Chapter 100: Apokolips Now! (The Great Darkness Saga – Part 6)
Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman, Legion of Superheroes, and New Gods belong to DC. No infringement is intended.
Edge of the Sol System, 1,000 years in the future
In a time long forgotten his name had been Uxas, second-born son of Apokolips' rulers Yuga Khan and Heggra. Then he had conquered the Omega Power by sacrificing his elder brother to it, and had become the personification of death, darkness, and tyranny. His father had vanished into the Wall of the Source, he had ordered the poisoning of his own mother, and now he ruled supreme. He was Darkseid, ruler of all he surveyed. The universe was his and there was no one left to oppose him.
Well, he mused, no one actually worth dirtying his own hands with.
Standing on the bridge of his scarred flagship, his gaze swept across the forces assembled in the foolish hope of stopping him. Fools, all of them. Had he wished it, he would have been on their backwater home world with a single step, could have subdued the entire populace with a wave of his hand. But where was the fun in that? No, let them try and stop him. He was looking for some entertainment, after all.
"There is no trace of the Kryptonian, mighty Darkseid," his loyal DeSaad said, ever at his side.
"Pity," he remarked. "I was hoping she would try to defy me one more time. She was, at the very least, amusing."
Turning, he looked at the young man standing on his other side. The Superman, wearing the black armor of Apokolips, stood ready to fulfil his orders, as it should be. His eyes were empty of anything but rage and hatred and he would unleash those emotions on anyone who dared oppose his master.
"This was once your adopted home world, my servant," Darkseid said, amused. "Today you will burn it in my name."
"By your command," the Superman responded.
Looking forward again, Darkseid once again beheld the forces arrayed against him.
"It is time then," he remarked, hands crossed behind his back. "Annihilate them all!"
Before any of his servants could begin to fulfil his commands, though, the bridge of his flagship was suddenly rocked by an explosion. Searing twin beams of red light cut right through the armored hull plating and exposed the interior to the vacuum of space. Not that anyone standing on said bridge was inconvenienced by the lack of air, but still.
Darkseid looked down, seeing that the red beams had drawn a smoldering line in the floor plating directly in front of him. The symbolism amused him slightly.
"The Kryptonian," he chuckled. Looking up again, he now spotted the familiar figure floating only a few hundred meters ahead of his ship. "So, you have returned to finish this then? To seek death at the hands of your god?"
Slowly the woman came floating closer until she was almost within touching distance, her eyes still glowing a crimson red. Her power was impressive for a mortal, he knew that, but still no match for him, never mind his vast armies. Amusing, though. Very amusing.
"You are no one's god, Darkseid," she told him calmly, her voice carried to him through the vacuum of space through the crutch of technology. Being a god, he needed no such aid to make himself heard.
"I will be," he replied, casually stepping over the scorched line she had drawn. "Soon everyone in this pitiful universe will bow and chant my name."
"Not while I still draw breath!"
Darkseid laughed, throwing back his head in elation. "Oh, you amuse me, Kryptonian. So righteous, so powerful. Had you seen sense early on, you might have found a place in my pantheon. As things stand, though, you will die here today. Fittingly, at the hand of your own spawn."
The black armored figure beside him stepped forward, eagerly awaiting his command to explode into action.
"No more, Darkseid," the Kryptonian merely whispered, never taking her eyes off him. "It ends here, today!"
"Oh, it will," he assured her, laughing.
He raised his hand, intending to signal his champion to move forward. Before he could finish the movement, though, another pair of red beams struck out of nowhere, this time hitting him squarely in the arm. His armor held, though it sizzled, but the heat was immense and actually caused him a brief feeling of discomfort.
"Who dares?" he growled, his senses easily sweeping the space before him.
A second shape appeared against the black background of space. It appeared to be a younger version of the Kryptonian woman before him. Yes, he remembered. As he had torn the mind from his Superman, there had been images of a younger sibling. Her eyes, too, glowed red as she came to stand beside his foe.
"Finally got the laser eye thing working," the smaller Kryptonian said, the words having no meaning to him. "And just in time."
Darkseid looked back and forth between the two females opposing him. He was uncertain whether to be amused or enraged.
"So there is two of you?" Darkseid growled, finally settling on anger. "It does not matter! Not even a hundred of you would make any difference."
Incredibly, though, the Kryptonian before him began to smile.
"Yeah, that is what we thought, too."
BOOM!
The fabric of space was ripped open, and a golden portal appeared. Darkseid merely raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. So that was where the Mother Box that had been stolen from his hand had ended up. He should probably have known, had he cared to think on it.
Shapes appeared in the golden light, emerging one by one. Darkseid's gaze took them all in, recognizing only a few of them. The Martian and the warrior woman had tried to oppose him back on Earth, one thousand years ago. Several others belonged to this era's protectors; a team called the Legion. Several others he did not know, nor did he care to. They were inconsequential.
"I see you have convinced your allies to march willingly to their deaths," Darkseid chuckled. "Do you really think they will be enough to defeat my armies? Or me?"
The Kryptonian did not reply. Instead her smile grew fiercer. And more shapes appeared from the Boom Tube.
At first there were only a few of them, but then there were more. And still more. Hundreds, thousands of them, spewing forth from the Tube in ever-growing number. Humanoid shapes, all of them, flying through the vacuum of space without any visible protection. Males and females, young and old, dressed in a plethora of different clothes. There really was just one unifying feature among the thousands upon thousands of them.
All of them had glowing red eyes.
For the first time since he had awoken in this era, Darkseid felt something very much like excitement.
"It is over, Darkseid," the Kryptonian growled, her smile vanishing as she bared her teeth in rage. "Today your reign ends!"
Her own eyes burning like miniature suns, she thrust her fist into the sky.
"FOR RAO! FOR KRYPTON!" she screamed.
And thousands upon thousands of red eyes lit up and the battle began.
Kara knew that they needed to even the odds as quickly as possible if they were to have any chance at all. So for the first strike, she went for complete shock and awe.
497,563 citizens of Kandor that had come into the 30th century. Quite a few were either too young or too old to join any sort of battle, superpowers or no superpowers. Also, some needed to stay behind, just in case this all turned into a complete disaster. Kara had just saved the Kryptonian race from extinction, she would not lead them right back into it. And then there had been the other limitation they had run into, the one that sadly meant that, of the more than 200,000 volunteers, less than 50,000 could actually join the battle. So here they stood, an army of 49,733 individuals, each of them with powers rivaling her own.
She just hoped that it was enough.
Utilizing their heat vision, the Kryptonians struck Darkseid's fleet without mercy. Countless beams of red energy sliced through the approaching ships, vaporized thousands of tons of armored hull plating, and utterly destroyed several hundred ships wholesale, while leaving twice that number damaged and drifting. Kara wondered whether any first salvo in the history of space warfare had ever done so much damage before. Any other fleet commander would have immediately called for a retreat, probably weeping in the process.
