Chapter 63

"What's missing to make this scene perfect is the cape," a voice cut through the somber air. Everyone turned to see Ashborn calmly walking over, holding Superman's cape in his hands.

"Where were you?" Batman asked through gritted teeth. Most of the League was down, beaten, and barely clinging to consciousness or life.

"I was in Florida. I have this friend who was teaching me how to surf," Ashborn said as he calmly walked over to Superman's side. "I got here as fast as I could once I heard what was happening… but I was too late."

He had disabled the nearby cameras, he couldn't let the world see that he was failing as the new leader of the Justice League.

"I'm guessing this happened because I was pulled out of the picture. It's like Superman was fated to die, and I was just conveniently out of reach to make sure it happened," Ashborn muttered while checking Superman's vitals. He was truly dead.

He ignored Lois's tear-filled stare, silently questioning his words, desperate for answers he wasn't going to give.

"Behind you!" Batman shouted, eyes widening as Doomsday stood up. The spear had been pulled from his chest—Superman had missed the heart. Now, Doomsday loomed, glaring down at Ashborn.

But Ashborn didn't even turn his head.

"Should I kill it," Ashborn asked calmly, still focused on Superman, "or let it live as a training puppet for the League?"

Batman remained tense for a second longer, until he noticed Ashborn's complete lack of concern. That ease… it was enough to put Batman at ease somewhat.

"Forget it… I have a feeling he's connected to the Darkness somehow," Ashborn said as Doomsday's fist shot toward his back.

A portal opened just behind Ashborn. The fist entered it, and instantly, another portal opened beside Doomsday's face. His own punch came flying out, the sharp spike on his knuckles stabbing straight into his head… killing him.

"Once I deal with this body, I'll return to check on the League. Make sure those with serious injuries stay alive until then," Ashborn said, lifting Doomsday effortlessly onto his shoulder.

"Why can't you just do it now?" Batman asked, frustration in his voice. He wanted answers.

"Because I don't know how this universe's Doomsday works," Ashborn replied. "Will the body come back to life? Or is there some planet out there where he'll just reform and adapt to whatever killed him? I need to figure that out to make sure Doomsday 2.0 doesn't come knocking."

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Which means I need to scan this entire universe—hard, complex stuff… now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't have killed him before getting that information."

With that, he burst into the sky and vanished.

.He doesn't want the public to know he uses dark power,' Batman thought, eyes narrowing. But after a moment, he looked at Lois, then turned and ran to check on the rest of the League. Superman was gone—and Batman knew the last thing he'd want was for anyone to waste time mourning while others were still at death's door.

'Looks like you won't respawn… what a shame. I would've loved to fuse an army of Doomsdays together.' Standing on the moon, Ashborn gazed out at the universe, slightly disappointed by his discovery.

'No… this is better,' he thought, a smirk forming. 'I can fuse the Hulk, Doomsday… and who else?' His eyes lit up with excitement. This fusion is going to need a Red Lantern Ring to top it off.

"Arise," Ashborn commanded, and with a flash of darkness, Doomsday's body stirred—now kneeling before him as a shadow soldier.

'With Superman dead, things should start moving,' Ashborn thought. 

'Hopefully, the next wave of events pushes Lex Luthor to join the League. If not… I wouldn't mind making Bright Mind even smarter.'With that, he teleported back to Earth and began healing the Justice League, one member at a time.

Did Ashborn bring back those who died?

No.

Because even though Ashborn was playing the role of The Justice League leader, he was by no means a hero. He wasn't doing any of this out of the kindness of his heart—he was helping them purely for his own safety.

As cruel as it might seem, letting those lives stay lost would serve the multiverse better. Their deaths would be a wake-up call—a painful reminder that failure has real consequences. But if Ashborn simply brought everyone back, the League might start to believe they had a safety net… that he would always be there to undo their mistakes.

This also applied to Superman… but in his case, Ashborn expected him to die. Just not for long.

Superman's death was part of what Ashborn had foreseen, but his return wasn't guaranteed. With the Light losing to the Darkness, there was a real possibility that, this time, the dead might not come back. That meant Ashborn would have to personally make sure Superman's recovery went smoothly.

In the days that followed, the world felt dimmer.

Superman's funeral was held, and people from every corner came forward with stories—stories of how Superman had saved their lives, helped fix their cars, found their lost pets, or even broken into their homes to rescue them from abusive situations. The man had done it all, and now he was gone, leaving the world to realize just how much Superman have given them.

When things got hard, the world called out to Superman—and he always answered. No matter the threat, no matter the odds, Superman would show up and put his body on the line to shield them.

Now, he was gone. And in his absence, the world felt smaller… and weaker.

One day later

Inside the Hall of Justice, Ashborn sat in a chair, silently observing the members of the Justice League who had taken part in the battle against Doomsday.

"Go ahead, let it out," Ashborn said calmly.

Hal, who had been holding in his rage, stood up and glared at Ashborn. But before he could speak, Ashborn raised a hand to stop him.

"Not you," Ashborn said. "I don't want to hear you blame me when…"

He paused, and a screen appeared in front of everyone. It began replaying the conversation they had all shared with him about Doomsday.

"Lastly, this," Ashborn said as he played another video, this one showing Hal ignoring Batman's warning.

"I'm part of the Green Lantern Corps—we eat monsters like this for breakfast," the recording of Green Lantern echoed through the room.

"I told you all how to deal with Doomsday. I showed you how other versions of Superman across the multiverse handled him. With all that said, I step away for a few minutes, not even an hour, and you all forget everything I told you," Ashborn said lightly. It was hard to tell whether he was angry, disappointed, or if he didn't care.

"Then we have the roles I gave you all to play," Ashborn said, his gaze sweeping over the room. "Other than Wonder Woman, Shazam, and Superman, the rest of you were tasked with ensuring the safety of civilians. So tell me—why couldn't you stick to the plan? Why did you engage Doomsday and make him stronger? Why didn't you focus on evacuating those citizens and leave the fight to the ones I assigned?"

His words struck hard, and the room was filled with silence. No one had an answer—they all gritted their teeth, frustration and regret written across their faces.

"But I don't like dwelling on the past," Ashborn continued. "Humanity didn't get to where it is today by kicking itself over past mistakes." With a snap of his fingers, a pulse of shadow rippled outward—and in the next moment, every member of the League jumped in shock, eyes fixed on the shadows behind them.

"Your shadows are now a gateway to the dimension I told you about," Ashborn said, rising from his seat. "In there, a trillion years can pass in just a second outside. Use that time to train. Just remember—injuries sustained outside the training dimension can't be healed inside it. And injuries gained inside can't be healed while you're still in there either."