Scott Free was a tall man with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes. His height is incalculable by any human means, other than that he's a giant to any planet. To compare dimensions however, he would stand at exactly six feet tall. He has a lean build, and preferred agility over strength, unlike most of the others on Apokolips. He dressed in simple rags, as he was unworthy of the armor worn by almost everyone else on the planet.
Behind Scott was a killbot, a mechanical nightmare of blades and saws. It quickly flew towards him, intent on ripping him apart, only for Scott to step out of the way at the last moment. The killbot flew past, before turning and repeating the process. This time Scott jumped in the air and landed perfectly on top of the machine. He yawned, before kicking down, crushing the killbot's head, killing it.
The machine fell idle to the ground while Scott landed on his feet, perfectly unharmed. Elsewhere an ancient old woman grew angry and pressed a button that caused the floor to drop out from beneath him. just before the floor gave way Scott jumped up and grabbed hold of the grating of the ceiling. The old woman pressed another button, and the grating began to burn hot, quickly turning red.
Scott let go and landed perfectly on the tiny sliver of floor left along the wall. The old woman's anger grew, and she pressed yet another button that caused the walls to begin closing in on him. Scott sighed as he was left with only one option, and he hopped into the darkness below, landing on a sickening wet and mushy surface.
Around him he could hear the snarling of a massive creature, and a moment later he could smell its breath. Scott dodged out of the way as the monster bit at him, weaving through each swipe and snap with ease. The monster grew angry just like the old woman as Scott continuously escaped his doom, so it decided to remain idle and see what Scott did next. This was a mistake.
Though blind, Scott could still conclude where the monster was due to the sounds it made, and as such he knew where he could strike it to hurt. He kicked upwards, hitting it in its jaw so hard its teeth shattered while fragments of bone cut though its gums and the roof of its mouth. It let out a cry of pain before Scott delivered with a punch to what he assumed was its gut, spilling blood over his fist as it cried out in pain. He pulled his arm back, spilling blood onto the ground, before delivering a second punch. This time he grabbed hold of some organ he couldn't decipher and ripped it out, dropping it to the ground as the monster roared in pure agony. Then it fell to the ground, its breathing slowing, before it completely stopped.
A door slid open behind him, casting white light into the darkness that stopped just a few inches from Scott. He turned and looked into the light, realizing just how tired he was, and stepped forward. He wouldn't lower his guard, he would never lower his guard, but he had to know if this was the end of the test. If it was and he didn't investigate, he would be left to rot. If it wasn't, he would be attacked.
Scott stepped out into the light, and his eyes adjusted to the white corridors of the training hall. Granny Goodness waited for him with a scowl on her face. "You finally passed, Scott," she growled.
"Of course I did, Granny," he replied with a smile before she smacked him in the face, splitting open his lip.
"You've been chosen for a mission. Take this," and she presented him with a small black box that glowed with red and yellow light.
"is this a,"
"Mother Box. You're to go to Earth-0 and monitor the effects Doomsday has on the planet. It's full of heroes, but most of them are weak. Return once the monster's dead, or everything else is."
"Yes, Granny."
She turned and left Scott alone, walking to monitor the test of one of her other students. Scott looked down at the box and thought of Earth-0, instantly transporting him to the planet in a yellow and silent boom tube. He stood on the Metropolis fair grounds, as a circus set up camp. He knew what a circus was, he was a New God after all, but he had never seen one. He couldn't help but smile at the bright colors.
Scott watched in silence as the carnies set up tents and booths, before a voice startled him, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
The man was built similarly to Scott and dressed in the most ridiculous outfit he had ever seen. His costume was red and yellow with a seemingly pointless pattern, while his boots and gloves were green. He also wore a long green cape with a large collar, and a red mask with a yellow face and two eye holes that showed no skin.
"Yeah," Scott replied. "I've never seen a circus before."
"Never?"
"Nope. Never had the chance."
"That's a shame. I take it you've never seen an escape artist then?"
"Artist? No. Just escaping."
"Ha, that's funny. We should be ready around ten, how about I buy you a ticket?"
"Sure! That sounds great! Thank you!"
"Don't mention it. You seem like a cool kid. What's your name?"
"Scott Free."
"Ha! Your dad's got a sense of humor."
"No, no he doesn't…"
"Oh, tough spot. Sorry. My name's Thaddeus Brown, though you can call me Mister Miracle."
