Chapter 96: Future Imperfect (Great Darkness Saga, Part 2)
Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman, Legion of Superheroes, and New Gods belong to DC. No infringement is intended.
The God Sphere, seven weeks ago
From the safety of his Mobius Chair, the entity known only as Metron watched the final day of the War of the New Gods. For two weeks the heavens had burned, titanic forces had been unleashed with abandon, countless sentients had perished, and now the conflict reached its inevitable crescendo as the Fourth World of Gods died in an inferno of light and fire.
History moved in cycles, Metron knew. Their ancestors, the Old Gods of the Third World, had died on a day much like this one, locked in a battle that was as inevitable as it was senseless. Reason had long since been forgotten, it was only about beating the other side and proving oneself the one truth in the universe. Compassion against oppression. Light against Darkness. Paradise against Hell. Good against Evil. The labels applied to either side mattered little in the end.
With a glance Metron saw that the world called New Genesis was in its death throes. For days now the attackers from Apokolips had opened thousands of tiny Boom Tubes all over the planet, bombarding it with microscopic gravity wells that were tearing the world asunder. At the same time the Fire Pits of Apokolips had been extinguished one by one, leaving the world-turned-war-machine almost devoid of power in the face of wave after wave of assaults.
On New Genesis Metron observed the continent-sized flying metropolis known as Super Town rising up into the stratosphere, looking to escape the death of the world it had long floated serenely above. The forces of New Genesis gathered, those that remained, prepared for one last big push. Like locusts the undead armies of Darkseid emerged to meet them, the ruler of Apokolips not allowing his fallen soldiers any rest, using the Omega Force to bring them back from beyond the veil over and over again.
There was no sound in the vacuum of space to accompany the violent end of New Genesis as the planet began to break apart. Super Town rose above the conflagration, still intact, but remained under constant siege. The flames of Apokolips flickered and died, squadrons of bombers from New Genesis dousing the final Fire Pit with Vacuum Twisters.
Metron checked his calculations. The time was almost upon them. Metron observed the High Father, as powerful as any New God yet lacking the heart of a warrior, standing on a balcony in Super Town. He raised his staff to summon the power of the Source one last time, one last act of violence performed by one who would have gladly lived his life in peace and harmony if given a choice. Metron observed Darkseid, his heart long since consumed by the darkness that he had become the personification of, standing atop the ruins of the Armaghetto. The full destructive might of the Omega Force gathered in his eyes for one final act of defiance aimed at a universe that refused to bend to his will.
This should be it, Metron knew. He had calculated it, he had predicted it, and he was here to observe it. But something was wrong. There was an element present that did not belong here on this day. The forces of destiny were out of synch. The universe lit up in front of him as indescribable power was unleashed. New Genesis died, Apokolips vanished into nothingness, but all was not as it should be. Something went wrong.
The War of the Gods was not over. Something was left. Frowning deeply, Metron began to calculate his next journey.
Location: unknown, time: unknown
A dark god sat atop the ruins of his world and gazed outward at the universe. Something had happened, something beyond his vision. While he had done everything in his power to try and cheat fate, in the end it had seemed that destiny would have its due. The war should have killed them all, New Genesis and Apokolips alike. Yet now he was here, wherever here was, whenever now was. His world, though in ruins and diminished, was here as well.
"Fate and the universe have tried to silence me," he whispered. "And they have failed."
Standing up, he gazed out at the wasteland and called forth his power. The Omega Force once again responded to his will without question and all over the planet those who had perished in his name began to stir and rise again. Figures appeared at his side, his loyal servants responding to his call. A few of them had survived the cataclysm on their own, many others had perished, but in the end it made no difference to him. Alive or dead, they were his to command, now and forever. So they came to attention at his side.
"Destiny has stalled; prophecy is meaningless," he uttered, his words causing the universe itself to shiver in dread. "My foes are gone, their paradise broken. I have won. The universe now belongs to me!"
"Command us, great Darkseid," his loyal Granny Goodness said, appearing at his left.
With the barest hint of a smile upon his terrible visage, Darkseid turned to look at the imposing figure standing to his right.
"We shall remake the universe in my image. And I know exactly where we shall begin!"
Smallville, Earth, the present
Kara embraced her old friend the moment she came into the door at super speed. 30th century superheroine Saturn Girl aka Imra Ardeen was not surprised, having picked up her friend's thought patterns several seconds earlier. The two women held on to the hug for a few seconds, then parted.
