CLACK
The dry sound echoed like iron striking iron. Clark's wrist was trapped, immobile, crushed by Bruce's hand—one that shouldn't have been able to move in that frozen space.
Clark pulled his arm with force.
CRACK
The floor splintered, cracks spreading in circular patterns beneath his feet. But the grip didn't loosen. The hand wrapped in darkness held firm, as if made of unbreakable chains.
'That's impossible… no one has ever moved in here.'
His breathing quickened—not from exhaustion, but realization. The Speed Force was broken. For the first time, something was reaching through his temporal barrier.
Barbatos' smile widened, Bruce's face distorted under the entity's weight. Shadows vibrated around his body, every line of black energy pulsing in sync with the tightening hand.
"You feel it, don't you? The limit of your science. The prison of your speed."
The voice sounded like a chorus of ancient echoes, multiple tones layered together, each word dripping with mockery.
Clark kept his gaze steady. The strength in his muscles was absolute, but useless. His arm remained bound, as if the space around it had been sealed.
'First time anyone breaks the Speed Force. First time I'm contained in this state. This shouldn't be possible.'
The shadows slid over his wrist, crawling up his arm like cold serpents. The contact burned—not like fire, but like deep frost eating through his skin in silence.
Barbatos tilted Bruce's head, eyes swallowed by living darkness.
"Magic… that's the name of what you fear and fail to understand. Science can dissect bodies, measure stars, invent machines that rip space apart. But only magic… only it can rewrite the rules you think you command."
The torches in the hall extinguished. Darkness swallowed everything, leaving only the red glow in Clark's eyes and the void in Bruce's.
"Magic needs no logic, Kryptonian. It is what existed before reason. That's why you fail. Your strength depends on laws, but I walk within chaos that never bends."
The echo filled every stone of the fortress, making the columns tremble as if about to collapse.
Clark said nothing. His cold resolve didn't crack. He closed his eyes for a moment, channeling energy.
WHSSHH
His body began to vibrate, molecules oscillating at extreme frequency. Intangibility spread through him, trying to phase through space, to escape the grip.
Nothing happened.
His arm stayed trapped. His wrist remained in that dark hand's grasp. The vibration couldn't pass the point of contact, blocked by an invisible barrier.
'Damn it… even this won't work. My intangibility has never failed. Not once. This monster really broke the Speed Force.'
The shadowed face stretched into a grin. The darkness in Bruce's eyes glowed like burning coal.
"Now you understand, Kryptonian. You can't run. You can't phase. None of it matters here. Magic knows no limits."
The fortress columns trembled, dust raining in thin sheets over them.
Diana reappeared through the haze, staggering. Her shield still strapped to her arm, her sword barely raised. Blood marked the side of her face, but her resolve remained intact. She approached slowly, each step echoing firm against the cracked floor.
Barbatos turned to her without loosening his hold on Clark.
"Even wounded, this human vessel served me well. But now I see… a Kryptonian body is far more fitting. Speed, strength, senses—all amplified. Yes, it will be perfect."
The voice reverberated in layered tones, as if a hundred voices spoke through one.
Clark's eyes widened for a moment.
'What the hell is he saying… take my body? What, Bruce isn't enough? Now he's aiming for me?'
The grip tightened, shadows crawling like black roots to his shoulder. The pressure wasn't only physical—an invisible wave cut through Clark's mind, cold and sharp as a blade of ice.
WHUMMM
He staggered without moving his feet. The world around him wavered, as if the fortress pillars were swallowed by a distorted veil.
'No… he's trying to get inside my head.'
Barbatos leaned closer, eyes filled with pulsing void. His voice echoed directly in Clark's mind—many voices, invasive and endless.
"Don't resist. Your body is already mine. Your mind will only delay the inevitable. I existed before time, Kryptonian. You are just a spark burned by the sun."
The weight of darkness surged like a tide, filling every corner of his mind. The sound of his own breath echoed faintly, mixed with whispers that weren't his.
Then, a second voice broke through the veil—deep, calm, heavy with ancient authority.
[Clark, do not fight him.]
Clark froze.
'Jor-El…? Are you insane? You want me to let this thing in?'
[Yes. Only for a moment. His power needs an opening to be exposed. If you resist, you'll only prolong the inevitable. If you yield, you'll have a chance to destroy him.]
The shadows already closed around his mind, choking memories, erasing thought. Clark clenched his teeth.
'Let him in… how can I trust this? What if I can't come back?'
[You won't have a choice. It's the only way. Or the world will be his. I know him, my son. I know the destruction he brings. Open the door.]
