CHAPTER 161

On that frigid night, an oppressive tension lingered in the air, creating an almost unbearable atmosphere as onlookers waited in bated breath, their hearts pounding in suspense. The outcome of this fateful night remained shrouded in uncertainty.

Superman stood just a few strides from Ace, his attention locked solely on his adversary, and seemingly indifferent to the presence of Lois Lane. He spoke with the authority of a true hero, "You have become a menace to society, and my advice to you is to surrender, peacefully. Spare me the need to make an example of those who dare disrupt the peace we've worked so hard to establish."

Ace held his silence for a moment, then decisively rose from his seat and advanced toward Superman. His response was laced with an audacious spirit, "You know what? Being a menace to society doesn't sound all that bad." The sparks of anger ignited in Superman's eyes, a rare sight for those who knew him well. It was apparent that whatever mind-fucking Lex Luthor had subjected him to, had left a profound mark.

Ace cast a sly glance back at Lois, injecting a dose of curiosity into the conversation. "Is there something amiss with him lately?" He directed his question to her, but Lois remained silent, her subtle nod speaking volumes. Ace continued, "Perhaps you should have a word with Lex to uncover what he's done to your boyfriend." Lois's widened eyes revealed her shock at the revelation that Lex might have a hand in Superman's unstable emotions in ways she couldn't have imagined.

Superman, his patience waning, growled a warning, "Leave her out of this."

Ace, the master of provocation, couldn't resist a dig, "Whoa, whoa, take it easy there, boy scout. Are you afraid I might make a move on your girl? I won't deny she's quite the catch."

"Hey!!!" Lois protested in response to Ace's audacious comment.

Ace nonchalantly retorted, "Relax, sweetheart, I'm just stating the facts." He continued to taunt Superman, pushing his buttons with precision.

Lois attempted to intervene, advising Superman, "He's clearly trying to provoke you. Just ignore him."

Superman, determined to uphold justice, silenced the banter, declaring, "I'm done talking. I'm taking you in, whether you cooperate or not. There's nothing you can do to resist."

Ace, maintaining his calm demeanor, probed further, "I understand your intentions, but what I don't understand is why you would forcibly arrest me when I haven't harmed an innocent soul. Is it because of a bounty or because I'm a wanted man?"

Superman, however, reminded him of a painful truth, "Haven't harmed anyone? Have you forgotten what you did to the members of the Young Justice? You brutally beat them to the brink of being handicapped for life." He took a few measured steps forward, his unwavering resolve echoing through the auditorium.

Lois, still reeling from the revelation, turned to Superman with disbelief, seeking confirmation, "He did what?"

Ace, unapologetic, sighed in exasperation, "Those kids clearly bit off more than they could chew. They went after someone far stronger than themselves and paid the price – a severe thrashing. Should I have just surrendered for a crime I didn't commit, just as you're demanding now?"

The exchange of words grew increasingly heated, and then, in a blink of an eye, Superman vanished from Lois's view. A resounding crash from above caught her attention as she looked up to witness a shattered ceiling. Ace, too, had disappeared, leaving her to grasp the gravity of the impending showdown between the city's beloved hero and the enigmatic anti-hero.

Superman had super speed towards Ace in an attempt to apprehend him before he made any funny moves but Ace countered him with an uppercut that sent him flying through the roof, flying after him too. 

Superman got his balance high in the air and the split moment where he composed himself, Ace drove his fist into the face of the Man of Steel. 

The night sky over Metropolis was illuminated by the scattered glow of city lights, the stars faintly twinkling above. In the midst of this celestial backdrop, these two formidable figures clashed amidst the silent cityscape.

Ace decreased the range of his deflective field to just barely above his skin. Superman threw a heavy right hook but his fist only met Ace's palm as he blocked it, he absorbed the force from the impact then transmitted it to his right fist. 

Before Superman could get his shit together, Ace was already about throwing him a counter. In a split instance Ace doubled the weight of the punch, he increased the momentum of the swing as he mercilessly unloaded it on Superman's jaw.

