Chapter Eighty-Eight: Powering Down
Alex walked off to get a cup of coffee which left Kara in a state of pure awkwardness as she roamed the hallway of Star Labs. Conflicting emotions swirled around the back of Kara's mind. Eliza's predicament overjoyed Kara. She deserved pretty much everything she received and much more.
Regardless, and Kara acknowledged this beyond everything else, someone deserving something and needing to see it, stood very far apart from each other. Kara thought about it, the screams coming from Eliza as she enjoyed what happened. Also, the fact Kara's adoptive mother took her cousin in a way which enticed Kara's emotions. The Girl of Steel drew in a deeper breath at the thought.
"Hey. How are you doing?"
Kara jumped about ten feet in the air at this very awkward question delivered by Clark. The young man smile at her. Kara struggled not to let in on the fact she had been very aroused by what just happened. She smiled at him, potentially a little bit too much.
"Fine, fine, fine," Kara said. "I'm fine, just….just thinking about everything which happened today."
Clark patted Kara on the shoulder and leaned in. He pulled Kara into a hug. She returned in a few seconds and marveled at the warmth and how strong Clark's body was when pressed up against hers. It amazed Kara to no degree how her mind just went about a million miles a minute in a certain direction. Clark kissed her on the top of the head and pulled away.
"I understand, "Clark said to her. "We're all on edge. Darkseid looms closer and we don't know when he's going to strike."
Kara's edginess spawned not from Darkseid coming, but the fact she witnesses Clark in a threesome also involving her adoptive mother. Still, Kara appreciated the fact she could focus on something more tangible than an encounter between Clark and her stepmother.
"Yeah," Kara said. "I don't know what's going to happen. All I know is…well the world is waiting and counting on you to do what you do the best."
Kara cupped Clark's chin and looked him into the eyes. The sixteen year old girl almost slid into a depth which had been beyond her to be perfectly honest. Clark grabbed the back of Kara's hair and stroked in which did not help with her at all.
"I'm going to have to do what's best. It doesn't make this nay easier."
"Yeah," Kara said. "Well, if you went for easy…well you wouldn't be you. You just got to keep going out there and keep fighting for everything you have. You'll do something really amazing out there…and….you are amazing. Don't let anyone tell you differently."
She backed off from kissing Clark a second later. Both of them enjoyed the moment with Clark offering Kara a lingering squeeze on the arm. Clark stepped back for a minute and left Kara standing against the wall, her own thoughts dominating her mind.
'Damn,' Kara thought. 'He really confuses me.'
Footsteps jarred Kara out of her conversation. Alex walked over from wherever she scrambled off from. She placed a hand on Kara's shoulder and Kara leaned back with a very evident grin locked on her face.
"Sorry, you just missed him," Kara said. "I'm sure you're disappointed you did so."
"Oh yes," Alex said. "But, I'm not worried about me. I've already had my time with him."
Why did Alex remind Kara of this? She did not intend to be bitter. No, Kara intended to be happy by her sister. She slept with Clark, slept with Clark, and only left Kara with nothing other than evident frustration. Her breathing increased a tiny bit. Alex tightened her grip around Kara's shoulders and forced the younger girl to look on at her. Kara jumped up ever so slightly to focus on Alex.
"You have it bad," Alex said. "I don't blame you, but you have it bad. Fortunately for you, opportunity knocks around the corner."
Kara wondered what the hell Alex talked about. Alex just flashed one of those smiles at Kara.
"Your seventeenth birthday part is just around the corner. I know you couldn't have forgotten about it after all this time."
Kara mentally slapped herself in the forehead. The thing was, she did forget about her upcoming birthday. It slipped so far underneath the radar with everything going on she had not been able to anticipate some of the finer things in life to be honest.
"Maybe you should take the plunge right then," Alex said. "Actually, you need to take the plunge then. I'm your older sister, and take it from someone with experience, if you hesitate, you're going to lose and you're going to lose out something you would much rather have."
"With everything that's going on, do you think it's wise?"
Alex laughed at her sister. Kara was not talking out of concern, no she was just trying to give reasons why something should not have been done. Alex wrapped her arms around Kara and pulled the younger girl ever so close. The two heroines pressed against each other.
"Gives you something to look forward to," Alex said. "And hey, if you're worried about messing up, don't be. Clark isn't going to judge you. In fact, he's the type of guy who would apologize if something went wrong. Even if it is your fault."
Kara just broke into a smile. It was not precisely what she was worried about, not really. Still, Alex performed her duties as older sister very well and did an excellent job in alleviating a fair amount of concern on Kara's part.
"You're pretty adorable when you're being awkward."
Daisy jumped in and made Kara almost turn around.
"DEO is in position," Daisy said. "Granny and the Godfreys are getting more excited now which kind of makes you think that Darkseid is coming."
"Let him come," Kara said. "The sooner he comes, the sooner we can deal with this."
All three women agreed on one thing. They were pretty much sick and tired of having this hang over their heads. They were willing to jump in there and get done what needed to be done by any means necessary. They stood together, along with all of their friends and allies.
"Your sister said she's in position as well," Daisy informed them.
Tess Mercer wished she could just kick back and relax a little bit. The upcoming arrival of Darkseid meant relaxing had not been an option. She double checked a couple of configurations. Would it stop Darkseid? Tess doubted very much anything on Earth could stop Darkseid. She intended to do enough damage to slow the menacing god down. And maybe, just maybe, set Darkseid up for Superman to swoop on in and save the day like he would do. Tess just grinned at the thought of it when she continued to rifle through several sets of papers.
A light knock on the door caused Tess to stand up. She ensured the gun against her left had been secured. While, Tess expected company, expecting company had been no excuse for lazy security procedures.
"It's unlocked," Tess offered.
The door opened and two people stepped into the room. A strikingly beautiful dark haired women dressed professionally made her way into the room. Her assistant dressed in a tight pair of black pants and a button up black shirt as well with a pair of sunglasses. Her blue eyes shifted with a smile.
"I'm here," she said. "So the world is peril…are we waiting for anyone else?"
Tess smiled. "We're waiting for a couple more at the least….and he should be arriving any second now."
Clark dropped down outside of the door and walked straight into the office door. Tess made a point of telling him that if the door was open, come in to see her. If the door was not open, check first with the X-Ray vision, and then knock. Clark stepped inside.
"So, how's Leslie?" Tess said.
"She's doing well, although after our meeting, she's resting," Clark said.
"I know," Tess said. "And there's a huge part of me that feels bad about the fact I had to use her as a pawn."
The only thing which prevented Tess from feeling completely upset about this situation would be Leslie had been a very willing pawn in the entire situation. Had she not been too willing, things might have ended up a little bit differently. Regardless, a smile popped over Tess's face when looking down the table at Clark.
'This will force Darkseid's hand,' Tess thought. 'And I can't say I'm too broken up about that fact.'
"Clark, this is Nyssa Raatko, one of my business colleagues and….."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kent, Nyssa said. "Tess has told me about you, although I wish the first time we met face to face was under better circumstances."
"So you know what's going on?" Clark asked.
