Light of Will

There was no sound in the vacuum.

But Superman's agony was a silent scream that hurt to watch.

Clark floated outside the Watchtower's shattered viewport.

The "S" on his chest, the symbol of hope, had been torn open by several ugly gashes. Beneath his bruised skin, every breath tugged at broken ribs, sending fresh waves of pain through him.

Three bat-shaped Shadow Demon fighters circled him like vultures.

Sickly green beams swept from their underbellies like flickering snake tongues.

Kryptonite radiation.

Poison to a Kryptonian.

Each time a green beam passed over Clark, it drained more of his strength.

He tried to break out of the trap, but the body that had once surpassed the speed of light now moved as though mired in mud. The Heat Vision in his eyes had dimmed to a candle's last flicker. It could barely drive back the Shadow Demon infantry, let alone damage the fighters' armor.

"Damn it..."

Superman gritted his teeth.

Another green beam struck.

He twisted aside on instinct, but a fatal fraction of a second too slowly.

The beam grazed his left shoulder. His once-invulnerable skin broke down at once, and crimson blood froze into tiny crystals the instant it met the vacuum.

"Clark, your vital signs are plummeting! You have to retreat now!"

Batman's voice rang through the comm channel, taut with urgency.

"I can't..."

Superman gasped for breath.

His gaze passed beyond the trap to the boundless dark sea of Shadow Demons in the distance.

"If I fall back, this defensive line collapses."

He was right.

At the other end of the Watchtower, Wonder Woman was holding a massive breach alone.

The Lasso of Truth became a golden whirlwind of death, shredding a dozen Shadow Demons with every swing.

But the monsters kept coming.

Sweat covered Diana's forehead.