The orphanage. The sacred ground of torture and sadism, home to numerous children and teenagers undergoing harsh training. This place, filled with the sorrow and suffering of its inhabitants, was the single most cruel and infamous place on the planet Apokolips. Here, under the watchful eye of one Granny Goodness, members of the Apokoliptian army, elite or not, are being trained to serve the betterment of the New God Society.
Primarily, this sinister facility serves as a training and indoctrination centre for young orphans and vulnerable children who are taken in and moulded into loyal soldiers. Being an orphan here is a requirement, one that moulded, shaped and destroyed most of the destinies of the unfortunate souls that ended up here. One could have had a perfect and loving family once. But they had been taken away in the war, either by force or from the cold hands of their dead family. Some orphans were sold by their families into slavery. Thus, they lost their names and the right to be called by them. Here, in the orphanage, they would become orphans on paper and in practice. Some children here were genuine poor souls that were dealt a blow by destiny and lost their families in accidents, war or from poverty and hunger.
All of these children were connected by one single fact: their single hope for a decent life was to persevere and graduate from the Orphanage. To become loyal soldiers and servants of the Apokoliptian Elite and the royal family. To get through the endless wars and battles, hopefully in one piece but most probably not, and retire as an accomplished warrior with a reputation that allowed you to become a bodyguard, army instructor or a personal trainer, away from the epicenter of the war.
The orphanage was purposefully designed as a grim, oppressive environment to strip away innocence and instil brutality, discipline, and unwavering loyalty. The infamous torture freak Granny Goodness was overseeing the facility, applying harsh training methods and psychological conditioning to prepare the children for their roles as warriors. All with a fake smile on her face. Granny is one of the most dangerous persons on the planet, capable of many nasty things, all in the name of her twisted understanding of the greater good. In addition to her dubious portfolio as an educator, Granny was said to be a fierce and ruthless warrior and was known for her unwavering loyalty to the royal family's rule.
As a New God, Granny Goodness was akin to a force of nature with her formidable combat skills, cruelty, and iron will that painted a picture of a perfect person to oversee the army training of the Apokoliptian regime. She was capable, ruthless and unnecessarily cruel to all people around her except for her direct bosses, the royal family.
Uxas was standing before the Granny Goodness' Orphanage that was nestled within a fortress of fire and ash on the other side of the planet, far away from the Royal Palace. The building itself, a looming edifice of dark stone and jagged metal, exuded an oppressive aura, as if the very air was infused with a whisper of obedience and dread. Despite the dark and heavy air around it, the architectural design of the Orphanage was quite simple; the brutalistic simplicity was evident in every single element of the Ophanage. There were no statues, no paintings, only the bare grey walls, reinforcing the desperation and dread in the air.
He stepped into the main hall of the Orphanage. Inside, the big and empty halls allowed for every single sound, no matter how loud or quiet, to echo from their bare walls, void of decorum and pomp. All around the place, patrolling guards with empty faces were carrying out their grim duty of protecting the facility. From the depths of the Orphanage the footsteps of trainees and child soldiers were barely reaching the main entrance; the uniform sound of marching footsteps was echoing throughout its halls. The resulting cacophony of an army marsh and its echoes left quite an impression on most visitors.
Uxas headed deeper into the facility, trying to locate Granny Goodness herself. After the main hall, he entered the living area, or rather, the barracks. Rows of crude beds lined with coarse blankets, dim flickering torchlight. On some of the beds, trembled from fear and exhaustion, lay the younger children, those that were still not used to the harsh army-like regime of the Orphanage. For these children, the orphanage would become more than a mere home, more than a prison or a training ground; it would become the crucible of transformation, where hope flickers like a dying ember and is smothered beneath the iron grip of a goddess commanding with unwavering purpose. In this desolate place, childhood was a fleeting memory, and all that remains was the resilient, unbreakable spirit of those who survived its darkest halls. For those who won't, this place would become the final rest. The earth beneath the building was already riddled with countless mass graves of those who were not strong enough.
Finally, Uxas reached his destination, the single room in the whole building that had any decoration, Granny Goodness's chambers. The meta knowledge that Uxas was gifted with painted a clear picture in his head. Granny Goodness should be gone as soon as possible.
The most important part of Granny Goodness's work was training and raising the Female Furies. Furies were the elite warriors of Apokolips, taking the role of both field generals and the champions of the New Gods. Trained from childhood, most of them were raised in the Orphanage by Granny Goodness, and as a result, she was the holder of their rapport. This, in turn, made her more important than the future General Commander, Steppenwolf, Uxas's uncle. She was controlling the most important part of the military force.
