Chapter 139: I Am Not One of You
It wasn't an overtly aggressive formation.
But it wasn't friendly either.
It was a posture of caution.
Observation.
Containment.
And beneath it all, a very real sense of unease.
Superman spoke first.
He landed twenty meters in front of Lynn and looked down at General Zod's body.
For several moments, he said nothing.
His expression was complicated.
Zod had been a war criminal.
A conqueror.
A man willing to annihilate Earth.
Yet he was also Kryptonian.
One of the last surviving remnants of Clark's lost civilization.
Despite everything, a trace of grief remained.
"You killed him."
Clark's voice was low.
Controlled.
"He was attempting to incinerate four hundred civilians."
Lynn's response came immediately.
A brief silence followed.
"You could have spared him."
Clark's eyes remained fixed on the corpse.
"You had the power to stop him without killing him."
Lynn looked at him.
"I also had the power to kill him."
Clark's jaw tightened.
"He was one of the last Kryptonians."
"He was a criminal sweeping Heat Vision across civilian shelters."
Lynn's voice remained flat.
"You have your principles."
"You have your moral code."
"I don't."
The two stared at one another.
The atmosphere grew colder.
Not because of the weather.
But because two overwhelmingly powerful beings had stopped pretending they viewed the world the same way.
The tension broke when Tony Stark landed between them.
His damaged armor released a hiss of steam.
The faceplate retracted.
A tired, dust-covered face appeared.
"Okay."
Tony raised both hands.
"Let's postpone the philosophical debate."
He glanced between Superman and Lynn.
"Because I'm ninety percent sure this ends with someone punching a continent."
Neither responded.
Tony sighed.
Then looked directly at the white mask.
"Mr. Mask."
"You saved Metropolis."
"On behalf of the Avengers, thank you."
He paused briefly.
"Your methods were a little... intense."
A beat later, he asked the question everyone wanted answered.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Lynn looked across the assembled group.
The All-Seeing Eye automatically generated status reports.
Captain America.
Internal injuries.
Significant blood loss.
Combat effectiveness reduced.
Thor.
Multiple internal traumas.
Power output roughly sixty percent of normal capacity.
Tony Stark.
Armor energy reserves below fifteen percent.
Numerous systems offline.
Superman.
Severe exhaustion.
Rapid solar recovery underway.
Batman.
Physically intact.
Mentally operating at maximum capacity.
Already analyzing every detail.
Could they stop him?
No.
Not in their current condition.
Possibly not even at full strength.
But fighting them was unnecessary.
Everything he came for had already been obtained.
The World Engine was destroyed.
Fiora's genetic sample was secured.
Zod's blood was secured.
The mission was complete.
"I am not one of you."
Lynn finally spoke.
His altered voice emerged cold and metallic from behind the mask.
"Not a hero."
"Not a soldier."
"Not a guardian."
His gaze swept across the gathered heroes.
"I don't care about your alliances."
"Your laws."
"Your organizations."
"Your definitions of justice."
A brief pause.
"They have nothing to do with me."
The statement hung heavily in the air.
"Then why destroy the World Engine?"
Superman asked.
"Because I had my own reasons."
Clark frowned.
"When Zod targeted civilians, you stopped him."
"Because dead civilians would have been inconvenient."
Clark stared at him.
For several seconds.
Then slowly shook his head.
"I don't believe that."
"That's your problem."
Lynn answered.
"Not mine."
The silence that followed was almost uncomfortable.
Tony stepped forward again.
"Look."
He pointed toward the remains of the World Engine scattered throughout the city.
"Try seeing this from our perspective."
"A masked individual appears out of nowhere."
"Punches through Kryptonian military hardware."
"Destroys a planetary terraforming machine."
"Beats General Zod unconscious."
"Then tells everyone he doesn't care about Earth."
Tony spread his hands.
"Can you honestly blame us for being nervous?"
"What do I care whether you're nervous?"
Lynn replied.
Tony blinked.
Then groaned.
"You know..."
He rubbed his forehead.
"The way you talk reminds me of someone."
A slight pause.
"That person was shorter."
"And significantly less terrifying."
Lynn ignored him.
Then another voice entered the conversation.
From atop a partially collapsed building.
Bruce Wayne.
The amplified speakers of the Batsuit carried his words across the ruins.
"You used teleportation."
Everyone turned toward him.
Bruce continued calmly.
"You didn't arrive through flight."
"You didn't enter through conventional movement."
"You emerged from a localized spatial-folding event."
His eyes never left Lynn.
"The energy signature matches portal phenomena associated with Kamar-Taj."
Tony immediately looked confused.
"The wizard monastery?"
Bruce ignored him.
"You possess magical capabilities."
"You possess extreme physical power."
"You demonstrate sensory perception beyond Kryptonian standards."
"You interfered directly with Zod's bioelectrical systems."
"You absorb thermal and kinetic energy."
He paused.
"No known biological organism should possess all of those abilities simultaneously."
Another pause.
"I searched every available database."
"Nothing matches."
The battlefield fell silent again.
Bruce's gaze narrowed.
"Except one possibility."
Lynn remained motionless.
Bruce continued.
"The pattern reminds me of someone."
A dangerous statement.
Behind the mask, Lynn's eyes narrowed slightly.
Bruce Wayne's deductive ability remained every bit as troublesome as expected.
The similarities weren't enough for proof.
Not yet.
But Bruce was clearly approaching conclusions.
"Interesting theory."
Lynn replied.
"But theories aren't evidence."
Bruce nodded.
"No."
"Not yet."
Then he added:
"But given enough time, evidence can be found."
The two men stared at each other.
Twenty meters apart.
Separated by ruined buildings, debris, and silence.
Three seconds passed.
Then Lynn looked away first.
Not because he felt threatened.
Because staying longer served no purpose.
Every additional minute increased the chance of exposure.
He needed to return.
Change identities.
Disappear.
"I'll say this once."
His voice became colder.
Lower.
"I am not your enemy."
A brief pause.
"But if anyone attempts to follow me..."
"Investigate me..."
"Or becomes a threat to me..."
Slowly, Lynn raised his right hand.
Every hero present instinctively tensed.
Even Thor's grip tightened around Mjolnir.
Even Superman's muscles coiled.
Even Tony's damaged armor shifted into combat readiness.
Because after everything they had witnessed today—
No one doubted he could carry out whatever threat came next.
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