Sunday Morning
There had been reports of course. Nightmares and mass hysteria had gripped a small portion of the world known as earth the night before. Institutions like the DEO, SHIELD, and the FBI did investigations, as did their opposite numbers around the globe. Anytime something of such magnitude washed over the earth, its governments usually knew. Had the Watcher's Council not been destroyed months prior, it could have supplied the proper answers as to what was going on in the world. For now, the world had been left to draw its own conclusions. The world's largest cities went about their everyday business. For the most part, the public had remained blissfully ignorant of the psychic wave that had gripped the world. Such bliss never lasts.
Upwards they jutted: giant black spires that pierced the heart of every major city on earth. Whatever stood in their path upon reaching the surface was destroyed. Buildings, vehicles, people: it mattered little. High they climbed until even the tallest skyscrapers were dwarfed by them. New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Neo Tokyo, Beijing. They were everywhere.
Upon stopping their ascent the sky blackened. Lightning spat from the spires of the structures and black clouds began to form. The world was in awe. Five minutes after they had risen, the world was greeted by the voice of their architect as he psychically spoke to the entire planet.
"Greetings. I ask you this. What is the nature of God? By what merit is it that you base your Almighty upon? Is it knowledge? The knowledge of when and how events will occur? Is it forgiveness, which you maggots crawl on your bellies to attain? Is it love, the most feeble of all emotions? Enlightenment? A promise of a life after death? Is this what you base your beliefs upon? No. Your image of God is based upon power. Raw, naked, merciless power. The power to create and the power to destroy. This is the basis for every religion on this world and others: the acquisition and maintenance of power. It is power that I crave. It is power that I have in abundance. It is power that I will keep gaining until I have had my fill, and my hunger for it is limitless. I am God now because I hold your world in my hands. I hold you in MY hands. No Jehovah, not Buddha, not Christ, not Thor. I alone hold power. I alone am God. Is your curiosity peaked? Do you wish to look upon God? Very well then, take a good…long…look."
The image of a giant white devil was burned into the face of everyone on the planet. His feet and legs were vaguely bird-like, bending backwards at the knee with talons at the end of the two toes and the back of the heel. The body was sexless, without genitalia of any kind. A long tail protruded from behind that snapped at the air, a horrible spiked cudgel like structure at the end. The waist was narrow and taut, the chest somewhat broader. The arms were long and thin, yet powerfully built. Great black wings extended from the back, like razor tipped bat wings. The head was sinister, the face long and cruel, with a small spike at the tip of the chin. Crooked, feral teeth made up the creature's smile. Long pointed ears were on either side of the head. Two huge curved ram horns adorned the crown of the beast. Its eyes were red as flame.
"Now that you know your new God, you should know one simple fact. The God of old may work in mysterious ways, but my ways are all too clear. I hate you all. And you will all die. My spires are pouring darkness into the air. Darkness that in time will sheath your world in eternal pitch. There will be no escape or entrance when the process is finished. Because I am a merciful God I give you seven days until the darkness reaches its peak power. Then all who live on this world will be fed upon be they human or demon. And my power will thereby grow reaching out into the stars, until all is fed upon by me. And still it will not be enough. Ironic isn't it? Seven days to build creation, seven days to tear it down. I hope that irony is not lost upon you." The First smiled evilly.
"Oh it isn't"
The First turned and looked up. Superman and a few others wafted in the air not ten feet away.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the much vaunted Justice League. I was wondering when you were going to show up. Superman, Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, the Flash, and Son Goku. Tell me, where are Batman and the wayward fish prince? Hmm?" the First asked.
"You're only going to hear this once. Surrender now or you will be put down. This is not up for discussion." Superman said, his large arms folded against his chest.
The First smiled, "Tell me, did the Martian sense me with his telepathy and lead you here, high above Los Angeles? Is he over his intense fear yet?"
J'onn visibly flinched. The First smiled and narrowed his eyes.
"We'll take that as a no." Superman said firing beams of heat vision at the First as intense as he could make them. Concrete would have been slagged by the heat. The First merely stood there, bathed in the rays of heat before striking with such speed that the Flash was taken off guard.
Superman fell from the sky, his nose shattered with blood pouring out of it.
"HE KNOCKED SUPERMAN THE FUCK OUT!" Green Lantern said in shock as he tried to summon up his emerald energy to make a giant net for Superman to fall into, lest his dense body cause casualties below. His ring seemed however to issue forth an endless invasion of green spiders that began to swarm all over his body. He cried out in pain as they dug into his flesh. His concentration shattered causing the floating panel he had made for the Flash to stand on to collapse.
