Chapter 7
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 ever.
Shazam dodges a swipe from a parademon before punching it away. He sees Viribus soaring towards Darkseid with parademons on his trail and with a shout he blasts them away, giving the Beta a clear shot.
More appeared in front of him and tried to blast him with fireballs, but a green wall materialized in front of him blocks the attack. Viribus spun out the way, using a small platform he made.
A hint of respect could be seen in Viribus' eyes as he landed before Darkseid. He roars as he swipes his claw at his torso. The force finally destroys Darksieid's armor plates and blasted him back.
The ruler of Apokolipse touches his chest to find traces of blood present on it. He looks at the son of Atlas seething, "Mere halflings...dare make me bleed?! A GOD?!"
"What's a god..." Viribus growls, his feet cracking the ground beneath him as he charged, "to a TITAN?!"
He then starts punching Darkseid over and over, shaking the very city. Darkseid grabs ahold one of his fist and slammed him on the ground repeatedly. Viribus covers the back of his neck from the assult before grabbing a shrapnel and stabbing into Darkseid's fingers.
Darkseid grunts and lets Viribus go, sending him flying towards the ocean. Wonder Woman sees this and wraps her lasso around his legs and throws him back towards Darkseid. Virbus crashes into the evil being, sending them tumbling underground.
"The eyes, Viribus!" Wonder Woman yelled as she tossed a sword down to him. The Beta grabbed the weapon and raised the blade above his head. Darkseid quickly used his hand to block the blade, letting it pierce his hand.
Darkseid grunts as he tries to hold back the weapon, but it seemed Viribus wasn't budging. Neither of them were! The ground cracked as the two beings of divine strength push each other to there limit.
Green Lantern noticed this and curses, "Dammit! Hold on, kid!"
With every ounce of power, he conjured an emerald sledge hammer the size of a locomotive. With a shout, he brought the hammer down onto the sword. The connection created an explosion that blew all the heroes and parademons away.
Cyborg looked at Flash and Batman nervously as anotner wire connected to his back. They found a center control room that would give Cyborg enough power to send them and the kidnapped humans back to Earth.
"Remember" Batman said in a surprisingly calm voice, "only humans. Only Earth. Your in control, not it"
Cyborg takes a deep breath and nods. He then closes his eyes and starts to bend the Mother Box within him to his will.
As that was going on, Atsáli crashes through the roof, covered in bruises. He coughs up blood as he glared at the hole in the roof. The wild look in his eyes slowly faded away, signifying that the magic power that was flowing through his veins had faded away.
His armor was destroyed and his hoodie was gone. One of his pants leg was gone, making him wonder how he survived this long.
He had reached his limit, while his surrogate father could keep going. The said Kryptonian followed after him, slamming his boot down upon his chest. While his eyes widened in pain, Atsáli grabbed his leg and wrapped his around hit.
Superman grunts in surprise as he was suddenly on the ground in a jui jitsu ankle lock/leg bar. Batman quickly took advantage of the situation and ran over to them.
"Snap out of it, Clark! I know your in there! The world needs you!" Batman shouts as he reached into his utility belt, "The world needs Clark Kent!"
Atsáli watches as Superman growls in defiance. He was in there, fighting against the brainwash! He just needed one final push!
"...your everything I want to be" he whispers, but Superman and Batman heard. It even made the mad Kryptonian stop his struggling. Batman had a piece of Kryptonite in his hand, ready to step in if needed.
"I was created to be "better" than you" Atsáli revealed, "A stronger, brutal, evil you. I was programmed to stand against everything you stood for, but I guess the Kryptonian stubborness got in the way. They called me 'defective'...a mistake...a bad son"
"And I believed them...until I saw you one day" Atsáli smiled as he was lost in memory lane for a second. He didn't notice the glow had faded in Superman's eyes disappeared.
"You fought against your own people, stood for what you believed in. That's the kind of man I want to be...just like my father"
That word shocked every being- besides Batman- in the room. Superman's brainwash vanished at that moment, "F...father...me?"
Atsáli looked relieved and almost hopeful for a moment, but it was soon replaced with a hurt expression.
*BOOM!*
A boomtube opened up before them, but Atsáli didn't pay attention to that. All he could do was stare at the anger and shocked expression of the Man of Steel. He's seen that expression too many times, and immediately knew what it meant.
He will never be accepted.
Superman noticed this and quickly tried to change his expression, but not even the Man of Tomorrow could fix the damage he caused by just one look. Atsáli rose to his feet, his expression nuetral.
