Gauguin
"Spirit of the Dead Keep Watch"
Disneyworld
The blood drops splattered like water from an oscillating sprinkler. Diana knew she was probably superior to Asha in power and ability, yet she was still at a disadvantage. It was a different kind of battle for her than she was used to. With the Amazons there weren't any non-combatants on the field. Even for the most part with the Justice League, civilians had time to evacuate and weren't in the middle of the chaos. There had been no time to evacuate with the Cathar coming. Where and who would you evacuate? The Cathar could have just as easily landed in Central Africa or the Crimea, even New York City. There was no way to know where they were going to end up landing so it wasn't like a tornado or a hurricane, no warning could be giving. Even now the rush to get out of the area had clogged the highways. People were in a panic to get away, but in their haste they just made themselves immobile targets. In every directions gridlock chocked the streets and highways for miles upon miles. The only way out was on foot. Airports had been shut down as the battle still raged in the skies. Diana's disadvantage was she cared about those in danger, while Asha did not.
The Cathar were spread out over a wide area, while some were still fighting from their spacecrafts. The main group was in and around Disneyworld and that's where the fighting was the fiercest. Batman was calling out targets and potential danger spots, while the others rushed to save civilians and counter attack the Cathar. His abilities were best utilized coordinating everything rather than directly engage the Cathar. Diana understood this battle was causing conflict with him and other on their team. Batman had a strict no kill policy and Diana believed some of the others did too. The problem was this wasn't a bank robbery or a power grab like most of the villains they encountered. The Cathar weren't going to surrender when they were caught or realized they were overmatched. They were going to fight and die to their last man and woman.
That was why they had made the long journey to Earth, to die and kill as many as they could along the way. It was all bound up with faith. While Diana had intimate knowledge of the Gods of the Amazons, this was something completely different. In the Cathar theology apparently there was a battle to end all battles and the faithful would be rewarded in the end with paradise. This of course left out everyone else, but they apparently didn't matter to the Cathar Dark Goddess. There could be no talking or negotiations with the Cathar, as their faith wouldn't allow it. Diana couldn't help wondering what sort of just God or Goddess would actually want all those people to die? How could seemingly intelligent people want something like the end of the universe to happen? The only answer she found was faith.
Elba 147
Hannibal had returned to where he left his people. He was battered and injured but he'd found what he believed to be their salvation. He knew his people hadn't stuck around but his lieutenant would have left him a message where they went at the prearranged location. The Rann troops had returned along with some of the scientists. Hannibal wanted nothing to do with them. He just wanted to find out where his people were. The matrix was in a satchel strapped across his back. It was just the main component, but with it he could begin to reverse his people's slide towards extinction.
Two guards stood watch in front of the building Hannibal needed to get into. They were in the way, but he was tired of killing. It was a simple matter to incapacitate them and hide them from view. They would wake in a few hours, injured and bruised by they would be alive. If they had put up resistance, Hannibal would have killed them without a second thought but thankfully that wasn't necessary. He silently slipped into the building, his senses on full alert for others. The place was empty. He quickly moved over to the agreed hiding place and withdrew the tablet waiting for him.
As he read the brief but telling message from his lieutenant some of the wind seemed to go out of Hannibal. Asha had wasted little time in his absence to assume control of their people. He'd been foolish to believe otherwise. She was leading them to the final battle, the Dark Goddess's Armageddon and the promise of an eternal paradise afterwards. They would all die.
Hannibal knew he couldn't put it all on Asha. The responsibility lay squarely on his shoulders as well. He failed his people, allowing them to linger in superstition and false hope instead of facing the truth and reality. He remembered a quote he had heard once.
'Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it too.'
They had thought they were untouchable until the Kryptonians under Zod took that away. Then the Cathar were reduced to surviving, all their illusions of their superiority stripped away. Hannibal had allowed them to turn to older illusions believing they would bridge the gap until they could reemerge. He knew how dangerous those old illusions could be; yet he'd let Asha and the others push them. Hannibal had the means of resurrecting his people and world, but those old illusions had taken hold and lead his people along a different path. Reason had lost to superstition.
It was probably a lost cause now, but Hannibal knew he had to try. He had to travel to this promised world to at least make the attempt to save his people from their own destruction. As he looked through the star charts to find the exact location he heard shouts coming from outside. A ship was landing and the Rannians seemed troubled by it. It wasn't his business so Hannibal paid it no mind.
Then the explosions started.
