Black Zero Event

Clark looked down at the big blue world floating on space; his Kryptonian eyes pierced the clouds surrounding it, until he could get a clear look of the World Engine on the Indian Ocean, standing over it with 3 massive metal claws. The sky over it was filled with black clouds, the smoke being generated from the terraforming machine beginning to take over Earth's atmosphere. A ring of ocean water surrounded the machine, the gravitational field keeping it in air, and red thunderbolts slashed the black sky, while the blue beam kept hammering the ground.

It looked like a storm from Hell itself.

Without hesitating, Clark began his descent, entering atmosphere with speed, flying directly against the World Engine; it was a mistake. The black clouds forming over it were composed of Krypton's atmosphere. The instant his lungs filled themselves with that, he felt his energy being drained, as a powerful coughing fit took him; he couldn't keep himself flying and began to fall down fast.

Luckily, there still was Earth's air around. The minute he got out from the black clouds, Earth's atmosphere cleaned his body from Krypton's air and he felt his body recover its energy; he stopped in air and looked at the World Engine, before flying closer.

As his father warned, gravity was going haywire around it; he could feel the force pushing him down and then up, making it hard to fly with precision, and he doubted any jet would stay in air for long in these conditions. And, as his father had also warned, the moment the World Engine identified him as a threat, its defenses activated. Opening a huge container on its main body, the World Engine revealed a massive storage of liquid geo; which shaped itself into a strange metal tentacle, reaching fast in his direction.

Flying to the side, Clark evaded the liquid geo tentacle, seeing its tip morph into some kind of claw; and at the same moment, 3 other identical tentacles formed from the World Engine, flying against him, trying to grab his body. Clark began to fly fast, dodging the metal claws, going up and down, maneuvering faster than he ever had, trying to think fast in a way to trick the 3 tentacles and keep himself in the air with the gravitational pull doing its best to knock him down.

That was when dozens other tentacles took shape from the World Engine and attacked him; that was not going to be easy.

"Jarvis, can you get a visual on him?" asked Natasha, eyes on the monitors.

"One moment, please," answered Stark's A.I; the monitors in the command center of the Helicarrier began to transmit the images from Jarvis's satellites; and everybody could only stare at what was happening on the screens.

When Clark took off, flying so fast that SHIELD's satellites lost him in a matter of seconds, they all returned inside to finish preparing. The Helicarrier was almost in New York, Clark's ship was already loaded on the Avenger's Quinjet and the jets were prepared to attack just as soon the World Engine was down.

But, by the look of things, that last part wasn't going so well.

It was difficult to see because of the black clouds interfering with the satellite's vision, but the little they could see was unbelievable. Natasha had thought Clark was exaggerating when he said he was the only one who could deal with the World Engine; she thought, maybe, it was only a matter of being able to get there in time.

She was wrong.

Not only the gravitational field around the World Engine would make it impossible for any weapon they use to hit, there was no way to get close to it. If that wasn't bad enough, there were the metal tentacles the thing just sprouted.

"Holy Hell, is that liquid geo?" asked Stark, eyes glued to the screens. "I don't remember him saying it could do that!"

"He did say it could take any form, didn't he?" said Steve, looking worried.

Every eye in the room was glued to the monitors, from Fury and the Avengers, to every single agent there. The tension was enormous. If Clark failed… Well, they didn't exactly have a "Plan B". The Council would probably unleash a nuclear attack against both targets, which would devastate the world if it hit; which it wouldn't, because besides the gravitational field, the ship and the World Engine were equipped to deal with things like that. Clark had warned them.

No, right now, their only hope was Clark.

"We are approaching New York," announced Maria.

Jessica saw the window beginning to crack; alongside the wall.

"Okay, Trish, time to go," she said, nudging her sister to make her stop looking at the ship from the window. "The 'pancake area' is spreading and it's getting here. We need to get away."

Each time the ship hit the ground with that huge blue laser, Jessica could feel the building trembling; the sound was horrible, with cars, buildings and people being smashed against the ground. Everywhere they looked, there were people running away, screaming, completely desperate to get away from yet another alien attack.

She looked back at her sister; Trish was still frozen by the window.

"Trish!" she yelled, making her and several other people around jump. "Now!"

Trish finally turned to her, a scared expression on her face, and nodded. Without waiting for Jessica, swallowing her fear for the time being, she clapped her hands getting everyone's attention.

"Alright, people, we are leaving!" she screamed. "Leave everything behind and try to keep yourselves calm! Do you see the policemen down there? Follow their instructions. Go, go!"

The people around the radio station seemed to wake up and began to do what Trish asked, leaving the room fast. Jessica picked her sister's hand and pulled her to the exit, following them out.

Even though Jessica knew what to expect when she got out, since they were watching those very same streets from inside the studio, actually being there was like being in a completely different world. There were people running in the middle of the streets, through the abandoned cars, always looking behind to look at the menacing ship floating in the sky; buildings, not far from where they were, were beginning to crack, some already loosing huge chunks, the screaming was nonstop.

It was then, a few seconds after they left, while they were still looking around shocked, that one of the buildings across the street finally gave out. The sound it made was horrible, as if a thousand bones broke at the same time, and it began to topple to the side; right where they were.

"Shit!" exclaimed Jessica, taking her sister's hand and pulling her.