Clark's heartbeat thundered in heavy bursts. His vision wavered, Diana's face fading behind the dark veil.
'Damn it… this could kill me. Or worse.'
He drew a deep breath, every fiber of his body screaming against the decision. But at last, he dropped the barrier.
The impact was instant.
WHUMMM
Darkness surged in completely, a tidal wave of chaos. Every cell burned, every memory violated by echoes that weren't his. Clark's body trembled, muscles convulsing, as if redrawn by unseen hands.
Barbatos' grin widened across Bruce's face.
"You are mine."
The fortress shook, stones shrieking in resonance. The air filled with shards of black energy, each fragment vibrating like a blade ready to slice reality apart.
Clark staggered, mind crushed beneath the entity's weight. And then, deep within the darkness, Jor-El's voice echoed one last time.
[Goodbye, my son. You must finish what I began. Throw him into the Sun. It's the only eternal prison.]
The words struck like a verdict. There was no warmth in them—only the firmness of legacy.
The darkness advanced another step, claiming Clark's body. But something changed.
Barbatos stopped. His smile froze. The devouring shadows halted, as if sealed mid-motion.
Clark slowly lifted his face. His glowing red eyes didn't tremble. Instead of clinging to Jor-El's farewell, his mind followed a different path.
'I'm not wasting time with goodbyes. If there's a way to end this, it's right here.'
His vision pierced flesh and shadow. X-ray sight traced Bruce's body layer by layer until a crystalline gleam shone through the dark.
'Found it.'
The Water Crystal pulsed, hidden beneath the reinforced cloak. Its glow wasn't drowned by shadow, merely concealed.
Clark didn't hesitate. His free hand moved with brutal speed, ignoring the resistance of darkness.
CLACK
His fingers reached the artifact. The contact burned like liquid ice, but he didn't let go. With a violent pull, he tore the crystal from Bruce's robes.
Barbatos' body shuddered, the dark gaze flickering for a moment.
Clark didn't wait.
"Diana!"
His voice rang clear, cutting through dust and silence.
He hurled the crystal in a sharp arc.
FWWOOSH
The object blazed bright blue as it crossed the hall, the very air vibrating around it. Diana advanced, shield raised, arm trembling from effort.
CLANG
The crystal struck the golden metal and slid into her hand. She caught it firmly, feeling the strange weight and the pulse of energy under her skin.
Clark's mouth curved faintly.
'First part—done.'
The grip of darkness still held his arm, but he no longer needed restraint. The target wasn't just the body—it was the entity's prison.
He stared at Bruce—or what was left of him behind Barbatos.
"You're not winning here."
Barbatos tried to react, Bruce's face twisted in fury. But without the crystal, the shadows faltered like broken chains.
Clark seized the enemy by the chest, crushing the black fabric in his grasp.
BOOOOM
The hall exploded into dust and fragments as he shot upward through the ceiling. The mountain roared in protest, but nothing could stop the ascent.
The Sky over the Himalayas
The explosion hurled stones in every direction as Clark burst from the fortress, dragging Barbatos with him. The thin air screamed, the pressure crushed, yet Kryptonian strength held.
WHOOOSH
They tore through the clouds. The freezing wind gave way to thin air, then to the silent vacuum. The planet shrank below, a distant blue sphere.
Clark didn't look back. His gaze stayed locked ahead—on the golden light growing larger with every heartbeat.
The Sun.
Barbatos' shadows convulsed, shards of darkness flailing in desperation, trying to scatter across space. But Clark's grip was unbreakable, crushing the vessel's chest as if even the void couldn't divide them.
ZZZMMM
His body sparked in blue and gold, the Speed Force fusing with solar power radiating from the star ahead. He was a living arrow, a burning comet on a collision course with eternal fire.
The Sun expanded before his eyes—not a point anymore, but a blazing wall, an ocean of convulsing plasma. Heat devoured space itself, and Clark's skin drank it in, strengthening every fiber of his being.
He didn't ease up. Didn't slow down. He only dove deeper.
WHUMMM
The impact came as absolute silence. The star swallowed them whole, a sea of light erasing shadows, dissolving every trace that fought against it.
Bruce's body convulsed, but Clark didn't avert his eyes. Solar fire burned through everything, and even darkness itself turned to dust.
Pressure. Heat. Light. None of it an enemy to him. It was home. Fuel. Power.
He released the body only when there was nothing left to hold. The void that remained was consumed by the Sun, erased forever within its blazing heart.
He closed his eyes, feeling the fury of flames wash over his skin, the silent roar of plasma rippling through every cell. Rage pulsed with the heat.
"Disappear already, you son of a bitch."
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