Darkseid clearly did not care.
His troops moved forward, weathering the rain of light coming toward them. The Parademons paid no attention to any wounds they suffered, cared not about their comrades struck down beside them, they just kept moving. The dark ships began to open fire as well, spewing forth death and destruction of their own towards the enemy lines.
"Evasive maneuvers," Kara shouted into her com. She had yet to be hit with the weapons mounted on Apokoliptian ships, but given the level of technology at their disposal, she would not take the chance. Their best weapon in this fight was their blinding speed and they would make best use of it.
Thousands of Kryptonians turned into blurs and moved apart, speeding towards the enemy ships in small groups. During the far too short weeks of training, Kara and the others had emphasized small unit tactics. At full power each Kryptonian easily equaled a battleship, but there was not enough time to practice complex maneuvers. They had had barely enough time to get all her people at least marginally competent in handling their powers.
From the corner of her eyes Kara saw that the United Planets Navy was joining the battle as well, just like the Legion and her teammates from the 20th century. The Navy focused their attacks on those ships already damaged, making sure that they stayed out of the fight, leaving the heavy fighting to the endless swarm of superbeings. Kara knew that Saturn Girl had only informed the United Planets that reinforcements were coming, nothing beyond that. They had not wanted to run the risk of Darkseid being ready for them.
A dozen of her people strafed one of the larger warships ahead of them and the behemoth broke apart in the glare of two dozen eyes. Behind her, Wildfire was unleashing his antimatter energies in order to vaporize another vessel. Star Boy used his gravity powers and caused two ships to smash together. Ultra Boy was using his invulnerable form as a missile, smashing through ship after ship as quickly as he could. To her left, a small group of younger Kryptonians were duplicating his tactic, smashing through smaller ships from Darkseid's fleets and having a great time doing it. Her enhanced vision showed her the smiles on their faces, the sheer joy of exercising these enormous powers.
A moment later, though, the realities of war caught up with them.
"Change course," Kara tried to warn them, but it was too late.
Not paying proper attention, the group of five had flown directly between three large warships, all of them with their weapons fully charged. Kara could only watch helplessly as they were caught in a deadly crossfire as hellish flames spewed forth from the dark vessels. For a few moments their near invulnerability held up, just long enough for their expressions to change from joy to pure horror. Then the force fields around their bodies failed under the onslaught of godly weapons.
Screaming in rage, Kara increased her speed.
Kona let loose with another blast of heat vision, reveling in the use of this new power, however temporary it might turn out to be, but did not lose sight of the larger situation. Ship after ship of Darkseid's fleet was blasted apart by the unprecedented fire power of nearly 50,000 Kryptonians at full power, but there were always more of them pouring in.
Swinging around and taking out another ship, Kona's gaze travelled to the beast's head. Darkseid was still standing on the bridge of his flagship, now open to empty space, his hands once again crossed behind his back and looking like he was watching a weather report instead of an intense space battle. And standing beside him was Clark, still wearing that awful black armor, and not moving an inch from his master's side.
"I have eyes on Darkseid," Kona spoke into her com. "He and Clark are doing the observer thing for now."
"That will not last," Kara replied, her voice brimming with tension. "Keep an eye on them, Kona! The moment they move, we need to move, too!"
"How are things on the sunny side?" Saturn Girl asked. "Everything set up, Dirk?"
Dirk Morgna, better known as Sun Boy, sounded rather annoyed. "I've been ready for over an hour now. Just tell me when!"
"Watch your power levels, everyone," Kara reminded the Kandorians. "Staggered disengagement for recharge, remember!"
Despite being fully powered now, the citizens of Kandor had not had the chance to soak up solar radiation for long. Her mom and her, as well as Clark, had ample reserves to fall back on, having lived under a yellow star for years, but the Kandorians were not so lucky.
Kona remembered her mom's tales of the times she had been charged up by two different sun gods, Apollo and Lightray. Sadly they did not have any sun gods on their side today. Thankfully, though, they had the next best thing.
Dirk Morgna, the Legionnaire called Sun Boy, would have liked nothing better than to join his team in the battle against the invaders from Apokolips, but he was well aware that he had a far more important task. Ever since Dr. Regulus had tried to murder him as a young boy by throwing him into a nuclear reactor, Dirk had had the ability to generate, absorb, and redirect solar energy. Today, with an army of solar-powered super-people being Earth's last hope, that power was more important than ever before.
"First wave will come in for a recharge in two minutes," Dream Girl informed him, manning the controls of the contraption Brainiac 5 had built in close orbit around the sun. "Time to charge up, Dirk!"
"Okay, Dreamy. Hit me!"
While Dirk was not an idiot when it came to science, he was nowhere near the level of Brainiac 5. So while he understood the basic principle of the machine he was hooked up to, he had no idea how it worked. He did not need to, of course. All he had to do today was what he did best.
The machine around him became active, creating a short-lived energy funnel between the surface of the sun and itself. Intense solar radiation flowed upwards and hit the focusing lens of the machine. Said lens being a young man by name of Dirk Morgna. As his body was flooded with sunlight, Dirk saw the first group of energy deprived Kandorians shoot towards him. Thanks to the Mother Box Supergirl had acquired, they simply flew through a Boom Tube, allowing them to bridge the distance between the ongoing battle and the sun in a single second.
"Okay, boys and girls," Dirk said, grinning. "Time for a recharge!"
He let loose with his power and saw the broad grins on the Kandorians' faces as his power gave them a near-instant boost.
J'Onn J'Onnz, better known as the Martian Manhunter, had lived a long life, and seen many things, but this was something new even for him. The battle raging around them was so vast, so all-encompassing, that it was almost impossible to know what was going on. Ships were being destroyed, near-invulnerable super beings blurred this way and that, and the casualties on both sides mounted with devastating speed.
Moving through the carnage like a ghost, he briefly intercepted an armored Apokoliptian warrior that tried to jump on the back of a Kandorian. It was one of the Furies, J'Onn realized, though the armored woman looked decidedly dead. He had no idea whether her blades would be able to penetrate a Kryptonian's invulnerability, but seeing as Steppenwolf's axe had once cut Kara, he was not prepared to take the risk. Speeding forward, he smashed the undead warrior aside before she could reach her prey.
"Solar system sensor net just sent up a warning signal," Brainiac 5's voice came over the com channel. "There appears to be activity on the far side of Mars. Energy signatures match those of the enemy ships."
Darkseid's troops on his home planet? For a moment J'Onn was lost in a déjà vu, remembering the time flash he had experienced during his first visit to Kandor. He had seen hordes of Parademons invade Mars through a Boom Tube, carrying heavy machinery with them. Was this the moment he had seen?
"Kara, I will need some of your people," he called in. "I fear Darkseid may be trying to outflank us via Mars."
