The Final Battle (Part 5)
Batman's deadly intent had been planted long ago, ever since that boy named Billy died in the Arctic blizzard.
...A single enhanced bomb, loaded with every ounce of Kryptonite from all of Smallville, capable of wiping out all carbon-based life.
A three-phase thermonuclear bomb would trigger the release of Kryptonite, and though it might not kill this powerful god on Earth, it would deal irreversible damage.
Superman would never again have the strength to oppose humanity or rule this planet.
Simply using anti-strengthening agents to weakening Superman's army was not enough for Batman.
He would make Clark Kent fully realize his failure and mistakes.
—He would make him understand.
Humans are invincible.
Outside the base, guided by the tracking signal, Superman had begun using his heat vision to attack their defense systems.
The heat vision was like a massive Occam's razor, with the red beams constantly slashing at the base's surface, drilling into its interior, cutting through the entire structure.
The large ground-based facility was coated with a layer of invisible camouflage, and the advanced Wakandan defense systems made it undetectable by sonar or camera.
A layer of lead beneath the camouflage shielded it from Superman's vision.
But now, Superman had found the base through the tracker hidden in Soren's doll.
The entire base groaned under Superman's relentless heat vision, creaking and shuddering.
Superman hovered high above, looking down at the base, his heat vision carving a pattern across the surface—one that resembled the Anti-Life Equation.
At the very center of that pattern, the dome of the ground base opened, revealing a dark void beneath interlocking square gears like Lego pieces sliding apart.
Superman saw his friend, comrade, and rival—Batman, once his greatest ally, now standing before him, piloting his armored suit.
—And right behind Batman were Iron Man, Kong Kenan, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Black Panther, and the members of the Justice League from the parallel universe.
There was no way they would let Batman face Superman alone.
If there is one quality in humanity that surpasses all emotions and logic, it is the love and courage of humans.
Love allows humans to reconcile after deceit, conflict, and betrayal, and courage enables them to step forward fearlessly, even in the face of the most powerful beings in the universe.
Humanity's greatest strength is the same force possessed by Sisyphus in the mythological era—the one who defied death and made death itself disappear from the world—love and courage.
Humans are the masters of their own destiny.
Humanity's fate belongs to humans alone!
There was no way out.
And they would not take a single step back.
…Even if they might face the fate of Sisyphus, even if they were to fail in this struggle for the Golden Fleece, even if none of them were to survive—
Humanity would not back down.
What bound humanity together, hand in hand, as they faced the god among men, was a courage that no god could surpass.
Humans may be the weakest rulers of a planet capable of sustaining life in the vast universe.
They lacked sharp claws, powerful bodies, the mental prowess of Martians, or the orderly society of Kryptonians—but humans possessed something none of those other beings had: courage.
In 1888, when Baron Wilhelm A. Zeppelin shouted his vow before Dio Brando, the immortal being, it became a declaration that encapsulated all of humanity's struggles, wisdom, civilization, and conquests since the dawn of their birth by the banks of the Euphrates:
—"The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage; the greatness of humanity is the greatness of courage!"
The battle began when the anti-Superman missiles fired from Iron Man's Mark 13 armor sounded the opening salvo.
Soon, everyone joined the fray.
The missiles exploded against Superman's body, while crimson heat vision lashed out at Iron Man's suit.
Fenrir armor and the Hulk leaped simultaneously, landing a punch squarely on Superman's jaw!
At the same time, Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth from another world snapped toward Superman's ankle.
Diana planted her feet firmly into the soil of the African continent, letting out a war cry as she strained with all her might to bind Superman, preventing him from dodging Batman's next strike.
Superman was bound by the Lasso of Truth, absorbing the full force of Fenrir armor's red sun gauntlet strike.
White dust rose from his steel chest, and the fury in his Kryptonian blue eyes blazed like an uncontrollable wildfire as he roared, "Batman!!"
The massive Hulk lunged at Superman, swinging his fists like wrecking balls, aiming for Superman's face.
But Superman stood unmoving, his gaze shifting toward the Hulk.
In an instant, his heat vision pierced through Hulk's hands, reaching his neck—
Hulk let out a painful howl, collapsing in front of Superman, only to be caught by another pair of steel hands.
That was Clark Kent from a parallel universe, the Superman in a red cape soaring into the air.
He quickly exchanged glances with his ally, Batman, before turning his focus to this injustice world's Kal-El.
"You can't go on like this," Clark Kent declared, positioned at one end of the battlefield, facing Kal-El.
Kal-El tilted his head back, squinting at his counterpart.
A cold smile crept across his face.
"What right do you have," he clenched his fists, the knuckles cracking sharply, "to say that to me?"
"Did your Metropolis get blown to ruins by the Joker? Did your Jonathan and Martha die in the explosion? Have you lost the one you love most?"
"You haven't—"
"Clark Kent, you haven't gone through any of this, so you have no right to say that to me!! If you had experienced everything I've been through, you would make the same choices I have!"
This weathered god among men, filled with all his rage and unwillingness to accept defeat, charged at the young and handsome Clark Kent.
The battle between the two Supermen erupted on this vast, fertile land.
They clashed, with victory and defeat determined in mere microseconds.