Avery stared in disbelief, unable to accept what had just happened. In his mind, the outcome made no sense. Ever since gaining his abilities, he had believed himself unstoppable—far beyond anything this ordinary planet could produce. Yet now he had been crushed in a direct clash of strength.
Across the shattered ground, David stood calmly.
The earth around him had been compressed into something as hard as stone by the violent impact of their collision. The soil had sunk several inches, forming a massive crater that spread outward across the courtyard. Purple ripples shimmered faintly across David's body like waves of light reflecting off the surface of a distant star. His eyes glowed with a brilliant violet radiance, bright enough to resemble two miniature suns.
The power surrounding him gave the strange impression that something divine had descended into the mortal world.
"Obviously," David said slowly, his voice steady and calm, "you're not fast enough."
That last exchange had forced him to rely entirely on physical strength. Normally the purple glow surrounding him concealed any unusual changes in his skin tone, masking the deeper nature of the cosmic energy flowing through his body.
"What kind of power is that?!"
Falcone and the others had finally recovered enough to stand again. They rushed to the windows overlooking the courtyard, staring down with pale faces and undisguised terror.
The ground below had been crushed downward by nearly half a meter under the force of the collision. The massive crater, dozens of meters wide, looked like the aftermath of a missile strike.
Yet that destruction had come from nothing more than a single punch between two people.
Batman clenched his fists unconsciously. Shock flashed across his eyes, and his expression grew complicated and difficult to read.
"I don't believe it!"
Avery roared in fury.
With a violent stomp, he shattered the ground beneath his feet and launched himself forward again like a cannonball. His body cut through the air at terrifying speed as he hurled another punch toward David.
How could he possibly be stopped here?
This city was nothing more than a forgotten speck on this planet.
"Your attacks are just as shallow as that rebellious brain of yours," David said coldly. "They're too easy to see through."
Before Avery's supersonic fist could land, David reached out and caught it effortlessly. The air around Avery's punch had already begun to tear apart under the pressure of its speed, but David's grip stopped it completely.
David had already tested Clark's current physical capabilities enough. He had no intention of continuing this pointless fight any longer.
With his other hand, he slowly raised something into view.
A ring made from green kryptonite.
"A meteorite…"
Avery's expression twisted in horror.
"How do you know my weakness?"
Under the radiation of the kryptonite, the immense power flowing through Avery's body began draining away instantly, like water rushing out of a shattered dam. His strength collapsed in seconds. His legs buckled beneath him, and he dropped to one knee while clutching his chest in agony.
David continued holding Avery's fist without answering.
The so-called Black King ability Avery possessed worked by channeling energy throughout the body to amplify physical attributes such as strength, speed, and endurance. Under normal conditions, that power allowed Avery's strength to rival someone like Colossus, while his speed exceeded that of an ordinary person by more than ten times.
However, there was a limit.
Beyond a certain threshold, Avery's body simply couldn't endure the strain. If he pushed too much energy through himself without control, his fragile flesh would eventually tear apart under the pressure.
David was different.
"A strong body can sometimes give someone far too much confidence," David thought calmly.
Although he wasn't as overwhelmingly powerful as the original Black King at his peak, the cosmic energy within his body allowed him to boost his speed dramatically. With that energy flowing through him, he could reach speeds four or five times the speed of sound.
It still wasn't as fast as Clark.
But the gap between them had already been reduced significantly.
More importantly, Avery was no longer fast enough to escape him.
Bang!
Avery's eyes rolled back as David knocked him unconscious with a brutal strike. Within seconds, Avery's face swelled up dramatically, red and puffy like a steamed bun.
David casually slapped him once more, venting a bit of irritation from having to travel all the way to Gotham for this problem. Then he dragged Avery's limp body along the ground like a dead dog, the kryptonite ring still on Avery's finger to suppress his powers.
After taking a few steps, David suddenly stopped.
He had remembered something.
Turning around, he raised one finger.
A beam of energy sliced through the air.