The aftermath was so powerful that it sent the Man of Steel flying through the night sky and with a bleeding lip, Ace dashed towards him and delivered a second punch, then a third, he clapped both hands together, sealing it as he smashed Superman out of the city of Metropolis, sending him to the mountains side on the outskirts of town. 

He collided into the mountain as cracks appeared around him as debris fell to the ground. Ace followed him at superspeed and dealt a heavy punch to his face, punching him deeper into the mountain as he then assaulted him with a barrage of punches. 

The punches were so heavy that they kept driving him deeper and deeper into the mountain. Suddenly Superman caught his punch, pulled him in and punched him far off into the night sky. 

Beneath his mask Ace had his eyes wide opened, a crooked smile of mischievous crept across his lips, his blood riled up in excitement. He wasn't hurt in any way, nor was he harmed directly but he was finally fighting someone who was strong enough to send him flying off if he didn't harden his defense.

Although his deflective field doesn't repel attacks at the state he had it on but it was dense enough to not feel a thing from Superman's brut punch. 

He suddenly saw red ominous looking eyes in the dark hole he had buried Superman in, the cape hero flew out with a dominant aura radiating off him. He was pissed and was taking the kids gloves off, his lips were healed up already. 

"Whoa, you gotta chill a little boy scout. Now you are starting to look like some kind of demi-god of doom." Ace teased him but Superman wasn't having it. 

He shot lasers at Ace who took the hit without flinching nor did the laser cause him any harm, before he knew it Superman had dashed at him at superspeed and delivered a massive blow to him to his jaw region. 

He grunted as he delivered the last blow, which just sent Ace a short distance into the air.

Superman caught up to him midair and used his freeze breath in hopes of keeping him still for a while, he saw that brute strength and laser eyes weren't working on Ace. He needed to try this option before doing something like that he wouldn't normally do unless it was a last resort, and that was flying to the sun. 

He felt disgusted by the thought of having to go that far against a mere criminal who he thought wasn't that much of a threat to him but here he had bled from Ace's attack and hadn't given Ace anything as much as a bruise, talk less of a bleeding lip. 

He started to question Ace's durability and how he was able to take his attacks head on without getting bruised up but just getting repelled like his body was absorbing the impact. 

"Is he some kind of alien or does his suit protect him from both kinetic and thermal attacks?" Superman questioned his mind.

 "At first when we exchanged blows I had thought he was maybe a Kryptonian in hiding, but as the fight progressed I've come to realize he wasn't and am getting a seriously menacing vibe from this guy, his definitely a dangerous one, a wild card."

Superman kept trying to analyze the situation as he kept up with the freeze breath, he stopped and saw a frozen wall of ice in front of him. He used his X-ray vision and immediately realized Ace was able to protect himself from his freeze breath, but he learned it too late. 

Ace snuck up on him, and grabbed on to his cape midair. Superman turned the moment he realized Ace was right behind him. 

He was suddenly pulled and twirled in a circular motion like a rag doll. Before being sent right down to the ground at full force, creating craters around him as the ground cracked and made way for him to sink into it. 

He felt the speed and force at which he was sent down to the ground to be abnormal for such an average sized body, "Is he that strong?" Superman asked himself in wonderment as he tried to comprehend the enemy he was currently fighting. 

*BOOM*

He felt a huge blast crush him deeper into the ground, it was completely invisible to him and thought it might have been a gravity blast. But that wasn't heard of and there was another shape of craters around him, which proved that whatever hit him was definitely physical. 

The Man of Steel found himself breathing heavily as he caught his breath from his compressed lungs, his anger raging further and further. An average human would have splattered on the ground with their bones completely crushed, like an armored tank climbed right on top of them.

He looked right into the sky above him to see Ace garbed in his signature black and white attire, exuding an aura of calculated menace as he levitated, his red pupils filled with a glint of superiority.

Superman burst out of the ground and flew right at him, wanting to end this as soon he could, never ready to accept defeat.

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