Previously: Wonder Woman and Aquaman have thwarted the Parademon advance on Themyscira, while also simultaneously defeating the Female Furies. They have joined Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Martian Manhunter, in time to witness Darkseid's return to Earth, alongside his commander, Steppenwolf.
Gotham City, Terraformed Battlefield
Darkseid kept his red eyes glued on to the Kryptonian hovering over him. He had an amused expression at the idea that the seven heroes in front of him could thwart his invasion. The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Batman and Aquaman were at the ready. Boom tubes opened all around them, and spewed forth more hordes of Parademons.
"We're going to need to take care of that," said Batman, observing the situation.
"I'll get on to it," The Flash replied, zooming off into the distance. Aquaman nodded. Suddenly, Steppenwolf lunged forward, swinging his axe at Green Lantern's direction. Green Lantern formed a shield over his entire body, blocking him from the axe, and Wonder Woman flew at the New God straightaway, slamming into his chest. Green Lantern flew with Flash, keeping the perimeter up.
"This is for Themyscira!" Wonder Woman declared. The New God grabbed her by the arm, slamming her onto the ground with ruthless force.
"You will not be enough to stop me, Amazon," Steppenwolf replied with annoyance. A trident then pierced through the Apokoliptan commander's shoulder, making him grunt in pain. Aquaman grabbed his trident and somersaulted, landing on the ground behind him and thrusting it into Steppenwolf's left leg, forcing him to kneel. Wonder Woman recovered and swung her sword at Steppenwolf's head, which Steppenwolf grabbed with his left hand, throwing her to the side, colliding into a building. He then swung his axe at Aquaman, which Aquaman dodged by doing a backflip. Steppenwolf grabbed the Atlantean King's trident, throwing it to the side.
"Fools!" Steppenwolf boomed with anger. "After I finish you two, I will ravage your kingdoms!" He ran at Aquaman, and Aquaman did the same, running towards Steppenwolf.
Darkseid was locked in battle with Superman and Martian Manhunter, however, it seemed like the Lord of Apokolips was winning. He sent a punch into Martian Manhunter's abdomen, sending him flying into three buildings, while his left hand was wrapped around Superman's head, his eyes glowing crimson red with calm rage.
"You interfere again with my plans, Kryptonian," Darkseid said, slamming him into the ground, creating a crater in the shape of the Man of Steel's body.
"I will ensure that you die, slowly and painfully."
Superman recovered quickly and flew upwards, sending an uppercut into Darkseid's chin. Darkseid barely flinched, and backhanded him with his right hand, sending him flying into four buildings.
"Enough!" Darkseid's eyes begin to glow red, overflowing with power. "The Omega Sanction, the death that is life, will see that you suffer!" His eyes released two orange-coloured beams which zigzagged, towards Flash and Superman. The Flash became aware and ran at high speeds, trying to outrun the Omega Beams. Superman did the same, flying away from the pursuing beams. Green Lantern was in the process of defeating several Parademons, his ring forming sledgehammer constructs, slamming into many Parademons at once, while also witnessing Flash sprinting away from an orange beam, and then seeing that Darkseid's eyes were the beam's origin.
"Flash is occupied, Batman, we need to take out that thing's eyes," Green Lantern commented, creating a fighter jet construct and slamming it into a horde of Parademons, exploding on impact. Batman was also occupied with the Parademons facing him directly below the Emerald Knight, throwing three exploding Batarangs which blew up several Parademons mid-glide.
"I can disable Darkseid's beams with a telepathic attack," Martian Manhunter telepathically communicated to Green Lantern. Martian Manhunter then sent a psionic attack towards Darkseid while hovering over him, fighting him telepathically.
"You attempt to disrupt my Omega Beams, Martian," Darkseid said with annoyance in his voice. Suddenly, the Last Son of Mars screamed in pain, his mind being shattered apart by Darkseid's dark influence as he fell to the ground clutching his head.
"See, that your telepathy is useless towards a god."
Superman had flown out of the Earth's atmosphere, the Omega Beam still pursuing him. Superman used his own heat vision to hinder the beam's advance, pushing back towards the lethal beam. Right next to space debris, he then took the split second to fly out of the way, the beam hitting the debris and exploding it. Superman's eyes glowed crimson red as he flew back into Earth at phenomenal speeds. Fire covered his body as he entered the Earth's atmosphere and a sonic boom shattered the sky as he flew even faster. Darkseid realised the raging Kryptonian too late and Superman flew into his abdomen, sending them flying into three buildings. He then grabbed Darkseid by his right arm and spun, hammer throwing him into the ground. The pent-up energy within his eyes was then released, his heat vision releasing wafts of smoke as the beams expanded, slamming into the New God relentlessly. However, Darkseid had recovered, and he blocked the heat vision with his right hand, resisting the Kryptonian's attack, while the weight of his body and the heat vision dug his feet into the asphalt.