Nyssa answered with a smile and leaned closer towards the powerful man in front of her. "I'm not without my resources. Tess verified much for me so I did know what I was getting into. And I owed her a favor, and well she knows when to cash in to get the most value."
Clark only could smile. Tess did know how to get the most value out of any situation. He did not know what value Nyssa held, but if Tess called upon her, there must have been something for her to bring to the table.
"Well, sorry, I'm late, you wouldn't believe the traffic out there."
Thea Queen stepped outside of the room. Nyssa's bodyguard flashed her a knowing smile when she popped up around the corner.
"Oh, you're not late," Nyssa's bodyguard said. "You're just as on time as ever."
"It's nice to see you, Sara," Thea said. She turned around to Tess, saving the happy reunion when they were not in danger of being killed or enslaved. "The satellites are ready to go."
Diana never took an ample amount of time to appreciate the beauty of the world. Right before a crisis, allowed Diana to really enjoy the beauty. The Amazon stepped herself onto a set of rocks and looked out onto the island .Her sisters prepared for war and the entire world had been at stake. Diana intended not to put any pressure on anyone.
She stared out into the sea and watched as the water bubbled to the surface. Mera rose out of the water and stepped over onto the mainland of paradise. She sauntered over to Diana with a look of fierce determination.
"So, here it starts," Mera said. "The Council finally understood why we have to fight. This is not a problem they can hide under the ocean for."
"The Goddesses gave their blessing," Diana said. "Then again, the old gods always detest when a new one steps onto their territory."
"Imagine that," Mera said. "You're rather calm and collected…and I don't see it as a bad thing. You need to be composed if we have a hope in dealing with this in a timely manner."
"We have to," Diana agreed. "And let's face it, I dealt with this once before."
Mera acknowledge it with a nod. Diana stepped into the thick of the battle against the Thangarians. Their invasion opened the door for all of the discontent by the people and all of hate fostered by one G. Gordon Godfrey which divided them. They stood here, over a year later, waiting for the next invasion.
And speaking of Thangarians, they looked up in the sky in time to see Shayera sour down from the heavens. She dropped in front of them, mace clutched, and a determined look on her face. Shayera had the look of a warrior and the heart of determination.
"I'm ready to fight," Shayera said.
"Is there a time where you're not?" Diana quipped.
Shayera answered with a smile. She intended to protect the world from the real threats and not threats which had been created by an intense hysteria of the mass media. Her hands waved against the mace and almost came down onto the ground. Shayera showed her intensity.
"They should just hurry up and come," Shayera said. "I think we can't argue this should be over with as soon as possible."
Diana smiled at Shayera's eagerness. Would could question the level of sanity the woman had for welcoming an alien invasion. Diana would have to be honest, she saw it one hundred percent of the way. Shayera moved over towards the rock with her mace swinging and slammed down onto them. The mace repeatedly and endlessly drilled upon the rocks to cause dust to fly in the air.
Another party stepped out. She left the quiet farm of Smallville to join Diana on her trip to Paradise. Maxima stood before her fellow royals. A small amount of amusement crossed the face of the Warrior Queen. The rocks suffered a huge beating at the hands of Shayera's big mace.
"If she only holds that much intensity when Darkseid and his forces show up, then I feel very good about our chances at victory today," Maxima said.
"Oh, she'll be even more intense on the battle field."
"Good," Maxima said.
Maxima knew all about Darkseid and she would stand up to the man many feared. The monster would not take a world from Maxima. A world which had so much potential to grow would not be squashed out in its infancy by some dangerous tyrant.
"We're going to stand up and fight them," Maxima answered. "And I'm going to make them pay for their arrogance. They are going to regret the day where they threaten Earth."
"I concur," Mera said. "We're ready….all we need is for them to show up and take them down once and for all."
The two women, three if Shayera entered this total, had been pretty much out for blood. Diana's sympathy for Darkseid was not a very strong thing, but they prepared for war. And speaking of preparing, Diana caught sight of her sister Donna. Donna stood at the edge with a smile on her face.
The two sisters met halfway.
"We should just set the three redheads on Darkseid and his forces and call it a day," Donna said. "Actually, I don't think anyone would have been opposed if we threw Artemis in there. She's been ready for this battle ever since she found out about it."
Diana smiled and wrapped an arm around her little sister's waist and pulled Donna in close. The two locked eyes with each other.
"So, are we ready?" Diana asked.
"Yeah," Donna said. "We're ready for them to come. They're not taking this world. We're going to make sure of it."
Now they needed to play a game where all they had to do was wait. No one enjoyed the waiting game and Darkseid understood this and exploited it to its fullest extent.
Lana Lang sat out on a field just a few hundred yards away from the Kent farm house in deep contemplation. Many years passed since the meteor shower which changed all of their lives. And yet, Lana Lang remembered every single detail with more of a picture perfect clarity now than ever before. Lana edged herself against the chair.
The perfect day greeted Lana with a modest temperature, not too much sun, not an abundant amount of clouds. The chirping birds pretty much told the story. Lana saw perfection here and it was scary. The sounds of children playing in the distance made Lana smile, almost sadly.
They had no idea what horror approached them. Much like a young three-year-old girl all of those years ago, who watched her parents die. Lana got over this tragedy about as much as one could. Getting over it did not mean she forgot. Lana Lang would never forget, not now and not ever.
Lana allowed the crisp breeze to blow in her head. The Kent Farm had been deserted. Connie, Alicia, and Tara all moved off to see what they could do to help out. Lana had been the only one here and she felt the need to do something, anything to help.
The only vision she received ended over a week ago and it was the one which signified Darkseid's victory. Lana experienced anxiety issues because of this one. She took in a deep breath and sighed.
A blur came through the sky and dropped down in front of Lana.
"Shouldn't you be preparing for an invasion?" Lana asked.
"Just wanted to swing on back here to make sure you're holding up okay," Clark said. "And warn you there's a chance Darkseid could target Smallville…so….."
"Someone needs to be here to give you the heads up if he does," Lana remarked to Clark. She stood up, very tall and very firm when looking him in the eyes. "I'll be okay, I promise. I've got the signal watch. There's nothing that's going to happen."
"I know you're strong," Clark said.
Lana just broke into a very sad smile. She remembered all of the events over the past decade and then before that time. It all came down to this.
"It's just funny how everything goes around full circle in the end," Lana said. "And yeah, I guess I am strong. I had to get strong. I couldn't be that little girl hanging on for an idealistic world forever. None of us could be. It was another time, and it was another life."
Lana blew the strand of hair away from her face and took in another deep breath. Clark held her hand up and made her feel a bit more confident. All of what she put him through, Lana felt very nervous to be perfectly honest.
"I hate to ask you this but…."
"Don't hate, you need to know if something's going on with me," Lana said. "But, I'll answer your question. There's been nothing going on. I've had no visions, and…is that a bad thing that I'm worried."
Clark shook his head and wrapped his arm around Lana. The two took the short flight back up the way to the Potter House, which had been reinforced security wise. Some of the Kandorians moved around out back in the house, as Smallville's greatest line of defense.
"No," Clark said. "I'm worried as well. And I can't be worried."
"You're…well you're entitled to your emotions as much as anyone else."
