But his fingers grasped only empty air as he watched his younger brother fall from the withered tree, tumbling down the cliffside.
"Ah!"
Adrian roared like a wounded beast, pounding the dead wood beneath him in helpless fury. Then came uncontrollable weeping, his cries blending blood and raw grief with animal‑like sobs carried by the cold mountain wind.
"Why are you treating us like this? Why?! Open your eyes, look at me! Aren't your eyes blind?!" he cried, voice cracking with anguish.
Clark watched from within Adrian's dreamscape, tears welling in his own eyes. Was this truly Adrian's memory? In this nightmare, Adrian and his younger brother Simone fell from a cliff, and Simone chose death so that he would not be implicated or harmed further.
Guilt and regret filled every line of Adrian's face as he slowly opened his trembling hands.
Power. It was never a burden, nor some curse imposed by fate. It was a gift — one that could make the world a better place.
If Superman's power was given to those who needed it, then it would be a blessing not a trial. Not only his belief, but a belief others could share.
And his former self, how selfish and uncertain he once had been. Clinging to what power could protect, what it could cost him, always calculating wins and losses. A self so hesitant and fragile deserved to be stripped of his gifts.
Clark didn't know when this event had taken place in Adrian's past, but he felt its weight as deeply as if it were his own. Even within the consciousness space, he could feel the pain.
Saving a cat from a tree, flying with an unhappy child — if that was what defined Superman, then…
Clark glanced at Simone's motionless form hanging from the gnarled branches below. "I also wish to become that kind of Superman," he whispered.
Suddenly!
Clark's eyes snapped open, a fierce reddish glint flaring to life within them.
His consciousness returned. Though pain still rippled through his battered body, his inner power surged once more. The Star Scepter, originally given to him by Adrian, was clutched in his hand.
The Star Scepter. His mind clicked into clarity. Adrian had called it the Cosmic Scepter, a conduit to creation and connection with deeper realms of consciousness.
That was why he had seen a vision from Adrian's inner world while unconscious.
With a storm of thoughts racing through his head, Clark saw Brainiac approaching.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to rise.
With a flash of super speed, he darted forward like lightning, closing the distance to Brainiac. His fist, clenched with righteous anger, shot forward and connected with a thunderous impact against Brainiac's cheek.
Bang!
The air itself seemed to roar. Brainiac had no time to react as he was launched backward, smashing through a wall with earth‑shaking force. Walls shattered, debris scattered, and Brainiac's body carved a deep gully across the ground.
Clark exhaled, sadness flickering in his eyes, then closed them for a moment. His arms spread wide as his feet began to rise. Tiny pebbles and dust lifted from the earth and orbited him as a low wind gathered, swirling into a rising vortex around his form.
He recalled every lesson learned, every moment Adrian had pushed him closer to mastering flight.
He thought of Simone falling, and what that young boy had once longed for — to fly, to soar free above fear and pain.
His fists clenched tight.
Boom!
His entire body shot upward into the sky. This was the first time he flew while fully conscious — a feeling unlike anything before.
He ascended and then turned sharply, banking down toward Brainiac with breathtaking speed. Brainiac, having just risen, now stared in astonishment.
"You learned to fly?" Brainiac asked, shock plain in his voice.
"Yes," Clark said simply, "and I learned it from one of my teachers — just now."
His fist drove into Brainiac's face again.
Bang!
Clark's strength and speed, now greater than before, made him a blur. The air roared around him as he struck again and again. Brainiac attempted to dodge, but countless dark tentacles sprouted from his form, rushing toward Clark and attempting to ensnare him.
Clark's punch drove straight through them, a whirlwind erupting at the point of contact that swept dust and debris aside.
He appeared before Brainiac once more and delivered a crushing blow to his chest.
Boom!
The pressurized air blasted outward as Brainiac was sent soaring into the sky.
Clark followed him instantly, wings of momentum carrying him with incredible velocity.
He punched again as Brainiac tumbled uncontrollably, striking like a relentless tempest. This was the Farmer's Three Punches — the brutal combination he had learned from Adrian, now used against Brainiac.
Blood sprayed from Brainiac's mouth as his body hurtled toward a nearby dormitory building.
Boom!
The structure cracked beneath the impact, stones and dust cascading to the ground. Fortunate that few students were inside, casualties were minimal.
Clark hovered in the air, tracking Brainiac's flight with heat vision as the enemy rebounded from the building and surged back toward him.
Before Clark could adjust, Brainiac struck, sending him hurtling backward through open air. Dark tentacles morphed into relentless grappling restraints, binding him in mid‑flight.
"Ooh…!"
Clark groaned as he activated his Heat Vision, directing it at Brainiac. But Brainiac's own eyes glowed with identical power, and the two beams collided in a dazzling display of scarlet energy, sparks flying through the sky as they blasted upward together — straight into space.
Not far above them, a satellite drifted into their path. Clark tore free of the tentacles and crashed into the satellite, bending metal and dislodging panels. He braced himself against it, and with clenched teeth swung the heavy debris like a weapon toward Brainiac.
Boom!
Smoke and fire bloomed in a cosmic collision.
Brainiac fell fast, hurtling toward Earth.
Clark wasted no time, accelerating with super speed to meet him.
Boom!
Brainiac's body struck the ground, carving a massive crater into the earth's surface.
With a heavy landing, Clark touched down at the edge of the pit. Brainiac lay motionless below. Resentment glimmered in Clark's eyes as he descended into the crater.
The Star Scepter flew into Clark's hand, as if returned by fate itself.
Pointing its glowing tip at Brainiac's throat, Clark stood over his defeated adversary.
Meanwhile in Gotham, after Selina had delivered Bruce to Wayne Manor, he headed straight for the secret underground medical bay.
"Master Wayne, you need treatment immediately," Alfred said with urgency as Bruce struggled out of bed, coughing violently. "Your condition is grave, and I'm not certain how much longer you can last."
Bruce said nothing. He turned his back on Alfred, voice low and strained.
"I need every blood sample available. Hospitals, blood banks, donor lists — find everything. Now."
"Is something wrong, Master Wayne?" Alfred asked, concern etched in his face.
"I have important tasks to finish, and I don't have much time," Bruce replied, eyes flashing with crimson resolve.
Alfred hesitated, then took a step back as Bruce's eyes showed a hint of blood red.
"Master Wayne, you…"
"Yes," Bruce said with heavy conviction, "when Zatanna stabbed me, her blood infected me. I am now turned, a vampire."