BIALYAN ROYAL PALACE, THRONE ROOM
The throne room of the Bialyan royal palace was a magnificent sight to behold: the polished vinyl flooring not only glistened but also reflected all that it could see, which included the circle of ornate columns that supported the ceiling so far above; made of polished marble the columns themselves had carvings of palm leaves across their bottoms above rings of bronze, with carvings of more flowering plant designs extending up their length in a most beautiful fashion until reaching the top. Between each of the columns themselves were unique golden-bronze ceiling decorations: collections of honeycomb blocks that bridged the gap between each of the pillars - and even went further beyond as they coated the inner wall of the tear drop dome that was the ceiling for the very center of the throne room, illuminating the entire room in their shade of gold and bronze, almost akin to a most gorgeous sunset. This same honeycomb shape was repeated throughout the palace - all of the windows had them in the center, as did the center of the throne room floor in regards to a particularly large engraving of glistening metallic gold.
In the far side of the room, elevated above a small set of marble steps as if to command respect to whomever sat upon it, was the throne itself. It was a tall, luxurious chair made almost entirely of gold with ebony colored cushioning on both the seat and the back and head rests for true royal comfort. Besides the chair itself were two large, life-sized statues of gods - both sporting a humanoid body though the head of a hedgehog, constructed out of black onyx with their ancient style being made out of ruby, gold, bronze and even copper. Their arms were both crossed with hands touching each shoulder, their faces looking downward in the same direction the throne faced as if looking down upon whomever stood before the monarch.
Speaking of which, there was the woman of the hour herself. Sitting upon the throne was the Queen of Bialya herself.
A woman well endowed with beauty as well as a slim waistline, her rich olive skin was well complimented by emerald colored eyes and long, flowing brown hair. The golden diadem worn at her forehead and the stinger earrings hanging from her ears glistened whenever the light reflected off of them; the dress she now wore, made of the finest silk, featured a long though form fitting skirt of gold that extended to her feet that were also dressed well in impressive heeled shoes. The top half of her dress was black, cut in a manner which revealed the beginning of her voluptuous cleavage though left the rest up to imagination - including much of her arms as the dark sleeves extended tightly up to her wrists; there also was an extension of black silk that ran down the back of her dress, similar in function to a waist-mounted cape though it was stitched as part of the dress. Extending from two ring bands on either of her shoulders were long, whip-like strips of silk, golden yellow in color, that were long enough to extend to the floor let alone be handled - almost serving as a more 'practical' form of having a cape.
She even held one of these 'tendrils' in her hand and twirled around as she smirked, holding a certain red chaos emerald in her hand as her eyes looked directly at it; the yellow one being firmly within her lap, right up against the metal belt where the scabbard for her katana blade was kept. She seemed to either revelling in their beauty, or the fact the two gemstones forwarded her ambitions - the latter being far more likely.
Her moment was interrupted soon however, as her focus was taken to the opening of several boom tubes within her throne room. Watching them attentively, her smirk became only more sinister as she saw the likes of Gilotina, Stompa, Lashina, Mad Harriet and finally Granny Goodness walk out of them.
However, Granny Goodness was no longer under any facade of being a mere human anymore. She was now revealing her true appearance - full Apokoliptian armor, dark blue mixed with black beneath a thick golden breastplate sporting a long red cape attached, with a plated armor skirt to go along with it and provide extra defense to her lower body besides the also plated bodysuit beneath; even her combat boots were essentially advanced, durable armor. Her allegiance was further reiterated by the piece of black armor running across her chin and the side of her face, connecting via her forehead with a red omega symbol right in the center. This removed any remaining questions regarding who or what she precisely was, and was even commented on by the Bialyan queen upon her taking notice of it:
"I see that someone decided to set aside their costume" she said, smirk still on her face; it was actually returned by Goodness as she admitted:
"That suit was getting rather old" she then however directed attention back to the Queen, "Though I also see you're still quite comfortable with yours."
"Ha" the Queen remarked, "Touche."
"So" Goodness said, her tone already showing she was getting immediately down to business as the Furies remind behind her, "Is everything prepared for the summit?"
"Almost" the queen answered, "My darlings have delivered their end of the bargain" she was of course referring to the red and yellow emeralds within her possession, "Though we're still awaiting on the lord of the reach's 'elite scout' to do the same."
"I see" Goodness nodded, placing her hands together behind her back, "Well I imagine we'll have it taken care of shortly."
"Indeed we should" the Queen replied, "His Eminence explained to me the mission should be finished within the hour from our perception, barring any unexpected delays."
"Mhm"
Just then, the two's attention was drawn to the sound and light of another boom tube opening up within the room - though this one was not Big Barda's, but rather one used by a completely different figure. He was a young man encased entirely in blue-black metallic armor, with the blue concentrated around his eyes, the back of his head, his chest sans a crooked line of black, and around his feet while black was the primary color for the rest of his full body suit - though the most prominent feature was the scarab shaped attachment effectively fused to his back complete with two long curved pincer-like appendages that extended over his head and shoulders. There were large wings he could extend from his scarab as well, though Blue Beetle had no use for them at the moment as he had just finished his landing.
However, there was something off about Blue Beetle as he joined Goodness, the Queen and the Furies in the throne room - his voice. His voice was once that of a normal human male,though now he spoke with a heavily metallic tone. As though he was no longer organic at all, but rather synthetic:
"Objective complete" were his monotone words, his mouth no longer visible as it seemed to now be completely covered up by the black of his armor, as he revealed in his hands two more chaos emeralds - in his chaos the white and turquoise emeralds. With the boom tube behind him closing, there wasn't any clue as to where - or when, perhaps - he retrieved them.
Granny Goodness and the Bialyan Queen, looking at the glowing gems in his hands, had looked pleased with his work before looking at each other and nodding. With the Queen taking both of her emeralds in her hands and standing up from her throne, descending down the steps to begin walking beside Goodness as the two women began walking the halls of the palace on their way to this mysterious 'summit'. The Furies, Blue Beetle, and a battalion of Bialyan royal guardsmen followed after them. Among the guards was one figure in particular, a young and masculine figure dressed in a leather jacket and pants with a belt holding multiple weapons rather than just a mere assault rifle - though the most prominent features of him were the armored shirt he wore beneath his jacket and a metal helmet that covered his head. Though he was enthralled and thus having a grayscale coloration marking his possession, the unmistakable bat symbol could still be seen on his chest.