Lana almost slipped and said he was human. And sometimes, despite his alien heritage, Lana figure Clark had been more human than a lot of people on Earth. He had his own wants, fears, and dreads just as much as the next person. Both locked eyes with each other with Clark gripping onto Lana's hand and then releasing it with a soft smile on his face.
"It's a beautiful day, "Clark commented. "It's just amazing how things have gone full circle like that."
"Right," Lana said. "And you should go…not that I'm trying to get rid of you, but he's coming. And you want to be there when he does."
Lana knew the plan and she wanted to smile. Everything would happen today. She looked up into the sky and watched Lois drop down next to him.
"Told you I'd be here," Lois said. "I think a few members of the Green Lantern Corps might be inclined to jump in too…but I'm not going to hold my breath. The Guardians…well they were a bit terrified of Darkseid. And given the man's reputation, you could hardly blame him."
Lois stepped back and walked towards Lana.
"I'll be standing here, helping the Kandorians make sure nothing bad happens," Lois said. "So, I'll be hanging out with you for the next little while."
Lana broke out into a soft little smile. "So, I guess it's going to be a lot like a sleepover, only with a lot less carnage."
Lois broke out into a round of laughter. "Honey, you've obviously never been at one of my sleepovers….well I was banned from having them after the first time. But, still what a first time to go out on."
Funnily enough, Lana could only image what a sleepover at Lois's house would be like. She expected it to be something of carnage.
Clark moved over and heard the crackling in his ear.
"Maggie's just radioed in saying they got ahold of eight Intergang storage houses," Alex said. "The DEO is rounding up all of the weapons. Maybe we can use his weapons against him."
Clark sure hoped they could. Those weapons being out of Darkseid's hands had been a major blow and Clark hoped this particular blow would be more than enough to hurt them.
Metropolis settled down into a calm. Supergirl and Power Girl hovered over the city and waited for Superman to return from Smallville. Not even a car jacker today, not that was their highest priority. To be honest, they just waited for the big guy to show up.
"The moment he shows up, we'll know," Karen said. "Thea calibrated the Queen Industries satellites to emit a sonic pitch which we could hear."
"Good," Kara said.
"Make sure to keep your head in the game."
Carol came around the corner on her patrol. "We're finishing clearing out that Intergang shipment. We found a bomb that's big enough to level the city."
Both Kryptonians whistled in response and thought it was a pretty damn good thing Darkseid did not have an opportunity to equip that particular bomb. Carol flew off to join the rest of the DEO members, as they continued their operation. Barda joined them on the mission to offer her expertise in dismantling the equipment.
The loud shrill siren caught Kara and Karen off guard. Lighting flashed through the sky and dark vortexes of energy shot through the air. The two heroines looked skyward just in time to view a large black ship poke out of the sky. Several demonic looking creatures dressed in green, with staffs stepped out of the portal. The citizens in Metropolis looked on in terror.
They dropped down to the ground. A short, trollish looking individual with greasy black hair and a beard, dressed in green dropped down onto the ground. He smashed a car out of the way and flipped it into the air. The car flew over several times before smashing to a stop.
"Superman!" he yelled. "My name is Kalibak, the true heir to Apokolips. If you have any stones at all, you'll come and face me!"
The armies of Parademons marched upon the city. Supergirl and Power Girl had an unspoken agreement to strike. Both of them flew down and knocked the Parademons back.
One of the Parademons grabbed Supergirl by the neck from behind. She flew him backwards into the wall. The invader's body crunched against the wall the second Supergirl flipped out of his grip. Another one charged the Girl of Steel. Supergirl avoided the punches and cracked him back.
Power Girl ricocheted two Parademons off of the wall. One approached a group of children and she grabbed him around the waist. Power Girl flipped the Parademon through the windows of a store with a resounding thud. One of them launched a seering blast with his staff. Power Girl dodged the attack and blasted him with heat vision. The heat vision seared his skin and allowed him to drop to the ground.
The sounds of grinding echoed through the air as a large hunk of rock came through. It smashed through several buildings knocking them over. Supergirl zipped through as fast as she could and plucked as many people out of harm's way from the falling debris. Her heart raced when realizing it might not be enough.
A huge war machine hovered over them. Atop the War Machine stood several armed guards, almost an elite force of Apokolips. The Parademons fled up, with Kalibak positioned on a hovering platform.
A tall imposing figure of skin made of solid rock with red eyes looked out. He looked thick and dangerous. The man radiated pure evil.
Darkseid arrived and brought terror to the world with that huge war machine. Karen looked up into the sky and noticed a drill at the bottom of it.
Karen sent the signal because they needed all hands on deck in Metropolis and needed them now.
Chapter Eighty-Nine: Shadows over Metropolis Part One
"One year ago, the alien race known as the Thangarians invaded the world. They were repelled. On this day, on this year, there was another alien invasion. And it is once again centered over the city of Metropolis."
One brave news reporter walked through the streets of Metropolis. The sounds of battle could be heard in the distance even if this particular corner had been deserted. The brave expression upon the face of the woman was only a front for the camera. Eyes showed a different story and the story was she was terrified beyond all belief. Her shaking hands pressed up against her hips.
"One year later, there's another invasion. And this invasion has featured demonic creatures turning up in the middle of Metropolis. The skies have darkened. We may be seeing the end of days. Do we have any hope left? Do we have any salvation? What will happen tomorrow? Will any of us be around here tomorrow to rep….."
The woman's statement gave way to a loud series of shrieks a huge falling rock flew from to the side and landed on the ground. The news reporter watched as the cameras had been knocked out. The moment she had been off of the air, the woman threw her hands into the air and started to run as far in the opposite direction as possible.
Two winged demons flew through the air after the news reporter. The news reporter ran as hard as possible. Her heels flew off when running and she still tripped. One of the demonic creatures came down from the sky to snatch her.
A blur flew in the opposite direction and nailed one of the demonic entities in the face. Superman dropped down to the ground and had been more determined than ever to fight the good fight. The Parademon in front of him growled and rushed Superman. The Man of Steel dodged the attack.
Superman dodged two punches in succession. The creature had not been that able to fight smartly. His only purpose was brute force and intimidation. Neither worked on the Man of Steel, as he used his speed to dodge the punches. Superman clipped him with a vicious shot to the side of the head. Another punch, one hooking him in the head, put the demonic entity down for the count.
A pair of hands gripped Superman around the back of the head. Superman broke free from the grip in a matter of seconds. The Man of Steel caught him with two punches before picking him up and hurling him to the side. Superman stepped over and helped the reporter to her feet. Superman flew the reporter out of harm's way.
A third Parademon came at Superman. The Man of Steel turned to engage the creature in battle. No need to do as Supergirl descended from the heavens and drove both of her feet down onto the head of the Parademon. Supergirl grabbed his energy staff and obliterated the minion from Apokolips with one vicious shot from it.
"Nice shot."
Power Girl dropped down next to Supergirl. The two stood on either side of Superman. The loud booms around them indicated there was just even more trouble.
Darkseid's forces dropped down to terrify them. They kept opening those Boom Tubes which brought more of them down into the city.
