Superman: The Ark of Krypton
Chapter 117
by
Jason Richard
As the dimensional modulator in Kara's arms shot the beam closing the portal Zod, Ursa, and Non zeroed in on her. They unleashed their heat vision, but Lytener, unable to keep up with their speed himself, just barely managed to throw up a red sun barrier at the last minute, blocking the heat vision from hitting Kara.
At that moment Superman flew in from the side and smashed into all three of them, knocking them through the air.
Lytener took the opportunity to throw out another sphere of energy to trap the three Kryptonians, but they recovered quickly, leaving an empty ball of red light where they had been moments before.
Then Zod cried, "Spread out!"
The three of them did, preparing to attack the flying girl from three different angles. Listener flew close to her, shooting Non with a red sun blast as he did, while Superman Punched Zod and blasted Ursa with heat vision.
The next moment Lytener placed a field around himself and Kara, but this one couldn't be a perfect sphere, as he had to leave a space for Kara's beam. On top of that if he got the red sun sphere too close to Kara it would drain her powers and she'd move from her position. While Lytener was able to protect their back and sides that left a hole in front of them open to attack.
And Zod, looking over, knew it.
Superman flew in front of Kara, hovering over the beam. Zod, Ursa, and Non then hovered in front of him. Zod took one look at the portal and realized it was closing fast. The red sun shields generated by the tanks were much taller now that the portal has lost much of its width, meaning the Kryptonians couldn't jump over that shield anymore, and it wouldn't be long before the portal was closed. Zod looked back, his eyes wild and desperate.
"Don't do this," Zod pleaded. "I can't leave my men behind."
"You have criminals in there," said Superman. "Not just the soldiers who served under you but criminals. Thieves, murderers, and the like. Do you deny it?"
"No," said Zod. "But they're all that's left. Don't you understand? They're all that's left of Krypton. I can keep them in line. I swear it."
"Maybe you're prepared to take that risk," said Superman. "But I'm not. Besides, you made it quite clear that you'd consider a coup attempt if you don't like how things are done here, and I'm even less prepared to risk that. Maybe you can keep these men under control as you say, but can you keep yourself in line, Zod?"
Zod didn't answer, but that told Superman everything he needed to know. Zod wouldn't just sit around if the world was going in a direction he didn't think it should go. If he saw what he considered an injustice he would attempt to correct it by any means necessary, just as he did on Krypton. It was probably why he had joined the army to protect Krypton in the first place.
Despite everything, Superman couldn't help but respect that, even if it did make them enemies.
The three of them rushed in, and Superman flew in to meet them. With Red Sun energy at their sides, there was little room to maneuver. Lytener had to stay behind Kara, and couldn't risk shooting a blast past her lest one get too close, leaving Superman to fight on his own.
It became a blur of punches and kicks in midair as Superman thought harder than he'd ever fought before. Superman also had to keep them from hitting the beam, as he wasn't certain what would happen if any of them interrupted it. Sounds of thunder came as rapid as a machine gun as the four Kryptonians battled in that narrow field. Zod, Ursa, and Non slowly pushed Superman backward. The portal was closing fast, and the Kryptonian soldiers within the portal couldn't bring down the wall of red light projected by the red sun tanks, no matter how many rifle blasts they shot at it.
Soon, gaining an opportunity, Superman grabbed Ursa and threw her to the wall of light at his side. She hit the wall, and though she wasn't hurt she lost a lot of energy just touching the red sun energy, and she fell, sliding down to the bottom of the shield, left unable to fly.
After trading a few more blows with Zod and Non, Superman used ice breath in Non's face and flew between him and Zod. Non struck out as Superman grabbed his arm and threw him into Zod, knocking them both into the red shield. They only hit the edges for a moment as they kept spiraling out of control, but that was enough.
By the time they recovered one look at the portal was enough. It closed soon after that, disappearing from the air as if it had never been there to begin with. Zod slowly descended as he looked at that now blank space. He hit the ground and then sank to his knees.
He had failed.
Superman, Kara, and Lytener, on the other hand, breathed sighs of relief. That relief only lasted for a moment, however. There were still three dangerous Kryptonians present, and now they couldn't even send them back where they came from.
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Hey, just felt like saying thanks for reading everyone. I really appreciate it.
Jason.