Chapter 12: The End of Darkseid
Cara and Kara get up slowly, their strength returning. Justin returns to conciousness, and notices that Darkseid's army is destroyed, various pieces covering the cornfields surrounding them. Lava has slowed its flow, but still is molten, leaving destruction in its wake. Kara walks over, and helps Justin up.
"What happened? Where are the ogres?"
"Kal destroyed them, well, actually it isn't really Kal, it is the entire population of Krypton that now inhabits his body. Look up, and you'll understand."
As instructed, Justin looks up at the battle above. Darkseid has now recovered from the punch from Kal, and superspeeds at him. Kal readies the assault, and steadies his body as Darkseid impacts into him.
HAD ENOUGH PAIN, KAL-EL?
"WE TOLD YOU, WE ARE NOT KAL-EL. HE IS WITH US, BUT WE ARE CONTROLLING HIS BODY. PERHAPS THIS VOICE WILL REPLENISH YOUR MEMORY.
"HELLO, DARKSEID. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME. YOU WERE SUCCESSFUL IN DESTROYING MY PHYSICAL BODY FROM MY ATTACK ON YOUR SHIP, BUT I WILL HELP MY SON IN DESTROYING YOU."
JOR-EL! I WILL NOT LET YOU SUCCEED!
"THEN ATTACK US, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. UNLESS YOUR AFRAID."
Darkseid lunges at Jor-El, and before he saw what happened, Jor-El slams into him. He grabs Darkseid's cape, and starts flying straight up.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING, JOR-EL! RELEASE ME AT ONCE!
"WE ARE GOING FOR A LITTLE RIDE, DARKSEID. TO OUTER SPACE, TO SEE WHO CAN LAST THE LONGEST."
I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS, JOR-EL!
Jor-El smirks using Kal's mouth, and sucks in a deep breath, holding it. Darkseid reaches for Kal's hand, but Jor-El flys faster and faster. Soon, the red clouds dissappear beneath Darkseid's feet, and the atmosphere grows thinner and thinner. Jor-El and Darkseid now enter the cold depths of space. Earth seems so small now, and Jor-El lets go of Darkseid. Kal turns around, and his eyes turn green, the prescence of a person taking over.
YOU TRIED TO DESTROY MY DAUGHTER, AND NOW YOU WILL DIE A SUFFERING DEATH. I WILL CHOKE YOU, JUST AS YOU DID TO MY DAUGHTER.
EXE- LO? I KILLED YOU WHEN YOU WERE HIDING IN THAT PITIFUL WAR ZONE WITH YOUR WIFE!
I'M AFRAID YOU HAVE ME MIXED UP WITH MY HUSBAND. I AM JARA-LAN, AND WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF YOU ANYMORE DARKSEID.
Darkseid lunges at Jara-Lan, but Jana anticipates it. She lunges at Darksied, and the impact from both of them ignites a gigantic sound wave, shaking the entire Earth. Darkseid grabs hold of Kal/Krypton, and lunges them into the vast atmosphere of Venus. As entry into Venus's atmosphere, Kal ignites into fire. There is no pain for him as he smashes into a vast, desolate desert. The brown clouds containing sulfuric acid cover the entire sky all the way across the horizon, and beyond.
Kal stands up, his metallic shorts scortched, but still intact enough to hold on to his body. He blows off some fire that consumed his shoulder, his skin intact. Kal, or rather Jara-Lan, looks on to the wasteland that is Venus. Volcanoes, now dorment, litter the world, and extinct lava flows turned the once flat areas rough and bumpy. A sudden rainstorm starts, but instead of water, gallons of sulfuric acid engulf the plain that Kal/Jara has crash landed in.
Suddenly, the clouds shift and part, as the great mass of Darkseid slams into a lava bed, no more than a mile away. Kal exhales and inhales the deep Carbon Dioxide atmosphere. His lungs change with their surroundings, and his body is able to take the damage. Kal/Jara superspeed to Darkseid's crash site, and both of them immedietly start fighting again.
STILL FEELING WELL ENOUGH TO FIGHT, JARA-LAN? I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT CRASH WOULD HAVE WEAKENED YOU, BUT I SEE IT HASEN'T.
"WE COULD HAVE SAID THE SAME THING TO YOU, DARKSEID."