Though not a word was said by him personally, it was silently known by the rest of those he walked with who he was prior to his enthrallment.
Speaking of which:
Walking down the ornately decorated, golden halls of the palace, the Queen of Bialya and Granny Goodness enjoyed some banter with each other. It wasn't precisely a 'friendly' chat, though more of a casual discussion between co-workers more than anything.
"So" the Queen started, "I see you are missing one Fury. May I ask what happened to Barda?"
"Oh, she was too close to our young rebel to risk boom tubing directly inside" Goodness explained, "She should be meeting us at the summit, unless of course something comes up."
The manner in which Granny Goodness said that didn't convey much genuine care for if something happened to her subordinate, nor did it worry any of the other Furies. In fact, Gilotina seemed to smirk at the concept, knowing she would most likely take her teammate's place.
"Yes, that is a very practical decision" the Queen responded, "Besides, I just had the floors polished a few hours ago, would be a great nuisance to my darlings if they had to do it all again so soon."
"Indeed" and with that said, Goodness had a decent subject to switch things over to, "Speaking of your 'darlings', how are things looking?"
"They are going fabulously well" the Queen answered with a proud smile, "His Eminence is very proud of how large the swarm has become, when the time comes they shall be more than ready to ensure his will be done across the world."
"That's what I like to hear."
"Indeed" the Queen nodded, "There's nothing quite like watching a full Changeling swarm lay waste to one's enemies; draining them of all their frivolous emotions; as well as their very own form, reducing them to little more than food."
"Yes" Granny seemed to sigh of pleasure at that, as if remembering something she was rather fond of, "I'll admit I did not think much of them at first, I had thought the Paradooms were our peak, but watching the Changelings in action while at their proper strength left me rather impressed."
"I could tell" the Queen said with her smirk still ever proudly across her face, "I know that they simply can't wait for the next part of His Eminence's grand plan to commence."
"That is a sentiment we all share."
UNDERGROUND...
A single blast of a well timed RPG launcher - courtesy of Omega, was more than enough to grant the team access to the network of Bialya's vast underground caverns. Rouge was the first of the group to drop, followed by Oliver, Shadow and then finally Omega - all of them landing their feet down on what was a large cylinder structure made of ancient sandstone, slithering and winding almost impossibly through the center of a large, dark cavern of rock and earth. The only illumination being scattered collections of glowing green crystals, which were reflected in the river of groundwater beneath what could best be described as an ancient pipe of stone.
The sound of the water was not the only sound within this chamber however, as in the distance could be heard the buzzing of wings, banshee-esque screeches, and ferocious hisses. The group was more than acquainted with the creatures that made these sounds at this point, and hearing these horrifying sounds were enough to make the group start moving as soon as they made absolutely sure their feet were on solid ground.
Looking around as they traversed this massive cavern, Oliver couldn't help but remark:
"Okay, so I think I've gotten used to the fact that this...timeline...isn't quite what I remember at all, but this seems a little much for the underground of a city. Like, ya know, I'm not used to sewer systems being this fancy."
"I don't think this is a sewer system" Shadow replied.
"What" Oliver snarked, "Do Bialyans not shit?"
"Hm" Shadow just grunted in response, Oliver remarking back:
"Tough crowd..."
"So!" Rouge said to break the awkward silence, "You're from the same timeline as Barry?"
"Evidently yes" Oliver replied, "Though I can't say I know as much as he does, evidently I missed out on quite a lot."
"So I've heard" Rouge said back, "From what he's told us you basically cheated death by winding up here, sounds like the last one had quite the downer ending."
"Based on what I can gather, this one's not looking forward to sunshine and lollipops neither."
"Fair point."
"But that's what we're here to prevent." Shadow was swift to interject with that, which of course was very much the truth.
Their race down this strange cavern eventually came to a quick enough end, leading to the group finding themselves in what seemed to be the chamber of an ancient temple of sorts - the walls and floors being entirely made of aged sandstone, with an ornate carving of what appeared to be a massive bee or hornet in the center of the square room; the walls were lined by tall columns supporting it against what was above it, and it was along these same stone walls that candles were placed, lighting the room and the halls extending from it with a warm yet lonesome orange-red hue as well as filling it with the sound of their flames softly crackling.
On one side of the chamber was a dead end wall with two statues of that mysterious hedgehog figure on either far side of it, with a small sandstone altar in the middle that seemed to currently be empty though very likely was intended for some type of religious use. More important though was what was on the other side, which seemed to also be a dead end though in fact had a significant portion of wall colored of a darker shade of stone than the rest - alongside sporting in it's center yet another engraving of what appeared to be a large bee-like insect in the middle of a honeycomb shape.
Looking around however, it wasn't difficult for the group to jump to what appeared to be the natural conclusion: with Oliver himself being the first to remark:
"Dammit!" he said, "All this way just to get stopped by a dead end. What do we do now? Try our luck up top?"
Rouge however, wasn't convinced. Thanks to being a bat, she was able to hear that the so-called 'darker' wall wasn't what it appeared to be, and just to make sure she walked herself up close to it and pressed one of her ears against it. She could definitely hear the faint sound of things such as an indoor breeze as well as the crackling of candle lights from the other side - denoting that this 'wall' was rather hollow compared to the walls with nothing but earth behind them. She also could hear from an even greater distance more of those buzzing and screeching noises, though could tell very well that this still was the only way to proceed. As such she was swift to turn to the others:
"Don't worry, it's not over yet!" she pointed to the stone door, "I'm pretty sure this here is a door, not a wall."
"Well that's great" Oliver responded skeptically, "Though I don't see any keyholes and I'm pretty sure they're not just gonna open it for us."
"Luckily, that's no problem for us!" and with a nod, Rouge immediately turned to none other than Omega, "Omega?"
As if understanding the plan perfectly, Omega silently approached the stone door - with a single blast of a rocket from an arm cannon of his it burst open like a melon slammed with a hammer. As the rubble and debris found it's way scattered across the ground, the team silently pressed on through it before the dust had even cleared; Oliver couldn't help but be left speechless for a moment, unsure of why he didn't even consider that as an option.