The Flash dropped like a stone. But he had a plan. He began to steal the still free-falling Superman's velocity and began to add it to his own. He fell faster than Superman and managed to direct himself to a building and run down the side. The instant before Superman would have slammed into the middle of the street killing dozens and wounding hundreds, the Flash caught him. He then mentally contacted the others by way of J'onn's telepathic uplink.
"Take him." Flash said.
"Goku, see if you can pry those spiders off of Green Lantern by directing your Ki field beneath them. He needs help." Martian Manhunter ordered.
"On it, J'onn." Goku said as he grabbed Kyle and flew to a rooftop to begin doing just what he was told to, "But what about the big demon guy?"
"He's going to be taken care of." J'onn said as Wonder Woman used all of her strength, nailing the First with a right cross that turned his head with the force.
"What did you do to Kyle?!" Wonder Woman bellowed in anger.
"Heh. An Oan power ring is a toy to manipulate. Greatest weapon in the universe indeed." The First laughed as he absorbed blow after blow from Wonder Woman.
"They try a weapon made by the gods, you monster!" Wonder Woman said, wrapping her unbreakable Lasso of Truth around the head of the demon. She tightened it to where he was choking, or he would have had he needed circulation.
"Stupid bitch, didn't you hear what I just said to the world? I AM GOD NOW!" The First roared as energy blasts issued forth from his eyes. Wonder Woman raised her bracelets and deflected every single blast that came at her. She was thus far unimpressed.
"You're strong, but now that my lasso is about you, I can control your every thought and action. Desist all hostilities." She ordered.
The First raised its hand and closed his fist around the lasso.
"You're truly are an idiot." The First said as it jerked on the lasso and brought her forward at high speeds, headbutting her violently with a sickening crunch that made the Amazon Princess bleed. Dazed Wonder Woman was defenseless. The First's hand became a mace and struck her in the face sending her sprawling to the ground, "I'm beyond your pathetic weapons."
"I-I'm not done…yet." Wonder Woman grunted as she rose from the crater her body had made, gritting her teeth in perseverance. She then looked up with a face full of horror. Each blast she deflected earlier instantly rained down upon her, burning and battering her into unconsciousness.
The Martian Manhunter attacked the First with all of his might at super speed. With his alien shape changing abilities, each time he struck, his hands were different weapons. A sword, an axe, a mace. He fired his own heat vision as he fought. At first he believed he was pushing the creature back as it was moving. But soon he realized that while the First was moving, it was also blocking each and every strike and merely absorbing the heat vision. The First chuckled.
"So afraid, yet so willing to fight. So courageous, so admirable, such…fire." The First smiled as the air around J'onn's body burst into flame. He was doused in it and he screamed in his native tongue as he fell to the ground below. His scream was surpassed in sheer volume by another. The First turned and saw the Saiyen known as Goku's hair go from black to blonde. Electricity crackled from him as his hair grew in length. He had hit level 3.
To his credit, Goku's kick sent the First back a bit. Ki bursts were then rained upon the demon: who actually had to expend some effort to keep up with the warrior's movements, diffusing the energy blasts as they approached. Goku growled in rage as this happened. The First smiled as he moved back further away from Goku. He gestured with a smirk for him to attack. Goku charged with great speed. The First moved from the warrior's path a picosecond before he could connect. The First's mace tail that snapped forth striking Goku in the back of the neck and sending him into the famed Hollywood sign some miles away. Goku was undeterred and instantly transmitted back, directly beneath the First. He cupped his hands together.
"Time to turn up the heat." He thought as blue energy gathered.
"Ka...Me...Ha…Me….HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Goku roared firing his signature Kamehameha wave at the First.
The powerful beam approached with deafening speed.
"Impressive showmanship." The First said opening a dimensional portal as the beam approached. The Kamehameha entered just as a second portal opened beneath Goku and the beam exited. Goku was hit full force by his own attack and thrown upwards into a similar blast from the First, "But ultimately all flash and no substance."
"I'll show you some Flash." Wally West, the Fastest Man alive said as he ran up a skyscraper after setting Superman down. He was hoping to gain enough velocity to leap into the air and hit the First with a super-luminal punch. That plan fell to the wayside as the building the Flash was running on collapsed and gravity kicked in. Wally West fell backwards into space and into the grip of the First, who had come down below to greet the Flash.
"Sleep." The First said as it vomited noxious gas onto the Flash rendering him unconscious. As the First set foot on the ground he dropped the Flash and began to walk away and find his quarry. He did not have to look long.
