"You fools just never learn, do you?" Darkseid spoke indignantly at the Justice League and their allies as his command ship was currently being ravaged by the naval forces of New Genesis and Tamaran. "You will not stop me from acquiring the Anti-Life Equation. Not you, or anyone in the whole universe."
"Give it up, Darkseid!" Superman declared, dropping a Parademon that he knocked out on the floor. "You have lost."
Darkseid didn't respond. At least, not with words. He gave a menacing chuckle that made the heroes of Earth stand on edge as his eyes shimmered a mixture of white and red, warning them that he was about to use his Omega Beam without restraint.
"Oh, Kal-El," Darkseid finally spoke, slowly and menacing while glaring at him. "This is just the beginning."
He widened his eyes and fired his Omega Beam, smiling sinisterly as the heroes moved quickly from their position to avoid being hit by the zig-zagging dual lasers. His smile faulted, however, as the lasers missed the heroes and landed on two Parademons that came through the door. He teleported from his throne into the air and smashed his fists on the ground, lifting debris in the process as few heroes scrambled out of the way, preparing for the ensuing battle ahead.
One by one they went against him. Batman threw batarangs that exploded on his face as Green Arrow and Red Arrow each shot arrows at him-one exploding on his left shoulder, and the other turning into a boxing glove that hit him in the face. Beast Boy morphed into a tiger and Vixen mimicked a cheetah, both of them lunging at Darkseid as the smoke cleared, managing to scratch his arms and chest severely. But Darkseid recover quickly and he teleported, taking both heroes by surprise as he punched Vixen twice, sending her flying towards Dr. Fate and evading Beast Boy for a bit until he caught him by the throat and pummeled him on the ground, where he morphed back on his original form and struggled to breath.
"Is that all you got?" Darkseid taunted at his adversaries. "It will take a lot more for me to fall, and for you to outlast me."
As quick as he finished speaking, Raven covered Darkseid with black energy and lifted him before throwing him at a wall, making a hole in it as Starfire flew to catch Beast Boy in time. She landed near Zatanna and placed Beast Boy in the ground, all while he took deep breaths and coughed as he regained his voice.
Wonder Woman threw her lasso at Darkseid, landing on his left wrist just as Wonder Girl wrapped her own lasso onto his other wrist, incapacitating him to move his arms long enough for Hawkgirl to hit him hard in the face with her mace. Darkseid grabbed both lassos and pulled forward, making both heroines clash into Hawkgirl and being sent flying across the room. The Green Lanterns - John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Hal Jordan - combined their rings and formed a fist construct, hitting Darkseid with full force that led to part of the wall crumble on top of him.
"Did we get the bastard?" Red Hood asked, reloading his gun as everyone remained in a defensive stance.
Nightwing stood next to Superhuman, eskrima sticks in hand as he spoke, "I think it's safe to say that we-"
The sudden burst of debris interrupted Nightwing as the Flash got him and Superman out of the area just as Darkseid rose from the ground, rage filling his eyes and snarl coming out of his mouth. He panted and glared at the heroes.
"He is quite persistent, is he not?" Starfire said, her hands glowing with neon green starbolts just as Supergirl landed beside her.
"You said it, girl," she said, her eyes glowing red as she fired lasers at Darkseid.
Darkseid managed to evade the lasers a minute too late, just as Superman, Red Robin and Nightwing began to attack him from all sides-Superman punching heavily on the face, Nightwing hitting him in the back with his sticks, and Red Robin in the legs with his bo staff. The three of them almost managed to subdue him, only to fail as Darkseid swung an arm, effectively hitting the three heroes and pinning the rest on the walls.
"I grow tired of this," Darkseid spoke, landing a foot on top Red Robin's chest as he prepared to deploy his Agony Matrix on him. "I'll just kill you all. Starting with this weakling."
Superboy managed to free himself and stumbled on the ground. Rage was seething through his body and he lunged at him, drawing his right fist back as he delivered a punch to Darkseid's face, powerful enough that it sent him flying through the wall and brake three more. He rushed towards Red Robin, whom was clutching his chest, and lifted him slowly, carrying him with one of his arms over his back while holding the other one.
"You alright?" Superboy asked, worry filling his face.
"Yeah," Red Robin gasped, giving him a sly smile. "Thanks to you."
Superboy smiled and carried Red Robin near Kid Flash just as Martian Manhunter telepathically attacked Darkseid, getting near to subdue his mind until he got caught in Darkseid's Agony Matrix. He struggled with the immediate pain while Red Hood shot his pistols at Darkseid, the bullets either breaking upon contact or missing him. Miss Martian density-shifted herself and Red Hood through the floor just as Darkseid fired another Omega Beam at them, only to miss them a second time and disintegrated another Parademon in the room. Dr. Light fired a ray of light at him and Darkseid crossed his arms in front of his chest, walking slowly towards her while struggling with the intense beam. He succumbed on the spot and breathed heavily for a few seconds before teleporting again and throwing a punch at Green Arrow, stunning him deliberately and sending him flying towards Black Canary. The weary heroes were reaching their breaking points at the moment.