Once the dust cleared, the four were introduced to the sight of the next chamber of the underground: an elongated, the walls and ceiling constructed out of sandstone while the floor was buried under several feet of desert sand. There was a stone-constructed catwalk across the walls, as well as stone stands holding up even more statues of the hedgehog headed 'god' decorating the floor, though what was more important to the group was the stone door on the opposite end of the room situated on a high-up ledge just as the one they were standing on. They could tell that due to the passage of time, any stairs or walkways connecting these various stone constructed paths of the chamber were either buried beneath sand or simply crumbled to dust - none of these pathways were properly connected.
However that didn't stop the group, for Shadow, Rouge and Omega easily jumped from their ledge up to one of the catwalks extending the side of the wall - though Oliver had to take the floor due to his being merely a human.
Though this room was seemingly unoccupied, Shadow couldn't help but take notice of the imagery within it.
For one, the hedgehog headed god appeared to look like either himself or super sonic, as it sported signature curved quills along the back of it's head. However, it's lack of a carved mouth very well told who it was actually intending to represent. Shadow couldn't help but silently glare at these statues as he passed them by, them serving as a reminder of why he was here.
This didn't stop with the foursome of floor statues either. The artwork etched deeply onto the walls portrayed a scene most curious - as well as perhaps terrifying.
It was a depiction of what appeared to be the same enormous phoenix bird, it's wings sprawled across the walls and virtually reaching either end of it as it's head peered down towards what was beneath it: a flock of people both human and anthro all bowing on all fours, looking at their overlord with reverence as it clutched within its talons an entire planet, a recreation of the earth though once more encased in the same flame surrounding it's master. On either side of this incredibly large image were multiple tall figures also carved into the wall; towering over the bowing subjects were figures that could best be described as the rest of the wicked pantheon.
One figure was unmistakable to Shadow - that of Granny Goodness, albeit now in her true appearance rather than her prior disguise. Though it was stylized and withered, he could tell clearly by the way the figure was drawn, the hairstyle used and simply by common sense. The rest were a mystery to him however, though a feminine figure right beside her held a strong resemblance to the Bialyan queen. The two next to her however were unknown, two masculine figures both designed with armor - due to the withering of stone there were no apparent colors besides that of the stone, though one of them resembled almost a caveman in appearance - sporting pointed ears, visible fanged teeth, and having both long hair and a full facial beard as well as a neanderthal-like muscular though also somewhat hunched and portly build. The figure next to him was taller, and yet again though the color had eroded it could clearly be seen that he at least sported long light hair tapering down from the back of his head. Then to that figure's left was what appeared to be another hedgehog figure, though this one was not quite the same as the other - the quills were straightened to a completely jagged degree and the entire body seemed to be made up of armor, with the addition of sporting two pincer like extensions sprouting from the back of it's shoulders akin to that of a beetle. Still others remained - one of them appeared to be a man in a business suit, his hair combed in an almost corporate cut of sorts with a beard across his chin - though other than he seemed to be designed as a completely normal human man. Next to him stood a another feminine figure, about as slim as the Queen though taller than any of the other masculine figures; though the color had faded it could still be seen that her eyes were intended to be a shade of green, and her long black hair matching with bulk of her outfit, which seemed to be a black form fitting suit with heels, though sporting armor across her forearms and torso complete with a cape.
Last though not least there was one last masculine figure, who seemed at first to be human though the faded red colors used for his skin alongside his ears being notably pointed may just suggest otherwise. His hair seemed to be slicked back and black in color, with a thin mustache across his upper lips; he seemed to be wearing a black-yellow bodysuit, with his chest sporting a symbol that Shadow failed to recognize - it vaguely resembled a lantern, though also was akin to a grenade or perhaps a ring. It being so simple as to be merely lines it was difficult for Shadow to tell. His pose also was intriguing, he had one of his arms curled up in order to show the back of his fist, highlighting a rink on one of his fingers.
These must be the people that work for him.
He easily deduced, inquisitively memorizing the designs of all these figures, though he only knew one of them personally so far.
I can tell Goodness is among them ,but who are the others?
Guess I'll find out soon.
Though he passed these figures by within such short spans of time, Shadow had more than a good enough look at them.
He knew not who or what they were, but he did know who they were aligned with. That was more than enough for him.
The stay in this silent room thankfully did last much longer - the moment the group gathered on the ledge at the other end of it it took merely another blast of Omega's RPG cannon for them to walk nicely into the next one afterwards: it was a room much like the first one they had entered, only a bit larger of a square, and featuring a drop by one step in the center floor where the bee mosaic stood in the center. On one side of the room were a series of dusty jars layed out in perfect lines, on the other a row of three repeating statues of the same 'hedgehog' 'god' as before.
There also was no stone door for this chamber, instead there was merely an opening in a complex of an intricate sandstone archway held up by multiple columns reaching up to the stone ceiling.
Yet again, the only lighting remained the candles perched repeatedly across all of the walls. Their crackling provided the only noise besides that of the buzzing and hissing, which was a strong hint that even though things were easy now - they weren't precisely in the 'hornet's nest' quite yet. That didn't stop Oliver from bringing it up though:
"I can't shake the feeling that this is a little too easy so far."
"Well it's not gonna be for very long, now that you brought it up" Rouge was swift to remark with, shaking her head. Of course he was joking, though at the same time hoping she wasn't.
The next chamber of interest they found was but another elongated hall, though separating their entrance from their exit was a deep abyss of utter darkness - a seemingly bottomless pit that no amount of light seemed possible of revealing the inhabitants of, if any were even there. The only things preventing his chasm from being inevitable were a pair of large platforms of stone, albeit sporting a decently large gap between the both of them, that in an alternating pattern seemed to slowly propel themselves from either side of the wall spanning across the pit.
Whatever mechanism was behind these was of course hidden behind the walls themselves, though regardless that was of no concern to the group as they progressed.
Omega and Rouge certainly didn't need the platforms as the two of them could both fly over all of them perfectly fine. Only Shadow and Oliver made any actual use of them, though they did have to use their time carefully in order to do so before they vanished back into the slot of wall from which they came. Shadow easily jumped from one of them to the other like they were stones over a pond, while Oliver used specialized arrows that acted almost like that of grappling cables to get himself across the gap with ease.
