A Legendary Punch

While the battle between Justinian and Superman was taking place every person on Earth was locked in. This battle would determine whether their planet would remain independent and free or join The Imperium a big decisive subjet. 

The chance for humanity to join the interstellar age was huge and many of the younger generations were up for joining The Imperium. The older generations however were not and were desperate for anything that might give them hope. 

In particular, Lois and her son John were watching the battle carefully as Clark fought for the freedom of Earth. They both knew just how strong Clark was, but it just didn't seem to be enough. 

Not when he was facing Justinian who defied all logic. Ever since that man had arrived, everything had been turned on its head. When they saw Justinian smash Clark into the metal planet both of them winced. John clenched his hands as he watched Justinian grab his Father by the face and toss him like a rag doll. 

"Dad, you can do this."

Lois placed her hand on his shoulder as they watched Clark launch himself toward Justinian. For the first time since the battle started, it appeared that Clark had finally managed to damage Justinian's armor which only Darkseid had ever managed to damage. 

The magic that was filming automatically zoomed in on Justinian's dented helmet which gave the people of Earth hope. Even Lois allowed herself to be hopeful only for her hope to die as the dent fixed itself automatically. 

'Honey, you can do this.' 

---

Justinian could feel his heart which was always beating at a steady rate unless he was in a battle begin to speed up. When both of them made it into the void, and Justinian reached Superman he grabbed him by his leg.

He pulled his fist back and he threw a powerful blow at Superman's face. Since he was holding nothing back, he would use everything in his arsenal. 

[Defense Breaker.]

Just Defense Breaker by itself, the Dragon God version of Pierce, Ddraig's defense-ignoring ability was one of his favorite abillities. Yet he pushed it a step further by combining it with Albion's innate Poison Dragon abillities causing the ability to turn a dreadful purple. 

Like shattered glass, reality cracked around Clark's face leaving slashes along his face. Poisoned, Dimensional cracks sliced open Clark's flesh, and only by closing his eyes at the last moment did he avoid being blinded. Justinian let go of Clark's leg which caused the man to hurl through the void. 

[Homerun.] 

{Very mature.} 

[Shut up, that was funny.]

'It was not.'

[Of course, you don't find it funny, Custodes. Your humor is dead.]

'It is not.' 

[Could have fooled me.]

Justinian ignored his brothers in favor of the battle. When Superman stopped hurling he reached up and ran his hand down his face. The wounds were healing terribly slowly which was odd. He usually healed in moments, and even worse was the poisoned dimensional energy in the wounds. 

It made the wounds fester and they slowed his ability to heal even more. His thoughts were blurry, but returning to normal, unlike the cuts on his face. As Justinian approached he explained a bit. 

"Defense Breaker, one of my abillities. It allows me to completely ignore the defenses of anything. Which also applies to reality causing the dimensional fractures. Since it is magical, it slows your healing. Of course, that is also the toxins I added to it." 

When Clark pulled his hand away from his face, the cuts now looked far worse. They were bleeding terribly, but almost impressively Justinian could feel Clark's body beginning to burn through his toxin. 

{You held back on the poison, didn't you?}

'Of course, I wanted him weakened not dead. If I had used your main venom he might be dead.' 

[True, how about trying a flame toxin.] 

'Later.' 

Clark honestly was starting to wonder if there was anything that Justinian didn't have in his arsenal. However, he was thankful for one thing. Now that they were in space, he was basking in the pure sunlight of the ten suns directly. 

He began to smile which made Justinian tilt his head. 

"You have a plan?"

Clark wiped his face as his wounds finally closed. The poison though was taking a little longer. 

"Not so much a plan as a realization." 

"What would that be, Clark?" 

Clark grinned. 

"The fact that I am going to break your fancy armor into pieces." 

He lowered his center of gravity and launched himself at Justinian who reacted in a trillionth of a second and tilted his head to avoid the punch that Superman threw his way. Just the force of that punch caused the planet he had created to start fracturing apart. 