"Go, J'Onn! Take teams K2117 through K2120 with you!"
Given the lack of time, they had organized the Kandorians into teams of five and simply numbered them. The designated teams, comprised of twenty Kandorians total, quickly formed up around J'Onn. A telepathic pulse sent to Saturn Girl and his fellow telepath, in charge of operating their captured Mother Box, quickly opened a Boom Tube for them. They were in orbit above Mars an instant later.
Sweeping down, J'Onn took but a moment to observe the changes that had occurred on his home world in the last 1,000 years. There were cities once again, their architecture appearing a mixture between that of the ancient Martians and the humans of Earth. Clearly someone had tried to keep some part of the Martian heritage alive. Was that his own work, maybe? Had he lived long enough to see Mars filled with life once again? Well, it did not matter right now.
Large parts of the planet were still in its natural state, wide red plains, crimson sand glistening in the light of the sun. As they soared over the emptiness, J'Onn quickly spied a familiar mountain range. This was the place he had seen once before. For a moment his mind wandered. A strange yet familiar consciousness appeared in his mind, and he realized what was about to happen.
BOOM!
The opening of the Boom Tube shook the entire landscape. J'Onn saw the tunnel of light appearing in the sky and a moment later a large group of Parademons emerged, carrying strange-looking machinery with them.
"An invasion force," he heard himself mutter, watching as the aliens set down on the surface of his world and began setting up equipment. The words were spoken across time, he realized, even as he felt the presence of a separate consciousness fade from his mind again. The younger J'Onn J'Onnz' mind returned to Kandor in the 20th century, leaving him back in charge of his own body.
"This is J'Onn reporting in from Mars," he spoke over his com, his voice lacking its usual calm. "There are Parademons on Mars, setting up some sort of equipment. We will engage but could probably do with more reinforcements!"
J'Onn was angry. This was his world. His people might be gone, but the red sands were still his to protect. He would not allow Darkseid to spoil this planet. Shouting an ancient Martian war cry, the last of the Martian Manhunters exploded into action.
For the last few minutes Darkseid had merely observed the battle. And what a battle it turned out to be, he mused. Far more interesting than he had ever anticipated. The golden-haired Kryptonian had brought her own people back from extinction, had empowered them, all just to face him and seek vengeance for the taking of her son.
Darkseid could well appreciate such fury and dedication. What a fine goddess this one would have made, had she only seen sense.
As things stood, though, she was a mere mortal. They all were, no matter how impressive their powers. His ships might be demolished, his troops might be torn apart, but all of that was a mere inconvenience. He was the Omega of existence and death would release his troops back into his service the moment he demanded it.
"I have analyzed the powers of the Kryptonians, my lord," his loyal DeSaad said. "The results are... most interesting."
"Speak, my servant," Darkseid commanded.
"As my studies of your Superman have shown, the Kryptonians gain their great powers by way of absorbing solar energy. This ability is rooted in their genetic code, a mutation caused by unknown circumstances."
"I know all this, DeSaad. You bore me!"
"Mighty Darkseid, several of the attacking Kryptonians have already been killed and are being harvested to become Parademons as we speak. Yet my analysis of their bodies shows no trace of the specific mutation that gives them their powers."
Now this was an interesting fact. The Kryptonians clearly displayed the same superior abilities as his Superman and the one called Kara-El, yet they lacked the genetic foundation for it? He cast his gaze out into space, expanded his mind. The hearts and minds of mortals were mere playthings to him. His eyes focused on one singular Kryptonian who was ripping apart one of his ships close by. The mortal paused, feeling the eyes of Darkseid upon him.
"Show me," Darkseid muttered. "Your god commands it!"
To his credit, the mortal resisted for several seconds. The light of the sun that surged through his body pushed back against the darkness. In the end, though, he was too weak. They all were. His mind opened up to Darkseid and even as his sanity snapped, Darkseid saw the truth.
Discarding the brain-dead Kryptonian without another thought, Darkseid turned to DeSaad. "You were correct, my servant. It seems our dearest Kara-El is trying to trick us. The empowerment of her people is not permanent. It is mere shadow play."
Focusing on yet another group of Kryptonians flying close by, Darkseid unleashed his Omega Beams. He could easily have vaporized all five of them, but that was not his intent right now. Instead, his beams unerringly found their true targets: the bracelets worn by all five of them.
As the Omega Beams vaporized the bracelets, Darkseid could see the panic on the faces of the five Kryptonians. Just a few seconds later, he could see the light and power fading from their bodies.
"Excellent," Darkseid laughed, not even bothered as several other Kryptonians appeared and quickly brought his five test subjects to safety. Instead he turned to the Superman by his side. "Go forth, my servant. These are your people, after all. Kill them all!"
The Superman nodded, then sped forward.
Planet Sanctuary, 1,000 years in the future, 39 days ago
Maj-Ar regarded the silver bracelet on his right arm with a critical eye.
"This thing will give us the same superpowers you have?" he asked, skeptical.
"Not quite," Kara-El told him. "This will make sure that you keep them, at least as long as it is powered up. It is a genetic stabilizer. We created it for Sandy, so her Kryptonian form would not fluctuate all the time. With the help of the Mother Box, we have managed to adapt it."
Maj-Ar nodded, despite not really having understood much of that.
"So once I turn this thing on, I will have superpowers while the energy charge lasts?"
Kara-El nodded. "Roughly. Sandy will apply the initial transmutation, which will rewrite your DNA and give you the additional DNA strands that are the source of our powers. The stabilizer will make sure that the change does not immediately fade again. It is powered by solar energy, same as our powers."
Maj-Ar nodded again. He had understood the relevant points.
"Okay, then. Let's see if this thing works!"
Edge of the Sol System, 1,000 years in the future
"Darkseid is on to us," Maj-Ar called in, having seen five of his fellow citizens have their bracelets vaporized. Within seconds the transmutation that had given them the same mutation carried by Kara-El had faded, reverting them to ordinary Kryptonians. Thankfully, they had planned for such an occasion, and one of their designated search and rescue teams had immediately whisked them to safety.
"Damn it, I had hoped that would take longer," Kara-El replied over the com. "How are we on Darkseid's fleet?"
"Hard to say, there are still ships incoming," Saturn Girl reported. "Brainy estimates that over 2,000 ships have already been destroyed or disabled, but there seems to be no end to them."
"More bad news," Kona's young voice was in his ear. "Clark is on the move! Looks like Darky just gave him his marching orders."
"Okay, Kona! You are up! Follow the plan!"
Seeing as he was part of the plan, Maj-Ar followed the young daughter of Kara-El, praying to Rao that he would live past this day.
