Chapter 5
Summary AU!: Eighteen years ago, the wolf goddess, Lupa, adopted the demititan son of Atlas. Out of the five years, she adopted the clone of Superman. She raised the two as her own, turning them into something more. Something the world needs now more than never.
Atsáli tightens the straps on his shield as he got ready to clear the hallway one last time. This was where they were keeping The Man of Steel.
He was excited, but also anxious.
He didn't know if it was from the heat of the battle or the fact that that he was about to meet his father.
He looks at his team and nods for them to initiate the plan of attack.
Flash runs in a small circle before running to the center of the hallway. The parademons notice him, but Flash already chucked his lightning bolt at them.
It went through two of them while the rest charged at him. Atsáli and Cyborg played there parts, with the latter positioning his shield at an angle.
When Cyborg fired his white noise cannon, the energy was not only reflected but doubled in power.
Enough to blast through all but two of the parademons and through the door between them and the Kryptonian prisoner.
Atsáli then chucked his shield at remaining monsters, the defense weapon knocking them to the ground.
Batman leads the group through the destroyed door and into the lab/prison. They see a cloaked individual with disfigured face standing before them with the Man of Steel behind him.
You didn't need to be a detective to notice that they were too late, the hateful glare on his face proved it.
Atsáli rolled his shoulders as he focused his gaze onto Superman, ignoring the conversation the heroes were having.
'He's been brainwashed for, at most, an hour' Atsáli deduces while adjusting his shield, 'that means they're hold on him must not be so strong'
'And knowing that Kryptonian thick headedness is already fighting back' Atsáli couldn't help but smile at the twitches on Superman's face, 'it shouldn't be too hard to bring him back'
Superman's glowing red eyes meets Atsáli's blue eyes and growls. Atsáli raises an eyebrow, his smile still evident but his eyebrows furrowed.
...He wouldn't deny that he always wondered what would happen if the two met, let alone fought.
If you look at the stats, Superman would've mopped the floor with Atsáli with only a pinky finger. However it looks like things might turn out differently.
'This is the worst of him versus the best of me' Atsáli thought as he noticed Superman cracking his knuckles.
The heroes and the scientist notice the two Kryptonians looking at each other. The tension was starting to make everyone nervous. Even Batman had to fight back the urge to take a step back.
Desaad smirks as a beed of sweat runs down the side of his head, "Well my pet, this is your chance to prove your loyalty to your master. Bring me there heads"
.
.
.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Did you hear what I said slave, bring me there he-GAK!"
The heroes blink in shock as the Man of Steel gripped the scientists' neck. Desaad clawed at the Kryptonian's hand desperately, but it was already too late. The scientists' movements ceased after-
*SNAP!*
With a roar of rage, he tossed the dead body away and charged at Atsáli with a fist cocked back. The half breed blocked the attack with his shield, making a gong like sound that echoed across the kingdom.
The force blew back the heroes and destroyed the lab around them.
The magic properties of Atsáli's shield is suppose to repel all attacks and deal twice the damage. It was also suppose to reduce whatever shock he recieved by a longshot.
His entire arm shook to the point of numbness.
Atsáli grits his teeth and spun out the way of the attack and kicks the Man of Steel, sending him through the wall.
"Just as I thought " the young gladiator grumbled as he hobbled on one leg as the other ached from the kick, "brainwashed"
"We need to shake him out of it" Batman says as he rose to his feet, "remind him of who he is and what he stands for"
"Ok, that's what we'll do" Atsáli says as he turns to Flash and Cyborg, "You two, force the enemy back and get any surviving humans and us home"
Before either of them could confirm the plan, Superman grabbed Atsáli by the throat and slammed him onto the ground.
'Well...this is one way to spend a Thursday night' the halfbreed thought as he wrapped his legs around the Man of Steel's neck and smashed the edge of his shield into his face.
A loud boom echoed through the destroyed city as a figure sailed across the night sky.
He crashed through several nearby before crashing onto the street below. The demititan let out a cough of pain before let out a laugh.
'...well...this is one way to spend a Thursday night' he thoughtas stares at the full moon, 'Well I'll be'
Darkseid floated nearby and watched as the Beta staggered to his feet. His hood had long since burned away with sleeves torn away. There were cracks in his chest plate from tanking so many attacks.
Darkseid narrowed his right eye. There was something off about this warrior. His strength was incredible, there was hardly any blood on him, and he always kept rising to his feet. How was this possible?
Then he saw the tattoos on his arms. The acronym, S.P.Q.R was displayed proudly on his right forearm with what appeared to talky marks underneath.
'Years of service' Darkseid thinks to himself, 'many years of service'
"Boy" Darkseid began, "tell me, are you truly a half god?"