"Imra, what are you doing here?" Kara asked, holding her friend at arm's length. The woman who had been her best friend during her teenage years looked maybe a tiny bit older than she had been the last time they had met, but it was hard to tell. Apart from the constant confusion of maintaining a friendship across a millennium of time, the natives of the 30th century had vastly extended life spans when compared to the humans of present-day Earth.
"Not that it is not great to see you," Kara added, "but we are kind of in the middle of something here and..."
"I know, Kara," Imra simply said. "So are we, 1,000 years from now. And I am afraid the two events might well be connected."
"What are you talking about?" Kara asked, puzzled. "How can something that is happening in your future be connected to something happening right now? All of this is ancient history to you, is it not?"
The blonde telepath looked very tired, Kara noticed, and there was a trace of desperation in her eyes, too. Kara could not remember ever having seen her like this before.
"It would be easier if I could show you," Imra said, raising her hand and giving her a questioning look.
"Of course," Kara replied, full of trust. She had trusted Imra to block her memories when she had been but a teenager, after all.
Imra put her hand gently to Kara's temple and both women closed their eyes.
Metropolis, Earth, two days ago (and 1,000 years in the future)
The Time Institute of Metropolis was situated on a wide-open piece of ground, all other buildings remaining at a respectful distance. This was due to the highly exotic and potentially dangerous research undertaken there, where scientists pondered the mysteries of time itself. In the past the Institute had seen the likes of Mordru and the Fatal Five try and gain access to its secrets, had seen menaces like the Time Trapper and the Infinite Man manifest in its halls. All those times, though, the Legion of Superheroes, defenders of the United Planets, had stood ready to answer the call.
So, when an emergency signal came from the Time Institute, all available Legionnaires immediately scrambled and flew over to the massive, gleaming building, their flight rings carrying them along at high speed.
"What is the emergency, Chronarch?" Saturn Girl, current leader of the Legion, asked the moment her feet touched the ground.
Chronarch Sinius, chief researcher of the Institute, resembled a large cockroach walking upright, but the Legionnaires knew very well that he was one of the smartest sentients in all of the United Planets. By his side stood Rond Vidar, an old friend of the Legion, who had recently started working at the Institute as well. It was easy to see the stark worry on his faces.
"K-k-k-Come in, Legionnaires," the Chronarch invited them, the nervous clicking of his mandibles betraying his state of mind where his lack of facial expressions could not.
"Well, no explosions, no giant cosmic entities shouting threats or calling us fools," Lightning Lad remarked, walking beside Saturn Girl. "So far, so good."
"Don't jinx it, Garth," Saturn Girl reprimanded him. "You know they wouldn't call us unless it was serious."
"As you k-k-k-know," Sinius began as they entered the massive main research lab, "we have k-k-k-created a way of monitoring the integrity of the time stream. With time travel a reality, the danger of unsolicited time travelers wreack-k-k-ing havoc in history is an ever-present k-k-k-concern."
"Yeah, Mordru would have seriously messed up history, had he actually managed to kill Superwoman as a teenager," Cosmic Boy remarked, walking up to his long-time friends.
"I fear we might be facing an even worse situation here," Rond Vidar said, leaning forward to activate the viewing screen. "Roughly six hours ago we picked up a truly massive time disturbance, though we could not locate it spatially. Best guess on our part is that something truly massive was moved through time and manifested in the present."
"How massive?" Lightning Lad asked.
"Hard to tell," Sinius said, "but we estimate it k-k-k-could be an entire planet or something even larger."
The Legionnaires blanched, knowing full well how hideously difficult it was to move even a single small sphere through the time stream. The power necessary to move an entire planet boggled the mind.
"Ever since the large disturbance," Rond continued, "we have been picking up smaller, more localized disturbances all over the place and they are multiplying. Think of them like debris raining down after a large explosion, causing secondary fires."
"What kind of disturbances are we talking about here?" Saturn Girl asked. "What has been happening?"
"Well, we received an ac-c-c-c-ount that, for roughly sixty seconds, the Superman wing of the Superwoman Museum here in Metropolis simply vanished. And during that time, no one could remember that Superwoman ever had a son."
Lightning Lad frowned. "Superman? You mean Superboy, right? He never... no, wait a second, he did grow up to make a name for himself as Superman, right? I can't seem to…"
"Time is in flux," Rond told them. "Whatever this massive disturbance was, it carries with it the potential for a significant shift in history. Our world could change in a heartbeat, and we probably wouldn't even notice it afterwards."
