Thea gestured toward Darkseid's corpse. "If those Divine Positions stay on Apokolips, they'll be co-opted by evil. If you take them, the forces of evil will recede and justice will gain ground. That's exactly why I called all of you here instead of handing these off to the evil gods out there."
"I'm not asking you to join their ranks. I'm asking you to use your willpower to restrain these negative Divine Positions. Am I making myself clear?" She looked at each of them and laid it out in the simplest possible terms.
Superman nodded. "Perfectly clear. I'll do it. If I ever fall, kill me."
Thea gave a light laugh. "It won't come to that. It's only a Divine Position—not enough to make you lose yourself."
She gave them each a moment to adjust their mental state. It was somewhat subjective, but a good headspace made acceptance by a Divine Position more likely.
"I'll release the suppression. Get ready—huh?" The instant Thea eased her grip, the Divine Position of Power shot out trailing a red energy plume with an audible whoosh. It didn't so much as glance at anyone else, flying arrow-straight into Superman's body.
Thea stared, speechless. The compatibility was off the charts.
No adjustment period. No mutual confirmation. Step one was skipped entirely, and fusion jumped straight to phase two.
She squinted. "That might be a special case. Normally it won't be this fast. Who's next?"
Per their arrangement, Deathstroke stepped up second. With Thea nudging things along from the shadows and several rounds of comparison and calibration, the Divine Position of Slaughter chose Deathstroke.
With Power and Slaughter both finding successors, the multiverse—which had seemed moments from collapse—showed the first hints of stabilizing.
Apokolips, which had been shuddering and hemorrhaging energy nonstop, gradually settled as well.
Surface temperatures were still dangerously high, but the planet had at least stepped back from the brink of total destruction.
Thea restored the normal flow of time, gave Superman and Deathstroke a brief rundown on life as a New God, and sent them on their respective ways.
Superman's reserves were genuinely staggering. The Divine Position of Power hadn't changed him in any noticeable way—icing on the cake at most. Same as before.
Deathstroke was a different story. He'd been an enhanced human, a Yellow Lantern bearer with some physical improvements, but all of that was negligible by New God standards. He'd essentially leapfrogged from mortal straight past demigod to full godhood. Thea sent him to the Underworld for the fusion process.
She'd prepared ritual formations there in advance that would dramatically improve his physical conditioning and accelerate the fusion.
Deathstroke, as God of Slaughter, unquestionably belonged to the Underworld's ranks.
Following Kanto the God of Shadows and Faora the Goddess of Souls, he became the Underworld's third New God.
The Divine Position of Power was neutral by nature—no inherent alignment toward good or evil—so New Genesis would've been the logical home. But Thea was worried Clark might start pursuing Diana, so after consulting his preference, good old Clark went back to helping Kryptonians build houses.
With two New Gods dispatched, she surveyed the remaining two Divine Positions and three candidates.
Scott confirmed he'd serve as backup—consider him only if there was truly no alternative.
Batman continued his silence. That left Orion to step forward.
The result of the two-way selection made his expression darken. He already bore the mantle of a god of violence, and now Tyranny had chosen him on top of it.
"Am I truly destined to never escape evil?" Orion's expression was bitter.
"The crown of evil must always rest on someone's head. If it's destined to be yours, then perhaps you can make something different of it. Lead Apokolips—not to eradicate evil entirely, but to reduce the conflict. You understand what I mean?" she asked.
Highfather's adopted son gave a bitter nod.
"Head back to New Genesis for now. There's still coordination to be done—I'll go see Steppenwolf shortly. What comes next will require all sides to discuss together."
Ignoring the self-pitying Orion, Thea looked at Scott and Batman. "Which of you wants to go first?"
Batman stood rigid, not moving an inch. Scott sighed, then stepped forward.
Less than three seconds later, his expression brightened. The Divine Position of Darkness had zero interest in him, and he felt no affinity for Darkness whatsoever. Compatibility was virtually nil.
"Guess it's got nothing to do with me after all," he said, sounding thoroughly relieved.
Thea respected that. Not everyone craved a life of conflict and combat. Some people just wanted to find a quiet corner and live on their own terms. She could understand that perfectly well.
"All right, I'll send you home. I won't be troubling you again."
With Scott gone, the debt to Highfather was fully repaid. The question now fell squarely on Batman.
"You really think I should take this step? It's too heavy a burden for me."
This time Thea didn't invoke the future, didn't bring up duty or responsibility. Daniel had reported multiple times that The Nightmare's fragmentation was accelerating. She had to contain it at the source, or the Dark Multiverse would launch a full-scale invasion.
She changed the subject. "Remember our conversation when you came out of the time-stream disruption?"
He had no idea why she'd jumped topics so abruptly, but he nodded.
"That situation hasn't been resolved. It's getting worse."
"You mean... our time stream is disrupted? And you need me to become this New God thing to stabilize it?"
Thea scratched her head. Batman's own leap of logic was surprisingly plausible, actually...
"It's more serious than that."
"Have you ever had nightmares?"
Batman's expression darkened. "Nightmares have followed me since that alley. It's why I barely sleep."
"The nightmare I'm talking about is a manifestation—not the kind we mention in passing, but something more tangible, more real. They're born from the dreams of living beings. Things that should be impossible all become reality there. Think of it as countless evil parallel universes."
"Every different choice creates a world. But when filtered through nightmare, it automatically selects the worst possible outcome to generate."
Batman removed his cowl. Nobody on Apokolips would recognize him, and even if someone did, they weren't about to show up in Gotham to blow his cover.
"Are you saying I caused all of this?"
Thea nodded. "The Omega Effect failed to work on you, and that altered certain universal laws. The deepest darkness exploited the breach, using you as a template. It's already spreading with you as its reference point, and the pace is accelerating..."
"What's there? Or rather, where is it?" Batman pressed, desperate for answers.
"Everything. Every impulse we normally keep locked beneath reason—things we think about but would never act on. These nightmares collect it all, and they form on the reverse side of the universe. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Bruce, come—let's see if the Divine Position of Darkness is right for you." Thea beckoned Batman forward.