The sun burned with an intensity beyond mortal comprehension. For five years, it had been both prison and sanctuary. Deep within its core, where no human eyes could ever see, a figure stirred—a man reborn in fire.
Superman opened his eyes.
The heat no longer scorched his skin. The gravity, once suffocating, now bowed to him. The storms of plasma raged around him, yet he was untouched.
He exhaled.
The universe trembled.
With a single thought, he moved. The golden fire parted before him as he ascended, leaving the heart of the sun behind. For five long years, he had let the sun consume him, reshape him. Now, he emerged, more than he had ever been.
His body radiated with an energy beyond Kryptonian nature. His cape, long burned away, was now replaced by a flowing aura of solar power. His eyes, once glowing red with heat vision, now shimmered with the raw essence of the cosmos.
He had returned.
But something was wrong.
As he pierced through the corona of the sun and gazed upon Earth, he felt it—a pulse, an unnatural force that did not belong. A shift in reality itself.
A name formed in his mind.
Luthor.
LexCorp Tower – Five Years Later
In the heart of the city, a monument of steel and glass loomed over the world. But beneath its foundations, in a hidden chamber far below, something far more dangerous had taken shape.
Lex Luthor stood before his creation, his breath steady, his mind sharper than ever. Five years of research, of obsession, had led to this moment. Five years of solitude, of endless refinement, had given him the answer.
Now, it was complete.
Before him, encased in a containment field of pure energy, was the culmination of everything he had worked for. The device pulsed with an eerie red light, its core humming with a power that should not exist.
A power stolen from the gods themselves.
Mercy Graves stood at his side, her usual stoic demeanor betraying a hint of unease. "Are you sure about this, Lex?"
Luthor didn't answer immediately. His fingers traced the control panel, the final switch just within reach.
"For five years, the world has waited," he said finally. "They thought they were free. They thought they had peace."
He turned to face her, his eyes cold, calculating.
"But peace is an illusion. Order is an illusion."
He gestured to the machine. "This… this is reality."
Mercy hesitated. She had followed Luthor through every scheme, every masterstroke of manipulation. But this was different. This wasn't just strategy.
This was war.
Luthor placed his hand on the final activation key.
The world above trembled.
"Welcome back, Superman," Luthor whispered.
Then, he pressed the switch.
And everything changed.
High Above Earth
Superman's return was met with silence. The stars seemed to pause. The air around him felt wrong.
And then it hit.
A wave of energy unlike anything he had felt before. It crashed into the planet, into reality itself, twisting, reshaping. The Earth's very fabric groaned under its weight.
Superman clenched his fists. Whatever Luthor had done, it was unlike anything before.
And it had just begun.
He took one final look at the burning sun behind him. Then, in a blur of golden light, he shot toward Earth.
Faster than light. Faster than time itself.
The battle for the future had begun.