"You… Dare?!" Darkseid growled, jumping up from the ground on which he stood, dodging the heat vision completely and then clasping his hands together. As he descended quickly to the ground, he swung his clasped hands on Superman simultaneously, hitting Superman with enough force that a sonic boom was released, shattering glass on the buildings around him. Superman slammed on the ground with a resounding thud. After a moment he tried to stand, however, Darkseid kicked him in the chin, making the Man of Steel bleed from his mouth. The New God then grabbed Superman's face again, slamming him into the ground on his back, and repeatedly stepped on him, first on his chest, making Superman cough out more blood and grunt in pain, then his face several times. Martian Manhunter flew towards Darkseid, releasing beams from his eyes which slammed into Darkseid's chest, knocking him backwards slightly, followed by three punches in succession, one on Darkseid's left cheek, the other on his right, and the last on his chin. However, Darkseid was only sent reeling, and he backhanded him to the side like a fly. Superman, trying to stand, was then grabbed by Darkseid by the neck. Superman was too weak to struggle, and Batman, hiding from the New God's influence, witnessed a Boom Tube open, and Darkseid walk into the boom tube holding Superman's unconscious body. As he walked, Darkseid began to speak, his booming voice being heard across the battlefield.
"Steppenwolf, take care of these insolent beings; I will return," Darkseid stated. Steppenwolf laughed, his axe glowing red with heat while locked in a fight with Aquaman and Wonder Woman, with Green Lantern beginning to join in.
"J'onn," Batman called out. Martian Manhunter flew in front of him.
"Superman's been taken, The Flash is nowhere to be found, and Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are currently fighting Steppenwolf," Martian Manhunter observed.
"We need Superman if we're going to fight Darkseid on equal grounds," Batman replied. "You need to get me into the Boom Tubes undetected." Batman removed his cape, however kept his cowl on along with his Bat-suit, pointing at an open boom tube which had Parademons carrying humans in. Martian Manhunter shapeshifted into a Parademon, grabbing the Dark Knight by the arms and then flying into the Boom Tube unsuspectedly as Batman pretended to be unconscious.
The Flash, meanwhile, was still being chased by the Omega Beam, traversing on water. He suddenly had an idea.
Here goes nothing, The Flash thought as he suddenly disappeared out of the beam's view, and the beam continued to travel. The Flash looked on at Gotham Harbour as the beam travelled away from him and exploded an empty boat nearby. He sprinted back to the battlefield, lightning crackling off his suit and becoming a red blur to any civilian onlookers.
I hope I didn't travel too far forward, The Flash thought. He then stopped in front of Steppenwolf, laughing menacingly, and immediately his hope became despair. The Apokoliptan commander's hand was grabbing Green Lantern's neck, the latter beginning to lose consciousness, while his right foot on Aquaman's chest and the trident embedded on his right shoulder, pinning him to the ground, and Wonder Woman unconscious, with a gash on the right side of her waist, gushing out blood.
No! I'm too late! The Scarlet Speedster thought as he saw the scene before him, horrified.
Apokolips
The depths of Apokolips housed the laboratories, where people who opposed Darkseid, or disobeyed him, were subjected to torturous experiments. Screams of pain rang out across the depths, however none were heard by the inhabitants above. Superman was chained to a stone table in one room, purple roots inserting itself into every part of his body, causing him excruciating pain. A small, hooded man observed Superman's reaction to the roots enveloping and probing the Kryptonian as he struggled to release himself from his predicament, looking at him with maniacal glee as he howled in even greater pain.
"Hail Darkseid." The hooded man whispered.
Meanwhile, above the fiery pits of Apocalypse, Batman landed on the ground, with Martian Manhunter in Parademon form in tow. Martian Manhunter shapeshifted back to his normal form, standing alongside the Dark Knight, overlooking the Apokoliptan landscape at large.
"What do we do now?" Martian Manhunter asked.
"We find him, and we save him," Batman replied.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note: The next chapter will delve further into the conflict on Earth, while the chapter after will feature Batman and Martian Manhunter in their rescue mission to save Superman. I hope you're all enjoying the story so far! Please leave a review and follow for more chapters!