Trish was frozen on the spot, but that didn't stop Jessica from dragging her along, running to get away from under the falling building. The sun was blocked for a moment, the huge shadow growing by the second, as the whole thing came in their direction, pieces of the building smashing the ground and the cars on its way.

"Oh my god!" yelled Trish, as Jessica pulled her, everybody on the street running around them, screaming, some falling and staying behind.

Realizing there was no way to outran the building, Jessica stopped for a second, grabbed Trish and started to run sideways, hoping to be able to evade the falling building's width rather than its height; she didn't even realized she was also screaming, when she picked up Trish and jumped.

The building fell right at the moment Jessica landed on the ground, Trish with her, swallowing the entire street; a cloud of fallen debris covered the air. They were both breathing fast, both covered in dust and both bleeding from falling on the ground; but they were alive.

"Trish, are you okay?" Jessica asked, getting up and looking at her sister. "Trish!"

Her sister snapped back to reality and nodded fast.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! But those people…"

"Those people are dead, Trish, there is nothing we can do now," Jessica interrupted, not nearly as cool with the idea as she sounded; but they couldn't stop now. "We have to leave, otherwise we're dying too."

Trish nodded again and Jessica pulled her up. They began to run on the street, trying to gain distance from the blast area before another building fell down; which it wouldn't take long, by the way things were going.

"Help!" a voice called from nearby. "Please, help!"

It was a kid's voice; against every shred of self-preservation inside her, Jessica stopped.

God damn Clark Kent and his heroics for rubbing off on her.

"AAAHHH!" Clark yelled, blasting his heat vision against the liquid geo tentacles.

The tentacles began to melt, fusing together; Clark punched them, hitting the still working parts, the melted pieces falling on the ocean. But it didn't stop the World Engine, as more tentacles were generated by it, beginning to follow him.

Clark flew fast, evading them, his punches hitting so hard that the air around his fists created a blast, disrupting the magnetic field that kept the metal particles together. The blue beam continued to smash the ground, opening the ocean waters when it attacked; every time that happened, Clark had to hold himself strongly in air, because the gravity was increased; and then, when Black Zero on the other side of the world responded, sending the blast back, Clark had to keep himself from going up.

It was useless to keep fighting like this. Evading the tentacles again, Clark dashed in the World Engine's direction, passing in the middle of the liquid geo, flying fast to avoid the claws forming to grab him; around him, the hellish storm seemed to grow worse, thunderbolts falling endlessly.

He had to destroy the source of the liquid geo, not keep fighting the tentacles.

When he was about to make contact, the World Engine liberated what seemed to be an entire ocean of liquid geo; the massive wave hit right in the face, surrounding him completely, molding itself around his body with incredible strength. And then it shot up, taking Clark with it, until he was in the middle of the black clouds.

In the middle of Krypton's atmosphere.

The air from his home planet began to fill his lungs; he began to cough uncontrollably, the air draining the powers he gained from the yellow sun, making it impossible for him to fight against the grip of the liquid geo. The strength of the tentacles began to crush him. And then it pulled Clark back down again, the speed of the tentacle making him dizzy.

And it threw him right in the middle of the gravity beam.

Clark was swallowed by the blue light as he stood in air for an instant; then the beam blasted him down, the force smashing him to the ground as if he were an insect.

"Shit!" exclaimed Tony, seeing Clark disappearing in the middle of the blue beam; that was a statement Natasha could agree upon.

Around them, every single person in the room was frozen, not knowing what to do, not knowing what to think. How could someone survive that? Was this really the end?

Natasha clenched her hands hard, refusing to believe it would end like that.

"Jarvis, can you see anything? Can you improve the quality of the video?" asked Natasha.

"My apologies, Miss Romanoff, but this is the best I can do," Jarvis answered.

"We need to… We need to do something," Steve said, his hands also clenched, while his eyes went from the monitors showing Clark to the monitors showing New York.

Honestly, Natasha couldn't tell which of them was worse.

"Should I order an attack?" Maria asked, turning to Fury.

Fury was as lost as they were, Natasha could tell, even if he didn't show it.

"The gravitational beam is still on," warned Bruce. "If we attack, all we are going to do is hit the city."

"And if he is dead?" asked Clint, looking at Bruce; to her surprise, Natasha felt a painful thud when he said that. "We can't bet all our chips on him. If he can't deliver, then we have to do something."

It was a pragmatic thought, almost callous, but it was true. If Clark… If Clark really was dead, then the Avengers had to try something. The world depended on that.

"Wait a minute, I see something!" yelled Stark, eyes almost touching the monitor. "Holy mother of… He is getting up!"

Natasha zoomed in the image, trying to get a sense of what was happening; and there, in the middle of the blue beam, she could see a human form trying to stand up. People all around the room cheered for a second; and Natasha felt relief overflow her.

"We are waiting," Fury ordered, holding the attack.

Jessica and Trish followed the sound of the voice, turning on a back street; they saw a boy, covered head to toe in dust, congealed blood on his face and hands, trying to lift what seemed to be a piece of the building that had just fallen off against another building.

The kid couldn't be more than 11 years old.

"Please, you have to help me!" he yelled, as he saw them, his face covered in tears. "It's my aunt, she is stuck!"

They ran to him, the sound of the blue beam battering the ground loud in their ears; and louder at each time it struck.

