Chapter 2
The carnage was unbelievable. That one phrase repeating in Clark's brain for the past day came back again full force. The surrounding debris had of course, flown straight for Ra's body. Bruce had miraculously avoided most of the damage, his exoskeleton taking the bulk of the wrath. With Talia left sobbing in his arms, he looked up at Superman from where he was kneeling. "The comlinks are dead," he said. Clark started. He had not noticed that. Spinning upwards towards the sky, he looked towards Metropolis where he knew the majority of Leaguers would be pooled at. Yes, they were appearing now, transported from around the globe where the last of the Parademons had been rounded up.
The unholy terrors had been more organised this time, harder to beat after extensive training and machinery more advanced than previously seen, designed to counter the superpowers of Earth's heroes. It seemed that Granny Goodness and Virman Vundabar had decided that they would be better pooling their forces after Darkseid's final defeat, with information from Braniac at the helm guiding their progress. Mongul, ever more vindictive after being freed from the Black Mercy had unleashed his world of warriors along with them. The villains who had come to their aid in the past had defended whatever ground they were on, but without coordination between them, the effects were minimal. Clark looked harder, the flashes of teleportation did not seem to match up with the roster of League members. That could only mean one thing.
"I don't think it is just the comlinks that are out, Batman."
They would only know the total death toll much later on. J'onn had been incapacitated having to sustain the agonised screaming of League members he had been in contact with as they perished around the globe. He had joined in the foray as soon as the first Parademons appeared in East Asia, connecting with Leaguers from the ground even as the Watchtower teleported them to and fro. He recovered eventually, but many others did not share his fortune. Elongated man's wife Sue Dibny had been one of the first casualties of those related to Leaguers, with Ralph soon to follow her. Wildcat, Vigilante, Crimson Avenger, B'wana Beast, some of the first killed in battle. The list went on. Metamorpho had been torn apart by matter disrupters, trying to save a child from under a pile of debris as the Parademons attacked from behind. The child did not survive. Shayera was the one to find Mari's broken body under a pile of rubble, crushed by a derailed train that slammed into her as she acted as a pillar for one of the many collapsing buildings in Central City. If it wasn't for Carter Hall, she would have been the next victim to prowling Parademons. He took the fall for her instead, all they found of him was his helmet and torn wings.
The world would mourn as new reports came in each day of lives lost and cities wrecked once communications and media coverage was back up. There were no victors this time. Fallen heroes, both superpowered and those of the force were to be commemorated at the Metrotower, their names inscribed in a huge monument. The coffins that piled up along the sidewalk tore at Clark's heart. Bruce had been stoic through the affair, grimly taking on the task of assessing damage taken in all cities, calling the families of the superhero community who had lost some one dear to them. J'onn had not been recuperating well, his cellular system having taken a huge blow in the mental onslaught he faced during the battle. Warworld and the Apokolips fleet, apparently focal points of the wormhole, had vanished, but not without radiating pools of energy destroying street after street, leaving the land scorched and desecrated. Clark wished with all his heart that where ever they were, they would not get out.
Gotham City, though not as badly struck as Coast City, had circles of devastation expanding from the fallen Wayne Enterprise Business Division Towers from where the Braniac-Ghul composite had declared death on the planet. Clark had heard from Bruce that LexCorp under 'new management' was giving vast donations to the reconstruction of various cities. Similarly in Asia, shadow corporations now under the control of the Demon's daughter seemed to be trying to make up for the chaos her father had unleashed. The effects of the economic power vacuum created did not excuse Gotham, as Wayne Enterprises found themselves at odds with various new companies joining in the dog fight, a most persistent one belonging to young upstart Derek Powers. Architects were flown in from Japan and China to create bigger and better cities to deal with, even encourage, the mass diasporas occurring from around the world. Having a head start with funding from Wayne Enterprises, Neo-Gotham would soon be born.
On the official day of commemorating the fallen heroes of the Near Apocalypse, as it had come to be known, Superman arrived in a new suit, black, with the symbol in a sharp contrast of white. Bruce Wayne, seated near the front with the usual VIPs, commented on it, "Interesting outfit, Superman. No cape?"
"Unnecessary. And the colours, well... they seem appropriate. In light of everything."
As Superman walked off to sit further down the row, he picked up Bruce Wayne's low mumble, "Always black and white for you isn't it, old friend?"
That night Bruce Wayne would return to Wayne Manor to find a message left in his laptop:
"Just making sure the light runs over the darkness. Always."