CHAPTER 54

Chapter 54

"Wha—?! You're burning me alive! I almost turned into a rotisserie wing!"

Garfield's psychic shriek of outrage echoed in Groudon's ancient mind. The colossal creature quickly reined in the raging heat radiating from its body. The molten lava pooling at its feet began to thicken and slow as the volcanic aura subsided, but even restrained, Groudon’s presence was still blistering. It radiated a deep, planetary heat that made it nearly impossible for anything to approach.

"Rooar! Roar-roooar!" The guttural sound carried a clear, impatient thought. (Translator! Garfield, get over here!)

As Groudon trudged out of the magma, each step shaking the earth, the parrot squawked and scrambled backward.

"Screw that! Stay away from me, you oversized volcano! I'm already getting crisped!"

Even from a dozen meters away, the intense heat was singeing Garfield’s feathers. Any closer and he’d be a pile of charcoal. Swimming in lava wasn't a skill he’d acquired just yet.

"Roar-roar! ROAAAR!" Groudon insisted, its razor-sharp gaze locking onto Garfield, brimming with primal confidence. (Then you will be my voice. Go! Warn the Kryptonians. If they do not leave, I will blast them into atoms!)

"You're that cocky?" Garfield projected back skeptically. "You really think this new form makes you strong enough to taunt them? I'm pretty sure they'll just smack you into the stratosphere."

Groudon’s response was a wave of pure, indomitable will. "ROAAAR!" (I am invincible!)

"Alright, suit yourself," Garfield relented with a psychic sigh. "Just don't come screaming for help when you're getting your scaly butt kicked."

He shook his body, the burnt feathers falling away as new ones grew in their place. With a powerful flap, he took off, heading straight for the squad of armored Kryptonians. It was time to provoke them.

"Hey, Kryptonians!" he squawked, his voice dripping with mockery. "Get off Earth, or my boss will whoop your space-refugee asses so hard you'll land in another solar system!"

General Zod turned to Superman, an eyebrow arched in contempt. "This... is your pet? I believe it’s defective."

Clark ignored the insult, addressing Garfield directly. "Your organization is getting involved now? There's no need—I can handle this. It's dangerous here. You should leave."

Before he could finish his warning, Faora-Ul closed the distance with blinding speed and drove her fist into his jaw. "Kal-El, you are fighting me," she hissed. "Stop getting distracted, or you will be killed."

Garfield ignored the brawl erupting behind him and stared Zod down once more.

"You heard me, chrome-dome. Leave Earth. You think your dead planet gives you the right to claim ours? If you want to walk out of here with your pride intact, this is your only chance. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Zod's face darkened. Krypton—his one unshakeable conviction—had been mocked. Anyone who dared insult his world or stand in the way of its revival deserved only death. His soldiers, their faces twisted in fury, glared daggers at Garfield. If they’d had more time under this yellow sun, their heat vision would have vaporized the trash-talking bird on the spot.

"Kill it," Zod ordered, his voice cold as the void. "No one mocks Krypton."

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Three sonic booms cracked the air as elite Kryptonian warriors launched themselves forward, intent on reducing Garfield to feathers and ash.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A trio of thunderous impacts echoed as each soldier was decked by a single, brutal punch and sent flying backward. Garfield’s wings had morphed into a pair of brawny, ripped arms, powerful enough to swat the armored soldiers away like flies. Their high-tech armor cracked like tissue paper under the raw, biological force.

Zod’s eyes widened. He’d seen countless beings across the universe, many capable of shapeshifting. But he had never seen one that could generate this kind of physical power without armor or technology—just pure muscle.

"You call that strength?" Garfield boomed, his voice now a deep baritone. "You Kryptonians hit like toddlers. Get lost before you get hurt."

Superman, picking himself up from Faora's blow, felt doubly offended.

From a distance, Groudon rumbled, a thread of confusion in its primal thoughts. (Wait, what the hell? Wasn't I supposed to be the main act?! Why is Garfield stealing the spotlight?)

It began to stomp toward them, every footstep melting the pavement into magma.

Zod had had enough of these abominations. "All units!" he roared. "Kill them! Fire at will!"

Twenty Kryptonian soldiers leveled their energy weapons. A barrage of plasma beams lit up the street. Garfield, having reverted to a nimble feline form, zipped between the shots like a winged lightning bolt, evading every single one. Groudon, however, didn’t even flinch. The beams struck its rock-solid hide and scattered like sparks, its crimson armor completely immune to the heat.