Whoosh!
"Help!"
Debris exploded outward from the fifth floor of the manor. The section of flooring beneath Falcone's feet shattered instantly. The mob boss screamed as he lost his footing and plummeted downward.
Batman reacted instantly.
Before Falcone could smash into the ground and become a bloody mess, Batman fired his grappling hook and swung through the air, catching the falling gangster just in time.
Falcone dangled helplessly as Batman lowered him to the ground.
"Do you really think I'm someone you can use, old man?"
David looked down at the pale-faced mob boss and spoke coldly before turning away. As he began walking off with Avery's unconscious body dragging behind him, he threw a few words toward Batman.
"I'll leave him to you."
He hadn't missed the brief flash of excitement in Falcone's eyes earlier when the mob boss had pointed Avery out. The old gangster had clearly hoped David and Avery would destroy each other while he sat back and benefited from the outcome.
David dragged Avery away across the courtyard.
Around him, gang members slowly climbed to their feet after being blasted across the ground by the earlier shockwave. Many of them were bruised or bleeding, but none of them dared to step forward.
They quickly moved aside, parting like a crowd avoiding a natural disaster.
No one wanted to risk angering the man who had just shattered half the manor with a single punch.
…
Batman watched silently as David disappeared into the distance.
He frowned slightly but made no attempt to stop him. In truth, he had no confidence that he could stop someone like that even if he tried.
Batman held himself to an absolute no-kill rule in order to prevent himself from falling into darkness. But he rarely interfered in the actions of others unless absolutely necessary.
Besides, the man David had taken away didn't look innocent.
Avery had occupied Falcone's bedroom like a tyrant, staring at everyone around him with cruel arrogance as if they were insects or slaves. Batman had seen enough criminals to recognize the type.
That man was certainly not the sort of citizen who spent his free time helping old ladies cross the street.
…
Avery had been captured shortly before midnight.
David spent the rest of the night staying in Gotham.
When dawn arrived the next morning, he pulled open the thick curtains inside his hotel room and found the same gloomy weather waiting outside.
Dark clouds hung low over the city, and cold rain streaked down the window glass like tearful trails. The gray atmosphere drained away any chance of a good mood before the day even began.
David walked over to the closet and dragged out Avery's unconscious body, which had been stuffed inside overnight.
The problem had already been solved. Now it was time to return home.
He had stayed in Gotham longer than expected. Maybe it was the endless rain or the oppressive sky, but the entire city seemed to carry a strange weight that made people feel depressed without even realizing it.
"The town is different," David thought quietly.
"It actually feels like home."
The small rural town wasn't prosperous. It was surrounded by endless wheat and corn fields, far removed from the glamour of big cities.
But it was where he lived with his parents and Clark.
Once he transferred Clark's stolen powers back to him, he could continue staying in that quiet town and keep gaining ability points from Clark's emotional fluctuations.
After breakfast, David planned to call home and tell his parents that he would be returning today.
But before he could dial the number, his phone suddenly rang.
"Clark?"
"David, something's wrong!"
Clark's panicked voice burst through the phone.
"Dad collapsed. He's unconscious in the hospital right now!"
David froze.
Clark quickly explained what had happened.
The night before, Jonathan had returned home saying that he had rescued someone during a roadside accident. The family had been happy about it—helping people was simply the kind of man Jonathan Kent was.
There had been nothing unusual afterward.
But this morning everything changed.
Jonathan suddenly began acting strangely. His emotions swung wildly between laughter and tears. Later, while working in the barn, he collapsed and fell unconscious.
"What happened?"
David's expression changed sharply.
His father had always been strong. Even after a full day of farm work, Jonathan never showed signs of exhaustion.
A terrible possibility flashed through David's mind.
Kryptonite.
In some versions of the story, long-term exposure to kryptonite radiation could cause cancer in humans. Lex Luthor himself had suffered from it in certain timelines.
But David had been extremely careful. The kryptonite had always been sealed inside a lead box and hidden away from the house's walls and ceilings.