"Metropolis is going to be overrun if we don't find a way to shut them down," Power Girl said.
Superman responded by a shake of his head. "It's going to be more than Metropolis."
He looked skyward to the war machine where Darkseid had been standing just mere moments ago. Unfortunately, there had been no Darkseid. Superman's heart almost jumped deep into his throat. The Man of Steel took a deep breath and wondered where is in.
"SUPERMAN!" Kalibak bellowed. "Come out and fight me you coward!"
Supergirl threw her arms back and gritted her teeth. "There's a guy who just simply won't shut up either."
The Man of Steel soured up into the air where Kalibak continued to flip over cars.
"Superman! You think you're something! My father thinks you're something, but I think you're nothing but a chump. Come at me, and I'm going to rip you apart. I'm going to leave you broken before this pathetic planet and….."
Superman nailed Kalibak with a jumping punch to the top of the head. The man flew back down to the ground with a hideous thud. Kalibak groggily dragged himself to his feet in time for Superman to hammer him with another vicious punch.
"You were saying?"
Supergirl and Power Girl moved in to help. Another Boom Tube opened up right off to their side. A figure dressed in black with her face wrapped and whips coming from her appeared on the ground. Lashina, the field leader of the Female Furies, surrounded by several of her fellow Furies stepped into battle.
"Take them down!"
Supergirl and Power Girl knew they were in for a fight. And they were willing to bring the fight to their enemies.
Alex Danvers gritted down upon her teeth. She had been at the DEO when the entrances had blown open. Two of the Parademons moved in to grab her. Alex blasted away from them and caused one of them to fly through the wall. Alex dropped down on the ground.
Two arm cannons manifested straight out of the Blue Beetle armor. Alex's eyes shifted over with anger and she blasted the two Parademons off of the ground. They flew through the wall and shattered it from the impact. The sound of bones shattering gave Alex a sense of satisfifaction.
One of the Parademons grabbed onto the door to force his way through. Daisy body-checked him and knocked the Parademon away from the door. The Parademon turned his gruesome attention to Daisy. His blade slashed through the air just missing Daisy by a few inches. Daisy crouched down and nailed him with a vibration.
"They won't get down there," Daisy said.
Alex fired two blue restraining devices at the Parademons. The devices clamped around the Parademons and squeezed them. The alien metal dug into their chests. Alex could not be too sorry about these brutish creatures feeling this amount of pain. Especially considering the fact more of the brutish creatures came around, and tried to grab her. Alex fought her way out of the situation.
A loud crack followed by a resounding boom announced someone was there. Alex stepped back out for a second. She feared very little. But, she was very much intimidated by this presence.
Darkseid stood at the end of the hallway at the DEO. The body of one of their agents rolled over onto the ground. He tried to valiantly fight Darkseid and paid the price for it. Darkseid walked down the center of the hallway. Daisy getting slammed into the wall by one of the Parademons barely registered on Darkseid's attention scan.
"This is as far as you go."
Hank Henshaw stepped up. Darkseid's lips curled into amusement. His amusement only just barely ceased when Henshaw shifted into his more normal form.
"You'll be reunited with the rest of your kind soon."
Darkseid rushed over to grab J'onn. J'onn slipped through the floor at the last minute. J'onn grabbed both of Darkseid's arms and nailed him into the floor. J'onn popped back up and rocked Darkseid with a couple of punches. Darkseid blocked the Martian and flipped him down. J'onn landed on his feet and shifted his hand through the wall. He grabbed an energy cannon and fired at Darkseid.
The blast, intended to take down some of the most dangerous aliens out there, only barely put a dent into Darkseid's chest. Darkseid stepped back from the energy rifle with a sadistic smile on his face. He grabbed the rifle out of J'onn's hand and nailed him with a huge backhand punch. Two red blasts emitted from his eyes and knocked him down to the ground. The next blast caused J'onn to land onto the ground.
Daisy raised her hand and started to vibrate against Darkseid's back. Darkseid just walked forward to ignore Daisy's attack and nailed the Martian Manhunter.
"Your world will decay just like Mars," Darkseid said. "If anything, I've done you a favor. The White Martians would draw this end out longer."
Darkseid wrapped his hands around J'onn's throat and choked him down to the ground. J'onn made eye contact with Alex.
"Secure it!"
Alex knew what it was and rushed down the hallway to do so. Darkseid pushed his attack deeper against the throat of the Martian. J'onn slipped through the floor and came back up only for Darkseid to blast him the second he became tangible. The fallen Martian laid down on the floor.
"You're just a roadblock," Darkseid said.
The Martian popped up and rose to his full height. A giant fist extended and started to pummel Darkseid. The battle continued with the Martian Manhunter getting as good as he received. Darkseid returned fire and his Omega Blast cut fired through the Intangible Martian. It ricocheted off of the wall and came back once the Martian grew solid to attack Darkseid. The assault blasted the Martian to his knees.
J'onn stuck his hands through the floor and activated a failsafe. The entire floor became electrified. Darkseid stepped back to avoid being bombarded by the several hundreds of thousands of watts worth of electricity.
"Quaint."
Darkseid threw a grenade which blasted J'onn and engulfed him in a cage made of fire. The Martian recoiled as he had been surrounded by nothing other than his greatest fear.
"Enjoy your last few minutes of breath."
The doors leading to the high security wing of the DEO crumpled for Darkseid like they were nothing. Darkseid stepped down the hallway. The Godfreys and Granny looked at him from their cells almost hopeful. Darkseid walked down the hallway and released several prisoners from their containment.
He walked past his own minions, leaving them trapped in their cells without a word. Darkseid moved further into the secured area. The laser light grid warned him of the security which had been to come. He did not even flinch at what he was facing off against.
Darkseid blasted his way through the grid and then stepped in.
"Your pride will be your downfall."
The Lord of Apokolips snatched up a crystal orb. He opened a boom tube and left the base.
Alex and Daisy returned, sealing themselves on this floor.
"If anyone can hear the sound of my voice," Alex said. "We've got a serious problem. As in about thirty alien prisoners having been released by Darkseid."
"It's a distraction," J'onn gasped. "I know what he stole…it's not good. We're going to have to warn Superman…we're going to have to warn him."
Daisy moved over to the orb and crouched down to release J'onn from his containment. The cage of fire disappeared and not a moment too soon. J'onn staggered back and then fell down to the ground.
"Enact Protocol Eight," J'onn said. "And I'm going to have to warn Superman."
Darkseid ensured they would all be distracted. Their failsafe, in case Superman had gone rogue due to some kind of mind control ended up in the hands of one of the most evil men on Earth.
"What did he take?" Alex asked.
She never saw J'onn so rattled, so naturally Alex had been very concerned.
Carol dropped down in the middle of Ground Zero of the Metropolis Invasion. She was not the only one who showed up today for this invasion. Diana turned up as well, her fellow Amazons saving as many people as possible. Shayera stood up tall and ready to fight. Then from behind then, came Faora and some of the Kandorians.
'Well, shit.'
The Mothership hovered over Metropolis. Darkseid stood upon it not even an hour earlier. Now, he vanished. Carol peaked over her shoulder to the other women.