Its golden eyes gleamed. The ground beneath their feet began to quake—not an earthquake, but a prelude to something far worse.

With a deafening roar, jagged spires of rock burst from the earth with explosive force. The [Precipice Blades] launched Zod and his troops skyward, their armor cracking under the sheer kinetic power. Seeing her comrades slammed away, Faora abandoned her duel with Superman to assist the General. The damage to their armor was wreaking havoc on their senses, filling their ears with ringing static and their vision with blurred ghost images.

Enraged, Faora turned and charged Groudon, moving at her full Kryptonian speed. But the colossal beast, as stoic as a mountain, took the hit head-on. Faora's attacks, each one powerful enough to topple a skyscraper, barely seemed to faze it. Even when Superman had once slammed into Groudon with his full strength, the creature had only budged slightly. It was, for all intents and purposes, immovable.

As she struck it again and again, the ambient heat caused her armor to glow a faint red, like metal being repeatedly hammered at a forge.

Meanwhile, Zod was adapting rapidly. His strength and speed were growing by the second. He dove back into the fray, and with a tremendous blow, he managed to push Groudon back—by a single step.

That was all it took for the creature to snap.

It raised a claw that glowed like molten steel and swung it down to meet Zod’s incoming punch. The resulting impact was a perfect, thunderous equilibrium.

"ROOAAAR!!" (Seriously?! This one's power just skyrocketed out of nowhere!)

Groudon quickly cycled through its abilities. It had no containment skills, but it had plenty of area-of-effect attacks. It picked one.

A giant, burning fireball shaped like a complex kanji launched from its mouth. The [Eruption Flame] blasted Zod and Faora into a pile of rubble. Zod's armor, already cracked, tore further under the explosive force.

Groudon paused, letting them reel from the blow. It then turned its massive head toward Superman and Garfield.

"ROAR!!" (Why the hell were you two just watching?! Was that betrayal?!)

Garfield rolled his eyes. "You wanted me to walk into that furnace? I'd rather be stir-fried, thanks."

Superman, frankly, was just stunned. The massive red titan had swatted his enemies around like flies. He wasn't sure if it even needed his help.

As Zod staggered to his feet, his eyes flickering with unstable heat, Superman hovered near Groudon. He could feel its power washing over him, a solar aura that felt like standing next to a second sun. It was invigorating. Zod’s deteriorating condition—the twitching eyes, the unfocused stare—reminded Clark of his own difficult adaptation. He figured Groudon, despite its power, might need support. To him, the creature looked tough, but was likely a glass cannon.

Garfield, however, took a different approach. He skipped toward the Kryptonian grunts still squirming on the ground. A swarm of parasitic organisms burst from his body, each crafted from his own Ultimate Lifeform DNA. While the Kryptonians were disoriented and struggling with their awakening powers, the bugs slipped through the cracks in their armor and embedded themselves into their spines. These parasites would evolve by feeding on the Kryptonians' own power, eventually hijacking their nervous systems and turning them into puppets. Once their hosts were dead, Garfield could collect his prize. Zod and Faora were a problem for Superman and Groudon to handle. The battlefield had been split.

Suddenly, Zod's eyes blazed red as his heat vision fired uncontrollably, targeting the largest threat: Groudon. The beams struck its armor and dissipated into nothing. The creature didn't even blink.

Zod blinked, the beams cutting off. He could control it now. Then, his X-ray vision kicked in. He saw through his own armor, saw his muscles, his bones, his very cells shifting and enhancing themselves. A wild, manic laugh escaped his lips.

"Kal-El… your power… it didn't come from engineering. It's this planet! This planet is a damn goldmine!" He ripped off his helmet, taking a deep breath of Earth's air, only to wince in revulsion. "Ugh. The atmosphere is filth. We will have to rectify that."

"I can help you," Superman offered earnestly. "We can find a place on Earth for your people. You don't have to do this."

Zod sneered. The offer wasn't a truce; it was a profound insult. He did not cross the stars to settle. He came to revive Krypton.

Fury surged through him, amplified by his newfound power. He would show this naive, indoctrinated fool what true strength was.

He turned away from Superman—and charged Groudon with a punch carrying the full, unrestrained force of a Kryptonian.