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The monitors in the Watchtower central chamber sounded with faint static, Batman's cowl-lit face staring through the screen. His voice was even, sharp.
"Yes," he began, his eyes narrowing beneath the shadows of his mask. "Just like you've heard. Kryptonians. And this isn't a wild guess, Clark, unless…"
His gloved hand moved out of frame, then returned holding something sleek, metallic, and alien in design. A weapon, angular, its core marked with a sinister glow.
Superman's expression shifted immediately, brows tightening, his eyes narrowing.
Batman raised it slightly toward the camera. "This is no ordinary weapon. It projects a concentrated pulse of solar radiation, not from our sun, but tuned to mimic the exact frequency of a red sun emitter. In other words…" his voice dipped lower, steady as stone, "it strips you of everything that makes you Superman. No strength. No flight. No invulnerability. No heat vision. You're reduced to flesh and bone. Weaker, even, because your body has become dependent on yellow sun radiation."
Clark's eyes widened, a flicker of alarm breaking through the calm. His jaw set tight. "…Red sun radiation." His voice was quieter now, almost grave.
"You know exactly what that does to you." Batman didn't blink. "Your homeworld's sun was red, 'Rao' wasn't it? The planet Krypton itself kept your people grounded. No gods. No titans. Just mortals with advanced science."
Clark exhaled slowly, his cape shifting in the artificial breeze of the Watchtower vents. "…Yes. That's right."
Batman leaned back in his chair, letting the silence linger for a moment before cutting it with another blow. "This weapon was used on Kara."
Clark's head snapped up instantly, eyes glowing faintly as his voice rose. "Kara?!" The urgency in his tone was sharp, raw. "Where is she? Is she alright?"
Batman raised a gloved hand, steady, calming but firm. "She's fine. This only depowers you for a small period of time, she is alive. Arthur was there, he kept it from turning into something worse." His voice sharpened on the next part. "Other than that poor judge. He didn't make it. But that man was already under my radar. His corruption wasn't subtle."
Clark's shoulders eased slightly at Kara's mention of safety, but his jaw was still tight. "And this weapon… it ended up in the hands of?"
Batman's cowl dipped in a slow nod. "Black Mask but not by chance. I did some digging. Someone, an unknown supplier placed it in the hands of Gotham's trash. Men like Roman Sionis. Thugs who couldn't have dreamed of building this tech. They were given one directive: kill you. Maybe your cousin, too."
Superman's fists clenched at his sides. "Bruce, that isn't exactly new. Many have tried to kill us. Every week another alien warlord, another weapon syndicate. Why is this so different?"
Batman's eyes narrowed like a blade unsheathing. "Haven't you noticed already?"
Superman's silence was answer enough.
"Look closer," Batman pressed, his voice cutting through the static of the transmission. "I know I'm just a face on a monitor, but you can see it, Clark. The alloys. The circuitry. The design. This isn't human craftsmanship." His hand tilted the weapon under the cave's dim light, exposing ridged etchings in its plating. "This is Kryptonian technology. Without a doubt."
The words hit like stone against steel. Clark's lips parted slightly, his chest tightening as his mind spun through recognition, denial, and the weight of possibility. "…No. That's.."
"Yes." Batman's interruption was immediate, like a hammer to his doubt. "Don't tell yourself otherwise. It matches too closely with what you keep hidden in that fortress of yours."
For the first time in the exchange, Batman's tone softened not out of kindness. He leaned forward into the glow of the monitor.
"And there's something else. Something I remembered. Something you told me yourself a long time ago." His gaze was unblinking, piercing. "About the prisoners your people couldn't contain. Criminals too dangerous to execute, too corrupt to release. The ones banished into that place you called…"
Batman paused just enough to let the weight settle.
"…the Phantom Zone."
Clark's expression hardened, his throat tightening, as if the very name awoke a shadow of memory buried deep. His voice came low but with hint of disbelief.
"You're implying…" He turned, his blue eyes narrowing. "…that those prisoners.. banished to the Phantom Zone somehow escaped? And that they're managed to get here, right under our noses on Earth, with a mission to destroy me… and Kara?"
Batman's answer was immediate and flat. "Yes."
Clark's jaw tensed, his shoulders squaring. For all his strength, all his certainty, he wanted Bruce to be wrong. He wanted him to be exaggerating. But Batman's tone left no room for that.
Bruce continued, His gloved hand flicked across the surface of his computer, shifting images of Kryptonian glyphs, interdimensional readings, and faint energy signatures. His voice was even, detached, as though he were delivering a report instead of speaking about Clark's life.
"The Phantom Zone can be opened and closed. It's not a prison forged by the gods...it's a dimension. Complicated, hostile, unstable but still just a dimension. And dimensions can be breached with the right tools. Someone gave them that opportunity. Someone set them free."
Superman's brows furrowed, his hands curling into fists.
He had no answer.
And Batman could see it in his silence. His voice cut in, quiet but sharp.
"The question isn't only why they want you dead. That much is obvious. The question is what comes after. What their true endgame is. And more importantly who had the means, and the motive, to let them out."
Clark exhaled slowly, the weight of Krypton pressing against his chest all over again. He stared at the floor, the crest on his chest catching the dim light of the Watchtower. For the first time in a long while, the Man of Steel had no words.
Batman's gaze lingered on him, cold and calculating, "This might get ugly, Clark. And make no mistake...you are one of us. We won't allow that to happen to you or Kara."
For a heartbeat, the grim atmosphere cracked. Clark blinked at him, and then, surprisingly, a warm laugh rolled from his chest. It wasn't dismissive, it was genuine.
"Glad to hear you say that, Bruce," he said with a faint smile. His voice softened, a note of gratitude threading through it. "I'll tell you everything I know about those prisoners...their names, their crimes, other than that I can't provide anymore help for that is all I know. Come to my base. And bring that weapon."
At that, J'onn J'onzz finally stirred from his silence. His calm voice filled the chamber.
"I will remain here in the Watchtower. If there is an anomaly, if anything stirs on Earth or above it, I will find it. Too many slip through our radars of late. That cannot continue."
Clark inclined his head to the Martian, his tone warm. "I appreciate that, J'onn. More than you know."
He turned, taking a step toward the exit. His cape swayed with his stride, but before he left, he stopped. His hand lingered on the doorframe, and he glanced back.
His voice was softer now, but it carried something deeper a quiet plea.
"And Bruce… don't tell Kara about this."
Batman's eyes narrowed slightly. Clark continued.
"She saw Krypton die. She lived its fall in a way I didn't. She remembers those prisoners, not as rumors or faces in history books, she knows them by face. If she knew they were free… she wouldn't sleep. She wouldn't smile. She'd shoulder the same burden I've carried since the day I put on this symbol."
His gaze turned back toward the Earth below, its oceans shimmering like fragments of home. His voice grew firmer, steadier,the voice of hope itself.
"I don't want that for her. Not now. She deserves to live, to laugh, to feel like this world is more than just another battlefield but as a home. Lately, she's been smiling a lot again. That smile is worth protecting as much as this planet, as much as every soul on it. If I can shield her from this shadow, even for a little while… I will."
The silence that followed was heavy, but it wasn't empty. Batman studied him, and finally, he spoke.
"Understood."
Superman gave a small, grateful nod. Then, without another word, he stepped forward. A moment later, the Watchtower shuddered with the crack of a sonic boom, and the Man of Steel was gone leaving only the faint echo of his promise in the silence.
J'onn's gaze lingered on the window, Earth turning slowly beneath them. His voice was quiet, contemplative.
"He carries more than he lets on."
Batman said nothing, and simply ended the call.
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want