Superman's form drifted in the icy emptiness.

His eyes were unfocused.

His heartbeat was weak.

He could hardly feel anything at all.

The pain was receding.

His mind was wandering.

"Is this how it ends?"

He saw glimpses of his life.

His father is showing him how to be strong.

His mother is smiling at him on the porch.

Lois, laughing, holding his hand.

He saw Earth.

His home.

The world he vowed to save.

And now?

It was dying.

The sky was splitting apart.

An enormous Celestial presence towered over reality itself.

The world he had devoted his life to saving was being deleted.

And he?

He couldn't move.

His eyes began to close.

His breathing slowed.

Then

A hand grasped his wrist.

A brilliant golden light.

Superman's eyes flew open.

And he saw him.

Far beneath the Earth, the Vault completely opened.

The complex shook, alarms blaring, energy crackling as something emerged.

A figure, wreathed in flame, clad in ancient Kryptonian and Martian armor.

Eyes ablaze white.

A creature the League had imprisoned centuries ago.

A creature made for one purpose.

To halt the unstoppable.

The figure moved forward. Chains of energy snapped about his wrists.

His voice was low, calm, and absolute.

He regarded Batman.

"You should not have awakened me."

Batman did not waver.

"We didn't have a choice."

The figure gazed up at the sky, at the great tear opening in reality itself.

At the Celestial.

"No," he said. "You didn't."

Then.

He disappeared.

Mark Wakes Up and He's Not Alone

Mark's eyes opened.

He gasped, drew air in, his body shaking, his mind catching up.

He was alive.

But it all hurt.

Omni-Man was kneeling next to him, blood falling from his mouth.

"Mark," his father grunted, holding his son's shoulder.

Mark's breathing was jerky. His ribs hurt.

But he caught sight of his father's look.

Omni-Man seemed.

Scared.

Mark turned.

And spotted the Celestial.

The one larger than mountains, warping air with its very presence.

Its searing eyes regarded Earth from above.

It spoke.

A sound, not an utterance, but a force.

"The harvest begins."

Mark's ribcage compressed.

He didn't know what it meant.

But he did know something.

It was bad.

The Celestial Moves Earth Breaks

The figure in the sky reached forward.

A lone, darkened, cosmic hand reached out.

And the planet itself groaned.

Mountains shook.

Oceans rose into the air.

Whole continents trembled.

The sky ripped open with burning energy as space itself warped.

The league stood frozen in horror.

Batman's fists clenched.

"That's not gravity," he grumbled. "It's rewriting physics itself."

Wonder Woman's hold on her sword tightened.

Cyborg's scanners flared wildly.

"The planet's structure is," he cut himself off. "No. No, no, no."

"What?!" Batman snapped.

Cyborg's eyes were wide.

"The Earth itself is being dismantled at the atomic level."

Silence.

Flash's hands shook.

"You're saying"

Cyborg swallowed.

"If this keeps going… in a few minutes…

Earth won't exist."

The Being That Feared Nothing Imperium Breaks

Imperium, floating above Earth, stared up at the Celestial.

For the first time since arriving…

He felt small.

A being who had conquered galaxies.

Who had slain gods.

Who had called himself unstoppable?

And now?

Now, he was nothing.

His hands trembled.

His eyes flickered.

And for the first time in his life,

Imperium was afraid.

The Last Hope—The Failsafe Rises

A column of golden flame burst into the heavens.

The air was aflame.

The surrounding space steadied briefly.

And then

The Failsafe had come.

A figure shrouded in light, suspended between Earth and the Celestial.

His armor glowed with energy from before the dawn of time itself.

He looked up at the god of gods.

And he did not blink.

His voice boomed across the world.

"Not today."

Then

He struck.

The Failsafe charged forward.

A bolt of searing energy slammed into the Celestial's outstretched hand.

And for the first time

The Celestial moved.

The attack landed.

A cosmic shockwave burst, destroying entire galaxies in the distance.

The League, still on Earth, felt the blow.

Mark's blood ran cold.

Omni-Man's breath caught.

Imperium, a warlord who had never known defeat, gazed in shock.