Once all of the group was on the other end of the chasm, they were faced with the largest chamber yet - in fact it could hardly even be called that, for what they saw hardly fit with any of what they had seen yet. What their eyes were greeted with was a return to the cave that they had entered through, though on a far larger scale. It was a wide though still obviously enclosed area, with curved walls of earth heading directly towards a massive pillar of cave rock in the center; itself leading directly into a slowly rising pit of desert sand, supplied by waterfall-like streams of it flowing from the 'ceiling' of the area.
There wasn't much stone on which to stand however, though there were two separate entrances on either side of the 'room' to more chambers of this underground complex. However, with them being on opposing sides of such a large area, the only things creating a direct path to them were two branching paths of stone platforms, held above the lake of sand by mighty columns. There also was an enormous wall of darkness in the far back of what they were looking at, due to the light of the candles not being present on that end; this added a veil of mystery as to what possibly waited on that end, if anything at all.
With other things to focus on however, they fixated on the two paths that they could see.
"Well" Oliver remarked, "Which way do we go? We don't exactly have a map."
"Omega?" Shadow asked, turning to the robot of the team with arms folded. Omega's response came shortly after:
"My scan indicates that both visible routes are nearly identical and therefore equally optimal for travelling."
"Hm"
"Well" Oliver replied, "Guess we just pick one and go with it."
"Hmph" Shadow grunted, still keeping his arms folded as his eyes scanned the area. When he looked off to the left path a second time however, he noticed out of the corner of his eyes something - someone, who immediately drew his attention.
From what he could tell, it was that tall woman he had fought on the Kalinske prior to it's destruction; Big Barda. He could see her running to the other side of the stone door on the left side of the room, vanishing behind it as it promptly closed.
Remembering the confrontation they had as well as the fact she was aligned with Granny Goodness and Mephiles, Shadow's face turned from merely scanning the environment to glaring at the direction in which she was headed. Without even turning to the others at all, he said firmly:
"You guys take the right path, I'll head left on my own!"
Before Rouge, Omega or Oliver could even respond at all, Shadow had already jumped into the air and spinning himself into a ball rammed his way directly through the stone door on the left side of the chamber.
"Shadow!" Rouge called out, taking flight to attempt in following him as her and the others had been so abruptly caught off-guard, though by the time she was close to the shattered door all she could hear was another massive crashing sound, followed by the sight of the walls and ceiling of the hall caving in - clouds of dust churning out towards her as she looked on in worry. Once it was over, there was little to no way for her personally to get inside, the piles of rubble being far too thick and made of damaged stone for her to simply dig through.
When Omega and Oliver arrived to the scene, Omega was already beginning to shift his arms and hands into weapons to fire away with the repeating rounds of gatling gun rounds at the pile of rubble without saying a single word, while Oliver offered a remark:
"Okay, that escalated quickly…"
"I know I should be used to him doing that" Rouge admitted, "But I still hope he's okay…."
"I'm sure he will. I know I haven't spent as much time with you guys as Barry or Wally, but from what I've seen so far, he will-"
Oliver and Rouge both were cut off in their conversation by what a sound from behind them. It was from a distance, but ebbing ever closer at a rapid speed. It was the sound of hissing, screeching, and buzzing. Hundreds, thousands, perhaps even millions of individuals making these noises at once while rapidly approaching from the distant chambers on the other side of where they were. What's worse, is that none of these sounds seemed very calm by any stretch of the word.
Even Omega stopped his efforts and turned in the direction of the sound once his scans indicated the approaching storm. There was not much that could be done though, as just as they saw what was coming towards them there was only time for one last comment from Oliver as he gazed on in petrified shock:
"I take back what I said about this being too easy…"
When Shadow rammed clean through the stone door and was rapidly spinning towards Barda with full intention of striking her in the center of her back, he hadn't anticipated her reflexes; the moment she heard him barreling through the door behind her she knew well she had mere seconds if even that to react, gripping tightly onto her sword she turned and swung it in her opponent's direction with as much Apokoliptian strength that she could muster - managing with just as much luck to land a direct hit and slam Shadow directly into the wall beside herself.
The impact of the strike alone was enough to generate a shockwave strong enough to make her feet scrape along the stone floor just to keep from falling over, let alone the impact of when Shadow slammed directly into the wall behind her. As she herself looked upon her spear as it crumbled to mere pieces, she was met with the entire wall around her crumbling apart - the walls and ceiling falling down upon both herself and Shadow; trapping them in just as it locked Shadow's allies out.
One second she had been standing in a stone hall alight only by candles, the next she was seemingly trapped beneath heaps of dust and rubble with only an abyss of darkness for her eyes to see. This would have been a death sentence for any mere mortal, but Barda had more than enough strength to claw her way out of the debris that attempted to crush her, and from there get herself back to her feet.
Back on her feet, Barda turned to look at the mound of debris that she had created; her eyes remained in a patient glare, awaiting for her opponent to re-emerge. Though her spear had just been destroyed, it was of little concern for her. She was the one who trained and led the Furies on the field, she knew well how to handle herself with or without a weapon.
Though it seemed to take a while, she knew well that she had not killed her enemy. She knew what Shadow was.
Her patience ultimately paid off, as soon enough she was greeted with an eruption of dust and stone pebbles from the mound, and not long afterwards Shadow the Hedgehog landing right before her. Initially kneeling, he stood the moment he looked up and made eye contact with her.
Both of them entering battle ready stances, they knew this would be their time to settle things without any interruptions.
"You've made a mistake coming here, Hedgehog" Barda said with fists readied, "Though I suppose even if you wanted to, there's no turning back now."
"In case you haven't noticed," Shadow answered, "I never turn back."
With that exchange, the two lunged at each other, their fists clashing with yet another shockwave that sent them both flipping backwards a fair distance from each other - though Shadow used the mound of rubble behind him as a launching pad to spring himself at a mighty velocity towards Barda, practically tackling her just as she was on her feet again.