Flash and Cyblrg watched akwardly before Batman took command, "Alright, listen up! We've got Superman back, but this invasion isn't over yet. It's time to rendevu with the others and end Darkseid's reign!"
Batman handed Atsáli his shield and the young wolf marched through the boomtube without looking back. The Dark Knight looked to Superman and says, "When this is over, your going to talk to him"
And without another word, he soon walked through the portal. Flash and Cyborg soon followed silently. Then he flew after them, ready to end this fight now more than ever.
Green Lantern was the first to recover. And the first thing he saw was Wonder Woman on his chest. He smiled for a second before groaning in pain.
The noise made Diana rise to her feet, ready for combat. Everthing was destroyed. Nothing was left standing. Darkseid was on the ground, seemingly defeated.
She heard a groan, and she look to see Viribus stagger to his feet. She limped over to help him but Viribus held a hand out, haulting her in midstep.
Taking a deep breath, Viribus walked as best as he could to the downed foe. He stopped by his head and stared into his eyeless eyes. Though without sight, one could be just as dangerous. Especially if your Darkseid.
Suddenly Darkseid grabbed the son of Atlas by his throat and raised him in the air. Viribus tries to pry the giant hand from around his neck, but Darkseid's grip was tighter than ever before.
"SON OF ATLAS!" Darkseid bellowed as his maguc power faded quickly, "ONCE I CONQUER THIS WORLD, I WILL BREAK YOU! I WILL GOUGE YOUR EYES OUT AND MAKE A SCARF OUT OF YOUR ENTRAILS!"
As Darkseid continues his threat, a boom tube opened behind him. Viribus' eyes locked onto Atsáli's and immediately recognised the hurt in his eyes. He'll need to look into it later.
Oh right, he was losing oxygen. Atsáli leapt into action and threw his shield at the back of Darkseid's head. He lets Viribus go and turns to face Atsáli, onlyto be met with Superman's fist.
Viribus gasps for air as he fell on his back. Atsáli rushed to his side as the heroes regrouped to fight the enraged Darkseid.
"You look like hell" Atsáli said as he kneeled to observed his brother's new scars. Viribus chuckled and says, "And you look like you went through it"
Viribus noticed Atsáli watching Superman and Wonder Woman battled the blinded Darkseid, and it didn't look like it was going well.
"I take it your reunion wasn't what you were expecting?"
Atsáli's released a small growl and that was all Viribus needed to hear. He sighed and rose to his feet, "Well...we'll talk more about it tomorrow. But right now, we need to end this"
He reached his hand out to his brother, but Atsáli didn't reach back. Viribus looks down at his brother and kneels beside him. He nudged his brother and says, "I need my brother right now, Atsáli"
Darkseid uses Superman like a battering ram and knocks Green Lantern and Wonder Woman away. Flash ran in a socked Darkseid in the jaw, making him release the Man of Steel. Flash holds his broken hand in pain but quickly runs away as Darkseid smashes the ground where the speedster once stood.
"If your not gonna fight for them" Viribus said, "than fight for me. Your pack. Your very life. Channel your feelings into your fists and start fighting, Atsáli. Release your anger on him"
Though his shield was slightly cracked and charred, he could see his brother's stoic face watching the battle before him. His eyes longed for the fight, but he was holding himsel back.
He refused to fight without his brother by his side. He needed him and vice ve
Wonder Woman has never faced an opponent like this before. Her body was in agony and her vision was blacking out. For once, the Amazon princess was actually considering that all was lost.
Until the sun rose. She shook her head to clear the black dots in her vision, she must have a concussion. Cause at first she saw two wolves, standing proudly by each other's .
Batman watched as both Viribus and Atsáli sent a punch towards the blind Darkseid, who was pummeling Superman into the ground. The force of the punched made Darkseid stagger back from the downed Kryptonian.
Green Lantern's eyes widened slightly. He knew that they were strong, but didn't think they were on this level.
Atsáli threw his shield at Darkseid, but he backhanded it away. But Virbus had already moved to intercept the defense weapon. He roundhouse kicked the shield into Darkseid's leg, making him crumble to a knee.
Flash blinked in surprise. Though he saw him move, no human can move that fast. Was he a Kryptonian too?
Atsáli caught the shield and straps it back to his arm. He charges in and hits Darkseid with a jab-cross shield combo, drawing blood with each hit. With a growl, Atsáli uppercuts Darkseid hard enough to lift him in the air. However, Darkseid recovers and tries to stomp on the clone.
Atsáli backflips out the way as Viribus jumps in twirling through the air. He lashes a kick that delivered enough damage to crack the ground beneath Darkseid, making him fall into the sewers.