Justinian lips grew into a slight grin as he spun around and slammed his elbow into Clark's jaw. He then followed it up with a knee strike into Clark's liver. Superman wasn't the only one absorbing the potent Solar Radiation meaning those blows were truly mighty. 

The first shattered Superman's lower jaw, and the second ruptured his liver. Lethal wounds to humans and many other species, but not a Kryptonian. Especially one supercharged with Solar Radiation. 

The sheer overload of sunlight was healing his injuries and increasing Superman's abillities by the second. He wasn't the only one, but it was making the battle more interesting. 

Clark still with a devastated jaw, grabbed onto Justinian's leg before he smashed his fist into Justinian's midsection causing the armor to shimmer as its defenses activated. The chest plate was the most heavily armored portion so only a small dent formed. 

However, the Nth metal and Auramite Alloy began to regenerate, but Superman didn't stop at one. Faster and harder he slammed his fist into Justinian's armor, causing the armor to sink in bit by bit, but he was stopped in his tracks when Justinian grabbed his arm. With a brutal snap, Justinian broke the limb, but Clark pulled his leg back and he brought it down on Justinian's knee. 

He intended to break it, but Justinian's Auramite Nth metal skeleton wouldn't break that easily. Justinian pulled his other arm back before he slammed his fist into Clark's chest breaking Superman's ribs and sending him flying. 

When Superman finally stopped hurtling through the air, he didn't move for several tense moments. His jaw was beginning to right itself, his liver healed, and his arm was also righting itself. 

To speed up the process, he grabbed it with his other arm before he snapped it back into place. He winced, but he set aside his pain as his limb and his other injuries. healed under the flood of Solar Radiation. 

When he looked back at Justinian he saw the armor was long since healed. Justinian even patted his midsection mockingly. 

"You aren't breaking my armor, not even Darkseid managed to break it. Much less you. Do you have anything else to show me?"

Clark spun his formerly broken arm before shaking his head.

"You know, I think I get it." 

Justinian squinted his eyes. 

"Get what?" 

Clark then said what he was thinking. 

"You live to fight, but you have grown too powerful too quickly. As you are now, finding worthy foes is rare for you. Only if you limited your power would you get that, but you refuse to do so. That is why you are so focused on me 'going all out'."

Justinian didn't deny this. 

"Correct, I love fighting. While I don't live to fight, it is one of my favorite pastimes. My heart only races when in the middle of battle, as a result of my strength gains, finding worthy foes is rare. I refuse to seal my power or hold back, so I can only expect my opponents to show me all they can do before I break them." 

He raised his left hand to gaze at the Boosted Gear.

"To be fair, you have done better than most, but I know for a fact you have more in you. In this place, you should be able to show me more. So far, I am unimpressed." 

Clark squinted his eyes as it seemed that even now, Justinian was just thinking about his fun. He was growing sick of it. 

"Fine then." 

Clark turned around and he blasted off toward one of the ten suns. As Justinian saw that he began to feel his heart begin to speed up. 

"Do it, show me." 

When Clark reached the first Sun, he spread his arms out as he absorbed its energy directly. He basked in its radiance for a few seconds before he flew directly into the sun. When Justinian saw that he began to grin as he watched Superman fly out of the sun. 

He had spaced the ten suns in a perfect circle and equally apart from each other. From the look of it, Superman was using the boost he got from each sun to speed up his flight. After he left the first sun, he flew into the second, then the third and he repeated it for the next seven suns. 

As Superman supercharged himself, Justinian got ready. He knew what was coming and he surged Divine and Psychic Energy through his body and armor as he braced for impact. When Superman emerged from the tenth sun, supercharged by Solar Radiation, he hurled himself at Justinian. 

Justinian remembered when he read the Justice League issue 25 when Superman punched the World Forger. He had recreated the setup needed since he wanted to see Superman at his strongest. 

