The Silver Age Descends

Deep in the ruins of the docks, two masses of concentrated biological energy reached critical levels at the same time.

Without warning, red beams erupted from both men's eyes.

The air split with a piercing shriek.

The beams slammed together in midair. The air at their point of impact vanished instantly, forming a sphere of absolute vacuum.

Red light spread wildly outward from the collision.

The entire sky over the East End turned bloodred, and a vast gash tore through the heavy storm clouds.

Gotham, moments ago shrouded in darkness, was as bright as day.

The sea below boiled violently, sending great clouds of white steam into the air.

On a yacht two kilometers away, a gale of scalding mist struck the passengers full in the face.

The mob bosses on deck covered their faces and screamed. The socialites huddled on the floor, trembling.

Every pane of bulletproof glass on the yacht shattered.

"Get us moving! Now!" a Falcone Family lookout roared, grabbing the captain by the collar. The distant thunder of energy swallowed his voice.

At the heart of the clash, the balance held for only a second.

Clark's feet left the ground. Leaning forward, he unleashed decades of solar energy stored in his Kryptonian body without holding anything back.

The boundary between the colliding beams began inching toward Chu Men.

Chu Men stood his ground, his feet planted on a cracked concrete slab.

Blazing beams poured from his eyes too. He had pushed the Homelander Template's potential to its limit.

But he was slowly being driven back.

The stones beneath his feet crumbled to powder.

The red light forced the boundary closer and closer to Chu Men's face.

Chu Men laughed wildly.

"That's it!" His laughter cut through the roar and reached Clark's ears.

"Put some muscle into it! Let me see what you're really capable of!"

Far from fearing the power that could gravely injure him, he pushed straight into it.

Madness. Brutality. Not a shred of reason.

Wayne Manor. The Batcave beneath it.

The energy readings on the holographic screen had shot off the scale. Red warning lights swept back and forth across the vast underground chamber.

"Sir, Superman's energy output is overwhelming his opponent. The target's energy is showing rapid, repeated drops."

Alfred watched the rising figures, his brow easing slightly.

Bruce Wayne stared at the screen, his expression unchanged. His gaze rested on the figure about to be struck by the red light.

He was smiling.

Bruce enlarged the image.

A crazed grin hung on Chu Men's pale face.

"Something's wrong," Bruce said hoarsely. "He's at an absolute disadvantage in raw power. Why is he so confident?"

"Perhaps he's simply a complete madman. Arkham has plenty of those," Alfred said beside him.

"Even madmen have a survival instinct." Bruce stared at that grin, the burns on his back aching faintly. "He's enjoying the pressure. He's practically asking to die. Or... he's waiting for something."

The Iceberg Lounge. A hidden room underground.

Penguin gripped the armrests so hard his fingers bent out of shape.

On the screen, the red light was almost touching Chu Men's nose.

"Kill him! Burn that monster alive!" Penguin screamed, spittle spraying across the screen.

Days of pent-up fear and humiliation poured out of him.

Watching that arrogant tyrant forced back step by step felt glorious.

"That's Superman for you." Penguin gritted his teeth. For the first time, the man in tights was a welcome sight.

He was already planning how to purge the mobsters who had laughed at him.

The East End's territory, Maroni's remaining men—all of it would be his.

At the docks.

Clark looked at the man laughing wildly amid the red light, puzzled.

One more push, and the heat might melt Chu Men's brain.

Clark's fingers twitched. He was no executioner.

His adoptive parents had taught him restraint and respect for life.

Even if his opponent was utterly vile, Clark had no right to execute him.

His instinctive compassion dimmed the red glow in his eyes.

He reined in his power.

Chu Men instantly drove back the boundary that had been closing in on him. His Heat Vision gained two meters.

The smile vanished from Chu Men's face. He stopped and fixed Clark with an icy stare.

"What are you doing?"

Clark hovered in midair, his brow furrowed. "You've lost. Stop."

"Are you insulting me?" Chu Men tilted his head, his voice thick with mockery. "You think I need your pity?"

Clark said nothing. He maintained just enough power to hold Chu Men's beam at bay.