Jara immedietly shoots Kal's heat vision at Darkseid, while in slow time, Darkseid covers himself with the torn bits of cloak left. The thermal energy released from Kal's eyes scortches the remains of the cloak into burning ash. Darkseid's rock-hard skin sizzles in the combination of Venus's 900 degree heat, the sulfuric acid rain, and Kal's heat vision. His skin now starts to scortch, and Darkseid screams in anguish.
WHAT'S HAPPENING! MY SKIN CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE!
"YOUR WEAKENING, DARKSEID. AND WE ARE STILL RETAINING OUR STRENGTH."
HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!
"WE TOLD YOU, WE ARE THE SPIRITS OF THE INHABITANTS OF KRYPTON. WE ARE CONTROLLING Kal-EL'S BODY. IT'S NOW TIME TO TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT FOR THE MASSACRE OF US. WE DECLARE YOU A MURDERER, AND PUNISH YOU TO DEATH BY TORTURE!"
I WILL NOT DIE!
"IT IS TOO LATE NOW, DARKSEID. WE WILL BE YOUR EXECUTIONER."
Kal's eyes change once again, back to Jor-El's superspeeds at Darkseid, catching him off gaurd. Darkseid is slammed backward, his rock-hard skin, and pieces of his bone spikes ripping off him in the drag. Jor-El plants punches to Darkseid's face, continuously punching, until more of Darkseid's green blood is leaking out of his mouth, his eyes, and his nose. Darseid grabs Kal's arm, and swings him back fifty feet. Jor-El slams into the center of a Venusian volcano, breaking through the dry, cracking ground, and landing into a non molten piece of rock. Darkseid slowly gets up, wiping the blood off of his face, and starts tending to the wounds he has on his shoulders. He starts to turn around, when the volcano starts to rumble. The crater on the top of the volcano explodes into a wall of fire, smoke, and lava. Darkseid squints, and notices a figure floating above the lava overflow, and through the smoke he swears that Jor-El is smirking. Darkseid superspeeds away, trying to escape this madman. Jor-El flys after him, smiling indeed.
Darkseid is now running for his life. The blood from his mouth is increasing more and more, and the blood from his eyes is clouding his vision. One of his massive feet trips over a upgraded piece of dried lava, and his body slams into the ground. He gets back up, and flies off, out of Venus' atmosphere, back towards Earth. Jor-El flys after him, rage now infuriating him.
He's going back towards Earth, Kal-El. I'm afraid he's going to try and kill the rest of your family.
I know, Father, but we need to stop him, and Earth will be saved.
After we end up back on Earth, we will have to leave your body. Our souls can't stay in your body for long. You'll have to kill him yourself. It is your destiny to save Earth.
Yes, father. I will kill him. He is afraid of you, you know.
I know, but he is also afraid of you, Kal-El, for you are the mirror image of me when I was younger. I am sorry I put you through this, son.
It's allright, Father. After I kill him, the earth will be saved.
Kal is now in sight of Earth, and sees Darkseid burning in re-entry into his atmosphere. Kal speeds up, and soon, starts to enter the atmosphere, ready to end all this chaos...
"Uh, General Lane? It seems that the monster's army of ogres has dissappeared, the leader, called Darkseid, and the leader of the mutants, someone named Kal-El have also left Earth and entered Venus's atmosphere 30 minutes."
"And what about my daughter, Lois? Is she allright?"
"She's fine, General. She was helping some of the injured individuals. Now she seems to be interviewing two of the young women from the group. We have some bad news though..."
"Spill it."
"It seems that the monster called Darseid has just entered our atmosphere, and has just destroyed our Nighthawks."
"Any other good news?"
"Well, It also seems that this Kal-El character has entered our atmosphere, and is following Darkseid back to Smallville as we speak."
"Hold off the tanks, and let those two kill each other."
"But, sir..."
"NO OBJECTIONS!"
"Yes sir..."
General Lane looks back at the screens of Smallville, that show Lois helping a young man who fell unconcious.
"I wonder how they got those powers..."
The re-entry for Darkseid was not a good one. His face, bloody green from the deadly attack from Kal's body did such damage to him that he is almost blind from the blood leaking from his eyes. Instead of landing, Darkseid slams into the earth at such speed that his body impacts and creates a large cloud of dust, pavement and pieces of rock out into the atmosphere. Cara, who is helping Justin, hears the smashing of Darkseid a mile and a half away. Cara superspeeds away, followed by Krypto. As she advances, Darkseid's crater looms in. They stop at the rim of the crater, a strange deja-vu emmitting through Cara's mind.