And then

The Celestial turned its head.

And spoke one final sentence.

"Ah. There you are."

Then, the sun flashed.

And everything went dark.

The earth shook.

Superman couldn't budge.

The darkness that enveloped him was cold and infinite.

He felt himself floating farther and farther away.

His heart

Slowing down.

His breath

Dwindling.

The hole in his chest wasn't just killing him.

It was unraveling him.

As if he was being erased.

And then

A voice.

"Not yet."

Superman's fingers spasmed.

The voice was recognizable.

He opened his eyes and wheezed.

Because standing in front of him, in the emptiness, was a man he knew.

A man who had perished years ago.

Jor-El.

Superman's throat constricted. "Father?"

Jor-El nodded.

"You have to wake up, my son."

Superman's breathing was unsteady.

"I can't," he confessed. "He's too powerful. We lost."

Jor-El's eyes went soft.

"You are more than strength, Kal-El."

Jor-El placed a hand on Superman's chest.

And suddenly

Superman sensed it.

A spark.

Something deep inside him.

Something older than Krypton itself.

Jor-El's voice was commanding.

"You are not finished yet."

And then light burst around him.

Superman's eyes opened.

And his heart began to beat again.

The Failsafe Activates

Deep underground, the vault opened.

A wave of energy pulsed outward, shaking the entire planet.

And then

Something stepped forward.

It was not human.

Not Kryptonian. Not Martian.

It was something else.

A being made of pure, living energy.

Its eyes burned like stars.

Its voice echoed in every mind on the planet.

"Designation: Earth.

Final Defense Protocol Activated."

Batman's jaw clenched. "It's awake."

Wonder Woman's grip on her sword tightened.

The cyborg's sensors overloaded.

"Warning," the AI within him shouted. "Failsafe protocol has no limits.

No mercy. No conscience.

Its sole purpose: survival."

The room fell silent.

And then the Failsafe addressed them.

"Initiating extinction-level countermeasure."

Batman's gut fell.

"That doesn't sound good."

Omni-Man's Last Fight

Omni-Man strained his body to its breaking point.

His fists shattered the sound barrier, each punch cracking the earth beneath them.

Imperium was quick—too quick.

But Omni-Man was enraged.

And rage made him powerful.

"I've dedicated my entire life to battling gods," he growled.

He wrapped Imperium's throat.

And crashed him into the earth.

BOOOOOOM.

The shockwave destroyed city blocks.

Omni-Man didn't slow.

Didn't hesitate.

He cocked his fist, prepared to end it.

And then Imperium grabbed his wrist.

Omni-Man's eyes went wide.

Imperium's grip tightened further.

"You think you can kill me?" Imperium spat.

Omni-Man fought, but Imperium's power doubled.

Then tripled.

Then CRACK.

Omni-Man's arm broke.

His scream of agony rang out over the ruin.

Imperium tore free.

And then his fist buried itself in Omni-Man's stomach.

Blood erupted from Nolan's mouth.

Mark half-consciously heard it.

His eyes opened and fluttered.

And the first thing he saw?

His father was speared on Imperium's fist.

Mark's breath caught.

"No," he breathed.

Imperium turned to him, sneering.

"Yes."

Then he tossed Omni-Man's body aside.

Mark's entire world shattered.

His father wasn't getting up.

Mark couldn't catch his breath.

Imperium moved closer to him.

And then

A blue blur smashed into Imperium at light speed.

Superman Returns

Imperium was sent flying, smashing through ten skyscrapers before he stopped himself.

The dust settled.

And standing in front of Mark

Superman.

His eyes burned red.

His cape flowed in the wind.

And his wound was gone.

Mark's voice shook.

"How?"

Superman didn't take his eyes off Imperium.

"We're not done yet."

Imperium rose from the rubble, sneering.

"You again."

Superman clenched his fists.

"Yeah."

Then he blurred forward and punched Imperium so hard the sky itself cracked.

BOOOOOOM.

The Final Horror: The Celestial Speaks

The fight ceased.

All ceased.

Because the sky was tearing apart.

A power beyond understanding was coming from the void.

And then a voice.

