When the alien spaceship, shaped like The Squid, appeared above Metropolis, armed forces around the world witnessed the astonishing scene via live broadcast. The "meteor" previously detected by aerospace surveillance equipment turned out to be an alien spaceship.
Buildings lit up, people woke from their dreams, and countless experts rushed into their offices in a hurry. They thought this would be the most thrilling moment of their lives—alien beings have truly visited Earth!
But then, an even more shocking scene unfolded: Superman appeared and punched the spaceship to pieces, shattering everyone's fantasies of a friendly third kind encounter.
Superman stood in the night wind, his cape flapping fiercely. The night sky over Metropolis grew increasingly bright, almost drowning him in light. These same-armed compatriots on the skiff were equally shocked and terrified, just like humans.
This finally made him realize that the one who could change everything wasn't the Kryptonians, but him, Clark Kent.
The noise of helicopter rotors sounded, and sirens grew ever piercing, but Clark's thoughts began to drift away. He recalled events from a few months ago.
A man in a plaid shirt walked downstairs with a cup of coffee, raising his hand to greet his colleague. But the colleague called him over and said: "Mr. Kent, there's a letter for you."
"A letter for me? Is it a bill? Why didn't it get sent to my apartment?"
"Not too sure. It could be fan mail. Here."
Clark took the letter from his hand, put the coffee cup aside, and opened the envelope. It wasn't ordinary letter paper he saw, but a faintly glowing invitation, inscribed with "Battleworld Invitation."
Outside the apartment's floor-to-ceiling windows, the sunset resembled a gradually dissolving painting. Clark's handsome profile seemed to blend into the scene. He sat on the sofa, repeatedly examining the mysterious invitation. And the moment when the thought "maybe I could go and see" arose in his mind, he found himself in a white space.
"Oh, there's a newcomer. Are you going, or should I?"
"I'll go. After all, I'm the Superman of the 'Prime Universe,' and it's my turn to welcome newcomers."
The white light gradually faded. Clark raised his eyes and saw a man who somewhat resembled him, wearing similar-colored attire but in a slightly different style, appearing before him.
"Hello, welcome to Battleworld. I'm Superman, just from another universe. I know you're confused, but that's okay. Come over here, I'll explain slowly."
Clark walked dazedly with him, as some seemingly reasonable but actually very absurd knowledge was imparted to him.
Multiverse, counterparts, Battleworld...
Clark asked him many questions, and he answered them all. Despite the detailed responses, it took Clark a long time to accept it all. And the other Superman also asked him some questions, finally showing a look of realization.
"It seems you're still young, haven't met Batman, nor joined the Justice League. But you better be careful, enemies won't wait for long."
"Enemies?"
"Yes, haven't you encountered any enemies?"
Clark opened his mouth but didn't know what to say at that moment. Were the classmates who ridiculed him as a child enemies? Were the colleagues who excluded him as an adult enemies? Were those who discovered his extraordinariness and wanted to expose it enemies? He didn't know.
"Listen, young man. Your enemies have never been the human race. Strictly speaking, most of the strong adversaries threatening you come from beyond Earth. Like General Zod, have you seen him?"
Clark shook his head; he hadn't seen him and hadn't even heard of him. The Prime Universe Superman briefly talked about General Zod's origin and said: "Why Zod comes to Earth varies slightly in each universe. But the same is, he wants to destroy Earth. If you're not one of those very evil Supermen, he'd definitely be your enemy."
"Of course, you have many more enemies, not just this one. Once you join the Justice League, you'll... Oh, wait, you haven't even met Batman."
"Batman?" Clark asked, but after pausing, he said, "I think I've heard of him, the masked freak from the neighboring city."
"That's right." The Prime Universe Superman smiled and said, "He should also be here. I'll go ask others, see if we can contact him; perhaps you two can get to know each other early, convenient for future collaboration."
Clark didn't agree but didn't object either. He didn't even know what his and Batman's respective roles were, why he had to meet him, or why they'd collaborate later. These are all mysteries.
But he soon realized he wouldn't like this guy. Their first impression of each other was very poor, and their first meeting ended on a sour note.
"Oh, don't be like that, Clark." While at Superman's base, the other Superman put an arm around his shoulder and said, "You should try to accept him, learn more about him. At least give him another chance."
"I don't understand," Clark looked at him and said, "Why do I have to get to know him? I think people should have the right to choose their friends. We're not suited to be friends."
The other Superman looked shocked. He gestured and then said: "But you guys... You might... I mean... God, don't you find him impressive? Attractive?"