"His forces are not around the Mothership," Faora said. "That's peculiar."
"I don't like it," Shayera grimly said. "He must be up to….."
The Mothership started to light up. Diana looked on with widened eyes. They all stepped back, not really knowing what kind of weapon would be discharged from this alien ship. The ship hovered and hummed before something dropped down from the sky.
The object came down in the center of Metropolis. Some kind of giant egg dropped down into the city. The egg caused the ground to heat up around them. Shayera, stepped in, and swung her mace at the egg. The egg ricocheted Shayera back and caused her to land on the ground several feet away with one of the most resounding thuds imaginable.
"Not exactly the smartest thing you've ever done," Carol said. "We need to interface with that egg. Maybe there's something…."
Two of the Kandorian soldiers already swooped upon the egg. One of them located the port to the egg. The other managed to tap into the egg and cause flashes of light to emit. Some confusing looking code appeared. A third Kandorian walked over to study it.
Carol could tell by the looks on their faces this was going to be more bad news. It seemed as if they were dealing with pretty much nothing other than bad news as of late.
"It's a device which has a drill in the button of it," the Kandorian said. "It's going to drill down to the center of the Earth."
"What purpose is that?" Carol asked.
She had a feeling the answer would not be one which she would enjoy hearing. The grim expression on the Kandorian's face clued her in on just as much. Astra joined them in the middle and dropped down onto the ground.
"Darkseid attacked the DEO," Astra said. "I just arrived there when they were rounding up aliens."
"He broke out his minions," Carol said.
Astra responded by shaking her head. "Actually, no, he didn't. They were the only aliens on that level which he did not break out. None of them escaped the building. Which, I doubt was Darkseid's intention. He just wanted them to distract the DEO while he took something from them."
A crackling came in on Carol's ear piece. She pushed it in her ear.
"Yes, Alex, talk to me."
"Oh, this isn't good, and you're not going to like this," Alex said. "And Astra's really not going to like this when she's found out what Henshaw and Superman have done."
Astra heard her name and her attention had been drawn deeper into the conversation.
"Darkseid stole an object from the DEO," Alex said. "It was…well, it can potentially stop Superman for good."
"He did…why does the DEO have that?" Astra asked jumping onto the frequency.
"Wait, you're here?" Alex asked.
"Answer the question, Alexandra," Astra said in pure agitation towards the government agent.
Alex recovered as quickly she could and answered the question. She took in a very deep breath.
"Okay, Clark developed it and entrusted it to J'onn, just in case someone brainwashed him and he went rogue. I believe Superman may have a similar weapon to use against J'onn as well."
"And I think Helena might have weapons to use against all of us as well," Diana said. "Because, she's the type that would."
Diana did not necessarily see it as a bad thing they had failsafes in case something happened. It might cross an ethical line for some people. As a warrior though, Diana understood, and had drilled in her head by Artemis since the moment she could battle, there were many advantages they had to be able to use in the field of battle.
"This could have been used against any of us," Astra said. "What was he thinking?"
"He was thinking that he could destroy the world if someone mind-controlled him," Alex said. "It was only supposed to be used in case all of our other options failed."
Astra would have liked to strangle Superman. She thought he was noble, most of the time. But, that nobility lead to some very questionable decisions, including one which would put the lives of several of them in peril now. And when several of them included Astra's daughter and niece, not to mention herself, it's when Astra had to draw the line.
"You're a soldier," Carol said. "You should understand why he did what he did."
"Oh, I understand," Astra said. "It doesn't mean I have to like it though."
No one could disagree with her about that fact.
Superman threw his fist back into the air and nailed Kalibak. Kalibak flew back down onto the ground. He growled and hoisted up a car over his head. The minion spent too much time grandstanding with the car which allowed Superman to rush at him and spear the ever living daylights out of Kalibak to take him down onto the ground. The wind had been knocked out of the son of Darkseid.
Kalibak picked up a huge piece of pipe and reared back with it. The pipe missed Superman's head by inches. Kalibak pulled back and swung the pipe once again. It missed again. Superman dodged back with the pipe coming close to connecting with the side of his head. Kalibak missed it one more time before Superman rocked him with a huge punch to send him flying down onto the ground.
"Three strikes and you're out."
The battle had not been over. Superman wished had been in a few more places at once.
"You do realize that you're only a distraction. Darkseid is up to something. He has no faith in you beating me."
"You lie!" Kalibak howled at the top of his lungs.
He charged Superman with full force and malicious intention in mind. Superman dodged on the other side of Kalibak's attack and came back with multiple punches. Each punch nailed Kalibak hard. Punch, punch, punch, until Kalibak flew backwards onto the ground.
The Man of Steel propelled himself high into the air. Kalibak looked up only to be taken down with a huge punch the top of the head. Kalibak dropped down to the ground from the resounding impact. Superman stepped back to survey his handiwork.
Kalibak rose from the ground with a vicious and vile expression on his face. Superman extended three fingers out and tapped Kalibak directly on the side of the neck. Kalibak staggered and dropped down onto the ground.
Electrified whips flew from a hand behind Superman and ensnared his neck. Superman gasped from Lashina having her whip wrapped around his neck. She was trying to bring him down to a kneeling position.
"This is where you belong," Lashina whispered harshly in his ear.
Superman broke the whips and caused the woman to stagger back. Lashina hurled another whip at Superman. The hard leather slashed across the cheek of the Man of Steel. Superman backed off from her a fraction of a step. The whip shot out of Lashina's hand and came very close to nailing Superman once more. Superman evaded the next attack from the whip.
A large woman stampeded towards Superman and kicked her up into the air. Supergirl did a backward roll and avoided the leg being stomped down onto her. Supergirl jumped up and nailed her enemy with a succession of kicks to the face. The Girl of Steel reared back with all of her might and exploded with one last jumping roundhouse kick to drive her opponent back down to the ground.
Supergirl fell down to her knees and pulled back up. Two more Furies rushed Supergirl. Supergirl blocked the attack of one of them and launched her into the air of the other.
A very tall and stunning redhead grabbed Power Girl around the waist and held her up into the air. Power Girl broke free with her arms and clapped them down on the ears of the woman in question. The woman staggered back with an agonizing scream before she strung together multiple punches. Each of them rocked the woman in question.
"Not the time to hug it out?"
Power Girl dropped down and took her opponent's legs out from underneath her. The heroine dropped down the full force of an elbow down across her opponent's head. The impact dropped the enemy something fierce. Another high impact elbow strike caught her enemy cold and brought her down to the ground.
"I'm going to rip you apart."
Lashina charged Superman. The Man of Steel dodged her latest whip attack. Another figure appeared down on the ground in front of Superman. She punched Lashina down to the ground and caused the Female Fury down to the ground. Lashina flipped over onto the ground.
"Sorry for cutting in," Barda said. "But, I've been waiting a long time for this one."
The other Female Fury rose to her feet and faced off against Barda. Her gaze blazed over Barda's.
"You're going to pay for what you've done, traitor."
"Are you still polishing Granny's boots?" Barda taunted her. "You're not that stupid, but you're a lackey, plain and simple. And that's the saddest part about you."
