Chapter 7

As Kyla watched everyone disperse across the globe, the feeling of loneliness tried to rear its ugly head, but she never felt more part of a team than she did now. She soared up into the clouds toward the big red planet and glared. This would not be her final day on earth, and if it was, it wouldn't be earth's final day. She'd known two homes, but she felt more human than Kryptonian. She would fight to the end to protect mankind, even if it meant her death.

When she reached five miles from the surface, Kyla noticed a dark cloud moving at a fast rate in her direction. She used her supervision to get a better look and noticed it wasn't a cloud at all. It was a swarm. Flying insect-like beings flew with purpose straight toward earth. Humanoid in shape with red glowing eyes, their mouths resembled that of something out of a vampire movie. Long, razor sharp teeth flashed in the sunlight as they roared with their battle cry.

"Uh, Bru-er, Batman. I have visual. I don't know how to explain it, but they look like the flying monkeys from Wizard of Oz...except they're not monkeys, more like demons on steroids with wings. There's thousands of them, and they're heading straight down. Should I try to intercept?"

Batman's voice sounded off in her ear, "No. We need you on that planet. We'll handle them."

It was hard to resist the urge to open up her heat vision and fry all of the flying demons as they soared downward. It would attract a lot of attention, and the survivors would overcome her in a second. She continued up through the atmosphere and relayed everything she took in.

As the planet neared closer, she saw fire rising from pits surrounded by iron industrial buildings, unlike any city she'd ever seen before. Thousands of the winged figures stood on rooftops, in the streets, and hovered in the air as they listened to someone speak in the midst of the chaos. She recognized the voice from the recording Batman played for them.

The crowd chanted and buzzed every time the speaker paused. Kyla wished she could understand their language but listening to his vocal inflections didn't need an interpreter. The energy in his dark, raspy voice permeated the air as he shouted every word. She flew in just close enough to not be seen and watched the alien pep rally unfold.

Her supervision revealed an armored figure standing upon an altar shaped like a pyramid. His helmet bore a bladed horn on each side, and his chestplate was covered in an ornate, spiny design. Massive muscular arms expanded from each side of his torso, and Kyla realized he was big. Bigger than any human she'd ever seen...possibly a giant. Up close, the winged demons were larger than she realized as well. They stood a foot shorter than their leader but two feet taller than her.

The unease she'd felt since their arrival exploded into full blown anxiety. Earth was in trouble. The society outstretched below her was far more advanced than humankind and probably larger in size. The group standing directly at the feet of the speaker were armed with metal staffs that resembled something straight out of a fantasy movie. Strapped to their chests were items that looked like guns while daggers were strapped to their thighs. The speaker pointed to them, barked an order, and they took off toward earth.

"Guys, you got a mess coming your way. Some really big baddies. They're armed to the hilt." Her voice projected the words louder than she'd wanted. The adrenaline had taken over her vocal chords, and she'd practically yelled into her earpiece. A few faces in the crowd turned and looked her in direction. "Uh oh. I think I've been made."

Kyla could've kicked herself. She'd given away her position and enlightened everyone of her presence. The giant in the horned helmet pointed at her, shouted with ire, and the horde flew after her. Knowing that she was a goner if she stayed, she zipped away toward earth's surface.

The screeching of the winged demons scratched at her eardrums, and she aimed a few heat vision stares at them when she looked over her shoulder. Some disintegrated while some managed to dodge the oncoming heat darts.

"They're coming," she shouted as she hoped they could hear her over the wind roaring into her earpiece.

Spread across the sky, the creatures dove down. Some fired their weapons at the humans on the ground. She saw explosions erupt from the surface, and her heart sunk. How many people would die before the day was over?

Kyla felt the strong grasp of a hand around her ankle, then one around her bicep, and before she could react, she was overrun with demons. Four had seized her in midair and tried to subdue her. The fury she'd buried in her heart replaced the fear she'd held onto, and Kyla screamed with indignation as she ripped the demons from her body. Her heat vision tore through the one holding her ankle. Its body tumbled to the earth below. With every bit of strength she had, she slammed together the two that held her arms. A loud crack, and their skulls caved in as they made impact with each other. Kyla reached behind her and grabbed the one with his arm around her neck and flung him to the face of the earth. His body landed with a deep thud, and he didn't move.

Her eyes burned with madness, and she used her heat vision on as many as she could. Winged bodies fell or burned into ash as the lasers from her eyes flashed across the sky. Kyla sucked in as much air as she could and blew the demons out of the air. They didn't stop coming, and endless amounts of demons soared past or attacked her head on.

In her earpiece she could hear the shouts of the individual team members as they took on the ground units. The loss of control was imminent. Kyla withdrew from her sky battle and headed toward to the ground to help. Her punches connected, and demons fell. The militaries of the world shot cannons, rockets, and any firepower they had toward the skies above them, and the expanse was filled with smoke and fire. Armageddon was here.

Death rained all around her. The demon hordes flocked to humankind and ripped them apart and slaughtered them without prejudice. Dead bodies littered the streets, both human and demonkind. Blood flowed like a slow river down the drains. If they survived this day, the relief and cleanup effort would last for years. What would the human race look like after this? Could they come back from such decimation?

"I can't hold them back, guys. There's just too many. As soon as I get rid of a hundred, three hundred more show up. I'm running out of juice fast," Barry said.

"I'm in the same boat, Flash," Cyborg replied.

Hearing the sound of defeat in her teammates' voices allowed the doors of doubt to creak open in her mind. If they couldn't last much longer, then they were all doomed.

"We cannot give up." Batman panted into the earpiece. "We do this till we're dead or till they're dead, but we do not stop."