"Oh my god, thank you," the kid said, his voice muffled with tears. "I-I didn't know what to do! I-I…"

"Shut up, kid!" Jessica interrupted. "We don't have time. Just tell me where she is."

The boy nodded fast and pointed up, to the building on which the fallen one had toppled upon.

"There! We-we were visiting the gallery when the whole thing started. We thought it would be better to stay here, but then…"

"Then the blue beam of death spread and another building fell on top of it, right?" Jessica interrupted again. "Like I said, don't care. Just tell me which floor."

"Third! I managed to squeeze through the windows and get down using the fire escape, but my aunt was hurt! A piece of the building fell on her leg and then the fire escape fell down… I'm trying to open the door but it's blocked! I'm sure if we try to pull together, maybe we could…"

Jessica wasn't listening anymore. She looked up, finding the window from which the kid had escaped.

"Trish, stay with him, I'll be right back."

Saying that, Jessica aimed; and jumped, all the way to the third floor, her arms covering her face when she crashed against the glass with strength.

"Holy cow!" she heard the boy yell from the outside.

Looking around, Jessica assessed the situation, trying to move fast. The whole place was in ruins, parts of the ceiling collapsed, walls broken, electricity wires clacking. It was some sort of small gallery, filled with shops and broken figurines; her foot cracked what seemed to be the remains of an Iron Man toy.

The sound she made getting in, however, alerted someone inside.

"Is anybody there?!" yelled a woman and Jessica began to go in her direction. "Oh, thank god!"

The woman was on the ground, her leg stuck under a huge part of the building that had collapsed. The entire hallway that led to the exit stairs was blocked by rubbles; no wonder they were trapped inside.

"Please, you have to call for help!" the woman continued, looking at her. "My nephew is…"

"Your nephew is fine, he is with my sister," Jessica answered, looking at the concrete pillar over the woman. "Are you okay? Anything broken?"

"I-I don't think so, I'm just stuck," said the woman. "But I can't get out! It's too heavy. You need to get someone to help!"

Jessica didn't answer; instead, she grabbed the huge pillar with her hands and pushed. It was heavy as fuck and she groaned with the effort, dust clouds rising in air, but the thing began to move.

"Go, get out!" she yelled, her voice strained with the effort.

The woman, who was too shocked by what she was seeing, seemed to snap into motion; once her leg was free, she dragged herself from under it, getting up fast and taking distance. Jessica released the pillar, that fell heavily, lifting dust.

"How… How the hell did you…?" the woman tried to ask, looking in awe at Jessica.

"CrossFit, a little yoga… Lots of proteins. You know, the whole 'you are what you eat' kind of shit… Look, we gotta go," Jessica said, pulling the woman with her, going back to the window from which she had entered.

The woman, still staring nonstop at her, followed, only to look in dismay at the fallen fire escape.

"Oh no! How are we going to…?"

She bit her words back when Jessica lifted her; and yelled like a madwoman when Jessica jumped down. The fall took seconds until they landed safely, but Jessica felt like the woman had screamed for ours.

"Aunt May!" the kid yelled, running to them, hugging not only his aunt but her as well; Jessica was frozen in place. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

Jessica looked at the face of the kid, caked with dust, blood, tears and… snot.

"Right… Okay kid, get off," she said, untangling herself from the family hug; only to be pulled into another one when Trish hugged her. "God damn it!"

"Shut up, Jes!" Trish said, hugging her even stronger. "I'm proud of you, but don't ever do this again!"

This time, Jessica didn't untangle herself; she just patted her sister's back, embarrassed.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. We have to get out of here," she said. "We have to…"

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted when the blue beam smashed the ground again; the buildings on the sides of the street they were, including the one she had just got off, seemed to crack in unison. That whole part of the city seemed to implode, when the buildings began to sink in the ground.

Jessica grabbed Trish, the kid and his aunt and brought them closer, trying to shield them with her body; she felt the debris falling to top of her and opened her arms, using her back and shoulders to deflect the pieces of the building falling down.

When the debris rain stopped, Jessica looked up; they were surrounded by fallen buildings; trapped. And the blue beam kept coming down, flattening cars and what was left standing from the buildings, closer at each time.

"God!" screamed Trish, once she noticed what was happening.

The kid and his aunt looked to the front, seeing the sky falling, incapable of saying anything.

And Jessica… She held her sister's hand and urged that Clark would hurry the fuck up and save them.

Clark raised his hand, every fiber of his muscles hurting as he tried to beat the gravity beam. He closed his fingers into a fist, his legs trying to firm themselves on the ground, his face contorted in effort. The noise was unbelievable, the blue light glowing more than the sun itself, while the World Engine dropped the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He looked up, muscles trembling, feeling the strain on his body in a way he never felt before in his entire life. It was so heavy, the pain was so terrible… He wanted to just… let go.

Clark closed his eyes and stopped seeing everything around him.

Suddenly he was with his father, Jonathan Kent, in front of the ship that had brought him here.

"You are not just anyone, Clark… And I have to believe that you were sent here for a reason. All these changes that you are going through… One day… One day you are going to think of them as a blessing and when that day comes you're going to have to make a choice: a choice of whether to stand proud in front of the human race or not."

His eyes opened, bringing the real world back; he looked up again, his face changing into determination. He was here for a reason. And he finally saw his gifts as the blessing they were, because right now, they were the only thing that could save the world.