Superman watched as they followed after the ruler of Apokolips, shocked. Seven of the most powerful people on the planet could barely land a blow on this guy, and yet two teenagers are able to bring him to his knees.
"It's because they are coordinated" Batman says, bringing Superman out his thoughts, "disciplined and very well trained"
"And not only that...they have our strengths" Batman watches as Darkseid bursts out the ground, throwing Viribus and Atsáli in opposite directions.
They hit both hit the ground painfully, but they immediately rise to there feet. They make eye contact for a brief second before charging once again.
"Shazam's energy, Flash's speed, Wonder Woman's training, Green Lantern's will" Batman deduced, "my tactical mind and your morals. All in one. However, I think they're looking past morality at this point"
Viribus' tattoos lit up once more as jumps towards Darkseid. Darkseid tries smack him, but Atsáli jumps in front of the attack with his shield at the ready.
His arms shook as Darkseid's fist connected to his shield was knocked into Viribus, but he caught him a flipped him over his shoulder. Using his super breath, Atsàli blows Viribus back towards Darkseid.
Darkseid tries to smack him again but this time Viribus rolled along his arm and gripped his shoulders, his clawed fingers drew blood. He swung his knee into Darkseid's spine, making him double back in pain.
Atsáli jumped in, his shield raised to strike a lethal blow. Just as he was about to strike, Superman screams, "NO!"
It made the young wolf hesitate, giving Darkseid enough time to reach around and grab Viribus and throw him into Atsáli, sending them both flying.
"Cyborg, now!" Batman shouts. Cyborg's eyes shined red as he activated boom tubes all across the world. All the parademons haulted there assults as an omega symbol flashed on there heads.
Seconds later, they were all forced back into the nearest boom tube. Darkseid's belt flashed red and soon a boom tube opened up behind him. His belt forced his weakened body half way through the portal, before he stopped himself.
"One final push!" Batman shouts to the others as he throws out his remaining exploding batarangs, "No holding back!"
As Flash ran in a circle to build up lightning, Green Lantern sent a massive fist to strike Darkseid in the face. Shazam channels all his power in one bolt of lightning and chucks it with all his might.
And at that moment, Flash followed up with his own lightning bolt. The attacks connect making a missive explosion.
Darkseid struggles to keep the portal open, his head was the only thing sticking out.
"Mark...my words, Earthlings" Darkseid growls out, "I...will...return! Especially for you, Son of Atla-!"
*WHAM!*
Darkseid was sent back to Apokalips with a bloody nose, courtesy of the son of Atlas. He shakes his hand and scoffs.
"Yup, heard that one before" he sighs. He turns to see the heroes resting on the ground, whilst talking to one another. Atsáli limps over to his brother, his shield transformed back into a watch.
"We survived the battle" Atsáli says, "what now?"
"Now we go out for drinks!" Green Lantern cheered, "who's buying? How about you Bats, you apparently have enough to build a satellite"
Viribus looks around the destroyed city and sighs. Battles like these aren't won by beating the bad guys. They're won by surviving, going home and resting until the next one.
"Nice work, V!" Shazam cheered as he came up behind him amd patted him on the shoulder, "thanks to you, the world is saved"
Viribus raised an eyebrow with a little amusement in his eyes before walking away from the heroes. Atsáli follows after him, briefly making eye contact with the Man of Steel.
He was hoping that Superman would say something to him, but was more hurt when he looked away, avoiding his gaze. Atsáli shook his head and walks ahead of Viribus in the direction of the sun.
"Wait!" Wonder Woman calls out stopping them in there tracks, "I have questions for you, son of Atlas"
"As do I" Batman follows up behind her. Viribus eyes the two, quietly. He and Atsáli were too tired to plan an escape, let alone answer questions. Especially his brother.
"All do time, I'm afraid" a voice spoke from behind him.
The boys eyes widened as he turned to see there wolf mother walking towards them in a white dress and quickly sank to a knee. They bowed there heads in respect and slight fear. They technically disobeyed an order, which was to protect and watch the pack.
"My sons are needed on Olympus at the moment" Lupa said as she strokes her hands across there cheeks, "the gods have decided that they should be awarded for there heroic acts"
Lupa made eye contact with the heroes, " Diana, you know better than to stall the Olympians"
Wonder Woman shifted nervously under Lupa's gaze, whereas Batman wasn't even fazed. However, he knew better than to talk back.
Lupa raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed. She turned back to her sons and placed her hands on their shoulders, "Well done, boys"
And in a flash, the family of three were gone.