What went on from that was nothing short of a dance of death between the two - with neither having any weapons on hand anymore it was a completely physical affair, starting with them repeatedly slamming one another into the walls of the hall with either punches or just the sheer force they used to ram into each other with, though either way the impacts of each of them into the walls were more than enough to trigger more cave-ins of both the ceiling and the walls, only causing even more crashes and booms to echo through the underground.
As the two clashed in their fierce hand-to-hand combat session, it was more than apparent that the two were practically a match for each other. Barda's golden shield was able to help her evade several direct hits from Shadow's physical attacks though it was taking a severe round of punishment with how rapid Shadow's violent strikes were. Barda was not entirely defensive however, as she eventually saw an opening and successfully kicked Shadow in the side, jumping via a backflip once he retaliated with a chaos spear. Once he pounced on her again she retaliated by using her legs to grab hold of him and fling him directly onto the floor - though he responded with a sweeping kick enhanced with chaos energy around his feet once she attempted to perform a drop kick onto her. It was effective enough to send her careening directly into and through the stone door they had managed to push each other towards.
Barda found herself landing in the middle of a rectangular chamber, the majority of it being situated a small drop lower than what was left to walk along - with 6 circular holes planted across it, two on either end and two along the side. These holes led nowhere save for a completely black abyss, though they added a hint of danger to whatever it was this room served as. On the upper level of this chamber was not much special, just the closed stone door that was hiding the way to proceed further and the stone columns used to support the underground structure in the first place, lining the room to add at least a bit of flavor to it besides the bronze light of the candles.
She didn't have much time to soak up any more of the atmosphere though, for Shadow let again threw himself at her. Using her shield she was able to successfully deflect him though the impact still sent her grinding across the floor until her ankles hit the wall behind her, at which point Shadow launched a barrage of chaos spears right at her. Ever the skilled fighter though, she dodged this onslaught by breaking into a run until she was able to jump onto the ledge above herself and from there threw herself right at the airborne hedgehog.
Yet again clashing in the air, there were shockwaves generated from the impact of the two punching each other in the face alone; let alone the fact that both of them flew diagonally to the ground immediately after such powerful strikes; two large crashes of dust and stone kicked up into the air from the impact of them hitting the floor. Once it all cleared, the two wasted little time in getting back up to face each other - though for a moment they settled for a silent stand-off, glaring at each other with fury in their eyes.
"I can see why His Eminence wanted you to succeed Doomsday, you're far more formidable."
"His Eminence…" Shadow remarked, "I'm going to assume you mean Mephiles."
"You'd be correct."
After that brief exchange, the two clashed again - though this time on the floor. Following clashing their fists together with a bunch, Barda yet again deflected a kick using her shield before swinging it right at Shadow's head. Shadow retaliated by sliding underneath her, only missing because she flipped to avoid the strike itself. Once facing each other once more, Shadow was the one to speak first:
"Elaborate" he demanded, "Tell me everything that you know!"
"About what?" Barda asked, a smirk on her face as she was merely faking her obliviousness. If only to annoy Shadow a bit, something which was successful:
"You know what!"
Shadow threw himself into the air and launched another barrage of chaos spears at Barda, though she was able to evade the blasts and in turn lunge herself at Shadow in return. However Shadow used chaos control just before contact was made, successfully teleporting himself behind Barda as she swung her fist at him and allowing him to kick her right in the back and to the ground below. Though once he used his spinning form to barrel himself down towards her a kick from both of her feet was enough to send him flying into a wall. Albeit, the two wasted no time in yet again lunging at each other - Barda yet again using her shield to send Shadow into the air when he came at her like a speeding pinball, only for him to stop himself using the boosters in his shoes and use his mid air stance to fire chaos spears at her.
"Granny Goodness told me Black Doom was a 'viable' source of Apokoliptian DNA!" Shadow exclaimed as he landed his feet back on the ground and yet again had a stand-off against Barda, "I want to know what she meant!"
Without dropping her eye contact with Shadow, Barda responded to his demand by at the very least giving him what he wanted:
"Black Doom was an avatar for His Eminence" she explained, "First to supply you with the blood of the dark lord, and then to test you."
"Test me?" Shadow said as he chaos controlled again, though this time Barda was ready and successfully turned to block his kick with her hand the moment he appeared behind her, "Test me for what?!"
Breaking from her hold, Shadow and Barda yet again entered into a stand-off as she explained to her foe:
"Either how obedient you would be, or how effective you would be as a guardian."
"A guardian?" Shadow questioned while dodging a direct kick from Barda, before grabbing her leg and successfully swinging her directly into one of the walls, "A guardian of what?"
It was with a smirk that Barda delivered to Shadow the answer for which he asked:
"New Apokolips."
Hearing those two words together as one, Shadow's eyes widened. He knew nothing of what Apokolips was, let alone what an Apokoliptian was, though based on what Barry had said of it before it was certainly nothing good. As though yet again clashed into each other, Shadow made sure to confront this information:
"New Apokolips? What happened to the old one?"
"I'm pretty sure your speedster friend already told you by this point."
The two exchanged a few more blows, yet again knocking each other to either end of the chamber, before immediately charging at one another again. A single chaos spear from Shadow followed by a punch from Barda sent both of them back to the ground in the center, yet again initiating another stand-off. Though he knew that what Barda said meant that the original Apokolips was destroyed beyond resurrection, there was still that unanswered question as to what this 'new' one was. Looking directly at her, Shadow refused to drop the point as he confronted her with the question:
"And the new one?"
"Let me give you a hint" Barda said as a smirk sprawled across her face, "You're already on it right now."
So, she's saying….that's what Mephiles plans for this world.
But why? What exactly is he...
Realizing that, Shadow was just beginning to grasp just what kind of being he truly was up against.
Shadow and Barda continued to trade blows; Shadow dodged one of Barda's punches by dodging low, sweeping his legs to bring her to the floor - only for her to kick him clean through one of the columns once he tried to pounce onto her. She promptly lunged herself through the dust cloud after he hit the wall on the other side, though he quickly spun into his ball form and like a boomerang slammed into her side to ram her into a wall to return the favor. Leaving his ball form he yet again launched a chaos spear at her, though she got up and leapt away from the strike - prompting him to instead ignite his fists in chaos energy to fire a continuous blast directly at her. Barda was struck in the back and to the ground, though yet again was able to recover when Shadow stopped this blast and tried to barrel onto her in ball form; she was able to kick him out of ball form and to the ground before he could strike her, though it still made her hiss with how much effort she actually had to exert in order to do so.