It was time to stand proud in front of the human race.

Clark gathered all the power inside himself and exploded up, flying against the gravity beam. The pressure against him was tremendous, but he never hesitated, ignoring the pain, ignoring the weight of the entire sky over his shoulders; he would not let Zod destroy his home.

"AAAAAAHHHHHGGG!"

He collided head on against the World Engine, passing through the metal, feeling his body destroy the entire thing, until he came out on top of it, an explosion following. The blue beam died immediately and the whole World Engine seemed to paralyze; until it ripped itself into three pieces, falling on the ocean with a groan of metal being torn apart.

The main part began to glow as it fell, the energy core overloading; and then the entire landscape was swallowed in a huge explosion.

Clark saw none of that, falling into unconsciousness.

"He did it!" exclaimed Natasha, smiling, as everybody in the room erupted into cheers.

"Son of a gun!" said Steve, unable to hold a big smile as well.

"I knew he could do it!" said Stark, cheering with the others.

"No you didn't," argued Clint, looking to the screen with a happy face.

"Okay, maybe I didn't, but I cheered very hard!" Stark retorted.

"Moral support is everything," agreed Banner and Clint rolled his eyes.

For one second, everybody seemed to forget the entire bad situation, the good mood lifting their spirits; but, of course, someone had to ruin it.

"We've arrived," said Fury, looking at them. "It's our turn now."

Yep, the good mood faded fast.

"Do not fight them head on," said Steve, walking in front, leading the Avengers on the flight deck, the wind blowing hard at the speed they were going; it would be impossible to even stand outside if the Helicarrier didn't protect the flight deck with some sort of inertia damper that Steve didn't understand, or so Tony explained. "It's useless, we don't have the strength to hurt them, remember that. Evade, distract, use the environment, use their arrogance. Remember the plan."

Around them, SHIELD pilots were preparing their Quinjets, smaller than the one they used, but just as heavily armed. Tony was fully clad in his suit, making last minute adjustments; Clint was checking his arrows and bow; Natasha was loading her grenade launcher; Bruce was… Bruce was fidgeting with his sleeves, concentrated, probably trying to keep himself in the verge of transformation but without losing control too early.

New York passed fast under them, Black Zero enormous on the horizon.

Steve looked at his team and at the SHIELD agents around; he pointed at the pilots.

"You are going to cover us," he ordered. "We don't know what to expect, but don't count on your weapons making any damage. Your job is to distract them, only that. We will be carrying the package."

The men saluted him; he looked at all of them, pilots and the Avengers.

"We can do this," he stated, fully confident in his team's abilities. "We need to do this! Earth is depending on us. If we lose, we won't be conquered, we will be exterminated. There isn't a middle ground here. Either we win or humanity is lost."

Captain America, the legendary soldier in all his glory, gazed at them.

"I SAY WE WIN!"

Everybody yelled in response, cheering, agreeing with their captain. They knew they could die, they knew it was a very likely possibility to fail; but while Captain America was leading them, they would fight.

And Steve would lead them to victory.

"Holy shit, he did it!" yelled Jessica when the blue beam died, hugging her sister, the kid and his aunt in her happiness. "I knew he would!"

Trish laughed with her, relief filling her; she had never seen Jessica this happy. Maybe for the first time in her life, someone had actually kept a promise to her.

"Who did what?" asked the kid.

"Cla…"

"Our friend!" interrupted Trish, hastily, before Jessica could spill the beans; again.

"Yeah, our friend," Jes agreed. "He just destroyed the weapon doing this whole shitstorm."

"Is he a superhero like you?" he asked, his dirty face showing amazement.

Trish smiled at Jessica's expression; and before she could say anything, she did:

"Yes, yes he is. Just like her."

The mix of annoyance, embarrassment and a little bit of pride on her face made even all the fear they passed worth it.

Faora-Ul showed no emotion whatsoever when the World Engine was destroyed, the backlash of the impact paralyzing Black Zero's systems temporarily; inside, however she was filled with a cold fury. Kal-El would pay dearly for this, that she promised.

"The humans are approaching," warned Jax-Ur, pointing at the liquid geo monitor; a replica of their craft was there.

She looked at Nam-Ek.

"Bring that thing down," she ordered.

The gigantic Kryptonian nodded and left to the under pods chamber.

Bruce followed his companions to the Quinjet, wondering, not for the first time, if it was a good idea for him to be there with them; in the end, he decided it was. In case the Kryptonians showed up, he was the only one who could do something against their strength. And in this case, the "something" he would do would be pick them up and toss them from the Quinjet, preferably alongside him.

The fall wouldn't be pleasant, but he would survive; he knew that for a fact, after all. And it would guarantee that the Quinjet remained flying, even if the Hulk himself became a threat.

Before he could enter, however, he saw Tony stiffening.

"We have incoming!" he yelled, no doubt alerted by Jarvis.

Everybody looked up to see one of those Kryptonian pods approaching, opening itself still in air, and that big Kryptonian dropping right on the top of a Quinjet, turning it into scrap. The Avengers turned, all of them raising their weapons.

Only to be stopped by Bruce.

"Go, I've got this," he said, beginning to walk towards the immense Kryptonian; Nam-Ek, if he remembered right.

"Are you sure?" asked Steve, shield on hand, ready to fight with him.

