeling it wasn't too late to save him. But before he could arrive, he felt a strong tug on his cape before he was violently pulled back and slammed into the ground.

*Boom!*

The entire building shook from the immense force used to slam him down, creating tremors that spread out to surrounding buildings. Superman felt his body sting and was in shock over what was happening.

The answer soon revealed itself when he felt a strong force pushing down on his chest as he lay in the rubble.

Suddenly, the figure of Arias's suit materialized above him, providing an answer as to who was responsible for the disaster.

Superman was quick to try and use his x-ray vision to see who was behind the helm, but alas, he couldn't. Seeing the mix of confusion and anger on Superman's face, Arias cracked a small smile under his helm as his modified voice rang out.

"Always so eager to save others... it must run in the family."

Hearing these cryptic words from his attacker, Superman frowned visibly and tried to stand, his mind still focused on saving Kid Flash. But he found his efforts to be pointless, as he failed to even raise himself by an inch off the rubble… yet Arias used only one foot to keep him down.

"Who are you!?" Superman questioned angrily as his eyes lit up, ready to fire laser beams.

*Boom!*

The moment Arias saw this, he leaned in and threw a vicious punch onto Superman's face while shaking his head. "You worry about the wrong things, though you should consider yourself lucky—for the moment, you serve a purpose to me by being alive."

Superman's ears began to ring, and his body creaked under the immense pressure being applied to it. Yet his mind continued to be confused as he wondered who this attacker was and why he was doing all this.

"Answer me!!" Superman grew even angrier and began to struggle more, slightly raising himself out of the rubble.

The moment he did so, however, another violent fist hit him in the face and sent him back down, causing even more tremors to spread.

"Answer you? By what obligation? What will you do if I refuse? What can you do? That's right—nothing. You can do nothing, and you are nothing. So just grit your teeth and play the role I've set for you."

Arias's modified voice revealed a harsh truth that Superman was already struggling to cope with. That he wasn't as strong as he thought he was.

As his mind flashed back to his dreaded encounter with Arias, the fists began to rain down on him. One after another and another.

To the heroes fighting elsewhere, they began to feel a systematic wave of tremors spreading from S.T.A.R. Labs. Even the villains grew worried when they felt them, and since they began only after Superman flew over there, many assumed it was his doing as he pummeled escaped villains.

This urged many who hadn't already retreated—Silver Banshee included—as she simply teleported herself away.

Sadly, the truth of it was far more comical.

Superman, who had come to save the day, now lay in the rubble as well, his suit torn, his face swollen in many parts, and his limbs weak. A trickle of blood ran down his mouth as he struggled to see due to his now blurry vision.

At this time, Arias stepped away and took out a tiny circular ball from a utility compartment on his suit. He then casually tossed it into the air, and it began to hover on its own, with a lens now visible at its front.

"Try to smile for the camera, Superman. It's time the people know that the hero they so love and depend on... can't even protect his own people. It's time they know fear."

Having said that, Arias's figure vanished from the scene in a manner too quick to be recognized by the naked eye.

Superman, struggling to regain his strength, looked up at the tiny device recording him and felt helpless. Behind him, Kid Flash was reaching his final moments of life as his pained groans slowly and pitifully came to a stop.

***

At the same time, a panicked Kara, who had been let go, zipped through the skies of Metropolis before finding herself at what looked to be the dormitories of a local school. She flew in through her window and reached a darkened, empty bedroom, illuminated only by the moonlight peering through the window.

Her heart was racing, and her hands were trembling as she immediately sat on the edge of her bed and turned on the television, with many of the stations reporting on the ongoing disaster.

She couldn't help but feel immense guilt for failing to save Kid Flash, who she felt only ended up that way because he came to save her, thinking she was a civilian.

The station she had settled on to watch was a live broadcast, with a news team sending live footage from the ongoing disaster via a helicopter.

[And as you can see, members of the Justice League are currently on the scene trying to stop the escaped criminals that were in holding at S.T.A.R. Labs and—hmm. Oh, we've just received confirmation that Metropolis's very own Superman was seen rushing to the source of this disaster. Hopefully, this means this terrible situation will soon be brought to an—*kshhhhk.*]

All of a sudden, the broadcast turned static for about a second before a new live video was presented to the many viewers watching from home and on social media.

It showed an uncensored high-definition live feed of the gory remains of Green Lantern, an unmasked Kid Flash who died with pain etched across his face, before finally panning over to a bloodied but alive Superman, who lay defeated in the rubble… unable to save the two.

As the video ran, Kara looked on with visible horror. Before she could even question anything, a phone resting on a study desk not too far from her buzzed to life. As she slowly reached for it and looked at the screen, she found only one message from an unknown source.

[Just in case you had any wild ideas regarding your situation now, remember that even the cousin you look up to can die by my whims. You'll be hearing from me very soon, Kara.]