IX

Meanwhile in Apokolips Inkorporeyted (Incorporated in Russian)

A gray fleshed man sat that the end of a long table as a squirrely faced man paced back and forth behind him. At the other end of the table sat Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons. Her eyes followed the squat older man's every movement.

"Queen Hippolyta, I've heard things…." the gray faced man said.

"Yes, things that our lord finds disturbing…" the olderly man hissed.

The gray man eyes flared red as the old man spoke. He was not amused, from what Hippolyta could tell. The gray man's face was molded out of stone and gave nothing away.

"I sent my daughter to kill someone in your name," the queen replied.

The little old man stopped paced and gripped the back of the gray man's chair.

"You fool!" the old man shrieked.

The queen's eyes fell upon the gray fleshed man's stone face. She gulped hard before speaking.

"I sent her to kill one of your enemies Lord Darkseid," Hippolyta said.

The gray man didn't reply to her. He merely sat there staring at her.

"...A man by the name of Ultraman came to my island…." she added.

"You mean he was sent there by that purple haired witch!" the old man hissed at her.

The old man leaned down to the gray man's ear.

"Kill her now my lord," he whispered.

The gray man lifted his hand causing the older man to cease speaking.

"Did I ask for such a thing?" the gray man said coldly as he stared at the queen.

"As I said the opportunity arose Lord Darkseid," she replied. "And I…"

"Brought what is mine into your foolish game with that weak sorceress," he interjected.

Hippolyta's eyes grew large as she heard Darkseid call Circe weak. The calm nature of the queen vanished that instant.

"Weak my lord!" the queen hissed. " I've put up with her for over a millennium. She is not weak!"

"Maybe it is you that weak Amazon," Darkseid replied coldly. "I see the Olympians failed trained you properly or else you could have ended Circe yourself all those years ago."

The squirrely man behind Darkseid laughed, "That is very true my lord…"

Hippolyta stood to her feet.

"They trained me well enough Lord Darkseid, but Circe is cunning," Hippolyta said. "She placed my daughter in danger. Did you wish for harm to fall upon her?"

Darkseid let out a low growl causing the little man behind him to lean in close. They whisper amongst one another for a few moments before the little man swiftly left the room.

"I never have," he finally replied.

"Diana has probably already handled Ultraman already," Hippolyta said as she sat back down.

"So you came to inform of her success..." he snapped back.

The queen remained silent.

"No?" he growled. "I thought you said she was sent to kill Ultraman in my name. You wouldn't come all this way with nothing in your hands, would Hippolyta?"

As Darkseid spoke his voice echoed off the walls causing the queen to jump with every elevated word. Suddenly Darkseid slammed his massive stone hands down onto the table. The table cracked under the force of his hands. The table ripped in half all the way up to the queen's lap. The two halves of the table fell into her lap.

"Her return the flight to Metropolis is a long one," the queen said coldly.

She kept her head down in order to avoid looking directly at Darkseid emotionless gaze.

"Why not use the boomtube I gifted to you to bring her home?" he asked as he rushed over towards her. "Haven't you heard Metropolis is a den of lions."

When the queen failed to answer Darkseid back he snatched her out of her seat and slammed her back against the wall behind her. The queen screamed as the sound of her back cracked filled her ears. Darkseid ate up her screams with a smile on his face. Hippolyta's body grew limp in his hand but her eyes were still alert. He watched the panic set in her eye when she realized she could no longer move her own limbs.

"Oh you think I didn't know about that… 'I belong to no man or God' bullshit," Darkseid laughed.

Tears welled up in the broken queen's eyes. She tried to speak but no words came out. Darkseid laugh as he made mocking mouth movements in front of her.

"Everything I touch belongs to me," he continued. "Oh look, I've touched you… You aren't on my level Hippolyta. I have always outplayed you."

As he spoke Darkseid leaned in close to the queen's face.

"Tis a pity that Diana won't have a home to return to once she's finished her mission," he growled into her ears. "I'll be sure to leave one of my Furries there to bring her to me. I heard they love to watch cities burn under the moonlight…"

Panic filled the queen's eyes as Darkseid let her broken body crumple to the ground. Her body shook for a few seconds before it stopped.

"Mr. Miracle," Darkseid bellowed as he stepped over Hippolyta's dying body. "Come clean up this mess."

Suddenly behind him appeared a man with a multi-colored mask.

"Of course father," he replied.

Darkseid turned his head slightly so that the masked man came into view.

"Be sure to have this removed before she arrives," Darkseid ordered. "I'd hate to have Diana see her mother like that…"

A deep callus laugh seeped from Darkseid's cracked lips as he left the room.

Outside of the room the squirrel man was waiting for him.

"Was that really necessary Lord Darkseid?" he asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"She was a nuisance Desaad," Darkseid replied. "You know sooner or later she would have become a greater thorn in my side if she was around much longer."

Desaad nodded, "True but she was right about one thing, Ultraman is a major threat to us. He is Kryptonian at his core. No matter how long he has lived here that fact will never change."

Darkseid laughed as he started to walk away from Desaad. Desaad quickly followed behind him.

"This is no laughing matter, my lord," Desaad said. "If their world hadn't of died then you wouldn't have been able to conquer as much as you did…"

Desaad placed his hands immediately over his mouth. As if he knew he had over-stepped a boundary he shouldn't have. Darkseid stop in his tracks. Desaad flinched.

"My lord…."

"He is a boy playing a man's game," Darkseid said without looking back at Desaad. "Have Big Barda remain on the island until Diana returns."

As he finished speaking Darkseid continued to walk down the hall. Desaad let out a several moments holding his breath in one massive exhale.

"Yes Lord Darkseid," he gasped.