Kyla hoped one day she could be the leader that Bruce was. His determination and unfaltering attitude was a real testament to the Wayne legacy. She had no legacy. Anything she left behind would be straight from her blood.

She continued her rage upon the demon race and took out as many as she could, as quickly as she could. Never in her life had she felt tired, so when her muscles sang the song of fatigue, she dug in harder. The yellow sun that gave her power sat on the horizon of the west as it made its daily adieu. When it disappeared, she wouldn't get that recharge she needed to finish the job. Whatever they had to do, they had to do it quickly.

A scream of agonizing pain shrilled through the earpiece, and Kyla recognized Diana's voice, "I...can't...hold...them...off." She could hear the creature yelling at her in their foreign tongue. Diana put up a fight, but after a buzz of static, her end went silent.

"Diana?" Kyla whispered. There was no response. She called out to her again, but only silence met her.

"She's gone. Keep moving." The deep tone of Arthur Curry's voice grunted in her ear. He'd remained quiet since the war started, and Kyla had forgotten he was there.
"But, I can-"

"Shut up and keep going. She's gone. There's nothing you can do for her," he grunted again.

Kyla couldn't resolve it in her mind to leave the Amazon. She was part of the team. Diana was her friend.

"He's right. More may fall," Bruce echoed.

More anger bubbled up from her stomach. If she'd had the power, she might have torn the earth in two. She flew into groups of the demons and used whatever tool she had to obliterate them. As she pummeled one after the other, she heard the familiar voice of their leader draw closer. When she got a moment, she glanced up into the clouds and saw him approaching atop a flying vehicle that resembled a modified jet ski-motorcycle mix. In one hand he held a large axe unlike anything she'd ever seen. It glowed with an electrical radiance.

The grunts, gasps, and sounds of retreat bounced off the canals of her ear, and Kyla could tell the end was near. Her team was losing. She wouldn't give up, though. She would be like her brother and give everything she had left till her body was just a limp mass. Demons circled and pounced on her all at once. She slung them off in every direction, taking out interlopers and other creatures riding atop demonic dogs.

In the distance, Kyla could see the top of the sun just above the edge of the horizon. Fear danced around in her stomach, and she clenched her abs to drown it. The armored figure hovered over her, and as she was about to attack, a huge swarm of demons tackled her and pinned her down.

This pleased their leader, as a wide smile stretched across this face. He stepped down from his flying contraption like a king stepping down from his throne. Kyla's energy was nearly spent, but she tried her best to wrestle from the creatures' grasps. She failed to get free. The figure loomed over her and glared down at her.

"You have fought valiantly for this wretched species, but why? You are not human. These are not your people," he said. His voice was so deep, that it reverberated in the ground below her. "These are my people." He outstretched the arm with the axe to point at the demons holding her down. "I am Steppenwolf. General of Apokolips."

Kyla glared at him with burning disgust, "You will pay for what you've done."

"You are Kryptonian. Your species was once great with brilliant scientific minds and expanding technology. Now, you fight for an inferior race of insects." He chuckled. "No matter. You and your costumed comrades will be dispatched along with the human race."

Multiple groups of demons appeared to her right, and what they carried made her heart sink. Slumped over one of the creature's shoulders was Bruce. She hoped he wasn't dead. Prayed for it. He was followed by Barry and Arthur. Both were bound in shackles and chains, and their uniforms were tattered from battle. Two flying demons landed in front of her and tossed Diana to dirt. She was bloodied and bound by her own lasso, and a creature yanked on a chain fastened to a collar around her neck. Diana's head turned, and she winced with pain. Kyla sighed with relief as the thought of Diana being dead was not an option anymore...not yet.

"Your...friends...are weak. They were no match for my armies. Although, this is not surprising to me. The human species is a despicable race. They fight with each other, and betray each other." Steppenwolf bent and lowered his face to meet Kyla's. "In fact, I am here because one of your beloved pets betrayed mankind to me. Apparently, there was another Kryptonian who gave his life for these filthy animals."

He took Kyla's chin in his hand. She was surprised by his strength.

"Are you prepared to share the same fate as he? Your playmates will. I will even let you watch as I drain the blood from their lifeless corpses. Their soft, weak flesh shall accept my blade."

The axe appeared at the corner of her eye. Here was her chance to end it before she lost the ability to end it at all.

"But before I take their lives, your little Judas presented me with quite a gift."

Kyla's eyes burned as she prepared to glare right through Steppenwolf's eyes, and hoped she would see the fading sunset on the other side of his skull. A bright flash of pain exploded from her shoulder, and she cried out in agony. Searing, hot pain flooded the cells of her body, and she glanced down to see the handle of a dagger sticking through her suit. Attached to the handle glowed a bright green blade, and her blood cascaded down around it.

"I find it pure poetic justice that you fight for a home that is not yours, and material from your planet brings about your undoing."

Steppenwolf's smile grew larger as Kyla's gasps grew louder. Poison laced with fire seeped into her body, and her lungs yearned for air beyond the fumes caused by the Kryptonite buried in her skin.

"Why...do you do this?" she asked through exacerbated breaths.

The Demon Leader stood and closed his eyes with a defiant look upon his face.

"Because with me, I bring the new god of this world...Lord Darkseid."

Kyla had been so preoccupied with the agony that raged havoc on her body that she had not seen the giant figure appear behind Steppenwolf. The armored general stood aside, and the goliath stepped forward. His presence left her in awe, and for a split second she forgot her pain. The giant stood almost nine feet above her as he glared down at her with eyes made of fire. His skin, like gray stone, was covered by a smooth blue and black armor.

A thundering voice spoke but not with vocal chords. It discharged through her head, and she couldn't fight it.

"I have come to take your free will and your life."