One could say Lashina lost all sense of herself the moment Barda started talking. The Female Fury charged Barda with furious intentions in mind. Barda blocked her attack and nailed her with a couple of stiff punches. She grabbed Lashina and pushed her down onto the ground.
"You will pay, you bitch!" Lashina yelled.
"I don't even hate you," Barda said. "Not like Granny and not like Grace and not like Darkseid….I just think you're sad, to be perfectly honest. A pathetic child distracted by dreams of power."
Barda applied a sufficient amount of pressure to put Lashina out for the count. She walked over and looked towards the mother ship.
"He'll be back," Barda told him.
Supergirl flipped one the Furies over. Barda caught the Fury around the waist and drove her down onto the concrete headfirst to knock the Fury completely out of it. Their durability ensured they would be back up.
"We have a situation," Alex said.
"Yes?" Clark asked.
"Darkseid stole the item from the DEO," Alex said. "You know the one."
Clark just grunted in response. "Thanks for the heads up."
"I have something," Tess said. "I have found something in Lionel's notes…it might help…..just meet me over at the vault, as soon as you can get there."
One of the Parademons grabbed Clark from behind. Clark elbowed it in the face to take it down before spinning around and cracking his fist into the chest of the creature.
"Are you sure I should be leaving in the middle of an alien invasion?"
"We've got this!" Kara yelled. "If it's important, you should go."
Supergirl cleared a path for Superman to leave. He smiled, if they got out of this alive, Clark would have to reward Kara. Right now, The Man of Steel rose up, up, and away.
The battle raged on and Darkseid observed from afar. He saw no need to intervene just yet. There would be plenty of time for him to get involved later on.
"It's ripe for the taking," Darkseid commented as he gazed upon the burning cities. "Humanity is a weak and inefficient race. Once their last chance of hope has been eliminated, then what do they have left?"
Darkseid cradled the orb taken from the DEO. Their security had been pitiful. One would think they would protect a weapon better that had the ability to destroy Earth's only savor.
"Then again, perhaps I should not be so hard on them for their failures. They are, after all, only human."
The orb broke open to reveal a glowing chunk of golden rock. The end of Superman approached and Darkseid could not be more happier.
"Great one, Superman has just defeated your son!"
Darkseid turned to one of his aids, a simpering man in a hooded robe named Desaad.
"Tell me something I did not expect," Darkseid said.
"We are getting closer to obtaining it, great one," Desaad said. "It could be moments away from being in your grasp. The Anti-Life Equation….."
Darkseid held up one hand and made Desaad depart. He would rip apart this world, this universe, piece by piece, if it meant getting his hands on the element which could enslave all.
A show of power would start bringing them down the road to hopelessness. There would be no hope. Each lifeform drew their last breath as they realized there was only Darkseid.
Chapter Ninety: Shadows over Metropolis Part Two
The term "hell on Earth" had been thrown together way too much and way too many times. Regardless, one could most certainly describe Metropolis as Hell on Earth. The hordes of Parademons surrounding the large egg from high above to prevent anyone from messing with it cast a demonic aura over the situation.
Diana stood off to the side. The Amazon Princess prepared herself to go into war. Several deep breaths coming from her body pretty much showed what was on the line. Diana refused to give up under any means whatsoever. She was going to push forward and more importantly, she was going to fight, down to her very last breath. She demanded no less out of herself.
Barda stood next to Diana with a determined look on her face. She pointed towards the egg and then Diana looked towards the power plant off to the side. The Amazon Princess rose in tension the more she looked at the plant off to the side.
'Nuclear power. Great, that could be a problem.'
Diana considered all of her options. She turned to Barda. "We're going to have to make our move. Now."
Those monsters would swoop down and lay some kind of horrible vengeance on Earth, but did they really have that many options right now? Diana figured pretty much no. They moved closer towards the egg.
Two of them swooped down. They were among the elite of Darkseid's forces. They grabbed Diana around the shoulders, with their demonic claws sinking into the Amazon's arm. Diana whipped back and nailed them as hard as humanly possible. The Amazon cracked her adversaries in the jaw with a firm attack. She slid back and waited for them to attack one more time.
Barda caught the flying arm of the creature and drove it down onto the ground. A sickening thud echoed from Barda driving the creature down. One of them dropped down to the ground in front of her. Barda motioned for the creature to come at her, and to come bring it. The creature growled and rushed over to Barda. The two engaged each other in battle. Barda snapped the creature's arm back and then drilled it with a succession of rapid fire attacks. Each of them rocked the creature hard.
"You're not going to take this world!" Barda yelled.
Mindless creatures they were, Barda's words did not penetrate the beast's mind. Her fist connected to the edge of the creature's head to crack him down hard. Barda pulled herself back with a violent expression on her face. She was enjoying pounding these monsters.
Three more cycled into the air. Shayera zoomed out and swung her mace. The mace decked the creatures as hard as possible. The clang of the steel against flesh resounded. Shayera pulled back her mace one more time and then crashed one of the creatures down on the ground.
Diana scrapped with one of the creature's and hooked it around the arm. The Amazon and the monster struggled against each other before flipping him in the air. Two more dropped down next to Diana. Shayera dropped down, reared back, and swung the mace. A loud crack echoed about the area of the back of the head and caused the creatures to all fly one at a time. All of them just landed on the ground hard from Shayera's brutal and very violent attack.
"Why should I let you have all of the fun?" Shayera asked Diana.
Diana just nodded and moved back into the attack. Maxima ran through the creatures and punched them out.
"You've picked the wrong world to invade," Maxima said.
The Queen drove the creature down onto the ground and resulted in it being completely and utterly broken. Maxima hammered away at the creature with repeated attacks. Each punch driven down across the back of the head stunned the creature and caused blood to spurt out of its mouth. Maxima reared back her hand and nailed her adversary as hard as possible. More blood flew up into the air.
Alex, Daisy, and Carol stepped around. Carol grabbed onto the egg and made a very honest attempt to hoist it off of the ground to prevent it from digging its way into the Earth.
One of the creatures staggered around them. Daisy and Alex performed a tandem assault to take it down. The creature dropped down to the ship. Daisy grabbed onto the neck of the creature and started to feel around. She noticed some kind of relay device hanging from the creature's neck.
"I think that's our ticket on the ship," Daisy said. "We might have to recall this technology."
Alex accessed the egg and a few beeps showed her there was not too much good news to be had here. "This thing is set to drill into the surface of the Earth in about ten minutes."
Three more squads of Parademons came down to the ground. Alex turned around, an arm cannon clicking into place. Her eyes flashed over with power before launching a beam of line through the air. The beam cut through the air and blasted the creatures to send them all flying one by one.
"Yeah!" Alex shouted at the top of her lungs. "You want some more of this!"
The Parademons scrambled for a second attack. Daisy knew what the game was. Darkseid was trying to flood them with mooks. She slammed onto the ground and rocked them. They all kicked up and fell over.
'Just got to keep fighting. The base is near.'
Clark arrived just outside of the vault. He wondered what this was all about. Tess pulling him away from battle at such a crucial and key moment would not have been done without good reason. No, Tess was not like that. She always did things for a reason, even if they had not been clear.