"I told you to give me everything you've got." Chu Men's voice rose sharply, filled with savage fury. "You coward, shackled by human morality! You dare go easy on me in a fight?"

Chu Men burst out laughing again, his laughter dripping with contempt.

"The god of Metropolis? You're not even as good as a killer! Slade knew to fight with everything he had before he died, and here you are, weeping for your enemy!"

"You think you're a savior? You think your hands are clean as long as you don't kill anyone?"

"You're just a wretch who's afraid to face real power!"

"You're beyond saving." Clark closed his eyes.

When he opened them, the red light doubled in intensity.

The surrounding air burst under the strain.

A red beam as thick as a barrel smashed through Chu Men's Heat Vision with devastating force.

It crossed the dozen-odd meters between them in an instant and swallowed Chu Men whole.

Beneath the Iceberg Lounge.

"He did it!" Penguin slapped the table and threw back his head, laughing.

His laughter echoed around the hidden room. He snatched up a bottle and took a long swig.

Liquor went down the wrong way, sending him into a fit of coughing, but he still could not stop laughing.

Beneath Wayne Manor.

Bruce rose and stared at the enormous sphere of red energy on the holographic screen.

The signal tracking Chu Men's vital signs had been completely obscured.

"Is it over?" Alfred asked.

Bruce did not answer. One hand pressed against the console, he stared hard at the red glow.

His instincts screamed danger.

At the center of the red light.

Scorching heat seared Chu Men's body.

Under Superman's full power, Homelander's Bio-electric Field began to ripple violently, creaking under the strain.

His suit jacket turned to ash in an instant.

But Chu Men did not take a single step back.

He stood in a torrent of energy powerful enough to melt an entire city, still laughing wildly.

[System warning: High-tier combatant pressure detected!]

[Host's "do as you please" behavior has encountered resistance.]

[Unlock reward: Silver Age Superman Physique Fragment (10%)!]

The system's voice came right on cue.

Chu Men laughed even harder.

Then an indescribable force appeared from nowhere and flooded every part of his body.

It was the power of an ancient principle that defied physical law, strong enough to pull an entire galaxy or blow out a star.

Even at just ten percent, it exceeded what this world could contain.

The contours of Chu Men's muscles did not change. His skin remained pale.

But the space around him began to warp.

Falling raindrops hung in midair. Broken stones on the ground lost their weight and slowly floated upward.

His heartbeat sounded like muffled thunder, drowning out the roar of energy around him.

Clark continued pouring out Heat Vision.

He intended to exhaust Chu Men completely, then lock him in a special prison.

Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong.

When his red beam touched the figure at its center, something far more terrifying swallowed it.

"What?" Clark's eyes widened.

Deep within the red light, a darker, richer crimson flared.

Chu Men slowly raised his head.

His eyes had become two bottomless, dark-crimson voids.

"Thank you for your mercy." Chu Men's voice cut through the torrent of energy and reached Clark clearly. "But I won't return it."

Boom!

Dark-crimson beams erupted from Chu Men's eyes.

His Heat Vision tore through Clark's red beam with unstoppable force.

The beam swelled to several times its former width and hurtled toward Clark with enough force to cleave the planet's crust.

Clark had no time to react.

All he felt was an overwhelming force striking his chest.

Bang!

The emblem on Clark's chest was instantly charred black.

His body shot backward like a meteor.

He broke the sound barrier, leaving a chain of white shock rings in the air.

Clark smashed through three abandoned buildings along the East End waterfront.

Concrete walls crumbled to dust against his back, and steel reinforcing bars snapped under the force.

Finally, he slammed into the foundations of a fourth building.

The whole structure collapsed with a roar, burying him completely.

Flames surged skyward, lighting up half of Gotham's night sky.

The ground shook violently, and the waves were driven hundreds of meters back.

At the docks.

Chu Men stood where he was, bare-chested.

The dark-crimson glow slowly faded from his eyes, leaving them pure black once more.

He raised his right hand and looked at his palm.

The air crackled softly between his fingers. Even space could not withstand the power he now held.