"I thought you'd be awake by now. I'm glad to see you didn't run." The First said as he saw Superman standing just down the street.
"I don't run." Superman said striding forward, broken nose or no.
"No. No, you don't." the First said striding forward to meet the Man of Steel head on.
Now on level playing field, Superman could see the First was easily a head taller than him. It didn't matter. Superman still scored the first blow, an ungodly amount of force that shattered windows for miles around and making spidery veins in the concrete of the street. The First's head turned with its eyes closed. It turned back and sent his own blow to Superman that staggered the Last Son of Krypton but did not make him falter. Superman struck again and again and again. The First's head snapped back again and again but he would not fall. Heat vision scorched outwards as the powerful fists slammed into the ancient evil's head again and again. Superman's hands hurt but he pressed onward. He would stop this thing. He would stop it or die trying.
Blood spurted from the now horribly bleeding hands of Superman, and still his fists kept coming. His will was stronger than adamantium. He was Superman, greatest of all heroes, a legend that would last till the stars burned out. Superman roared loudly and delivered a staggering blow that sent the First flying, ripping up the street as it went along. Superman pursued and tackled the demon into the street, straddling it and sending his fists into the demon like pile drivers. Seismic activity was measured as far away as New Mexico. The First looked up at its opponent, as a thin trickle of blood went down its lip. The lip turned into a smile.
"You are glorious Superman." The First said catching his fists in his palms crushing them and forcing Superman off, "You'll make an ideal centerpiece in my collection. Before I decide to destroy you all that is. Go ahead and scream."
Superman's face contorted in pain, but he would not scream. Sweat poured down him as a small part of his soul begged for the release. But he would not give this creature that satisfaction.
"Give it up. You're beaten." The First said mildly annoyed as he forced Superman to his knees, "Kneeling? How formal of you."
"Not willingly." Superman gritted his teeth in response.
"You are without manners." The First stated as blood flowed from Superman's now broken hands, "Yield."
Superman spit into the First's face.
"That was a mistake." The First said looking at bystanders foolish enough to stay in the area. Beams of energy disintegrated them all, "Now look what you made me do. Their deaths are on your head."
Superman roared and began forcing the First's hands up, shocking the demon.
"Impressive, but…NOT…GOOD…ENOUGH!" the First said, snapping Superman's wrists as he wads forced down again. A knee to the face made Superman bleed from the eye as energy beams shredded much of his costume and cape. Superman's forearms were by now broken as he was pushed down into the earth. Superman's red gaze fired up into the First's face, snapping its head back as the hero pushed upwards with all of his might.
The First released its grip and brought his fist over Superman's head, making him slump to the ground. Superman began to rise again. The fist slammed into his head again, knocking him to the ground. Superman stood with similar results, a gash opening on his head. He was shakily standing.
"I'll….stop…you." Superman said angrily, his face a crimson mask of defiance.
The fist of the First slammed into Superman's head again and again. Each time Superman fell only to rise again. The First was angry by now. Each blow was greater than the next. Superman's neck went numb. If this kept up, he knew his vertebrae would snap.
"Stay down!" the First roared.
"I'll….s-stop…..y-you." Superman said almost growling inhumanly as another blow put him on his knees. He stood, fell over, and then stood again.
"STAY DOWN!" The First roared.
"LIKE HELL!" Superman roared in defiance.
The First had had enough. Bring both fists together; making them shimmer with eldritch energy he delivered a double axe-handle to the head of Superman that sounded like an atom bomb going off. Dust flew into the air, clouding the area. When it cleared, Superman was unconscious on the ground with the First standing over him.
"Yes, a glorious addition to my collection. Don't you agree world?" the First laughed maniacally. Through the entire battle he had still been broadcasting to the world's populace. "Look at what your new God has wrought! The Justice League defeated! Superman humiliated and battered into submission! Let your other champions come forth! Let them be defeated! Let them be put on display!"
The fallen members of the Justice League rose to the air, where Green Lantern's ring, now controlled by the First, bound them to several floating green crucifixes. Their defeated forms were on display for the whole world. The First rose with them as he continued his address.
"Even this, your world's finest group has been decimated! No one can stand against me! Especially not you, Slayer!" the First snarled as Buffy nearly collapsed from pure fright in Sunnydale, "There is nothing that may stop me!"
"Nothing but me." The Batman said as he typed in coordinates to the Watchtower Teleporter. He shimmered and disappeared in a blue light, destination unknown.