The God and the Ubermensch
Chapter 1 = Throwing Down the Gauntlet
As soon as Clark Kent opened the door to his apartment he immediately realised something was terrible. The entire place looked as if it had been turned upside-down with furniture and shelves overturned and cracks in the plaster of the wall. There had clearly been an immense struggle and the only evidence left was a small cube of alien technology lying on the floor. It was a Mother Box; technology that had been developed by the New Gods.
Clark picked it up and it suddenly sparked to life displaying an image of his wife Lois bound and gagged to a chair in some dark room. Before he could take a breath the image of one of Clark's greatest and most ruthless enemies; Darkseid!
"Hello Superman." the malevolent alien despot said calmly. "As you can see I have taken the thing you value the most in life. You may ask why now of all times. You see Kryptonian I have decided that you, who have stood in my way and thwarted my schemes numerous times, must be taught a lesson. You will know the truth of what it means to cross the Almighty Darkseid and you will be reduced to the level of pain and misery of all those who live under my heel. If you wish to save your beloved wife then you shall have the opportunity. In twenty-four of your Earth hours this Mother Box will activate a Boom Tube to Apokoplips. If you wish to bring your allies then you may but ensure that you do come. If you do not then I'm afraid that Lois will be left to face the terrors of Desaad's torture chambers." At this the hologram faded on the sound of Lois's muffled scream of terror and Darkseid's maniacal laughter.
Superman paced back and forth in the Justice League conference room as he finished recounting his story to the other league members.
"Trap!" Batman growled bluntly.
"I don't think so," said Superman bluntly, "he said that I had to be taught a lesson."
"Yeah the lesson of what it feels like to get an ass-kicking from a swarm of Parademons when you walk into his very obvious trap!" said the Flash excitedly
"Flash." Wonder Woman said sternly, "It is obvious that Darkseid has some sort of hidden agenda and the open invitation seems to indicate something other than a trap."
"Darkseid does seem to be taking this a bit personal." murmured the Martian Man-hunter, "And he is one who has had an enthusiasm for settling accounts himself."
"It is still a trap." Batman said as if that settled the matter.
"And I'm still going." retorted Superman.
Almost instantly everyone raised a hubbub except Batman who just sat there and scowled. Superman raised a hand and they fell silent.
"I refuse to let Lois spend the rest of her life in agony," Superman shouted, "so I am going to save her; alone! I can't guarantee that Darkseid won't launch an attack on Earth while I am gone. So you have to stay and defend it. I will put the technology in my fortress of solitude at your disposal. With any luck I will deal with this quickly." With that Superman turned and exited the conference room and headed to the living quarters in order to try and get some rest.
As he sat on one of the sofas the image of Lois being taken hostage kept flashing in his mind. A lesson he thought bitterly, was it the lesson of what it felt like to lose the person he loved the most. Who was a monster like Darkseid to teach anything about love? That idea fuelled superman with a boiling sensation of anger. Once he made sure that Lois was safe he would make sure that Darkseid paid tenfold for this.
He was buried so deeply in his thoughts that didn't notice Wonder Woman until she was sitting next to him.
"Clark," she said softly startling him slightly, "I'm going with you. And bother you object you will let me say my piece."
Clark held his retort back and nodded grimly.
"I'm your friend Clark," Diana continued, "and I can tell when you're in an emotional state. In this state you can make rash decisions and your enemies can take advantage of you more easily. You need me to watch your back and support you in the fight ahead. Out of everyone here J'onn and I are the most capable of doing that but J'onn is needed here to coordinate the defences, so that leaves me as the best option."
"All right then," Superman responded calmly, "try and get some sleep and I will see you in the morning."
The two parted ways and left for their rooms. As Superman was walking away he failed to notice Batman in a corner of the room with narrowed eyes and his brain whirring.
Lois Lane-Kent struggled to move in her restraints aware of Darkseid's lecherous advisor and torture technician Desaad had his beady little eyes on her. She had been like this for several hours at least and suddenly the door to this twisted dungeon laboratory swung open and Darkseid with some buxom woman hanging off his arm.
"How is our guest Desaad?" Darkseid inquired.
"She continues to struggle my lord," the wormy hooded figure responded, "No matter; it will make breaking her all the more satisfactory." At this he ran a bony figure down Lois' cheek making her shudder in revulsion.
"You see this," Darkseid said to the woman at his side indicating Lois, "That is what the Kryptonian orphan chose as his soul-mate. That choice still baffles me. Humans are far physically inferior to Kryptonians; she cannot bear him children and will always be a hindrance to him as I myself have just proved." Lois could note the sneer of pride in Darkseid's tone at that.
The woman was staring at Lois with vacant blank-eyes as if she were a puzzle that the woman could not solve. After a few awkward seconds the woman spoke up timidly.
"Perhaps it is a deeper connection! Even one as great as you Great Darkseid should be able to understand and appreciate that."
Desaad looked mortified and Darkseid lips curled into a snarl. The woman looked terrified and broke into a run for the door. Red beams burst forth from Darkseid's eyes and struck the woman in the back; there was a bright flash and a scream and the woman was just a pile of ashes.
"Desaad!" Darkseid said softly, "What have I said about making sure these whores are properly housebroken."
Desaad began to stutter his apologies but Darkseid silenced him with a raised hand. Instead he crossed over to a view-screen which hung on the far wall. He turned it on to reveal the image of a middle-aged balding man in a red uniform with a cigarette in his lips and a monocle in one eye.
"Hail Darkseid!" he said in a thick Germanic accent.
"General Vunderbar, is the fleet assembled?" Darkseid inquired.
"Yes my lord." said the General. "Is the word given?"
"Yes! You may commence your attack as soon as the Kryptonian arrives. Darkseid out!"
The view-screen went blank and Darkseid turned back to Lois.
"Well woman the stage is set for our final confrontation." he said gravely. "When I am finished Superman will know what it means to feel true despair. Then his will shall break and he will beg me for the end which I will give him gladly. With him gone I will be free to pursue the anti-life equation on Earth and from there I will spread my influence to the rest of the cosmos. All will be one in Darkseid."
To Be Continued