16. We’re Done For

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Before the spaceship had even touched down, Kara had hidden the Doomsday imprisoned in the rear of the cabin inside the Phantom Zone.

She mussed up her hair, then made herself look utterly haggard, her eyes filled with panic. In an instant, she slipped into character.

The moment the cabin landed, she opened the hatch and stumbled out, running straight into three future founders of the Justice League.

As soon as Superman saw Kara, his expression became complicated.

He did not even need to board the Kryptonian ship to investigate. He could sense that the woman before him was unquestionably Kryptonian as well.

After General Zod’s decidedly unfriendly visit, Superman felt almost no surprise upon encountering another Kryptonian. All he had left was a trace of helpless vigilance.

He leaned toward Batman and whispered, “She’s Kryptonian.”

In other words, keep your distance and let him approach first. That way, if she suddenly turned violent, he would not have to worry.

Batman understood.

He had no time to be surprised that he and this alien seemed to share such an unspoken understanding. He silently retreated several steps, a Batarang already resting in his palm.

Wonder Woman also noticed the silent exchange between them. She frowned slightly and began to ready herself in secret.

And yet, when the golden-haired woman—who looked utterly worn out—saw them, or rather, saw Superman, bright light suddenly burst from her eyes.

“Kal? You’re Kal? Thank goodness, I’ve finally found you…”

Superman visibly froze for a moment. Noticing the puzzled looks from his two temporary companions, he opened his mouth to explain.

“Kal-El. That’s my Kryptonian name. But, ma’am, you…”

“My name is Kara. Kara Vann. My father was the younger brother of your mother, Lara Vann.” Kara paused, then appropriately allowed an expression of remembrance to cross her face.

“You look so much like Aunt Lara.”

Superman was stunned.

The next second, he swiftly accepted the existence of a new cousin and immediately became far more enthusiastic toward Kara.

While dealing with the warm greetings coming from across the way, Kara casually tossed out various details about her fabricated background. At the same time, she could not help grumbling inwardly.

How strange. She had already decided not to interact with them, but that did not stop them from actively pulling her into their conversation.

Why had they not added her to the actors’ private communication channel yet? Were they angry that she had acted on her own? Wouldn’t that make it even more important to find out what she was planning?

Surely they couldn’t have failed to realize that she was an actor?

Kara smacked her lips and suddenly found the situation even more interesting.

Wouldn’t it be fun to release Doomsday first and then reveal the truth herself? She could scare them half to death.

“Why did you say that you had finally found Kal when you saw him earlier? Have you been searching for him all this time? And how did you find Earth?”

Batman had been silently listening as the two Kryptonians reminisced. When Kara finished explaining that she was the only survivor from her side to board the ship and seemed to sink into memories, he decisively took the initiative and began questioning her.

Superman glanced at Batman when he heard him address him so familiarly as “Kal.”

Could this bat be deliberately acting close to him in front of Kara, trying to draw her in so he could fish for information?

He had the distinct feeling that he was witnessing the old bat deceiving his innocent alien cousin. He desperately wanted to interrupt the performance, but after considering the safety of Earth, he ultimately held himself back.

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Kara blinked, secretly pleased with herself.

So he was getting anxious after all. He had started probing her.

Outwardly, however, she cooperated perfectly, spilling out the entire script she had prepared in advance.

“When I was young, my father used to tell me all kinds of bedtime stories. I still remember one in particular. He told me about a prophecy said to come from an ancient Kryptonian legend…”

Wonder Woman wore a solemn expression. The Amazons had worshiped Hera for generations, and they naturally had their own views on myths and prophecies of this kind.

Batman had already begun to frown. Although he had encountered an alien who defied science, he was, at heart, still a scientific materialist. Stories about legendary prophecies struck him as deeply unreliable.

Even so, he patiently continued listening. Then, when he heard Kara’s next sentence, his attention sharpened.

“…It was a prophecy about the last knight of the House of El.”

The other two immediately turned to look at Superman.

They had not forgotten that Superman’s Kryptonian name was Kal-El.

Kara went on to describe, with vivid detail, a mysterious and tragic tale steeped in destiny.

According to the prophecy, the last heir of the House of El would lose his home and be forced to wander to another planet.

Like a true knight, he would fight with all his might, using his tremendous power to protect the inhabitants there. Yet because he was too powerful, those very inhabitants would reject him at every turn.

“…In the end, the last knight of the House of El would die at the hands of Doomsday. Only then would those inhabitants realize that he had been a benevolent being. They would weep bitterly for him and mourn his passing.”

Kara pressed her lips together. Even her radiant golden hair seemed to lose its luster.

After hearing her story, the three exchanged looks and fell silent.