"I'm not gay." Clark walked away.
A day later, when he and Bruce Wayne were standing in the same instance queue area, Clark decided to initiate a topic that would make things less awkward.
"They say you're impressive."
"Who?"
"The other Supermen."
"That's not referring to me."
"They say all Batmans are formidable."
"Did you come here just to see for yourself?"
Clark turned his head back, took a breath, and said, "They say we'll eventually come together. I don't think so."
"I'm not gay."
"That's not what I meant. They believe we'll become comrades fighting side by side, forming an organization called the Justice League to deal with cosmic-level crises."
"What do you think?"
"I don't currently see you as a good teammate, nor do I see any need for us to collaborate. But I think we could give each other a chance, couldn't we?"
"You're trying hard to appear open and inclusive, but you know you're not. You just need a reason to sentence both me and any future organization to death. If that's what you want, then go on."
Clark glared at him.
After that, the entire encounter felt like a dream. Seeing the villains meet their retribution did not ease the anger that had been pent up in his chest. So when he had a long talk with Batman, he still harbored that anger, viewing his expressions as an act of cowardice. He wanted to do it, he could do it, he was capable of it. Why not?
A flash of white light crossed before his eyes, and Clark instinctively looked in that direction. The searchlight from the helicopter shone directly in his eyes. To the pilot, those bright blue eyes appeared almost colorless. Combined with his slightly angry and cold expression, the shouting voice carried a slight tremor.
"Don't... don't... I mean, put down your weapon, don't resist... uh..."
A dense red glow bloomed in the light. The heat beam sliced off the helicopter's rotor. In the instant the helicopter began to fall, a figure swept by from below, then the helicopter was steadily placed on the rooftop of the nearby building.
Clark didn't fly up again but stood on the edge of the rooftop, watching as the helicopters gathered around pulled back like a receding tide. The sound of rotors gradually faded, and the piercing police sirens suddenly stopped.
This feeling of control brought by his power did not make him feel any better; instead, the anger burned even more fiercely, surging violently. The red glow of the air raid alarm swept over him again and again, sometimes glacier-blue, sometimes Earth-core red.
Clark shot up into the sky, grabbing the last remnant of a spaceship as he ascended. His fellow Kryptonians fell one after another, letting out screams and curses, but were carried by him out of the atmosphere.
Standing over this blue planet, Clark continually surveyed the area. Sure enough, he discovered a larger spaceship in near-Earth orbit.
He flew over with the wreckage, raised it with his hand, and smashed it into the spaceship. One side's engine let out a sharp wail. And when his figure slowly landed in front of that massive floor-to-ceiling window, everyone inside saw his mouth shape the words:
"Leave Earth, or die."
With a "whoosh," his figure vanished.
When he reappeared over Metropolis, the ground forces had already assembled. Police cars sealed off all the nearby streets, and fighter jets began to hover in the sky.
Clark landed on the ground. He gently exhaled, closed his eyes, and raised his hands towards the dark gun barrels.
And slightly above him, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window witnessing the scene, Lex Luthor clenched his fist tightly, veins bulging on his hands, his whole body trembling.
As Clark boarded the prison van, he keenly sensed a gaze on his back. He turned to look; in the direction of the Metropolitan Museum, a woman stood in the shadows, watching him leave.
Diana sighed deeply. Humans, after all, can't act like thieves at midnight, or they'll face retribution. Who could have known that after just returning from Luthor Manor, she would witness such a grand spectacle?
Superman, this superhero who had not shown up in Metropolis for long but had already gained great fame, was displaying his powerful strength in public for the first time. As an Immortal Species, Diana understood that this wasn't the end, but just the beginning—a beginning of a prolonged disaster.
She remembered the missing snake tail again. Some intuition told her that these two matters might be related. However, she could break into Luthor Manor with her abilities, but she couldn't just charge into the American Military Base to witness their interrogation of Superman.
Diana looked up and saw the towering Luthor Building in the dark of night. This modernist skyscraper stretched so far that its top was completely shrouded by the night fog, appearing less like a building standing upright and more like one hanging upside down.
The howling wind swept through the cold buildings; the asphalt road became like the dark River Styx. People and vehicles climbed out from another world, stepping into the fog under the moonlight. In the extreme darkness before dawn, the world seemed to die once, and then come back to life in the sunlight.
In the Batcave, Bruce Wayne met Clark's final backward glance. He knew he was watching him because he could see and hear where he had placed the cameras.
This reminded him that when death gradually approached, those blue eyes watching him did not hold pain or guilt, but a chilling anger.