The instant the bullet struck Superman's skin, the cellular barrier, weakened almost to fragility by the red sun, was pierced as easily as butter by a red-hot needle.
Dark green kryptonite fragments exploded inside his muscle tissue. Shattered crystals spread in every direction along the muscle fibers of his thigh, corroding, breaking down, and killing cells, blood vessels, and muscle fibers layer by layer.
Superman let out an agonizingly suppressed grunt.
His body plummeted straight out of the air. His knees slammed into the shattered marble floor, his hands braced against the ground, and he curled up like a shrimp, squeezing an almost inaudible roar from deep in his throat.
On the front of his thigh, a charred wound more than three inches across was seeping dark red blood.
The skin around the wound had already turned grayish white and dead, while the muscle fibers ruptured layer by layer under the kryptonite's corrosive assault.
The global livestream's comment feed went utterly insane that instant.
"Holy shit!!!!! A Kryptonite Bullet!!! The Golden Armor God of War used a Kryptonite Bullet!!!!"
"The red sun weakened Superman, and a Kryptonite Bullet hit his thigh!!! That combo is fucking brutal!!!"
"He still has kryptonite? I thought he used it all up fighting Doomsday!"
"The Golden Armor God of War doesn't need kryptonite to deal with Doomsday!"
"Is Golden Armor God of War still the right name? This black armor of his looks even stronger!"
"Then Black Armor God of War?"
"Forget it. Keep calling him Golden Armor God of War. The whole world's used to it."
"..."
The Flash, Barry Allen, moved at the exact same instant Superman accelerated.
His right foot drove hard against the ground, stamping a deep crater into the shattered marble beneath him. His red-and-white suit trailed a blurred afterimage