4 Justice League Darkness

On Apokolips, Darkseid faced down Highfather and the New Gods, Hal Jordan and the GL Corps, and one billion Daxamites. The GL Corps had returned the others to their homeworld. Admittedly, Darkseid was unhappy. His treaty with New Genesis had been abrogated and he had six billion enraged, nearly unstoppable nemeses dwelling in the same solar system. Fortunately, that was a problem he could easily solve.

"My minions will return your planet to its correct position." Darkseid promised, "As for New Genesis, you will not want my assistance so I will provide raw materials for your rebuilding."

Highfather nodded at these words, "And you shall provide material support to those planets that your forces attacked."

Darkseid bristled but he knew he had no choice. It was just galling to have terms dictated to him. He was the conqueror. He was the Dark God of Apokolips. People cowered at his name and trembled at the sight of him. Unfortunately though, he was the one humbled on this day.

Highfather and the others misinterpreted his motives. His goal was to bring order to a chaotic galaxy. There were too many options to security. Too many choices. In his kingdom, free will was curtailed. His will was the all. Freedom was a largesse that the universe could no longer afford. His day would come and then the heavens would quake and the planets would be shattered. Until then a little false humility would buy him time to rebuild his forces.

"It will be done." Darkseid consented, "What of the treaty between our worlds, Highfather?"

"It will be restored after you fulfill your word." Highfather proclaimed, "Until then, a cadre of my warriors and the Green Lantern Corps will occupy your world."

Highfather could see that this demand was going to break the deal as Darkseid recoiled, "Never!"

Highfather held his staff above his head in the prearranged signal and cried out, "Attack!"


The doctor joined Kara and Ray at the edge of Mary's bed. As had been previously noted, she was grim; "Mary, I was wrong. Your spleen and your appendix are ruptured. They have to be surgically removed. The loss of the appendix is negligible but the loss of the spleen will affect you throughout your life. It will be more difficulty for you to fight bacterial and protozoan infections. If you get, let's say pneumonia, it could kill you."

The doctor pressed on, "If we leave the organs in place they'll develop gangrene and you'll die. Normally the procedures are relatively simple the complication is all of the soft tissue damage in the epidermis. You'll require several more weeks than usual to fully recover. The systematic shocks you've experienced will make things more difficult. We might be able to leave things as they are for a day or two but then it will be imperative to do the surgery in order to avoid an infection you just can't handle right now. The choice is yours."

Mary was deathly serious as she replied without hesitation, "Let's get it outta the way. I've been wanting to lie around and do nothing anyway."

The doctor smiled, "We'll prep the surgical center. The nurses will help you prepare and then the surgeon and the anesthesiologist will want to get some information from you."

Mary sighed, "Okay. Bring it on."


Superman checked on Shayera, "How are you?"

"My sternum is fractured." She answered, "Not broken, just cracked. One little crack and they want to put me on the inactive list for five weeks. Like that's going to happen."

"It will happen even if I have to sit on you." John half-teased.

"I'd like to see you try." Shayera retorted.

"You can't resist. Your sternum's broken." John's eyes twinkled.

"What am I supposed to do for five weeks?" she came to the heart of the matter.

"I was thinking we could go to Vega 9. They have these resorts there that are to die for. Think about it. Me. You. With nothing to do for five weeks." John suggested.

A sly smile spread across Shayera's face, "That could work. Keep thinking. I like it so far."

"Um…could we have a little privacy?" John asked Superman. Clark grinned, "I was about to check on J'onn anyway."


Superman went to another section of the Med Center. There, a tank of water could be found. It was for treating Aquaman and burn victims but as the doctors were discovering, it was perfect for Martians as well.

"Since water is such a scarce commodity on Mars it serves as a catalyst for all sorts of metabolic functions. His injuries are healing at a phenomenal rate. As long as we keep him hydrated he should be ready for duty in 24 hours." The medical team leader reported.

"Can I see him?" Superman wondered.

"Of course. He's telepathically conversing with everyone in the room. His spirits are high so a little camaraderie wouldn't be amiss." The doctor advised.

Clark approached the tank. J'onn had reverted to his native form. He had a customized breath mask and his eyes were closed. As Superman approached, the eyes opened.

Hello. And in answer to your next question, I am fine. I thought human showers were something to experience. Now I must invest in a bathtub. The Kryptonian heard in his mind.

Clark chuckled. Acting on the habit of a lifetime he spoke while he formed his thoughts, "As long as you're fine. The thought of losing you, any of you, is terrible but especially you, J'onn. I've come to depend on your counsel."

And Diana's. J'onn added.

"Diana is different. Her prejudices make her advice strategically useful but her inexperience with the outer world limits her perspective." Clark explained, "Whereas you have a global perspective that I lack. You truly see this planet as a whole. You see the greater good and how to bring it about. You're willing to sit down with Max, Eiling, Amanda, and Sue and find a mutually beneficial solution to the problem. I don't have the patience for that. I see a crisis and I want to respond. It's that simple. On the other hand, you know diplomacy."

But I lack humanity. J'onn protested.

"Tell you what, J'onn. You're the most 'human' being I've ever met. That you stuck by your wife as she grew ill and died bespoke of a loving kindness and a tenderness too often lacking in this world. If you have no humanity then we should all be aliens." Superman argued.

There was a moment's hesitation and then J'onn replied, Thank you…and Diana is behind you.