Indy opened up the edge of the vault for him.
"Thank you for coming," Indy said. "I understand why you might be confused, but don't worry, everything will be explained soon enough. Miss Mercer is waiting for you."
Clark nodded and allowed Indy to lead the way. The Vault was pretty high security even though it contained only two prisoners, situated apart from each other. Lionel Luthor sat on the cell on the right with an insane expression dancing in his eyes. He bobbed his head back and forth from the right, to the left and every potential place in between. The haunting gaze in Lionel's eyes showed how much he had been messed up.
Then, there was Lex Luthor. Lex sat very calm, cool, and collected. His eyes closed as well as he leaned against the cell. The restraints strapped tightly against his wrist showed Clark exactly how much of a threat he was. He followed the progress of the restraints to wires on the wall. Clark looked through the wall and noticed a large power generator. He also looked back at Lex and noticed a collar around his neck.
The loud yells from Lionel punctured the air. The man spoke nonsense while flapping his arms together. The only words Clark understood in his frantic mumblings were "Darkseid" and "End Days." Everything else had been a muddled mess of backwards words.
"I'd say it's sad," Tess said. "But, given all of what he's put everyone around him through, I don't say it's exactly unwarranted."
Clark heard some coolness in Tess's voice when she moved over. The eyes of one of the men in the cell looked over to Clark. Lex had been staring at Clark now. Tess put her hands on a remote control device and it was obvious she had her finger on the trigger which activated the restraints in the cell.
"I wouldn't worry about Darkseid, Kal-El," Lex said in a smooth voice. "He's not going to be the one to defeat you. That's my job."
Lex bobbed his head back and sounded as calm and collective as possible. He was the exact opposite of the raving lunatic opposite of him which Lionel Luthor had become.
"Yes, it's my job to save the human race from one of the greatest menaces it has ever seen. The minute I get out of this cell and you better believe that I will get out of this cell. And when I do, there are going to be changes. The new world order is coming, and I will bring about the great changes. You can't stop it, Kal-El. You can't stop it! You can't stop me!"
Tess pressed one single button which released a chemical from the collar. The chemical put Lex asleep at least for now.
"I should have checked to see if he was sedated before you arrived," Tess said. "I think you can understand that I have had other things on my mind right now."
"It's fine," Clark said. "So, what do you have to tell me?"
Tess pulled out a black journal. Clark knew all about mysterious journals and the Luthor family, so he wondered exactly what significance this one has to offer.
"Lionel came across some information during his days when he was a part of Veritas," Tess informed Clark. "It's very hard to decipher what he's saying. And given the man's current state, he's not going to tell us much of anything."
One look at the babbling and insane Lionel showed Clark that Lionel Luthor had not been much for conversation these days. Indy cleared her throat which forced Tess to turn around to engage her.
"This is why I vote to cut through all of the bullshit, and just yank the information from his mind," Indy said. "I would say that it's my obligation to warn you that he might receive brain damage because of it but given the circumstances….."
"Do it."
Tess pressed the button to give Indy access to the cell. Lionel sat against the wall and looked blissful of his ignorance that someone had meddled with the cell wall. Lionel's eyes flashed completely open and shut when looking across at Tess, Clark, and Indy.
Indy raised her hand and shot a cable out to implant into the side of Lionel's skull. The cable implanted in Lionel's mind started to regulate the flow of information from his brain into the computer system. Lionel gave a violent shake as Indy drew the information.
He might have been rendered brain dead here, but his mind was already fried from the botched connection with the Jor-El AI and the AI being shut down before he could fix the damage. Lionel's eyes flashed dark and then his body vibrated the deeper the cable ruptured into his mind.
"It's worse than we thought," Indy said. "Kal-El is the only person who can stop the darkness and prevent him from grabbing onto one of the most powerful elements in the entire universe."
"Which is?" Tess asked.
Indy blew a strand of hair away from her face. "It's the Anti-Life Equation."
Those words struck Tess as terrifying. It was here, or at least a solid hint to it was here, on this planet. She could not believe it, but the evidence was out in front of her.
Darkseid directed his forces with a wide smile emitting form his face. He moved up to look at Metropolis. The heroes still fought with valor and a small part of Darkseid commended their bravery. If they fought, then them being crushed could be more easier.
"It was almost too easy," Darkseid mused to himself. "It was almost too easy to discredit those who bring hope in the world. And then, when those elements are destroyed, then hope is loss."
Thanks to his agents, the world had been divided. There was no question about it, there were many problems out there. Darkseid relished in the power he held, the power to create, and the power to destroy. Darkseid understood his role in the world.
And yet, Superman disappeared. Darkseid did not care. He could wait. Darkseid would meet Earth's greatest champion on the battle field, and rob him of his gifts. Then he would crush Superman like the insignificant insect underneath his foot. The power would be his, as it always would have been.
Trust had been eroded and they did not know what to do. The people feared the heroes which they once sought to protect. Darkseid broke out into a grim smile. Everything had been coming up exactly the way that it should have been.
And soon, he would have the find clue to achieving ultimate power. It had been stored here on Earth. Perhaps foolishly, but Darkseid understood the reasoning.
'The last place anyone would look for the ultimate power would be some primitive mudball.'
Darkseid watched the invasion unfold and watched as humanity burned underneath his gaze. He held power and knew what to do with it. There was no hope, there was only Darkseid.
The ruler of Apokolips looked towards the computer just in time to see one of the machines containing the drill had been deactivated. Darkseid only registered mild displeasure at this fact. One drill being deactivated was not the end of his campaign. He just decided to push forward.
"Those fools have no idea what is at stake," Darkseid said. "They have no idea….."
Something crashed against the edge of the ship which forced Darkseid to rethink his strategy. The Ruler of Apokolips moved over to the monitoring station to take a good look at everything around him.
A huge blast of something knocked into the forcefield. Darkseid activated the monitor just in time to view the image of a very powerful redheaded woman rising up from the seas. The determination on her face had been very much respected by Darkseid. The power and strength she showed was second to none. Her hands rose up high and crashed down upon the rocks to send cascading waves at the edge of the ship. Several forces rose up to join her.
"So, the Queen of Atlantis has decided to get involved," Darkseid said. "My forces….forward…and attack them."
A purple bubble emitted from the edge of the ship. The bubble burst to send a burning acid down on the people of Atlantis. Several pods dropped following the bubble and they broke open. Parademons escaped from the ship and rose up from the ground.
Mera held the spear in her hand and threw it at the throat of one of the monsters. The monster fell down to the ground.
"Do you need any assistant?"
General Astra, Commander Faora, and the rest of the Kandorian Army came into position. Mera peaked over her shoulder with a wide ear to ear smile at the new arrivals.
"Assistance would be greatly appreciated."
The largest and monster dangerous of the monsters held a large dagger in his hand. The dagger had a flow of energy directed towards Astra. The General's lips just curled in a smile.
"Come and get me."
The attacker rushed towards Astra. Astra blocked the attack and disabled him with a huge swinging punch. The creature crumpled down like a piece of tissue paper. The attackers surrounded all of them until Astra punched on the ground and rocked them forward.
