Central City streets.........

Bang!

Two rays of blazing heat vision blasted a figure away. The man clad in the darker shade of red and blue was blasted straight through a car, then right into an abandoned oil tanker at the very end.

Alongside the collision, the tanker exploded and went up in flames. Dust and smoke enveloped the area as iron pieces flew into the air.

The red trail of heat vision ceased, and a figure slowly lowered himself from the air with an expression of great solemnity.

Deactivating his heat vision, Clark Kent stepped on solid ground with his gaze fixed on the area of explosion.

Sure enough, a figure emerged from the explosion, his darker shade uniform burning with fire all over.

Nevertheless, his face remained unchanged as he stood within the flames, unaffected.

“Had enough?” Although he didn't expect the earlier attack to do any actual damage, seeing the enemy standing unscathed from his lasers left Clark feeling slightly depressed.

“Enough?” Superman raised an eyebrow, chuckled and raised his hand to dust the spot gathered in the center of impact.

The area where the heat vision stuck with full force was completely unaffected.

“I don't know which universe you crawled out of. But when I send your corpse back, it certainly won't be in one piece”.

Over the span of fifty-seven seconds, their clash had spread a line of destruction through the already destroyed city.

During the Altercation, he had the upper hand. Beating this Earth's Superman with rapid blows while the latter could barely fight back.

Luckily, there weren't any civilians left here who would get hurt in the process.

The thought had barely passed his mind when Clark's mood fell again. Their battle hadn't injured a human life yet. There were no screams, no panic, no chaos due to their actions, but Clark couldn't be happy.

Due to the fact that the only reason it was so was because everyone who could was dead. With his outstanding vision, the numerous corpses all over the place were just too hard to ignore.

The Central City in his earth had a population of more than eleven million. And on this one ......... It seemed like there wasn't a single soul.

So many people, men, women, children, all dead. All because of him.

Unknowingly, the Man Of Steel clenched his fists as he looked his doppelgänger with undisguised hostility.

“I would rather not have to hurt you”. The Man Of Steel had his eyes turn red again.

“Surrender now. While you still have the chance”.

His stern warning was paid no heed. Instead, a pondering expression appeared on his face as he spoke.

“I told Bruce I could never understand how the other Leaguers thought he could beat me if we fought.......”.

Walking slowly, he stepped out of the fires.

“Since you're here. You can help me clear up something else I don't understand. How do you do it?”

Clark frowned. Clearly not understanding what the other party meant.

“Do what?”

“How do you dedicate your whole life, to doing nothing but serving a mass of useless, weak, ungrateful ants who aren't even worthy of the grace you give them”.

The solemn atmosphere, if possible, condensed even more in an instant.

Clark looked at the other party coldly.

“You're wrong”.

“Oh! Am I now?” The wind blew past both of them, causing their capes to flutter.

“Your tone, your voice, your look, the clenching of the fists and that nauseating gleam of Justice in your eyes........ I recognize everything. You're practically me five years ago”.

Those words seemed to trigger something within him, as Clark's face scrunched up into a heavy frown.

“I was raised by my parents and taught to value human life. Something you've clearly lost sight of”. The refute was immediate.

“Those lines remind me of myself. Because I thought just the same. Until my eyes were opened to what these hypocritical humans really are”.

“And you ...... You still don't see it. No matter what you do, no matter how many times you save their lives, it ultimately doesn't matter. They'll always fear you, always secretly wary of you, always despise you. They can lift you up today...... Cheer you as a hero, a god. But that's just a pretty illusion. One that will come crashing down when put to the test”.

“What's the point of valuing beings that have no value? They're worthless, good for nothing. Even when you do things in their best interest, and ask for nothing in return, they'll always question you. While keeping them safe should be worth every cent”.

“That's where you're wrong. No matter how powerful we are, we're not gods. We don't get to decide who lives or dies”.

There was no reply. Silence returned for several seconds.

Eventually, Superman released a sigh.

“I thought I could open your eyes to reality. But I forgot that when our views are set, we're impossible to convince”.

“For once, I agree”. Clark uttered with the last trace of hope he had in making this Superman see the error of his actions vanishing.

Things had come to this, now it seemed that there was only one way this could end.

“I'm nothing like you, I never will be. And you're too far gone in your thinking to see change. With your powers, that alone makes you dangerous. After everything you've done, I can't allow that”.

"My obligations don't end at the borders of my dimension. I'm Superman, a symbol of hope and freedom to all life. Even the ones on this earth". Clark uttered with narrowed eyes.

“So I will put an end to you. One way or another”.

“Hehehehe .........”. He closed his eyes and chuckled, before opening them again.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“You don't seem to understand something. What exactly makes you think that you can stop me?”

The temperature heated up instantly as his eyes glowed red. Following which, blazing concentrated fire shot out of his eyes towards Clark.

The Man Of Steel immediately returned fire as both men's heat vision slammed against each other.

A battle between eye beams emerged as both their lasers clashed against each other, struggling to gain the upper hand.

The stalemate drew on. Until ........ Negative Superman's vision had a surge in power, rushing forward and overpowering the Clark's lasers.

“Ugh!” With his beams overpowered, Clark was blasted straight through a building in a similar way he just blasted his opponent close to a minute ago.

Bang!

Clark's body pierced through the building, his back slamming against a wall, which brought him to a halt.

“Ugh!” His lips let out a groan. That ....... Was unexpected.

However, something even more shocking happened the following second. Raising his head, he was surprised to find that his vision was blurred with red.

'That's......'. Cleaning it off, The Man Of Steel was stunned at the sight of his own blood.

It wasn't much. Barely a drop of it from a wound that healed just as fast as it appeared. Nevertheless, that alone was surprise him.