Clark turned and smiled, "Sorry I haven't had time to talk to you but I've been swamped."

She kissed him on the cheek, "I know. They brought Mary into the Med Center. She's about to undergo surgery."

"Mary Marvel?" he asked in horror, "What could have hurt her?"

"I suggest you discuss it with Kara. She's in the Med Center and she has quite a tale. They all do." Diana informed him.

"They?" he was confused.

"Besides Kara, her brother is there as well as Ray, Courtney, Galatea, and Blackhawk. Kara, Billy, and Galatea were there when Mary was injured. The how and why of it is something you need to hear." She explained, "And you need to hurry."

Clark sped out of the room and arrived just as they were wheeling Mary off to the surgical unit. She was pretty groggy but he stopped them so he could say hello. Mary broke into a silly little grin, "Hi. Don't mind me. I'm feelin' kinda funny."

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He grasped her hand.

Mary blew air out between her lips, "Pheh. Savin' the universe is our job. I just did my duty. Although, I have to have surgery now and I don't wanna wait because the longer I wait the more scared I become."

"Of course." Superman stepped out of the way and they wheeled her down the corridor. He entered the Med Center and found the crowd gathered. He approached, noting the worry and concern on their faces. They'd been discussing things with the doctor that originally treated Mary before handing the case over to the surgeon. He strode up, "Pardon me, Doctor, but what's happened?"

The situation was explained to him and he blanched. The doctor patted his shoulder, "Not to worry. Apparently she got off easy."

As the physician strolled away Clark turned to Kara, "How did this happen? Who's powerful enough to hurt Mary Marvel so badly that Mary Batson suffers for it?"

"Let me tell you a story about Darkseid and Mary's third meeting with him…" Kara began.


"…and no one knew how badly she was injured except for Fate. As Mary Marvel she checked out at the Metro Tower and was cleared for duty. As a Marvel she sported bruises, cuts, and scrapes but no one knew what was going to happen to her when she reverted to normal. Injuries have always been washed away by Shazam's lightning before so we had no idea." Supergirl explained to him.

"I did." Captain Marvel said miserably, "She told me that Mary Batson would be affected. Fate warned her and she knew that something bad was going to happen. I just didn't think it would be this bad."

"But how? Why? How is it possible that her mortal self is affected?" Clark couldn't quite wrap his mind around it.

"Dude, she fought a god." Stargirl said derisively, "That's bound to leave a mark."

"But I've faced Darkseid one on one and never…" Superman trailed off as he saw the disapproving glares aimed at him.

"Darkseid was full of all of that stolen energy." Galatea spoke up, "I doubt even your Greatness could have withstood a beating by him." That said she stormed out of the Med Center.

"What did I say?" Clark sought an explanation.

"Too much." Kara snapped and stormed out in Galatea's wake.

"And you wonder why I quit the League the first time around." Captain Marvel followed the Argoans. Courtney followed Marvel after declaring Clark to be a "loser." Blackhawk was the last man standing.

"What…" Clark was hopelessly lost.

"What did you say?" Blackhawk was still speaking to him but he wasn't happy with him, "You just managed to belittle Mary's sacrifice while she happens to be fighting for her life…again. Without that girl, you'd still be knee deep in Daxamites. Fate and Amazo tried their best but Darkseid was at least their equal if not more powerful. Mary met him on the physical plane where they were more or less equal. He had to siphon off more and more power from his mind control to augment his strength in order to fight her. It took one last burst of power, all that he had, to defeat her. You owe that girl your life much less a little gratitude and a helluva lot of respect. Now that I've said all of that I'm going to find my girlfriend and keep her from literally ripping someone's head off."

Blackhawk departed leaving Clark Kent all alone. The enormity of what he'd done threatened to overwhelm him. How could he make amends? A small voice in his head asked, Why should I even try? He tried to ignore that part of his consciousness but it plagued him all the same.


Apokolips was devastated. The Daxamites had razed everything but the Hunger Dogs' domiciles. The food synthesizers were left intact. Lightray had led the Daxamites and pointed out what needed to be destroyed and what needed to be spared.

Orion faced off with Darkseid and it appeared that the prophecy was fulfilled at last. Darkseid was on his knees before his son. His raiment was shredded and open wounds covered his body. Orion also sported wounds. His distinctive helmet was destroyed and discarded and his flame red hair was exposed. Blood, his own, covered his face but he did not let that deter him from his final duty. He shackled Darkseid and escorted his father to the detention cells aboard a New Genesisian battlecruiser. From there they traveled to New Genesis and secured Darkseid in a small cell deep in the bowels of the New Gods' city.

Mr. Miracle, Barda, and Lightray were put in charge of the occupation force. Their goal was to elevate the status of the Hunger Dogs. Freed of Darkseid's all pervasive influence they stood a chance of freeing themselves. One could always hope at least.

Kilowog and several New Genesisian techs examined the star gate and decided that they could easily return Daxam to its home system. The forces from New Genesis would reposition the Apokoliptan gate while Kilowog and a select team of Green Lanterns repositioned the Daxamite gate and returned the dead Apokoliptan world to its original system as they brought Daxam home. Now the hostage citizens of Daxam were home and freed. Hal Jordan promised to have a GL assigned to their sector and watch over them in order to prevent any future exploitation. They thanked him but a deep mistrust of aliens was born that day. It would eventually become a xenophobic culture that the Legion of Super Heroes would deal with in the future.