Though they both were showing signs of their battle, from blood from their mouths to various scrapes across their bodies.
Now breathing more heavily than even before, Shadow continued to confront Barda with questions during these times of breaking between their battle:
"Everyone who's worked with Mephiles so far seems to have been 'recruited' in some form" he said, "Were you the same?"
"As a matter of fact" Barda replied, "Yes, you could say that."
Though he grunted in curiosity, he still remained silent. A cue for her to continue to elaborate, something which she picked up on and complied with not long after:
"As you may already have guessed, I'm an Apokoliptian, born and raised on the original Apokolips - the planet once ruled by Darkseid. Or more specifically, I was raised and trained in the Orphanage, where Granny Goodness trained me to be the leader of the Furies; to describe that place as a school of hard knocks would be an understatement to say the least, but I passed with flying colors. It all started well and good, but then I met - him."
"Him?" Shadow couldn't help but raise a brow, still neither of them had let down their guard - yet their conversation remained completely civil if not casual, with Barda herself clarifying who 'him' referred to:
"His name was Scott Free," she explained, "alias Mister Miracle. He was the son of Highfather, ruler of New Genesis, though just as Darkseid had traded his son Orion, Highfather traded Scott as a peace treaty between our two worlds. I met Scott for myself while I was leading the Furies on one of our raids, and I couldn't help but feel this, this peace about him. It brought out a feeling within me that I felt with no other."
"You were in love with him, basically."
"Yes" Barda nodded, "I suppose I was."
"What is, or was, New Genesis?" Shadow asked after a calming pause of contemplation, "And what happened with you and Scott Free?"
Barda took a moment to take in that question, as if something about it brought in a memory that most certainly wasn't her proudest moment. Yet still, she felt as though she owed such a skilled fighter answers to everything he wanted to know - it was just the two of them in this room, after all. As such, she began to explain further to the Hedgehog before her:
"New Genesis were the eternal rivals of Apokolips, the flip side of the coin so to speak. They were the benevolent alternatives to Darkseid, though they still had their share of corrupted hubris - Higfather Izaya used his peace treaty with Darkseid to focus on starting a war with the Lantern Corps for seizing control of their rings, which is what gave Darkseid an opening for an acceleration of his conquests in the first place. Had it not been for the Justice League stopping his first assault on Earth, he would have continued to go along unopposed. Only at the end did Izaya realize what he let himself and New Genesis become…"
"The end...is that related to whatever happened with Scott Free to lead you to Mephiles?"
"As a matter of fact" Barda yet again nodded, "It is…"
2018 CE; PREVIOUS TIMELINE
The story which Barda told to Shadow began on the eve of the Justice League's ill-fated attack on Apokolips, approximately ten or so hours from when the invasion itself was launched. Barda was sitting in a pilot's chair right alongside Scott Free as the two of them had discreetly departed from Apokolips not long after Darkseid gave the orders for the Furies and his elite to go off-world to serve as an occupying force for his now running-rampant empire. The pair knew that it was well beyond risky to desert from the forces of Apokolips' ruler, though they saw no greater opportunity for their escape.
The moment Darkseid gave out the orders and had Apokolips temporarily phase into a close enough range to Earth, Barda and Scott flew in on a lightweight cruiser accompanying the stealth drones that were also released into the Sol System - though they were sure to have their ships' cloaking devices turned on even before they took flight, as to not have themselves be spotted by Darkseid or those horrifying abominations that were now his prized pets. With it activated, they were safe from detection from just about anything as they traversed the vacuum of space towards Earth - invisible to everything that was outside of their ship. Watching as the metallic hellworld that was Apokolips phased itself back to it's proper place behind them, Barda and Scott couldn't help but feel as though they were on a streak of perhaps the greatest luck imaginable.
Turning to Scott just as they were approaching the sandy, ringed gas giant that was Saturn, Barda even commented as such:
"I can see why they call you the New God of Escape, let alone Mister Miracle."
"Thanks" Scott responded, dressed in his full Mister Miracle garb - that green cape of his that had a tall, popped collar that was level with his head - itself donned in a full face mask of red and yellow, this same color scheme continuing along his metallic full bodysuit with the only exceptions being his green boots and the green 'speedo' covering he had for his lower regions. His legs, arms, chest and the back of his head were predominantly covered in red, the rest of him golden yellow sans his torso. It's use of colors certainly contrasted with that of Apokolips' traditionally grim appearance, making it hard to believe he had been raised there - something which he was sure to comment on; "I don't know why I didn't escape that hellhole sooner."
"Oh" Barda smirked as she replied back, "I can think of at least one."
Scott couldn't help but chuckle in response to that, just slightly nervously, as though a cat had mostly certainly gotten his tongue. Even so, he still had to at least say something in response:
"Well, I can't really say no to that."
"Hm" Barda smirked for a moment before, before her face turned back to one of focusing on the travel just as her eyes went back to the front window of their cruiser; earth was still directly in their path and getting ever closer, even if they were still at the current time still far closer to Saturn and Jupiter. "As satisfying it is to be free of Apokolips, we both know that we won't be out of the woods immediately."
Scott, though certainly wishing for more time of enjoyment, also went along with this abrupt shift in tone:
"Do you think he's going to follow us the moment he sees we're not where he deployed you?"
"No" Barda answered, "He's going to invade earth sooner or later, why else do you think he created those things?"
"Right, the..."
"Paradooms" Barda finished for him, "Parademons upgraded with Kryptonian DNA. It took him until now to create them only because he doesn't have Desaad anymore."
"And the universe sure was a fool for thinking that'd stop him at all" Scott shook his head while looking towards Earth before turning to look at Barda, "So, how long will we have?"
"Not very long" the defecting Fury explained, "From what I was able to swipe off of his files, he's already making preparations. He intends to wait for the Justice League of Earth to make the first move this time, and he probably wanted everyone off-world to make himself appear vulnerable in the first place. He's trying to bait them into a direct attack."
"He really thinks they'd be that stupid?"