The ship landed safely on the outskirts of Metropolis. Stormwatch reached it first, with six agents ready to intercept it before anyone else. Lex Corp arrived thirty seconds later, surrounding them with thirty mercenaries. The two groups were at a stand-off, neither wanting to open fire on the first, while each wouldn't let the other have the ship.
Then, there came the loud sound of metal tearing from within the ship. They turned and looked as something began to rip its way out, before the ship's door flew off and completely crushed one of the mercenaries. It stood only seven feet tall but was seemingly made entirely of muscles and was dressed in a dark green suit with red goggles over its eyes.
Both sides began to shoot the monster at once, their guns useless against it. Their bullets bounced off its skin like paper balls, doing little more than ripping up its outfit to reveal light grey skin underneath. It moved quickly, punching one of the Stormwatch agents so hard it rips her in half. It turns to the next and takes hold of his head, completely crushing it beneath its fist. The monster then turns and throws the agent's body into a group of mercenaries, breaking the backs of two and killing one.
It raises both fists over its head and brings them down upon the ground, causing a miniature earthquake that tore apart the ground around them, knocking all the mercenaries and Stormwatch agents to the ground. Several of them twisted their ankles and two broke their legs as they fell, the ground rising up around them before sharply dropping, debris overtaking them. The monster doesn't stop here however, it continues to attack those still moving, ripping them limb from limb with ease.
Screams fill the otherwise silent air as the monster slaughters them all, before finally stopping once all are motionless. One was knocked into a coma from a rock hitting her in the head, two blacked out from fear, and one Stormwatch agent realized the monster reacted to movement and as such held completely still even as it killed her friends. With the current lifeforms dead, the monster moves on, setting its sight on Metropolis. It leaps into the air, damaging the earth below it before it lands in a crater five hundred yards away, the edge of the city just a few feet ahead.
It leaps upwards, crashing through one of the many skyscrapers filling Metropolis. Office workers scream in terror as they begin to run and hide, but already its still late. The monster tears through them without slowing down, crushing them beneath its fists and throwing entire desks at those that try to run. With the entire floor dead it moves towards the window and jumps out, landing on the street below.
The road shatters beneath its feet, sending a car flipping over the monster. It immediately picks the upside-down car off the road and begins to smash it into the road, killing the driver in the first strike, before completely crushing his body and car. Satisfied the monster throws the remains of the car across the street, to where several people stood recording the rampage.
They scatter as soon as they saw it turn to them, but one is still struck by the vehicle, and is completely flattened against the wall behind him. the monster charges forward, crashing into the wall so hard it enters the parking garage and rips open the cloth on its left shoulder, revealing more grey skin and pure white bone jutting out from its body. The monster quckly begins to chase down fleeing civilians, screaming in terror.
A school bus turns a corner just as the monster reaches it, and the children on bored begin to scream as it grabs hold of the rear sides of the bus, lifting it up into the air. A voice cuts through the air, "LEAVE THEM ALONE!" before a spike mace hits the monster in the lower jaw, knocking it free of the bus.
Standing before it is Hawkgirl, already moving in for a second attack. She's short and thin, but muscular, and far stronger than any human. Red hair falls from her hawk shaped helmet that emphasized her piercing brown eyes, forged from Nth metal. Tattoos depicting her past lives cascaded down her exposed brown shoulders and into her Nth metal claws. Covering her chest is plated armor made from the same metal, as well as her boots, while she wears dark green pants over her legs. Rising from her back are a pair of magnificent white wings that make her look even more terrifying while spread out as she faced her enemies.
She raises her mace overhead and flies up a few feet to strike the monster over the head, only for it to grab hold of the mace before it can make contact. She looks on in shock for just a moment before the monster strikes her in the chest, which sent her flying back nearly a hundred feet before she crashed into a car.
"KENDRAAAA!" a new voice called out, drawing the monster's attention.
Hawkman dressed identically to his wife, and had a similar build, but was nearly a foot taller than her. Unlike her he was far angrier, far more violent. He roared with fury as he flew towards the monster, striking it in the side of its face with his mace, tearing open the side of its mask to reveal massive sharp teeth. He then delivered an uppercut to the monster, before it put its entire hand around his chest as he hit it.
The monster crushed him in its fist as he began to cry out in pain, before it crushed his ribcage and he could do nothing more than gasp for air. It dropped him to the ground where he began to writhe aimlessly, attempting to crawl away but unable to think of how to do so. As Hawkgirl recovered her eyes widened as she saw it put its foot on Hawkman's back, then take hold of his wings and raise them up.
She screamed out, "CARTERRRR!" as she flew forward, but it was too late.
