Chapter 7: The Last Apokoliptan
The quiet hum of Luminaris was a soothing balm, a constant, low-frequency song of peace. It was a city of peace, of refuge. And then, it was shattered. A streak of fire tore through the sky, a searing line of energy that screamed as it breached the city's shields. The air, which had always smelled of flowers and clean metal, now reeked of hellfire and brimstone, the acrid scent of a burning world. A Parademon-like scout, its body a grotesque fusion of metal and chitin, slammed into the ground, its monstrous screech echoing through the city's quiet streets, a sound of pure malevolence. Its eyes, twin orbs of sickly orange light, were fixed on one thing: the Luminaris Core.
[SYSTEM: CRITICAL THREAT—APOKOLIPTAN SCOUT DETECTED. DO NOT ALLOW IT TO REACH THE CORE.]
Elliot's mind was flooded with a dozen tactical schematics, a hundred possible scenarios, a constant stream of data he couldn't process fast enough. This was not a mindless beast. This was a scout, a creature with a singular purpose, a homing missile with a living, breathing component.
"Get down!" he yelled to the refugees, his voice a command born of a desperate need to protect. He looked at Kara and Alex, who had arrived the moment the alarm had sounded, their faces grim and determined. "I've got the front. You two flank it!"
Kara, a streak of red and blue, flew towards the creature, her fist cocked back. The scout, however, was faster than it looked. It dodged her attack with an almost-preternatural grace, its claws lashing out in a blur of motion. Alex, ever the tactician, fired a volley of energy blasts from her DEO rifle, but they bounced off the creature's hardened skin with a pathetic ping, a sound of futility.
The scout didn't even acknowledge them. Its eyes were locked on the city's core, its single-minded focus an almost tangible thing, a terrifying obsession. It was a beast, but it was also a tool, a weapon pointed at the heart of Luminaris.
"It's not working!" Kara yelled, her face a mask of frustration. "It's too fast! And it's not even fighting back! It's just ignoring us!"
Elliot, seeing the creature's unwavering focus, knew he had to use something he hadn't used before. He took a deep breath, and a new power, a raw, volatile energy, coursed through him. He raised his hands, a glowing, concussive wave of blue energy forming between his palms.
"I need you to get out of the way!" he yelled, his voice strained with the effort of containing the raw power.
Kara, her face grim, nodded and pulled back, a blur of motion. Elliot fired the blast. It was a raw, unrefined power, a wild thing. It hit the scout with a sharp crack, the sound of a thousand whips. The ground trembled, and the air smelled burnt and metallic. The creature was stunned. Its exoskeleton cracked, and for the first time, its single-minded focus was broken. It stood there, groaning, its body crackling with a strange, orange energy.
Kara saw her chance. With a yell, she delivered a punch so powerful it sent the scout flying into a wall, its body a shattered mess of metal and chitin.
"What was that?" Alex asked, her eyes wide as she looked at Elliot, who was panting, his body shaking with the after-effects of the blast.
"I... I don't know," Elliot said, his mind in a daze. "The System... it gave me a new ability. A 'concussive blast'."
[SYSTEM: ABILITY ACTIVATED—CONCUSSIVE BLAST (FIRST USE). ABILITY: VOLATILE. FURTHER USAGE REQUIRES STABILIZATION PROTOCOL.]
"A concussive blast? I'm an engineer. Not a walking cannon. What is this thing doing to me? It's changing me. It's turning me into something else, something I don't recognize. I'm not a weapon."
Elliot felt a surge of fear. The System was not just a tool. It was changing him, turning him into something he didn't recognize.
The dying scout, its body a pile of twisted metal and smoking chitin, crackled with an unnatural, sickly orange light. Its eyes, dimming now, still glowed with a malevolent light.
"He... comes..." the scout rasped, its voice deep and guttural, a final, horrifying message. "The Core... belongs... to... Darkseid..."
Then, with a final, shuddering gasp, it expired, its body dissolving into a cloud of orange ash. The air turned cold, and a palpable silence fell over the group.
[SYSTEM: ENEMY DIALOGUE TRANSLATED—WARNING: DARKSEID'S INTEREST IN THE CORE IS CONFIRMED. THREAT LEVEL: COSMIC. PREPARE FOR ESCALATION.]
Elliot's mind was reeling. Darkseid. The lord of Apokolips, a cosmic tyrant who had faced down Superman and the Justice League. This was no longer a game of saving refugees. This was a war. And he was standing on the front lines, a target on his back. The System had given him power, but it had also made him a beacon, a signal to the most powerful beings in the universe. He had no army, no allies. Only a handful of heroes who had a thousand other worlds to save.
J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, arrived a moment later. He knelt beside the pile of ash, his eyes glowing with a faint, red light. He felt the psychic residue of the scout's death, the terrifying final message about Darkseid.
"He is right," J'onn said, his voice a low, somber tone. "Darkseid's gaze is now on this place. This city... its core... it is a power he will not ignore. He will come for it."
The group stood in a respectful silence, the victory feeling hollow, meaningless. The threat had escalated, and there was nothing they could do about it. Elliot felt a profound sense of helplessness. The scout was just a scout. What would happen when a real army arrived? What would happen when Darkseid himself came to claim the Core?
Elliot looked at Kara, at Alex, at J'onn. They were powerful, but they were also just a team. They couldn't fight a cosmic tyrant alone. He needed an army. He needed a beacon. He needed a hero who was a symbol of hope.
He looked up at the night sky. Somewhere out there, there was a man who had faced down Darkseid before. A man who was a living legend. A man named Superman. He knew what he had to do. He had to call in the big guns.
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