Within seconds Superman made an impact on the battlefield. While the Kandorians were too fast for just about anyone else to try and catch them, Superman was on another level. He did not need a machine to keep his powers and his cells had soaked up solar energy for nearly two decades. Within seconds he had ripped the power bracelets off the arms of over a dozen of his fellow Kryptonians, leaving them behind to die in space or be rescued, he cared not. Changing course, he casually disabled two United Planets Navy vessels with his heat vision, leaving them helpless as hordes of Parademons descended on them.
Before he could do more, though, a small shape suddenly slammed into him with the force of a cruise missile.
"Fancy meeting you here, big brother," Kona chirped, even as she drove the two of them straight through the superstructure of an Apokoliptian dreadnought. "Time for some sibling rivalry!"
The ship broke apart around them without either of them really noticing it. Superman tore out of her grip and swung his fist, but the smaller Kryptonian evaded his blow. Her return blow, however, hit him right in the belly and caused him to double over. Her tactile telekinesis made her blows all the more painful.
"We're going to bring you back, Clark," Kona screamed into his ear, loud enough to hurt. "Whether you like it or not! And then I'll make fun of you for once again being knocked out by your little sister!"
Swinging wildly, his arm clipped her body and set her flying away. As he turned, intending to blast her with his heat vision, there were suddenly several other shapes around him.
"Immobilize him," one of the Kryptonians said. There were five of them. Four of them grabbed one of his limbs each, while the fifth one was behind him and wrapped his arms and legs around his torso.
Superman strained, but while he was far stronger than any of them, he was not stronger than all five of them combined. He tried to turn his head, intending to blast the Kryptonians clinging to him with his heat vision.
Then Kona was back, slamming into him with incredible force.
"Disappointing," Darkseid muttered, watching as his Superman failed to quickly overcome the ones attacking him. "I expected better of him. Well, no matter."
With a mere thought Darkseid opened a Boom Tube and stepped through, arriving on the surface of the planet called Mars. Before him a battle took place, as hordes of his Parademons were in combat against a small group of Kryptonians, led by a Martian. He paid it no heed. His servants would fight, die, and rise again, it did not matter.
"Is the machinery ready?" he asked, not bothering to address anyone in particular. His question would be answered or there would be hell to pay.
"The setup was delayed by the attackers, might Darkseid," one of the Parademons reported. "But we are ready now. We can activate on your command."
"Activate then," Darkseid commanded. "It is time!"
The Parademon did as he was bid and the machine they had assembled came alive. Darkseid focused, channeling the full power of the Omega Beams into the machine, asserting his will over time and space itself. Millions of light years and a shift of dimensions away was his home world, Apokolips. It remained in the God Sphere, now without its sister planet New Genesis to balance its orbit around the sun. That was but a minor inconvenience, though. Apokolips would be revived. All that was needed was something to reignite its Fire Pits, something that would burn. Something like a living world. Or several.
The Omega Beams burst forth from the machine and tore the fabric of space and dimensions to shreds. A huge tear opened in the middle of the solar system, far larger than any Boom Tube ever created.
"Come to me, my starved world," Darkseid commanded. "I have found new sustenance for you!"
"Kona and her team have Superman under control for now," Saturn Girl called in. "They have yet to subdue him, but he is not ripping anyone else apart for now, at least. But the Parademons have figured out the source of the Kandorians' powers, meaning they have to operate much more carefully now."
Kara nodded. Once again she cursed the limitations they were operating under. She had hoped for nearly half a million super-powered Kryptonians. Instead she had not even 50,000, their powers but temporary. Building the power bracelets in large numbers had not been the problem, the limiting factor had been Sandy. The girl made from sand could only rewrite the DNA of so many Kryptonians before she needed time to recover and keep her own form from falling apart. That she had managed to do it so many times in just a few short weeks had been nothing short of amazing, but it still left them with far fewer warriors than she had hoped to have.
"We have lost visual on Darkseid," one of the Kandorians reported. "He is no longer on the bridge of his flagship."
"Keep up the pressure on those ships," Kara ordered. "I will try and find Darkseid."
Ships exploded around her, even as Kara's vision swept far and wide. She caught a brief image of her children fighting against each other and her heart broke. She had to fight every instinct in her body to keep herself from going to Kona's aid, but her daughter had her job, just as she had hers.
"Kara, come in," J'Onn's voice crackled in her earpiece. "Darkseid just appeared on Mars. They're activating some kind of machinery."
"Imra, open a Boom Tube for me," Kara yelled, changing her heading amidst another torrent of heat vision beams.
"On it!"
A heartbeat later Kara found herself in orbit over Mars, just in time to see a spectacle like no other. A gaping wound had been rent into the fabric of space and something dark and monstrous was making its way through.
"Kara, do you see that?" Imra's voice was in her ear, awe and terror clearly audible.
"I see it. Not sure I believe it."
Kara had heard of the planet Apokolips, of course, but she had never seen it before. Her imagination fell short of the real thing. Darkseid's home was a stain upon the face of the universe, a dark, disfigured shell of a planet. Wherever her eyes fell, there was nothing but decay. Not a single piece of plant life to be found, no bodies of water, nothing. Just endless plains of industrial wasteland, large pits that seemed to go all the way to the planet's core, and no trace of life to be seen. And even as she watched, more hordes of undead Parademons rose from the surface.
Surrounded by dark tendrils of energy, the planet shifted through the tear in space and entered the Sol System.
Kara's thoughts went a mile a minute. She had once managed to knock a planet-sized weapon out of its orbit and into a collision with a dwarf star. Could she do it again? Knock this dark, decayed thing back where it came from? She had lots of help today, so it should be possible, should it not?
"We need to move fast," she ordered. "All even-numbered K-teams, converge on my position and..."
There was a thunderous flash of light and the tear in space closed behind the dark planet, barring the way back. Apokolips was now fully in the Sol System.
"Never mind," Kara cursed, accelerating towards the surface of Mars. "Stand ready! Brainy, we will need you on Mars. Whatever machine Darkseid used to teleport his entire world here, we need you to reverse it!"
"On my way!"
Wally West, aka the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, was feeling somewhat helpless right now. He was not a fan of space battles. Come to think of it, he was not a fan of space, period. Just lots of emptiness, nothing to run on, making his powers all but useless. So here he was, all the way in the 30th century, part of the Justice League, honorary member of the Legion of Superheroes, and relegated to support duty. A voice in his head reminded him that he had already done his part, as his abilities had been instrumental in bringing Kandor into the 30th century, but that did not change his current feeling of uselessness.
"We have Parademons on Mars," J'Onn's voice came over the com. "And Darkseid is here as well. We need reinforcements!"
"Opening a Boom Tube from Legion HQ," Saturn Girl announced. "All remaining Legionnaires and reservists, prepare for transport to Mars!"
Well, that included him, he guessed, so with a burst of super speed he was in place and when the Boom Tube opened, he was through before the others even started to move. His feet touched the surface of Mars (and how cool was that? Mars!) and he was in the midst of battle before he could even blink.