He had just found the coordinates when the left side of the building he was in disappeared. He was thrown through the air and landed hard but was on his feet in time to see the Legion of the Third Eye pour out of their ship and attack everyone on sight. Despero was the last off the ship and he stood on the top of the ramp and scanned the area. He spied Hannibal standing within one of the ruined buildings. A smile came to his lips as he raised his sword and pointed it at Hannibal.
'Time to die." He shouted and then launched himself over the others towards Hannibal.
Hannibal was in no shape to fight. He'd already set the coordinates for the planet his people were heading too, but Despero was moving right towards him fast. Pulling his sword he jumped into the air to meet him. Their blades clashed. Despero used an eye blast to knock Hannibal back and then press his offensive.
"You will pay for your transgressions, Cathar,' Despero shouted. "You've mocked the faith and its messenger from the last time!"
"Mocking a false prophet like you comes easy, Despero,' Hannibal replied. "You're just another petty tyrant that let his ego run wild. Your promises are hollow and we both know it."
Hannibal blocked Despero's thrust and then countered. He drew blood.
"You seem to bleed like every other man, Despero,' Hannibal mocked. "Run back to your sheep while you can. I've had more than my fill of prophets and religions."
"And I'm sure they've had more than enough of you,' Despero replied. He fired another blast at Hannibal knocking him back hard against the crumbling wall.
"You bleed as well, Hannibal,' Despero said with a cold smile.
"Yes, but I'm just a man, not a would be God, am I?"
"I will enjoy watching you bleed out,' Despero rasped. "I will enjoy watching you die by my hand."
The two attack each other, giving no quarter. Hannibal was weakened by the previous attacks and battles he'd endured but he fought valiantly. Despero was stronger though, and the outcome wasn't in Hannibal's favor. With every ounce of his blood and honor he wanted to remain and finish this fight regardless of how it would end, but he had greater demands on him. The life of his people depended on him. He had finally found the means of saving them and even allowing them to flourish once more. That had to take precedent over his need to defend his honor. He let Despero blast him again, knocking him far enough away so he could activate the Zeta Beam. He felt like a coward running away, but the greater good had to prevail.
Despero screamed in frustration as he watched the portal open and Hannibal disappear into it. He would not let him escape this time.
"Follow me wherever this goes! We will end this once and for all!" He should to his Legion. Lunging forward, Despero made it into the portal just before it collapsed. He would follow Hannibal to hell if he had to just to kill him with his own hands.
Florida
Jonn, Shayera and Zealot could see multiple plumes of smoke rising into the air over a wide area. They could see the military was overmatched against the Cathar and there just wasn't enough Justice League members to counter all of them. The Lanterns were leading the alien counter attack with the Rannians and the Thanagarians adding support. It seemed every moment the battle area widened and more and more civilians were put in harm's way.
Shayera broke off first from the others and headed straight for the closest Cathar. Her mace was at the ready and she struck with all the power her artificial wings gave her. The Cathar man was caught unaware and slammed into an abandoned building. Shayera was about to continue the attack when her fellow Thanagarians confronted her.
"What are you doing here, traitor?" The lead commander demanded.
"I'm no traitor!" Shayera shouted.
"And yet you turn your back on your people and world."
"Not my people, Fel Andar, just you and the government,' Shayera replied.
"Words,' he mocked. "You betrayed all of us and now you dare show up here?"
"The Cathar seek to destroy this world,' Shayera said. "I don't think the Earthlings care too much at the moment who helps them."
"This is not over,' Andar said, but then turned his attention back to the Cathar. Jonn and Zealot landed next to Shayera.
"Your people don't seem happy to see you,' Zealot observed.
"The feeling's mutual."
World with 2 Suns
Kori had given Clark some space. He was still dealing with processing all the information about Krypton and his parents. His first impression was they were arrogant, but as more information filtered into his consciousness he understood that wasn't a completely accurate depiction. It was a first impression and like most first impressions it was subject to change as more information was available. To think he could process the entire history of his people, as well as deal with the emotional baggage of meeting his parents for the first time flawlessly wasn't realistic. The arrogant comment had come from the realization that these brilliant and accomplished people hadn't realized what was happening around them.
Opening the ship again, Clark pressed a series of buttons and a thin panel slid back. Almost like a safe deposit box, but ultra thin and metallic. The locking mechanism was somehow keyed to him and popped open as he pressed his index finger to the Kryptonian symbol. The top slipped back and reveal the symbol of his family and stood for Hope. It was some sort of armor he knew, keyed to his body. His father had said to him, "You are as much a child of Earth now as you are of Krypton. You can embody the best of both worlds."