Bruce looked at him, his eyes glowing green; a bestial smile ripped his face.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure."

And he didn't know if it was him or the Hulk who answered.

Turning to Nam-Ek, Bruce continued to walk; the Kryptonian, clad in his black armor, jumped from the Quinjet to the ground, also walking in his direction. All around them, the Quinjets began to take off, flying vertically and then dashing to the front, in the direction of the alien ship.

Bruce cared nothing about that. His rational thoughts weren't there anymore, being replaced by pure anger. He felt his muscles becoming rigid, his bones beginning to grow; the Hulk had been defeated by a Kryptonian before and all he wanted now was payback.

He began to run, his movements being mimicked by Nam-Ek; both of them increased their speed, eyes fixed on each other. Bruce didn't even notice when he began to roar, his skin turning green, his shirt exploding when his muscles grew gigantic, his height suddenly changing and then he was looking down at his enemy.

Bruce saw none of that; the Hulk was in control now.

With an animalistic growling, Hulk and Nam-Ek clashed against each other, the sound of the impact thundering in air; the Kryptonian roared too, grabbing him and actually managing to push back. Lost in his fury, the Hulk used his powerful muscles to stand his ground, his feet breaking the concrete.

Nam-Ek used his sudden momentum to grab his arms and turn, tossing the Hulk against one of the empty Quinjets, his big body folding the metal like it was paper. Not waiting for him to get up, Nam-Ek jumped against him, punching with all his strength.

A big explosion took the flight deck.

Clark opened his eyes very slowly. He felt more tired than ever, his energy completely spent; not once in his entire life that had happened. Turning his head, a movement that made all his body hurt, he looked at the ocean: the World Engine was destroyed.

Smiling, his eyes almost closing again, Clark lifted his arm, trying to reach the beam of sunlight that began to pass through the black clouds that were almost disappearing.

He felt warm again the moment he touched the light.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" asked Tony, still looking back at the direction of the Helicarrier. "I mean, do you think the Big Guy can handle that other… Big Guy?"

Steve sighed.

"If anyone can, it's him."

Reluctantly, Tony agreed. He put Jarvis on control and got up, going to Natasha's side, who was, at the moment, analyzing Clark's ship.

"Managed to make it work?" he asked.

Natasha only nodded, lifting a black prism for him to see.

"We just have to put this thing in when we are ready to drop," she answered, showing where the key went. "It will activate the Phantom Drive then."

"That seems too easy, doesn't it?" asked Tony, looking around.

"Don't jinx it!" yelled Clint. "God damn…"

"Sir, a second pod is leaving the Kryptonian ship," warned Jarvis.

"…It," Clint finished, a murderous look taking his expression when he turned to Tony.

"Oh hell!" he said; he should've known better.

"Jarvis, put it on the screen, please," asked Steve and Jarvis did as commanded.

They could see a pod flying against the Quinjet's formation, similar to the one that had just landed on the Helicarrier. Steve grabbed his communicator.

"This is Captain America, you are clear to engage!" he ordered.

As if they were one, the Quinjets began to fire their missiles; the missiles travelled fast, flying against the pod from different angles, hitting all at the same time. A huge explosion covered the sky and they began to hear cheers from the pilots.

That's when the flames vanished, the pod still there, flying intact; right in collision course with one of the Quinjets. The pilot began to fire his machine gun against it, the bullets hitting and being deflected by the pod's armor; it wasn't stopping.

"Eject!" yelled Steve and the man obeyed.

At the instant he ejected, the pod hit the Quinjet straight on, passing through it as if it weren't there, leaving only an explosion behind. Tony sighed relieved for a second, before talking in the communicator too:

"Rhodey, it's time for the Iron Legion!"

Fury was watching the fight on the monitors, trying to ignore the huge noises in his own Helicarrier, as the Hulk and that Kryptonian battled. He saw one of the Quinjets exploding when an alien pod passed through the middle of it, the pilot managing to eject at least.

And then the sky was basically taken by suits of armor, when the Iron Legion appeared.

"Engaging the enemy, Tony," Colonel Rhodes said, leading the brunt of the attack with his War Machine.

Stark's army of suits split its formation, flying in the middle of the Quinjets, beginning to pursue the Kryptonian pod. The pilot of the pod turned, realizing the iron suits were behind it, apparently getting even faster; the Iron Legion began to fire against it, everything they had, from mere bullets to missiles, even using their repulsors.

Nothing seemed to even dent the thing, as the pod suddenly went up, hitting two suits and completely destroying them. Stopping in air, abruptly, the pod opened, revealing its pilot: and unless Fury was very mistaken, it was Zod's sub-commander, Faora.

Everybody in the command center was slack-jawed as the Kryptonian simply jumped out from the pod, flying in air like if she were a missile, colliding against one of the Quinjets; the pilot tried to eject, only to be grabbed by Faora and torn apart. And before the jet could fall, she jumped again, this time against one of Stark's armors.

"Jesus, are you seeing that?!" yelled Rhodes, firing his machine gun nonstop against Faora.

Nobody answered him, as the Kryptonian ripped the suit apart, jumping back at her pod and flying closer to the Avenger's Quinjet; War Machine's bullets weren't doing anything against it.

"Do not let her approach!" yelled Captain Rogers, obviously seeing Faora's pod flying to them.