"Even if they don't, he'll likely launch a direct assault on his own sooner or later" Barda remarked, "He most likely would simply prefer the League get taken care of first, and separately. With the Lantern Corps and New Genesis still at war he's basically conquering system after system unopposed."
"Yeah" Scott remarked, "Still can't believe Atrocitus took out Metron, and then gave the chair to Apokolips."
"There's not much hope or will left with Darkseid's rapidly expanding control, though I imagine fear and rage are in surplus right now."
"Yeah, but why give the chair to Darkseid?"
"Atrocitus and the red lanterns probably didn't see any use for it" Barda reasoned, "And they likely wanted to placate Darkseid so that they remain on peaceful terms with him."
"For now."
Barda nodded, adding:
"I also imagine Sinestro was out of the question, before you bring him up."
"That's right! With Darkseid invading left and right, he must be getting a hell of a power boost right now. It's weird how he seems to be doing nothing at all, and Darkseid hasn't even tried anything on Korugar yet - is he going to?"
"Actually, it seems like Korugar has disappeared."
"What?"
"It and Tamaran both seemed to vanish by the time Darkseid was prepared to survey them, based on the intel I swiped. All that's left of where they were is what seems to be what can best be described as a massive field of darkness. Stealth drones sent to investigate all malfunction without fail, so any plans to invade those planets seem to have been aborted."
"That's….strange" Scott remarked, his voice trailing as he imagined the scene out in his head, "What do you think could cause that?"
"I don't know, but that's all the information I could get out of Apokolips before I had to book it out. The only other things I swiped were a few images from conquered planets" it was then that she began typing on the ship's control panel keypads, explaining her actions to Scott justly "I'm going to be sending these directly to the Justice League's watchtower, along with information of the Paradooms; they need to know what they're about to be getting into."
Plugging a simple drive into a slot on the ship's panel, she began to remotely connect with the Justice League's Watchtower station, and with a few more clicks and typed words was beginning to transfer data from the drive directly to the watchtower. However, due to still being so far away from Earth the transfer was incredibly slow and was essentially a mere single file at a time, much to her irritation; even letting out a frustrated groan.
"What's wrong?" Scott asked;
"There's too much interference between us and Earth, the transfer's being slowed down."
"Don't worry, Barda" Scott replied, "So far there's nothing in our way, it'll get nice and fast by the time we're past the asteroid belt. Besides….don't you have a motherbox?"
"I must have dropped it in my rush to prevent Darkseid spotting what I was doing" she said, before shaking her head furiously and muttering, "Damnit!"
"Don't worry, again, there's nothing to-"
It was then, at that very moment, that the two were interrupted. A sound not too different at all from that of a boom tube opening up shot through the quarters of the cruiser where they had been driving, coming from incredibly close behind them - close enough and loud enough to warrant them turning around to see whom or what was intruding on their escape. To their relief, it wasn't Darkseid himself, though to their concern it was none other than the commander Granny Goodness with a certain being known as Mephiles right beside her. Mephiles was donning his true, crystalline form when he appeared before them - though with a single notable difference. He had an additional pair of eyes immediately above his primary pair, making the latter appear slightly smaller perhaps as though the additional pair had separated from them. There was little time to dwell on this however, as Barda and Free had to react to seeing these two.
"Granny!" Barda shouted, immediately pulling out her spear and preparing for battle as her and Free both got out of their seats and charged at the two. However, Granny Goodness herself just remained silent, her hands cupped together behind her back as she let Mephiles do his work.
Firing from his eyes not two but four red omega beams at once from each of his demonic eyes, both Barda and Free were strong enough to not be immediately incinerated but instead were struck by the beams into the control panel of the cruiser - damaging it severely along with the drive that had been transferring intel to the watchtower. Most tragically it had just been about to transfer files relating to the paradooms prior to this intrusion, thus denying the heroes of Earth any forewarning of what awaited them. Barda herself would only learn this later, for now she was fixated on trying to get herself back up using her spear - only to be struck back onto her back from a blast of four straight-aimed beams courtesy of Mephiles. These weren't prone to turning or aiming like the Omega beams, though still burned a bright hot red just like them.
Only after this did Granny Goodness approach, allowing Mephiles to be the one cupping his hands behind his back as he watched, levitating himself towards Scott Free just as Goodness put a foot down onto Barda's chest before she could even get back on her feet again - clamping it down on the struggling woman as her other foot was used to kick away the warrior's spear just when Goodness saw she was reaching for it.
A smirk plastered across her face, Goodness naturally mocked Barda's situation in her usual tone of ruthless sadism:
"So you really have decided to turn traitor, I see" she remarked, "Such a shame. I honestly thought you knew better, Barda. Oh well, I do quite like having the chance to re-instill proper discipline into the ungrateful."
Barda was practically gritting her teeth as her hands clasped tightly onto Granny Goodness' foot that was so brutally stomping hard against her chest. The older woman just looking down on her with a calm yet still sadistic look, that condescending smirk not leaving in the slightest as she turned her head to the direction of where Mephiles and Scott were. Her smirk turned to more of a cruel grin just as Barda witnessed just what was being admired. Much to her own fear, it was Mephiles managing to left Scott Free into the air with a single hand - grabbing hold tightly of Free's neck while looking directly at him struggling in his grasp. The fact the demonic being lacked a mouth made it unsettling yes, though mostly it made it unsure if this action was being enjoyed or done out of pure ferocity. Perhaps both.
It didn't take long for Mephiles to prepare his other clawed hand for what was no doubt an impending impalement.
Realizing this, Barda couldn't simply remain silent:
"No! Don't!"
Her words were able to stop the impending death from happening at that moment, with both Mephiles and Granny Goodness turning their heads in Barda's direction. Of the two, Goodness was the one to speak:
"Oh Barda, letting a man bring out the weakness in you" Goodness spoke in a teasing, ever condescending tone, "You should count yourself lucky that you're more valuable to us alive yourself, otherwise you'd be in his situation right now yourself."
"Barda…" Scott tried to speak, though his voice was severely hindered due to how hard Mephiles' grip on his throat was; it was hard enough to still be agonizingly painful though not quite enough to properly strangle him, at least not so quickly.
"Please" Barda continued to argue and plea for his life, her love for him overpowering the rest of her senses, "The peace treaty with New Genesis; kill him, and it will be null and void!"
