IM/DC Chapter 229 (Patreon)

Third-Person Point of View

The combination of the universes, a stark reality check when an entire squadron of Green Lanterns was wiped out in a second when they went to help the two gods fight Darkseid, and proof that working as a team is beneficial from the Green Lantern Hal Jordan was why the Green Corps now allowed Green Lanterns were allowed to form a team based around themselves.

That’s why Arisia had made a team to combat the crimes in her space sector 2815. It was also why she was still alive, her teammates sacrificing themselves to buy her and Phantom Girl time to phase into the Phantom Zone. It was something that wasn’t even thought possible and through a fluke, in a life-or-death situation, they managed to survive their own deaths.

Phantom Girl could easily pass in and out of the Phantom Zone, but it had been deemed impossible without technological help before. Now they knew it was possible with the help of a Lantern Ring. Unfortunately, doing so completely depleted the ring, so they needed to find a different method to leave. After exploring the zone for a few hours, they came across the scene of a battle.

The Phantom Zone was mostly barren, only criminals were sent here. Phantom Girl had never seen an entire ship in this dimension though. The damage to the outside looked fresh, any area with oxygen was still glowing red from the attack while the ship was still stabilizing from its destruction. They made their way inside, slowly exploring and seeing the sudden damage the ship had taken.

It was impressive, the readings Phantom Girl was getting that the ship was far above the current standard for ship building. The density of the metal was at a level she had only seen in small chunks of metal, to make a ship like this would take a technological race above the current galactic standard to pull off. There were surprisingly no bodies, at least until they made their way to the command center.

Two corpses looked back towards the two women. Both males, one was thinner, he had a beard, and was wearing far more formal clothing than the other man. Both assumed he was the leader. His body was covered in wounds, ranging from small gashes to a missing arm, his face only had a small gash and it wasn’t clear how he died. The larger man beside the general was ripped in half. 

Both were floating in the air, the command room or ship control room was the location of a battle that had destroyed most of the electronics in the building. They talked about leaving before staying strong and looking around the rest of the ship. This was their best chance at both of them escaping from the Phantom Zone.

It was as if the ship was abandoned before it could be filled, everywhere was completely empty and unmanned. At least until they made their way to the living quarters of the ship, both started to hear the sounds of fighting as more than one woman was grunting out and the sounds of flesh slapping on flesh were so loud it could have popped the eardrums of weaker races. They both gulped as Phantom Girl moved forward to open the door while Arisia prepared the last bit of her Lantern charge for the upcoming fight.

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I had been on the lookout for more Kryptonians. I knew Brainiac had that shrunken-down city and that was my method for finding him, but to my pleasant surprise, I got a ping from a different dimension. I went inside and immediately knew it was the Phantom Zone. As I looked at the ship I couldn’t help but smile as I had found a person I was looking for. I found Zod, and now I can kill him.

The fight wasn’t even a fight. There were four Kryptonians, two men and two women. The sense of superiority of Zod oozed from every pour of his body as I looked at them. I could have done so much to finish them off, toss them into a red star, destroy their food stores, hell, even just tossing them into a separate secondary pocket Phantom Zone would be the end of them. But I gave them a chance and fought them physically.

Two men became one as I started the fight by ripping Nam in half. He was the biggest and just as strong as Zod, removing him from the equation was my best bet on making things play out the way I wanted them to. Ursa and Faora Hu’Ul came at me next. Both were shocked at my sudden appearance and the death of their friend/lover but I didn’t much care for them. Both weren’t immune to magic and as I put down a portal between me and them I also put them to sleep so they’d fly through unconscious.

They were fine in the sleeping quarters of the ship for now. This way I could play with Zod to my heart's content. He was a pushover compared to Superman, the reason Superman was so strong is he bathed in the Sun’s solar rays his entire life. In all categories Superman was a peak Kryptonian, having higher peak stats and a bigger solar battery than any other Kryptonian to exist.

I let him hit me, it was something I disliked doing, but I wanted him to feel helpless before I killed him. Every strike he’d throw in my direction, I’d retaliate in a similar way. A punch to my face left a cut on his cheek, and a kick towards my groin left him impotent as I destroyed his manhood with a similar blow. He tried to throw me by grappling my arm, so I removed his.

He didn’t die clean. Slowly with each retaliation, he could do less and less to me. Eventually, he looked in my direction, completely defeated as he begged for his life. “Spare me, spare me and I’ll ser-.” I punched him in the chest as I felt his body cave in. The fight wasn’t long, possibly less than a minute but it meant a lot to me. Now, why did I go all out against Zod when I normally just kill my enemies and be done with it?

Because I was a child once. As a child, I still rooted for Superman, until he fought against Zod who beat him with numbers. I remember feeling sick as a child as the hero I idolized was beaten, not because he wasn’t the strongest, but because the other guy just didn’t fight fairly. In the movie, Superman didn’t win by beating them, he won by tricking them. He depowered them instead of himself, otherwise he’d have lost. 

It bothered me for years after seeing it and I didn’t realize it was changing characteristics in me from then on. The child who thought that good could never lose died and a different child took his place. Win by any means necessary, win no matter what it takes because even the man of steel has to trick enemies stronger than himself. Using underhanded tactics is fine, especially if the person isn’t as morally good as you.