The prophecy had an unnerving familiarity to it.

Superman’s identity as the last survivor of Krypton, the waves of public pressure he had endured in recent days, even Luthor’s careful manipulation behind the scenes—all of it corresponded perfectly to the hardships faced by the knight.

And according to Kara’s prophecy, the last knight of the House of El would die at the hands of Doomsday…

Before they could finish digesting the enormous amount of information in that conversation, a tremendous roar suddenly erupted from the direction of Metropolis.

Superman spun around. His gaze had already crossed several miles, taking in the laboratory collapsing in a thunderous ruin—and the monster that looked like some kind of biological weapon.

“I heard them. The people of Metropolis are calling for help… There’s a monster destroying the streets and buildings. It came crawling out of a LexCorp laboratory!”

The moment Wonder Woman heard that civilians were in danger, her expression hardened. Her hand closed around her sword and lasso.

“We have to stop this!”

At the natural way she used the word “we,” Superman froze for a moment. An indescribably warm current stirred in his chest, as though he were no longer alone.

It was hard to believe that only the night before, he had thought of himself as an isolated island in the middle of Earth.

And yet today, he had somehow ended up forming a team with the Bat he had never quite agreed with and a female warrior. Fate truly was a strange thing.

But this was no time for reflection. He had to hurry to the battlefield.

“Take me with you.”

The Batwing would need time to arrive. After weighing the matter for a moment, Batman once again suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and took the initiative to ask Superman to fly him there.

“All right.” Superman nodded, then turned his gaze toward Kara. “Kara, you…”

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He noticed that Kara’s face had gone somewhat pale and that she seemed dazed. After a pause, he suddenly remembered that it had been nighttime when Kara arrived. Perhaps she had not yet had the chance to come into contact with a yellow sun and naturally had not developed any of those miraculous superpowers.

“Find somewhere safe and hide. Don’t try to be a hero.”

The severe lines of Superman’s face softened into a smile, which suddenly shone as brightly as sunlight.

Even Batman could not help taking a second look. It was as though he had only just realized that the Superman on his side could smile as brilliantly as the Clark of another world.

“Once we’re finished with the battle, I have a lot more questions to ask you about Krypton and the House of El.”

With that, accompanied by a sonic boom, Superman swept across the night sky with Batman in his arms, heading straight for Metropolis. Wonder Woman, who could fly on her own, followed close behind.

Before long, Kara was left alone with the spaceship in the middle of the deserted wilderness.

She continued staring blankly in the direction of Metropolis.

She was not actually Kryptonian. She had merely been given a maxed-out body by the consciousness of the world and placed inside it. Naturally, she now possessed the same superpowers as Superman.

She could also see the chaos unfolding in Metropolis, along with the monster that seemed to possess no reason at all and knew only how to destroy everything in its path.

Fuck! It was Doomsday—and the movie version from Batman v Superman!

No. Something was definitely wrong!

The Doomsday she had brought with her was still safely sealed inside the Phantom Zone. So where had this one come from?

And why was this Doomsday the movie version? Was this world’s script actually based on Batman v Superman? But hadn’t the consciousness of the world said that the director here had never seen DC and was using an original script?

Come to think of it, those three future colleagues had been strange from the very beginning.

People working for the consciousness of a world knew that there was no need to take acting too seriously, especially when everyone on set was one of their own and could quietly cover for each other. Only a ham like Kara would seize every second to polish her performance.

Yet these three were acting even more seriously than she was. She was beginning to suspect that the genuine Big Three of the Justice League were standing right in front of her.

Uh…

Surely not?

It couldn’t be that bad, could it?

Kara swallowed and suddenly felt as though she might have taken things too far.

Worse still, she abruptly sensed spatial tremors beginning to ripple through the Phantom Zone, which had previously been perfectly stable. The Doomsday imprisoned within let out an increasingly restless roar.

She shuddered.

Wait a minute! The Phantom Zone was a prop she had brought from headquarters. Once it arrived in a mission world, it needed to be charged with energy supplied by the consciousness of that world.

If she was not actually in the work period she had originally planned for, but had somehow wandered into another world instead…

At that moment, only two words remained in her heart:

She was screwed.

In the world that was supposed to be welcoming a new colleague—

Bruce stayed awake until the early hours, drinking coffee as he worked on the script. Out of habit, he opened the cast list for a glance and finally discovered the name of the new colleague who should have arrived long ago.

“Kara Vann? I don’t remember seeing that name before. Did someone new just appear?”

World Consciousness: Yes, yes, yes! Hurry up and take a business trip to another world and bring back the person and the props! If you don’t bring them back soon, something terrible is going to happen!