Chapter 2: Heroes of Earth
Izayoi quietly sat in a corner, eagerly waiting for all of the preparations to be complete before the 'invasion' (as Darkseid called it). "Hmmm. Earth…," he silently whispered to himself as he crossed his arms across his chest. He knew the name of that planet well; it was where he first met Darkseid 2 years ago, but due to the fact that he is in a completely different universe than his own, it is entirely possible that THIS Earth is different than the Earth he knew of. "So there's an Earth in this universe too? I hope it won't disappoint me," he said to himself.
"Be prepared to disembark soon, worm, " Kalibak growled as he approached Izayoi, who simply looked up at him. Hey, Kalibak," Izayoi said with a serious expression on his face, completely ignoring what Kalibak said, "You've been to Earth before, right?" The son of Darkseid was slightly taken aback, as evident by the surprised look on his face. "That is correct," he finally replied, wondering what had prompted Izayoi to ask such a question. "Tell me," Izayoi continued, staring directly into Kalibak's eyes, "are the beings on Earth powerful?"
Kalibak looked at him and said, "Powerful? The Earthlings? Ha! They are nothing when compared to the great and mighty Darkseid!" Kalibak ended the statement with his fist shaking in the air. "Riiiiiiiiigggghhht," Izayoi said with an amused look on his face. "Why do you ask?" Kalibak questioned. Izayoi let out a sigh before replying, "Well, I heard that there was a being on Earth who was powerful enough to challenge even Darkseid." Kalibak's head flung back, and a fit of laughter escaped his mouth, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't be foolish, child. There is no one in the universe who would dare challenge Darkseid….well, perhaps that one weakling from a while back. What was his name? Ah, I remember - Superman."
Izayoi stared at Kalibak in silence for a few seconds. "Superman?," he finally said, "That's a dumbass name." For some reason, Kalibak couldn't help but chuckle at the blonde teen's wit. "Indeed," Kalibak stated.
A few minutes later, after everything was prepped and ready to go, Izayoi joined with the rest of the elite members as they prepared themselves for battle. Once everyone was ready, a portal appeared in front of them. It was the same portal that brought Izayoi to this world 2 years ago, but now he knew it by its real name - a Boom Tube. Izayoi's excitement was uncontainable, and he watched as Darkseid's army entered into the vortex of light. Next, the group of elites, including Izayoi, all walked into the Boom Tube, transporting them to a new world to conquer - Earth.
Location: Earth - 16
As Izayoi stepped out of the Boom Tube, the first things he noticed were massive buildings that were situated on either side of him. 'So, we're in a city,' Izayoi thought to himself as he continued to take in his surroundings. He looked to his side and saw people staring back with fearful expressions. He knew those looks very well; he saw them on almost every planet that he helped conquer, but he always does his best to ignore them.
"Earthlings," boomed a voice from above Izayoi. He looked up and saw Darkseid standing on a hovering craft over his army, giving a speech (as he always did). Each time they were about to conquer a planet, Darkseid would have a speech prepared talking about how 'it's useless to resist', 'You should surrender now', blah blah blah. It didn't really matter to Izayoi though, as long as he had someone to fight. The speech seemed to last hours, and Izayoi groaned when he realized it had only been about 3 minutes.
He was soooo board. But, when he looked up at the sky, he thought he saw someone. It was a man…..a flying man. Wearing a cape? "What the hell in that?" Izayoi asked to no one in particular. "It is HIM," Kalibak answered, "Superman." Izayoi continued to stare at the caped figure as it got closer. The man, or rather 'Superman, then stopped and hovered a couple feet away from Darkseid. 'Hmmmm,' Izayoi thought, 'he doesn't even seem scared of Darkseid. Is he really that powerful?'
Suddenly, a few more people began to show up, presumably other superheroes. A smile began to spread on Izayoi's lips, thinking about how much fun he could have with them. 'I hope they're powerful,' Izayoi thought, 'otherwise, I'll just be disappointed."