As he watched Superman rush toward him, he remembered a few lines from that comic. 

"At a speed, beyond physics, beyond imagination, it will take hours for light to reach him, months for sound. Show me, Superman." 

Justinian's enhanced senses and the advanced systems in his helmet locked in on Superman, but Justinian didn't move. He braced for impact and he threw his right first toward Superman's. 

Yet, Superman didn't clash with him, he shifted out of the way landing his punch directly with Justinian's face. For the first time since he had arrived in this world, Justinian lost consciousness.

His helmet shattered into pieces, his Auramite Nth metal skull fractured and his brain was rocked as he was hurled through the metal planet. For the first time, a piece of his armor was forced to be recalled into his soul for repair. 

The people of the Imperium when they watched their God Emperor get sent flying felt cold sweat pour down their backs. However, his Honor Guard knew that Justinian wasn't close to being defeated. The people on Earth, however, were all roaring and cheering that Superman had won. The Justice League for a few moments felt hope return to them, but Superman himself didn't let his guard down. 

As for Justinian, he woke back up in less than a second and he had an ear-to-ear grin. 

"That was magnificent." 

[Only you could call a punch that hard magnificent.] 

Justinian picked himself up and he popped his neck. As a living metal, it still had the same functions as a purely biological skeleton. Justinian's fractured skull regenerated instantly. He flew back toward Superman who from the look of it, had plenty more energy in the tank. 

When he saw Justinian return he almost laughed. 

"Can anything keep you down?" 

Justinian began to chuckle truly amused now. 

"To be fair you did knock me out and break my helmet." 

Justinian held his hand open and almost mockingly, his broken helmet reappeared in his hand fully repaired once again. When Superman saw that he started to feel this was one big joke. As Justinian put his helmet back on, he asked a question. 

"Got another one in you?" 

Instantly, all the hope the people routing for Superman was crushed. Once again, the faith coming from The Imperium increased as even a punch like that couldn't keep Justinian down, what could? 

"I got more than one." 

Justinian nodded. 

"Good, because I think I can start taking this seriously." 

[Boost.]

Ddraig's voice bellowed from the Boosted Gear as Justinian's power quadrupled. A shockwave of power burst from him making Clark raise his hand to cover his eyes. When he looked back, Justinian's armor was glowing a much deeper purple. 

"You didn't think you had this in the bag did you?" 

Superman sighed. 

"No, but I was hoping." 

"Hope in one hand and shit in the other, and see which fills up faster." 

Superman chuckled at the joke.

"Was that your attempt at a joke?"

Justinian tilted his head. 

"No, it was something my Father once said." 

Superman hummed. 

"The Emperor said that?" 

"No, my real Father." 

It was something his Father used to say when he was younger. He had told his dad, that he hoped to be rich one day and his Father responded with that. He then went on to tell him that hope only mattered when you paired it with hard work. 

That was why he was so antagonistic when he was killed and chosen for reincarnation. All his hard work had ended at the whims of a goddess who he still had no idea of. He was separated from his family, especially his Father who he had been close to. 

He had chosen to become a Custodes as he wanted a clean slate and as a result, his emotions had dulled until he had become a Psychic. This was the first time he had thought back to his Father which made him smile.

"Enough on my family history which is rather short. Now, let's settle on this." 

Superman nodded. 

"Right. I won't make it easy or boring." 

Without delay, Justinian and Superman launched themselves at each other. Unlike at the start of the match, Superman was no longer at a massive disadvantage. He was still brimming from power from his ten-sun supercharge. 

Superman moved at speeds so fast that his old self might as well not have been moving. His fist smashed into Justinian's rib, only for him to kneed in the chin. He recovered and he spun midair and kicked Justinian in the temple. 

If Justinian could feel his punches, he didn't show it, but at the minimum, he wasn't hurling from each punch. This battle was just getting started and already Justinian was growing more and more excited. 

(P-atreon.com/A_Real_Werewolf234)