The best of both worlds, that was a lot to put on the shoulders of a 23 year old, no matter what amazing abilities he might have. His whole experience had been the opposite, being feared, hunted and in hiding.
Hope is such a fickle thing and hard to pin down. One person's hope is another's disappointment. Hope is one of those things like love and pornography, hard to describe but you know it when you see it. How Clark was to manifest this hope, he didn't know. Both of his sets of parents, Kryptonians and Human had put their own hopes aside in a way and focused on their hopes and dreams for him. Some how he had to figure out how to meld their hopes and dreams with his own. It was the age-old dilemma of trying to live up to others expectations, yet follow your own path. There was also the fact others had 'hopes' for him too. Lynch, Waller and probably several governments back on Earth, not just the US, all had 'hopes' for what they thought he should be. All those hopes for him seemed to leave out one important element.
Clark.
He didn't seem himself as some hope for the future. He didn't see himself as a weapon to shift the balance of power. He certainly didn't see himself as some kind of hero. He simply had these amazing abilities and when it was necessary he used them to help out. It was just what you do, look out for the next guy and hope he looks out for you in return. That was the lesson he'd learned during all those years in hiding on the road. It wasn't about governments or power or fame or money or a million other things people think it is. In the grand scheme of things all those fade and only people matter. So as he looked at the shield left to him as his legacy, Clark wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to proceed.
Maybe what Clark wasn't getting was that hope and heroes aren't about the individual but how others perceive them. Maybe it was about how attitudes about him were changing back on Earth since he'd left. Oh, not with governments and the media, they had their narrative down and were still pushing it at every opportunity. Maybe it was how regular people were starting to see him. People like Jhonny and the other low level workers he'd spent time with or the people of the Suicide Slums in Metropolis that he defended when no one else came to their aid or someone like Judy Riley in Disneyworld that had only read about him and seen that one picture yet found herself liking and trusting him.
Maybe it was about the millions and millions of ordinary people that understood he was an alien yet could identify with his story. They knew what it was to feel like an anonymous member of the crowd. They understood what it was like to live paycheck-to-paycheck and struggle to make ends meet. They got that the authorities weren't always on their side. Ordinary people seem to instinctively understand the Kents could easily have been them.
What seemed to matter were Clark's actions with regular people. The ones that had met him trusted him and knew he wasn't the person described by the media. The people of the Suicide Slum understood he had just been one of them when the parademons had attacked, caught in the same nightmare. They also knew he had stepped up when no one else had and saved them. It's why the name Lois Lane had given him had caught on, Superman. He had done what all of us secretly would like to believe we'd do. At the moment of crisis, he'd stopped being just another anonymous face in the crowd and became something more. To them he was a hero, as much as anyone in the Justice League. When all seemed lost, he'd been a ray of hope in the darkness. To them he had it, that indescribable thing that so few have yet all recognize when they see it. It didn't lessen what they thought of the other heroes. It was just that when all seemed lost, he had turned the tide. He was 'the man', for lack of a better expression and ordinary people seemed to instinctively get it.
He had looked out for them and now they were starting to return the favor. He was one of them, perhaps the best of them, perhaps a real superman.
Florida
Hal had joined his fellow Lanterns, along with the Thanagarians battling the Cathar from the air. They were trying to contain them, yet they continued to spread out from the center like a wave. The blood lust of the Cathar had spiked since they reached their final destination and they were killing and destroying everything in their path. Lanterns had dealt with marauders before, but the complete lack of caring for anyone or anything on the Cathar's part put them at a disadvantage. Much like all the rest of the heroes, the Lanterns and the Thanagarians were concerned about civilians so they were constantly breaking off the attack to help those in danger.
In the magic kingdom, Diana was taking the fight to Asha, with the help of Zealot. They both instinctively knew she was the leader and the key to stopping the Cathar. They both also understood there would be no reasoning with Asha; they would have to kill her to stop her. Diana and Zealot were both warriors and knew this was a part of battle. They would not flinch from doing what they had to do to stop the madness happening all around them. Too much destruction had already occurred for this to end any other way.
Batman was struggling with this same realization. When he started this, he knew there was a line he never wanted to cross. It was difficult, but in Gotham he'd been able to keep that oath. Now he was faced with the same old dilemma. The Cathar weren't going to back down or surrender. This was a holy mission for them and they would fight to the death. Nothing short of their death would stop them. Some of his allies had already crossed that line in this fight. The Thanagarians and the Rannians had lost too many already and were killing the Cathar when they got the chance. Even the Lanterns seemed to understand this was a battle to the death. Batman worried that if he crossed that line it would change everything. For once you crossed that line it became easier to justify crossing it again. So as he called out instructions to the others and attacked the Cathar, internally he was conflicted.