Where's Kal-El? She thinks.
Krypto looks up, and starts to bark. Cara looks up, and sees a bright flash shoot straight down. Both Krypto and Cara jump into the air, as the flash collides with Darkseid. Immediely, a loud SMACK erupts in the air. The crater explodes, and the flash subsides. Cara blows away the smoke and stares at what remains in the crater. Darkseid starts to get up, rising off of his knees, and stares at what hit him. Kal lays motionless, facedown in the base of the crater. Millions of colors of light shoot out of his body, and dissapate. Darkseid smiles and grabs Kal's body by one of his arms.
Finally. The Last Son of Krypton is dead. I do agree, you made up quite a fight.
Darkseid throws Kal's body on the ground, and flips him over. Kal's smolder covered face remains motionless. Cara stares at Kal, tears once again welling in her eyes. Krypto barks ferociously, and superspeeds straight into Darkseid. Darkseid is flung backwards, back to the base of the crater.
UNGRATEFUL CANINE! LET'S SEE YOU RUN AFTER I BREAK YOUR SPINE!
Just as Darkseid grabs Krypto, Kal moves. His eyes open, and he slowly gets up.
"Let go of my dog, Darkseid."
COME AND GET HIM, KAL-EL. YOU ARE NO LONGER POWERFUL. IT WILL BE EASIER TO KILL YOU NOW.
"Then stop talking and do it."
Darkseid drops Krypto, causing him to whine loudly. Cara drops down to where Kal stands, readying her position into the cracked pavement. Kal superspeeds directly at Darkseid, Cara at his side. The impact of both Kryptonians pushes Darkseid back, but not as planned. Darkseid holds his ground, and sends Kal flying. He grabs hold of Cara before she could react, and holds her up by her neck. Kal slams on the ground, pushing back pavement as he drags.
A bright, green flash shines out at the left of where Kal slammed into the pavement, and out of the flash, appear Alicia, Eric and Shane. Eric stares at the monster directly ahead of him, and trembles at the sight of the misshapen monster. Cara cries quietly in pain, Darkseid's hands around her neck again. Eric and Shane run up to Darkseid, while Alicia helps Kal to his feet.
"Let go of Cara, Darkseid!" Shane yells.
WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU, HUMAN!
Shane superpeeds straight into Darkseid's leg, knocking the balance out of Darkseid. His fists release Cara, throwing her back, just as Kal catches her. Cara's eyes are closed, and her body is motionless. Kal X-rays her body, searching for a heartbeat. Her heart beats slowly, and Kal slowly and carefully puts her body down. Alicia runs over, and checks for a pulse.
"Take care of her. Her pulse is weak and slow." Kal states.
Kal stands back up, his eyes glowing a bright red.
"DARKSEID! THIS ENDS NOW!
Darkseid grabs Shane by his face, and throws his body backwards, straight into an overturned tanker truck. It immedietly explodes, and flying pieces of fire rain down. Darkseid smiles when he notices Kal, and steadies his body. Eric looks down at the box he is holding. He opens it up, and looks at Kal. He then looks at Darkseid, and reaches in. His hand burns as he pulls out the freezing cold golden piece of Kryptonite.
"Hey Darkseid, catch!" Eric yells as he throws the gold Kryptonite. Darkseid grabs it, and screams in agony as it quickly burns his hands. His green blood veins buldge out and turn yellow, as the rock poisons his blood system. Darkseid tries to throw it, but it is already melded into his skin. Darkseid's eyes turn a bright yellow, and he fall to the ground. Rage encompasses him, and he jumps to his feet. He runs at Kal, but not as fast as he used to. Kal superspeeds to the tanker, picking up the motor of the semi, and throws it straight at Darkseid. The motor throws himback, and into a ditch. He tries to pick it up off of him, but his strength is gone. Kal runs over, and throws him out of the gultch. Darkseid's body slams facefirst into the pavement, causing his face to bleed yellow. The gold Kryptonite has dissolved into Darkseid's body, and has permenantly weakened him.
Please, Kal-El. Have mercy on me. I am in pain.
"Have mercy? On you? You tried to kill Cara, and you destroyed my planet in the process. Now it's my turn to kill you."