Flash was moving as fast as he could without reaching escape velocity, taking out Parademons left and right, but there seemed to be an endless number of the damn things. Armored female warriors, the Furies, were also present and Flash's eyes widened as he saw one of them skewer a Kandorian with her spear. God above, he was just a boy from Keystone City. What was he doing here in the middle of a war?
There was some sort of huge machine directly ahead of him and the big man himself, Darkseid, was standing in front of it.
Flash had seen the footage of how this guy's eye beams had reduced Clark, his best friend, to so much dust. For endless weeks he had believed Clark dead, killed by this bastard, only to learn that the truth was possibly even worse. Clark was alive but had been turned into some kind of murderous monster. All because of this guy. Forgetting his doubts and snarling in rage, Flash accelerated and sped directly towards Darkseid, fully prepared to rip off his head at super speed.
The same aura that protected him from friction at high speed was all that saved him when he simply bounced off the hulking figure, his opponent not even flinching. Tumbling end over end, he found himself in a red sand dune half a mile away, his head ringing like crazy.
Even as space above Mars was split asunder and a new planet suddenly appeared in the sky, Darkseid's head swiveled towards him, eyes blazing red.
Flash saw that Darkseid's lips were moving, probably to call him a fool or a gnat or something like that, but he was already moving faster than sound. Red beams exploded from Darkseid's eyes, angling towards him, and Flash knew that if they hit him, he was dead or worse. So he ran, trying to outdistance those destructive beams. The sand turned to glass underneath him from the speed, lightning arced around his body and roared in his veins, and he was halfway around the planet before he dared to send a look back.
The beams were directly behind him, slowly getting closer.
Dread pooled in his stomach, but he kept running. He changed direction, but so did the beams. He made sharp turns, but so did the beams. There seemed to be no way to lose them, they followed him like heatseeking missiles. Well, if they really wanted to follow him so bad, maybe he should just lead them somewhere useful.
Turning towards his new target, Flash looked up again. The tear in the sky where the planet had emerged was closing, appearing to do so in slow motion, given his speed. As he looked on, he saw something strange. There was another shape hanging in the sky, indistinct, little more than a shadow, but he saw it. Something huge, hovering just out of reach, a second removed from reality. For some reason he had a feeling that it was something really important.
As he approached his destination, he had to refocus, his eyes now firmly on his target. The hulking shape of Darkseid appeared in front of him, his head only now turning back from where Flash had been several seconds ago when he had started his run. Running directly toward him, Flash waited until the very last moment before he banked sharply to the right and back to the left.
Which left Darkseid standing directly between him and his own Omega Beams.
Flash was half a mile away before he skidded to a stop, just in time to see the beams hit Darkseid in the back. A scream of pain threatened to split his head apart and the ground shook. Darkseid actually stumbled, almost going down on one knee. Unfortunately that seemed to be the extent of it.
Darkseid looked up, now looking very, very pissed.
"Presumptuous mortals," Darkseid thundered. "You DARE?"
Flash gulped but made ready to run again. Maybe he could sucker the guy into shooting eye beams at him again? While he was still pondering that idea, though, the ground under his feet suddenly turned into quicksand. Finding no traction at all, Flash quickly found himself sinking.
"Try running now," Darkseid growled, his eyes lighting up again.
Before he could shoot them off, though, a fiery object crashed down from the sky and hit him with the force of a falling meteor.
"The presence of this new planet is disrupting the gravitational balance of the system," Brainiac 5 reported in. "We must remove it, or Earth is doomed!"
"Are you on Mars, Brainy?" Kara asked, swooping over the surface of Apokolips to look for more threats. Well, more threats than the mere existence of this planet in the same system as Earth and the hordes of Parademons rising from its surface.
"Yes, but there is too much fighting still going on. Plus Darkseid himself. I cannot reach the machine."
"It all comes down to Darkseid," Kara growled, even as she vaporized several Parademons with her heat vision. "We can annihilate his troops all day long and we will still lose as he makes them rise again. I need to take him down."
Thinking for a long moment, Kara opened a com channel again. "Imra, open up a Boom Tube to Dirk. I will need a serious boost for this!"
A few seconds later she was in orbit over the sun, approaching the machine Brainy had built to repower the Kandorians. Groups of them were passing through in increasing frequency, the space battle at the edge of the system still going full swing.
"Sun Boy, I will need everything you have got," Kara informed him, speeding closer. "I am going after Darkseid!"
"Oh boy," Sun Boy muttered. "You sure about that, sunflower?"
A smile appeared on her lips despite the seriousness of the situation, as the nickname brought back memories from a simpler, happier time. "I thought we agreed that you would never call me that again, Dirk!"
"Sorry, must be the stress. Okay, here goes!"
A beam of concentrated sunlight shot out from Sun Boy, hitting Kara squarely in the chest. Her cells greedily drank up the energy, her pupils dilated, and the universe seemed to expand and grow brighter around her. It was not on the same level as when Apollo or Lightray had given her a boost, but she still felt more powerful than she had felt in a long time.
"Boom Tube, Imra," she ordered through clenched teeth, a nimbus of energy surrounding her body. "Take me to Darkseid!"
A mere thought carried her through the Boom Tube and into Mars' atmosphere. Her vision powers easily spotted her prey. Her fury, already at a boiling point, reached new heights when she saw that Darkseid was about to kill the Flash.
Screaming, she accelerated further and crashed into Darkseid with enough force to tear a huge crater into the ground. Parademons, Furies, and Legionnaires alike lost their footing as the earth shook. Kara paid no attention to any of it. She finally had her hands on the enemy, the one who was at fault for all this. The monster who had taken her son. Her eyes blazing, she rained down super-sonic punches onto the monster's face.
Darkseid was clearly stunned by the impact but needed mere moments to recover. An almost casual backhand sent her flying out of the crater she had made, her head ringing from the impact. She did not care, though. Even as Darkseid emerged from the crater as well, she hit him with her heat vision at full force. Any other being would have been reduced to a mere shadow on the ground.
Darkseid shrugged it off. Parts of his armor were damaged and there was the slightest trickle of black blood at the corner of his mouth, but that was the extent of it.
"Foolish creature," he growled. "Do you really believe you can..."
Not in the mood to listen to villainous monologues, Kara accelerated to super speed again and kicked Darkseid in the throat with enough force to break a moon in half. The dark god took a step back, whatever he had been about to say lost as he briefly chocked. She turned around, kicking him in the backs of his knees, looking to get him down. He stumbled but did not fall.
A dark wave of energy erupted from his hands and sought to envelop her, cut her off from the sunlight that gave her strength. It seemed to be similar to the dark field Steppenwolf had used against her and Kara had no desire to be stuck inside one again. Blurring forward, she rammed her shoulder directly into Darkseid's sternum and lifted him off his feet. Angling upwards, she propelled them both up into the sky.