Saturn Girl nodded, looking grave. "Then we have no time to waste. We will have to form teams. Some to deal with the smaller disturbances as best we can, and one larger team to find the large disturbance at the center of all this."
"I'll ring up Dawnstar," Cosmic Boy said. "Nothing in the universe she cannot find."
Saturn Girl nodded and twisted the ring on her finger, sending out an alert to all active Legionnaires. She had a distinct feeling they would be needing all the help they could get.
Deep Space, edge of United Planets territory, one day ago (and 1,000 years in the future)
Saturn Girl stood on the bridge of one of the Legion's deep space cruisers and looked forward, her eyes and mental powers tracking the winged shape of her fellow Legionnaire. Dawnstar, a citizen of the planet Star Haven, was as unique as any other member of the Legion of Superheroes. For centuries the people of Star Haven had gone through extensive selective breeding and genetic engineering in their attempts to create the ultimate navigators. While humanoid in appearance, all Havenites carried huge wings on their backs, could survive in the vacuum of space unaided, and had an inborn instinct for interstellar navigation.
Among an entire race of superbly gifted navigators, Dawnstar was extraordinary. She had a superhuman tracking ability, capable of finding people and things across distances measured in light years. Before joining the Legion, she had worked as both a navigator and a bounty hunter. Now, though, she used her abilities to protect the United Planets alongside her teammates.
"I am not sure this is not going to work, Saturn Girl," Dawnstar's voice rang out over the coms. "I need to have a clear image of my prey in mind. 'Something big that caused a huge time disturbance' isn't exactly a vivid visual."
"It's all we have, Dawnstar," Saturn Girl replied, unconsciously gnawing on her lower lip. She had a really bad feeling about this and from the mental static she could not help but pick up from her teammates, they were feeling the same. Something big was coming their way. Something monstrous.
Her protests to the contrary, Dawnstar had led them here to the edge of UP space with the same unerring accuracy she had become known for. Saturn Girl chuckled, knowing that there was still an ongoing debate among Legionnaires Brainiac 5 and Princess Projectra on whether Dawnstar's powers were rooted in science or were, in fact, magical in nature.
"Scanners are picking up something," Star Boy suddenly said from where he was sitting at the cruiser's navigational station. "Some kind of spatial disturbance, just half a parsec away."
"I see it," Dawnstar said, immediately homing in on the new prey. "Follow me!"
Saturn Girl reached out with her telepathic powers and gently nudged her teammate's consciousness. A moment later Dawnstar allowed her into her mind. This was a standard procedure among the Legionnaires, Saturn Girl serving as a mental hub to connect their minds together during important missions. In this case she was able to share Dawnstar's amazing senses, which brought the source of the disturbance into visual range long before any human-built sensor could.
A large, glowing hole in space stood before them, large enough to swallow an entire squadron of space cruisers whole, and what could only be called an armada was rapidly emerging from its mouth. Huge ships of a design utterly unknown to Saturn Girl were expelled into space from a glowing tunnel that seemed to stretch on into infinite and felt utterly disturbing to Dawnstar's senses. Like a literal hole in the universe.
From the corner of Dawnstar's eye, she saw a tiny object cross the course of the lead ship, but it was moving so fast that it was gone again before she could really grasp it. A second later her attention was fully focused on the huge fleet coming directly towards them.
The strange ships looked... malevolent, somehow. There was no attempt at beauty in their design, nothing that offered any hints that their builders had been interested in anything but projecting an air of danger and power. They were all sharp angles, dark metal, and even the crimson glare of their engine ports somehow seemed to carry an evil intent. Many of the ships looked like they had seen combat recently, sporting battle damage like old warriors did scars. It made them look even more dangerous.
"Sound the general alert, Star Boy," Saturn Girl told her fellow Legionnaire, even as more and more ships emerged from the glowing tunnel. "We have a situation here!"
Star Boy reached for the communication console, but before his hand could reach it there was a sudden chill in the air. Saturn Girl's arms instinctively went around her body, trying to keep the warmth in, as the very spaceship around her seemed to shake in terror. Something terrible had arrived.
A voice rang out, needing no sort of communication technology to be easily heard by everyone within a radius of light years. A voice that made Saturn Girl want to drop to her knees and beg for mercy, though she resisted the instinct... barely.