Following his orders, the Quinjets turned in air, flying against the pod, firing again. The rain of bullets did nothing against its hull, but the pilots already knew it wouldn't; no, they planned to hit it with something far heavier.

Synchronized, the pilots aimed their jets in the pods direction, firing all their missiles; and then, when the flames covered everything, they ejected.

As the pod came out from the flames, it was met with tons of metal, every single Quinjet hitting it straight on, an even bigger explosion filling the air. Fury could only watch as the flames took everything.

That's when the ceiling on top of them gave out and the Hulk and Nam-Ek fell in the command center.

The Hulk growled when he hit the ground, the Kryptonian on top of him. He could hear people yelling and running around, the sound making him even more furious; standing up, he grabbed the Kryptonian and threw him to the wall.

"You have to take him back up!" yelled someone… Maria… the Hulk didn't care.

Ignoring her, he ran against Nam-Ek and hit him with all his strength, making a hole in the wall and tossing him far away, his body breaking everything on its path; roaring, he followed.

"Did we drop her?" Tony asked, frantic. "Rhodey, do you have a visual?!"

Steve grabbed his shield and moved close to the rear door, opening it to be able to see; he knew that if it wasn't over, the doors wouldn't stop her anyway.

"We didn't, prepare yourselves."

Tony went by his side and pointed his repulsors to the now opened doors, the red flames of the explosion still burning; Natasha aimed her grenade launcher; Clint prepared an arrow.

And just like he expected, he saw Faora rising from the explosion, almost flying as she jumped, her Kryptonian strength giving her enough of a boost to pass through the hulls of the Quinjets and catch up with them; he braced himself.

She landed inside the Helicarrier, her feet denting the metal floor, too fast to actually stop; not that she wanted to stop. Using the momentum, Faora punched, a hit so strong that would definitely pass through a human body with ease.

But not vibranium.

Her fist hit Captain America's shield making it ring like a church bell; Steve's legs hurt with the strain, even when the vibranium absorbed the impact of her punch. Taking his chance, Tony unleashed his repulsors on her; the energy beams didn't do anything against her and Faora grabbed Steve's shield, tossing him against the ceiling when he refused to let go.

Moving in a dash, the Kryptonian hit Tony right in the chest, throwing him against the walls with force. She turned to Natasha and Clint; Natasha began to fire the grenade launcher, the bombs exploding against Faora's armor without leaving a mark. And then Clint shot his arrow.

Faora simply raised her hand and picked the arrow in air with two fingers, her expression becoming sarcastic when she looked at Clint.

And that's when the arrow exploded.

Not with a timed bomb, but with something Tony had made on that very day just to Faora. Their weakness was the dependency they had on their helmets; they couldn't take it off, not without suffering the pain from Earth's atmosphere. Breaking them would be the ideal solution, but they lacked the fire power for that.

But, like Steve suggested, they didn't need to break it; only to make it very uncomfortable to wear.

So when the arrow exploded, it didn't explode to try to damage Faora's helmet, but to cover it with a black, viscous and very thick paint that Tony developed, using a formula that resembled more of a superglue than anything else. The black paint hit Faora straight in the face, covering her entire helmet, making it impossible for her to see.

And since she couldn't remove it or use x-ray vision while breathing Krypton's air, she was effectively blind.

Time to strike back.

The Hulk was sent flying, his body destroying everything on its path, when Nam-Ek punched his jaw. Without stopping, he grabbed the Hulk's legs, spinning in place and releasing; he flew up, passing through the Helicarriers floors as if they didn't exist, finally coming out on the flight deck once again.

He got up, shaking his head, and growled; Nam-Ek appeared in his front again, jumping up, using his body to dig another tunnel up. They collided against one another, their bodies smashing with extraordinary power, the very air distorting itself around them.

The Helicarrier continued to fly fast, accompanying the Quinjets as best as it could, working as a flying landing base for them; not that the two titans on top of it seemed to care. To them, there was only the fight now. Bringing his arms around the Hulk's waist, Nam-Ek began to push, managing to lift the Hulk as he ran, both of them turning into a locomotive as they smashed every single jet in their way, explosions following.

The Hulk roared in pain as his ribs were squeezed, so he started to punch Nam-Ek's back with everything he had; his fists dented his armor, but he apparently wasn't feeling them. He was, however, being tossed down, his feet sinking on the ground every time he was punched. Until he released him, suddenly, sending the Hulk flying against a cannon.

The destruction of one of the Helicarrier weapons seemed to bring the attention to the fact that the Helicarrier had weapons; and, as if they were one, they all turned to Nam-Ek and began to fire, the bullets covering the air.

Ignoring the fact that he was getting in the middle of the crossfire, the Hulk yelled and ran against Nam-Ek again, his body also getting shot, the bullets hitting his muscles and hard skin and being deflected. He didn't even notice, his fury growing even more as the fight went on.

Nam-Ek met him in the middle, both of them colliding again, their huge bodies crashing like tanks; the bullets continued to rain upon them, neither of them caring. And then they started to punch each other.

There was no strategy, no defense, no tactic; it was pure brutality, as if nothing else mattered other them killing each other. Both of them only punched each other's faces, each hit sounding like a cannon blast, growling and roars cutting the air.

Their fists crashed against one another, their fingers intertwining, each trying to make the other submit with pure brute force. The strength they were making was unbelievable, their eyes staring at each other.

