Superman intercepts a falling blimp over Metropolis Trust Bank as Batman disables explosives inside—revealing the Joker behind it. The clown escapes, but the disaster is prevented through perfect aerial-ground coordination. Mayor Lex Luthor publicly praises Superman, positioning himself as Metropolis’s strategic protector. Batman tells Superman he's been picking up an extra-terrestrial disturbance in the atmosphere. Superman could sense it already. A skull-shaped alien vessel arrives: Brainiac. He announces Earth will be archived. Cities vanish in bottled stasis fields. Superman and Supergirl confront him and is nearly digitized before Batman and Batgirl disrupt Brainiac’s signal grid. Catwoman steals a drone core that lets Batman trace the mothership. Martha and Pa Kent ground Clark emotionally, reminding him Earth is more than territory — it’s people. Luthor provides alien tech access codes. Batman distrusts him but uses the data. The heroes board Brainiac’s ship: Superman battles androids while Batman and Batgirl free cities. Brainiac calculates Superman as the prime specimen and tries to bottle him; Batman overloads the collector using Catwoman’s stolen core. Superman resists, shattering the stasis engine. Brainiac is defeated and contained in a null-field prison built by Luthor and WayneTech. The cities are restored. Luthor takes public credit, Batman vanishes, and Superman thanks him anyway. On a rooftop, the two heroes agree that someone that powerful, isn't gone for good.