Halfway to orbit Darkseid struck back, ramming his elbow down into the back of her head. Kara lost her grip on him, tumbling away as her vision greyed for a moment. Darkseid rightened himself, simply standing on empty air, and red energy beams exploded from his eyes.
The world froze around her as Kara pushed her super speed even further. The beams still moved towards her, but slowly. She moved to the side, evading them, and sped towards Darkseid again. Aware that the beams would follow her, she quickly flew behind Darkseid's hulking form and struck him into the back with all her strength. Darkseid flew forward and into the path of his own deadliest attack for the second time in just a few minutes.
The dark god screamed, but was neither vaporized, nor visibly damaged. He turned around, his own movements somehow becoming faster, and as his eyes fixed on her, Kara felt him trying to crush her mind with his. She tried to look away from him but could not.
"Surrender, mortal," the dark voice rang through her brain. Kara grabbed her head, screaming in pain as blook trickled from her nose. "You cannot beat a god!"
Just as she thought her head would split apart, there were suddenly two more presences in her mind. Imra and J'Onn, she realized. Both of them were coming to her aid, helping her prevail against this dark presence.
"Maybe I cannot beat you alone, Darkseid," Kara growled, pushing against the darkness threatening to drown her mind, "but I certainly can with just a little help from my friends!"
The moment she regained the tiniest bit of clarity, Kara immediately unleashed another blast of heat vision. The red beams struck Darkseid directly in his face. As he grunted, the pressure in her head finally let up.
Blurring forward, Kara struck him once more, sending him careening upwards again. She was on him before he could recover, hitting him again and again from different sides, never letting up for a second. At the edge of her awareness she noticed that swarms of Parademons were lifting up from the surfaces of Mars and Apokolips, trying to come to the aid of their master. They were intercepted, though, by dozens of Legionnaires and hundreds of her fellow Kryptonians, who struck them down.
"Your troops are dying, Darkseid," she screamed between punches. "No one comes to help you! You are all alone!"
They escaped from the clutches of Mars' gravity and Kara steered them towards the decaying planet Darkseid had brought into Earth's system. If there was to be wide-spread collateral damage, Kara figured, it should be on the villain's territory.
At some point between the two planets, though, Darkseid caught her fist in his giant hand.
"I do not need anyone," he growled. "I AM DARKSEID!"
Finally breaking free from the quicksand, Flash was back on his feet and searching the skies for Superwoman and Darkseid. While he was thankful that Earth's greatest heroine had come to save his skin, he was a bit miffed that the battle seemed to take place in the sky once again. How hard was it to keep one's feet on the ground?
Shaking his head, he suddenly remembered the phantom shape he had seen hovering close to the planet Apokolips during his high-speed run to escape the Omega Beams. What had that been? He could not shake the feeling that it was something very important. Figuring he thought better on his feet, Flash started running again.
Hitting a certain speed, he spotted the shape once again. It was huge, probably the size of a moon or something, and it seemed to be slightly out of phase with the rest of the universe. Flash remembered how they had visited that parallel world, Clark and he, and how it had involved adjusting his internal vibrations to match a different dimension's frequency. As he kept running, he started vibrating at ever-increasing speeds, trying to match whatever dimensional phase that giant thing was in.
When he finally hit the correct frequency, what had so far been an indistinct, shadowy shape suddenly snapped into sharp focus. Flash's eyes widened.
Unable to evade, Kara took the full force of Darkseid's blow and could feel bones break inside her body. Her hand was still caught in his giant fist, and he increased the pressure, to the point where she heard her fingers break. Refusing to scream in pain, Kara unleashed another burst of heat vision at point blank range directly into Darkseid's eyes.
The grip around her hand loosened and Kara thrust both of her feet into Darkseid's chest, kicking off in order to gain a bit of distance. Darkseid had barely managed to connect so far, but her body was hurting as if she had gone ten rounds with Mongul.
Thankfully she was not alone. As she and Darkseid separated, hundreds of red energy beams converged on the dark god. The sun was nearly blotted out as thousands of her fellow Kryptonians arrived, attacking with everything they had. Darkseid found himself at the center of a small supernova as thousands of eyes glared at him in anger.
"We need to keep up the pressure," Kara told the others, tasting blood in her mouth. "If he manages to..."
She never got to finish the sentence as dark energy exploded outwards from Darkseid, accompanied by an angry scream.
"ENOUGH!"
Dark tendrils of power branched out like a spider web and thousands of Kandorians suddenly found their power bracelets shortening out. Thousands more were simply swept away by the shockwave of power that Darkseid unleashed, helpless like leaves on the wind.
Before she could regain control of her flight again, Kara suddenly found herself falling into the maw of a Boom Tube. A second later she crashed into something hard, blacking out for a second. She was on Apokolips, she realized a moment later. The Boom Tube had delivered her to the surface of the decayed world.
"Your hubris is astounding, Kryptonian," Darkseid's voice hammered into her mind. "You actually believe that you can challenge your god!"
Trying to get up, Kara found herself grabbed by a hand large enough to easily engulf her entire head.
"For that you will experience PAIN!"
Kara had experienced the Agony Matrix of Apokolips once before, but the memory paled in comparison with the real thing. Every nerve ending in her body screamed in pain, every conscious thought was eradicated. Time lost all meaning as existence was reduced to an eternal now of torment.
"Scream, Kryptonian," Darkseid chuckled. "Scream for your god!"
The torture seemed endless before Darkseid finally released her. Kara slumped to the ground, barely conscious, her body shivering from misfiring nerves.
"Darkseid's commands will always be carried out," Darkseid said. "To me, my Superman!"
Another Boom Tube opened beside him and Superman came tumbling through. He was visibly bruised, his dark armor damaged, but he immediately rose and stood at his master's side.
"I believe I ordered you to kill your people, my Superman. Start with your mother!"
Superman merely nodded and moved towards her.
"Clark, please," Kara muttered, desperately trying to find the strength to move. "Fight him, Clark!"
There was no indication that he heard her; he simply came towards her with murder in his cold eyes. Even as he reached for her, though, another Boom Tube opened, and a small shape came shooting out.
"Hey, I was not done beating on you!" Kona yelled, slamming into Clark. The two figures tumbled end over end and crashed into a building, Kona ending up on top. Rearing back, she slammed both her tiny fists into Superman's chest, the impact strong enough to create a shockwave that flattened everything in a 100-meter radius. Superman shrugged it off, though, and started fighting back. Kara had a moment to see that her daughter had lost her power bracelet, so no more heat vision for her today, but she was still holding her own.
"Your daughter is as persistent as you are, it seems," Darkseid said, looking unbothered by the beating his champion was taking. "No matter. Even if she kills him, your son is mine now and forever. He will simply rise again and still do my bidding."