"Rejoice, mortals," the voice spoke, every word making the universe itself shiver in fright. "You are now in the presence of divinity. I have come to liberate you from the chaos of indecision. I am the one true path. Darkseid is!"
Smallville, Earth, the present
Kara wrenched free from the shared memory, startling Imra as she took a step back.
"Darkseid?" she growled, her eyes briefly flashing red. "Darkseid is in your time period?"
Only now did the two women become aware of their audience. Apart from the Kents and Kona, Diana and J'Onn had also arrived, having accompanied Kara down from the Watchtower.
"Is that really surprising?" Diana asked. "From what little we know of these New Gods, I would assume that they, much like the gods of Olympus, have very long lifespans."
"No, you do not understand," Imra said. "Darkseid and his troops emerged from a time disturbance. The largest ever recorded. And the Time Institute is certain that the corresponding disturbance, the entry point if you will, is here in your time."
J'Onn looked at the blonde woman from the future and for a moment their minds touched. J'Onn's telepathic powers were nowhere near as vast as Imra's, but this was not a competition.
"There is more to this time disturbance than you are saying," J'Onn said out loud, having sensed his fellow telepath's unease.
Imra nodded. "Time is not absolute. History can be changed. We have already observed minor time tremors in our era, and they are increasing in strength and magnitude."
Kara stared at her. "The memory you showed me… Garth, he forgot Clark."
"Just for a moment," Imra told her, "but yes. History appears to be in flux, and it seems to be centered around Superman."
Imra closed her eyes and focused her powers inward. "I currently have two different sets of memories in my head. In one of them I remember learning about Superman in school, a hero second only to his mother. In the other set, well, …"
"What happens to my son in the other, Imra?" Kara asked intently.
Imra gave her a sad look. "He is a mere footnote in history. Just... just the son of Superwoman who... who was lost when he was barely a man."
Kara closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Show me the rest, Imra!"
The blonde telepath put her hands back on Kara's temples.
Deep Space, edge of United Planets territory, one day ago (and 1,000 years in the future)
It was pure chaos. The darkness of space was filled with the glare of deadly light as ships that were as black as night vomited crimson fire. The Legion cruiser, one of the fastest, most maneuverable spacecrafts ever built by human hands, barely managed to stay ahead of the immolating flames. Dawnstar, her white wings a stark contrast to the eternal black that was her element, found herself swarmed by creatures that showed no sign of conscious thought or self-preservation instincts.
"Send a message to the United Planets," Saturn Girl ordered, holding on for dear life as the cruiser's inertial dampeners screeched in protest at yet another evasive maneuver. "We are looking at a hostile intrusion. We need the UP Navy!"
"I'm going out there, Imra," Ultra Boy announced, heading towards the air lock. "Gonna try and buy us some time!"
"Be careful, Jo," she told him.
Jo Nah, better known as Ultra Boy, was one of the most powerful members of the Legion of Superheroes. Thanks to the ultra-energy suffusing his body, he had most of the same powers as Superwoman, though with one limitation. The need to focus his energies meant that he was only capable of using one ability at a time.
Diving out into the chaos, Ultra Boy used his Legion flight ring for propulsion and focused his energies into a force field around his body, making himself nearly impossible to hurt. Accelerating, he cut off the horde of creatures pursuing Dawnstar by simply smashing through them like an invulnerable bowling ball.
"Time to retreat, Dawny," Ultra Boy told Dawnstar, who finally had a second of breathing space. "We're going to need to gather all the troops for this one."
Connected to the minds of both Dawnstar and Ultra Boy, Saturn Girl had a split-second warning as Dawnstar's enhanced senses picked up a small object hurtling towards them. But it happened too fast.
The impact of the black-armored newcomer into Ultra Boy's thankfully still invulnerable form created a shockwave that knocked Dawnstar head over heels and sent her tumbling away. Ultra Boy needed a moment to clear his head, having felt the impact even through his force field. When the spots in his vision cleared, Saturn Girl saw an image of the attacker through his eyes.
It was a huge, armored humanoid. The black armor they wore obscured all hints as to species or gender, the only visible feature was a pair of glowing red eyes behind the armored helmet's eye slits.
"Tough guy, eh?" Ultra Boy asked. "Well, you are not the only one!"