Don't do it, Kal-El. If you kill me, you'll be a monster. You'll be like me, a killing machine. Plus, you'll be killing a fellow living creature.
"Your wrong, Darkseid. I won't be a monster, because I have to kill you, or you'll kill the rest of this world. I know when to kill and when not to. And I won't be killing a living creature, because you have no soul. Your evil Darkseid, and now you die."
Kal picks Darkseid up halfway, so he can look into the eyes of his enemy. Quickly, Kal slams his fist into Darkseid's chest, yellow blood spilling out of the wound. Kal feels Darkseid's heart beating, and grabs it. Kal pulls it out, a massive, moving muscle. Kal activates his heat vision, igniting the large heart on fire, and throws it on the ground. It still beats, until it stops, yellow blood spilling out of it. Kal lets go of Darkseid's motionless body, slamming it into the ground. Kal stares at the body, and ignites it with his heat vision. Kal spits into the flames, and turns around. He walks over to Alicia and Cara, who has regained conciousness and he hugs her. Kal's eyes fill with tears, and both of them start crying. Alicia walks over to the burning wreckage of the tanker trailer, and starts to cry. She falls to her knees and stares at the flames, cutting into the sky.
The sky starts to turn bright blue, the clouds white. What remains of the tanks start to turn around, heading back to the military base. Kara flys over to Alicia, and sits down next to her.
"What happened?" Kara asks.
"Shane tried to stop Darkseid, but was thrown into that propane tanker."
Kara X-rays the tanker, and notices a body, unmoving. She concentrates, and sees his heart. It beats slowly, but far too slow for a human. Kara runs to the tanker, and starts to lift up what remains of the tanker. Shane's body is there, bruises covering his body. His shorts are scortched, along with his shirt, and his shoes are off. Kara moves the tanker away, setting it down about ten feet away. She picks up Shane, and moves him over to Alicia. Kara sets his head on Alicia's lap, and looks at Alicia.
"I think we need some time alone."
"Oh, of course."
Kara runs over to where Kal and Cara are. Alicia looks at Shane's face, and runs her fingers through his hair. She holds Shane's left hand, and latches her fingers with his. There is no response from Shane's hand. Alicia feels his pulse, and finds a very weak one.
"C'mon, Shane. Don't die on me. Please don't die. I know you like me. Please don't leave me. Say something if you can hear me."
Shane's mouth moves, but Alicia can't hear his words. She leans in, her ear next to his mouth.
"Will...you go out...with me?" Shane asks, and starts to laugh.
Alicia laughs, and her blonde hair touches his face.
"Yeah, once you get better."
"Pizza Hut?" Shane asks
"Ok, but I pick the movie."
"Deal."
Alicia and Shane hug each other, then Kal, Cara and Kara walk over to where they are. Kal helps Shane up. Alicia teleports Shane, Cara, Kara, Kal and Krypto to the rest of the group. As they leave, Darkseid's body crumbles to ashes, and eventually, into nothingness.
The other group, made up of Lois, Steve, Adam, Kailey, and Justin notice the all too familiar green flash made from Alicia's ability that appears in front of them. Kal's group emerges from the flash, and Lois notices the one called Kal. Lois walks in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
"Excuse me, but you were the one that fought that monster, right?"
"Darkseid? Yeah I fought him."
Lois motions for steve to come over. Steve turned on the camera again, and pointed it at Kal and Cara.
"Could you tell us what happened?"
Kal looked into the camera, and back at Lois.
"We fought again, and I killed him."
"You...killed him? Why?"
"Well, he destroyed our planet, destroyed your town, and killed billions of people, mostly our kind, but also some of yours."
"Are you an alien?"
"Yes, I am an alien. And so is my cousin, Kara, my life partner, Cara, my mother, and even my dog."
Suddenly, a bright flash filled the sky, and Kal pulls out the octagonal disc. It shakes violently, while glowing red, yellow and blue. Three figures form in the sky, hundreds of feet tall. The are as bright as the sun, but were transparent. All three of the figures were men, and Kal recognized them immedietly. The one on the far right was his uncle, Zor-El, Kara's father. The one on the far left was Cara's Father, Exe-Lo. The last one, standing in the middle, was Jor-El. Lois looks consistantly at the giant ghosts, wondering what is going on...