Power Up!

Bizarro and Superman continued their brawl, their figures crashing into buildings and disappearing a couple of blocks away. The ground shook with every impact, but their distance gave my body and mind a moment to adjust to this power-up.

A notification blinked in my field of vision:

**Kryptonian Physiology (Omnireplication) Mimicked** 

- **Duration:** 3 hours, 52 minutes remaining

I looked down at my hands—they were now a dull grey, just like Bizarro's. A strange, unsettling feeling crawled over me. My senses expanded rapidly, spiralling out of control.

Worse yet, I could hear things I was never meant to hear. Cries, shouts, whispers—all at once. The voices of billions of people, scattered across the globe, bombarded my mind. Every sob, every cry for help—it was maddening. My head throbbed painfully as I pressed my hands to my ears, but it did nothing to stop the flood.

It was too much. I wasn't built for this. I can't-

"NO!" I screamed, my voice cracking under the strain. My senses were a whirlwind—every sound, every shift in the atmosphere pounded against my skull. I could hear the flow of water beneath the city, the soft rustle of every gust of wind, the beating of a thousand hearts.

And then, without warning, a beam of ice shot from my eyes. It blasted across the street, freezing everything in its path. Cars were encased in frost, their windows cracking under the pressure, and the walls of buildings became coated in thick layers of ice, shimmering in the sunlight.

I stumbled backwards, horrified. I hadn't even known I could do that.

I need to calm down. Deep breaths, I told myself, forcing my body to stop trembling. As I focused on breathing slowly, trying to steady my racing thoughts, I discovered two more abilities.

With every inhale, I felt the air, dust, and debris around me being pulled toward me, as though I was vacuuming everything in my immediate vicinity. My chest expanded with a strange, unnatural force.

And when I exhaled, flames burst from my mouth, roaring into the street, scorching the already frozen cars and walls.

I stopped, startled. This is insane.

I froze, trying to process what had just happened. Breathing was a hazard now—really hazardous. I needed to be careful—really careful. I tried to stand, pushing myself up off the ground, but something felt off. My balance was strange, and before I could figure it out, my feet left the ground.

"What the—" I gasped, my hands flailing as I tried to grab onto something, but there was nothing. I was rising off the ground—slowly at first, and then with a sudden lurch, I shot upward into the air.

Panic hit me hard. "No, no, no! Stop!" My arms flailed uselessly as I ascended higher into the sky, completely out of control. My movements only made it worse, sending me spiralling. The city below became a dizzy blur of streets and rooftops, and my heart raced as the world spun beneath me.

As I tried to focus, my vision suddenly sharpened. I could see everything—the distant rooftops, the people in the streets, even the individual bricks on buildings. I blinked, my breath catching as I realized what was happening. It was like I could zoom in on anything, focusing from miles away to right in front of me. I wasn't just seeing the city—I was seeing every detail within it.

Telescopic vision.

I focused, and the distant battle between Superman and Bizarro snapped into view, crystal clear despite the distance between us. They were still locked in combat, their punches shaking the ground, but now I could see every crack in the pavement, every bead of sweat on Superman's face. It was overwhelming.

I forced my vision back to normal, but I was still tumbling out of control, flying higher and faster. My heart pounded harder as I tried to figure out how to stop or slow down before I rocketed into the stratosphere.

I started panicking again. My breaths came in rapid gasps, pulling in insane amounts of air, and every exhale sent streams of fire into the thinning atmosphere. But soon, even the fire faded. There was no oxygen left. I was floating above the Earth.

It was terrifying… and beautiful.

The silence pressed in from all sides, and for the first time since this started, everything stopped. My chest heaved, but there was no more air to burn. Just the emptiness of space and the blue planet spinning slowly beneath me.

Somehow, it allowed me to calm down completely. My heart slowed, my breathing steadied—though pointless now—and in the stillness, I could focus. My vision remained sharp, zooming in effortlessly.

I looked back toward Earth and could still see Superman and Bizarro, their figures tiny, locked in their distant battle below. I shifted my gaze higher and saw the Justice League's space station orbiting above the planet, gleaming in the darkness like a silent sentinel. And then, further still, I focused on the surface of the moon. I could see the Apollo moon landing site—undisturbed, pristine.

It was surreal.

It even gave me a chance to figure out my flight abilities.

As I floated there, suspended in the vastness of space. I realized that despite the lack of gravity, I wasn't completely helpless. I could still control my movements—at least, I could try.

I shifted my body slightly, tentatively willing myself to move. To my surprise, it worked. It wasn't exactly like walking or swimming, but something in between—a subtle push, like I was connected to the space around me. I drifted forward, then pulled back, testing the limits of this new power. It was like flying, but on a much grander scale, with the entire planet below me.

I took another deep breath—out of habit more than necessity—and willed myself to descend. Slowly at first, then with more confidence, I began to glide back toward Earth. Control was returning, and with it, a sense of power that was exhilarating.