Ultra Boy refocused his energies, accelerating his body to near-Flash levels of speed. A microsecond later he was directly in front of the figure and refocused his energies once again. Throwing his right fist forward, the energies focused in his hand carried the kinetic force of a small asteroid.
His opponent rolled with the blow, most of the force dissipating harmlessly, and Ultra Boy could only watch in amazement as the black-clad warrior moved so fast that their features blurred. By pure instinct Ultra Boy refocused his energies back into his force field.
He was almost fast enough.
The return blow of the dark armored figure sent Ultra Boy careening away like a runaway meteor. Saturn Girl winced, the pain her comrade felt transmitting over their telepathic link for a heartbeat before Ultra Boy's consciousness faded. Knocked out? Out of range? Something worse? She could not tell right now.
"Dawnstar, get out of there!" she quickly ordered. "We're picking up Ultra Boy and retreating. We need the entire Legion and the UP Navy here."
A brief look at the scanners showed that there were still more ships arriving through the open hole in space.
"I just hope that will be enough," she muttered.
Smallville, Earth, the present
The memories faded and Kara came back to herself.
"The United Planets Navy and the entire Legion of Superheroes have assembled to face this intrusion," Imra told her. "But the military threat we face pales in comparison to the growing disturbance in the time stream. Which is why I took one of the Time Spheres and came back here to talk to you. We need to find out what happened your time in order to make sense of what's happening in ours."
Kara sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, trying to process everything Imra had just shown her.
"Darkseid took Clark," she simply said. "We have been trying to find him, but when we finally made it to the place where he was taken, there was nothing there. Nothing but the remnants of a great battle."
"Superman seems to be at the center of all this," Imra said, sitting down beside her. "If this Darkseid has somehow travelled forward in time, intentional or not, and taken Superman with him, it would account for the split in the time stream we seem to be experiencing. An important element of our past is currently subject to events in our presence."
"I hate time travel," Kara said.
"Something I do not understand, Imra Ardeen," J'Onn intervened. "Has this exact situation not happened before? When Karen was stranded in your future as a teenager, I mean. Did that not carry the same potential for catastrophic changes in history?"
"He is right," Kara said. "I never thought too much about it, but... were there time disturbances then, too? I mean, you always tell me my deeds are important to your future. If something had happened to me as a teenager while in your time period..."
Imra shook her head. "There were certain similarities, yes, but there was never really a danger of something happening to you, Kara. Well, not after we took care of Mordru, at least. The time disturbances died down quickly after his defeat."
"What do you mean?" Kara asked. "I went with you on missions and such for six months. I mean, I was hard to hurt even back then, but..."
Imra chuckled. "Kara, really? You think we ran the risk of taking you on missions where there was even the slightest chance of you getting hurt? The foundation of our history? Did you really think us so irresponsible?"
Kara gaped at her. "You... you coddled me? I... I thought I was part of the team."
Imra took her hand. "Of course you were, Kara. And you always will be. But we had to ensure the safety of history, surely you understand that."
Kara contemplated this for a minute, then nodded. "I do, of course. Sorry. But there will be no coddling this time, Imra. I am coming with you to the future, and I am going to get my son back from Darkseid, no matter what."
Imra nodded. "I figured as much. The Time Sphere is parked right outside."
Edge of United Planets Space, 1,000 years in the future
Kara paid no attention to the churning energies of the time stream they travelled through. She spared no more than a glance to the glory of the Time Institute where they arrived. She barely registered the short welcomes of the few Legionnaires still on Earth, nor the journey aboard one of the Legion cruisers. The only thing she cared for was confronting Darkseid and getting her son back.
When they finally arrived at their destination, though, she was forced to pay attention. Because they arrived in the middle of a warzone.
Kara was no stranger to space combat, not after the invasion of Earth by the Dominion. The Dominators' attempt to annex her adopted world, however, paled in comparison to the scale of the battle before her. Expanding her senses, she could see well over a thousand gleaming ships sporting the banner of the United Planets on their hulls. Scattered among them were half a dozen ships proudly displaying the L of the Legion of Superheroes.
Facing them, though, was an armada straight out of a nightmare. The ships were brutish, huge, and barely visible against the blackness of space until the moment they opened fire. Many of them seemed to be little more than giant weapon barrels with engines attached, spewing forth salvo after salvo of death. Tens of thousands of Parademons swarmed between the large ships, throwing their undead bodies into battle with abandon.