"Half Titan technically" Viribus says as he looks up at the moon, "amongst other things...why do you ask?"
"I recognize a warrior when I see one, and unless your immortal you are far too young to be a veteran"
The demititan gave a hum as he looked from the moon at the dark god, "Yeah, I suppose I do. But I'm far from a veteran, I'm more of a seasoned warrior"
He then charges forward and launches a roundhouse kick aimed for his head. Darkseid blocked with his left forearm before swinging his right fist. Viribus leaned his entire body back to dodge before backflipping away.
He lifts up a nearby bus and chucks it at Darkseid, but it was backhanded away. Viribus grits his teeth and launches punches at the god. The force and pressure of each attack made Darkseid stagger backwards.
With a growl, he blasts a single Omega Beam at the demititan, but Viribus leaps over the blast. However, it changes directions and makes its way into his chest.
He lets out a howl in pain as his armor was completely vaporized. He crashes to the ground on all fours, panting.
"Interesting" Darkseid mused, "my intent was to send you to a dimension of pain and suffering, but it seems your armor's properties took the full blast"
"Yeah, but let's see you take a full blast of this!"
Darkseid turned to take the full force of a missile of a tank to the face. As he was blasted away, Wonder Woman landed next to him in a crouch. She saw that his back had a new scar and asked if he could keep going.
"I'm the son of the god of stamina, I could do this all day" the demititan states firmly as he looks to the ongoing battle with determination. However, his body trembled with pain.
"...I need a minute" Viribus says to Wonder Woman, "if we want to level the playing field, I need to do something"
The Amazon princess wanted to question her brother in arms, but there was a flash of lightning that grabbed her attention. She saw Shazam blasting the dark one with one hand while helping Green Lantern fight off parademons with the other.
They needed serious help.
"Alright. You've got your minute"
And without another word, Wonder Woman blasted off to join the frey.
Closing his eyes, Viribus steadied his breathing and blocked out the pain as best as he could.
'Brother...can you hear me?'
'Loud and clear!'
Atsáli grunts as Superman punches him into a wall. He immediately moved out of the way of a kick that destroyed the said wall. He then proceeds to kick Superman in the ribs then jabbing the edge of his shield into the man's stomach, making him stagger towards the edge of a cliff.
Batman proceeded to wrap a grappling hook around the Man of Steel's neck and and drag him to the lower levels of the building.
'How's your mission going?' With shaky hands, Atsáli tightens the strap on his slightly cracked shield. 'Difficult...you?'
'Straight to The Pit'
He could hear tbe pain in his brother's laughter, it made his heart ache.
'Shall I envoke The Mark then?'
Atsáli frowns as he saw Batman dodge a hit from Superman while hitting him with a flash grenade.
'Can you control it, Viribus?'
'Remember, its not about controlling the power. It's about aiming it and communing with it'
'...very well then, brother. I'll trust your judgement'
Atsáli jumps down and uses his shield to intercept Superman before he could blast the Dark Knight with his heat vision.
'Good luck brother. See you soon'
"I envoke The Mark of Remus! And with it, I call upon the Spirit of Rome to aid me in Battle!"
The eyes of Batman's cowl widened as an white light emmited under Atsáli's armor from the back.
A hazel glow appeared around Atsáli's eyes as they grew coldand calculative. He growls as his body forces itself to become stronger.
His canines grew more define and his nails now had a sharp edge.
He tosses his shield to Batman, who looks at him with slight confusion.
"I expect that back later" Atsáli says, his voice calm but firm. He then focus his attention back to his Kryptonian father, who isn't affected by the boost in power.
Instead he roars at the challenge. And in turn, Atsáli unleashes a howl that silenced the kingdom of Darkseid for a brief moment.
"I envoke...The Mark of Romulus" Viribus whispers as he got on all fours. His wolf tattoo on his back shines a white light at his words.
"And with it..." He growls in pain as his body forced itself to become stonger, "I call upon the Spirit of Rome to aid me in battle!"
His grey eyes became sharp and wild as a hazel glow appeared around them. A blood thirsty grin slowly formed on his face.
He howls into the air, making the very heavens shake. The power behind it made even the parademons freeze on the spot.
Lupa's ears perked at the howls of her sons. She had been summoned to Olympus to guard the throne room, but enemy hasn't arrived.
'Yet' she thought bitterly as she looked to the throne room and saw most of the gods watching the battle on a big screen T.V while debating on there next move.
Some were just playing cards and on there phones.
She huffs and puts her head back down. If she could, she would rather be with her sons than stuck on guard duty.
'Be careful, my sons' she thought before closing her eyes.