The battle with the Kandordians and the Atlanteans took place. Darkseid watched and Darkseid waited.
'Soon, Superman. Our day will come…or I will track you down if you fear me.'
Darkseid doubted very much Superman feared him. He would have been disappointed to be wrong.
Tess thought she had uncovered all of the areas of Luthor Mansion during her trips through two different timelines. She had been proven wrong time and time again. Tess stepped into the area to take a deep breath along with Indy and Clark.
"You're surprised about this, aren't you?" Clark asked.
"Yes, I didn't know about this," Tess said. "And I don't think Lex ever found out about it either because he would be all over the moon about it."
Indy walked towards a room of what appeared to be priceless antiques in the mansion. She moved closer to the edge with a disc like device emitting from the side of her arm. She took the codes which she pulled from Lionel Luthor's mind and proceeded to emit them into the side of the door.
"We should be inside in a matter of minutes," Indy informed them. "Right about now."
The doors opened up to reveal several dusty shelves. Maybe someone did find this place, and Tess's heart sank. But who other than Lex would have found it?
"Look over there."
Clark pointed to a portion of the wall which had been behind a tacky portrait of Julius Caesar. Tess figured about as much. She pulled back the portrait to locate a hole in the wall. In the hole contained a small black notebook. It was not really that significant. She flipped through the notebook.
"It's a formula," Tess murmured underneath her breath.
"Or half of a formula," Indy speculated.
Tess responded with a nod, or half of a formula. She had a lot of questions regarding this particular formula. She decided to come off with one of the more obvious ones to be honest.
"The fabled Anti-Life Equation?" Tess asked. "Or something else?"
"One of the pieces of data even Brainiac could not find was the Anti-Life Equation," Indy said. "I think all of us could agree that it's something. Lionel had been working with Swann on the Cyphers, so Swann must have put in the legwork."
"They stumbled upon something pretty dangerous regardless," Clark said.
Clark frowned and he could hear something outside of the mansion. Did that sound like a tank?
The front walls of the mansion blew open. The three of them had been very lucky to be in this vault area because whatever blasted through the walls packed a tremendous punch which rocked all of them.
"Someone else must have figured out there's something here of value," Indy said.
Clark got the message loud and clear. He stepped into the mansion just in time to face off against several members of Intergang. They moved in dressed in heavy armor. One of them held a large cannon.
"Superman!" one of them yelled. "Finally, I thought you were smart enough and phoned home!"
Two of the Intergang members shook their heads at the antics of the third one. The third Intergang Goon noticed the agitating expressions coming from the third one.
"ET Phone Home?" the Intergang member asked. The goons responded with blank expressions. "Oh come on, you can't beat the classics!"
Superman drove his fist into the chest of one of the thugs to knock him down. Another thug hurled a metal orb at the ground and caught Superman off guard. The Man of Steel staggered back a couple of inches. One of them rushed at Superman with a heavy gauntlet on his hand. The Gauntlet swung back with Superman blocking it from drilling into his head.
"Sorry, but no!"
Superman ripped the gauntlet off of the man's hand which caused him to stagger back. The Man of Steel flung himself into the air.
A dagger plunged into the back of the exposed neck of one of the Intergang goons. He dropped down onto the ground. A couple of figures dressed in black moved through the shadows. The Intergang members turned towards them.
"Ninjas!" one of them yelled. "You've got to be shitting me!"
An arrow shot out and slammed into the port of one of them. Sparks began to fly as the ninja's arms just rocked back and forth. The Man of Steel looked up just in time to see the Green Arrow drop to the ground. The Green Arrow drew back her bow and shot two more arrows at the joints of them.
Clark took out the attackers in the heavy armor. The man inside felt like a mouse on the inside of a tin can with how viciously Clark slammed his hand into his chest. The Man of Steel pulled back and hammered the goon with a succession of huge punches.
The Man of Steel pulled back from the Intergang goon and then stepped back from him.
"Darkseid's in the center ship in Metropolis!" the Intergang member spat out. "He's above the Daily Planet….I swear to god that I'm not making this up."
Nyssa al Ghul stepped over and put the dagger to the throat of the man. A man was very honest when his life had been at stake. Especially someone who was nothing other than a garden variety thug.
"I think he's tell the truth," Sara responded.
"We know where he is," Tess said. "And he still has the Gold Kryptonite."
"How did he get that?" Thea asked.
"Well," Tess said. "I took it from Lionel's storage facility, and Clark had it shipped to the DEO, in case he had gone rogue and there were no other options. I'm not a huge fan of it."
"Astra isn't either," Clark said. "But, we have to get to Darkseid. And he's not going to let anyone other than Superman on that ship."
"Yes," Indy said. "We know he isn't."
Darkseid's forces surrounded the ship. A blur popped into the air right in front of the ship. The entire horde of forces all looked up to face off against him. Superman hovered high in the air and peered down onto the enemies.
"Your master wants to see me, doesn't he?"
The Man of Steel blasted through the hordes of Parademons. Two of them tried to grab him at the same time. Superman turned around and nailed them as hard as possible. The Man of Steel drove down the full force of his elbow down against the enemies.
"Let him pass."
The booming voice of Darkseid resulted in the hordes of Parademons parting away. The edge of the ship opened and Superman came aboard. He walked down the hallway where Darkseid waited. His hands folded behind his back.
"Good afternoon, Kal-El. And farewell."
Darkseid rushed forward to attack Superman. The Man of Steel blocked Darkseid's attempt to punch him directly in the face. The two struggled with each other with Superman briefly overpowering Darkseid and flipping him over onto the ground.
A blast of light from Darkseid's eyes launched Superman high into the air. The Man of Steel staggered with Darkseid slamming both of his fists deep into the face of Superman. Superman crumples down about one knee with Darkseid slamming down against him. Superman moved over and saw the red solar lamps hovering over the top of his head.
"You've fought valiantly," Darkseid said. "Much longer than I thought you would have. In the end, you should have realized one thing. You are merely mortal and I am a god. Goodbye, Kal-El."
Darkseid stabbed Superman in the chest with a Golden Kryptonite dagger. The dagger dropped the Man of Steel down to the ground. His Kryptonian blood spilled on the ground. Darkseid stood and pulled the dagger out before placing a foot on Superman's "S" symbol as some kind of demonic triumph.
"Rejoin the rest of your people."
The Man of Steel shifted and his skin started to melt. Indigo shot wires around Darkseid and caused him to stagger back. Indigo reached out and grabbed the gold Kryptonite dagger.
Darkseid's eye beams discharged and obliterated Indigo into chunks of machinery. He should have seen it coming. He pulled the Gold Kryptonite out of her hand only to realize that it had been negated. Nothing other than a lifeless rock.
A blur shot from the distance and one punch rocked Darkseid. Two more punches sent Darkseid flying through the windows. The Ruler of Apokolips landed very hard with a crunch into the streets of Metropolis. He pulled himself up to face Superman.
"You impress," Darkseid said. "But it won't stop the inevitable."
"Let's finish this," Superman said.
"Don't worry," Darkseid said. "We will."
Darkseid and Superman rushed each other and clashed. The battle for Earth's future was at hand.