Superman barely had time to cross his arms in front of him before the shockwave slammed into him like a freight train, hurling him hundreds of meters across the battlefield. He plowed through rock and soil, carving a trench before finally crashing into the ruins of what had once been a small ridge.

Shazam, Flash, and Wonder Woman fared no better. The force hit struck them hard, launching their bodies through the air. Shazam slammed into the ground hard enough to shatter it,Wonder Woman was flung backward, her bracers rattlng from the impact before she crashed through a cluster of boulders. Flash was torn from his path, sent tumbling end over end for hundreds of meters until he rolled to a battered stop.

Even Batman, who had been closing in aboard the Batwing, wasn't spared. The shockwave caught the craft mid-flight, warnings screaming as the entire jet shook violently. He fought the controls with gritted teeth, but the force had ripped the wings clean off, sending the Batwing spinning out of control. His jaw clenched as he struggled to regain control of a machine that no longer had any.

And still the shockwave continued. It raced across the landscape like a blade through paper, unstoppable, carving a path of ruin. Kilometers away, a mountain stood tall against the horizon—only for the force to reach it, tearing straight through the stone. With a deafening crack, the peak split apart, the entire mountainside cleaving clean in two before collapsing in a thunderous avalanche.

Silence followed, broken only by the distant rumble of falling rock. The earth itself bore the wound of Max's strike, a scar stretching across the battlefield for kilometres.

Dust lingered in the air for a few minutes then started to clear and revealed.

Wonder Woman who was sprawled on the ground, unconscious, her chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths. Dust clung to her loosened hair, her shield cracked beside her hand.

Superman groaned as he shoved rubble off his body, face smeared with dirt and blood. He tried to stand, pushing against the ground with trembling arms, but his legs buckled beneath him. His chest heaved, every breath labored. Finally, he collapsed onto his back, staring up at the smoke-filled sky, his body refusing to rise any longer.

Flash had fared slightly better, his speed saving him from the full brunt of the attack. Even so, he winced as he clutched his leg, bones fractured where debris had struck him. The fastest man alive was reduced to a pained crawl, unable to do more than grit his teeth and hold on.

From beneath the torn earth, Shazam erupted upward in a blast of lightning and fury. His brow was bloodied, his eyes burning with rage as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. His fists clenched, his cloak shredded, he glared at the fading figure in the distance.

Max stood hovered over the battlefield, his Susanoo flickering, then dissolving into motes of blue light.

Shazam's fury ignited into motion. He shot forward, a streak of divine power cutting across the sky,

But Max only closed his eyes. Slowly, he raised his hands, fingers weaving into a single hand seal. His body relaxed as if surrendering to gravity itself.

Just as Shazam reached him—lightning coiling around his fists—Max vanished.

The sudden absence of his opponent left Shazam skidding to a halt, teeth bared as he had struck nothing but empty air.

"Max, you bastard! Come out and face me!" Shazam roared, his voice cracking through the smoke and rubble. Sparks of divine lightning leapt off his fists as he spun, searching around for any trace of the man who had just vanished before his eyes.

In the distance, Batman emerged from what remained of his Batwing. The once sleek machine was now a burning carcass of twisted metal. His cape dragged against the dirt as he staggered forward, his left arm hanging awkwardly. With a sharp breath, he braced himself against the wreckage and shoved—hard. A sickening pop resounded as his dislocated shoulder slammed back into place. A grunt of pain tore from his lips,

His gaze lifted to the battlefield where Shazam raged, lightning flashing wil. Superman lay sprawled in the rubble, Wonder Woman motionless at his side, and Flash clutching his broken leg. Batman's eyes narrowed. His face remained unreadable, but his clenched jaw and trembling fists betrayed the storm brewing inside him.

The others had given everything, and still—Max had escaped.,

------------

Max teleported seven times before reaching his hideout . He fell on his back with a thud, groaning. Footsteps approached, and he opened his eyes to see his clone standing over him.

"Had fun playing with the heroes, huh?" the clone asked.

"Yeah, it was fun while it lasted. I also killed Waller," Max replied. He raised his hand, and the clone pulled him up.

"Well, at least that's one less pain in the ass for us. God, I hated that woman," the clone said.

"Yeah, I just needed a reason to chop off her head. Too bad she doesn't have chakra, or I would've tortured her before killing her," Max said.

"You could have done it the normal way," the clone replied.

