The confusion in Reign's eyes was short-lived. The crack in her crystal pulsed with an unstable light, and with it came a renewed rage, wilder and more uncontrollable than before.
"Yes... Yes, I am free!" she screamed, her voice tearing through the sky. The surrounding buildings vibrated, the remaining windows shattering under the power of her cries. "Now I can do what I want!"
Utopian, who had hoped to sow doubt, felt a chill run down his spine. He may have made a terrible mistake.
"And what is it you want, now?" he shouted, trying to buy time as he felt his own energy reserves, not fueled by a yellow sun, beginning to wane under the assault.
A twisted, insane smile lit up Reign's face.
"Kill the last son of El," she roared, pointing an accusatory finger at the sky as if Superman were hiding there. "And begin my conquest. That is my purpose. My reason for being."
"Why?" Utopian insisted, dodging a heat ray that vaporized a satellite dish behind him. "You're free now! You can choose!"
Their fists collided again in a blinding flash. The impact was so violent that the streets below cracked. Utopian grimaced. The blow had hurt him. Really hurt. Without solar energy, his body wasn't regenerating strength as fast as he was spending it. He was exhausting himself.
"The program gives us simple directives!" she replied, her laughter ringing like a death knell. "Kill. Conquer. Destroy. The rest is just noise. Now that nothing holds me back... nothing can stop me!"
She intensified her assault, her attacks becoming more brutal, more chaotic. She was no longer just trying to defeat him, but to level everything around her. She hurled an entire building at Utopian, who had to use the little energy he had left to vaporize it mid-air, protecting the civilians below. Dust and debris formed a choking cloud.
It was then that a weak but determined voice sounded in Utopian's communicator. It was Dr. Klein, from the wreckage of the lab.
"Utopian! I've... I've found something! The containment schematics! The flaw in her crystal... it created a breach in her defenses, but it also reawakened the container's homing signal! I can reopen the portal to the Phantom Zone, but I need to keep her in place!"
Utopian, his body bruised and panting, looked at Reign as she began gathering energy between her hands for a devastating blow. He knew he couldn't stop her by force. Not like this.
"Do what you have to do, Professor," he said in a hoarse voice. "I'll distract her."
He lunged, not to strike, but to wrap Reign in a powerful bear hug, pinning her arms.
"RELEASE ME!" she screamed, thrashing with bestial fury.
"No," Utopian grunted, holding tighter, feeling his own bones groan under the strain. He was using all his remaining strength, not to fight, but to contain. To protect.
"Now, Klein!" he yelled.
On the ground, a vortex of swirling, bluish energy opened directly beneath them. A spectral wind began to pull at everything in its path.
Reign, realizing the trap, struggled with a strength renewed by panic. "NO! I'VE ONLY JUST TASTED FREEDOM!"
But it was too late. Utopian's embrace, though faltering, was solid. The vortex engulfed them both, tearing them from the sky above Metropolis.
When Utopian reopened his eyes, he was back in the laboratory, alone, exhausted, falling to his knees. The portal had closed.
Reign was gone. Imprisoned once more.
Silence fell over the battered city. The battle was won, but at the cost of another lost soul's freedom, and Utopian's limits had been cruelly exposed. He had protected the world, but he felt hollow. He was not Superman. And today, the difference had almost been fatal.