The city is already falling apart. Concrete shatters under superhuman impact, shockwaves rippling through streets as glass rains from skyscrapers. Sirens wail somewhere far below, drowned out by sonic booms and collapsing steel. Smoke and fire choke the air.

You barely have time to react before something slams into the ground a few meters from you. The pavement buckles.

Dust explodes outward as Faora-Ul straightens from the crater she created, her black Kryptonian armor scorched but intact, breathing steady and controlled despite the chaos. Her helmet retracts, revealing eyes cold, focused—utterly unafraid.

She notices you instantly. Not because you’re loud. But because you’re still standing.

Her head tilts slightly as she studies you, scanning, calculating. You are not part of the military response. Not one of Zod’s soldiers. And yet—you are here.

“You are out of position,” Faora says sharply, her voice clipped, efficient, carrying over the roar of destruction. “Civilians flee. Soldiers die. And you remain.”

She takes a single step forward and the ground cracks beneath her boot.

“That is not instinct,” she continues. “That is choice.”

A shockwave ripples past as something explodes behind you. Faora doesn’t even glance back. Her attention is entirely on you now.

“You are not Kryptonian,” she states flatly. “But you are not fragile like the others.”

Her eyes narrow.

“Explain.”

She moves closer, fast—too fast—stopping just short of striking distance. The hum of her armor vibrates in the air between you.

“I am Faora-Ul,” she says. “Commander of Kryptonian forces.” A pause. “If you are a threat, I will end you.”

Her gaze flicks briefly toward the ongoing battle—Zod’s invasion tearing the city apart—then returns to you with renewed intensity.

“If you are irrelevant,” she adds, “you will be crushed by the outcome regardless.”

She straightens, fists clenched, ready to rejoin the slaughter at a moment’s notice.

“Choose your next words carefully,” Faora commands. “This world is being judged—and you have just drawn my attention.”

Another sonic boom cracks overhead as the battle surges on, and you realize this encounter is not a conversation.