"The necessity for peace with New Genesis is no longer a thing, I'm afraid" Granny Goodness coldly answered, "You'll have to produce a better argument than that."
"If you let him live" Barda then found herself saying, "I promise to you my eternal loyalty to Darkseid; I promise I will never let the thought of betrayal even cross my mind once, none of this will happen again. You have my absolute promise."
Rather than replying, Granny Goodness looked to Mephiles as if to make it clear it was him who needed to answer. In return, Mephiles offered a silent nod and released Scott from his grasp, letting him drop to the metal floor of the cruiser with a thud as Goodness let her foot off of Barda's chest.
Barda was not quite free yet though, not by a long shoot. Goodness was quick to grab her and effectively shove her into a position of kneeling before Mephiles as the latter levitated in front of her. As if knowing that Barda was facing heavy confusion at being humiliatingly forced to get on her knees before a being that wasn't the lord of Apokolips himself, Goodness was 'kind' enough to explain the situation in full to her:
"Pledge your loyalty to Mephiles now" she said, "Lord of New Apokolips."
At first, hearing that sent both shock and confusion throughout Barda's mind. She looked up at Mephiles with widened, perplexed eyes as he in turn merely looked down on her in foreboding silence - his hands cupped behind his back in a manner not different at all from her previous overlord. Without a mouth she couldn't properly read his emotions at all, though the fact his eyes sported glowing red sclera yet reptilian green irises in a practically demonic fashion all looking down on her in complete silence said just about everything she needed to know about him.
"I..I don't under-"
"I am the union of Demon and New God" Mephiles interrupted her with a voice of such coldness that it only further drove the point across, "Of Darkseid and the demon lord Trigon; I suggest you pay your loyalty to me now while I still feel it necessary to include you in my plans."
The tone in his voice said more than his words themselves did; she dare not ask any further questions. Instead, she merely bowed her head in respect to this figure, taking his word for it that he was precisely who and what he said he was. She was quick to follow through well with what it was this dark lord and Goodness wanted from her:
"I pledge my loyalty to you, dark lord Mephiles" she said, "From here on out, I promise to you my eternal loyalty. I vow to spread your will throughout the galaxy, no matter what it is that you will for existence. Please….forgive, my betrayal."
"I trust that you will stay through to your oath. Be grateful for that" and with those words, Mephiles turned back to Scott Free who was just stumbling back onto his feet. Without hesitation, Mephiles confronted him: "As for you on the other hand…"
Scott Free barely had any time to say anything, standing up all he could do was glare ever angrily at the demonic lord standing before him. Having heard every word of what he had said, he thus knew what he was dealing with and yet still glared defiantly at him, for the worst as the demon turned to face him, he was caught off guard when Mephiles extended out a hand not to kill him but to instead open one of his swirling portals right where he stood - looks of shock taking over both Miracle and Barda as the former was whisked away to wherever the portal led to within a matter of mere seconds. Barda hardly had the time to even reach out a hand to him as she watched, a rare event in her life where she was utterly helpless.
Not one to sob, she still could not hide the fact that she was hurt by such a sudden action. The pain in her voice was clear as day:
"I swore my loyalty to you!" she shouted, "If-"
"And I made no such promise" Mephiles fiercely interjected, looking at her with a menacing glare more than capable of silencing her just as Darkseid himself was, "However, I assure you that he's not deceased. I merely removed him from this dimension, and introduced him to another; one where he will no longer instill insubordination within my ranks while keeping your pathetic pleading to a minimum. I trust that I won't be regretting this decision?"
Bowing her head yet again, Barda offered merely a quiet, hushed response:
"N-no" she said, "You won't be, Mephiles…"
However, as Mephiles turned his gaze away from her it could not be hidden that Barda was angrily glaring at her new so-called master. This infuriated glare was not one of loyalty by any stretch of the imagination, but one of unmitigated rage; it did not matter if what Mephiles said to her was true or not. Neither Mephiles nor Goodness seemed to think much of what had just transpired either, for Mephiles quickly opened yet another portal and gestured to the two of them:
"Come, Barda" he said to her, "It's time to inform the rest of the Furies of my arrival."
Closing her eyes and bowing her head one more time, Barda made sure to retrieve her spear as well as her shield before following Mephiles and Goodness to parts yet unknown. All the while internally vowing to never forget what happened in that cruiser.
2006; CURRENT TIMELINE
"And that is how I came to work for Mephiles" with that sentence, Barda had finished her retelling of the events to Shadow, who had listened to the entire thing with the utmost attention. There was but one thing Shadow was perplexed about however, with it becoming the basis for his next question:
"After all that, you're still loyal to him?"
"Not if you trust me."
"Huh?"
"If you trust me, I fully intend on joining you in bringing him down" Barda explained, easing up her stance to be less confrontational as the surprised Shadow did the same, "I had to earn his and Granny's trust and make things look convincing before I defected a second time; and I also needed a few powerful allies if it was to have any chance at making a difference. If you're willing to trust me, I'll take you right to where he and all of his elite are meeting."
Extending her hand out in peace, Shadow looked at both it and her face for a few seconds; getting himself a good read on her. Feeling that she had proven herself both a powerful opponent and an equally powerful ally, Shadow grabbed her hand and accepted her shake as well as establishing trust. Both of them nodded in respect of the other, maintaining eye contact even after their shake was completed. The two of them both knowing that time was of the essence, Shadow was quick to focusing on the business at hand:
"We need to regroup with Omega, Rouge and Oliver first."
"I understand" Barda nodded, "They should be-"
Their moment was promptly interrupted once more, in all that had just gone on between them they had not thought much of the mysterious holes and accompanying black abysses that were present in the chamber. Their minds only remembered them now, as a storm of ruthless buzzes, hisses and ear piercing screeches echoed through them - barreling ever closer towards them. From the sounds alone they could tell they were facing thousands, if not millions, of incoming hostiles.
They also knew exactly what was coming.
Both of them preparing for the incoming onslaught, all that could be said by Barda was the most obvious:
"It appears the hive's woken up."
Author's Note: In a similar manner to the first two & second two Chapters on AO3 being combined to one each, I'm separating this chapter into two just for . Don't worry, there are no plot differences, but it does mean this version gets updated first for a change.