There should have been no exposure.
"What illness does Dad have?" David asked urgently.
"We don't know," Clark replied anxiously. "He's still unconscious and running a high fever. The doctors can't find the cause."
Clark hesitated briefly.
"But do you remember the transfer student—Keira?"
In the crowded hospital corridor, Clark glanced toward Kayla, who had just returned from investigating something. His voice dropped lower.
"She heard about Dad and rushed over to help. After looking into things, she thinks Dad was poisoned."
"Poisoned?"
David's face darkened.
Was this an accident… or deliberate?
Kayla, who had been resting nearby, noticed Clark speaking on the phone and quickly walked over. She gestured urgently, indicating that she wanted to speak with David.
"David," Clark said hesitantly, "Kayla wants to talk to you."
Clark handed the phone to her.
Although they hadn't interacted much before, Clark couldn't help noticing the genuine concern in Kayla's expression since Jonathan collapsed.
Either her worry was real… or she was a terrifyingly good actress.
"Naamah."
Kayla stepped aside, lowering her voice so Clark couldn't hear clearly.
"Your father was poisoned by something called the Devil's Flower."
"I rushed to the hospital as soon as I heard," she continued quickly. "After learning what happened yesterday, I investigated the man your father rescued. He also has a high fever and the same symptoms."
"So I went back to the road where the accident happened. That's where I found the Devil's Flower."
"What exactly is the Devil's Flower?" David asked impatiently.
"The flower was discovered centuries ago by residents of the town," Kayla explained. "It grew in a wasteland outside the town and was extremely poisonous."
"Anyone who smells its fragrance becomes emotionally unstable. They laugh and cry uncontrollably, as if something has possessed them."
David's voice grew tense.
"And then?"
"Then they die," Kayla said quietly.
"That's why it was called the Devil's Flower. After a brief period of madness, it's said the victims are claimed by the devil."
"Modern medicine can't cure it?"
"All known Devil's Flowers were burned centuries ago," Kayla replied. "The plant requires extremely harsh conditions to grow, so it has been extinct for hundreds of years. The town hospital has no experience treating it."
She paused before adding softly:
"People poisoned by the Devil's Flower… usually don't survive more than a single day."
"One day…"
David's expression hardened.
One day was barely enough time to transfer someone to a larger hospital. Developing an antidote to a toxin from a plant that had been extinct for centuries was almost impossible.
Even modern medicine still struggled with poisons produced by certain primitive plants and animals.
"Keira," David said slowly, "I remember you saying your tribe descended from people who came from beyond this world."
"Is there any way to cure this poison?"
David didn't fully believe her claims.
Hundreds of years ago, before American settlers arrived, the only inhabitants of this land had been indigenous tribes. Kayla belonged to one of those tribes.
Perhaps she was simply trying to reinforce her prophecy again.
But when it came to his parents, David refused to ignore even the smallest possibility.
"I'm sorry, Naama," Kayla said softly from the hospital corridor.
She shook her head.
"Even though our tribe has stories about ancestors from beyond the world, we don't possess any advanced technology."
"Give the phone back to Clark."
David forced down the burning anxiety inside his chest.
"David?" Clark asked urgently once the phone returned to him. "Did Kayla tell you anything? Is there something we can do?"
Clark clenched his teeth.
"I can't imagine what will happen to this family if something happens to Dad."
Clark had always relied on his younger brother's strange capabilities. At that moment, he desperately hoped David would say he had another hidden ability—something miraculous that could cure their father instantly.
"Comfort Mom," David said quickly after taking a deep breath.
"Don't worry. Dad's illness won't be a problem."
"I've already found Avery. I'm coming back right away."
After hanging up the phone, David stood silently in the hotel room.
His father was dying.
Yet in this world… death wasn't always the end.
"There are ways to bring someone back to life."
David narrowed his eyes slightly.
Without even leaving Gotham, two possible solutions had already appeared in his mind.
....
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