"It is pointless to defeat me," Darkseid , a smirk creeping on his face as his army of Parademons swarmed them in a circle, their backs brushing one another with tension beating in their hearts. "Now you shall all die."
"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" Raven shouted, summoning her Soul-Self and wreaking havoc all over the ship just as she formed a black dome around the heroes to protect them from her arcane outburst. Alarms blared throughout the ship, indicating severe damage has crippled the ship into a critical state while many Parademons shrieked as they were either knocked out by her telekinetic constructs or by the explosions happening all around them. She lowered the dome and stumbled back a bit, being grabbed by Red Arrow in the process.
Darkseid laid still on the ground, breathing but not moving effortlessly, relieving the heroes for a moment before a fire broke on the Command Center.
"Well, this is another fine predicament that we all find ourselves in," Dr. Light said, covering her face as smoke spread across the room.
"I agree with you on that," Black Canary replied, coughing a bit as Hawkgirl shouted, "Everyone head to the hangar, now!"
Following instinctively behind her, the Justice League and its allies made way towards the hangar bays of the ship, where several Javelins were stationed to exfiltrate them into a nearby friendly sector. Soon, the transports flew off from the warship towards a safe distance until only one remained. Red Robin started the engines of the transport while Impulse, Blue Beetle, Dr. Fate, Cyborg and Superman defended the area from the remaining Parademons in the wide-spaced area. They succeeded and most of them boarded the spacecraft until Darkseid teleported in the area and grabbed Impulse by the neck before he could get in. The others were alarmed and exited the ship to help him.
"IMPULSE!" Blue Beetle shouted, pulling out his sonic cannon just as Cyborg did the same as well. Dr. Fate hovered above them with arcane energy coursing through his hands.
"If I go down... I'll take one of you with me," Darkseid sneered, gritting his teeth as he strangled Impulse with one hand.
"You're not taking anyone with you!" Superman said, flying faster towards the two and hitting Darkseid in the chest, sending him flying into the wall and picking Impulse up to the ship. Darkseid tried to stand up once more when, at that moment, it happened.
Dr. Fate casted an energy blast at the same time Blue Beetle fired a sonic wave and Cyborg a sonic blast. The impact of the three shots combined was powerful enough that it destroyed everything on its path right to where the core of Darkseid's ship was established, causing a meltdown everywhere around them and more explosions within the ship. The remaining heroes fled the warship and reunited with their companions just as the Watchtower began to make contact with them.
"This is the Watchtower. All Javelins report in. Over."
"Watchtower, this is Javelin 137, standing by. Over."
"This is Javelin 463, standing by. Over."
"This is Javelin 751, standing by. Over."
"This is Javelin 628, standing by. Over."
"Watchtower, this is Javelin 532. All Javelins are accounted for. Activating the warp drive to friendly space. Over," Red Robin spoke, typing the coordinates on the console just as the New Genesis and Tamaranean warships jumped to lightspeed towards their homeworlds. Darkseid's warship formed arcs of energy around itself before it exploded, releasing a powerful energy wave that was headed for the heroes.
"Everyone, brace for impact!" Batman shouted in the communicator, the energy wave coursing through with tremendous force just as debris spread across the empty space, occasionally either scratching or colliding the ships that were in the way. The transports rattled compulsively to the wave until they were shielded by the energy ring of the three Green Lanterns along with Raven's magic. Moments later, the ships were stabilized into hovering mode.
"BOOYAH! We managed to kick Darkseid's butt!" Cyborg shouted through the communicator, lifting both of his arms in the air as the majority of them celebrated their victory.
"You may be right about that," Superman said. "But I have a feeling this won't be the last time we'll see of him."
"Oh, lighten up, Big Blue," Flash spoke. "He won't be troubling everyone for a few years now! Cherish the victory!"
Superman sighed for a bit until he smiled to him. "Very well, then. Watchtower, this is Superman. Do we have clearance for warp speed or not? Over."
"This is the Watchtower. You are all clear for warp speed. I repeat, you are all clear for warp speed. Over."
"Copy that, Watchtower. Over and out," Stargirl spoke. "Alright, everyone, here we go!"
The transports moved into a V-shaped formation and began to light up their propellers. One by one they went as each ship formed a wormhole that would take the heroes back home on Earth and leave the conflict zone, ending the feud between them and Apokolips once more.
However, unbeknownst to them, this course of events have sparked a galactic war between Humanity and unknown alien races that come from beyond the Milky Way Galaxy…