Turning his eyes to her, he smiled. "I have not killed anyone with my own hands in eons, Kryptonian. But I believe I shall make an exception for you."
"Not today, Darkseid!" a new voice rang out.
Darkseid stopped in mid-step, his eyes widening.
"No! This cannot be!"
Managing to get her shaking arms underneath her body, Kara rose to a sitting position and looked up. Something had appeared in the sky over Apokolips. Something huge. It was far too large to be called a spaceship, it looked to be the size of a continent. Where had that thing come from?
"NO!"Darkseid thundered. "You are GONE! You are DEAD!"
Three bright shapes appeared above them, two of which Kara recognized.
"Orion?" she muttered. "Lightray?"
The two warriors of New Genesis looked different than the last time she had seen them. They seemed... ethereal, almost transparent, as if they were mere specters made from light. The large figure between Orion and Lightray, an older-looking man carrying a large staff, floated closer to them.
"We were never gone, Darkseid," the shining man said. "The universal imbalance simply moved Supertown forward in time, just like it did Apokolips. Unlike you, we were slightly out of phase with the universe, unable to intervene as you sought to circumvent fate and destiny. Now, though, we have returned, thanks to the intervention of a mortal."
Lightning crackled and the Flash appeared at Kara's side, leaning down to support her as she struggled to rise back to her feet.
"Found these guys in some kind of dimensional phase state," he spoke, his voice easily three times as fast as was normal. "Hope I made the right call getting them out of there."
Darkseid seemed frozen in fear for a moment, but then he chuckled. "Oh, Izaya. I almost believed you, my old friend. But I can see the truth. You are spent, Highfather! Your hold on existence is tedious at best. Your willingness to accept death and the end of the Fourth World have all but sent you to the Source already. You are in no shape to face me."
The shining man, Highfather, merely smiled.
"You are correct, Darkseid. Unlike you, we have accepted our fate, the turn of the wheel. But that does not mean we are helpless. We may not be able to fight you ourselves anymore, Darkseid. But we can render assistance to one who can."
"NO!" Darkseid screamed, turning around, but he was too slow.
Lightray, New God of Light, moved as fast as his namesake and was by Kara's side before anyone could even blink. He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Take my light, child of the stars," he said. "All of it!"
Kara gasped as more power than she had ever known filled up her body. She felt her bones knitting back together, the fatigue was flushed from her system, and she rose into the air without conscious effort. The ground cracked beneath her, the very air sizzled, and she opened her mouth to scream, not sure whether it was from pain or pleasure.
"No mortal will defeat me," Darkseid screamed, unleashing his Omega Beams once more.
Kara turned and met his stare with her own, the light from her eyes countering the darkness. For a long moment the two opponents strained against each other, unleashing enough power to light entire cities, neither of them giving an inch.
Omega Beams and heat vision cancelled each other out explosively and both Kara and Darkseid were thrown back. The dark god surged back to his feet, angered beyond measure, but before he could move, a blindingly bright figure was suddenly upon him. Blows that could crack continental plates apart rained down on him with staggering speed, cracking his stony hide, and drawing black blood. Darkseid screamed, unleashing another shockwave of darkness around him, but the dark tendrils evaporated against his enemy's bright aura.
Kara continued screaming as every cell in her body burned, unleashing every bit of rage, pain, and power onto the dark god before her. She moved faster than ever before, hit harder than ever before, and return blows that would have incapacitated her but moments ago did little more than sting a little. She was crying tears of blood as the power threatened to consume her, but she did not care. If she could just beat this abomination to death, she did not care what it cost her.
Finally one of her blows sent Darkseid to the ground and she paused for a moment, breathing heavily, trying to regain control of her faculties. She looked to the side, seeing her wonderful daughter using every bit of her amazing strength to keep her poor lost son pinned to the ground. Even now Clark was raging, trying to get back to his master's side.
No, she resolved. She would not die here today. She would live to see her children grow up and be happy. Closing her eyes, she struggled to bring the power under control.
"You will not win here today, Darkseid," she muttered, clenching her fists. "I will never let you!"
"I... am a god!" Darkseid grumbled, struggled back to his feet. "I will not... be defeated! Darkseid IS!"
Snarling, Kara struck him down again. "You are no god, Darkseid," she growled at him, wiping away the blood on her face.
"I AM A GOD!" he screamed, getting back up, but Kara simply evaded his slow attack and struck him down once more.
"Is that so? Can a god be defeated by a mere mortal, Darkseid?" She slammed her fist into him one more time, drawing a cry of pain from his lips that sounded like music to her ears. "Can a god be humbled by the champions of a primitive backwater world?"
Darkseid struggled, trying to get up once more, but his arms collapsed under his weight.
"I am eternal," he said, his words slurred.
"Look around you, Darkseid," Kara drove her foot into his neck, pinning him down. "Your troops are defeated! Your plans are in ruins! Your ancient enemies live while you are about to die."
"No," he muttered, pushing her off and forcing himself up once more. "I will never..."
Kara hit him with an uppercut powerful enough that it cracked the ground and flatted what few buildings were left in the vicinity. Darkseid flew through the air and crashed back down, groaning.
Kara moved forward. She could feel herself fading, the intense high of power was almost gone again, and she intended to finish it while her strength remained. Then a hand was on her shoulder suddenly, gently holding her back.
"Let me, my lady."
Darkseid groaned, forcing himself to remain conscious, and struggled back to his feet. He had forgotten what pain felt like. He felt the wounds inflicted upon his body, felt the weakness in his limbs as the Omega Power refused to answer his call. Could it really be that... that he had overextended himself? Was he really... beaten?
That was when he noticed that someone was standing before him.
"Look where we are, father," Orion said, gesturing around him. "Do you not recognize it?"
It had been foretold eons ago that the father would meet the son he gave to his greatest enemy for a final battle. That Orion, born of Apokolips, but fighting for New Genesis, would defeat his father amidst the Fire Pits of Apokolips, deciding the fate of the War of the Fourth World. Now Darkseid found himself standing at the edge of just such a Fire Pit, though an extinguished one, and facing him was the son whom he had believed gone forever.
"Is this where you will kill me then?" Darkseid asked, weary. It would be a fitting end, at least. Beaten by a god, his own son, rather than a mortal.
Orion approached him. "I have waited to do that all my life," the warrior said, shrugging. "But our time is over, father. The Fourth World is over. Forces beyond even our vision delayed the final ending, but now it is time. Maybe, though, we can do something that our predecessors never managed to do. Maybe we can change things as we usher in the Fifth World."
Standing in front of him, Orion reached out a hand, not clenched into a violent fist, but open. "It is our fate to pass into darkness today, father. We can do it with our hands around each other's throats... or we can choose another way."
Darkseid gazed at Orion's hand, even as he felt destiny settle heavily on his shoulders. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to keep fighting, to holler in defiance, to burn the very universe to ashes rather than accept his fate.