“Remember when I said you were practically me five years ago?” A voice drew him out of his reverie.

At the entrance of the hole he created, the other Superman flew off the ground with an indifferent expression on his features.

“I meant that literally”.

Clark's brows furrowed. Following which, he blasted off the wall he crashed against towards his assailant.

Smashing into him and sending both of them upwards.

A blast of heat vision was released from Clark's eyes. To which, the other half reciprocated as both lasers collided and escalated out of control.

The two were immediately enveloped in red as the surrounding area was flooded with their abilities.

Dazzling red heat vision filled the skies and exploded accordingly.

Boom!

The explosion caused by their battle could be seen from miles away, reaching the ears of someone walking outside the city.

Witnessing the destruction in the distance, was a frail looking old man.

Those dark green eyes narrowed for a moment, before returning to normal as he turned his attention back to his work.

However ........

'A God ........'.

A deep, distorted voice resounded within his mind.

'One so fearful of mortals'.

The footsteps of the old man came to a halt. His eyes narrowing to the extreme as his senses spread around to see who was speaking to him.

“Who?”

At the moment, he was outside Central City on the desert outskirts.

This place used to be a grassland area, before Superman showed up.

Now, in the range of one mile, there was nothing but sand and dust.

No life, not even sand scorpions, lizards, or anything similar.

'A weak one ....... Yet, one so...... ambitious'.

“Hmm. Look who's talking”. Despite not seeing who was speaking to him, the old God was surprisingly calm. Showing no fear or anxiety at all.

“You don't even dare to show your face before me at all. Playing mind games..... now who among us seems weak?”

'Your petty tricks are amusing. But my intent is not to play games. You know where I communicate with you from, weakling'.

The voice resounded in his head once again.

The atmosphere instantly condensed to the extreme. At the moment, Ares had eyes shining with coldness and unspeakable murderous intent.

“Really? Then show yourself you asshole and face me if you have the guts. And I'll show you that no one calls me a weakling, no one”.

'Is that so?' At that moment, the Curse marks on his chest area glowed once again, bringing about a burst of terrible pain.

A groan escaped from Ares's lips as he took two steps back with unsteady steps, channeling his energy to resist the invasion.

Yes. The voice speaking to the old God came from the Curse Marks that had appeared when he was struck by Amari's chains.

A new round of problems were about to follow.

Wisps of smoke emerged from the curse marks and flew into the distance. When the last wisp emerged, Ares trembled and fell to the floor unsteadily, his body resting on one knee and sweat appearing on his forehead.

Nevertheless, his gaze never left the area in front of him as the wisps of black smoke converged together and spun around rapidly.

Following which, it all settled and the illusionary silhouette of a three-meter tall behemoth stood before him.

'..... You say you are no weakling. Yet, you run for your life and hide in this world from an enemy like a stray dog'.

The silhouette didn't speak. Or rather, it had no mouth to speak.

All words directly resounded within Ares's head, causing a surge of anger to rise within him. He was Ares Of Olympus, The All Powerful God Of War.

At his peak, even Darkseid was chopped by his axe. Since when had he ever been this insulted?

However, the pain lingering on his chest let him keep whatever portion of rationality he had left.

“...... What are you.....?”

'Your Ancestor'. The dark silhouette was silent for a second before replying.

“Hehehehe..... Right. And I'm mother Gaia”.

Hearing the words that were contrary to anything he could have ever expected, The Old God was stunned for a second before chuckling the next.

The dripping sarcasm in his tone was unconcealed.

However.......

“Arghhhhh!” His laughter was short-lived as another burst of pain flooded his entire being. The curse marks that had infected him seemed to have once again received stimulants and began to rampage violently.

'Watch your tone, brat'. Those dark red eyes floating in the air narrowed to showcase their displeasure.

'You might see yourself as a noble, powerful God, but your arrogance ends where I stand. Even at your peak, your power couldn't hold a candle to mine, and you age…. Even more so. For I am one of a race who came before your race of gods were even born. The only reason you haven't been completely consumed is because I allow it. Your miserable existence still has great value to my cause'.

The pain stopped and Ares collapsed on the floor.

All that was left was heavy panting.

“And what cause is that?”

'My freedom'.

Then.....

“Hahahahaha........”. Contrary to what one would expect, with the ceasing of torture, the God Of War immediately began to laugh.

“Yeah …. Keep talking ….”. Propping himself off the ground with his exhausted strength, Ares smiled with a hint of mockery.

“Just look for some other fool to believe you, oh Ancient Being”. His expression portrayed a single question.

Do You Take Me For A Fool?

“I was attacked by that blasted alien with his chain. Got scraped by its spikes and that my friend ...... Is where you appeared from. I know my circumstances well, so I'm not picking up whatever the fuck you're putting down”.

Ares looked at the floating silhouette with disgust.

“Stop playing mind games Amari. You found me, now leave me some dignity and end this”.

Ares was convinced that the silhouette before him was Amari playing mind tricks. After all, everything he just stated was entirely true. As for why would he do such a thing? .......... Perhaps to get back at him for trying to trick him into going after his father.

So Ares stood there with a ferocious look on his face, waiting for his inevitable death.

Only, another bout of pain appeared, once again forcing the God Of War to his knees.

'You do not seem to understand. The chains that inflicted my Chaos Marks do not belong to the one currently hunting you, but belong to me. I ........ Am Loki. God Of Chaos and Trickery from the world, Urgrund. It was from the destruction of my world that your race of Gods came into existence millions of years later.....'.

“Arghhhhhh!” A roar of agony escaped from Ares's mouth as the males intensified, almost covering his face within them.

“...... I am your ancestor. The one who will rightfully rule supreme, and you..... Will do my bidding”.

The dark silhouette uttered emotionlessly.

“Or suffer the consequences”.