The monster tore Hawkman's wings off with ease, spraying his blood over its chest and legs. He couldn't even scream, as the monster had already ruined his lungs, leaving him unable to do anything but lay there and suffer. It dropped his wings as its attention turned to the approaching Hawkgirl, before punching her in the top of the head as she moved into range, sending her crashing into the sidewalk next to Hawkman.
It picked Hawkman off the ground by his head and dragged him closer to Hawkgirl, then picked her up in the same fashion. "I love you…" she whispered, before the monster slammed both their heads into the ground, leaving their skulls crushed and embedded beneath the pavement.
The monster then moved on, taking no time to admire what it had done. It lived only to kill. It leapt up into the next building, crashing through the thirteenth floor. Finding no one inside, it moved to the next building, landing in the eleventh floor. There it found a handful of accountants, who it slaughtered without resistance.
As it leapt to the next building, a glowing golden lasso wrapped around its foot, yanking it back so it slammed into the side of the first building. The monster momentarily writhed wildly for freedom, before it fell still and began to study the situation. Only a few moments later it began to strike the building as hard as it could, shattering the concrete like it was nothing. Then, the upper floors began to slowly slide as the monster's efforts paid off, and the building fell over.
The monster fell to the ground, landing on its back. As it stood up it pulled the lasso off, causing sharp bones to rip through the clothes on its back. It looked up to see a quickly approaching shape that it immediately punched, knocking it back into the first floor of the building. A moment later the building began to completely fall down, debris crushing the monster and its attacker, as well as nearly a dozen bystanders.
The first responders arrived two minutes later in the form of a fire truck, two ambulances, and six police cars. The paramedics left quickly, taking two injured survivors away while putting out the call for more ambulances. The police and fire trucks began to dig through rubble, searching for survivors to seemingly no avail. Then, a small rumble came from within a pile of concrete.
It took two firemen and three police officers to pull the largest piece of concrete away, finally giving the person trapped beneath the ability to pull their self-free. They all stepped back as the rubble gave way and a hand rose up from beneath it before planting on a piece of debris at the person rose to their feet.
There stood princess Diana of Themyscira, bloody and bruised, but alive. Her dark blue tights were tattered and completely soaked in blood. Her arms hung limp by her sides as she looked around in desperation, her matted bloody black hair covering her left eye. As she limped forward, she realized people were talking to her, but she couldn't hear anything they were saying.
Then they began to run from her, and she turned to see the monster rising up, practically uninjured. Almost all the clothes on its upper body had been ripped apart, revealing the monstrous sight of its grey skin and armor like bones that now covered its body, growing from the wounds it received.
The monster pulled its arm back and punched her, only for Diana to block with her bracelets, completely absorbing the attack. "My turn," she growled, punching the monster with the same exact force it had just used to attack her,
It flew back fifty feet before sliding across the road for another thirty feet, then slowed to a stop. It quickly picked itself up practically uninjured, even as its jaw poked out to the far left. It charged back at her, raising its right hand up. At the last moment Diana braced for the attack, only to be struck in the gut by its left hand.
She flew into the air coughing up blood before she landed on a roof top, staring up at the sun. She watched the monster rise into the air then begin descending over her, before completely passing her. It left her barely alive, forcing her to live through the shame of defeat. A few seconds later she blacked out from blood loss.
No one heard the screams over the sound of the circus. But they heard the building come down. There was screaming at first, then whispers of fear. Several people left to investigate, many stayed inside, worried that some terrorist attack would target them next. They didn't have to wait long however, as only four and a half minutes later the monster would rip through the main tent, crushing six people beneath it before it began to beat down everyone in sight, leaving no one left alive.
The monster turned its sight upon Scott Free for just a moment, before resuming its rampage away from him. In that moment, as Scott looked around at the devastation around him, he realized for the first time just what he was a part of. He knew the cruelty of Apokolips, of the murder that Darkseid committed, but until now he never truly understood it. In that moment, he made a decision that would change his life forever.
Then he saw Thaddeus, laying lifelessly upon the ground, blood trickling out of his mouth. Doomsday had simply broken his neck, from an attack Scott hadn't even seen. For all he knew it wasn't even intentional, Thaddeus could have just been standing too close as it attacked someone else.
Scott collapsed alongside Thaddeus' body as the screams died down and the sounds of Doomsday left. He pulled Thaddeus' mask off and looked down at it as he thought about, he was complicit in the murder of not just Thaddeus, but the dozens of people who already died. Then he pulled the mask over his own face and knew what he had to do.