Neither of them could beat the other, their equal strength making it impossible for the contest to proceed; the Hulk, however, didn't care for a contest of strength. All he cared about was smashing his opponent. And without his arms, there was only one way to do that.

He opened his big mouth and bit Nam-Ek's head.

Tony grabbed Steve's shield when he tossed it to him, using it to defend himself from a blind punch from Faora; the vibranium rang in the confined space. Using this chance, his suit released another load of ink on Faora's helmet, as he jumped to the side, giving Steve his shield back.

At that moment, two suits of the Iron Legion landed on the Quinjet, flying against Faora; she no doubt heard one of them approaching, because she turned punching, her fist ripping the metal apart. The second one, however, wasn't going to attack her; instead, it disassembled itself, the parts flying individually and reassembling around Faora's body.

The sub-commander managed to punch the chest, but without seeing what was happening, she couldn't defend herself in time; the pieces closed around her and activated the repulsors on maximum capacity, flying outside, taking Faora to the sky.

Or trying to, because at the last moment her hand managed to hold on the Quinjet, her fingers digging themselves in the metal.

Yelling in frustration, Faora grabbed the gauntlets of the armor with her free hand and destroyed them, before taking her hand to her face and ripping the paint with all her strength; one of her blue eyes looked back at them.

"Oh, no…" said Tony, as Faora proceeded to rip the rest of the armor around her apart and jump back inside.

Clint, seeing her approaching, tried to fire another arrow; big mistake.

Faora, knowing now with what they were loaded, just dodged, becoming a blur, and then she was on him. She pushed him against the controls, his back hitting the auto pilot and damaging it; they could still keep moving forward, but Jarvis wouldn't be able to pilot the Quinjet anymore.

Pulling him back, Faora kicked his leg; Tony could hear the bone breaking from where he was. Clint yelled loudly, only to be backhanded against the face and tossed out from the Quinjet.

"CLINT! " yelled Natasha.

"Rhodey, grab Legolas!" Tony yelled, hoping his friend heard him and could get Clint on time.

Steve threw his shield against Faora, hitting her helmet, but aside from a slightly tilt to the side, his shield didn't do anything other than call her attention. She turned to him, pushing Cap against the wall, lifting him by his throat; and then, with her other hand, she began to sink her fingers on his abdomen.

"ARRHHGG!" yelled Steve.

Thinking fast, Tony used his laser; not against Faora, that would be useless, but to cut the very walls of the Quinjet around Cap. When the steel piece got loose and everything began being pulled to the outside, Tony flew against Faora with all his suit's power, crashing against her.

Faora wasn't harmed in the least, but at least it distracted her, making her release Steve for a second, who was promptly dragged out from the Quinjet.

"Jarvis, grab Cap!" he ordered. "And bring all the remaining suits here!"

"As you say, sir," responded Jarvis, ordering one of the suits of armor to pick Steve up, hopefully before he fell to the ground.

"This is the second time you get between me and my prey," Faora said, turning to him with her entire blacked helmet, a single piercing blue eye watching him. "There won't be a third."

At that moment, three of his armors landed on the Quinjet, promptly attacking Faora; that should buy him a couple of seconds.

"Natasha, activate the ship and get out!" he yelled.

God bless her soul, she didn't argue back; pushing the key all the way in, the ship beginning to glow blue, Natasha jumped to one of the seats and ejected. He could see Black Zero getting closer.

Suddenly, a huge Kryptonian ship appeared out of nothing right behind them, ready to fire.

Hulk's teeth sank on Nam-Ek's helmet, biting with every single bit of strength he possessed; his teeth began to crack against the metal, but he didn't care, the pain making him bite even stronger. Nam-Ek doubled his efforts to bring the Hulk's arms down, but it was useless.

Little by little, the Kryptonian's helmet began to bent, Nam-Ek screaming in rage, the cracks of the Hulk's teeth ringing loud; and then it ripped, puncturing a whole in it.

The first breath of Earth's atmosphere that Nam-Ek took began to flush the Kryptonian air from his body; and then his senses overloaded. The noise of the Hulk's teeth against the metal was unbearable. He lost all strength to fight, his arms being overpowered as he fell to the ground.

The Hulk then, proceeded to smash his opponent, mercy not being a word he understood.

"Doctor Banner!" yelled someone, as Hulk punched Nam-Ek nonstop. "Doctor Banner!"

He turned, roaring, pissed as hell that someone was calling him "Banner"; it was a woman. He vaguely recognized her.

"You already won," said Maria, slowly. "Doctor, you…"

The Hulk roared even louder.

"Hulk," she corrected herself, "you already won. But you have to toss him back to their ship. Can you do that?"

He just looked at her and then turned to kick Nam-Ek again.

"Banner could do it," she said, suddenly, and he stopped. "Is Puny Hulk weaker than Banner?"

Hulk felt fire inside him, as he grabbed Nam-Ek by the leg and ran to Maria, stopping close, looking her from up high; she didn't back down.

"Is that what you are telling me? That you can't do it? Puny…"

"HULK NOT PUNY!" he yelled, smashing Nam-Ek against the ground as he did it.

"Then prove it," she challenged.

And he did, grabbing Nam-Ek, spinning and tossing him all the way back to the Black Zero, his gigantic body putting a hole in the hull of the Kryptonian ship; right at the moment another huge Kryptonian ship appeared over them.