"HEROES OF EARTH!" Darkseid's voice boomed, "I HAVE COME TO MAKE A DEAL WITH YOU! CHOOSE 4 OF YOUR MOST SKILLED WARRIORS; IF THEY ARE ABLE TO DEFEAT 1 OF MY CHOSEN ELITE, I SHALL SPARE THIS LAND!"
'Huh, that's new,' Izayoi thought, 'usually the next part is all about 'not resisting'- about how futile it would be. He's never offered a deal before; what the hell is he thinking?'
"The likes of you is not welcomed here, Darkseid," the man with the cape said as he glared at the rock giant, "Leave now, or we'll make you leave."
Izayoi stared at the man in blue, eying his figure. The man was relatively well-built, although nowhere near Darkseid's physical stature, and seemed to carry himself with an air of confidence that was strangely heroic. Izayoi looked down at the crowd of people bellow who looked as if they were relieved that this 'Superman' had shown up. Interesting.
"There's always one," Izayoi sighed as he looked back up at the man of steel.
Kalibak, who was stationed right next to Izayoi, turned slightly to face the blonde, "what?"
A little surprised by the fact that Kalibak had heard him, Izayoi decided to continue on with his thought, "oh, I was just saying that every time we visit a planet, there is always some self-proclaimed 'hero' who appears and gives the people hope. But why? What really is 'hope' when against the inevitable?
Kalibak simply stared at Izayoi in silence for a few moments before he gave his answer, "Of course it is hopeless, but if there is anything I have learned in battle, it is that people need to place their trust in someone in order to survive - like you and I have placed our trust in Lord Darkseid.
"Right," Izayoi weakly replied as he continued to stare at the conversation between Superman and Darkseid.
"I'm warning you, Darkseid," Superman said with narrowed eyes, "You've failed to conquer Earth many times before, and each time you were stopped. What is so different this time?"
Darkseid grinned as he leaned forward a little bit, "Who said I was here to conquer anything?"
Superman's confusion was evident on his face as he fell silent. Even Izayoi was surprised, but as he looked around, he noticed that all of the other Elite members seemed calm, as if they were expecting this.
"What? What does he mean we're not going to conquer anything" Izayoi said, a little irritated, "Then what the hell are we all here for? More importantly - what did I wake up so early for?"
Kalibak chuckled slightly before giving his response, "hehe, I see. So he really does intend to go through with THAT plan."
"Ok, i'm not even gonna pretend like I know what you're talking about. What plan?" Izayoi said.
Kalibak sighed and crossed his arms, "Lord Darkseid intends to conquer multiple planets at once. His plan is to leave each member of the Elites on specific planets to conquer on their own; each Elite will be granted one million of their own warriors to lead in order to complete their individual quests."
"Why wasn't I informed of this?" Izayoi asked, still irritated.
Kalibak snorted, "Well, you arrived to the meeting late. It is not his Highness's job to monitor your every move, worm."
Izayoi threw up his hands in defence, "Hey it's not MY fault. I was having an amazing dream about cake."
"LISTEN EARTHLINGS", Darkseid continued, "YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO CHOOSE YOUR 4 WARRIORS, AND IF YOU REFUSE, I SHALL PERSONALLY SLAUGHTER THIS ENTIRE CITY."
"Hmph," Superman said with crossed arms, "I'll be the only one playing your little game, Darkseid. It doesn't take much to take down any of your pawns anyway."
"VERY WELL….." Darkseid responded with a cold and rough voice, "FROM MY GROUP OF ELITES, I CHOOSE THE WARRIOR….. IZAYOI."
"Huh?" Izayoi said with a surprised look on his face.
"Lord Darkseid has chosen you, worm," Kalibak barked, "do not fail him."
"Well, alright then," Izayoi said as he leapt from his hovercraft and headed toward the man of steel.
End of Chapter 2
Author's Note: This was a pretty late chapter; I honestly had no idea where to go with this story from the beginning (I still don't), so many of the later chapters will probably be irregularly uploaded. I wonder how many people forgot about this story - cuz I know that I did. Well, until next time. Later! :D