A voice so enormous it shook the world.

"The harvest begins."

Imperium's sneer disappeared.

For the first time… he was frightened.

Superman froze. "What the hell is that?"

The voice went on.

"Earth has failed the test. Life must be corrected.

All shall be reset."

Mark looked up at the sky.

He saw it.

A shape.

A figure so impossibly massive it made the moon look small.

Something outside the laws of reality.

Something that was coming for them all.

Imperium shook his head.

"No," he whispered.

Superman's breath caught.

"You're scared."

Imperium clenched his fists.

"You don't understand."

Superman's voice was firm.

"Then explain."

Imperium slowly turned to him.

And then he said the words that changed everything.

"I wasn't trying to conquer Earth."

"I was trying to save it."

The world stopped.

Mark's blood ran cold.

Superman's eyes widened.

And above them

The Celestial reached out to the planet.

Reality itself started breaking down.

And then

The screen went dark.

Not due to war.

Not due to weapons.

But due to something deeper.

Something older than the very fabric of time itself.

Above them, the black hole grew, stretching the sky, distending space itself into something unnatural.

The stars were vanishing.

Not burning away.

Not being devoured.

Vanishing.

As if they had never existed.

And in the heart of the void?

A shape formed.

Not a ship.

Not a planet.

Not even an entity.

Something worse.

A presence.

A force that ought not to be.

And when it spoke, the universe itself shook.

"Your world is unworthy."

The voice was everywhere and nowhere.

Inside their heads. Inside their bones. Inside their very souls.

Omni-Man staggered. Mark, still weak and still barely alive, felt a cold fear he had never experienced.

And Imperium?

He knelt.

Superman, still adrift near death in space, forced his eyes open.

His mind was failing.

But he saw it.

And for the first time in his life

Superman experienced genuine fear.

The Failsafe Awakens

Watchtower Command Center.

The Justice League gazed in horror.

Batman's fists clenched. "It's worse than we thought."

Wonder Woman's tone was somber. "It's already here."

Flash, still struggling to stand, gazed at the screen in shock. "What even is that?"

No one replied.

Because no one knew.

Then

The Failsafe Vault fully opened.

And from the darkness, it emerged.

A figure, dressed in blackened Kryptonian combat armor, its body glowing with Martian bio-tech implants.

Its eyes blazed with cold, golden flame.

Not alive.

Not dead.

Something else.

Something made for one purpose.

To kill gods.

Batman's voice was soft.

"It's awake."

The Failsafe turned to them.

And it uttered its first words in centuries.

"Target identified. Celestial entity approaching."

It lifted its hand.

The air trembled.

The world screamed.

And the sky ripped apart.

Imperium's Fall

Imperium had never bowed before anything.

But now?

He couldn't move.

The presence in front of him the Celestial Entity was more than him.

More than power.

More than time.

Imperium had conquered worlds for centuries, bending entire empires to his whim.

And now?

He was nothing.

The Celestial's voice thundered through existence.

"You have served your purpose, Imperium."

Imperium's golden eyes went wide.

"No… wait."

Then

The Celestial unwrote him.

One second, he existed.

The next?

Gone.

Not killed.

Not destroyed.

Unmade.

The galaxy itself forgot he ever existed.

And then the Celestial turned to Earth.

Superman sensed the change.

The very nature of reality was altering.

He had to go.

He had to fight.

His body howled with agony.

His wound seared with flame.

But if he didn't move at all, if he didn't do anything, Earth was lost.

And so, with every remaining shred of strength in him, Superman opened his eyes.

And flew.

Faster than he ever had.

Faster than light.

Faster than time itself.

Directly for the Celestial.

He had no idea if he could possibly triumph.

He didn't care.

He was Superman.

And he would not allow Earth to perish.

The Justice League rushed into action.

Mark twitched, his fingers stirring.

Omni-Man dragged himself up, blood running from his lips.

The Failsafe advanced, its golden eyes fixed on the Celestial.

And then

The Celestial spoke.

Its words scorched through reality itself.

Its voice was final. Absolutely.

"Let there be darkness."

And then

The universe imploded.

Everything broke.