They couldn't do anything as it fired upon the Helicarrier, the blue energy destroying the turbines with a single shot; they began to drop over the city.

Clark had never flown so fast in his entire life, giving everything he had as he crossed the sky. The sunlight had restored his energy to the maximum again and he was using every bit he had of it to arrive in New York in time to help.

He looked down, seeing the ship Zod stole from him fire against the Helicarrier, the whole thing beginning to drop on top of the buildings; he hoped the buildings were empty by now and that the people inside the Helicarrier could survive, but he couldn't help now. Not when Zod was preparing to fire upon the Quinjet carrying his own ship, the only chance they had against the Black Zero.

One of the smaller Quinjets got in the way of the ship, drawing its attention; Zod fired on it, completely destroying it. And then there was nothing between it and the Avenger Quinjet.

Except for him.

Beginning to drop fast, Clark flew directly against the ship's hull, right when it fired; the blue energy passed at the side of the Quinjet. The hull, however, wasn't strong enough to protect the ship against him.

Clark passed through it as if it weren't there, getting inside the ship, falling right in front of Zod, in the cockpit. He got up fast, his eyes glowing red.

"STOP!" yelled Zod. "If you destroy this ship, you destroy Krypton!"

And the surprising thing is that he seemed truly afraid of it; Clark hesitated.

Ultimately, though, Clark had no option; if his choice was destroying Earth to have Krypton back… It wasn't much of a choice at all.

"Krypton is already gone, Zod!" he yelled, unleashing his heat vision in the cockpit, cutting the command chair.

The ship began to drop from the sky.

Faora began to punch with fury, her fists ripping the metal from the red suits of armor around her as if they were made of silk. They weren't fighting, however, they were holding her, attacking all at the same time not to cause her damage, but to delay her. She grabbed one of them, her fingers sinking in the metal, and pulled it apart.

Only to be rewarded by what seemed to be an explosion of that accursed black ink.

Her helmet was once more painted and she was once more blinded; Faora screamed in rage, spinning so fast that she became a blur, her limbs destroying everything around her without her even needing to see it. Panting with fury, she took her hands to her face and scratched the paint from her helmet.

Her eyes finally found the one who had done all that, sitting at the pilot's seat, fully armored, looking at her.

"A good death is its own reward," he said, repeating her words, as he plunged the jet against Black Zero.

Dashing forward, Faora's hand slashed the air like a sword, ripping his head off; except there was no head to decapitate, but a hollow suit of armor.

The Quinjet hit Black Zero; blue lightening began to form around both of them.

And then the Phantom Zone opened again.

Faora had only time to feel terrified before being pulled back in.

Tony had used the distraction his Iron Legion gave him to leave his armor behind to pilot - since Faora had damaged the auto pilot when she tossed Clint over it - and eject the Quinjet.

The moment he was out from the Quinjet, he began to look around, searching for the only remaining suit he had; the one he used to save Cap from falling to his death. Because right now, unless he wanted to be pulled into the Phantom Zone alongside the Kryptonians, he would need it to fly away.

He heard it before he saw it; and, cutting himself free from the ejection chair, he jumped. The suit disassembled itself, each part flying to him on its own, fitting together again around him.

"Jarvis, put everything we have on the repulsors!" he yelled, seeing the Quinjet hit Black Zero.

His feet basically turned into a rocket as Jarvis used all the energy they had to take him out of there. He began to fly faster than he ever had before; and then he stopped in air, the singularity pulling him.

"Jarvis!" he screamed, terrified, as he suddenly began to move backwards.

"Any more than that and it won't be safe for…"

"DO IT!"

The repulsors on his feet doubled in size. He began to gain some distance, but too slow, and the singularity was growing; he didn't even notice he was screaming, when finally the ship disappeared.

And the force pulling him back alongside it; Tony basically exploded forward, spinning to the ground in great velocity.

"Jarvis, try to stabilize me!" he yelled, New York rotating around him.

He felt Jarvis moving his armor, using the repulsors on his hand to slow his fall; that's when he hit the top of a skyscraper.

Clark got up, after being tossed out from his ship. The city around him was apocalyptic; destroyed buildings everywhere, ruins and fire. The ground was covered in dust and ashes and towers of black smoke rose to the twilight sky.

And in the middle of all that, Zod was kneeled.

Eyes fixed on him, Clark floated in his direction, landing in front of him; Zod raised a hand full of ashes to him.

"Look at this," he said as the ashes fell back to the ground. "We could've built a New Krypton in this squalor, but you chose the humans over us."

Clark only watched, as Zod eyed him with eyes filled with fury.

"I exist only to protect Krypton," he continued, shaking with rage. "That is the sole purpose for which I was born. And every action I take, no matter how violent and how cruel, is for the greater good of my people. And now… I have no people. My soul… That is what YOU HAVE TAKEN FROM ME!"

Zod got up and dashed to the front, hitting Clark in the chest with all his power; Clark was sent bouncing on the ground, flying for dozens of meters.

"I'm going to make them suffer, Kal," Zod promised, walking towards him. "These humans you've adopted, I will take them all from you, one by one!"

Clark got up and began floating; he looked Zod in the eyes.

"You are a monster, Zod," he said. "And I'm going to stop you!"