"I find the idea of physically torturing a woman, no matter who it is, very unappealing. Besides, I wouldn't have had the time. That b*tch had a nuke ticking down, and I was too late to destroy it," Max said.

"Must have been a rare sight. I've never seen a nuke go off," the clone said.

"It was. Why haven't you dispelled and relayed the information instead of having this pointless conversation?" Max asked.

"Well, you need to see something first. Something really serious," the clone said.

"It's about the girl from the dream, isn't it?" Max asked, his expression turning serious.

"Yes, kind of. Follow me—it'll make explaining things easier," the clone replied.

He led Max deeper into the hideout. They passed the Gedo statue and arrived at a door. The clone pressed its hand on the door, infused chakra into it, and it opened. Inside, on a small bed, a young girl slept.

"So this is the girl from the dream, my clone?" Max asked.

"Yeah, kind of. But it would be more appropriate to call her your daughter, due to the age difference and the fact that even a female version of you wouldn't look like that. I mean, you have transformed into a female version of yourself before to see how you would look—"

"Just get to the point," Max interrupted.

"Well, the thing is, I suspect someone else's DNA was involved in the mix, though I don't know whose DNA was used," the clone replied.

Max turned and looked at him.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" the clone asked.

"You're telling me that you didn't check the records and data collected on her?" Max deadpanned.

"I was planning to do that after cleaning house, but unfortunately I didn't get the chance. She attacked me the moment she saw me. But don't worry, I destroyed the place before I left," the clone replied.

"You had a simple task, and what did you do? Utterly messed up," Max said gritting his teeth.

"Jeez, man, relax. You're overreacting. Besides, you would've done the same," the clone replied.

"You know what? Forget it. Was she the only one, or were there more?" Max asked.

"She was definitely the only one. The others were just malnourished White Zetsus," the clone replied nervously. He didn't know exactly if she was the only one, but he had destroyed all the others he had found since they were disfigured and not fully grown.

"You know if you're lying, I'll know when you dispel," Max said.

"Yeah, but I'll be long gone by that time. Even if you make another clone, it won't be me," the clone said.

Max glared at him for a while before activating his Sharingan and scanning the girl.

"She actually has chakra—a substantial amount too. Though she seems to be under genjutsu," Max said.

"Yeah, I couldn't exactly beat up a kid. That'd be messed up," the clone said.

"I guess you're right," Max replied.

"There's more you'll find interesting. Let's go to the lab," the clone said, vanishing in a body flicker. Max followed shortly after, losing the door first.

When Max arrived in the room, he was surprised to find a creature eerily similar to a White Zetsu, with green hair and white skin. The difference was its more defined features, glasses, and a lab coat with pants ripped at the knees. It was held against the wall with chains and seemed unconscious.

"Freaky, isn't it?" the clone asked.

"Where did you even get this thing?" Max asked.

"Well, I found it spying on me while I was at the island and decided to nab it," the clone replied.

"It kinda looks like a White Zetsu, but more humanized in terms of appearance," Max said, holding his chin.

"Yeah, I was puzzled too when I first saw it. It has chakra too and can even use the Mayfly technique," the clone added.

"Well, that certainly makes things more interesting," Max said.

"Yeah, though from the looks of it, it seems to have been a human before. Maybe they were implanting my cells into people," Max pondered.

"Maybe. But you should interrogate it for information," the clone said, turning toward Max and seeing him zoned out.

"What will you do with her?" the clone asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. This is all just… too sudden," Max admitted.

"Yeah, I just wanted to kill her at first, but I just couldn't . If it helps, the heroes think you ordered me to kill her, so you can exploit that," the clone said.

"And how did you fool them? She doesn't show any signs of injury," Max asked.

"I used genjutsu on her and quickly placed a seal on her heart to put her in a false death state. Hell, even she thinks you stabbed her. No need to thank me," the clone said.

"Right," Max said dryly.

"Well, my job here is done," the clone said, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Max gained all the memories he could, clearly seeing through his clone's intention—it had tried to comfort him by recounting most of what happened instead of dumping all the knowledge at once. Somehow, it worked. Max sighed heavily, broken out of his musings when he heard a voice.

"How rude of you to talk about me while I'm literally right here. And who's this Zetsu guy you're talking about?"

End of chapter

Sorry for the bombshell, guys! 😅 But this is just how it is.

Let me know if you want any changes. I'm also considering an idea for a branching-out fanfic where the clone actually gets killed, and the story would kick off from there.

Drop your opinions so I can know how you feel about the chapter — your feedback really help.