World with 2 Suns
Kori sat next to her ship watching the sunset as Clark and Krypto came walking back. She waited until he stopped next to her before looking at him.
"So, how are you doing with all of it?" She asked.
"It's a lot to process,' he replied. "I guess I'm still working on it."
"So not acting arrogant,' she teased. "That's a good sign."
He smiled at this.
"That was a first impression,' he admitted. "The Kryptonians were much more than that. I guess seeing it all happen and knowing the outcome was hard. Seeing the mistakes they made and not being able to do anything about it wasn't something I was prepared for. All those people, innocent people really and knowing what awaited them was such a horrible, helpless feeling."
Kori nodded.
"I can't know what that feels like, but I know what it's like to want to make a sacrifice for your people," she offered. "Knowing there's nothing you could do to stop it must be terrible. Just remember there was nothing you could do to stop it. It's not your fault, it's theirs."
"That doesn't make it much better," Clark admitted. He moved over and sat down next to her. Krypto sat at his side. Clark reached down and stroked his head as he looked at the sunset. "My parents, Jor-El and Lara saved me because they wanted something of them to live on. They wanted to give me a chance and hopefully become something more."
"So you are your parents hope,' Kori replied. "That's not that uncommon a thing for parents, Clark."
"I know,' he said with a nod of his head. "I owe them a debt of gratitude just like the one I owe the Jonathan and Martha Kent. It's that idea of hope and what they all wanted for me I'm struggling with."
Kori noticed the emblem he'd set down next to him.
"What's that?" She asked.
Clark picked it up and held it in his hands.
"It's a suit of armor, Kryptonian armor keyed to me,' he explained. "The symbol is for the House of El. It means hope."
"It looks like an S." Kori observed.
"Yeah it kinda does,' he admitted.
"Maybe that S will stand for hope too' Kori offered.
"Maybe."
Earth – Hours Later
Hannibal materialized on a hill just outside of Disney World. He was rooted to the spot as he saw the carnage all around him. Smoke billowed up from every direction and it seemed he'd transported into a nightmare landscape. This was his people's doing. He could see some of them had fallen in battle, while others continued to fight and kill everyone and everything in their path. It took a moment but he was finally able to locate Asha. She was in the middle of all of it, covered in blood and reveling in what she and their people had wrought.
Hannibal felt a tear form in his eye. He had traveled half way across the galaxy to find the means of saving his people, but now he understood they didn't want to be saved, at least not how he understood the meaning of the word saved. Slipping the satchel off his shoulders he set the birthing matrix down in front of him, as he slipped down to his knees. All the fight had gone out of him. His dreams had turned to ash before his eyes. The realization that there was going to be no rebirth of the Cathar hit him so hard it knocked the wind out of him. They had been in a death spiral ever since Zod attack and now they were finishing the narrative. The great halls, beautiful houses and glimmering fleet of ships would never rise on Cathar again. It seemed their destiny was already written and Asha and the others were following it to the inevitable conclusion. This was the end of the line. The last bit of hope that Hannibal had been clinging to disappeared. He had nothing left.
The zeta beam seemed to intensify for a moment behind him and then winked out. He knew it was Despero without even looking. Hannibal made no move as he heard him get closer. He heard Despero laugh and then felt the sword pierce his back and explode out of his chest, before it was withdrawn. Blood came from his lips as he saw the ground rushing towards him. He managed to roll over and looked up at Despero.
"This is how all that oppose me end, Hannibal,' Despero confidently said down at him. He glanced around them. "I see there are other Cathar still alive. My Legion of the Third Eye will make sure to end their lives as well. As you slip away, know Hannibal your people's extinction will be by my hand. When I'm done with them, I will add this world to my conquests. This will be your legacy."
Hannibal coughed up some blood, but held Despero's eyes.
"My-My people are already dead, Despero,' he managed to say. "They believed in illusions and false prophets such as you. Your Legion will share their fate. You are just a little man with delusions of grandeur to be pitied by those that remember him. That will be your legacy."
Despero plunged the sword back into Hannibal's chest and twisted it, before spitting on him and walking away. One heretic dealt with and now a new world to conquer, Despero thought with a smile.