That needed to change. Granny Goodness was not trustworthy. Not only was she very sadistic in her approach, which made recruits very antagonistic to the regime, but she was also very stuck in her ways, unwilling to change or improve. And improvement was his new motto, upgrade, persevere, evolve. Everything needed to be improved and upgraded; the future was not good for him and his people if he would let the events play out as they were meant to. He would lose. And that was unacceptable.
There was no doubt that she was a talented educator, in a very perverted meaning of the word, as multiple talented people came from under her tutelage. But now he knew, he had seen the future, she was a major liability. How many recruits with good potential broke or died under her tutelage?
The question had no definite answer; there were no reports on what was going on inside the Orphanage. Granny was surprisingly tight-lipped about her own business, despite all the unwavering loyalty she exhibited and would have exhibited. Ultimately, judging by the eventual betrayal by Mister Miracle and Big Barda, the most talented and accomplished people raised by Granny Goodness, the structures of the Orphanage and of the Furies were not adequete. If he were to rule the universe, the very first thing he needed to get right was the personnel.
Granny should die today.
"What a great luck for me to meet such an esteemed figure, and in my own chambers no less, my prince. But I wonder, how did this poor ol' Granny deserve your attention?". Granny was a very tall woman, uncanny and old. Her short silver hair was styled back in a lion mane, slicked back to expose her tall forehead. She was clad in a golden set of armour with visible black chain-mail underneath. On one shoulder, there was one pauldron-shaped shoulder guard. She was a paradox. Her body reflected her battle accomplishments and capabilities, while her face looked like a sweet grandma.
"Your work here at the Orphanage piqued my interest. I came here to take a look… at this mess myself". The gravity of his deep voice was affecting even the air in the room, seemingly causing vibrations around the two gods. He was looking directly at her face; he wanted to see how exactly she would respond.
"I fail to understand, my prince. My only goal in life is to serve you and your family, and to educate the unruly children at the Orphanage." The uncanny sweet smile on her face didn't falter even a bit, but her posture tensed, betraying the uneasiness of the sudden verbal slight dealt to her reputation. Unnoticeable to most, the old woman lowered her core and sturdied her shoulders; she was prepared to leap into action. Unfortunately for her, Uxas was the better warrior out of the two; the change in her body language didn't escape his eye.
"I AM THE DISCIPLINE. MERE PRINCE DARES TO QUESTION MY GODLY DOMAIN?" Granny Goodness roared. She was shaking with rage, her whole face scrunched up like a crumpled paper. She grabbed a battle staff from the nearest wall, the handle of the staff made a cracking noise inside of her hands. The electricity in it was going off, preparing for battle.
She had such a short fuse that even the slightest provocation would set her off, and she made an unfortunate choice to confront Uxas head-on. She was a fool incapable of critical thinking, and her mental state was apparently deteriorated enough for her to… choose her battles unwisely.
Uxas charged right at her, his taller and bigger physique impacting Granny head-on, snapping the battle staff in two. His right fist struck her jaw, sending her flying to the floor. A small visible shockwave was created by the impact, accompanied by a loud cracking sound. The fearsome commander of Female Furies suddenly found herself on the floor, her weapon broken and her jaw no longer functional.
Uxas stepped with his right foot on her chest, pinning her down and pressing her body into the marble floor. The pride in her might that she had, the glory, the legacy that she was building for centuries, all was crushed under his foot. She was disposed of by this upstart prince in the blink of an eye. Why was he so strong?
"I am the strongest god on this planet. Pests like you should be afraid of me, for I hate pests and parasites. This planet needs to be cleansed of the talentless void that is its current elite." He stomped on her stomach, shattering her armour to pieces. Her body folded like a book from the impact, and blood burst out from her mouth. Granny Goodness wasn't prepared for this viciousness. She heard about his accomplishments and his training before, but she thought them to be exaggerated to make the royal family look good. Apparently, she was wrong in her assessment; it was a fatal mistake.
There were no laws to keep the ruling family of Apokolips in check. Their word was law, and their deeds were divine. Uxas's foot pierced through her body, and the bottom of his boot connected with the now bloody red marble beneath it. Life slowly escaped the eyes of the former owner of the Orphanage. And Uxas took every single moment of her death, looking straight into her eyes that were clearing up of the presence of mind. He snuffed her life out like a candle, and he loved every single moment of it.