He looked at the fierce warrior who had stopped him from doing just that, the golden-haired Kryptonian who had never relented, never accepted defeat, and had indeed beaten him down in the end. Her body was broken and spent, he could see it, but she would never stop. He saw his own death in her eyes. The touch of the Source was upon her, he could no longer deny that. Destiny had chosen its champion, it seemed, and would not be denied its due. From the corner of his eye he saw a dark shape, its shadow falling across the Fire Pit. The Black Racer, the death of gods, stood waiting in anticipation.
A grim smile appeared on Darkseid's face. If Death was to be his fate today, it would not find him begging and screaming. He would meet it on his own terms.
"Let us pass quietly into the darkness then," Darkseid said, taking the hand of his son.
Kara watched as the dark god she hated more than anything in this universe took the hand of his son. For a long moment the two of them stood facing each other. Then a shadow fell over Darkseid, a shadow with nothing to cast it, and for the briefest of moments Kara thought she saw a huge, armored shape. A knight draped entirely in black metal.
Darkseid, god of death and tyranny, ruler of Apokolips, quietly crumbled into dust where he stood. The universe sighed in relief. Behind her, Clark slumped to the ground, no longer struggling against his sister, who collapsed into an exhausted heap beside him. Kara wanted nothing more than to run to their side but forced herself to remain on guard for another few moments.
"Is he really dead?" Kara asked Orion, who looked decidedly different than the last time she had seen him. Gone was the fury, the rage, the tension of always being ready for battle. He seemed... at peace. There was almost something resembling a smile on his lips.
"My father is now one with the Source," Orion told her, so she finally allowed herself to relax. The fire faded from her eyes and her legs shook, barely able to keep her upright. It was over, finally.
"We will join him," Orion continued. "Our time in the light is over."
The old man with the staff appeared next to Orion. Kara had never met him before today, but she certainly knew of the Highfather, Izaya, the ruler of New Genesis.
"Lady Kara," he greeted her. "I wish to thank you for everything you have done. The universal balance has been restored. Everything is as it should be. All of creation owes you a debt."
"I did not do it for the universe or some kind of precious balance," Kara said tiredly, her eyes narrowing in renewed anger. She remembered what this man had done, how he had sacrificed his own son to buy a temporary peace with the devil. A choice Kara would never have made in a million years.
Izaya smiled a sad smile. "I know, my lady. You acted out of love, the purest motivation there is."
For the briefest of moments the sadness in his eyes was so profound that the universe itself wanted to weep. "Our time is over and I fear not all mistakes can be rightened in the brief moments remaining. Lady Kara, may I ask one last favor of you? I know that my son now resides on the world and in the era you call home."
Kara's face softened, seeing the immense pain in the eyes of a fellow parent.
"I know Scott, yes," she replied.
"Please tell him that I love him," Izaya simply said, offering neither platitudes nor hollow explanations.
"I will tell him," Kara nodded. That, at least, she could do.
Orion stepped forward, gently clasping one of her hands.
"I regret that we did not have more time to get to know one another, Lady Kara. Yet I may depart this world in the knowledge that the universe is in safe hands. You love and protect your people as a true goddess should, much better than we ever did."
"I am not a goddess," she answered automatically, though with the barest hint of a smile on her face.
"As you say, my lady," Orion replied, smiling back.
"It is our time to go, Lady Kara," the Highfather said, smiling serenely even as his form grew ever more indistinct. "There is just enough time left to perform one last boon for you, though."
His eyes glowed brightly for a moment, and then he was gone. They were all gone. The light faded and of the New Gods, Apokolips, Supertown, any of them, there was no more trace. Kara now stood on the surface of Mars.
What kind of boon…?
"Mom?" a voice said behind her.
Kara turned around, barely believing what she was hearing. For a moment she was sure that she was just dreaming. She had seen this so often in her sleep since that terrible day but had begun to lose hope that she would ever experience it in real life.
Clark, her wonderful son Clark, stood before her. He looked like hell, dirty and bruised, the black armor he had worn almost reduced to scrap. There was blood on his face, half his hair was gone, and he looked years older than when she had last seen him.
It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, for there was no more coldness and hate in his eyes. They were his eyes again. Her son's eyes. She had no idea which of them moved first, but it did not matter. He was here, he was in her arms. That he was nearly a head taller than her now did not matter at all, she had her child back.
"I thought I had lost you," she sobbed, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. He smelled of smoke and fire, of blood and electricity, but underneath all that was the smell of her son. She inhaled deeply. "Rao, I missed you so much!"
"I missed you, too, mom," he replied, crushing her against him. "I am so sorry!"
Another, smaller shape barreled into them a second later and Kona clung to her big brother as if she never, ever wanted to let go again.
"You're back, Clark", she sobbed. "You're back!"
"Thank you for saving me, little sis," Clark told her, tears running down his face. "Thank you both!"
"You're back with us, Clark," Kara told him, not letting go. "That's all the thanks we will ever need."
Kara did not care about the death of gods, the uncertain future of her people, or the state of affairs in the 30th century right now. All she cared about was that she had her son back in her arms. Everything else would just have to wait.
End Chapter 100
Author's Note: The whole plot with Kara assembling an army of Kryptonians to defeat Darkseid went through several permutations. The original idea was basically identical to Kara's initial plan. Get Kandor into the future, all Kryptonians get powered-up under a yellow star, Darkseid is defeated. But then I figured that this would be too easy, so I needed to add some complications. So the Kryptonians would not power up and Kara and Kona would need a chapter of science to figure out why. They would still power them up eventually, though, and Darkseid would still suffer defeat. Then I wondered, okay, Darkseid is defeated, but now you have half a million Superwomen and -men running around the 30th century. How long until a few of them go bad and wreck the United Planets? So I reconsidered again and after some back and forth the story as you have read it came into being. Also, the return of Highfather, Orion, and Supertown was not originally planned, either, but after writing the encounter between Kara and Orion in chapter 90, I just had to bring them back for a final farewell, especially as I mentioned the prophecy about the final confrontation between Orion and Darkseid earlier.
During the scene where the heroes assemble for the final battle against Darkseid, I hear the theme music from Justice League Unlimited in my head, where you first see the big seven of the Justice League standing on a ledge and then the camera draws back and you see more and more superheroes standing beside them. The Avengers theme from Endgame works, too, though, where all the heroes assemble behind Captain America for the big, final showdown against Thanos. Despite my many misgivings about that movie as a whole (especially the time travel parts), that was one of the greatest single scenes ever made in movie history in my opinion.
So we're done with Darkseid. But this story is not over yet. Kara still has a few things left to do in order to get that big statue in front of the 30th century Superwoman museum built. So keep on reading, True Believers!
Up next: What do you do the day after Armageddon?