Kara tried to see some kind of strategy at work here, some kind of plan, but she found nothing. Nothing but sheer, brutal violence as spaceships exploded and lives were snuffed. Clearly the technology of the United Planets Navy was centuries ahead of anything Kara knew, probably better than the fleets of Imperial Krypton had been, but the sheer number and scale of the opposition made it clear that no conventional victory would be found here.
"Why is he doing this?" Kara wondered out loud. "Darkseid has teleportation technology at his disposal. He could be on Earth or any other world he chooses with one step. He can bring entire armies through those Boom Tubes of his. Why is he waging this kind of line battle in deep space?"
"Dawnstar figures she has spotted the flagship," Comic Boy reported in. "Sending the coordinates now."
Kara nodded, sharing a look with Saturn Girl. She had told them everything she knew about Darkseid, which was admittedly not that much. Still, she did know that most of his troops, his Parademons, were actually dead bodies animated and controlled by his power. Which meant that, if they managed to take out Darkseid, most of his armies would fall apart and be much easier to defeat.
"We take out the head," she told Saturn Girl.
"Ultra Boy, Wildfire, you're Kara's wingmen," Saturn Girl ordered. "Clear a path for her."
Leaving the cruiser and heading out into space, Kara quickly found herself flanked by the two Legionnaires in question. Ultra Boy aka Jo Nah she had met before. Wildfire aka Drake Burroughs was a relatively new Legionnaire, on the other hand, a sentient energy being inside a containment suit, capable of unleashing deadly blasts of energy at will.
Kara was certain that the gauntlet through the enemy lines was difficult and full of challenges, but to be honest she did not remember a second of it. Her eyes were fixed to the large ship ahead, easily dwarfing everything else in this monstrous fleet. Much like the rest of the armada that ship, too, already sported battle damage, including to what she figured was the bridge. At some point she registered that Ultra Boy and Wildfire had veered off to deal with something else, thereby giving her the chance to shoot directly towards the flagship's bridge.
Not slowing down as her invulnerable form plowed through metal and circuitry, she came to a stop before a familiar, hulking form.
"Darkseid," she hissed, her eyes filling with fire.
The dark would-be god stood on his damaged bridge, looking supremely confident and utterly unconcerned about the intruder on his ship. Everything inside Kara screamed to either lay into him at super speed or fly away as fast as she could, but she forced herself to do neither. She was here for one reason and one reason only.
"Where is he?" she growled.
"I recognize you," Darkseid said, his crimson gaze now upon her. "Tell me, mortal, did you live all these years or did the universe push you forward in time like it did me in its futile attempt to save itself from my power?"
Still fighting every instinct inside her, she met his gaze with her own.
"Return my son to me, Darkseid," she demanded, her voice firm.
The dark god chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, yes. Your spawn. You can be proud of him, Kryptonian. He showed great courage in defying me. It is the way of gods to grant boons to mortals of courage."
He motioned with his hand and a dark shape suddenly appeared at his side. Kara recognized the armored form from the memories Imra had shown her. This was the warrior that had simply knocked out Ultra Boy as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
Dread pooled in Kara's stomach as the dark warrior reached up to remove his helmet. She knew what she would see, her feelings had been screaming at her ever since she had gotten here. The helmet came loose. Black hair framed a familiar visage, but there was no warmth to be found in those blue eyes she knew so well. No smile graced his lips and no recognition dawned on his face. It was like she was merely looking at a stone sculpture.
"Clark," she whispered, her hand covering her mouth to keep herself from screaming in distress.
"Your son has fought well in the service of his god," Darkseid said, chuckling. "And he will continue to do so until I decide to release him into death."
He turned to look at Clark, whose eyes immediately snapped towards him, like a dog awaiting the words of his master.
"Kill her," Darkseid ordered.
End Chapter 96
Author's Note: So here you have it, folks. New Gods, the Legion, the return of Clark, and all-out space warfare to boot. And we're still four parts away from the big one. Lots more things will come into play by the time we reach chapter 100, and we'll tie up NEARLY all the loose ends scattered throughout this story. Not all of them, there is still some stuff to go through afterwards, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Sadly, I cannot promise that my posting speed will increase anytime soon, as life remains pretty hectic at the moment. This chapter here was actually done earlier, but I kept rearranging the order of events. Structuring a chapter that includes flashbacks, time travel, and changing points of view can be quite the hassle, I tell you.
Up next: Servant of Darkness